One Mom and Three Kids Tackle the World in a Week - Dec '09 Trip Report - Complete :) [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

Lovemy3babes

01-05-2010, 01:37 PM

Hello all! To be honest, I have been putting off even attempting to get this trip report going for awhile now. We took our trip last month and it took me a long while to get back on track in the real world. I took a long self imposed Dis break. All things Disney to tell you the truth. But we got through Christmas unscathed so here I am! :goodvibes

I also am not a very good writer. I just am not. I wrote a TR for our 2006 trip that flopped and had very few readers. It was quite embarrassing. But I’ll link to it in case you feel any pity towards this lonely girl. Ha!! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1279245

I also do not know how to do those fun hyperlinks. Can anyone teach me? Any kind soul in the audience? ;)

So, 2006 was our last run at Disney. That seems like forever ago!! The kids and I actually had a week booked for November 2007 that ended up being cancelled. It was a really hard time in our lives and going to Florida was not going to be possible. I ended up losing over $1000 that really took a hit on the old checkbook. There is drama that goes along with it if you care to read. It’s a long thread though so be warned!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1638295

Well, life happens. You dry your tears, get off the ground and move along, right? So, another curve ball comes our way. We were a family of five, content and done with having children. One day in May ’08 that all changed. I came home from work to a voicemail from a social worker in a neighboring state asking me to call her back. That’s it. Nothing else! Hello? Panic much? After being able to reach her the next day, we were told we had a great nephew that was in foster care that needed a permanent home. Now, we knew nothing of this little boy. We didn’t even really know he existed. My husband comes from a home of 9 and many of them aren’t very functional to put it very nicely. It turns out Michael was the son of our niece. She is the daughter of Marshall’s sister. Got all of that? LOL! So, to not put too much out on the interwebz, all parental rights were terminated, which spurred the phone call. He ended up moving in with us in Sept ’08 and his adoption should actually be finalized very soon! :woohoo: So, I posted all of that just to let you know that going back to Disney World had to be moved down on the priority list just a tad. Understandable do you think? ;)

Well, we settled into life as a family of six. I received a postcard in the mail for a 40% pin code early in 2009! Thank you Mickey Mouse!! I really wanted to go back in November as the weather and crowds were superb on our last trip. So, I booked a week in a family suite at ASMu for us all. Guess what happens? More hoops of course. Would you guess anything different?! It seems that my husband who hates to fly actually could not get the time off of work. He just couldn’t do it. He hasn’t been there that long and it wouldn’t work. If I am telling the truth, he also doesn’t really “get” Disney. At all. Don’t kill the messenger folks! I don’t understand it but I’m just hopeful that someday I can convince him differently. Also, there were some issues that prevented us from taking Michael. I won’t get into them but I was really disappointed that he would have to stay home. I did contemplate not going but we do have three other children. These three children have been through a lot in the last few years and they very much were promised a Disney trip. So, a Disney trip would be had! The count went down to 4 but the planning increased!

May of 2009 rolls along. We’re getting close!! I posted an update on the thread regarding my issue with our 2007 trip. A very, very kind soul on the Dis contacted me and offered to help us out with our trip we were planning. This person is one reason I know there is far more positive than negative in this world. After a little rearranging, we were now booked in a room for a week at Old Key West in December!! Not at all what was planned but this was fantastic! We would get a nicer room, be at a DVC resort and be able to see all of the Christmas decorations plus the Osborne lights (my favorites!). It was just perfect.

Thankfully after that, there were not any bumps. A waitlist for one day came through so we were booked all week at OKW. Yay! My sister had mentioned coming off and on. Do you know the type? Indecisive! You know that drives a Disney planner crazy! She also had no idea where she would stay with her 5 year old son. Hello?! She mentioned Pop, someplace off site or wherever she landed. LOL! It all worked out and she ended up with a studio room at OKW as well. It was nice having her close. We didn’t spend all of our time together and were able to do some things separately. Thankfully I had made the ADRs for 6 hoping she would go and didn't have to change a thing.

So, should we get this TR going? I think we shall!! I’ll finish off this post with some intro pictures and then we’ll get this party started! Woot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Sigs/ByrnesK-img_2516.jpg
Our little family. Two parents, Morghan-10, Mykenah-9, Dimitri-6 and Michael-3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Jan%2010/22248_216973713217_508648217_306764.jpg
And my sister Kristen and nephew Jayse-5

Lovemy3babes

01-05-2010, 01:43 PM

Intros!! Post 1, Page 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2364396)

The Day Has Finally Arrived! Post 4, Page 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2364396)

Magic Kingdom, here we come! Post 25, Page 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=34928383#post34928383)

Lunch, Cruising and Jetlag! Posts 45 & 46, Pages 3 & 4 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2364396&page=3)

A crowded evening at MK, S'Mores and a llllooonnggg walk! Post 72, Page 5 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35020820#post35020820)

DHS, a morning full of thrill rides and a good old fashioned American burger! Posts 92 & 93, Page 7 (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35074359&posted=1#post35074359)

Two Enjoyable shows and multiple rides! Making the most of our DHS afternoon! Post 115, Page 8 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35118253#post35118253)

Who knew it closed that early and Osborne Lights!! Posts 146 & 147, Page 10 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35171089&posted=1#post35171089)

A thrilling morning and breakfast with Donald! Posts 166 & 167, Page 12 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35202566#post35202566)

A wonderful ending to a wonderful day in a wonderful park! Posts 190, 191 & 192, Page 13 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35258196#post35258196)

Time for a little break! Downtown Disney and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique! Posts 219, 220 & 221, Page 15 (http://www.disboards.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=2364396)

Magical Wishes and an Ice Cream Caper! Posts 255 & 256, Pages 17 & 18 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35487822#post35487822)

A wet morning in Epcot! Posts 282, 283 & 284, Page 19 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35609470#post35609470)

An onion volcano, Morghan loses her head and Mission Space surprises us! Posts 306, 307 & 308, Page 21 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35691747&posted=1#post35691747)

Our last park day!! A cold but fun morning in Magic Kingdom! Posts 355 & 356, Page 24. (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35993481&posted=1#post35993481)

Wrapping up our last park day...yes I am wearing gloves but can still eat a Dole Whip! Post 400, Page 27 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36187134&posted=1#post36187134)

Where are we and how do we get home?!?! Post 425, Page 29 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36511223&posted=1#post36511223)

Last day!! Boohoo!! Post 461, Page 31 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36700646&posted=1#post36700646)

Final thoughts - Post 495, Page 33 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36929633#post36929633)

The end! Post 527, Page 36 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37014671#post37014671)

arkie

01-05-2010, 02:53 PM

Could I be first... I don't believe it. Saw you on MeMom's report and came over to read. I don't post much, but I am an avid Trip Report reader. Just wanted to let you know you have a reader....keep it up.

Lovemy3babes

01-05-2010, 02:59 PM

December 5th, 2009! It was finally here. After a long 30 day countdown, we were finally able to X off that last day!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/618f5011.jpg

We live in MN and our flight was leaving late, around 5pm in the evening. This meant lots of excitement and anticipation all day long.

All day long.

When are we leaving?

When will we get there?

Can we leave now?

Can we go early?

Um, no, no, no, no. Go take a nap or something. LOL! Sheesh. I spent my day doing lots of cleaning and stocking the house with guy food that could be prepared when I was away. My husband worked in the morning and finally arrived home to take his brood to the airport. We got there about 3pm and we parted ways with long hugs and a few kisses. It was going to be a long week, being away from two of my boys. I dried my sappy tears and bid them goodbye.

Now, checking in and going through security with three children alone was not fun. Not even a little bit. They have to see all three kiddos at check in so that meant they needed to stay right by me. Not sneaking into the gift shop a few feet away. Not pestering your sister by telling her she smells funny. Not pretending to see if you can curl up into a ball and fit into our carry on baggage. None of that funny business, just standing right next to your mom. And security? Ick. Four people equal eight shoes folks. It also equals one laptop, one dvd player, three backpacks and a purse. Most of that opened and laid out on that conveyor belt properly. It was a grand time BUT not one I would like to repeat tomorrow or anything.

All of that took about an hour and we were at our gate with an hour to spare. There was a lot to see and keep children busy. The most fun was watching out of the windows for airplanes coming in!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/ff01fc13.jpg

We live pretty much in the boonies so our little airport flew us out on Allegiant Air. This means we do not go right into Orlando unfortunately but into Sanford, which is about an hour away from Orlando.

The plane was running a little bit late but we were boarded in no time. The plane ride was mostly very uneventful. I thank my lucky stars that I woke up at 3am on Black Friday to score a deal on the very handy portable dvd player. This was invaluable for Dimitri. This little man likes to chat so once I plugged in some earphones, popped in Bolt and got his attention off of the puke bags in the back of the seats (who pukes in these? why do they puke mom? what if they fill it all the way up? what if it stinks up the whole plane? and so on); he was good to go for most of the flight!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/21d64027.jpg
This flared nostril thing is new. Not sure where it comes from, lol!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/9844e95b.jpg
The girls were stars. They usually are with stuff like that. I was able to read my book and eat my Sour Patch Kids and drink my Mt. Dew in peace. I also had subscribed to Tour Guide Mike this trip so I took the time to review my plan for the next day.

We touched down pretty late in the evening, 10:20 EST. It had been a long day, a long flight and we were feeling it. Thankfully the nice man from FL Tours was holding up the sign that read “Extremely Tired Woman with 3 Hyper Children” so I spotted him easily. He helped us with our luggage and we got into our shuttle to take us to the Happiest Place on Earth baby!!

The drive to OKW felt very long after being on a plane for over three hours and just wanting to get there already. But alas, we finally arrived! We were cleared by the security guard after he checked the list twice. (I know I was holding my breath!) He found me and sent us through that pretty white gate. We were welcomed home by a fabulous cast member behind the big desk. It was after midnight at that point so we weren’t exactly fighting lines of people trying to check in. We got our room assignment and he sent us on our way with a huge roll of Mickey Mouse stickers!! Fun stuff.

We saw that some had decorated for Christmas!! How pretty.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/179018eb.jpg

Room 4916 – it seems to be at the very, very, very back of the resort. I mean way back people. That was a haul of a lifetime. I definitely did not choose this nor would ever request building 49.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/9c076f39.jpg

No smoking here!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Leaving%20Home%20-%20Disney/5f3bab96.jpg

The room turned out to be okay. It was fairly large for a studio and was warm and cozy. It was a little “worn” though but we are not picky people even a little bit and were blessed to stay at a DVC resort.

Beds were chosen, teeth were brushed and jammies were put on little bodies. Unpacking could wait until tomorrow! We said our prayers and all went to bed smiling; knowing tomorrow would be spent near Cinderella’s Castle! :goodvibes

Up next: Day 1: a broken camera?!, Magic Kingdom, Fun with Pooh and Parade Taping Crowds!

Lovemy3babes

01-05-2010, 03:01 PM

bballbabe

01-05-2010, 05:16 PM

I too am like your first poster. Love to read, not much of a talker/poster. But at least you know that you have 2 of us.

Lovemy3babes

01-06-2010, 09:38 AM

I too am like your first poster. Love to read, not much of a talker/poster. But at least you know that you have 2 of us.

That is very kind! Thank you so much for reading along with me. :)

jewels1916

01-06-2010, 10:03 AM

Hi! Saw you on Jackie's PTR, thought I'd come on over! I'm excited to read along with your trip! I was there Dec. 5-12th, so we were there at the same time!

Lovemy3babes

01-06-2010, 10:20 AM

Hi! Saw you on Jackie's PTR, thought I'd come on over! I'm excited to read along with your trip! I was there Dec. 5-12th, so we were there at the same time!

Join right in!! Oh, how neat we were there at the same time! Thanks for stopping by!

Charleston Princess

01-06-2010, 10:21 AM

I'm here! I'm here!!! :goodvibes

MeMom

01-06-2010, 10:28 AM

Hold the bus! I'm getting on!!!

Old Key West? Lucky ducks!

I am looking forward to hearing all about the trip. I hope all goes very smoothly with Michael's final paperwork. Next time you go to Disney World, he'll be with you.

Going through airport security is chaotic, for sure. It's always nice to have your luggage checked and get past security. Then you can relax and start getting excited about what lies ahead.

How is it that I never beat CP to a trip report? :laughing:

Charleston Princess

01-06-2010, 10:37 AM

How is it that I never beat CP to a trip report? :laughing:

Because my time zone (Eastern) is an hour ahead of your time zone (Central).

:lmao::rotfl::rotfl2:

Sounds like it should make sense. ;)

Megablocks

01-06-2010, 10:51 AM

Hi! Coming over from MeMom's thread! I can't wait to read more :goodvibes

jewels1916

01-06-2010, 10:54 AM

Hi! Coming over from MeMom's thread! I can't wait to read more :goodvibes

Hi friend! Where is your PTR??

trixiequilts

01-06-2010, 10:59 AM

I too am coming from CP's report. I'm really glad you said something about this TR...we're considering the same timeframe for this December, so I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts. Great start so far! :goodvibes

SoonerGirl

01-06-2010, 11:33 AM

I also came over from CP PTR. Looking forward to reading all about your trip!

This was invaluable for Dimitri. This little man likes to chat so once I plugged in some earphones, popped in Bolt and got his attention off of the puke bags in the back of the seats (who pukes in these? why do they puke mom? what if they fill it all the way up? what if it stinks up the whole plane? and so on)

:lmao: You had me cracking up with this, gotta love little boys and their 3,456 questions don't you?

DisneyDreamerMom

01-06-2010, 11:38 AM

I'm subbing - can't wait to read more.

Lovemy3babes

01-06-2010, 01:46 PM

I'm here! I'm here!!! :goodvibes

Yay!! You made it. Thanks for popping over Jackie aka CP. :goodvibes You have such a cute family. I really love reading your TRs.

Hold the bus! I'm getting on!!!

Old Key West? Lucky ducks!

I am looking forward to hearing all about the trip. I hope all goes very smoothly with Michael's final paperwork. Next time you go to Disney World, he'll be with you.

Going through airport security is chaotic, for sure. It's always nice to have your luggage checked and get past security. Then you can relax and start getting excited about what lies ahead.

How is it that I never beat CP to a trip report? :laughing:

Oh, MeMom. You are just wonderful. I'm so happy to have you on board. You always know that right thing to say. :hug:

Hi! Coming over from MeMom's thread! I can't wait to read more :goodvibes

Welcome to you!! It looks like you have a trip coming up really soon! Lucky girl. :)

I too am coming from CP's report. I'm really glad you said something about this TR...we're considering the same timeframe for this December, so I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts. Great start so far! :goodvibes

Hello there! If you have anything specific you would like to know about December, please ask. When I was planning for this trip, I know I asked a million and one December questions. :laughing: Thanks for joining in!!

I also came over from CP PTR. Looking forward to reading all about your trip!

:lmao: You had me cracking up with this, gotta love little boys and their 3,456 questions don't you?

That CP, she has some faithful readers. Little boys are a hoot! I have some doozies coming up in this report so stay tuned. :thumbsup2 Thanks for coming over!

I'm subbing - can't wait to read more.

Hi there!! And welcome! You have a May trip planned? That sounds like such a nice time frame to visit. :cloud9:

DisneyJo

01-06-2010, 02:52 PM

I also do not know how to do those fun hyperlinks. Can anyone teach me? Any kind soul in the audience? ;) I'll try :goodvibes Write what you want to be the link, then highlight it. Now click the "insert link" (globe) button and paste on your link. It should then magically work, let me know if it does :thumbsup2

Sounds as though you had a rough journey to finally get to WDW, I'm so pleased you managed to kind of sort it all out and how nice of another DISer to help you get OKW :goodvibes

SoonerGirl

01-06-2010, 04:01 PM

I'll try :goodvibes Write what you want to be the link, then highlight it. Now click the "insert link" (globe) button and paste on your link. It should then magically work, let me know if it does :thumbsup2

I just wanted to say thanks! I've been wondering myself how do this. Just tried it with the links in my siggie and it worked! :worship:

stace208

01-06-2010, 05:36 PM

I'm joining in! Love your report so far and looking forward to more!:thumbsup2

If U Had Wings

01-07-2010, 09:22 AM

Hi! A bit of a rough start to your trip, but you made it. I can't wait to hear more.

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-07-2010, 10:49 AM

HEY! I finally made it and am all caught up. How in the world did you manage three kids by yourself!:worship: Amazing! You must be supermom or something! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Lovemy3babes

01-07-2010, 12:06 PM

I'll try :goodvibes Write what you want to be the link, then highlight it. Now click the "insert link" (globe) button and paste on your link. It should then magically work, let me know if it does :thumbsup2

Sounds as though you had a rough journey to finally get to WDW, I'm so pleased you managed to kind of sort it all out and how nice of another DISer to help you get OKW :goodvibes

Oh thank you kind Disney soul! I'm going to try this!! You are right, it was a bit of a rough journey but so worth it. :goodvibes

I just wanted to say thanks! I've been wondering myself how do this. Just tried it with the links in my siggie and it worked! :worship:

It was tricky to figure out, wasn't it? LOL! I tried for days before asking for help! :laughing:

I'm joining in! Love your report so far and looking forward to more!:thumbsup2

Hi Stacy! Welcome! :thumbsup2

Hi! A bit of a rough start to your trip, but you made it. I can't wait to hear more.

We finally made it!! Thanks for reading along with me. :woohoo:

HEY! I finally made it and am all caught up. How in the world did you manage three kids by yourself!:worship: Amazing! You must be supermom or something! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Hi there, you made it! :flower3: It helped that the kiddos were older. But I admit, we did have a few "hard" moments if you know what I mean. ;)

Lovemy3babes

01-08-2010, 01:12 PM

It was Sunday, December 6th and our official “first day” in Disney World! Oh yes, this would be a very grand day. Now, we didn’t get to bed until after 1am the night before. Our official plan was to try and make rope drops each morning. So also friends, this would mean not a whole lot of sleep. But, we managed. The alarm went off bright and early at 6:30am for me. I hopped in the shower, got ready, plans ready to go and bag packed by the time the kiddos were up and at ‘em. Big surprise….not one of them was even a little bit crabby! Perhaps that had something to do with being in the Happiest Place on Earth, methinks.

We peeked outside and sent Morghan, who soon became the official family Meteorologist, outside to test the conditions. It was a little chilly and dark so we threw on a warm sweatshirt over the top of our warmer weather gear. Remember we are from Minnesota. By darn we will be wearing some sort of warm weather gear! ;)

And we were off! My sister and nephew met us right outside our building so we could all make sure we got on the same bus. All was going well. Kids were smiling, moms were happy; all was well in our little world. (For now.) We told the kiddos to hop up on the bench and we’d take a cute first day photo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009009.jpg

Right after I preview the shot and go to put my camera in my lovely purple Baggalini, I hear it. This icky, awful grinding sound as the lens in my camera tries to close and go back in. The one and only camera I brought with me. The camera that I specially bought just for this trip so I’d have a nice pocket camera to easily use. Ugh, not good. Not good at all. I was close to tears. I fiddled with it for a little bit and it seemed to work semi-okay. The zoom was dust. But it took decent pictures and only locked up sometime. Then I had to take out the batteries and put them back in. That would make it manually reset and start working for awhile again. A huge pain? Yes it was. But, what else could I do? I’m not happy with my Disney pictures but it could be worse…I could have NO pictures!! :( Okay, so on with the show….

We hit the South Point bus stop.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009010.jpg

This was the closest to our building and a short walk away. Many buses came by but not our Magic Kingdom bus! Yes, we must go to MK today. I was very set on that. Magic Kingdom is Disney of course. My kids love Magic Kingdom. They love the castle, they love it all. And having an ADR at Crystal Palace mattered a little bit too of course. ;) But thankfully our lovely bus came and we all hopped on, knowing great things awaited us!

We arrived!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_205260823217_508648217_301732.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_205260833217_508648217_301732.jpg

Now, I knew that parade taping would be today. I figured it wouldn’t matter too much. I was wrong. Rope drop was packed. Absolutely crowded and hectic. See? I thought I might get smooshed.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009011.jpg

But, we did make it through the mass. We could not take our first stroll down Main St., which was disappointing. Walking down that street just makes everything okay, doesn’t it? People were everywhere, roped off; waving special color bandanas it looked like. It looked like fun but also lots of craziness. It was very choreographed. We zig and zagged and finally ended up where we were supposed to be. Can you guess? Oh come on…. Dumbo of course. We did the mad Dumbo Dash with the rest of the diehards of course. We did not make it for the first, second or whatever cycle but we did make it. See?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_205260843217_508648217_301732.jpg

We decided to take a little spin and visit Winnie the Pooh next. That was a fun little ride in his honey pot and we walked ride on. The kiddos enjoyed it. They wanted more. Peter Pan was next on the list. No wait again! I know this one can back up a bit but it was only 9:20am in the morning and we now had two rides under our belt and walking onto the third. Perfection this was!

You may be asking where the heck are the pictures? I sure am as I am reviewing my albums. It seems that I was so busy getting us on our rides that I forgot about actually capturing the moments. Duh. No worries! This occurred to me soon after and I picked that broken camera right out of the bag to take some pictures! Geez, what was wrong with me?

