Grand Duo Birthday Trip: COMPLETE 2/5/09 About This Page:

[iamgrumpy]

Just getting caught up and what great photos you took! I think you made a great choice as we love spectromagic and would hate to miss it. Tony's was ok when we ate there but nothing spectacular so personally i think you made the right call!

More please

[mcc0313]

I think passing up AP and staying at the AK was the right call...what a great afternoon you had and such wonderful character meets. Loved the pictures...glaf you were able to see the parade, it sounds like you had the perfect afternoon.

Great timing with traveling over to MK...I would have choosen Spectro over dinner as well. I so love that parade...

[Caldercup]

But, but, but... Spectro starts from that end of the park! You could've watched the parade and then stepped into Tony's just a few minutes past your ADR time....

<<sigh>>

I agree, however... Spectro is totally worth the rearranging!

I'm all caught now and ready for more.
Eileen

[KMB733]

Great Pictures! All the characters look so festitive with the holiday outfits! More please...

[lindawdw]

Sounds like you had some good character interaction at AK! Sorry you had to cancel your Tony's ADR but at least you got to see Spectro!!!

[Meggera]

Too bad about Tony's. You know about that ole hindsight. I'm so glad transportation was working for you guys. That's awesome. We have never relied on WDW transportation but will do so on our next trip. I hope it goes well. Hurry back with more!

Merry Christmas!

[Jillybean]

What a great time and what great food you're having!

Jill

[travismom]

What a wonderful time you and Chuck are having. I've had the Honey Chicken at Yak & Yeti and it was soooo good!! My next goal is to have a Yak Attack!
Can't wait for more.

[chezp]

What a fun time you had with all the characters at Animal Kingdom - and the photos of the parade are great.

[lauren-roxy]

Great photos with the characters!!

[KandJluvdisney]

great update dawm
glad you got a lot of characters pics
they are super cute
hurry back with more please

[wayneava81]

Looks like some great character interaction!

[Mickeysgal]

What a great trip you are having!! Your meal at Y&Y looked awesome - boy am I getting hungry!! all the character photos - I can't believe how many you have seen already!!

[DawnDenise]

Spectro, Wishes, Meeting Up with Tiff Again, and Will I Ever Get to Eat?

So we had just decided to cancel our ADR for Tony’s. We weren’t that upset since we had eaten here twice before. With this being the only night for regular Wishes and Spectro in our schedule, we felt we made a good decision. We headed into the Emporium because I knew I was going to get cold before the end of the night and wanted to pick up a sweatshirt for MVMCP anyways. It took me all of about 5 minutes to find what I wanted and we were checking out a few seconds later. At that moment, I saw the $15 blanket when you spend $40. It was of the Castle in all its icy glory and knew that I had to have it. Chuck said he didn’t mind carrying the bag so I added that to my purchase. I donned my new sweatshirt and we went to stack out a spot for Spectro/ Wishes.

We found a spot right at the hub next to an older couple. On the other side of us was a group that did not respect other people’s space at all. I was getting grouchy because I was thirsty and a little hungry so Chuck decided (more like wanted to get away from me ) to find me some kind of beverage and a snack. I moved into his spot and put the bag and one of my legs in the other spot. I struck up a conversation with the older couple while trying to maintain some space for Chuck when he returned. The couple next to us was celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary and were just beyond sweet. I talked to them while keeping a look out for Chuck and trying to hold the fort against the other group next to us as they seem to get bigger and bigger. At one point I lost Chuck. One minute he was at the cart and the next minute had disappeared. After about another 15 minutes he arrived and sat down next to me. He brought back some popcorn and two drinks. Nothing like popcorn to tie over that hunger. The Castle lighting began and Chuck stood up to see it happen. I wanted to make sure he saw it. As soon as he stood up, one person of the rude group took his place. Chuck didn’t notice but I was not about to lose my seat so I stayed sitting down. I just munched on some popcorn while hearing all the oohs and ahhhs. When it was over, Chuck tried to sit down and found that his spot was taken over. He asked nicely if they would move over and they started speaking Spanish. Well that didn’t stop my now bilingual hubby. He continued to have a rather intense conversation and eventually got his space back. He never did tell me what was said but it was impressive to me. Now on with Spectromagic!!







After Spectro was over and most of the mass had left the area, I took some time to take some picture of Cindy’s Castle. I have to admit yet again that the Castle is absolutely stunning, and I am in always in awe this time of year.





Now Wishes was about 30 minutes away and Chuck and I wanted to stay near the hub. At this point, I got a text from Tiff. Tiff and Eric were in the park for Wishes and EMH. I told her we were up by the hub and in front of the Partners statue. We went back and forth for a bit via text and eventually found one another. Apparently, we had different ideas regarding “in front of” the Partners statue. The chatting began immediately and I had Chuck get a picture of us while we were waiting for Wishes to start.



Tiff and Eric were going strictly with the watching while I enjoyed it once again behind the lens of my camera. Chuck stood behind me with his arms around my waist as we both sung the words. I took about 100 pictures (not all were worth keeping) and will just my absolute favorites.





The four of us stood around chatting until the crowds dispersed. Most were heading out of the park since it was now EMH for resort guests. Tiff and Eric were headed to Adventureland/Fantasyland if I remember correctly while Chuck and I were headed over to Tomorrowland. Hugs exchanged again and off we went. My first stop was a potty break. I met Chuck at the smoking section and once he finished, we headed to Buzz. He was determined to beat me this time around. But alas, I came out victorious again! We took a spin on the TTA, visited Stitch, and headed back out to the hub. I took a few more pictures of the Castle and then turned around to get some pictures of Main Street. We spent some time getting some Photopass pictures around the Castle in hopes of getting the “Christmas Card” picture. We spent a lot of time looking in the windows of the shops and decided to head back to the GF. So we didn’t take advantage of the last hour of EMH but I think Chuck wanted to catch the end of Sunday Night Football.





As we exited the park, there was a resort monorail in the station, so we picked up the pace to climb aboard. Once we made it back to the GF, we stopped by Gaspirilla Grill to see if we could find something more substantial to eat than popcorn. We decided to get a large cheese pizza and some slices of chocolate cake. It took 2 TS credits which didn’t disrupt our dining plan credits since we didn’t eat earlier in the evening.

With the pizza in hand, we headed back to our room and camped out on the bed, eating some pizza and watching some football. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was REALLY hungry, but it was some good pizza! We ended up putting our chocolate cake in the fridge and then took turns taking showers. We spent a few minutes out on the balcony enjoying the view before the chill in the air made us retreat inside. I was asleep before midnight, and Chuck soon followed after checking out his fantasy football leagues. He set the alarm for 7:30am as we had a breakfast ADR at 1900 Park Fare before heading out to DHS.

Here are some various Photopass pictures taken throughout the day.





Coming Up: Mad Hatter Being Serious and 7 Rides in the First 2 Hours

[Wendyismyname]

Another fantastic update Dawn!! Love your new signature picture!!