WDW with Family and Friends
June 1 - 11, 2007


Who: Me – Ellen (Nanny to Ethan)
DH – Doug (Poppie to Ethan)
DS – Matthew
DSG – Ali (girlfriend)
DD 1 – Elizabeth
DGB – Ethan (grandbaby 2 almost 3)
DD 2 - Stephanie
DBF – Margaret (Best Friend)
DBFB – Danny (Best Friends brother)


Planning and how we grew

I started planning our June 2007 WDW trip in January. It started out with just Doug, Matthew and me. Then we decided to add Matthew's girlfriend Ali. Then about 4 weeks out, I was IM'ing with Stephanie one morning at work and she made the comment that she wishes she was going (Stephanie has not been back since my Momma died and showed no desire to EVER go again). So I said, “If you want to go, I will buy your tickets and you can stay with us.” She was gone for about 5 minutes and came back on and said, "Book it, I'm going" We all were so excited.

Then that next Friday, Elizabeth called me at work and was asking me a bunch of question about our trip. I asked her why and she said she was thinking of joining us also. Jay, (our wonderful SIL) was on his 2 week National Guard duty in Colorado, so she and Ethan were going to be alone. I jumped at the chance. We had talked about taking Ethan next year but this will be great. Ethan will be 3 on the 24th so we can celebrate his 3rd birthday with Mickey. Doug and I will be in Panama on his actual birthday so this is wonderful.
On Monday I got her and Ethan's plane tickets and Janet (our concierge at the Contemporary) worked some magic and found a room for her at the Contemporary with us. We were now to many for one room.

So now we are all (all 7 of us - along with Margaret & Danny for a total of 9) going to be in WDW. How great is that!! We have 4 different resort confirmations, 5 different airline flights, many different ADR's.
We will have a true newbie (Ali) and I can't wait to see my grandbaby's face when he sees Mickey.
We might be crazy but oh the fun we will have!!

About a week before we were to leave, Elizabeth called me at work and asked if I could get off of work on Thursday (my last day at work) at 3:00 (I usually work till 4). I hated to ask but before I even could, Eleanor, (the other secretary) said she could stay till 4. No problem. What a sweetheart. Elizabeth said she had a surprise for me. Hmmmmm….

Pre-trip – Thursday May 31, 2007

I left the house this morning with strict instructions for Doug and Matthew to get everything they wanted packed ready, as I probably wouldn’t be home till late. Doug and I would be leaving for WDW the next morning early and I needed to get Matthew packed and ready before we left, as he wasn’t coming into WDW until Monday. Matthew is 17 and all boy. I knew if I left packing up to him he would probably only take a couple pairs of shorts and a few t-shirts. LOL I had been after them all week to get things ready – they are both such procrastinators. Anyway it was so hard working today as I was getting very excited to go, plus I had no idea what Elizabeth was up to.

At 3:00 Elizabeth picked me up at the Church and we were off to Kearney (about 30 miles away). On the way she informed me that we were going to a spa for a pre-trip pampering. Oh my how wonderful!! Our appointments were at 4:00. When we walked in we were handed drinks to sip on, and they visited with us about our likes and such. I went in for a 60 minute massage while Elizabeth went to get a facial. Oh my, ladies this was heaven. I thoroughly loved it. After I was finished we switched and Elizabeth went in for her massage and I went and got a facial. Now mind you, this was an hour long, pure heaven pampering. Oh my, it was WONDERFUL. So relaxing. After that we both had manicures and pedicures. We had a ball and laughed and giggled the whole time. We left about 4 hours later, fully relaxed and in the vacation mode. We went and had a nice relaxing dinner, then headed home. This was one of the nicest things I have ever had anyone do for me. What a lucky Mom I am to have such a special daughter. Thanks Elizabeth!!! What a wonderful way to start a “Magical” vacation.

I got home around 9:00 and the boys were having a great time also. Everything was laid out and ready to put into the suitcases. All they had left was their golf clubs. I got everything in the suitcases and all settled around 11:00. To bed I went with much excitement. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

Day 1 – Friday June 1, 2007

I slept pretty good last night, it must have been all of the pampering of last night. I was awake at 6:00 a.m., and knew I wouldn’t be going back to sleep, so up I got. Doug was already up and pretty much ready to go. Doug and Matthew had gotten chores already done. We had planned on leaving around 8, as we had flights at 1:45 from Omaha (about 3 ½ hours away). Matthew had to leave for work by 7:00. He really wanted to go with us today, but he had to wait till Monday. So off he went. We talked to Elizabeth, and her and Ethan were ready to go. They were taking their own car up as they are arriving back home on Sunday and we are staying till Monday. We left the house around 8:15 and only had to go back once, as Doug forgot his sunglasses. We stopped at McDonald’s for a fast breakfast on the go. Finally we hit the interstate around 8:35 a.m. with Elizabeth and Ethan behind us. We only stopped once, at a rest area for a short break. Margaret called and she was in Epcot. She was in France, and said that it was dead. She didn’t see anyone else there, no matter what direction she looked. I sure hope that lasts till I get there. We pulled into the long term parking lot at the airport at 12:05 p.m. The shuttle was there in a flash. We got all loaded and to the terminal. Doug and I got checked in with no problems. We were flying Mid West. Went down and got Elizabeth and Ethan checked in. Elizabeth and Ethan were flying Northwest. I had tried to get us together but the same ticket that we got was now over $500. Soooooo - Northwest it was! They had their seats together to Minneapolis, but to Orlando the seats weren’t together. Elizabeth almost freaked out, until the ticket agent told her that it would be taken care of in Minneapolis and not to worry. I was worried about her flying alone with Ethan all by herself. He is such a good boy and Elizabeth has the patience of Job, but she would be all by herself and we had no idea how the flight would affect him. Anyway, we all got checked in and through security. We had a bit of time so we got some sandwiches and milk. We let Ethan run some and were hoping he would be ready for a nap into Minneapolis. We said bye to Elizabeth and Ethan. Their flight didn’t leave until 2:15 p.m. Ethan did NOT like this, as he didn’t want to say goodbye to his Poppie and Nanny. We kept telling him we would see him in Disney World!! It was pathetic. He just didn’t understand. Doug and I boarded around 1:30 p.m. Good grief I hated leaving them there. Our flight into Milwaukee was perfect. We had a 3 hour layover so of course the first thing we did was find a Starbucks. We shopped some then found a small restaurant and split a sandwich and salad and each had a beer. Hey, we are on vacation, we can do that. We had a ball just talking and people watching. We called both Stephanie and Matthew, they were anxious to get their vacation started. They are all flying out together on Monday at 5:50 a.m. Elizabeth called to let us know they were in Minneapolis and all was well. Ethan really fussed after we left and kept saying he wanted his Nanny and Poppie. He slept the whole way, even before they took off. We talked to him and he still just couldn’t understand why we had left him. Elizabeth had taken him to a play area in the airport and he was playing. Then they were going to go get some dinner. They also have a 2 ½ hour layover. Finally we went to our gate and read until they called our flight. We left at 6:35 p.m. We arrived in Orlando at 10:15 p.m. We again found the nearest Starbucks (man, I wish I had bought that stock way back when I had the chance – we all would be rich) and went and got our luggage. We went back up to the A terminal and waited for Elizabeth and Ethan. We looked at the screen and found out they were delayed and wouldn’t get in until 11:45. So we settled in for another round of people watching. There was this young man pacing and looking very nervous. He had a beautiful bouquet of flowers and was very anxious. Doug and I were so hoping that we could see what was going to happen. Pretty soon out came a young lady and they saw each other – it was so neat. But wait it gets better – after the hello kiss, he hands her the flowers, then gets down on one knee and proposes. OH my goodness I was crying like a fool by this time. There were probably 15 of was watching and we all clapped. By the way she said yes. About 15 minutes later I see Elizabeth pushing the stroller. Ethan saw us and climbed out of that stroller in 1.2 seconds and ran to me. Anyone around probably thought we hadn’t seen each other for months instead of hours. It was precious. Elizabeth was glad to see us also. We went down to baggage claim and our driver from Quick Silver was there. We got her luggage and we were off for Pop Century. As we were getting in so late, we decided to just stay here for the one night. We pulled up at 12:20 a.m. and it was pouring out. I ran in to check in while Doug got the luggage. We were told to go out and a porter would take us to our room. I went to the bell desk and the man there was just going back into the door. I followed and knocked 3 times and no one answered so back in I went and they called over there. We all went back out and waited about 5 minutes and finally here he came. He said, and I quote, “What do you want?” Well let’s see could you please help us?” He said, “Where is your car?” Uh, excuse me , “We don’t have a car, we need help to our room”. Now mind you, we are exhausted (we have been at this almost 20 hours at this point), it is poring buckets, it is now after 1 a.m. and we have a little one. He looked at me and said, “Well what do you want me to do?” I said again, “Could you please help us?” I swear this is true—He said, “Nope, I thought you needed help with your car”. I am mad by this point and said “Thanks buddy.” I turned on my heals and stormed off. We grabbed our luggage, Doug pulled the cases and pushed the stroller. Of course we were on the top floor in the furthest building away. We finally got to the room soaked to the bone. We opened the door to - get this - - - one king sized bed. I lost it!!! I was tired and completely spent. I called the front desk and asked for another room. There were none available but would a roll away work? Yes, I guess so. Elizabeth took the rollaway and Ethan slept between Doug and I. So we dried off and got Ethan ready for bed, who I might add by this time has gotten his second wind and was having a ball jumping on the bed and Poppie was NOT helping one bit. I am sure the people on either side of us hated us. Sorry!! A half an hour later and still no bed, I called the front desk again. She said it was on the way. 30 seconds later it was here. It is now 2:15 and we were rearranging furniture. You should have seen that room. Oh my!! At this point all we could do was laugh and we all got the giggles. Finally at 2:30 a.m. we turn the lights out and are settling down when we hear this little voice say, “Are we at Disney World yet Nanny?” I reply, “Yes, my baby boy, we are here.”

