Trip Report You've Got a Friend in Me

Hello friends!! Welcome & I'm happy to have you here for another TR!! This trip was filled with so much fun & friendship in so many different ways that when I think back on it I can't help but smile!! So many happy times & I look forward to sharing them with you all, my friends!!

WHEN: Tuesday, October 27th - Tuesday, November 3rd

WHO: Myself-Patti, JSR, E & J

In case you forgot what we look like here's one minus masks!!

WHERE: Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villa

So, I had made mention in my last TR that we were booked to stay at The Polynesian this trip. About a month or so before the trip we got the email that the regular rooms(which we were booked in) were not going to be open then. They offered to move us to The Grand Floridian. None of us were really feeling it so we explored our options. E & I really enjoyed our stay at Saratoga Springs in August(I think a lot has to do with it having that Riverside "feel" to it) so we decided to go with a treehouse villa. A big plus ended up being that it cost us all waaaay less than what the Poly/GF was going to. I was disappointed but felt better after some friends, @Darstarr & @Tuvalu, told me I was probably better off waiting to experience the resort until the remodel was done anyways!!

I drove to their house & got there at 9:15. My sister wanted to leave for the airport no later than 9:30. Notice that there are 3 suitcases but 4 people?? Someone wasn't done packing & E was not happy!! The stroller went with us but it went unused most of the time so E decided that this was going to be the last trip for it.

The reason for the packing delay? J snuck outside & excitedly told me a secret. His dad was packing our friend, PCB!!

Notice the scab on his face--the poor kid took a fall at school a few days before.

Remember E sending me this after our last trip? Well, we didn't have to get it!!

We got to the airport & unloaded the luggage. E went to park the car & we went to wait for her inside. It was then that J realized his mask was with his mom. I told him I had a bunch in my bag & for him to temporarily use one of them. It was a little big on him....

We checked in quickly & headed to the main terminal. J was happy to have his shark mask back!! One of our other sisters made that for him & he really likes it!!

The airport was a ghost town as it was in August.

J's favorite store was still closed

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

We were going to ride the boat but the line to get inside was ridiculously long so we passed.

It spilled out to here!!

We made our way into Future World. We stopped in Mouse Gear first. Big disappointment--we all left empty handed.

I did think this cup was cute though!!

We made our way through the maze of walls to head up front to ride SSE.

Then it was time for Test Track!!

After that we stopped here & got a few orders of donuts to share. Funny story,(if I ever get to that TR) when we were there in January at one point during the trip J & I were at Epcot by ourselves. We rode Test Track & after he asked me if we could get donuts like we did the last time. Unfortunately, it wasn't there anymore. He was pretty bummed!!

 

[tommcp516]

We got a few orders of fish & chips to share & got our beers(of course) & sat outside for a bit.
I'm sorry but she is not a good Elsa. Very disappointing.
View attachment 536085

Lol--the first time I looked this photo I thought she was raising a finger to her mouth as if to go '"...ssshhh"

That, plus her body posture (clutching her dress in one hand while taking what appears to be tiny steps)-along with the fact that you spotted her first thing in the morning over in England-had me thinking that you may have caught Elsa doing the walk of shame back over to Norway after a late-night 'Disney+ and chill' sesh with Bert the chimneysweep on Cherry Tree Lane...

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

So glad the Gondolas don't bother your height issue! YES! Your first Epcot stop is ALWAYS Rose and Crown! #familytraditions

After that we stopped here & got a few orders of donuts to share. Funny story,(if I ever get to that TR) when we were there in January at one point during the trip J & I were at Epcot by ourselves

So glad he loved those Donuts, we enjoyed the chocolate ones when we were there, too! Guess you'll just have to go back for Food and Wine again!

 

[Songbird76]

Your daughter looks beautiful!! Especially when she was smiling!!

Your son makes me think of Jan Brady:
"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia"

Thank you! I am biased, but I think my daughter is a beauty. And I'm so lucky that she is very academically minded...she's really intelligent and so far not interested in dating, though she's almost 15. *knock on wood* She spends her spare time with things like memorizing the periodic table or watching videos about science and math, or learning to crochet and knit. So far (again, *knock on wood*) she's the least obnoxious teenager I've ever met.

