Christmas at the most magical place on Earth - Dec '12 TR - Upd 3/28 x3

[debrapagliasotti]

Looks like you had a great day at EPCOT! can't wait to hear about DHS!

That first Epcot day was great, even though we slept in a bit. HS update coming up today.

What a fun day! The Candlelight Processional and Holiday Illiminations look awesome. Your little ones are troopers! I'm impressed that they lasted through the fireworks!

CP was beautiful! I would love to see it again when we go back during the holidays.

I was suprised how well the little boys did with the late nights too! They would nap a bit during the day in the stroller, so I think that helped them.

 

[pld5]

Joining in here, too. Just noticed that you have a DR and a TR going. Looking forward to hearing about your DHS experience.

 

[dec2901]

Joining in.
Can't wait to read more.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Joining in here, too. Just noticed that you have a DR and a TR going. Looking forward to hearing about your DHS experience.

Welcome Yes, I do have a DR going as well. The DR is moving along much faster than the TR though I was trying to wait until our Photopass CD came in the mail before I got too far along in the TR.

Joining in.
Can't wait to read more.

Hello , Welcome! Glad to have you following along!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Day 3, Part 1 Hollywood Studios/H&V bkfst

On December 20, we had an 8am pre-park opening breakfast at Hollywood & Vine.

We left BW about 710am and walked over to HS. It's such a nice, peaceful walk from BW to HS. Took us about 20 min walking at a leisurely pace.

Along the way, I snapped this photo as we were approaching HS of the Tower of Terror.

As we approached, I took this picture of the Christmas tree at HS.

We waited in the character breakfast line until about 750am, then we were let in. One family tried to come through the line that did not have an ADR as was very upset they could not get in the park early.

I thought this was the cutest little window set up

We arrived at H&V headed over to check in at the podium. We were seated just a couple minutes past 8am.

Our server came over and told us the characters would be there in just a moment so we should wait to go to the buffet. She took our drink orders and as she was walking away, Jake approached our table.

Jaxon was a bit nervous about the characters, but Evan loved them.

After he left we headed up to the buffet. There are 2 sides, however they only had 1 side open...and there was a crazy line!!!

About the time I was halfway through the line, they opened the other side.

I apologize for no buffet pictures, but there were quite a few people and I could see Oso quickly approaching our table.

Menu taken from Allears.net

Seasonal fruit
Freshly baked pastries
Assorted yogurts
Breakfast Meats
Scrambled Eggs and Frittata
Mickey Waffles with assorted toppings
Oven Roasted Potatoes
Sausage Gravy and Biscuits.

Children's options available

Here is a picture of my one plate that I had.

The fritatta was -- well -- it didnt have a very good taste. I dont know what it was about it really, but I only took 2 bites of it and moved along with the other items on my plate.

The danish was nice, the croissant was fluffy, fruit was nice and fresh and the Mickey waffles...perfection as always! Bacon, limp as always

I also had a small bowl of strawberry yogurt that Evan ended up eating.

We finished up our meal quickly (luckily we were given our check with our drinks ) and headed on our way.

Total cost before automatic 18% gratuity $136.26 - 6 dining credits used

Up next, Jedi Training & TSM FP


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[debrapagliasotti]

Day 3, Part 2 HS morning fun

After our breakfast at H&V, Bo took Hunter & the little boys over to the Sounds Dangerous studio a few minutes before 9am since we had began to see people passing by as we were finishing up breakfast, so we assumed they had opened the park a few minutes early. Harper & I headed over to TSM to grab FP for all of us.

Our FP return time was 1130am.

We headed back to the meeting area that Bo & I had discussed during breakfast. They were not there yet, so I noticed Chip & Dale had just arrived, so we went to see them and were second in line.

Goofy was also meeting, so we went and got in his line. There were 2 families in front of us.

We checked again to see if Bo & the boys were at our meeting spot, but they were not, so we went ahead and waited to meet Pluto. There were 3 families in front of us.

Pluto was looking at her pins and was sad she didnt have one of him.

About this time I saw Bo & the boys walking over. Hunter had been signed up for the 120pm show and we had to be there to check in by 1pm. We had an ADR for Sci Fi at 1235pm, so we knew this would need to be cancelled, so I called and took care of that. We would just figure out something else for lunch when we got hungry.

It was about 920am by now, so we checked out Touring Plans and saw that Tower of Terror had a 10 min standby wait, so we headed over there. We got a rider swap and I rode with Hunter & Harper. I had been on this before, but neither of the kids have ever ridden before. Harper was freaking out before we even got to the ride.

Neither of them liked the ride much because of the random drops. Since we had Photopass + we got the ride photo. We are in the front row, left side.

