Trip Report The Better Late than Never Halloween (and boy can I be stupid) Report

docdebbi · Feb 3, 2014

Dole Whip, woo hoo.
enjoyed it in Capt. Cook's but then suddenly realized, it's fireworks time.
hey let's go out to the beach and watch, so we packed up our Dole Whip and brought it with us

photos are not so great, because my camera died, and all i had was my cell phone,

very beautiful watching through the trees, really enjoyed the surprise trip

Poly lobby, great place to relax and enjoy which we did for a little while.

at this point we are VERY late getting back to our room to pack
we decide to hike back to the monorail and ride on over to TTC, but someone along the way pointed out how close we were to TTC, just walk.. of course, i know that, just not thinking, so we have a LONG but enjoyable adventure.
got back to the car almost too tired to drive home, let alone pack, but sadly, we absolutely need to do, we leave in the morning.

docdebbi · Feb 7, 2014

Now, by the time we made it back to the parking lot, my feet and knees were DONE. I had a handicapped sticker with me for my arthritic feet and knees so we had parked in the handicapped lot at TTC. (surgery 3 times so far, planning the total knee replacements before next trip so I can walk without pain- getting fixed piece by piece- this disease will not beat me!!!!)
This lot by the way is no great shakes, it is a massive walk from there to TTC. So far in fact that they have wheelchairs there to get you from the parking lot to TTC, so when we made it as far as the wheelchair stand, I said I just wanted to sit for a minute. just rest those aching doggies and knees.

Suddenly the kids decide this is the most fun they've had all week.

oh no, being driven by a three year old. wait......is this against the child labor laws?
(sorry for the quality pics, my brother yanked out his phone camera as proof of my child abuse)

Now, if you can't guess how the rest of that late night and early morning went by now, you are not paying attention, or just not too bright.
obviously, we skipped the packing time in my schedule by going to poly, so we got in late late late.

my poor brother and sister in law had to pack for themselves and the two little ones, fortunately the older ones could take care of themselves. but this is no small project, and as you can also guess, they are not the most neat orderly folks with their room during the week.
I, with my OCD, of course kept my room meticulous all week, knew exactly where everything was, and was packed in a flash. even managed to get those obnoxiously large costume that we had shipped down, into my suitcase (since i didn't care anymore if they wrinkled). yea me!

so next morning, everyone appears in my room while parents finish packing.

We took charge of the ridiculously large amount of left over sodas and waters and unopened food (we ordered from garden grocer and got breakfasts, snacks, sodas, water). we have no room to bring them with us, so up and down the hallways and byways we go searching for someone not on their way OUT to the parks, willing to accept our gift. The wine went quickly, no one is saying no to wine!. Eventually all our gifts are spoken for and back to the room we go to wait.

and wait

and wait

Come on guys, hurry it up, got to get out of here, we have plans!

still waiting.............

I am so torn at this point, we do have plans for the day and need to check out but I also DON'T WANT TO LEAVE. I want to hang out in my room a little longer, I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME.
eventually all left overs dispersed, and brother packed..........no excuses to stay.

just a little side rant here. we had checked the night before about what time was best to check in our luggage at AoA. I've got to say, i was pretty ticked. I usually stay deluxe and there may or may not be one or two people in front of me to do check in. But they informed us that the line is often 2 or 3 hours long to do check in, and it starts before 6 AM and goes to after 11 AM. Really? Just because you are at a value doesn't mean you should have to endure this. Am I suddenly less important to Disney because I am not at a deluxe this trip? really? I can see that for less cost, you get less services like valet parking and the like, but they should keep certain advertized perks of being on site- like luggage check-in- usable. This really is not usable. Who wants to waste 3 hours of their last day in line for luggage. it's actually faster at the airport.
I don't find this to be fair of Disney. Rant over.

So, since I already proved we could do it, all luggage was creatively packed into the back of the minivan, and on our laps, and under out feet, and on our heads, and under out buns, and we head out.

