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Surprise, Santa, and a Shiny new AP Holder… A GDF Trip Report


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First, awesome pixie dust!  Yay for excellent customer service!  

 

Next...yes, super crowded!  Wow!  Of course, I guess that's to be expected for that week.  

 

Last.... ugly??!  That is one BEAUTIFUL car...GO GATORS! :)

 

 

Looking forward hearing more!

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Well, it’s time for another GDF trip report. This trip started small and ended up much bigger. Originally, I thought Z and I might drive down for a few days before Christmas to see some Disney lights

We’ve made it to December 26th, our last day. The plan for this day was to hit Animal Kingdom for a bit and then hang at the Fort and go to the Fiend Grand Gathering at DIT’s site.   We weren’t doing

Okay so I'm about half way done with this report.  It's keeping me sane on these hard days of adjustment.  We got home from China about a week and a half ago!  Yay!   Here's the boys at the airport!  

Awesome!

 

It was unexpected and super cool. 

 

First, awesome pixie dust!  Yay for excellent customer service!  

 

Next...yes, super crowded!  Wow!  Of course, I guess that's to be expected for that week.  

 

Last.... ugly??!  That is one BEAUTIFUL car...GO GATORS! :)

 

 

Looking forward hearing more!

 

The CMs went above and beyond to make us happy. I was and am impressed. I think you'll be surprised at my crowd pictures the next day. 

 

That car... barf! 

 

YAY!!!!    :dance:  :dance:  I am in. Now I must catch up.

 

Welcome aboard! 

 

I love that you got some major pixie dust.

And I bet you're right, that other guy did not.

 

The guy next to me was being a total ass. Some people amaze me. 

 

Awesome Pixie Dust!!

 

So awesome! 

 

Seriously awesome post! What an amazing first day, looking forward to the rest.

 

And hey, it's not even lunch yet. There's a Fiend meet-up coming later this day. 

 

First, I'm in!  Can't wait for this report!

 

Second, I truly can't believe the pixie dust you got on your business trip to the MK!  That's really awesome!  

 

Third, Z's face is just too cute when he found out about the trip!

 

Finally, y'all are such a cute family!

 

So glad you're in! My business trip certainly turned magical. Z's faces kill me. That kid is funny. And thank you. :) 

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Man! you guys racked up on the goodies.... It's amazing what you can accomplish just by being nice and patient with folks... I call it using the "Southern Sugar"...  I spread on pretty thick whenever I travel up to NYC and out to the Chicago area... I always end up with something extra or even free on occasion.  I get a bigger kick from just watching people's expressions change when you're nice to them and not wanting to tear out their throats.

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Warmth is right!!  The day we left it was 86 degrees!  :)  We arrived home to 38 degrees and rain.  Yuck!

 

 

Great! It was nice to meet you. :) Are you going to write a TR?

 

 

Thanks! 

It was great to meet you guys also!  Z was more adorable in person than in pictures <3  Madison asked me if you were tipsy LOL!!  I told her that it was likely and I missed the party!

 

I have to tell you, that I contemplated a TR, but our trip was really bad. Well, disappointing is a better word.  :(  I would not want to discourage anyone coming to FF for information, so I have to let the sadness subside before I delve into that.  I am so happy to hear that you guys had encounters with happy CM and received some pixie dust!  That is encouraging!

 

What is Tables in Wonderland?  

 

My son in law pointed out the shoe tree but I could not tell him why it was there because I have no clue!

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I have to tell you, that I contemplated a TR, but our trip was really bad. Well, disappointing is a better word.   :(  I would not want to discourage anyone coming to FF for information, so I have to let the sadness subside before I delve into that.  

 

What is Tables in Wonderland?  

 

 

So sorry to hear that you were disappointed on your trip!  Would like to hear about it.

 

Tables in Wonderland is a dining discount card that you can purchase if you have an annual pass.  It's good until the end of the next month the year after your purchase.  I.e., if you buy it on October 1, it expires on November 30 of the following year.  It gives you a 20% discount on most table service restaurants.

