Who Invited My Mother In Law? A Moderately Deluxe TR All New X 3 & PTR Link 2/3 !!

[smidgy]

now that I think about it, I remember when the first Christmas my neice didn't believe in Santa Claus. she was SO proud of her "maturity", and everytime she opened a present, made a point of thanking her mom and dad, profusely!!!, to show everyone that "she knew the secret".

my SIL and BIL had to keep telling her younger brothers, and my 2 boys that once you reach a certain age, Santa stops bringing presents and mom and dad take over. (cause try as they might, there was NO "shushing" her!)

 

[disneydreaminA115]

I've been lurking on your TRs for a while, starting with your previous one, and I have to say I am just enchanted by how sweet your daughter is! My girls aren't quite that old yet, but I hope when they are they love the magic of Disney as much as your daughter (and I!) do!

 

[shan23877]

for the ROI and her parents!!! sheesh!!!!

(when our oldest, Todd, was about 6 he lost a tooth, and we put it under the pillow. we went out that night, and the babysitter told him that there was NO tooth fairy, his parents put the money there!!!!!! I was FURIOUS!!!!!)


I'm happy her faith was restored!!! she is just darling!

Oh my goodness! I would have been so mad at that babysitter!!! How awful!

I was so upset. Maddie has an incredible memory, and she plays her cards pretty close to the vest, so who knows what she's really thinking. I think the M&Gs she had that day helped though.

Love the update!

Y'all got in so many character meets! It's so interesting to see a different take on touring since Reid is all about rides and rarely wants to meet a character.

As for that ROI! I'm glad you were able to do damage control and that the characters that morning helped to restore her belief in the magic.

And that's great that Maddie braved Pirates! Love that ride so much!

Oh you know we have to do the M&Gs! I wonder if I'll miss them when she's older. Maddie seems to go in phases, for a few hours all she wants to do is meet characters then she'll be all about the rides.

I was sooooo upset that that kid said that to her. I think she believed me, but she tends to be really cagey about stuff. I have a feeling that what RoI said is still floating around in her head somewhere.

She loved Pirates! Liked a whole lot more than HM.

Ugh. What a shame about that Disney Magic Non-Believer. I sincerely hope that the adult(s) in her party told her to not say those kinds of things to other children that really do believe in the magic.

HOWEVER, it sounds like the characters that you guys met that day were awesome!!! Yay for them resorting Maddie's faith in the magic!

The kid's dad didn't even seem to care, but I hope that he just didn't want to call attention to it and talked to her later.

Those characters we met were all awesome! Just the anecdote we needed!

Oh wow, I love this picture! That is such a nice backdrop & a little off the beaten photopass path

I can't believe the RoI said such horrible things to Maddy. Just people in suits..unbelievable. My dd has been saying that to me lately, and I keep saying "That's not true..where did you hear that?" because I want to get to the bottom of it. I am thinking that it was said in reference to something else..like a spooky costume on halloween maybe, and she is applying it to all characters/costumes now. Hopefully when we are in WDW again the magic will take over, because this past May she truly believed that she was meeting the REAL Mickey/Cindy/Etc.

Hmm...I always have a billion things to comment on and then blank as I am actually replying. Oh, I know, I love that Rapunzel has moved inside as well, because her outdoors line has always been so dang long that we haven't met her yet! I haven't looked at the timeline of when the official princess meet & greet will be opened, but assuming it's not yet for our next trip, we will be FPing our way in to meet her!

We loved that photo spot! It's just outside the Christmas store, you should check it out!

That is so sad! I really hope that she continues to believe. I told Bryan that I was more sad at the thought of her not believing in the Disney characters than her not believing in Santa!

The Rapunzel line is always so crazy! I am soo glad that she's FPable now. I just wish that Merida was too--we're going to have to see her next time.

Great updates! We are out of the character phase, but my DD (now 11) believed up until she was 9! I loved it but she's still very magical about it. Way to handle ROI, I am glad the characters all helped to reinforce it throughout the morning.. It's like they all knew she needed that.

