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The Disney Dudes

It’s done by some fellow Dallas/Ft Worth NFFC’ers, Wayne (dude1) and Trace (dude2). Hope you enjoy!

I know, I know..it’s been a while since I have truely updated here.  I really need to do better. I’ll try promise

With that being said, WE ONLY HAVE 11 MORE DAYS TILL OUR TRIP!!! Some changes have happened around here since I began to plan the trip way back in April.  We are now staying at the Boardwalk Inn. We are both really happy to be staying here as it is one of our favorite resorts and we just love the proximity to EPCOT and this year’s Food and Wine Festival

We are looking forward to enjoying F&W as well as the new ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Toy Story Midway Mania. This is the first time Jim has been to the F&W or attended Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party

We are also going to spend one day at Universal Studios and attend their Horror Night’s Event.

I am hoping to be able to video blog each day and possibly do a short written recap as well.

This is a picture taken by an online friend of ours. She just returned from a few days at the Magic Kingdom, SeaWorld, and Universal. I was pretty bummed that we were not at Disney this past weekend but after seeing these pictures…..well we both would have just been stressed out. On a side note it is good to see crowds like this now. Between gas prices and the unsure economy I was worried about the parks. Let’s just hope it is no where near this crowded in Oct! (by szlea)

Here’s the link from when Sig, Edgar, and Norman Hansen were at the Norway Pavilion earlier this month. There are some pretty good pics on their flickr account as well. Boy do I wish we could have been there!

Sig Hansen, captain of the F/V Northwestern will be making appearances at the Norway pavilion at EPCOT from July 10-13th. Sig and his brothers will be appearing at the Puffin’s Roost each day to pose for pictures and sign autographs. link

I think this is pretty cool. My husband and I love watching the Deadliest Catch and this would be something we would both love to be at.

Well, what can I say other than “this sucks!” I know that there had been rumors of this happening, but I honestly thought they would leave Adventurer’s Club alone. Unfortunately that is not the case as it was confirmed today that it too would close on September 27th. Distant Creations has some concept art while The Disney Blog has the press release.

I am just sick over this. We loved going to the Adventurer’s Club on each trip. We would spend most of the night there taking in as many shows in the Library, Mask Room, or Trophy room as we could. We loved the personal interaction with the Pamela, Hathaway, and Emil to just name a few. I am so sad that I will not be there before it closes to have one more Kungaloosh. This was truly an unique experience for Disney and one that will be missed by many, many guests.

We’ll we’re 2 months + away from the family vacation.  I have a few observations:

• OKW was not near as enjoyable as I remembered.  The resort is HUGE.  We were in the same building as last time. There was really nothing bad about it but I think that unless we get an amazing rate I don’t know that we will stay there again. I really, really just enjoy the monorail or EPCOT resorts so much better. We had no problems with transportation but relying on Disney buses is just not as enjoyable as the monorail or boats.
• The parks were pretty crowded.  It was clear Disney was not prepared or staffed for the crowds.  We saw very few Photopass Photographers in comparison to what we saw in Jan/Feb.
• The Flower and Garden Festival was pretty neat.  I wish we had been able to spend more time enjoying it.
• The fireworks cruise was amazing.  We were on the Breathless, which beforehand I was upset about but in retrospect it was perfect.  My husband, dad, and brother all fell in love with that boat.
• We also did a photo session at the Grand Floridian. We ended up with about 80 pictures from our 30 minute session.  Our photopass CD finished up with about 600 pictures once all the edits were made.  You can now convert pictures into black and white which is a neat feature.
• Magical Express worked well going back to the airport, however we had to wait almost an hour to leave the airport to get to OKW.  We arrived around midnight and they waited until the bus was about half full before we left.  Luckily we were the first stop.

All in all it was a most incredible trip. The pictures are up on our flickr account. There are many, many more but that gives you a good overview. It was very overwhelming at first to be there with my family who I had not been together with in so long. I hope it is not the last family vacation we take. Disney Cruise anyone?

Griswold Family Vacation Podcast, Episode #1 from Jim Graham on Vimeo.

