The Big 2014 Birthday Trip!!

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oHIo's picture
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93boomer wrote:
Ooh very sad! We are on the road back home! rolling Wonderful trip! Catch you guys up soon!Smile

Oh no.....I missed your birthday!! Hope it was happy... birthday have a safe trip home!

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Hi we are back and dealing with the realities of life again! Lol I need to catch up on sleep, laundry, etc. Then, I will start my trip with you. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and safe travels! It was my best birthday ever!!
Stayed up late last night to watch my niece and high school band perform live in Hawaii so feeling a bit tired this morning!! Didn't come on until almost 12:30 this am.
Be back soon!Smile

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Yay Boomer..Sorry also but I've been busy..No..Rushed off my feet..What with xmas shopping..My band doing xmas panto gigs.( you do know what I mean by this I hope ) Lol....Now my wife's younger brother who lives in U.A.E. requires his 4 bedroom house emptied before xmas ( It's rented out to a Doctor and his family ) So this new family have all their own furniture...What...Where are we going to store 4 double beds..chairs..fridges..washing machines..TV's..etc..I need a holiday ASAP...Hope your vacation wasn't as hectic as my build up for xmas..Lol

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Take your time and rest up! Can't wait to hear all about it!

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The Watchmaker wrote:
Yay Boomer..Sorry also but I've been busy..No..Rushed off my feet..What with xmas shopping..My band doing xmas panto gigs.( you do know what I mean by this I hope ) Lol....Now my wife's younger brother who lives in U.A.E. requires his 4 bedroom house emptied before xmas ( It's rented out to a Doctor and his family ) So this new family have all their own furniture...What...Where are we going to store 4 double beds..chairs..fridges..washing machines..TV's..etc..I need a holiday ASAP...Hope your vacation wasn't as hectic as my build up for xmas..Lol

Oh my goodness you are busy!! Good luck on that storage problem!
We did a lot of busy at WDW but nothing like that! Now, yesterday was a whole other story! I need a vacation already! Lol
DH went back to work and he is already pulling his hair out! And I just finished off my last magic cookie bar sad !
Getting back to reality isn't pretty!

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JMed wrote:
Take your time and rest up! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Thanks JMed! I am trying to get back in that routine again! Not liking it too much right now!Sad Hopefully, I will get pictures downloaded soon!

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93boomer wrote:
Stayed up late last night to watch my niece and high school band perform live in Hawaii so feeling a bit tired this morning!! Didn't come on until almost 12:30 this am. Be back soon!Smile

My niece and her high school band will be performing there in 2016. I told her I would chaperone if needed.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

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Can't wait to read all about your birthday trip boomer!

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Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

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JoAnn C wrote:
93boomer wrote:
Stayed up late last night to watch my niece and high school band perform live in Hawaii so feeling a bit tired this morning!! Didn't come on until almost 12:30 this am. Be back soon!Smile

My niece and her high school band will be performing there in 2016. I told her I would chaperone if needed.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip.

Hey JoAnn! That is awesome! My niece had a wonderful time! I got to watch them live online while they marched in the parade! It was so cool!! They had some down time and went touring the island and snorkeling. It was her first airline flight ever. Hope you go chaperone! It will be a great time for you.

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RobynPrincess wrote:
Can't wait to read all about your birthday trip boomer!

Thanks girl!! I have been trying to catch up on laundry, Christmas shopping, cleaning, etc. Plus, now I have picked up a head cold so I am so sorry this is so late in getting typed up! Hope I don't bore you! lol

