[packerbeth]

Thanks! I do have a couple more days' worth; I didn't think anyone was still reading.

[dakscott]

I'm still reading.....please post more!!!!

[packerbeth]

Thanks for reading. We're snowed in today, so I'll work on it this afternoon.

[packerbeth]

Saturday morning came so early. I knew I would be tired, so I set the wakeup call for 8:30, even though I had to be at the Gaylord Palms at 9 a.m. Needless to say, I was a bit late. I took a superfast shower and skipped breakfast, and arrived after our first speaker had already started. If you watch Trading Spaces, it was Laurie Smith. She was pretty good. The next speaker was a man (my DH's reaction to hearing this news was "You had a MAN at MOPS convention?!?!?" The third was Julie Barnhill; she was my favorite.

Anyway, a boxed lunch was included with today's convention, so I wasn't starving by the time dinner rolled around this time! I got out about 1:30 and scooted out to find Flip. I had a very exciting afternoon planned! When I stopped at the booth in the parking lot to pay my fee, I was asked why I was at the GP today. When I told her it was for convention, she said my fee was only $10. This was good news, because I'd paid $12 yesterday since the clerk didn't ask me this same question.

Off to the Grand Floridian! I had a 3:00 appointment to get my photo taken around the grounds. (It was included in the cost of my pre-paid Photopass CD, so if you get one of those, call GF and set up a session.) When I got to GF, I was shocked that you had to go through the parking lot, out of the parking lot and across the street to another parking lot! Talk about making you feel like a second-class citizen! I had considered going to TTC and taking the monorail, but I didn't get going soon enough. I still had to change into the dress I was wearing for the photo shoot.

The new Photopass counter is on the second floor. I checked in, and they directed me across the way to the restroom to change. When I returned, I chatted with a CM who was from Stoughton, Wisconsin, where my DH was born. Stacy had the photopass card, but it was no problem; they just started a new one for me. I can't remember my Photopass CMs name, but she was very nice and chatty. We walked all around the GF, and she took 35 pictures, some better than others.

I'm really glad I did this session. I figured, I'm always having the kids' pictures done, why not take the opportunity to get dressed up and have my own pictures taken. The GF is a lovely resort, but I think a little too fancy for me and my loud bunch. Give me the Beach Club any day!

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

[packerbeth]

After my photo session, I changed back into my traveling clothes and went off to find Flip. I took these photos along the way.







I called Stacy to see where she was, and to let her know I wanted to ride the monorail loop, so I'd call her when I reached MK. Flip and I made the drive to the TTC, and I hopped on the Epcot-bound monorail for the first time. I'd read that you could get some cool pictures from up here, and I really wanted to see it for myself.

[timkelmom]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

Saturday morning came so early. I knew I would be tired, so I set the wakeup call for 8:30, even though I had to be at the Gaylord Palms at 9 a.m. Needless to say, I was a bit late. I took a superfast shower and skipped breakfast, and arrived after our first speaker had already started. If you watch Trading Spaces, it was Laurie Smith. She was pretty good. The next speaker was a man (my DH's reaction to hearing this news was "You had a MAN at MOPS convention?!?!?" The third was Julie Barnhill; she was my favorite.

Anyway, a boxed lunch was included with today's convention, so I wasn't starving by the time dinner rolled around this time! I got out about 1:30 and scooted out to find Flip. I had a very exciting afternoon planned! When I stopped at the booth in the parking lot to pay my fee, I was asked why I was at the GP today. When I told her it was for convention, she said my fee was only $10. This was good news, because I'd paid $12 yesterday since the clerk didn't ask me this same question.

Off to the Grand Floridian! I had a 3:00 appointment to get my photo taken around the grounds. (It was included in the cost of my pre-paid Photopass CD, so if you get one of those, call GF and set up a session.) When I got to GF, I was shocked that you had to go through the parking lot, out of the parking lot and across the street to another parking lot! Talk about making you feel like a second-class citizen! I had considered going to TTC and taking the monorail, but I didn't get going soon enough. I still had to change into the dress I was wearing for the photo shoot.

The new Photopass counter is on the second floor. I checked in, and they directed me across the way to the restroom to change. When I returned, I chatted with a CM who was from Stoughton, Wisconsin, where my DH was born. Stacy had the photopass card, but it was no problem; they just started a new one for me. I can't remember my Photopass CMs name, but she was very nice and chatty. We walked all around the GF, and she took 35 pictures, some better than others.

