10 Days at Disney! Updated 3/4x2 Day 9 Typhoon Lagoon

[lvcourtneyy]

Wow the class at AK sounds really interesting! How cool that they do things like that for kids!

Technology malfunctions are awful! At least you were able to get good photopass photos though!

 

[heaven2dc]

Really love your TR! Your family sounds like so much fun - loved the interaction with you and Mickey You got some great pics on this trip - esp the pic of your kids at Swiss Family Robinson. I love that your kids are agreeable to wearing matching tshirts - I could never pull that off esp with the ages of my kids now

 

[MK2010]

Wow the class at AK sounds really interesting! How cool that they do things like that for kids!

Technology malfunctions are awful! At least you were able to get good photopass photos though!

The class at AK was really cool. I just wish I had taken a notebook to keep notes. I've noticed that they've really diminished the discount for park tickets on the special YES class. I mean I think our 8 day WP&More with PH was like $400 something or less. 'Cause I think the total for our tickets was around $1300 for the six of us. Maybe it was a little more, but not much and that is certainly not the discount they are offering now!

I am soooo thankful for the photopass. Actually, I was debating about it. I kept going back and forth, but Carrie set up a photopass share and so it only cost me like $20-$25. Can't beat that!

Really love your TR! Your family sounds like so much fun - loved the interaction with you and Mickey You got some great pics on this trip - esp the pic of your kids at Swiss Family Robinson. I love that your kids are agreeable to wearing matching tshirts - I could never pull that off esp with the ages of my kids now

Thanks! On our last trip we did custom made matching shirts that everybody loved! My husband created them using images off the internet. So if we were going to MK it had the castle on the front and different dwarves on the back for each of us. Our DHS day of course had the big hat and different Disney characters dressed up in Star Wars costumes. We got the shirts cheap, but even so, they weren't in the budget for this year so we had to make do with our 4th of July shirts. Luckily we had those from a couple of different years! Lol!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

The class at AK was really cool. I just wish I had taken a notebook to keep notes. I've noticed that they've really diminished the discount for park tickets on the special YES class. I mean I think our 8 day WP&More with PH was like $400 something or less. 'Cause I think the total for our tickets was around $1300 for the six of us. Maybe it was a little more, but not much and that is certainly not the discount they are offering now!

I am soooo thankful for the photopass. Actually, I was debating about it. I kept going back and forth, but Carrie set up a photopass share and so it only cost me like $20-$25. Can't beat that!

That is definitely a great ticket discount! How cool that they offered something like that! How did kids qualify for it (not that I have any to enroll in it )? That stinks that they reduced the discount but not too surprising! lol

Photopass shares are a great idea! I should look into that next time but I really wanted photopass plus so I think that would've been more difficult.

 

[MK2010]

That is definitely a great ticket discount! How cool that they offered something like that! How did kids qualify for it (not that I have any to enroll in it )?

I heard about the YES program here on the disboards and then just googled YES program Individual Enrollment. They have one YES program set up for schools. Of course, Disney also offers homeschool days, but this fit our needs better! You have to make sure that you are on the Individual Enrollment page. Other than that its just a matter of picking a class that is offered in the age range of your child and the dates that you will be there. I loved it and would definitely sign my kids up again even without the discount.

I am planning on trying to get in another couple of updates this weekend. I just finished coming back from the store. HAHA- I laugh in advance before I tell this story. One of the family's that we did Scouts with has a son who left last month to participate in the Disney College Program. His family is leaving next Tuesday to head to WDW to take advantage of his CM discount on rooms, food, and park passes. I've been communicating with him and his Mom on FB about picking me up some souvenirs that I can use for my kids in Oct. (A group of us girls from work are going to head down for F&W). Well, his brother works at our local supermarket, but apparently hasn't been privy to all of these conversations. You should have seen him nearly pass out when I handed him $100 and my Disney shopping list! He was like, "really?" I had to assure him that his Mom was expecting it! (I also pulled the manager aside and promised him that the $100 bucks his cashier just pocketed was for sure on the up and up!)

Anyway, I'm off to fold laundry~unless someone wants to volunteer so I can post a couple of updates!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I am planning on trying to get in another couple of updates this weekend. I just finished coming back from the store. HAHA- I laugh in advance before I tell this story. One of the family's that we did Scouts with has a son who left last month to participate in the Disney College Program. His family is leaving next Tuesday to head to WDW to take advantage of his CM discount on rooms, food, and park passes. I've been communicating with him and his Mom on FB about picking me up some souvenirs that I can use for my kids in Oct. (A group of us girls from work are going to head down for F&W). Well, his brother works at our local supermarket, but apparently hasn't been privy to all of these conversations. You should have seen him nearly pass out when I handed him $100 and my Disney shopping list! He was like, "really?" I had to assure him that his Mom was expecting it! (I also pulled the manager aside and promised him that the $100 bucks his cashier just pocketed was for sure on the up and up!)

