Adventure #9: Firsts, a Dream, an Anniversary, & Three Destinations...

...I need another drink! :hammer:

I know I've neglected a whoooole lotta TRs out there for a long time. There's a reason for that. I vowed to myself to stop reading and start writing. I also vowed not to even begin posting until the report was completely written and assembled so posting would literally be cut & paste. This puppy was quite the monster to tackle but I did it! Enjoy.



Greetings to my dedicated readers, friends, family, and noobs alike! Boy, do I have a story to tell you so let’s get this thing rolling...

First, the basics:

Who? The usual suspects, of course. That would be me (The SweetPee), the old man (Tracey), the 15 year old all-knowing son (Chandler), and the 13 year old not-so-baby-of-the-family son (Brian). Later in the trip you’ll see a character from my very first trip report return for more fun. Yep, you guessed it! My big brother, the uncle extraordinare, Jerry!

What? Duh. Vacation. Anywhere but home fits the bill. Thankfully, we had 3 awesome destinations to hit. And celebrating. Can’t forget that we celebrated our 18th anniversary in style!

When? September 9 - 24, 2011.

Where? September 9: on the road & Hampton Inn, Clermont
September 10 - 15: Wilderness Lodge
September 15 - 18: Disney Cruise Line’s Dream
September 18 - 24: Yacht Club

If this is your first time reading a SweetPee report, feel free to peruse my previous reports down there in my signature. There’s better intros with pics there.

Like most folks, it’s amazing how much life you can live in less than a year. When I last left y’all at the end of our 8th adventure in November 2010 I wasn’t 100% sure where or when we’d be back. I wasn’t even sure WDW would be our destination of choice. I managed to find us some new Disney experiences to try...one of which has taken over our souls! You won’t believe it! We sure don’t!

Life has a way of keeping the adventure alive. Towards the end of January this year Tracey got sent on a project in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Don’t know where that is? Yeah, there’s a reason for that. LOL! It’s about halfway in between Dallas, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The good part was all the moolah all that overtime brings + paid expenses. The bad part was ice, snow, and working 7 days a week for months on end. We got to see a different part of the country, experience real snow & ice (which completely blows), see the Oklahoma City National Memorial, meet new people, and learn new things. After Tracey finished up in Oklahoma he came back to an assignment on a project that was plagued with deadline challenges. Again, great to have all that income from the overtime but bad because he never had any days off. Literally. The only days I think Tracey had off this year were when the snow & ice were dangerous enough for the project to shut down, Easter, and a couple sick days. That’s it. Not even July 4th or Labor Day. And so, that’s how we funded our adventure and were able to shoot for the stars. Tracey worked so hard for so long. If he said “upgrade us to club level” or “add another day to the front of the trip” I didn’t argue. He earned it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Dean thought there was good stuff to be had in France. I was so in the moment I didn’t care where we went. I’ve never spent much time in the France pavillion nor have I ever really cared to. It just didn’t appeal. Well, this day would be different. We took a few out front...

And, again, less forced stuff can be really neat!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We proceded back to what Dean called the ‘Arcade’ area. Such an amazing spot. Oooooh, this first one, though, I call my “What are you lookin’ at?!?!” shot. Do I not look like I’m giving somebody the evil eye??? Sooo funny!

In a flash (no pun intended) our hour was up. We said our goodbyes to Dean & Tina and thanked them for being so wonderful. It was sooooo hot but the experience wasn’t at all miserable. It was fun! We got to see parts of World Showcase in a way we hadn’t before, we had a great time with our photographer & assistant who felt more like old friends than anything else, and we were able to capture another magical moment in our family’s lives. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So now it was about 9:45 and hadn’t had a thing to eat yet. We were just a little hungry. It was still a while until our late breakfast reservation I had made at the Captain’s Grille at the Yacht Club but we decided to head in that direction anyway. Even if we checked-in too early and had to wait before being seated, it’d be worth it to have some air conditioning. Thankfully, a table was ready for us right away. Here we found a hidden gem. We’ve never had the Captain’s Grille before and were quite impressed. The little buffet was perfect: not too big, not too little, great assortment, peaceful, and yummy. I started with a plate of fruit because I was still cooling down. Then I tried the egg whites w/herbs and a few other dishes. I didn’t really care for the tomatoes gratin. I had never had eggs benedict before but always wanted to try it. Soooo yummy! A new favorite dish for sure! As we would come to find out as our trip progresses, the cost here isn’t offensive either. Made for an all-around wonderful brunch for us that hit the spot in every way.

