DisneyElite4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
Oh wow! Aulani pictures are gorgeous! Can't wait to hear about both trips. Safe travels home.
I am in love with your report. I can't wait to read more. Y'all have a great time in Hawaii. I hope we get to hear all about it also.
Glad your team won the salsa challenge!
Great pictures of the Boardwalk!
Hope you guys have a wonderful time in Hawaii!
As a mother of teenagers I am all too familiar with the Napolean Dynamite quotes. They definitely made me laugh!
Have a fabulous time in Hawaii, can't wait to read about your adventures!
Thanks! And happy to report that insurance is taking care of hail damage to both the car and the roof. Which is great because the roof was at the end of it's lifespan and I'm happy to pay the cost of the deductible vs. the cost of a new roof!!Sorry about the hail damage. Hope it's all resolved now.
Happy Birthday, Pickle.
Enjoy Hawaii!
Love your pano shots!
Catch you when you pick this up again.
Great Pics on the BoardWalk pool. the pool looked beautiful. BUT, i could not get past the clown. i know it has been said a million times, but it looks weird in a creepy kind of way!!! Although, I am sure my kids will have no problem playing there.
Yes, Lee's book remains one of leadership reference books. One of my part time roles before I retired was leadership coaching and training and I used a quote from his book in one of my training presentations. It became a bit of a funny story as I would always find a way to bring some reference to Disney into my leadership conversations.
Wishing you a wonderful vacation.
Congratulations on your team's salsa challenge win! I know you can't say much about your DI experience but it sounds like you are really enjoying it!
Your panoramic shots are great! Even the ones with the creepy clown pool!
Have a great time in Hawaii and be safe!
Ah I just got back from being gone for 2 weeks and now you all are going LOL. Glad to see I didn't miss too much. Seems like just one day of the trip so that is good. Loved the meet and greets that Stephanie and the kids did at Epcot. That is one of the biggest dissapointments I have in not going is I LOVE Baymax and have several Baymax items and I wanted to meet him so badly. I fear that by the time we finally go he will no longer be there. Joy and Sadness was cute too and would have loved to have met them as well. That is a bummer that so many rides were down but it sounds like you all made the best of it and had fun.
The training classes sound very interesting and fun. Looking forward to the next updates. We have only done one water park and that was Blizzard beach. We were going to go to Typhoon Lagoon this time but alas another thing that didn't happen and we like to go in the fall and I think it is usually on rehab at that time. But who knows. You never know what can happen.
I will admit that I am really missing DW and while I don't want to go again till all of the new things are built, with no real plans for a trip anytime soon it is tough. I have no idea HOW long it will be before we make it back and I feel like I am not even going to know what's going on anymore LOL.
As for our trip we had an AMAZING time. On the flight to Nashville we stopped in Denver and picked up a man who sat right in front of us. It turns out the CMT awards were when we were there and we had no idea. So the man in front of us was Doug Kershaw. He was a singer from the 60's I believe and it was fun listening to him talk and there were also some other people going to perform etc. We really loved Nashville and since we only had 1 day we did the Country Music Hall of Fame and just visited some other fun spots like the American Picker store and Centennial Park. The girls were able to find a spot on the red carpet and were able to see Luke Brian, Jason Aldean, Nicole Kidman, Vince Vaughn and some others. They were super excited and we loved the city. Our first night we also went to Opryland and had dinner and we loved it as well. We realized there is SO much more to see and we are already talking about a return trip. I am hoping if it works out to maybe see Rock City.
We also went to Dollywood which was super fun and very pretty and explored Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which are your typical tourist type places like San Francisco etc. We also visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC and that was really interesting. We spent a day in Atlanta and went to World of Coke which was super fun and also the Atlanta History Center but I am a HUGE Walking Dead fan and we didn't have time to do a tour but that is another on my list when we go back as well as some other items we missed. We then headed to Alabama and Mississippi and really enjoyed the Gulf Coast and our last city was New Orleans. We spent the most time there and really loved it although the heat and humdity was brutal. It was so cool seeing so much of the city that looked like New Orleans Square.
