If Grandma's riding it can't be too bad... 12/20 Wrap up: Travelling home, souvenirs

[Pixiedust530]

I'm still here...following along. Kind of glad you're a little behind, as I have been super busy too and now I'm playing catch up. I haven't even been over to my own TR in at least a week. There's probably tumbleweeds rolling through there!

I am just not a huge Simpsons fan, so although the theming looks cool I don't know that I would really have any desire to eat there. I guess maybe if I was there I would want to see things anyway.

Hope ~ After that Wishes comment I'm not sure we can still be friends and Karen...how could you let this happen? You are here best friend and all!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm still here...following along. Kind of glad you're a little behind, as I have been super busy too and now I'm playing catch up. I haven't even been over to my own TR in at least a week. There's probably tumbleweeds rolling through there! I am just not a huge Simpsons fan, so although the theming looks cool I don't know that I would really have any desire to eat there. I guess maybe if I was there I would want to see things anyway. Hope ~ After that Wishes comment I'm not sure we can still be friends and Karen...how could you let this happen? You are here best friend and all!

I'm glad dragging my feet isn't keeping everyone away!

If you aren't a fan of the Simpsons I definitely don't recommend eating there but it's probably worth just peeking inside if you enjoy good theming. We saw several people poke their head inside, snap a pic or two, and move on. :

I know, I know. It's disgraceful about Wishes. We also don't enjoy parades all that much.

 

[DisneyMagicMomma]

Following along. Great TR so far. Thanks for sharing!

 

[-Hope-]

Following along. Great TR so far. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading!!

 

[schumigirl]

Some more lovely pics........we missed out Beetlejuice this year........now I wish we had seen it again...........it's fun!

 

[-Hope-]

Some more lovely pics........we missed out Beetlejuice this year........now I wish we had seen it again...........it's fun!

Thanks!

Yes, it's lots of fun!

 

[-Hope-]

We woke up bright and early on our last day despite a late night the night before. We were packed and ready to go except for the things we needed that morning, I'd checked us into our flights and added a checked bag to our flight information. I have a collapsible duffel that I brought along so we could check a bag if we needed to on our return flight. We definitely needed to- our souvenirs wouldn't all fit in our carry on with our other stuff. We packed all of our clothes into the duffel to check and kept our souvies in our carry ons. We loaded the car, did a quick sweep of the room and were ready to check out and get to IOA for our last day.

We got to the park at about 8:30 but we'd turned in our hotel keys so couldn't go in until 9:00. If we'd waited for regular check out instead of simply turning in our keys we wouldn't have made it before 9:00 so it was a catch 22. We decided to just turn in the keys and take our time at City Walk. We stopped for some breakfast. Jace and I went into Cinnabon where We got juice, I got a Cinnabon to share with my mom and he got ice cream using the last of our snack and drink credits from the DP. Mom took Kya to Starbucks where she got a latte and cookie OOP.

Sorry, only got one pic of the food. Kya and Jace were too quick for me.


After we had our breakfast we made way to the park entrance to wait for rope drop.


We had about a 10 minute wait and then we were in. Most of this crowd was headed toward WWoHP but we turned left toward Super Hero Island, practically by ourselves. Jace still hadn't ridden Spiderman so we went there first. We walked right on and he loved it! Even though Mom couldn't ride she walked through the line so she could get her pic taken with us...


There was really nothing else we wanted to revisit in this area so we made our way to Toon Lagoon.






Kya had been asking for water rides since we'd arrived in Orlando and now, we were finally going to do some... or so we thought. It turns out that Bilge Rat Barges doesn't open until 10:00 so we couldn't ride just yet. Rip Saw falls was open though. Jace wasn't at all interested so he and Mom went to look around while Kya and I rode. It was walk on at this point but just as we were about to get in line Kya changed her mind. The final drop is STEEP. Really steep. It makes the drop on Splash look like a kiddie ride. Kya decided it wasn't really worth it so we turned around to go find Jace and my mom.

We found them quickly and we still had quite a bit of time before Bilge Rat Barges opened so we thought we'd go to Jurassic Park instead of just hanging around Toon Lagoon.