Anyway, I'm off to fold laundry~unless someone wants to volunteer so I can post a couple of updates!

Poor kid was probably so confused! Good call on the souvenirs though! And good call on giving the manager a heads up!

 

[MK2010]

So after our adventures at AK we headed back to the hotel early for some rest. We were on Day 3 of a 10 day stay and my parents aren't getting any younger. I didn't want to overwhelm them. Or my kids either. I'm pretty sure I could dothe parks from sun up til sun down without any problems! After dinner however, we decided to head out to DTD. Our first stop was the Photopass Studio. It is by Team Mickey. One great thing is that anyone can use the studio. Stop by and they'll take portraits. You can even stop by more than once. I wasn't thrilled with our pictures on this particular day, but it wasn't the photographer's fault necessarily, check out the look on my boys' faces.

It was a fun photo session! (I guess the boys didn't think so though!) So, from here the guys headed over to Legoland and us girls headed ove to the Christmas Store. Now Basin is my favorite store at DTD, but strong scents bother my mother and I knew this wouldn't be my last trip to DTD! I really wanted to take Lauren to Little Miss Matched, but she wasn't feeling well so we headed over to meet back up with the boys. I wasn't sure where they were exactly and they weren't answering their phones. So we headed over to Legoland. Even my mom was amazed at the displays, but the boys weren't there. We finally tracked them down over at World of Disney. I could spend hours in that store! (I think we probably did spend a couple of hours any way.)

Lauren looked at what clothes they had left for My Disney Girl. When I was there in 2011 they had tons of the dolls and outfits. But there wasn't much of a selection this time. The boys looked at lightsabers and Cameron especially looked over and over the video games. My Dad wandered aimlessly with this kid and that. (He isn't much of a shopper) WHile my Mom debated what to get my niece.) I looked over the jewelry, but I couldn't make up my mind. David wandered through the clothes. I swear, that man and his clothes! He has more than the rest of us all put together!

We didn't say very late at DTD. But we had a nice time. It was maybe a 3-5 minute drive back to Bonnet Creek. I'm telling you, if you have a large group like we did Bonnet Creek is the place to stay! So close to everything, in the Disney bubble so to speak, and plenty of space. I loved having the washer and dryer. I think we used it every day for a load or two and we saved so much money being able to cook in the kitchen. Now, I'm just as happy to use the dining plan, but learning to manage Lauren's diabetes has been interesting. It isn't difficult, but it was an added stress on vacation that I didn't want to deal with. It was easier to deal with the tried and true meals that we use at home.

Well, in the interest of breaking things up, I'll stop this entry now and start another post directly concerning The Holy Land Experience which we experienced on Day 4.

 

[MK2010]

The Holy Land Experience Day 4​

Today wasn't quite an early a start. We had The Holy Land Experience set as our destination today. We had to get there a bit early simply because we hadn't yet bought our tickets. The Holy Land Experience is a park in Orlando operated by TBN. It runs 6 day a week from 10-6. There aren't any rides, but there are displays and shows. My Dad has always wanted to go to Israel so this was his choice to attend. We probably wouldn't have chosen it ourselves as I found it rather expensieve. I think the adult tickets were $45 apiece and the children were around $20. My parents paid for all of the admissions, which disturbed me. I had planned on paying for my family's admission. It is very important to me to be able to say that I never accepted money from my parents. I feel that if I take their money then I have to live according to their wishes. (And my Mother is K-R-A-Z-Y!)

Anyway, when we first arrived even the ticket windows weren't open yet. But here are some of the many displays out in front:

Ok, I'm goingto stop. I'll be back to edit this post, but the pictures don't want to resize and it drives me nuts when they are as wide as they were in the last post. Let me see if I can figure things out and then I'll be back.

 

[MK2010]

Okay so far all of my posts have been a lovely size that fits perfectly within the borders. However, in my last post about our evening at DTD they are huge. I have resized them just as I have all the others (or so I thought!) Any pointers out there for what I perhaps have missed or is photobucket just being screwy?

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I had no idea you could use a photopass studio at Team Mickey! That's so awesome. Your pictures came out nice, even with the boys' lack of interest

The Holy Land sounds like a different and interesting thing to check out. It does seem a little pricey though, especially with a big group.

I can't offer any help on the photobucket issue. I use Flickr since I can upload directly from iPhoto with it. I have heard a lot of people say that photobucket does have a mind of its own!

