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| Heidi Commerford -- November 2005 - Walt Disney World (ASMuR)Cast of characters
AUGUST: This trip came together while we were in a state of shock over my dad’s tragic and untimely death. We had just spent almost two weeks for our annual Disney trip with my parents in April. We had a fantastic time together and never could have imagined the horror that awaited us in a few short months. Dad was the picture of health during our vacation in April, as he had been his whole life. Shortly after the trip Dad began having trouble with pain in his leg and hip, then he was diagnosed with pneumonia. After various diagnoses that seemed harmless, he was given the shocking diagnosis of terminal stage 4 lung cancer. We always thought lung cancer was a smoker’s disease, so it was shocking that is what Dad had! Even more shocking was that Dad died just three weeks later. Even now it is difficult to believe that he is really gone. I was severely depressed, my kids were heartbroken and Jim was so sad. My poor Mom lost her best friend and after 42 years of marriage was now a widow at age 62. If there was ever a time we needed some Disney magic it was now. I made reservations at the All-Star Music and bought plane tickets without telling Jimmy and Cam. Initially, I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t positive we would even actually go. The sadness was overwhelming and each day brought new challenges. However, the weeks passed and we were definitely going. The kids, Mom and I would fly down on Wed. Nov. 16th. Jim had just started a new job in August and had no vacation time so he was flying down the following Wed. Nov. 23rd. We would all fly home together on the 27th. (Two days before I was due to fly out Jim mentioned that he wished he was flying down on Tuesday the 22nd instead. I asked him if he could take a day off to make this possible. He said he could, so I called up Southwest and, for an extra $50.00, I was able to move his flight up a day.) September: My nephew Dan called and announced that he wanted to go to Disney with us. This was awesome news and we were so excited. It took a couple days for everything to come together as he is a college student with not a lot of money! Dan bought his ticket and was flying down on Tuesday Nov. 22nd and would fly home with us on Sunday. September: I made a reservation for a buffet character breakfast at 1900 Park Fair. Mom loves the buffet breakfasts at Disney and we had done Chef Mickey’s numerous times, so I figured we would try something different. September: I read on one of the Disney sites that a pin event was going to be held while we were at Disney. I knew Jimmy had always wanted to go to a pin event and both Jimmy and Cam LOVE pin trading. However, the price tag of $50.00 per person, plus park admission, seemed daunting! I thought about it for the next month and asked the kids hypothetical questions about possibly going to a pin event. Remember, I couldn’t come out and ask if they wanted to go to the event since they didn’t even know we were going to Disney! Jimmy was so enthusiastic about it, he said he would even pay for it himself if he could ever go to one. Cameron also thought it sounded like fun but wasn’t quite as excited. I decided that Jimmy and I would go and whatever pins we got would be divided evenly between Jimmy and Cam. That way, if the event was no good we would only be out $100.00 not $200.00! Mom said she and Cam would do something fun together that day. Now that we had decided to go, we just needed to register for the event. Sounds easy enough, huh? Well it wasn’t!!! I spent an hour on a friend’s computer because our computer was down. I had to pick out a “code name” and I literally typed in one name after another and each and every one was refused. I called down to the Disney event services and asked if I could just register on the phone but was told “no”, it could only be done on the computer. I called Mom and she came to the rescue. She went to my Aunt and Uncle’s house and spent five hours over two days getting us registered for the event!!!! Who knew? It was crazy, but we were finally registered. (Many thanks to Mom and Uncle Dave!!!!) October: We let Jimmy in on the surprise and tell him that we are going to Disney. He is very surprised and thrilled. He can’t believe that we are going to Disney in three and a half weeks. He goes to bed with a smile on his face for the first time since Grandpa died. October and November: Jimmy and I have a lot of fun with our “little secret” from Cam. Sometimes with Cam right in the room I’ll look at Jimmy and mouth the words “Hey Jimmy, guess where we are going?” and he mouths back “We’re going to Disney!!!!” We do this hundreds of times in the weeks leading up to the trip. Jimmy does a great job of keeping the secret. A few times he has to hold in his laughter as Cam starts talking about not being able to wait until April to go to Disney (that is when our annual trip is every year). Jimmy has no idea that Dan is coming. We are going to surprise the kids with his arrival. I can’t wait to see the shocked look on their faces when Dan shows up at Disney!!!! November- I got everything packed, including our largest suitcase that is filled with breakfast food and tons of snacks. November 16- The big day is finally here!!! Jimmy wakes up bursting with excitement. He can’t believe that he’ll be at Disney tonight. I drop him off at the bus at 7:00 with hopes that the day will go quickly for him. Cam gets ready for the day and is clueless that by the end of the day he’ll be in Disney!! Grammy and I are busy all day long. We repack some of our luggage, checking and rechecking to make sure everything is all set. Grammy makes a last minute appointment with the chiropractor for a pain in her shoulder. She heads off for that while I frantically clean the house. I go on-line to make sure our flight is on schedule (it is). I check the ten-day outlook for weather in Orlando and it looks terrific, 70’s everyday, with no rain, except possibly on Sunday. Super weather for November!! I also checked info about the All-Star Music. I couldn’t remember if a hairdryer was included in the room (it isn’t, but housekeeping will supply one). We pick up the kids from school and Jimmy can’t wipe the grin from his face. At home we get the kids to do as much homework as possible, then we head to Concord to meet Jim. I tell Cameron that we are going to the Monarchs hockey game in Manchester. I can’t tell him yet that we are going to Disney until we meet Jim, so he can be part of the excitement. We meet Jim at Opie and Di’s house and transfer all of our luggage to the van, while Cameron runs in to go to the bathroom. Finally we are on our way. Once we get on the highway, I ask Cam about the fact that he’s not too excited to go to the Monarchs game. I ask him what he’d like to do instead and he is not sure. I then ask him if he’d like to go to Disney and Cam says “Ya right”. I say “No, really we are going to Disney right now”, Cam responds by saying, “you’re kidding right?” I say, “no, we really are going to Disney” he again says “you’re kidding right?” This goes back and forth a few times. Cameron’s voice is filled with nervous excitement and disbelief. He doesn’t seem to think it could be possible that this is happening to him! He is holding a small inflatable beach ball and he throws it to me and again says, “you’re kidding right?” Both Jimmy and Grammy reassure him that this is true. We were indeed going to Disney. We have a fun ride to the airport with lots of laughing and talking. Jim pulled up and we pulled out the luggage and went in while Jim parked. He met us inside. We checked in four suitcases and two coolers. We also each pulled a carry-on piece of luggage and Grammy and I each had a backpack. We got checked in, then said good-bye to Jim. He was returning to a conference in Manchester that he had been at all day. We breezed through security. I figured all the pins I had packed for trading would make them search my luggage like in the past, but it didn’t. We went to McDonalds, where I had a cheeseburger and the kids had chicken nuggets. Grammy went all out and had a cup of ice water!! When we finished eating I gave the boys new Red Sox lanyards for their pins, which they loved, and two new DVD’s (“Elf” and “Honey I Shrunk The Kids”) for our portable DVD player. We went and sat down near Gate 12 and the kids began watching “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”. Grammy read and I worked on the trip report (I had been given strict instructions from cousin Kathy to take good notes so they could read my report on their long drive to Florida in February). Before long it was time to get in line and we proudly got in the “A” section. Grammy has only flown two other times and doesn’t care for flying, but she did great! The flight went well. We were, of course tired, but not too bad. The kids watched “Elf”, played a little Gameboy, and looked out the window. Jimmy did a word search that was on his snack box. The snack box had cheese and crackers, Wheat Thins, and Fig Newton’s. I think the kids were wishing for fruit snacks like they got in April. We arrived in Orlando a little late, at 11:10 pm. We walked to the Magical Express center. There was no line and I was quickly waited on. I checked in and the woman pointed to a man who then guided us to the proper line. At the end of the line a women greeted us and led us outside. A man put our carry on luggage under the bus and we got on. We waited about ten minutes before we pulled away. Our first stop was the Pop Century, and the second stop was ours; All-Star Music. After we were dropped off, the bus went to the Movies and then Coronado Springs. All in all the Magical Express was a positive experience. All the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. We didn’t wait in any lines and things moved along in a timely fashion. Now with that being said, I have to say I was disappointed in two things on the actual bus ride. The T.V. screens were never turned on and remained black. It would have been nice if they had put the Disney informational video on. My other complaint, and this is a biggie, was that there was no Disney music playing, instead it was a local radio station. The songs were fine but the advertisement between songs would have made poor Walt turn over in his grave. One ad was for a dating service that described all the pros and cons of the dating scene. The other ad was for lingerie. Not just any lingerie, but lingerie that was “naughty” and “hot”!! There were more details but enough said!!!!! We checked into All-Star Music at 12:30 am and I was pleasantly surprised to find our room was in a preferred building (Calypso) at no additional charge. That was cool. I wasn’t going to pay for preferred, but I was going to ask for the next closest thing. Grammy has arthritis in both knees and I figured the less walking the better. We were in room 404, ground floor right at the guitar pool. We quickly settled in and went to bed. Jimmy, Cam and Grammy fell right to sleep, while I laid in bed for about an hour. Thursday 11/12 I woke up at 5:15. How’s that for a short night? I laid in bed until 5:45, then got dressed and went to Cinema Hall. This sounds crazy but I had to check out and check back in again. No one was in line and I quickly got my new keys and info. I returned to the room and called to have Magical Express deliver our bags. They did, in less than ten minutes. Grammy and I were happy to see that everything was there, nothing got lost. I brought my empty water bottles to the food court and filled them up with water, then I filled our cooler with ice and got the drinks arranged.