We got back to the lodge somewhere around 11 or 11:30. We hadn’t been back in the room long when I spotted Brian outside the patio observing the wildlife and our beautiful surroundings. He was so at peace just standing there:

Tracey, Brian, & I decided we wanted to go swimming so we headed out to the pool. Chandler refused to go with us and headed to the arcade on his own. I could tell something was up with him. I picked-up right away on his self-consciousness. I didn’t push the subject, tho. I hoped in time he’d come around.

The pool & slide were both nice. We enjoyed ourselves. Yes, Tracey & I went down the slide. LOL! It was fun! Wish I had taken pictures but I didn’t.

After a nice swim we took showers, I laid the wet suits out to dry, and we all climbed back into bed for a much needed sleep. Almost 3 hours!

Tonight was evening EMH over at the MK so that was our obvious destination. We headed out just after 4:00. Waiting for the boat to MK:

The boat ride over was so pleasant! Not scorching hot at all.

Brian has the sillies again:

Some teenagers are too cool to get the sillies sometimes:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Such a peaceful ride with great scenery:

Arriving at the MK today really stood out to me. Even though we’ve been at WDW for more than a day and already been in 2 other parks, this is when it felt like we had arrived.

We caught a bit of the tail-end of the special flag retreat they did for 9/11. It was really an emotionally-charged ceremony. I’m glad we caught it before moving on. The first view is always special:

Photopassin’ the moment:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We made the turn at the hub into Adventureland. What would our first MK attraction be? It was an obvious choice!

The guys were curious to see what it was like without the old new management and I wanted to bask in the nostalgia of the original glory. My grandparents used to loooove the Tiki Room. When I was a kid I thought it was just shy of torture to go in there but now it holds a special place in my heart. I’d give anything to be there with my grandparents again. I really would. I wish I’d known to appreciate the time I had when I had it.

After the show Tracey commented on how many people were inside. During the ‘New Management’ days we would see like 3 other people besides us whenever we’d go in. This time there wasn’t much empty space in the show at all. There was tons of people. Tracey & Brian both liked it much better now. Chandler claims to like it better with the management gang. That’s okay. He also enjoys that obnoxious noise that’s called music from his Call of Duty game, too. I’m going to overlook the poor source of opinion on this one. LOL!

Next up? Pirates!

The ride was a total walk-on. Literally. That’s always nice. Unfortunately, we were surrounded by morons who can’t follow instruction when they’re repeatedly told “No flash photography!” I guess it really irritated me. This is what I wrote in my blurb for this time frame. LOL!

Brian loves the Pirates shop.

When we walked out of Pirates the rain stopped. Perfect!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

By now we were getting pretty hungry. We wanted to try something that isn’t an obvious norm for us so I suggested Columbia Harbor House. Love the details here, too.

We sent Brian on upstairs to grab us a table. After we ordered Tracey & Chandler waited on the food while I headed on up to see where we were parked. Brian found us a nice table near some windows.

I’d love to be able to tell you he selected this table because it’s tucked in a corner or because the views from the windows seemed like a nice touch. No, the truth of the matter is he liked the spot because he could sit next to this:

Note the proper use of gun safety here:

Boys will be boys. LOL! I had the peppercorn salad and a side of couscous. Both were good. If you’ve been at the check-out at Columbia Harbor House and seen the twisty Mickey straws and wondered what goof-ball would spring the extra $$ for that, wonder no more. I’m sorry. I couldn’t not do it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

With our tummies satisfied it was time to head over to check out the new (well, new to us) interactive cemetary additions at the Haunted Mansion.

