I guess I'll start out with the introductions of the cast and crew.
My name is Lisa (a/k/aTinkerbell as my boss likes to call me) and I am a 44 year old paralegal, wife to John and mother to Hunter and Lacey (who didn't join us on this trip 'cause she's attending missionary college). My husband, John, also 44, owns and operates a cabinet shop which is good because I can always talk his boss into letting him off work to go to Disney.
John acts all nonchalant about going to Disney but when somebody asks him a question, he immediately starts chattering away.
Since I am still uploading pictures and can't seem to find a picture of John and I from this year's trip, I guess I'll just use a picture from last year's trip.
Hunter is our son and he turned 13 just 3 days before we arrived in Disney. We couldn't think of a better way to celebrate becoming a teenager than by partying hard with Mickey and the gang. Hunter is a multi-talented little dude. He can play the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboard and viola. Magical illusions and cup stacking are his newest tricks and he's pretty darn good at both. When he's not playing an instrument or trying to trick you, he's playing football or singing in the honor choir. See....I told you he was multi-talented.
Also along for the ride this year was my Mama, Edna. She's 76 years old and dotes on John and Hunter like they were her little babies. Mama has been to Disney with us once at Thanksgiving, 2000. That was back in the day when we stayed offsite 'cause we didn't know any better.
We were anxious to see how Mama would do with all the walking, heat, humidity, conveyor belts, etc.
Again, I don't have all of my pictures uploaded so I'll just use a picture of Hunter and Mama riding the clamshells into The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Not the best of pictures but a picture nevertheless:
We are a pretty silly fun loving family that always seems to attract.......hum.......let's just say,we always seem to have an "incident" happen during each of our trips. Over the years:
1) We got stuck on Test Track in the cold section and I almost tinkled myself;
2) My tooth (temporary crown) fell out while eating lunch at the Electric Umbrella and I had to super glue it in;
3) John got his toe broken after being run over in a drive-by scooter incident;
4) Hunter boogied with every character we ran into;
5) My wonderful, beautiful, loving family pedaled off on the surrey bike without me when my shoe hit the pedal and flew over my shoulder;
6) Lacey and Hunter jumped for joy in front of the Epcot ball;
7) We laughed so much during the trips that I caught myself saying "stop making me laugh or......" every 30 minutes.
And so forth and so on. We love spending time together and there's no better place than Walt Disney World to act silly and have a good time. Our goofiness paid off during the trip and that same goofiness inspired the title of this report.
This was our 15th trip to Disney in 13 years and our 5th stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We spent 9 1/2 glorious days at Walt Disney World and I could have stayed longer had my boss not insisted that I return to "the real world".
I have people ask me all the time why we go to Disney World year after year after year. I've tried to explain it to them but, unless you are a Disney fan like myself, you just can't understand. Remember those old Lay's potato chips commercials? You know, the ones that said something like "Lay's potato chips...so good you can't eat just one!" I liken Disney to a Lay's potato chip....."Walt Disney World is so fun you can't go just once!"
Now that the introductions have been made, I guess I'll get busy working on the next installment.
Oh....I hope that everybody feels free to post replies/comments 'cause I really like chatting.
Since the line for the boat ride was short, we decided to hop on. Mama did have one little bobble trying to get into the boat but we were prepared and had her steady again instantly. Ready to go on search for Donald?
Donald keep eluding us but I did find a hidden Mickey:
Once the boat ride was over, I wanted to look in the jewelry shop and see if the glass blower was doing a demonstration. We started in the jewelry shop and, I have to admit, it took Mama and I a lot longer than John and Hunter would have liked. There were so many pretty pieces in there and Mama is an earring person. I bet she owns 100 pairs or earrings. I am not exaggerating! Now, I'm not saying the shopping was all one-sided because I was doing my fair share as well. Mama made her purchase (I showed amazing self control and didn't purchase anything in there.) and we walked over to see if the glass blower was there.