 

[MK2010]

Day 4 Holy Land Experience Pt.1​

Ok, so let's try this again and see if photobucket will cooperate. If not, I'm just going to post my update and apologize in advance about the picture sizes! So as previously stated, we were doing the Holy Land Experience today per my Dad's request. It was pricey. I probably would have ruled it out on that, but it was the only thing he really wanted to do. And in the end he beat me to paying the tickets. The Holy Land doesn't open until 10 a.m. so here are some pictures of displays outside the entrance:

WooHoo! We have a winner! Correct size on the picture! Yay1 Anyway, the above picture is a representation from their Garden of Eden. Lets carry on, shall we?

David and Stephen with a Roman soldier.

Lauren and Stephen. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the woman at the well or when Jacob sent his servant to find him a wife. I'm guessing the first one.

Cameron as the angel sent to bind the mouths of the lion in Daniel and the Lions Den.

Jonathan with his predecessor. All he's wanted since he was 5 was to go to West Point and be a soldier!

I took a lot of photos 'cause we were early and there was nothing else to do. It was already hot. My Mom was just sitting in the shade on her scooter so I could either wander around and take lots of pics or sit and talk with her! (i.e. listen to her complain about the heat, my Dad, coming to HLE, etc.) I have about 60 pics total from this day, more so than any other day, I think I took more because I knew I wouldn't have PP to rely on. Anyway, we were the first people at the park, but not the first people in. Which was actually okay. This park doesn't do the same amount of business as the other theme parks in Orlando and it was actually rather empty all day. A tour bus of senior citizens pulled up. And there was also a large group of the brazillian tour group that we had seen previously, but they were older. Anyhow, throughout the day I became rather unimpressed with them. They would push in front of you if you were looking at something, walk through your pictures completely oblivious, and totally cut in front of you in line. Now, it didn't matter at this park. There was plenty of room for everyone. Having 20 people cut in front of me in line for a show where there was plenty of room for everyone wasn't a big deal. I kinda raised my eyebrow internally a couple of times just because I thought it was rude. But I was sure glad that other than brief sightings I hadn't really had to deal with this kind of behavior from them at WDW! (Except do you remember me telling you about the group that cut in front of us at Soarin' when we went to ride with Carrie and Brett? I wonder if those people were part of this group!)

Our day here was a good one, so let's get on with the storytelling! This park was run by a small staff, so you would see one person doing 2-3 different jobs around the park. When we first got in I sent Mom and Dad one way and we went to the children's area with plans to meet back up with them for lunch.

Our first stop was face painting:

Stephen ^

Cameron ^

Lauren ^

Jonathan opted to not get his face painted. The nice thing about the face painting is, it was free! They did have a tip jar and I don't remember if I tipped $3 or $5. Either way it really wasn't enough for the superb job this guy did. He was trained by Disney, but didn't really feel that was his niche so he moved over here. He felt really rushed working at Disney where as here he could take his time. He was a nice guy and didn't complain about Disney or anything. I thought that was cool! Eventually he would like to see some of his original artwork in galleries, but a guy's gotta pay the bills ya know?!

After getting our faces painted we went over to the rock climbing wall. Now you have to be 8 to do rock climbing. Being the good christian folk that we are we were just going to keep our mouths shut about Stephen only being 7. After all, have you seen the pictures of him? He's the same size as his 9 1/2 yr old brother! However, the kids haven't yet learned how to keep their mouths shut and totally ratted him out! So while the older three did this:

I took Stephen around the corner and bought him some ice cream. Yep, it was about 10:30, maybe 11:00 and I was buying my son ice cream. But his little heart was broken. He was a little happier after his ice cream.

 

[MK2010]

Day 4 Holy Land Experience Pt.2​

Continuing on, we spent a few minutes exploring and taking pics of the children's area. We were really trying to stretch the time out!

All of the kids tried their hand at being Samson. (I took pictures of all of them for their trip scrapbook, but I won't bore you with posting the same pic with just a different kid in it! Lol.) This is Cameron.

Stephen headed into the belly of the whale.

Inside the belly of the whale. Check out the hose running into Jonah! Lol. Not Disney standard for sure. Jonah moved and the story was retold in the first person. You would hear God speak. And some narration came from a starfish that was on the wall (Didn't know that whales at starfish, but I'm not a marine life expert either. I just think I would've used a clown fish!) It was hard to get good pictures inside there because it was dark. But it was cool! The misters inside there felt wonderful!

Next up, David parting the Red sea and the kids following behind on dry land!

Oops! I almost forgot this picture of Cameron and Stephen in Noah's Ark.

There just really wasn't a lot to see or do for the kids. Now there were several worship services, praise and worship times, and a couple more educational/informative shows that we would participate in later. And if we had wanted to stay they re enact the crucifixion at like 3 or 4. Honestly, if my parents hadn't been with us we probably would've been out of there at lunch. THis is definitely a park that you could show up at noon and see everything you wanted to see by the time it closed at 5.