I told Brian to try to look like the twins. He’s goooooood:

Chandler liked Uncle Jacob:

Paying our respects to some important folks...**wink wink**

Checkin’ out more of the new stuff:

I think Captain Clyde was my favorite. Just after I took this pic he sneezed and I got wet. It was a very surprising thing for me:

Good to see the old tombstones weren’t lost forever:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

In a way I’m perplexed with the new placement of Master Gracey’s headstone. With his plot here there’s no way a rose can be left for the master of the house without someone swiping it.

Back outside the interactive area, still plenty for us to enjoy. Again, I’m so glad these weren’t removed forever:

And of course, what trip into the mansion would be complete without a shot of goosebumps from Leota:

I don’t know if this is the norm for other folks but it always seems the walk from the stretching room to the actual ride queue is the place we always have the “Who’s riding with who?” debate. This go around the boys rode together and Tracey & I rode together. At some point during the ride Chandler decided to do some aggravating repetitive thing relentlessly when he discovered it irritated his brother. So walking out from the ride the boys were having it out and Tracey announced he’s ready to go. Home. Like to Texas. And I’m walking along thinking, “The best of Disney magic is here!”

It didn’t take much effort to get Tracey to see the er of his thought process. Why go home when you can torture your offspring instead? Oh yes. We shall exact our revenge with a forced ride on none other than It’s a Small World.

The rest of the world may find this ride to be sheer torture but I loooove it. Every single time I ride I go right back to being a wide-eyed little girl gazing dolly to dolly trying to decide which dress is the spinniest and which I’d most want to play with. Oh yes. I do love my dolly ride. Of course at the end I had to snap a quick pic of the sign that has the words we see every day when we do our German lessons on Rosetta Stone. Yep, this year the boys are both doing German. I decided why not create a profile for me and go thru it, too?

Moving right along...

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I was curious to see the (new to us) interactive queue area for the Pooh ride since we just did miss seeing it when it opened last year.

Cabbage! As a long-time soft sculpture Cabbage Patch collector I was moved to take this picture:

This one’s for Mimi. Mimi (Tracey’s mom) love Eeyore and Brian loves his Mimi:

Carrots! Not a vegetable I really enjoy but it makes me think of Kenzie/Tiaragirl now...

More neato stuff to check out:

I thought the gophers were really cute:

Love the sign:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

While waiting the sunset was so pretty. Definitely brought peace to the guys:

The bees are a really cute idea but every single one of them was pushed all the way to the very end of the thing.

Then we got to play with the hunny and the hidden images:

Agreed!

After our ride with Pooh & the gang we caught some more pretty colors from the sun setting:

We walked past the tea cups...

Now, remember, we typically go to WDW during cooler weather months. We not only had the opportunity to experience the fun of miserably hot weather, we got to enjoy some of the weird, odd, and often inappropriate wardrobe choices made by fellow guests. I tried my best to get this one but it came out blurry. Who the heck wears full-on platforms in a theme park???? This cannot be comfortable footwear at the end of the evening:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We took a leisurly spin on the Peoplemover then decided we wanted to find something yummy to snack on. We made our way to the Confectionary on Main Street in search of some sweet snackage while scoping things out for the nightime shows. We all got cupcakes and a drink then found a quiet table between the shops on the right on Main Street.

I’d like to take a moment to discuss the evil cupcakes that are served here. Yes. I have decided these are evil. I fully believe that Lotso Huggin’ Bear from TS3 is fully the most evil of all villains because he appears so sweet & loveable but then he’s really not. He’s pure evil. This is the best comparison for the cupcakes found in the Confectionary shop. They appear so beautiful and tasty. You get all set for this magnificent culinary experience. But when you dig in it’s just blech! The cake is dry and tasteless. Better hope you got milk to drink with that or you may be choking that baby down. The frosting is okay, not good, just okay. It’s smooth (thank God) but it’s so overpowering all you taste is sugar. No vanilla. Just straight shocking sweet sugar. That’s okay for a bite or two but anymore and it turns into a nauseating thing. I didn’t eat too much of mine and threw it out. Blech! Solid thumbs down for the deceiving, evil Confectionary cupcakes. Don’t waste your money, folks. Icky-pooh!