Something that might be of interest to some of you out there. PassPorter Press has recently released a book titled “PassPorter’s Open Mouse”

It was written by by Deb Wills and Debra Martin Koma who are the founder and editor in chief of Allearsnet.com and it deals with any type of special needs when traveling to Walt Disney World or on the Disney Cruise line.

As you guys know I love the PassPorter Books and have had one since 1999. I think this could be a great tool for anyone traveling to WDW in the near future. It covers all types of challenges ranging for physically handicaps, dietary issues, even had advice for pregnant travelers.

Our next upcoming trip is what I lovingly refer to as the “Grizwald” Family Vacation. This is the 1st family vacation my family and I have taken as adults. The attendees are as follows:

Me(33)- Disney Veteran of 30+ trips. I am the master planner for this vacation

Jim (35) (DH)- Disney Veteran of 20+ trips.

Dad(54)-15+ trips to world but last was in 2002; Sometimes referred to as Jed Clampitt

Mom(54)-same as dad; we will be celebrating her 55th birthday while there

Chris(Brother)(27)-10+trips to WDW, Only one of us who has been to any overseas parks (Tokoyo Disneyland) Currently stationed in Hawaii; will be deployed to Iraq again this fall for the 4th time

Crystal (Sister in Law)(28)-2nd trip ever to the world

Patsy(Grandma)(75)-3rd trip

Possible Attendee: Cousin Melissa(26)-never been to Disney;currently live in NC. Undecided if she will be joining us

Background:
My immediate family has not all been together since 2004. My brother is currently in the Marine Corps and has been stationed in NC and HI. In 2005, both my parents and my husband and I lost our homes in Katrina, 3 days after my brother was deployed to Iraq. While both me and my brother have been home since then, neither of us have been back to MS at the same time. Late last year my parents sold their property to a casino developer and were able to purchase a new home and basically be financially secure into their retirement years. My parents are taking both their kids and spouses as well as my dad’s mom on an all expense paid trip. We will be celebrating my mother’s 55th birthday while at Disney and well as enjoying being together before my brother is once again deployed. Also last August we lost my grandfather while my brother was in Iraq and was unable to come home for the funeral. This is the first time he will be seeing my grandmother since then. This is also my grandmother’s 1st trip without my grandpa.

Accommodations:
We are currently booked at Old Key West in a 2-bedroom villa. This is the same place we stayed in 2002 when we took my grandparents on their first Disney vacation. I would have liked to be at a different DVC resort but this was the only thing available when we made the reservation and also when AP rates were released. We will be there for 7 nights. I also tried to get a bounce back rate while at the Poly in Feb, but again nothing else was available. I have also inquired into a Grand Villa but have had any success with price and/or availability

Travel:
Obviously since my Brother and SIL live in Hawaii they will be flying. They are actually flying in 2 days before everyone else and will be staying at All Star Sports for their first night on property.
My husband and I will be flying in but not arriving until 11:30pm the first night
My mom, dad, and grandmother will be driving from MS and arriving approx 3:30pm the first day

All flying travelers will be using Magical Express.

Advanced Dining Reservations:
April 4th
Whispering Canyon-Lunch
Chef Mickeys-Dinner

April 5th
Yak and Yeti-lunch

April 6th (Mom’s Birthday)
Hoop Dee Doo 9pm Show

Apirl 7th
LeCellier Dinner

April 8th
No ADR’s

April 9th
Ohauna Dinner

April 10th
check out day No ADRs

Other info
Our park plans will basically follow the ADR’s. We are not planning any water parks. There will probably be a few night for us to go to Pleasure Island and the marketplace. I have an EPCOT fireworks cruise booked on the Breathless on the 5th. At the time it was booked we did not think that my grandma was going to want to go to the parks with us so the 6 person limit on the Breathless was not an issue. We are still not sure how we are going to handle this but I am not wanting to cancel it. Maybe we will draw straws..who knows. I am hoping maybe there will be a cancellation with a pontoon boat and then the problem will be solved. We are also wanting to have a photo session at the Grand Floridian seeing as all of us have not been together in such a long time. I will book that over the next 2 days.

Well that’s the plan so far. I’ll keep you updated on any changes.