To your title... I officially invited my MIL (and FIL) on our Jul/Aug vacation. I said "just the first 2 days..". We moved a good 12 hr drive away and they miss the kids... We'll see!

I thought the same thing-it was as though the characters sensed that we really needed some magic that morning.

I'm so glad that your DD still loves the magic, I'm hoping that even after Maddie knows what's going on she'll still enjoy it.

Oh boy! Good luck! I sure hope that you have a good experience. Sounds like you will though if your in laws are going because they miss the kids. I can't wait to hear how it turns out!

Great update! I don't understand why this father would just stand there and let RoI talk to your DD like that. If your child doesn't believe, that is fine, but teach them not to ruin it for other children. I'm glad that you had so many wonderful character experiences that restored Maddie's faith. The pictures are all so cute and really caption how she must have been feeling.

I wondered that too, but others have mentioned that the dad may not have been able to stop the RoI. That's something I hadn't considered, but I sure was upset.

She had the best character day, those CMs made a HUGE difference.

Thank you so much!

It is funny that you made this comment, because the whole time I was reading this update I was thinking about how glad I am that DS is more interested in riding than meeting characters most of the time (althought I'm sure that will change in time). I know if our kids enjoy the characters as much as Maddie, our park touring plan will become very similar to yours! Oh well, even with only 2 rides, you got to see a lot of characters and see the welcome show. That's not a bad morning at all!

It really is a shame that someone had to try to ruin the magic for Maddie, but that was a good save on your part and a lucky meeting with a very good Ariel and Eric. Thank goodness it wasn't one of those subpar character interactions right after she heard those comments.

I thought of you when I tallied the rides! I know that our character obsession won't last long, so for now we're happy to do it. I think I'll miss it a little bit when she's over it.

We got so very lucky with that Ariel and Eric. We've always met great Erics there but this one really saved the day!

I got so upset reading about Ruiner of Innocence. Then I cried at Maddie's encounter with Ariel & Eric. Finally, I smiled at all the other great character (and CM) interactions she got. Yay! The magic prevailed!

That shot with the castle in the background is so interesting!

Oh Mel, I just love you.

Thank goodness for that Ariel and Eric. They seriously saved the magic for my baby girl.

It's in the Christmas shop! So nice to have a different photo!

I read your whole TR yesterday, and as a result made a reservation at 'Ohana

I love your writing style and your photos! Now I have to go find you finished one from before!

Thank you so much for joining in! You win for my favorite post of the day!!!

I think you'll love 'Ohana! We can't wait to go back.

Thank you so much! Don't be a stranger!

You guys were on a roll with the character meet and greets! Why oh why did Ruiner of Innocence feel the need to tell Maddie that the characters were just people in costumes? Thank goodness there were magical moments quickly after that that restored Maddie's faith that the characters were real.

Lisa, I was soooo sad. I am so grateful to the CMs who saved the day for my little princess. It was as if they sensed how much she needed it.

 

[shan23877]

BOO on ROI! I hate when that happens. I'm glad Maddie got some great attention from Eric!

All great character attention that day! And to ride pirates! Kadence still has hesitation about it.

Love the Castle picture, and why is it whenever a great picture is taken our kids look away!? Kadence is great for that.

Carey I was so upset! If you could have seen the look on Maddie's face.

She had such great character interaction that day! I wish that I could personally thank all those CMs. They really saved the day.

Ugggghhh. You are so right! It's so hard to get a photo of all 3 of us smiling.

Well, all I have to say to Ms. ROI and her father is:

Seriously, if they were only people in a mask or costume, why are you standing in line 10 year old? God, I hate when kids/parents do that.

I just loved all the updates. The picture of you and Maddie is probably my favorite by far, but I do love the ones where she is meeting with Eric and Ariel and Goody just warm my heart. Good for Eric for making Maddie "believe" again.

Good to have you back, Shannon.

I wondered why they were in line too Kathy! It was so disappointing.

That Eric stole my heart as well as Maddie's. He was amazing and really saved the day.

Thanks Kathy-it's good to be back.

the character meets look like alot of fun. I really want to meet the White Rabbit and I love the pic of you all with the Castle in the background even if Maddie isn't looking at the camera

Thanks! She loves meeting characters, and we have so much fun watching her.