More later . . .
Ellen

I love it! We are flying Midwest airlines for our Thanksgiving trip. How do you like them? Cant wait to hear more!

Whoo-hoo, Ellen! I've seen the pics from this trip (MJ's), but I was excited to see you started on your trip report! Looking forward to LOTS more info!!

Thanks for the evening's entertainment!!

I just love it so far! So wonderful that you're so close to Ethan, what a blessing for all of you. And the proposal in the airport is so sweet. Kind of a shock to be treated that way when you got to Pop Century, hopefully the customer service gets better!!

I love it! We are flying Midwest airlines for our Thanksgiving trip. How do you like them? Cant wait to hear more!

Thanks for the nice words. This trip (oh heck they all are) was a ball. We had SO much fun.

Midwest is the BEST!! The seats are leather and bigger than any I have ever sat on. There is more leg room also. And you just can't beat the in cabin hot/baked/fresh chocolate chip cookies. The service just seems better also. We fly out of Omaha and it used to be a non stop flight, now you go to Milwaukee.

You will love it! Safe travels.

Ellen

Day 2 – Saturday June 2, 2007

We set no wake up calls or alarms after getting in so late last night. We all woke up around 9:30 a.m. We had all slept really good and felt pretty good too. Ethan wanted milk and he wanted it now! I got in the shower real fast and Elizabeth followed. We threw on our clothes, got Ethan in his stroller and we were off for the food court. Of course it was still raining but we didn’t get to wet. Now, I have been to Pop Century a few times for MouseFest, but Elizabeth has never been. We walked into that food court and Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks. She turned to me and said “Look at all of these people.” The food court was packed. She has never stayed any place other than the Contemporary and the Food Court there is not near this big and isn’t set up this way at all. It really freaked her out. LOL We got our breakfast and as I was paying I had her go get us a table. It took me about 5 minutes to find her. I have to agree there were people everywhere. We ate and Ethan was so wide eyed at all of the people and things going on. We did a bit of shopping, as on our way in, Elizabeth spotted some Disney crocs for Ethan. As we were leaving, Doug found us and went and got a cup of coffee. When he came out, Elizabeth asked her Dad, “Can you believe all of these people?” He just laughed at her but did say, “Are you ready to get to the Contemporary?” She didn’t have to be asked twice – “YES let’s go.” On the way back to the room the rain had stopped so we looked around some and took a few pictures.
It didn’t take us long to pack up and out the door. Back to the front and there was a taxi van there just waiting for us. I asked if he had a car seat and he did. WooHoo!! It took Elizabeth a bit to get it just right, but soon we were off. We were going “Home”. When we rounded that corner and we got our first glance at the Castle, life can’t get much better. We pulled up to the Contemporary and – Wow, we were Home! We checked in Concierge and Janet was there to meet us. Up we went to the 12th floor. It was around 11:00 a.m. and our room was ready. She showed us around the new lounge and showed us where everything was. Wow, were we impressed. They really did this up right. They have taken 2 rooms out and there are floor to ceiling windows and 2 large balconies. The Castle is beautiful and right outside the windows. We went to the room and again we were blown away. They are very elegant and so different from the way they used to look. Anyone that thought the Contemporary looked like a circus cannot say that now. I have been in some beautiful Hotels, all over the world, but I have to say this is one of the most elegant rooms ever. Of course the first thing I did was fling the curtains open and looked at the castle. I never get tired of the view.
At this point Doug is hungry, remember he didn’t join us for breakfast at Pop. So Elizabeth wanted to get unpacked and would join us later. We went down to the Concourse. I had the crab cakes and a bowl of French onion soup. Doug had a club sandwich and a green salad. We shared a crème brulee for dessert. Elizabeth and Ethan joined us and they split a club sandwich. Ethan loved that the birds were so close and he loved the monorail every time it went through. After lunch we went back up and Poppie and Ethan laid down for a nap and I got us all unpacked. I was almost finished when the phone rang and it was Margaret. Her and Danny were on their way over. So I went down to the Lobby to wait for them. About ½ hour later, they are walking in the door. I was so glad to see them. Hugs around and up to the room we went. More hugs and we visited for a bit. Margaret had presents for Ethan. About an hour later we all decided to go to Epcot. We went down to the monorail and Elizabeth asked if we could ride in the front. We could and Doug and Danny rode in the car behind us. Doug and I had to go get our AP’s and met the rest just inside the gate. The Flower and Garden Festival was still going on and the park was beautiful. We took a few pictures and off we went. We stopped at Ice Station Cool for a drink. We were all trying them and all of a sudden Elizabeth is gagging. LOL She had forgotten how bad the Beverly was and took a big gulp. Of course I didn’t have my camera ready. Darn!! We hopped on a friendship boat to Morocco. We went in to see if we could get a time to eat. We had no ADR, but they were able to seat us fairly quickly. In the meantime Ethan has fallen asleep. They put us at a table, actually for 4 not for 5 and a stroller. There were no people on the right side but a table of 3 on the left. We got situated and no sooner settled then they sat a table of 4 next to us. Now we are very tight, and the table of 3, are being real jerks. We slid the stroller under the table as Ethan was still sleeping. All was well for about 20 minutes, then Ethan woke up and was scared to death. He had no idea where he was and we couldn’t get him out fast enough. And Mr. Jerk would not move an inch so we could get to him. I thought Elizabeth and Danny were going to have a fit. Our dinner came and Ethan would just not settle down, so I took him out to calm him down. Now mind you he wasn’t yelling or screaming just winey and fussy. I walked a bit and he settled down and wanted his Mommy. I go back in and he starts up again but we get him settled. Mr. Jerk is still being nasty. Hindsight, I should have asked for a different table or just left. Elizabeth ate fast and decided to go back to the room, as Ethan really wanted his blankets (Whitey and blueblue). What a good Mother!! We finished up, settled the check and left. But not before Mr. Jerk had to make one last remark as his daughter had to go to the bathroom. Instead of going around to the other side of the table, which was open, he made her squeeze through behind my chair and make a few more nasty comments. Oh my what some people do!! We decided to go get in line to see the last showing of the Hermit, Hermits. We all got great seats on the right side. I kept looking for Elizabeth as we kind of spread out to save a seat. She showed up almost at the end, but just came down to give me Ethan’s blankets and to tell us she was going to go get a place for us all for Illuminations. So as soon as the concert was over we called her to see where she was. We found her and she had saved us great spots. She had befriended the people next to us (she is so much like her Grandma. My Momma never knew a stranger) and they really spread out to save spots for us. See most people are very nice. It just always amazes me that some people can be so mean. Life is to short people!!
Illuminations started soon and it was beautiful as always. And it was so much better with friends. We all loved it – even Ethan. I had no idea how he would react to the loud noise. No problem, he was in his stroller (which he loves) and had his blankets – life was good.
We all headed to the exit, Margaret and Elizabeth were talking a mile a minute and somehow they got way ahead of us. We stopped to get one of those colored ball/flashlight thingies for Ethan. We played at the lighted sidewalk and thoroughly were enjoying our first night in Disney. Margaret, Danny and Elizabeth were waiting for us at the fountain and knew we had stopped at the lights. I love them as much as Ethan. We walked out together. Danny and Margaret went to the bus and we walked up to the monorail.
We got back to the room and grabbed our mugs and headed to the Fun and Food for some hot chocolate, milk and a diet coke for Doug. I had made the request for water and milk in the room and when we got back we realized that the refrigerator was stocked full with both. Thanks Janet!! Ethan got a bath and we all settled in for the night. We talked and giggled some and lights were out at 11:00 p.m.