HA! Well, at least my son doesn't have as many siblings to compete with and he gets plenty of attention on his own. E is really low maintenance so A doesn't have to worry about her being an attention hog....E would prefer NOT to have the attention. And she is pretty good about helping A out when he's having a meltdown. It's a good dynamic now, but I'd be in trouble if E was anything like Marcia! When A was little, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" would have been a mild reaction!

 

[Songbird76]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

Since I wasn't in costume I figured I should at least wear my HM shirt since it was Halloween. E bought me that mask a few days before.
View attachment 536082

The Skyliner is so efficient. I still can't believe I go on it as much as I do with my fear of heights but I'm glad I do.
We were in Epcot in no time at all & considering E wanted a beer(& knowing our habits) where do you think we headed to???
View attachment 536083

Rose & Crown, of course!!
View attachment 536084
The reason she was in such a hurry to get there is b/c she knew(I kind of knew but wasn't 100% sure & didn't want to ruin any surprises by asking too many questions) we had friends that planned on meeting us there & spending the day with us!!

We got a few orders of fish & chips to share & got our beers(of course) & sat outside for a bit.
I'm sorry but she is not a good Elsa. Very disappointing.
View attachment 536085

Much better.
View attachment 536086

We strolled around WS for a few.
View attachment 536087

View attachment 536088

And stopped here.
View attachment 536089

Everyone wanted to get the filet!!
View attachment 536091

J got the soup!!
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What does the mask say? I can't quite read it! But I like the color!

Um...maybe it's just the sun in Elsa's face making her squint or something, but she looks like she's in her 60s, like she's all wrinkled and her hair is just white from age. Or is that just me?

That filet looks soooooo good! I want to try the soup, too. Are those mushrooms I see with the filet? I LOVE mushrooms!!

 

[lindawdw]

We loved those donuts on our trip in October! The chocolate ones were our favorite. The line to get into the Mexico pavilion has been so long on my Dec. and Feb. trip. I was pretty disappointed with the offerings at Mouse Gear too Patti.

 

[riverside]

Lol--the first time I looked this photo I thought she was raising a finger to her mouth as if to go '"...ssshhh"

That, plus her body posture (clutching her dress in one hand while taking what appears to be tiny steps)-along with the fact that you spotted her first thing in the morning over in England-had me thinking that you may have caught Elsa doing the walk of shame back over to Norway after a late-night 'Disney+ and chill' sesh with Bert the chimneysweep on Cherry Tree Lane...

Maybe that is what was going on!! She did look a little rough--almost like she just got up!!

So glad the Gondolas don't bother your height issue! YES! Your first Epcot stop is ALWAYS Rose and Crown! #familytraditions

As am I!! I still get nervous on them--esp. when they stop in mid-air but it's not enough to make me not go on them.
Yes, it is!! We're quite predictable!!

So glad he loved those Donuts, we enjoyed the chocolate ones when we were there, too! Guess you'll just have to go back for Food and Wine again!

You don't have to tell me twice!!

Thank you! I am biased, but I think my daughter is a beauty. And I'm so lucky that she is very academically minded...she's really intelligent and so far not interested in dating, though she's almost 15. *knock on wood* She spends her spare time with things like memorizing the periodic table or watching videos about science and math, or learning to crochet and knit. So far (again, *knock on wood*) she's the least obnoxious teenager I've ever met.

HA! Well, at least my son doesn't have as many siblings to compete with and he gets plenty of attention on his own. E is really low maintenance so A doesn't have to worry about her being an attention hog....E would prefer NOT to have the attention. And she is pretty good about helping A out when he's having a meltdown. It's a good dynamic now, but I'd be in trouble if E was anything like Marcia! When A was little, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" would have been a mild reaction!

I know a guy who when he was younger sounds just like your daughter. He's now a doctor!!

That's great how they get along!!

What does the mask say? I can't quite read it! But I like the color!

Um...maybe it's just the sun in Elsa's face making her squint or something, but she looks like she's in her 60s, like she's all wrinkled and her hair is just white from age. Or is that just me?

That filet looks soooooo good! I want to try the soup, too. Are those mushrooms I see with the filet? I LOVE mushrooms!!

It says "Boo"!! It is a fun mask!!

No--I felt like she looked older than I thought she should!!

Yes--mushrooms it is!! They're a favorite of mine also!!

