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Totally worth it, a.k.a. What not to do while passing through airport security


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I want to personally thank you for performing your civic duty..........of posting timely updates on FF.net.

Another great update!

It's great that your DD18 can still have fun like a kid. Nothing wrong with that at all.

"I've worked in the private sector. They expect results."

 

I agree - having fun like a kid is one of the best things about Disney, no matter your age.

 

By the way, my uncle thought he was St. Jerome.  ;D

 

I'm in and Caught up!

Boyfriend? Is Danielle 30 yrs old already?

That boy ain't right.

 

Sometimes, it appears that Danielle at least thinks that she's 30.  And other times, she may still be 10.

 

Patrick's not as wrong as he may be portrayed to be - but he definitely is a nut.  A fun, tall, redheaded (or "ginger", as my girls call it) nut.

 

With a bigger group you should like the Treehouses.  The extra bedroom makes a huge difference.  Also, since your children are older, those steps are not so bad.  Even though I hated those steps with strollers and carrying a little one up and down, I really enjoyed the treehouse.

 

Glad to hear you liked them.  I really think we would enjoy it.  

 

Love the Jackson Hole T-shirt.

 

The Segway CMs are the same ones that do the archery class.  One claims to be an Olympic archer.  I guess on your tour, the other claims to be an Oylmpic Segway master.......

 

Rain SMB.

 

And Olympic singers and joke tellers.  :)  They were fun though, at least till Patrick pulled his crunchy leaf stunt.  That didn't evoke the fun element of the guides.

 

Caught up and the updates were great!

The segway tour looks like a good time, might have to look into that a little more.

 

You should do it.  It was so much fun!

 

The Segways look fun!

I love your daughter's expressions!

It rained on us quite a bit too.

 

'Tis the season for lots of rain, I guess.  

 

Wow, what a day!

 

Breakfast at Trail's End, then the Segway Tour, then the mad dash to the MK, then a run?

 

Wow.

 

I'd say you got your money's worth out of that one!

 

TCD

 

That's definitely how I roll - pack as much stuff into a day as possible, especially at Disney.  Ray and I both have learned to try to average out our different personalities.  That's what the nap was for!

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After our run, we all cleaned up and met my friend Claire and her son (who have both appeared in previous trip reports of mine) for dinner at CG.  It was our first time to go to CG since they refurbished it a couple of years ago and we really loved the changes.  I can’t even put my finger on what was different, other than that it was very open and airy.  Of course, the food was great as always.  The desserts were particularly yummy.

 

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Good grief.  We’re at dinner at a beautiful locale and at one point, this is what was going on at the table.

 

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Not for long, though – definitely not allowed by me tonight.

 

Claire and me.  It’s so fun that we get to see each other at WDW since she doesn’t live near us anymore.

 

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Here’s your only food pictures of kitties from the meal, though everything deserved to have its picture taken.  This was mine and it was dang good.

 

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View pics:

 

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It apparently was extra windy up there.

 

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After dinner, we headed back to the MK.  It had stopped raining and we had a pretty good lineup of FP+ reservations and passes that were good for the rest of the day due to the rain, so we were ready for fun.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned the bazillions of Brazilians (and other South American tour groups) that were there this trip.  Somehow all our other trips have managed to not run into these hoards of people.  While we saw them everywhere, we had no trouble at all.  I generally love teens, and these were just big groups of teens looking like they were having a great time.

 

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I don’t remember what time it was, other than that it was nowhere near parade time.  But, lots of people were already staking out places.  But at least we could move through the crowds so far.  Won’t stay that way for long.

 

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Anyone notice the beginning of a rainbow on the left side of that picture?

 

It’s a little more visible here:

 

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It was so pretty!

 

 

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Fun on 7DMT:

 

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I swear – no one’s drunk in this picture, but we were definitely having fun.

 

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The 7DMT was great – very cute and a good ride all at the same time.  Not at all “babyish”, as Patrick had predicted ahead of time.  We let the kids ride Space twice while Ray and I enjoyed just people watching.  The Incredibles Dance Party was really fun for all involved, including us just sitting near the PeopleMover watching.  (BTW, I missed the PeopleMover this time!  When does it open up again?) 

 

Danielle and Patrick on Space:

 

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Next we made a mistake.  A big, huge, fat one.  We decided to head toward Splash only to find that it was parade time.  First we made it to the hub via the Tomorrowland bridge, but then got stuck.  Like, really, really, can’t move an inch in any direction stuck.  There were CMs trying to keep people moving but there was literally nowhere for anyone to go.  It was madness, and a real exercise in restraint to not completely flip out.   CMs were doing the best they could to get the crowd disbursed in any direction, but there was just nothing they could do.  No amount of hollering was going to help.   I should have taken a picture to impress y’all with how incredibly stuck we were, but I didn’t.  I couldn’t have reached into my bag if I had tried.

