Stop Making Me Laugh Or I'll Pee My Pants! Go Back! I Lost My Shoe! Trip Report!

[Bridora]

Hooray for finding the Fort! I love wandering around exploring on Tom Sawyer's Island. For some reason, though, DH does not. I don't see that one in our future this year.

 

[kaileighbug]

I have loved reading your report and we did not find the fort on our trip in December, but now I know where to look when we go this time. Thanks for all the info you have provided.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey everybody! I'll come back later and respond to the most recent posts. I finally got a new office computer....3 1/2 weeks after the old one got a virus. The better news is that I can now get back to the important stuff.....catching up on my Dising.

I am hosting my Disney Big Red Box celebration party this weekend. I didn't plan anything elaborate because all of my guests have children that play baseball and softball and have games later that day.

Hope everybody has a good weekend!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Everyone to share their journey of life, and beautiful photos, I want to send some photos who can tell me how to send photos in here thanks.

Thought I'd try to answer your question real quick. You need to have your pictures on your computer first. Then go to a site like www.photobucket.com and register. It's free of charge for a certain number of pictures. You can have several hundred I know. Once you've registered, click UPLOAD on the photobucket site. After the pictures are uploaded, you'll need to click on MY ALBUM on the photobucket site. Underneath each picture, you'll see several links. Copy the bottom/last link under the picture you want to post. Then, come back to the Disboards and paste the link. Click SUBMIT REPLY and your picture will appear on the next page.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Just wanted to say hi!
I remembered that we are going to be overlapping some of our days...
Do you have your plans up on your report?

 

[jenseib]

Lisa, do yoou plan on getting the photopass CD this time around? they have the prepuchase back for 99 plus I found a code that takes another 20 off if you want it. You can order it now.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Lisa, do yoou plan on getting the photopass CD this time around? they have the prepuchase back for 99 plus I found a code that takes another 20 off if you want it. You can order it now.

I actually just went in with several of my Dis friends and we're going to share a Photopass. It was a great savings!

I know!

Hi Lisa!! Wow! I didn't realize I had gotten so far behind. Let's see if I can remember everything I wanted to comment on.

Love the parade pictures!! You guys really had a great spot!

We still haven't made it to the Country Bear Jamboree... hopefully one of these trips!!

I'm glad you found Tom Sawyer Island!!

I am soooo looking forward to reading all about your trip.

Hi Lisa, just wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed reading this TR. We are looking forward to our 2nd WDW trip in June. Last time we stayed at POR but this time we decided to try CBR, then I came to Disboards and found your TR and now we are really excited. I love how friendly people are here. I also love how detailed your TR is. Do you keep a journal during your stay to help you remember all this stuff? I think I might try to write a TR after this trip.

Welcome aboard! I'm glad that my trip report has made you even more excited about staying at the CBR. It's a beautiful resort.

Don't we have some super friendly people reading and posting on my report. We have all become quite good friends. Welcome friend.

I did write down a few notes during our stay. Mostly, I go by the order of my pictures. Sometimes, I forget the times we did things but I usually know where we went next.

My son is very, no make that VERY, excited to go to Tom Sawyer Island. And now thanks to you, I'll go left !

And make sure he looks for the paint brushes!

One year, we searched for the paint brushes but never did find one. We sure did look hard though.

 

[mickeystoontown]

YAY!! You found the fort!!!

My boys absolutely love it there! They love the rifle roosts and the secret escape passage. I think if they could have it all to themselves, they could spend hours there playing and not get bored!

Thanks for all the shout-outs! Tell the family Missy says HI!

I was excited to find it too. The whole time we were searching, I kept saying "Missy said".

You wanna hear something funny? Now, I'm saying "Missy said Dole Whips are non-dairy so I can eat as many as I want."

How cool that you found the fort!!! I am going to have to write this down because my oldest nephew would love it!

It's definitely worth a stop if you have time in your schedule.

I'm so happy you guys found the fort...if we have extra time on Sunday I may ride over there with Ashton...than again my mom would have a really hard time getting through there...last time we were there Dayne was 8! I think Ashton would like that next go round; I love how you can line your sights on BTMRR to cool!
Great find!

You are probably having super duper fun at WDW right now. I can't wait to hear all about it.

I am definitely going to have to go over to the island after those photos!! I may have to steal you parade viewing area, too- that was a great view!!!