They had a show on the tabernacle which is where we headed next. It wasn't quite time, so we waited around and the kids had their picture taken in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Hehe, I'm not quite sure Lauren "got it"! Cameron did a pretty good job of re enacting the scene though:

Before long this guy appeared to call us into the tabernacle:

They erected a canvas and then at certain times throughout the show they would backlight through it. The whole show was a taped narration with just the guy who blew the shofar acting it out. Pretty much, the blowing of the shofar to call us into the temple was the coolest thing there was. I guess our pastor just has a great way of teaching things, 'cause I didn't learn anything new and it was done just as I've imagined it. The kids enjoyed it somewhat though. It was a nice coll place to sit down and rest. It took up time while my parents were off exploring their stuff. So it was worth it in that regard.

Well poopee. My internet is acting up so its hard for me to edit the pics on photobucket to post. I have a picture of the tarp from this show so I guess we'll start with that in my next post. Its noon here, so I'm going to grab some lunch and head to bed for a quick nap before I pick up my cousins kids from school and get ready to go to work tonight. Maybe it will be a slow night and I can squeeze in an update there!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Love all the pictures.

Interesting concept for an attraction. I never knew anything like that existed

 

[MK2010]

Day 4 Holy Land Experience Part 3​

Sorry for the delay in updates. Its been a little crazy around the house and at work, but tonight, Valentine's, we only have 2 patients. 1 is self sufficient and 1 is on bedrest. So me and my two nurses have to find a way to pass 12 hours. Here I go!

Here's a picture of the scrim from the Tabernacle show that they backlit through.

Afterwards we went over to The Oasis, their on property restaurant. Here we met up with my parents for lunch. Once again, my attempts to save money were foiled. I had wanted to pack a big cooler in the back of the Yukon and have a tailgate lunch in the parking lot, but Mom and Dad didn't want to do that. I think they've forgotten how expensive it can be to pay theme park food prices for 8 people! Anyway, The Oasis offered a bagged Chik- Fil-A meal that comes with a sandwich and chips for ready for it???? $8!
Plus, instead of just drinking from our water bottles my Dad got everyone a drink for another $2. CRAZINESS!!!!!!!!!! We rushed through lunch a bit. I think it was 'cause Dad wanted to catch another show. The rest of us went to the Shofar auditorium for the Children's shows. They offered two interactive shows. The first depicted several stories from the New Testament and they had audience members come up on stage to help tell the stories.

This is David helping out with the story of The Good Samaritan:

Then they did another presentation with the retelling of the story of David and Goliath and the boys got to go up and help with this one:

Now you see Jonathan laughing in the second one, because the sword fell apart when he picked it up! Its okay. He was playing Goliath. He would be dead in a few minutes anyway!

It was fun to see the kids up on stage and they enjoyed it. David slipped out a few minutes earlier because he wanted to hear a talk concerning the events of Jesus' last days using this humongous Jerusalem model.

This is maybe a 1/4 of the model. It was huge. I knew the kids wouldn't stand still for this so we wondered around outside and took some pictures:

This is supposedly a replica of a boat that Jesus might have sailed across the Sea of Galillee in. I don't think so because those fishermen took in huge catches of fish. Even back then they would have had a boat big enough to hold their catch of fish. Besides, I wouldn't take a boat like this out on Lake Michigan, much less a sea. But, if you want to believe this is what Jesus sailed around in, there is no harm in that.

A reinterpretation of what the Temple would have looked like.

The Fountain of Living Waters. They are supposed to put on a show. Basically they change how high the fountains spray.

Jesus' tomb.

Inside the Holy Sepulchre.

By this point it was really hot. We had wandered around for about 45 minutes. We had visited a couple of shops. Stephen wound up buying a little snow globe. Jonathan had looked earlier for a shofar, but didn't find one for less than about $200. Since we were so hot, we wondered back to the auditorium where David, my Dad, and Jonathan were listening to the speaker. It was actually very interesting. My Dad and Jonathan both bought a map of old Jerusalem and my Dad also bought the video of the guy's lecture. By now it was a little after 3 p.m. People were beginning to gather at the small outside amphitheater to watch the live Passion drama. I had no desire to see that. Just visualizing in my mind what Jesus went through on the cross is enough for me. So we gathered everyone up and headed back to the hotel for some swim time.

The kids had a pretty good day. I think my Dad enjoyed it. It was about what I expected which wasn't much. Its not that what they offered was bad, I just thought it was expensive.

