Well, I'm back to continue with our mini-TR from Aug. 09.
Day 5 was our down day. Which basically meant that the kids got to go swimming at the main pool at OPR all day if they wanted to, except for our Dinner reservation that night; and I got to do laundry. But at CBR that's ok, the laundry rooms are right at the quiet pools. So, DH and I loaded up 2 machines with the clothes and we went for a swim, then we changed it to the dryer and continued with our swim. Once we got the laundry done and put up, we gave the kids money and we headed to DTD for lunch at Earl of Sandwich and shopping at WOD!! I like giving my girls some freedom when we go to Disney at the pool and OPR. Both girls are very good swimmers and have passed every swimming test that they have been given, so they are very responsible in water. They are also very conscientious about sharing with each other on food and not over spending, so I knew they would eat well and take care of each other. We gave them a time that we wanted them showered and ready to go to dinner and don't you know when we walked into our room they were done and watching TV, waiting on us! We were so excited that they we responsible!!!!
Anyway we got everything ready and we hopped on a bus to MK so we could take the boat over to the Poly for our dinner ADR at Kona. This was the first time we had ever eaten there and we had read so many reviews that we were really excited to eat there. Well, it did not disappoint! Here is Emily with her Kona Kone!!
She and Taylor got them and they loved it. Kona is now a family favorite and we plan to eat there again. We actually think it is better than Ohana!
This the photo Glenn took of the girls after dinner while we explored the Great Ceremonial House:
In keeping with the Down day status, we went back for a swim and DH and I had a frozen cocktail by the pool. If you like doing this I highly recommend it in Aug. when it is HOT!!!
Day 6 was back to MK! Today was the day we had set aside to meet Tink in the morning and then see Tomorrowland when we were done. So, we had breakfast at Main Street Bakery, which is now a tradition with us. As soon as we were done, I headed over to rope at ToonTown. There was about 3 other families there, so I just headed right up to the open spot on the rope. Well, as usual there are those who just by the fact that they think they paid so much more than the rest of us to be there, that they have to be first. Forget those who have been standing there!!!
This one mom literally stepped on my DDs foot to be up in front of us. I'd have given her my spot had it meant that much to her, she didn't have to be so brutal. We had been standing there for 30+ minutes prior to her pushing her way up to the front of the rope, let alone the others she pushed ahead of who had been there as well. When Taylor tried to hold her spot this woman turned her smug face to her and said "uh huh honey not today, we're going first!" and she stepped right on Taylor. I just told Taylor not to worry about it, it will come back to her one day!!! Anyway, we got to spend a good deal of time with the Fairies:
The Fairies are so much fun! And Taylor and Emily just love to play with them, and I love how the fairies play right back and make the kids feel so important!
Well, we left there and went right over to Mickey's tent to see if we could see him, well little did we know that the red poles that hold the rope in the queue in the tent had been painted the night before and they were still wet in some spots. I leaned up on a pole to tie my shoe and got red paint on the butt of my brand new shirt!!! Well, as we were leaving because for some reason Mickey was taking so long for meet and greets (we had stood in line for almost 45 minutes and hadn't moved, my shirt had paint on it), I saw a couple of guys from Management at the door evaluating the paint situation and they noticed my shirt, so they gave me voucher for a new shirt. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. I said "Thank you very much! This is why I love Disney!!" We left there and walked out to the Tear drop area and had Meet & Greets with so many characters, but I'm not going to put all the photos in here, but the list is Goofy, Tigger, Baloo, Rafiki, Suzy & Perla, Genie and 2 bears that I didn't know. We were going to go to Tomorrowland but Glenn said lets do that tonight and lets go and ride Splash Mountain. So we boarded the Train and headed out. Well, wouldn't you know it Splash was down and would be up by 3:00, it was only 11:30, we were not hanging around!!! So, we rode Pirates of Caribbean and as we got off the ride, we saw Peter Pan, we've never met him, so we got in line!
By then it was time for my Dole Whip Float!!!!
I must have at least 1 every trip, I sneak 2 in if I can!!! We decided to head up to Main Street to see if I could get a shirt for my voucher and head to CBR for a break, we were planning to come back later.
When we went back later that after noon the girls had appointments at BBB. This a picture of both of them after it was done:
Well, while we were in there, it began to rain, and I mean like buckets of rain!!! So, we put ponchos on the girls, after all I had just paid $100 for their hair, I was not about to have it ruined that quick!!! And we went to Crystal Palace for Dinner. We met the usual Pooh characters here, this is one of Glenn's favorite places to eat. There is something for everyone and they don't seem to push you out to rotate people in and out like they do at so many of the other character meals!
Here is one of the girls and Pooh:
The rain continued so we decided to head back to CBR and we gave up on going to Tomorrowland! It was just too wet!!! The girls hair held up well considering they were in and out of rain!
Day 7 Epcot again!! We let the girls sleep together this night so that hopefully they could keep their hair from messing up, we had breakfast ADRs at Askershus with the Princesses!!! Here are a couple of pictures from that:
We decided when we were done with Breakfast to head up to Future world and ride some rides! We had a blast and around 1:00 we went back to CBR for a swim and the 1st question Emily asked was "can I take my hair down, its so stiff and itchy?!!" I told her of course!!! Wait til you see what her hair looked like after she began to take it down from the braids and whatever it is that they do at BBB:
So, we went swimming, packed our bags, because we were leaving the next day and I didn't want to do it later that night. After we cleaned up, we headed back to Epcot for our Dinner reservations at Biergarden! Glenn grew up in Germany, and when I was growing up my parents best friends were from Germany, so we both love German food! Well our girls love it and they love dancing to the band. We've eaten here before and this is one of the girls' favorite places to eat! Here is Taylor and I:
When we left the sun was just beginning to go down, so we decided it was a great time to take a few pictures!
Then we started to walk back up to Future World and we stopped off in Norway so the girls could do another Kim Possible Mission and Glenn and I rode Maelstrom, then we played with the hats and trolls.
I don't think I'd make such a good Viking Woman!!!!
Tomorrow we head home
Day 8 This is the day of choice! We let everyone have a vote which park to go to and the winner is DHS! Ok, so we get Bell Svc. to pick us up and we check in with Express Airline Check in and head to DHS! We grab a quick bite to eat at Starring Rolls, hit TSM for one last time and then the girls head down to TOT and RNRC. On our way out, we see the Street Performers and they wind up pulling the girls into their act:
Once the skit was done, it was time to head over to DTD and get some last minute shopping done and grab a few sandwiches from Earl's to take to the airport.
This was without a doubt the best vacation we've ever had at WDW!!! I don't know if it was that we took our time, if it was our first time in the summer or a combination of a bunch of things. But we'll never duplicate the effects of this vacation on everyone again! We all came home relaxed and claiming it was the Best Vacation Ever!
Well that's it! I'll begin our Dec. trip next at POFQ and while there were some surprises on that trip, it did not compare to our summer trip. Hope you enjoyed it!
Mary