Carter gives Cars Land two thumbs up!

[StephNJer]

I completely know what you mean about people walking right in front of strollers. So many times, we have had someone walk around us because we are walking too slow, and step right in front of our stroller, allowing us no time to stop. The times we have accidentally hit someone's ankles when they do this, THEY give US a dirty look. Sheesh.... LOL

My DS would have a permanent smile on his face if he got a button from Mater. What an awesome, magical thing that CM did for your Grandson! His smile is priceless!

 

[Jkpark]

Your stroller rant actually has me thinking. My girls are 4 and 6, but we usually still bring the double stroller b/c they do get tired of walking and sometimes it is just faster to get where we are heading for them to hop in and off we go. But we also do our best to not run into people, and in crowds, where people are weaving in and out - it means we barely get to move - much easier for a person walking to hop in front of me than for me with my double wide to do the same. Sorry for the long intro - anyway - do you think we would be better off leaving the stroller behind at least for EE at Carsland? I can't figure out if it will be harder to keep us moving with kids on feet or in the stroller

 

[luvflorida]

I completely know what you mean about people walking right in front of strollers. So many times, we have had someone walk around us because we are walking too slow, and step right in front of our stroller, allowing us no time to stop. The times we have accidentally hit someone's ankles when they do this, THEY give US a dirty look. Sheesh.... LOL

My DS would have a permanent smile on his face if he got a button from Mater. What an awesome, magical thing that CM did for your Grandson! His smile is priceless!

Carter is still talking about how Mater knew he was visiting Cars Land that day!

Your stroller rant actually has me thinking. My girls are 4 and 6, but we usually still bring the double stroller b/c they do get tired of walking and sometimes it is just faster to get where we are heading for them to hop in and off we go. But we also do our best to not run into people, and in crowds, where people are weaving in and out - it means we barely get to move - much easier for a person walking to hop in front of me than for me with my double wide to do the same. Sorry for the long intro - anyway - do you think we would be better off leaving the stroller behind at least for EE at Carsland? I can't figure out if it will be harder to keep us moving with kids on feet or in the stroller

I think it might be harder to maneuver with a double-wide stroller, but you could certainly do it. We liked having the two single strollers because Carter didn't always need his, so we'd just park it in whatever area we were in, then go back for it when we were ready to move on. If we were covering a lot of ground (back and forth from the motel or from one area of the Parks to another) it was much easier to have both kids in the strollers.

 

[luvflorida]

DAY FIVE- Friday, June 22nd- A little tap, tap, tap on the connecting door to our room woke me up at 6am. I got up, opened the door and Carter came bounding into our room ready to start the day. He informed us that Mom said he could come visit us. We were all up and on our way to Disneyland by 7:30am. Daniel ran to the pool area and got a bagel and some fruit to eat on the run since he wasn't doing the character breakfast with us. After going through security and the Disneyland Park turnstiles, we gave all our tickets to Daniel and he headed right over to DCA to wait in the FP line for RSR.

The rest of us went down Main Street to the Plaza Inn. We checked in and were given our breakfast buttons.

There were only a few people eating breakfast and by the time we left, it still wasn't crowded. We knew from past experience that Carter would absolutely love the character breakfast. He was 17 months old (a month older than Vanessa is now) when we took him to WDW for the first time and he was not the least bit afraid of any of the characters. In fact, we had a hard time holding him back in line and waiting his turn! He marched right up all by himself to every character and hugged them. It was the cutest thing ever!

Interrupting this trip report with a few pics of Carter with the characters in WDW when he was just a little guy:

Okay, back to this report! Vanessa was a different story! She did not like the characters! She didn't mind them too much if they were at a distance, but the second they got too close she would scramble to get away and start to cry. I was hoping to get some cute pictures with the two grandkids with the characters, but it was not to be. I guess we'll have to try again when she is older! She does like to eat, though, so she did enjoy her Mickey waffles.

The only character that Carter was a bit leery of when we did the same character breakfast when he was a little over two years old was Captain Hook. But not this time around.

Carter with Captain Hook in November 2010:

Carter with Captain Hook this trip:

The characters were great with Carter and they spent a lot of time playing with him and being silly, especially Winnie-the-Pooh and Eeyore.