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I honestly thought the pixie dust was going to be because of the site being taken issue. And a free tiw card?!? Holy moly!

 

I had told Jason we were going to joke with the guy and tell him he owed us a beer, but he was a grandfather taking his grandkids on a Disney trip. He was mortified, and I couldn't even joke with him because he was so nice. 

 

Wow that was major pixie dust you got! What a great start to your trip! I'm glad Z finally got to ride the race cars. And it looks like that boy loves orange and blue! I'm looking forward to the next update.

TCD

 

It was the best start ever! Well, except for getting into the site so late, but what happened the next day made up for that. You inspired me to take him on the race cars. Maybe that's why we got stuck with orange and blue. 

 

Great start to your TR! Awesome that the CM gave you some major pixie dust and awesome job on surprising Z. There is nothing like surprising your kids, those memories are priceless.

 

I will remember his face and excitement forever. It was awesome. 

 

I'm in page 2!!  Great start to your trip report.  We wanted to be there at that time soooo bad.  Z has great enthusiasm, love to see the photos!

 

Welcome and thanks for joining! Any chance you'll be there next year? We just might. :)

 

Man! you guys racked up on the goodies.... It's amazing what you can accomplish just by being nice and patient with folks... I call it using the "Southern Sugar"...  I spread on pretty thick whenever I travel up to NYC and out to the Chicago area... I always end up with something extra or even free on occasion.  I get a bigger kick from just watching people's expressions change when you're nice to them and not wanting to tear out their throats.

 

Yep, Southern Sugar! 

 

Unbelievable pixie dust!  Congratulations!

 

It was awesome!

 

Warmth is right!!  The day we left it was 86 degrees!   :)  We arrived home to 38 degrees and rain.  Yuck!

 

It was great to meet you guys also!  Z was more adorable in person than in pictures <3  Madison asked me if you were tipsy LOL!!  I told her that it was likely and I missed the party!

 

I have to tell you, that I contemplated a TR, but our trip was really bad. Well, disappointing is a better word.   :(  I would not want to discourage anyone coming to FF for information, so I have to let the sadness subside before I delve into that.  I am so happy to hear that you guys had encounters with happy CM and received some pixie dust!  That is encouraging!

 

What is Tables in Wonderland?  

 

My son in law pointed out the shoe tree but I could not tell him why it was there because I have no clue!

 

I'm sorry you didn't have a good trip. :(

 

Tables in Wonderland is a card you can buy if you are an AP Holder, FL resident, or DVC member. It costs $100 but gets you 20% off at most TS restaurants and lounges some some QS. 20% can really add up to save a good bit more than $100 a year. 

 

Me tipsy? If I'm on vacation, there's a good chance! 

 

Wow for a second there I thought that CM was going to announce "Kelly Land" opening soon!  Way to go.  It does pay to be nice.

 

Ha ha ha! I'd settle for Star Wars Land. Maybe I should have asked. :)

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After going Under the Sea, our pixie dust took us over to Anna and Elsa. Now, I’m not sure if she’s trying to stay in character or what, but Elsa wasn’t very talkative or personable. I tried to make a joke asking if she was still single, and she didn’t play at all. Oh well, Z still liked meeting her (again).

 

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Anna, on the other hand, was awesome. She had Z practicing how to throw snowballs and really took a lot of time with him.

 

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Next up was the Mine Train. The line was wrapped around the mountain, but thanks to our pixie dust, we used our FP+ and hoped on.

 

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The FP+ line does seem to take a bit longer now, but it just took a few minutes.

 

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Mine Train selfie!

 

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After that, Z was ready to bail and head to the pool. He LOVES swimming and hasn’t been able to since September.

 

On the way out, we saw these guys playing around with a family with a stroller. The lady wanted to be pushed around.

 

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It was a hoot!

 

Backside of the castle

 

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Time to get on the boat and head back to the Fort.

 

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Someone thinks he’s hot stuff these days and likes to demonstrate how he “knows the way.”

 

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I love this sign.

 

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Back at camp, Mr. GaDawgFan was supposed to be setting up.