That night David took the kids to swim in the pool. Mom and I made another run to Wal-Mart for milk or something. Tomorrow: JTA

 

[MK2010]

Day 5 DHS Part 1​

Today was the day the dark side would be defeated forever! Because nothing can withstand the destructive force of my 7 year old! When we came to Disney in 2009 Stephen was just 5. I didn't think he was old enough to fight Darth Vader (He probably was.) So this would be his first shot at him. Mom and Dad wanted to go to Epcot today, but I convinced them to come to DHS long enough to watch the 3 younger ones fight and then head over to Epcot.David and I got up and got the kids ready and headed over to DHS nice and early. They've started opening that park at like 8:30-8:45, but they're not publicizing that fact. So it was important for us to be there no later than 8:15. I'm tellin ya' I mean business about Rope Drop.

While we were waiting there were pictures to be taken:

Then out came Stitch, Minnie, and Daisy:

My kids fell in love with Stitch on our last trip. We had the Character Breakfast at Ohana's and they've jsut loved him ever since.

Lauren of course wanted to meet Minnie and since there was nothing else to do Cameron came along for the heck of it. We didn't have time to get to Daisy before the park opened. Yay!

As soon as the park opened David took the three little ones to get them signed up for Jedi Training Academy and Jonathan and I did the TSMM dash. On the way back from getting our FPs we stopped to smell the roses:

Jonathan took this pic playing around with my camera on the way TO TSMM for FPs.

This is one of my favorites from this trip. Jonathan was 12 here and too cool to be on vacation with his Mom. I love this pic 'cause he at least looks happy to be with me.( We're working on attitude. I'm trying to be hopeful that its a phase that is going to pass with loving discipline)

As usual, we were in the first show for JTA so it wasn't very long before they needed to be there. About 9 a.m. Mom and Dad called saying they were pulling in the parking lot. Jonathan and I headed over to the stage to scope out seats. We didn't let him fight Darth Vader this time. 12 is the cut off and Jonathan is tall for his age so we just told him he was too tall. When we came in 2009 it was a surprise trip. The kids knew we were going sometime, but they didn't expect to go until 2010. However, Jonathan knew about JTA and had found the youtube videos. He practiced everyday and when he finally got to fight Darth Vader he looked like a pro! (In fact, dear old Darth had a little trouble keeping up!)

The kids did great in the show.

Stephen:

Cameron:

Lauren:

After the show we hopped on Star Tours real quick with my Dad before they left to go to Epcot. He loved the area and thought the ride was great. Although, I did experience a bit of motion sickness this time around. Mom waited in Tatooine Traders for us. Here's a shot of the AT-AT:

We said goodbye to Mom and Dad and headed off to ride the big three. Here we are after riding TSMM:

And RNR:

And ToT:

We also did a couple of magic shots. Here's one:

Trying to get Stephen to just cooperate was something else. He couldn't figure out why he was supposed to be pointing at Cameron's hand. And then to be told to do two thing at once- point and smile- well, we all know he has trouble with the second one anyway.

After our full morning we stopped here at the picnic benches to eat our sack lunches that we had packed. I texted Mom and asked how they were enjoying Epcot. she texted back, THEY NEVER MADE IT!!! Apparently, they got sidetracked inside DHS and never left! Lol. They had ridden the Great Movie Ride and seen Muppet Vision 3D after we left them. They were headed into ABC Commissary to buy some lunch so we made plans to meet up with them after that to watch Indiana Jones.

We finished up our lunch and headed over to Indy. Since Mom was in her scooter they seated us at the very top of the amphitheater. I had seen this show twice in the past 4 years and I wasn't really feeling it, but I think the rest of the family really wanted to see it. My Dad really liked all of the different effects. After Indy, we split girls and guys. The boys went to go see LMA and us girls headed over to B&B.

We had a little bit before we needed to go in, so Mom ordered her some lunch. I let Lauren cheat and I bought us both an ice cream! WE finished ours up lickety split! But my Mom was being a slow poke. So I carried her lunch and we headed across to the B&B theater. Now if you're in a scooter they have this walkway off to the side and you go allllllllllllllllllll the waaaaaaaay down to the front. It was a long ways down! (It would be an even longer road up!)

The show was SO good. Of course I love B&B. It is one of my favorite Disney Movies. I love the lesson it sends that smart girls are beautiful, don't judge a book by its cover, and even when all seems lost still act with hope and sweetness. Plus, the music is amazing. And I swear that one of the male dancers on this trip reminded me of Christopher Borle!

When the show was over and we had trekked out of the canyon, (you think I'm exagerrating!) it still wasn't time to meet up with the guys yet so we headed over to the Great Movie Ride. Again. Well, again for Mom. I hadn't ridden it since high school.