We left the room at 8:00 and caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We were buying annual passes since we were coming back in April and June. There was no line and we were quickly waited on. Immediately, I could tell that the crowds would be low (I had no idea just how low!!!!) While we were waiting to enter, a man noticed the guys Red Sox lanyards. He asked if we were from Boston. I said, “no, we are from NH”. He said he was from Pembroke, NH and when he found out we were from Warner, he asked if we knew Will D. I laughed and said, “Yes, he is our electrician”. It certainly is a small world. When the park opened at 9:00, there wasn’t even anybody waiting on the other side of the ticket turnstile. The small crowd that was there easily fit on the other side. We headed up Main Street and took an entirely different approach. Usually, we speed walk to either Space or Thunder Mountain. Instead, I asked the kids if they wanted to pin trade since they were excited to get some of the new lanyard pins from series 4. Grammy stayed with the boys and I went to Space Mountain to get Fast Passes. We made plans to meet at Thunder Mountain. The walk from Space Mountain to Thunder Mountain was surreal, as the place was deserted. I did a few pin trades on the way over and was excited to find the Lilo Monorail pin that Jimmy needed and a Aristocats pin for Stacey Zitto, another trip report writer. Splash Mountain was closed for repairs, which we knew before we left home. It was neat to see it drained of water with workers down below. I waited a few minutes for Grammy, Jimmy and Cam and continued to marvel over the fact that no one was around. We all met up and they told me that they had three rides on Thunder Mountain without having to get off, because no one was waiting. Apparently, on one of the rides Jimmy and Cam turned their heads to look behind themselves throughout the ride. A voice came over the speaker in the tunnel with the falling/shaking rocks telling them to turn around. In addition to that, a cast member spoke to them at the end of the ride. They had been in the last seat. A word of warning here: if you are riding in the last seat on Thunder Mountain, don’t glance over your shoulder!! Grammy decided three rides were enough so I went on with the boys for their fourth ride. We were like statues staring straight ahead!!!!! Cam really wanted to ride Space Mountain, so we headed that way. We stopped at Peter Pan. As we headed into the queue, we saw two women having a fierce argument. Two cast members were also there. Both of their voices were raised and fists were being shaken. One women looked teary- eyed. We all wondered what the problem was. We had a nice ride, and when we exited, the two women were still there surrounded by more cast members and security. I can’t even begin to imagine what the problem was. We went on Winnie-the-Pooh. It was a walk on at 10:15: UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Cam couldn’t wait any longer for a ride on Space Mountain, with our FP’s. Well, we used our FP’s, but we certainly didn’t need them because there was no line inside!!! Only one side was open and there was no line. On our second ride, both sides opened and we picked the left side. It really seemed much faster. Get this from 10:30 to 11:45 we rode Space Mountain 6 to 7 times with no lines, NONE. We had gotten a second set of FP, but never used them. I never ever would have believed that was possible to do mid morning on Space Mountain. After the kids had their fill on Space Mountain, we went on Buzz Lightyear and, comically enough, even though we had FP’s there was NO LINE!!!! Buzz Lightyear at noontime, a walk on, just amazing. Never imagined that could ever happen. Gram, Cam and Jimmy went on two more times, while I walked to Cosmic Rays to get some lunch for everyone. Gram and I had turkey/bacon wraps, and the kids had chicken nuggets. Gram and I could have shared one wrap, as we couldn’t eat it all. The kids were up for pin trading so we went to Main St. and split up. Cam and I went on one side and Jimmy and Gram went on the other. The boys and Grammy found some new lanyard pins, so everyone was happy. Cam bought three rubber bracelets with Mickey’s head around it in a variety of colors. We met up and were ready to leave when we decided to go get a Dole Whip. We did that, then returned to the resort. The first thing we did in the room was look at the new pins. Then Gram and the kids went to the pool, which was only steps from our door, while I had a shower. I went to the food court and got drinks for everyone in the refillable mugs, then videotaped and took photos of the kids in the pool. There were only two other people in the pool. Like I said this place was deserted. Gram returned to the room for a nap while I relaxed on the lounge and the kids swam. When the kids had enough, we returned to the room. Jimmy watched Toon Disney and the “Top Seven Must See Things To Do” while Cam had a long shower. (Cam loves long showers!) A little before 5:00 we headed to the food court for dinner. On our way to the food court the boys saw a man with spikey blue hair. That got them giggling. The place was DESERTED!!!! How deserted, you ask? Well let’s put it this way. It was 5:00 pm, prime eating time and out of the four food ordering stations, we were the only ones there!! I am not exaggerating. NO ONE was there! I think the CM’s were glad for some business!!!! I had a marinated flank steak salad, which was fantastic. I could eat one every night. When I ordered it I thought it sounded odd. I never thought of having steak on my salad; chicken maybe but not steak. Oh, was it good!! We finished eating and caught the bus back to the MK. We pin traded down Main Street and checked the tip board. There were very few waits. It’s almost startling how deserted this place was!!! We headed to Adventureland and were going on the Jungle Cruise when Cam had to use the restroom. Gram took him while Jimmy and I went on. We had a great skipper. I haven’t been on this ride for a few years. The wait is usually just too long (we walked right on, no wait). It was a good ride. We met Gram and Cam, who had shared an orange swirl ice cream. I suggested we all ride Jungle Cruise because I knew Cam would enjoy it and he hadn’t been on it for a few years. We got the same skipper, walked right on, no wait. There were only three other people on the boat with us. Next, we rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride. Jimmy didn’t care about riding this, but was a good sport and went. Cam controlled the up and down motion and every time he put us down our stomachs would flip. I suggested to Cam that if he likes that sensation then he should ride the Tower of Terror!!!! We meandered over to Thunder Mountain and (I know I keep repeating myself) walked right on the ride. We got the last seat, train was only 1/3 full, and off we went. We all remarked how much faster it seems at night. We walked around and went on again. We ended up in the last seat again, with only a couple people in the whole train with us. This is so much fun. We went and bought some Dole Whips and watched the Main Street Spectromagic Parade. As soon as it finished, we went to the Haunted Mansion and, yes, went right in with no wait. When we got out, we had three minutes to hustle down to Main Street to see Wishes. It was another great show. We waited about five minutes for our bus (one bus pulled away about five seconds before we got there) and had a quiet ride back. The kids were in bed by 9:00 and asleep in a few minutes. I worked on the trip report and Gram in her journal. Epcot tomorrow. Friday November 18 I was up early at 5:00. After my shower, I puttered around in the dark organizing some things. Once I was done, I walked to the food court and filled up my water bottles. Next, I went and got ice and got the cooler all set. The kids and Grammy got up around 7:00. We left the room at 7:45 and caught a bus to Epcot. I was hoping we’d get picked to be family of the day, but of course we didn’t. We went straight to Soaring with a crowd of people. It looked like hardly anybody was going toward Test Track or Mission Space. Once inside the Land, we saw the guy with the spiky blue hair that is staying at our resort. I picked up FP’s and we all walked in. As we were slowly moving forward in line (we never stopped), two women pushed their way by us yelling “Cassie, Cassie” and saying loudly that “Cassie” had run ahead and they needed to catch her. They were yelling Cassie quite loudly and Cassie never answered!!! We knew right away it was a scam. There was no Cassie, just a way for them to cut in front of everyone in line!! Throughout the trip I would jokingly say to Grammy, “lets catch up to Cassie! We were in the third row on Soaring, (we had been in the third row on our two previous rides in April). The ride was outstanding, definitely one of my favorites. The effects are superior. We loved it so much that when we got off we went right back on for a second ride. We got the third row again, but loved it nonetheless! We walked over to Test Track, I picked up FP’s and we walked in, because there was only a ten-minute wait. Unfortunately, the ride broke down so we exited the building. The kids and I went on Mission Space (no wait) while Mom sat outside and waited for us. This isn’t one of my favorite rides. It doesn’t make me feel sick or anything, it just doesn’t have the “wow factor” for me. We met Gram and walked back to Soaring for our third ride, this time using our FP’s. Luck was finally with us and we were rewarded with front row seats. Again, it was fantastic and we loved it. Back to Test Track we went. I picked up more FP’s and we went on with the FP’s I had picked up earlier. It was just the four of us in the car and we made the most of it, laughing, yelling and joking. When we came out, we only had about a 15- minute wait for our next set of FP’s, so we meandered over to the newly opened Club Cool. We all preferred the old ice station cool. The kids were disappointed that the one drink they used to like, Vegabeta, was now carbonated, so they didn’t find anything they liked. (When we got home I read on Mouseplanet that Coca-Cola had mistakenly added carbonation to VegaBeta but would be correcting it in a couple weeks. So the kids should be able to have their beloved VegaBeta in April). We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella. The kids had chicken tenders, Gram had a cheeseburger and I had a roast beef sandwich that was excellent. We had one last ride on Test Track before leaving the park to catch a bus to the Coronado Spring to pre-register for the Spectacle of Pins pin event that Jimmy and I were going to the next day at MGM. I had heard that sometimes the line can last a couple of hours and was prepared for the worst, but there was no line. We registered and got our packets. Each packet included a meal voucher, two special pins, (one with a Limited Edition of 617) a neat laminated tag with our names that we have to wear around our necks to get in to the event. We also got a coupon to get another special pin tomorrow night at the dessert reception. We had also prepurchased some limited edition pins and we picked those up. They all came in a pretty Christmas gift bag. We met Grammy and Cam in the gift shop, then caught the bus to Animal Kingdom where we made the transfer to an All-Star Music bus. Soon, we were back at the resort. I was feeling especially tired so I laid down. I had the kids get out their homework. Shockingly enough, I fell asleep; thoroughly shocking because usually I can’t nap no matter how hard I try. Grammy fell asleep too. We left for the Contemporary kids pin trading night at 5:00, catching a bus to the MK, then the monorail to the Contemporary. On the monorail ride a man commented on the boys Red Sox lanyards, asking if we were from Boston. We told him NH and he said he lives in Chicago now, but grew up in Methuen, MA. He said that, although he and his brothers are scattered across the country, they were ecstatic over the Red Sox World Series victory last year. They kept calling each other up saying, “is this really true”. As we were talking, another man in the next seat up turned around and said he was from Peterborough NH. Small world. The man who grew up in MA said he wants to bring his family back to NH in the Fall to see the foliage. I told him that this year, for probably the first time ever, our foliage was terrible. We didn’t have the brilliant colors we are accustomed to, because of a leaf disease that left black spots on the leaves. We wished each other good vacations and got off at the Contemporary. We were the seventh people in line at 5:30, the kids were hoping for first place. Jimmy and Grammy went around to the adult pin traders to see if they could trade for any pins they needed. The best trade was for the Figment W pin that Jimmy needed, from the previous series. Usually the wait in line is pleasant. We people watch, visit with people near us in line, play card games, etc. The wait tonight was downright painful, just horrendous. A person who I believe brings her son to this event every week was there with her son and three other kids visiting from NY. Well, her son, who has some disabilities, screamed and yelled the entire time. It was awful. My brain was on overload the entire time with the deafening noise level. Now, let me say, I am a strong advocate for the disabled. In fact before I had children, my profession was working with severely disabled adults. Our goal was for our clients to fit in with society and we worked tirelessly for that to happen. Although this boy was disabled, he clearly knew right from wrong and that the screaming and yelling was not appropriate. However not much attempt was given to rein him in. If he were my child, we would have left the event until he could quiet down. In addition to that, the visiting boy from NY was the most unruly out of control child I have ever laid eyes on. His behavior was a disgrace. He was rude, obnoxious, and out of control. Twice he tipped over the fence that is set up to separate the line from the pin event. Grammy even asked him to stop shaking the fence and he shook it