I'm really glad I did this session. I figured, I'm always having the kids' pictures done, why not take the opportunity to get dressed up and have my own pictures taken. The GF is a lovely resort, but I think a little too fancy for me and my loud bunch. Give me the Beach Club any day!

Here are a few of my favorite shots:
Attachment 31211

Attachment 31212

Attachment 31213

Attachment 31214

Can I just say these are beautiful? What a treat for yourself. I know your family is going to cherish these pics.

[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by timkelmom

Can I just say these are beautiful? What a treat for yourself. I know your family is going to cherish these pics.

Thanks so much; that's nice of you to say. It was very special. I saw GF while I was watching the Christmas special today and it will always remind me of the opportunity I had to have those photos taken there.

[packerbeth]

Here's one more from Epcot: it's American Adventure.


When I got to the TTC after my trip around Epcot, I decided to take the ferry to MK for the first time this trip. While I waited, I chatted with a CM who drove the Disney buses. She commented on my crocs, and I told her how comfortable they were. I’m still wearing them around the house, even though it’s too cool to wear them outside now! It was a nice, relaxing ride aboard the ferry, and I took some more pictures of the scenery while I traveled.




It was a really great start to my last day at the Magic Kingdom.

[packerbeth]

When I arrived at the Magic Kingdom and entered Town Square, I was surprised and happy to see that the flag ceremony was about to begin. I got my video camera out and was able to video the entire ceremony. In January, I'd had this on my list of things to do if we had time, if we happened to catch it, but didn't plan on going out of my way to make time for it. We didn't see it then, so I couldn't have been happier that it was going on as I entered MK that day. My brother is serving in Iraq right now, and my dad was career military, so things like this have always been important to our family.

If you've never seen this, if a veteran is available, they take part in the ceremony. This time, there were two veterans - and they were husband and wife! They were fairly young, and they'd both served recently on foreign soil. It was extremely moving and made me so proud to be an American. I stood there thinking of Walt, and how great it was that you can still find this kind of ceremony in our culture, and at Disney World, no less!

Stacy and I had originally planned on meeting at the Minnie/Roy statue, but when I called her, she was enjoying her ice cream sandwich at the Bakery, so we met up there instead. She offered me the chance to go in and get one, but I thought maybe we'd get back there later. It was our last day at the MK, and I was really feeling the push to get going. The most important thing on our list was Spectromagic. Anything else we did was going to be icing on the cake!

I did not take too many pictures on this day, so my timeline is a little fuzzy. I think we were just trying to take it all in, enjoying every last minute we were in the Magic Kingdom on this trip. The park was very crowded, since it was one of the only days Spectro would be running. There were always lines at the Photopass photographers, so we didn't get any PP pics taken this day.

Our first order of business was Mickey's Philharmagic. My DD7 had freaked out at the beginning of this show, and I had to stand with her in the back of the theatre during the entire thing. I'd left my glasses back at my seat in my haste to get an hysterical 7 year old out of the theatre, so I hadn't really been able to appreciate this show as it was intended that first time. I was determined to fix that this trip!

Of course, I loved it. Someday I'll bring my DD back to this show, and she'll love it, too. I'd read about how the theme of the show was continued in the shop, and since I'm a musical type, we checked it out. You know how Donald's behind is stuck in the wall at the end of the show? Well, here's the front of him!


While we were in Fantasyland, we decided to get some dinner. I'd wanted to try Columbia Harbor House, so off we went. It was very crowded in there, too, and it took a long time to get our food. We passed the time easily, though, catching up on what the other person did during our time apart. One thing Stacy and I do well is talk!

While we were in line, I noticed one of the guys from Imagination Movers. Now, if you don't have preschoolers or the Disney channel, you won't know who these guys are. They were in town for the special concert series at MGM. I wouldn't have recognized any of the other guys, necessarily, but I did this one because I've always thought that he needed a haircut. After we got our food and he was still waiting for his, we stood around and "stalked" him for a little while, thinking maybe we'd just say hi to him. Well, while we were standing there, this kid comes up to us, maybe 14 years old, and starts talking to us for some reason. While he was trying to talk us into trying Beverly at Club Cool, we took our eyes off of Scott, and when we were done talking to the kid, he had disappeared! We wandered around for a couple of minutes, but when we found him, he was with his family, so we didn't want to distub him. It was pretty funny that we spent so much time on this guy, because our kids don't really care for IM all that much. Oh well, he was the only "famous" person we saw all trip, so it was worth it just to have a story to tell the kids!

