A Rosie's Kick

Marc and I have been on a Rosie's kick lately.

This ooey-gooey bowl of goodness doesn't help matters:

My parents, along with my sister and brother-in-law, decided to join us. We decided to go ahead and celebrate Marc's birthday, since it's at the end of the month. Of course, I took advantage of the chance to play around with my camera and snap a few pics.

It was a great night filled with lots of laughs and great food. Can't wait to go back!

I Couldn't Resist...

posting these super cute pictures of our puppies, Pino and Gus!

I got a new camera a few months ago, and I was practicing using it the other day. The pictures are a little blurry, but I still think they are precious!

Hollywood Studios

We were at Hollywood Studios for rope drop. Everyone must've slept in, because there was only a hand full of people there. We were able to casually walk over to Toy Story Midway Mania to get our FastPasses. No mad rush of crazy runners!

After gathering those, we went over to The Great Movie Ride in hopes of Marc being able to see the cowboy scene. Not only has he never seen it, he has only been able to see a female Bugsy. So, we asked the castmember which scene was running, and she told us she didn't know, but it we were going to get on the ride, we needed to hurry up and stop asking questions. (Gasp!) I couldn't believe how rude she was!

Much to our surprise, Marc was finally able to see a male Bugsy!

I was finally able to get some good pictures in the Wizard of Oz scene.

After The Great Movie Ride, we went through the arch and headed over to The Magic of Disney Animation building.

Marc and I discovered this little gem a few trips ago, and it's a must every time we're in Hollywood Studios. They have several awesome activities to do while you're waiting to go to Animation Academy. This contraption lets you draw and paint famous Disney characters. The screens in the background let you add voiceovers.

This building is also a character greeting location. This was the stage to meet Lotso:

And Yensid, from Fantasia, appeared on this stage:

Next up was Animation Academy! The character we were drawing was from The Princess and the Frog, so I was a little disappointed it wasn't one of the Fab Four. (I'm trying to draw a complete set, so we can have them framed. Oh well!)

At least we were able to find a Hidden Mickey!

After Animation Academy, Marc and I split up our APs and got one FastPass for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and one FastPass for Tower of Terror. (My motion sickness patch had fallen off earlier, and I didn't want to put on a new one!) So, I took pictures while he did this thing.

And, as a bonus, we saw a few characters on our way out of the park.

So, it was a very good day at Hollywood Studios! Now back to the resort to rest for Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom!

Boo to You!

Marc, Kelli, and I went to Mickey's No So Scary Halloween Party on October 3. Marc and I went last year and had a blast, so there was no way we were skipping it this year!

As you walk into the park, there are lots of pumpkin characters. Here is the Mayor and the bandleader.

When we first got there, we rode a few rides in Tomorrowland, so the crowds of non-partygoers would have a chance to clear out. Then, we started alternating between rides and trick or treat stations. We ended up hauling quite a bunch of candy.

Since Kelli had to leave the party a little early, we decided to watch the first Boo to You! parade. We staked out a spot in Frontierland and waited for the parade. Pretty soon, the Headless Horseman began to ride which signaled the start of the parade.

And of course, I got to see some of my favorite characters!

One of my favorite parts of the parade is the Haunted Mansion scene. They have the grave diggers and the ghost dancers.

They also have the cemetery keeper and his dog.

Here are some other creepy characters:

Then Goofy brings around the good stuff from Goofy's Candy Company. We collected tons of candy!

So, our final count for the night was three gallon-sized bags full of candy. (It definitely added to the weight of our carry-ons.) I think we did pretty well!

Animal Kingdom

On Sunday, Kelli went with Marc and me to Animal Kingdom. She lives in Orlando, but she had never been. We were there for rope drop:

We were in no rush, so we went slowly through the park and gave Kelli a chance to check everything out. She's pregnant, so there were some things, like Expedition Everest, Primeval Whirl, and Dinosaur, that she couldn't do, but there was still plenty to experience.

We checked out the Tree of Life and It's Tough to be a Bug. After the show, we wondered around and looked at the animals on the observation trails. There are so many things that you'd never notice if you only went to Animal Kingdom to ride the thrill rides.

In my opinion, one of the best things that Animal Kingdom has to offer are the shows, Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. Festival of the Lion King was as amazing as always! I was thrilled to be able to use my new camera to capture some action shots.

After the show, we went on the safari, and while not as many animals were out as first thing in the morning, there were still quite a few to be seen. Then, we headed over to Asia to see Finding Nemo.

By the end of the show, we decided to head back to Saratoga Springs and take a quick break. Then, we went to dinner at Miller's Ale House. Then it was time for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Jumping Back In...

I've decided to jump back into blogging! So, I'm going to start with our recent trip to Disney World and go from there. I might go back and fill in the blanks with things that happened earlier in the year, but I haven't decided, yet. So here goes...

Marc and I flew into Orlando on Saturday. We had an interesting trip there. When I checked in for our flight on Friday, Delta sent me a message saying that the flight was overbooked, and we could possibly be offered incentives to change our flight. I told Marc there was NO WAY I was changing our flights! We were going to Disney World, and we not going to miss a moment of our trip, no matter how great the incentives were.

So, on Saturday morning, we arrived at the airport at 4:15am for our 6:20am flight. We take carry-ons, so we were able to skip the check-in line, and we were through security in less than five minutes. When we arrived at our gate, a Delta attendant was already there, and she began telling us about the incentives if we wanted to change our flight. The whole time, I was thinking to myself that there was NO WAY we were changing. But then, she had to bring little blind children into the conversation. That opened my ears!

The flight was short by nine seats, because a group of blind children who had attended Space Camp got bumped from their flight the previous day, along with a whole bunch of other people. Unfortunately for them, they ALL had to be on the same plane. So, the Delta attendant offered us $400 in flight vouchers and an earlier flight on another airline if we were willing to switch. We were in!

Our flight went through Washington, DC instead of Atlanta, so that alone was worth it. (I hate flying through Atlanta!) We were also able to see the Washington Monument and the Capital Building. (Pretty cool!) Marc and I also got better seats on both flights, so it worked out well.

After picking up our rental car, we were on our way to Saratoga Springs Resort! We were assigned a room in our favorite section, the Grandstand. We were even in the same building in the same perfect location! After unpacking, we headed over to Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club for dinner. We were seated with our favorite server, Genesis.

After dinner, we made a quick trip over to Epcot to see a friend, then spent the rest of the night at Magic Kingdom. We were off to a wonderful start!