Operation Dole Whip

Date: Tuesday January 22, 2008 – Friday, February 08, 2008

Participants:
Myself, Kim 34 – Disney Dreamer, Second trip to WDW – first however was in 1986.
DH, Perry 44 - Has never been to any Disney locaction, and in all honesty, I don’t believe he had ever planned on it. Nor did he ever care too.
DD, Kassie 6. Our beautiful spoiled child. Will turn 7 on this trip, had never been to Disney but I have infected her with the Disney bug over the last few years.
DM, Georgena AKA My mommy 57. Has been to WDW once, which was also in 1986.
DD, Fred, AKA Daddy, Freddie 59. Also WDW in 1986. Cried when we asked if he wanted to come to WDW with us – he never thought that he would make it back to that part of the world. Silly man.

Planning:
When I first started planning this trip, it was for me, Perry and Kassie. We were going to go for one week and stay on-site. However, when mom and dad chose to come with us, they requested that we stay longer, and get a house with a private pool. They have a lot of traveling that they are planning and don’t plan on making it down to Disney for a long time so they wanted to stretch this trip out as much as possible. So that’s what I did. I rented a vacation home and lucked out severely with the owners. Super nice people. They live in Scotland and have a beautiful vacation home in Orlando. If anyone wants to check it out, their website is www.villarepoco.com.

I loved planning my trip to WDW. It was hectic, it was educational, and it was fun. This trip was a dream come true, more for me than anyone in my family. So planning it was not a problem at all for me!

At first this was going to be a surprise trip for both my daughter and my husband. Perry is a super easy going guy and pretty much goes along with the flow of things. However, in August we started to experience some our-house-is-falling-apart difficulties, which led me to telling him of our trip. We kept it a secret from Kassie until Christmas (all my Hearts and those of you that followed along in the countdown thread know all about this one!!) which I am so thankful for because the “when are we going”’s would have drove me insane.

I was pretty much packed about a month before but when it came down the crunch time I drove myself loco with the unpacking and repacking then doing it all over again thinking I had forgotten something. Although no one said anything, I’m quite certain that I drove everyone crazy with all my WDW talk. I really did my best trying not to exude excitement as the trip got closer. However, the week before we went the weather dipped to –36 with the wind-chill. Kinda hard not to get excited about getting out of that severe cold!


Our flight to Orlando left at six in the morning, which meant that we had to be at the airport by four thirty. The airport that we would be flying from is four hours away so we went to Winnipeg on Tuesday afternoon in case the weather wasn’t so great. We hate driving in snow at night!

Perry and my dad managed to get off of work at noon on Tuesday and mom and I managed to get the whole day off. Wasn’t much point in going to work on the Monday either – I was a little distracted. I won’t bore you with the lack of sleep details as I’m sure everyone experiences the racing thoughts, heart palpitations and the I’m-going-to-upchuck-any-time-now feelings prior to a trip like this.

I do the web check in on Tuesday morning and get some things in order. I decide to check in on MP to say good-bye to everyone. There were a few PM’s from well-wishers and such, but there was one from a dear MP friend telling me she was going to be in WDW on Thursday. What? OMGosh! So I called her right away (what a cutie southern accent!) and we decided MK on Friday! Now I am completely stoked!
Perry got home, mom and dad came over, we finish packing the car, say a tearful good-bye to the pets (okay, so I’m the only tearful one) pick Kass up from school (who is bawling because she is going to miss her friends so much) and we are off to Winnipeg.

We get in to Winnipeg, check in to the hotel, go for supper, head back to the hotel and try to get some sleep. I really hate how my husband can just put his head down and two minutes later he’s sleeping. I don’t get envious over many things, but let me tell ya, I was a lovely shade of green that night listening to his wonderful throat/nose music.


Wednesday, January 23 Day 1
So as the clock ticks away, then hits 3:45 I realize that I might as well get up. I wake Perry up at four and we load up the car and the rest of the family. We get to the airport, check our luggage etc. and sit and wait. What fun that is…… We finally board and Kass is really excited as she has never flown before. Her grin is from ear to ear. The flight to Toronto is smooth and uneventful. We have a connecting flight in Toronto so we get our luggage then hop over to our next flight. Yay, Orlando here we come. Our flight took off on time and next thing we knew we were hearing the captain say we would be landing in fifteen minutes. By this point in time the whole plane was very excited. We met some wonderful people on the plane and Kass made a few friends. As soon as our wheels touched the ground, the water works started. I couldn’t believe this was actually going to happen! I was going to Walt Disney World! You’ll notice a pattern there with the waterworks and such – Kass just roles her eyes at me, so feel free to do that too when you come across a sappy moment in this trip report!