We got off the ride and neither Hunter or Harper wanted to ride again at the moment, so Bo said we could use the rider swap later. We checked Touring Plans and saw that RnR had a 40 min standby wait, so we decided we would come get FP once our window opened up before we rode TSM.

We decided to head over to Great Movie Ride, but we stopped to get a few Photopass pictures since a photographer was there now.

We were being BLINDED by the sun!!!

Up next, more morning fun!

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[debrapagliasotti]

Day 3, Part 3 More HS morning fun

We headed off to Great Movie Ride. Since Hunter was participating in Jedi Training Academy, he wanted his picture with these --

We were prepared ahead of time knowing that we would need to cover the boys eyes during the scene from Alien. We only had to wait a few minutes and we were on our way to the movies.

We ended up with the Gangster version. Evan did not like all the gunshots and started crying. I kept trying to hide his face, but it really upset him.

When we got to the Alien scene, I turned his head towards me and covered his eyes. He was mad that I was covering his eyes, but I did not want him to see that. Jaxon kept trying to move Bo's hand because he was covering his eyes too.

After we were finished, Hunter & Harper asked if we could get a snack. We got a Mickey ice cream bar (Harper), Strawberry bar (Hunter) & 2 Mickey pretzels (Bo & I shared one -- little boys shared one).

We were now in our window to get a new FP, so I headed over to RnR with Hunter & Harper and picked up FP. Our return time was 1225pm.

We met back up with Bo & the boys and we headed over to Toy Story Mania since we were in our return time window.

Bo rode with Evan

I rode with Jaxon

And Hunter & Harper rode together.

The little boys LOVED TSM!! They wanted to ride it again (um, no -- its now a 75 minute standby wait!!)

After TSM, we headed across to go meet Woody & Buzz!! We saw the green army men and had the kids take a picture with one of them.

We waited in line for Woody & Buzz. The kids had fun playing with all the little set ups along the way. Before we know it, we are in Andy's room.

After a potty break, we headed over to RnR so we could use our FP right at 1225pm. We got a rider swap and Harper decided to sit this one out, so she waited with the little boys and I.

Jaxon wanted some popcorn -- I didnt want to stray too far from RnR, so the closest I could find was a bag of specialty kettlecorn so I bought that for him, then he wanted "yellow juice" AKA Orange juice, so I found a place nearby and bought that for him too. In the meantime, Evan had crashed out in the stroller.

Here is Bo & Hunter's ride photo -- they both loved the ride!

By now it was about 1245pm, so we headed over to Sounds Dangerous to have Hunter check in for Jedi Training.

Up next, JTA



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[1stvisit0909]

Sounds like a fun morning at DHS! Love the Chip pictures!!!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Sounds like a fun morning at DHS! Love the Chip pictures!!!

Thank you! I thought those were super cute too!!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Holy cow you did A LOT in one little 'ol morning!

OMG, how cute are you and Harper with Goofy! LOVE it! And that pic of Hunter on ToT...

Can't wait to hear how Hunter liked JTA!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Holy cow you did A LOT in one little 'ol morning!

OMG, how cute are you and Harper with Goofy! LOVE it! And that pic of Hunter on ToT...

Can't wait to hear how Hunter liked JTA!

It was a pretty good HS morning -- not as good as some of the MK mornings where we accomplished a TON (more on those later )

It was so much fun with just Harper & I seeing the characters. Made me think about possibly doing a girls trip with her in a few years.

JTA update coming now!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Day 3, Part 4 Jedi Training Academy

We arrived at the Sounds Dangerous stage a few minutes before 1pm. We got Hunter checked in. While the kids were waiting, one of the CM's was asking the JTA kids Star Wars trivia. A few minutes later they began to line up the kids from shortest to tallest.

They brought the kids over to the JTA stage near Star Tours. The padawans were given their robes and were told what was expected of them. The parents were also given instructions on where we were allowed to stand so that we would be out of the way of the Photopass photographer. The parents with kids participating in that JTA show were given photopass cards which would have all the pictures of all the kids, then we could just edit and find the pictures we needed on the Photopass site.

The show began promptly at 120pm. The padawans were given their training lightsaber and shown the proper way to use it.

As the lesson was coming to an end, there was a disturbance in the force and these guys showed up...

All of the padawans were given their chance to fight Darth Vader. When Hunter approached, his trainer mentioned his shirt and she wasnt so sure about him (his shirt had Darth Vader on it). The padawans all had a sequence of about 6 moves on Darth Vader.

After all the padawans had their chance to fight Darth Vader, they all used their Jedi force to make Darth Vader leave. They were all given diplomas at the end.

Hunter had a great time. There were 2 or 3 other kids who were his age (he just turned 11 a couple weeks before we went).

Up next, Afternoon at HS

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[debrapagliasotti]

Bonus post - Photopass pics from MVMCP & Epcot (Dec 19)

We got our Photopass CD in the mail on Friday, so I am doing a bonus post for some of the pictures taken at MVMCP & Epcot on Dec 19.

