Blessings upon Blessings Trip Report

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

This trip report is in a large part thanks to the Fiends. Many, many fiends helped make this trip possible.  I don’t think any one person knows all the fiends that blessed us this trip.  But I am grateful to each and every one of you.  I pray that God will bless you for blessing us.  The only thing I can do to show my gratitude is to write a TR.  So here we go.

 

Driving down, ears were worn.

 

 

We saw wet palm trees!  (Also known as foreshadowing!)

 

 

We saw the monorail!

 

 

Eventually, we saw this:

 

 

 We checked in at around 3:30pm.  There were four empty lanes at check-in, which we took to be a good sign!

 

Picture taken from vehicle at check-in:

 

 

I was surprised when we were checking in that another cast member came out to our vehicle to bring us some “mail.”  I figured it was something about the Disney Student Seminars.  Boy, was I wrong!  It was gift cards from some anonymous fiends.  What a major blessing!  

 

When I finally stopped crying from the joy of feeling so loved, I drove to our campsite.  We had requested 1506, but got 1504 instead.  We liked it even better, as it was closer to the comfort station (CS).  I thought we might be bothered by the noise of people going in and out the CS, but we never heard anything.

 

As soon as we opened the camper door, we saw a very big gift bag.  It was filled with fun things!  There was a kitchen towel and potholder set with Mickey and friends on it.  There were water bottles in Mickey bottle carriers (very helpful when the bottle carriers I made started to fail.)  There were hair things for my girls and games for my boys.  So much more!  

 

Checking out the "swag": 

 

[

 

A quick shout out to Curt and Fort Camper Rental.  Our camper was great.  We were cool and dry all week. He offered us a choice of themes for the blankets and pillowcases.  We had said our first choice was Mickey, our second was Avengers, and our third was Mickey and Friends.  He used all of them, with things on one side done with Mickey and Friends and the other with Avengers! He also had presents on the bed for the kids. We had one small problem during the week and he came right out and fixed it for us.

 

Anyway, on with the TR!  Shortly after we arrived, Fiends started to visit.  First Gretchen stopped by, then Lou.  Later, Monte and his wife Dianne came by.  Definitely get your Fiend sign.  It works!

 

A fiend bought us a GAG for dinner.  Yum!  We don’t eat much fried chicken because mine always ends up too greasy.  This was just right.

 

For dessert, we headed over to Bob and Kathy’s site.  I knew they were in the 600 loop.  So I left my site in the 1500 loop and got on a Yellow Settlement bus.  Oops.  That won’t take us to the 600 loop.  So at the Settlement, we took an orange bus to the 800 & 600 loops bus stop.  Um… which way is the 600 loop from the bus stop?  I had no idea.  We asked a passing looper who told us we needed to get a bus back to the Settlement because the 600 loop was on the Yellow Bus route.  Thanks so much.  We found a path to the 600 loop and started wandering around.  Remember that this is me and my 6 offspring in the dark.  At that point, we saw our helpful looper again.  He tried to tell us again how to find the 600 loop.  I tried to convince him we were in the 600 loop.  Why do I bother?

 

At last, we found the Fiends!  I saw Kathy and Bob, Lorna and Richie, Doodle and Mike, Jason and Sil, Cheryl and Jeff, Julia and clan, Brent, Melissa, TJ and Missy, Kelly, and of course, Lou.  There were all kinds of goodies to eat, including cake and cupcakes for Kathy’s birthday.  I was also told at the GG that some fiends had paid my portion of a Memory Maker share, so I could have the photopass photographers take as many pictures as I liked!  I was overwhelmed with the generosity of the Fiends!

 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long at the GG.  We were planning to make rope drop at Animal Kingdom in the morning, and they were having Extra Magic Hours and opening at 8:00 am.  I had made detailed touring plans for all our parks days and getting to the parks before they opened was huge part of that.  So, off to bed we went!

 

Next up: Animal Kingdom

 

(Many thanks to Carol who helped me figure out my photo posting problem!!  :heartsmiley: )

Edited October 6, 2014 by Momof6....aka Marty

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Woo Hoo!

 

I'm first on board for what is sure to be an epic report!

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

 It won't be epic until I can work out my pictures issues.

 

But First Post Bragging Rights are yours, TCD!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Can't wait to read more!!! You will figure out the picture issue!

[Beckers 1,136]

In!

[red...Susan 37]

Happy to hear you all enjoyed your trip!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

 

trying to troubleshoot images

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

 

This trip report is in a large part thanks to the Fiends. Many, many fiends helped make this trip possible.  I don’t think any one person knows all the fiends that blessed us this trip.  But I am grateful to each and every one of you.  I pray that God will bless you for blessing us.  The only thing I can do to show my gratitude is to write a TR.  So here we go.