The glass blower was not there right then but that didnt' stop us from looking at all of the amazing glass items in the store:
Oh if I were a rich woman! I found so many things in there that I wanted. Mama found a little glass rabbit and she bought it for Lacey because Lacey is always always looking at the little glass animals Mama has on her dresser in her room.
**Need to stop here and get some work off my desk.
Loving you report....especially the CBR pics since we are staying there for the first time this year!!!:sohappy: Btw...I have that same Mickey Mouse necklace your wearing!
I know what you mean about the not so hidden hidden mickeys. I told my7 year old cousin what a hidden Mickey was and he tried so hard to find one. Everytime we passed a marker or manhole cover he would get so excited. Even the plates and cups had hidden mickeys on to him.
Great report and i can't wait for the rest!
Loving you report....especially the CBR pics since we are staying there for the first time this year!!!:sohappy: Btw...I have that same Mickey Mouse necklace your wearing!
The CBR pictures simply do not do the resort justice. It is beautiful! John bought the Mickey Mouse necklace as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and I wear it a lot.
I know what you mean about the not so hidden hidden mickeys. I told my7 year old cousin what a hidden Mickey was and he tried so hard to find one. Everytime we passed a marker or manhole cover he would get so excited. Even the plates and cups had hidden mickeys on to him.
Great report and i can't wait for the rest!
After we had seen all that the Mexico pavilion had to offer, we left and continued on around the World Showcase. I had another CD with Epcot pictures on it but when I put it in my computer, I must have done something wrong because half of the pictures are no longer there. Me and my computer illiterate self must have erased half of them.
We did stop at each and every one of the countries but most pictures were on the CD I messed up. Here are the pictures that I do have of our trip around World Showcase.
The wait for Maelstrom wasn't long so we hopped into the line and were soon spotting the hidden Mickey:
As soon as our boat ride in Norway was over, we walked straight through the theater and out into the wonderful smelling shops. On that day, one of the perfume designers was there making a personal appearance and we were able to say hello to him. (Sorry, I forget his name.) He gave us a little strip of paper with the fragrance on it and it smelled heavenly. Before we left, I stopped to take a peak at how much the perfume was and the cost was way out of my price range.
By the time we made it around to the America pavilion, we were ready for some lunch. The Liberty Inn has simple American fare which is what we were looking for. Before going in, we saw the drum and fife performers coming through and we stopped to listen them for a few minutes.
I forgot what we ordered for lunch but I remember it being basic foods that, while not outstanding, wasn't bad either. We made sure that we saved some room for our dinner at LeCeller.
Before coming on our trek around World Showcase, I asked if anyone would like to see the American Adventure and they did. We walked into the building and a show had just started so we had a bit of a wait. Hunter was itching to get over to Japan and see what kind of action figures were there. After a bit, he asked if he and I could skip the American Adventure and go to Japan. I asked Mama and John if they minded if we went on ahead and they said no. Mama kept saying that we could all leave but John said he thought she'd like the show so they stayed.
Hunter and I headed out toward Japan. Before going into the store, we wanted to explore the gardens and take some pictures:
As we came down the steps from the gardens, we saw John and Mama. They had decided to skip American Adventure and come find us in Japan. About that time, the drummers were coming out to do a performance so we sat down and watched them for a little while.
Ya'll know me, I can't sit still for very long and I got up to take more pictures. I walked up the steps in the little garden and found a Mama duck and her babies:
I made my way back to the others just in time to see the storyteller outside the building:
While we enjoyed the storyteller, she was, in no way, as entertaining as the candy lady. I soooo wish they would bring her back. From what I understand, they no longer let her make her candy creations because of health regulations.
Hunter was ready to hit the store and see what he could find. I was ready to do the pick-a-pearl. While Hunter was checking out the actions figures, trading cards, etc., I took a picture or two:
Hunter had been hoping that there would be Final Fantasy action figures in the store but, alas, they were not. They were there a couple of years ago and Hunter had bought two of them while there. Every year, he hopes that he'll walk in and find them there again. Alas, there were none there this year either.