even harder!! It was clear that none of the four kids gave a hoot about pin trading but the mother brought them there to pick the hard to find lanyard pins off from the board so she could sell them on e-bay. As upsetting as this all was it was also sad. If the disabled boy had just a little guidance from his mother he would have been a joy to be around. Instead every time he settled down as if on cue the boy from NY riled him up again. At one point the mother spoke of “big butts” then all the boy could do was announce by name how they all had big butts. During this I went downstairs for a bite to eat and my poor ears rejoiced. We had brought a gift basket for the woman who runs the event and when she came out about ten minutes before the start of the event we gave it to her. We had filled it with products from NH. She was very touched and we had a nice little visit. The kids had their turn on the board and had a wonderful time as always. Once the pins were put away the kids and Grammy shopped in the gift shop while I called Jim. At 8:00 we returned to the kids area for the drawing but sad to say the kids weren’t winners. We caught the monorail to the MK and walked to our bus stop. The All-Star Movie line was HUGE and spilled out on the walkway. There were only 8 people in the All-Star Music line. They did however bring in four movie busses while we waited and that cleared out the line. We waited about 20 minutes for our bus then we were back at the resort. Grammy went into the food court and got a chicken dinner while the kids and I returned to the room. The kids looked over their pins, had a snack, and crawled into bed. Grammy and I followed soon after. Tomorrow Jimmy and I go to MGM for the pin event, Cam hasn’t decided where he wants to go yet. Saturday, November 19 I was up early today (4:45).I wish I could have slept later. Jimmy and I went to the food court to fill my water bottles and get hot chocolate in our refillable mugs. Jimmy and I left at 8:15 to go to MGM. Today was the Spectacle of Pin Event held at MGM from 12:00 – 8:30. Once at MGM, we picked up FP’s for TOT and went directly to the RRC, where we literally walked right on and had a great ride. We hurried and went for a second ride and this time we got the front seat, which was awesome!! There was still no line, so we went a third time. This time we got the very back seat. Jimmy and I decided we liked the front seat the best. Next up was the TOT with a five-minute wait. Again, we were really enjoying the low level of crowds. We’ve been here many times when you’re lucky to get one ride on each. We got the front seat, which is my favorite (actually we rode this four times and got the front seat every time). We went around a second time, and this time in the library while the T.V. was playing the CM came and silently stood by my side. I didn’t even realize he was there and when I saw him it made me jump! Jimmy got a kick out of that! We returned to the RRC and were going to use our FP’s but there was no wait so we walked on another two times and then rode for our sixth and final ride with our FP’s. We then went back to TOT and also rode it another two times. Once we were all seated on the elevator, the CM who was giving final instructions was intentionally speaking incredibly rapidly. She was so fast it made me laugh out loud. I was thrilled for Jimmy that he got six rides on RRC and four on TOT, with no wait at all. It was awesome and he deserved a fun morning. We went to the pin event in Sound Stage One on Mickey Avenue, where we waited in line to get inside. Once inside, we got in line for our first pin trading station. There were Christmas trees with stockings on them and you could pick a stocking and trade for the pin that was inside. Well, that was a joke. Lots of the stockings held artist proofs, but both Jimmy and I got crummy pins from Europe. After waiting in line for 45 minutes that was a little disappointing!!! We went to another pin trading area where we stood in line for a whopping hour. We were surrounded by veteran pin traders who regularly attend this event. They were grumbling that the normal wait is about 20 minutes. We heard this repeatedly over and over during our wait in line. We finally got our turn where we spun a spinner to tell us which of the three boards to go to. Jimmy went first and I followed. What a disappointment. I went to my board and not only was there no lanyard pins, but nothing even remotely to our liking. What a waste of time. Jimmy and I headed to another line and another hour wait. We did have some excitement here. A CM came up and counted 1 to 15. Jimmy and I were 11 and 12, respectively. We were handed small black velvet bags and were told not to open them. After much fanfare, we were told we could open them. We each got a lanyard pin. I got a Tinkerbell one and Jimmy got a Louie one that both he and Cam already have. That was fun and we felt lucky that we were in the right place at the right time. About halfway through the line, they refreshed our pin trading station so we felt like we might get something good this time. The pins were on Christmas packages. The three packages were on a large lazy Susan. You could spin the large circle and the package that landed nearest the arrow was the package you could choose your two pins from. We finally had good luck. Jimmy got the EXP-626 license plate lanyard pin and I got a Figment lanyard pin. At this point, we left the pin event and went to the ABC Commissary, where we bought some lunch. I called Gram and Cam and got an update on their day. They had been to FW and WL and were on the bus back to All-Star Music. Jimmy and I returned to the event and got in a different line. We waited about 40 minutes this time. We both got to go to the board together and there were a few lanyard pins left so we each traded for two. We stood in another line but after a short time we decided we’d had enough and needed a break, so we caught the bus back to AS Music. Gram and Cam were in the room and told us all about their fun day. We filled them in on the pin event. Jimmy and Cam went swimming and at 5:30 the four of us returned to MGM to view the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. All I can say is “WOW”. This is a sight to see, truly amazing!!!!! The millions of lights, the Christmas music, the “snow” all combines for a magical experience. The kids, Jim and I had seen the Spectacle of Lights three years ago when it was on the back lot tour. I think I preferred the old set up better, but this was incredible in its own right. At 6:45 Jimmy and I said good-bye to Gram and Cam to go to the dessert reception and get our gift from the pin event. Our instructions from the packet we received yesterday said the dessert buffet was to be held on the Lights, Motor, Action Stage from 7 – 8:30. We went there and not many people were there. I saw someone else wearing their pin event credentials and asked them if the buffet was going on as scheduled. She assured me it was and that everyone would be coming from the soundstage together. We waited for another 15 minutes. I saw a CM from the event come and stand at the entrance to the stunt show. I assumed the crowd would be coming, so we sat down to wait. I then saw a woman wearing her pin event lanyard come down, speak to the CM, then turn around to leave. I ran over to her and asked her what was going on because it was now 7:15. She said she just found out it had been changed to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show Stage. Jimmy and I walked with her visiting the whole way. She also vouched for the fact that the lines had been too long and she’d never seen that at other pin events. We entered the Indiana Jones Theater and went down to the stage with hundreds of people. Food tables were set up all over, so we went to one and picked up a fancy plastic plate that looked like black marbleized granite. We started off with brownies, rice krispy treats and chocolate covered strawberries. We sat down to eat and I noticed everyone holding long white boxes. I asked a nearby couple what the box was and they said it was the free gift. Cool, we thought we had to wait until 8:30 to pick it up. We finished eating and went right over to pick up our gift. We were very impressed when we opened it and saw a beautiful gift box with 5 pins Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all holding Christmas lights. I wasn’t expecting anything even half that nice!!! We put the boxes in my backpack and went to another food table. This one had bowls of fresh pineapple and other bowls with assorted fresh fruit. We filled up our plates. One fresh fruit bowl was loaded with blackberries, which I love and, I should add, are very expensive in NH. Jimmy loaded his plate with strawberries and had his choice between melted chocolate or caramel to pour on it. He spooned out the melted chocolate and put it on the strawberries. We devoured the fruit and returned to the table for more, it was so good!! We were feeling full but wanted to check out one more table. This table had similar items but also a warm apple dessert. Well, I had to try that and it was great. We went to a beverage table where there were a variety of coffees and some ice water. We, of course, had the ice water. They had fancy clear plastic cups with a little handle. Jimmy commented on how much he liked the cups, so when we were done, I put them in my backpack. (Now that we are home the kids use those cups daily for their milk) We walked around and I took pictures of Jimmy in front of various props on the stage. As we were leaving, I noticed Mickey and Minnie all dressed up in their winter finery. Jimmy had no interest in having his picture taken, but I asked him if he please would and he did. We only waited behind one other person. With our tummy’s full, we climbed the stairs to leave. Apparently, my tummy was too full because I suddenly felt ill. I ran into the nearest restroom and barely made it. I guess all that fruit was too much. After being sick twice, I rejoined Jimmy and we headed out of the park. Jimmy took one look at me and knew I wasn’t doing well. I couldn’t imagine getting on the bus to ride back to the All-Stars. I went into a store on the way out and asked for a plastic bag. I just didn’t think I would be able to make it back without getting sick. However, luck was with me. We only waited a minute for the bus and were able to get seats. I sat closest to the window with my bag ready, but we made it back to the resort fine. I happily crawled into bed. Sunday, November 20 I didn’t sleep well last night. My stomach tossed and turned and my head hurt, I also felt very warm. Thankfully, due to my restless night, I slept until 6:30, which is late for me. After having Tums, crackers and water I felt slightly better. We left the room at 8:15 to catch the bus to Animal Kingdom. Once we got to the park you could tell the crowds had arrived. It wasn’t that it was overly crowded, but it certainly wasn’t deserted like the other parks have been the past few days. The women who searched my knapsack did the most through job I have ever seen. Thankfully, I didn’t have anything dangerous or illegal!!!!! We went straight to Dinoland. The kids went on Primevil Whirl, while I got 4 FP’s for later. The FP machine gave me a surprise FP for 6 people to go on the Dinosaur ride. The kids went on the Whirl a second time. I enjoy this ride but, with my stomach feeling queasy, I opted not to go. Mom and I checked out lanyards on various CM’s. When the kids got off, we went over to the bone yard. The kids had a blast running around playing a chase game and exploring. Since the kids were really hoping for some lanyard pins, I left Grammy sitting in the playground watching the kids while I went across the park, stopping to check every lanyard along on the way. I did find two new lanyard pins and a magical express bus pin, so the kids were happy. Jimmy and I used our FP’s to go on Dinosaur. It turned out that we didn’t actually need them. We had a great ride and I enjoyed it more than I ever have in the past. We met up with Grammy and Cam and heard the exciting news that Cam had traded for a new lanyard pin. It was a mug with Mickey on it. Good job Cam! We walked over to see “IT’S TOUGH TO BE A BUG”. We hadn’t seen this in two years and we all really enjoyed it. After a great show, we returned to Dinoland and the kids rode Primevil Whirl two more times with our FP’s. After this, we were all getting warm and Jimmy’s legs were tired. We had done all we planned and then some, so we pin traded our way out of the park. The kids were dying for some zebra domes so, we caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We went into the gift shop first and were disappointed that the pin book for trading was no longer there. We looked around a bit then went to the food court, where we bought the last three packages of Zebra Domes. The kids ordered a small cheese pizza and Grammy and I shared a chicken