We got our luggage and went straight to the Alamo rental area. I had prepaid my vehicle so we got to by-pass the counter and head straight to the lot. When we went outside the main terminal to get to the rental cars it was like we were smacked in the face. Holy humidity! Yup, slight change in temp I must say. I ended up choosing a burgundy Uplander and we loaded all our luggage in to it with no problem. Really liked this vehicle!

Brian (home owner) had included driving directions in our information package for the house so we were out of the airport and heading to our rental home within minutes. I kept waiting for something to happen, things were going along so smoothly. I just had to remind myself that we were in a land where dreams come true.

We got to the house and were not disappointed at all. The house was beautiful and bright. Very clean and everything was there that he said would be. We went for a quick swim, unloaded our clothes then went and got some groceries at a Wal-mart supercentre (Dad works at Wal-Mart here in Canada and gets a discount.) Just across the street was a little restaurant area with about seven different eating establishments. Kass and I chose a Mexican place and the rest of the crew chose an Italian place. Kass and I were done first so we just walked around and talked until they were done. We drove back to the house and swam for a while. We got all of our clothes packed away, snacks ready for the next day and plans set. We were heading to SeaWorld first thing! Yippee!

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/A%20%20Traveling/?action=view&current=dc8b8000.pbw

Thursday, January 24 Day 2
Man that alarm clock is loud. And of course, not trusting an alarm clock at a strange residence, I set the alarm on my phone too. There goes any chance of hitting the snooze button. As I get up I realize my loving husband and my daddy are already up and have made coffee. Have I mentioned that I love these two men very much? So we have some coffee, chat it up, go for a swim (cause we can) and get ready to go to our first park. We chose Sea World first so we could slowly ease Kassie into the world of theme parks. Plus I had booked these tickets on-line last year (I seriously planned too far in advance) and they expired on the 25th so I had to use them immediately!! Driving to SeaWorld was so much easier than I had thought. I absolutely loved driving on I-4. LOVED IT! Living in the country all of my life, I have denied myself the opportunity to live up to my full driving potential! Anyway, back to Sea World. Which my dear friends will continue tomorrow…..I’m sleepy.

Kiiiiiimmmmmm! OMgosh! This is so exciting! I can't wait for more. Cute pictures.

I've been anxiously awaiting your report -- so excited to read it! I love the slideshow!! Glad it all started out so well.
Can't wait for more!!

Operation Dole Whip


LOL - great title Kim!

:eek: It's our Kimmie!!!!!!! :D:D:D

Don't feel too bad about the water works - I just read about your plane touching down and I started to tear up! :p

I can't wait to more!

We missed you!

I love it so far!!! Keep it coming!!

Yay! How fun!! You all look like such a fun family! I love the change from big warm hats to swimming-suits, through the slide show. What a climate shock. I remember the first time we went down to FL and I stepped out on the balcony of our hotel. It was as if a big, warm, wet wash cloth had hit me. Bleck! I can't wait to read more . . .

Cool trip report, Kim!

I love all your pics. Kass looks so happy and your Dad looks like his dreams are coming true. What a fantastic house to stay at, especially after coming from the depths of winter!

I am loving your trip report, Kim! The slideshow is great, too!

I've got to say that I've already gotten teary-eyed, just reading about the first day! Your family sounds so sweet and fun. Plus, it's always great to hear from a fellow Canadian!

Anxiously waiting for part 2... :)

Thursday Cont…
Awww SeaWorld. I know this is not a Disney park, and if you want to skip reading about it, that’s fine, but just so you know, it was fantastic. Now, feel free to skip if necessary.
Okay, where was I? Coffee with Dad and Perry, have breakie and pack a lunch. We will be going to the Mahaliki luau for supper, so that is also taken care of. The weather wasn’t too bad. It was a little chilly but not cold by any means. We were still able to wear capri’s and such, but had sweaters just in case. We arrived at Sea World and they had one of those hat rack displays – which I was soon to learn is at every park, and every hat at each place must be tried on at least once.