 

Finally, things started to move.  We managed to squeak out from wherever we were and get behind the castle.  We felt so proud of ourselves that we were moving again.

 

Then what happened next?  Dern if we didn’t do it again.  We got stuck by the same freaking parade in another equally packed mass of humanity.   I couldn’t believ it.  This time we were near the riverboat.  For better or for worse, there were no CMs in sight.  We were just stuck stuck stuck stuck until the parade was over.  In all my trips, that has never happened to me and by golly, I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

 

I at least got one pic of the parade on round 2:

 

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Ray described our parade experiences like this:

 

It was like being trapped in a small pen of sweating, bovine-like apes gaping inexplicably at passing pretty, blinky lights.  Inescapable, near-panicked herd-like behavior.  And that was just us!

 

Finally, we eventually made it to Splash, where we got to enjoy the ride and fireworks all at the same time.

 

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And that was it for the day.  We did our best to beat the crowd out of the MK, but failed.  So it was us plus 10,000 of our best friends all leaving at the same time.  But at least everyone was moving, so we lived through the ordeal.  If it had been another parade gridlock, we couldn’t have survived.

 

Up next – A day with too few pictures!  :(

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So much fun! Except the bovine ape herd thing. I like your photo of the table with everyone looking at their phone at the table - a solemn reminder of how we end up isolating ourselves in a room full of family and friends. As I sit here with my coffee and iPad having breakfast.

Going to put this down for a while and enjoy reality today!

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That Liberty Square area is terrible during parades.  We've been stuck by Sleepy Hollow before and couldn't go anywhere.  So we got waffles.  

 

I would have given my right arm or more to be eating waffles instead!!  Next time...

 

Despite getting trapped in the crowds, it still sounds like a great evening!

 

It was! 

 

So much fun! Except the bovine ape herd thing. I like your photo of the table with everyone looking at their phone at the table - a solemn reminder of how we end up isolating ourselves in a room full of family and friends. As I sit here with my coffee and iPad having breakfast. Going to put this down for a while and enjoy reality today!

 

You're right - I'm glad our dinner hopefully helped yours!

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Sorry I’ve been long getting back to this report.  Life gets full sometimes, you know?

 

Anyway, we’re now at Thursday, which for us was Epcot day.  We had our FP+ lined up for late morning, as usual, so the kids could sleep a little later than I otherwise would have had everyone up and moving. 

 

This was my view that morning:

 

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Leave it to golfers to go and mess up a perfectly beautiful view.  ;)

 

I honestly don’t have too many pictures and no notes from today.  We wound up having a trip to the doc in the box, which I’ll get to in just a minute, but that distracted me from my usual TR prep work.  I do remember that we did Soarin’ and Nemo, and explored the Seas for a while, which was pretty fun.  We then had reservations for lunch at San Angel Inn, which was good but pretty dang expensive for what you got.  It was around lunchtime, though, that it became apparent that a bad case of poison ivy that Danielle had was getting worse to the point that she was going to need to go to the doctor.  :(

 

But first, we got a few pics:

 

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Anyway, after lunch we all headed back to OKW for a nap and went to an attraction I had never been to before:  CentraCare!  (Ugh.)  But while it was the last place we wanted to be, sooooooo far outside our Disney bubble, it was really a good thing that we did and they took good care of us, especially Danielle. 

 

And, of course, because no day is complete without it, here is your “totally worth it” moment from Patrick for Thursday:

 

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They wouldn’t let him in the room with Danielle and me but had moved us out of the waiting room to just kind of a holding area with equipment (wheelchairs) and supplies (gowns) and left him there.  And that is what you get when you leave Patrick alone for too long under those circumstances.

 

That night, we all had dinner together at Olivia’s at OKW, since we didn’t have an ADR anywhere, and it was pretty good.  Easy, laidback, not too expensive, but tasty.  Just what the doctor ordered.

 

That evening, Danielle and Patrick went back to the MK since Danielle was feeling better (it’s amazing what a shot of steroids can do), and then we all hit the hay pretty early. 

 

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Up next – a big day at HS, La Nouba, and more dinner-table napkin bras!

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Sorry about the poison ivy - did she get into it while on the trip or at home before the trip? I don't think I've ever reacted to the stuff and have made the mistake of walking right through it. Probably brought it home for others unintentionally.

I love the shot of Patrick in the wheelchair. We had to take our daughter to CentraCare on a Saturday at around midnight when she was about six years old. Interesting cast of characters there!

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Ugh, poor Danielle, poison ivy is horrible! 

 

We've visited CentraCare twice over the years, once for bronchitis, once for a sinus infection.  Both times we found them to be pretty efficient.  But no place I want to visit again.

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Great update!

 

It looks like y'all had a lot of fun in Epcot.

 

Did you have a table along the water in San Angel Inn?  And then the kids rode the ride and you took their photo?  It looks like that's what happened.  Very fun!

