Have a Happy Birthday - Part One - Updated 9/30 COMPLETE About This Page:

[ilovedisney247]

What a great day at Epcot! MD is turning into quite the celebrity isn't she! I see more princess dresses in your future!

[Luvsun]

I just love Crush! I am so glad Mary Devall was picked by Crush - and how exciting that Mom got to talk to him too! That was very kind of the CM to let sweet little Maddie talk into the microphone! It is the little things that make that girl happy!
Sorry your meal was just OK. I wonder if you would have been able to get into the Garden Grill??
Your time at Epcot sounds great! Your bus ride home with Maddie sounds like a hoot! She must have be determined to sit in the back.
Another great update!

[chezp]

What a great time you had at Epcot - how neat that you got to talk to Crush, I'm jealous! And I love the story about the family wanting their photo with Mary Devall - that is just too cool.

[KandJluvdisney]

great update jill
you are going to have your hands full that is for sure
glad mary devall and thom had such a great night at epcot
sorry about your dinner
hurry back with more please

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like a great time at Epcot! So glad you were all picked by Crush! Looking forward to more

[Jillybean]

Friday, August 1 Day Four

Maddie and I were the first to sleep the night before, so I guess it’s only understandable that we were the first up this morning. I don’t even have to say anything to Maddie anymore because she knows the drill by now. We change her diaper, throw on some clothes (although I let her wear her p.j. mix and match combination of Little Mermaid top and Nemo shorts ) and head out the door. Mommy needs some !

It was a little difficult to navigate a stroller around the pool to Artist’s Palette, so I decided that Maddie and I would follow the signs to the elevator this morning. It wasn’t until the elevator doors opened that I realized that it let us out right in the Spa store. How sneaky is that! I gave a quick hello to the CM rearranging items on a shelf and then found the front door quickly.

We parked the stroller near a table with an easel once inside Artist’s Palette and went to find breakfast. Once again, Maddie went with the kids breakfast platter, but this time I choose the crumb cake that I love so much. When I took the first bite, I discovered that this crumb cake was a bit different though. There was a thin layer of cream cheese between the cake and the crumbs - - I’m still not sure if I liked it or not - - I’ll let you know if and when I decide.

Maddie and I enjoyed our breakfast and a little drawing on her part before we headed back to the room. No one sleeps for too long when Maddie is in the room with you, so everyone was soon up and at ‘em. It won’t surprise anyone to learn that Mary Devall wanted to wear her Sleeping Beauty dress once again. Thom and I didn’t even argue with her this morning.

Today was our DHS day and a bus was there within minutes. We were continuing to be blown away with this bus service. Even though we were the last stop on the SSR route, we never even had to deal with a crowded bus. I imagine the fact that we didn’t hit the parks first thing in the morning had something to do with it, but it was a pleasant surprise after reading some poor reviews about packed buses.

DHS was another short trip from SSR so we were soon walking through the gates. Of course, our first stop was TSMM. We were surprised that any FP’s were still available at all, but we knew that we wouldn’t still be at DHS after 8 p.m. so we passed. The standby line was at 60 minutes, but we had nowhere else to go and we knew that we wanted to ride it, so why not?

The time actually passed very quickly due to the great standby line (Mary Devall and Maddie hopped on every single Candy Land square ) and a fun family in front of us. There were two older couples in front of us who were together (not sure if they were friends or relatives since one pair was considerably older than the other). The older man turned to Mary Devall and commented on what a beautiful princess she was. He then said “I married a princess, but she turned into a witch.” His wife was standing right there, but she wasn’t even paying him any attention (she was actually reading a book which I guess is her way of ignoring him ). Oh my gosh, it was so funny.

The younger man spent a lot of time telling us to enjoy these moments. Both of his children were now in college and he had a big case of the “empty nest” syndrome. He would just look a both girls with such nostalgia in his eyes.

By the time that we reached Mr. Potato Head, we knew that it was smooth sailing from here. It was fun watching everyone take pictures as they passed - - you can see that one of ours was cooperating and one wasn’t.