We took a quick spin on Snow White (I love this!) and no one flinched at the witch so we were in good shape. We wandered over to the carousel but nobody was interested in taking a ride. It was too “babyish” in Dimitri’s words! What? Too babyish? Aww, that makes his mom feel old. But they all did try their hand on getting that darn sword out of that stone with no luck at all. Bummer, maybe next time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009015.jpg

Onto a favorite of ours! “It’s a world of laughter….” Oh yes my friends. It’s a Small World of course! I am told some find this hokey. That’s just silly talk. How could you not like cruising around in a little boat, looking at various dolls from other countries while listening to a song that becomes stuck in your head for months?! Some photos for your pleasure…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/untitled.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/untitled3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009018.jpg

We said goodbye to our lovely foreign friends and decided that we would wander over to Frontierland. It was only 10am so we were looking good time-wise. The plan was to grab Splash FPs so we could ride later when it warmed up a bit (wishful thinking!) and then ride good ‘ol Big Thunder baby! And that we did. The wait time was only 15 minutes so the crew, minus my pregnant sister, took a wild train ride! Back in 2006 I took my first ever rollercoaster ride and it was here so I have fond memories. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/untitled4.jpg

AdventureLand was next.
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Aladdin was closed for refurb so we waved hello at Genie and walked on by. We would have time to ride Dimitri’s favorite ride! Pirates of the Caribbean. Isn’t this a fun one? The wait time posted was a mere 5 minutes. Well, we don’t mind if we do! The little drop is always fun for the kids, even when they know it’s coming up. That gift shop is also fun to explore and the kids had fun looking around and trying various items on.

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Since Dimitri had a choice of his favorite ride, Morghan must too!! Haunted Mansion, here we come.
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This is also one of my favorites. It’s spooky, silly fun for all ages. We all laughed and pointed when we discovered who our hitchhikers were. Cute stuff.

But based on a time check, it was now time to dine with some very adorable characters! This is an ADR we all were looking forward to. We also were starved by now of course. I think I’m always hungry in Disney World. Why is this?!

Up next...Napkin twirlin' fun, a cold ride and mom needs a nap...big time!

trixiequilts

01-08-2010, 01:48 PM

Hello there! If you have anything specific you would like to know about December, please ask. When I was planning for this trip, I know I asked a million and one December questions. :laughing: Thanks for joining in!!

You may end up regretting the offer when you're answering my zillionth-and-one question! :scared1: But I certainly appreciate the offer and I will take you up on it! :lmao:

We went in late January of 2009 (our first trip...it was absolutely wonderful thanks to great people on the DIS) and I'm thinking this time that we need to go after Thanksgiving but before the Christmas rush. I'm one of those weird "NO Christmas until after Thanksgiving" people and I think it would drive me bonkers to see so much Christmas stuff if we went in November.

My major concern (of the moment~~there WILL be more) is Pop Warner. Did that affect you at all? Rats, I can't remember the dates and even if it was going on while you were there. Does anyone (except those staying at the resorts they're all at) even notice that it's going on?

trixiequilts

01-08-2010, 01:54 PM

Your camera!!! :scared1: I would have totally freaked!!! You seemed to have handled it very well!

Oh boy...the parade taping. Is there somewhere specific that you got your information about it? How far in advance do they schedule it? Is it just one day? Does it only affect Main Street? It seems like you got a ton done that morning, even with all the extra people. Were those people just there for the taping? Or were they standard guests? I have absolutely no idea. :sad2: Can you tell? :laughing:

DisneyJo

01-08-2010, 02:02 PM

I just wanted to say thanks! I've been wondering myself how do this. Just tried it with the links in my siggie and it worked! :worship:

Oh thank you kind Disney soul! I'm going to try this!!
Glad I could help and that it worked :goodvibes

Wow that did look busy but it sounds as though the queues were very short so that was fantastic :thumbsup2

SoonerGirl

01-08-2010, 02:21 PM

Wow that was quite a crowd at rope drop!! It sounded like most of them were there for the parade taping though, cause you got alot done :thumbsup2

I would have been so upset about the camera, I don't know if I could do a vacation without one - I probably would have spent a small fortune and bought a new one there. :sad2: I'm glad you were able to get it to work well enough to still get some pictures!

Lovemy3babes

01-08-2010, 03:59 PM

You may end up regretting the offer when you're answering my zillionth-and-one question! :scared1: But I certainly appreciate the offer and I will take you up on it! :lmao:

We went in late January of 2009 (our first trip...it was absolutely wonderful thanks to great people on the DIS) and I'm thinking this time that we need to go after Thanksgiving but before the Christmas rush. I'm one of those weird "NO Christmas until after Thanksgiving" people and I think it would drive me bonkers to see so much Christmas stuff if we went in November.

My major concern (of the moment~~there WILL be more) is Pop Warner. Did that affect you at all? Rats, I can't remember the dates and even if it was going on while you were there. Does anyone (except those staying at the resorts they're all at) even notice that it's going on?

I promise I will not regret it. I also asked a boatload of questions so I know the feeling. :) Pop Warner did affect us only slightly and later into our trip. We saw various crowds here and there but they weren't bad at all! There was a group of cheerleaders who budged in front of us on our last day in the parks but they were certainly an exception. To balance that out, the kiddos rode Kali with a super fun group of cheerleading girls in Animal Kingdom. They had a blast! :banana:

Your camera!!! :scared1: I would have totally freaked!!! You seemed to have handled it very well!

Oh boy...the parade taping. Is there somewhere specific that you got your information about it? How far in advance to they schedule it? Is it just one day? Does it only affect Main Street? It seems like you got a ton done that morning, even with all the extra people. Were those people just there for the taping? Or were they standard guests? I have absolutely no idea. :sad2: Can you tell? :laughing:

I actually read about the parade taping here on the Dis and also on TGM. I'm pretty sure it's always the first weekend in December. It seemed to only affect Main Street in the morning but they did filter into the park later in the day as it did get crowded that afternoon/evening. I'm not sure if they were regular guests or not. We did our best to stay away from the huge crowd! :laughing:
Glad I could help and that it worked :goodvibes

Wow that did look busy but it sounds as though the queues were very short so that was fantastic :thumbsup2

I agree, short wait times are the best!! Thanks again! :thumbsup2

Wow that was quite a crowd at rope drop!! It sounded like most of them were there for the parade taping though, cause you got alot done :thumbsup2

I would have been so upset about the camera, I don't know if I could do a vacation without one - I probably would have spent a small fortune and bought a new one there. :sad2: I'm glad you were able to get it to work well enough to still get some pictures!

We did get a lot done, I was really pleased about that. All of that before lunch! My first thought was to run out and buy a new one but I had no idea how to even go about that so I trudged along with the broken one. I also am borrowing some of my sister's pictures so all's good. :rolleyes1

Charleston Princess

01-08-2010, 08:14 PM

jordanyosh

01-08-2010, 08:25 PM

okay i'm in and caught up. you had some good fortune at the MK!

DisMomAmy

01-08-2010, 08:37 PM

Hi! :wave2:

Another "spectrum mom" here... followed you over from KathyRN's trip report. Sounds like you are off to a good start - aside from the broken camera. :headache:

Lovemy3babes

01-08-2010, 11:13 PM

Oh, no about your camera! I would have been freaking out completely!!!

I can't believe how many people were at rope drop!!! :eek: Glad they seemed to stay on Main Street though for the parade taping.

Fun rides! You hit a lot of the good ones! :thumbsup2

I was mentally willing them to stay put on Main Street! ;) I was a little bit whiny about the camera and might have called my husband twice to cry about it. LOL!!

okay i'm in and caught up. you had some good fortune at the MK!

Hello there!! Welcome! :goodvibes

Hi! :wave2:

Another "spectrum mom" here... followed you over from KathyRN's trip report. Sounds like you are off to a good start - aside from the broken camera. :headache:

Hi there! Thanks for popping over. It's nice to have friends along for the ride. :cloud9:

Momof2Disneyboys

01-09-2010, 09:15 AM

Lovemy3babes

01-09-2010, 10:53 AM

Hello! :wave: Signing on for what looks to be an awesome TR! popcorn::

I had to laugh about your DS and the questions on the plane. I have 2 DS's who love to talk ALL THE TIME, so I know just what you mean.:hyper2: Never a dull moment, that's for sure! :rotfl:

I hear ya on being put in the way way back OKW. We were in building 50 in November. The very last room, clear down at the end of the building, right by the 4 lane highway! :eek: We really liked the resort, our room, the pool, the CM's, etc. But didn't care for that location. Did you get a chance to eat at Olivia's? We did and it was very good!

I hope you didn't run into much trouble with the Pop Warner kids. I read a couple of threads about them this year and it sounds like they were out of control. :scared:

Sorry about your camera. :sad2:

Looking forward to your Osborne Lights report. It was one of the highlights of our trip!

Can't wait to hear more! :yay:

Well, hello there! We have a lot in common. :goodvibes Boys and their constant chatter is one of them it seems!! Ack. :scared1:

OKW is huge, isn't it? To tell you the truth, I wasn't really up on how the whole internal system ran until a couple days into our trip. I'm glad Olivia's was good. We unfortunately didn't dine there but should have. One night we didn't have an ADR so just ate at Good's Food to Go, which wasn't that good.

Thanks for coming along on the ride! :)

brookelizabeth

01-09-2010, 04:12 PM

MeMom

01-09-2010, 04:32 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/Disney2009009.jpg

That's a happy and great-looking bunch of kids!

It's nice to hear that you ran across some nice, fun cheerleaders.We mostly read about the negative things associated with teams and cheerleaders, so it's good to hear about a group that was representing themselves in a good way.

MickeyisBeast

01-09-2010, 04:35 PM

Hi
I'm joining in&subbing
Great report so far!

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-09-2010, 05:26 PM

I cannot believe you walked onto all those rides with a crowd that that at rope drop!:eek: Amazing!

Too bad about your camera! I would have had a meltdown if that had happened to me. At least it didn't die all together.

Can't wait for the rest!

Lovemy3babes

01-10-2010, 10:13 AM

I'm here now, and caught up! :thumbsup2 First, you are NOT a bad writer at all. Very entertaining!!

That is awful about your camera. :sad2: I'm glad at least it still took pics. Were you able to return it and get your money back considering it was new? (Sorry if someone else asked this, and you answered it-I skipped the chit chat and used your handy links, which I'm guessing someone explained how to do them. ;))

You guys are cruising right through MK - what a magical day!!!

ETA - I'm so sorry to read about you loosing the $1000! That is awful. I haven't read the whole thread, but geez...sounds like you really got scammed, that is very WRONG.:hug:

Thanks for coming over Brook! I definitely am not as a good writer as some of you Disers, that's for sure but I'll try my best.

The camera was about 3 months old so I couldn't return it but thankfully, it was under warranty so Canon repaired it for free. Go figure, I get it back the day after Christmas.

The $1000 debacle was awful. Thankfully it's behind me but probably something I will always worry about unfortunately.
That's a happy and great-looking bunch of kids!

It's nice to hear that you ran across some nice, fun cheerleaders.We mostly read about the negative things associated with teams and cheerleaders, so it's good to hear about a group that was representing themselves in a good way.

Thanks MeMom!! I hadn't seen any of the negative stories with cheerleaders but we did have one bad run-in with them on POC in MK. The other fun group very much outweighed them for sure though thankfully! :)
Hi
I'm joining in&subbing
Great report so far!
Hi there!! Thank you and welcome. :goodvibes

I cannot believe you walked onto all those rides with a crowd that that at rope drop!:eek: Amazing!

Too bad about your camera! I would have had a meltdown if that had happened to me. At least it didn't die all together.

Can't wait for the rest!

You are right, I would have been devastated if it completely had died. The walk on rides were wonderful!! :lovestruc

BrooklynnsMommy

01-10-2010, 04:13 PM

Finally here and ready for the rest of this trip!

jewels1916

01-11-2010, 09:44 AM

MK rope drop! I remember those days! I haven't done a rope drop since I was small enough to sit on my Dad's shoulders! (This is not due to my not planning them, by the way - it's more or less the other travelers.... :lmao:) And :rotfl2: about having a family appointed "meteorologist!" That would be my official job too! I am always checking the weather. How else will you know what to wear?? :)

Lovemy3babes

01-11-2010, 01:05 PM

Finally here and ready for the rest of this trip!

Hey Jill! I'm glad you came on over. :goodvibes

MK rope drop! I remember those days! I haven't done a rope drop since I was small enough to sit on my Dad's shoulders! (This is not due to my not planning them, by the way - it's more or less the other travelers.... :lmao:) And :rotfl2: about having a family appointed "meteorologist!" That would be my official job too! I am always checking the weather. How else will you know what to wear?? :)

This was our first trip doing rope drops. The getting up part was not easy for the kiddos but they sure enjoyed being able to walk right on those rides! :rotfl: My daughter Morghan definitely took her job pretty seriously. She'd come in and say "It's a capri day mom!" or "Wear your jackets people!" Heehee. She's ten and of course, knows everything at this age. ;)

Lovemy3babes

01-11-2010, 03:08 PM

When we last left you, we had some very rumbly tummies. It was lunch time! We had a date with Pooh and his friends at Crystal Palace. This was my third time eating here actually. I guess you could say I’m a fan. It was our first time coming at lunch though so that was different.

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The line to even just check in was huge. The window is sort of hidden around the corner and people were standing this way and that, not sure where to line up. A pretty um, forceful Cast Member come out and starts giving out military-like orders. We were checked in and then barked off of the steps by the same lady moments later. That was interesting. ;) Thankfully we didn’t have to stand long and were ushered in about 15 minutes after our ADR time.

We lucked into a really excellent location. We were the very first table to your right upon entering the restaurant. We quickly took our seats and gave our waiter our drink order. We could see a character off in the near distance so we scooted right up to the buffet to get some food.

Soon, Eeyore slouched over to us. I love Eeyore! I just want to hug him and bring him home with me! What a cutie. This was the first character we have met with this trip so the kids were pretty excited! They whipped out their book like old pros and then smiled for mom’s picture.
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We were able to get some more food under our belts before we spotted Pooh heading our way. Hi Pooh! Pooh was really nice and took some time with the kids, giving them extra hugs and such. Everyone smile!

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Guess who was next? Our old pal Tigger. I love Tigger and his interaction. He was hilarious. He jumped right up to the table and messed up Dimitri’s hair. LOL! He gave all of us a high five and motioned for me to get into the picture too. It was really fun.

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We had time to grab some dessert and we all were sure ready for that! The ice cream machine was a favorite among the girls. Dimitri is a chocoholic so anything chocolate, he inhaled. You’ll be able to tell from the big chocolate stain on his sweatshirt for the rest of the day. LOL!

Finally Piglet made his way over. And of course, I did what every mom seems to do to their 10 –year old daughter; embarrass her somehow. My crime? I called Piglet “she”. Duh. I know Piglet is a boy. I really do. I was just in the moment, getting the autograph book to the kids and said “isn’t she cute?” to Morghan. She turned red and said “Geez mom, doesn’t everyone know Piglet is a boy!” Sorry, the pink threw me off. Sorry Piglet. He just shook his little head at me. LOL! Poor Piglet, being mistaken for a girl.

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Piglet then motioned for the kids to come join HIS parade. LOL! There was napkin twirling, marching and dancing going on for all of the characters and kids as they made their way through the restaurant. The really enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun to watch them.

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Continued in next post

Lovemy3babes

01-11-2010, 03:10 PM

Crystal Palace was good and I’d like to go back again and try breakfast. It’d be fun to walk down an empty Main Street. The food at lunch time was pretty good. The potatoes and the veggies were my favorite. The kids ate the standard kid fare and liked most of it except for the macaroni and cheese. None of them liked it so it must not have been the best mac and cheese around.

Ok, time’s up and the bill is due. For a party of 6, they automatically add on an 18% tip. I should have known this. We made the mandatory bathroom break and headed out into the sunny but not quite warm enough Florida air after snapping this nice photo:

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We headed towards the bridge and ran into a nice Photopass photographer and decided to get our first Photopass pictures of the trip! These were some fun ones. :) Dimitri just does not photograph well. He squints anticipating the flash and does this flared nostril thing. He’s a ham.

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(See the chocolate stain?) ;)

And the girls got to kiss a frog, which they loved!

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We were then off to….Jungle Cruise! This was a first for all of us. I think I forgot to mention that we had grabbed a Fast Pass for JC on our way to lunch. We became quite good at using Fast Passes throughout the trip. What an awesome idea FP was. It was time to doing a little cruising!

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So hopped in the boat with a really funny captain. I don’t remember her name but she had reddish hair and just a really hilarious sense of humor. She made the ride a lot of fun.

The elephants were most everyone’s favorite. We sure didn’t want to get wet though!! I think we barely missed the water. ;)

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Uh oh, look at these guys!
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Our ride was over unfortunately. She made one parting remark that made us giggle like crazy. It went something like “If you had a great time on the cruise, well my name is “Jane” and come back again soon. If you didn’t have a great time well then, ummm my name is “Sam”. It was so quirky my sister and I just had to laugh out loud.

Now at this point, we should have taken a break. We had full bellies and the troops were getting a little wild. We all could have used a nap. But, I went against my better judgment and we trudged along. There were Splash Fastpasses to be used of course! Everyone to Splash Mountain!!

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Again, a first for me and Dimitri but not for the girls. So, I was really, REALLY looking forward to this. It was awesome!! I am certainly placing it upon my favorite list. The music was great, the effects were fun. But silly girl that I am, I thought the first drop was the big one and said “Oh, that wasn’t bad.” Don’t laugh at me, I didn’t know. LOL!!! Yep, we got soaked, big time. Wet, wet, wet.

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My sister is pregnant so couldn’t ride so she got this shot of us after the drop.
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Dimitri is not happy about being wet as you can see. Doesn’t the girl behind us look like she’s posing for my sister too? LOL!

The weather was still not that warm. The sun went under the clouds so when we came out, it was chilly. The ride was wonderful but the after effects in December, not so much. We wrapped up in the jackets we left with my sister and tried to warm up as quickly as we could.

A smart person would have said right there, “It’s time for a break, right?” Well, you would think so. That person was not me. We did head towards the exit; shivering and trying to warm back up. But Dimitri saw the train depot, right before we were out the doors. And that little guy said “Mom, can we please ride Walt Disney’s train? Can we please mom?” That’s all it took. Of course you can. We’re on vacation! We can do whatever we want. Geesh. So, we all lugged our tired bodies up the stairs for a complete ride around the park. This was another first. It was neat, seeing the different parts of the park from the train’s view. Pretty cool. But it was close to 2:30pm at that point if I remember correctly and it was time for a nap. Mom was getting sort of crabby. I admit it, I was. We didn’t have much sleep the night before and I was really, really feeling it. I hated feeling it at the Happiest Place on Earth though.

We made our way out of the park finally and shot a couple of pictures along on the way out before we headed back to OKW.

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(Look at them sitting on poor Minnie Mouse!)

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(Ahhh, love the castle. I wished I lived there.)

Thankfully it wasn’t too much of a haul to our bus stop and a bus did come fairly quickly. Yay! Good bus mojo. :)

We were let off at the South Point bus stop and I made plans to meet up with my sister around 4:30pm. (In hindsight, we should have just called it a day here. We did so much that morning and should have relaxed at the resort.)

My and my three kiddos and I made the haul down to good old building #49. It wasn’t even ten minutes and the four of us were sound asleep. I had remembered to set my alarm for 4:15. But….would we get up on time? Would we get back into Magic Kingdom before it shut down at an early 7pm?

Up next…I cannot believe it closes at 7pm! dinner someplace new and a “not quite” campfire sing-a-long.

SoonerGirl

01-11-2010, 04:02 PM

jewels1916

01-11-2010, 04:03 PM

Crystal Palace is my family's favorite! We usually do hit it up for breakfast, which I would definitely recommend. And I love the pics of the girls kissing the frog! What a great tie in with the new movie! Looks like y'all were having a great time!

BrooklynnsMommy

01-11-2010, 05:09 PM

Tigger was not so great when we were there for dinner two weeks ago. He didn't even acknowledge Bella and barely stopped long enough to take a picture with Brooklynn. Brooklynn has that encyclopedia book for all the characters to sign. It usually gets lots of attention because the characters see themselves and get "excited."

Megablocks

01-11-2010, 05:25 PM

Splash Mountain is one of my absolute favorites! I'm so disappointed it's going to be closed for refurb when we're down there next month, but it's just a reason to go back, right?

Your kids are SO cute and I love the pictures with the frog! That's the first I've seen of that.

Lovemy3babes

01-11-2010, 06:48 PM

Oh my goodness, the pictures with the frog are so cute! I haven't seen anyone post one of those yet. I love it!

I totally hear ya on pushing just a little too far and ending up tired and a bit cranky. It's just hard to slow down sometimes isn't it?

Thanks! I thought they were really cute. You are right, it is soooo hard to slow down when you're having fun. Why do they make it so fun? :confused3 LOL!

Crystal Palace is my family's favorite! We usually do hit it up for breakfast, which I would definitely recommend. And I love the pics of the girls kissing the frog! What a great tie in with the new movie! Looks like y'all were having a great time!

Thanks so much! We will definitely have to try CP for breakfast next time. We had a lot of fun. :cool1:

Tigger was not so great when we were there for dinner two weeks ago. He didn't even acknowledge Bella and barely stopped long enough to take a picture with Brooklynn. Brooklynn has that encyclopedia book for all the characters to sign. It usually gets lots of attention because the characters see themselves and get "excited."

What? Not cool at all. Ya know, if people aren't feeling it, well there are other places to work. To throw a downer into someone's trip like that isn't fair at all. I'm sorry Jill. We have that exact same encyclopedia and used that this time too! :)

Splash Mountain is one of my absolute favorites! I'm so disappointed it's going to be closed for refurb when we're down there next month, but it's just a reason to go back, right?

Your kids are SO cute and I love the pictures with the frog! That's the first I've seen of that.

You are right!! We must always have another reason to go back! Thanks so much for the compliments. :cloud9:

Charleston Princess

01-11-2010, 08:40 PM

brookelizabeth

01-11-2010, 10:37 PM

Those Princess and the Frog pictures are adorable!!!! I haven't seen those before! I hope they keep them....and I get one on our next trip. :rolleyes1 :laughing:

Gotta love a good captain on the Jungle Cruise! :thumbsup2 I think they can really make or break the trip. We had a really great one the past two times, I'm going to look for her next trip and request to be on her boat! :rolleyes:

jordanyosh

01-12-2010, 12:31 AM

what a great day a mk!

and yes, you are on vacation and you can stay at the park if you want.