We went upstairs to eat, and both enjoyed our food. I got the chicken, and since I don't have the receipt, I can't remember what Stacy had. I'd wanted the tuna, but had to ask if there was "stuff" in it (i.e. celery and onion!). It did, so I passed. I like my tuna plain. Our window looked out at the grassy roof of one of the Fantasyland buildings, which was pretty neat. We probably spent an hour here, eating, chatting, catching up. It was an enjoyable meal; I'd definitely go back here.

We hit Toon Town at some point, because I had already made a scrapbook page, and needed some pictures to fill it up! Toon Town was packed; there were people everywhere! We grabbed a couple of photos without staying to meet with the occupants.

Here's Stacy, checking Minnie's messages.


Minnie's chair was very comfy, plus it matched my shirt!


Love Minnie's Rockwell-esque self portrait!


These pumpkins are awesome!

[packerbeth]

Stacy and I were talking this afternoon about how our timeline on Saturday is not clear in our heads; I think it's because neither of us took many pictures, and the time stamp on my camera really helps me keep things in line timewise. I wrote down a couple of attractions we rode, but mostly we just wandered around enjoying the atmosphere.

We did hit Small World again, because I wanted to take pictures from the other side of the boat. Here are a few more for my fellow iasw lovers.









I really love the last room, with all the children in white. I read that Walt first got the idea for a family-friendly theme park while in Tivoli Gardens, the world's oldest amusement park, which is in Denmark. This last all-white room represents Tivoli, which I've been to, by the way.

I was floored during the Christmas special when they showed the Christmas decorations for the INSIDE of small world. What an amazing undertaking that must be. I would go to WDW during the holidays just to see that.

[packerbeth]

We liked our spot from the previous night's Boo to You parade so much, that we headed to Liberty Square for Spectromagic, as well. It was drizzling, so even though we only got there about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, we were able to be right up front. Hopefully this time we wouldn't have people complaining about our standing up in front of their children! We chatted with the folks around us and told them the story of the lovely people we'd met the night before. I took video again, so these are all Stacy's pictures.

[packerbeth]

I really enjoyed Spectromagic. I was a big fan of the Electric Light Parade back in the day, but like what they did with the lights in this one: making them be all white one minute and rainbow colored the next. I really liked the music, it's so happy! I have watched my video more than once, just to give me a lift!

[packerbeth]

After Spectromagic, we decided to go right over to ride Splash Mountain again. We were already wet from the rain, so we figured, why not? At first, we tried to walk along the sidewalks, but we couldn't get through, so we joined the crowd walking behind the parade. We sprinted right up the queue and enjoyed our trip down the mountain once again. We thought we'd dry off on BTMRR like we did last time, but as we sprinted up that queue, laughing about not having to wait, we were informed that it was down indefinitely. I'm sure it had something to do with the rain.

We'd seen Hallowishes the night before, and although we'd originally planned to stick around for Wishes, we decided against it in exchange for another ride on Space Mountain. On our way through the hub, we stopped to take our only pictures in front of the Partners statue. We weren't ever able to catch a PP photographer here without a line, so we had to take our own. Unfortunately, the lighting is not that good, but you all know the staute, so you can use your imagination. Like Stacy's ears? She put them on just for the photo!

[packerbeth]

Stacy and I were trying to figure out why we were rushing from the Tomorrowland side of MK to get to Liberty Square for Spectromagic; I think it was because we went there to get a FP for Space Mountain to use for later. It was way too crowded for us to walk on SM, I think. I seem to remember getting a FP, although we did get one on Thursday morning, so maybe I'm thinking of that.

We had another awesome time on SM, and chatted with a young man who had been in the military. I always try to talk with anyone who looks military, to thank them for serving our country. We ended up in the same rocket as him, so he was treated to Stacy's laugh-scream. I don't know if it was lighter in SM or not, or it was just because I was in the very front seat, but I could kind of see where I was going, which made it all the more fun!

