"Pop-pop how does Mickey go potty?" and other life questions trip report - UPDATED 8/30 About This Page:

[redkatrampant]

Like I said in my Pre Trip Report, I was considering the Exit to the Villa the start of "My Bubble". Well due to the stress of the day, and I left A LOT out...Like me threatening to leave everyone at Jacksonville Beach and go find a really nice hotel room and drink the week away... I was only mildly miffed that DS 19 got there before we did. But then HE is smart and has a GPS. And is driving solo. He calls to tell us how much NICER it is than we thought. And it was. And I took very few pictures because,well, I was off Mom duty and it was never clean enough for me to take any.


So we get there,unload,and head to DTD! YAY! We are going to pass under those Magic Signs.We are on our way to TRex for DINNER!
Of course it being Friday night,they are PACKED, but that is OK, we need to Build-Some-Dinos. Now as much as my kids have experienced and as much as my grands have experienced, from the simple pleasures of canoing the Suwannee to being a VIP on a Cruise to grand Dining experiences, I myself have never Built-a-Bear. I will wait while you get over the shock.
Better? So I hit Grandma mode ans I am shoot pics,picking out outfits, and loving Trex. And then my camera dies. I am gonna have to steal some pics from my daughter,but for now..

Yeah Lady, I am not real sure about this group either.

We Make-Some-Dinos! And I pick out some useless mess and they call us "Dysfunctional Family,Party of 8,Time for you to whateverthespielis!!" And they take us..TO A SECLUDED BOOTH IN THE BACK OF THE RESTAURANT.Ahem. I think not. If we had sat there we would have seen NADA. I very nicely say" Um NO, we are not spending gobs of Fred Flintstone currency to sit here." And I get "Well this is all we have." And I say" We walked past 4 empty 8 tops." And she says "I'll get my manager." Good Idea.
We get a lovely table and we have a lovely meal. DH ate most of the appetizer sampler. Which was good but we were all so tired we just wanted to eat and crash. We did have some fun moments and I will do it again.
Cuz I got the Landry's Select card. And I have already earned a free meal.
Landry's Inc. - The Leader in Dining, Hospitality and Entertainment
So we head back to the Villa and crash.
Coming up...we will make Opening at MK?? Will Princess Maddie and Gramma survive BBB??
Let The Memories Begin: Ahhhh the Bubble. Pics here.

[redkatrampant]

Originally Posted by chezp

Oh my goodness, what a rough start!

This family is all about rough starts. There is a pattern. And once we get through that we are golden.

Originally Posted by Coop

I love Zaxby's!

I do too but DH does not. So we do not eat there much. But he was outnumbered.

Originally Posted by sc507

Thanks for the laughs! I have been thoroughly entertained reading so far! Looking forward to more

There is a whole week left!

Originally Posted by LouigiAnne

I finally found yourTR after reading Pre TR LoL. Love the pictures of Maddie, gotta finish catching up in the morning

Maddie is something let me tell you.

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

"Girls were hot wearing less than bikinis..." Had to join in!

You're TR is cracking me up!

Kat-kat...

Can't wait to hear how the day gets better!!

Woo Hoo Ice Ice reference!! And you know EVERYTIME I said A1A that day, I ad to say BEACH FRONT AVENUE!

Originally Posted by chezp

Oh boy! I hope things do get better.

They do.

Originally Posted by DawnK

I LOVE this report so far!! You are killing me, I am laughing so hard!!!
I can't wait for more!!

Oh yeah...that dog...gorgeous.

That dog is already so spoiled.And apparently a mutant. She is gonna be 20 lbs heavier than she is supposed to be. Because she got some HUGE gene somewhere.

Originally Posted by disneyknut

really enjoying your trip report so far.. as they say in HM... Hurry back, hurry back

Ah Leota,My homegirl. I got to see her repeatedly!

Originally Posted by LouigiAnne

Well all caught up, what a Wild Start!! You have me cracking up and Love your parents place!! Lot's of room to play for everyone Love the pictures too, Hurry back soon with more please!!

Yeah about those 2. They moved to the wilderness to get away from everyone,yet build a place we all want to visit. WHAT is that about?

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a great time at DTD! Glad you were able to move your table at T-Rex!

[OneLittleSpark]

Sounds like a great time building Dinos at Trex. Good meal too once you got a good table, glad that was able to come through for you!

I too have never built a bear!

Can't wait to hear about BBB!

[chezp]

Glad you were able to get a better table at T-Rex.

