Four Families, One World: A Mome Rath Meets Beverly! May 29-June 5, 2011

[kwitcherkicken99]

We want the pirates! We want the pirates!

Oh... gee... FINE!!!!!

We didn't really start going to Disney until that had been discontinued, but everyone who went just raves about it. The problem of course is that if they started it again, the price would be much higher, as would be the "limited" number of tickets they sell. I firmly believe they don't say how many tickets they sell for the hard ticketed parties so they can nudge it forward every year.

I think the things they were offering in the survey for on-site guests if they did away with EMH or DME were things like a free tour, or a free character breakfast

Screw the free stuff, I want park hours when everyone goes to bed!

IDK if they would have the stones to increase the cost if they went back to pay for EMH. $10 I'm in. More than that... no way!

I love reading your TR! It's been great.

Thanks for stopping in! We had our ups and downs, but I'd take a bad Disney day over a good day anywhere else!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

SIDENOTE: Pictures will be a little sparse from here on out. I get towards the end of our trip and I just stop shooting. Happens EVERY time… especially once we start repeating parks.

Debbie FINALLY got to go on the ONLY ride she came to WDW for.

The park was fuller today. The group decided to go against TP recommendations. MK was the park to avoid that day. I now know why. It took a little longer to get on POTC, but still not as long as we’ve waited in the past!

DS hates the drop. Since Splash last fall he pitches a fit every time there is a drop. I hope this doesn’t continue in the future or riding rides is going to become very lonely for me.

Even with the drop at hand, it was fun to see the changes from Davy Jones to Blackbeard on the opening mist. DS had been playing Lego POTC and even though he’s not seen the film yet, he’s knows Blackbeard is one baaaaaad pirate! If I left them, we’d stay on the ride for hours! It cracks me up when we turn a corner and hear DD scream, “Cap-in Jack!”

By now, it was getting close to lunch. I’m fairly certain our group had other plans, but I told them we were headed for Columbia Harbour House. I just love that place! We cut over to Frontierland (I love that little pathway in between the two versus walking around!

We had to put the kids in a mini-time out though…

Anybody else wish these were still legal at times???

We parked the strollers and made a quick visit to the 999 grim grinning ghosts before lunch.

CHH did not disappoint. It was a little more expensive than I wanted to pay, but that is because DS wanted things that were not on the kids menu. Two orders of fish and chicken and a bowl of clam chowder later, our bellies were full and we took off for Fantasyland.

We parked our strollers (for the last time) at the old sky way station and ticked IASW and Peter Pan off our list. A couple of our group members wanted to go ride Splash again, but I didn’t want to, so we split temporarily. I took the kids over to see Ariel and Eric on the Adventureland Veranda. We were about the 3rd party in line, but we did have a long wait ahead – the Celebrate parade was running, and we all know that since there is only 1 Ariel… she can’t be in two places at once!

DD had another starstruck moment.

Poor kid. She’s going to HATE these when she’s older!

“Mommy? I want to go ride the magic carpets!” and off we went.

[ring… ring…]

“WHERE ARE YOU????”

“We’re over in Adventureland. I took the kids to see Ariel.”

“Meet us at the Trading Post in Frontierland.”

Did I mention I like the secret pathways??? The path right next to the carpets takes us right to the Trading Post. Grandma Norma promised Philip a stop at the pin store and this was our opportunity.

By now, I had seen how well the kids were taking care of their pins – they were so proud of them – I let both kids pick out 1 special pin for their lanyard. DD picked a sparkly Cinderella that matched my Aurora pin. DS picked out an R2-D2 pin where R2 was wearing mouse ears. I picked out my special pin, a 40th anniversary pin that was kind of like a locket. It has the old logo and Tink, but if you pull on the logo, it opens up to a picture of Uncle Walt. I also grabbed an extra package of pin backs and some of the locking backs. I wasn’t about to take a chance on the kid’s new pins falling off especially since I managed to lose one of my FP pins – for TSM – it still stings that it’s gone! By the way… those locking back are the best.investment.ever!