We walked around and seen some ginormous turtles and then headed over to the stingray lagoon. Dad and Kass wanted to get their faces painted so they stopped there and the rest of us went over to see the stingrays. Now that was the coolest thing ever. We even got to pet them. They feel weird. Of course for a fee, you could feed them, but we held off until Kass and Papa were done.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/032_32.jpg
We took Kass over and got some food or “lil’ dead minners” as Kass called them. She thought it was cool that they take the food kind of like a vacuum. But then a really big one came and scared her (swear he inhaled half her arm) so that was that for her.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/033_33.jpg
Next we went over to the Dolphin cove where you could pay to feed the dolphins. There were a lot of people in that area already and since you didn’t actually get to touch them – we took the cheap route and just watched the guy next to us feed them. We got really close to them though so that was neat.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/036_36.jpg
After that we watched the dolphin show – Blue Horizons. I have never seen beauty like I did that day. I have always liked dolphins, thought they were super cute and all, but I was never a die-hard fan. Well things have now changed. I was completely blown away by their ability and their strength. This show was amazing. It had dolphins, birds, manatees, acrobatics, music, a beautiful storyline, just amazing. We sat in the wet zone and yeah, we got a little damp but not too bad.
http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/?action=view&current=f8d64573.pbw
Kass really liked the show but was starting to wonder where the rides were. By this time it was getting close to lunch so we walked around the park and let Kass play at Shamu’s harbour. There was a HUGE net enclosure that Perry and Kass climbed in while I went back to the car to get our lunch (we left it in the car as we were parked close to the entrance.) It was a nice walk by myself and I was able to enjoy the scenery and walk briskly (we have to walk slowly with our group – I’ll explain later!) There is a long bridge that crosses the lagoon and it was really pretty there. I met a few people in my travels (I like to talk to strangers, shhh don’t tell Kass!) and then returned to my family with lunch. I went on a few rides with Kass, and everyone had to go on the Shamu coaster (very similar to Goofy’s barnstormer) at least three times with Kass. It was only a few minute wait each time so that was great! As we were eating I looked up and almost peed my pants, as a friend from Dryden was two tables down from us. She seen me almost at the same time, so there we were; two grown women, dancing in circles and screaming like little girls in the children’s play centre. Her family had been given this trip as part of the Make A Wish Foundation and we knew that we would both be in Orlando for a couple days but due to conflicting schedules we were not going to be able to meet up while there. Sooooo, things changed. Yahoo. We chatted for a while then headed to Shamu stadium to watch the killer whale show Believe. Kass sat with her newfound friend and Perry and I went down to the soaker section. We sat there during the dolphin show and all was well, we didn’t get too wet. Hint: Have you ever noticed the size difference between a dolphin and a killer whale? Have you ever wondered why it is called a wet zone at a dolphin show and a soaker zone at a whale show? If you need the answers to those questions, let me know. I now have first hand information as to what those differences are.
Here’s a pic of me going to join Perry in the soaker area. The guy at the bottom is warning Perry that he is definitely sitting in the get very, very wet section. But yup, I joined anyway!
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/1-24-2008-2101.jpg
Here’s Kass and our friends from Dryden.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/1-24-2008-2131.jpg
And please note the “little” amount of water that our dear friend Shamu chose to share with us all. Thanks for these pics Shan, they are great! Also note, the LARGE amount of people that are wearing ponchos. All these little hints….yet they just flew on passed me. I’m a bright duck I tell ya!
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/1-24-2008-2731.jpg

SO after Shamu we walked over and saw the Clydesdales and took some pics of the beautiful gardens. We walked down and went through the shark encounter. It was really neat and very informative. On to the penguin encounter which was really cool. We were laughing though as they were talking about the temperature in the penguin enclosure. I think it was 10 degrees or something. Haaa. Did I mention that we left -36 weather? Sheesh, come live with us! Anyway, it looked exactly like the enclosure in Happy Feet. After that we were pretty much dry. So little miss brain wave here decided - let’s go on Atlantis (similar to Splash Mountain.) Have I mentioned how smart I am lately? This ride was really cool and Kassie liked it too, which surprised me as I thought the big drop would do her in (yet I got her to go on anyway, what a great mom I am!!) But yeah, once again, we got wet!!
After Atlantis Perry, mom and I went on the Kraken. OMG. That’s all I can say. I have not been on a big roller coaster for twenty years. And I chose to start off with this one. You know that line at the end of the Incredibles when that kid looks and goes “that was totally wicked?” That was pretty much all of our responses once we got off. It was the coolest ride ever. Thrill ride supreme!
We watched the Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island show after that. The mime at the beginning was absolutely priceless. Seriously. And of course he picked Perry out of the crowd to be his “victim.” Too funny I tell you. I wish I could show you all what it was like because it makes me laugh just sitting here writing to you all about it!
We took a leisurely stroll to the front of the park after that as it was closing time and we had to head to our luau. That was also a lot of fun and they had great food. The Leader of the luau sure liked my dad’s painted face. He got called up on stage to do some things with a group of gentlemen, but they made dad stay a little longer because of his sense of humour. The guy kept calling dad “Kitty.”
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/138_138.jpg
Kass got to dance on stage and she had a blast.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/137_137.jpg
We all did.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%201%20-%20SW%20Jan%2024/001_1.jpg
So, after that we went home, had a drink by the pool, went for a swim, and hit the hay.
Tomorrow is the Magic Kingdom and the meeting of a Heart! I thought I was prepared for all that I would encounter. Once again….I was wrong.

Yeah, fresh trip report! I guess we'll let the Sea World thing slide ;).

omg! Kim! soooo happy to check and find a new installment! I caaaaann't wait for the next one! Hurry hurry! :D;)

Kimmie!!! So glad you are home and you had a fabulous time! :) Keep it coming! :D

Awwwwwwww...KIM'S HOME!!!!! :D :D :D

Cool report~loving the pics. Kass and your family are GORgeous! :cool:

~kisroo:)

Kim! Trip report is soo fun!
Kass is way too cute. If she had bright red hair she could be Boo's BF twin!! no kidding!
Keep it coming we sooo have to hear the Heart meet up!;):D
kat

Kiiiiiimmmmmm! OMgosh! This is so exciting! I can't wait for more. Cute pictures. Aimee I swear I met your twin down there. Her daughter looked just like an older version of M too. There was no asparagus in her teeth on the Jungle Cruise though so.....

I've been anxiously awaiting your report -- so excited to read it! I love the slideshow!! Glad it all started out so well.
Can't wait for more!!
Glad you like it so far. This is fun!

LOL - great title Kim!
Love to take credit for it but I owe it to my Hearts for the title. Mermaid and JMom I believe.

It's our Kimmie!!!!!!!
Don't feel too bad about the water works - I just read about your plane touching down and I started to tear up!
I can't wait to more!
We missed you!
And you know I missed you all. Tremendously! At least we got to share IASW.

I love it so far!!! Keep it coming!!
Will do Miss Sheena, will do.

Yay! How fun!! You all look like such a fun family! I love the change from big warm hats to swimming-suits, through the slide show. What a climate shock. I remember the first time we went down to FL and I stepped out on the balcony of our hotel. It was as if a big, warm, wet wash cloth had hit me. Bleck! I can't wait to read more . . .
Thanks, I like to think that we are a pretty fun family.
We loved the weather change too. Didn't like the reverse so much at the end of the trip......

Cool trip report, Kim!
I love all your pics. Kass looks so happy and your Dad looks like his dreams are coming true. What a fantastic house to stay at, especially after coming from the depths of winter!
No doubt. We called my brother from the pool the one day and it was -41.8 at home with the windchill. Ha, ha Kev, I'm sitting outside by the pool, drink in hand (I think that's when he hung up on me;))

I am loving your trip report, Kim! The slideshow is great, too!

I've got to say that I've already gotten teary-eyed, just reading about the first day! Your family sounds so sweet and fun. Plus, it's always great to hear from a fellow Canadian!

Anxiously waiting for part 2... :)
Yay Edmontonian! You guys got some pretty nasty weather while we were gone too huh? I heard it got pretty cold out there.
Yeah, fresh trip report! I guess we'll let the Sea World thing slide ;).
Thanks! Does that mean you won't be too, too mad when I submit the Busch Gardens portion?

Kimmie!!! So glad you are home and you had a fabulous time! :) Keep it coming!
I'm glad we had a fabulous time too! Not too sure about the glad to be home part!

Awwwwwwww...KIM'S HOME!!!!! :D
Cool report~loving the pics. Kass and your family are GORgeous! :cool:

~kisroo:)
Thanks Miss Kisroo! Missed you! My comp at home got a virus while I was gone (darn housesitter!) so I am unable to use it right now. Which means no DGF from home!