Loving your report. Can't wait to hear more. So sorry your dinner was spoiled by what I call an MW (Magic wrecker). :(

I'm enjoying your trip report! I was glad to see you had good luck flying Midwest from Omaha. I'll be flying Midwest from Omaha in December. I only have a 35 min. layover from my early morning flight to Milwaukee, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are running on time!
Your grandson sounds adorable; sorry you ran into such a jerk at Marakesh. I'm always the crazy lady playing peekaboo with the toddler at the next table. ;)

Great report Ellen

Day 3 – Sunday June 3, 2007 Happy Birthday Momma!!

Before turning in last night we set a wake up call for 7:00 a.m. as we were taking the ”Key’s to The Kingdom” tour this morning. This was an early Father’s Day present for Doug. Right at 7:00 a.m. the phone rang and I listened to Stitch. I really, really miss Mickey telling me to get up, there are big doings today. Doug was already up and showered and I got up and tried to be very quiet to not wake Elizabeth and Ethan. I did tell her good bye before we left the room. We went and had breakfast in the lounge and decided to walk to the Magic Kingdom. There was a huge crowd waiting for the park to open. But we went to the far left turnstile and told them we were on the tour, they checked the board and let us in. That is so much fun walking in, in front of all of those waiting people. LOL The Magic Kingdom is so serine that early in the morning with no one there. I went and took a few pictures of the castle. We checked in and ordered our lunch and grabbed a bottle of water. We waited a bit and our tour guide was named Aineben (a-knee-ben). There were only 8 of us so it was a small group. We all introduced ourselves and away we went. We walked down Main Street and he told us some very interesting facts about the names on the windows, where the speakers were and such. We went back through one of the stores. We were able to go look at the floats for the afternoon parade and the evening one. It was so neat to see the back of the attractions. They look so far apart from one another when actually they are very close. The back of Splash Mountain was very fun to watch with all of the water. We went to Columbia Harbor House for lunch. We ate up stairs, and at our plates there were name cards with “The Key’s to The Kingdom” tour pins on them. They were very neat. Lunch was very good. Doug and I shared a sandwich and a salad and we both had a cold glass of sweet tea. It was very hot today and the air conditioning felt wonderful. After lunch we went over and rode the Haunted Mansion and were told about the hidden Mickey’s and a few other tidbits. From there we went over and rode the Jungle cruise. Next was the utilidors. Doug was really anxious to see these. We went down and saw central uniforms, where they eat, do their banking and so forth. This was very interesting and even I enjoyed it. And all to soon we headed back on stage and we were saying goodbye. The tour was about 6 hours. I was very apprehensive of taking this tour – I never want the magic to be ruined – and in parts it was – but all in all it was very interesting. Doug LOVED it. So I guess that was worth it. It was almost 2:00 p.m. and we were hot and wanted to get back to the room to see Elizabeth and Ethan. We walked and it took us about 10 minutes. We love the walk and it is so easy. We get to the room and there is a note from Elizabeth saying she couldn’t contain Ethan any longer – he needed to see Mickey. They were over at the Magic Kingdom. We called her and they were on their way back to the Contemporary. So Doug and I went down to the Lounge and got some cool drinks and chatted with Janet. Pretty soon the elevator doors open up and there they were. They were really hot, but had had fun. Ethan couldn’t tell us fast enough that he had seen Mickey, balloons, balls and on and on. It was so darn cute.

Janet took Elizabeth aside and I heard her say that everything was taken care of. Hmmmmm . . . what are these 2 up to? We sat for a bit longer and we just talked about what we all had done this morning. We went back to the room and it wasn’t 10 minutes later that there was a knock at the door and there was Janet with a bouquet of 6 balloons. She handed them to me, gave me a big hug and left. I turned to Elizabeth and she had tears in her eyes. She had gotten the balloons as a tribute to Momma (today would have been her 80th birthday). We each took a balloon (also one for Stephanie and Matthew) and went to the balcony. We each said a few things. After a few moments we released them. We watched them until we couldn’t see them anymore. It was awesome!! No one said a word for about 10 minutes, even Ethan I feel realized what was going on. Thanks Elizabeth, we all really needed that. It was a hard day for all of us. But somehow that made it all okay.

We called the kids and they were all about ready to bust with excitement. Ali was playing in a softball tournament and Matthew was there, watching her. As soon as it was over they were heading to Lincoln to stay the night with Stephanie. They were all getting up at 4 a.m. the next morning to drive to Omaha. Their flight leaves at 5:50 a.m. We all can’t wait to have them here with us.

Poppie and Ethan laid down for naps and Elizabeth I went down to do some shopping. We were having dinner tonight with Elizabeth & Jay’s neighbors back home, the Dowling’s. They are Disney fans just like us. They were celebrating Hope’s (their 7 year old daughter) birthday tonight over at MGM at Prime Time and asked us to join them. So we needed a gift. Presents bought and wrapped we returned to the room to find Ethan and Poppie up from their naps and watching cartoons with some milk and cookies. Elizabeth left and came back with a glass of wine for her and me. We went out on the balcony and just relaxed. Priceless!!!

We all got showered and ready to go around 5:00 p.m. We went down to the bus stop and a bus for MGM was waiting. Once we got to MGM we shopped our way down to Prime Time and waited just a few minutes before we spotted the Dowling’s. Mike went and checked us in while the rest of us just chatted away. Ethan was so excited to see Hope. Soon they called our names and in we went. We had a ball. Elizabeth had to sing I’m a little Tea Pot for tattling on Mike and Mike had to sing also for being on his cell phone during dinner. Oh my, did we laugh. Hope opened her presents and we had a beautiful cake for dessert. This was a great time.

After dinner we did some shopping. Elizabeth and I went and rode RRC and ToT while Ethan and Poppie people watched and ate ice cream. We left MGM around 9:00. We waited just a bit for the bus and were back home and settled in no time. We grabbed a few beverages from the lounge and sat again on the balcony. What a wonderful day. The rest of the family, arrive around noon tomorrow. We are all real excited, as it has been about 4 years since we have all been in Disney together. Lights out at 11:30.