 

Driving down, ears were worn.

 

 

We saw wet palm trees!  (Also, known as foreshadowing!)

 

 

We saw the monorail!

 

 

Eventually, we saw this:

 

 

 We checked in at around 3:30pm.  There were four empty lanes at check-in, which we took to be a good sign!

 

Picture taken from vehicle at check-in:

 

 

I was surprised when we were checking in that another cast member came out to our vehicle to bring us some “mail.”  I figured it was something about the Disney Student Seminars.  Boy, was I wrong!  It was gift cards from some anonymous fiends.  What a major blessing!  

 

When I finally stopped crying from the joy of feeling so loved, I drove to our campsite.  We had requested 1506, but got 1504 instead.  We liked it even better, as it was closer to the comfort station (CS).  I thought we might be bothered by the noise of people going in and out the CS, but we never heard anything.

 

As soon as we opened the camper door, we saw a very big gift bag.  It was filled with fun things!  There was a kitchen towel and potholder set with Mickey and friends on it.  There were water bottles in Mickey bottle carriers (very helpful when the bottle carriers I made started to fail.)  There were hair things for my girls and games for my boys.  So much more!  

 

Checking out the "swag": 

 

 

A quick shout out to Curt and Fort Camper Rental.  Our camper was great.  We were cool and dry all week. He offered us a choice of themes for the blankets and pillowcases.  We had said our first choice was Mickey, our second was Avengers, and our third was Mickey and Friends.  He used all of them, with things on one side done with Mickey and Friends and the other with Avengers! He also had presents on the bed for the kids. We had one small problem during the week and he came right out and fixed it for us.

 

Anyway, on with the TR!  Shortly after we arrived, Fiends started to visit.  First Gretchen stopped by, then Lou.  Later, Monte and his wife Dianne came by.  Definitely got your Fiend sign.  It works!

 

A fiend bought us a GAG for dinner.  Yum!  We don’t eat much fried chicken because mine always ends up too greasy.  This was just right.

 

For dessert, we headed over to Bob and Kathy’s site.  I knew they were in the 600 loop.  So I left my site in the 1500 loop and got on a Yellow Settlement bus.  Oops.  That won’t take us to the 600 loop.  So at the Settlement, we took an orange bus to the 800 & 600 loops bus stop.  Um… which way is the 600 loop from the bus stop?  I had no idea.  We asked a passing looper who told us we needed to get a bus back to the Settlement because the 600 loop was on the Yellow Bus route.  Thanks so much.  We found a path to the 600 loop and started wandering around.  Remember that this is me and my 6 offspring in the dark.  At that point, we saw our helpful looper again.  He tried to tell us again how to find the 600 loop.  I tried to convince him we were in the 600 loop.  Why do I bother?

 

At last, we found the Fiends!  I saw Kathy and Bob, Lorna and Richie, Doodle and Mike, Jason and Sil, Cheryl and Jeff, Julia and clan, Brent, Melissa, TJ and Missy, Kelly, and of course, Lou.  There were all kinds of goodies to eat, including cake and cupcakes for Kathy’s birthday.  I was also told at the GG that some fiends had paid my portion of a Memory Maker share, so I could have the photopass photographers take as many pictures as I liked!  I was overwhelmed with the generosity of the Fiends!

 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long at the GG.  We were planning to make rope drop at Animal Kingdom in the morning, and they were having Extra Magic Hours and opening at 8:00 am.  I had made detailed touring plans for all our parks days and getting to the parks before they opened was huge part of that.  So, off to bed we went!

 

Next up: Animal Kingdom

 

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

The board doesn't like the ~original on the end of the file name.

 

Delete that from the code and you should be fine

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Count me in!!

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I'm in and super excited to hear about your trip :)

[dvccamper 32]

I'm in, can't wait to hear all the details of your trip!!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

I am in.

Thank goodness this is Fall Break week as I will be able to keep up with your report.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I'm in.

Woot. Woot.

I've been waiting for this one.

[lklasing 16]

I'm in! Page one!  Really looking forward to this report!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Squeaking in on page one!! 

[Beckers 1,136]

I am in.

Thank goodness this is Fall Break week as I will be able to keep up with your report.

We don't have any days off until "no school November" I can't wait lol.

[Beckers 1,136]

Squeaking in on page one!!

You know what they say, squeaky wheels gets the cinnamon roll....

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Can't wait to read more!!! You will figure out the picture issue!

 

With a little help from my friends!

In!

