[cowanfamily]

Day 5, Saturday TL and MK (again)

We needed to see Wishes and the Spectromagic Parade - our schedule demanded that they be seen on the next day. We had just done the MK the night before, but we had yet to go to a water park, so we got up and sent DS11 and DH to TL to get our favorite spot; the rest of us would meet them there within an hour. They got there and got a locker and our favorite spot around 10:30 - with a 10am opening, this was great! The rest of us drove our van over - it was a light day and we enjoyed ourselves alot!

Just so you know, the best spot in the park is over between the slides and the Shark Tank. There is a large beach tucked in there, with a few shelters. Up around the back rounded corner there are chairs - this spot is awesome, very private, with shade and sun. All day we saw people poking there heads in to see if it was taken. YEP!

Did TL for several hours, showered and dressed, and left TL around 3pm. We drove the van over to the Wilderness Lodge for our dinner at Whispering Canyon. While I really loved my meal, great comfort food: noodles, chicken and white creamy sauce, I was less than impressed with the "goings on". It was odd just for no apparent reason the waitress (with no other odd behavior) tossed straws at us. It just seemed a bit rude. Most of our table even missed it completely. The kids enjoyed the pony rides, but I was underwhelmed. The food, like I said, everyone loved!

[cowanfamily]

You people alive out there????? Are we really THAT boring?

[cowanfamily]

But I go on....

I know I dont have many photos from this day....but I do for the next! SURFIN!

After dinner, we took some time to pin trade in the lobby of the WL, then took advantage of the Photopass photographer who was near the little bridge. They took family pictures of each of our families, pics of just the kids, and of all of us together. They turned out okay, but the lighting was kinda funny. the kids pics turned out very well. Again, I will add later when I get the photopass pics in.

[hanwill]

No, not at all... I am just living vicariously through you... trying to picture myself at your vacation spots! Keep it up- 12 days, there could not have been much boredom. Did your friends stay that long too????

[Peppertink]

That cake looks wonderful!!!! They always do such a great job:)

[cowanfamily]

We left WC at around 5:30, getting to the MK around 6ish. The crowds were out of control!!! The kids were exhausted!!! We wandered around Tomorrowland, waited in line 1/2 hour for the rockets (ridiculous wait!)
The line for the people mover was down the stairs and outside of the rocket platform so we skipped it and did COP. After this, the kids were starting to melt down. We decided to head toward the exit. It was around 7:50 and we decided to stay and watch Spectro from the Train Platform...this was great, though crowded. We then made a beeline for the exit - the Dads took the boat back to WL and the van; the moms and the kids took the bus to POP. As we were in the Classic Hall, the boys called and said it started POURING as soon as they got on the boat! They were soaked, we had the ponchos in the backpack! We missed the hard rain while in POP, but I bet there were no WISHES that night - I am glad we left when we did!

We were leaving for the beach the next morning around 7, so we ordered 7 of the Turkey Ciabatta sandwiches to go that night - they serve breakfast in the morning and would not be able to make them for us in the am. They were great with the homemade potato chips on the side. We packed them in the cooler and we were set for our beach picnic!

[cowanfamily]

Originally Posted by hanwill

No, not at all... I am just living vicariously through you... trying to picture myself at your vacation spots! Keep it up- 12 days, there could not have been much boredom. Did your friends stay that long too????

They left on Friday, we left on Sunday - we had two days alone and it was nice. Quieter! But the kids had a really great time together, and the grown ups did, too. We like to travel with friends, especially WDW first timers - makes everything new again!

[cowanfamily]

Thanks for reading!

[cowanfamily]

The next morning, we were out the door by 6:20! We had packed the cooler, got clothes and other things ready, and just woke up, got dressed and headed for Cocoa Beach.

Our son saw a photo of a friend of his whose parents are from CA and have a condo on Maui...he was surfing - and ever since this is been #1 on his MUST DO list. So for his birthday, we arranged for the kids to have a private surfing lesson from Ron Jon's Surf School in Cocoa Beach. We had looked into the one at TL, also by Ron John's and found it to be twice as expensive and the kids would be in a group of 14 people, including adults. We opted for the private - one teacher, 21, been surfing since he was 2 for the three kids. It was perfect. They are all USA Swim Team members, and swam on YMCA teams for at least 4 years before they joined a competitive team last year. They LOVE to swim, and the girls, in particular, are very muscular.

Well, they took right to swimming. The girls took one 4 minute break in the three hours, Quinn took not one minute of a break. It was a blast to watch them and I swam out to watch them from out with them (it was HOT and the sun was brutal on my red-head skin). I did get some video, but can't figure out how to get it off the disc! I've got some pics to post, and more, better ones to come.