Tink0102 · Feb 7, 2014

Loving your trip report. Just a little OCD (or as I like to call it CDO...in alphabetical order as it should be) myself. We went in June with some friends who remind me so much of your brother's family. Luckily, I had the foresight to tell them we were only going to do meals together because I knew I would be forced to kill them otherwise. We tried a couple of times to do more together, but they were so indecisive that I had to just say "catch ya at dinner" and walk away. At the end of the week, the wife...my friend, said "I've hardly seen you all week". Yep, and we are still friends...see how well that worked out.
Again, loving your report and can't wait to see how it all ends!

docdebbi · Feb 7, 2014

Tink0102 said:
Loving your trip report. Just a little OCD (or as I like to call it CDO...in alphabetical order as it should be) myself. We went in June with some friends who remind me so much of your brother's family. Luckily, I had the foresight to tell them we were only going to do meals together because I knew I would be forced to kill them otherwise. We tried a couple of times to do more together, but they were so indecisive that I had to just say "catch ya at dinner" and walk away. At the end of the week, the wife...my friend, said "I've hardly seen you all week". Yep, and we are still friends...see how well that worked out.
Again, loving your report and can't wait to see how it all ends!

thanks for following.
i will now tell everyone i am CDO, you're right it's better

and i thought about murder at some points, but I figured our mother would not be pleased. so he survived!
glad you were with friends, so could split.

docdebbi · Feb 11, 2014

now is where we go off the plantation.........we actually.........gasp............left Disney property.

I know, I know, but the kids always love Gatorland. it's a family favorite for us. And it's on the way to the airport.

And only once did I bring Flat Stanley for a cousin's kid and accidentally dropped it in and the gators ate it. oh well, she faxed me a new one!

Ever since they started letting us do this, I always play chicken with the family and see who will and who won't sit on an alligator.
this trip, everyone was game.....almost

let's see, there's danny

and maeve

and patty

and dottie

and dan and even little Kieran

ok. ok. so i'm missing

so maybe i didn't do it

i'm not a coward

i'm just smart!

well, ok, here's the story...i did do it in the past

the problem is, since my knees totally gave out, the only way i can get up from the ground is to lean on something. did that last trip. leaned on the gator to get up.

gators don't like that

but here is proof that I did it, just back when I had knees.

after the macho contest, we fed some flamingos,

petted some iguanas...........

docdebbi · Feb 11, 2014

here are a few shots of the gators

just a couple gators..........do not fall in here, unless you are flat Stanley

they have this cool gator jumping show, does show you the power of these creatures

and while i might sit on one, i am NOT hand feeding it. i can't believe these guys still have hands.

unfortunately, time has run out for us.
time to pack up and head to the airport.
now that is not a cute little saying, I MEAN pack up

seven suitcases, carryons, strollers, people, and now also souvenirs, all need to get packed back onto us and off we go.

back to MCO and that awful white tube in the sky that takes us home.

it was an incredible trip. in oh so many ways.

every minute at Disney is a treat.
excessive heat, late for ADRs, late for FPs, hot costumes, squabbling kids, people jumping in front of you at parades, lost siblings, fighting with my magic plus .........it's all good if it's in Disney

and the unmitigated good times. kids giggling, kids smiling, kids experiencing rides for the first time, enthralled looks staring at shows, kids screaming experiencing roller coasters for the first time, wishes, electric light parade, halloween party, fantasmic, illuminations, good food, good wine, good beer, and especially good company.

my brother and sister in law are always late, no denying it, but they are wonderful people, and i couldn't think of anyone better to share a trip to Disney with.

All in all, this was one heck of a ride. I can't wait to do it again

next post, some of the photopass pics I haven't shared yet.

docdebbi · Feb 14, 2014

as I reminisce about this wonderful trip, thought I'd throw in some photopass pics

first.......the Icons

then some silly shots

now you might not think this one is silly, but try fitting 7 of us in one frame, it was sure silly at the time, I think it took 20 minutes

and tigger proving me to how high he can bounce

docdebbi · Feb 14, 2014

and our collection of magic shots

docdebbi · Feb 25, 2014

thought i would just throw this is in, this is the picture of the week at allears.net

yea for cute little Kieran

docdebbi · Feb 26, 2014

as I finish up this report, figured I would throw in a few extra photos

why do you think they always sat us in strange out of the way corners, away from all the normal folk?