Marriage: The Trip Report - Update 2/28 - Final Thoughts & Link to Disneyland TR!

[petals]

love the update. I'm a little late catching up with it but the pics from F&G are brill.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Well, time got away on me and we were visiting family over the New Year, so I'm just making it back now! We leave for Disneyland in just 5 days. Think I can finish the TR, the May and August TR by then and catch up in the 1,000 DIS emails I have in my inbox?!???!!!!

Merry Christmas to you -- Brook, Joe and Henry.

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas Brook, Joe and Henry

​

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Brook, Joe, and Henry!

Thank you so much for the Christmas wishes! We had a GREAT holiday!

Awesome pictures of the topiaries.

I wish WDW had those year round. Didn't they use to have them all around the Magic Kingdom?

I do too! They were truly beautiful. I have no idea about them at the MK...our first trip was in 2006 and I don't recall them then. I wouldn't doubt it though!

Every topiary? I am impressed!

So cute the Henry loved the KP mission. I do love how the missions allow you to see small details that I would normally miss.

I hope to come back and see your pictures later, but at least I feel like I am semi- caught up.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I have been enjoying your Henry FB updates. Hope your dad is still doing well.

That was my goal!!! I was a crazy woman!

What gorgeous pictures of the topiaries!! I just love the UK pavillion!! Love the pictures of Henry all over the UK...he is such a cutie!!

Hope you have a safe trip to MN!!!! Safe travels my friend!!

The UK pavilion was easily my favorite. It was so pretty and cute with those tea cups!! We spent a ton of time in there just soaking it in.

I’m all caught up. Woo Hoo. I totally remember reading your report that included your first excursion to KSC. Our kids are around the same age, so I felt your pain having to change his blow out in the nasty gas station. I’m so happy this trip to the space center was even better. Cracker Barrel is AWESOME. Our next trip is in 6 weeks and I’m trying to get myself to have a more go with the flow attitude when we go to the parks. I’m not picking a great week, though (Presidents Day week). I may have to do one more commando trip, then the next one will be a stop and smell the roses kinda trip

I was so very happy to have a SMOOTH KSC trip this time! All bathroom stops were completely normal for the entire family.

It is very difficult to have a "stop and smell the roses" trip when the parks are busy. When it's dead in the parks it's not so bad, you know you'll eventually get to what you want to do...but when it's packed, I hit the fear that we might not get to ride something I want! Which is silly because I know we will be back...but I can't shake it in the moment!

 

[brookelizabeth]

First of all: I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wish you the best for 2012!!

I love the Epcot F&G festival pictures. I am quite determined that my next trip will be during that festival. Which means that I will have to wait until 2013 because this coming spring it won't work... But it sounds like you might be around then as well???

I can very well understand how you finally got into the mood that you need to get things done!! It always happens to me with the second half of any trip! Even though I am never as relaxed as you were in the first half of your trip...

However, your report on the KSC really has me convinced that I need to finally get myself there... And maybe take in more of Florida as well. Once I am flying across an ocean, I should make good use of being there.

Thank you! And THANK YOU for the Christmas card as well! It was so fun to have one arrive from Germany! Next year I will have better planning and all my DIS friends will be getting cards - everything was very last minute this year!

In 2013 we will probably be going during the last full week of February, which is a week Henry has off school, so we will likely miss the F&GF by just a day or two...but perhaps we could extend it.

KSC is really very, very cool if you are at all interested in the space program. It's worth the price of admission and the time away from the Disney Parks.

 

[jenseib]

I'll give you 50 cents if you can get it all finished in 5 days.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Awesome pictures, Brook! I so love the topiaries; but I love even more that you got to just linger and focus on the things you really love

It was a great day overall, one of my favorites of the trip.

Didn't know how far behind I was on your TR. But I'm all caught up now. Loving it as usual. Hope you had guys had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year. Looking forward to more updates and also hearing about your DL trip.

I was posting like crazy there for a few days! I need to do that more until we leave.

Whew...all caught up! And loving it, as always!

Hey Nory! Thanks for reading!

Woo hoo for flower and garden festival! Those pics bring back good memories! They also get me excited for my next trip!!