Aw man, I can't believe the little ruin-ers that are around at Disney. I've gotten to the point that anyone I'm at Disney with says "friends with Ariel" or whoever, I mean, you never know who's little ears are listening around DW! I'm glad that some awesome character meets made up for it!

That's an awesome shot infront of the castle in LS, I've never seen that one before, love the backdrop!!

Yay for 2 rides! Bahaha! Hey, I was in the park for like, 2.5 days and I think I went on 1 or 2 rides in MK!

Hope the holidays are going great for you!!

Katt, I love that your friends know not to accidentally spoil the magic for the little ones. That's awesome.

The characters were great! That Eric really stole her heart (again).

The photo op is just outside the Christmas Shoppe! You should check it out.

Thanks Katt, I hope that your holidays were great too. What is Boxing Day BTW?

So sad the RoI said that to your DD

I'm nervous about my DS doing something like that, but he's only 3. Someone told him on Halloween that they were "Just Costumes" so he wouldn't be scared. I keep trying to tell him that Disney World is the home to the REAL characters, but he says- "they're just costumes, right!?" Breaks my heart! I don't want him to be scared, but I want him to believe in the magic!!!

Oh no! I've told Maddie the same thing about Halloween-she's a scaredy cat. Somehow she never made the connection that the characters at Disney might not be real. In fact, she'll tell you that WDW is where the princesses actually live.

I hope that your son believes. It's such fun.

 

[shan23877]

That is one looooong monorail ride!

It's like a new ride!

You should have yelled and screamed at her and told her she ruined the vacation that you spent a lot of money on.

At least that seems to be the response I typically see.


Crap! You're right! That's what all the really good parents seem to do at WDW.


That was quick. You must've been one of the first in line?

Pretty close. We were probably 10th in line. Rapunzel didn't have much to say to the kids that morning.

It's odd isn't it that on the one hand, I'm glad my DDs have outgrown any desire to do Princess M&Gs... and on the other hand, I'm sad that my DDs have outgrown any desire to do Princess M&Gs.

I think I'll feel the same way. While I'd love to get more rides in, I do love watching Maddie meet the characters she loves so much. It'll be sad when she just wants to ride Space Mt. over and over.

Buzz is in the other direction...

I knew we should have stopped for a map!

Very nice shot of the two of you.

Thanks Ponz!

<sigh> I don't blame the 10yr old for this one... at and around that age, they start to question things and are pretty conflicted with trying to make sense of what they hear from different sources and what they see. She may have thought she was 'helping' Maddie, or perhaps assumed that Maddie was as 'knowledgeable' as she was. It's up to the parents though to tell them not to ruin it for the other kids who still believe.

That's a good point. I suppose I could find myself on the other side of that some day. I do really blame the parent-he not only should have prepped her, he also should have jumped in. To the kids credit, she was very sweet and didn't say another word about it once she heard me tell Maddie that they were real.


I remember when my youngest came home upset because someone at school had told her that Santa Claus was really her parents. "That's crazy!" I replied. "How could I possibly deliver all those presents to all the kids in the World???"

She accepted that.

Excellent! My mom said something similar. She added that she wasn't handy enough to make all the toys either.


Right there is why I love Disney.

AMAZING.

Well... yeah. When I want popcorn, I want it now. I completely understand.



I feel his pain, I truly do.

I knew you'd understand!


It's a child's prerogative to change her mind when it comes to snack food. Especially where pretzels and popcorn are involved. When she's older and wiser, she will of course learn that the correct answer for this dilemma is "both".

She has a lot to learn.

You had DUCK FOR DINNER?!?!?!?





Love that shot.

That there is one happy kidlet!

Thank you! She sure is.

Words I dreaded hearing. Ponzis and teacups do not go well together.

Must.
Stop.

t h e

s P i N n
i N
g...


Her dad feels the same way. He refuses to ride "throw up rides". I take one for the team.



You just never know what will an impression.

She now ADORES the White Rabbit. He made her so happy.