After SM, we took a spin on TTA. I'd never been on it, and we were kind of looking for a nice, relaxing way to end our MK day. We were one of the last ones on because the park was getting ready to close. We chatted and relaxed and enjoyed our last moments at Magic Kingdom for this trip. Lucky Stacy would be back in just a few months. Who knew when I'd be back?

We wanted to check out our Photopass pictures, so we went to the Exposition Hall before leaving the park. We waited a while, but passed the time talking with some young people in front of us. They were from Michigan, too, and the one guy was trying to hide the fact that he'd ripped his pants sometime that day. I don't remember exactly how; maybe Stacy was paying more attention. I was looking at the beautiful baby girl he was holding, and missing my own.

We looked at our pictures and said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. I wasn't too sad, because we'd had such an incredible time. We were just about to get into the monorail when I heard a clunk. Hearing that sound made me look down at my bags and it was then that I realized I did not have my video camera bag with me. I had remembered setting it down at Exposition Hall, so we rushed back there. We ran up to the first CM we saw, described the bag, and were so happy when one of them reached into a cupboard and pulled out my camera bag! Phew! I gave him a big hug, and headed back to the monorail. I had been so panicked, thinking, What's the point of videotaping Spectromagic if you lose the bag afterwards?!?!?

I think that thunk may have been my gorillapod; but if I had to sacrifice that in order to get my videocamera back, it was totally worth it. I do remember unhooking it while we were watching Hallowishes the night before, but never saw it after that, so maybe that's what fell out of my bag. We'll never know, but boy was I glad that I didn't leave my camera behind!

At the TTC, we had to take the tram out to where I'd parked Flip. I hadn't arrived until after 4 p.m. so I was parked out in the Minnie Mouse section. I don't know if it was because it was late, or this is the way our driver always talked, but every time he mentioned our parking location, he would say, "MMMMMMMMMMMMinnie Mouse." "The next stop is MMMMMMMMMinnie Mouse. If this is your stop, please exit the tram at MMMMMMMMMMMMMinnie Mouse." It made us laugh all night long.

We found Flip in MMMMMMMMMMMMinnie Mouse, drove to ASMu and proceeded to do the saddest thing of our whole trip: packing! We had an early start planned at Epcot in the morning, and our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15 p.m. It wasn't so bad, though, because as we packed, we shared memories of our trip so far, and also split the delicious apple that Stacy had picked up for me at Goofy's Candy Co. the day before.

We were in bed at a relatively early hour (midnight maybe) and went to sleep quickly. We wanted to be ready to hit the ground running the next morning - it was to be our first rope drop (not counting early EMH at MK)!

The weather today was sprinkling during the day, rainy in the evening.
The best thing today was the Photopass pictures at Grand Floridian, Space Mountain, getting my camera back.
The worst thing today was forgetting the video camera at MK camera center.
The funniest thing today was "MMMMMMMMMMinnie Mouse" man on the parking lot tram.
Today we tried Tomorrowland Transit Authority and the result was a nice, slow, relaxing trip the whole family can enjoy.
The most magical moment today was sharing our Disney knowledge with the little girl on the Peter Pan ride; getting to MK just as the flag ceremony started.

I hadn't included the PP story, because I couldn't remember when we rode PP. There was a little girl there with her mom, and they were trying out PP to see how scary it was. We assured them that it wasn't scary at all, which was good for them, because the little brother wouldn't want to go on it if it were scary. We shared some of our "internet crap" with them, like looking for the mermaid that looks like Ariel, and when you see Wendy ready to walk the plank, look up to see PP fighting with Hook. They were very appreciative, and when we saw them afterwards, they thanked us for making their flight all the more special.

[jenbarnwell]

Your pictures are fantastic, I am really enjoying your TR, You got to take so many pictures at the Halloween Party, we went in September and it poured from 7:30 to 11:30, We barely got to do anything and all the special things like the Villian <Mix and Mingle were cancelled we did get to see the parade but it was raining so I didn't get that great of pictures. And the same with Hallowishes. Although I could really tell that both were probably pretty amazing events. I always wondered how going to Disney without your children would feel. I want to see all of your scrapbook pages, I love to scrap too!