Updated for this year! Blondie Goes to Golf Camp 2017!!!

WOW, what a long day. Even with a nap in the middle of the day, the heat is really taking it out of us!

We got to the golf course around 8:30. We wanted to get Blondie all checked in and settled for camp to start at 9. Once she was set, Joe asked if we could stay and watch. We were told yes by the coach, but no by Blondie... She usually wants us to stay... I guess my baby is growing up.

After dropping her off we were back off to Publix again. I broke my toothbrush and she wanted Poptarts. After dropping the goodies off at the room Joe and I headed to MK. We had a lunch ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. We got in and just strolled around. All of the waits were too long for us to make our lunch. We went in a few stores and just took in the sights.

Lunch was great. It was hot and we weren't that hungry so we just got Corn Fritters as an appetizer and we each got a salad. It was just the right amount. I also got a Patriot's Punch, frozen cherry and apple slush. OMG it was soooo good. We also shared an Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. I have been told it is now a requirement each trip.

By the time we finished up lunch and sat a little longer in the cool air, we needed to head back to pick up our golfer. We arrived early and just sat in the meeting room where they would come back in and watched Alabama football!

She really enjoyed the first day. The coach did say she got a little overheated but they put her in the shade with cold water to cool off and she was fine.

Back to the room for pool time and naps. I was not about to go back in the heat for recreation, pool or not... so I took a nice nap. The kids returned took naps and we headed to MK for our FPs. Haunted Mansion, Mine Train and Big Thunder Mountain. We had dinner at Pecos Bill which was really good. We are now back in the room all showered and ready to pass out.

Keys to the Kingdom for me tomorrow. Joe is golfing off property. Blondie camp. FastPasses tomorrow evening are for Epcot! Night all!

****EDIT**** Glad I looked at the schedule, I am a day ahead of myself. The Floridian Express tour at Grand Floridian is tomorrow!

I cancelled dinner at Olivia's since we at lunch there Sunday. I added Turf Club for Friday night! I hear it's a diamond in the rough!

Thanks for the encouragement!!!! I can't wait!

Today has been great so far. We all got up and ready for our different activities. Joe played golf at The Waldorf Astoria Golf Course today. Of course Blondie had camp. And I was dropped off at the Grand Floridian for the Floridian Express Tour!

Joe dropped me off right around 8:15. I had 45 minutes to myself to roam around a bit before meeting my tour guide. This tour was announced in February. I can't for the life of me remember how I heard about it. I registered in April when I finally got out of Joe the days he would be golfing. Unlike some of the other resorts tours, this one is not free. It was $15.00 and I did get a DVC discount. I'm not sure if it was the cost or the lack of information on this tour (I haven't found it offered online within Disney's sites) but, I was the only person there for it. I was a little surprised but also very excited! My own little personal tour of the GF! My tour guide was Stewie. He is from a little town in Tennessee called Sewanee that we drive through quite often when going to my Granny's. His knowledge was never ending! I learned quite a few things that didn't even pertain to the GF. Without giving away too much info, it basically covers the 3 resorts, 2 men and 1 location that influenced the GF and it's story! The tour began under the Porte-Cochere where we then moved inside and outside the resort making several "stops" along the way. We even toured Victoria and Albert's. Someday I will eat there! I was treated to samples of the Strawberry Soup and Coconut Macaroons which were both delicious. I need to get my hands on a couple more of those macaroons!!! Once the tour was over, I was asked to fill out a brief survey and then since it was just me, we went and toured the DVC villas even though it is not included in the tour. It really was a wonder way to spend an hour and would recommend it highly.

After, I hopped on the Monorail to the MK where I picked up a bus to Port Orleans where I finally got to try the beignets! Now, I have NEVER had the real deal in NOLA but I kinda had what I thought they would be like in mind. The did fall a little flat for me but this too has now been checked off my list of things to try. Although, if you are looking to have an entire box of powered sugar for breakfast, this is the perfect option!

From there I took the bus to Epcot (wow, there are a lot of stops at PO) where I transferred to an Old Key West bus. I had the entire bus to myself! It was a nice quiet and cool ride!

I'm at the resort now resting a bit before Joe and Blondie return. We have Epcot on the agenda this evening with Frozen fastpasses!!!! Hope you are all having a magical day where ever you may be. Thanks for following along so far!

Photo time. These are from the last couple of days.

**I also got a wooden coin with GF on it at the end of the tour as a little keepsake.**

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	At the Florida Welcome Center	719.17 KB
	Our room at Old Key West	136.6 KB
	Lunch at Olivia's	175.35 KB
	Boating over to Disney Springs	221.17 KB
	Frontera Cocina	202.02 KB
	Liberty Tree Tavern	224.77 KB

Not at all!!!!!

Well kids, I ain't gonna lie, I. Am. TIRED. The heat really does take it out of me and this is no exception. I am too tired to even tell you about our evening. We went to Epcot, more later.....

Tomorrow morning is for sure Keys to the Kingdom! Night all!

I need to catch up! Ok, Epcot yesterday. We had a FP for Frozen Ever After. Blondie went nuts, she LOVED it. I thought it was just OK to be quite honest. I WOULD NOT wait 2 hours in line for this ever. After seeing the great job the Imagineers did on Pirates Shanghai, I expected so much more. The only reason I would do this one again is because Blondie would want to do it. Why do I give it an OK/ Sven is in it! And I do love me some Sven...

After we strolled all around World SHowcase. I tried a Blood Orange Sake Mist in Japan. OMG, DELISH!!!! We stopped in the UK for Fish and Chips which we enjoyed behind ROse & Crown and ended up chatting with an interesting bunch back there. A family from England (Robyn, they were complaining about the heat) and a couple from Pennsylvania, she was from Kenya and he was Asian (never found out where he was from) We stopped for a croissant doughnut and made our way to SPaceship Earth FP.

We were going to hop in line for Soarin but Blondie was starting to give out and I was about at my breaking point. We rode Nemo and strolled around the Aquarium then Stopped for our Mickey Character Spot FP before heading out.

Here we are to today! Blondie Camp, Joe Golf, Me, KEYS TO THE KINGDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe and Blondie dropped me off in front of the Contemporary, the last couple of mornings they have been working on the Monorails and I didn't want to chance being late since we left later than I wanted. I got checked in and had plenty of time to meet talking Mickey. UMMMM, that was a little freaky to me but I loved it.

After I finished up there and had a seat, the tour guide showed up and it was time to go. Kevin was the guide and he was fab! Very personable, knowledgeable and funny. I don't want to give the tour away but if you get the chance, DO IT! I will tell you we rode Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion. Lunch was at Tomorrowland Terrace (I really was looking forward to Columbia Harbour House). The Utilidors were the highlight for me!!!! We also got to keep our name tags and got a pin at the end.

I finished up about the time Blondie and Joe were heading back to the resort. It was about to rain and I made it to the bus station before it started thank goodness. I will have to say, I've only taken the bus twice but it's been LONG waits both times. When the bus finally arrived the driver wasn't the friendliest and the guests were crabby. I had the first seat on the left when you enter the bus and I just sat there too tired and hot to pick a side LOL. It was an awful ride.

Back safe and sound with no mutiny on the bus, it was nap time before AK. Until the kids decided they were hungry. We ran up to the pool side restaurant grabbed a late lunch then napped!

Animal Kingdom - Animal Kingdom.... WOW at night!!!!!!!!!!

We had Everest FP at 5:20. We arrived to a 15 standby time so we just hopped on twice before using fastpasses. After we fastpassed it, we walked down towards the Safari. It was still a bit sunny so we detoured. They rode Kali Rapids (I hate wet feet) and walked the trail back there. I've never been on that one!!! The went for the safari. It still wasn't dark enough to experience the new additions so we will have to do that in October. Dinner was calling us so we headed to Flame Tree and we found a spot right by the water. We could have stayed to watch the show but we were all fading fast and wanted to ride Everest in the dark. We did get sidetracked by Adventure Mickey and Minne who had a 5 min wait time. When we came out it was good and dark.

