You can take the girl out of Disney, BUT……… About This Page:

[jenseib]

Before long we could see the parade coming.







Claire and I had seen this last year in April. I also saw it a couple of times last summer, but this was Skips first time, though he didn’t realize it till the end.

















We got a little interaction!

[jenseib]

I must say that this parade has grown on me. I am still not a big fan of the music…but I like it better now. I am still a huge Spectro fan though.

Skip made a comment about it being so short. That’s when he realized this was a different parade than what he has seen in the past…and he agreed, Spectro is much better to him as well.

We headed up towards the front. We were in no hurry, but we were ready to leave. So were a lot of other people.



I tried for another balloon shot…note to self……they don’t work well in the dark.




Claire and I needed to do a little shopping though. I was still on the hunt for a 2012 sweatshirt. Claire was on the hunt for anything.

I found one and it was love at first site…..just what I wanted.





This WILL be coming with me in November.

Claire found 2 more Princess Sets….the ones that look like Polly pockets with the rubber dresses. I think she got Alice and Tiana…..and sadly Alice has lost her head. Literally! So we most likely will be buying another one when we go down in Nov. again. This was a very tragic moment when that had happened. LOTS of tears!!

I do not have pictures of those.

We carried our big bag out and found Skip, who had no desire to even set foot in a shop.

We stopped at our locker and picked up our jackets (never needed them this day) and we made our way out.



And I turned and got one last picture of the castle.



We headed to the monorail and Skip thought we would have to take the resort one back since we arrived on it, but I assured him we could take either one and be fine.
Then we hopped a trolley and headed back to our car. It was amazing how empty the parking lot was. It wasn’t too hard to find the car because it was one of the only ones out there.

Soon we were zipping back to the Quality Inn…and someone fell asleep in the backseat. …..though she would never admit it. When we got back to the hotel we woke her up and headed back to the room.



It was late, but Skip still had to watch a bit of TV before going to sleep. I think I caught up on facebook with my kindle. Claire soon griped that some of us in the room were trying to sleep and it would be easier if the TV was off. So off it went and we all quickly went to sleep, totally exhausted from the day. It was such a wonderful day though. It reconfirmed my love of Disney. This whole trip had been fun, but I am still a Disney girl at heart.

And that ends day 4. We still have another half day left! What will we do?

[pamcarey]

Originally Posted by jenseib

It was really nice just sitting there. I just had the magical feeling going on, and I mentioned how just sitting in MK was such a happy thing for me….my happy spot. Skip didn’t even make fun of me either.

I moments like that at WDW!!

[mommapants]

Wow it looked deserted at the parade

[sheldoal]

Just found this TR and caught up finally. Really enjoyed it. It occupied me this afternoon while I was waiting for my husband at the dentist's office. My dad was a dairy and beef farmer (not at same time, of course), and he would never have taken me to Disney. LOL. He was the type that drove by things and pointed, "There's . . . " We did go to the state fair every year as a kid.

I loved your pictures of Univeral and CityWalk. I wish I had taken more pics when we were there in 2010. Your pics brought back good memories. Thanks!

[chezp]

Great photos of the parade! I love the sweatshirt as well.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by DisneyDana

When are you going in November? That's when me and a few other girls from PP are meeting for the first time ever! We have had this planned for 2 years and we are soooo excited!

I have a long trip. I arrive on Nov. 2nd and am doing MNSHP party that night. On the 3rd I am meeting up with my family and we are staying one night at Residence Inn near the port and on the 4th we board the Dream for 4 night. On the 8th we head back to WDW and Claire and I will be staying there till the 14th. (staying at 2 different resorts during that time as well.)

Originally Posted by pamcarey

I moments like that at WDW!!

Very nice to have those moments!

Originally Posted by mommapants

Wow it looked deserted at the parade

We love the 2nd parade. It's usually so much easier to find a spot.

Originally Posted by sheldoal

Just found this TR and caught up finally. Really enjoyed it. It occupied me this afternoon while I was waiting for my husband at the dentist's office. My dad was a dairy and beef farmer (not at same time, of course), and he would never have taken me to Disney. LOL. He was the type that drove by things and pointed, "There's . . . " We did go to the state fair every year as a kid.

I loved your pictures of Univeral and CityWalk. I wish I had taken more pics when we were there in 2010. Your pics brought back good memories. Thanks!

Thanks so much for reading along. I really had a great time! It was fun to photograph so many new things.

Originally Posted by chezp

Great photos of the parade! I love the sweatshirt as well.

Thanks. I love wearing my Disney sweatshirts! I wore my 2011 one out today and I had people stop me to tell me how much they loved it!

[jenseib]

Day 5 ~ March 30, 2012

Again, I have no notes for this day, so I have to go by memory.

I’m sure I woke early as I never can sleep very long on vacation. I probably went down for breakfast and also caught up on facebook via my Kindle. I did love the free wifi at Quality Inn.

I also had the task of packing up. I brought along a luggage scale this time to be sure none of the bags were overweight and we did just fine.

