My Lack-Luster Frozen-Hiney Cabbage-Full January Report-of-Sorts

I've put off the report for quite some time for lotsa reasons/excuses. I know I'll never top the epic I wrote last January so I won't even try. I've started and restarted writing this a bunch of times but for various reasons it won't come out how I want so I give up. Here's the pics with commentary. You'll get the jist.

Here's the pre-trip details for those who missed it or are interested. Just click here.

Jerry, gotta send a special shout-out to you. Thanks for talking with me the other day and doing your big-brother thing. I love you. This is for you.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 1 - Arrival Day (or I should say late night)

January 8

We arrived extremely late. It wasn't a very happy arrival. Only 3 of our 9 checked bags made it onto our plane with us. We did get upgraded our 1st two nights to the Kilimanjaro Club so there'd be no room-switch to do. Yay!

It was very, very late. Dad fell asleep while he waited for us to take care of the work order for our delayed luggage at the DME counter. Of course Chandler thought this was a great time to snap a picture.

Here's Ellie Boo & me right before we stepped onto our full capacity DME bus. What a miserably hot & stuffy ride that was not even able to sit with our family together.

After everyone settled in (at about 1 a.m.) Brian, Ellie, & I did the laundry for the 3 unlucky souls who only had the clothes on their backs to wear for our 1st Disney day.

We spent some time wandering the resort while we waited on the laundry.

We finished & crawled into bed at about 4 a.m. What an arrival day, huh?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 2 - Gettin' off to a frigid start...

January 9

Gettin' the day started was rough. Here's some trying-to-get-moving pics.

The frozen tundra of Walt Disney World. Seriously. I'm surprised the animals didn't protest. "Helloooooo...we're from Africaaaaaa...this isn't what we signed up foooooorrr!!!!"

Chandler with his Christmas present from us:

Don't take pics of me before coffee is consumed.

Just in case we forget where home is:

Do not be fooled. It may be Florida but it was friggin' frigid on the other side of that glass.

We made it to our brunch ADR @ Boma a few minutes late. Given what we'd been thru the night before I believe we were pardoned for our Disney-crime. We had the best, most entertaining service. It rivaled Whispering Canyon. Meet the Guy who took care of us. No. Seriously. His name is Guy. This Guy ROCKS!!! LOL!

So after a quick run (literally...the guys in short sleeves were freezing) into WoD for cold weather layers we made it to Epcot. We made a beeline for Test Track so Mom & Dad could finally ride it considering it was gonna close for a refurb within a day or so.

First official ride of the trip:

Mom is the 1st row on the bottom person. She blends so it's hard to see her. She did this bundling up thing a lot. I nicknamed her "Bandito Mimi". I think she's worse about the cold weather than me. LOL!

Here's the Christmas tree still up. I know people think I'm nuts to have been so irked about the Christmas crap still everywhere & the Christmas music still playing. I'm not a Scrooge. It's just when you're that miserably cold and it's over a week past New Years the holiday stuff mocks your misery. I wanted to smack someone. It was so aggravating. Where I come from, if your tree is up past the weekend after New Years you were just a big ol' procrastinator.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 2 continues...Disney doesn't have topless dancers.

Our pics look so strange to me with us all bundled up like this.

Dinner was at Restaurant Marrakesh per the Mimi's request. It was all new to us so we were game. The food was pretty good. We enjoyed it. Brian was only slightly disappointed that the belly dancer wore a top. Yeah, he actually asked me with an air of hopeful excitement if the dancer at dinner would be wearing a top. The disappointment was made up for by the boy's new lamb obsession that he discovered at this first dinner. Every dinner after this one he looked for lamb & ordered it every chance he got.

The appetizer.

My lamb that started it all. I think I got a bite or two of it.

Happy, full bellies + people with not enough sleep = bedtime. Here's some happy, full bellies with Chandler clownin':

We hiked on out to the bus after dinner without waiting for Illuminations. Before bed we all reconvened at the club lounge for a bit of relaxation and topping off the tummies.

Yes, all our delayed baggage made it in while we were at Epcot. Yay!

I think I made it to bed around 11-ish. :snore:

**Great big ol' shout-out to the Kilimanjaro Club Concierge Cast for all their assistance in making sure we got what we needed. The luggage delay wasn't their fault at all but they went all-out to give us a hand in every way possible. Gotta love pixie dust when you need it most.**

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 3 - You know it's cold when...

January 10

It's the coldest day yet. Do you see the recurring theme??? I'm a southern girl. I don't do cold.

We had an early ADR @ Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Fuuuun!

On our way in we got up-close & personal with the marathon runners. Whenever we saw them we cheered. This guy didn't look like he was enjoying himself too much.

We stopped by another stinkin' tree so Mom could snap a pic with Eeyore. Mom loooooves Eeyore!

Here's where the title of the day comes in. You know it's cold when there's industrial heaters out blowing hot air on the exhibits in the Oasis area to try to keep stuff from dying.

On to the Tusker House for breakfast with Donald & the gang!

Don't take my pic before coffee!!!

Da Big Cheeeeese...

Daisy *hearts* my babies:

And I *heart* Daisy. She's my favorite!

Who's Goofier?!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 3 continues - Character Lovin'

So after breakfast we hiked over to catch the Nemo show. On the way we stopped to do some visiting:

Pretty.

More visiting:

After Nemo's show we took a spin on this beauty:

More Christmas crap left out.

I love Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama! Yes, it's cheap & cheesy but that's the beauty of it.

 

[Mikester71]

Cool trip report and pics, but it would suck to be in WDW and have to bundle up like that! Being from Canada, WDW, and Florida in general, represent warmth and sunshine to me. Whenever I see pictures of people wearing winter clothing in the parks I just cringe.

Hope you had fun though despite the frigid temps!!!

Sorry to interrupt your report by the way!!! Back to the fun!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 3 continues some more...Photo Ops are fun!

I love photo ops. We all had fun here playing.

On to the Festival of the Lion King!

Disney took theming to a whole new level when they made the whole park feel as cold as Mt. Everest. Just look at us!

I'm actually clutching my hot latte in this one!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Dat 3 Concludes...We had to thaw our frozen hiney's out.

On our way out in the early afternoon we snapped a couple more pics.

Here's me cuddlin' with my 'Boo'. That's what I call my baby boy - "My Boo"

Once back at the resort the relaxing commences.

I know this is wrong on soooo many levels but it'll bring back memories for my cabbage buddies so it had to be done.

Another shot of the hard-workin' souls on the Savannah who braved the frigid tundra just to give us guests something to look at from the balcony.

We were supposed to go out to the Magic Kingdom after a short nap for evening EMH's but we just didn't have it in us to fight the freezing temps anymore this day. Instead we stayed in, relaxed, had dinner at The Mara, and washed up all our long underwear again.

Did I mention that cold isn't my thing??? Wearing layers is the pits! I don't know how you northerners do this on a daily basis! :hammer:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 4 - You know it's too cold for Tink when...

January 11


You know it's too cold for Tink when they have to bring out the giganto cranes to sprinkle the pixie dust over the castle!

So when there's a big ol' horkin' crane in your vacation pics there are options.

Like cropping.

It was pre-park-opening ADR day at Liberty Tree. Have you ever noticed when you're really, really cold the closer you get to your destination the faster you're moving??? By the time we rounded the corner to the restaurant a CM shouted "Almost there! It's nice & warm inside!!!" You'da thunk we were in the marathon. LOL!


We thought the food was yummy!

I especially liked this stuff. I think it's all I ate, actually. It's peach french toast bake w/whipped orange marmalade butter. Talk about smack-ya-momma-goodness!!!

I miss the Liberty Tree characters so so much.

This is Brian w/his tag-along guy he brings everywhere. Yes, he goes with Brian on every trip. It's a Lil'Kins Webkins puppy he got when he had to go to the doctor for his allergies like 4 years ago. We named him Chip because his nose is a perfect chocolate chip. He lives in a bright colored sock that has Chip & Dale on it. So here's Brian w/Chip and Little Chip!

Minnie lovin'.

 

[tiaragirl]

This is great! It's just as epic as January's, don't worry =)


PS: You're beautiful, and you have the cutest family.

PPS: Your father looks very, very similar to my uncle!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 4 Continues...Dude! They blink! And they're singing!

Continuing on where I left off at 2:30 a.m. last night.... ((Sorry. I got tired.))

In case you couldn't tell, Mimi & Poppa didn't make it to the early breakfast. They were just too bushed to peel themselves from their bed. I can sympathize.

So after breakfast we hit a bunch of the Fantasyland attractions, Space Mountain twice, TTA, and then headed towards the hub to meet up with Mom & Dad who made it in around 11-ish. Here's a quick pic featuring more of the magical crane while we waited.

