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This will cover Dec. 13-21.
DD & I flew to MCO late Dec. 13, arriving a few minutes early. DH was already in Orlando--had been for the past 2 weeks so we were
pretty anxious to see him! He'd been busy doing alot of honey-do's that I'd listed for him. We'd bought a house last Jan. but this was
our first time really getting to spend time in it. Now it was just getting it fixed up to our likes. That's pretty much what he'd been
working on for the past 2 weeks. We had trouble settling down that night, but finally got to bed around 1:30.
Sat. Dec. 14--DD really wanted to make it over to Epcot to join Lori in her Spaceship Earth Roulette, so we were up early to head out--
until our van battery was dead. We knew it was getting alittle slow, but hadn't had any serious problems and decided to wait until after
this trip to replace it. Wrong! We finally got it charged up enough to start and headed over to Epcot, arriving just as they were heading
to SE, so we got to join in after all. We then went to Germany since my DD wanted to spend her Christmas money getting a doll made. That
was great fun! The hardest part was picking out a dress--they had so many to choose from. We really wanted Mr. Engel to sign it, but he
was at the doll & teddy bear show. They told us to bring the doll back Monday & he could sign it then. We then left to find a battery
for the van. It took the rest of the afternoon, but we were releaved to learn that Sam's Club puts the battery in for free! That probably
saved alot of frustrations on DH's part.
Sunday, Dec. 15--DD and I went to church, then we all headed out to MGM. All we did here was ride RnRC & ToT. I was glad to see the new
ride sequence had already started at ToT. It really improved the ride and was great fun. We then headed over to MK to meet Pam
Forrester and her family for dinner at LTT. We were able to get a table together and had such a great time. Pam & Steve were so kind
as to share their anniversary with us strangers! We stayed together for the rest of the evening and rode everything we wanted (pretty
much). I must say, BTM will never be the same again without Pam's DD! LOL We finally left at midnight, totally frozen. Boy, it
really got cold. When we stopped to watch the parade, the cold seemed to seep in and never leave. Made the snow on Main Street feel
even more real!
Monday, Dec. 16--Our goal today was to get the doll signed. They told us to be there at 1pm--we were, he wasn't. We walked around
World Showcase, checking back several times, and finally, as we were leaving for the last time, they ran out after us and Mr. Engel had
just shown up. We got the doll signed and several pictures taken. That really made her even more special. We then headed over to the
Beach Club to use one of my coupons from Connections on lunch at Beaches and Cream. I'd decided for the great deal it was, we'd all
share a burger and end with the kitchen sink. WOW--what a mistake! It sure looks big, but even bigger when you're trying to work your
way through it! What fun, though, even though everyone kept staring at us pigging out! It was a great deal though--about $35 worth of
food for $11. I have a few more to use, but next time will stick with a smaller desert and still get more than our money's worth.
Tues, Dec. 17--Today was another MFL meet. Today we headed back to MGM to meet Mic and her family and Sarah Padilla and her mother at
Prime Time. We just had a few short mintues to visit before everyone was starting to be called in to eat, but it was nice to get to meet a
few new MFLers. We watched the parade and caught a few rides. This is when I found the last row of seats in ToT were all seat belt seats-
-and now think it's great. I'm glad to see they're making some changes to spruce up the rides.
Wed, Dec. 18--Today is Sea World. Kracken was a walk-on all day, a small wait for Atlantis (where our row was the only one that got wet--
LOL) and all the shows had plenty of room to sit. This is the kind of crowds I like! This was a fun day, as usual.
Thurs, Dec. 19--Up early for the Storybook Princess breakfast in Norway. This was a surprise for both DD & DH--I'd never told either
about this breakfast. DH was especially please to see Jasmine. His face was bright red when I had her step over by him for a picture.
LOL That was a great hit and the food was good. Glad I did this. We spent alittle time riding TT, then had to come home to meet the
carpet cleaner. When it looked like he was going to be awhile, DH said he'd stay at the house and DD & I went to MK. Most everything
was a walk-on here today, which was great fun. DD had an independent moment and wanted to ride Splash Mtn by herself. Boy, you don't
realize how long the wait (15 min) and ride are until you're waiting for an 11-year-old that's by herself. However, the big smile made it
all worth while! We brought home some carmel corn and some popcorn to thank DH for letting us go play.
Fri, Dec. 20--no park today--we must do some furniture shopping. This ended up taking all day--we should have spent it at the parks
before the crowds. Oh well, too late now. We also had to fix my laptop, and not knowing the area we ended up driving clear up north
of downtown to a place I'd found in the YP's. Even though it took forever, it was a good thing as the guy just did a recover and was
able to get my laptop working so I could once again be in touch with my MFL friends! And he didn't even charge me anything. Very MFL!!
I'd recommend them for any laptop problems--Laptop Plus (see ad in YP--LOL). Maggie called and we decided to meet up Jan. 1.
Sat, Dec. 21--Decided to go to AK today--this is the busiest I've ever seen it! It was packed. We got to the Lion King show just
before the standing room only area, so I was happy we got to see that. It's our favorite show of all. Unfortunately, DH couldn't see
it with the lady in front wearing some Minnie Mouse Christmas hat that totally blocked his view. I know these hats are big sellers,
even more so with the Christmas ones, but I sure wish people realized how big they are and show some courtesy in shows/parades!
We watched the parade and got to finally ride Primeval Whirl. Once was plenty on this. I didn't mind the spinning (which I was afraid
may bother me) but it was just SO rough that it wasn't comfortable. We also rode Dinosaur, which seemed rougher than usual. It was more
like it use to be when they first opened it. Did they change it back?
So this is our first week here. It was busy, but I now wish we'd just done the parks this week and not tried to do any house stuff.
That could have waited until the crowds got here. Live and learn. We just weren't thinking. Doesn't matter--we're having a blast
anyway. It's just so nice to come home to our own home at night, too. We're really enjoying this whole trip.
Boy, I can't believe I've already been down here 2 weeks. It sure flies by! Heard the saddest thing the other day, though--a little
boy was walking down Main Street asking his mom if they could leave now. He said he didn't like this place any more. I hope between the
crowds and just being tired that he gets the magic back some day!
My last week ended on Sat. Dec. 21, so this will start with Christmas week. We'd said 5 years ago that we'd never come back at
Christmas time--now we remember why. This place is packed! I've never seen it so bad, but then again, I've become use to coming
during the off seasons. We've tried going in the mornings, and getting 2-3 rides in, then leaving at noon. We decided to try
nights, hoping some of the crowds had left--Space Mountain was a 65 minute wait. Wow!
Sunday, Dec. 22--can't remember what we did, so much not have been much! LOL
Monday, Dec. 23--We went to Islands of Adventure. I really didn't have any desire to go here, but a couple of years ago I'd had a
credit card through Universal that earned me enough points that I had free tickets for all 3 of us. The one thing we wanted to do was
Spiderman, since we'd seen so much about it on the Travel Channel. Getting in the gate here was awful. It took about 30 minutes. They
need to redo that whole process! We ended up doing all the rides we wanted to do, between waiting in line 45 minutes and using their
version of fastpass. We did get stuck on Spiderman when it broke down, but they gave us a "front of the line" pass, so we were able to
get in one last ride on the Hulk. We enjoyed the rides here, but thanks to this group I knew to take ponchos. I've never seen so many
wet rides in one place! Their log ride was a huge disappointment, though. A long wait for a very short ride. Shouldn't compare to
Splash Mtn., I guess. LOL We ended the day eating at the Olive Garden, on gift certificates that I'd earned from the rewards sites--
so a very dollarless day in all.
Part One, Part Two
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