 

Welcome!

Happy to hear you all enjoyed your trip!

We definitely did!

 

 

 

The board doesn't like the ~original on the end of the file name.

 

Delete that from the code and you should be fine

 

Thank you!!!   :heart:  :hugsmiley:

Count me in!!

You are officially counted as in! :D

 

I'm in and super excited to hear about your trip :)

 

This may take a while, but Lord willing, you will hear all about it. :)

I'm in, can't wait to hear all the details of your trip!!

I can't wait to type it all up, but life keeps intruding.

 

I am in.

Thank goodness this is Fall Break week as I will be able to keep up with your report.

 

You might be done with Fall Break before this TR is finished.

I'm in.

Woot. Woot.

I've been waiting for this one.

Sorry to have kept you waiting. :D

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I'm in! Page one!  Really looking forward to this report!

 

Welcome aboard!

Squeaking in on page one!! 

 

Just before Beckers started hogging up all the page one spots.  Wonder where she learned that trick?

We don't have any days off until "no school November" I can't wait lol.

No school at all in November?  Sweet!

 

You know what they say, squeaky wheels gets the cinnamon roll....

I was going to do another installment today, but now I am getting too hungry.

[Beckers 1,136]

No school at all in November? Sweet!

There is school but hardly any. Out of 20 possible days they are off for 5, so of the remaining days 6 are 1/2 days. Adam's 1/2 days are an hour and 45 mins. Pointless

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

Hope this helps with your pics.  I always insert my photo links in Word now b/c I've lost so many posts trying to insert them here.

 

In Word, type this without spaces:  [ I M G ] *** [ / I M G ]

 

Where the three asterisks are above, remove the asterisks and copy your Photobucket link there.  No spaces anywhere.

[CitaPita...Carmen 59]

Woo hoo!  A fresh report and off to a great start. :) Excited to hear more!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

The next morning, I got up early to shower and start getting ready for our longest day of touring.  At 6:30am, we left the campsite after checking that we all had our MagicBands.

 

 

We headed for the bus stop.  It was then I started worrying that they may not be running internal buses in the campground that early.  A bus soon arrived, but going the wrong way.  We decided to take that bus to Wilderness Lodge and wait there for a bus going to Animal Kingdom.  It was a long wait!  After 3 buses had come for Disney Hollywood Studios and 4 for the Magic Kingdom, a bus finally arrived going to Animal Kingdom.  We and the other disgruntled guests quickly board and were off.

 

Once at Animal Kingdom, I made my way to Guest Services.  I wanted to make sure everything was good with our tickets we had gotten through the Disney Student Seminars program.  Also, I had one day left on my 4 day hopper from January which would expire 09/28/14.  It was important to our touring that I use that ticket that day so I would still have 3 days left on my Disney Student Seminar ticket.  The kids had four day hoppers so everything should work out fine.  (Foreshadowing!)  The cast member said we were good to go, so we hightailed it to Expedition Everest, downing Sausage Muffins on the way.  The plan had been to eat those waiting for rope drop, but because of the bus delay, we had just missed it.  I was a little worried, taking everyone on a huge roller coaster right after eating, but thought empty stomachs might be worse.

 

Pictures taken (I think) on our way to EE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The good news is that everyone’s stomachs did fine.

 

 

But my 7yo was terrified.  

 

 

I have never heard anyone scream that long without pausing for breathe.  She declared right then that she was not riding anymore roller coasters.  Uh-oh.  My touring plan was full of them. More on that as we go along.

 

My older kids decided to ride again.

 

 

From there, we headed to the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride.  On the way, we found great viewing spots for the Tree of Life, just as TCD outlined with his purple crayon.  The offspring loved finding different animals and pointing them out to each other.

 

 

Next we saw a Cast Member from Indonesia who taught us to play on a native instrument called a Angklung.  She played Happy Birthday and I played Jingle Bells.  Some of the offspring were brave and tried it.

 

The Safari was great.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My big cat loving 17yo got to see his first cheetah.  

 

From there, we went on the Pangani Nature Trail.  I had wanted to do the Maharajah Trail but Pangani was right there.  It was cool when a gorilla came out and banged his chest at everyone.  A cast member said he was trying to impress the females across the way.  I think he was just trying to impress my 19yog.

 

 

 

After that, we went and watched Finding Nemo, the musical.  While waiting for the show to start, we had a snack of string cheese.  We enjoyed the show.  My 19yo says the best part was the puppets and the songs.  My kids are so helpful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up, Disneybounding and Fun with Photopass

[DaveInTN 3,247]

No pictures of the Sausage Muffins?  :popo: