Hoop Dee Doo Revue

After spending the morning and early afternoon at EPCOT it was time to head over to the Campgrounds for the Hoop Dee Doo Revue Dinner Show.  Everyone kept telling us it was a great show and that we HAD to go see it.  We had put off seeing it for so long due to the cost (ahem, $70ish) and the fact that I'm not a big BBQ fan and spending that much for a meal we both prefer breakfast foods-alot!  

 We exited at Ticket and Transportation and took the Ferry over to Magic Kingdom.  My first glimpse of the Castle for this trip put a huge smile on my face.  I was already smiling but it got bigger.  Mom was content as well with the warm weather and sunshine paired with the atmosphere Disney creates.

She's waiting for the Ferry.  After taking the Ferry we boarded another small boat to head over to the Campgrounds.  The view is looking towards the Grand Floridian from the Magic Kingdom while we waited for our shuttle boat.  Stupid family was letting their kids run around barefoot on the dock and then on the boat they kept playing with the flag on the bow despite the cast member politely asking them to keep their children away from the bow of the boat for their safety.  Just because you are on vacation doesn't mean you are not responsible for your kids.

 At the dock of the campgrounds they had all the little cruiser boats lined up.  Thought if Papa Bear worked here he'd have a job taking out fishing charters or driving a boat.

 We spotted this little lizard by the docks.  Papa Bear said to keep our eyes out for the lizards.  He loves them and the boats, warm weather, water.  Little taste of summer, except we don't have lizards at home.

 We checked in at the booth for dinner.  My mom's friend Ray booked our table by the stage.  We were very much by the stage.  I think it would have been better if it was more centered instead of on the far right looking at the stage.  There was a piano blocking part of our view and the acoustics in our location  were a bit off (probably since we were also almost under the balcony seats as well).

 When we walked in they had cornbread and salad on all the tables.  Items were served on metal plates in in buckets or mason jars.  Sorry the picture is crooked.  Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, corn, baked beans (not Grandma Brown style), ribs and fried chicken.  The chicken, potatoes and corn was ok enough for me.  I prefer splitting a hot dog and waiting for a parade with my momma.

To start the show they came barreling in through the doors and singing.  They did a little song/dance on stage and in the audience.  There was a break in the action with piano/banjo near us and then some more song/dance and another break before dessert and the song for that.  I liked the one guy in the show the best (just a goof ball) and the bimbo's laugh.  It was a great laugh she had.  The goof ball made everyone laugh and the other characters in the show were like, eh.  Ray says that there were a few different ones than he's had.  He really likes the dinner show.  We are going to stick to character breakfasts from now on with American buffet for the food (mmm, good). 

 With dinner you have your choice of beverages.  You can get wine (sangria) or beer in addition to soda or milk.  The large family seated near us that shared our server had quite a bit of beer with dinner. The server was not exactly loving his job that day and was like, "seriously, you want more beer?"  They'd had about 3 pitchers at this point (um, 5 adults and 2 kids so not that big a deal since you know that most likely no one is driving and they want their moneys worth).

Dessert was strawberry shortcake.  It was ok.  I would have liked a cupcake or some ice cream but oh well.  We didn't have time to make it to the illuminations fireworks show at EPCOT so we headed back to our room to get a little extra sleep before the big Magic Kingdom day Thursday (day 2 at Disney).

EPCOT day

EPCOT doesn't have a "welcome" celebration show like Magic Kingdom so we slept in and headed over there when we got up.  The park didn't open until 9 and I believe arrived there around9:30.  Mom set 2 alarms on her cell phone to get up around 7:30 and neither went off.  We continued to set multiple alarms over the next few days since they randomly didn't go off and we wanted to make sure we didn't sleep through my races (the big reason we were there).

First thing we did was head over towards Soarin'.  I love that attraction and it can have long lines and fast pass distribution for the day can also run out fairly quickly.  We got our fast passes for the attraction and I waited in line.  I was lucky enough to be next to an elderly couple who were wearing their leis from the Polynesian resort.  They had never been on the attraction and they were super cute with their commentary as we took flight over California.  

After that mom and I went on the living with the land attraction boat ride.  There is virtually never a line for this little gem and it is very fascinating--even if you don't like plants.  They are experimenting with different growing techniques and you can see gigantic pumpkins growing from the suspended vines and tomato trees.  

9 pound lemon tree!

eggplants? growing in the background from the suspension

 Next we headed over to board a clam mobile for the Finding Nemo attraction.  Very cute and the line moves fairly quickly.  I enjoy the attractions that mom rides with me the most, even if I have to tell her when she can open her eyes (some of those visuals do make you nauseous).  Of course no visit is complete with out visiting...

 Free samples of Coca-Cola products from around the world?  Count us in!  We still had some time before my fast passes for Soarin' were valid.