Day 4 – Monday June 4, 2007

Our day started very early. At 6:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. our time) the phone rang and it was Stephanie calling to say they got to Omaha alright and through security ok and were at the gate just waiting. Not a one of them are early risers and they all were just giddy. Isn’t it funny, what a good mood you can be in when on your way to Disney. I was the only one awake and tried to go back to sleep so as not to wake everyone else up. Finally at 7:00 I just couldn’t stay in that bed one more minute, so I quietly got up and got in the shower. I left the room around 7:30 for the lounge. I read the paper had a great cup of coffee and watched TV. Pretty soon here came Doug and Ethan. Ethan was hungry NOW. So we got him some fruit and cereal and he watched cartoons while eating. We got a big plate of fruit and some pastries and took them back to the room for Elizabeth. She was just getting out of the shower. We just hung out in the room till around noon. The kids’ plane was to get in at 11:00 and I figured they should be here around 12:30. We went down and mailed our postcards and got some Lattes to drink while we waited.
As a surprise for the kids I had gotten a stretch limo to pick them up at the airport. They had no idea, so we were all anxious to see them. About 12:20 up drove a black stretch and out came the rest of my family. They were all so excited. Ethan just couldn’t believe that Uncle Matt, Aunt Steppy and Ali were there. Hugs and kisses. We got their luggage and up to the room we went. They were STARVED so down to the Fun & Food we went. Chicken Strips, Cheeseburgers and pizza ordered, and eaten, and they felt much better. As we were eating they decided they wanted to go to MK. So off we went. We walked over and got thru security in record time and was walking down Main Street in less than 30 minutes. Stephanie has not been back to Disney without her Grammie, and this was a real hard thing for her to do. It did help with Ethan there and also Ali, as this was her first time ever. She shed a few tears looked to the heavens and away we went.

We got FP’s for Buzz and decided to try the new Laugh Floor. We all really liked it. It is really cute and we all decided we would do it again. We rode the TTA to show Ali the inside of Space Mountain. Elizabeth and Stephanie and Ethan went over to Indy for a ride on the cars. As we were riding over, we saw them and them us. It was kind of cool. Ethan really liked that he was driving a car. We met back up and all rode the Carousel of Progress and I sang the whole way through, to my family’s dismay. Our FP’s were up for Buzz so off we went. Doug and Matthew creamed us girls. Just wait - we will get those boys another time. We really needed to leave the park as we had an ADR for 6:00 p.m. at Chef Mickey’s. Before we left we got FP’s for Space Mountain for later. We walked back and talked a mile a minute the whole way. Man it was great to all be together (sans Jay & Marty). Doug and I kind of lagged behind and really enjoyed watching our kids, just being kids. Life is good!

Margaret called and we decided to meet in the Outer Rim for a beverage before our dinner at Chef Mickey’s. We got all ready and down we went. We were early and got a big couch and table to sit us all. Pretty soon Danny and MJ showed up. They were so glad to see the kids and to meet Ali. We just sat and chatted and had a ball. We checked in and soon we were called to our table. We did stop and take our picture and I did buy these as they really turned out great. I was a little nervous about how Ethan would like the characters. We sat him with his back to them so he could get used to them from afar first. No need to worry because he loved them all. He had great talks with Mickey, Minnie and Donald. They were so good with him as he really had things to tell them. Minnie decided she really, I mean REALLY liked Matthew. She had her picture taken with Matthew and Ali, then she playfully ignored Ali and was all over Matthew. She even had him down on one knee and he kissed her hand. Oh the fun we had!! The food was wonderful as usual. I just love the parmesian potatoes and the prime rib was delicious. We love eating here. It is a traditional first night meal. I know we have been there for a few days, but it was the first night for the whole family. Ethan just loved all of the characters and even got into the napkin twirling.

We decided as we were eating that we really wanted to go back to MK after dinner. So we paid up and went up to the room to get Ethan’s stroller and off we went. We walked over and it was a beautiful night. It was just dusk and the sun was setting and everything was starting to light up. What a beautiful sight. We went right to Space Mountain for a ride. Margaret and Doug took Ethan and waited for us. We got Ali in the first seat and we were off. She loved it! I could hear her screaming the whole way. When we got off she said it was awesome. Next was the Haunted Mansion. Margaret and I sat this one out with Ethan, he probably would have been ok, but we just didn’t want to press our luck. Ethan is such a happy little guy that we just didn’t want to maybe scare him so it was just as easy and so much fun to do things that would make him happy. Plus it gave Margaret and me more time to be together. Of course when everyone got off it was time for ice cream. So we all headed for the citrus swirls over by the Tiki Room. As we were sitting there Ethan spotted the Aladin Carpets. He really wanted to ride them. None of us really like the round and round rides (tea cups, Dumbo, etc.) but Ethan really wanted to go, so of course Nanny and him went. I had a ball!!! He was so darn excited and we went up, up, up and down, down, down the whole time. I was so proud of myself – I didn’t get sick and actually liked it. He wanted to go again so back into the line we went for another ride. Everyone was waving and he kept saying “hi” to Poppie and Mommy and “Margwet” and well everyone got a “hi”. LOL That was so much fun and a memory I won’t soon forget. Next we rode the Pirates. The rest hadn’t seen the new one yet and of course they all just loved it. Ethan wasn’t so sure in the first part where they were shooting at us but Margaret just kept talking to him and he was just fine. We decided we had better go and get spots for Wishes, and of course we had to walk right by the Dole Whip stand and of course, Doug had to stop to get one. LOL Oh those are so darn good. Matthew grabbed Ethan out of his stroller and put him on his shoulders so he had a good view. We were front and center on Main Street (my favorite place to watch). We got to see Tink fly over and then the fireworks. There is never a time that I watch these that I don’t think of my dear sweet Momma. She loved everything Disney and that is why we all love it so much. But the fireworks were her all time favorite. Elizabeth knew I was getting pretty emotional and she slipped her arm through mine and whispered, “Don’t be sad Mom, Grandma has the best view. And she is watching with us.” Oh, how right she is. After wards we just moved to the side and let the masses of people leave. We were in no hurry so we just talked and enjoyed the beautiful night. We did some shopping as we moved to the front. We walked back to the Contemporary in no hurry at all. When you get the 9 of us together we never have a dull moment. LOL The talking and kidding was non stop. Margaret and Danny picked up their car from the valet. We said our goodbyes and made plans for tomorrow. Up to our room we went. Now at this point we did a big NO NO!! There were no rooms available tonight for Elizabeth, Ethan and Stephanie. Matthew and Ali were staying with us and we got another room for the rest starting tomorrow night. Soooooooooo we all stayed in this one room. Ali slept on the floor (her choice), Matthew on the day bed, Elizabeth, Stephanie and Ethan in one bed and Doug and I in the other. Oh my, the fun we had. I think it was 2 am before we all settled down. I know we weren’t supposed to do this but oh well, we did, and no one knew the better.


Day 5 – Tuesday June 5, 2007

Wow, it was a short night. The boys were up at 6:00 a.m. as they had T-times at Osprey Ridge at 7:00. I went down to the lounge with them. They grabbed some fruit and water and they were off. I got some coffee and read the paper. Janet got to work shortly after and I was able to check in for the girls. We had reserved a room over in the South wing for them. I just didn’t feel I wanted to pay another $550 per night, plus there was no availability in the tower. So Janet did her thing and handed me their room keys and we just sat and talked for a bit. I went to leave to see if the girls were up yet and glanced at the room number and just about died. Janet had worked her magic for us and got them in the room right next to us. WooHoo!! How awesome is that. Janet is the best!! Thanks so much. I almost ran down to the room, and they were all up. They were so excited to be right next to us. Elizabeth went right down to thank Janet. That was just so sweet of her to do for us. Wow, I still can’t believe it. It was being cleaned so we couldn’t move them yet but no worries we just got ready and all down to the lounge for breakfast. We decided to go to Epcot, so as soon as breakfast was over we got the stroller and down to the monorail. I just love this ride over to Epcot. We went straight to the new Nemo ride.
We all just loved it and especially Ethan. Ethan loves sharks, fish and all animals. He knows all of the different sharks by name. He LOVED this pavilion. The Manatees were his favorite. I bet we spent 2 hours in there. As we were leaving the boys called and they were finished and on their way to Epcot. We met up with them and Matthew was just beside himself. As they drove up to Osprey Ridge and were getting their clubs out he had a Dream Team member pull him to the side and asked him to come with him. They went out to the first hole and Matthew was to pick where the flag was to be placed for the day. They presented him with a neat laminated certificate. How cool is that!! It wasn’t a night in the castle but it was neat just the same. They were starving so we met them at the Electric Umbrella. We got cheeseburgers, chicken strips and fries and we all just shared. After lunch we went on Ellen’s Adventure. Ethan did pretty good on this ride as long as he was on Poppies lap. Those dinosaurs are pretty big to a 2 year old. LOL After this we all decided we were tired, hot and ready for some down time. So we headed out. We rode Spaceship Earth then headed for the monorail.

