A June Joyride...*****COMPLETED!!! 7/9***** About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Danielle!! How great to have Eileen there with you guys Glad the kids are having a great time at the Lodge!! More please

[Nala]

What a beautiful view from your room and what great surprises waiting for you.

Love the picture of the kids in the pool. Looks like they really enjoyed it. And I also love the picture of you and Eileen. Too cute of both of you. What a great back story you two have.

Looking forward to more!

[Starla4436]

What a great way to start your trip...can't wait to read more.

[JaimeandChad]

Great start!! I can't wait for more!!

[tammyd_rn]

I love the picture of you and Eileen. Glad to see you had a nice trip down and getting checked went smoothly and your room was ready as well.

[ariel14]

Wonderful update! And how wonderful to have Eileen as a support system for MS.

[kmurburg]

Glad you're back and had a fun time! It's so cool that you met up with Eileen right away when you got to AKL! I'm so glad you both have each other for support! The picture of the 2 of you in the lounge is just so cute! Can't wait to haere all about the trip!

[Lemap760]

There's no better way to start a trip than be greeted by friends.

[Artzkathy]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!!

Kathy

[Caldercup]

Gawrsh... I'm blushing!

I've gotten a good giggle out of the idea that Paul thought I was jacking a ride up to the concierge lounge. I think I also freaked him out because I tried to be sneaky and take a picture of Danielle with my cell phone, but he figured out what I was doing.

And give praise to Andrew -- he took a great picture of the two of us together!
Eileen

[Disney_Scarlett]

Awww. You and Eileen meeting is so sweet. Sounds like everything is going wonderfully so far - can't wait to hear about Spoodles and Epcot!

[disneydani]

Originally Posted by kmurburg

The picture of the 2 of you in the lounge is just so cute! Can't wait to haere all about the trip!

Thanks, though I distinctly remember telling Andrew to leave my posterior out of the pic! Of course, I have no skills to photoshop it right outta there!

Originally Posted by Caldercup

I've gotten a good giggle out of the idea that Paul thought I was jacking a ride up to the concierge lounge. I think I also freaked him out because I tried to be sneaky and take a picture of Danielle with my cell phone, but he figured out what I was doing.

Yes....he might have mentioned something about that, too. You should have seen his face when he realized Karen's room was a connecting room on the other side of us. If I ever decide to hit the Decade of Dreams....I will be leaving him home!!!

danielle

[disneydani]

Saturday June 7th/Part Two….

In was nearing time to get motivating for our ADR at Spoodles. We freshened up and headed out the door and walked right into a familiar face….Princess Sharon. She was knee deep into the four parks plus challenge and looked totally put together! Amazing, really. I think her careful balance of recent FB and multiple ToT drops have given her an endurance edge over the rest of us! It was a brief encounter but I was happy to witness her awesome smile in person.

We continued onward and zipped over to the Boardwalk for dinner. The restaurant was fairly quiet and we were seated within five minutes of our arrival. We had a lovely server, Ben and a very attentive Chef Bruce for Izzy’s allergy needs. I actually remembered to take photos of our delicious meal.

Appetizers….

Mediterranean Dips



Crispy Fried Calamari



Tomato Buffalo Panzanella



Fruit Cup



Main Courses…

Tuscan Pressed Chicken



Lemon-Garlic Shrimp Linguine




Wood-Grilled Pork Tenderloin



Kids Beef Kabobs




Everyone was very happy with their choices; the food was even more wonderful than we remembered as it had been some time since we ate here last. We used our DDE and saved $27.30.

As we made the quick stroll into Epcot, I reminded the kids that our short impromptu trip would call for prioritizing as our time would be limited. Tonight was our only planned time in Epcot and the kids had high expectations. We all headed straight to Soarin’. Imagine my glee to find this surprise….



Paul and the kids hopped in line while I went to a cruise through Livin’ with the Land.





By the time they exited, the wait time was down to 30 minutes and I think that was closer to what my brood experienced. I was shocked to find such a short wait…where was everyone???

Onward to Spaceship Earth which was a complete walk-on! I rode with Andrew who snapped a few pics of our future. Why a portion of his head missing??? No clue.



Next on the list, Test Track. Okay, apparently everyone decided to skip Soarin’ and head to TT because the wait time was 60 minutes. The boys decided to cut that time way down by going into single rider as Izzy and I headed to check out the cars.




Still, I was amazed because we had conquered three major rides in about two hours! We headed into WS and into Mexico for a ride with Donald and Company. I expected a walk-on here and was not disappointed. It was getting late but we decided to try to squeeze the Maelstrom before Epcot closed. I know wait times here are pretty inconsistent but we happened upon a 10 minute wait so the kids and I hopped in line. Paul? He went into the bakery line on a special mission. We were on our Viking ship within 5 minutes and had front row seats! No evil glowing zombie eyes tonight, just a pleasant cruise. When we disembarked I was prepped to tell the kids we were skipping the movie but there was a sign stating the movie was not being shown…perhaps since it was 8:55pm and Epcot was closing at 9pm.

Paul met us at the store exit, package in hand and we began our stroll around WS and back towards the IG.

The crowds were definitely light; although people were lined up for Illuminations, there were plenty of primo, ‘front row’ open spots. (I decided everyone must be enjoying DHS/Star Wars Weekend.) Though unplanned, we couldn’t say no to the opportunity of open concrete. It was a great way to cap off our evening in Epcot!

We headed back to the hotel, got the kids settled, and then Paul and I sat out on the balcony to enjoy this guilty pleasure…



Afterwards, we hit the proverbial hay and fell fast asleep.

[piratefreak]

Wow how great that the lines cooperated and you were able to get in all the must do's plus Illuminations. Can't wait to hear more.

[lindawdw]

How wonderful that you met up with Eileen in the lobby and the concierge lounge! What a warm story of your relationship with Eileen too. Thanks for sharing that with us. Sounds like you had a nice dinner at Spoodles and boy did you cover a lot of ground in Epcot for one evening. It's the perfect trip so far.