I rode with Mary Devall and I crack up at how animated she gets on this ride. She plays her heart out, but she screams and whoops it up between the games like a mad woman. It’s quite . . . um . . . entertaining.

On our way out, we met this guy for the first time (this entire area makes so much more sense to me now that I've finally seen Toy Story .)



It was lunch time which meant that Thom was ready to eat. This man loves him some Sci Fi Dine-In, so he suggested that we try our luck with another walk-up attempt. He checked and, sure enough, they could take us. While I took pictures of the girls in the car, he ran for Star Tours FP’s and then came back to secure ponchos over the strollers because it was almost time for our 1 p.m. rain shower.



Continued in next post . . .

[Jillybean]

By the time, we went inside to the lobby they were calling our names. As a walk up, I was seriously doubting that we would be sitting in a car, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that we at least had a table within a car. Thom said that they initially wanted to put us at one of the umbrella tables at the back, but when he told them we had a two-year-old who wouldn’t stay put they agreed on a compromise.

What I hadn’t counted on was how distraught (we don’t call her the Drama Queen for nothing ) Mary Devall would be over not being in a car. I tried to explain to her that we had always had reservations before, so we were lucky this time just to be able to eat there at all. She still wasn’t thrilled about it, but this time she was going to let it go.

Our server was Doug (you can tell that I really liked him because I actually remembered his name ) and he quickly came over for our drink order. Both girls surprised me when they chose chocolate milk over milkshakes , but there was no surprising when I ordered the mammoth margarita (Space Invaders) that they serve here. Thom likes to stir things up every so often, so he ordered a coke instead of unsweetened ice tea.

As soon as we ordered our drinks, Mary Devall announced that she had to go to the bathroom, so off all three of us went. There was a bit of a line, so it took us a little longer than usual. When we returned to the table, our drinks were there and Thom had a piece of good news.

When Doug had dropped off the drinks, he had said something to Thom about enjoying his peace and quiet for a moment. Thom mentioned something about our little drama queen and Doug immediately suggested that they girls sit in the hitch hiker seats of the car next to us. Score one for Doug!

Mary Devall’s face lit up and I swear that she danced her way over to the backseat of that car. We moved Maddie over too and, just when we thought we might have a little lunch date, she began calling for her daddy. She just wasn’t quite comfortable enough to sit without us, so Thom offered to sit with them and give me a little peace and quiet (I think it was pay back for the many, many times I visited the bathroom with the girls on this trip ).

After Doug had made our wishes come true, he came back to take our orders.

(Appetizer for all) Spinach and Artichoke Dip - A blend of Monterey Jack, swiss, and asiago with spinach, artichokes, and corn tortilla chips

(Jill) Crispy Onion Rings - A generous portion of battered onion rings

(Jill) 7 Bean Beef Chili - with shredded cheddar, pico de gallo, and tortilla strips

(Thom) Angus Chuck Burger - Flame-broiled beef patty topped with cheddar or swiss cheese, sauteed onions, mushrooms and crispy bacon. Served with a choice of cucumber-melon salad or french fries

And burgers for the girls.

When the appetizer arrived, I made a little plate for myself and then sent the rest of it over with him and the girls. I then sat there thoroughly enjoying my margarita and my chips and dips while watching my family. All three of them were staring dead ahead at the movie screen eating chip after chip.



And I finally remembered to take a picture of my ginormous margarita!



I went a little out there with my order, but I didn’t feel like a real entrée. I had been wanting to try the onion rings for ages, but had always gone with the dip since the girls liked the chips. And I love chili but hardly ever get the chance to eat it since Thom is not a big fan of beans. I was so excited about my lunch! And let me assure you that it did not disappoint! The onion rings were sweet and crispy and the chili was flavorful and delicious! This may be my signature “entrée” from now on at Sci Fi. I did share my onion rings with Thom, but other than that, I have no idea what went on in their car. I assumed that they all enjoyed their lunch because I didn’t hear much from them.

Maddie did drop by my table to show off her 3-D glasses that Doug had given her.