If U Had Wings

01-12-2010, 09:04 AM

I haven't eaten at the Crystal Palace since before it became a character meal. One of these days I'm going to have to try it again.

I love the frog pictures with the girls. Too cute!

Lovemy3babes

01-12-2010, 10:15 AM

We have never eaten lunch at the Crystal Palace before, so it was neat to read your perspective of it.

Great Photopass pics -- Connor does the same thing as Dimitri -- if the sun is in his eyes, he gets all squinty. :sad2: Love the new frog photos -- too cute!

I have pushed myself beyond the limit before so I know exactly how you must have been feeling. Glad you were able to get a nap in, but I hope you get up in time!

Thanks Jackie!! Lunch was good. I'd say it was very similar to dinner though and cheaper. LOL! The squinty eye thing drives me crazy. His school pictures even have it. Crazy boy. ;)

Those Princess and the Frog pictures are adorable!!!! I haven't seen those before! I hope they keep them....and I get one on our next trip. :rolleyes1 :laughing:

Gotta love a good captain on the Jungle Cruise! :thumbsup2 I think they can really make or break the trip. We had a really great one the past two times, I'm going to look for her next trip and request to be on her boat! :rolleyes:

Thanks Brook! I really thought the frog pictures were a cute idea. You are right about having a good Captain. We rode it once more later in the week and it wasn't quite the same.

what a great day a mk!

and yes, you are on vacation and you can stay at the park if you want.

Thank you Jordan! You are right; we are on vacation and can stay at the park if we want! I'm going to sing that line to the tune of "It's my party and I can cry if I want too." Heehee. :laughing:

I haven't eaten at the Crystal Palace since before it became a character meal. One of these days I'm going to have to try it again.

I love the frog pictures with the girls. Too cute!

Thank you so much! Yep, put it on your list. We really enjoyed it and filled our bellies with no problem. :)

Momof2Disneyboys

01-12-2010, 11:30 AM

KathyRN137

01-12-2010, 11:52 AM

Hi Kelli! :wave2:

I'm still reading but I wanted to stop and post my hello before I have to go back to work. (I'm home for lunch.)

You and your sister are brave women to attempt the MK on a day of the Christmas Parade taping! :eek: Seems like the parade siphoned off some of the Fantasyland crowd, though.

I love the new photo pose with the girls kissing the frog! puckerup: That is so clever! We never do Disney without visiting Pooh and Friends at CP, either.

Also... hats off to you and your hubby for stepping up and adopting your grand nephew. He has a wonderful and loving family now. :grouphug:

Kathy

Lovemy3babes

01-12-2010, 12:37 PM

Great pictures of Crystal Palace! We just love that place. We've been there on 4 out of our 5 trips. We skipped it this past trip, but will definitely be going next time.

That was a funny story about you calling Piglet a girl!! :rotfl:

Love the pictures of the girls and the frog. Very cute!

Looking forward to more. popcorn::

Isn't CP wonderful? I love the atmosphere and it's always so light and open in there. Poor Piglet, being called a girl. I messed up! LOL!! :(

Hi Kelli! :wave2:

I'm still reading but I wanted to stop and post my hello before I have to go back to work. (I'm home for lunch.)

You and your sister are brave women to attempt the MK on a day of the Christmas Parade taping! :eek: Seems like the parade siphoned off some of the Fantasyland crowd, though.

I love the new photo pose with the girls kissing the frog! puckerup: That is so clever! We never do Disney without visiting Pooh and Friends at CP, either.

Also... hats off to you and your hubby for stepping up and adopting your grand nephew. He has a wonderful and loving family now. :grouphug:

Kathy

Hi Kathy!! :welcome: I didn't think much of the parade while doing my trip planning but I will never do that again. I'm glad your family enjoys CP as much as we do. And thank you for the kind words about Michael. It was a process and now that we have an Autism diagnosis, we're going through some more stuff as you know much about. But, it's all completely worth it. :hug:

My2BabiesLexis&Dill

01-12-2010, 12:52 PM

popcorn::

Mndisneygirl

01-12-2010, 02:02 PM

Hi Kelli!!
I think I found you from Shelly (Momof2Disneyboys) or CP's TRs. I'm from MN too! Where do you live? Up north? I'm in the cities - Oakdale specifically.

I love your pictures - your family is so cute! And kudos to you for helping with adopting Michael. I work in the court system and see those child protection/termination cases a lot. Thank God for people like you!

We were also at WDW the same time as you! We arrived on the 4th. I will be reading to see if we ever were at the same places!! Please come over and check out my TR!

DisneyJo

01-12-2010, 02:35 PM

Great photos of CP and I adore the frog PP photo, it's the first time I've seen that :goodvibes

Mndisneygirl

01-12-2010, 02:44 PM

Oh yeah - I forgot the frog pictures!! SO CUTE!! I can't believe we didn't get to do that! I didn't know about it and now wish I had! Oh well!

Lovemy3babes

01-12-2010, 02:47 PM

popcorn::

Hi! :)

Hi Kelli!!
I think I found you from Shelly (Momof2Disneyboys) or CP's TRs. I'm from MN too! Where do you live? Up north? I'm in the cities - Oakdale specifically.

I love your pictures - your family is so cute! And kudos to you for helping with adopting Michael. I work in the court system and see those child protection/termination cases a lot. Thank God for people like you!

We were also at WDW the same time as you! We arrived on the 4th. I will be reading to see if we ever were at the same places!! Please come over and check out my TR!

Welcome!! We are actually in the SW corner of Minnesota. It's neat seeing other people from MN on the boards.

Thank you for the kind words regarding our adoption. It was a big change in our lives but it was definitely the right thing to do.

And how cool that we were there at the same times. Very neat! I will hop over and check out your report this afternoon for sure! :goodvibes

Great photos of CP and I adore the frog PP photo, it's the first time I've seen that :goodvibes

I didn't know that the frog pictures were so new. I should have figured that with the new movie, which we still haven't had a chance to see. Thanks for reading along with me. It's fun to re-live a trip, especially when it will be a little while before you get to go again. :)

Lovemy3babes

01-12-2010, 02:48 PM

Oh yeah - I forgot the frog pictures!! SO CUTE!! I can't believe we didn't get to do that! I didn't know about it and now wish I had! Oh well!

Thanks Sheree!!

Panotchr

01-12-2010, 06:13 PM

I love your trip report! I don't find you a poor writer at all! I am loving it.

Loved the frog pictures, too. We had some family go recently and get those shots. :)

We are CP people. I love the Arnold Palmer iced tea they serve there! I have to say, I have never been for anything but dinner, and I have my ADR already for this summer. Come on July.

Ready for more!popcorn::

Lovemy3babes

01-12-2010, 07:35 PM

aidansmommy

01-13-2010, 03:16 PM

Count me in! I can't wait to read what the rest of the week has in store for you!:cool1:

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-13-2010, 07:17 PM

I LOVE those Princess and the Frog pictures! That alone was worth the price of the PP! So darn cute!:thumbsup2

Your pictures of SM are great. I love the one from across the water and the one your sister took was really good too. I thought the first drop was it too when I rode it. Boy was that a rude awakening for me! Glad you like it though.

It really does stink that MK closes so early this time of year! That's the only thing I didn't like about going in Nov.

KathyRN137

01-13-2010, 10:41 PM

... thank you for the kind words about Michael. It was a process and now that we have an Autism diagnosis, we're going through some more stuff as you know much about. But, it's all completely worth it. :hug:

:grouphug:

Kathy

Lovemy3babes

01-15-2010, 01:04 PM

Count me in! I can't wait to read what the rest of the week has in store for you!:cool1:

Hi there! Welcome. :yay:

I LOVE those Princess and the Frog pictures! That alone was worth the price of the PP! So darn cute!:thumbsup2

Your pictures of SM are great. I love the one from across the water and the one your sister took was really good too. I thought the first drop was it too when I rode it. Boy was that a rude awakening for me! Glad you like it though.

It really does stink that MK closes so early this time of year! That's the only thing I didn't like about going in Nov.

Thanks!! I thought I was pretty brave after that first drop. Haha, was I naive or what?! The early closings were hard to plan around, weren't they?

:grouphug:

Kathy

Back at you Kathy! :hug:

Lovemy3babes

01-15-2010, 02:15 PM

Sorry in advance, I know this is going to be a short and kind of boring chapter!

When I last left you, we all fell asleep for a much needed nap. I wish we would have just slept the night through! Our evening wasn’t the best evening of our trip. Ugh.

So, we woke up on time thankfully but all were very groggy. Jetlag set in and it was hard to get moving. I called my sister and we arranged to meet at the South Point bus stop. We got there and did not have to wait long for a glorious Magic Kingdom bus. We were back to our favorite park! Poor Dimitri did not get enough sleep unfortunately as you can see here….

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/7f91562c.jpg

The poor kid fell right back asleep on the bus!

If I remember correctly, we got back to the park around 5pm. And it was a packed. A complete zoo, a definite contrast to our “walk-on rides” morning. Thankfully, we only had two goals in mind, just two.

1. See Mickey’s Philharmagic – This had been down in the afternoon. It’s our favorite 4-D show so we could NOT skip it. No way, no how sir.
2. Eat something. Anything. Preferably something edible and without a long wait.

So, we set down a busy Main Street to accomplish those two things. We happened upon this Native and posed for a picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/38517a9e.jpg

A funny little side story here… My husband is ½ Native American; therefore my children are ¼ Native American. Morghan was very interested in culture and her background awhile back, when she was around 5 or so. Being part Native American made her think that she also must be related to every Native American person here on Earth. Each one. Everywhere we would see someone with brown skin, she would ask, “Am I related to him” or “Who is that mom”? (As if I would know all of these people.) It was a cute little phase in her life and much embarrasses her now if I mention it. So, we had to take a picture. This must be Morghan’s older cousin I suppose. LOL!

Pretty sign at night-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_209271408217_508648217_303117.jpg

So, off we went and were able to wait a pretty short 15 minutes to see Mickey and his magical Philharmagic. I just adore this cute show. And was able to snag a cute picture of cute children wearing cute little glasses. Cute stuff, huh? ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/868ea56b.jpg

One more, the daughter who is always posing some which way-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_205270408217_508648217_301739.jpg

The kids wanted to check out a few of the little light-up toys they have outside the exit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/1d90720b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/1f1a9eda.jpg

Well, that was about it. That’s all we were going to get accomplished, besides eating, in the Magic Kingdom that night. People were streaming in for MVMCP and wait times were creeping way up there. I do not like crowds. Coming at rope drop worked very well for us. We got so much done in the morning that I did not feel bad about skipping rides that evening. Took this along the way out-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_205270468217_508648217_301739.jpg

We needed something in our tummies and soon. I thought of some little goodies that might cure that! Guess what they were? Corn dog nuggets! As a shout out to Brook, I learned of these crispy little yummies from her TRs. So, to Casey’s we went! Again, a completely madhouse. People were lining out the door and it really hard to keep a good eye on my three kiddos, who were hungry and trying to stay next to me in the crowd. Ugh! But, I finally got myself a hotdog, three orders of corn dog nuggets for them, along with two fries and two drinks to share. Now, my little downer about Casey’s. Why is there like no where to sit inside? I had a big tray of food, two sodas to carry, all while making sure my kiddos were right next to me as I was getting ketchup and napkins for all of us. The bottom row of the bleachers had cleared so we all squished together and ate our dinner there. I really did like the corndog nuggets. They were hot and really tasty. The hotdog? Eh, wasn’t a fan. I guess I prefer mine grilled, over a hot BBQ. But it was food and we were hungry so we ate! At that time, it was already about 6:30pm. The park was crowded and we were not party guests so we got the heck out of dodge! On the way out we got a couple buckets of the best popcorn ever to share. popcorn::

Waiting for the OKW bus…

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/490fd61f.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/99e64235.jpg

We got back to the resort and settled back in our rooms. But it was still early and the kids were asking to do something since they had gotten their second wind. Hmmm, what could we do? I looked over the Times Guide that was in our room and it looked like they were having a Campfire Sing-along with S’mores! Hello?!! Yum. Let’s go! I called my sister, she agreed and we met at the Southpoint bus stop once again. We waited and waited and waited. And waited. Finally, a DTD bus rolls up. And on it, was the rudest WDW bus driver I have encountered in my entire life. Ugh.

We jumped on and sat in a few rows back from the front. On the bus with us, was a family of about 6 people. They had just arrived on ME and were not at all sure how the buses worked and where they could go to get something to eat as they hadn’t eaten since breakfast. One of the women asked the bus driver, “Does this bus to go Downtown Disney?” He replied “Hello? That’s what the sign said when you got on, didn’t it!” Lovely I was thinking. What a good representation of Disney, you meanie. Another in their party asked him a minute later, “Where could we get something to eat?” He then replied, “I drive a bus. I don’t handle your food.” What an ***! Then end all of be all, he stopped at what was a crosswalk. One of them stood up to get off as they thought it was an actual bus stop. He threw his arm back at all of us and yelled “See! That’s a crosswalk there!” And pointed at it really exaggerated. This jerk was over the top rude. Thankfully Hospitality House was our stop and we very quickly got off. Before though, I had told one of the ladies in their party that there was plenty of good eating in Downtown Disney and how to find it. Why do people like that even work there? People pay very good money for an enjoyable vacation and then you get someone like that to upset you. Grrr.

Ok, moving on to our evening now. :) We had about 20 minutes before the campfire ended so we better hurry!! We found out where we were supposed to go and booked it down there. Hmmm, why am I not seeing a campfire? Uh, why are those Cast Members just hanging around? Well, it seems that nobody else showed up. They decided to just shut it down early and head out. Bummer! The super nice girl handed me a bunch of “make your own S’More kits” so we could take them back to the room with us. They apologized many times and we assured them it was no big deal.

Since we were down by HH, we decided to check out the play area and the pool. We bummed around for awhile and took a few pictures-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/b4715956.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/0bbd6e3d.jpg

This is a fun little area for the kids. It was way too chilly to swim but they had fun playing in the sand area for awhile. It was now getting later so we decided to head back to the rooms. This was taken on the walk back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/394b4cf4.jpg

Yep, I said WALK. We walked all the way back from HH to our buildings, in the very back of the resort. Why? Well, we very foolishly didn’t do any research on the OKW bus system. I had no idea you could hop on a bus stop before ours and it would make its way to our stop. Um, duh. Yep, sure could so that. So, we trudged our very tired bodies the very long way back to our rooms. I believe it was close to 9:45pm at that point and it was time to call it a night. I made each of them a microwave S'More and then the kiddos took a quick turn in the shower and I had them sleeping by 10:15pm as I see by reading my notes. I called home to check in with my husband and I was out like a light by 10:30pm myself.

It was a great first day, though it had its share of ups and downs. The morning was wonderful at MK after we got away from the parade crowds. The evening was far busier due to MVMCP.

Up next…TSM rush, Tour of Terror how many times?! and my new favorite ride ever!

Panotchr

01-15-2010, 02:44 PM

KathyRN137

01-15-2010, 02:53 PM

Morghan was very interested in culture and her background awhile back, when she was around 5 or so. Being part Native American made her think that she also must be related to every Native American person here on Earth. Each one.

Corn dog nuggets! As a shout out to Brook, I learned of these crispy little yummies from her TRs..... The hotdog? Eh, wasn’t a fan.

Finally, a DTD bus rolls up. And on it, was the rudest WDW bus driver I have encountered in my entire life. Ugh.

That is cute about Morghan and her "very extended" family! :laughing:

I should have listened to Brook and tried the CD nuggets... the whole grain bun they serve with the hot dogs now are gross.....

What a rude driver! :sad2: Luckily he's the exception to the rule...

Sorry you guys missed the campfire program, but exploring the resort is always fun!

Kathy

BrooklynnsMommy

01-15-2010, 03:32 PM

Great update! The no wait lines is why we are firm believers in rope drop!

I can't believe that driver. I probably would have said something to him and I definitely would have gotten his name and spoken to the proper people about such dreadful behavior.

brookelizabeth

01-15-2010, 03:57 PM

So glad you liked the corn dog nuggets!!!! :yay: The first time I had them I was watching Spectro. It was a lovely combo. :laughing:

That stinks about the crowds being so high that night! When we hit MK on a MNSSHP night everything was VERY low crowd-wise, even up until the party started. We must have just hit a good night or something.

What a horrible bus driver. :sad2: I'm glad you were there to help that family. I agree with you - what are those type of people doing working there?! I hope that family found some magic later in their trip!

Love the pic of the kids with the Native American. I laughed out loud at the story about Morghan. So cute and innocent!!

SoonerGirl

01-15-2010, 04:06 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Magic%20Kingdom%201%20-%20Disney/11131_205270468217_508648217_301739.jpg

Very cool picture - I love it!

I can't believe how rude that bus driver was :sad2: I mean, geez everyone has a bad day every now & then, but when it's your job to 'spread the magic' you can't let it consume you. I worked with the public all through high school and college and believe me there were days when I wanted to scream at people, but you can't do that, you have to smile and put on a happy face - comes with the job. If you can't do that, find another profession!

That stinks that the sing-a-long was cancelled, but at least you got some 'smores :woohoo:

Megablocks

01-15-2010, 06:25 PM

A funny little side story here… My husband is ½ Native American; therefore my children are ¼ Native American. Morghan was very interested in culture and her background awhile back, when she was around 5 or so. Being part Native American made her think that she also must be related to every Native American person here on Earth. Each one. Everywhere we would see someone with brown skin, she would ask, “Am I related to him” or “Who is that mom”? (As if I would know all of these people.) It was a cute little phase in her life and much embarrasses her now if I mention it. So, we had to take a picture. This must be Morghan’s older cousin I suppose. LOL!

:rotfl: That is so cute! This was not a boring chapter at all. :)

Sorry you had such a rude bus driver. :sad2: I work with the public and it is hard, but like someone else said, you just need to put on a happy face even when people are being rude. I don't understand why someone like that is working at the happiest place on earth.

Corn dog nuggets! I need to try those.

lisalisalisa

01-15-2010, 07:01 PM

Great trip report :)

Charleston Princess

01-15-2010, 08:28 PM

What an adorable story about Morgan and her "family." :lmao:

I have never eaten at Casey's, but it sounds good!

That stinks about the crowds, the campfire, and the bus driver -- glad you were able to see Philharmagic though.

MeMom

01-15-2010, 09:40 PM

I have never eaten at Casey's, but it sounds good!

You hurt my Disney-lovin' heart sometimes! :rotfl:

Charleston Princess

01-15-2010, 09:40 PM

You hurt my Disney-lovin' heart sometimes! :rotfl:

I need to put that on my Never Done list, don't I? ;)

jordanyosh

01-16-2010, 12:29 AM

As far as your night...at least you got a S'mores kit, saw Philharmagic and had corn dog nuggets...

DisneyJo

01-16-2010, 07:35 AM

How nice they gave you the smores kits but what a pain they cancelled it and I'm so sorry about the bus driver, that's definitely not Disney!!!

brookelizabeth

01-16-2010, 08:00 AM

I need to put that on my Never Done list, don't I? ;)

::yes::

:goodvibes

You too Megablocks! Corn dog nuggets for ALL!!!! :laughing:

Lovemy3babes

01-16-2010, 01:16 PM

Thank goodness you were on that bus to share some Disney Magic! Did you report his unfriendliness??? I think I would have had to. Of course, mh DH would have said don't! LOL

I am glad you got some microwave s'mores :)

I did not report him but I should have. I think I was in shock that somebody who work for Disney could be so rude. :confused3

That is cute about Morghan and her "very extended" family! :laughing:

I should have listened to Brook and tried the CD nuggets... the whole grain bun they serve with the hot dogs now are gross.....

What a rude driver! :sad2: Luckily he's the exception to the rule...

Sorry you guys missed the campfire program, but exploring the resort is always fun!

Kathy

Morghan was always such a hoot when she talked about her "family". Silly girl! I agree, this was the one and only rude employee we encountered all week so he is definitely an exception. It was neat to check out OKW. :)

Great update! The no wait lines is why we are firm believers in rope drop!

I can't believe that driver. I probably would have said something to him and I definitely would have gotten his name and spoken to the proper people about such dreadful behavior.

You are right, rope drop rocks! :thumbsup2 I was doubtful at first but once we walked right onto those rides, no more doubting from me! I should have reported him. Ugh, wish I would have now.

So glad you liked the corn dog nuggets!!!! :yay: The first time I had them I was watching Spectro. It was a lovely combo. :laughing:

That stinks about the crowds being so high that night! When we hit MK on a MNSSHP night everything was VERY low crowd-wise, even up until the party started. We must have just hit a good night or something.

What a horrible bus driver. :sad2: I'm glad you were there to help that family. I agree with you - what are those type of people doing working there?! I hope that family found some magic later in their trip!

Love the pic of the kids with the Native American. I laughed out loud at the story about Morghan. So cute and innocent!!

Thank you wonderful Brook for the CDN referral. Disney should give you a quarter each time one of your Dis friends purchases an order! Heehee. I am not sure what was up with the crowds. Maybe many of them were left over from the parade taping, perhaps? The driver completely shocked me too, it must have been a very bad night for him! Geesh. Poor Morghan, she will never live the Native American stuff down from us. It was adorable and a story I will need to tell at her wedding someday! :laughing:

Lovemy3babes

01-16-2010, 01:17 PM

Very cool picture - I love it!

I can't believe how rude that bus driver was :sad2: I mean, geez everyone has a bad day every now & then, but when it's your job to 'spread the magic' you can't let it consume you. I worked with the public all through high school and college and believe me there were days when I wanted to scream at people, but you can't do that, you have to smile and put on a happy face - comes with the job. If you can't do that, find another profession!