We sat outside the trading post to share and look over our new purchases when we got caught in the hoe down! I’d heard about it, but never managed to catch it! We took the kids over to Disney’s version of a flash mob. 2 CMs grabbed to boys and took them off to dance.

The hoe down is such a cute little production and a great place to see Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit, Clarabelle, Horace Horsecollar… it’s awesome! You can get photos but no autographs with them. Our kids were too busy dancing to stop for characters only their parents knew.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

It was late in our vacation and getting later in the day. We had a major vacation shut down over a meltdown of the ages. The group decided that it was time to spend a little more time in Fantasyland and the meltdown continued the ENTIRE way there.

Since someone didn’t want to comply, he had to sit out of Dumbo. Grandma Norma and I took the rest of the kids for a spin in the sky.

I paired off with DS and the girls went with Norma. DS knew that I wanted to take some construction photos while we were on the ride, so we made a couple laps at the very top while I did my duty as a reporter. I’m not going to post them here, I WILL make a separate post to show you guys the difference between our September trip and now. It’s crazy how much the FLE has grown since then!

From there, we rode the Carousel. I couldn’t believe Norma and Leia didn’t know about Cinderella’s horse on there. It’s always difficult for me to find it and today was no exception!

After the carousel, I made everyone ride Snow White, which is one of DS’s favorite rides.

The kids cracked me up this trip. The whole time, I found that no amount of queue distractions are as good as ring around the rosie.

I can’t tell you the number of photos I have of them doing this. I can’t remember why we were waiting, but something held us up on the way to Snow White. This is how we spent our down time.

DISCLAIMER: This is ONE and ONLY time I have ever taken flash photos on a ride.

Since it is one of DS’s favorites, and it is set for ultimate dismantling at some point this year, I wanted to record as much of it as possible.

Grandma Norma requested photos at the Sword in the Stone while Leia took Bella on another carousel spin.

Norma HAD to get a turkey leg today. She had wanted one yesterday but my insistence upon going to CHH trumped the turkey. Off we set for the turkey leg cart in Frontierland. At first, my kids said they weren’t hungry, so we didn’t eat. Then they smelled the food.

“I’m hungry”

“You want a turkey leg now?”

“Yup. I’m hungry!”

We used the porch at the Trading Post as our table. Since part of the group finished their meal before we did, they decided to take another spin on Splash. Debbie, myself, and my kids all stayed put. We waited, and waited… and waited.

We started to see the ropes go up for the parade as we sat.

Debbie checked the time and told me that she’d kinda like to stay for the parade. Not passing up the opportunity to see my favorite parade again, I told her that we should claim so real estate along the rope so the kids had a chance to see everything without trouble.

I finally sent a text message to the rest of the group, trying to figure out where they were. They opted to go to on BTMR while they were over there…
.
… … … …

They finally found their way back to our “campsite” and we took our place along the rope in preparation for the parade.

The parade was wonderful, even the second night in a row! AND since I had practice the night before, my camera settings were a little better.

One of my favorite parts of the parade is having Elliot and Alice mic’d up to talk to the guests along the parade route.

BACKSTORY: On our AK day, Linzie picked up a new hat. It’s a winter hat in the theme of the yeti. It white, with the yeti’s face on it, and has a little plume of white hair on the very top. Since that day, she has not taken off the hat, despite the fact that it is a million degrees outside. She’s a teenager. I’ll leave it at that.

As Alice came down the path through Frontierland we here her call out, “OH MY! What IS that thing on your head??? You look like a mome rath!”

I nearly toppled over. Linzie freaked, got up, ran over to her mom and exclaimed, “OMIGOSH! Alice talked to me!”

It was a great way to end the night.

 

[jenseib]

Just catching up.