We decided to pass on dessert (even the girls) since we were stuffed. We bid adieu to our favorite server, Doug, and thanked him for his excellent service. (FYI, I have already written an email to Disney about Doug's excellent service and received a phone call that it would be passed on to his supervisor so the article posted a while back that Disney was no longer acknowledging customer feedback wasn't entirely true.)

When we walked back into the lobby, we saw that our 1 p.m. rain shower was still going on, but it was just a drizzle at this point. Apparently, the rain had been fierce at one point because the ponchos had not exactly stayed put. Thom and Mary Devall were going to ride Star Tours anyway, so I told him just to leave it for now and we would deal with them later.

Maddie and I waited in the store for them along with many, many of our closest friends. Tons of people were escaping from the rain in the store, so Maddie and I found ourselves a nice little corner where she could look at toys and try on Star Wars helmets. I cracked up when she insisted on trying on a storm trooper helmet and was surprised that she could still stand upright with it on her head (taken with my camera phone so not the greatest quality).



While we were there, we bought Mary Devall a Star Tours pin and Maddie a Star Wars small soccer ball (impulse buy at the counter ).

Of course, Mary Devall had to take a picture when she and Thom finished their ride. Mary Devall chose a picture with Hans Solo and Princess Leia. She went first and then Thom played Hans Solo. Oh my gosh, it was so funny! With his little wire framed glasses, he looked more like a folk singer than a space warrior. Needless to say, we didn’t purchase it.

The rain had pretty much let up, so we decided to brave the outdoors. We lined the girls’ strollers with the remaining dry ponchos and headed off to Playhouse Disney. Thom never had the chance to ride his favorite ride, RnRC, in June so I wanted to give him that chance today. I sent him off to ride while the girls and I went to see the new version of Playhouse Disney which we had also missed in June. I had no idea of the show times, but we lucked out because they were seating for a show right then.

We waved to Thom and left him putting the ponchos back over the strollers in case it rained again. We were pointed to the left side of the theater near the front, so we had pretty good seats. The girls were so good and thoroughly enjoyed the new show. They shouted, danced, popped bubbles, grabbed streamers and just had a rip roaring good time. Maddie had such fun that at the end of the show she pointed to the CM who was hosting the show and said “When I grow up, I want to be like that boy.”

When we came back outside, there was no sign of Thom and it was drizzling again. I wanted to get the girls inside somewhere, so we started going from attraction to attraction. VotLM had just let in and TSMM had a 90 minute standby line, so I suggested that we ride the GMR. A lot of other people had this idea also and the line was pretty backed up, but we were out of the rain so we didn’t care.

About the time we reached the back row of the theater, Thom called to say that he had just finished riding. I informed him that we were trapped and that he should just ride again. He did ask “Are you sure?” and I assured him that the girls were being good and we were just fine.

About halfway through the line, the mom in the family behind us asked me in broken English “Is this the ride?” I had to when I told her that the actual ride was through the big double doors. She turned to her husband and I’m pretty sure that she told him “I told you so” in whatever language she was speaking.

We made it to the front of the line and the CM stopped us asking how many we had in our party. I answered three and he yelled down the line if anyone had a party of two. I immediately said “We’re three, but we’ll only be taking up two spaces.” He motioned for us to go ahead and take the last seats.

We might should have waited on the next car because this ended up being one of the strangest rides that I’ve ever experienced on GMR. We had the cowboy scene . . . actually the cow “girl” scene. As soon as our cowgirl took control of our car, she yelled out “no flash” in her best “get along little doggies” accent to someone seated in one of the rows behind us. Then when we got to the Indiana Jones scene and the cowgirl ran around the back of the car to the stairs, I heard her say again “I asked you not to use flash.” Someone apparently wasn’t getting the message and I had an idea of why.

Our car actually stopped twice for some period of time during the ride. The second time was when we were in the Wizard of Oz scene. We sat there as the munchkins sang the entire “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and then disappeared one by one. It was so surreal to be sitting there with no sound or movement whatsoever. The most interesting thing was when we finally started moving again, I heard Dorothy speaking. I had never realized that the characters were talking in that next scene because I couldn’t hear them over the munchkins singing.