Kim! Trip report is soo fun!
Kass is way too cute. If she had bright red hair she could be Boo's BF twin!! no kidding!
Keep it coming we sooo have to hear the Heart meet up!;):D
kat

Thanks Kat. If she had red hair she'd be fiesty like some other red headed ladies we know ;)! Not mentioning any names kisroo.....
Heart meet up coming soon!

I love the fact that your dad had his face painted with Kass. What a very cool grandpa!! :D Those pictures are priceless!

Thanks Anna! Love your new avatar! Yeah, Kass is pretty lucky, she has got a real cool Grandpa. He loved all the attention he got that day too. He just beamed! I love my daddy. He's so much fun!

Friday, January 25, 2008
Wakie, wakie, time to get up. Day one of the Disney parks and I can tell that my family has no concept of the importance of being there prior to rope drop! So while they slowly rise, I packed up some snacks and made sandwiches for the day. I really didn’t mind because I was sooooooo excited for this day. I was going to finally see Cinderellas castle and meet a Heart that was close to my heart! Yippee, yahoo! Okay family let’s go! Timing worked out well actually. By the time I had everything packed and ready to go, my family was waiting in the car! Sooo, here we go.
We were going along and all of a sudden, the tears started to flow – not good when you’re the one driving. Up ahead was the Walt Disney World sign. I don’t have a picture of it at the moment. But for those of you that have been there, you all know what I mean. I swear it was like entering another world. Kass didn’t even have to see my face, she just laughed in the backseat and said “Mom’s crying again ain’t she Dad?”
I managed to make it the rest of the way as my tears of joy and amazement slowly began to fade. We made it from the front door of our house to our parking space at the TTC in about twenty minutes. So, not bad in my opinion. There were not a lot of cars there, only about half of the parking lot was full. Wahoo! So we get out of the car. OMG is it ever cold. In Steve Russo’s trip report from January 19 – 25, please allow me to quote him as saying, “It’s a bit chilly, especially in the shade, but it’s a beautiful clear, crisp, sunny day.” I will concur with this statement, but add a little more emphasis to the crisp part! But considering the weather back home, I think all complaints will be tossed aside and let’s hop on the tram!
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/002_2.jpg
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Which we really didn’t need as I soon realized our tram ride was only like a minute. Silly crew we are. There was no debating as we walked passed the monorail ramp that we were taking the ferry over to the MK for the first time. We hopped on the ferry and it was purely magical for me. The rest of my family however were frozen.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/006_6.jpg
I left Kass sitting with my dad and I walked to the front of the ferry. It was at about this point that the water works started up. Again!
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/007_7.jpg
It was there. The castle was right there. And can I just tell you that Perry was so awesome. Although he had no clue of what I was going through, he knew that moment meant something special to me. He put his arm around my shoulder, kissed my forehead and just watched the castle come closer. It was moments like that one, which made our trip truly magical. I will tell you right now that we didn’t meet up with the dream team at all, but our trip had more Magical Moments to it than I can ever mention (but I’ll do my best!) We arrived at the Magic Kingdom just as the opening ceremonies were starting. What fun.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/009_9.jpg
You can see all of the people in sweaters and hats. It really was a cool morning. Up to the turnstile we go. Weird that a silly little thing like that made my heart go all wonky. But this was the first time I would use our Disney tickets. We were officially entering the Magic Kingdom. We got a locker and I put our lunch and extra clothes in there. It was a little warmer and I didn’t want to lug my sweater around. We went through the tunnel and walked onto the street. There were horses and trolly’s and people. I couldn’t believe the people. It was awesome.
I seen Walt and Mickey and started walking over to say “hello!” As we walked to the middle of the street way, I got my first real view of the castle and Main Street. OMG what a feeling. What a view. It literally took my breathe away. It was absolutely amazing.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/010_10.jpg
So….guess what happened next? Yup, got the ol’ eye roll from Kass. Couldn’t help it though. For those people that don’t ‘get Disney,’ I have no clue as to what you see when you walk around that corner and see Main Street with the castle at the end. For those of you that do, well there are no words!
We walked and talked and took pictures and walked with everyone else up Main Street. You could tell the ones that had been there before, and those that were seeing it with fresh eyes. I have so many pictures just from those few moments. It was spectacular!
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/013_13.jpg