We strolled down Commissary Lane over to Muppet Vision 3D where we were scheduled to meet up with the boys. I took pictures along the way:

This was one of Lauren's favorite shows. I let her watch last season. But we stopped watching this season at the very beginnning because of the wraiths. I felt they were too creepy and demonic. Plus, I think its just kind of a grown up show.

The sad thing about this picture is that my Mom owned this car. For all of 24 hours when she turned 16. Then she wrecked it. She pulled out into an intersection and a lady ran a red light. Totaled her car. She and her parents were devastated. So my grandad bought her an old beat up pick up truck!

The boys soon came up from LMA and then it was time to decide what to do. Everyone was pretty pooped so David, Mom, and the boys headed back to the hotel. But, I talked my Dad into staying to do Animation Academy with Lauren. They both love to draw and I just thought it would be lots of fun. So back across the park we trekked. I don't have anymore pics from this day, but I do have a few stragglers that I'm not exactly sure when they were taken:

Jonathan:

Stephen:

Dad:

David:

There is also this one of everyone in front of the sorcerer's hat:

Dad and I really enjoyed Animation Academy. Lauren, not so much. She was very frustrated by the speed of the class and her inability to get it perfect. We did Chip from Chip and Dale this time. So we took one disappointed little girl back to the hotel.

Up Next: Magic Kingdom and the last of the YES classes. Foreshadowing: Disaster

 

[MK2010]

Day 6 MK​

Today was the last day for Mom and Dad. We were headed back to MK. The boys had their YES classes today. All the boys were doing a variation of Physics: Properties in Motion. Basically, they would get to learn the different ways Disney makes things move. From the animatronics, to the piston pumps, to magnets,and even g-forces. They were all pretty excited! We had to be there early because their class started at 8:30. There was some confusion before we left on the trip because I never got any confirmation papers on the classes. All I had were my confirmation emails, which made me nervous. But, I had called the YES number a couple of times to confirm that we were on the list. (I'm sure they thought I was crazy) In fact, the day before I left I called to confirm that the boys classes started at 7:30-11:30 while Stephen's ran 8:30- 9:30. Those times seemed a little wonky to me. In fact, I was told, they had caught the error also and the classes ran from 8:30-11:30. Alrighty!

So, we got up and had some cereal and headed out the door to MK. Since we were there so early, we got front row parking at the TTC. YAY! And we got to take the monorail which the kids love. We got through bag check and went to check the boys in. They didn't have Jonathan and Cameron on the list!!!!!!!!!! WHAAAAT??? Drama! Seems their class started at 7:30 and ran to 9:30! Only Stephen's class was 8:30-10:30. ARGH! I was so scared that our tickets would be voided! I explained, rather panicked, at this point, that I had never received paper confirmation on these tickets and that I had called a couple of times to confirm and that the cast member and I must have misunderstood each other. She promised me that she would take our names off the naughty list. It probably helped that I had a couple of upset boys and disappointment was written all over their faces! So Stephen and David joined their group while the rest of us went to wait for the park to open. Not believing me about the disappointed boys?

Does that look like the face of a happy camper?

I tried to stay away from them because any more attitude from a simple mistake was going to result in a "not the happiest place on earth" moment. I took these pictures instead:

It wasn't long until the opening show, which in case I haven't mentioned, I LOVE! And then we were under the train station on our way! Dad took the two boys off to go ride thrill rides while us girls began the Great Princess Hunt. Of course I took pictures on the way:

First up was Merida. Even with my picture taking we were first in line. We had a little wait before they opened the gate. While we were waiting I went over to a merchandise cart to buy Lauren a Merida wig.

Soon the gates were opened and we were ushered in to meet Merida. In fact, since we were the first ones, Lauren got to wake up her brothers who had chosen to stay in bear form!

I liked Merida. She was a great character who mastered that accent very well and Lauren was super excited that she was the first one! After Merida, we hopped over to see Tiana. She wasn't out yet, but we waited in line. We were the second ones there. We had to wait probably 15 minutes. I listened to the CM talk to the folks in front of us. I wasn't as impressed with the CM. She didn't seem as enthusiastic about her job as some others. Finally Tiana came out and we had great interaction with her. She asked us about our trip through Louisiana. She did a great job. We haven't ever seen this movie so the interaction was all on her and she did fantabulous!

Up next were my favorite characters Aladdin and Jasmine! Now,I love the music in this movie, but I'm not crazy about some of the themes. (Jasmine is less than honoring towards her father. Aladdin has some honesty issues) However, I always have the best character interactions with these two. Today was no disappointment!

We didn't have to wait too long to meet them. They were out and greeting by the time we got to them, but it was 10 minutes or so until we were at the front of the line so I'm guessing there was probably only one family ahead of us.

