Go with the Flow....A Summer Trip to Remember! July 2012~ **Completed**

[eandesmom]

I am loving the Storybook Circus pictures!!!!! So pretty. Crazy on the SM crowds, hopefully you continue being a crowd free for at least a little bit longer though actually you've hit quite a bit already!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

There is nothing like your first MK morning of the trip! If only we could bottle that feeling for when we we're doing laundry and trudging through homework and teacher conferences!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

SO true about vainly asking for opinions while planning but having them all offered only once you're there!!

I really like your PhilharMagic and Castle picture. Beautiful blue skies and gorgeous Castle.....

I can't wait to see Storybrook Circus! All those details!

 

[Angies1274]

I am loving the Storybook Circus pictures!!!!! So pretty. Crazy on the SM crowds, hopefully you continue being a crowd free for at least a little bit longer though actually you've hit quite a bit already!

I couldn't believe all the people waiting to ride Space Mountain that morning. Luckily, once we got over to Fantasyland there was very little crowds and the wait times were great!

We loved Storybook Circus!! I can't wait to go back and see everything when it's finished.

There is nothing like your first MK morning of the trip! If only we could bottle that feeling for when we we're doing laundry and trudging through homework and teacher conferences!

Love that first MK morning!! There's nothing like it! Aww....so true about trying to bottle up that feeling!!!

SO true about vainly asking for opinions while planning but having them all offered only once you're there!!

I really like your PhilharMagic and Castle picture. Beautiful blue skies and gorgeous Castle.....

I can't wait to see Storybrook Circus! All those details!

I know! There were many time before the trip that I asked the boys, where they wanted to eat, ride, etc. All I would get was "Whatever you think, Mom." Ummm....okay. Then, when we get there they were always questioning why we were going here or if we could go here instead. Ugh!

You'll love Storybook Circus! It's so cute!

 

[solana131]

You know...Space was craziness every single time we went there too. I even have a picture of the FASTPASS line being out the door....FASTPASS...not the regular line. It was weird. And for some reason they were just giving out way too many Fastpasses because the one time we actually did wait in line I counted 48 FP people through to our 5. That is just stupid crazy!

Anyway...great update. Our EMHs were like that too....TomorrowLand was packed and Fantasyland was normal.

 

[Angies1274]

You know...Space was craziness every single time we went there too. I even have a picture of the FASTPASS line being out the door....FASTPASS...not the regular line. It was weird. And for some reason they were just giving out way too many Fastpasses because the one time we actually did wait in line I counted 48 FP people through to our 5. That is just stupid crazy!

Anyway...great update. Our EMHs were like that too....TomorrowLand was packed and Fantasyland was normal.

Ugh! I know! SM was crazy the week we were there. I thought maybe with EMH it wouldn't be so bad. But, both morning and evening EMH's, the wait times were still crazy.

 

[Angies1274]

Quick Life Update—

So, this week after thinking about it for a while I’ve decided to start the Couch to 5K program. I love to run and would really like to get back into it. I have always enjoyed walking and before we left for Disney I was trying to walk a couple miles 3-4 times a week to get back into shape. Unfortunately, since we’ve been back the diet and walking have basically went out the window. I have a really hard time resisting all those barbecues, ice cream cones and s'mores that comes with summertime. But, now that fall is right around the corner. I thought there would be no better time to try again and I couldn’t think of a better motivation than starting this program since I've heard such great things about it. I’m hoping at some point in the future it will not only lead to running a 5K but hopefully the half marathon at Disney. I started Day 1 yesterday and did better than I thought I would so that makes me happy. Anyway, I just thought I would share what I was up to lately and see if anyone else has tried the program and if they had success with it.​

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"I think I will have seen everything, When I see an elephant fly." Dumbo


When I left off, we had arrived at our favorite park, took in our favorite sight…Cinderella’s castle, battled the Evil Emperor Zurg, flew to Neverland, bounced with Tigger, shot off into space, and blasted off with Goofy in his new home...Storybook Circus! I think it was about 9:30 at this point and we had already accomplished 5 attractions even with a small change in our original plans. Not too bad.

Although, the boys were ready to take off on Goofy one more time. I wanted to head towards Dumbo and ride. The boys are getting older… and I doubt that they will want to ride Dumbo for too much longer. As a matter of fact, I don’t think we’ve visited him since our second trip when the boys were 8 and 5. So, I was definitely taking advantage of Dumbo in his new location. Noah was actually excited to check it out and that made me so happy.
On our way.

We’re here!!

So cute!!
We made our way through the line which had no wait by the way. I snapped a couple pictures on the way by-

Then it was time to make our way inside the tent. Basically, there are two different options when you enter the stand-by line to Dumbo. You can either continue through the line or you can enter the interactive area. We went on through because there were a lot of little kids in there and the boys didn't seem that interested to check it out.

Yay! We made it!! After picking out our color of choice it was time to fly…

Aww…I love Dumbo. Although, I will admit as cool as the ride is now. I kind of miss seeing the back of the castle as we flew through the sky. But, overall it was a great ride and it was so neat to see how construction was coming along for the new Fantasyland.