After my cake heartbreak we moved back towards the hub to seek out our spot for the Magic, Memories, & You show and Wishes. We ended up back where we normally go for Wishes on the little walkway that goes from the corner by the ice cream parlor across close to the Tomorrowland bridge. After hearing all the rave reviews I really had high expectations for MM&Y. The effects were neat and I’m glad we saw it. Most of the pics were very blurry and it was hard to make anything or anyone out on them. I won’t say I loved the show. It was neat. I think I need to see it from some other positions/locaitons. Maybe I’m missing something.

Of course Wishes was great. It’s a perpetual favorite. At the conclusion of Wishes the park was closed to day guests. We made our way thru the crowds back into Tomorrowland. We hit MiLF. It was fun even though we didn’t have the best audience participation.

We still had a hankerin’ for something sweet so we hit up the ice cream spot over at Auntie Gravities. Space Mountain was down. Little bit of disappointment there. Boys wanted to go for a ride on the Indy cars. Tracey & I elected to sit in the grand stands and let ‘em go. People watching from that perch was fun.

Here goes Brian! Tracey took the pics. It’s his fault they’re blurry!

It’s a little sad knowing this isn’t really a thrill for Chandler anymore. I mean, come on. How can this even touch him driving his own GMC he worked so hard to pay for this summer? Yeah, he’s moved on to bigger things. It’s a little heartbreaking for me. It seems like just yesterday he would’ve been psyched out of his mind to be driving an Indy car by himself and even more jazzed that he scored his favorite color on his car:

After the Indy cars Space Mountain had opened back up. The boys and I ran ahead and went for a ride while Tracey sat it out. He just didn’t feel up to it. He’s always had a hard time with the dark and feeling like he’s being jerked about because he can’t see where he’s going. I soon had some regrets for going on the ride myself. Space Mountain isn’t really helpful for a headache.

Next we walked over to Jungle Cruise. Very fun skipper.

As this trip wears on you’ll see more and more the things that really had Tracey & me feeling like the old fuddy-duddies we seem to be growing up to be. The boys went on to ride BTMRR while we opted for a bench and sharing an ice cream. For whatever reason we decided we’d like to go back to Haunted Mansion so that was next. No bickering teenagers this time. Thankfully. I’ll be honest, I was totally fighting the urge to go to sleep that time thru. See??? I’m old and can’t hack it!

Peter Pan’s Flight had zero line so we hopped on. It was the end of the night. When we got out the park was closed.

We slowly made our way on out of the park. Back on Main Street headed towards the exit we saw a young man and his girl standing for a Photopass picture. It was an ordinary enough scene. Then right after the first pics were taken he dropped to his knee and pulled out a ring. Every person around them including us stopped dead and turned to watch. When she said yes we all cheered. Even the boys thought seeing a real proposal was really cool. It was sweet, definitely a magical end to a great day.

We caught a boat back to the resort. Very nice. Now I know why everyone raves about those boat rides to/from the Wilderness Lodge. They really are awesome. Very serene and calming.

Everyone was in bed and set for a nice sleep-in tomorrow at 1:00 a.m.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Monday, 9/12: Starbucks. Oh Starbucks. How I love thee?!

Can you frickin’ believe it?! We slept until 9:00 a.m.! WooHOOOO!!! We got the car from the valet and were on the road around 10:15 or so. Tracey was ever-so sweet and made a bit of a detour to indulge me (and show his concern for my headache) by running me to the Starbucks on Irlo Bronson. I was absolutely giddy standing in line waiting to order my trenta iced coffee. I got me a yogurt for breakfast, too. Mmmmm....

I felt like a whole new person!

