Return of the Son of the CLT - Thread Two - Updated 8/5 About This Page:

[ilovedisney247]

Great updates! More More More! (Please)

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

Woo Hoo!! What a hilarious trip report!!! Thank you!!

[Luvsun]

Wow oh WOW - you guys are so funny!
Another "curse of the shelf" club member here!
In fact, on my trip down to WDW last week, I slopped (missed my mouth) green tea all down my shelf at the airport.....but the worst part? It was on my white Mickey polo! Oh yeah.....I was looking good!
How that you guys made Jill your president! Now that is truly an honor! Congrats Jill!
What a great trip so far. I am looking forward to more hilarious hijinks from you all!

[BlueCinderellaEyes]

All caught up! Very funny! I cant wait to read more!

[Caldercup]

Sunday, June 1st - continued

Once in the room, we got our things unpacked and settled in. First thing I did was to fire up the laptop and tease you all – that was awesome! (Among the gazillion great things about staying with Karen in her villa is that DVC members get free internet access now. You have to go through the steps to agree to the charges, but they never make it to your bill and are magically zapped away by Disney.) Little did I know that our “love” updates would become such a hit – it became a serious fascination with me to log on every day to see what you all were seeing and reacting to. (Not to mention that my “long-suffering” DH was horning in on my TR. )

Karen and the boys wanted to go to Storm Along Bay and gave Sharon and me some grief about going to the “lame” quiet pool instead. I was just too bushed to contemplate any more walking, so the “lame” pool was fine with me. The only drawback? The quiet pools are warm as bathwater by June. It wasn’t until I was in and kvetching about the warm water that another swimmer told me a trick – go into the hot tub first and THEN come in the lame pool. Apparently, it feels very refreshing then. Anyway, Sharon and I paddled around and chatted non-stop for about an hour before heading back in to shower.

Once everyone was ready for our evening, we divided up for traveling. (Sharon’s rental didn’t have enough seat belts for all five of us, so Karen took the boys on the bus while I got to ride in luxurious comfort and full-blast A/C in the rental. Yip-peeeeee! Way to go, me! ) I do believe there was at least one instance where I teased Sharon for driving like Marquita, the GF CM from our December trip – crossing three-lanes in one go will forever be “mock-worthy” now.

Sharon decided to take advantage of the valet service at the Contemporary and there was a minor confusion about what would get us free valet service – the fact that we were staying on DVC points (nope… not until the villas are completed) or the DDE (yep, that would work – except for the fact that it showed up on our room charges anyway and had to be removed later by the AKL concierge staff.)

We headed up to Chef Mickey’s and saw that the Concourse was being deconstructed and that the Outer Rim had been halved by the new grab-n-go area. As we walked up, we were joined by Karen and the boys and were immediately hailed by Jill. As Karen was waiting to check in, we had the pleasure of meeting Angie (angiek1024) and her DH, Scott (who’s screenname escapes me at the mo’) before we headed back into the Outer Rim to wait for our buzzy-thing to announce the readiness of our table. Thom was feeling in tip-top shape again and was so delightful and funny -- he seriously reminds me so much of my DH that it's scary. Between Jill, her girls, her hubby, and her parents, I was in hog heaven – seriously, THE most wonderful family! EVAH!

Mary Devall surprised me by displaying her new sash, which said “Princess” across its pink satin surface. The former costumer in me couldn’t help but re-arrange it so it was being worn properly (with the point down over the hip, rather than at the shoulder ) and Mary Devall had to return to me several times to have me help her get it right again – after a good tickle fight with her dad or a wrestle with her sister un-princess-ified her.

At one point, Karen relinquished her camera to Maddie, who pointed the finger-covered lens in my direction. But… but… but… I could see that the camera wasn’t really pointed at me very well – more at my midsection, which I try hard to keep out of the frame – so I sorta slunk down in my seat a little to try and keep the focus on my face. As Maddie tipped the camera lower, I skootched down even lower… asking "am I in the frame? Can you see my face, Maddie?!" Finally, I practically had my cheek against the seat cushion and I still don’t think I was in the picture very well.