That stinks that the sing-a-long was cancelled, but at least you got some 'smores :woohoo:

Thank you! I love seeing the castle all lit up at night. I also work over the phone with people daily and know that it can be tough on the bad days. BUT, you just suck it up and do your job. I very much agree with you! S'more are always a good way to end the night. Yum. :yay:

:rotfl: That is so cute! This was not a boring chapter at all. :)

Sorry you had such a rude bus driver. :sad2: I work with the public and it is hard, but like someone else said, you just need to put on a happy face even when people are being rude. I don't understand why someone like that is working at the happiest place on earth.

Corn dog nuggets! I need to try those.

Thank you!! Yes please, give the nuggets a try. They're very tasty! :upsidedow

What an adorable story about Morgan and her "family." :lmao:

I have never eaten at Casey's, but it sounds good!

That stinks about the crowds, the campfire, and the bus driver -- glad you were able to see Philharmagic though.

Philharmagic always makes me smile, it's just an adorable show. Morghan sure made us giggle about her "family". :rotfl:

You hurt my Disney-lovin' heart sometimes! :rotfl:

LOL!!! Poor MeMom. :rotfl2:

I need to put that on my Never Done list, don't I? ;)

Yes! :rolleyes1

As far as your night...at least you got a S'mores kit, saw Philharmagic and had corn dog nuggets...

Yes sir, a very good Disney day overall! :thumbsup2

How nice they gave you the smores kits but what a pain they cancelled it and I'm so sorry about the bus driver, that's definitely not Disney!!!

Definitely not Disney at all! :scared1:

::yes::

:goodvibes

You too Megablocks! Corn dog nuggets for ALL!!!! :laughing:

Put it on those lists people! Yum. :woohoo:

praisehisname

01-16-2010, 08:59 PM

I just found your report, and I'm really enjoying it!

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-16-2010, 09:31 PM

I'd go to MK just to see Mickey's Philharmagic too! I LOVE IT!!

We still haven't eaten at Casey's but it's on the list!

Too bad on the campfire. I would have been a little upset after taking the bus over there. What a jerk on the bus. I would have said something for sure! I don't have any tolerance for mean people. :mad:

That was nice of the CMs to give you the smores kits though.

If U Had Wings

01-16-2010, 09:41 PM

I love Philharmagic. Well worth a short trip to the MK!

Lovemy3babes

01-17-2010, 12:33 PM

I just found your report, and I'm really enjoying it!

Hi there!! :wave2:

I'd go to MK just to see Mickey's Philharmagic too! I LOVE IT!!

We still haven't eaten at Casey's but it's on the list!

Too bad on the campfire. I would have been a little upset after taking the bus over there. What a jerk on the bus. I would have said something for sure! I don't have any tolerance for mean people. :mad:

That was nice of the CMs to give you the smores kits though.

I agree, Philharmagic was worth the trip! It's that good. :goodvibes

If you do go to Casey's, definitely try the corn dog nuggets. Yum.

The bus driver was very much uncalled for. Ugh!

I love Philharmagic. Well worth a short trip to the MK!

Definitely!! :banana:

Lovemy3babes

01-19-2010, 03:03 PM

The alarm went off at an early 6am and my body could definitely tell that it was an hour earlier than “our time” in Minnesota. Still, being in Disney World quickly cured that and I was able to get in and out of the shower without being too sleepy. I awoke the kiddos and all of us were very excited to spend the day in Hollywood Studios! We are all very much thrill riders so we knew many fun things awaited us that day! We grabbed some breakfast in the room (that little kitchenette was very handy indeed.) and we met up again with my sister and Jayse at the South Point bus stop. We waited about 10 minutes or so and our HS bus rolled up to the stop.

We made it to the park in no time and without waiting too long, the American Idol judges came out and were rallying people up! They made us do some funny things, cheer, jump up and down and so on. There also was a little stop to the left of all the lines for guests to audition to be on that day’s show.

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Were we brave enough to give it a shot? Um, no. No thanks man. I have rides to ride and shows to see! I have no time for embarrassing myself in front of a crowd full of people. Geesh! :rolleyes1

We were eventually let through the gates and were all brought up to a rope and again, waited. I loved rope drop, don’t get me wrong. But the waiting for the park to open part isn’t so much. Being in such a small space too made it feel like the crowd tripled in size. I’m not a crowd person. :crowded:

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But after a little fun with the park’s “Director”, we were off! I bet you’ll never guess where we were headed? Well, Toy Story Mania of course friends.

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These guys made sure we didn’t get out of line and that nobody was trampled.

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Thankfully we all arrived in one piece and jumped into the standby line. The wait was around 15 minutes (though it said 30) after walking at a pretty normal pace and parking one stroller. The line moved fairly fast and we took some photos along the queue.

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We hopped in; the girls in one and Dimitri and I in the other.

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This is such a fun, little ride. We enjoyed it very much and Dimitri didn’t even get upset that his mother creamed him. LOL!

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After we were out, we grabbed fast passes for later and started the stroll to my favorite creepy hotel, the Tower of Terror!! This is a huge family favorite!

Along the way, we ran into cute little Bucky Greenhorn. He was at the opening show as well. Isn’t he a ham? He stopped playing and posed like this for me. Heehee.

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We also came upon a Photopass photographer and took these.

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Hello again, old friend:

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The wait time? A measly 13 minutes. We don’t mind if we do!

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Flipping awesome this ride is! Isn’t it Disney friends? You know it’s one of your favorites too! I tried to redneck the photo but it was on the top row and didn’t turn out so well. My sister had been waiting while we rode since she was pregnant and we met her inside the gift shop.

Continued in next post

Lovemy3babes

01-19-2010, 03:04 PM

Time for another ride the kids announced! Let’s go rock and roll! The girls and I set off to Rock N’ Rollercoaster.

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Neither Dimitri and Jayse were tall enough so they hung outside with Kristen, jamming to the Aerosmith music.

I have now found my favorite ride in HS. I love ToT but I really love Rock N’ Rollercoaster. I love how fast it goes. I love the music. I love the fact that you flip upside down. And I really love that feel very secure with the harness tightly over you and you won’t plummet to your doom. The girls love it too! Check out our ride photo-

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(Mykenah looks a little scared and she was at first. This was her first ride but she did end up enjoying it.)

It was now time to go check out an attraction that we all could do together, with no restrictions. Time for the Great Movie Ride!

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That’s a fun ride, where you can rest your tired feet. The kids liked it and were really excited for more fun! It was still mid-morning and we were making good time, getting lots done early. (Love rope drops!)

We wandered over to Star Tours next. This was another first for the family. Once again, my poor sis had to sit out. It was all for good reason though, being due with my niece this April.

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The ride was just so-so and seemed like it really needed to be updated. But since it was a first, all of the kiddos liked it so that was great! I had been taking Dramamine throughout the trip and even though I had taken one pill just a few hours before, I got pretty motion sick on this ride. Ugh. I popped another pill and hoped it would wear off soon.

I love the little photo op area that they have.

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We had an early 11:40am ADR at Sci Fi and wanted to catch Muppets in 3-D quickly before we ate. Thankfully it’s a very short stroll over to the show.

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We waited for about 15 minutes and were let into the holding area. This isn’t one of my favorite 3-D shows. I think the wait in this area is a little long and a little boring for young kids. They got a little antsy waiting. I also crossed my fingers we’d make it to the ADR in time!

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We got out of there at 11:35am! Just in time to eat thankfully as we all were really hungry at this point. I had read iffy things about Sci Fi so I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t be so hot. But, we were actually really pleasantly surprised! We each got a burger and they were good! It was hot, fresh and really filling. The old movie clips were cute and kept the kids entertained while we waited for our food.

My sister took this-

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And the nice waitress took this one-

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The kids all got ice cream for dessert so of course, the moms needed hot fudge sundaes! I didn’t get a picture of those but here is what came for the kids.

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They enjoyed those and the sundaes were absolutely delicious!! Yum!

All in all, it was a nice lunch and I would recommend it. Our bellies were full and we had a little rest so we all were ready for more fun in DHS!! What would this afternoon have in store for us?!

Up next…more thrill riding, who knew it closed at 5pm!?!? And snow!!

disneybarbie

01-19-2010, 03:36 PM

brookelizabeth

01-19-2010, 04:04 PM

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Great picture! I love the Streetmosphere at DHS!

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Cute idea with the kids lined up like that! I might "steal" this idea for a future shot with DH and DS. :goodvibes

The wait time? A measly 13 minutes. We don’t mind if we do!

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:rotfl: 13 minutes! Love it! Even the timer is themed! You'd never see 13 at any other attraction except maybe the HM. :thumbsup2

EXCELLENT ride pic from RnRC! Your face says it all!

And yep, a rehab on Star Tours is coming. :yay:

SoonerGirl

01-19-2010, 04:05 PM

Sounds like a fun morning. I absolutely love RnRC too, so much fun - I just wish it was a little longer, it's over too fast!

We completely skipped Star Tours this time, it is so very outdated. I'm not a fan of it anyway, makes me feel all queezy, but I usually ride it with the family and just keep my eyes closed through most of it. :rolleyes:

I agree with you too about the burgers at Sci-Fi, they're good, and it's a great place to take a load off for awhile!

KathyRN137

01-19-2010, 04:30 PM

It was still mid-morning and we were making good time, getting lots done early. (Love rope drops!)

You bet! :love:

Kathy

Panotchr

01-19-2010, 04:44 PM

Loved all your pictures! We are going to Sci Fi in July.. so glad to hear you enjoyed it.

:) Keep on writing......popcorn::

Charleston Princess

01-19-2010, 06:47 PM

What a fun day! Chelsea and Charles are my thrill seekers so they are all about Tower of Terror and RnRC! Connor and I on the other hand are perfectly content with just TSM, Star Tours, and the Great Movie Ride. :lmao:

Bucky Greenhorn made me laugh out loud!

Did the kids laugh at all those cheesy clips at Sci Fi? :laughing:

BrooklynnsMommy

01-19-2010, 07:30 PM

I love the Streetmosphere. One day am going to go just sit on a bench all morning and watch them.

Megablocks

01-19-2010, 07:46 PM

Nancy for Disney

01-19-2010, 08:29 PM

Great update and wonderful pictures. I feel the same way about Muppets 3-D. Nobody does 3-D like Disney but this one seems a little flat to me.
I liked your queue pictures of TSM. We have only gone with a fp and I think we miss out on some of that. Oh well, it beats standing in line for 100 minutes.

Looking forward to more. :goodvibes

Mndisneygirl

01-19-2010, 08:58 PM

Great update! I totally didn't "get" the 13 minute wait on TOT! Duh! I thought, oh, that's odd, I thought they were always in 5 minute increments! :laughing:
I love the street characters! This was our first trip that I have spent any time watching them. What fun!

DisneyJo

01-20-2010, 03:07 AM

What a great morning and I'm glad you liked Sci-Fi. We love the burgers there and the theming is so cool :goodvibes

Momof2Disneyboys

01-20-2010, 09:13 AM

Great update!! :cool1: I just LOVE DHS -- My favorite park! And RNRC is my absolute favorite ride in the whole world!! :rockband:

I'm so glad you enjoyed Sci-Fi. I know it seems to get mixed reviews. We've been there twice and loved it both times! :thumbsup2

If U Had Wings

01-20-2010, 09:51 AM

I love the two thrill rides over at HS myself. I could keep myself happy just bopping back and forth between ToT and RnR for quite awhile. Love them!

Lovemy3babes

01-20-2010, 11:03 AM

Great update! You do the same as I do at the Studios.. TSMM (+fastpass), ToT and RnRC first.. get the 'e ticket' rides done first then there's plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the park :goodvibes !

Btw Star Tours is due for a major update end of this year/2011.. I enjoy the ride but agree with you, it's getting dated! ;)

Looking forward to reading more

Emma princess: x

Thank you!! I really liked doing the "big stuff" and then having lots of times for other things. Glad to hear about the update for Star Tours. It really needs it! Thanks for reading. :)

Great picture! I love the Streetmosphere at DHS!

Cute idea with the kids lined up like that! I might "steal" this idea for a future shot with DH and DS. :goodvibes

:rotfl: 13 minutes! Love it! Even the timer is themed! You'd never see 13 at any other attraction except maybe the HM. :thumbsup2

EXCELLENT ride pic from RnRC! Your face says it all!

And yep, a rehab on Star Tours is coming. :yay:

I didn't even know the street performers had a name. I love it! And I totally didn't get the timer when we were there. It was after, when I was looking at my photos that it hit me. 13! Hahaha. :rotfl: We had a blast on RnRC!! The pose in front of ToT is up for grabs! Steal away! It was the photographer's idea. Heehee.

Sounds like a fun morning. I absolutely love RnRC too, so much fun - I just wish it was a little longer, it's over too fast!

We completely skipped Star Tours this time, it is so very outdated. I'm not a fan of it anyway, makes me feel all queezy, but I usually ride it with the family and just keep my eyes closed through most of it. :rolleyes:

I agree with you too about the burgers at Sci-Fi, they're good, and it's a great place to take a load off for awhile!

You are right, RnRC goes so quickly, you're coming into that little tunnel before you know it and it's all over. :( Glad you liked Sci Fi too!

You bet! :love:

Kathy

So true! :cloud9:

Loved all your pictures! We are going to Sci Fi in July.. so glad to hear you enjoyed it.

:) Keep on writing......popcorn::

Yes, definitely give Sci Fi a try. (ha, I rhyme!) It was a fun experience. :thumbsup2

What a fun day! Chelsea and Charles are my thrill seekers so they are all about Tower of Terror and RnRC! Connor and I on the other hand are perfectly content with just TSM, Star Tours, and the Great Movie Ride. :lmao:

Bucky Greenhorn made me laugh out loud!

Did the kids laugh at all those cheesy clips at Sci Fi? :laughing:

Oh come on CP, not even one little ride on Tower or Rock 'N? LOL! Just teasing. Everyone likes different things and that's what makes the world go round. :goodvibes Bucky was adorable! I really enjoyed watching him. And yes, the kids really laughed that the Sci Fi clips. Dimitri even whispered to me when we were eating "Mom, I think these are supposed to be scary but they're not." LOL!

I love the Streetmosphere. One day am going to go just sit on a bench all morning and watch them.

Bring me with when you do! We could watch and snack on Disney popcorn. popcorn::

Lovemy3babes

01-20-2010, 11:10 AM

I love the Streetmosphere actors! That is a great picture!

I really want to do a rope drop at DHS and finally get to do TSM. ToT and RnRC are both family favorites. I think that both those gift shops are also amongst my favorites. :rotfl2:

I think DHS is a lot of fun and has some fun "hidden" gems. Please try a rope drop. I was a little worried but they worked SO well for us, all week! :goodvibes

Great update and wonderful pictures. I feel the same way about Muppets 3-D. Nobody does 3-D like Disney but this one seems a little flat to me.
I liked your queue pictures of TSM. We have only gone with a fp and I think we miss out on some of that. Oh well, it beats standing in line for 100 minutes.

Looking forward to more. :goodvibes

Flat is a good way to describe the show. It was cute but not up there with top Disney shows for sure. 100 minutes! Ick! :scared1: Thank you for reading along with me.

Great update! I totally didn't "get" the 13 minute wait on TOT! Duh! I thought, oh, that's odd, I thought they were always in 5 minute increments! :laughing:
I love the street characters! This was our first trip that I have spent any time watching them. What fun!

I didn't get the 13 minute thing either at first. Isn't that a hoot?! :laughing: ToT is themed so well!

What a great morning and I'm glad you liked Sci-Fi. We love the burgers there and the theming is so cool :goodvibes

The theme is really neat! We still have an old drive in not far from us and when I think of summer nights, the drive in is always included in my memories. So, this was cool to experience! :cool2:

Great update!! :cool1: I just LOVE DHS -- My favorite park! And RNRC is my absolute favorite ride in the whole world!! :rockband:

I'm so glad you enjoyed Sci-Fi. I know it seems to get mixed reviews. We've been there twice and loved it both times! :thumbsup2

We are a lot alike!! DHS is probably my second fave park and now RnRC is one of my favorite rides! Fun, fun stuff this park has to offer. :woohoo:

I love the two thrill rides over at HS myself. I could keep myself happy just bopping back and forth between ToT and RnR for quite awhile. Love them!

I do too!! I'd have to take lots of Dramamine but I'd ride them over and over too if I could. :upsidedow

DisMomAmy

01-20-2010, 01:05 PM

I love RnRC!! :cloud9: Zach (DS6) says he wants to ride it this year if he's tall enough... :confused3

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-20-2010, 05:30 PM

Your ride photo from RnRC is hilarious! Mine would have looked exactly like that except it would have been screams of terror, not joy!:lmao:

I'm with you on Star Tours. I call it the barf ride. It is just too much for your equilibrium!

We liked Sci-Fi too. I'm not sure what all that bad reviews are about. The burgers are really good and it is such a cute place.

I want to do the stand-by line for TSM one time. Everytime we've been on it, we've had FPs. I want to see Mr. Potato Head!!

Your PP picture in front of TOT is great. What a cute family you have!

MeMom

01-20-2010, 06:40 PM

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Cute picture, but I question whether or not your driver is old enough to drive! :)

I like Star Tours, because the bumping and shaking don't bother me. I am excited that it is getting an update, though. It will hopefully be pretty cool.

Tower of Terror is fun, too, after the elevator doors open. I have to talk myself through the closed doors part. ;)

Rope drop is the way to go if you plan to do Toy Story even once, and especially if you want to ride and get a Fastpass.

Lovemy3babes

01-21-2010, 11:39 AM

I love RnRC!! :cloud9: Zach (DS6) says he wants to ride it this year if he's tall enough... :confused3

My son is 6 too but he was just under the height restriction. I hope Zach makes the cut! :goodvibes

Your ride photo from RnRC is hilarious! Mine would have looked exactly like that except it would have been screams of terror, not joy!:lmao:

I'm with you on Star Tours. I call it the barf ride. It is just too much for your equilibrium!

We liked Sci-Fi too. I'm not sure what all that bad reviews are about. The burgers are really good and it is such a cute place.

I want to do the stand-by line for TSM one time. Everytime we've been on it, we've had FPs. I want to see Mr. Potato Head!!

Your PP picture in front of TOT is great. What a cute family you have!

Haahaa, screams of terror! That is hilarious. Star Tours is definitely a barf ride!! Thank you for the compliments!! :hug:

Cute picture, but I question whether or not your driver is old enough to drive! :)

I like Star Tours, because the bumping and shaking don't bother me. I am excited that it is getting an update, though. It will hopefully be pretty cool.

Tower of Terror is fun, too, after the elevator doors open. I have to talk myself through the closed doors part. ;)

Rope drop is the way to go if you plan to do Toy Story even once, and especially if you want to ride and get a Fastpass.

Nope, Morghan was illegally driving. Don't tell anyone though, ok MeMom? The open door part is when it scares me because I know we are going to fall like crazy maniacs and my belly clenches up. :laughing: Rope drops are such a great idea. The way you get up early and get going is such a smart way to tour. :wizard:

mommykds

01-21-2010, 04:09 PM

Following along.:)

You got some cute shots.:thumbsup2

Lovemy3babes

01-22-2010, 12:28 PM

Following along.:)

You got some cute shots.:thumbsup2

Well, thank you!!! Welcome! :goodvibes

Lovemy3babes

01-22-2010, 02:51 PM

After our yummy Sci Fi lunch, we used the bathroom and then leisurely strolled to the Lights, Motors, Action show. We had never seen this and I knew that both Dimitri and my nephew Jayse were going to LOVE it! I was so excited for them to see it.

We took some photos along the way, completely getting turned around in that park. DHS is the hardest park for me to navigate. Does anyone else feel the same way? We took this along the way-

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Well, apparently we strolled a little too leisurely because we were running a little late for the 1:20pm show. (How early do people get to this show?) This meant we had to sit way, way, way close to the top. Lots and lots of steps to climb. LOTS. LOTS. And LOTS. Those things are a little steep too. I was saying a silent prayer that all six of us would get up there with no injuries. But we all sat down fine and very much enjoyed the show. Since my zoom had broken, I got no pictures. But, I was able to snag a few from my sister.

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The boys and girls all loved the show. It was fast moving and the stunts performed kept them mesmerized. Dimitri still talks about this all the time. ("He was sitting backwards in the car mom!”) Super cute stuff.

When that was over, we again took our time and decided to stop at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. Again, another first for us. By this time of day, the sun had come out of the clouds and it was starting to get humid. I thought we could cool off for awhile there. Boy, it is hard to keep track of all of our kiddos in there if you have more than one! Thankfully I was able to stand close to the entrance for most of the time so none of them could sneak out without me seeing. It wasn’t a concern though and we stayed and played for awhile.

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By that time, it was pretty humid feeling so we needed a little snack. With three kids, everyone wants something different! We ended up with one chocolate dipped Mickey rice krispie treat, one pretzel, one itsakadoozie and a yummy blue slushie from the Writer’s Stop. All very good and we shared so we could all get a taste of each.

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Our TSM fastpasses were burning a hole in our pockets so off we went for a second ride! We first happened upon “One Man’s Dream” and started to head in there.

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Nope! We were rejected by the CM manning the door. We couldn’t take the rest of the blue slushie in with us so we decided to sit upon some curb and finish that before taking a spin on TSM. We never did get back to One Man’s Dream so that’s going on my “next trip” list. :)

After another fun ride on TSM, the kiddos were asking for more thrill rides! It was still afternoon and we had plenty of time to spare before the Osborne Lights came on. I contemplated taking a break at this time but they were raring to go! LOL! Back to Tower of Terror we went! But before, we ran into this cool guy-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009079.jpg

Away we go. Hello once again, my creepy hotel-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009080.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009081.jpg

Now, we got to ride numerous times at this point of the day. 3 times, right in a row! The riders varied. Dimitri sat out once as did Mykenah once. But, being the non-pregnant adult, I got to go on each and EVERY time. Three times in a row was a blast BUT that was plenty for me for awhile. I love ToT once it’s over. The drops terrify me in an entertaining way. They make my belly do crazy things. I always feel like I am going to fly right out! I will never hold up my hands in the air like some of you crazy people do. ;) I hold on to each bar very tight. I’m chicken like that! This was the best ride photo of the bunch; sorry it’s kind of cruddy quality-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009082-1.jpg

We had just enough time to make it to the 4pm Beauty and the Beast show. The boys kind of made a little stink about seeing this and I pretty much told them to suck it up. Everyone would get to do what they wanted. Once again, we came in close to the start so we sat pretty far in the back so no photos from me. I got this from my sister.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/11131_205434088217_508648217_301776.jpg

The last time we rode RnRC, we had also got three Fastpasses for later. Well, we had about five minutes to spare and then we could use them. So, the whole crew meandered over that way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009085.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009086.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009087.jpg
(What kid can resist these carts full of light up awesomeness?!?!)