We got parked at Epcot and made our way into the park. The boys humored me while I got my usual picture of them with their Leave-a-Legacy tile (c. January 2004). Here’s some blasts from the past beginning with the little LaL thing that they sent us in the mail and ending with this year’s additions:

2005

2006

2007

January 2010

November 2010

2011

2011

 

[sweetpee_1993]

More Photopass fun on our way in:

The boys wanted to go ride Mission:Space. In the past they’d be hard-pressed to keep up with Tracey dashing in for a spin on the Orange Team. Well, the years are taking their toll. The boys headed off to join the Orange Team while Tracey & I mosied on thru the senior citizens’ section to the Green Team. LOL!

It was already getting kinda close to our lunch ADR at Les Chefs de France so we decided we ought to start heading that way. Along the way we came across these ever-so-classy young ladies.

Tracey’s comment was, “If those were my daughters I’d kick their .......”. Chandler just said, “They really shouldn’t wear stuff like that. It’s gross.” Hello young girls out there. You are NOT going to attract good attention or nice boys wearing things like that.

Tracey had to make a potty stop (more senior citizen fun) and Brian wanted to take pics in the phone booth.

I don’t believe he would actually know how to operate a pay phone if he had to:

Pressing on I got a classic Tracey shot. See? Here’s one from 2004:

And now:

Pretty scenery makes the trek downright pleasant:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Then we were there!

We checked-in a few minutes early. Nobody was being seated just yet so we had a few minutes to wait. My favorite thing to do while waiting is take pictures so here ya go.

This is who we hope to see today:

Looks nice and air-conditioned in there:

In case we forget where we are:

When our name was called we were led back to the back to a table right next to the windows where the sun was shining in. We always seem to end up back there and we were pretty hot from the hike thru the park so there was no way I was sitting at that table there by the window. Nope. I asked for a different location and the seater obliged us. I was so thankful. We had nice, cool seats in the main room. Muuuuch better. It wasn’t long before we spotted Remy making his way around. Tracey & I watched closely for several minutes before we figured out the “How’d they do that?!” Then Remy made it around to us. We were asked if we’d like a picture. Sure! So here we go:

LOL! “That’ll be $5.” Remy’s friend was very funny! And, finally, our favorite little chef:

Exterminators???? Where????

LOL! Soon came our lunch. We’ve only ever had dinner here and loved it every time. This was our first lunch experience and it was just as good. I had this toasted ham & cheese sandwich with a salad. The flavors were all wonderful. The salad dressing was fantastic.

I don’t remember what this was Brian had. I think it was the short rib with pasta:

He enjoyed it, too!

After lunch we decided to take some time wandering about France and checking it out more closely. Tracey bought me a bottle of Givenchy perfume in the perfume shop. Awwww...he spoils me so. France is really a pretty pavillion.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Brian decided he wanted to go do some shopping on his own. He had his cell phone so we let him spread his wings a bit. He headed off towards Mitsukoshi and the shops in China. Tracey, Chandler, and I stayed to take in Impressions de France. I don’t remember ever seeing that movie before. Maybe I did when I was a kid but it wasn’t something I remember now. The film really was good. I was quite surprised. I’ve never really had any interest in going to France but I can honestly say I’d love to see it now. Such beautiful sights to see! After the movie we spotted a whole display in the shop of pink wondefulness with Marie and Minnie dressed in her Marie jammies:

We figured we should start moving in the direction Brian had gone. Some sights along the way:

I spotted Brian in the distance coming towards us:

Brian wanted us to come see something he found in China so we continued on. When we got to this country we had to make a little stop.

Tracey had walked-off enough lunch to make room for a pretzel. I was dazzled with the German word on the canopy that I recognized from our German lessons:

Trinken. I know that word!

In China, Kodak says this is a good place for a picture:

I concur:

And I add this angle for a nice picture:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

As it turns out Brian didn’t just need to show us something in China. There are things kids aren’t allowed to purchase without a parent’s consent. This includes wooden samurai swords. He bought 2 @ $18 a piece. Now he and his buddy across the street can totally wipe out any ninjas that come sneakin’ around the ol’ neighborhood:

We came this far so we might as well hit this one for a little cool off:

Brian insisted I take this picture:

We didn’t have time to ride Test Track earlier before lunch so we figured we’d make our way back that way as we positioned ourselves closer to the park exits.