Last year, I had done the pick-a-pearl and had gotten a pretty white pearl and I told John that I wanted to do it again this year. I gave Hunter the camera and told him to take pictures for me. There were quite a few people standing around waiting to take their turn. I paid for the pearl, got my number and joined the wait. While waiting, I told Hunter to pick the ugliest, hairiest oyster he could find since I had heard these produce the prettiest pearls.
The oyster in the middle of this picture is the one he chose for me:
Believe it or not, the lady in front of me almost chose that same oyster and I kept my fingers crossed that she would change her mind 'cause I wanted that one too. At the last minute, she did change her mind and chose another oyster.
As soon as it was my turn, I pointed out the oyster to the lady and she started the little show they do when you pick-a-pearl. If I am remembering correctly, they first did a countdown and asked the other guests to count down with them. And, then, they opened the oyster:
She smooshed around on the oyster and out came my 7 3/4mm pearl:
They make a show out of rolling your pearl on a card that measures your pearl. They will start out on a small circle and roll it, all the while saying something like "ooh, it's not 6 1/2, its not 7" until they get to the actual size of your pearl. As she called out the size, another lady played a little drum:
She asked if she could show it to the other guests and I said yes. She put it in a shell that had white sand in it and walked around to show everyone to ooh and aah over. My pearl was placed in a small ziplock bag that had the size written on it and handed to me.
I knew that I wanted to find a setting for it so we went over to the display case to see what choices I had. The settings are right next to the cash register where you pay for your pearl and it was super crowded. I had to wait for a little opening so I could slip in and see what I liked. I found a sterling silver loop that had a small CZ on it. It was simple, yet perfect for my pearl. Even though it was really busy, the castmembers always had a smile on their face when helping the guests:
I filled out the papers and paid for my setting and was told that it would be about 30 minutes before it would be ready.
That would give us enough time to walk around the rest of the Japan stores:
By the time we finished our walk through of the other parts of the store(s), our 30 minutes had passed and it was time for me to pick up my pearl. I had to wait for two other ladies to pick up their pearls before I could get mine. When it was my turn, the castmember showed my pearl to me and it was beautiful! I was very very pleased with it. She gave me instructions on how to care for the pearl and told me not to wear it while showering (and a few other things but I forget what they were
). She packed it in a box and we were back out to explore more of World Showcase.
Once I had tucked my pearl safely into my backsack, we went back out to World Showcase to continue our tour. We still had plenty of time to kill before it was time to check in for our LeCellier dinner so we set our pace at "slow and easy".
I have absolutely no idea where I took these next two pictures. None whatsoever. Maybe it's in Italy? But, that would mean that we backtracked (which we could have done) a bit which I am kinda thinking we did because in between these pictures and my Morocco pictures are more pictures of Japan. The castmember's shirt looks like it could have been an Italy type shirt.
Heck I don't know but here are the pictures:
And, then, see, I have more pictures of Japan and they are in alpha order so I'm thinking we backtracked:
As you can see, apparently I was in some heat induced fog because I don't know where I was at this point in time.
I do know, however, that our next country was Morocco where we browsed through the shops and found some really neat spice packets. I bought my boss a couple packets of spices (and later wished I had bought some for myself
) and I think that Mama bought one for my sister as well.
The smells in Morocco were almost overwhelming to the senses. They had incense burning, there were spices in the shops and lots of leather goods. I liked it though.
Before departing Morocco, I wanted to go back to the character greeting spot and see if Genie, Jasmine or Aladdin were there. Unfortunately, they weren't and we had to settle for spotting hidden Mickeys painted in the mural:
Next up on our trek was France.
The lure of the air conditioned Impression de France was too strong to fight and we walked over to see when the next show was scheduled to start. Just 10 minutes? We'll wait. When we entered the waiting area, there were just a few other people but soon the room was filling up with other guests. We figured everyone needed a respite from the heat.
John was leaning up against the wall and I could see his eyes starting to blink like he was on the verge of falling asleep. Surprise surprise!
Mama and I were laughing and saying that John would probably fall asleep as soon as we sat down in the theater. A few minutes later, the doors opened and we all took a seat. I told John that the show lasted about 18 minutes and his time started riggggggghhhhhhht NOW!