We had a GREAT time and we loved NO and hope to go again someday but we are already talking about a trip flying into Atlanta and doing a few more things there and then driving to Memphis to see Graceland, back to nashville to do a few things we missed and possibly Dollywood if we go over the Holidays. We would love to see it at Christmas and we didn't get to see a lot going only one day. We then would most likely drive to Charleston as we want to go back there and either leave out of there or possibly back to Atlanta.
No real plans for WHEN that will happen esp since the plan for now is to try and go to Europe next summer but it is def something on our list.
Anyway have a GREAT time at Aulani and can't wait to hear more on this report and of course eventually on the Aulani which is another on my bucket list.
Loving this report! That leadership training sounds so cool. I am going to have to look into the book. And so cool you got to go to coffee with him! Amazing experience.
I just caught up on everything and can't wait to read more. Looks like such a fun trip.
Oh wow! Aulani pictures are gorgeous! Can't wait to hear about both trips. Safe travels home.
Thank you so much for posting about the Disney Institute. I have many of Lee Cockerell's books and would love to get a course there. Unfortunately... no funds at my company (or my own wallet) for this
But now I at least have an idea what's going on (and realize, I really really really want to got there!)
What is the most important thing you have learned?
Love the pics from Hawaii...I can't wait to read that report too!
Wow thanks for sharing some Aulani pics. Looks like an amazing trip. SO jealous as that is def on my bucket list and we actually put in our timeshare 3 years in advance to hopefully go this past year. By the middle of 14 we realized that it was never going to happen (we tried to exchange into it from RCI). I still want to see it and don't know if we will ever actually get to stay there but I am hoping maybe someday we can go and at least visit it.
And more exciting news on our front, we are now going to dW over xmas. Crazy I know and I still can't believe it but as soon as we got back from the South my mom was convinced she wanted to do a trip over xmas break. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea since we still don't know if we can make Europe next Summer and if we DO that is going to be EXPENSIVE but mom actually was thinking about going to Dollywood over xmas and doing that other trip that we talked about. But I reminded her that we had our timeshare that we already paid for in Orlando for this past June. We had to pay 100 bucks but were able to extend it to next May of 17. We knew we wouldn't use it then cuz we have other plans so we discussed and it and decided if we could get into a timeshare on this short of notice we would do it. Well we called RCI and we were able to find one eventhough it wasn't that great. We paid for a 2 bedroom and we are getting a 1 bedroom. And normally I would NEVER go at xmas but is what it is. We had to jump on it cuz the 6 month date came up just a week after we got back. Since we are staying offsite I had to get up everyday at 3 to do our ADRS and that just ended yesterday.
I am still a bit apprehensive with how horrible the crowds will be esp since we haven't been in 6 years and there is so much new we haven't seen, also I kind of wanted to wait till more stuff was done but at this point I am sure we will have to go back in a few years once all this latest round of stuff is done. But anyway we are leaving ON xmas day and staying through the 4th of Jan. We are spending 6 days at DW and 2 days at Universal. No water parks and one day in between to transfer from DW to Universal where we will go to DTD.
It will def be interesting flying on xmas day and we will be there for NYE and chose to do HS as I am hoping it will be the least crowded. That day is also my daughter's 17th bday so hoping it goes well.
But anyway just wanted to share and can't wait to hear more about this report as well as Aulani!!
I love the idea of the little prizes - would definitely motivate this fellow introvert!
The Boardwalk area is really nice and one of those areas I always wish we had more time to spend at
The convention center at the Contemporary is huge! We had to go to the business center there once as we had a package delivered when we were staying there and that is where it went
Sounds like such a fun activity and congratulations on winning! We did something similar one offsite but was making pizzas - and they did a think were towards the end they asked what ingredients did other teams use and when we couldn't name that many it was a lesson on that you always need to be aware of what the rest of your team is doing in case you need to step in and support, etc.