sandwich on pretzel bread. We caught the bus back to Animal Kingdom and then transferred to the All-Star Resort bus. We always have had a car that we use to go to the resorts, so all these transfers are new for us. It’s not too bad, though. Back at the resort the kids did a little homework, then both Gram and I fell asleep while the kids quietly played. It was great to have a nap. When I woke up, I took the kids to the pool. Gram joined us there. The pool area was very quiet and the kids had a great time swimming around. Around 5:30, we caught a bus to Downtown Disney/Marketplace. We checked out a few shops then went to the Earl of Sandwich. I stood in line while Grammy brought the boys to the big pin store. I ordered two sandwiches and Grammy and I cut them in half so we could try two sandwiches. Both were delicious. Jimmy and Cam shared a pizza sandwich, which they said was pretty good although they wished for a little more cheese. Once we finished eating, Cameron was anxious to take Jimmy and I to Goofy’s candy store. (He had already been here with Grammy while Jimmy and I were at the pin event.) It smelled delicious as soon as we walked in. Cameron showed us a fun house type mirror, which was hilarious. I think the kids could have spent the night right here making different poses. Cam also loved the big Goofy Candy sign made out of jellybeans. Cameron bought some sour spray candy. Next up was the World of Disney store. We split up. Jimmy and I shopped together and Cam and Gram shopped together. I bought some small items for a Yankee swap for our Disney party with our cousins. I also bought the Haunted Mansion book that tells the story of the Haunted mansion and the making of the Haunted Mansion. We met Gram and Cam at the Lego store. It was pretty crowded, so we decided to come back on Wednesday in the morning when we could look at all the displays without the crowds. I did purchase a Lego Advent Calendar. We stopped in the sports store, then went back toward the bus stop, where we stopped at the fountains for about 15 minutes. The kids played before we caught the bus back. We relaxed in the room before going to bed around 10:00. Monday, November 21 We all woke up between 6:30 – 7:00. The kids and I went to the food court for lemonade and hot chocolate. I then sent the kids to get ice for our cooler. Unfortunately, the nearby ice machine wasn’t working again, so they went to the building across from us. They made two trips so I could really get our cooler filled with ice. As we were getting ready to leave, Jimmy said he’d just as soon stay in the room and read the new Haunted Mansion book. Cam chimed in that he could stay in the room too and play Gameboy. I said we should go to the MK as we’d planned. We could ride rides for two hours, go to the Wilderness Lodge and see CM Sandra, then we’d spend the afternoon at the resort. We caught the bus to the MK. Once the park opened, Jimmy and Gram went straight to Splash Mountain, while Cam and I went pin trading and to pick up FP’s for Space Mountain. Cam surprised me when he said that he didn’t want to go on Splash. I figured the three of them would go while I picked up the FP’s to Space. Cam and I put out great effort to check many, many CM lanyard pins. Cam did find two pins but I wished he could have found more. There just seems to be hardly any around! Cam and I had a great time walking around together. Since we come here so often and have AP’s, we didn’t feel like we needed to participate in the mad rush. When we got over near Splash Mountain, I heard Grammy yell my name. I looked down and saw them in a log. How’s that for timing???? We met them in the gift shop of Splash Mountain. They had ridden two times with no wait. Jimmy and I went on again, while Cam and Gram headed over to ride Thunder Mountain. We walked right onto a log and I was so happy for Jimmy that he got three rides on Splash with no wait. Jimmy was so happy I hadn’t listened to him this morning and stayed in the room. We met Gram and Cam, who had taken two rides on Thunder. It was now 10:00 and we decided to go to Tom Sawyers Island. The kids really wanted to find a paintbrush. We were the second raft over, so I wasn’t sure if the paintbrushes would already be found. We split up. Cam and Gram went to the Fort. Jimmy and I did the two caves, the playground, the barrel bridge and the windmill. As we were doing this, Gram called and said that Cam had found a brush. I relayed that to Jimmy and we were both so excited for him! We crossed the bridge to the Fort and Gram called again saying a little girl had found the other two brushes. We met Cam and Gram in the Fort, where we congratulated Cam on his find. We admired the brush and Cam showed us where he had found it. Then he and Jimmy ran around in the fort until we all left together through the escape tunnel. Cam had fun using a mini flashlight that Gram had in her fanny pack in the escape tunnel. We caught the raft back to Frontierland, where Cam turned in his paintbrush and received a special pass for the family to go on Splash or Thunder Mountain with no wait. Cam chose Thunder, so we walked right on. Jimmy asked to go on the Haunted Mansion because he wanted to look for things that were in his Haunted Mansion book. We went right in with no wait. (In the ballroom we found the ghost that was modeled from the grandmother in the Carousel of Progress). When we finished with the ride, Gram went to get a Dole Whip, while the three of us returned to Space Mountain to use our FP’s, with plans to meet Gram at the end of Main Street. We went on SM and were assigned seats #1,2,3. Cam said he remembered in April when he rode Space many times with Grandpa that he was always assigned seat #1. (It’s still unimaginable that Dad, who was in perfect health in April, could have cancer spread throughout his entire body just two months later!!!) Another great ride through Space and we were off to meet Grammy. We all had a good chuckle when we walked by Stitch’s Great Escape and saw a 60-minute wait!!! Believe me people, your 60 minutes could be better spent doing something else. ANYTHING ELSE!!!! Gram was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the camera center. We all sat for a minute watching the crowd, then we exited the park. Our plan was to go to the Wilderness Lodge and we were lucky that a boat was waiting, so we stepped right on. We noticed that all the seats and the floor had been painted. The boat looked great! We stopped at the campground first, which was tough. I have so many wonderful memories of Dad here. In general, Fort Wilderness was always my favorite thing about being at Disney. Now, the Fort is like a painful reminder of all that we’ve lost and will never have again. I studied the pin sheets that were in my backpack to stay focused and we were soon on our way to the Lodge. We were thrilled that CM Sandra was at the pin cart. She came right over with big hugs for everybody and condolences for Grammy. We visited and got caught up then we gave Sandra a gift basket filled with products from NH (similar to what we gave CM Barbara). Sandra was very surprised and touched. She said she collects glass mugs and admired the NH mug that was in the basket. We looked at Sandra’s lanyard board and made a few trades. Jimmy got the squirting tiki statue with the leaf on the left hand side and was ecstatic because we heard that it was impossible to find. Cam got a sleeping Pooh lanyard pin and a resorts lanyard pin and was equally pleased. We said our good-byes to Sandra and browsed in the Mercantile before going to Roaring Fork for lunch. The kids split a pizza and I had a chicken wrap. We caught the boat back to the MK and the bus to the All-Stars. Just as we were walking to our room, the wind started whipping and it started pouring. We arrived at our room to find housekeeping inside. We all went in to get out of the rain, while she finished up. I noticed she had made us a fish out of the washcloth and thanked her for it. She then offered to show us how to make a turkey out of a washcloth. She slowly showed us how she folds it but the only thing we could figure out was how she did the feathers. She was very nice and we appreciated the fact that she took time out of her busy schedule to show us how one was made. The kids finished up their homework. Jimmy read the haunted mansion book and Cam played Gameboy. I didn’t sleep today but enjoyed relaxing on the bed. When it stopped raining, we went out to the pool. While the kids went swimming, I talked to Jim and filled him in on the good time we were having. After we were done at the pool, we brought our refillable mugs and a package of microwave popcorn that I’d brought from home to the food court. The kids popped the corn and got drinks while I went to the concierge to get a new park hopper for a future trip, since we needed the water park days for this trip. We all met back at the room where the popcorn was pretty much gone!!! We decided to catch a bus to the MK, then visit the resorts along the monorail route. We walked to the Contemporary and along the way we were shocked to see a very large turtle on the path. A woman who turned out to be an off duty CM picked him up and put him on the grass. The CM had been in the MK doing Christmas shopping. Our first stop was the Contemporary. Upon walking through the doors, we saw the most amazing Christmas display of gingerbread and chocolate. It was of Geppeto and Pinocchio in the toy workshop. The details were out of this world!!! There were six hidden Mickey’s and we found them all. The best was the paint can that had spilled paint that had pooled and turned into a hidden Mickey. We went upstairs, where Jimmy bought a surprise pin of Tinkerbell trading pins. We then saw CM Barbara working in one of the shops and we went in to say “hello”. We visited for about 15 minutes. She thanked us again for the basket and offered to take us to Disney Quest. She gave us her phone number and said to just call her if we wanted to go. This was such a generous offer and we thanked her profusely. We caught the monorail to the Poly, where we noticed that the shops in the lobby have been moved downstairs and upstairs there was a pin cart. Grammy and Jimmy each traded for one of the magical express bus pins. Grammy also bought a pin binder for cousin Jenny for Christmas. It was the first one we had seen. We had been looking everywhere and all the stores were sold out. We ordered dinner downstairs in the little food court. I had a Hawaiian pulled pork sandwich, while the kids had more pizza. I called Jim and had a nice talk with him. I asked him to bring down more trader pins, as we were running out. He was all packed and excited to come. He was so glad I changed his plane ticket so he could come a day earlier. We finished eating and went to catch the monorail. There were quite a few people waiting and the CM told us we’d be on the second monorail, as this one would already be full. Since things seemed very crowded, we decided to skip going to the Grand Floridian and just catch our bus back to the All-Stars. We finally settled into bed around 10:00. Tuesday November 22 Today was our ADR at 1900 Park Fair for a late breakfast at 11:00. We decided to go into the MK for 1½ hours before breakfast. The bus driver was very friendly and knowledgeable. He told us Disneyland’s MK could fit in the MK parking lot of Disney World, with parking spaces left over. We went straight to Splash Mountain, stopping on the way to get a picture of the kids and Grammy with Jesse and Woody, since there was no wait. After the picture, all four of us went on Splash. Cameron surprised me by the fact he really didn’t want to go, because this was one of his favorite rides the last two trips. He gets so nervous for the big drop. Cam survived the ride but did state it is no longer a favorite. Grammy and Jimmy went on again, while Cam and I went to Thunder. We had an excellent time here. We were able to ride three times without having to get off, since no one was waiting for our seat. This was a nice treat and we had fun. When we got off we met Jimmy and Gram. They had ridden Splash once and then it broke down. We all went on Thunder together, then pin traded our way out of the park. Jimmy traded for a cast exclusive pin that was a Goofy hat. The CM gave Jimmy the original tiny hatbox it came in, which was cool. At the monorail station, Grammy asked if we could sit up front and we were told that, “yes”, we could. We haven’t done this for years and it was a real treat. The driver was friendly and visited with us. We could hear beeping sounds and he told us that the beeps told him if he was too close to a monorail in front of him. He said if he didn’t get one beep by the time he reached #35 (all the beams supporting the track are numbered) he would have to stop and wait (he got the beep and we proceeded on). When we got to the T&T, we were looking at the crowds waiting to go to the MK. (Are these people crazy? It is