Once again, my sister sat out with the boys while the girls and I went to get our rock and roll on. And we did! Oh yeah, very fast rock and roll. The line for FP was very short. I even had to call to the girls to slow down getting through it because my old bod couldn’t keep up. Morghan got to hold that little timer card thingy in the queue, which she thought was pretty cool-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009053.jpg

Again, we had a blast being flipped everywhere to Love in an Elevator. I’m not an Aerosmith fan but that music makes it so much more fun I think. Don’t you? I didn’t get a shot of this ride but let me assure you, we were pumped!

All in all, it was a super fun afternoon. We got so much done and rode our favorites more than once! Who can ask for more when in Disney? We thought about grabbing one more RnRC fastpass but our tummies thought differently. It was time to eat! We had planned on seeing the Indy show at 5:30pm but decided to skip it with everyone’s okay, put it on the "next time" list as well and grab something at Pizza Planet. Big mistake on the eating part. Do any of you experts see where I am going with this? ;) Stay tuned….

Up next….You have got to be kidding me, the Best Laid Plans and the Most Beautiful Set of Lights Around

jordanyosh

01-22-2010, 03:27 PM

Great update! You got a TON done!

I hope your thrill adventures don't affect your meal....hmmmmmm........

DisneyJo

01-22-2010, 03:44 PM

Wow you did get loads of rides on ToT and RnR, did your sister find anything exciting to do whilst waiting?

SoonerGirl

01-22-2010, 03:51 PM

Looks like you all had a great afternoon! I kinda feel sorry for your sis having to sit out all the fun rides, but that meant more rides for you :woohoo:

BrooklynnsMommy

01-22-2010, 04:29 PM

Great update! I agree that keeping up with the kids in the playground is difficult. In October we had 4 kids in there two just turned 3 year olds, one not quite 2 year old and a 6 month old. 3 very tired adults left that play area after 30 minutes.

Lovemy3babes

01-22-2010, 06:45 PM

Great update! You got a TON done!

I hope your thrill adventures don't affect your meal....hmmmmmm........

We did get a lot done, didn't we? That was the nice thing about rope drop. Thanks for reading Josh. :dance3:

Wow you did get loads of rides on ToT and RnR, did your sister find anything exciting to do whilst waiting?

ToT and RnR were definitely worth more than one ride! :thumbsup2 My sister shopped a lot! :laughing:

Looks like you all had a great afternoon! I kinda feel sorry for your sis having to sit out all the fun rides, but that meant more rides for you :woohoo:

I felt sorry for her too. :( Thankfully she isn't a thrill rider and wasn't too bummed about missing the really crazy stuff.

Great update! I agree that keeping up with the kids in the playground is difficult. In October we had 4 kids in there two just turned 3 year olds, one not quite 2 year old and a 6 month old. 3 very tired adults left that play area after 30 minutes.

Hey Jill, thanks! It is a hard place to keep an eye on more than one kiddo. It's not like you have four sets of eyes and arms! :confused3

Mndisneygirl

01-22-2010, 06:55 PM

You guys are serious about those thrill rides!!! I'd be wishing I was the pregnant sister! I don't do those crazy rides! HA! I used to go on roller coasters, but not so much any more, definitely not upside down or the up and down of ToT! DD8 would like it if it were smaller - she loves going on the Frog Hopper.

I'm impressed you got to go on so many rides so many times too! What a fun day/morning. I'm curious to see what happens in terms of Pizza Planet. Hmmm...popcorn::

Lovemy3babes

01-22-2010, 07:03 PM

Megablocks

01-22-2010, 07:39 PM

Lovemy3babes

01-22-2010, 07:47 PM

I can't believe how much you got done!

I have a hard time navigating DHS, too. I have no sense of direction to begin with so I'm glad to know that someone else also has a problem with it and it's not just me. :rotfl2:

I love the LMA show. I can't wait for the Osborne light pictures, I am dying to see that for myself one day!

Oh geez! Give me a map and GPS and I promise you I will still get lost. :rotfl: Seriously, I'm really bad at direction. So, you are NOT alone! I have light pictures and a video in my next update! If you can ever get there to see them, do so. They are gorgeous!

Momof2Disneyboys

01-22-2010, 08:17 PM

Another great update! :cool1: YAY for more DHS!!

Love the TOT picture! :rotfl:

Mndisneygirl

01-22-2010, 08:32 PM

I am another one who has a hard time navigating DHS. I can follow maps, GPS, have a good sense of direction, but I never know which way to go there!! LOL!
Maybe I just need to spend more time there!

Momof2Disneyboys

01-22-2010, 08:35 PM

That's funny! :rotfl: I think DHS is very small and very easy to navigate!

Mndisneygirl

01-22-2010, 08:48 PM

That's funny! :rotfl: I think DHS is very small and very easy to navigate!

That's b/c you are there a lot! Actually I think it is small too, I just think the layout is just not simple enough for me!

Charleston Princess

01-22-2010, 09:57 PM

One day I hope to get in Lights, Motors, Action! I know my family would love it!

Thrill ride after thrill ride! I am in awe! :worship:

MeMom

01-23-2010, 06:45 AM

One day I hope to get in Lights, Motors, Action! I know my family would love it!

Thrill ride after thrill ride! I am in awe! :worship:

Connor will love it! I hope you can fit it into the summer trip.

stace208

01-23-2010, 08:49 AM

Ok, so I [I]thought[I] I had subscribed, but either I didn't or it got messed up or something???:confused3 Anywho I am back and all caught up now!!

Looks like you guys are having a great trip even with a few bumps. I think those come with just about any trip. I didn't know they did the campfire at OKW as we did it at Fort Wilderness last summer. It's a bummer that they didn't have it but nice that they gave you the s'mores kit. I think we dropped 10 bucks for ours!!

You got some great pictures even though your camera wasn't fully operational! I am loving reading your report. My DS would love to be with you guys-he's a thrill ride junkie as well. I think he rode ToT 10 times last summer!!

Oh, and another person with no sense of direction reporting in! I know DHS is small but I get turned around too. Now I just always head for the hat and figure my way from there!:goodvibes

Looking forward to more!

brookelizabeth

01-23-2010, 11:47 AM

Wow! You got a ton done!!! Love that!

I have a hard time navigating DHS as well - I just get turned around easier for some reason.

Hmmm....Pizza Planet before Osborne Lights. I'm wondering if it was just PACKED in there since it's so close to Osborne Lights.

Or perhaps the kids were too enamored with the arcade games to care about the Osborne Lights...:scared:

Nancy for Disney

01-23-2010, 12:05 PM

Another great update. Thanks for sharing those Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playgraound pictures. Would you believe that is the first time I have seen pictures of the playground. :confused3

KathyRN137

01-23-2010, 12:57 PM

Hmmm. I'm thinking the same thing as Brook. I'll bet Pizza Planet was simply packed. Plus, how hard is it to pull kids away from those arcade games?! :laughing:

So glad you got to ride the thrillers to your hearts' content!

I don't know if my stomach could handle ToT three times in a row, though! :crazy2:

Kathy

Megablocks

01-23-2010, 01:54 PM

Oh geez! Give me a map and GPS and I promise you I will still get lost. :rotfl: Seriously, I'm really bad at direction. So, you are NOT alone! I have light pictures and a video in my next update! If you can ever get there to see them, do so. They are gorgeous!

Me too! :rotfl: When I was out in Ohio last May visiting family, I got lost trying to get coffee at a McDonalds that was about five minutes away. I couldn't find it, and then I got completely turned around trying to go back, then the GPS didn't find the right hotel (I punched in the name but it came up with another Candlewood Suites, not the one we were staying at.) I was on some highway trying not to freak out when my dad texted me with "you lost?," because I had been gone for 45 minutes at that point and my grandmother was waiting for us, and the hotel that we were staying at is a good half hour from where she lives...oh...it was a mess. It's funny now but it was so bad at the time. Luckily when my grandmother asked why we were late, all my dad had to say was, "Meghan got a little lost when she went out to get coffee," and everyone left it at that. :rotfl2:

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-23-2010, 06:13 PM

You are a very brave lady! How did you ride TOT and RNRC so many times? :worship:

You got some great pictures in the play area. It is very hard to keep up with your kids in there. My DH and I only had one to keep up with and it was difficult!

Looks like a great day. Interested to hear about Pizza Planet??????

Lovemy3babes

01-25-2010, 10:48 AM

Another great update! :cool1: YAY for more DHS!!

Love the TOT picture! :rotfl:

Thank you!! We were screaming! :rotfl:

I am another one who has a hard time navigating DHS. I can follow maps, GPS, have a good sense of direction, but I never know which way to go there!! LOL!
Maybe I just need to spend more time there!

Ok, so glad I am not alone. During our trip, I asked many a CM how to get to wherever we were going. ;)

That's funny! :rotfl: I think DHS is very small and very easy to navigate!

What? I'm taking you with me then next time! :laughing:

That's b/c you are there a lot! Actually I think it is small too, I just think the layout is just not simple enough for me!

Ok, this means we must go to DHS more! Another reason to make another trip my friends.

One day I hope to get in Lights, Motors, Action! I know my family would love it!

Thrill ride after thrill ride! I am in awe! :worship:

Connor would love LMA. If you can fit it in, I sure would. My girls even enjoyed it so it wasn't only for the boys. :goodvibes

Connor will love it! I hope you can fit it into the summer trip.

Me too! :)

Lovemy3babes

01-25-2010, 11:01 AM

Ok, so I thought[I] I had subscribed, but either I didn't or it got messed up or something???:confused3 Anywho I am back and all caught up now!!

Looks like you guys are having a great trip even with a few bumps. I think those come with just about any trip. I didn't know they did the campfire at OKW as we did it at Fort Wilderness last summer. It's a bummer that they didn't have it but nice that they gave you the s'mores kit. I think we dropped 10 bucks for ours!!

You got some great pictures even though your camera wasn't fully operational! I am loving reading your report. My DS would love to be with you guys-he's a thrill ride junkie as well. I think he rode ToT 10 times last summer!!

Oh, and another person with no sense of direction reporting in! I know DHS is small but I get turned around too. Now I just always head for the hat and figure my way from there!:goodvibes

Looking forward to more!

Awesome! :flower3: Thank you for reading. We did have a few bumps but it was so worth it.

Wow! You got a ton done!!! Love that!

I have a hard time navigating DHS as well - I just get turned around easier for some reason.

Hmmm....Pizza Planet before Osborne Lights. I'm wondering if it was just PACKED in there since it's so close to Osborne Lights.

Or perhaps the kids were too enamored with the arcade games to care about the Osborne Lights...:scared:

We did get a ton done. It was such a great morning! I'll update on Pizza Planet next. It definitely did not go as I planned. ;)
Another great update. Thanks for sharing those Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playgraound pictures. Would you believe that is the first time I have seen pictures of the playground. :confused3

That was the first time we had been in the HISTK playground too. It was neat and had some fun theming. :thumbsup2

Hmmm. I'm thinking the same thing as Brook. I'll bet Pizza Planet was simply packed. Plus, how hard is it to pull kids away from those arcade games?! :laughing:

So glad you got to ride the thrillers to your hearts' content!

I don't know if [I]my stomach could handle ToT three times in a row, though! :crazy2:

Kathy

Thanfully we are all thrill riders and the rides were right up our alley! Woot! :laughing:

Me too! :rotfl: When I was out in Ohio last May visiting family, I got lost trying to get coffee at a McDonalds that was about five minutes away. I couldn't find it, and then I got completely turned around trying to go back, then the GPS didn't find the right hotel (I punched in the name but it came up with another Candlewood Suites, not the one we were staying at.) I was on some highway trying not to freak out when my dad texted me with "you lost?," because I had been gone for 45 minutes at that point and my grandmother was waiting for us, and the hotel that we were staying at is a good half hour from where she lives...oh...it was a mess. It's funny now but it was so bad at the time. Luckily when my grandmother asked why we were late, all my dad had to say was, "Meghan got a little lost when she went out to get coffee," and everyone left it at that. :rotfl2:

Oh no!!! :rolleyes1 Coffee might be close to being worth the hassle though. I'm a big coffee lover! LOL! We can't help it we are directionally challenged!
You are a very brave lady! How did you ride TOT and RNRC so many times? :worship:

You got some great pictures in the play area. It is very hard to keep up with your kids in there. My DH and I only had one to keep up with and it was difficult!

Looks like a great day. Interested to hear about Pizza Planet??????

We just kept on a'going. The kids didn't want to stop! It was tough to keep an eye on all three of them. I always worry about someone trying to steal one of them, anywhere we go. I'm a worrier like that! :scared1: The Pizza Planet update will be next! Hopefully tomorrow.

Lovemy3babes

01-25-2010, 12:41 PM

I got an email today from Disney Destinations!! :cool1: Aren't those so exciting to see in your email inbox?! Too bad we can't use it. It's only for travel between 5/2/10 - 8/14/10. Nope, can't go then. The discount wasn't so hot either. 15% off values, 20% off mods, 25% off deluxe and 30% off of Deluxe Villas. Bummer! I'm still hopeful for something super for 10/2010 so we can get back a year earlier than currently planned! :hippie:

Zookeeperof4

01-25-2010, 01:05 PM

Loving your TR.....you have some great pictures. If you think your camera mishap was bad mine is worse...I LOST my camera the last day we were there. Over 700 pics..gone poof!! And you would think in DISNEY I might find an honest soul who would say oh this poor family...nope its been 2 months and still they havent had one turned in. Thank god for Photopass!!!!

Lovemy3babes

01-25-2010, 01:22 PM

Mndisneygirl

01-25-2010, 06:34 PM

I got another email pin today too - dates are into June. Crazy how many I've gotten since we got home. Must want us back really bad!!

Momof2Disneyboys

01-26-2010, 10:53 AM

What? I'm taking you with me then next time! :laughing:

I'll be your DHS tour guide any day!! :thumbsup2

Actually I am to the point where I can navigate all the parks easily without a map, except for AK. I find AK big and a little confusing, but that's probably only because I haven't spent much time there.

Zookeeperof4

01-26-2010, 12:03 PM

I cant imagine being pregnant and walking through Disney all day...but at least the weather was cool for her.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay....My oh My Zoo's family is coming to stay!!! (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2380776)

Lovemy3babes

01-26-2010, 02:45 PM

I got another email pin today too - dates are into June. Crazy how many I've gotten since we got home. Must want us back really bad!!

I hope to see a good one for this October!! :thumbsup2

I'll be your DHS tour guide any day!! :thumbsup2

Actually I am to the point where I can navigate all the parks easily without a map, except for AK. I find AK big and a little confusing, but that's probably only because I haven't spent much time there.

Sounds good!! ;) I think the more time you spend in parks, the easier it gets.

I cant imagine being pregnant and walking through Disney all day...but at least the weather was cool for her.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay....My oh My Zoo's family is coming to stay!!! (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2380776)

Thankfully she was only 5 months pregnant then and it wasn't too difficult for her to walk so much. She was really a good sport about it all. :goodvibes

I'm working on an update right now! If I can get this video to upload, we're in good shape!!

Lovemy3babes

01-26-2010, 03:09 PM

So sorry for the delay in updates. I’ve been trying like the dickens to get a video uploaded. Photobucket let me down so I had to try YouTube this afternoon. It’s uploading as I type and I’m crossing my fingers that it works so I can share with you all! Anyway, as I said in my last update, our best laid plans just didn’t happen. But, I’ll get to that soon, first a little walk after many thrill rides on ToT and RnRC. Since we weren’t going to rush to see the Indy show at 5:30, we took our time, peeking in stores, posing for photos, using the bathroom, etc. on the way to Pizza Planet. We were not thrilled with the CS choices in DHS but after much research, I thought this would be the best bet for the kiddos. Pizza + arcade games = happy children!! :)

I loved this t-shirt! Poor Donald and his cute, crazy temper-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009090.jpg

Isn’t Mykenah super cool looking?!-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009089.jpg

And then we sat down by this pretty fountain and just took a load off for awhile. Ya know, since we had no place to be. (Haha, so I thought!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009093.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009092.jpg

We sat here for a little while and called home to check in. Ya know, made small talk because we had NO WHERE TO BE AT THAT MOMENT, right? Well after a bit, our bellies were hungry so we decided to make our way to Pizza Planet. It was getting close to the Osborne Lights starting and I thought we could eat and then go on over to watch them. After my sister parked the stroller and we walked up to PP, something didn’t look right. Through the windows, we could see very few people and they all looked like they were leaving. Huh? The CMs were wiping tables and mopping the floor. The park is open until 7pm, what is going on? Well, I’ll tell you what was going on. They were closing! Like for the night. Hello? Why didn’t I know this? I was such a good Disney planner. I had maps, a good touring plan, ADRs made in advance, everything. Why did I not know PP closed this early? In fact the friendly CM told me, every CS option on that side of the park (besides the food carts) close that early. We were hungry and we were also out of luck Chuck. So, what do to, what to do? The lights were about to turn on but the kids were really hungry. I’m a mom. I can’t tell my kids no when they need something to eat. So, we loaded back up and made our way all the way back down to the only grub in the entire park. I was silently and not-so-silently scolding myself for not having this planned out better. Ugh!! But low and behold, we ran into some food. I don’t remember the names of the places but they were all sort of in a little line and I let the kiddos pick what they wanted to eat for dinner. Dimitri got a little pizza meal, Morghan ended up with a chicken strip meal and Mykenah and I settled on a hot pretzel with cheese. Totally gourmet y’all! LOL!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009113.jpg

After all bodies were nourished once again, we made our trek back to see the most beautiful set of lights in the world! And this time, we made it with no roadblocks. The street was very busy but we sort of snuck into a little opening so we could all enjoy the wonderful “snow” coming down. It was so magical; the music, the snow, the lights. I can’t begin to describe the emotions of enjoying this with three of the people whom I love more than anything on Earth. *sigh* Just re-living it makes me all weepy. Being in Disney World with these guys is the best.

Look at them living it up!
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Continued in next post...

Lovemy3babes

01-26-2010, 03:16 PM

Lots of light pictures!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009104.jpg

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Sorry there are so many. These truly do not capture how absolutely magical they really are. Needless to say, I am a huge fan. HUGE. And I also wanted to share this video, that Morghan took for me. It’s our favorite Christmas song and every time I watch it, I cry. (Sap alert!!) I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Osborne Lights video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lLlrJS--04)

While we were enjoying the lights and the atmosphere, we also took some PP pictures. I think they turned out pretty well. The line was gigantic though and we almost gave up. Thankfully the kids were very patient and there was lots going on around them to keep them distracted. Here they are-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Image0619-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Image0620-1.jpg

Before the park officially closed, we decided to make our way to the front of the hat and hopefully avoid the mass chaos that is park closing. It wasn’t too bad yet. We once again peeked in a few shops and took a couple pictures.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Hollywood%20Studios%2009%20-%20Disney/Disney2009124.jpg

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We didn’t wait too long for a DHS bus and we were soon back to OKW. We bid goodbye to my sister and nephew at their building and walked back to our trusty room. We caught sight of this cute little guy before we went inside.

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Morghan was soon obsessed with all creatures she could find around OKW. She’s a huge lover of such things. Not me though – ew!

Bath and showers were taken, teeth were brushed and prayers were said. The kids were asleep early tonight, around 9pm. I stayed up for a bit longer, watched a little Stacy tv and laid out our plans for tomorrow. Soon I was asleep with visions of the Osborne Lights dancing in my head.

Up next…It goes backwards? Rawr! And Donald’s friends

SoonerGirl

01-26-2010, 04:03 PM

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-26-2010, 06:27 PM

Your PP pictures turned out great! We never saw any PP people out at OL so I was dissapointed.

The same exact thing happened to us at Pizza Planet last year! I couldn't believe they closed so early. We never got anything to eat until we got back to the hotel and we were starving!!! I just don't get it. Why can't they stay open till closing?:confused:

Panotchr

01-26-2010, 06:43 PM

That video makes me want to be there. We have never been at Christmas and are planning on going this coming December. I know my kids will love it... looks like yours had so much fun :)

Lovemy3babes

01-26-2010, 06:46 PM

Love the pictures of your kids enjoying the snow! So cute!!

That stinks that you missed out on Pizza Planet! If it's any consolation, I would have assumed that they were open until park closing too :confused3

Thank you! We had a lot of fun. Ok, so maybe I am not the only one who didn't know that PP closed so early. I felt really silly. :rolleyes1

Your PP pictures turned out great! We never saw any PP people out at OL so I was dissapointed.

The same exact thing happened to us at Pizza Planet last year! I couldn't believe they closed so early. We never got anything to eat until we got back to the hotel and we were starving!!! I just don't get it. Why can't they stay open till closing?:confused:

That's too bad about PP. The line was really long though! I am wondering the same thing about Pizza Planet. You would think that they would make more money being open until park close. It makes no sense. :confused3

Lovemy3babes

01-26-2010, 06:47 PM

That video makes me want to be there. We have never been at Christmas and are planning on going this coming December. I know my kids will love it... looks like yours had so much fun :)

You all will LOVE it! It's such a special place to be at such a special time of year. :goodvibes

MeMom

01-26-2010, 06:53 PM

Charleston Princess

01-26-2010, 07:49 PM

The Osborne Lights are just such a magical experience. I love the pictures of your kids playing in the "snow." Too cute!

jordanyosh

01-26-2010, 07:55 PM

your photopass pix came out so great!!!!!!!

glad you didn't have to trek too, too far for food and were able to get to the Osbourne Lights.