There are some great photo ops on the island. I think my favorite one was of the cannon pointing at Big Thunder Mountain. And, yes, that spot was great for watching the parade.

Just wanted to let you know that I have had so much fun reading your trip report and a couple of others that I started one of my own. Thanks for the inspiration!

Sorry I'm just getting around to posting a reply. As you know, I've been over to your pre-trip report and am having fun reading.

Hooray for finding the Fort! I love wandering around exploring on Tom Sawyer's Island. For some reason, though, DH does not. I don't see that one in our future this year.

Too bad your hubby doesn't care for the island. It's a good place to get away from the crowds.

I have loved reading your report and we did not find the fort on our trip in December, but now I know where to look when we go this time. Thanks for all the info you have provided.

Just keep going left. You know why? 'Cause Missy said!

Just wanted to say hi!
I remembered that we are going to be overlapping some of our days...
Do you have your plans up on your report?

I do have some of our May trip plans posted. Just click on the Over the River and Through the Woods link in my signature.

 

[alexensmom]

Soooo glad I caught up to the end of your TR! DH was starting to breath hard because I couldn't stop reading . DD and I were laughing our heads offat the kid on ToT!!! LOVE Disney moments like that.

I really connected with your family since my kids are 10 years apart. I try not to think about the fact that when DS is DD age, she will be in college. They do have a great relationship now and I was glad to see how close your two are even though they are miles apart at a time.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Soooo glad I caught up to the end of your TR! DH was starting to breath hard because I couldn't stop reading . DD and I were laughing our heads offat the kid on ToT!!! LOVE Disney moments like that.

I really connected with your family since my kids are 10 years apart. I try not to think about the fact that when DS is DD age, she will be in college. They do have a great relationship now and I was glad to see how close your two are even though they are miles apart at a time.

Glad that you are all caught up so your hubby can breath now. Wasn't that teenager on Tower of Terror the funniest thing ever?!? I hosted my Disney party this weekend and John had to tell that story. Everybody laughed their booties off at that one.

Too bad you didn't read my 2008 trip report. It had some funny stories in it as well. I lost my front tooth (a temporary crown) in the middle of The Electric Umbrella and we got stuck on Test Track in the cold section while I had to pee. Oh, and John got his toe broken when he was hit in a drive-by scooter incident. Lordy lordy that was one heck of a trip.

I am so very glad that my children are close even though there are years and miles between them. I think the distance has made their relationship even stronger as they appreciate one another even more.

 

[Nettaboo]

Can't wait to hear about the part-tay!!!

 

[alexensmom]

YEA!! DH is out of town for the week, and DS is with Grandma and Grandpa for the week. I am going DIS crazy this week. Loved your reviews on your ADRs. DS loves dinosaurs so will definately add in T-Rex. I plan on getting ADR list done this week while Im not hearing mommy.....mommy......mommy......mommmmmyyyyy!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Can't wait to hear about the part-tay!!!

I'll post pictures in just a minute. We had a fun time.

YEA!! DH is out of town for the week, and DS is with Grandma and Grandpa for the week. I am going DIS crazy this week. Loved your reviews on your ADRs. DS loves dinosaurs so will definately add in T-Rex. I plan on getting ADR list done this week while Im not hearing mommy.....mommy......mommy......mommmmmyyyyy!

Good that you have some time to get your ADR list done. Have you ever eaten at Rainforest Cafe? We like it so I figured we'd like T-Rex. It's very similar to Rainforest Cafe.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Friday afternoon, John and I ate lunch that I brought home from Sonic and then set off for Hobby Lobby (it's so nice to get off work at Noon and that my hubby is self employed and can pretty much do what he wants) in search of name badges. You know those kind like you get at seminars or the kind when you are a volunteer at church. I had an idea to use the Mickey head paint samples from Home Depot to make name tags. I also wanted to look for a helium balloon blower upper machine.

We knew that we didn't have a long time to shop around because we had to pick Hunter up from school. The line at the school goes all the way out of the school parking lot and down the highway (literally) if you get there too late. I like to get there about 2:40 ish so that I'm not one of those parked out on the side of the highway.

Anyway, we went on to Hobby Lobby and, of course, couldn't find the name badges or even the plastic things that clip on the end of lanyards. I abandoned that idea and we moved on to see what other goodies I needed. I knew that I wanted to make some cookies so I cut down the cake and cookie decorating aisle and found two cookie cutters that I liked. One was in the shape of a gift and the other a party hat.