When we finally made it to the exit and unloaded, a lady behind me walked up to another lady and said “You were very disrespectful to flash your camera! She told you three times not to use it!”

The “flasher” looked at her in total confusion and said something in a foreign language to her husband. Just as I thought - - she could not speak a lick of English so had absolutely no idea what “no flash”meant. Mary Devall had been witness to all of the drama, so she had fun discussing it in detail with me.

The rain had finally stopped for good when we came out, so we went back to the strollers. I got the girls settled and then attempted to push a stroller with each hand. Thankfully, Thom came up behind me and took over one of the strollers because I was starting to look like a side show attraction. The girls were ready for a snack so we got them some popcorn and frozen lemonade and relaxed on a bench.

We decided that we had done all we wanted to do at DHS, so we headed for the bus and were soon back at SSR. Thom decided that he wanted to take a nap with Maddie , so Mary Devall and I headed for Artist Palette for a little non-napping activity. She chose a chocolate chip cookie while I chose one of my plastic bottles of wine and we settled at a table so that she could draw. I had bought a book with me but I ended up sipping my wine and watching her draw. Kind of like sitting in a café in Paris watching the artists at work.

Mary Devall began by drawing a woman and then she began drawing the woman at different stages of her life. The older she got the smaller she got - - eventually she was just a dot. Mary Devall then drew a tombstone and entitled the piece “Board of the Dead.”

The more worried the look on my face became the more Mary Devall giggled. She was getting a kick out of shocking her mom. Occasionally, a CM or another guest would come by and smile at her work of art, but I don’t think they were really looking at it too closely because they would have most likely stood there waiting for Mary Devall’s head to spin around.

Despite Mary Devall’s slightly scary drawing, I had the best time relaxing and laughing with her. These unplanned moments are always some of the best of the trip.



When we returned to the room, we discovered that Maddie hadn’t been the best napper in the world. Thom finally told me that he had wanted to nap because he had a headache (he frequently waits to tell me these things), so I took both girls out on the balcony where Mary Devall was kind enough to read to her sister.

Continued in the next post . . .

[Jillybean]

After about a half hour, Thom was feeling much better and ready to go again. Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to do something a little different for us and go to DTD. We could go by bus or boat, but when we looked at the map it looked as if the boat dock was near us.

We followed the signs to the boat dock and couldn’t believe that it was only one block from our villa. Just as we approached, a boat was pulling in, so our SSR transportation luck was not only limited to buses. There was only us and one other family, so the boat captain told us that we could leave the strollers open at the front of the boat. We sat on the back bench and thoroughly enjoyed the short ride over to DTD.

We had no idea where we wanted to eat, so we ended up getting off at the first stop at House of Blues. There were tons of people waiting in line at HoB, but when Thom asked who was playing, we had no idea who the person was. We enjoyed just walking through the area and taking in all of the sites since we had spent so little time at DTD.

Of course, we do we end up stopping for dinner? Um . . . the only place we’ve ever eaten there . . . Raglan Road. Thom did ask about seating at Wolfgang Puck’s, but it was a 45 minute wait - - so we weren’t totally lame in going back with a tried and true.

We had enjoyed our experience there so much in June and we noticed that they had outdoor dining, so we thought it might be fun for the girls. We were seated right away and our server soon came to take our drink order. I went with a cold glass of white wine , Thom had Coke and the girls had chocolate milk (okay no surprises with any of those orders ).

We ordered an appetizer first since we just knew that Maddie, the sausage queen, would love the Dalkey Duo (Dalkey-battered cocktail sausages with a Dalkey mustard dipping sauce). And this time I took a picture of it since I was so enamored with the presentation last time.= (you can see Maddie's little hand reaching in for a sausage ).