When we got back we were told that the room was ready, so the girls packed up and moved next door. This was just so great. They got all settled in and Ethan took a nap. We had plans tonight with Danny & Margaret to go to Universal. They had rented a van so there would be room for all of us but didn’t have a car seat. We checked everywhere, even lost and found but nobody had one we could use. Elizabeth just didn’t feel right about going with no car seat so her and Stephanie decided to stay at the room. They got ready and went swimming. Ethan loved the slide and being able to eat right by the pool. It really is the little things that make a great vacation. They later told us that they went over to Epcot and walked the countries. They said they had a great time. Ethan was sound asleep and in bed by 8:00. The girls enjoyed wine on the balcony and watched Wishes.

Doug & I and Matthew & Ali were down in the front at 5:00 p.m. waiting for Danny and Margaret to pick us up. Here they come and we were off. This is a first for us. We fly in and never leave Disney property so we were all excited to see Universal. We ate at Bubba Gump’s and it was delicious. We, all 6 of us, sat in a booth. We were very scrunched but that was all they would do so we made the best out of it. We all ate, and ate and ate. We rolled out an hour later. Man this was good food. The company was pretty good too. LOL We shopped on City Walk. The kids went to Hard Rock and got new shirts. I was able to find a Scheelinger Manatee and a Bottle Nose shark for Ethan. **He loved them and never let go of them the rest of the vacation** We all absolutely loved City Walk and Doug and I even remarked that we might just have to spend a few days here. We then took the boat over to Portifino Bay Resort. We got there in time to watch the singers. We got some gelato and just sat and enjoyed the evening. We were in Venice last year and we remarked that this really reminded us of St. Marks Square. They have singers all around the square. It was a very nice way to spend an evening. This is vacation at its finest. We slowly walked back to the boats. There were motorcycles and fast cars along the way to take pictures with. Margaret and I got a few on the motorcycles and Matthew & Ali got theirs taken with the cars. We kept walking and we all realized that the kids were no where to be found. We walked back a bit and they were down by the water dancing. It was so cute. These 2 have been together for over 2 years and they are so much alike. They took dance lessons before Prom in May and I guess they were seeing if they remembered how. LOL Anyway we got on the boat and back to City Walk and to the car. We had really had a great time at Universal. We then decided to go to Epcot as it was EMH there tonight. We got there around 10:30 and got through security okay but we were stopped dead when we tried to get our wristbands. We all got them except Ali. For some reason Ali’s card didn’t have her name on it and they weren’t going to let her in. We all tried to reason with the lady that she was with us in the room and so forth. But she wouldn’t budge. I was not a happy camper at all and just said FINE I will go back with her. She felt so darn bad and almost in tears and there was no way I was going to let her feel bad. About this time Danny said to the CM – “Why don’t you call the Contemporary and get the names on the reservation”. So that is what she did and came back and gave Ali her bracelet. Good grief, there were 6 of us and she did have a ticket, oh well, we are in and all is okay. We headed for Test Track and entered through the Singles rider line. Wow that was fun. Matthew and Ali ended up in the same car. WEEEEEEEEE!! Then we went over to the Land and rode the ride. I really miss the CM talking. I don’t understand why they changed this and IMHO Disney made a mistake here. After that it was midnight and we got in line for Soarin and off we went. I could just ride this ride over and over. It was great and we decided we had better call it a night. We left Epcot and thank goodness we put our seatbelts on as we were in for a “Mr. Danny’s Wild Ride.” ****** side note******* (This part was taken from Margaret’s trip report as I couldn’t write it as good as she did.) Oh my goodness what a ride! Our trip started out normal but soon we were at the entrance to Magic Kingdom. From here you need to stay in the far right lanes to get to the Contemporary. Well tonight they only had 2 lanes open & they were on the far left. When Danny went through the entrance he did not realize he had to make a 90degree turn to get over so we ended up missing it. There was a Disney bus in front of us so Danny decided to whip around and follow it. Bad move Danny, this bus was going to the bus parking area so we followed it through the very back parking area. We got to go by the Richard Petty Driving Experience though. Finally we are out of the maze that the bus took us & are back on a Disney Road. We are heading away from Magic Kingdom when we decide that maybe we can cut across just past the Magic Kingdom entrance. Now you know we are all laughing our butts off during this ride home and it does not stop here. Danny made a turn just at the Magic Kingdom entrance & we end up just inside the entrance but this time we are wayyyy over to the left & the road to the Contemporary is behind us & over to the far right. Oh my gosh we are laughing so hard & Doug is telling Danny he could have been asleep 2 hours already. Danny starts to head back into the parking lot but Margaret tells him to stay where he is & maybe we can cut across. Now to cut across we have to go the wrong direction & then take a hard 90-degree turn back to the left but we all have faith –
I know we can do it. Margaret hangs half way out of the car to make sure all incoming traffic is gone & then screams, Quick turn right & then go straight across the lanes & now quickly hard turn to the left! Whoo Hoo he does it, we are finally on the right road to the Contemporary! Of course at this time we are expecting to hear sirens so were praying that no one saw us. We lucked out no police & we were safely pulling into the Contemporary. We were in bed around 1:30 a.m. What a great day we had.


Day 6 – Wednesday June 6, 2007

Doug and I were up first at 9:00 a.m. We got dressed fast and went and had a nice and quiet breakfast. We had a very lazy morning. We read the paper and chatted about what we wanted to do. Around 10:00 a.m. everyone started stirring. Ethan was hungry so he came down with us, still in his jimmies, and ate his breakfast while watching cartoons. He thought that was pretty cool. Doug and us girls went shopping downstairs. We got a few things and then decided to go to the Magic Kingdom. Back to the room to get the stroller and we were off. We walked and it was a beautiful morning. We took the train back to ToonTown. Elizabeth and Ethan rode the BarnStormer. He wanted to go right back on, so of course, on they went. Next Uncle Matthew took him. I think before we got him to do something else they rode it 7 times. Next we went through Mickey’s house. Ethan loved the bedroom and Mickey’s shoes. Minnie’s house was next and I didn’t think we were ever going to get him out of the kitchen. He loved it!!
Next we went to Fantasyland. The park was not busy this morning at all and most rides were a walk on. First was Peter Pan and then Winnie the Pooh. We did both within
15 minutes. Next was It’s a Small World. We did go and get FP’s for Splash for later as the line was 60 minutes long. As we were walking by Mickey’s Philharmonic was just about to start so in we went. We all love this one. As we came out Woody’s musical was starting so we stopped to watch. Gosh that is cute!!
We all headed out as we had a PS at 2:00 p.m. for tea at the Grand Floridian. Elizabeth and Ethan were going to stay in the park and we would meet up later. So off they went to ride Snow White and we headed for the monorail. We arrived a bit early and just waited a bit for Margaret and Danny. We checked in and got our hugs from Dottie. We have been having tea with Dottie for many years. Matthew and her always have to have a picture every year. It started out with Matthew under her arm (she is probably 5’2”) and now she is way under his arm. She stood on a chair and was still shorter than Matthew. This is always a highlight of our vacation. We had a ball. We all got our tea, sandwiches, scones with devinshire cream and pastries. We talked laughed and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for over 2 hours. This is pure relaxation. Elizabeth and Ethan popped in for a bit so Dottie could see Ethan. We said our goodbyes and went to look in the shops. The band was playing and of course we just had to dance. Even Matthew and Ali joined in. We all decided that a nap sounded really good, so off we went. Margaret and Danny to SS and us on the monorail around to the Contemporary. We made plans to meet at MGM later. I think Ethan and Poppie were asleep in less than 5 minutes. We all rested and boy did that feel good. I got up first and went down to the lounge to talk to Janet for a bit. One by one everyone joined me. We ate a few Beef Kabobs, had a few glasses of wine and some cheese and crackers. Wow, now this IS vacation. It started to rain really hard so we just sat, talked and prayed it would stop, we have big plans and rain is not a part of it. Oh well!! It did let up some so we just grabbed our ponchos and took off for the busses to MGM. Waited for close to 45 minutes for a bus. I swear there were 5 busses to Epcot before one showed up for MGM. The troops (not mine) were getting very restless and nasty. We just laughed at them – they were making complete fools out of themselves. Did they really think cussing and yelling was going to make a bus magically appear. Come on people have some patience, it wasn’t that bad! Oh well, we all arrived and off we went with our ponchos on. We met Margaret and Danny and I wanted to ride the Great Movie ride. WRONG!! We waited in that line for almost an hour. We saw the loop at least 5 times. We weren’t in any hurry - thank goodness - so we just talked and stood. I have no idea why it took so long. We got the cowboy side and Ethan only got a little spooked at the Alien part. We just got him to looking at something else and he was ok. We came out and it was still raining, but not bad. We decided to go ahead and get our EMH bands now so we wouldn’t have to deal with it later. Margaret got a late ADR for the Brown Derby. We were a little early but went on over to see if we could get in. We waited just a bit and we got seated. We sat down and ordered our drinks and Ethan wanted a pretzel. His Momma tried to persuade him with PB&J, chicken strips or a cheeseburger, even a steak, but he would have none of it – he WANTED a pretzel. So off Elizabeth went in search of one. When she returned she had one of the biggest pretzels I have ever seen. Ethan’s face was priceless when he saw it. This thing was bigger than his head. He was in heaven, and almost ate the whole thing. We had a very good meal and the company was great. We closed the place down. No one was any hurry to leave as it was still raining. Elizabeth, Stephanie, Margaret and I had to go to the bathroom. Stephanie and I went in first and never found Margaret and Elizabeth. When we came out there they were looking in a door that clearly said, SHOW IN PROGRESS!! So of course that didn’t stop them from seeing what was behind the door. There was a big party going on. We went back to the table and we all wanted to go get some serious RRC and TT in. Margaret, Elizabeth and Ethan went to the party and the rest of us went down Hollywood Blvd. Stephanie, Matthew, Danny and I went on RRC 3 times and TT 4 times. We had a ball!!
Doug just sat and peopled watched. We all met back up and Margaret, Elizabeth and Ethan had had a BALL. They got to dance with Mickey, hula hopped, sang and just had a great time. We all headed out and made plans for tomorrow. Back to the room at 12:30 but not ready for bed so we just sat and talked. The sleepies took over around 1:15 so we all went to bed.