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Here we go...................
We got up at 4 am on Fri Nov 28 to head to FL. We left the house by 5 am in low 40s weather and cold. Yuck! I really was hoping it was going to warm up soon. That is the only down-side to traveling in the late Fall and Winter months for me is the weather is chilly. I love to travel in warm temps! The traffic was great--light and everyone staying on their side of the road. We usually hit heavy traffic traveling down I-26 and I-95. We stopped for breakfast at McD's and kept on driving. We were really making great time. We stopped for a quick salad at Wendy's around 1 pm. The weather is getting warmer!!! Yayy time to shed those coats!! The sun is out and feels wonderful!! I think everyone from Canada and the Northeast is heading down with us. That is all that is on the road. The traffic started picking up after we got on I-4, which is usually where it picks up but not too bad.
We got to the Hampton Inn at 8150 Palm Parkway around 4 pm and checked in. We have started staying at this one because it is so close to DTD and the resorts. Plus, it saves us some change but still in the magic for one night! The rooms are always very clean and the fresh linens are great. The beds are comfy. I have a problem with pillows at most hotels, and this was the case this time. I could not get comfortable on mine so not much sleep. We freshened up from our drive and headed to DTD. The hotel is only 1.9 miles from DTD but the traffic was horrendous!! We got cut off by this girl that was zipping and zapping all between all the cars right after we pulled out of the hotel parking lot. She kept this up until we were almost to DTD. Hope you made it where you were going safely and not endangered anyone! Ugh! Anyways, with all the construction at DTD, it took us 45 mts. to get to the parking lot. Then, took forever to find a space. The parking garage was not open yet. Found out later that weekend, it finally opened up.
Well, now we are starving! We head to EofS right off. I am really hungry but don't want to push it with anything spicy. Tummy was feeling a little out of sorts. So, I just got something simple. I think it was turkey with cheese. When we finished eating, we walked around the shops. Everything was dressed up for Christmas. But, it was getting really packed!! I think all the people at the parks had migrated here plus the locals too. We grabbed a Starbucks because it was really getting cool, and I had a free birthday drink on my goldcard. We also stopped by Ghiradelli's for our free chocolate sample, peppermint this time! My fav! Then, we tried to find our car and headed back to the room around 10:30. Wanted to have an early start the next morning. We are going to MK tomorrow!!!!

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Sat Nov 29th---Got up at 6:30 am to drive the 4 miles to POFQ. We were so excited that we didn't eat breakfast at the hotel!! We had a much better driving experience than last night!! lol We pulled into the resort, our second home, around 7:30 am. Check in was a breeze. I had already done the online check-in, but we were the only ones there so no problem anyway. The girl that checked us in was from Oklahoma City, OK. We have been there lots, so we chatted with her about where she was from and all. It was a great start to our magical trip!

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As you can tell, I am getting chatty here. lol I have no one to talk to right now but the cat with DH at work.

Our room wasn't ready yet, so after giving my cell number for them to text us when we could get in, we headed to the bus stop. We got on the MK bus rather quickly. The park had an early hour opening so not many going there at that time. We got through with our magicbands with no problem at all. The park looked awesome!! Everything and all the CMs were all decked out for Christmas!! But, I think we found out where all the people were!!

We made our way to the back of the park. It was quieter and less people there. Got in the Buzz ride with our FP we had made. I beat my DH the first time! Unfortunately, he got much better the rest of the week. We got in IASW, teacups, and HM. Walked right on which was strange considering how many people were at MK. I checked my iphone for wait times. Most were for the SDMT-no surprise there since it was new. I couldn't get a FP until later in the week.

Crowds started steadily getting worse by lunchtime. We got a text that our room was ready around 2 pm so took a break back to the resort. We got a room in Bldg 1, third floor, corner room. It is a bit further back but really wanted that top floor. We decided to relax this time and walk to PORS for late lunch/dinner. We had only picked up muffins and apple juice and coffee for breakfast. Had a snack of chocolate pineapple at Fantasyland and popcorn. We had turkey cajun sandwiches with chips at the food court. Love this food court! They have so many options. And guess what?? They finally had some magic cookie bars left!! I have tried several trips to find these wonderful things but they were always out or I was too early. These babies are going back home with me!! The girl at the counter gave us samples too!

We finally caught a bus back to MK with more energy. Everything looked really pretty at night!! It is a bit cooler tonight, but better than last night at DTD where I just about froze!! We had a wonderful day today. Got on all our FP choices and more than I thought we would considering the crowds. Stayed until 10 pm and I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. Headed back to resort. Maybe I will sleep more tonight.

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More MK pictures.