 

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Well, that didn’t happen. Instead, he ran into some of our tailgate friends and drank Bloody Marys. Well, it is vacation. J

 

We all changed and headed to the pool. Setting up could wait.

 

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Look! Open chairs!

 

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This boy was HAPPY!

 

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And so was his mom.

 

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You’ll notice the Yeti Hopper in the picture above. There has been some discussion about it on this board. Jason was lucky enough to get one as a gift from his business partner. We put ice in it Friday and took it to the pool on this day. It was about 80, and it sat in the sun while there. It went to the pool another day as well. It kept ice for 5 days. That’s pretty impressive. I’m not saying that I’d pay that much for one, but it worked better than I expected, and Jason likes it better than the hard-sided one because it’s more versatile. So there’s your Yeti Hopper review.

 

After swimming for a while, Z wanted to hit the hot tub. You might remember from my previous TRs that he’s a big fan and even made up a song about us getting one. We haven’t yet. He’s truly deprived.

 

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I decided to join him.

 

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It was nice and not too crowded.

 

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After the hot tub, it was time to cash in our paper for free ice creams. Z doesn’t look happy in this picture, but he was.

 

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He was also tired, so we headed back to the site.

 

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I don’t remember why I took this picture. Does the site belong to a Fiend?

 

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These were our tailgate friends. They had their teen daughter and a friend with them, so they were on opposite schedules as us a lot of the time.

 

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On the way back, I spotted someone I recognized… Dave! They had arrived and were on the 100 loop just on the other side of the cabins from us. Yes, the lucky DaveInTN crew got to meet me for the first time in my bathing suit. Ack! I promised to wear clothes to the gathering on the porch that night, and we were off to shower and set up our site.

 

While we were at the pool, my temporary sign arrived!

 

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Yes, in all the excitement we’d forgotten my sign, but we were lucky enough to have one delivered. And hey Fiends… you need to get signs! Most didn’t have them, and it made locating people difficult. Or were you hiding from me?

 

We set up our decorations.

 

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The cart was decorated too.

 

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Hasn’t this day been awesome so far?!?! And we still have a long way to go! In the next update, we’ll go to the porch for a mini Fiend gathering and the GaDawgFan family will FINALLY visit the Lodge. We had a little surprise there too. 

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That is a nice shinny new cart.  Could the picture of the random site have been for the Holiday blow up camper?  

Bloody Marys

A little Looping 

Some park time for very popular attractions

and hitting the pool 

 

All before you even get set up.

 

I want to party with you guys.

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Yeti Hopper...had to google that.  Man, that was one nice gift!  :)    Glad it worked well for you.  Z looked like he was having a blast at the pool.  My kiddos love it too :)  We can spend hours there...

 

Meeting Dave in your suit, haha... I had to laugh out loud when I read that.  Love it :)

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That is a nice shinny new cart.  Could the picture of the random site have been for the Holiday blow up camper?  

Bloody Marys

A little Looping 

Some park time for very popular attractions

and hitting the pool 

 

All before you even get set up.

 

I want to party with you guys.

 

It might have been the blow up camper that made me take the picture. I'm not sure. I took a lot of decoration pics later, but that one was in the middle of other stuff.

 

You are welcome to party with us anytime. :) This day in particular is going to continue to be super awesome. 

 

 

Who cares what you are wearing, we are all Fiends here. :D

 

Truth

 

Love the update!! The pool is one place I don't spend enough time, perhaps I should

 

See, I feel like we spend so much time at the pool that we miss other things, but you know what? Z loves it. So that makes it worth it. And I SUPER loved it in December. The high tomorrow in Cumming is 49... :(

 

Yeti Hopper...had to google that.  Man, that was one nice gift!   :)    Glad it worked well for you.  Z looked like he was having a blast at the pool.  My kiddos love it too :)  We can spend hours there...

 

Meeting Dave in your suit, haha... I had to laugh out loud when I read that.  Love it :)

 

You obviously missed the Yeti Hopper thread... YES, it was a nice gift. VERY nice. It does actually work better than a regular cooler, more so than the hard-sided ones... still not saying I'd pay that much for one though. 

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