Not a face Vanessa wanted to see!

Eeyore was pretending to be mad at Captain Hook for upsetting Vanessa.

And he blocked Vanessa so Captain Hook couldn't see her.

Hugs for Eeyore!

This was as close as she got to Eeyore.

"Maybe if I don't look at him, Mom, he'll go away."

 

[Jkpark]

Thanks. I like the idea of taking the stroller on the walk to the park, but parking it for Cars Land. Love your trip report!

 

[luvflorida]

Character breakfast cont.-

More hugs!

Vanessa was happy because there were no characters near her!

Uh Oh!

"Why are you still here, you big bear?"

"Yes, that's right, good-bye and don't come back!"

Eeyore went outside and when he came back in, he pretended he was stuck in the doorway.

Carter and Pooh Bear

Minnie was having a lot of fun, too.

When Carter was two, she made sure he finished his milk.

 

[luvflorida]

After breakfast we walked back down Main Street to meet up with Daniel. It was after 9am when he made his way back from DCA. He was further back in the fast pass line than Larry was the previous morning, but he got five fast passes with a return time of 5:10-6:10. Like yesterday, fast passes were gone sometime later that morning. He was also given four passes, each one good for up to six people, for California' Screamin".

All of us spent the morning riding the rides in Fantasyland. It was not crowded at all and most of the rides were less than a five minute wait. The longest line we stood in was for Peter Pan which was at twenty minutes. Carter had a great time on the rides, but Vanessa was a bit leery of some of them. She liked all the bright lights and moving figures, but wasn't crazy about areas that were dark. She wanted to be held so she could put her head on someone's shoulder when she didn't like certain aspects of the rides. Some attractions we didn't take her on and she was happy to just watch from the sidelines with one of us. As far as Fantasyland attractions, It's a Small World was definitely her favorite!

Carter's favorites were Dumbo, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland.

Waiting in line for Peter Pan's Flight

All systems go!

I don't remember what Carter was doing, but I do remember Vanessa didn't want to get out of the stationary Dumbo!

Late morning Vanessa fell asleep in her stroller, so Megan and Daniel took Carter on Space Mountain and Daniel did Star Tours. They said Carter liked Space Mountain, but when they asked him if he wanted to ride it again he said, "Ahhhhhhhhhh....no."

While they rode SM, Larry and I strolled Vanessa around and found a place to sit down and have a snack. Megan, Daniel and Carter met up with us in New Orleans Square and we all rode Pirates of the Caribbean. Again, Vanessa didn't like the dark parts, so Grampa held her tight and kept her safe. After Pirates, we took Carter and Vanessa on the Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh and she LOVED it!

On our way to Pirates

Captain Jack Sparrow, you say!

Let's go!

We were all hungry by now, so we walked over to the River Belle Terrace for lunch. Again, the sun was shining and the weather was beautiful, so we sat at an outside table and enjoyed the surroundings.

The afternoon was getting hot and the park was getting crowded, so Megan and Daniel decided to take the kids back to the motel for an afternoon rest. They would be out late that night, so she was hoping they'd nap for a bit. Larry went back with them, but I wanted to stay in the parks and do some exploring on my own. Shopping! I walked out to the Plaza area with them and they took off to catch the shuttle back to the CCI and I went in to DCA. We would all meet up around 4:30 at the front of DCA in time to be at RSR for our FP time slot.

I had two and half hours to roam around and do some shopping. I caught part of the Pixar Parade, walked around the Hollywood area, then went back to Buena Vista Street.

Five and Dime Jazz again

I spent a lot of time in the Five and Dime shop and bought a few t-shirts for the grandkids. Love that place! Tons of stuff! Trolley Treats had a chocolate cupcake calling my name, so I had to get it. It was delicious!

After checking out the shops in Cars Land, I walked back to the front of the park and waited for the others to arrive. I was excited to see RSR again!

 

[AngelDisney]

Loving your trip report! Your grandchildren are adorable!!
From these pics, I can tell why Carter chose the Minnie plush over the Mickey one.