now almost 11:00. They missed their opportunity to walk right on the best rides. Now there are waits for everything!!) The driver explained what the crowd looks like on Christmas Day in the area we were looking down on. Absolute gridlock, he said. He wondered why people don’t just stay home on Christmas Day and enjoy themselves. He said the parks are packed from one week before Christmas to January 2. By January 4 the place is a virtual ghost town. When we arrived at the Grand Floridian, he gave each of us honorary monorail licenses and wished us a good breakfast. We just about ran to 1900 Park Fair because it was now 11:05 and we were suppose to arrive at 10:45 for our 11:00 ADR. I checked us in and we got a beeper. I took pictures of the kids and Grammy with Mary Poppins. Mary asked the kids where we were from and when Jimmy said N.H., she asked if we flew down with our umbrellas!! The beeper went off and we were quickly seated. Tigger came right over for pictures, followed closely by Pooh. We were all starving and went up to the buffet. Everything looked fantastic and we loaded up our platter. The kids ate lots of bacon, pancakes, Mickey waffles and a cheese Danish. I had an assortment of egg dishes, one had some salsa in it and was outstanding. I also had some kind of pasty filled with cream cheese. It was served warm and looked like an egg roll. Yummy. I even ordered an omelet from the omelet making station, telling the lady what I wanted in it. Everything was outstanding. At one point Cam was at the table, while the three of us were getting food and when I returned to the table the Mad Hatter was sitting at the table talking to Cam!!! He asked Cam if the teacups were his favorite ride. Jimmy returned soon after and I was able to get pictures of the three of them. Alice came by for pictures and it was clear my kids definitely like the costumed characters more than the “face” characters. Jimmy finished his meal with some Jell-O and ice cream. I had some pineapple and watermelon and we made our way out. I took pictures of the kids in front of the huge Christmas tree in the lobby, then we checked out the life size gingerbread house. At this point, Jimmy started feeling ill and retreated to the nearby bathroom. I think we all overate a bit. Jimmy quickly recovered and we caught the monorail back to the MK. We snickered at all the people just arriving at the MK. I hope they like to either people watch or wait in long lines, because that is what they are going to do! We had a long wait for our bus, but it finally arrived and we were back in our rooms. Jimmy and Cam settled into a game of Disney monopoly that they had purchased the night before ($40.00 plus tax), while Grammy went into her adjoining room for a nap and I had a nap too. We both woke up and got our laundry together, while the kids got in the swimsuits and we went to the pool. It’s great having the laundry right at the pool. Grammy and I took turns watching the kids and checking the laundry. During this time, Dan called to say he was on a Magical Express Bus, so we knew he’d be here pretty soon. I was so excited to see him and to surprise the kids. My plan was for Gram to meet Dan in the lobby and for him to put on his swimsuit and sneak up on the kids in the pool to surprise them. I went to get the laundry so we’d be all ready when Dan arrived. I was the only one in the laundry room until a security guard came in. He made a comment about the kids swimming in the pool (this was our coldest day at 68 degrees). He thought the weather was quite chilly and too cold for swimming!! He told me that he had four layers on, long johns, a long sleeve shirt, his uniform shirt and a coat. He said that by tonight he would have a heavy parka on. I told him we were from NH so the weather was mild for us. He said he grew up in Michigan, but left the state 40 years ago. He guessed that now his blood had thinned and he could no longer take the cold!! We had a pleasant chat and then he was on his way. I folded the clothes and brought them back to the room. I had only been in the room for about a minute when the kids and Grammy returned. They were done swimming, so my idea of Dan joining them in the pool went out the window!! Gram whispered to me that Dan had called and was here so she was going to meet him in the Main Building. I told her we would meet them in the food court and do the surprise there. The kids had a quick shower, got dressed and we headed to the food court. We got settled in a quiet area and waited with our drinks. I kept waiting to see Gram and Dan come around the corner, but they didn’t!! I finally called Gram and asked her where they were. She didn’t realize that we were sitting there waiting! Gram came in first and sat with us, with Dan a short distance behind her. Dan walked up behind Jimmy and Cam and tapped Jimmy on the shoulder without saying a word. Jimmy glanced up at Dan with a startled look on his face and started to back away in his seat while Cam just stared at Dan. When it sunk in, that Dan was here at Disney with us, they both started smiling and laughing. (Jimmy said later that when he first looked up he didn’t even realize it was Dan, since Dan joining at us Disney was the furthest thing from his mind!). We visited for a bit before walking back to our rooms. Dan was glad the kids had gotten out of the pool, because the 68 degrees didn’t appeal to him for a swim! After Dan put his stuff away, we returned to the food court for a bite to eat before catching a bus to DTD and transferring to a Yacht and Beach club bus. Our first stop was the Beach Club and, to our disappointment, there weren’t any Christmas decorations. I was so surprised, since every place we had been to so far was decorated. I figured that if the economy hotels were decorated that the deluxe hotels surely would be! I would have been disappointed if we were staying here! We went outside to walk to the Yacht Club, it was so nice having Dan with us and walking around. Dan hasn’t been to Disney since 2000 and I hadn’t been at Disney with him since 1998. Its funny to think that on that trip Dan was about the age Jimmy is now, and now Dan has grown into a wonderful young man, who we all love so much! Dad adored Dan and would have loved being on this trip with us, and having fun with everybody. We were happy when we saw that the Yacht Club was all decorated. In the lobby, we admired the beautiful merry-go-round made out of gingerbread. It was quite large and going around in a circle. We looked in the gift shop and Jimmy made a pin trade. We continued walking around the lake until we got to the Boardwalk. We went into the ESPN club store and looked around. I saw some long sleeve hockey shirts I would have bought for the kids, but they only had extra large. Next we stopped in the candy store and bought some candy and ice cream before strolling down the Boardwalk to where a man was performing a comedy skit, which we stopped to watch. We went into the lobby of the boardwalk and were happy to see that it was all decorated for Christmas. The display of chocolate and gingerbread was incredible and we took lots of photos. We returned to the bus stop and caught a bus to Animal Kingdom and then made the transfer to the All-Star Music bus. We all settled in for the night. Jim would be arriving around midnight, so I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep until he arrived. I did doze off and woke up at 12:01. I called Jim to see where he was and was happy to hear that he was on the Magical Express bus and would be arriving shortly. Sure enough, in about fifteen minutes there was a knock on the door and Jim was here. It was great to see him. He had had a good flight down and was happy to be here a day earlier than originally planned! Looking forward to a fun day tomorrow! Wednesday November 23 The kids finally slept in a little and didn’t get up until 7:30-8:00. I woke Jim up at 8:30 so we would be ready to leave at 9:00. We caught the bus to Downtown Disney. The first thing we did was stop at the Christmas scene for a picture. Another family was there and asked us to take a picture of them. Then they took a picture of the six of us. I really wanted a chance to look around the shops on my own, so Jim took the kids and went with Gram and Dan, while I looked around by myself. I bought the rest of my Yankee Swap gifts for our Disney party in March and some Christmas gifts. The shops weren’t crowded at all and I enjoyed looking around. I traded for a Disney Dollar pin with Goofy on it for the Carters. We met up and went to the Rainforest Café at 11:30, where we were seated right away. We went early to avoid having to wait in a long line. Our waiter was very friendly and wanted to know where we were from. He then asked us a couple questions about N.H. I had a BBQ chicken wrap. Jim had a grilled chicken sandwich. The kids had pizza. Dan had buffalo wings, and Gram pizza. The food was fine, but you definitely pay for the atmosphere here. When Cam finished eating he began to play with his gameboy. The waiter came over with a small flashlight and pointed it at the Gameboy and said in stern voice “this is the food police, stop playing games and eat your food”. Cam was so startled and half thought he really was in trouble. After that, he kept looking around to see if the man was coming back. Poor Cam, we all had a good laugh at his expense! After we finished eating we looked around the gift shop. I bought each of the kids a t-shirt and Dan bought a shot glass with his name on it. We caught the bus to Fort Wilderness. We were going to go to the Lodge first, but the FW bus was there so we got on that one. I was a little apprehensive about going to FW because FW has always been my favorite place in the whole entire world, but I’ve always been there with Dad. Just thinking that we were all there in April and so happy. We never could have imagined the horror that lie ahead. Those feelings made it sad to go back. Once at the Fort we caught the bus to the Meadow Trading Post. The kids had great luck trading for some great pins. I did feel very sad here, as Dad loved this place and I wished he could be here enjoying it with us now. We walked down to the Settlement area and both kids commented on how quiet the campground was. They were right, it was deserted. We went into the Settlement Trading Post but didn’t find any good pins there. Jimmy and I noticed that there was some new equipment at the nearby playground. We rode the boat to the lodge and stopped in Roaring Fork, where Dan got a drink in his refillable mug. We then went up to the pin cart. Sandra was there, so we were happy to see her again. The kids made some awesome trades. When they were done Jim, Dan, Jimmy and Cam went to rent a surrey to ride on the bike/exercise path to the campground. They all hopped in with Dan in the drivers seat. I took a couple pictures of them as they were leaving. Grammy and I visited with Sandra the whole time they were gone and we all met in the lobby when they returned. The four guys reported that they had a great time. Dan said they saw 7 deer, which was very symbolic. The day Dad died, we saw two fawns, which seemed like a message that he was ok. Now seeing seven deer seemed like the 6 of us plus Dad, a reminder that he is still with us. We hugged Sandra good-bye, saying we would see her in April. We caught the boat to the Contemporary, where we took many pictures by the metal Mickey Ears statue. We then went inside and showed Jim and Dan the Pinocchio and Gepetto made out of chocolate and ginger bread. Once they had found the six hidden Mickey’s (with a little help), we walked over to the MK and got the bus back to the All-Star Music. The kids continued playing monopoly while Jim and I went to the food court to get dinner. We brought it back to the room to eat. I had the flank steak salad for the fourth time and it was outstanding!! Around 7:00, we decided to go to Winter/Summerland to play mini golf. Gram called the front desk to inquire how to get there. The CM told her to get on the Epcot bus and when we got on the bus to tell the driver we were going to Winter/Summerland and she said the bus driver would drop us off on the way to Epcot. When we were done golfing, we were told to tell the CM’s at Winter/Summerland and they’d let dispatch know we needed to be picked up. This sounded easy enough, well it WASN’T!!! We waited for the Epcot bus and when it arrived we all hopped on. I told the driver we were going to W/S Land and he said he wasn’t going there, that he was going to Epcot. He said at Epcot we could go to bus stop #7 and then go to Winter/Summerland Land. Gram told the driver what we’d been told at ASMu and the driver said “NO” he wouldn’t be doing that. Gram explained again what we had been told but the driver shook his head. I had no desire to go all the way to Epcot, catch another bus and go to Winter/Summerland. (Winter/Summerland is only two miles from ASMu). We all got off the bus and Gram