While waiting for M & D we caught the Move-It Shake-It parade from a distance. It was sorta cute this 1st time. Somehow in all the hub-bub we missed the parental units so after some cell-phone-coordination we met up outside SGE. We then proceeded to MILF (which was a big hit as always) then Buzz Lightyear. Brian always, alwaaaaays gets the lowest score on Buzz & he's the one in our family who wants to win the most. Well, his day finally came. With no assistance whatsoever he managed to max out his gun at 999,999. We didn't have any ride stops either. It was amazing. I wish I had taken a pic of his beaming face. It was so wonderful to exit that ride without him being thoroughly PO'd. I asked him how he did it. He shrugged and said, "I just did what Dad always tells me. I shot the far away stuff and finally got the volcano a bunch of times." I, however, still have no clue what I'm shooting in there.

After our Space Ranger Spin we got to meet da man himself:

Ladies, I can confirm that Buzz Lightyear is a gentleman.

I totally love that Mom got Princess Ears. I can honestly say that I'd never be the Princess I am today had it not been for the past 16+ years of tips from the ultimate of all Princesses.

Next we decided to cross the hub to Adventureland to hit some Pirates funage. As we passed the hub Dream Along with Mickey was juuuust starting. Mom & Dad really enjoy the shows & we've never taken the time to see this so we stopped. We were into the show a good 5 minutes before Tracey leaned into me and quietly asked, "Did Mickey just blink?" My reply was, "Yeah. I just noticed that. Hey look! They're moving their mouths too!!!" I have no idea how long they've had these articulated characters but how stinkin' awesome is that??? The possibilities are endless with this! Here's just one of a whole slew of pics taken of the show. I love the closed-eye smooch!

On to Pirates! I believe this was a case of "I'll die before I let him win!"

Poppa finds his inner pirate. Or is it his inner Goofy?

Next we headed for some ghostly fun.

I think this is the longest I ever waited for the HM. I want to say it was 15 minutes or so. Here we are waiting patiently.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 4 Concludes...There's only 1 of the Christmas decorations I wasn't irked to see..

We hit another attraction or two on the way out for a rest. Or I think we did. Not entirely sure but my notes are upstairs and I'm too lazy to go get them.

Dinner was at CRT. We arrived right at 5:00 and were shown right into the castle foyer. Cindy was there with various CM's. Otherwise, the room was empty. It was like our own private visit with our hostess. We took several pics and had a wonderful visit with Cinderella with absolutely no rush whatsoever. It was quite a magical moment for us all.

And this one was Cindy's idea. What a ham.

Dad thought the suit of armor was pretty cool.

Going up...

Normally mice scare the beJeezus outta me but I'm okay with this variety...

Mom & Dad thought the inside of the castle was quite pretty. They did, however, comment that if/when I ever get to go over to Europe and tour some of the historic castles there that I'd be sorely disappointed if this is what I expect. Tracey agreed.

Dinner was fabulous in spite of the hell-child at the next table over who tried her best to get her mitts on Ellie Boo. Tracey & Mom were quite the eagle-eyes and rescued her for me. We had the same waiter as last year and he was every bit as incredible as we previously experienced.


We were gonna stay for Wishes but everyone was just pooped and we were super cold...again. (fork) We decided not to fight the misery. So we saw the castle all lit up & made our way to the exits a bit on the early side.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 5 - I knew Mimi was really a coaster girl!

January 12


This morning the 3 big guys had their first of 2 tee times for golf. I wanna say they played Lake Buena Vista. Mimi & I took Brian over to his favorite park for some special time together.

First up was a quicky breakfast...

Followed by Brian's most favoritest attraction: Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Sneakin' a smooch while we wait...

Um, tailgating isn't very safe...and it's rude! J/K! We were still waiting at the load platform when I took this. LOL!

Next we headed towards the Expedition of all Expeditions...

But we had to wait a few minutes until it was our FP return time. My favorite thing to do while passing time is taking more pics.

Now, when we were in the planning stages of this trip Tracey & I discussed more than once what his parents would/would not ride. I coulda swore I heard Dad telling stories about how when they were younger Mom would make him take her to Astro World so she could ride the roller coasters because she loved it so much. Tracey swore his parents wouldn't ride the coasters. Dad can't because of his neck problems so naturally Mom wasn't leaving him behind. But, when Dad is off to have fun playing golf Mom is all about a coaster adventure. This is the one and only time we got Mimi onto a coaster during the trip. She said she liked it but wouldn't do it again because the backwards part made her head feel weird for a while afterward. I was buying the picture no matter how bad it was just to document the moment. Later I asked Mom if her eyes were shut or if she blinked. She said she always closes her eyes for the entire ride on roller coasters. When I asked why in the world she would do that and she said, "I like the anticipation and not knowing what's next if I close my eyes." That is quite possibly the strangest thing I've ever heard. So here's the pic for posterity:

Right after our Everest journey we got a text that the guys were heading back to the resort so we started making our way on out, too. Here's an ode to January '09...Thumbs Up! Now point at it! We're A-Okay!