I believe it was around 10 AM when we packed up the car and got on the road shortly after that. We didn’t have a discussed plan, we just left. So…as we pulled out, I asked Skip where we were going. Our flight didn’t leave till later that afternoon, and if I remember right we could basically play in the area till around 1 PM or so.
Skip gave me a deer in the headlights look. I reminded him that it was too early to go to the airport, so where did he want to go. We thought about options, and one was DTD, but that was shopping….evidently the devil word this trip. So we asked Claire which park she wanted to go back at Universal. She said she wanted to ride Disaster again. Skip vetoed that right away. Simpsons was the next choice, so off we were to the Studios!

We arrive just around 10:30 and took a leisurely walk to the park.







We found the majority of the people still head over to IoA first.





We made our way through the gate and headed over towards the Simpsons.
I believe this was Ricky Ricardos band out playing.



And there is Marilynn.



We came across a “hot set” and saw Sponge Bob. I’m not sure what was going on, but it appeared to be some sort of show with several kids involved.





More shots as we headed back towards our destination.







I’m guessing we stopped for a potty break.



I hadn’t taken a picture of this near the Men in Black ride, so I got a shot as we approached the area.





The theming around the Simpsons is just great.



Boy! Isn’t this true for a lot of those games?





I think the line was about 15 or 20 minutes…not bad at all.









Once again we were in the back seat and once again I could feel more motion back there. I also didn’t take any bonine, which was a big mistake. I need to remember to do this because as the day went on, the motion sickness got a little worse for me.

We still had time so we ran over to MIB. I put our bags in the locker and we got in line. It was a tad longer than the other day, but still moved fairly fast.

I swear we got the same exact car as we did the other day. My shooter seemed defective once again. I could hardly get points no matter what I did, yet Skip and Claire were having no problem at all.
When it came time to push the red button I pushed Claire’s and held it. She got the mega bonus points and was very happy to have beaten both of us.
We exited and I went and got the bags out of the locker.

[jenseib]

It was time to head out now. We still had some time to kill, but not really enough to do another ride.



I thought this was so cute.





Hey! There’s Betty Boop!






We found a friend who thought he might like a ride back to Ohio.





Bye Bye Universal!



And my try at getting artsy again….








When it comes to the day we are leaving, Skip always seems to find some extra energy.





I had been eyeing this shirt a bit and decided I wanted it..



I had said I should get all my kids “things” t-shirts to wear with me when I wear this shirt, but Skip said that Michael and Paige would never wear it. I agreed, but when I told them about my idea when I got home they both said they would’ve actually wore one.







One last friendly TM.



And back to the parking lot to find our car.



We needed to get a bite to eat before heading out as well. I was not feeling the best from the motion sickness and I was very hungry. Skip knows that I turn into a monster when I get a hunger headache…yet he seems to forget it and becomes very annoying at those moments.

He hem hawed around about where to go. I just kept saying pull in anywhere. I had told him which direction to go and he went the opposite way. So we passed several options and I was getting antsy. Now time was starting to slip away and I still had no food. We pulled around to circle back and we drove by the famous Burger King that had screwed our order up last time. I told him to go there, and he said I surely wouldn’t want to go back there again….and I think my eyes might’ve turned red and I just might’ve spoken with the devils voice and said “PULL IN THERE NOW!”

Sure enough, we pull in, make our order and get to the window and they tell us to back up again because we triggered something wrong. Then they told us to just go park. Skip said, “Yeah, we know the drill”. Luckily it didn’t take as long for our food to come out this time and I did double check the order before we pulled out. Skip told the guy he hoped they won the pizza party even though it inconvenienced quests and the guy gave him a funny look, like how did he know? LOL

I pulled out ibuprofen and bonine and popped those and started to eat…Ahhhhh…feeling much better now.
But before I actually was feeling better, Skip asked how to get to the airport. I told him and once again he ignored me. He said he knew there was a faster way. Ok, then take it. So he gets on the beeline, heading towards Port Canaveral. Um, the airport isn’t this way. I looked on the map and saw where we could make a turn off and be just fine. But he panicked and then had to turn around. More time being wasted.

Finally the food was kicking in for me and he listened to me and we were on the right road in the right direction.



As we drove on, I got much nicer. Skip made a comment to Claire to remind him to get me food when I need it fast because I am much nicer once I have eaten!

I took a picture of this while we drove. It was a neat building, but kind of not near anything else.

[jenseib]

Before long we were getting close to Sanford and we stopped and filled the car up with gas.

And before we knew it, it was time to turn in.







Skip dropped us off and then went to return the car. Looks like someone isn’t too happy about going home. I wasn’t either.



The line to check in was super long. It always is at Sanford. They usually are checking in 3 flights and only 2- 3 people working the desk, so it takes a while. We kept our eyes open for my friend Jenny who had flown down the same day as us. She was supposed to be returning today too. She never showed up while we were in line. We did listen to a couple behind us with what I assume was the guys Mom. I am not sure if all 3 were flying or if the Mom was seeing them off, but the guy was super impatient, but the ladies didn’t seem to care and talked away. I listened…..how could I not?…and it sounded like the guy had a super nasty ex-wife and she was doing things to threaten the new girlfriend. Oh the things you hear while waiting in line.

