Cam's Golden Birthday Adventure **Updated 8/23** COMPLETE About This Page:

[KandJluvdisney]

so sorry about your phone cam
sounds like a great day hanging out by the pool
glad stefanie enjoyed teppan edo
hurry back with more please

[clio]

I'm sorry you lost your phone. I hope it turns uyp somewhere. It sounds like you had a relaxing morning around the pool.
Liz

[luvnwdwgal]

What a bummer about your phone! Looking forward to your next update!

[goofysdtr]

Whew! Finally all caught up.

You guys got some good shopping done. It's so fun to go through your stuff, even when you pick it out!

Hope you're able to locate your phone. ::fingers crossed::

[mcc0313]

Cam I don't know how I missed a couple of updates but in a way I enjoyed getting to read a whole bunch of them at once...

Your afternoon at AK sounded wonderful. We often do it in the morning but now after reading so many great afternoons and evenings think that I must try the other part of the day there. Great pictures of the safari...I think that white rhino must love to be the center of attention as he came very close to our bus as well and your dinner at Y&Y sounded delicious...

Who does not love shopping at DTD and what a day you had...glad that you found what you were looking for. In sounded like you had a wonderfully paced day ending with a great late meal with Cinderella & Family...and a great celebration for your birthday.

I loved the pictures of Stefanie and Cinderella...it sounded like you got so much done with the late hours but I am sorry that Friday the 13th did show it's ugly head and you lost your phone.

Your Saturday sounded perfect...a day at the pool capped off by a delicious dinner. I am so happy that Stefanie enjoyed her 1st Hibachi meal...

Can't wait to hear more...

[Luvsun]

What a great day - relaxing, swimming, good food and Epcot! Fun!
I am really sorry about your phone.
I lost my phone in April - but I knew exactly where. I lost mine on the ride Dinosaur and quickly went back to find out what to do. The very nice CM checked for me and said nothing was brought up from the ride yet, but to check with the main Lost and Found at AK in about an hour. When we left AK 3 hours later, we stopped and YES...my lost phone had been found!

[BethC]

I just caught up on your report. Love your pictures! You should almost buy 2 psprters so you have one of your own since Stephanie has "hers". I hope you did get your phone back. Can't wait to read more.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by tammyd_rn

Did the hair wrap stay in Stefanie hair the rest of the trip?

Believe it or not the hair wrap is still in Stefanie's hair and I wash it at least every other day. She is still having a blast showing it off to everyone.

[Cam22]

What exactly was our bus driver thinking and where was she going?

At exactly 8:00 AM the alarm buzzed, and I just as promptly turned it off. I thought I’d just lay there for a few more minutes, but the next time I checked the clock it was 8:30. I leaped out of bed and rushed getting ready as well as getting my two buddies up and moving. If I had known that we’d have a never-ending bus ride in our future, I’d have gotten out right away. We made very good time and were out at the bus stops by 9:15 (and hour and 15 before the House of Blues Gospel Brunch).



Our bus arrived probably 5 to 10 minutes later; it wasn’t really long. I checked the time and we still had an hour and some minutes to get to DTD. Shouldn’t be a problem! Now we had timed this trip on two early bus rides, so we were a little be confused by this driver. She took us first to Typhoon Lagoon, but honestly, I was totally lost until we arrived at the water park as she didn’t take a route even remotely like our other drivers had. Her route took a whole lot more time. As we came back to the entrance of Typhoon Lagoon, Luke and I were both thinking that maybe she was doing the bus route in reverse, so Pleasure Island would be next and that would work to our advantage. But NO, she headed back toward Old Key West and Saratoga Springs in order to get to the Marketplace drop off first. She also drove very slowly. By now it is 10:15 and my stomach is knotting up as I know we’ve already paid for this meal and show. What if they won’t let us in late???? Slowly again, she makes her way from the Marketplace to Pleasure Island where she stops the bus in a long line of buses going absolutely no where. Luke asked her if we could go ahead and get off as we were already late for a brunch reservation; it is now 10:35. She says absolutely not. So he sits back down, and I’m feeling like Father’s Day is ruined. Another 5 minutes and she says we can get off, but we must go immediately to the sidewalk. We really weren’t planning on walking down the middle of the road, which was packed with stopped buses anyway. I flew ahead of Luke and Stefanie, arriving at the box office window at 10:50. In exasperation, I explained our lateness. I was reassured that we’d be admitted as the show part hadn’t started yet, but she didn’t know about food.

