Allll Aboard!!! The Wests are heading South! About This Page:

[Chancho]

Loving this TR. More please

[chezp]

Glad you made it to the Rose and Crown!

I'm glad I don't work in London with the Olympics coming up - I'm going to be one of those tourists heading up to see it - can't wait!

[ilovedisney247]

Sounds like you had a fabulous meal at Rose and Crown! Perfect timing for Illuminations!

[DMA]

The Epcot bus from POFQ is the most frustrating because of the trip to POR and all the stops - especially when no one gets on or off! But I'm glad you were were not super late for Rose and Crown. We hope to eat there on our next trip and I'm looking forward to an outdoor table for Illuminations as well! Sounds beautiful!

[Cam22]

So glad Epcot is growing on you as it's my favorite park (well tied with AK)! Illuminations is my favorite nighttime show (no tie)!

[rosanna]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Glad you made it to R&C and had a great meal (and a great table)! More please!

Whew! It was close, but we made it!

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

Hello! Just tuning in to your TR! Sounds great so far......except for losing the hat
Thanks!
Sorry - but had to laugh at the "scenic route"................same exact thing happened to us before! worse part was that I was dozing off in the passenger seat and woke to DH being quite frustrated that he felt we were in the middle of no where land!

What a score on the table at Rose & Crown!!!

Keep it coming!!!

That was quite the road trip!

Originally Posted by Chancho

Loving this TR. More please

Coming up!

Originally Posted by chezp

Glad you made it to the Rose and Crown!

I'm glad I don't work in London with the Olympics coming up - I'm going to be one of those tourists heading up to see it - can't wait!

Good luck playing tourist! It should be a little crazy in London...maybe as bad as WDW the week before Easter? LOL, I know it will be SO much worse!

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Sounds like you had a fabulous meal at Rose and Crown! Perfect timing for Illuminations!

It was perfect!

Originally Posted by DMA

The Epcot bus from POFQ is the most frustrating because of the trip to POR and all the stops - especially when no one gets on or off! But I'm glad you were were not super late for Rose and Crown. We hope to eat there on our next trip and I'm looking forward to an outdoor table for Illuminations as well! Sounds beautiful!

That was probably the most frustrated I have been with WDW transportation, but I still love it. Definitely recommend R&C. It was so good...

Originally Posted by Cam22

So glad Epcot is growing on you as it's my favorite park (well tied with AK)! Illuminations is my favorite nighttime show (no tie)!

I'm starting to feel the love grow within me! As long as there are cute boys in Norway, I know Peyton will definitely join me...

[rosanna]

Today was our DHS day. YaY!! WE love DHS! I had texted my friends the night before to let them know we would be heading to the bus stop at 7:15am. They were in the room next to us, and I could tell when we walked by that not a creature was stirring...so I texted again. We got to the stop and had to wait just a short time before our ride pulled up. We made great time and were pulling up to the park at 7:45. We headed straight in (park hours were 8 am opening today) and all the way back to TSMM. There was no line for FPs this time (last year we had some trouble here, but I don't like to talk about it). Grabbed FPs with an 8:55 return and then went to ride. We were through in no time! good times...I was partnered with another teenage girl, who warned me she was no good. She was beating me for awhile, but I came through with a strong finish and whupped her good. Haha! Nothing like bragging rights! (both my kids beat me, but there is no need to bring that up here).

After our spin through the midway, we hightailed it over to RnRC, where we went did SRL. We might have waited 2 minutes (standby was already 30). We jumped off and headed to ToT, where the wait was about 10 minutes. When we got off, we decided one more ride on RnRC couldn't hurt, so SRL it was (the CM started to "explain" SRL to us, but then remembered us from earlier,laughed and said we knew what we were doing and waved us on). This time, the line was longer. I think we had to wait maybe 10 minutes? It was funny because they let all of us SRL folks in to the loading area, but there were no standby riders at all. Completely empty...WEIRD!, but they loaded us all on and we took off in a half filled limo. On our way back out, we realized we could get new FPs, so we got them for ToT. By now, RnRC wait time was 60 minutes and ToT was about 35.

I think it must have been about 9:30 at this time. My friend Laura called. They were finally here! I couldn't wait to rub in how much we had managed to do already, while they were sleeping! We met up in front of Starring Rolls, chatted for a bit, then separated, us to use our FPs for TSMM, them to ride ToT.