and I went to the concierge desk. Gram asked how we were supposed to get to W/S. The CM told us the same thing that Gram had been told on the phone. Gram told her we’d waited for the Epcot bus and the driver refused to take us there. The CM picked up a printed copy and had us read exactly what Gram had been told on the phone. Yes indeed, we were supposed to be dropped off. The CM called transportation dispatch and explained our predicament. The dispatch and the CM apologized and wished we had gotten the bus drivers name. She then arranged for a van from the ASMu to come pick us up. We waited about five minutes then CM Ernie came and picked us up. Winter/Summerland looked so pretty with all the lights. We have golfed here many times but it was always in the morning, never at night. We played the summer side, using some free coupons that Grammy had. Even though there was no expiration date, we all held our breath as the CM ran them through her machine. I was expecting the course to be crowded but it wasn’t at all. In fact, there only appeared to be one other family on the summer side. I remembered that on the third hole two fish squirt water at you as you walk over a bridge. I whispered to the kids to let Dan go first while I went on the other side to videotape his reaction. I wondered if the water might be shut off since the night air was so cool, but happily it wasn’t. Dan got squirted and we all had a good laugh at his expense. Everyone got a least one hole-in- one, except Jim. We had the best time together. When we finished, we asked the CM to call a taxi for us. We each had a free candy cane while the CM checked our scores to see if we may have won a free drink for any of our holes-in-one, but we hadn’t. (Jimmy has won several times in the past.) We also asked if they still had their trivia question of the day but they don’t do it anymore. (I have won this for two years in a row and was rewarded with a coupon for a free round of golf. Pretty good prize considering it costs $10.75 to play). Perhaps Dan had the most excitement of having the best score of the day, 33. He proudly got to erase the prior winner and put his name, state, and winning score on the board. We walked out to the parking lot and only waited about 2 minutes for the taxi to arrive. Quick ride and well worth the $4.75 price, plus a couple dollars for a tip. This saved us at least 45 minutes of waiting for and riding buses. As the saying goes, time is money and this money was well spent. After a busy, full day of lots of walking we all crawled into bed. Thursday, HAPPY THANKSGIVING We could sleep in a bit today since we didn’t need to leave for Typhoon Lagoon until 9:15. When we got on the Downtown Disney bus I asked the driver to double check that he was going to Typhoon Lagoon and he was. We had asked the housekeeper for lots of extra towels and I put everything into our two carryon bags on wheels. We arrived at the park, waited for the ticket turnstiles to open, then for two rope drops. You could tell it wasn’t crowded and we were happy about that. After the chill of yesterday with the temps in the 60’s, today was mid 70’s, sunny and warm. We wanted spots in both the sun and shade. We wanted the sun to stay warm and Gram wanted the shade because she can’t be in the sun for extended periods of time. Jim and Gram went to get a shaded spot that we used many times over the years and the three boys and I went to get a spot in front of the wave pool. We all met at Crush and Gusher for our first of four rides. We used the three-man tubes and changed up our groups each time. I think it’s safe to say we all loved this slide and had a great time! Next we went over to shark reef. At first Cam didn’t want to go, because he remembered the last time he tried it, two years ago, he had trouble with his snorkel and didn’t make it across. Jim decided to sit it out due to the cold water (60’s). The five of us went and I noticed that you no longer use a life vest like you used to. We got our instructions and braced ourselves for the cold water. Surprisingly, we didn’t even think the water was cold, must be our NH blood!! It was kind of comical because the woman giving instructions was in a heavy coat, pants and winter hat and here we were in our suits getting into cold water. Everyone did great with their masks and snorkels and we had a leisurely swim to the other side, remembering not to kick our feet. We saw tons of fish, some stingrays and a few sharks. Once on the other side, we decided we wanted to do it again. After telling Jim that it wasn’t that cold he joined us for our second trip through. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. I imagine that in the summer the line for shark reef must get outrageous! Next up was the body slides. Gram sat down while the rest of us went up to Humunga Kowabunga. After a few rides, all six of us went up on the more tame body slides. We must have gone down these around 8-9 times. Next up was the wave pool, which is probably Jimmy and Cams favorite attraction at Typhoon Lagoon. They just can’t get enough of those giant waves!!!! We spent lots of time in the wave pool and the kids really enjoyed it. We also went on the Lazy River, the boys looked for coins on the bottom with their goggles. We were careful to stay away from the squirting water. While we were on the lazy river Jim was getting lunch. It was nice to go sit down and have a little break while we ate! After lunch, the four of us took off for the wave pool again while Dan and Gram were watching from the sidelines. After our bodies had been thrown around enough, we went and got Dan and went to the two tube slides, which he wasn’t too impressed with, neither were Jimmy and Cam. I guess they weren’t fast enough for them! Dan and Gram decided they had had enough so they headed back to AS Music while the four of us went back in the wave pool. We ended up leaving about an hour later, buying some donut holes and a strawberry slush on the way out! Back at the All-Star Music, we unpacked all of our wet towels and suits. Gram and Dan were sound asleep. Jimmy and Cam settled into another Monopoly game. Jim laid down for a nap while, I went out for a walk. I walked to the back part of the resort, remembering when we stayed in the Broadway building three years ago. I cut through the parking lot and into the Love Bug section of the All-Star Movies. It was a great walk, very quiet and peaceful. The activity picked up once I got to the Fantasia section, with lots of people having fun in the pool. I went into the Main Building, looking at all the Christmas decoration and the pictures of movies stars on the wall. Everything looked just the same as when we stayed here two years ago. When I left, I went through the Dalmatian section, which is the building we had stayed in. I stopped to look at the Mighty Ducks pool which Jimmy and Cam just LOVED!! I cut back through the parking lot and returned to the room. Jim was just getting ready to take the kids swimming, so we all headed out to the pool. Guess the kids didn’t get enough swimming today at Typhoon Lagoon!!!! We spent around an hour at the pool before returning to the room. Grammy and Dan were just waking up so we all got ready to go to the food court for our Thanksgiving turkey. (Well some of us had turkey. Dan had a cheeseburger and Jimmy and Cam had chicken tenders!) I used the two meal vouchers that Jimmy and I got from the pin event for the turkey dinners, I had been saving them to get the best value. The dinners were $13.99 plus tax, and I got two bottles of chocolate milk for the kids that were $2.50 a bottle. (I only drink water and Jim used the refillable mug.) The food court was pretty quiet and we had a relaxing meal visiting together. As we were eating, we decided to get a taxi to bring us to the Animal Kingdom Lodge since Dan had never seen it. Grammy and Cam were tired so they opted not to go and relaxed in the room. We had a quick ride to the Lodge and went into the gift shop first, Dan bought another shot glass to add to his growing collection. The lobby was bustling with a lot of activity, so we walked right through and went out to see the animals. There were a few people around but it was fairly quiet. There were quite a few animals around, so that was nice. Next we went down to the food court to get a couple more packages of zebra domes before catching a taxi back. Dan stated that this was one of his favorite resorts and he would like to stay here some day. We relaxed in the room for the rest of the night and were looking forward to tomorrow and going to the Magic Kingdom! Friday November 25 I woke up at 5:45, followed by Jim at 6:40, Jimmy at 6:50 and I woke Cam up at 6:58. We left the room at 7:20 with the kids eating muffins as we walked to the bus stop. We cut through the food court to the “lovely” strains of “I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus” on the sound system playing loudly. This song has got to be one of our families least favorite songs. (They had played that song a few times last night as we were eating our turkey dinners. I hadn’t thought much about it until Dan commented later in the evening that they kept replaying the same three songs!!!!) Our bus arrived and Cam and Jimmy were the first ones to climb on. Jimmy sat in his seat and quickly got up, followed by Cam. There was water (at least that is what I hope it was) pooled in their seats. On the ride, Gram spotted a group of deer on the left hand side of the road after we passed the Magic Kingdom gate. I overheard a conversation on the bus between a husband and wife who were holding a baby. Wife “Are we staying in all day until tonight to see the fireworks?” Husband “Yes” Wife “ I hope the baby doesn’t get too crabby” All I could think was “Wow” How many babies can go from 7:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night without being fussy. I can’t imagine why this couple wouldn’t leave in the afternoon, give the baby a nap and come back in at night to enjoy the fireworks. Isn’t that the benefit of staying on site??? The turnstiles opened and we headed down Main Street at 7:45. We waited at a rope at Tomorrowland until 8:00. When the rope dropped, people started running to Space Mountain, which surprised me because I didn’t think that was allowed anymore! We speed walked and were soon inside Space Mountain. The five of us went on while Gram picked up FP’s for us to use later. It was fun having Dan with us and we almost filled up our own rocket ship. After that ride, we hurried around and went on again. After another great ride, I sent Dan, Jimmy and Cam over to Buzz Lightyear, while Jim and I ran to the nearby restrooms. The wait for Buzz said 30 minutes but it was actually a walk-on! Jimmy got the most points, followed by Cam with Dan in last place! Our plan was to be at the rope drop to Frontierland by 9:00, but we missed it by a few minutes. I phoned Gram to let her know we were on our way. We met Gram near Small World and we all walked to Frontierland together. Jim, Jimmy and Gram went on Splash Mountain while Dan, Cam and I went to Thunder Mountain. We got the very last seat and were happy with that. When we got off I sent Dan and Cam on again, while I waited for the others. While I waited, I ordered Jim a cup of coffee and surprised him with that once they got off from Splash. He drank it quickly, while we all walked onto Thunder Mountain. From there we headed to the Haunted Mansion, where we waited about ten minutes to ride. Since buying that Haunted Mansion book, the ride seems new and refreshing because we are either seeing new things or seeing old things in a new way. We showed Dan the wedding ring imbedded in the walkway on the way out. We split up here, with the four guys going to Space Mountain (They had six FP’s so the four of them rode once together then Jimmy and Cam went for a second ride). Gram and I picked up FP’s for Peter Pans Flight and went to get Dole Whips. We each had a Dole Whip and shared a pineapple Dole Whip float. It was yummy!! We all met back at Mickey’s Philamagic. This is a great show and I look forward to it every time. Dan enjoyed it, as well. Next, we used our FP’s to ride Peter Pan. I thought Dan would enjoy this for old times sake, but I don’t think he cared about it. From here, we split up again. I went to Buzz Lightyear to get FP’s, while everyone else went to the Pirates of the Caribbean. The FP’s for Buzz weren’t good until 1:25-2:25 and I wasn’t sure we would still be in the park, but I picked them up anyway. I walked to the Columbia Harbor House, which was our meeting spot. The line was huge and I knew Jimmy and Cam were starving, so I went and ordered them a hotdog at the nearby stand to hold them over when they arrived. It was funny standing in line for the hotdog, because the line, was about 7-8 people deep, and there was a cart nearby selling turkey legs that was absolutely empty! The CM at the turkey stand was saying to people “come try a turkey leg, they