After Aladdin and Jasmine we flew over to Ariel and Eric. Here we had quite a bit of a wait. I had Mom get us some Dole Whips while we waited. I finished mine up just as we got to the front of the line. Now, this is probably my least favorite of the Princess movies. The theme: Disobey your father and get your hearts desire bugs me more than a little. So no surprise it wasn't my favorite meet either. Ariel did a good job, but poor Eric just kind of stood there like a bump on a log. However, in his defense, most people are probably coming to see Ariel. We told her that we were headed over to see the wicked step sisters soon. She said that she had been working on their manners and to be sure and ask if they were using their dinglehoppers!

We passed by the fairies and the wait was short so we went on in.

I don't remember who was here besides Tink. I think it was Vidia? I don't watch the fairy movies, but Lauren begs every time they come out for the next one. Thank heavens for Redbox. I loved the fairies. And I loved the magic portal!

When we came out of the fairies, Peter Pan was greeting, but since he wasn't a princess Lauren didn't want to wait. We looped behind the castle to get in line for the Wicked Step Sisters and we made it just in time.

Boy those guys were a hoot. And, no, they hadn't been using their dinglehoppers. That was just silly. Who ever heard of combing your hair with a fork? We told them we were headed up to Princess Hall after this and asked if they wanted us to say Hi to Cinderella. Apparently, Cinderella now thinks she is too good for them and will not associate with them so no, they did not want to pass along a message!

As we came in earlier, I had grabbed a FP for Princess Fairy Tale Hall and now was the time to use it. Mom left us to find a bathroom and said that she would meet us by the TeaCups for the Alice and White Rabbit M&G. So Lauren and I hurried up Main Street to meet Cinderella. Even with our fastpasses, the wait was quite long. I was surprised. Lauren was beginning to tire out at this point. Stephen was out of his class so David was going to round everyone up for a trip on Space Mountain and some other fun things while we finished up our GPH. (Great Princess Hunt).

Our m&g with the princesses were lovely. Not all of our photos got uploaded, but here is one with Rapunzel:

I wasn't as impressed with our Rapunzel meet. I just didn't think she stayed in character very well. But we also met with Belle and Cindy. Those two are just so lovely. We mentioned to Cindy that her step sisters didn't seem very gracious. She said that all of the princesses had been working with them, but sometimes change was difficult for people. She mentioned that she had redone their rooms in the castle recently to make them feel more at home!

I didn't want to miss Alice and the White Rabbit so we hurried to the Tea Cups. We had quite the wait for Alice. Probably a good 20 minutes before she even came out. We were first in line, but we went to the back of the line when she came out because we really wanted to meet the White Rabbit. Even at the back of the line we let a bunch of families go in front of us until the White Rabbit came out. He was a ton of fun. He gave big hugs and he and Alice were quite silly! We asked if he was late coming from the Tea Party and he said yes! I don't have a picture uploaded of this m&g. Sorry.

From here we took our time back over to the back of the castle to meet the Fairy Godmother. Lauren tried to pull out the sword in the stone.

No luck today. We had probably 30 minutes before the Fairy Godmother would come out, so we got in line where she would be and sat down to eat our lunch. This was where the rest of the gang found us. THey found a spot in the shade to enjoy their lunch too. Even Mom and Dad had packed a lunch on this day!

Stephen had gotten to ride Dumbo and the Barnstormer that morning! Apparently, my Dad had been drug on repeated trips through BTMRR, Splash, and Space Mountain! Poor guy! After they finished their lunch they all went off to see Philharmagic while Lauren and I waited for the Fairy Godmother. She finally came out. (Not that I have a picture uploaded of this either ) She was soo sweet. IT was around 1 p.m. when we finished our m&g. Everyone was hot and tired. So we headed back to the hotel so Mom and Dad could rest and pack.

We enjoyed the swimming pool and I really kinda think we may have made a run to DTD that night, but I'm not sure about that. See why you should always keep a journal? Well, our trip is half over at this point, but tomorrow starts the last bit without Mom and Dad. Will we be Disneyed out by the end? Will the sharks eat us at Typhoon Lagoon?

 

[Lyn-CA]

Hi All! I'm excited to write about our last trip to Disney World this past September. I know, I know, its been almost four months and I'm just NOW getting around to writing the TR? Well, better late than never. But I have to warn you that this may be slow going. I wrote a PTR Diabetes Can't Stop Us so feel free to check that out. Before I can really get started on this report I need to upload all of my pics to photobucket so I can introduce the whole cast, but let me give you a synopsis of the PTR.

Our trip was Aug. 30- Sept.15. I know! That's a LOOOONG vacation, but here's the catch...we drove...all 24 hours to Disney. So we broke it up and left after my husband got off work and drove from Amarillo to Greenville, Tx. That's about 7-8 hours. Then the next day we drove 12 hours from Greenville, Tx. to Crestview, Fla. And then finally drove the 6 hours from Crestview, Fla. to Orlando. We could've done 2 12 hour days, but my parents live in Greenville so it was a free stay and that way we weren't getting into Disney at funky hours.