[sc507]

I didn't know there was a Build a Bear there!! Off to Google it..... It would be so much more fun building one there than at our local mall

[bsblady01]

more please

[Cam22]

Catching up! You are so entertaining in your writing!

[emvenable77]

Glad to see that you guys liked T-Rex! We are going there for our September trip. DD loves Dinos so I hope that she likes this place!

[redkatrampant]

Originally Posted by bsblady01

more please

Sorry it has take sooooo long. Real Life and all. And I am slowly recovering from the nightmares. Vodka helps.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Catching up! You are so entertaining in your writing!

Thank you! I promise to finish it now. I get so upset when I read a TR and I they leave you hanging. And then you realize they have been back for 2 years! I am like DANG. Some of the cruise boards are real bad about that.

Originally Posted by emvenable77

Glad to see that you guys liked T-Rex! We are going there for our September trip. DD loves Dinos so I hope that she likes this place!

So much so that our next trip Maddie has insisted that we go back. I looked at her like who said you were going?? You have PARENTS. Course you know Poppop caved.
Sucker.

[redkatrampant]

OKAY!
I left a part out. From after T-Rex.
I left out a lot of cussin and yellin and no it was not me*. For once it was DH ( bless his sugar-buttered heart) that had built up unreasonable expectations. Go figure. SO let's look at this.
1-it is the first trip in a while.
2-It is probably the last Disney trip with my boy for a while.He is 20 and in college and has a gf( no I do not like her. But hey the one I liked turned out to be a thief and a pill pusher! Shows what I know. )
3-It is my BEAUTIFUL AWESOME ADORABLE MANY MORE THINGS Grandkids first trip.
4-It is my son-in-laws first trip.
5-We are meeting my parents down there. and mom's bday.

So add in my hormonal fluctuations, my pain meds and it was a tempest in a teapot.

So before I detail the first night in the Villa, let me show you these:
resizingpic.
Everyone in this picture was over the age of 13.(oops except for Maddie hiding there)
resizing pic.
That's right Maddie! Shove em out of the way. Just like Gramma showed you!
resizing pic

Ok so we when got to the villa earlier, this is one of the few pics I ever took of the inside. Honestly, that down time I was talking about earlier?
Who was I kidding.DUH

Here is the motley crew unloading the next day. Ok not really, I made them act like they were so I could get this.



So basically, we went back and crashed. Because we had to get up for BBB. And go to TTC because DD22 decided to pick up her tickets there. Yeah... nothing like waiting until the last minute.( OH more ticket fun later. And tips from Aunt Kat.)
*There were no small children harmed during this. DH ( take the D as you will) and I rode back alone. Remember that whole GPS thing? Yeah he thought he knew the way. And did not. and it became my fault. WHEEEEEEEEE.

[redkatrampant]

OOF. I am gonna have to fix those pics. I hope I did not blow any margins.

While you wait here are a few pics of that mutant puppy.

This is not a bear claw.

Yeah she is actually an AKC regiestered chow. We went for pedigree temperament, not show quality. And the short coat.So you get the longer snout because of genetics. AND you do not pay a small fortune. But I could have booked 3 days at ASMusic with ParkHopper for what I paid for her. WAIT?? REFUND!!! .... I keed.

[redkatrampant]

OMGOMGOMG. It is DISNEY DAY!
WE ARE GOING TO SEE MICKEY!! OMGOMG
Look we, are leaving the neighborhood.

So far we are on our way!
OMG OMGOMG I SEEEEEEEEEEEE IT.

OMG. *DIES* I AM HOME!
This picture ended up being kind of a big deal. My DD took this from her vehicle behind us. If you are not familiar with Volvo, they are known for the long life of their cars.They have 100k club even. They had a *What were you doing when you turned 100k?* Guess who won a gift? And was featured on their FB ? I honestly turned 100k on my odometer at that moment. We have a new c70 so I am looking forward to that too.Cuz Mickey and I are sympatico like that.

I will be back with day 1. Right now I have to go beat up FB.

[Coop]

Cute mutant puppy!

[redkatrampant]

Originally Posted by Coop

Cute mutant puppy!

She is a doll! She does have some sibling rivalry issues. Ahem.

You know, I called the old Disney Kennel. HEY! I remember as a 7 year old taking my Spitz puppy so we shall call it what we will. They do not take Chows. Iunnerstand.
They take Snakes and Spiders. But not my baby.
Hmmph.