Day 7 - Thursday June 7, 2007

The boys are up early at 6:30 a.m. as they had T-times at 7:50. I was awake but didn’t get up with them. I laid there for a bit. I look over and Ali is awake also, so up we got and dressed and went down for breakfast. The girls and Ethan were still sleeping. We ate then went to check on the rest and they were all up and ready to go. On the way out we got a few muffins and a banana for Ethan. We head down to the bus stop to wait for the Animal Kingdom bus. As we are waiting Ethan is eating his banana, when all of a sudden a duck (where this duck came from we have no idea) came up and grabbed Ethan’s banana. Oh my, you should have seen Ethan’s face. It was so funny!! We all – everyone at the bus stop - just laughed until tears were streaming down our faces. That duck came in took, what he wanted and was gone. Ethan’s breakfast was finished real fast. Thank goodness he still had his milk.
The AK bus finally came and off we went. As we were walking up to the entrance we saw Wes Palm. This was a first for me. I have heard of him but had never seen him. We all really enjoyed him. As soon as we entered we spotted Margaret. Ethan was so excited to see “Margwet”, he ran up to her for his hug. We went to get FP’s for the Safari and went to see TFOTLK show. I love this show and couldn’t wait for Ali and Ethan to see it. I know Ethan hardly took a breath. His little mouth was open – he was mesmerized. That’s my boy!! From here we decided to just walk a few trails. Then we made the next Flight’s of Wonder show. I love this show as it is so funny plus the birds are so beautiful. That big Owl flew right over our heads. I thought Ali was going to hit to the ground. LOL It was now time for our Safari FP’s. And thank goodness we had FP’s as the stand by line was over 90 minutes. We walked right on and had a ball. There were quite a few animals out and roaming around. Ethan absolutely LOVED this. He sat on Margaret’s lap so he was up high and could see it all. We were the last row, which is great for seeing everything but it is really bumpy and rough. There were a few times I thought we might bounce right out of the jeep. Next we walked the Pangani Trail. I love this one but it was so darn hot out today that we didn’t enjoy it like we usually do. There was no breeze and the sun was really hot. We were almost finished and the boys called and were on their way over. We were meeting at the Rainforest Café. We haven’t eaten here in a long time, but when we were planning I had asked Ali what were things she would like to do and this was at the top of her list. We had a reservation and didn’t have to wait too long. They showed us to our table and they had us at 2 tables. There was NO WAY we were splitting up. There was a large round one and one that sat 2. I said we could all just get around this one so that is what we did. The Hostess was not real happy with me, but I didn’t care. We were a party of 9 not a party of 7 and 2. Anyway we got our drinks & appetizers ordered. Soon the appetizers came and they were gone in 2.2 seconds. I guess we were really hungry. My wonderful children turned into devils. Matthew and Elizabeth started having words about the last cheese stick. I was not a happy camper but Margaret to the rescue, she had 2 more orders ordered before I killed them both. After lunch, apologies had to be made before we went any further. These 2 are so very close and it just infuriated me that they were arguing. I really think the heat and being tired had a lot to do with it. Any way lunch was good and we really did have a good time after everyone was cool and fed. We spent about 2 hours here as the waitress was very slow.
After we all got happy again, we decided to go see the Finding Nemo show. We were all together and all of a sudden Matthew, Ali and Margaret were no where to be found. They had taken off for ITTBAB and we stood in line for Nemo. We were about 5 rows from the stage on the left side. We loved this show. I had seen it last year at MouseFest and was not impressed at all, but this show was great. Ethan fell asleep about ½ way through and woke up just before it was over. We all met back up and the boys and Ali decided to head back to the rooms. So we made plans to meet up for dinner on the Boardwalk later. Margaret, me, Elizabeth, Stephanie and Ethan headed for the bone yard to let Ethan play. Elizabeth went in with Ethan. Margaret, Stephanie and I sat and just people watched and talked. We decided to call Marty (Stephanie’s boyfriend). We tried in vain to get him to catch a plane and join us. We almost had him convinced, but in the end he didn’t. Too bad. Next year I am bringing them all down, so I guess he will just have to wait until then. We got some ice cream and water and just enjoyed being here. Every once in awhile, we would see Ethan, with Elizabeth running after him. LOL She was getting her exercise today. I bet they played for the better part of an hour. He was having a ball. We started the long walk out of Animal Kingdom. Every time I come to this park I love it more. As we were walking to the bus Elizabeth decided she was going to take Ethan back to the room for a nap and would just meet us later on the Boardwalk. So it is now down to just Margaret, Stephanie and me. We decided to head for Epcot and walk the countries. As we entered we took a quick ride on Spaceship Earth. I am so darn glad they are finally getting a sponsorship back in there. It was just sad to see nothing there when you get off. From there we headed to the UK as there was a show starting very soon of British Invasion. On the way Danny called and he to was in Epcot also, so he met us there. After the show we walked out the International Gateway and headed for the Boardwalk. This is a tradition for our family. When Matthew was little he always wanted to eat pizza on the Boardwalk and if the moon happened to be full while we were there that was even better. So we try to still do this each and every trip. We were able to get 2 tables outside by the bakery. We got some adult beverages and just waited till the rest of the family got there. Pretty soon we see Doug and not long after here comes Matthew and Ali. Elizabeth decided to just stay in the room. We ordered pizza, salads and a few more beverages. We were in no hurry to be anywhere, the night was beautiful and the company was perfect. We sat there for over 2 hours. Now this IS vacation.
Doug and Danny both decided to go listen to one more show in the UK and then head back to the rooms. Margaret, Stephanie, Matthew, Ali and I went to Mexico to ride the new ride there. We were the only ones on the ride and we each took our own row. There wasn’t anyone in line so we just stayed on and rode a second time. By this time it was 10 minutes till closing and Margaret and I decided if we really hurried we might get one last ride on Soarin. Stephanie and Ali were finished and headed for the busses and back to the room. But Matthew was game, so off the 3 of us ran. And I do mean ran. We got into the line with no seconds to spare. We headed for the end of the line and waited with another family of 3. We got to talking to them and realized we weren’t moving and it was just the 5 of us in the whole line. The CM’s started talking to us and we had a ball. There had been a “spill” on the right side of the ride and we pleaded with them not to put us there, sooooooooo they let us go on the left side and we had a private ride, front and center on row one. That was such a neat way to end a night. We tried to get them to let us stay on for one more ride but they said no. WOW that was so neat.
We headed out and walked to the front. It was sort of spooky, as we were the only ones there. Margaret headed for the busses and Matthew and I headed for the monorail. They were taking a few of the monorails out for the night so it took us forever to get home. We had to change monorails about 5 times and finally an hour later we pulled into the Contemporary on a monorail just for us. Wow two privates rides in one night!! Doug and Ali were still up and so were the girls so we all gathered in our room so as not to wake Ethan. I have no idea why this family has it’s best talks at night. LOL We were still talking at 2:00 a.m.