Who says you have to go on rides to have fun at MK? There's plenty to see and do... the rides are a perk.

Thanks for the chapter(s) Shanapop

That's what we think! At least for a while longer.

Thanks Ponzerooni.

holy cow!!! what a GREAT comeback!! you obviously think well on your feet, young man! (wish I had thought of that during the tooth fairy incident)

That was good wasn't it?

Definitely still here!!

Aw I can't believe someone said that to poor Maddie! What is wrong with parents these days?

So glad Ariel and Eric could fix it! They were pretty awesome when I met them last year too! I had a zebra print pen and apparently they were playing a game where they both yelled zebra when they saw zebra print and were in contest to find the most

I wonder if Ariel still meets with Eric now that her grotto is back? I'll be sad not to see him when we go next week

How clever of Maddie to decide that Donald and Goofy were in cahoots to find out about her dining plans! She's too cute

So glad you're still following!

I was so sad for my baby girl. She was devastated.

I sure hope that Eric will still be out -at least part of the time. Will you please let me know? He's always been so amazing to Maddie, and has really really made her day on more than one occasion. I'll be bummed if she can't meet him anymore.

She's a nut! She was really excited for dinner that night!

Hi Shannon, I am a lurker who just sent you a PM to introduce myself. Have been following since the beginning and I am coming out of lurk-dom to comment on the RoI. In my best Stephanie Tanner voice: "How rude!"

Thank you for posting your experience & quick-on-your-feet response. I'm taking my 4 y/o in May for a "big girls" trip. (Leaving Daddy and baby sister at home). My M is skeptical because a 10 year old neighbor told my sweetie that WDW "sucks" & "lame" b/c it's just "people dressed up in costumes". My response has been--if it was lame, I wouldn't be going for all of these years now. I figure (hope?) if she sees how much I am still into the magic, she will be too.
In this case, I think our RoI was repeating what she heard from her less-than-enthusiastic parents about their WDW trip this past summer when they went in the heat of July & ran into some Brazilian tour groups and didn't follow my touring advice....

It's so nice to meet you! I'm headed to the PM to respond right after this!

I so hope that your little princess will believe. I think what helps Maddie is that the CMs know their 'roles' so well. They've always been able to give her great answers to her 100s of questions.

Why won't people listen? Drives me crazy when people go in without a plan and then come home and tell everyone that WDW sucks.

I can't wait to hear about you trip! Will you do a TR?

You may have only done two rides, but I think you may have hit just about every character! I'm in awe of your character finding prowess!

So glad that the older girl didn't ruin the magic for Maddie. She may just have been clueless, I'd like to think that an older child wouldn't purposely ruin the fun for younger kids, but I guess you never know!

Marissa if you ever need help finding characters I'm your girl!

I was so, so sad that she said that. I hope that you're right. Maddie hasn't said anything else about it, but she plays her cards pretty close to the vest so who knows.

How are things? How's the new prince?

now that I think about it, I remember when the first Christmas my neice didn't believe in Santa Claus. she was SO proud of her "maturity", and everytime she opened a present, made a point of thanking her mom and dad, profusely!!!, to show everyone that "she knew the secret".

my SIL and BIL had to keep telling her younger brothers, and my 2 boys that once you reach a certain age, Santa stops bringing presents and mom and dad take over. (cause try as they might, there was NO "shushing" her!)

You guys are probably right. I know that once Maddie reaches that age she might be tough to stop if she wants to spill the beans.

I've been lurking on your TRs for a while, starting with your previous one, and I have to say I am just enchanted by how sweet your daughter is! My girls aren't quite that old yet, but I hope when they are they love the magic of Disney as much as your daughter (and I!) do!

So, so glad that you joined in! You are tied for my favorite post of the day!

Thank you so very much! She certainly loves WDW and immerses herself in the magic. I am certain that I'll have a Disney Bride on my hands someday.

Please don't be a stranger!

 

[shan23877]

Hey guys! Since I was such a DIS slacker for most of December, I though I'd share some of what I was up to!