We just walked in awe for awhile and then kind of realized where we were and figured we’d better get riding! Kass wanted to “do Dumbo” so we went there first. The wait was already at 30 minutes. How crazy is that? So Kass decided the elephants weren’t that cute and wanted to go on something else. So we started our trip with Pooh’s Honey Pot.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/021_21.jpg
What a cute ride. Kass just loved it. All the details. Wow. The ride vehicles are sooo cute too. What a great way to start things off. And the wait was only about 15 minutes at that time. Wahoo!
Next up, Peter Pan’s Flight. Another winner.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/022_22.jpg
When we got to this part Kass was so excited that she was able to see Ariel. Funny child!! The “real” Ariel was just outside, but she was quite content to see this one.
Next up….IASM. This was my mom’s favourite ride when we were here 26 years ago so I wanted to head there. I was a little worried about what Perry would think of this ride though. Not exactly a cutsie kind of guy. But he loved it! Seriously loved it. All I heard from the two of them was “cool, did you see that mom” “Nana look at that!”
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/031_31.jpg
When we got off of IASW Kassie and Nana rode on the merry-go-round, while Papa, Perry and I grabbed a coffee. Dad had to sit down for a while as his ankle was really sore. This was a huge concern for us prior to leaving for our trip. Let’s take a step backward for a second. About ten years ago Dad broke his ankle at work pretty bad. Had trouble ever since. Then three years ago a ladder gave way on him and his ankle got smashed really bad. However, with the lovely medical system that we have here, he was unable to see a specialist for quite a while. In the meantime, his ankle healed sideways. He literally walked on the side of his foot. A week before his specialist appointment (last June) the doctor decided he was going to focus on knees from now on and dropped his ankle clients. Leaving them all with NO referrals! A month before we left, he was finally able to get in to see a locum here in Dryden and made a referral for a specialty clinic in December. Dad finally got to see someone about his ankle and they wanted to fuse it the next week (THAT’s how bad it was!!) With the trip coming up everyone was afraid of complications so the Doc decided to change his brace and do the operation after the trip. Soooo, our pace is a little slow sometimes.
Anyway, we got coffee and the other ladies rode Cindies merry-go-round. After that we hit Mickey’s Philharmagic. Not much of a wait at all, maybe fifteen minutes there also. We ended up in pretty good seats, and I was proud of myself for not telling everyone what to expect.
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Everyone loved it. It was so funny to see everyone reach out and try and grab the items floating past them. I laughed hysterically (sorry to anyone else in the theatre at that time) at Kassie’s reaction to the water from the broom scene! She honestly thought it came from the actual screen. Way too funny!
We went on Snow White’s adventure after that.
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/039_39.jpg
We knew that it was shutting down for refurbishment the next day so we wanted to see it this trip. It was pretty good. It broke down twice while we were on it so I think it’s ready for that refurb!
By this time it was getting close to lunch so we decided that we would go get our lunch, catch the train to Frontierland, go to Tom Sawyer’s island and sit and eat lunch there.
We had to stop at the teacups though. There was no way Kass and I were walking passed them without riding. There was only a 15 minute wait so on we went. No one else wanted to brave the spinning ride so they just looked around while we waited then rode. Kass and I had a blast. And can Momma spin a cup!!
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z150/kassandrasmom/WDW08/Day%202%20-%20MK%20Jan%2025/052_52.jpg
That was the plan, and that’s what we did. Each day was a learning curve on saving money vs. convenience. Kass was great with her little Tracker packsack. She had snacks and stuff in her bag so when she got the munchies, or wanted some water, she just dug in her little bag. That was nice.
My little Heart and I had FINALLY caught each other after playing phone tag for the morning and agreed to meet up at IASM at two. It was approaching one thirty and I was getting oh so excited!!

Hi Kim! :)

Welcome back!!!!

I'm loving your trip report! It's making me smile! :D:D:D

It's so fun to read a report written by someone with such Disney enthusiasm :D There really is nothing like driving under that WDW arch on day 1 is there? (I get the eye roll from my boys too :p)

Thanks, I'm really loving it!!

Kim . . . your genuine, overwhelming, wonderful excitment shines through in your report. It is delightful to read!

. . . . and just about where you ended the last installment is where I got to hear YOUR adorable accent too! Soooo Canadian - I totally love it. Memories of my high school years flashed before my eyes. :)

Awesome trip report so far and I can't wait to read the rest!!

Loving your report Kim. I haven't been to WDW since I was 12 so this is bringing back memories (love the pic of castle from the ferry...reminds me of seeing it then!)

Can't wait to read more!

loving the report Kim! we want more!!!;)