Disneyland is in a little over a week!!!!!! Holy cow!!!!!!! I'm so excited for you! I can only imagine how excited you are!!

I am SOOOOOO excited about going to Disneyland. I've been pumping myself full of as much info as I can and studying maps in every spare second. Then I keep reading "Don't over plan, you don't need to!"

Hi Brook! You've been an updating maniac! I loved reading about the adventure to the Space Center. Sounds like it was a much more successful drive back this time! I'm glad I don't do the driving at Disney because the roads can be very confusing! We took some crazy back route home from the Contemporary one time - we drove past the monorail service station!

Love all the Epcot updates. I can't wait to get back to the F&G Festival again this year. I've only missed it once in 7 years! Everything is so beautiful when it's going on.

We love KP missions too!! We have done England, France, Japan, Germany and I've done China without the boys. We just have Mexico & Norway to go... and I'll probably redo China with the boys. I'm glad Henry had a fun into to the missions.

The roads at WDW are confusing! I get so turned around every time. Joe has an excellent sense of direction and if he's in the car, no problem - but when I go solo...

Isn't it the best?! I will miss Epcot's beauty this year, but hopefully it will work in 2013 again.

All caught up and 2013 for F & G may be when I get a chance to go to.

Enjoy Disneyland, that is on my agenda for this fall.

If you are planning on early March our dates might line up! I am thinking we will be there the last full week of February, perhaps just barely into March to catch a day of the festival. (or we will leave just before it officially starts since they bring out most of the stuff before it anyway!)

I'll be sure to report back, in detail, on Disneyland! I'm SO excited! Have you made your reservation for the GCV yet? It sells out FAST.

Great topiary pictures! We were there on the last day of F&G so we didn't get the chance to see all of them.

We've done the France KP mission also, and I agree its lots of fun and very cool!

There are soooooo many topiaries, I will admit I missed a few even with my determination to see them all!

Changing topic....Pat mentioned New Orleans (well, more than mentioned...had a whole chapter) and it reminded me that I meant to post a couple of pictures on your thread. A few months ago I was on a business trip to Alabama and on the return flight we flew out of New Orleans, which meant that I got one night to visit "the Big Easy". Based on your previous report, I dragged my co-workers here:

and we enjoyed these:

getting powdered sugar all over our pants, but enjoying them nonetheless.

That coffee really goes well with those beignets!

Thanks for the recommendation!

I was just re-reading my NOLA report last night (in helping a fellow TA about a hotel to stay in) and reminiscing about Cafe Du Monde. I WILL be trying the Mickey shaped ones in Disneyland!!! I'm glad you enjoyed it all, and I agree, that coffee pairs wonderfully with the beignets! YUM.

Were you brave enough to cut down Bourbon street after dark?

Glenn, Have you had the ones at POFQ?

Yes, I just mentioned that over on your thread. "Cut down" is a good description of what it was. Didn't linger anywhere too long!

No, so I can't compare unfortunately.

We haven't tried the ones at POFQ either, sadly. I was there in August, but with the TA tour group, so we didn't get to stop. Bourbon Street after dark is an interesting place! I'll never forget them washing down the streets with powdered Tide the next day...

love the update. I'm a little late catching up with it but the pics from F&G are brill.

Thank you! More to come!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'll give you 50 cents if you can get it all finished in 5 days.

I could use it to buy a pressed penny!

 

[brookelizabeth]

When I left off, last year (sorry had to), we were in the World Showcase and Henry had requested the restaurant by Soarin' - Sunshine Seasons - so that is where we were off to!

Henry's choice of Sweet & Sour chicken with noodles

Joe's choice, ham sandwich & chips

And this is mine.

And I haven't a CLUE what that is!

AllEars.net to the rescue! I am pretty certain this is the Oak Grilled Vegetable Flatbread Sandwich. I remember seriously craving veggies by this point in the trip. Quick Service meals really don't come with them...and I'm a BIG veggie eater! I don't have anything in my notes about how this was, so I'm guessing it was good, nothing to rave about, but a solid sandwich.

And dessert for all of us was a no brainer.

Love you!

Must take a picture of the balloons!