So glad you enjoyed your trip to Hawaii and Aulaini! It looks really neat - though I would not look forward to the travel to get there!
So glad to hear your vacation went well, the pictures were great! I'm currently posting from the tail end of our California Adventure. Visited many places you had mentioned in your trip report. Tomorrow we're heading to Santa Cruz for lunch with my husband's cousin
Catching back up. Your training looks amazing! I have to see if I can figure out how to get my company to pay for it. I was in a leadership class Wednesday and the instructor had worked for Disney for 12 years. She was really good...she told us about the difficulties she had adapting to the DL culture after being at WDW for 10 years.
Aulani looks amazing! The water park day looked like a lot of fun!
Jill in CO
I’m in and reading! I have to admit I kinda skimmed through the first info updates, but I love the collages of older pictures! Super cute!
That superman museum looks cute! A nice place to explore and stretch the legs!
That little park looks super cute and a great way to spend a day, especially to ease into a Disney vacation! Fun!
Love all the pictures so far, love that the kids are so into funny poses/faces too! I can’t for the LIFE of me remember WHICH of the outlets is right by Disney housing, but that one I spent a lot of time at, and was LOVING the stuff at the Disney outlet!! I just wish the Lulu was better! Lol. (update…from the pictures of the stores, I think it’s the vineland one..)Sounds like a great way to check into Orlando and have a relaxing day to kick things off! I do have to say, if I didn’t have to worry about transportation, I’d stay offsite a whole lot more!!
Sounds like an awesome meeting with Lee, I can’t say I’ve heard the name before but he sounds like an awesome guy! Oh WOW, this is the first TR I’ve read with pictures of Disney Springs since the new stuff opened, and it looks absolutely beautiful, and nothing like it did before! And YUM those cupcakes! Now I want one too! Lol. Always a good idea for second breakfast! LOVE the art store, I seriously don’t know how I’ve always come out empty handed (except for one time..)! I need everything!
The Boardwalk looks beautiful! It’s one of the very few hotels I have yet to stay at! We decided if we do another contract with WDW we’ll do CL there though! It must be nice to have Princess at that age where she can watch one or two of the kids while you guys split up! Seems pretty convienient so far! All the pictures around the BW area are gorgeous! Man do I miss it out there!! Bummer the fireworks didn’t work out too well,and UGH THAT CLOWN NEEDS TO NOT.
Awe man, that backstage epcot bus ride brings back the memories, bahaha. It can get exciting when you see characters walking to or from the trailers back there lol.I’m not big on Illuminations, but I am big on desserts, so I feel like I really wan to do the dessert party at Epcot!
The second day, esp wandering MK sounds a lot like the in park bit of Traditions! Though we didn’t get too much time in the parks and didn’t split off too much!
I still haven’t met joy & sadness! That needs to happen, they look super cute and your m&g looks awesome! LOVE the Japan pavilion! I could spend forever (and all of the money) in the gift shops there! I’ve only eaten at Liberty Inn like twice, and it’s been when I’m starving and we’re like, in between shows of Voice of Liberty & Music Machine and don’t have time lol. Glad ya’ll were able to meet up with old friends!! Oh goodness, I love all the flashback photos in front of the ball. Looks like an awesome day!
Training class looks great!!
WOW Hawaii looks amazing!! Aulani is on my list of places I NEED to go. We keep talking about the days when we’re rich, we’ll do a round the world trip of ALL the Disney parks, including it, and a cruise, lol, I mean, a girl can dream, right?!
Looks like you guys had a blast at BB, I’ve still never managed to get to a waterpark in Disney. I’m not big on waterparks in the first place so that’s probably why!
Whooo! Sorry this was a novel and a half! Excited to read more!!