Luke and Stefanie had caught up, and we finally entered the House of Blues one hour and 35 minutes after we exited our room. Next time I think I’ll just call a cab. Once inside our tickets were checked and we were lead to a super cool table, Pit Table 21. When I had made this reservation, the really super lady at House of Blues and I had conversed about Stefanie and treating her as a child rather than an adult (she really eats like a bird). After I explained about Stefanie’s handicaps and that this was her present to her Dad for Father’s Day, she said that she just had to get us really good seats. And they were! Our server familiarized us with the buffet layout and told us we still had a little time before the show would start. So you bet we were filling up those plates fast. Luke and I both got a custom made omelet and a sampling of other breakfast dishes. I really can’t remember what Stefanie had. The show started not long after we had sat down to eat, so we weren’t up and active through the first couple of songs. At some point I went back for lunch offerings, but Luke and Stefanie were too into the music to leave. Later I felt kind of rude, but I was still hungry (as well as fuming from our ridiculous ride – food makes me forget). But the Gospel Brunch was everything I had hoped. After the show, we all three quickly got a dessert and ate and talked with our table mates until the servers had to ask us to leave so they could set up for the next show.

I got a few pictures of Dad and daughter afterwards to commemorate Father’s Day.



When Stefanie and I had gone through all our DTD purchases the evening before, I discovered that one of my t-shirts was way too small. Since we were going to be in DTD for the brunch, I had packed it along to exchange afterwards. So now we were headed back to World of Disney. The exchange took no time at all. I also checked to see if the Mickey Body Part measuring cups might have been restocked and was so excited to find that they were. Luke also found a Goofy t-shirt that he wanted.

From there we headed back to Pin Traders as we still hadn’t found the Limited Edition Father’s Day Pin. Since we are always here for Father’s Day, Luke has a nice collection of these. Of course, Stefanie found another pin, a High School Musical one. Luke even surprised me with a Dopey Coffee Mug pin. I think he realized how harried that bus driver had made me. We were now pretty thirsty so a stop at the Jewelry Outpost got us a Coke and a Vitamin Water. Since we were close to DTD Guest Services, we checked in to see if a phone had been found. But no such luck. Done with all our DTD plans, we headed to the bus stop for a ride back to Wilderness Lodge.

Back at the Lodge, Stefanie flopped on the bed, grabbed the remote, and began channel surfing.



Luke got on the phone and called Central Lost and Found. He was on hold for quite awhile, only to learn that my phone was still lost.



About that time we heard housekeeping heading toward our room, so we decided it was time to head to Magic Kingdom. We had a 6:55 ADR for Tony’s Towne Square Restaurant and we still had a lot rides and attraction to do. See ya later room!

As soon as we entered the park, we headed up the stairs to the train station for a ride back to Frontierland. Our plan was to snag FastPasses to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Once we had our FastPasses in hand, we headed toward Jungle Cruise, but before we reached this ride, the clouds opened up and rain began to trickle down. Out came the ponchos. Jungle Cruise had a short standby line, and we could immediately be under roof. Throughout our wait, a recorded cast member reminded us that our cruise could be canceled at anytime due to inclement weather, but it never got worse than a light, steady rain. We were journey through the wilds, checking out natives and many strange sights. I wish I had written down the name of our cruise captain as she was really fun and funny. Before we knew it, we were back to civilization.

We were told not stop at the exit but to keep moving to avoid congestion, so we decided in spite of the rain to head to the Enchanted Tiki Room. As we entered the queue the birds had already begun their preshow skit. This attraction is still one of my fondest memories from my first visit. I remember thinking that at any moment the benches we sat on would erupt in song. As we exited, Luke mentioned that we hadn’t seen the Country Bears Jamboree yet. He headed his poncho-clad girls in the right direction, and we were soon in the indoors waiting area. We had good seats among a rowdy, fun crowd. I still don’t get the “Blood on the Sand Song,” but it makes me laugh every single time.

When this show ended, we realized that our FastPasses were ripe for BTMR. But as we approached this ride, we didn’t see a single train moving around the track. We figured it had been stopped due to lightening. Plan B was to head back indoors to a gift shop. While Stefanie and I looked over the wares, Luke kept a lookout for the ride to start back up. As soon as it did, Stefanie continued her shopping while Luke and I headed off for adventure. Because Luke had been watching, we were some of the first to enter the FastPass line so we were boarding our train in record time. Luke and I love the Batcave at the beginning (remember he is Batman and we have our own Batcave upstairs at our house). This is such a cool little roller coaster, and it never, ever makes me sick. YEAH!