So this trip was my family, Me & DH, DS-12, DD-10, DS-9, and DS-7. I'll come back and add in a photo of us later. My parents also joined us for the first week. The last time they had been to WDW was in 1984. Needless to say, they had NO IDEA what they were in for! I kept trying to tell them, to prepare them, but they refused to believe me.

We stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and loved it! We booked through Vacation Strategy and booked a two bedroom Deluxe. In reality, I should have upgraded to a 3 bedroom Presidential. We stayed offsite this time because we got our park tickets through the Disney Y.E.S. program so we weren't eligible for the Disney Dining plan. We would've booked room only to stay onsite. Since we weren't flying in we didn't need Magical Express or transportation to the parks.

I promise to get into all of this in more detail, but first I'm going over to photobucket to upload photos. Pass the time reading my PTR because it may be Sunday before I get another update up. I still have two more nights of work this week.

The week of Christmas and somehow I pull 60 hours. Its one of those situations where you're not quite sure what happened. I only had three days on the schedule Christmas Eve. Then a co worker called and asked if I could take her Saturday shift so I did. Then last night I looked at the surgery schedule and they added about 3-4 surgeries so now I'm headed in to help out 'cause they're gonna be slammed!

Okay peeps, join up! You're in for a bumpy ride!

Chapter Links
Intros
Travel Day 1
Travel Day 2
Travel Day 3 Honey, I'm HOOOOOOOOME!
Epcot Day 1 Part1
Epcot Day 1 Part 2
Epcot Day 1 Part 3
Magic Kingdom Day 2 Part 1
Magic Kingdom Day 2 Part 2
Magic Kingdom Day 2 Part 3
Animal Kingdom Day 3 Part 1
DTD Day 3 Part 2
The Holy Land Experience Day 4 Part 1
The Holy Land Experience Day 4 Part 2
The Holy Land Experience Day 4 Part 3
DHS Day 5
MK Day 6

Posted from Disboards.com App for Android

 

[MK2010]

Well, exciting news and disappointment all in the same post! How about that? DH got a conference invite in the mail for a Youth Leaders Conference in Orlando!!!!! WooHoo! Its the beginning of September and they offer discounted park tickets! The conference is at Coronado Springs. If it was just me and the DH we could swing it for about $2000, but if we took the kids and stayed off site at WBC (which is still a cheaper option even though they are now charging a $12 transportation fee AND you have to pay to park at WDW.) It would be about $3000 for 5 nights. That doesn't include food. So, since I would have to cancel my October trip with my nurses and come up with an extra $1500 I guess we won't be doing that. Although, if I could figure out a way to swing it, I would send my DH and oldest son because they are having Night of Joy on the Friday of the conference and DS13 (Jonathan was 12 on this last trip, but he just had a birthday!) would LOVE that. Toby Mac and Newsboys are going to be there and he loves both. I'm not much of a concert goer. I don't like the loud music whether it be rock, christian, country, or gospel laughing its not my scene. They were having NOJ on our trip back in September, but those tickets are expensive!! Anywhoo, unless anyone out there wants to send me a couple thousand I guess we'll have to pass on this deal.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Wow I missed a lot of updates! You guys sure packed a lot in!


Love the Hollywood Studios pictures. JTA looks so cute. I'm kinda sad I'm too old to participate lol.

Love the character hunt around MK! I made DBF do a lot of that on our trip. Although, I tried to disguise it by integrating it into our other activities. We'd be walking and I'd just say "oh hey a character will be out in 15 minutes. Lets just wait here on this bench!" Needless to say he wasn't fooled for too long.

You guys really lucked out with short character waits. We waited pretty long for some of them. How cute that DD got to wake up the bears with Merida! I really love Brave, I think it's such a cute movie!

Too bad about not being able to make the extra trip. Money and real life are generally what get in the way of all the Disney trips I imagine I should take lol!

 

[MK2010]

Considering your job hunt, I really think you should relocate to Fl.! Hee hee. I have no patience so we don't wait for very long at anything. Its one of the reasons I always go with a plan in mind AND why I always make sure we're at RD. I know lots of people aren't morning people, so that's hard for them. But also on the characters, if you didn't know, there's this great blog/app called Kenny the Pirate you can google it or here's the linkKenny the Pirate and he does a great job of keeping a list up to date of the who, what, where, and when of m&G. I had his list copied and laminated for our trip!!! Complpete with a touring plan of what order to see the characters in! Haha! No, really I'm not obsessed I just hate waiting!