are really good!” The CM at the hotdog cart answered “it’s the day after Thanksgiving no one wants a turkey leg!!!!! I bought a hotdog and waited in the entryway of the Columbia Harbor House. Soon, everyone was there, having had a good ride on Pirates! Sure enough, Jimmy and Cam were starving, so I gave them each one half of the hotdog and we joined the long line to order food. As Jimmy was eating his hotdog, he dropped a piece of his bun on the floor. He picked it up, but since there was no trashcan nearby, I told him just to hold the bun until we ordered, then we would go dump it. As I was looking over the menu, Jim, who didn’t realize Jimmy had dropped the bun, asked him why he was holding a piece of the bun. Jimmy told him he wanted to dump it but, he couldn’t get to the trashcan. I turned around just as Jim took the piece of bun and popped it into his mouth!!! Jimmy’s face dropped and he said “I just dropped that on the floor!!!” Jim’s expression was priceless as he spit it out into his hand. We all had a good chuckle over that one!! Jim and Cam went and found a place to sit while Jimmy and I ordered lunch; chicken tenders for the kids, while Jim had a bowl of chili and we split a sandwich. (The sandwich was excellent!!) After lunch, we all split up. We had the six FP’s to ride Buzz Lightyear, however, Cam was tired and wanted to head back to the resort and Dan wanted another Dole Whip. Jim and Jimmy headed to Buzz Lightyear for three rides with the six FP’s while Gram and Dan went for Dole Whips and Cam and I headed out of the park. I commented on the crowd to Cam. Main Street was absolute gridlock. We laughed remembering how one week ago the place was deserted!!!! Cam made a few pin trades before heading to the bus stop. We were sitting on the bench waiting for the bus when Gram and Dan showed up, so we all rode back together. Cam and I stopped in the food court and bought hot fudge sundaes that we brought back to the room. After we ate, we laid down together for a nap. I was really hoping that Cam would fall asleep, since I knew we were going to have a late night. We laid down for about 45 minutes, but neither one of us fell asleep. (Lucky Gram and Dan fell asleep for a couple hours!) Jim and Jimmy arrived back and Jimmy was very excited because he had found a new lanyard pin, Goofy on a jet ski. Before they went on their three rides on Buzz, they rode the TTA and actually had to wait in a line that was backed all the way back to the Astro Orbitors. That shows you how crowded the park was!!! Jim had a nap, the kids played gameboy and I went for a walk over to the All Star Sports. This resort seemed so much more crowded than the Music. I looked around and then walked back. The kids and Jim were at the pool having a great time. I stopped for a bit then returned to the room, where I sorted through some stuff in preparation for packing. I searched every bag, suitcase and drawer for the cord to charge our DVD player. I couldn’t find it anywhere and couldn’t imagine what happened to it. Later, when Gram came into our room, I mentioned that it was missing, so she checked the camcorder bag and lo and behold there was the DVD cord!!! Whew!! We packed up the pins to go to the kid’s pin trading night at the Contemporary. We left the resort at 5:00 and caught the bus to the MK. Jim took the monorail to the Contemporary, while the five of us walked to see which way was faster. Jim got there first. The monorail was MUCH faster! The kids were 7th in line and were happy with that. I was happy over the fact that the whole area was much quieter than last week!! The people around us in line were great, too!! A mother and son from Chicago were in front of us, while two kids and their parents from Miami were behind us in line. All the kids in line were well behaved and we enjoyed visiting with everyone. During the wait Jim and I went downstairs to the food court to grab a bite to eat. When we returned, I suggested to Dan and Gram that they go get something to eat but neither one wanted to. As the wait was drawing to the end, I found out that the family behind us in line needed one of the ghost lanyard pins to complete their collection. I was pretty sure we had an extra one and sure enough we did. They let Jimmy and Cam go through their trader pins and they had one of the parrot pins from the three Caballeros lanyard set that Jimmy needed, so a great trade for everyone!! The kids made their trades off from the big board and were thrilled to get five new lanyard pins. We put everything away, said good-bye to the two families near us in line and caught the monorail to the MK. Upon arrival to the MK, Dan wanted to eat so he and Gram went to Cosmic Rays to eat while we went with the kids to pin trade down Main Street. Cam and I were on one side, and Jim and Jimmy were on the other. We met at the tip board, which wasn’t very helpful at all because it was blank!! I was hoping to get an idea of how crowded the rides were. Main Street was VERY crowded, with people lining the curb to see the parade. We went to Tomorrowland and met Gram and Dan and from there we went to the Carousel of Progress. I have always enjoyed this show and tonight was no exception, although I was surprised at how dirty the theater was. Cam wanted to ride the TTA. Dan had no interest in riding and wanted another Dole Whip, so he and Gram headed to Adventureland. Usually this is a fun little ride but, unfortunately, the car in front of us had a man that used foul language and was downright obnoxious! I was glad when the ride was over to get away from that group!!! We walked by the Teacups and I asked the kids if they wanted to ride, but Jimmy wasn’t feeling his best so we continued on to Toon Town. We hadn’t even stepped foot into Toon Town yet!! Cam has always liked the barnstormer and the wait was only ten minutes, so we went on. Next, we went into the judge’s tent to look around and to pin trade, followed by Mickey’s house. At this point, we talked about seeing Wishes. Originally, all six of us were going to see it together on Main Street, but with Gram and Dan gone, the kids said they didn’t care about seeing it again this trip. We were going to hop on the train but it was closed, I guess for Wishes. We walked to Frontierland to check the wait for Thunder Mountain. As we were walking, Gram called to see where we were going to meet but I said we had decided against seeing Wishes tonight. As we were crossing the bridge near Thunder Mountain the fireworks began going off. I just love the music that goes with the Wishes show. The wait was only ten minutes and soon we were on the run-away train for the last time this trip. It was clear the kids were beat so we decided to head out, stopping to buy Dole Whips on the way out. Lots of people were at the bus stop. What a difference from last week! We didn’t make it on the first bus but then two buses pulled in together and we hopped on and got a seat. As we got on, we saw Dan and Gram in line for the bus but I knew they wouldn’t make this one. The kids were happy to sit down and Cam fell right to sleep on the ride back. Once in the room at 11:30, we all crashed. Gram and Dan arrived five minutes after us. Jimmy slept in Gram’s room as a full busy day comes to a close. Tomorrow Jim, Jimmy, Dan and Gram are going to MGM, while Cam and I do whatever he wants to do. Saturday November 26 I woke up and apparently read the clock wrong. I thought it said 7:05, so I got up and showered. When I came out, I realized that it hadn’t said 7:05, but 6:05!!!! I laid back down for a while longer, then I began working on the trip report. The plan for today was for Jim, Jimmy, Gram and Dan to go to MGM. Cam doesn’t care too much for MGM, since he doesn’t care for the TOT or the RRC. I told Cam we could do whatever he wanted to do, whether it be a park or visiting a resort. We talked about going to the Contemporary and renting a water sprite and ride around Bay Lake. Cam decided he wanted to go to Fort Wilderness. Since I had returned for my first time a few days ago, I felt more confident about going and not be totally overwhelmed with sadness over missing Dad. Everyone left the room at 8:00 and went to the bus stop. We caught a MK bus and waved good-bye to the others. Our bus was almost empty. It was just us and a family of four. At the MK I made the comment to Cam that we had just been here nine hours ago, since we had left at 11:15 last night. We made our way to the monorail and rode over to the Contemporary. Quite a contrast from last night when it was so busy with all the pin traders. Hardly anyone was around and it was relatively quiet. Cam and I checked all the CM lanyards in the gift shops but Cam didn’t find anything interesting, so we headed down to the boat launch to catch a ride to Fort Wilderness. When we got down there, the boat was just leaving. But when the captain noticed us coming down the dock, he came back and waited for us. It was so nice of him and I thanked him twice and he made absolutely no response. In fact, I felt like he was glaring at me!!!! He made me very uncomfortable so I avoided all eye contact with him on the boat ride. Cam and I were the only ones on the boat and for a half of a second it crossed my mind that if the captain was some psycho Cam and I would have to swim for it!!! I made a mental note that if Cam and I caught a boat to go to the Lodge, I wouldn’t get on his boat. He sure was creepy!!!!! I told Cam we could rent a water sprite but he said “no”. We went into the Settlement Trading Post. There were no good pins, but Cam and I sat down to play a game of checkers. Cam won!!! We walked to the Meadow Trading Post and spent quite a bit of time there. Cam traded for some lanyard pins and we played another game of checkers. We then checked out everything for sale and, although I don’t usually buy myself much on vacation, I did. I bought myself a sweatshirt with a zipper in the front and WDW on the back and a nylon jacket that said WDW. I love both of them and it was my big splurge of the vacation!! I also bought two tiny plaid Christmas stockings that were so cute, one for me, and one for the Carters. Cam was dying to rent a golf cart, so we walked over to the bike barn to see if we could. Renting a golf cart is always one of the highlights of Cams vacation in April. I thought you could only rent one for the day, but the sign said you could rent it for the hour for $12.00. Perfect!!! Well, actually not so perfect. After waiting in line for 15 minutes (there was no line just one man in front of me and multiple phone calls that must have been extremely important!!!), I finally got waited on and said we would like to rent a golf cart for an hour. The CM asked if we had reservations. Of course we didn’t, but there had to be at least 100 carts sitting there not being used so I couldn’t imagine it would be a problem. However, I was wrong. No reservation equals no golf cart!!!! The CM told me that all of those golf carts were for people who would be renting them for the day. (When we returned an hour later there were still over a 100 golf carts there so I don’t know what the big deal was. Perhaps if its too much of a bother for the CM’s to rent a golf cart by the hour they should take that rental option off the board!!!!) I then asked if we could rent bikes and the CM said we could, so I paid and we went into the building to get our bikes. Cam got a bike helmet and we were on our way. I wished that I had made my purchases at the Trading Post after our bike ride because my backpack was heavy! Cam and I explored all around and were completely surprised at how many Christmas decorations were on people’s sites. We saw tons of the huge inflatable decorations and some sites were quite extravagant. At one site, near the playground, we counted nine large inflatables, eight light up plastic figures, twelve, wire light up decorations and an assortment of other decorations. Cam and I couldn’t get over the fact that all of these decorations fit on a campsite!!!! I took quite a few photos so we could show everybody. I think Disney could charge admission to drive through Fort Wilderness just to see all the decorations. It was truly amazing! We biked through a few of the cabin loops. The cabins are a possibility for us on future trips. Since Dad died, the motor home had to be sold. It was just too big. Now we have nothing to stay in at Fort Wilderness. Cam said he would “love to stay in a cabin” and that he “thought it would be fun”. We’d need our bikes though, so we’d either need to drive down with them or rent them at FW, which wouldn’t be cheap! Especially for 4-5 people for one to two weeks. I think Bobcat Bend would be a great loop. It’s the closest to the Trading Post and pool. While we were biking, Cam became real hungry so we parked our bikes at the Trading Post and sat on the rocking chairs on the porch and ate snacks that were in my backpack. We continued biking and biked right up until the last second of the one-hour