Imagine the hilarity when Karen and I reviewed the pictures and saw this:



Seriously, Karen practically wet herself when she saw it.

Then Mary Devall took over the camera and started in on a similar photographic style – to which my inner control-freak responded by coaching her to put my face in the frame:

<-- "Do you see me? Tilt the camera up a little..."

Once I was sure she had me well centered in the picture, I put on the full diva show:



Again, this combo makes Karen get dangerously close to needing new unmentionables.

Our buzzy-thing finally went off and we headed in to find that we were seated in the room on the far wall of the Contemporary (the room decorated with the Mickeys done in various contemporary art styles.) The first order of business was to get a group shot of the four PassPorters.



I’d like to point out that Karen has perfected the art of putting me front-and-center and then hiding behind my bulk. I guess she’s decided that being “second in line” sometimes has its advantages. Oh well, what with Sharon and Karen shrinking every time I see them and Jill being a tiny bit of a thing, I’m gonna look ginormous in every picture taken this trip. (Here’s where you all can build me up again by telling me how white my teeth are after my recent efforts with the White Strips.)

Yeah… thanks.

We had Donald come through our area before we had a chance to get any food and it was quickly apparent that Miss Maddie had not yet gotten over her reluctance to have the big, creepy, fur and rubber creatures come near enough to touch her yet. She scrabbled up into Thom’s arms and left nail marks on his shoulder if he’d try to lean her close to the character.


(LOVE the look on Donald’s face in the second picture. When Maddie rejected him, he had that “hockey puck” look from Toy Story that cracks my family up so much.)

Mary Devall had no problems doing the “hugs and pictures” routine and gladly posed for pictures with the big, creepy, fur and rubber creatures.



We all made it up to the buffet and got some delicious food. (It quickly became apparent to me just why Sharon has been shrinking so much lately – she had one little plate of food, making my salad plate and entrée plate look GI-normous.)

Our server was terrific and was very attentive, although she sorta rushed out the cake Karen had arranged for Zack and Michael to celebrate the midpoint between their 15th birthdays.



Not that it mattered much to them – they had fun cutting the cake up for everyone and gave me an appropriately GI-normous slice. When Sharon saw her tiny, little slice, we just had to pose.


(Rather than look on this as “give the big girl the biggest slice,” I decided I got the generous slice because I had the whitest teeth. )

Around this time, Maddie was getting wigged-out by the idea that the characters were coming around and she was sitting at an easily-accessible chair. I patted the bench between Karen and me and told her she’d be perfectly safe there and that no characters could touch her if Karen and I were there to play wing men. She was wedged between us within seconds, happily eating her mac and cheese and pointing out the characters that couldn’t reach her. (I have to admit that my offering that spot to her was just so that I could snuggle a warm toddler! ) The funniest thing was that she would occasionally say she wanted to go to Mommy and start climbing under the table. As soon as she’d scoot off of the bench, I’d mention that a character was in the room and she’d pop right back up and snuggle back into me. It worked like a dream and Jill and Thom got to focus on their food.

Then it was time for Goofy to come to our table. I was worried that Zack would be a little too “teenagery” to enjoy the characters with his friend along, but he was so excited to see Goofy. In fact, I was so charmed by his reaction that I watched him with a big doofy grin on my face and didn’t manage to snap a picture.

I did manage to get my camera up to get Jill, Thom and Mary Devall -- and Thom was giving us a hard time for being camera hounds. (Serves him right that I got such a doofy look on his face!)


Then, when Goofy made his way around to Sharon, I had Maddie wedged up against me and couldn’t get my camera back far enough to get my Goofy-lovin' buddy totally in the frame – didn’t matter! What I got charms my socks off anyway!


Thom brought Maddie a plate of treats and she had fun deconstructing and playing with a Mickey dome (a zebra dome-like Oreo and chocolate mousse creation) and I figured my white shirt was done for. Surprisingly, although there were Oreo bits ground into the seat, the table, and the floor, my shirt came away scot free. Amazing! What cracked me up the most was when Maddie saw that Thom had a soft serve ice cream cone. She demanded it from him and he reluctantly complied. Then, after several minutes of concentrated eating, she indicated that he could have the cone back. What she put into Thom's hand was nothing more than the soggy bottom of the cone. The LOOK he gave her... oh, it made me laugh and laugh!

Pluto came over and took a real shine to Jill’s mom. He got down on one knee and took her hand, obviously trying to woo Mrs. Rankin with his puppydog eyes.



She was ready to kick her hubby to the curb, and he didn’t seem to mind terribly, as he’d finally coaxed Maddie onto his lap.



While Pluto was down on one knee and the room was rather quiet, Thom convinced Maddie to carefully approach Pluto and pet his nose. It took a bit of gentle encouragement, but our whole table erupted with applause when she finally did it. It was adorable and I had to wipe away a tear or two, I’ll admit it.

Once we’d settled up the bill, the Rankins offered to take Maddie back to the Lodge so Jill, Thom and Mary Devall could hop over to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. (Jill cracked me up when Karen asked if her parent’s knew how to get home. “Nope… they’ll get hopelessly lost and we’ll probably be in bed by the time they finally find the hotel.”)

The rest of us headed off to walk from the Contemporary over to the Magic Kingdom. I was glad I’d been visiting the gym so much this winter because, as soon as Karen told me that we only had about 15 minutes to get there before Wishes, I shot out of the hotel like a rocket and started power walking, encouraging Thom to keep up with me!

Up next: fireworks, explosions and blasters.

[jpod523]

I was glued to my computer the entire time you all were gone because I just loved the updates!

Great update! Yea Maddie for "petting" Pluto! (I must also add that I love Sharon's shirt! Rex never gets any love. )

[WDWfan]

(Rather than look on this as “give the big girl the biggest slice,” I decided I got the generous slice because I had the whitest teeth. )

OMG Eileen - I woke the cat up with my laughter. but I do love your beautiful whit teeth.

What a great meal at Chef Mickey's! Cuddling with Maddie, All of the great Goofy pictures, and wonderful company. What more could you ask for?

[DawnDenise]

And here I was going to compliment you all as it is a great picture!!! (Your teeth are fantabulous Eileen!!)

Fantastic dinner at Chef Mickey's!! As far as the updates go, I was loving them. Felt like I was right here with y'all. More!!!!!

[chezp]

What a fun time at Chef Mickey's - and it's just as well there was no-one else in the house, the way I was laughing when I saw the "biggest slice" photo!

[DyanKJ130]

Originally Posted by DawnDenise

And here I was going to compliment you all as it is a great picture!!! (Your teeth are fantabulous Eileen!!)

Me too, Dawn!! What a great photo of the 4 of you!! Great teeth too!

Wonderful update!! I how you were 'protecting' Maddie from the characters for your own personal gain!! Getting her to touch Pluto on the nose was priceless!! Can't wait to hear more

[disneydani]

Great white teeth, great smile, and fab curly hair, too....you got in going ON!

Dinner sounded like a boatload of fun....I think Maddie and Mary Devall are budding photogs, for sure.

danielle

danielle

[Starla4436]

Dinner looked like loads of fun....and of course you teeth look fab.

[Colexis Mom]

What a fantabulous dinner Love the pics (and you new white teeth Eileen :waytogo)!! More please

[Disney_Scarlett]

Whooo, love the update! More warm fuzzies from all the CLT/Jill Family love. The picture of Maddie scrambling away from Donald cracked me up, although I'm glad she got brave enough to pet Pluto. I totally teared up at the picture of Jill's dad and Maddie - too, too cute! Speaking of cute, could y'all four ladies have any more of a share on cuteness? (okay, so Mary Devall and Maddie might edge you out) What with all your big white smiles (Eileen, yours is the whitest ) and funny pictures (the ones Jill's girls took of you crack me up!), I just don't know that I can take anymore!

Actually, yes I can. Can't wait to hear about MK EMH!