After enjoying our ride on Dumbo we took one more spin on Goofy and then decided it was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad time!! So, it was off to wait for the train to catch a ride over to Frontierland. Unfortunately, one had just pulled away and it was so hot while we were waiting. The overhead fans did nothing to cool us down. Honestly, that train couldn’t come soon enough.

We were so happy when we heard that whistle!

DH was happy…really he was. I think he just thought I was taking a picture of the boys.

More people arriving…

After our relaxing ride over to Frontierland, we made our way over to BTMRR and noticed that the wait time was a little longer than we anticipated so like Space Mountain we decided to grab a fastpass instead. Since we had about an hour to wait for our fastpass to be ready we decided to visit someplace that we have wanted to visit on every trip but always ran out of time……

Nope…not this. Although this would have been fun as well.

Yes! Tom Sawyer Island!!
Up Next—Exploring the Island and “You can do it, Mom!”

Oh…before I go I will leave you with a picture that Noah took of the castle.

He finally decided to start taking pictures so I will insert them here and there throughout the report since he did such a great job capturing things that I never even thought to get.


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[solana131]

Yay! Tom Sawyer's Island We spent about an hour out there exploring with my son in Feb. I skipped it this July with only a teenage girl, but we will be back again next time.

Love the Dumbo shots. We only went over there at night....it looks totally different at night by the way...really cool lighting.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

You totally tricked me with the Ferryboat pic lol! I've sooo wanted to do that every trip and ALWAYS run out of time.

See that guy taking a picture of the Railroad at the same time you're taking his picture? I always wonder if I end up in other people's pictures.... and what I look like!

 

[eandesmom]

I know! There were many time before the trip that I asked the boys, where they wanted to eat, ride, etc. All I would get was "Whatever you think, Mom." Ummm....okay. Then, when we get there they were always questioning why we were going here or if we could go here instead. Ugh!

I just saw a "shake it" app. You shake the app and it tells you what attraction to go to next based on your location and wait times and who knows what else. could be interesting! And solves the "whatever you think or I don't know what do you want to do" issue.

Good for you on the couch to 5K, I've heard good things about it! So glad you went on Dumbo, I am totally riding it in Oct and may well go through the queue so I can see everything.

After enjoying our ride on Dumbo we took one more spin on Goofy and then decided it was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad time!! So, it was off to wait for the train to catch a ride over to Frontierland. Unfortunately, one had just pulled away and it was so hot while we were waiting. The overhead fans did nothing to cool us down. Honestly, that train couldn’t come soon enough. [/SIZE][/FONT]

Last time we rode the train it was the same, horribly hot waiting. UGH!

The ferry is fun, I've only done it once, by myself and loved it! I can't wait to see what you think of TSI.

 

[Angies1274]

Yay! Tom Sawyer's Island We spent about an hour out there exploring with my son in Feb. I skipped it this July with only a teenage girl, but we will be back again next time.

Love the Dumbo shots. We only went over there at night....it looks totally different at night by the way...really cool lighting.

I really wanted to make it over to Dumbo to get some night shots but we never made it back over there. I've seen pictures of it all lit up though and it looks so pretty.

You totally tricked me with the Ferryboat pic lol! I've sooo wanted to do that every trip and ALWAYS run out of time.

See that guy taking a picture of the Railroad at the same time you're taking his picture? I always wonder if I end up in other people's pictures.... and what I look like!

Sorry about that! I really wanted to try the Ferryboat as well but still haven't had a chance. The boys are never interested. I guess I'll have to sneak away next trip so I can give it a try.

So funny about the guy taking the picture! I didn't even notice him. After our last trip, I stumbled upon a video on youtube that someone took of Alice riding on the Mad Tea Cups on the same exact day that we were in the Magic Kingdom. So, of course I looked to see if we were anywhere in the shot and there we were waiting in line to get on the ride. It was too funny! What are the odds?

I just saw a "shake it" app. You shake the app and it tells you what attraction to go to next based on your location and wait times and who knows what else. could be interesting! And solves the "whatever you think or I don't know what do you want to do" issue.

Good for you on the couch to 5K, I've heard good things about it! So glad you went on Dumbo, I am totally riding it in Oct and may well go through the queue so I can see everything.



Last time we rode the train it was the same, horribly hot waiting. UGH!

The ferry is fun, I've only done it once, by myself and loved it! I can't wait to see what you think of TSI.

Oohh...that app does sound interesting! It could definitely help with the "what do you want to do next?" questions!!

Thanks! So far I'm really liking the couch to 5K. Hopefully, I can continue to stick with it!!

Dumbo was a lot of fun! Next time, I want to make a point to see it all lit up at night. The pictures I've seen of the area look very cool.

I really want to do the ferry. The boys not so much. We took a sightseeing cruise last summer which they didn't really enjoy. I guess I'll wait a few years and try again.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

We've not been on Dumbo since our first trip in 2007. We will have to try it again to see all the new stuff...it looks great!