In addition to it being the busiest time of year at work, I had also promised my little brother-you all know him as Uncle Cory- a quilt for Christmas. He had chosen the fabric that he wanted, and I was all set to sew it. However, one day Maddie and I were at the fabric store and stumbled upon the most perfect fabric ever. He is a Star Wars fanatic, and loves comic books too. You can imagine how excited I was when I found Star Wars Comic Book fabric!!!! I had to buy it! And since Disney bought Star Wars-there's a Disney connection!

Since it's not what he'd asked for, I made it a small one

A close up of the fabric

And then, Bryan had a great idea for the actual quilting. It's not perfect, but this is my attempt at sewing Darth Vader's helmet

​

So, not only did Uncle Cory want a quilt for Christmas, so did my MiL. She just re-did her family room, and she wanted a quilt in colors to coordinate. She also requested hidden Mickeys. Another Disney connection!

A close up so that you can see the HMs-I quilted them in so they're very subtle.

​

And finally what would a Christmas update be without some pics of Maddie? She loved all of her gifts, but her fave by far was the American Girl doll that MiL gave her on Christmas Eve. I am actually kind of excited to try to make some clothes for the doll-I already have plans for several doll sized Disney princess dresses. Maddie's birthday is in early February so we'll pay a visit to the American Girl store for her birthday.

Uncle Cory was taking the photos. She's showing me the doll

Flipping through the catalog

And then on Christmas morning--Santa came! And he wrapped all of the presents in Disney Princess paper!

Brave!

Sophia the First book!

And the special Cinderella Set! I've never seen Lady Tremaine, Drizzella, Anastasia, Cindy, Prince C, and Fairy Godmother all in one set! It also came with a doll sized dress form and the pink dress. I thought the dress form was awesome, and luckily so did Mads!

​

Her second favorite present? Her very own sewing machine! Mommy had told her that she needed to be 6 before she got it, but Santa must have thought she was old enough. Wish me luck and patience when I teach a headstrong princess to sew.

This one shows the ridiculous array of Disney stuff that Santa brought. He must have found the same sale at the Disney Store that Mommy did? I'm embarrassed to admit there was even more stuff under the tree from mom and dad.

​

Thanks for letting me share! I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday and that you have a fantastic new year. Thank you all for being a part of my life this year. You guys are the best.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Looks like you guys had a wonderful Christmas!!! I love the quilts you made - the hidden Mickeys are so cute and subtle!

Can I just say how happy I was to see that Maddie got an American Girl doll? I used to LOVE mine when I was little, and I love that they're still around!!

 

[pkondz]

Pretty close. We were probably 10th in line. Rapunzel didn't have much to say to the kids that morning.

She was probably just having a bad hair day.

That's a good point. I suppose I could find myself on the other side of that some day. I do really blame the parent-he not only should have prepped her, he also should have jumped in. To the kids credit, she was very sweet and didn't say another word about it once she heard me tell Maddie that they were real.

Somewhere out there, there's a thread that goes something like this.

"So after months of Little Joanie being both totally conflicted about whether the Characters were real or not and being completely terrified that they might be, I finally convince her that they're not real. She couldn't reconcile the real Queen of England was 'real' but the Evil Queen was not. Finally, FINALLY! I convinced her that they were all normal people playing roles. Well, we get to MK and she decides she wants to see for herself. Her psychiatrist suggested that this might happen and to allow her to do it. So we get in line, and poor Joanie is having a minor panic attack trying to convince herself that the characters aren't real. She's repeating over and over, "They're not real! They're just people!". All of a sudden, this crazy woman starts going on and on in a really loud voice that the Princesses are real!!! OMG! So now we've had to commit poor little Joanie to an asylum for the perpetually incurable and our psychiatrist says she may never, ever get better."

:

 

[pkondz]

Hey guys! Since I was such a DIS slacker for most of December, I though I'd share some of what I was up to!

Thanks for sharing! I remember when my DDs got their American Girl Dolls... I refinanced the house mortgage and sold a kidney and was able to supply dresses and props for them. Eventually they each got a second doll and I built two sets of bunk beds for them (I think AG wanted $3,847 for their bunk beds... and I was out of spare kidneys.)