*****YOU MUST RIDE EVEREST AT NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!*****
It is a completely different ride. Joe said it gives Rock n Roller Coaster a real run for it's money. And it's his favorite ride. We rode twice. It was during the show and the wait time was 5 minutes!!!!

We are all exhausted again so the kids are sleeping and I am about to turn in myself! Night all!

right? But I knew I had to have them. I am a potato girl, we never had rice growing up and I eat any potato out there. You won't regret the Mexican Mashed Potatoes LOL

You can see the Yeti sooooooo good! And the tunnels are so much darker. And just going up the lift hills looking up at a dark starry sky. I can go on and on!!!!!

WOW! Today was such a departure from the norm for me.

Blondie of course had camp and after dropping her off, Joe and I left property!

We were meeting his old boss for lunch and since we had time, the PGA Superstore and Character Outlet were on the agenda. I got a couple of really good deals. 2 Vera purses, a pin trading set, 2 single pins and a puzzle for less than 80 bucks! We then headed for Giordano's for lunch. This is about the only place I will step foot off property for!

After lunch it was time to get Blondie and a major storm was a rollin in! We got to the room, they changed to swim but the pool was closed. We decided on LONG naps so that we could stay out later than we have been. We left around 4:30 for HS. The rain and traffic made for one of our longest trips, We still made it for our first FP, Toy Story, I was ready to dominate. Unfortunately, the side me and Blondie were on stopped working the last 2 scenes. Needless to say I was a little irate... I was determined to beat Joe and I would have as I was only a couple thousand behind him when we ended... If I just got that last bonus screen.

The rain chased most people off so we hopped in line for Rock n Roller Coaster before our TOT FP. I love the new interactive screens in line on the rides. It picks up your MB information and makes concert posters with your name and town!!! There are a few other ones around the parks too!

We rode TOT and then headed for our Star Tours FP. I don't know how it is possible with all of the combinations, but we always get the same thing. I am just gonna give up on this one.

We strolled around a bit waiting on the SW fireworks to start. We really enjoyed them. We watched from the end of the street, you for sure need to be close to see them all but we wanted to get out quick since we were keeping Blondie out later than we planned for the trip with camp in the mornings. She made it to the car and was sleeping before we got out of the parking lot!

Tomorrow is our last full day!

Epcot for me, golf for Joe, camp for Blondie and back to AK tomorrow night!

Of course I was picking it apart... the end scene with Anna and Elsa together you can see the distinct line between their face and neck and I was so focused on that I didn't look at everything else. There is the big snowflake that is really pretty but nothing amazing. I was hoping for lots more. They should have had it freezing in there. There should have been "snow" falling in the scenes. The room with Marshmallow was just that. A room with Marshmallow blowing smoke and the baby snowmen. Nothing else was happening. It fell SO FLAT for me. Anywho Blondie loved it to the point she was yelling and jumping up and down after so I will eventually have to ride it again.

The GF tour was really interesting. I learned a lot of stuff other than just about the GF!

Yes, today is the last FULL day. Heading home after breakfast, Soarin and meeting Anna and Elsa tomorrow!

It's been a long day with highs and lows....

Epcot in the morning alone for Behind the Seeds and Soarin....
Naps in the afternoon
Animal Kingdom in the evening. Will catch you all up later. It's midnight and I am done!

Tomorrow is our last day. Breakfast at garden Grill, Soarin, meet Anna and Elsa then head home!

We are on the road home. By the time I get somewhere with wi-fi to post this we will be safe and sound at the house. So to catch up, I gotta go back a day.

Friday was the last day of camp for Blondie, golf for Joe and fun for me. I decided to take the bus today since there was no time to drop me off and someone not being where they needed to be at the right time. Blondie and Joe took off which left me a little alone time to start getting things together for leaving in the morning.

I finally walked to the bus stop around 9. I had a 10:30 Behind the Seeds tour booked. I arrived at the bus stop and waited 20 minutes for the bus. We then hit 3 other stops in the resort. With another Epcot bus RIGHT BEHIND US.... What? I really don't like Disney transport. I am a get up and go person. I get antsy with all the other people and the stops. It's good for some things and some people but not me.