We stopped to get Brian another blankie critter to add to his collection of them. This is Martin the Monkey.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 5 Continues & Concludes w/ice cream...as if it wasn't cold enough...LOL!

One more pic before we leave. Brian found this spot a couple days before and had to show it to us. This will forever be known as Brian's bridge.

On our way to the buses we spotted Jason, the coolest Photopass guy ever that we've had fun with our past 2 trips. He didn't really remember us (understandable) until we showed him the thumbs-up routine. Then he remembered us. For a change he didn't have to take a picture. Instead, he got to be in the picture!

So we met back up, rested in the club lounge, and swapped tales of the day's happenings....including Dad breaking his driver. For once he didn't get mad and chuck the thing down the fairway. He was goofin' around, tossed it towards his bag, and the shaft snapped. He was quite the sport about it laughing it up. The boys, however, still haven't let him live it down.

We took a nap, too, then decided to go wandering. I don't recall what we ate for dinner but I know what we had for dessert. I've decided that The Kitchen Sink is not the ultimate ice cream. No. It's the No-Way-Jose!

And I have no idea what this is called but Dad had it and it was full of candy bar bits.

We took our time wandering around to the Boardwalk but decided we were too cold to think about buses so we grabbed a cab back home.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Cool trip report and pics, but it would suck to be in WDW and have to bundle up like that! Being from Canada, WDW, and Florida in general, represent warmth and sunshine to me. Whenever I see pictures of people wearing winter clothing in the parks I just cringe.

Hope you had fun though despite the frigid temps!!!

Sorry to interrupt your report by the way!!! Back to the fun!

I would love to say that the frigid weather had absolutely no impact on our enjoyment of the trip but then I'd be a big fat liar. It did. It's very hard to enjoy the beauty of the the parks when you're literally running from point A to point B just so you can get inside and out of the cold. And, OMG, it totally blows to get inside out of the cold just to spend 15 minutes wrestling yourselves out of at least 2 layers so you don't sweat...then you have to carry all that bulky crap around...and then you get to spend another 15 minutes wrestling everyone back into their layers for the next sprint to the next destination. We are very thin-blooded Southerners. On freak days when we get a temperature that low we stay inside. Seriously. We didn't see it but on 2 mornings we were told by CM's that snow fell in the early hours. How many people can go to WDW and say it snowed while they were there??? Twice??? And we ain't talkin' the soap flurries they blow out during the holidays. Real snow. Honestly, if I'd known how much we would be affected by the cold I would've canceled, eaten the penalties on the plane tickets & hotel deposits, and rescheduled for spring break. It sucked that bad. Yes, I whine. I've never been that friggin' cold in my whole life.

But hey, thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying the journey. Feel free to comment as much as you like! I don't mind at all!

This is great! It's just as epic as January's, don't worry =)


PS: You're beautiful, and you have the cutest family.

PPS: Your father looks very, very similar to my uncle!

Oh you are waaaaay too nice. This trip was sooooo not even close to what last January was and not just because of the weather. Every time I started really writing the story out it would evolve into a big wad o'misery. I'm not a Debbie Downer by nature. With the future so uncertain for us (hubby's project ends at the end of this month, he'll be out of work, he's been submitting hundreds of resumes for jobs all around the world including the middle east since December, he's had one offer for less than half his current pay, and we continue to watch our friends get laid off because Exxon can contract the work out of China for so much cheaper) it's next to impossible to find that happy place in my soul. Soooo, I figured for the report this go around less is more. It was a wonderful trip and we had a blast with the in-laws. Between the cold, cranes, refurb walls eeeeverywhere, and a few key seriously crappy experiences I think our Disney-colored glasses just weren't enough to get us thru this one. But hey, there are so many worse things in life. Right now we're counting our blessings starting with each other, our family, and friends.

Thanks so much for the compliments. It's weird to see myself in the pics so much. Chandler took a ton of pics with his new fancy-schmancy camera, Mom took a bunch, and Photopass did a lot too. I didn't do many at all for a change. We did have problems with batteries dying in the cold. Several days both Mom & I could get a handful of pics then need fresh batteries. Mickey made some dough on us with the batteries! LOL!