For our entrees, we ordered an odd assortment:

(Thom) Crock o' Pate - rustic chicken liver pate served with an apricot chutney

(Jill) Portobello Beauty - Portobello mushroom cap burger filled with Dubliner cheese, tomato relish and served with chips and mixed green salad

(Mary Devall) Gold'n Chicken - Two deep-fried chicken goujons

(Maddie) Atlantic Fish - Fresh Atlantic fish deep fried in a crispy batter

Everything was simply delicious. We all enjoyed the sausages although they do threaten to ruin the rest of your meal because they are so filling. Thom enhaled his pate (and thankfully didn’t offer me any ) and my portobello burger hit the spot. The girls did pretty well with their fried delights also! More than anything, we loved sitting outside on a gorgeous evening with great food and fantastic service.



The first time that we came here there were so many wonderful looking desserts on the menu that I knew I would have to come back again just to try them all. We tried the bread pudding last time, so I decided on Bailey's Creme Brule Tart (Crème Brule Irish style) on this visit. It was okay, but it couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to be. It looked more like a cheesecake with a crème brulee topping and it really didn’t have that strong Bailey’s flavor that I wanted. Okay, you win some and you lose some.

After another fabulous meal, we took the short walk to the Contemporary bus stop where we waited a good bit for a bus (it was funny that the longest wait we had for a bus had nothing to do with SSR ). We were headed to MK EMH and this was the quickest route. Apparently everyone else had that idea because the bus was packed when it arrived.

Two people gave up their seats for Mary Devall, Maddie and me (not really for me, but I was holding the two-year-old so I sat by default ) and Thom stood beside us holding the strollers. Don’t feel too sorry for Thom though because Maddie chose this moment to venture into “evil baby” land and I had to struggle to keep her from kicking the lady sitting beside us whose nice husband had given up his seat for us. Thankfully, we all arrived at the Contemporary in one piece without kicking anyone or being kicked. And once in her comfy stroller all thought of evil baby left Maddie’s head.

Speaking of strollers, I forgot to mention that Thom realized when we got to DTD that Mary Devall’s stroller was not ours. Before our June trip, this man had gone to Babies ‘R Us all by himself and found a perfect stroller that was light and sturdy with handles tall enough for him to push. It was a rather expensive MacLaren stroller, but we discovered after Disney last month that it was well worth the money.

Since it was bigger, Mary Devall was riding in it on this trip and Thom was her main “pusher” since the handles were higher. He said that he kept noticing that it seemed a little rickety when we were at DHS, but when we reached DTD he suddenly exclaimed “This isn’t our stroller!” He had finally spotted a luggage tag on the back of it. So . . . when we were waiting on the bus after eating, he called the number on the tag and left a message. He soon received a call back from the family stating they were still at DHS, but would be at MK later and we could switch. Thom also said that the man was relieved because his wife was a little frantic about it - - Thom’s response to me “I don’t know why when ours is the better of the two!” The man is even competitive about a baby stroller.

Once through the gates, we went ahead and got our EMH bracelets at the front of the park because, for once, there wasn’t a long line at that location. Thom and Mary Devall picked up SM FP’s for much, much later in the evening and then we took off to Toon Town for Maddie’s favorite roller coaster. Wishes was just beginning, so the line at Barnstormer was extremely short. Riding this little rollercoaster with my family while Wishes boomed over our heads was simply magical.

We were able to get right back on Barnstormer two more times and the last time the CM just waved us on through for two more times. We rode that baby 5 times in a row. Maddie was absolutely beside herself!

After a spin on the tea cups, we checked out the times on Pooh and PP which were both still pretty long. Instead, we ended up on IaSW. As our boat took off, an older woman and a little girl were enthusiastically to us and yelling “Hey Princess!” At first, I thought they were deranged Sleeping Beauty fans , but Mary Devall quickly dismissed that thought when she yelled “Those are my friends!” and began right back. Thom had told me about a mother/daughter pair that they had met after Epcot EMH the night before. Apparently, Mary Devall and the little girl had a ton of things in common, so they chit chatted all the way back to SSR.

As we made our way through the countries, Mary Devall pointed out a hidden Mickey. When I told her “thank you,” she answered with a “my pleasure.” My little girl is growing up!