I finally arrived at Epcot around 10. Yes, about 40 minutes to get from Old Key West to Epcot. I made it in with enough time to check in and ride Living with the Land before the tour. Our guide was Trent from LSU. He was very knowledgeable and not to mention patient with the kid on our tour. He must have been about 10-12 and asked about 150 questions. Yeah, he asked some questions that I had but come on, let me get a word in. Anywho. I really enjoyed the tour. I've always wanted to do it. I now want to build my very own hydroponic garden!! They encourage all the photos and video you want to take even in the "backstage" areas! The tour was a little over an hour and a half. (Trent did not have another tour after us so we got a little extra)

After the tour I was going to head to World Showcase for lunch but the line for Soarin was only 20 minutes..... Should I ride now or wait and ride it for the first time with the family?? OF COURSE I GOT IN LINE!!! I really liked it. I will go into more detail about Soarin with Saturday's ride.

After Soarin, I headed over to the DVC Member Lounge. I really like it up there! You do have to have a hard copy of your card or the digital copy from the Member Website. You check in at the bottom of the stairs and then go up. There is also an elevator available. Once upstairs, there are several couches, chairs and high top tables with stools. Almost every table has an iPad on it and a plug for charging devices. They did not have cords there and since I didn't need one I didn't think to ask if they had loaners. There are 3 Freestyle Coke machines and a lady that comes around with snacks (chips, cookies, candybars). There are also a couple of PCs, a printer, Disney Infinity consoles anda couple DVC CMs. I spent about 20 minutes or so up there before checking out at the desk to go down. They do ask that you check out so that they are not sending too many people up at the same time.

It was getting close to time to meet the kids back at the resort but I wanted to run thru MouseGears first for a few things I needed. They didn't have 2 things I wanted so another stop at the Pin Shop and the resort store and I was set. Another long walk out to the bus and another long wait and I was back at the resort. I got off at the Hospitality House since they were on the way up to swim. We grabbed lunch, I shopped and waited in the lobby because it was way too hot to walk back to the room. It was now nap time because we still had a long night ahead of us!

We woke up around 5:30 ready to head back to Animal Kingdom. We loved it so much the other night, we cancelled our Hollywood Studios FPs and went back. We took our time getting there and getting in. We walked over to Tiffins to check out the new area and peek at Pandora. It's come a long way since our last trip. I'm getting really excited about this addition! Tiffins and Nomad lounge are beautiful! We made our way around and was just in time for the last Lion King show. We got great seats in the Elephant section. After it was on to the Safari! We were in line and Blondie started showing her arse because all she wanted to do was ride Everest. So I told her and Joe to leave. I ended up riding with the lady behind me whose family didn't want to go with her.

The evening safari was very different in a couple ways. The jeeps sounded much quieter. As well as the driver. I don't know if it was just ours of it they are quieter since it's night time. When you exit the Savanah and head towards the monkeys, we instead took a right and bypassed that section. We saw a few animals but the lions were the attraction!!! They are nocturnal so of course they were up moving all around, play fighting and putting on the best show!!! I would have ridden again just to see them! There is no flash photography allowed so it is really hard to get pics, with that said, the lions do have enough lighting on them for pics.

I headed off to Everest to meet up with the kids and we rode a couple of times before the Jungle Book show let out and the line went from 5 minutes to 20. I took the opportunity to grab some edamame and a drink. Once the 2nd show started seating, the wait time went back to 5 so we rode a couple more times then headed to Dinoland USA. We rode Primeval Hurl and since there was no line they let us stay on. After the 2nd time I ditched the ride, Joe and Blondie stayed on for a couple more rides. I hopped on Triceratops Spin which they were also letting people just stay on. It was almost 11 and we had an early breakfast so we headed back to the resort ready for bed! I got the rest of our stuff ready to load up so we can hit the road in the morning.