We finally got checked in and up through security, which was another long line. I usually take care of Claire for the most part, and hand Skip an extra item to take through. Next thing we know, he is being pulled off to the side. He set something off. LOL! He had forgotten to tell them about his hip replacement, so they took him off to a small cubicle and did a pat down and wand. Claire had big eyes….after all I told her if you did the wrong thing, you might get strip searched. Luckily he left with all his clothes still on and got the OK.
In the mean time I am trying to be sure the line behind us isn’t held up so I am trying to grab all our stuff plus what he was in charge of. The whole shoes and belt off thing is a pain in the rear.

We headed to our gate, found a spot to sit and Claire and I went to the bathroom and I got some mini Cinnabons. MMM! Can’t go past those. Skip went and got us some drinks and soon we saw Jenny and crew come in. They were actually smart and arrived later and had no line at all for check in. But I am too much of a worry wart and would fear we would miss the plane.

Here is the last shot of the trip…not too exciting!



We sat and talked with Jenny and Ray about our week. She had gone to Universal the day we went to MK. She had thought she was going to be there the same day, but when she read her printed ticket, she found it was for Thurs. instead of Wed.

After talking of all the fun we did, and they did some really neat things too, it was time to board. We had assigned seats so we boarded early on. They didn’t and had to wait till all the assigned seat people boarded. We did see Jenny and her son board, but no Ray. She said he was being a slow poke and she wasn’t waiting, so she left him. LOL. We did see him board later though.

Time to go! Or so we thought. We waited and waited and waited, and the plane was getting stuffy. It looked like they were talking to people near the front rows. We thought maybe someone was sick. Lots of whispers between other passengers about what was going on, but no one knew for sure.
I stood up a few times to look. I was starting to get an anxiety attack. I don’t get them often anymore, but I used to get them a lot. Then I was having anxiety about the anxiety attack. I was thinking about how I could sit trapped on this plane for a couple more hours yet. I breathed through it and I did eventually push it away.
The pilot finally came on and said he had to finish paperwork before they could take off. It would just be a few more minutes. I don’t think that was true. It did look like the people in front were now OK and the flight attendants were making rounds to be sure everything was in place.
The lady in front of us had a dog and it barked a couple of times. The flight attendant got nasty with her and told her to shut the dog up. People jumped all over her then as we were waiting with no explanation of when we would leave and the dog was just voicing what we all thought. She said we would be leaving soon and turned away…and we did eventually back out, which was met with cheers.

The flight home was uneventful. I had planned to write up notes, but with my new Kindle, it wasn’t meant to be. I played games on it the whole time. I am addicted to it. I mostly played Mahjong. I am slightly obsessed with that game. Claire played with her iPod and Nintendo DSXLi. I think Skip browsed some magazines and we also snacked on some goodies I had brought along.

I think I must’ve called Mom on the plane before we took off to let her know we were going to be late, because she had just pulled into the airport as we got off the plane. We met her in baggage claim and waited for what felt like forever for the bags to start coming through.

And it was cold. Oh how I hate Ohio winters. We all wore shorts home and it definitely was not shorts weather in Ohio. No snow, but not warm either.

We got the car loaded up and made a fast food stop on the way home. I wasn’t even going to think about cooking, and Claire would have to eat something for sure before she went to bed that night.

When we got home I started to unpack a bit, mostly to find Claire’s goodies and started the laundry. Oh the joys of coming home.
Skip disappeared as soon as the bags were in the house. He can’t be away from his cows for too long, and I am sure his brother was a basket case without him there.

And that’s the end of our Universal trip.

I really enjoyed the trip a lot. I learned and experienced so many new things and now have a more open mind about going back. I really think Skip liked it better than Disney, which I was surprised. We found some new favorite rides, and it was fun to compare things to Disney. In some ways, Universal can blow Disney away, but in other areas, Disney is much better. The main thing for me is the feeling of Disney. I didn’t get that same feeling at Universal. No magic for me. But yes, I would jump at the chance to go back in a heartbeat!

Thanks for following along!

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Sorry to see your trip come to an end. It's been a great journey. I know what you mean about the feeling of Disney. Thanks for sharing!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Sorry to see your trip come to an end. It's been a great journey. I know what you mean about the feeling of Disney. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading. It was such fun and i enjoyed reliving it again!

[chezp]

Sorry to see this come to an end. I've really enjoyed following it along.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Sorry to see this come to an end. I've really enjoyed following it along.

Thanks! it was really a fun trip. I am so glad we walked over to the dark side for a bit!

Originally Posted by DisneyDana

that is a perfect time to go! We will be down after Thanksgiving!

I am so excited for this trip. I just wish all the things that come before it didn't...like school shopping, school, and all the other stuff related to starting school. I wish I had the patience to homeschool Claire. I really like having her home, but I know I don't have the attention span to really work at schooling her.

[sheldoal]

Thanks for sharing your trip. Your pictures brought back memories of our trip. You had some nice pictures of CityWalk that I didn't think to photograph. I'm waiting till the next Harry Potter expansion before going back to Universal. Glad you and your family enjoyed yourselves.