In line for Test Track Chandler would go on and on about all the little things on display. Talking cars with him is mind-blowing. The boy loves cars. Like this engine. He walked up to it and went into this long spiel rambling of all sorts of gibberish about Corvettes and on and on. Sometimes I’ll catch bits I understand because I do know a little about cars and driving fast (my mid to late teen years were spent in a very small town where there was nothing to do but party and race..both of which I was quite the natural at).

Continuing on..

This reminds me of my delinquent days for some reason:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

With just a 15 minute wait, we were ready to go. Right boys?!

Our onboard monitors were out of sync with the audio. Made for a slightly off ride. Not terrible. I had to keep telling myself not to look at the onboard monitors so it wouldn’t bug me. After our ride Tracey was checkin’ out this pretty truck.

Our Tahoe has been a mess which is why we brought my car on vacation. We’ve had it in the shop a ton in the past couple months, Tracey’s fixed a bunch of stuff, and still the engine misses and we get reduced power. Honestly, I can’t complain. The thing is 8 years old and has over 200k miles on it. They don’t last forever. Soooo, we had been gearing up to take on another car payment. We expected a hefty one because whatever we got had to be able to pull the old man's boat. It was looking like I would be rejoining the work force when a chain of events led Tracey to recently throw his resume back out to shop for jobs. He landed one with a substantial pay increase in Houston. Why am I inserting this trivial b.s. in a Disney trip report? Because Tracey signed up to receive more vehicle info via mail/email here. A few weeks after we got home he received a flier in the mail from GM with bonus cash-back offers on various GM vehicles. This simple moment at the end of Test Track knocked an additional $1500 off the price of the 2011 Tahoe we bought less than 2 weeks ago. After negotiating the price then taking Chevy’s $4000 cash-back and the GM $1500 off the price we scored this thing for less than invoice by a good bit. Who knew? So if you think you even **might** be in the market for a new GM vehicle and you’re at WDW, get on the mailing list at the end of Test Track. It sure paid-off for us!

After Test Track we decided to head back out to the resort for a bit. I noted the time as 3:40-ish. On our way out:

Tram time!

With doors!

Back at the resort we got a 20 minute power nap and washed 4 loads of laundry. We were showered, refreshed, and headed back to Epcot via bus at 6:20. Dang! That’s pretty good for under 3 hours!

Me likey the Duffy.

I think the other family on the bus with us was a bit entertained with our excitement over the size of the turtle we saw crossing the road near the bus. Tracey said something and we all flew across to the nearest windows to see:

Is it a bad thing that we can name at least 3 people right off the top of our heads who would see this guy and declare him dinner? LOL!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Back in Epcot Tracey and I felt the urge to hit up a PhotoPass shot:

We headed over to another favorite we had obtained FastPasses for earlier in the day. I bet you never guessed we headed for...

Yep, it was Soarin’ time. The not-so-fast-FastPass wait was like 15-20 minutes. Chandler kept whispering to Tracey and they were giggling like a couple girls while we waited. I know they were making fun of a girl nearby. They’re soooo bad!

After our flight we were getting hungry so we figured we’d have a quick dinner at the ever popular Sunshine Seasons....or the “Four Seasons” as Chandler decided he wanted to call it (he was kidding...they love to rename things and call things the wrong name over and over really loud so people look at them like they’re completely stupid). I realize a lot of folks here really like Sunshine Seasons and sing the praises of their food regularly so I’m going to pretend that our dinner there this night was as bad as it was because it was nearing the end of the night and the food was old. It sure tasted old. We all got different stuff and it all was pretty terrible. Everything seemed like it had been sitting out under heat lamps since lunch. Seriously. I’ve had better food at the mall. In the future we’ll consider Sunshine Seasons for fresh fruit, salads, or desserts but not the cooked food. Ick!


Not feeling like doing anything else at Epcot this evening, we hopped on over to DHS via Friendship boat for evening EMHs.