As we passed Jurassic Park River Adventure neither of the kids wanted to ride. It didn't really surprise me that Jace didn't want to but Kya shocked me with this one. The final drop is really similar to the Tidal Wave at Six Flags, which she LOVES. She and her friends did it multiple times when we went last summer so I thought for sure she'd want to do this one. But no dice.

The only other thing to do in this area, besides the playground, is the Discovery Center. We don't have anyone small enough to ride Pteradon Flyers (I think you have to ride with someone under 48", possibly 42"??) so we had to walk past it as well. It looks like so much fun and the kids were disappointed. Kya commented that plenty of people don't keep a close eye on their kids and we could probably "borrow" one of them so we could ride. Jace said he thought the ride looked fun but not "commit a felony" fun.

And, this update has taken longer than I thought due to multiple interruptions so I'll have to leave you there. I'd planned to get through our morning but the rest will have to wait. :

Up next... Jurassic Park Discovery Center and (finally) a water ride!

 

[schumigirl]

Nice update.........I love Cinnabons!!!

Looking forward to your JP discovery centre visit....we have never gone in there in all our visits

 

[-Hope-]

Nice update.........I love Cinnabons!!!

Looking forward to your JP discovery centre visit....we have never gone in there in all our visits

We're a little bit geeky. We always make time for the things others report as "boring" or just skip entirely. We also love Hall of Presidents and Innoventions at WDW.

 

[Tinker326]

Caught up on your recent posts!!!! I love that Beetlejuice show- we have seen it several times & it never gets old (and we have seen the same cast do the same roles in different years!). We met Beetlejuice in person there too & he was GREAT in character with the kids. They loved it!!

Springfield area looks fun too- I have yet to see it!

And water rides! I have some good stories on those from my recent trip! And we had GREAT fun shooting people with water from the bridge on that ride!

 

[-Hope-]

Caught up on your recent posts!!!! I love that Beetlejuice show- we have seen it several times & it never gets old (and we have seen the same cast do the same roles in different years!). We met Beetlejuice in person there too & he was GREAT in character with the kids. They loved it!!

Springfield area looks fun too- I have yet to see it!

And water rides! I have some good stories on those from my recent trip! And we had GREAT fun shooting people with water from the bridge on that ride!

We loved the Beetlejuice show! Meeting him would have been fun... maybe next time.

Water rides, like everything else, are turned up to eleven on the darkside. We had loads of fun... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

[-Hope-]

I really, really, REALLY intended to come back and get through our last morning this week but life had other plans. And I have to share with all of you that I have fallen in love!

No, I didn't leave my hubby... he's pretty awesome so I'll keep him around. My new love is in the form of one of the sweetest little baby girls (second only to my own DD) I have ever lain eyes on.




My baby brother is nearly 12 years younger than me and yesterday he became a daddy for the first time. His sweet little Hazel is very impatient and stubborn (just like her daddy) and decided to make her arrival 9 weeks early!

Not to worry though, in spite of how fragile all of those tubes and wires make her appear she is a trooper! She cried as soon as she was born and the respirator is only doing a little bit of her breathing, not all of it. Her lungs are strong but her heart needs some time to mature so the vent helps her to not have to work quite so hard. And the eye patches in the 2nd pics are simply to protect her eyes from the lights they use to help the jaundice. She doesn't have those on all the time but did every time her Aunt Hope popped in to see her today. The docs say that she is as healthy as a 31 week baby could possibly be and they are really optimistic about her long term prognosis.

At any rate, we have a super busy week coming up with the holiday, kids activities and work and now I have somewhere to be whenever free time presents itself. So, if I get even further behind than I already am, you all know why. It's because I'm admiring my new love.

 

[Lynne G]

Congratulations! She is a beautiful baby. Lots of premies grow up normal, and by 2 years old, you could not say who was early and who was not.

Take your time, it is a great time to just enjoy life. Story telling can wait. Trip reports can go on for quite awhile sometimes. I'll sip my tea, as it is going to be a high of 38 this weekend. I enjoyed USO so much, we will be back in August. So, thinking of a nice, hot FLA.