 

We used to go to San Angel Inn for lunch all the time.  I'm talking about way, way back, when my kids could order off the kids' menu.  Before the DDP came along and ruined everything, that restaurant had some really good and reasonably priced food options. And, you could walk in at lunch time and get seated without any ADR's. Now we don't go so much, but I still like it.  I just never know quite what I'm eating there-because it's so dark, and I don't recognize the things they have on the menu.

 

TCD

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Great Splash Mountain photo!

Come in Ray. It's looking at me.

 

Back off man, I'm a scientist.

 

Oh la nouba! Looking forward to hearing about that!

 

La Nouba will be coming up soon.   :)

 

Are you the keymaster?

Wow, another update!

Sorry about the poison ivy but it sounds like she was a trooper.

 

Are you the gatekeeper?

 

(But that's weird since I've never met you - so let's go with this):

 

Listen - do you smell something?

 

Sorry about the poison ivy.  Our Gwen got poison ivy at Defeated Creek one time and she swelled up so badly her eyes shut on her.  That was scary!  

 

I've heard decent things about Olivia's.  Sounds like a nice quiet spot for those evenings when you are tired.  

 

Olivia's is perfect for what it is - a sit down dinner when you aren't looking for a big night out.  

 

Very scary about Gwen's poison ivy near her eye.  Glad she made it through okay!

 

Sorry about the poison ivy - did she get into it while on the trip or at home before the trip? I don't think I've ever reacted to the stuff and have made the mistake of walking right through it. Probably brought it home for others unintentionally.

I love the shot of Patrick in the wheelchair. We had to take our daughter to CentraCare on a Saturday at around midnight when she was about six years old. Interesting cast of characters there!

 

She had it when we left, but then it just got worse and worse.  No fun.

 

We saw somethings at CentraCare that we wish we could unsee (visualize a girl with a bad stomach and a clear plastic bag), but we were still so glad that it was there and that they were able to fix Danielle up.

 

Ugh, poor Danielle, poison ivy is horrible! 

 

We've visited CentraCare twice over the years, once for bronchitis, once for a sinus infection.  Both times we found them to be pretty efficient.  But no place I want to visit again.

 

Yup!

 

Great update!

 

It looks like y'all had a lot of fun in Epcot.

 

Did you have a table along the water in San Angel Inn?  And then the kids rode the ride and you took their photo?  It looks like that's what happened.  Very fun!

 

We used to go to San Angel Inn for lunch all the time.  I'm talking about way, way back, when my kids could order off the kids' menu.  Before the DDP came along and ruined everything, that restaurant had some really good and reasonably priced food options. And, you could walk in at lunch time and get seated without any ADR's. Now we don't go so much, but I still like it.  I just never know quite what I'm eating there-because it's so dark, and I don't recognize the things they have on the menu.

 

TCD

 

You nailed it on San Angel Inn.  And we also had a similar past experience to yours - it just seemed like a much better value several years ago.  You're right also about the darkness - it is almost pitch black in there.   :ph34r:

 

Love the pics of the rainbow at the MK and the Splash fireworks!

 

Parade crowds stink. So does poison ivy.

 

Glad Danielle bounced back quickly.

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Friday morning, we woke up to some feathered friends in the yard.

 

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After breakfast that I think I took out from the CS spot by the pool, we headed to HS.  As soon as we got there, I tried the TCD FP+ of having several extra Magic Bands (with no tickets attached) in hand and checking with a CM about getting some FP+ reservations for that day.  The hack would have worked perfectly, in that the CM was going to give us FP for anything we wanted on them, but there was nothing available for any attractions we wanted during the time we anticipated being at the park.  So, while it didn’t actually help us, it did confirm that at least on July 18, the hack was still working nicely.

 

While I was playing with MBs, the rest of the gang got some cute pictures made:

 

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Love this one:

 

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Did you notice Danielle and Patrick’s matching shirts?  They were cute together.  But somehow Danielle decided that Ray and I needed to wear matching t-shirts, so this is what we looked like for the day:

 

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There were at least three problems with this “matching t-shirt” plan: (1) I generally don’t do t-shirts; (2) I definitely don’t do thick, uncomfortable cotton t-shirts on July days in Orlando; and (3) Ray and I didn’t even match.  And I didn’t even figure that out till it was way too late to change.  Fail.

 

Anyway, we had a lot of fun at HS.  Patrick had only been once before, and that time had somehow only ridden the Great Movie Ride and then left, so it was all new to him.  He managed to bring a very respectable score on TSMM, had fun on TOT and Star Tours, and rocked it out on RNRC with Ray.  Fun times.

 

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(Gotta love 3D glasses!)

 

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(Gotta love the girls in the right hand front row on TOT – scared to death but having fun.)

 

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I’m sorry, but I think this Sven photobomb is so cute:

 

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More HS soon!

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"i'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean bad?"

The TOT pic was great.

Good to know you tried and could have succeeded with the MB tip.

Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

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