DisMomAmy

01-26-2010, 08:29 PM

The Osbourne Lights are beautiful!!

Megablocks

01-26-2010, 09:32 PM

So sorry about PP! What a pain. Seriously, who would think it would close that much earlier than the rest of the park? :confused3 I'm glad you guys didn't have to go TOO far for food!

Okay, another sap alert (coming from the one who cries when she watches Wishes on YouTube :rolleyes1 ), I watched the video and I cried! Morghan did a really good job. I absolutely LOVE Trans-Siberian Orchestra and that song -- hearing it and seeing it with the lights and the snow was so sweet. :goodvibes Your pictures came out amazing, too!

Lovemy3babes

01-27-2010, 09:58 AM

The video has brought tears to my eyes. I loved hearing the song and seeing the lights again. I like the soft music, the sounds of the kids' voices in the background, and the falling snow. It makes me know I do want to go back between Thanksgiving and Christmas again this year. This last trip, Jill, the girls, and I walked through those streets for a little while, and surprisingly, they weren't too crowded at all. You are so right; it really is one of the magical moments in Disney World to be there in that pretty setting with those you love.

I knew you would understand MeMom. Experiencing such special moments with the ones you love, well, there is just nothing like it. Thank you for watching our video. :goodvibes

The Osborne Lights are just such a magical experience. I love the pictures of your kids playing in the "snow." Too cute!

They had a lot of fun with the "snow". It's sure warmer than our MN snow. ;) Geez, Disney can do anything!

your photopass pix came out so great!!!!!!!

glad you didn't have to trek too, too far for food and were able to get to the Osbourne Lights.

Thank you Josh! We did eat and we did survive. Thankfully! :laughing:

The Osbourne Lights are beautiful!!

Aren't they just the best? :thumbsup2

So sorry about PP! What a pain. Seriously, who would think it would close that much earlier than the rest of the park? :confused3 I'm glad you guys didn't have to go TOO far for food!

Okay, another sap alert (coming from the one who cries when she watches Wishes on YouTube :rolleyes1 ), I watched the video and I cried! Morghan did a really good job. I absolutely LOVE Trans-Siberian Orchestra and that song -- hearing it and seeing it with the lights and the snow was so sweet. :goodvibes Your pictures came out amazing, too!

I was completely confused when she told me that they were closed. I think I said "But you can't be...." with a puzzled look on my face. Oops! I'm really glad you enjoyed the little video. I know it's not the best quality but I think Morghan did a great job for being only 10. She was pretty proud of herself. I am another huge fan of Trans-Siberian Orchestra too. They have such lovely voices. :cloud9:

Sav&Seb

01-27-2010, 11:06 AM

I'm loving your report! Your DHS pics has me excited since I have never been able to visit that park, and will finally be able to next month!!

Zookeeperof4

01-27-2010, 11:35 AM

We ate at Pizza Planet....I was disappointed. I( kinda feel like its a been there done that type of place. Next trip we will choose somewhere else....

And we missed the Osbourne lights because daddy wanted to miss the crowds..grrr...:confused3

Momof2Disneyboys

01-27-2010, 01:42 PM

OMGosh, what a wonderful update! :cloud9: I just loved seeing the Osborne Lights in November and it was so much fun to relive it in your TR. Loved the video, it gave me chills. The Osborne Lights are such an amazing experience. They were definitely the highlight of our trip! I'm so glad you got to see them too!

Lovemy3babes

01-27-2010, 02:01 PM

I'm loving your report! Your DHS pics has me excited since I have never been able to visit that park, and will finally be able to next month!!

I know some people really don't care for DHS but we love it! Next month isn't too far away!! :cool1:

We ate at Pizza Planet....I was disappointed. I( kinda feel like its a been there done that type of place. Next trip we will choose somewhere else....

And we missed the Osbourne lights because daddy wanted to miss the crowds..grrr...:confused3

Ok, well at least we didn't miss excellent food or anything! Ha. ;) I'm sorry you missed the Osborne lights. What a bummer.

OMGosh, what a wonderful update! :cloud9: I just loved seeing the Osborne Lights in November and it was so much fun to relive it in your TR. Loved the video, it gave me chills. The Osborne Lights are such an amazing experience. They were definitely the highlight of our trip! I'm so glad you got to see them too!

Thank you!! They are definitely something you should try to experience once, aren't they? They are so perfect in every way. :goodvibes

brookelizabeth

01-27-2010, 02:31 PM

Momof2Disneyboys

01-27-2010, 02:41 PM

Thank you!! They are definitely something you should try to experience once, aren't they? They are so perfect in every way. :goodvibes

Yes, definitely something every Disney fan should experience at least once! :goodvibes

Lovemy3babes

01-27-2010, 04:23 PM

Pizza Planet closes early?! Good to know! I had NO idea either! Sounds like you headed over to the little area by RnRC and ToT? Glad you found something to fill those tummies!

WONDERFUL pictures of the kids playing with the snow!!! You captured the moment perfectly. :cloud9: I love the video too....ah, so so pretty!

Yep, you're right Brook. The little eating area with outside seating close to RnRC and ToT. Not wonderful but not too bad!

Thanks for the compliments! We loved everything about the Osborne lights. :goodvibes

Yes, definitely something every Disney fan should experience at least once! :goodvibes

For sure! Let's go back now! (I wish...) I guess the lights wouldn't be on anymore though. :laughing:

Lovemy3babes

01-28-2010, 02:30 PM

Soon the sun was up and it would be another great day at Mickey’s house. Today was Tuesday, December 8th, 2009. Once again we sent the family meteorologist aka Morghan out the door to test out the conditions. She was soon back and said it was cloudy but already a bit warm. Of course it was, we were going to Animal Kingdom, the park that is always ten degrees warmer than it really is! We were excited to spend an entire day in AK as we had never really dedicated that much time here before.

I called my sis and once again, we met up at the bus stop. Well, close to it. Her building was on the way so we met up while walking. Per TGM, we were doing “green” parks all week and today AK was “green”. We didn’t wait too long for a bus and we were on our way!

It’s always fun walking into Animal Kingdom, isn’t it?

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Their tree is especially beautiful.

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We made it right before rope drop and didn’t up waiting too long. We had an icky experience while waiting in line though. We were squished next to a family, with a daughter probably around 5. She was asking to hold the camera I think it was. Her mother leaned over to her and while handing it to her said “If you break this, I will break you.” How lovely. :sad2: My kids heard it and looked at me a little nervously. Parents aren’t supposed to talk to their children like that! It made my stomach hurt a bit and we took a few steps to the side so I wouldn’t have to listen to that mouth anymore. Ick.

But the rope was finally dropped and we were off to Expedition Everest. There was of course, a mad dash. We took our time and just walked along, following the crowd, in no mood to be running.

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It was timed perfectly and we were able to walk right into line. My sister and Jayse sat this one out, her being pregnant and him not being tall enough. This was the first time any of us had ridden EE and were not sure what to expect. Well….three of us were terrified and Morghan, the ultimate dare devil, LOVED it. I’m glad I did it and I actually would probably ride again next time. The Yeti was hilarious! It was the backwards part that had me a little frightened.

After being very exhilarated from EE, we took a little stroll into:

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We waited a very short thirty seconds or so and took a ride on Tricera Top Spin.

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After an equally short ride, we looked over to see this was currently down:

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Oh bummer! Sorry folks, there isn’t enough Dramamine in the world for me to ride Primeval Hurl without getting sick. Oh well, onto our favorite ride in all of Animal Kingdom! Can you guess what it is? Some people hate it. It also makes some cry or scream. It just makes us giggle like maniacs. :laughing: It’s Dinosaur!!!

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Once again, there was basically no wait. It said 5 minutes and that’s pretty much what it takes to weave through the cool queue. There are some fun things to look at in here. My sister, being pregnant, sat out while the rest of us rode. It was such a hoot! I tried to get a decent picture of the ride photo but it didn’t turn out. Just picture the five of us laughing and pointing at the scary dinosaurs. No one was scared and they all asked for more! But we couldn’t do another as we had a late breakfast ADR to get ourselves too.

We were dining with Donald and all of his friends. Our reservation was for 10:20am and I found this to be great timing. You get into the park, ride a few things and then it’s time for something filling to eat. We used the bathroom and made our trek through the park to Donald’s.
Along the way, we ran into a Photopass photographer and took a few pictures. As you can see, the sun was right in our eyes! Oh well, they’re still cute. That crazy Stitch!

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Continued in next post..

Lovemy3babes

01-28-2010, 02:31 PM

On to Donald’s! I decided to get us all checked in and then I would make a quick run for Safari Fastpasses. The man outside taking our information was a little annoyed with the couple in front of me. They were on the dining plan but were just “shocked” that they would have to wait 30 minutes to be seated. I gave him a little smile and gave him my ADR number like an old pro. He thanked me and said he had been getting walk-ups all morning and people were upset with him that they couldn’t be seated immediately. Live and learn I guess. Don’t these people Dis?!? Heehee.

I made a super quick jaunt over to the Safari FP machines. I was getting quite good at this Fastpass thing. We didn’t really use them as much as we should have in past trips so I was determined to really get some good use out of them this time around. Back in minutes, we sat for a few before being called back. While waiting, this lovely gentleman entertained us. He was a lot of fun.

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Without much more wait than to take those pictures, we were soon called. The entrance is sort of an organized mess to tell you the truth. You have to take one of those required pictures. Well, you’re in a small space, in a line with other families. You’re told to hold your belongings until it’s your turn and then there is a box to set them on. Once the picture is taken, you have exactly .5 seconds to remove the belongings from said tiny box before it’s someone else’s turn to leave their stuff there. Donald had two handlers and I asked if one would kindly use our camera to take one as well. I knew we wouldn’t be purchasing the $30 photo.

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We were seated in a back dining room and were brought the jamba juice soon after. I know that some people rave about this but we really didn’t care for it. I guess we’re not that adventurous. Give me good old orange juice any day! Though it was late in the morning, we still had a huge selection to choose from. I didn’t take any food photos but there was just so much. Eggs, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles with syrup, fresh fruit salad, whole fresh fruit, rolls, croissants, donuts, muffins and so on. We filled up and made our way back to get our eatin’ on.

We were seated for a just a minute and Mickey came along. Who doesn’t love Mickey Mouse, especially in his safari gear?

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We bid our good friend goodbye and took this chance to get eat some of that good food. Next, this cute little lady happened to make her way to us.

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Isn’t Daisy so cute? :)

We had a quick break in between characters to get another plate. I love character meals but getting everyone food, making sure they are all there when the character comes along and the autograph book is ready; it gets to be hard work. ;)

Once seated again, except for one of us, I see Goofy coming out of the corner of my eye. Uh, where’s Mykenah?! She would be so bummed if she missed Goofy. So I made a quick run into the food area, spotted her ever so carefully pouring syrup on her Mickey waffle and got her back into her seat just before this big lug showed up. He had fun with us. He kept putting his ears in my face!

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There was a little parade starting now but we all decided that we’d rather go have more park time. We used the bathroom and skedaddled out of there. It was a good buffet but felt a little rushed. The characters were lots of fun though! The timing was great. Sometimes it’s hard for me to eat right away in the morning so this felt more like a brunch, which worked well that day.
Bye Donald, Bye Daisy, Bye Mickey, Bye Goofy! :yay: We’ll see you all around! Grab those binoculars; it’s time for a safari!

Up next…safari time, I feel like something’s missing and let’s split up!

SoonerGirl

01-28-2010, 03:19 PM

Momof2Disneyboys

01-28-2010, 03:37 PM

Great AK update! :goodvibes

I'm glad you got to ride EE for the first time. I really like it, but this last trip DS10 made me ride it 2 times in a row. And that was enough for me! :rotfl:

I love Dinosaur too! :cool1: No one else in my family really cares for it. :confused3

We used to do early morning character breakfasts, but this last trip we learned that it sometimes works better for us to do a late breakfast. I just don't get my money's worth when it is so early because I don't eat much. Not a morning person I guess!

It sounds like your day was off to a great start, can't wait to hear more about it! :thumbsup2

Momof2Disneyboys

01-28-2010, 03:40 PM

While waiting, this lovely gentleman entertained us. He was a lot of fun.

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When we were at AK in November we were sitting there enjoying a little snack and this man came up to DS8 and had a little staring contest. It was hilarious! :lmao:

Lovemy3babes

01-28-2010, 04:03 PM

Great morning so far!! Again, I'm feeling so bad for your sis having to sit everything out. But, I guess just being in Disney World is great all on it's own, even if you can't ride most of the attractions :goodvibes

We had brunch at Tusker House too, and really enjoyed it. But, unlike you - we loved the Jamba Juice, my kids don't like OJ but they drank a ton of that juice!

I know, I felt bad too. She isn't normally a thrill rider though so she wasn't too upset about sitting out. She took lots of pictures and did a lot of shopping! :hippie: I'm not sure why we didn't really like the juice. Too tropical maybe?

Great AK update! :goodvibes

I'm glad you got to ride EE for the first time. I really like it, but this last trip DS10 made me ride it 2 times in a row. And that was enough for me! :rotfl:

I love Dinosaur too! :cool1: No one else in my family really cares for it. :confused3

We used to do early morning character breakfasts, but this last trip we learned that it sometimes works better for us to do a late breakfast. I just don't get my money's worth when it is so early because I don't eat much. Not a morning person I guess!

It sounds like your day was off to a great start, can't wait to hear more about it! :thumbsup2

I think two times on EE would do me in too. That is an intense ride!! That's too bad no one else cares for Dinosaur. You'll just have to enjoy it alone then! The late breakfast really worked well on this day. :thumbsup2

When we were at AK in November we were sitting there enjoying a little snack and this man came up to DS8 and had a little staring contest. It was hilarious! :lmao:

I can just picture that!! So, so funny! :rotfl:

MeMom

01-28-2010, 06:34 PM

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We were seated in a back dining room and were brought the jamba juice soon after. I know that some people rave about this but we really didn’t care for it. I guess we’re not that adventurous. Give me good old orange juice any day! Though it was late in the morning, we still had a huge selection to choose from. I didn’t take any food photos but there was just so much. Eggs, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles with syrup, fresh fruit salad, whole fresh fruit, rolls, croissants, donuts, muffins and so on. We filled up and made our way back to get our eatin’ on.

Nice group picture! :)

I didn't care for the juice, either.

Did you have any of the ham? That was what I remember being so good at that meal.

I've done Everest once, and it was definitely more than I bargained for. It seemed to last forever. Isn't it interesting how people see the rides so differently? We like Dinosaur a lot, and some people just hate it!

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-28-2010, 06:36 PM

What a great update! Your pictures are great. I love the one of your daughter with the African entertainer guy. That is great. It just screams Animal Kingdom fun! Love it! Breakfast looked great too. I'd love to eat there one day!

Oh, and your Dinosaur pictures made me cringe! :)

Megablocks

01-28-2010, 06:52 PM

Great update! My mom likes Everest, but it isn't something that she HAS to ride every time we visit AK. The backwards part freaks her out -- she doesn't like how disorienting it is. We all love Dinosaur, but I can never, ever keep myself from screaming and laughing at the same time. My dad and I went on it together last year and tried posing for the picture by turning to the left and pointing, instead of looking right like everyone else, but it didn't come out like I had envisioned because I couldn't cover my ears and point at the same time. :lmao:

I love the TH group picture! It came out so cute!

praisehisname

01-28-2010, 07:09 PM

Sounds like you had a great day at DHS! I feel so sorry for your sister, missing out on all the "good" rides!

I keep hearing really good things about the Tusker House breakfast; we'll have to try it someday!

Denise

DisMomAmy

01-28-2010, 07:40 PM

Sounds like a fun morning at AK! I never thougth of asking for a photo with my camera at those mandatory picture places... we ate at Chef Mickey's & Tusker House last year and didn't buy the picture at either place. I'll have to remember that trick this year! :thumbsup2

KathyRN137

01-28-2010, 09:59 PM

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Great photo.... everyone looks so happy!

Gotta love TGM Green Days!! :thumbsup2

Kathy

brookelizabeth

01-28-2010, 10:30 PM

That is horrible what that mother said to her child!!!!!!! :sick: Seriously...I don't understand those kind of people. If she didn't want her holding the camera, wouldn't a "no" be more appropriate?! :sad2:

Anyway, onto more pleasant things...like your breakfast! :goodvibes Great picture with Donald! I'm glad to hear they were willing to take one with your camera as well. Character meals are fun, but I agree-it gets to be a lot of work, and its hard to relax!

I am a screamer on Dinosaur. I know what is coming, yet I'm screaming. :rolleyes:

Zookeeperof4

01-29-2010, 06:28 AM

We were going to do this breakfast the last day of our trip....earlier in the planning process it was planned for 9 am the last day. I thought with check out and all it would be rushed so we opted for Ohana the last day. Thank godness as we ended up doing AK on a different day and the 4th poured like buckets as we made an early departure. I am glad the rain was so heavy...it hid the sights as we were leaving for home.

So out of the breakfasts on your trip how did you rate this one??

Charleston Princess

01-29-2010, 10:30 AM

Ah, I loved reading about your Animal Kingdom morning. You did some of our favorites -- Charles and Chelsea love Everest, we all love Dinosaur although I don't think we giggle on it ;), and Tusker House is probably my favorite character meal that we have done.

I totally agree that character meals can be hectic with the whole autograph book, picture taking, and eating. I always feel a little frazzled afterwards.

Lovemy3babes

01-29-2010, 10:55 AM

Nice group picture! :)

I didn't care for the juice, either.

Did you have any of the ham? That was what I remember being so good at that meal.

I've done Everest once, and it was definitely more than I bargained for. It seemed to last forever. Isn't it interesting how people see the rides so differently? We like Dinosaur a lot, and some people just hate it!

Thanks MeMom. I'm glad the photo turned out and was free. Ha! I think I had the ham. It doesn't stick out as bad so I must have liked it! :thumbsup2 Everest lasted an eternity for me too!! LOL!

What a great update! Your pictures are great. I love the one of your daughter with the African entertainer guy. That is great. It just screams Animal Kingdom fun! Love it! Breakfast looked great too. I'd love to eat there one day!

Oh, and your Dinosaur pictures made me cringe! :)

I like that picture too. He was a lot of fun! I'm sorry the Dino pics made you cringe. :flower3:

Great update! My mom likes Everest, but it isn't something that she HAS to ride every time we visit AK. The backwards part freaks her out -- she doesn't like how disorienting it is. We all love Dinosaur, but I can never, ever keep myself from screaming and laughing at the same time. My dad and I went on it together last year and tried posing for the picture by turning to the left and pointing, instead of looking right like everyone else, but it didn't come out like I had envisioned because I couldn't cover my ears and point at the same time. :lmao:

I love the TH group picture! It came out so cute!

Disorienting is completely the right word for going backwards that fast! :scared1: I can just picture you covering and pointing at the same time. Didn't work so well, eh? LOL!!

Sounds like you had a great day at DHS! I feel so sorry for your sister, missing out on all the "good" rides!

I keep hearing really good things about the Tusker House breakfast; we'll have to try it someday!

Denise

Thank you! I'd put it on your next time list for sure. I'm glad we went. :upsidedow

Sounds like a fun morning at AK! I never thougth of asking for a photo with my camera at those mandatory picture places... we ate at Chef Mickey's & Tusker House last year and didn't buy the picture at either place. I'll have to remember that trick this year! :thumbsup2

I felt kind of tacky asking them to use our camera but I remember reading something on the Dis about doing so. I hope that was okay! :rolleyes1

KathyRN137

01-29-2010, 11:01 AM

I felt kind of tacky asking them to use our camera but I remember reading something on the Dis about doing so. I hope that was okay! :rolleyes1

Sure it's okay...I've had photopass photographers offer to take pix with my camera after they were done taking theirs...

Kathy

Lovemy3babes

01-29-2010, 11:04 AM

Great photo.... everyone looks so happy!

Gotta love TGM Green Days!! :thumbsup2

Kathy

We were happy and having lots of fun in AK! Thank you Kathy! :goodvibes

That is horrible what that mother said to her child!!!!!!! :sick: Seriously...I don't understand those kind of people. If she didn't want her holding the camera, wouldn't a "no" be more appropriate?! :sad2:

Anyway, onto more pleasant things...like your breakfast! :goodvibes Great picture with Donald! I'm glad to hear they were willing to take one with your camera as well. Character meals are fun, but I agree-it gets to be a lot of work, and its hard to relax!

I am a screamer on Dinosaur. I know what is coming, yet I'm screaming. :rolleyes:

I was ill when I heard that too. My dad wasn't the nicest to me growing up and some of that stuff really sticks with you for the rest of your life. That poor girl. :sad1: You are correct, I wouldn't call a character meal exactly "relaxing". They are fun though! That's what makes Dinosaur so fun, the screaming even though you know you're safe! :laughing:

We were going to do this breakfast the last day of our trip....earlier in the planning process it was planned for 9 am the last day. I thought with check out and all it would be rushed so we opted for Ohana the last day. Thank godness as we ended up doing AK on a different day and the 4th poured like buckets as we made an early departure. I am glad the rain was so heavy...it hid the sights as we were leaving for home.

So out of the breakfasts on your trip how did you rate this one??

I'm glad it worked out okay! Leaving for home on a rainy day makes it a little easier I would think. ;)

Ah, I loved reading about your Animal Kingdom morning. You did some of our favorites -- Charles and Chelsea love Everest, we all love Dinosaur although I don't think we giggle on it ;), and Tusker House is probably my favorite character meal that we have done.

I totally agree that character meals can be hectic with the whole autograph book, picture taking, and eating. I always feel a little frazzled afterwards.