When we exited from our boat, the little girl and her mom came running up to us and we chatted with them the entire way up the ramp. It always amazes me how quickly strangers become friends at Disney. We waved goodbye to them and the retrieved our strollers.

About this time, Thom received a call from the dad with our stroller. His family had decided not to go to MK EMH, so he was waiting at the front of the park. Thom and I decided that this was a good time to split up, since he and Mary Devall would probably be staying at EMH until the bitter end.

We said our goodbyes at Pooh where Maddie and I got in the standby line which showed a wait time of 20 minutes. We stood behind three teenager girls who entertained Maddie (and vice versa) our entire wait. Just like her big sister, she loves nothing more than an audience. I had to laugh when they told me that she looked like Brangelina’s daughter, Shiloh, because a CM had just told me the same thing on our trip in June.

Maddie and I had a wonderful ride with Pooh and friends and then we retrieved her stroller. Just as we were headed back towards PP, who should come up behind us but Thom and Mary Devall with OUR stroller. The exchange had apparently been painless and it was determined that the mix up happened at TSMM at DHS (is it any wonder with the madness there?).

Thom and Mary Devall dropped us off at PP and then headed on to ride BTMRR. PP has quickly become one of Maddie’s favorite rides, so I was happy to see that the standby line was only at 20 minutes. I was hoping that it would actually be shorter, but I think it ended up being more like 30 minutes. She was very patient although I could tell that she was totally worn out. She was such a trooper though and we both enjoyed our flight over London and Never Land. I even have her saying now “Hey Little Mermaid! What are you doing over here?”

Since Maddie was fading fast, I asked her if she wanted to ride Barnstormer one last time before we left. That perked her right up, so off we went. My great idea quickly blew up in my face when we saw that a rope was blocking the entrance to Toon Town. The CM who was manning that spot quickly confirmed for me that Toon Town did not stay open for EMH. Now why didn’t I know that?

I knelt down at Maddie’s level and gently broke it to her that her rollercoaster was closed for the night. I knew it was coming, but it just broke my heart when the bottom lip turned down, the face scrunched up and gigantic crocodile tears poured down her cheeks. She leaned against me sobbing for about a minute and then slowly came back to life when she caught sight of the race cars behind us.

She sat up, pointed her chubby little finger and announced “I want to ride dat.”

So off we went to ride the cars. Maddie was a much better driver than she was back in June and we both throughout the entire ride.

Before we left MK, I had one more stop to make - - the Lunching Pad for a Cherry Eclipse frozen drink. These have become something of a late night tradition at MK for me. I shared a little with Maddie before we started heading out of the park, but for once she wasn’t too interested in food or drink. I think she was by the time that we hit the gates.

An SSR bus was just pulling away as Maddie and I neared the bus stop. I knew we would have a little wait, so I propped back her stroller so that she could sleep without craning her neck. Another bus arrived within 15 minutes, and I was able to get my sleeping baby out of her stroller, the stroller folded and on the bus with little to no problem. I am always pleasantly surprised at how many people are willing to help.

Maddie and I were the first ones on the bus, so I took the seat behind the driver. As soon as our half full bus was loaded, our driver took off and immediately began throwing trivia questions and jokes at us. The first he asked was “Who was the only person to play professional football, baseball and win an Olympic gold model?” Other than a guess of Dion Sanders, no one could come up with an answer. Suddenly an answer popped into my head and I called out “Jim Thorpe.” I was right - - too bad there were no prizes. Most of his questions were sports related, so Thom would have had such fun on that bus trip.

When we entered SSR, he took a right and ran right over a curb. Normally running over a curb isn’t a big deal - - except when you’re in a bus. He just laughed and yelled out “Sorry folks!” He was quite a character.

While we were making our way through the stops at SSR, I couldn’t help but notice a woman sitting across from me because we looked like mirror images. We were both holding a sleeping little girl although hers was a few years older than Maddie. She finally asked me with a sigh “Are you alone too?” She sounded so sad that I almost considered lying, but I fessed up that my husband and older daughter were still at the parks.