I made a 9:00 ADR for Garden Grill. We arrived at 8 and they let us right in. Breakfast was wonderful. Since we didn't have many ADRs for this trip, it was the first time since arrival dinner at Frontera Cocina that I finally felt full! The characters were great but we were kind of rushing to get to Soarin since they would let us on before the masses. We could have seen them all again but we got pics and full bellies and we were good. Our waiter took his time getting the check and we got in line just as the masses were filing in. WHEW! Now... here is my take on it.

MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR THE MIDDLE SECTION!!! There are some tall buildings and structures that get very distorted on the screen when setting in the end sections. It is still very cool but kinda ruined it for me the first time around. I specifically asked for the middle to see if it would be better than the first time I rode. The new smells are nice and there are some really cool effects!

We were off and headed to meet Anna and Elsa when Joe realized he left his hat and glasses under his seat. We successfully retrieved them and headed back towards Norway! There was only a 10 minute wait to meet the ladies! There are 4 doors in the summerhouse if you catch my drift... We did have a 10:25 FP for Soarin but we decided to head on home. I grabbed a popcorn for the road and bid my farewells.

I say in all it was another successful trip. Only a few minor issues with the kiddo and me (I really get crabby when I am hot) and nothing major Disney-wise that was bad!

Now to finish planning for October, it's almost FastPass day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few pics

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	MK Night	741.07 KB
	Pecos Bill	682.99 KB
	The Floridian Express Tour	877.23 KB

and a few more

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	Frozen Ever After	160.13 KB
	Epcot!	782.77 KB

Highs and Lows

Highs:
**Keys to the Kingdom Tour - hands down the high of all highs! I loved this tour. I am so glad Joe wants to do it so I can do it again!
**Blondie really enjoying camp
**Animal Kingdom at night - I think I will end every single night there from now on!
**Soarin Around the World

Lows:
**Cheeseburger Eggroll Cart was closed
**I witnessed a pretty ugly situation. Lucky for me, I have learned to keep my mouth shut and my kid was with me. A man was YELLING and cussing at his wife and kids in HS. He told the little boy (maybe 8-9) that he was going to "knock you the F out so hard you won't be able to get back up" and proceeded to yell at everyone around daring anyone to say something. Had Joe been there and Abigail wasn't, I would have... I understand it can be a stressful trip but things like that kill me after being in a relationship just like that. I could just tell what kind of husband/dad this jerk was. The woman ended up leaving with one of the kids but left the one the dad threatened there. As he was leaving he was running the stroller into tables and chairs, a part of me was hoping he would have hit mine because I would have taken the opportunity to embarrass him more than he already did himself. I've been thinking about that poor woman and he kids since Thursday.
**The heat - it really was hot. I never want to go during the dead of summer ever again.

Thanks for following along everyone! I can't wait to see a lot of you in just a few weeks!!!!!We arrive 10 weeks from today! I will still be adding pics to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/huotaridisneyadventure/ !

It's that time of year again! The smell of fresh cut greens. The hot summer sun. Golf carts loaded with kids and clubs! Disney Junior Golf Camp is calling!

We have booked the last weekend of July and I am once again dreading the heat but we will take it a bit easier again.

We will be staying at Saratoga Springs this time. It was the least points plus Joe and Blondie haven't stayed there. We will be staying Sunday to Sunday this time.

Since we are already in the 180 day window, I booked a few ADRs today! Arrival day Homecoming then throughout the week I have Rose and Crown, Tony's and Turf Club. They are all new to us so I'm pretty excited. Homecoming is tops on my list. I think we also may check out Planet Hollywood just for the milkshakes.

I also have a couple of bars on my list I want to stop at. Can you believe I've never been to Dawa Bar???

I am REALLY excited about checking out Pandora. I have a couple days set just for AK, I am calling in sick on my FP day so I can make sure I get Fastpasses for the rides! LOL I hope the crowds have dropped a smidge by the time we go.

I'll post more plans as they come.

I'm not a bloodie fan! So some other specialty drink will be gracing my lips! I have to come up with a list of things to-do when they are both golfing. Maybe some more tours!