Upon arrival we didn’t waste much time making our way over towards Star Tours.

PhotoPass shot on the way in:

We had all anticipated the new & improved Star Tours 2.0 experience so much! We were so excited!

We were not disappointed! We all walked out totally shocked and amazed at the awesomeness of the experience. During the entire ride my jaw was dropped. It was crazy great! I don’t know near as much as the guys do about Star Wars so they had to tell me we just visited Hoth & Crusan. Okay. We went there. But it was such a rich, amazing, immersive experience. I’m still dazzled by it!

I like this:

Next up was one of my favorite attractions that conjurs happy nostalgia from my childhood:

Brian indulges me:

Stage 3D where everything is super tippy-top secret!

I enjoy the queue, the pre-show room details, and the shop props far more than the show. I love love love the siliness the Muppets have. Each character is endearing in their own way. Prior to our trip I bought the new Muppets cover album and have probably listened to ‘Moving Right Along’ a bazillion times. I got Brian totally hooked on “Mnah Mnah”. It’s a great thing! I cannot wait to see the new movie! Oh dang! That reminds me! I needed to add some seasons of the Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock to my Christmas list! Cool!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So here’s some fun pics from the shop. Do not look here.

Why are you looking? I didn’t say ‘Simon Says’!

Before leaving the shop I got a little bag of Chip-n-Dale pretzels. Mmmm.... sure beats Sunshine Seasons! We wandered over to One Man’s Dream. Tracey asked me why I like going in there on every trip. Everything is the same. I dunno. Just do.

This past year I introduced the boys to the amazing ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ They both loved it. Brian had me crackin’ up at the night club scene where you first get a look at Jessica Rabbit. She stepped out from behind the stage curtain and Brian’s eyes were popping out of his head. He said, “I could sooooo be a toon.....” LOL! Knowing the boys now had an appreciation, during our wanderings I pointed out a prop from that film. I told them they should ham it up for the pic but, of course, Chandler was too cool for skool on that one. Brian was all in, tho:

Back over to Star Tours for another adventure.

I was informed this go around we visited Tattoine & Yavin 4. Whatever. It was fun. We took a quick potty break then Tracey & Brian went back again for another adventure. There was absolutely no wait all night for this. Kinda perplexing in a way. I would’ve thought it’d be more popular after the redo. I mean, it’s really an amazing ride now. I do have a bit of a weakness when it comes to simulators that’s why I can’t ride it over and over all in a row. Chandler and I just sat quietly and waited for the others. Chandler was feelin’ a bit yucky with a sour tummy. With my headaches and all I had been fighting my sinuses for days which doesn’t help with a motion simulator.

We could’ve stayed longer but everyone was pretty well pooped-out. We headed back towards the exits.

We were all in bed at about 1 a.m. What a day!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Tuesday, 9/13: Disney sin & basking in the glory of relaxation!

Disney sin?! Whaaaat?! Yep, I committed one this morning. I cancelled our 8:10 a.m. ADR at Crystal Palace and opted to sleep in until 9. It’s vacation. We should be relaxing! Also, during the night Chandler had been up a lot sick to his stomach. I heard him and made sure he was okay. Poor guy. It doesn’t take much to get his stomach going. We ended up with a later, more relaxed and fun breakfast at Whispering Canyon.

Brian likes it:

Chandler wasn’t up to pictures yet:

You’re not burning data are ya, Brian?

The breakfast rush was obviously over.

Brian asked for a large Coke.

And I had my most favoritest breakfast dish in all of Walt Disney World, the cinnamon raising french toast!

The rest of the guys had the skillet. Chandler was very thirsty and our waitress got tired of running back and forth refilling his water so she hooked him up:

He worked on that water for only a short time...

...before it was gone!

Brian, on the other hand, made a little dent in his Coke. No refills needed here:

The Whispering Canyon is always fun and the food is consistantly good. We love it here. The best part is that it’s not offensively expensive yet. I know it’s been gaining leaps and bounds in popularity. It’s only a matter of time before the prices are jacked just like all the other popular spots.... **sigh**