There were many wonderful moments and memories that made this vacation fantasmic, but alas...just short of taking you through a day by day LONGEST BLOG EVER...here are some highlights:
My father mispronouncing the "Komodo" in Komodo dragons. He must have said it 10 times incorrectly as co-mo-doe (spelled out phonetically for you to enjoy). I finally corrected him. It just never stopped being funny.
My two sisters showed up for breakfast wearing their brand new Disney pajama tops (we all brought with us) as t-shirts one day. They told me to do the same so all 3 of us would have our Disney t-shirts on to wear to the park for the day. I obliged and thus...we have our cute picture!
My father telling my cousin (who was suffering from knee pain as a result of her 2 ACL surgeries) that she needed to take glucosamine. He mispronounced it as glue-ca-sa-mine instead of glue-co-sa-mean. It just never stopped being funny either. Don't feel too sorry for my dad. We made fun of everyone equally!
All 13 of us went on
It's a Small World and fit into our own boat - My aunt, uncle, 2 double cousins, my 3 siblings and their respective spouses, my parents, and I! As we were launching out on the ride, we all put our hands in the air and went "Woo Woo" as if we were going on a roller coaster. We probably looked really obnoxious to some people, but we had a blast!
Older sister Cathy made reservations for us to eat our Thanksgiving meal at the buffet at a resort named The Gaylord Palms. The name of the resort never stopped being funny for the month+ that we had the reservation! A week before we left for our trip, brother-in-law Jay made a little video entitling it "It's like Christmas at The Gaylord Palms" starring ME! We all got the tune stuck in our head, learned part of the dance, and whenever we had some down time while waiting in line, we would reenact part of the video! If you care to check it out, go
here.
Younger sister Linda and I braved Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans - okay, so ridiculously priced at the gift shop in Universal, but I had to buy them and try them because...well...we had done the whole Harry Potter thing and it seemed like a fun idea and it was relatively cheap entertainment. There were 10 nasty flavors mixed in with yummy flavors (like watermelon, lemon sherbet, cotton candy, banana, blueberry, cinnamon, cherry, green apple, etc) and we ate every last one of them...well Linda spit out 4 of them (bogie, vomit, earth worm, and dirt) and I spit out one of them (earth worm). We did not spit out grass, soap, rotten egg (was not in our box), sausage, black pepper, ear wax. On Friday night, sister-in-law April did try whatever was left over which included vomit, earth worm, soap, and sausage. She, consequently, spit out vomit and earthworm.
While in Germany having dinner on Friday night, double cousins Danielle and Nicole and I decided to provide a free couples counseling therapy to Cathy and Jay. It was hilarious! No, they didn't need our help. No they didn't request it, but since when did that stop us?!?! Later we offered up counseling to Linda and Craig. When they neglected to take us up on it, we reminded them that we will all be united again in Chicago for Christmas and that our services will be available to them again at that time. =P
Cathy, Jay, Linda, Craig, Danielle, and I happened across this monkey on our last Saturday at Animal Kingdom. Initially, he was sitting quite awkwardly...so much so, that I assumed he was a she and nursing a baby. He unfolded his legs and it turns out he was just hugging his knee. He then flopped down and laid down. Linda pronounced him lazy. Earlier in the week, we also visited the monkeys and there was a little fella who was wreaking all kinds of havoc amongst the elders! They were quite entertaining to watch!
Brother Eddie encouraged us all to participate on multiple occasions stating that "everything is more fun this way"! So, participate is just what we did. At the Country Bear Jamborie, we made all the other audience members clap their hands and stomp their feet. At a really lame children's ride called Imagination in Epcot, we sang the theme song as we were encouraged to do.
Eddie decided to implement a buddy system half way through our trip. We were all buddied up. In everyone's case except for double cousins Danielle, Nicole, and I, spouses were buddies. That meant the three of us were buddies. I felt like a lucky ducky to have 2 buddies. This meant when we were in a crowded area, we were supposed to call out "buddy" and await the response of our buddy (or buddies) to reply back indicating we were all together.
Mickey Mouse ears have come a long way in the 18 years since I have last been to Disney. They now come decorated in every possible way you can imagine. We found one with a golf theme - perfect for my father. Though he wouldn't buy it, he did humor us and try it on. We all whipped out our cameras to take pictures of him and some other tourist asked if my dad was famous and wondered if he should be taking his picture, too!!!
Whilst visiting The United Kingdom, Jay and I happened across Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. We were really trying to hold the spot in line for Linda, but she didn't make it in time, so we were stuck getting our picture with them. No need to worry...Linda also managed to get a picture with them!
My mom saw this Woody the Woodpecker statue and wanted a picture with him. I just think I have some awfully cute parental units! This is one of my favorite pictures of them!
My parents bought groceries for us to make breakfasts at the house each morning. It seems every morning got progressively worse with chaos. It became bumper people in the kitchen, but I wouldn't trade it for anything because it was fun filled time with my family and I loved every minute of it!
Older sister Cathy had me download an app (free) for my Droid before we left for our trip. It told us the approximate waiting times in lines for the major attractions in all 4 of the Disney Parks and it updated constantly. In all but one case, it proved to be either spot on or the waiting times POSTED were LONGER than we actually waited. It really helped us make our plan of attack! In case you ever need this app, it's called Disney World Wait Times Lite from the Undercover Tourist. Loved it!
Both of my brother-in-laws just love to make fun of how my family pronounces things. One of their favorites to harp on is caramel as we neglect to acknowledge the second "a". When we were in Germany having dinner, we decided to ask our server (who was from Germany) how it's pronounced since Germany also offered up the caramel shop. She basically agreed with my brother-in-laws (RATS). We tried to get her to say it our way. She was practicing and telling us how weird it sounded (haha) when my father overheard her since he was sitting at the next table. He then exclaimed proudly, "See, we do say it correctly!" She humored him and said, "I have to stick with my girls!"
We were able to see the Osborne Family's Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney Hollywood Studios. It was quite simply gorgeous! Here are a few pics from it!
Japan had a Munchichi doll! I used to love that cartoon which really is saying a lot since I didn't like a whole lot of cartoons. Ignore my look...it was an ugly/rainy afternoon. All 11 of us were wearing our $0.50 ponchos my mom brought along for us. On that same note...some peeps in our group started getting really grouchy because of the weather situation. Linda was one of them. Luckily, when Linda gets in a bad mood, she can pop out of it really fast. She happened to pop out of it when we popped into the China gift shop. She proclaimed, "I'm like a bull (insert her making bull horns with her fingers upon her head) in a China shop!" And with that...she was back to normal Linda.
And...finally...one of my favorite things to do was to look at the pictures AFTER a ride or roller coaster. I thought it sooo funny to see my facial expression or the facial expressions of my family members. Jay looked like he was praying on the Aerosmith Rock n Roller coaster at Hollywood Studios, as an example! I managed to take a picture of the screen shot from the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom. Keep in mind that Eddie and April knew the camera was there and posed accordingly. I have a look of sheer terror on my face. Cathy and Jay look like they are having a great time! My brother mislead my mother into thinking it wasn't a jarring ride and she was in pain, so she was gripping a hold of my father for dear life...
Okay, that's all I have for you for now! Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane! =D