And, sure enough, he was out in two bats of the eye.
It had been several years since I had seen the presentation and I didn't remember it making me feel "funny". Not ha-ha funny but slightly woozy headed funny. I guess it was because of the Circlevision or whatever it's called. I also didn't remember how very pretty France was. (Like I really knew what France looked like as I have never been there but you know what I mean.
) I was happy that we decided to see the movie. As soon as the movie was over, I nudged John and he was all wide eyed and bushy tailed. I can never get over how he does those power naps.
We looked around the shop in France a little before going back out into the bright Florida sunshine. None of us bought anything in the store but they did have some cute things in there. As we passed by the bakery, we saw guests holding plates of yummy looking pastries but we didn't want to buy anything and spoil our appetite.
As we walked towards the United Kingdom, I took more pictures:
As we got closer to the United Kingdom, I could hear what sounded like music.
We walked down the streets of the United Kingdom, following what was definitely the sound of music:
And, we found these guys playing Beatles songs:
I've got to confess that I have never been a real fan of the Beatles so we only listened to them for a few minutes before continuing on.
We arrived at the red phone booth and Hunter just had to pop in one. I, of course, just had to take pictures. He was acting like he was some kind of celebrity
and I was the papparazzi taking his picture. Crazy boy!
As I said before, I know I took more pictures but the CD they were on is now half blank. I somehow deleted the pictures. I may have them on a camera memory card somewhere but I haven't looked.
It was a bit early to check in for our LeCellier ADR so when we reached Canada, we looked around in the shop for a bit. None of us felt like standing through O'Canada. Can you believe that we have never, in all of our trips to WDW, seen the show?
After our window shopping, we decided to go ahead and see if they'd let us check in for our ADR. As I waited, I heard the castmember telling somebody else that they could only check people in an hour ahead of time. We were right at an hour before our's.
The castmember asked if she could help me and I gave her my name. She said we probably wouldn't be called until right around our ADR time but she went ahead and checked us in.
We wandered down the pathway and the seats/benches near the entrance of the restaurant were all full. So, we went over to the Kidcot stop and found lots of benches available and they were in the shade too!
I, of course, after we had already walked all the down the pathway, realized that I had to tinkle. I didn't want to go into the restaurant so I walked all the way back up and over to the nearest bathroom. When I came back, Hunter had been eating some chocolate coins which had melted in the heat and had dropped a huge chunk of one on his khaki shorts. This was his reaction:
And Mama's reaction:
And John's reaction:
And my reaction:
In all seriousness, Hunter just wiped it up the best he could and we sat and did this:
I kept walking back and forth to see if any of the benches near the entrance to the restaurant came open so that we could move up there. They hadn't given us a buzzer
and told us to listen for them to call our name. I certainly didn't want them to call us and us not hear them. Finally, I found a bench and walked really fast back to the group to tell them. I don't know why I didn't just call them on my cell phone. Lord knows John knows how to use one.
After about 5 minutes, they called my name only to let us in the door where we waited another 5 minutes or so. I think they were just teasing us.
Once we were seated at our table, which, by the way, was almost uncomfortably close to the table next to us, our server came by and asked what we wanted to drink, had we been there before, etc. She was very nice and said that today was actually her last day to work there. She was going back to Canada the next day.
She left and brought our drinks out in no time at all as well as the bread sticks:
Our server asked if we were ready to order and we were. I ordered the NY strip steak. John ordered the coffee rubbed steak. Mama ordered the filet mignon. Hunter ordered the roasted chicken and substituted the side for fries.
I don't remember how long we waited for our food but I don't remember it being a really long time. When my steak came out, I cut into it and it was definitely not well done with a little pink on the inside. It was pretty darn pink on the inside, almost all pink. I absolutely hate sending food back but I just couldn't eat it. I don't like rare meat at all. Once our server came back around and asked if everything was okay. I told her that my steak was too rare and asked if they could cook it longer.