Ahh!!Tom Sawyer Island! One of our very favorite places....it's a little boys' paradise! Can't wait to hear about your adventures!

 

[Angies1274]

We've not been on Dumbo since our first trip in 2007. We will have to try it again to see all the new stuff...it looks great!

Ahh!!Tom Sawyer Island! One of our very favorite places....it's a little boys' paradise! Can't wait to hear about your adventures!

It was so much fun exploring Storybook Circus! Aww..I can't wait to share our adventures on TSI! Hopefully, I can get the next update posted really soon!!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

So funny about the guy taking the picture! I didn't even notice him. After our last trip, I stumbled upon a video on youtube that someone took of Alice riding on the Mad Tea Cups on the same exact day that we were in the Magic Kingdom. So, of course I looked to see if we were anywhere in the shot and there we were waiting in line to get on the ride. It was too funny! What are the odds?

Wow! That is amazing that you found that video, what fun to see!

 

[Angies1274]

Wow! That is amazing that you found that video, what fun to see!

I know! I was just randomly checking out vacation videos and saw one with the date we were there. It was pretty funny!

 

[Angies1274]

“Following the leader, the leader, the leader….We're following the leader wherever he may go.” Peter Pan


When I left off we had just explored the new Storybook Circus, and grabbed a fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Since we had about an hour to kill before we could use our fastpasses we decided to head over to this place—

Tom Sawyer Island! This would be our first time exploring the island and we were so excited!!

Noah was enjoying the nice relaxing ride over on our raft.

I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of this on the way in. Too cute!

We made our way over to the map to see where to head first-

It was about this time that Noah informed us that he would be the leader and that we could follow him. Silly boy! But, we were game and it was nice to let someone else make the decisions. DH and I were just along for the ride

Lead the way, Noah! Our Adventure awaits….

Noah immediately noticed a dark cave up ahead and declared that this would be our first stop. After trying to find our way through the dark, I was very relieved when I finally saw daylight. Then it was off to explore the windmill. After a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns we made our way out.

Apparently, it was at this point that Nick had gotten tired of Noah being the leader and jumped ahead.

Of course, Noah didn’t like that very much and ran to catch up as we made our way over to Fort Langhorn

The fort was really cool but there were a lot of small spaces so we let the boys explore for a bit and then caught up with them after a while.

Peeking out one of the windows-

Noah practicing his aim.

Not to be outdone, Nick stepped up to show what he could do.

It was at this point that I noticed the amazing view of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. So, as any Disney lover would do. I took a ton of pictures— (Here are the best ones)

Time for some more exploring…

Can I just say how much I love the views from the island-

Then it was time to head to the barrel bridge.

I tried to talk my way out of it. I don’t like bridges but especially the bouncy kind. The boys just laughed at me and then realizing I was serious about not wanting to cross, offered some words of encouragement. “You can do it, Mom!” Not wanting to look like a wimp I decided to put on a brave face and make my way slowly across. Thank goodness no was behind us. Once we got to the other side, I realized it wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be and it was actually pretty easy to cross.

So, with the barrel bridge out of the way, we decided to head to the playground area. Noah had fun climbing and playing for a while. Nick explored for a bit but then came down to wait with DH and I.

Although, I didn’t get any pictures we made our way over to Aunt Polly’s for a bit and then decided that although we were having fun, that it was time to leave our relaxing retreat and head back. We had fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to use and we couldn’t wait!

We made our way over to the dock to wait for our raft.

Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about Tom Sawyer Island! I don’t know why it took us so long to visit there. I guess I always thought it would take a huge chunk of time out of our day and it really didn’t at all. It was nice to get away from the crowds for bit.

A short raft ride later, we were saying goodbye to Tom Sawyer Island for this trip and heading over to ride one of our very favorite rides….Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!!

Up Next— Hold on tight!!




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[eandesmom]

I'm so glad you loved TSI! I agree, it's really a little oasis away from the park craziness. That cave is DARK! Fun and perfect for little (and big) boys. The views are gorgeous.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm so happy to hear that you all enjoyed Tom Sawyer Island. Like you said, it's a good place to get away from the crowded park for a while. And, the views are pretty too!

When you mentioned Aunt Polly's, it reminded me of the days when it used to be open seasonally and we would buy ice cream there.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I think we'll have to give TSI another chance. When I went for the first time last year, Ariana went one way and Demetri went the other in the fort. Ariana was in a "I'm not listening to you" mood and I spent most of the time there trying to corral us back together. Then I just wanted the heck out of Dodge.

This trip with George we'll be one kid a piece, much more manageable.

Good for you on the barrel bridge! There were more people on it when we crossed it and it was really tilting off to the side. I remember thinking Disney wouldn't let us fall in.... would they?

 

[justakrazymom]

LOVE TSI.. the bathroom in the fort was a sanctuary last year in August..coldest bathroom ever..lol