Thanks CP! I'm glad you all enjoyed Tusker House too. Frazzled is a perfect word to decribe what I was talking about. :thumbsup2

Zookeeperof4

01-29-2010, 11:23 AM

Well we were happy that the weather had been warm for us. You guys seem to have had good weather to.

Lovemy3babes

01-29-2010, 11:30 AM

Well we were happy that the weather had been warm for us. You guys seem to have had good weather to.

It wasn't bad, a pretty mixed bag. Some chilly, some humid, a little rain and then one cold night. I'm glad we packed layers!

Lovemy3babes

01-29-2010, 11:32 AM

Sure it's okay...I've had photopass photographers offer to take pix with my camera after they were done taking theirs...

Kathy

Good to know! :thumbsup2

Kimberly815

01-29-2010, 01:10 PM

I just found your trip report today and I am really enjoying it! Thanks for sharing!

DisneyJo

01-29-2010, 02:28 PM

Wow you guys are brave riding Dinosaur and especially laughing at the scary bits :eek: :rotfl:

Your meal looks great and I definitely agree about character buffets being a bit stressful making sure you see everyone :rotfl2:

Lovemy3babes

01-30-2010, 12:24 PM

I just found your trip report today and I am really enjoying it! Thanks for sharing!

Welcome! pixiedust: Thanks for reading.

Wow you guys are brave riding Dinosaur and especially laughing at the scary bits :eek: :rotfl:

Your meal looks great and I definitely agree about character buffets being a bit stressful making sure you see everyone :rotfl2:

Heehee, I guess we like scary stuff! Character meals are definitely a great way to see the characters but do require more than just enjoying your food. :yay:

Lovemy3babes

02-01-2010, 03:19 PM

We had just gotten done eating with Donald and his fun friends. That meant it was time for a safari ride. I had gotten Fastpasses right before we ate and this worked out so well, them being pretty close to each other. We rounded up the troops and headed that way.

The standby line was pretty short, around 15 minutes. My sister parked her stroller and we all made our way into the line. Note: this ride was also one marked that pregnant women shouldn’t ride. We both thought that was a little much. It is pretty bumpy at times but we asked the CM if we could have a front seat since she was pregnant and he was very happy to oblige, nice kid that he was. :)

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Love these things!

Morghan was excited to be a time keeper again!

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My camera’s zoom was dead as a doornail as I mentioned before so some of these pictures are my sister’s. I did manage to get a couple that weren’t too, too bad. We had a pretty fun safari guide though we almost nearly were killed on a rickety bridge!! (Beware of this bridge you all!) ;)

Here are some of our photos, in no particular order.

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I love that hippos walk underneath the water!

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A mama and her babe!

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The upside down tree!

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We see you in there!

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Look who we saved!

Our mission was complete. We had a great safari ride! We had to hunt down my sister’s stroller, which seemed to take forever because the CMs move them. It’s a little confusing when you come out in a different place that you entered as well. But, we found it and were off!

The kids needed a little potty break. It was getting quite warm so we took a little breather in the shade.

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It was very early afternoon at this point. The kids were asking to see It’s Tough to be a Bug so we walked back over that way. This is our second favorite 3-D show, rated after Philharmagic. It’s really cute but a little scary for some kids. The carvings in the tree are gorgeous and the posters are hilarious!

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And the bug glasses are the cutest!

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Once again, the show was wonderful. My nephew Jayse didn’t quite care for letting the bugs exit first if you know what I mean! ;)

After that was said and done, we had planned on seeing FOTLK. But, it was in between shows and I didn’t feel like subjecting the kids to waiting in a line for so long. So, we made a quick itinerary addition and boarded a train to the Conservation Station and Affection Section. This was new for us and something I hadn’t planned on having the time to do. We were having a great morning so had lots of extra time in our day. The train ride is relaxing and we were over there in no time.

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Continued in next post.

Lovemy3babes

02-01-2010, 03:23 PM

The kids wanted to definitely be able to pet some animals first. We found this cute little guy.

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And also this big girl, whom we nicknamed Bessie-

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Wash those hands!

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We wanted to go take a peek inside. It was quite warm out so we needed somewhere to cool down for a bit. Inside we found some fun things!

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There were lots of creepy crawlies in those cages!

We ran into these two lovely folks-

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My daughter Morghan used to adore Pocahontas, mainly because she herself is part Native American. So, it was pretty neat to meet her.

And then this cool dude-

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We took a listen in one of those sound booth things. That was pretty neat. A person could probably catch a couple of zzz’s in here though.

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We said goodbye to this big guy-

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They have a few little tables in there that we were going to sit down and have a little snack. Do not do this! Geesh, this crabby CM told us to pretty much move. Don’t eat here, do not collect $200, do not pass GO! You could sit but not eat. Eek. Sorry! We put our measly two bananas away and left quietly out the door. She must not have gotten her pixie dust that morning or something.

We decided to head back and passed some signs along the way. Pretty good advise if I do say so myself.

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By the time we were back, it was getting closer to the next showing of FOTLK. I really had hopes that the kids would sit for this and hopefully enjoy it as well. On the way there, we took this fun picture. My kids love these things! Anything to pop your head through and smile, they will do!

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We didn’t wait too long to get into the show but this also meant our seats were not that good. I wouldn’t usually mind but that meant my pictures turned out really poorly due to having no zoom. Oh well, I guess that meant more time to actually sit and enjoy the show, not taking any photos. Are you ready for my TWO photos? LOL!

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Despite no photographic memories to bring home with me, we really loved the show. It’s the second time I had seen it and I was very excited to have the kids watch it with me this time. The music, the dancing, it’s just all so wonderful!

We left the show. I love these little figurines.

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We only had one more thing on the must-do list.

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Oh yeah, time to get a little wet! It was still warm and a little humid out, so we were ready for Kali! All of us!! The wait was minimal and the ride was really fun. We did all get pretty wet except for my sister, the pregnant one, who was soaked to the bone. Go figure! The poor girl! She couldn’t ride too much and then when she did, she was drenched! LOL!! At this point, they decided to go back to the resort. She was tired and wet and needed a break. I think we also needed a little break from each other. I love my sister to death and she’s my best friend. But being on vacation for so many days in a row together, doing mostly everything together, was wearing on the both of us. They planned for a quiet night in and my kids were nowhere near ready to be done for the day! So we plugged on. Now at this point, I felt like I was missing something. I couldn’t put my finger on it as we sat down and were trying to decide what to do next. The sun went down a little and we all were a little chilly from being wet from the ride. I told the kiddos to put their jackets back on for awhile to warm back up and guess what?! Mine was nowhere to be found! Yes, mine! The mom! The one who isn’t supposed to be losing stuff in the park. Just great! That’s my favorite light jacket and I really wanted it back. Ugh, I felt like crying. The last place I remembered having it was inside the FOTLK show. I had taken it off and was sitting on it. So of course, that’s where it must be. My poor kids….I made them trek all the way back over there with me. Thankfully they clear the rows after each show and the CM manning the door had it in her little podium with the time and date of the show on a little piece of paper, pinned to my coat. What a relief! The kids and I grabbed a frozen banana :banana: from the stand close the show and walked back towards Kali. They wanted another ride!! But, it was parade time! Close to it anyways so we were hustling under ropes and down the street so we weren’t caught up and interrupting anyone’s view.

Back to Kali! Right as we were entering the queue, I received an important phone call from work and had to take it. I asked the CM if it was okay that the three kids rode alone and she said it should be okay. There was a group of cheerleaders (Pop Warner crew) right behind us and they took my kiddos under their wings! I thought that was so sweet. They all rode together and had a blast! I was told that they cheered throughout the whole ride and were teaching the kids some cheers too! :cheer2: LOL!! I got a fun picture of all of them while waiting on top of the bridge.

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Wet but happy girls!

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Morghan wanted another ride on Everest. The three of us had enough in the morning but my daredevil wanted more! So, I walked her up to the single riders’ line and asked the CM if it was okay that she rode alone. Of course it was so we waited for her in the gift shop. Dimitri picked himself up a souvenir here. It’s a gray and green t-shirt that says “I Conquered Expedition Everest” and has Yeti claw marks throughout it all. It’s pretty cool and he’s wearing it to school on top of a long sleeved shirt today actually! Morghan had a fun ride and was able to ride next to another girl, not too much older than her.

It was getting later and Animal Kingdom closed at 6pm. We just didn’t want to leave the park this day. We had good ride mojo all day and were prolonging our time of leaving. I knew we wouldn’t be back anytime soon and I wanted to savor every last minute of our vacation. We parked ourselves on a bench and called my husband at home. He hadn’t really talked longer than a couple minutes to the kids since Saturday (it was now Tuesday) and they wanted to tell him all about our trip. I took this cute picture of Dimitri talking to his dad, whom he idolizes. It was adorable, all crouched down, telling him everything. “I went backwards dad and there was a Yeti dad but I didn’t cry dad and then we laughed on Dinosaur dad!” So funny.

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Continued in next post.

Lovemy3babes

02-01-2010, 03:25 PM

We moseyed our way closer to the exit. It was agonizing! The weather was finally cooled down a bit and it was dusk. We were mostly dry again and it was a perfect setting in Animal Kingdom. Just a gorgeous night! The kids ran into some drums, which we played around on for awhile.

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Look at that view!

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But, we had to go. We took these fun pictures, along the way out.

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Then they had some fun with the Rainforest Café stuff. What silly kids I have!

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Ok, it’s really time to head out guys I told them a little tearfully. :sad1: I had such a fun afternoon. While it’s always nice to spend time with your family, it was perfect spending time in such a fun place with these three. They get Disney and love it just like I do. We had a blast! Bye for now Animal Kingdom!

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We did squeeze out a couple more minutes in the park and had a couple Photopass pictures taken in front of the gorgeous tree.

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We didn’t wait too long for a bus and at that time, it was a shift change. It was neat seeing that. One bus driver exited and another hopped on board with what must have been his lunch for the night! The kids thought that was pretty darn cool.

We arrived back at OKW in no time.

Took this there-

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We were hungry but I thought we could do a little swimming first. We hadn’t had the opportunity to do so yet and it was a perfect night for it. We hopped aboard a bus for HH and found our way to the really fun pool. I let the kids wear themselves out for about an hour. My sister and nephew decided to come up and join us too! My sister and I sat in lounge chairs reading for the most part and I stuck my legs into the hot tub for a bit, which felt great!

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We all had a late dinner at Good’s to Go once we all dried off and changed in the locker room that they have there. The food was just okay and we should have maybe hopped over to DD and grabbed something there. Dimitri and Morghan had chicken strips, I just got nachos and I think Mykenah had a hotdog. It was pretty expensive for what we got and I probably wouldn’t eat there again. We actually should have gone into Olivia’s and probably would have paid not that much more.

We got on a bus and made it back to South Point once again. We said our goodbyes to my sister and Jayse and happily strolled back to our room. Morghan once again found a little friend.

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The kids had all showered in the locker rooms so only mom needed one that night. By the time I got out and was dressed, all three beauties were sleeping to the sounds of Stacy’s voice. I called to tell my husband good night, checked my work email and then tucked myself it. We were all asleep by 10pm. It had been a long, fun day in Disney World!! :goodvibes

Up next...time for a little break, pretty princesses and Wishes!

disneybarbie

02-01-2010, 03:48 PM

Really lovely update... everyone looks like they're having such a wonderful time!! :goodvibes

Emma princess: x

MeMom

02-01-2010, 04:11 PM

What an awesome day at Animal Kingdom! I love that park! I'm glad you were able to see the cool stuff at Rafiki's. Sometimes something as simple as petting a goat makes for the most fun moments for a kid...and for the grown-ups watching them.

Cool that the cheerleaders were so kind to your kids. I bet your girls loved the cheers!

I know Dimitri wears his Yeti shirt proudly. Once was enough for me, but you have a brave girl to ride it twice! Did she get a shirt or souvenir from that ride? She deserved one!

The whole time you were talking about leaving, I could feel that dragging feeling - that walking slowly and being sure you look at every animal, sign, shop, and leaf before you reach the exit feeling. I was saying 'noooo, don't go!' out here in reader land. :laughing:

But, I know swimming felt good, too, and relaxing by the pool for the moms - yeah, that's a nice way to end a day.

I had one of the best hamburgers I have ever had on Disney property at Goods To Go once. Surprisingly, the other best burger was at All-Star Sports at the food court. Yep, those two totally random places gave me the most delicious Disney burgers I have had there.

It's so cute to picture the kids telling Dad all the exciting things they were doing. I know he missed them something awful, but I bet he had a big smile on his face listening to them recall the day.

Thanks for a great installment. I so wish I had spent today walking around Animal Kingdom instead of dusting shelves! :goodvibes

SoonerGirl

02-01-2010, 04:19 PM

What a great day you guys had a AK!! I know some people really don't care for this park, but I love it - so much to look at, it's just themed so well.

I'm glad you were able to get your jacket back so easily, that sure would have stunk if you hadn't been able to find it.

And, yay for nice cheerleaders! You always hear about the obnoxious ones that everyone complains about, so it's nice to hear someone say something positive about them.

Mndisneygirl

02-01-2010, 04:24 PM

Wow! What a great day at AK you guys had!! I can see how much fun you were having!
Nice to hear that some of the cheerleaders were nice to your kids!!

trixiequilts

02-01-2010, 04:35 PM

What a wonderful update about my favorite park! You really made me feel very nostalgic!

That feeling of leaving is the worst, isn't it? :sad2: Like you want to soak up every single memory that you can so that you can make it through to the next time you're there. :cloud9:

Your kids look like they had the greatest time! And they look like they get along so well. :angel: My girls got along better at Disney than any other place, ever. :thumbsup2 I think we should move there! :rotfl2:

My DD10 just told me she really wants to go the Conservation Station next time. Is it more geared toward younger kids or not so much?

You may have noticed my lack of December questions...we're leaning more toward November now. I noticed that your ticker is for October next time...did you not want to do December again or didn't that have any bearing on your decision?

Megablocks

02-01-2010, 06:15 PM

Oh wow, what an awesome day! I can safely say that I don't think I will ever be able to see ITTBAB, because I'm a huge baby when it comes to bugs -- I am just terrified of them, especially stinging bugs and beetles. Ugh. I had to recruit my 16 year old sister to "help" me kill a beetle in my room last summer because I was flipping out. :lmao:

I am dying to go to the Conservation Station again! We haven't been that way in a while. We haven't seen FOTLK in a while, either, so I am dying to see that again.

I can't believe Morghan wanted to go on EE again! :rotfl: I love it!

RinkyTinkyTinky

02-01-2010, 06:20 PM

stace208

02-01-2010, 06:25 PM

Wow! What an absolutely wonderful AK day!:goodvibes I loved all of your pictures-both yours and PP. You got some really great shots!

My DS and I love EE! We would ride with your DD over and over until we couldn't take it any more! He also loves Dinosaur. I have always sat out with my DD...might have to change that on one of my trips coming up!

I also love your OKW photos. We just bought DVC there and will be staying there for the first time in June. We're so excited!

Can't wait for more!

brookelizabeth

02-01-2010, 11:32 PM

What a great day! I could "feel" how magical it was through your writing and pictures....love it!!!! :cloud9:

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Beautiful picture! The color of the water, contrasting with the sand and the elephants....seriously awesome!

They have a few little tables in there that we were going to sit down and have a little snack. Do not do this! Geesh, this crabby CM told us to pretty much move. Don’t eat here, do not collect $200, do not pass GO! You could sit but not eat. Eek. Sorry! We put our measly two bananas away and left quietly out the door. She must not have gotten her pixie dust that morning or something.

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the crabby CM!! Good to know though, mental note taken. :laughing: We've never made it to this part of the park, despite it being on my list for the past FOUR trips! :rolleyes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Animal%20Kingdom%20-%20Disney%2009/Disney2009195.jpg

How fun! What sweet kids to watch over them and befriend them!! I hear so many negative things about the Pop Warner kids, it's great to hear something GOOD! :thumbsup2

You captured some beautiful pictures of your kids...the ones of them being all silly as you left that night just scream with personality....which is my favorite thing in a photograph! And this one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Animal%20Kingdom%20-%20Disney%2009/Disney2009199.jpg

Must frame it!!!!! :goodvibes

KathyRN137

02-02-2010, 09:54 AM

I was so glad to read that your sis got to do the Safari...she's been missing out on a lot of good stuff b/c of her pregnancy! (The back of the truck IS bumpy, though!) :eek: Glad you sat up front...

It's so very hard to tear yourself away from the park when everyone is having such a great time, isn't it?

I loved the funny pix of the kids goofing around with the Rainforest Cafe sign! :lmao:

Down time at the pool is always good for the kids, though. I love soaking my legs in the hot tub after a long day of walking, too. Feels great!

Kathy

Lovemy3babes

02-02-2010, 12:05 PM

Really lovely update... everyone looks like they're having such a wonderful time!! :goodvibes

Emma princess: x

Thank you, it was a great day! :cloud9:

What an awesome day at Animal Kingdom! I love that park! I'm glad you were able to see the cool stuff at Rafiki's. Sometimes something as simple as petting a goat makes for the most fun moments for a kid...and for the grown-ups watching them.

Cool that the cheerleaders were so kind to your kids. I bet your girls loved the cheers!

I know Dimitri wears his Yeti shirt proudly. Once was enough for me, but you have a brave girl to ride it twice! Did she get a shirt or souvenir from that ride? She deserved one!

The whole time you were talking about leaving, I could feel that dragging feeling - that walking slowly and being sure you look at every animal, sign, shop, and leaf before you reach the exit feeling. I was saying 'noooo, don't go!' out here in reader land. :laughing:

But, I know swimming felt good, too, and relaxing by the pool for the moms - yeah, that's a nice way to end a day.

I had one of the best hamburgers I have ever had on Disney property at Goods To Go once. Surprisingly, the other best burger was at All-Star Sports at the food court. Yep, those two totally random places gave me the most delicious Disney burgers I have had there.

It's so cute to picture the kids telling Dad all the exciting things they were doing. I know he missed them something awful, but I bet he had a big smile on his face listening to them recall the day.

Thanks for a great installment. I so wish I had spent today walking around Animal Kingdom instead of dusting shelves! :goodvibes

Thanks for reading MeMom. Morghan didn't get a t-shirt but you are right, she deserved one. She had her "fun money" sights set on more girly items! :cutie: I should have ordered the burger. One can hardly go wrong with a burger. I totally wish my day was spent at AK too. Instead I sit at work.

What a great day you guys had a AK!! I know some people really don't care for this park, but I love it - so much to look at, it's just themed so well.

I'm glad you were able to get your jacket back so easily, that sure would have stunk if you hadn't been able to find it.

And, yay for nice cheerleaders! You always hear about the obnoxious ones that everyone complains about, so it's nice to hear someone say something positive about them.

You are right, there is lots of fun theming at AK. You feel like you are right there in Africa or whatever location it is you are visiting. The cheerleaders were great! :woohoo:

Lovemy3babes

02-02-2010, 12:11 PM

Wow! What a great day at AK you guys had!! I can see how much fun you were having!
Nice to hear that some of the cheerleaders were nice to your kids!!

It was definitely a great day overall! My girls say they want to be cheerleaders too someday. ;)

What a wonderful update about my favorite park! You really made me feel very nostalgic!

That feeling of leaving is the worst, isn't it? :sad2: Like you want to soak up every single memory that you can so that you can make it through to the next time you're there. :cloud9:

Your kids look like they had the greatest time! And they look like they get along so well. :angel: My girls got along better at Disney than any other place, ever. :thumbsup2 I think we should move there! :rotfl2:

My DD10 just told me she really wants to go the Conservation Station next time. Is it more geared toward younger kids or not so much?

You may have noticed my lack of December questions...we're leaning more toward November now. I noticed that your ticker is for October next time...did you not want to do December again or didn't that have any bearing on your decision?

That's neat that AK is your favorite park. You rarely hear that for some reason. :confused3 Leaving when you are having such a fun time is soooo hard! My kids fight too, believe me! :laughing: So I was very thankful that they were getting along so well. I think that the Conservation Station is geared towards all ages. There were lots of little things to check out inside. November is a great time to go!! We're going to try for October for our next trip because the kiddos get a couple days off of school then. :thumbsup2

Oh wow, what an awesome day! I can safely say that I don't think I will ever be able to see ITTBAB, because I'm a huge baby when it comes to bugs -- I am just terrified of them, especially stinging bugs and beetles. Ugh. I had to recruit my 16 year old sister to "help" me kill a beetle in my room last summer because I was flipping out. :lmao:

I am dying to go to the Conservation Station again! We haven't been that way in a while. We haven't seen FOTLK in a while, either, so I am dying to see that again.

I can't believe Morghan wanted to go on EE again! :rotfl: I love it!

:rotfl: That is hilarious!! Could you watch the show and cover your eyes at the "scary" parts maybe? Morghan is a thrill junkie!!

Momof2Disneyboys

02-02-2010, 12:15 PM

Charleston Princess

02-02-2010, 12:38 PM

What a great day at Animal Kingdom!!! My kids were traumatized by It's Tough to be a Bug, but the pics of all of you in your glasses are too cute!!! How nice you were able to spend the afternoon with just the kids -- that had to be a welcome break! Sure wish I could have one of those frozen bananas right now. :laughing:

Lovemy3babes

02-02-2010, 12:50 PM

I just loved your bug glasses pictures! Absolutely adorable! And you got to meet Jiminy Crickey!!!! AWESOME! We have never met him.

My favorite picture is the one of your 3 kids playing the drums. I just love pictures that capture that feeling of AK (like the one in your last post with the African entertainer guy). Those are the best. It makes you feel like you are standing right there again.

I know what you mean about not wanting to leave the park. We were dragging our feet several times like that on our trip too. The day that we had no crowds at MK.............. very hard to exit the park. I feel your pain on that one! :sad1:

I really don't know why you said you are a terrible TR writer. I think you have done a great job and I have enjoyed it so much. :hug: Looking forward to more!