After our meal we went to use the Soarin' FPs and the line was looooooooooong, but it moved along pretty well. As we were waiting Henry was anxious to see if Donald, the CM from the other night, was working again. He wasn't, but we DID see him in August and we said hello!

It was a great ride, 3rd Row (I don't mind the feet) and I was next to a first timer who kept gasping at it all. It was fantastic to hear her excitement.

Out we came, into Future World with plenty of topiaries to see!

The flowers and trees are SO pretty during this time of year!

Family picture.

Must watch my fountain for a few minutes!

We stopped into Club Cool where I didn't trick Henry again, but he tried a few others and discovered he liked Japan!

It's more like a juice, so I'm not surprised he liked it.

Since we were right there in Future World we decided to stop into Pixie Hollow, which at the time was near Mouse Gear. The line to meet Tink & friends was very long, but we just wanted to wander through and enjoy the topiaries anyway.

A fairy house

Iridessa

Vidia

While the area was very pretty, the random gears (attempting to tie it in with Future World?) were odd...!

Tink, of course!

Silvermist

Fawn

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Rosetta

Terrance

And much to the happiness of our little man and his parents, there was a play area with SAND here in Pixie Hollow!!! What a fantastic addition. Henry dug and played for a good 30 minutes!

While Henry played I wandered through Pixie Hollow a bit more to soak in the details. It was truly beautiful!

Another fairy house

That is one clever fairy house! Does that have to do with any of the movies?

Back to Henry and the play area...

Gotta love the parent benches!

We eventually left that area and aimed ourselves back toward the World Showcase, stopping to see Pooh & Friends on the way!

I cannot recall if I mentioned this, but the music in this area was the Winnie the Pooh song, and up front near the Toy Story things it was songs from the movies. It was very fun to walk through here and sing along.

I like this shot!

Can you tell I really liked those flower beds?! How many pictures do I have of them???!

I thought this area was a bit odd.

But later I found out (and saw) it was for McQueen and eventually Mater and it all made sense!

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Onto Mexico where I only saw these guys

And while it's a smaller display, they were still very cool!

Into Norway

Ugly troll...but ugly in a cute way! I liked him!

Next up, China!

Aren't they adorable?

A pit-stop was even made in the African Outpost

I'm glad we stopped here because as we just goofed around on the drums we noticed a crowd gathering and the bridge started to rise! I had always wanted to catch the globe going through-what perfect timing!

Illuminations boat

So we have literally watched the world go by.

And we cannot forget the topiaries!

200 more pictures to go before our day ends...this was truly the never ending day!

 

[DisMomAmy]

It's amazing that even with all of the visits we've made during the F&G Festival, I still saw a ton of new things in your pictures!

Can't wait for more!!

 

[KristiMc]

The flowers are beautiful. I will have to add Flower & Garden Festival to my list of to do's.

 

[jenseib]

awesome updates!!!! I love the picture of Joe and Henry playing the drums!

 

[Caretames1]

Beautiful pictures! The colors are just amazing!

Too funny on "watching the world go by"

 

[petals]

Love all the pics again! Also re the fairy house I don't remember one in any of the movies with wheels on but maybe it's reference to the Tinker fairies being handy making things out of any small gadget they find?

 

[brookelizabeth]

Just a quick personal update...we had a great holiday! We spent Christmas here in NYC and then went to Minnesota from the 27th - 4th. We split the time between my Mom's house and Joe's parents. We were able to see my Dad for several days and my Grandma twice.

I don't have any pictures from Christmas or our visit uploaded yet (other than the few on Facebook), but I'll share some from December and doing a bunch of Christmas-y things around here. Christmas is truly one of the BEST times to come to New York, it's completely magical.

Rockefeller Center...so beautiful! And this year included a DIS meet! My family met up with Dawn's (chloe770) who was in the City doing touristy fun things. It was wonderful meeting her, her husband and adorable children!

Sak's 5th Avenue has a light show, similar to Magic, Memories and You!, but not NEARLY as impressive of course.

Video: Sak's Light Show 2011 (2 minutes, 12 seconds)

The 5th Ave/Rockefeller/Radio City Music Hall area has wonderful Christmas decorations

Fendi

Floating Snowflake over 5th Ave

Trump Tower

One of the windows at Tiffany

Tiffany - I told Joe I would take that jewel as a gift. HA!