Tracey's dad is a handsome fella. That was actually part of my thinking when I decided I'd marry my old man. If his dad aged that well chances are I'd not end up with a funky looking old guy down the road. :lol:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 6 - Don't touch my baby!!!!

January 13


We didn't get up too early today. We had an early lunch ADR for Whispering Canyon. We took a cab over so for a nice change we actually made it there pretty early. We ended up having a late breakfast which was fine with us. For half our meal we were the only family in the Canyon, too. Talk about weird!

Normally when I've taken my little Ellie Boo into restaurants I find a nice place to sit her out of the way or on top of my bag near my chair so she doesn't get messed up. This morning I sat her on top of my bag by the window a couple feet from me. Well, one of the WC crew spotted her as we walked in and came to visit. I found lots of kindred dolly-spirits all thru the trip which made it wonderful for me. So this CM came over and asked could she hold my baby. Of course. She asked a bunch of questions and was so impressed. Then she asked could she take her to show the gals in back. Of course. As she was walking away with Ellie she hollered, "Hey y'all! Lookit my new baby! I found her sittin' on the floor over here so she's mine now!" We were all crackin' up. When she came back several minutes later this is how she returned her:

Ellie had her own spot between her brothers. Before the above CM left us to our waitress she very sternly told both boys, "Don't touch my baby! I don't like that stuff. You gotta wash yer hands good first!" It was so funny.

Group pic!

And then we all got to color!

If you ask for a big ol' Sprite you'll get a big ol' Sprite!

I had the cinnamon raisin french toast and it was yummy!

Here's Dad making some money on vacation by working over the phone.

Our waitress loved Ellie, too. The service was fantastic and we appreciated all the little extras she hooked us up with (like my surprise caramel shake-to-go).

Dad is probably the biggest detail driven person I know. We couldn't leave until he finished his coloring page. Of course it's perfect. I still have the page upstairs tucked in with some other stuff I need to scan. Love it!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 6 Continues - Finally...we can survive outside!

After breakfast we looked around the Wilderness Lodge lobby a bit then caught a bus to Epcot.

Sometimes Hidden Mickey's turn up in the most unexpected places! J/K! But I loved the ears anyway...

Brian & Chandler with their annual LaL tile pic:

Everyone smile...we didn't have to wear the full cold-weather gear!!!

We rode SSE then headed to Innoventions to play. Here's Brian after he designed our ride on the Sum of all Thrills.

Our first look at the Kuka arm thingies...

This would be Chandler's feet poking up on the left & Tracey's on the right:

Of course Ellie didn't get to ride so the mock up seats outside were the next best thing for her:

 

[lisak09]

Great report, love looking at all your photos. Sorry the weather was so cold. We usually go in August & find the heat unbearable (we,re irish!) but i think i'd prefer going when its hot as i really really hate being cold! Hope you all enjoyed yourselves anyway:wave:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Day 6 Continues some more....

We went over to see the Siemen's Smart Chopper by Orange County Choppers. Tracey and I were interested if it was produced pre- or post- Pauly Jr. leaving. :shrug:

The kids did some playing with this stuff:

Ellie thought this just looked painful. I agree.

Sometime during our Innoventions time we also did Storm Struck. One of the interactive games they had was hurricane preparedness trivia. We highly disagree with one of their questions/answers. The question: What's the most valuable thing you can purchase to protect yourself in the event of a hurricane? Our answer: Insurance! Windstorm & Flood policies whether they're required or not! Their answer: Sandbags. Where we live they give out sandbags at distribution points for free. Why would you purchase those? Save your money and buy more gas or another generator or a window unit or something. Sheesh!

After Innoventions Dad really wanted to go do Ellen's Energy Adventure....aka Snoozapalooza. I had a good nap anyway.

We crossed back over towards Soarin' to use our FPes. On the way Brian was being a little grumpy so he got the double-smoochie treatment as punishment. It worked. He brightened up.

Lemme just tell ya that when you go to WDW with a bunch of pipers (hubby's a Senior Piping Designer, Dad's a Project Manager, & Mom's a Designer, too) they'll talk incessantly about pipe & fittings if they see 'em. Then, they take pictures of them. This is in line for Soarin'...

Brian was so excited to finally be tall enough that he didn't need the kiddie strap. He felt so grown up!

Ellie Boo still has a ways to go.