I also picked up a couple of tubes of the pre-colored icing, a decorating tip and a coupler. Then, John reminded me that I already had some of the tubes of icing in the cabinet at home. I totally forgot about that so I put the others away. That would turn out to be a boo-boo.

They had one helium tank and it was $34.99. I didn't really want to pay that much so we decided to go to Toys R Us and Wal-Mart to see if they had one. If not, I'd come back to Hobby Lobby.

We didn't find anything else that we needed in Hobby Lobby so we checked out and ran by Dollar Tree to get another table cloth, two gift bags and a few other things, one of which are some oatmeal cookies that John thinks are better than homemade ones.

By the time we left Dollar Tree, the bad weather that the Weather Channel had predicted was starting to roll into the area in the form of a rain shower. They were predicting golf ball size hail, heavy rain and possible tornados. Not the best shopping weather but I had to get my errands run. As we were driving to Hunter's school, we saw a car slide and hit the truckl in front of them. Of course, they were following too close and weren't paying attention to the fact that the truck had put their brakes on. Some people just don't know how to drive when it starts raining.

We picked up Hunter from school and headed for Toys R Us. While we were waiting for school to recess, I called Toys R Us and they had the helium tank for $24.99. As we pulled into Toys R Us, it had started raining a little harder so we made a dash into the store. I bet you can't guess where my first stop was......












........the bathroom.

After the pit stop, we found the helium tank and that's when we heard the skies open up and the storm officially started. We knew that we couldn't make it to the car without being drenched. What else was there to do but wander around the store. Hunter loved it. He was able to look at each and every video game in the store, play a little guitar hero and look at the movies too. Once the rain let up, we paid for the tank and ran out to the car.

Next stop was the Wal-Mart Bakery. I needed a cake for the party. I wanted to go with classic Disney. The only problem was, there were no cakes with just Mickey on them. They had the surfing cake like Dana had at her party. They had a Cars cake. They had a Tinkerbell cake (which I wanted but it didn't go along with my "theme". They also had several Winnie the Pooh cakes, a Hannah Montana cake and Princess and the Frog. None of those were what I was looking for. So, I looked through the book again and found a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake. It was kinda sorta like I wanted so I went for it. Especially since it was getting late in the afternoon and I had to place my order soon. Thankfully, the girl working in the bakery was a client of my former boss so she changed the cake up a little to incorporate balloons like I wanted.

After the cake was ordered, I bought all of the other stuff I needed to make my snacks. There's a McDonald's in Wal-Mart and Hunter suddenly was hit with hunger pains as we passed. While I went to get the rest of my groceries, he and John sat in McDonald's. I finished up and went back to get my boys so we could head to the house.

Friday evening, I folded clothes and did a little prep work and made one batch of sugar cookies cut out in the shape of gifts. My plan was to do more the next morning and ice them too. Why, oh why, didn't I do some real cleaning that evening I don't know. Probably just laziness on my part. That, and the fact that the storms were raging outside which made me want to do nothing.

Saturday morning, I got up about 8:00 a.m. and started doing chores. Everything was done with the exception of sweeping and I wasn't about to do that until the last minute. Another round of storms swept through our area about 9:15 a.m. while John was making a donut run for he and Hunter. I started trying to decorate the cookies and the icing didn't come out very well. I massaged the tubes thinking it just needed to be warmed up and loosened up. It came out but it didn't look good at all. I tasted it and it tasted a little old. I opened another one and it didn't taste right either. Those cookies and all the icing went into the garbage can and I moved on to Plan B.

Plan B included me baking more cookies. I knew I needed to cut them in shapes that needed no icing. That meant I needed Plan C. Plan C was pulling out my Mickey head shaped egg/pancake mold.

So, after Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, I ended up with these:

Not as elaborate as I wanted but still pretty cute.

Time flew by but I finally had all of my food done and we moved on to blowing up the balloons they sent. Those suckers were the dickens to tie because you had to fill them up all the way in order to get the ears to pop out. And, the balloons themselves were thick. I had an idea that I wanted the balloons to look like they were popping out of a gift bag.

All too soon, it was 1:00 p.m. and time for John and Hunter to pick up the cake. While they were gone, I put the finishing touches on the tables.