Bergdorf's

FAO Schwarz - we go here throughout the year, but we don't always stop for the doorman or the...

BIG Piano!

NYC Transit Authority brings out the older trains each Saturday during December and runs them along a certain line that isn't too far out of the way from our house, so we decided it would be a fun thing to do! There were quite a few families and some serious train enthusiasts we met while waiting on the platform. There were several different eras of train cars linked together, it was a neat experience!

And we went to the Grand Central Model Train Show

Grand Central is so stunning, that building never ceases to amaze me!

It's a neat exhibit with bits of the skyline, a country side area, and a Christmas tree with several trains looping around. A few things move, and there are a few buttons kids can push to make things move within the display.

Santa flew around in a circle

And this was our Christmas card this year...

We became Starbucks Gold Card Members. It was an unforgettable year.

We like to be goofy with our card every few years and we just had to play up on the fact that there are Starbucks EVERYWHERE in NYC. All these pictures were taken in about a 10 block radius (other than 1, which was in our neighborhood). The normal picture is taken in Brooklyn.

I hope you all had a great holiday!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I can't believe you leave in five days for Disneyland! Wow! That really snuck up quickly!

Beautiful displays all around Epcot! My favorite might be those birds in Mexico. So perfect for the setting! How neat that you were able to see the world go by on its way to its spot for Illuminations.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of your Christmas pictures around New York. Those windows along Fifth Avenue are always so cool, and I didn't know that about the older trains on Saturdays. Very neat!

Of course, I am in love with your Christmas card! How adorable!!!

 

[chloe770]

Just a quick personal update...we had a great holiday! We spent Christmas here in NYC and then went to Minnesota from the 27th - 4th. We split the time between my Mom's house and Joe's parents. We were able to see my Dad for several days and my Grandma twice.

I don't have any pictures from Christmas or our visit uploaded yet (other than the few on Facebook), but I'll share some from December and doing a bunch of Christmas-y things around here. Christmas is truly one of the BEST times to come to New York, it's completely magical.

Rockefeller Center...so beautiful! And this year included a DIS meet! My family met up with Dawn's (chloe770) who was in the City doing touristy fun things. It was wonderful meeting her, her husband and adorable children!

The boys had so much fun skating here!

Sak's 5th Avenue has a light show, similar to Magic, Memories and You!, but not NEARLY as impressive of course.

Video: Sak's Light Show 2011 (2 minutes, 12 seconds)

The 5th Ave/Rockefeller/Radio City Music Hall area has wonderful Christmas decorations

Fendi I spotted this store from down the street and told Rich "I bet that is Fendi." Yup, I was right. I recognized the belt. Probably one of my favorite decorations.

Floating Snowflake over 5th Ave

Trump Tower

One of the windows at Tiffany

Tiffany - I told Joe I would take that jewel as a gift. HA!
I told Rich the exact same thing.

Bergdorf's
Still find them creepy and I love Bergdorf's

FAO Schwarz - we go here throughout the year, but we don't always stop for the doorman or the...

BIG Piano!
We stopped here Sat. afternoon and it was so crowded the we decided to come back Sunday morning just so the kids could play on the piano. Well after waiting in a much shorter line(like 5 minutes) it was our turn. Of coarse it was also time for the piano show to start. I ended up sitting on the floor with my legs wrapped around Meadow. She wanted on that piano SOOOO bad. She enjoyed the show but was quick to tell them she was done waiting in between songs. The store performers even apologized to her for making her wait. So much fun. I think the kids went 3x on the piano.


And this was our Christmas card this year...

I thought this was so cute and creative.
We became Starbucks Gold Card Members. It was an unforgettable year.

We like to be goofy with our card every few years and we just had to play up on the fact that there are Starbucks EVERYWHERE in NYC. All these pictures were taken in about a 10 block radius (other than 1, which was in our neighborhood). The normal picture is taken in Brooklyn.

I hope you all had a great holiday!!!

It was great meeting up with you in NYC. We had a great weekend. We will definitely be back sooner than later, even if just for the day.
Have a great time at Disneyland. Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[hcmommy]

Your Christmas card came out so cute! Did your sister in law take the pics?