We loved those donuts on our trip in October! The chocolate ones were our favorite. The line to get into the Mexico pavilion has been so long on my Dec. and Feb. trip. I was pretty disappointed with the offerings at Mouse Gear too Patti.

We had some of each--I can't remember which I liked best!! E & I had to deal with it later that day for our dinner reservation
I am disappointed but at least I'm not spending as much money as I normally would!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

At this point some of the group went one way(I can't remember where though) & the rest of us went another. We ran into Pooh along the way. We were standing there watching him & he pointed at me. He wanted me to pretend like I was throwing a ball & he was going to catch it with his net. My friend actually got it on video. It was fun!! We ran into E a few minutes later & I told her what had gone on. Her response, "I know. I saw it & just kept walking!!"

Our group was headed to Figment. Boy, was J nervous!! This was a first for him & he was scared. Of course, he ended up loving it!!

We all met up & headed to Living with the Land next.

Too close for comfort IMO.

Cute display!!

Shortly before this trip J discovered the art of snapping his fingers. What does a kid do when they learn something like that? Snap their fingers all. the. time. There was a lot of snapping going on during the trip so I told him I was going to start calling him this!!

One of my favorite veggies!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

After Living with the Land we rode Soarin then headed back to WS. We went to the gift shop in Norway first. As soon as we walked in we were lectured by the CM working in there about having to keep our masks on at all times. We all looked at each other totally confused. None of us were breaking the rules & someone made that comment to him. He said he knew but he was just giving a friendly reminder. I was so irritated that I walked out. So did one of our friends. With that we went & got a beer in Norway. Had one of us been breaking the rules I would have understood. But for him to admit that we weren't really made us mad.

I was excited b/c I had heard that there was a passholder store set up in Germany with some really good prices. We went there next. Only to find out that wasn't open on the weekends

Here was it's location.

J pointed out this bird in America & reminded me of how one of them kept coming at me the last time we got a funnel cake there. Good memory!!

Then we headed to Japan. $9.49 for a bag of Kit Kats!!

I was actually going to buy this(even though I had no clue what it was) but the lines were long & weren't moving very fast so I changed my mind.

Why I took this I have no idea.

A co-worker was telling me how much she liked the turkey legs there so I took this picture & sent it to her.

This is the first time I had ever seen this happening!! I was not excited in the least though--it was making us run behind for our dinner reservations!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

We had reservations at San Angel Inn & our friends had one at La Hacienda b/c they were not able to get one at San Angel. The line for us to get inside was totally insane.

But, finally we made it!!

We had a table right by the water which was nice!!

I had a spicy margarita.

For dinner I had the Camarones A La Diabla. It was excellent!! E had the Ensalada Cesar with shrimp. She said it was the best salad she ever had. She liked it so much that we are going back there next month!!

J had tacos. I didn't get a pic of JSR's food but let's face it, it's so dark in there that the pictures hardly show anything anyways!!

After our dinners we met back up & took a ride with Donald.

After that 5 of us headed to Frozen. You can bet J wasn't one of them. To this day he still won't ride it b/c he is afraid of "the hill".

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST

As we headed out of the park we decided to pay Nemo a visit before we parted ways.

We said our goodbyes to our friends & off we all went. It was a nice surprise & it was fun to spend the day with them!!

We were in line for the bus at 9 along with quite a few others.

But, in no time at all 2 buses pulled in right away!!

It was a struggle making it back to the treehouse. The sprinklers were on & none of us wanted to walk down the path b/c we didn't want to get soaked. J was safe b/c he was in the stroller!!

There was a lot of water coming out of them!!

 

[Tuvalu]

 

[riverside]

Good things come to those who wait

 

[lindawdw]

dodging the sprinklers is not the perfect way to end your night. It's too bad that they make you wait in that long line at Mexico when you have a dining reservation! I'm so glad that you enjoyed your meal so much that you want to go back at least!!! We had a fantastic meal at La Hacienda de San Angel in February, so I made a reservation to do it again in April! I'm glad to hear that J enjoyed Figment so much and I wish he would give Frozen another chance. He's really been trying a lot of new attractions so I'm sure he'll eventually do that one again soon. BTW, we missed out on shopping in Germany for the AP discount too since I didn't realize it was just the weekends.

