caveat lector

In an attempt to add content I thought I'd do a TR.  I know there is already one Christmas TR up... but more never hurts..right?  The only thing is you won't see pics of my kids.  Hubby and I have an agreement about not posting the kids...sorry.
Here we go.  We didn't arrive by the front gate of MK.  We had downloaded a GPS POS that had us coming in the back way.

We then had a Fort Day.  We had bike rides(looping & WL), swimming (yes, I got in but froze), shopping, and ended the day with the campfire sing along (discovered that I don't like smores...never had them before. Yes, I did the Hokey Pokey!).
Thursday it was off to MK.  I love early morning magic hours.  We got Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, Snow White, The Carrousel, and It's A small World done just in time to jump in the line for The Haunted Mansion.  We then got Pirates, Alladin's Carpet Ride, lunch, The Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise done by 12:30.  We split up.  The boys went home to care for the dogs and the girls went off for Thunder Mountain Railway (the boys don't like Roller coasters).
I want to know if anyone has ever tried to ride a roller coaster while holding a 6 year old's head off the metal bar because she was trying to bury her head in my stomach!!  From the first small hill!
After which we rode Goofy's Barnstomer (same problem as before..).  At which point, the boys were back.  We parked it on the sidewalk for the parade... now for those pics:
MK Tree

The Garland's of Main St

Some Pictures of the the parade:

We then had a Fort Day.  We had bike rides(looping & WL), swimming (yes, I got in but froze), shopping, and ended the day with the campfire sing along (discovered that I don't like smores...never had them before. Yes, I did the Hokey Pokey!).
Thursday it was off to MK.  I love early morning magic hours.  We got Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, Snow White, The Carrousel, and It's A small World done just in time to jump in the line for The Haunted Mansion.  We then got Pirates, Alladin's Carpet Ride, lunch, The Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise done by 12:30.  We split up.  The boys went home to care for the dogs and the girls went off for Thunder Mountain Railway (the boys don't like Roller coasters).
I want to know if anyone has ever tried to ride a roller coaster while holding a 6 year old's head off the metal bar because she was trying to bury her head in my stomach!!  From the first small hill!
After which we rode Goofy's Barnstomer (same problem as before..).  At which point, the boys were back.  We parked it on the sidewalk for the parade... now for those pics:
MK Tree

The Garland's of Main St

Some Pictures of the the parade:

All right, folks, so there you have it -- he admits it! He drinks cheap lite beer! And he made fun of me for drinking pina coladas!
Let's continue with our photo journey:

Bankrupt by Kenny

Through the Rope Hole

Looks Cold

Bridge on the River Slime

Daddy, What's a Medicine Show?

Guitar Playing Quack

Bowline

Free Hopper Pass

Make Up Your Mind

Checkers, Anyone?

In Character

Not

Surprise, Surprise, a Lantern in a Troll Report

Muck Cutters

Counter Service, Once

Proof

30,000 Layers of Paint
So how do you like this batch? Hope you like them!

Here's a picture tour of the topiaries at Epcot...

OK, stand back.
DaveinTN has requested an update, and By Golly, he's going to get one!
I've got 30 new photos loaded, so let's knock this one out!
It's still Saturday morning.
I have been away from the site for a little over an hour, first on my railroad expedition, and then visiting briefly with Stacktester and Otter Spotter.
The girls have been getting ready.
I love my daughters.
But, I miss the good old days when a jump in the pool and a pony tail/hat was all that "getting ready" consisted of on a camping trip.
Now its showers, and hair products, and make up.
It takes a long time.
Sheez!
But it's all good.
On the way back to the TCD site on the 2000 loop, I happened upon a castmember scrubbing a slab.
I've seen this before.
It's good to know that occasionally the slabs get a good cleaning.
Here he is:

I regret to inform you that I missed a very important shot.
When this fellow was putting some equipment on the trailer, there was some major crack action going on.
But, somehow I failed on getting the shot.
Maybe that's a good thing.
You can tell from this fellow's jeans that he is a professional:

Some things are better left to the imagination.
Strike that.
In this case, neither the real thing or what you might imagine are a good thing.
So forget about the whole thing.
The girls were ready to go when I got back.
I showed them the rusty nails.
They were underwhelmed.
So, we hopped on the cart and headed down to the marina.
The plan was to eat lunch at the MK, and check out a couple of things.
So, we hopped on the boat, and were on our way.
I spied an interesting person on the boat.
Some type of Disney expert conducting research.
See?:

I'm not sure you can read what is written on her notebook, so here you go:

I love the boat ride.
In the winter, I love how the cypress trees and moss look silver:

I love to look over at the rotting remains of River Country:

There was still some kind of survey marker out in the water- this is old news:

On the other side of the boat, we are gliding past Discovery Island.
You can see the roof of a small building here, with birds perched on it:

This is a shot of the Discovery Island shoreline. You can see an old post and rope in this shot:

Of course, I just had to take some shots of the old shipwreck:



Here we are looking over at Bay Lake Tower. There is one of the big Magic Kingdom boats cruising by there:

Here we are looking back toward Discovery Island. Look how all the cypress trees are brown, and the leaves on the other trees are very thin:

There was some kind of boat issue going on this weekend, because you can see that they are using one of the old Animal Kingdom boats here to transport guests to the Fort:


Here's a look at Wilderness Lodge:

We made it to the Magic Kingdom, and headed down Main Street.
We ran into the mayor and his girlfriend:


Meow.
We snagged some Space Mountain Fastpasses, and then headed for lunch.
It was really crowded.
See what I mean?:


Have you ever noticed that crocodile weather vane up there on the Peter Pan roof before?
I never have.
Also notice how everyone is wearing sweatshirts and jackets. It was a cool day.
I suggested that we try the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant.
None of us have ever tried it before.
It's true.
What I remember about this restaurant is the overwhelming smell of sauerkraut.
I mean, it used to reek.
But, they have changed the menu.
It's an Italian joint now.
But, they still spell house "haus."
We had to wait on a long line just to order our food.
And then, we had to search for a table.
I never knew that there was an upstairs here.
Or outside seating upstairs.
Well, there is.
Here is a shot of the floor level from upstairs. The folks at the top of the photo are all in line to order:

Here's a view from our upstairs table:

Notice how the castle is behind and big, painted curtain. I'm not sure what they were working on, but it's interesting how they do this type of thing at WDW.
You can see all of the crowds and the downstairs outside eating area here:



We could see just a bit over the wall into the construction area for the new Fantasyland:

See those posters on the construction wall?
We will take a look at them in just a minute.
We enjoyed the restaurant.
The food is good.
But, I swear it still smells like sauerkraut in there.
On our way out of the restaurant, we ran into this fellow.
His job is apparently to guard the exit with that puppet:

Here's a photo of that poster we were just looking at from the restaurant:

You can see the drawing of the new Snow White Roller Coaster, and the Little Mermaid attraction behind it.
Over on this side of the poster, in the far right of the photo, you can see the planned double Dumbo ride:

Also note the shadow cast by the Mickey balloon.
Well, that's 30 photos.
Time to stop.
Next up, we visit a brand new attraction.
And we like it.
TCD

OK, stand back.
DaveinTN has requested an update, and By Golly, he's going to get one!
I've got 30 new photos loaded, so let's knock this one out!
It's still Saturday morning.
I have been away from the site for a little over an hour, first on my railroad expedition, and then visiting briefly with Stacktester and Otter Spotter.
The girls have been getting ready.
I love my daughters.
But, I miss the good old days when a jump in the pool and a pony tail/hat was all that "getting ready" consisted of on a camping trip.
Now its showers, and hair products, and make up.
It takes a long time.
Sheez!
But it's all good.
On the way back to the TCD site on the 2000 loop, I happened upon a castmember scrubbing a slab.
I've seen this before.
It's good to know that occasionally the slabs get a good cleaning.
Here he is:

I regret to inform you that I missed a very important shot.
When this fellow was putting some equipment on the trailer, there was some major crack action going on.
But, somehow I failed on getting the shot.
Maybe that's a good thing.
You can tell from this fellow's jeans that he is a professional:

Some things are better left to the imagination.
Strike that.
In this case, neither the real thing or what you might imagine are a good thing.
So forget about the whole thing.
The girls were ready to go when I got back.
I showed them the rusty nails.
They were underwhelmed.
So, we hopped on the cart and headed down to the marina.
The plan was to eat lunch at the MK, and check out a couple of things.
So, we hopped on the boat, and were on our way.
I spied an interesting person on the boat.
Some type of Disney expert conducting research.
See?:

I'm not sure you can read what is written on her notebook, so here you go:

I love the boat ride.
In the winter, I love how the cypress trees and moss look silver:

I love to look over at the rotting remains of River Country:

There was still some kind of survey marker out in the water- this is old news:

On the other side of the boat, we are gliding past Discovery Island.
You can see the roof of a small building here, with birds perched on it:

This is a shot of the Discovery Island shoreline. You can see an old post and rope in this shot:

Of course, I just had to take some shots of the old shipwreck:



Here we are looking over at Bay Lake Tower. There is one of the big Magic Kingdom boats cruising by there:

Here we are looking back toward Discovery Island. Look how all the cypress trees are brown, and the leaves on the other trees are very thin:

There was some kind of boat issue going on this weekend, because you can see that they are using one of the old Animal Kingdom boats here to transport guests to the Fort:


Here's a look at Wilderness Lodge:

We made it to the Magic Kingdom, and headed down Main Street.
We ran into the mayor and his girlfriend:


Meow.
We snagged some Space Mountain Fastpasses, and then headed for lunch.
It was really crowded.
See what I mean?:


Have you ever noticed that crocodile weather vane up there on the Peter Pan roof before?
I never have.
Also notice how everyone is wearing sweatshirts and jackets. It was a cool day.
I suggested that we try the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant.
None of us have ever tried it before.
It's true.
What I remember about this restaurant is the overwhelming smell of sauerkraut.
I mean, it used to reek.
But, they have changed the menu.
It's an Italian joint now.
But, they still spell house "haus."
We had to wait on a long line just to order our food.
And then, we had to search for a table.
I never knew that there was an upstairs here.
Or outside seating upstairs.
Well, there is.
Here is a shot of the floor level from upstairs. The folks at the top of the photo are all in line to order:

Here's a view from our upstairs table:

Notice how the castle is behind and big, painted curtain. I'm not sure what they were working on, but it's interesting how they do this type of thing at WDW.
You can see all of the crowds and the downstairs outside eating area here:



We could see just a bit over the wall into the construction area for the new Fantasyland:

See those posters on the construction wall?
We will take a look at them in just a minute.
We enjoyed the restaurant.
The food is good.
But, I swear it still smells like sauerkraut in there.
On our way out of the restaurant, we ran into this fellow.
His job is apparently to guard the exit with that puppet:

Here's a photo of that poster we were just looking at from the restaurant:

You can see the drawing of the new Snow White Roller Coaster, and the Little Mermaid attraction behind it.
Over on this side of the poster, in the far right of the photo, you can see the planned double Dumbo ride:

Also note the shadow cast by the Mickey balloon.
Well, that's 30 photos.
Time to stop.
Next up, we visit a brand new attraction.
And we like it.
TCD

From the Disney Parks blog...
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/05/take-a-flight-back-in-time-with-the-mouse/

From the Disney Parks blog...
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/05/take-a-flight-back-in-time-with-the-mouse/