rental, then we returned the bikes. I offered to take Cam to Trails End for the buffet lunch, but he was no longer hungry, so he wasn’t interested. We rode the bus to the Wilderness Lodge to have one last look around and check out the pin book. Cam didn’t find anything too exciting, but it was fun to look! We walked down to Roaring Fork for lunch, but the line was almost out the door so we changed our mind. Instead, we ran up to the gift shop and bought chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches!! We went out to the bus stop and caught the bus to MGM and then made the transfer to an ASMu bus. We relaxed in the room until everyone arrived back from MGM. They all had a good morning and were able to ride RRC and the TOT two times each, as well as see the Millionaire show and the new stunt show. Everyone gave rave reviews about the new stunt show, so it will be something new that Cam and I can look forward to seeing on our next trip! Gram and Dan settled in for a nap while Jimmy and Cam settled into their ongoing monopoly game. Jim dozed off as well and I went out for a walk. I walked all around the resort, trying to soak it all up because too soon I would be back home again!! I met Jim and the kids at the pool and relaxed on the lounge. The kids sure have gotten a lot of swimming in, which is nice since we will be returning to a long N.H. winter! We left at 5:00 to go to MGM. Even though the kids, Grammy and I had seen the Osborne Spectacle of Lights, I was anxious to see them again and for Jim and Dan to see them. (Jim had seen them three years ago when they were on the back lot) We went straight to New York street and waited with the crowd for the lights to come on. The announcement started and Gram was on the phone. I tried to get her to finish her conversation so she could hear a little about the Osborne family and the history of the lights. I turned on the camcorder so I could capture the dramatic moment when you go from darkness to being surrounded by millions of lights. As always it was an amazing moment! We are definitely a family who LOVES Christmas and everything about it, from the lights to the decorations to the music, so we just love this display. We walked all around taking pictures, videotaping and just enjoying the atmosphere. The Christmas music was wonderful and we all wondered why the ASMu couldn’t play at least one of these enjoyable songs!!!! Dan didn’t say much about the display, although when I asked he said it was nice, but that was it. (It wasn’t until later when we were on the Boardwalk when I overheard him talking on his cell phone that he was raving about all the lights did I realize how taken he was with the whole display!) On the way out of MGM we saw “Santa” a man (not a CM) with white hair, and a beard dressed in a red shirt, shorts and socks!!! We walked to the boat launch to head to Epcot. The wait was unpleasant because (for the third time this week) two people were smoking right in front of us in line!! It has always bothered me when people are smoking in non smoking areas or when people smoke in close quarters like this line, but since Dads death of lung cancer, when he wasn’t even a smoker, it makes me angry to be around someone’s disgusting smoke!! Luckily, the boat arrived and we quickly boarded. Earlier in the day, Gram told me that Dan had asked her to go to the Boardwalk but Gram was too tired to go and felt bad about it. Since she said how much Dan wanted to go to the Boardwalk, I suggested to Jim that he and I get off at the Boardwalk with Dan while Gram and the kids continued on to Epcot and we would all meet at the International Gateway. (We had brought Dan to the Boardwalk Tuesday night so I wondered why he wanted to come back) The boat stopped and we got off and Jimmy joined us, as well. As we were walking, I asked Dan what it was he wanted to do or see at the Boardwalk and he said “nothing”!! I stopped walking in my tracks. The only reason we were even here was because of Dan!!! I reminded Dan that when he had left MGM earlier today with Gram he asked her to come here. Dan said It was just an idea for something to do at the time, he didn’t care if he came or not!!! I laughed out loud. We were all happy and no one minded the extra walking, but it was a good reminder that when vacationing with a group of people good communication is essential!!! We looked in the gift shop and Dan bought Grammy a Christmas present. We also saw part of a magic show before continuing on to the ESPN Club store. I checked the hockey shirts again to see if they had a size small, but no luck. We met Gram and Cam at the gateway and went into Epcot. Once inside, we wanted to get some dinner. I wanted the fish and chips in England, where there was a sizeable line. Unfortunately, it moved very slowly but Dan was good enough to stand with me and keep me company. Everyone else said they didn’t want any, but being the smart girl that I am I bought two orders! Both Gram and Jim had a piece of fish and the kids ate all of the fries! Dan wanted Mexican, so we headed there next, stopping to see the HUGE Christmas Tree and the beautiful arch with the changing colors. Gram and I ordered churros for everybody and found a table to sit at. Dan stood in line to order while Jim walked up to Germany and bought a braughtwurst. (where else in the world can you go and family members can get food in England, Mexico and Germany!!) When we finished eating, we continued on to Japan to buy the kids some rice candy that they LOVE. I ended up buying ten boxes so it would last awhile once we got home. We also bought a long strip that had an assortment of candy in it. (It was fine but no rave reviews. We’ll just stick to the rice candy next time.) I checked out and while I was waiting for Gram to check out, I picked up a package of “seasoned seaweed”. It looked disgusting, so I knew it would be perfect for our Fear Factor party on Christmas Eve. I handed it to Mom, who gave me a puzzled look but paid for it. (The Fear Factor party was a huge success with everyone having a blast with all the challenges. The seasoned seaweed was just as terrible as it looked. Four participants were able to chew and swallow it, one person had to spit it out while the rest didn’t try it at all!!) We continued walking along and I took out a box of the rice candy for the kids to enjoy. The kids gave Dan a piece of the rice candy and we all laughed to ourselves as he tried to pick off what is actually an edible wrapper. Finally Cam said, “here let me have it” and took it out of Dan’s hand and popped it into his mouth. Dam did a double take and his expression was priceless as he watched Cam eat what he assumed was a piece of candy still in its plastic wrapper!!! We stopped in America to see the gingerbread house. As we walked, we could hear the Candlelight Processional music, which brought back many memories to Mom, as they had visited Disney two years ago and had enjoyed this presentation. We went over to the other side of the building where we had an odd encounter with a CM. I was walking toward the area where Santa sits during the day. Cam, who was right behind me, stopped to look at an assortment of drums that were set up. A CM yelled at him in a stern voice “don’t touch the drums”. Um ok!!! He wasn’t touching them. He was only looking. However, if this was such a big deal, then a rope should separate people from the drums, or there should be a sign alerting people not to touch, or a CM should be standing on guard right at the drums to discourage any thoughts of touching. Poor Cam felt like he was in trouble just for looking. I had the kids sit in Santa’s chair and snapped a picture. We continued on until we reached Canada and headed out. Illuminations started just as we reached the exit. We caught the bus back for our last night at the ASMR. Sunday, November 27 I was up early and finished packing. At 7:00 I went down and picked up our boarding passes. I didn’t have Dan’s info, so I couldn’t get his. When I got back everyone was up. I suggested that Dan go get his pass. I told him to bring his info that he printed from the computer and he told me he didn’t bring it with him on the trip, because he didn’t think he needed it. Shortly, he returned to the room saying he indeed did need it. This began a fervent effort by him to get the info he needed. No one was at his house (his parents were taking Ally back to college). After a few phone calls, he woke up a friend who he gave his e-mail info to and she looked up the flight info. Information in hand, he returned to the front desk and got his boarding pass. WHEW!!! Together Jim, Dan and the kids took all of our luggage down to be stored with the bellhops until we picked them up at 4:30 to catch the Magical Express. We caught the bus to Epcot. Mom rented a wheelchair as our busy 1½ weeks were catching up to her knees. As soon as the park opened at 9:00, we went straight to “Soaring”. We were escorted along by a CM to Soarin. The crowd was huge, much bigger than earlier in the week. Jim brought Gram in her wheelchair down the elevator while Dan, the kids and I went to get FP’s for Soarin to be used later. We got in line and stood for a few minutes without moving. I decided to get out of line and go to get FP’s for everybody to ride on Test Track. As much as I LOVE Soarin, I had been on it three times already on this trip and I wanted Dan to ride as many rides as possible today, plus Cam would want a ride on Test Track. The crowds were definitely up today, so I knew I better secure FP’s or we may not ride. When I got ready to leave Cam looked at me and said, “but Mom, Soarin is your favorite ride”. He’s right, I love it, but I was happy to get the FP’s for everyone. The window wasn’t open yet for me to get FP’s since I had just gotten FP’s for Soaring I looked around in Mouse Gears for 15 minutes then picked up the FP’s. I then sat and people watched, while I waited for the others to meet me. Everyone had fun despite the fact they were in the third row AGAIN!!! Jim, the kids and Dan headed to Mission Space. I was surprised that Dan wanted to go since he doesn’t do well on thrill rides or spinning. We said good-bye with plans to meet at Soarin to use the FP’s. Grammy and I did some shopping and just enjoyed the weather. It was in the 80’s and we knew cold weather awaited us back in NH tonight. We all met up in front of Soarin and it was apparent that Dan shouldn’t have tried Mission Space. He wasn’t feeling well at all. He sat down to rest while the rest of us went back on Soarin. We came out and met up with Dan again. He was only feeling slightly better, but agreed to go on Test Track because Cam wanted us to buy the ride picture with all six of us in the car. We went in with FP’s and had a great ride. Next up was the Living Seas to see Turtle Talk with Crush. The line was very long, but since Gram was in a wheelchair we were given a pass to come back for the next show in twenty minutes. We used that time to check out the different exhibits then returned to the line at Showtime. It was a great show and everyone laughed throughout! We strolled over to Journey Into Your Imagination and walked right on. I don’t think I have seen a wait for this attraction for many, many years!! I turned the video on and aimed it at Dan when we got to the part where the skunk sprayed to get his reaction, but sadly he remained stoic with no reaction!!! We looked around the gift shop at the end and made a few purchases before heading to Club Cool. We were determined to get a reaction out of Dan by tricking him into trying the Beverly! Jimmy and Cam told Dan how good Beverly was and Dan filled up his cup. I turned the video on but, unfortunately, Dan got a phone call so he was talking as he took his first sip. He did, however, make a face and quickly dumped it and got another drink!!! We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella and I was wishing it was a week ago when the kids and Gram ate here at the beginning of our vacation. After lunch we had our final ride on Soarin with FP’s and then headed to the bus stop. Magical Express was picking us up at 5:00 and we didn’t want to be late! Jim and Dan retrieved our stuff from the bellhops while the rest of us went to fill up our mugs one last time. We sat out front and waited with a few other families and, sure enough, right at 5:00 the bus pulled in and picked us up. We stopped at the ASMusic before beginning the drive to the airport. This time the driver turned on the Disney movie, so we all watched that. At the airport a bellhop, came over with a cart and offered to take our stuff. I gladly accepted his offer and am so glad I did. He brought us to the correct line and got us and all of our luggage checked in. After giving him a good tip, we went through security then caught the monorail to go to our gate. Our flight was on time and another vacation comes to a close. HIGHLIGHTS:
Heidi Commerford
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