We returned to Stefanie at the gift shop. She was busy again, chattering away on her cell phone to her Mamaw. Luke then left us for a restroom break. Stefanie and I used that opportunity to purchase the book Disney Mountains as another Father’s Day present. Since it was still raining, I had no trouble hiding the present under my poncho until she could give it to him at dinner. While I was paying for the book, I heard Stefanie talking to my Dad wishing him a “Happy Father’s Day.” I had planned on calling him as soon as I had paid, but she had grown impatient, and since we were going to use her phone, she felt she could go ahead and call. Too funny!

When Luke returned, it was time to head back to the front of the park for dinner. We once again boarded the WDW Railroad and took a fun ride passed Toontown to Main Street. We entered Tony’s Towne Square Restaurant glad to get out of the rain yet again. We had a little wait, but we had found seats, so it wasn’t bad. We were finally seated in a somewhat secluded corner with only 3 other tables. Our server Christop took really good care of us. Luke ordered the Shrimp Scampi with iced tea, Stefanie got the kid’s spaghetti and meatballs with a Coke, and I picked the Pork Tenderloin. As soon as our orders were in, I handed the book to Stefanie and with a big huge grin she presented it to her Daddy. When dessert time came, Christop told me not to worry because mine was taken care of. Luke chose the Ice Cream Bomb and Stefanie’s meal came with a sundae. She did request extra chocolate syrup. The desserts arrived and mine was a lovely birthday cupcake complete with candle.


I don’t look too bad for spending the afternoon in the rain covered by my poncho.

As we left the restaurant, we girls told Daddy what we did next was totally up to him. He picked returning to the room in order to watch the NBA playoffs. He is a big Celtics’ fan. But as we walked by Exhibition Hall, Stefanie spied Pluto signing autographs, so we had to make one quick side trip first.



Stefanie was the only one in line when we arrived, so she and Pluto had quite a bit of time together. She yakked and yakked about how she loved him and Mickey. So precious!

Now we really were headed out of the park. As we walked toward the boat dock, Luke snapped a few night time shots of the train station.



He also took one from the dock towards the Grand Floridian.



Once back in the room, Luke propped up in the bed for an evening of basketball. Stefanie moaned some about not having control of the remote. And I got into my pajamas and partially read and partially watched the game. Earlier in the day when I’d had my poncho on, Luke had had to get into my backpack for me. Each time he had had great trouble with the zipper. Now initially, I just thought it was him as I’d not had any problems. But at Tony’s when I’d finally taken the backpack completely off, I discovered that the zipper had a snag in the fabric that was causing the zipper to catch. Since I had paid $35 for it, Luke suggested I exchange it tomorrow after we ate at Boma. So without definite plans for the morning, but with dinner at Boma and Extra Magic Hours in the evening at Animal Kingdom, we all nodded off to sleep.

When we decide to head to Hollywood Studios for the afternoon, will we finally get to see Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular? And what about that cute, cool backpack exchange?

[jpod523]

the update! glad you didn't let the rain dampen your plans! oh, and this made me laugh:

Luke and I love the Batcave at the beginning (remember he is Batman and we have our own Batcave upstairs at our house)

let's just say I know all about bat caves in the house. we've had at least 8 or 9 bats in our house, with two coming this summer alone. NOT fun when they're diving at your head trying to avoid the ceiling fan. (tip: if you ever have an actual bat in your house, make sure there is a tennis racket nearby...)

[luvnwdwgal]

What a nice Father's Day Luke had even though it was soggy. Looking forward to more!

[DyanKJ130]

Those DTD bus situations never seem to turn out to be any good!! Glad they were able to still seat you, so you & Stefanie were able to share a wonderful Father's Day brunch with Luke! Sounds like you made the most of the rain while you were at the MK. Dinner at TTS I bet Luke had fun watching the Celtics, as we all know the outcome of that now!

Guessing you will see Indiana Jones this time and you'll be able to exchange your defective backpack for a cuter model!! Still hoping that phone is going to turn up for you. Can't wait to hear more

[chezp]

Thank goodness you guys got to the brunch in the end, after that nightmare bus journey.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you finally made it to brunch What a ride!! And what a great time in MK too! Love the pictures of Pluto and Stefanie Sounds like a great dinner too! More please

[lauren-roxy]

Sorry about your bus ride, but your brunch sounded wonderful!!! Sounds like Luke had a great Father's Day!!!