 

[luvflorida]

Loving your trip report! Your grandchildren are adorable!!
From these pics, I can tell why Carter chose the Minnie plush over the Mickey one.

I think you're on to something here! I guess he's always had a thing for Minnie!


I'm going to try to get the rest of day five posted today. I was starting to get a little confused when uploading pictures to photobucket until I realized that Carter was wearing the same shirt both evenings we were in Cars Land. When the kids got up from napping at the motel on Friday afternoon, Megan put the same shirt on Carter that he had worn the previous evening. Confusing when looking at the pictures!

I took a lot of pictures in Cars Land Friday evening and got some really good ones of RSR!

 

[PinkBudgie]

That picture of him touching Minnni's face is adorable!

 

[teachU2]

So cute! I love the picture of Carter touching Minnie's nose.
Thanks for all the pictures of Minnie and Friends b-fast. I'm trying to decide between that one and Surf's Up with Mickey.

 

[luvflorida]

That picture of him touching Minnni's face is adorable!

I love that one, too!

So cute! I love the picture of Carter touching Minnie's nose.
Thanks for all the pictures of Minnie and Friends b-fast. I'm trying to decide between that one and Surf's Up with Mickey.

We've done the Minnie and Friends Breakfast twice and both times the character interaction was great. The food is good, too! This time we saw Minnie, Winnie the Pooh, Captain Hook, Eeyore, Fairy Godmother, Max, Chip and a Penguin from Mary Poppins. The last time we went, we also saw Tigger and Dale.

 

[luvflorida]

DAY FIVE-continued- The crew arrived at DCA shortly after 4:30 and we headed to Cars Land. This time we entered Cars Land through Pacific Wharf. This entrance takes you right past RSR where there is a great section to view the cars as they race down a hill toward the end of the ride. It also allows for a much more dramatic first look at Cars Land when you enter from Pacific Wharf.

And...back to the Radiator Springs Racers!

Again, there were a ton of people in the area. We went over to stroller parking and a CM gave us a baby swap pass. I stayed with Vanessa while Larry, Megan, Daniel and Carter got in the fast pass line. I took Vanessa around to the viewing area and waited for them to text me when they got in their car and the color of their car. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, Megan sent a text saying they were still in line and that the ride had stopped. I knew something was up because a few minutes had gone by without any cars racing past. Then the cars went by randomly, two at a time, one by itself, some with people, some empty. And they weren't zooming by, they were going slow.

Luckily, it wasn't long before the ride was up and running properly. So, I continued to wait and watch. Again, the ride broke down. Another ten minutes or so, and the ride was running again. Finally, I saw their car!

They are in the blue car. Megan and Daniel are in the front and Larry is in the back with Carter. He is too short to see, though! When Megan saw this picture, she said it looks like the people in the other car are having more fun. I said they were just camera hogs. HA! HA!

I went back around to the ride's exit and caught this pic of Carter running up the path all excited to ride again. (Mom, Dad and Grampa were right behind hm!)

Larry joined me and Vanessa while Daniel, Megan and Carter got in line and rode again. This time I was ready for them. I remembered to put my camera on the continuous shutter mode.

They are in the back of the green car.

You can see the top of Carter's head in this shot!

Even though RSR broke down twice, it took them less than an hour to go through the fast pass line and get two rides on RSR.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Hi luv. I'll have to catch up on your TR and help prepare for our trip. Glad I found you.

 

[luvflorida]

While we were waiting for them to ride RSR, we saw DJ go by.

And Vanessa enjoyed a snack!

Such a sweet little girl, but try and take cookies away from her and she turns into the Hulk!!!!

Next up was a visit with Mater. This was probably one of Carter's favorite moments at Cars Land!

He found a comfy cone seat while waiting in line.

A hug for Mater.

After waving good-bye to Mater, Daniel and Megan took Carter to the 6:30pm show of Aladdin, and we took Vanessa back to A Bug's Land.

We rode the Chew Chew Train a few times, then walked over to Pacific Wharf to take her on Ariel's Undersea Adventure. I'm glad we did, because she LOVED this ride! There was no line so we rode it three times.