Day 8 – Thursday June 8, 2007

We had no wake up call this morning, but we were all up around 8:30. We are going to Typhoon Lagoon today. We got our swimsuits on and down to the lounge for some breakfast. We headed down to the bus stop with NO bananas today. Ethan was so cute, he kept looking for that duck. We only waited about 10 minutes and we were off. Tickets bought ($238.00) and Doug went to get us a locker and also got a food pass for the kids ($100.00). Matthew thought he needed a new swimsuit so we shopped and got him all fixed up. The girls also bought new suits for Jay & Marty. We did the family rafts many times. The park wasn’t crowded yet so we took advantage of it. The kids did the big slides numerous times. We all went to the wave pool and had a great time. Doug took Ethan and went out further than I would have liked, but he was having a ball. Every time the wave would start he would scream. We probably played there for over an hour. The big kids were itching to go off by themselves so Doug and I took Ethan to the kids area. He had so much fun going down the slides. I left them here and I took a couple of laps on the Lazy river. I just love doing this. Around 12:30 Doug and I were finished and ready to go. The kids stayed and played some more, had lunch and Ethan played in the sand. Doug and I went to the busses and waited and waited and waited some more. We never did see a bus to the Contemporary but about a ½ hour later a Grand Floridian bus showed up so on we got. It stopped at the Wilderness Lodge and we got off. I just love this resort. We looked around for a while then went down and took the boat over to the Contemporary. Not the fastest way to get home but we thoroughly enjoyed it. We changed out of our swimsuits and went and had a few snacks at the lounge. They had all sorts of cheese & crackers, 3 hot items, cookies, rice krispie treats, beverages and little quiches. We filled a few plates and just sat and talked. Now that our stomachs were full we went back to the room and took a nap. The kids all got back around 4:00 and they had had a riot. We all just kind of chilled out in the lounge and then to the room so Ethan could get a nap. Us girls went down to the shops and bought a few things. Back to the rooms for showers and to get all dressed up.
We have reservations tonight at the California Grill with Gary. Gary is a very good friend of ours. We have eaten with him for years now. He just loved my Momma and spoiled her rotten every chance he got. Last year when we were here without her, we all really missed her, but he made it very special for us. Our ADR was for 7:30 so around 6:45 we headed for the 2nd floor to check in. When Doug and I went up to check in, the girl at the counter said , “So you are the Cunningham’s, we have all heard your story for the last 2 weeks. Gary is waiting for you, have a great evening.” WOW we were blown away, but wait is get sooooo much better!! We get off of the elevator and Gary is there to meet us, hugs and introductions for Ali and he scoots us outside on the balcony real fast. We were able to see the Space Shuttle launch. That was awesome!! Something I will never ever forget. What a way to start an evening. Afterwards Gary showed us to our table. It was front and center with a beautiful view of the Castle. Everyone kept looking at us, as we were getting the white glove treatment. We over heard a few people asking who we were. I think they thought we were somebody famous. Little did they know we were just farmers from Nebraska. LOL And so the adventure began. We got sushi and flatbreads along with a couple bottles of wine. Stephanie & I like a Blush and Doug & Elizabeth prefer a dry Red, so to please us all we got a bottle of each. He even brought a bit of pop for Ethan so he could toast with us. We ordered our dinner and it was wonderful. We really did feel like celebrities!!! While we were waiting for our dessert the fireworks started. We didn’t even have to leave the table as we had front row seats. The music is piped in and the lights are dimmed. Words just cannot describe what a feeling it was to watch the fireworks tonight. I felt so thankful we were all here together in our favorite place and having a magical time. It is a memory I will NEVER forget. Once they were over and the lights came back up, Ethan was playing with my camera while we were waiting for our dessert. He was taking all sorts of pictures of us. We all got up and posed for a picture and by golly that little scoot took a great picture of us all, even Gary was in it. We were all laughing so hard, as was everyone else around us. People kept coming over to see what pictures he took. Each time he took a picture he would giggle. We had a ball!! We ate dessert and had coffee and just enjoyed being together. Finally it was time to go. Goodbyes, hugs and well wishes were said and down to the room we went. It was 11:00 and we had spent 4 ½ hours at dinner.
We all changed and headed over to the Magic Kingdom as it was EMH and the park was open till 2:00 a.m. We were suppose to meet Margaret and Danny over there. We tried calling but either they were in a ride or not hearing us as we never did get a hold of them. DARN!! We went first to Buzz and of course Doug won again. As soon as we got off we went right back on. The boys creamed us each and every time. We girls were pathetic. We went over to Splash and I stayed with Ethan and the others had a great time. We rode Winnie the Pooh and the kids were done. They all went back to the room and Doug and I stayed and rode Snow White, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh again and It’s a Small World, all with little or no waits. We did Buzz one last time and we each rode in our own car, and I BEAT him!!! WooHoo!! It is now 1:30 and we walk back to the room. Matthew and Ali are still up so we talked for a bit. Lights out around 2:00 a.m.
What a great day this was!!

Wow -- a space shuttle launch from the Contemporary -- amazing!
I'm just loving your report, such a good mix of fun stuff and great relaxed family time. You have a wonderful family!

This is a wonderful trip report. I'm eager for more! Thanks for writing it!

Jan

Thanks so much for your trip report. I can't wait to read more. It is so nice to see such a close-knit family. My family and I are going to be there From May 30 to June 8, in 2008. A 10 whole days and we can hardly wait, as this will be our 2nd trip to the World. May I ask a couple questions? What was the weather like during this time and how long were the lines for the rides?

Day 9 – Saturday June 9, 2007

Oh my, that darn wake up call came way too early. We had an ADR for 1900 Park Fare at 7:30 a.m. So up we all got. I called Margaret just to make sure they were still meeting us. All of us got dressed and slowly headed out to the monorail for the Grand Floridian. Margaret and Danny were there before us and had already checked in. We chatted about last night. We were probably only a few feet from each other a couple of times but just couldn’t get connected. We were lead to a large table in the back of the restaurant. We were all trying so had to have fun but man we were dragging. The only one of us that was bright eyed was Ethan. Alice and the Mad Hatter was the first around and they were a blast. I bet they were with us for 15 minutes. They just loved Ethan and he had so much to tell them. I was a little upset sitting clear in the back, but it was perfect as there was no one butting in on our time. Next came Pooh and Ethan just loved him. Next was Tigger and he was so funny bouncing around. Ethan tried to bounce also. It was really cute. We love the food here, there just isn’t anything much better than the strawberry soup and warm bread pudding with the vanilla sauce. We just sat and chatted and we were in no hurry to leave. But the longer we sat, the more tired we got. We were like puppies, we had our tummies full and now it was nap time. We all decided that a nap was at the top of the list. We walked out and Margaret and Danny went to their car and we headed for the monorail back to the Contemporary.