We were told in April that Cinderellas horse is no longer on their. The took it off for refurbing, but it sounds like it has been off for quite some time. Of course I'm not sure if that CM knew what she was talking about, because she said there was another special horse now and we looked and looked an counted to where she said it was, and nothing. I went and asked her again and she took us to the plainest horse on the thing. I think the one that was special was already occupied.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just catching up.

We were told in April that Cinderellas horse is no longer on their. The took it off for refurbing, but it sounds like it has been off for quite some time. Of course I'm not sure if that CM knew what she was talking about, because she said there was another special horse now and we looked and looked an counted to where she said it was, and nothing. I went and asked her again and she took us to the plainest horse on the thing. I think the one that was special was already occupied.

Maybe that's because it's no longer Cinderella's Carousel? Maybe the Prince Charming horse isn't as pretty!

 

[jenseib]

Maybe that's because it's no longer Cinderella's Carousel? Maybe the Prince Charming horse isn't as pretty!

I actually kind of wondered that myself.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm glad you got to see MSEP twice in a row! Especially since you won't get to see it in December and all.........

Your shots are great. Did you use your flash but dial down the E/C? If so, how much?

I promise not to out you about Snow White. You needed something to remember it by when it gets hit by the wrecking ball, right?

 

[mom2rtk]

I actually kind of wondered that myself.

Another victim of the "Let's man up Fantasyland" campaign.... you know..... until we decide Flynn costs too much money and give him the axe!

 

[TarzansKat]

Now those are my kind of updates!

Pirates, meet and greets, MSEP!!! I'm happy.

 

[jenseib]

Weird, but my post from earlier just double posted now??? oh well I deleted it off.

 

[Grace and Mickey]

I had to share the madness somewhere! I like the madnessGlad you decided to share it


I'm trying to compile a list of where people are. The only one that I worry about is MK. There are changes ahead so I can't guarantee that they will be correct by the time December rolls around! I love a list

As for who is there on F! days or not, I'm not sure. Some people say you can find some super rare characters on F! days. Janet had a listing a couple pages back, it may be of some help. I have to go look

Thanks and thanks! I'm in the middle of finding out what is going on with my leg. The cortisone shot has already worn off and the swelling is really popping up more and more. I know the doctor I saw said the next step is an exploratory surgery, and I'm not okay with that. I would assume that we would try physical therapy first. If he says surgery is the only option, I will find another opinion.2nd opions are GOOD things

Norma found our shirts at a Disney outlet store, but I'm not sure which one!


Ebay.

I can email you a list of sellers that Norma uses. She will not buy any from Asia - they are bad pins.[/QUOTE] I would like that Thanks

 

[Caretames1]

We had to put the kids in a mini-time out though…

Anybody else wish these were still legal at times???

2 CMs grabbed to boys and took them off to dance.

The hoe down is such a cute little production and a great place to see Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit, Clarabelle, Horace Horsecollar… it’s awesome! You can get photos but no autographs with them. Our kids were too busy dancing to stop for characters only their parents knew.

I really have to get a pic of my DD in the stock!



I really liked all your pics of the MSEP! It has become my 2nd fav parade!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Just catching up.

We were told in April that Cinderellas horse is no longer on their. The took it off for refurbing, but it sounds like it has been off for quite some time. Of course I'm not sure if that CM knew what she was talking about, because she said there was another special horse now and we looked and looked an counted to where she said it was, and nothing. I went and asked her again and she took us to the plainest horse on the thing. I think the one that was special was already occupied.

That's so dumb. Very few people really knew about it. At least DD got to ride on it last September.

I wonder if the super plain horse was what they swapped off the real one for? I know... I'm stretching here. I'm going to check again in December. But seriously, I'll be bummed out if they took out another little secret from the parks!

Maybe that's because it's no longer Cinderella's Carousel? Maybe the Prince Charming horse isn't as pretty!

Hey... Maximus and Samson are pretty good looking horses!

Now those are my kind of updates!

Pirates, meet and greets, MSEP!!! I'm happy.

Glad to oblige ma'am!