We rode it again (this time I rode alone and beat BOTH the kids. I so totally ROCK!) We were getting a little hungry, so back to Starring Rolls we went. Cannon had a chocolate croissant, Peyton went with the Blueberry Muffin, but I didn't get anything here. There was only one thing I wanted, so I asked where I could get a Carrot Cake Cookie. They directed me to the sweet shop right around the corner (can't think of the name of it right now...just remembered...it was Sweet Spells). I left the kids with their treats and went and got one for myself. Let me just tell you...if you have not yet experienced the bliss that is the Carrot Cake Cookie(with cream cheese frosting filling), you are seriously missing out. I actually let the kids try a bite (just one! It's all MINE! Bwahahaha!) and they agreed it was phenomenal!
Laura's family was done by now, so we met up and headed over for TGMR. When I retire, I totally want to work on this ride! It's a favorite, and Harold (Laura's DH) had never been on it. We were hijacked by some crazy gangster, but it all worked out in the end. Something strange...While waiting in line, I happened to spy something odd on the floor. Upon closer examination, I discovered it was a contact lens, still in the package. What a strange thing to find! I handed it over to the CM at the end of the ride, and she also thought it was odd. I imagine they find or have weird things turned in to them all the time (like maybe a Ravenclaw baseball hat? I'm not bitter, really!)
After the ride, us old folks chilled for a few minutes while the kids ran for RnRC FPs. It was to be Maggie's (Laura's DD, 15) first time on it ( if she didn't chicken out). When they got back, my family decided to go see the Lights Motor Action show, while Laura's fam went to check out the Studio Backlot Tour. I wanted a corndog, but the stand was just opening and they weren't ready yet. We went on in and enjoyed the show. It was cool that Lightning McQueen was there!
After the show, Cannon and I got our corndogs and Peyton got an Icee (actually, we got two because the folks in front of us asked for a coke and she got them the frozen one accidently. The CM asked if we wanted it and we said "sure"! Who turns down a free Icee?) We found Laura and her family who were just finishing up a snack as well.

Next stop was going to be the Muppets, but I grabbed everyone's tix and ran for FPs to Star Tours first. Then we watched Muppets.

My DH is whining for me to come to bed, so I will pick this up again tomorrow. Can you believe how much we got done and it was only around 1:30?

Tomorrow...Get your elbows off the table or I'm telling Ma!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like you've had a great morning so far at DHS! It's amazing how much you can do if you get up early!

[lfredsbo]

I LOVE early mornings in the parks for that reason............you get to COVER so much ground!!! And especially when you are happy with treats!

[lazanya]

Great day so far!

[DMA]

Wow! You've had a great day so far! I just love mornings!
I have been wanting to try one of those carrot cake cookies as well. I've seen them at Writer's Stop in DHS, but didn't get one at the time. Maybe next trip!

[rosanna]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Sounds like you've had a great morning so far at DHS! It's amazing how much you can do if you get up early!

As I like to tell the kids..."Sleep is for suckers"!!

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

I LOVE early mornings in the parks for that reason............you get to COVER so much ground!!! And especially when you are happy with treats!

I am amazed at the folks who would rather sleep and fight the crowds later...poor lost souls!

Originally Posted by lazanya

Great day so far!

It was!

Originally Posted by DMA

Wow! You've had a great day so far! I just love mornings!
I have been wanting to try one of those carrot cake cookies as well. I've seen them at Writer's Stop in DHS, but didn't get one at the time. Maybe next trip!

They are really good...I might have to play around in the kitchen and see if I can replicate them.

[rosanna]

The rest of the afternoon was busy. We had FP for RnRC and Star Tours, plus Laura's fam had them for TSMM. First, we made our annual pilgrimage to watch Muppets 4d. From there we hit the RnRC for Maggie's first ride. As you may have guessed, she loved it! Yay!! We had a little time to kill before ST and TSMM, so we sat through the character development spiel. It was dry as toast, but dark and cool with comfy seats, so it was declared a winner! We walked through the Art of Animation building and caught a glimpse of Sorcerer Mickey, Mr. Incredible, and Frozone. I think their costumes are so cool! I would have liked to do the drawing thing, but the wait was a bit too long.

It was time for my friends to head over to TSMM, so the kids and I meandered through the gift shops, then went into One Man's Dream, another first for us. I thought it was fascinating and really enjoyed it. We went back out and found our friends. From here we were going to ride Star Tours. Unfortunately, Harold was feeling a little off already and the virtual rides do not agree with him, so he chose to sit this one out. I was worried because I have felt adverse affects from this ride before, but I really wanted to check out the new and improved ride. Consensus...I didn't get sick! Thumbs up!

By this time we were all quite hungry. We had a 5:15 reservation for 50's Prime Time Cafe, so we headed over and checked in. We had about a 20 minute wait, but soon were seated with my favorite cousin, Patty, as our server. We actually had her last year. She's great! We started with some onion rings...mmmm...onion rings. Peyton and I both had the fried chicken. Cannon wasn't that hungry, so he had a chocolate shake and the kid's chicken nuggets. For dessert, we ordered the Boston Cream Parfait and Dad's Crazy, Whackadoodle, Brownie Sunday and shared amongst ourselves. Everyone behaved in our room, but some poor sap
next to us did not want to eat his greens. Guess what? A little chugga chugga choo choo changed his mind!

We paid the bill ($68.18 plus $11.52 added gratuity). Since we were a party of 7, they added the gratuity to our bill. Did I notice it at the time? No. Did I leave an additional gratuity? Yes. Yes I did. As much as we love Patty, I think she loves us more! Neither of us realized it that night, so we both WAY overtipped. It wasn't until lunch at Tony's the next day that it clicked. Oh, well. I hope she bought herself something pretty!

We had thought about staying for Fantasmic, but we were all pretty tired, so we decided to head back and relax for our big day on Friday. The kids watched tv and I went ahead and did a load of laundry. The paramedics were there, removing someone from the hot tub area. Hopefully, it was nothing serious.

Coming up next: We really git'r done at MK!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great afternoon/night at DHS! And a great meal! Patty's one lucky lady!

[chezp]

What a great time at the Studios!