This was my gift/door prize table:

See the red cup and container on the table. When I couldn't find the name tags, I came up with a different idea. I would have everybody put their name on a Mickey head and put it in the container. I would then pull out names during the party and award door prizes. This is one of the reasons I have a miscellaneous box in the top of my closet. All year long, I buy little things on sale or clearance and use them as gifts. I had a small Disney princess photo album, a small Mickey photo album, a Mickey washcloth and a Tinkerbell washcloth and a set of Mickey coasters and tennis balls that I bought at Mickey Mart last trip.

I ended up changing the table decorations a little and adding our mug/drink glasses we got at Epcot to the table:

I snapped a couple of pictures while John and Hunter were going to get the cake. The centerpieces were a snowglobe of the Magic Kingdom train station and two of John's Mickey trophies purchased at MGM Studios. Excuse me, Hollywood Studios. The little Mickeys were cut out with my Mickey paper punch.

The above pictures are pre-cake and pre-punch.

I even had a balloon in the bathroom. I have a wooden bear on the corner table and I had him holding a balloon:

I looked at the clock and almost had a heart attack. It was 1:20 and the party started at 2:00. I hadn't even taken a shower yet. I don't think I've ever taken a shower, dressed and dried my hair so fast. Thus, I had semi-wet curly hair pulled back with barrettes for the party.

When I got out, John and Hunter were back with the cake. It really wasn't what I wanted but it was the only cake with a semi-classic Mickey on it.

John snapped my picture as I was trying to get stuff arranged.

Everybody started arriving and the fun started. I deliberately kept my party down to just a few people so it would be more intimate. Two of my guests didn't get to make it because they had a meeting out of town. We chatted a bit about upcoming trips (two families there have vacations planned that overlap our's).

Then, we moved on to playing the bingo game that came in the big red box. We played one round and it became quite lively with everybody calling out what they needed to win. I gave out a door prize to the winner and then gave up the calling position to Hunter so John and I could put the food out.

Let's move on to the more yummy aspect of this party. The food!

I made Mickey shaped pimento and cheese sandwiches and Mickey shaped cream cheese sandwiches. Here's one plate of them. A few have a little crust on them because the cutter was a little too big:

We also had ham sandwiches that were in the shape of triangles. The dips were cucumber/dill and the old favorite, Ranch. I made a cheese ball but instead of forming it in a ball, I put it in a Mickey cake pan:

Also on the menu were fresh fruit and fruit dip:

Pic of the guests standing in the food line:

Mama waiting her turn. You know how us mothers do, wait last to get served even though everybody tells us to get in line:

The kids watched Nemo while we ate. Guess who was the first one to ask if we could cut the cake? The men!

When everybody was finished eating, I passed out the goodies to everybody and we talked about upcoming trips and visited since we hadn't seen each other in a while. I also gave out four more door prizes much to everybody's delight. Oh, and I had the guests fill out the card registering them for the free necklace.

The party turned out just like I wanted it to. There were enough people there to have fun but not so many people that we couldn't talk with each other and visit.

Thanks Disney!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Darn it! The pictures aren't showing up. Let me fix it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

All fixed. Now you guys can see pictures.

 

[Nettaboo]

You did a great job!! I am loving everything and all the small touches made it turn out really nice!!

 

[Mrs. D]

subbing...whew I have a LOT of catching up to do!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

You did a great job!! I am loving everything and all the small touches made it turn out really nice!!

Thanks! We had such a good time.

subbing...whew I have a LOT of catching up to do!!

Hey there! I love new readers! I have a lot of my installments listed in the first post but haven't done too good at keeping that list updated. If you want to skip all the chit-chat, scroll down to my posts that are in larger font and in blue. That'll help.

I hope that you will comment as you read along.

 

[alexensmom]

Its been years since Ive been to a Rainforest Cafe, but the food and T-Rex pics on your TR looked great. (OK, it must be beyond my grasp how to quote part of someones post)

I loved the party ideas you had. Must add large Mickey cookie cutter/pancake mold to the 'must buy at Disney' list

I think all this quiet in the house is helping me channel all of the creative planning mojo that is on this site. I have realized I cant sit back and accept that our Nov. trip must be a day shorter than I really want . DH doesnt want to add one more day because of cost, but my way around that may be adding one more day of park tickets and stay off site that evening. We are driving so pretty easy to change plans. Now how to approach this with DH. I just blame you guys!!!!