I'll admit - I was a really happy chickie with MSEP two nights in a row. I got my fill!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I'm glad you got to see MSEP twice in a row! Especially since you won't get to see it in December and all.........

Your shots are great. Did you use your flash but dial down the E/C? If so, how much?

I get the MVMCP parade!

The first night, I didn't really mess with the flash, except in the beginning, I was having a really hard balancing the float lights and flash, and I had no patience left with our less-than-stellar neighbors.

Day two I did play around with balancing a little better. It's tough because I had to find the happy medium between getting ample twinkle from the existing lights and filling in with the flash. I severely choked the flash down and I want to say I was around F/8 @ 1/50 but I'll have to check later - I'm running out of time today. I've got my next-to-last 4-H fair judging in a few hours and I've got a 90 minute drive... each way.

And when I get back later today, I have to bake cupcakes for DS's 5th birthday party tomorrow. It's all about , savvy?

I promise not to out you about Snow White. You needed something to remember it by when it gets hit by the wrecking ball, right?

EXACTLY my thoughts!

Another victim of the "Let's man up Fantasyland" campaign.... you know..... until we decide Flynn costs too much money and give him the axe!

I thought the rumor was they were lacking "man" power for characters... or was that Silvermist? I'm getting so far behind!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I'm trying to compile a list of where people are. The only one that I worry about is MK. There are changes ahead so I can't guarantee that they will be correct by the time December rolls around! I love a list

I've got it started - I know I'm forgetting some people, so that's why I've not posted it yet.

Ebay.

I can email you a list of sellers that Norma uses. She will not buy any from Asia - they are bad pins.[/QUOTE] I would like that Thanks

She found a couple more good sellers, and I know there is a link on the DIS somewhere too with others. Once the 4-H season is over for me (which is Tuesday) I'll have time to dig in and get it all done. But if it seems like I forgot, get on me so I make sure you get that info!

I really have to get a pic of my DD in the stock!

It's a lot of fun. DS does it every trip. The first time, he was 2.5 and barely fit in the sitting stocks!

I really liked all your pics of the MSEP! It has become my 2nd fav parade!

Thanks! It's my favorite forever! I had to get a record of it before it goes away again!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

This post is going to be pretty much all photos. I’m going to post the progress of the Fantasyland Expansion that I’ve documented between September 2010 and May 2011. It’s funny… the week after we were there in 2010, those magic beans Disney planted grew gigantic trees overnight.



Ariel:
SEPTEMBER:

MAY:

The little provincial town:
SEPTEMBER:

MAY:

You can see even more work has been on Beast’s castle. Maurice’s cottage is really coming along as is the rock work.

SEPTEMBER:

MAY:
Fantasyland (from Dumbo). So much has changed!

MAY:
This wall was up just behind the carousel, heading away from Snow White.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Our last park day began with half of the group (Norma, Leia, Philip, Bella, and Linzie) going to Akershus for the princess breakfast. Debbie stayed behind with me and we left for EP about an hour after they did.

I knew that we would be a little bit early, but there is something that I needed to TEST and something else I needed to try to take care of before we met up with the rest of the group. Debbie, my kids, and I arrived at EP around 10:30a and made a bee line for Test Track.

Our first stop was at Guest Services. This is the FOURTH Guest Services I have visited since we got here… I was going to ask for help getting through to lost and found in a desperate search for DD’s ears. A wonderful gentleman who had been with the Disney company for over 20 years dialed the number and got me through the phone web to the final hold – on the Mickey phone. I waited, and waited… and waited. Meanwhile, he blew up balloons for the kids and even got out an RC Mater for DS to drive around the building while I was still on the phone. I can’t getting stressed about them playing all over the place and he calmly reminded me that they weren’t out of line and Uncle Walt himself BUILT Disney to be a playground – FOR KIDS. It really put things back into perspective

I finally got to speak to someone and my heart broke. No ears were turned in from two days ago in MK. I actually started to cry. I was so upset. How in the WORLD could they just disappear? Every CM knows to turn things in when they see them, and these were DD’s first official ears. It gave me horrific flashbacks to our first family trip when we lost DS’s baby blanket. I think I cried every day for a week after it was gone. It’s kind of silly the things that we get attached to.