Have a happy thanksgiving and sending lots of love to your new little love.

 

[Tinker326]

Awwww.........look at that little peanut! Congrats Auntie Hope, she is adorable!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving.... indeed lots to be thankful for!

Congrats to everyone in your family.

 

[macraven]

Congrats Auntie !!


she is beautiful !!

Hazel is a little doll.

 

[schumigirl]

She is so tiny and so gorgeous.........Congratulations on little Hazel arriving safe...if a little early. Loads of good wishes for her getting stronger every day and will get home soon

 

[Seeker615]

Awww. Congrats! She is amazing!

 

[-Hope-]

Congratulations! She is a beautiful baby. Lots of premies grow up normal, and by 2 years old, you could not say who was early and who was not.

Take your time, it is a great time to just enjoy life. Story telling can wait. Trip reports can go on for quite awhile sometimes. I'll sip my tea, as it is going to be a high of 38 this weekend. I enjoyed USO so much, we will be back in August. So, thinking of a nice, hot FLA.

Have a happy thanksgiving and sending lots of love to your new little love.

Awwww.........look at that little peanut! Congrats Auntie Hope, she is adorable!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving.... indeed lots to be thankful for!

Congrats to everyone in your family.

Congrats Auntie !!


she is beautiful !!

Hazel is a little doll.

She is so tiny and so gorgeous.........Congratulations on little Hazel arriving safe...if a little early. Loads of good wishes for her getting stronger every day and will get home soon

Awww. Congrats! She is amazing!

Thank you everyone!

She's doing VERY well and already got to come off the ventilator as well as her momma and daddy now having daily opportunities to hold her. She is SO very tiny but is strong and just amazing. It may still be a while before she can leave the NICU but in the meantime we just spend as much time there as we can.

 

[-Hope-]

Whew, I hope you've all been patient with my absence. It has been a busy, busy week but I'm taking a couple of days at home to try to catch up, put up our Christmas decorations, and, of course, to DIS!

When I left off we were in the Jurassic Park area, heading to the Discovery Center. When we arrived we realized that this also didn't open until 10. I'm not really sure why so many things open an hour after park opening but we were going with the flow...

We went inside and looked around the gift shop (which was OF COURSE open already). There were a few tables at the top of the stairs that led down to the DC so we rested for a minute and I took the opportunity to text Robbie and Karen. Soon they were open and we headed downstairs...




This was a fun area with lots of interactive exhibits and displays. The kids enjoyed it a lot, especially the nursery and trivia game, "You Bet Jurassic". I know this isn't a favorite of many people but we are a little bit geeky and generally enjoy things others might walk past.

After we'd finished exploring the DC it was time to get WET! Kya had really been looking forward to Bilge Rat Barges, Kali is her favorite ride at WDW and this is similar- a circular raft being pushed through a channel of water. But, as we'd already discovered with everything else at UO, it was turned up to 11.

We walked right on and buckled up. We shared a raft with a mother and her son who looked to be about 10. They didn't speak English but the mother and I were still able to communicate our apprehension about this ride. And we were right! Oh, my goodness!! We were SOAKED! This ride is MUCH faster and wetter than any raft ride I've ever been on and it was also more fun! When we got off the kids wanted to ride again. Since it was walk on I knew my mom wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer so we hopped right back on. This time we had the raft to ourselves and we knew exactly what to expect. We were already soaked so we figured we couldn't get much wetter... but somehow we did!

I think the kids would have gone again but my mom was waiting for us and we also wanted to have plenty of time to explore Hogsmeade again before we had to leave so we moved on. But first we stepped into a people dryer- giant boxes with warm air and heat lights to help dry you off. It may have been the best $5 we spent on our trip. We were still a bit damp but not dripping and we'd warmed up as well.

We'd already seen everything we wanted to in JP so we breezed through it on our way to Hogsmeade.


I was really hoping for low crowds so we'd have the opportunity to really explore the area... Up next, find out if I got my wish!

 

[macraven]

i'm waiting to hear if you got your wish!