 

[amjt660]

Ok - I will play along

1) You wanted to go for a swim
2) You wanted to go rock climbing?
3) You appreciate Japanese architecture?
4) Those river rock would look great in your backyard?
5) Your name is Pocahontos and you want to find out what is around that river bend?


Am I getting close?

Max

 

[krisri18]

View attachment 537930
Ok - I will play along

1) You wanted to go for a swim
2) You wanted to go rock climbing?
3) You appreciate Japanese architecture?
4) Those river rock would look great in your backyard?
5) Your name is Pocahontos and you want to find out what is around that river bend?


Am I getting close?

Max

6) you were reminiscing on the Agent P World Showcase adventure and how he'd come around the corner on a speed boat

 

[riverside]

dodging the sprinklers is not the perfect way to end your night. It's too bad that they make you wait in that long line at Mexico when you have a dining reservation! I'm so glad that you enjoyed your meal so much that you want to go back at least!!! We had a fantastic meal at La Hacienda de San Angel in February, so I made a reservation to do it again in April! I'm glad to hear that J enjoyed Figment so much and I wish he would give Frozen another chance. He's really been trying a lot of new attractions so I'm sure he'll eventually do that one again soon. BTW, we missed out on shopping in Germany for the AP discount too since I didn't realize it was just the weekends.

As it turns out dodging the sprinklers was nothing compared to what we were in store for the next night!!
I kept thinking there should be a better way to let people in who have a reservation. R & I ate there a few years back but this was E's first time & she loved it. I'm glad to eat there again myself!!
I wish he would also. We are going in July with a big group of people & they are putting the pressure on him about going on & he said that he might!!
Oh bummer!! I was kicking myself b/c I'm usually a better planner!! Between that & the Norway CM my mood was soured for a bit!!

 

[riverside]

View attachment 537930
Ok - I will play along

1) You wanted to go for a swim
2) You wanted to go rock climbing?
3) You appreciate Japanese architecture?
4) Those river rock would look great in your backyard?
5) Your name is Pocahontos and you want to find out what is around that river bend?


Am I getting close?

Max

1) I don't think so--it's too shallow
2) Highly doubt it--I'm afraid of heights
3) You might be on to something there. I do think it's beautiful.
4) I think it would be awesome in any backyard but wouldn't be feasible in mine
5) I am a curious person. Pocahontos/Patti close enough, right?

My guess would be #3!! But hopefully the reason will come to me sooner than later b/c now you have my wheels turning & it's driving me crazy!!

 

[riverside]

6) you were reminiscing on the Agent P World Showcase adventure and how he'd come around the corner on a speed boat

6) I don't think so. Sad to say I never took part in that!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST

Daylight Savings Time ended today which was great--a bonus hour in Disney!! Remember the snacks I bought on Friday thinking our friends might come over to our place? Well, that didn't happen & there was much to be consumed so J was allowed to have some for breakfast!! Don't judge--we didn't want them to go to waste!!

I had taken a walk around the loop of fear(aka the treehouses) earlier. A little boy on a bike approached me to ask me for directions to Saratoga Springs(the main part). I'm assuming he was staying there & made a wrong turn which is what brought him to the treehouses. I gave him directions & prayed that he got out of the treehouse section before one of the buses came through!!
Meanwhile, E was dealing with someone pounding on our door. She thought it might be me & that I had forgot my MB. She opened the door to find a woman standing there. The woman looked quite confused than proceeded to tell E that she had the wrong treehouse!! Her words, "No wonder my magic band didn't work!!"

We weren't in a big rush & J was enjoying his breakfast so E started looking at dates for another trip. She found an awesome AP rate for January for the Yacht Club. It was around $280 a night which was great so we both booked it!! Now to see if I could get off work for those days.....

We headed to the Grandstand bus stop & I snapped a golf pic along the way & sent it to R.

Please look at my sister. Keep in mind we are from up North. A 50 degree day(esp in winter months) is pleasant to us. But for some reason she was cold & needed to wear a hoodie. JSR & I kept making fun of her b/c it was......

82 degrees!!

While waiting for the bus I checked my email & found this lovely one!!

We had the bus all to ourselves!! It was 11:30 but it was also a weekend so we were quite surprised!!

Had to put the new countdown on my phone!!

In no time at all we arrived at a very empty HS!!

As you can see, E was still cold