The Maid hadn’t made up the room yet and we all just snuggled back under the covers for a bit of a rest. The girls decided they would have their nap at the pool, so Ethan settled in with Doug and I. We rested for a few hours and while they were still napping I got a bit of packing started. Oh how I hate that job. We all got cleaned up and were out the door around 2:00 as we had an ADR at LeCelliar in Epcot at Canada. This was not the most perfect time but the only time available for today. We went right into Canada and I didn’t see Margaret and Danny so I decided to go ahead and check in. As I opened the door all of the CM’s said, “WELCOME CUNNINGHAM FAMILY!!”, I was so embarrassed, until I saw Margaret and Danny hiding around a pillar laughing. Those two are so funny. We got sat right away and oh how I love that pretzel bread. I had the cheese soup and could have just made a meal out of the soup and bread. We had a great time here, we laughed and talked and just really took our time being together. Margaret and I knew that our time together was coming to an end. Oh darn how I wish we lived closer together. Seeing each other just 2 or 3 times a year is just not enough. Our families are so close, Margaret’s son Matt and my Matthew are very close. I have sure missed Matt this trip.

After our lunch we all decided that we wanted to do Honey I shrunk the Audience. Ali hadn’t seen this yet and we really wanted her to. So off we went. Ethan was a trooper and sat on Poppies lap and was ok. But oh my I think Ali jumped 5 feet when those mice started and I thought Stephanie was going to pass out when the snake appeared. Oh what fun!! There was no line for Figament so that was next. It is such a cute ride and Ethan loved it. From there we went into Innovations and I splurged and got a glass etching of Ethan as a paper weight and also one of Matthew and Ali. The one we got of Ethan was a 3d image. It is so neat. Elizabeth also got one of him superimposed onto a picture of Mater of “Cars”. It really turned out good. We will have to come back later to pick up the glass etchings at 9:00 at Mouse Gears. We sent a few funny emails home to Ali’s parents and to Jay and Marty. About this time Danny and Doug realized that if they hurried they could make a show of British Invasion in the UK again. So off they went and we will meet up with them later. The rest of us just shopped around at our leisure. Once we got to the UK we listened for a bit until it was over and we all just headed off to do some shopping in the countries. When we got to Italy, Elizabeth decided to go back to the room and go swimming with Ethan. We slowly took our time and realized that our vacation was slowly ending. When we got to Norway we stopped for the last time to get a rice cream for Doug and goodies for the rest of us. As we were waiting we decided to go on to Mexico and find a spot for Illuminations. We got a great spot and just waited for it to begin. Again it was great as I truly do love Illuminations. We walked to Mouse Gears so I could pick up my packages and then slowly walked out to the front. I absolutely HATE goodbyes so we didn’t put it off any longer. Hugs to all and we went to catch the monorail and Margaret and Danny went out to get their car. We got back to the Contemporary and the shops were still open so we looked around some before going up to the rooms. I pack the rest of our things up and said my goodbye to the castle until next time. I couldn’t sleep so I was up till around 1:00 a.m. I DON”T want to leave!! We have had the best time.

Sunday June 10th – Day 10
We were all up around 7:30. Doug and I went down to the lounge and had coffee and chatted with Janet for a bit. Went back to the room to see if the girls were up and they were. They were all packed up and they just brought their suitcases to our room and went and had breakfast. Elizabeth and I went down and got her checked in and got her boarding passes. We all just went back up to the room until about 10:30. We loaded her and Ethan up and went down to Bell Services and got her a cab. The first one didn’t have a car seat so we had to go find one that did. At 10:45 we were saying good bye to Elizabeth and Ethan. It was so pathetic, Ethan just sobbed and sobbed. He kept saying, “I want my castle.” I have a feeling that he is hooked even at the age of 2. That’s my boy!! Man it was hard to say goodbye to them. We have had so much fun, I just didn’t want it to end.

Doug and Matthew went up to the room to finish their packing and the girls and I went down to see if there was anything in the stores that we might have forgotten that we couldn’t live with out. You know what? There were a few things we found. Purchases made and now it was our turn to get all packed up. I hate the feeling when you know your vacation is over. We still had all day but the feeling just isn’t the same. We had asked for a late checkout so we weren’t in any real hurry to leave. Around 12:00 pm we called bell services and we all went down to say our good byes to Janet. We stored all of our luggage with bell services and took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

Stephanie had 2 requests left so we did this before she left later on. She wanted a hotdog from Casey’s and to listen to the Piano man. Stephanie is a very talented pianist herself and she has always thought that this would be a dream job for her. So each and every trip we have to see the piano man at least once. We had a lovely time just sitting, people watching, and just enjoying our last few hours together in our happy place. When we were finished we shopped down Main Street and took the express monorail to Epcot.

Stephanie wanted to ride Soarin’ one more time as well as the rest of us. We walked real fast and got in line. The wait time said 90 minutes but we were on in 45. Usually I would never wait in line that long but we really didn’t have anything else to do, so we just talked and it went pretty fast. As usual it was great!! We shopped a bit in Mouse Gears. Stephanie wanted to buy a shirt for her best friend Jeanie and she also bought some chocolate for the girls in her office. Purchases made and as we were walking back to the front we passed Test track with a 15 minute wait. WHAT – I have never seen the line so short so of course we had to go for a spin. We looked at all of the new cars and did a bit of dreaming. On our way to the front we decided to have one last trip on Space Ship Earth. I love this ride and again I am excited to see the new changes. As we came out the skies looked very black and like it was going to burst out pouring at any time. It was starting to sprinkle a bit and the line for the monorail was huge. We were running late and decided to take the express monorail to the MK and just walk from there back to the Contemporary. We all decided to make a race out if it. Doug stayed at the monorail to the TTC and we grabbed the express monorail to the MK. Oh good grief, did we get our exercise in today. We got to the Magic Kingdom in great time and were on the path to the Contemporary when it started to rain and rain and by the time we got back, we were soaked and I was exhausted as the “kids” ran and I tried to keep up. LOL Bad bad choice – I am really out of shape, and truly thought I was going to die before I got to the Contemporary. But we did beat Doug!! We got Stephanie’s luggage out of storage and I was scared that she was going to have to leave before Doug got there. Just about the time that we knew he wasn’t going to make it here he came. Hug’s and kisses and we got her into a cab for the airport. Oh man, I hate this!! We are now down to just the 4 of us.

We have until midnight before we are leaving. It is pouring, I mean pouring, so we just went into the Contemporary and the kids went down to the arcade and Doug and I went to the Outer Rim for a drink and to watch a ball game. I had a blue glow-tini. I really don’t like alcohol but I wanted the light up cube. LOL We just sat and talked about the week and how much fun we have had. It was a great vacation, could have been better, only by having Marty and Jay with us. Actually right then and there we started to plan for next year. We waited till about 6:45 and the rain started to let up so we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom, rain or not, we still had a few hours, and by golly we we’re going to have fun. We walked, and by the time we hit the gates the rain was history. We got a phone call from Elizabeth and they were in Minneapolis waiting for the plane to Omaha. We also heard from Stephanie and because of the storm the flights were backed up and she was still on the tarmac and was 23rd out. We were hungry so we headed for Pecos Bill’s for cheeseburgers and the great fixin’ bar. We headed over to Splash Mountain and then the kids wanted to ride BTM. From there we went to Mickey’s Philamagic on our way to Main Street for the fireworks. I guess we felt we wanted to hit all of our favorites one last time. We got great places for Wishes, front and center in front of the Castle. I don’t care how many times I see this show it is always emotional. After the fireworks we went for a dole whip and our last ride of the vacation was Pirates. We slowly walked out and of course at the end of Main Street, stood and looked at the Castle. What a great vacation we have had.

We walked to the Contemporary, it had turned out to be a beautiful night. Both of the girls called and they were home. Thank the Lord. We got our luggage out of storage and waited for our driver to pick us up. There was a bit of a mix up with our driver but bell services sorted it all out and soon we were all loaded up and off of Disney property. We were staying at the Hyatt, at the airport, as we have an early flight home tomorrow.

Monday June 11th – Day 11
Flights home were on time and smooth. We had to stop in Lincoln to pick up Matthew’s Jeep. So we killed some time until Stephanie got off of work and we all went for dinner. We pulled into our driveway at 10:00 p.m. tired but oh so glad to be home.
Until next time - thanks for coming along with me on another great vacation with family and friends.