She told me that she was here by herself with her daughter, but she just didn’t sound happy at all. She could have just been tired and weary from carrying a sleeping child, but I felt so bad for her. As she made her way off of the bus, I thought back to the times when it’s just been Mary Devall and me and I couldn’t remember ever feeling that way. We were always just happy to be at Disney.

At the next to the last stop, the bus emptied out except for Maddie and me. We were tucked away behind the driver’s seat, but there was a compartment between us and I wasn’t quite sure if he knew we were there. Just to make sure he didn’t whiz past the bus stop, I said something about “well, you’re down to two passengers.”

Thankfully, I said something because he started laughing “I didn’t know anyone else was on here.” When we made it to the Springs stop, I told him that I enjoyed his trivia and gave him a quick goodbye. I didn’t want to wake Maddie, so I continued to hold her and just pulled the closed stroller behind us. That did the trick because I was able to get her in the room and in the pack ‘n play with waking her at all. She was just a tired little girl.

I got ready for bed and then read a little. I was surprised when my phone rang with a text message and I was further surprised when I read the text message from Thom. Our stroller had been switched out again! What in the world was going on?!? We texted back and forth for the next half hour until I finally signed off to go to sleep.

They closed down MK and didn’t get back to the hotel until almost 4 a.m.! I think that’s an all time Koenigs EMH record!

Someone getting sleepy on the TTA.



I did found out later that morning how the stroller incident played out . . .

After riding TTA, they discovered that the MacLaren was gone again, but an identical one was nearby (but with a pink ring on it obviously placed there to differ it from identical ones). They waited around a little while hoping that the owner would show and then they talked to a CM who told them to file a report at Guest Services. They did this and were told to check back when the park closed. They went back and did a few more things in the area, but finally decided to take the stroller with them in hopes that they would see ours. Mary Devall wanted to ride BTMRR one more time and they had just enough time that evening to ride if they hurried.

Just as they’re passing through Adventure Land, what do they spot at the Magic Carpets but our stroller! They waited a while to see if the family would return after the Magic Carpet ride was over, but they didn’t so Thom just starting transferring the belongings from one to another. About that time, a man walked up and asked him what he was doing. Thom explained the situation and the man and looked over at the grandpa who had apparently been responsible for taking the wrong stroller.

Thom and Mary Devall took off and made the very last ride of BTMRR! The stroller was back - - again! (Thom did get a call from Guest Services when we returned home asking if we were able to get our stroller back which we thought was nice ).

Up next . . . our final day

[MattUGA]

Awesome! I didn't even know about this trip. I just read all 24 pages and what a trip! I'm so happy that you gals and guy (I know how that is haha) had a great trip. We stayed at SSR once and I totally know what you mean about getting confused about where your room is. It was really confusing us too!

[LLaffinPlace]

Jill, I have been having a wonderful time catching up. What a great time y'all are having and what wonderful memories and pictures. I loved the story about the woman getting a second cinnamon roll. Sounds like a kindred spirit to me.

I was sorry to hear your meal at Sunshine Seasons was disappointing. I, too, have had good experiences there for breakfast and lunch. The ultra-fresh Chicken Caesar salad was a highlight, as was the Broccoli Tillamook Cheddar Soup.

Glad to hear the wandering stroller came back twice--sounds like my "lucky" cap!

Anyway, I am loving all the details and looking forward to more.

[Colexis Mom]

Wow Jill, what a great day! Some great eats too!! Glad you got your stroller back!! Sorry about the rain earlier, and the incident on the GMR!! More please

[disneydani]

That was some update....I am pooped just reading about it! Glad you snagged some wonderful meals, without ADRs. Your evening at MK sounded simply magical, save the second stroller mishap.
danielle

[Meggera]

Fantastic update! I can't believe the other half of your clan didn't make it back until 4 a.m. Wow! I can't wait to read more.

[Lemap760]

I never noticed Dorothy talked in the GMR. Those munchkins need to keep it down a little.

[lauren-roxy]

Glad after everything else that you ended up with your stroller back!! We are fans of Sc-Fi too and I'm glad you enjoyed your food!! I can't believe that the last day is here.