It's really neat to see pictures and feel like you are back in the park, isn't it? :goodvibes It's so much fun to be in Disney and when you leave a park for the last time on that trip, it's so sad! :guilty: Thanks for the compliments on the report. I'm trying hard to be interesting. :laughing:

Wow! What an absolutely wonderful AK day!:goodvibes I loved all of your pictures-both yours and PP. You got some really great shots!

My DS and I love EE! We would ride with your DD over and over until we couldn't take it any more! He also loves Dinosaur. I have always sat out with my DD...might have to change that on one of my trips coming up!

I also love your OKW photos. We just bought DVC there and will be staying there for the first time in June. We're so excited!

Can't wait for more!

Morghan would be thrilled to have fellow EE lovers! I'll ride it for her but it's not one of my favorites. :rolleyes1 Enjoy OKW!! We didn't really like our room location but the resort was lots of fun!

What a great day! I could "feel" how magical it was through your writing and pictures....love it!!!! :cloud9:

Beautiful picture! The color of the water, contrasting with the sand and the elephants....seriously awesome!

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the crabby CM!! Good to know though, mental note taken. :laughing: We've never made it to this part of the park, despite it being on my list for the past FOUR trips! :rolleyes:

How fun! What sweet kids to watch over them and befriend them!! I hear so many negative things about the Pop Warner kids, it's great to hear something GOOD! :thumbsup2

You captured some beautiful pictures of your kids...the ones of them being all silly as you left that night just scream with personality....which is my favorite thing in a photograph! And this one:

Must frame it!!!!! :goodvibes

Aw, Brook, that you so much!! I'll pick up a couple frames for those two pictures I think. I was very pleasantly surprised with these girls. They were so happy and fun! :cheer2:

I was so glad to read that your sis got to do the Safari...she's been missing out on a lot of good stuff b/c of her pregnancy! (The back of the truck IS bumpy, though!) :eek: Glad you sat up front...

It's so very hard to tear yourself away from the park when everyone is having such a great time, isn't it?

I loved the funny pix of the kids goofing around with the Rainforest Cafe sign! :lmao:

Down time at the pool is always good for the kids, though. I love soaking my legs in the hot tub after a long day of walking, too. Feels great!

Kathy

I was really thankful my sister was able to ride something! It is really hard to leave when you're having such a grand time. I have silly kids, they really enjoy being so goofy. The hot tub felt great! :thumbsup2

Lovemy3babes

02-02-2010, 12:58 PM

WOW what a great day you had! AK and swimming! :cool1:

Looks like you guys got a lot accomplished at AK and had a great time! We've never done the Conservation Station and Affection Section. Or seen Jiminy Cricket or Pocahontas. :confused3 I guess we just don't usually spend a whole lot of time at AK. We have seen FOTLK though, and it is awesome! :thumbsup2

Great pictures of everything, thanks for sharing! :goodvibes

We definitely saw more than we ever have before at AK. It was a lot of fun! You are right, FOTLK is awesome!! :goodvibes

What a great day at Animal Kingdom!!! My kids were traumatized by It's Tough to be a Bug, but the pics of all of you in your glasses are too cute!!! How nice you were able to spend the afternoon with just the kids -- that had to be a welcome break! Sure wish I could have one of those frozen bananas right now. :laughing:

Oh no!! I'm sorry your kiddos got so scared at ITTBAB. A frozen banana sounds great! I haven't had lunch yet! :banana:

DisneyJo

02-02-2010, 02:07 PM

What a fantastic day and it's wonderful to read about all the fun you and your kids were having :goodvibes

I love all the silly photos your kids posed for, what great memories :thumbsup2

Lovemy3babes

02-02-2010, 02:29 PM

What a fantastic day and it's wonderful to read about all the fun you and your kids were having :goodvibes

I love all the silly photos your kids posed for, what great memories :thumbsup2

Thanks Jo! We're all pretty silly!

praisehisname

02-02-2010, 07:01 PM

Yay for your sister getting to ride some rides today! So nice of those cheerleaders to watch out for your kids! Sounds like you had a really fun, really full day!

Denise

If U Had Wings

02-03-2010, 08:45 AM

Sounds like it really was the perfect AK day. You got some really great pictures of the kids while you were there.

I know exactly what you mean about traveling in the parks with others. You love them, but at some point you just need a break.

DisMomAmy

02-03-2010, 09:32 AM

Sounds like a great day at AK!! I'm glad you found your jacket. :goodvibes

Kimberly815

02-03-2010, 10:56 AM

What a fun day you had at AK! We never seem to spend too much time there, but you never know when things are going to work out into a perfect afternoon like you had! That's great!

Panotchr

02-03-2010, 11:12 AM

Every time we go to AK we do the same things... safari, EE, eat at Flame Tree and see the Lion King. My oldest dd hates ITTBAB... well she is not a big 3D fan of anything, so we usually don't do that even.

I keep saying we are GOING TO SPEND MORE TIME THERE. Now your report makes me want to say it like this... WE ARE GOING TO SPEND MORE TIME THERE!!!

We are staying at AKL Kidani, so this should not be a problem.:goodvibes

Lovemy3babes

02-09-2010, 01:59 PM

Yay for your sister getting to ride some rides today! So nice of those cheerleaders to watch out for your kids! Sounds like you had a really fun, really full day!

Denise

I was happy we found plenty for my sister to ride too. The poor pregnant thing got soaked however! LOL!! :laughing:

Sounds like a great day at AK!! I'm glad you found your jacket. :goodvibes

Thank you!! That was the only jacket I had brought with (and my favorite!) so I was really happy that it was exactly where I had left it. Whew! :thumbsup2

Sounds like it really was the perfect AK day. You got some really great pictures of the kids while you were there.

I know exactly what you mean about traveling in the parks with others. You love them, but at some point you just need a break.

Thank you! I'm looking for some Animal Kingdom frames online so I can put some of them up in the house. And yes, a break is definitely needed when traveling with extended family. I love my sister but we just needed a little breather from each other. :lovestruc

What a fun day you had at AK! We never seem to spend too much time there, but you never know when things are going to work out into a perfect afternoon like you had! That's great!

Exactly! We hadn't planned on spending so long of a day there but the stars just aligned that way. :goodvibes

Every time we go to AK we do the same things... safari, EE, eat at Flame Tree and see the Lion King. My oldest dd hates ITTBAB... well she is not a big 3D fan of anything, so we usually don't do that even.

I keep saying we are GOING TO SPEND MORE TIME THERE. Now your report makes me want to say it like this... WE ARE GOING TO SPEND MORE TIME THERE!!!

We are staying at AKL Kidani, so this should not be a problem.:goodvibes

I'll help you! Here goes my best "loud voice": SPEND MORE TIME THERE!!! :rotfl:

******
I am so sorry about the delay in my updates. The weather here in MN has just been a crap shoot. So far, school has been delayed for two hours each morning this week. We have snow, ice and then wind making it all that much worse. I plan on a good update tomorrow! We had a break day and got to do some fun things and see a wonderful show so that's coming up next. :goodvibes

brookelizabeth

02-10-2010, 01:58 PM

I am so sorry about the delay in my updates. The weather here in MN has just been a crap shoot. So far, school has been delayed for two hours each morning this week. We have snow, ice and then wind making it all that much worse. I plan on a good update tomorrow! We had a break day and got to do some fun things and see a wonderful show so that's coming up next. :goodvibes

I hear ya. :sad2: Last night Joe went out to shovel the drive way and came back in saying he didn't know where to put the snow. We got several inches, and the banks are already tall on either side of the driveway, so lifting it and putting it on top would take foreverrrrrrrrr! We need to find us a guy with a truck and a plow. :laughing:

Mndisneygirl

02-10-2010, 02:19 PM

I hear ya. :sad2: Last night Joe went out to shovel the drive way and came back in saying he didn't know where to put the snow. We got several inches, and the banks are already tall on either side of the driveway, so lifting it and putting it on top would take foreverrrrrrrrr! We need to find us a guy with a truck and a plow. :laughing:

I'm right there with you ladies! The snow banks at the end of our driveway are now as tall as I am. I can't shovel it, Dh has to snowblow to get it up over the pile!
Crazy!! I feel for the folks in DC who probably don't have snowblowers! Might not even have shovels!
At least my road is plowed.

We'll be here waiting whenever you get around to updating. popcorn:: I neglected my TR for about a week too.

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 02:41 PM

The next morning was Wednesday, December 9th. When researching our trip, I heard many good things about taking a break day, built in downtime on your vacation. I thought this was a great idea so that’s what was planned for the day.

We all got a few more winks since there was no rope drop to rush off to. Once everyone was up and at ‘em, we had a little breakfast in the room. We actually had been doing that most of the week. I packed granola bars, fruit snacks, pop-tarts and mini boxes of cereal so that was what we dined on that morning. I called my sister to make plans and once again, met up with her and Jayse on the walk to South Point. Our mission for this day would be Downtown Disney! The kids had never been Downtown so they were excited to see all of the fun things offered here.

The bus dropped us off at the Marketplace and we were getting there around 10am or so. There was no set agenda for the day really except for one very special appointment for the girlies early that afternoon. It would be a great, relaxing day!

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We didn’t do too much shopping really but did a lot of browsing and even more wishing! Isn’t that usually how it works? Can you imagine having all the money in the world to bring home any Disney souvenir you would like? That would be awesome!

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We planned on coming here later for a treat.

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We did make sure to look in this store. It totally fits within our price range. LOL!

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The kids had their eyes on a few things but decided to see what other goodies they could find and maybe come back later.

We took a few fun pictures, just for giggles.

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The next stop of course was Once Upon a Toy.

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If you have children and are visiting DTD, there is no way you could get out of that place without a visit to this most wonderful toy store. Wow, they have so many fun things there!! The train and monorail in the front of the store struck the fancy of Dimitri and Jayse. These little guys sat and watched that thing for a good, long while.

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You can even sit and put together Mr. Potato Head parts and not have to spend a dime. I couldn’t resist playing with these with the kids for awhile.

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Dimitri ended up spending some of his souvenir money on a light saber that he built himself. He’s a big Star Wars fan and seemed to need another saber to add to his collection at home.

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He then saw the batch of Transformers and looked around there for a long time too. He loves Transformers just a tiny bit more than he loves Star Wars. We have plenty of Transformers at home (believe me!) so we didn’t buy anything else.

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The girls looked and looked but didn’t want to part with their money quite yet. Mykenah did find a cute set of ears to take a picture in.

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The Lego Store was next. Just like Star Wars and Transformers, Dimitri loves Legos. He pretty much loves anything that falls into this general “boy” category. The girls like to build with Legos too so we all headed that way.

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After browsing for a long time and realizing how expensive Legos pretty much are, we dropped some more souvenir money and filled up one of the large plastic containers of random pieces. This proved to be a good idea as the kids played with these all the time throughout the rest of our trip. I filled that puppy to the brim to get my money’s worth and the very nice staff person there taped it shut so it didn’t spill everywhere. LOL!

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Our tummies were telling us that it was time to eat. Earl of Sandwich was the plan. Now, we probably should have eaten earlier. It was prime lunch time and we walked into a mad house here. The line was crazy long, wrapping all the way to the back of the store, to the shop Earl connects with. But, we held our ground and hopped into the very large line. It actually didn’t take too, too long. Finding a table to sit at was going to be more difficult. I got myself the Earl’s Club, which was really good. I don’t normally like my sandwiches toasted and warm but this really hit the spot that day. Morghan and Dimitri got the turkey and swiss, while Mykenah got the grilled cheese. They all enjoyed their sandwiches and finished the entire thing.

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All 6 of us crammed into a really small booth/table. It was cramped and not that comfortable. With a place as popular as EoS, you think they could perhaps expand their seating a bit. After we were done eating, we used the rest room outside and headed onto the rest of our day.
I for sure wanted to stop in the Christmas shop.

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Each year I get a Disney Christmas ornament and this year would be no different. I looked and looked in this shop. We were in here for a good, long half hour. I just couldn’t decide! I knew I wanted something with the year 2009 on it to always remember our vacation. But I couldn’t make a choice. I must have picked up and put back twenty different ornaments. I also heard from a CM that all 2009 ornaments were now half price so that made my decision that much harder! I decided to come back on our last night in Disney and make my purchase then. (Would I regret this later?)

Continued in next post

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 02:47 PM

By that time it was getting close to 2pm. And at 2:10pm we had a very special appointment. The girls were going to be treated to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!

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We had a little time before their appointment so we browsed around the huge World of Disney store and saw many beautiful things.

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I wanted this and should have purchased it looking back now.

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Scary stuff!

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It was now time! They were so excited! When entering they were sprinkled with pixie dust by these lovely ladies.

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We announced ourselves at the counter and didn’t wait more than 10 seconds before we were whisked inside. It was empty!! What a great time to visit. My girls were the only two beauties getting their makeovers for a good 20 minutes or so before two other girls came along.

They had such a great time!! They both got the same makeover, with the nails, makeup and hair. Since they are older and don’t wear princess dresses anymore we opted out of that. I took a ton of my own photos and then there was also a hilarious Photopass photographer there. He was an older man and kept lightly teasing Dimitri about getting a princess makeover too. Dimitri thought he was really funny! So, I have a million pictures of their experience. I’ll try and limit them all here though.

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For us, it was really worth the money! The girls just loved the experience. I know they won’t enjoy things like this for much longer so I was really happy about them being able to enjoy the BBB. Mykenah loved her hairdo and kept it in until it fell out, which took awhile because that stuff is hard as a rock! Morghan loved hers too but did feel it was a little “poofy”. She kept trying to flatten it down and took most of it out the next day but keeping the little crown in her hair.

M and M signed the guestbook-

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I paid the bill and was thrilled to find out I could get the Christmas blanket deal here. I don’t remember what it was, something like spend $50 and get the blanket for $15? Does that sound right? But anyway, I paid for the girls and got a lovely Christmas throw as well. What a great deal!! :)

Continued in next post

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 02:50 PM

While the girls were being beautified, my nephew Jayse was getting a little makeover of his own. Want to see?

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And then my sister picked something up for the new baby girl to be. Super cute!!!

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We spotted this guy-

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Mykenah, with the little bag of goodies you leave BBB with-

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We sat for a bit and took in a little more DTD before we thought we’d call it an afternoon.

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We had an evening in MK planned and wanted to take a little rest before then. I let the kids decide; bus or boat. And you know what they picked, right? Boat of course!! I didn’t know though that we couldn’t get on an OKW boat in Marketplace. Is this true all of the time? We had to make the long trek over to the other side and catch the boat there.

And took these while waiting-

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Once back at OKW, instead of taking the bus to our stop, we decided to just walk. I saw this cute little room, all decorated pretty.

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My girls, being gorgeous and doing their best “pageant waves”, lol!!!
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Now, I don’t want you all to reach through the screen and slap me silly, ok? But, we had a dinner ADR planned for Chef Mickey’s. It had sounded good at the time I was planning. However, the more my sister and I talked about it, the more we wanted to just cancel it. We had already seen the majority of the characters we would see at CM. The dinner doesn’t get the best reviews. It isn’t the cheapest meal we could eat in WDW. And if we went, it might be cutting it close time-wise to getting a good spot to view Wishes. We had never sat to watch Wishes, had never even seen the full thing through so I was really determined to do that with my children.

Once we were back in the room, I called Disney Dining and cancelled the reservation. I felt bad but the kids were okay with it and I hoped this meant someone could get a reservation for that evening that might be scrambling to find something. Hopefully somebody great took our place! The kids watched a little Stacy and played with their new Legos. I checked my Facebook (loved the free internet at the DVC villas!) and just enjoyed the quiet for awhile. We were all set to rest up for a magical evening!

Up next…. Wishes!! And did she really take that ice cream, which did not belong to her?!?!

disneybarbie

02-10-2010, 03:11 PM

Lovely update! there is so much to see and do (and buy!) in DTD - I love having a quieter day to visit there :goodvibes

Emma princess: x

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 03:13 PM

I hear ya. :sad2: Last night Joe went out to shovel the drive way and came back in saying he didn't know where to put the snow. We got several inches, and the banks are already tall on either side of the driveway, so lifting it and putting it on top would take foreverrrrrrrrr! We need to find us a guy with a truck and a plow. :laughing:

I agree!! My husband keeps talking about buying an old pickup and plow to make some extra cash. :rotfl:

I'm right there with you ladies! The snow banks at the end of our driveway are now as tall as I am. I can't shovel it, Dh has to snowblow to get it up over the pile!
Crazy!! I feel for the folks in DC who probably don't have snowblowers! Might not even have shovels!
At least my road is plowed.

We'll be here waiting whenever you get around to updating. popcorn:: I neglected my TR for about a week too.

The high banks are getting to be quite a safety hazard! I'm so short that I can't see over them. :rolleyes1

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 03:24 PM

Lovely update! there is so much to see and do (and buy!) in DTD - I love having a quieter day to visit there :goodvibes

Emma princess: x

Me too. It was fun to wish! :goodvibes

Megablocks

02-10-2010, 03:26 PM

I love the girls' makeovers at BBB. I'm glad they got to enjoy it before they outgrow it. They are so pretty!

I love DTD. It sounds like it was a nice little break for you guys. You got a break and still got to visit MK -- sounds like a good day to me! :goodvibes

Edited to add, I totally understand canceling Chef Mickey's. If you were feeling iffy about it, that's the right thing to do. I personally only go there because it's tradition for us, and because it's Kailyn's meal of choice for her birthday. Your not going just means more time in MK, right? Always a good thing. :goodvibes

Momof2Disneyboys

02-10-2010, 03:30 PM

What a great day at DTD. We just love going there! :lovestruc

Do you happen to remember how much it is for the bucket of Lego pieces?

Love the girls BBB makeovers! princess:princess:

KathyRN137

02-10-2010, 03:46 PM

That was a great relaxing day, just like you said it would be! :goodvibes

I don't think anyone here would "reach through their screen to slap you" for cancelling your Chef Mickey dinner! You have to do what feels best. It's hard to know what that is 90 days in advance!

Looking forward to your MK evening,

Kathy

SoonerGirl

02-10-2010, 04:32 PM

What a great day! I love Morghan's shirt pirate:

The girls look so pretty all glamed up from BBB!

And, I don't think that there is anything wrong with cancelling your Chef Mickey's ADR, I've cancelled last minute before too (did it this past trip actually). Sometimes something comes up or you just change your mind. I'm sure someone was able to grab your spot, there are always walk ups that don't realize you need an ADR to eat at certain restaurants :thumbsup2

MeMom

02-10-2010, 06:10 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Lovemy3babes/Downtown%20Disney%20-%20Wishes%20-%20Disney%202009/11131_209237523217_508648217_303080.jpg

Now, I don’t want you all to reach through the screen and slap me silly, ok? But, we had a dinner ADR planned for Chef Mickey’s. It had sounded good at the time I was planning. However, the more my sister and I talked about it, the more we wanted to just cancel it. We had already seen the majority of the characters we would see at CM. The dinner doesn’t get the best reviews. It isn’t the cheapest meal we could eat in WDW. And if we went, it might be cutting it close time-wise to getting a good spot to view Wishes. We had never sat to watch Wishes, had never even seen the full thing through so I was really determined to do that with my children.

So much fun in Downtown Disney! You can definitely give a whole Disney day to this place.

Don't you just love that game tree outside of Earl's? We get no sandwich pictures?

The girls looked like they were enjoying the primping. Sweet, beautiful girls!

I wouldn't feel a bit bad about cancelling your Chef Mickey's ADR. It probably did free up a space for some walk-ins or at least speed up someone else getting in, and sometimes a family just needs some hanging out time. :)

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 07:15 PM

Lovemy3babes

02-10-2010, 07:21 PM

What a great day at DTD. We just love going there! :lovestruc

Do you happen to remember how much it is for the bucket of Lego pieces?

Love the girls BBB makeovers! princess:princess:

I'm so glad I decided to devote a morning to DTD. We had never done that before and really enjoyed the atmosphere. I don't quite remember the price but I know it was under $20. The container is not that big though. Go figure. :laughing:

That was a great relaxing day, just like you said it would be! :goodvibes

I don't think anyone here would "reach through their screen to slap you" for cancelling your Chef Mickey dinner! You have to do what feels best. It's hard to know what that is 90 days in advance!

Looking forward to your MK evening,

Kathy

It was nice to sleep in and take part of a day to relax. You are right, it's hard to know what sounds good 90 days in advance! :yay:

What a great day! I love Morghan's shirt pirate:

The girls look so pretty all glamed up from BBB!

And, I don't think that there is anything wrong with cancelling your Chef Mickey's ADR, I've cancelled last minute before too (did it this past trip actually). Sometimes something comes up or you just change your mind. I'm sure someone was able to grab your spot, there are always walk ups that don't realize you need an ADR to eat at certain restaurants :thumbsup2

Isn't Morghan's shirt cute? Heehee. We love Jack! The girls loved their makeover. If you noticed, Morghan did wipe off a little of her makeup. She got a little more put on then Mykenah and felt it was a little too much. I should remember this for the teeange years coming! Hopefully someone was able to use our ADR. :thumbsup2

So much fun in Downtown Disney! You can definitely give a whole Disney day to this place.

Don't you just love that game tree outside of Earl's? We get no sandwich pictures?

The girls looked like they were enjoying the primping. Sweet, beautiful girls!

I wouldn't feel a bit bad about cancelling your Chef Mickey's ADR. It probably did free up a space for some walk-ins or at least speed up someone else getting in, and sometimes a family just needs some hanging out time. :)

That game tree is awesome! It'd be neat to have something like that up around Christmas, wouldn't it? I would have taken sandwich pictures if I was not sitting elbow to elbow with my children and the nice lady next to me! :rotfl2: You are right, hanging out time is much needed some days. This was definitely one of them. Thanks for reading MeMom!