Moving on…

I managed to pull myself together, thanked our helpers and set off for Test Track. I needed to run a little test of my own to see if a little dust would be sprinkled on my day.

General Motors sponsors TT and they have a lounge for employees and priority seating on the ride itself. We took great advantage of that last September and it was really nice to have, especially with the kids. DS was tall enough, DD was not. Using the priority seating was way faster than using the rider swap too. At the time, GM was under federal control so the lounge was closed – which was fine with us. Now that everything is back to “normal” the lounge has been reopened.

The thing with the lounge and the priority seating is that an employee needs to show their badge in order to use it. I wanted to take a shot to see if I could utilize the benefits, though my husband, the actual employee was not on the trip with us.

I went to the little desk in the show room and asked there. They told me they had no idea, but go ahead to the special door and the special elevator and see. Boy! Is that thing hard to find!

I got up to the elevator door and pushed the button. The woman on the other side was resistant to my request at first, but eventually asked if I had my insurance card and if it said GM on it.

We were in!

We piled into the elevator and up to the massive lounge. It stretches an entire floor of the building! On one side there was a little viewing room that looked out into the attraction (where you start the initial climb and you can also see the brake test). The room had several tables and chairs and a coke machine for us to use. The other side was a GIANT room with couches and chairs that had a spectacular view of Spaceship Earth. It was beautiful.

Before you yell at me, there are no pictures here. We weren’t up there very long because we were on a deadline.

On the walls on the park-view side was poster-sized photos of the inspiration points for parts of the attraction, the blue prints for the attraction, and the photo of the actual ride once it was finished. It was really neat.

We told the lady at the desk we were ready to move on so she wrote us a special FP for me and DS and we went down another elevator to a secret back entrance.

DS and I got right on the ride while Debbie took DD into the show room (one of her favorite places to hang out).

DS begged to sit in a car before we left the attraction, so he picked his favorite car, Bumblebee.

Shortly after getting off the ride I get a very angry phone call.

“WHERE ARE YOU?!?”

“Leaving Test Track”

“We have no plan for the day and my kids are acting up… get over here now!”

We immediately headed for China – the rendezvous point – to meet up with a frustrated grandma, an indifferent teen, and a little boy throwing another fit. Leia was so frustrated at this point that she was on the verge of adult meltdown.

You could definitely tell we were at the end of our vacation! We were all tired and hot and we were pushing hard to cover the largest park! (I don't count AK as the biggest - it may be size-wise, BUT the guest areas are considerably smaller than EP)

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

I got up to the elevator door and pushed the button. The woman on the other side was resistant to my request at first, but eventually asked if I had my insurance card and if it said GM on it.

so....


does this mean we can weasel our way in next December
It would be fun to see yes.. yes... yes it would. My mother would be and I would be and you would be . I can see it now the scene would be (those two extra people our cast members in the lounge by the way) and everything would be right in the world, except the people that could not go with us they would be , but lucky them they don't know about it so they are (notice they are not as happy since they are not in the lounge). Yes I can see it all now, daughter of the year in is the bag

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Oh... it's on sister.

I can use my insurance card. I wouldn't have it if DH wasn't employed there, so you'll get to see it.

I'm definitely taking pictures this time.

When the lounge closes at 5p the process is the same as it was in September. We just sign in at the desk and they take us back.

I was bummed the CMs were stingy this time... wrote a new FP each time we went through instead of letting us keep it and re-use it. Maybe they'll be in the Christmas spirit next time around!!!!

 

[annmarieda]

The GM lounge sounds so cool... course... would have been cooler to get a glimpse of what us mere mortal (non gm employees) don't get to see. Course... if you promise to write a december TR... AND take pictures of said lounge... I guess I can wait till then to see the pics.