 We decided to just check out the Mouse Gears store since there was a little sprinkle.  Um, greatest idea ever! I probably jumped up and down and told my mom she had to come and check this out.  Over the moon excited about Mrs. Jumbo and baby Dumbo stuffed animal.  I try really hard not to buy stuffed animals but I caved on this particular one.  Way to cute and I have NEVER seen Mrs. Jumbo before, EVER!  I also found a Dumbo ornament and fun game.  The game is called Ring Around the Nosey.  You put on your Dumbo mask and try to pick up colorful rings with your trunk.  Security probably has fun watching me jump up and down their store elated about my Dumbo finds.

 We had my precious items sent back to our resort sundries store for pickup later.  On the way back to Soarin' we spotted our first lizard.  There is the little guy not falling in the drainage grate.

 Time for lunch.  We decided that France sounded absolutely wonderful for lunch.

 Mom with her chocolate eclair.  She thought it would have been filled with custard and just the chocolate on the top.  Good thing we also got some almond pastry puff thing to share.  We split the eclair and she had most of the almond pastry puff.

 I enjoyed my usual baguette.  So delicious and a favorite of mine.  At this point mom has already pointed out about 10 kids to me and said, "I'm gonna get me one of those."  Meaning she has a grand baby on the way from my sister Jen.  I teased her a couple times by responding back, "just not that crying one over there or that one, it drools a lot."

 As if the yumminess of France wasn't enough we stopped in Germany.  I had been reading the Disney food blog to find out about some possibly hidden food gems that I may have overlooked all this time.  Those delectable treats that are hidden in the corners of resort dining halls or off the common food stops (those little carts).  I believe this is fairly new, but I could be wrong.  Werther's carmel and chocolate, yes please!

This delightful carmel was $4 but so rich and goody goodness.  Definitely would not recommend eating this all by yourself since it was quite thick and very rich with flavor.  We enjoyed the shops of Germany, checking out all the Christmas decorations in the shops, coo-coo clocks and teddy bears. 

 We finished our journey around the world and before exiting the park took a ride on SpaceShip Earth. It took our photo and we "sent" it to the world.  Here we are surfing at our "Board" meeting.

Time for dinner at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue.

it's Disney time!

 It was the wonderful time of year again where I got to escape the snow and ice for a few days to Disney!  Another Mommy and me trip, which means lots of laughs and smiles.  Since we were staying almost a week this year we decided to stay at the All-Star Music resort.  We figured it would be less crowded than the All-Star Sport resort with marathon weekend guests.  We were right, but it was still a crowded resort.  I missed the quiet of the Port Orleans French Quarter, but a room is a room with all the Disney magic.

After checking into our hotel we had dinner in the dining hall.  I had a pizza and my mom had a burger.  My mom's friend Ray picked us up at the airport and also had a burger.  We had a wonderful kind of last minute surprise of getting a 3 day park ticket for this year.  Of course I started checking out what parks we would do each day.  I already knew Magic Kingdom was happening on Thursday, our original one park day plan.  

The first park I decided on was EPCOT for Wednesday.  Mom and I could enjoy the park during the day and make our Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue dinner by taking the monorail and then a boat.  I thought that by the time our dinner ended we would have time to get back for their Illuminations firework show but that didn't happen (would have been really close).

Home Tour

I figured I'd just post some pictures of our house since we've done lots of painting and such over the past few years.  Then I also have it documented what we've done sort of when for painting and updates to our house.

front door view 

dining room (right of front door)

living room (left of front door)

living room

guest bedrom

guest bathroom 

guest bedroom

office... and our Captain Jack benefit tree

kitchen (cabinets painted)

kitchen and family room

poker and pool table in basement

view near poker table

view from treadmill

view of my school stuff from tree

Christmas re-cap

Not many pictures from Christmas that Luke and I hosted but it was great.  We moved Christmas to a few days later and ordered pizza and wings from Pontillo's. Amazing idea since I did not have to play with the oven and store a bunch of food in my fridge.  Here are some pictures from before people came over of our decorations.  Some family did have to work that evening, but overall most were able to make it.  6 pizzas and 8 dozen wings later (only 2 slices of pizza left over!)

Our fireplace area (family room) all decorated for Christmas.  We have Jen's dorm room tree there as well.  No photo of our "upstairs" tree since it is sideways and blurry.  The tree was in our living room though.  

clothes line of cards

I mod podged clothes pins with scrap book paper and hot glued buttons on the top of them to use as a display for all the holiday cards we received.  Most of the family doesn't mail cards to family since we see each other (it's not that we don't have friends for the "lack" of cards).

all the shoes in the hall

In the basement we had our other tree set up for the kids gift exchange and grab bag.  The basement is the only room large enough for all to be in.  It is not a finished basement but some paint on the walls and lots of area rugs help warm it up a bit.

the bar area...make your own

downstairs tree