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Today is Sun Nov 30th--had a fantastic night's sleep so we got up early!! We never get up this early so we walked over to the food court at POFQ and had choc chip pancakes. They were wonderful!! Yum-o! We were going to DHS but after 5 MK buses came, we hopped on the next bus that came and it was to Epcot. Hey we changed a lot of stuff this trip! But, we made the right decisions most of the time. We got there in no time and had light crowds. Much lighter than MK. We walked right into FN, SE, etc. Changed FP to here so got my Soarin one tonight at 8!! Walked around the WS. All the storytellers were really interesting. I loved the one at Norway. He was so funny!! Saw this really good band in Canada pavillion singing Christmas carols from the different Canadian provinces. They were really great!

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Walked around the WS some more. Picked up a caramel apple oatmeal cookie at Werther's. It was still warm and amazing!! Grabbed my grapefruit beer at Germany too. We walked to SS and picked up lunch. DH had a caesar salad with chicken, and I had the power salad with kale, quinoa, cranberries, nuts, and chicken. It was so good that I have made it at home all last week. I keep changing it up every day! It is so yummy!! We got on SE again, then had FP to TT. Our car came in 3rd! It was a little red sports car. Very cute! The temps were warm this day, so no jackets. When the sun began to set, it was comfortable. We picked up fish and chips then walked around until Neil Patrick Harris showed up at the candlelight processional. We couldn't believe that the lines started almost 2 1/2 hrs. before the first show!! We just walked around until it started and stood at the back. My DH got an awesome shot of NPH though!

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We went on our FP to Soarin. My favorite ride in the parks! By the way, at the end of tr I will tell you how much we walked this 6 day trip! My iphone has an app that kept up with it! You will be amazed! Tomorrow is the birthday day!!
More Epcot pictures....

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Great pictures! That pic of main street; wow! So many people!

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Great trip report so far! awesome

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Aw great report! If all goes as planned we will be going the same time next year so I really love hearing how much fun you had and seeing the Christmas decorations

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I love the Holiday topiary!

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sounds great so far. I missed seeing the Christmas decorations this year. I would love to the Candlelight Processional some year.

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Great trip report so far Boomer clapping

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May/June 2016 Magic cruise to Norway
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Thanks guys!!! More to follow!! silly

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Mon Dec 1st-- Today is the big day--my birthday!!! Yayy!! I want to spend it all day in Epcot and maybe run to DHS to see the Osbourne Lights tonight. The weather is sunny and in the 70s. Wonderful weather.

We got up early because I was excited! Caught the bus to Epcot and picked up some Starbucks and muesli at the SS food court. After eating, we climbed in the boat for LwLand. I love this so much because in hindsight, I really wished I had taken landscaping or horticulture growing up. I love working with plants and my garden. They even had a sand snowman in there. Cool!

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Then we ran over to the MS ride. DH goes on it. I don't like dark, closed-in places, so I skip this one. He had a good time on it. Rode through Figment, Nemo, and SE once more. Walked around WS and started looking at some pins. My DH has started buying one every time we come down. He found one with Christmas on it. Then, we grabbed pretzel and some peach tea for snacks. We don't want to fill up too much since we have a dinner res. at R&C for my bday. Here are some more Epcot pictures.

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So now it was time for our dinner at R&C. It was very cute inside. I liked the whole pub atmosphere. Our server was Arabelle, and she was so nice. DH ordered the pub ale, and I decided on the magic star cocktail. I love pineapple and rum drinks. This one hit the spot plus it had a lighted ice cube which made it very festive. DH had the vegetable cottage pie, and I had the chicken masala. Oh my!! This was a great dining choice for us. That chicken masala melted in my mouth! Oh gosh, I am getting hungry now!! lol I was very happy with my dinner. And my birthday present!!

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So, after that wonderful dinner, we walked around a bit relaxing and decided to hop right over to DHS and watch the Osbourne Lights. I remember them from when we were there last in 2006, and they were beautiful. But, this year, they were outstanding!! I almost cried it was so wonderful!!! With the snow falling and everyone was actually nice and not pushy like the last trip. We just walked and walked. Then, DH started trying to find all the hidden Mickey's. We found a lot but not all of them.

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Awww, I love Frosty the sandman! muchlove

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Yay..Boomer..if I ever needed encouragement to do a pre xmas disney trip, then you've sold me..Loved Halloween, but the xmas theme would blow me away..Loving your report.. awesome