Love the Christmas in NY photos. Can't wait til the boys get a little older. We want to spend Christmas in NY w/ them there one year when they are old enough to appreciate and truly enjoy it as it will probably be a one in a lifetime trip for us.

Thanks for updating!

 

[brookelizabeth]

It's amazing that even with all of the visits we've made during the F&G Festival, I still saw a ton of new things in your pictures!

Can't wait for more!!

There are so many things to see during the Festival, that day I thought I saw most everything - but looking at other people's pictures made me realize how much I missed too!

The flowers are beautiful. I will have to add Flower & Garden Festival to my list of to do's.

It's such a beautiful time to go! I just loved it!

awesome updates!!!! I love the picture of Joe and Henry playing the drums!

I don't think we had ever stopped there before, it was fun!

Beautiful pictures! The colors are just amazing!

Too funny on "watching the world go by"

I couldn't think of an update title, and then I got to those pictures...

Love all the pics again! Also re the fairy house I don't remember one in any of the movies with wheels on but maybe it's reference to the Tinker fairies being handy making things out of any small gadget they find?

Ahhh! That could be! It was so cute!

I can't believe you leave in five days for Disneyland! Wow! That really snuck up quickly!

Beautiful displays all around Epcot! My favorite might be those birds in Mexico. So perfect for the setting! How neat that you were able to see the world go by on its way to its spot for Illuminations.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of your Christmas pictures around New York. Those windows along Fifth Avenue are always so cool, and I didn't know that about the older trains on Saturdays. Very neat!

Of course, I am in love with your Christmas card! How adorable!!!

I KNOW! Thankfully I feel like things are fairly under control here on the home front and I can just focus on some little details/getting everything with work done/DISing!

Christmas here is the best, I just love it! It's so easy to get into the Christmas spirit when you get to see those over the top decorations.

We stopped here Sat. afternoon and it was so crowded the we decided to come back Sunday morning just so the kids could play on the piano. Well after waiting in a much shorter line(like 5 minutes) it was our turn. Of coarse it was also time for the piano show to start. I ended up sitting on the floor with my legs wrapped around Meadow. She wanted on that piano SOOOO bad. She enjoyed the show but was quick to tell them she was done waiting in between songs. The store performers even apologized to her for making her wait. So much fun. I think the kids went 3x on the piano.

It was great meeting up with you in NYC. We had a great weekend. We will definitely be back sooner than later, even if just for the day.
Have a great time at Disneyland. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Poor Meadow!!! It just HAS to start right when it's her turn finally, right?!

The Bergdorf display was a bit creepy...but I kinda liked it in that weird way! It was memorable, that's for sure! I love the Fendi belt too - very clever.

Did you get your jewel? I would just love to know how much THAT cost!

It was wonderful meeting you guys as well! Henry loves to look at your Christmas card and point out Jack since he has the same hair.

Your Christmas card came out so cute! Did your sister in law take the pics?

Love the Christmas in NY photos. Can't wait til the boys get a little older. We want to spend Christmas in NY w/ them there one year when they are old enough to appreciate and truly enjoy it as it will probably be a one in a lifetime trip for us.

Thanks for updating!

Yep, she sure did! We have so many funny outtakes - it was a very fun afternoon, I'm sure more than one person thought we were nuts!

Christmas here is truly amazing, and the weather is generally pretty mild too so you can actually enjoy it all. It was in the 50s the day we went to see the Rockefeller tree!

 

[Poolrat]

We haven't tried the ones at POFQ either, sadly. I was there in August, but with the TA tour group, so we didn't get to stop. Bourbon Street after dark is an interesting place! I'll never forget them washing down the streets with powdered Tide the next day...

That actually makes me feel so much better about Bourbon street now.

If you get a good batch at POFQ they are close. Don't let them cool too much, then they get mushy.


Love the last updates. Watching the world go by is great. It has been far too many years since I have been at F&G time. 2013 might be the year.

I was thinking GCV but the points are high since I will probably be going over the weekend. I still have not decided so it still may happen.

I have fond memories of Christmas in NY. Thanks for all the pictures.