Since everybody else already had their food, I told them to go ahead because I didn't want their food to get cold. After about 15 minutes or so, my steak came back out. It was still not done as well as I would have liked it to be but I also didn't want to wait any longer so I didn't say anything.
My plate (pre sending it back):
John's plate:
Mama's:
Hunter's:
I wish I had gotten the same steak as John's because that thing was delish to the max and I am sooo not a coffee fan. Mams's risotto was heavenly. Hunter's chicken was fantastic too. My steak was good, it just wasn't as impressive as the other food everyone ordered. It may have been better had I not had a bad taste in my mouth about having to send it back and it not being done properly the second time either.
Even though we were stuffed to the gills, we simply had to order desserts. Hunter's chocolate mousse:
John's chocolate whiskey cake:
Mama and I had the seasonal sorbet which, that night, was a something-or-other fruit sorbet. I can't even remember the name but it was a type of plum sorbet. I love plums and so does Mama so we figured it wouldn't disappoint and it certainly didn't.
I know right! You would think that a plum sorbet would be purple.
Oh I forgot to mention that, while we were eating, we kept hearing booming noises and we knew it was too early for the noises to be Illuminations. That must mean that it was raining. Thank goodness we were inside because it sounded like one heck of a storm.
Once we were done, we left a generous tip for our fantastic server because she was always there to refill our drinks, ask if we needed anything, etc. We told her to have a safe trip back to Canada.
We left the restaurant to see that it had, indeed been raining and raining hard! Everything was soaking wet. The first stop I had to make was a bathroom stop and everyone else did too.
From looking at the next few pictures, it looks like John had the camera because the rest of us are in the pictures. It's pretty rare that John has the camera.
I see that I had my arms folded up against me. I remember now that the night air was a bit chilly but then again, I'm cold natured.
And, just because we can't stop acting silly, Hunter and I did a little dancing before leaving Epcot for the last time this go round:
When we got to the bus stop, we could see that there were already a few people sitting on the bus. There were lots of seats left so we were all able to sit down. The bus was freeezing cold. I'm not exaggerating. It was so cold that there was water running down the inside of the bus and onto the walls. We were huddled together like little eskimos.
A lady and her family got on the bus and she had a little girl who was about a 1 1/2 old and she was asleep. The mother was holding the little girl as closely to her as she possibly could to keep her from getting so cold. The bus driver came back in the bus and was standing on the steps while we were waiting on more guests to come to the bus stop. The lady with the little girl asked if the bus driver could turn off the air conditioner and he said he could not. When the lady asked why, he said something about if he turned it off, the windows would fog up and he wouldn't be able to see. I could kind of see what he was talking about but I also wondered why he couldn't just turn on the front window defroster. I never knew why the buses were so darned cold. Even with that knowledge, it didn't make the cold feel any better.
The lady was sitting next to Mama and the little girl's feet were right beside Mama's hands. Mama asked if she minded if Mama covered her feet with her hands so they wouldn't get so cold. The lady said absolutely, please do. We were all shivering. Even John said it was cold and he hardly ever says that.
I guess by now there were probably a 20 people on the bus and we were all talking. The other guests were saying that it had hailed on them during the rainstorm. One lady said it had hailed so hard that there were pieces of it on the cover of their child's stroller. Oh my goodness! We were happy that we were in LeCellier when the storm blew through.
Finally, the bus driver gave up thinking more people would arrive and we were on our way back to the Caribbean Beach Resort. Again, I have to reiterate how glad I am that the CBR is so close to Epcot. Otherwise, we would have all been frozen popsicles at the end of the bus ride.
We had an absolutely fantastic last day at Epcot. We took it at a slow pace and visited all of the World Showcase countries taking in all the details. John had had a little nap time too and we had a wonderful meal as well. I'd give this day an A-. (had to take off a point or two for the freezing bus)
John acts all nonchalant about going to Disney but when somebody asks him a question, he immediately starts chattering away. 
We were anxious to see how Mama would do with all the walking, heat, humidity, conveyor belts, etc.