There are tons of things to see and do at Theme Parks, but I guess rocks are interesting, too. Here is Vanessa exploring the pavement.

And here is Carter doing the same thing at Sea World when he was around the same age.

Go figure!

 

[luvflorida]

More pics from Cars Land

A hug for Red!

Stanley!

Luigi's Flying Tires

"Drinks" at Flo's Cafe

Mater

 

[luvflorida]

We met up with Megan, Daniel and Carter on Buena Vista Street. By now it was almost 7:30 and everyone was hungry. We left DCA and walked over to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Naples. Very good food. It was one of Larry's favorite meals on this trip. He's still raving about their chicken parm and their pizza! We had about a half hour wait, so Megan and I went over to World of Disney to look around.

After dinner, we went back to DCA and over to the Animation Building in Hollywood Land. Vanessa fell asleep in her stroller, so Larry sat with her while the rest of us went to Turtle Talk with Crush. Carter was excited before we entered the attraction and said he was going to ask Crush a question, but once we settled inside and Crush appeared, Carter announced he was "too shy" to ask a question. It was a cute interactive show, but Carter got restless toward the end. He lasted longer, however, than when we took him to the same attraction at WDW. He was only 17 months old and way too young. Guess he still needs to be a bit older for this attraction.

Carter being "Robot Carter" while waiting to enter Turtle Talk.

From there we went over to watch the Toy Story zoetrope. Fascinating, but I couldn't watch it for long without getting dizzy!

A stop at the Petting Zoo.

It was late and we were getting loopy. Ha! Ha!

It was getting late and Vanessa was still asleep in her stroller, so Larry and I decided to take her back to the motel while Megan and Daniel took Carter back to Cars Land. The fireworks had just started, so Larry and I watched them from the Plaza area then caught the shuttle back to the CCI.

Megan, Daniel and Carter stayed until park closing. One of the things they really wanted to do was ride Luigi's Flying Tires. The wait time was 60 minutes, but they said it was really closer to 45. They really enjoyed this ride! I know there have been mixed reviews of Luigi's, but they thought it was worth the wait and a lot of fun. Megan said the ride duration was quite short, though.

Carter really liked it, but when I asked him about the ride, he did inform me, "The tires don't fly, Gramma. They stay on the ground." Sometimes it's easy to forget how literal 3 and 4 year olds think!

I also know that, in order to move the tires, riders have to lean in the direction they want to go. I asked Carter about this and he told me, "you just have to lean on mom or dad to make the tire go."

It was past eleven as they headed out of Cars Land, but as they walked past Mater's Junkyard Jamboree they saw that the CM was still letting people on, so they walked right on and rode Mater one last time.

It was close to 11:30 by the time they got back to the motel. Carter was one tired little guy, and he conked out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Tomorrow we were going to Huntington Beach for the day.

Oh, and how could I forget this picture of Carter as he came off RSR. It was the inspiration for the title of my trip report!

Two thumbs up for RSR!

 

[mouseymommy]

Your grandkids are adorable! Your pics of Minnie's breakfast have made me decide to try it again for our trip this Christmas season. When we went this spring we were so packed in and crowded we could hardly move! We loved the characters though, especially Minnie and Hook. Great trip report!!

 

[luvflorida]

Hi luv. I'll have to catch up on your TR and help prepare for our trip. Glad I found you.

I figured you'd catch up with me on the weather thread and see the link to this report in my signature! We had the best time on our trip and Cars Land was certainly the highlight! It won't be long before you're off on your trip! I hope you have a wonderful time!

Your grandkids are adorable! Your pics of Minnie's breakfast have made me decide to try it again for our trip this Christmas season. When we went this spring we were so packed in and crowded we could hardly move! We loved the characters though, especially Minnie and Hook. Great trip report!!

Thank you! We love those two little sweeties SO much! They keep us young!

There were a lot of empty tables when we went to the breakfast on Friday. Not crowded at all! The characters were terrific and really hammed it up! Eeyore was a riot!

 

[Sherry E]

The photos are adorable!

This is a Trip Report so I moved the thread over to the Disneyland Trip Reports forum and out of the main Disneyland planning forum.