If anyone wants a day trip from WDW, I highly recommend Ron Jon's Surf School - and they gave us 15% off our Ron Jon purchases down the street at the 2 story store. We spent WAY too long in there! But I made my favorite souvenir purchase of the trip: my Hula Monkey! (I'll have to go take a pic of him - he makes me smile!)

[cowanfamily]

Here's the only picture I can find. I was under the misunderstanding that my video camera took decent still pictures. I guess I needed to do more to set it up, they are horrible.

The videos are great, but can't get to them right now!

[cowanfamily]

Right after the surf lessons were over, the kids were famished, as you can imagine. The surf was good that morning, with lots of medium sized waves. We saw lots of pelicans, and a huge ray that jumped completely out of the water, showing us his full belly view before he plopped back into the water no more than 40 feet from the kids surfing. Cool, very cool.

Cocoa Beach is very nice, they have public parking along the beach (for pay, of course) but we got free parking at Ron Jons. They also have nice picnic shelters right behind the dunes, and public outdoor showers and changing rooms right along the beach as well. We broke out our cooler and ate our Turkey Ciabattas, chips and fruit and cookies, the kids rinsed off and changed and off we went to do a bit of souvenir shopping!

Ron Jon's got a lot of our money. We bought a tshirt for the kids' swim coach, (he told them if they were at WDW, they should go down to Cocoa Beach and go to Ron Jon's - he had no idea of our secret plans...haha), a tshirt for DH, a tshirt and sunglasses for Quinn, Sabrina bought a painted purse that is real cool, and a change purse that does not match but says Live Love Surf. I bought the Hula Monkey, the kind that sticks on your dashboard and hulas when your car jiggles. Fun, fun.

[staceyheis]

Originally Posted by cowanfamily

So we caught the bus back to POP, I recall this took a long time coming. POP seemed the only resort not getting buses, and yet other resorts had no lines waiting and had bus after bus. It was odd. Anyway, it was very nice to go back to the room and rest, watch a little tv, and leisurely get dressed for the party. Just like last year, we all went as pirates, but we had opted for the kids to do the Pirate's League that day to jazz them up a bit. and we were glad we did.

We went to Liberty Tree Tavern dressed as Pirates as soon as we arrived in MK, around 4:30-5pm. The taco salads are great, a wonderful change from burger, but my DH still enjoyed his burger with the fixin's bar. It was not too crowded, and there were plenty of clean tables. We ordered using the automated teller order takers and it was easy and fast. The drinks here are huge, and I know we ended up throwing much of the kids' drinks away.

After dinner we caught the end of the Move It, Shake It parade which was great, what we saw of it! we took advantage of the light crowds, many people leaving the park for dinner, it seemed, as the park closed at 7 for the party, and by 6, the lines for Splash and BTMRR were low and we took advantage.

By now it was close to 7, and we walked toward POTC to register for our Pirate's League. We went on Pirates, then checked in, or vice versa. After the ride, our friends took off to try to catch the Villains and the first parade, while we had a short wait for our Pirate's appointment. The kids REALLY enjoyed this experience. I have fabulous photopass pics that I will have in a few weeks to share, but we have not ordered our cd yet. My daughter had a much better time than she thought she would. Being a prude, I dont let her wear makeup in 7th grade, but most of her friends do. So she loved the fuss the gentleman made over her, putting on makeup and a face jewel; she got to choose what color of eyeshadow and blush, and he painted her nails. She got to keep the makeup she used in a cool little pirate purse, and got a bandana that had an earring attached. They went into the secret room after saying the oath and had such cute pictures taken! The pirate makeup artists really did a great job with the kids and adults, and were very much happy and in character, though we were the last ones in there on a very busy night. Hurray for their spirit, it really could have been a dud, if you know what I mean?

I am so jealous of your photopass pictures. For some reason, they lost ours!! The photopass people have searched and have said the pictures can't be found! Ugh!! My DD loved getting black nail polish - something I never let her do. Do you have photos of the makeup? Would love to see!

[princesslindsey]

Originally Posted by staceyheis

I am so jealous of your photopass pictures. For some reason, they lost ours!! The photopass people have searched and have said the pictures can't be found! Ugh!! My DD loved getting black nail polish - something I never let her do. Do you have photos of the makeup? Would love to see!

Lost them?! I've never heard of that happening! That really stinks. I'm so sorry that happened!

[staceyheis]

Originally Posted by princesslindsey

Lost them?! I've never heard of that happening! That really stinks. I'm so sorry that happened!

Sorry - should have been clear (I'm a little tired) - they were my photopass pictures from Pirates Adventure - the "private" room where no cameras are allowed!!

[cowanfamily]

I think our camera had died the night of the party, all I seem to have are those from the secret room. I will take pics of the pics and post - hopefully they will turn out. At least you've got the printed ones, huh? Drag that they lost them!