This picture cracks me up:

The little tree has taken a tumble during the gift opening frenzy!!

I'm quite impressed with your quilting skills. Love the hidden Mickeys, very subtle... Kind of like an inside joke, you won't know they're there unless someone points them out or you're looking for them. And the Darth quilting is particularly impressive.

 

[afwdwfan]

It look like Maddie had an awesome princess filled Christmas! A late Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year to your family!

By the way, great job on the quilts. The Vader helmet sewn into it looks awesome! You must do quite a bit of sewing, so I'm sure that Maddie will love her new sewing machine and the mother/daughter time learning how to use it! As long as you don't hurt each other first.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Love the updates--you are definitely terrific at sewing! That is so neat that Maddie will be able to learn that from you and you can spend time together doing that.

My DS (who is 4, and thinks Maddie is his "princess friend in the computer" after he watched the trip surprise video) was so excited that Santa wrapped her presents in princess paper. Why? Because Santa wrapped HIS in Mater paper, and seeing Maddie's proves that Santa is SO smart, he knows everyone's favorites!

Looks like y'all had a wonderful Christmas! So much fun!!

 

[Caretames1]

Apparently this was the year of the American Girl doll. My MIL spoiled Kadence by giving one AG doll and the Bitty Twins. And more accessories than my some house can handle. Plus she makes AG clothes, ( she does craft shows and home sales, if you'd like to see what she has let me know.) so Kadence's dolls are always best dressed.

Santa is amazing! Our house is starting to look like the WOD came home with us.

Beautiful quilts!!! I love the HM's and Darth is the coolest thing ever! They are very lucky to have you!

Happy New Year!

 

[KatMark]

Wow....Maddie made out really good at Christmas; Santa must have thought she was a very good girl this year.

I can't wait to hear how it goes with teaching Maddie how to sew.

Great job on the quilts.

In case I don't get back again before tomorrow (so many TR's to catch up on yet again), Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family.

 

[marDgreen88]

I'm glad you enjoyed the welcome show! It really is perfect.

Oh my gosh... what a little BUTT. Maddie was being super sweet and RoI STILL had to be the RoI? What is that about? Thank goodness for Ariel and Eric, they always save the day. I had faith that they would. I'm glad all the character interactions that morning ended up being amazing!

Hahaha, I still photograph the fake Liberty Bell, too! I mean, the real one is cool, but the fake one is at Disney, so...

What an awesome Christmas! You're a very talented quilter!

 

[My sister's princess]

Great Christmas photos, I love how happy your daughter always is!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Your quilts are beautiful! It looks like you had a wonderful Christmas. There are always lots of Disney themed gifts around here too lol Happy New Year to you and your family as well!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I will keep you posted on the Prince Eric front! 3 days til we're back, I can't believe it! And Dbf's sister and husband are coming with their DD2 who I have converted into a little mermaid addict and walks around saying mermaid 23 hours of the day. I'm excited about it. Her parents are less excited than I.

Aw American Girl dolls are precious! I'm pretty sure the ones my sisters and I had are retired now I had Josephina, my sisters had Kit and Kirsten? and my cousin had Samantha. Guess that's a sign of how old I'm getting!

I still have the clothes my grandmother made for our dolls! They even had their own wardrobe that she made. I hope Maddie loves hers as much as I loved mine. She came everywhere with me for a period of time and had dresses for every occasion. If she really gets into it, I foresee a trip to the American Girl Place in your future!

 

[petals]

aw I love the Christmas pics

 

[mickeystoontown]

I am loving the quilts! I am sure that they will be treasured forever. It was a tradition that, when you married or had a child, my grandmother would make a quilt for you. The small quilt that she made for Hunter was the last that she made before she passed away. Having something made especially for you makes it extra special.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

​

 

[jecskc]

I love your quilts !! I have made several of them and I am working on one now. It has an applique border that is taking me forever. It looks great, but I have decided that applique isn't my thing. I prefer the piecing.

I have a BUNCH of patterns for American Girl clothes and I have made several dresses for my daughter's doll. Fun stuff !! We haven't made a princess dress yet, but I will get around to it.