All pictures from December 20 and onward will/have been added as I post the appropriate post

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Day 3, Part 5 Afternoon at HS

When Hunter finished JTA, we found Evan like this...still sound asleep

Since we were close to Star Tours, we decided to grab FP. Our return time was 235pm. We let the kids take pictures with the speeder bike before we head over to Muppets 3D.

By this time, Evan woke up and wanted his picture taken on the speeder bike too

Now it was time to head to Muppets 3D...but first, the kids were asking for a snack

The kids wanted frozen lemonades, so Harper & Hunter both got one to share with the little boys

I love this fountain

A few pictures from the area for the holidays

After the kids ate some of the frozen lemonade, it was time for Muppets 3D. The little boys LOVED this! They kept trying to grab at the objects and they loved the bubbles!

By this time, we were within our FP window for Star Tours, so we headed back over. We got a rider swap and Bo, Hunter, Harper & Jaxon rode first. I took this photo of Evan while we waited.

We then decided to head into Tatooine Traders so we could meet them as they came off the ride, plus I figured I could distract Evan with stuff inside the store.

Jaxon enjoyed the ride, but didnt want to ride later with me. Hunter knew he wanted to do "make your own lightsaber", so he did that. In the meantime, the little boys found lightsabers of their own and entertained themselves while Hunter finished.

Hunter got his lightsaber and we were on our way to go grab a light lunch about 4pm. We decided on cheese nachos, then we would head over to Honey I Shrunk the Kids for a little while.

Up next, Honey I Shrunk the Kids

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[khertz]

Just got all caught up with the updates, and it looks like a fantastic day at DHS so far!! Even though that park does not have as much as other parks for the little kids to do, there are so many great character interactions to be found, which is one thing I love about that park! Seems like your kiddos were having a fun time with them!

Hunter looks great doing JTA! I bet he really loved that. I wonder if Paxton will be into Star Wars stuff when he gets a little older? Oh, and I have to say, those pictures of Hunter & Harper sharing their frozen lemonades with Evan & Jaxon... So sweet!

The Photopass pictures are great too, especially those family shots! You have a beautiful family.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Just got all caught up with the updates, and it looks like a fantastic day at DHS so far!! Even though that park does not have as much as other parks for the little kids to do, there are so many great character interactions to be found, which is one thing I love about that park! Seems like your kiddos were having a fun time with them!

Hunter looks great doing JTA! I bet he really loved that. I wonder if Paxton will be into Star Wars stuff when he gets a little older? Oh, and I have to say, those pictures of Hunter & Harper sharing their frozen lemonades with Evan & Jaxon... So sweet!

The Photopass pictures are great too, especially those family shots! You have a beautiful family.

Thats definately true about HS...not a whole lot for the little kids, but some great characters for them to make up for the lack of attractions!

JTA was a lot of fun for Hunter. I'm glad he got to be in one of the shows. I had read so many posts about kids being turned away because they got there late and shows filling up by 10am. Luckily it all worked out. Hunter really got into Star Wars a few years ago. Started playing with the Lego sets, then playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii and then his love for it has just continued to grow.

Jaxon & Evan on the other hand, no interest whatsoever right now.

Hunter & Harper are really good with Jaxon & Evan, so we are increadibly lucky they have such a great sibling bond.

I was very happy with about 99% of the Photopass pics and I am so happy to have so many family pics from the trip.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Wow I haven't been on the boards for a week and you have been on an updating tear...

Your children really are sweet and really are troopers... they seem like really awesome kids...


Your meal at Coral Reef looked really lovely... and I'm glad you were happy with your CP narrarator... I remember you were worried about that on your PTR...

I've heard lots of mixed reviews on the food at Hollywood & Vine...people seem to like the characters... less so on the food...

So glad Hunter got to do JTA... It's an awesome experience not to mention the photos... I have a feeling that we as parents gte as much out of it as they do....

Great photo ops of your guys and the Toy Story gang...

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Wow I haven't been on the boards for a week and you have been on an updating tear...

Your children really are sweet and really are troopers... they seem like really awesome kids...


Your meal at Coral Reef looked really lovely... and I'm glad you were happy with your CP narrarator... I remember you were worried about that on your PTR...

I've heard lots of mixed reviews on the food at Hollywood & Vine...people seem to like the characters... less so on the food...

So glad Hunter got to do JTA... It's an awesome experience not to mention the photos... I have a feeling that we as parents gte as much out of it as they do....

Great photo ops of your guys and the Toy Story gang...

The kids were definately troopers on this trip! The little boys especially did so well.

We were so worried about our CP narrarator -- it was killing us (ok, me!) to keep seeing TBA for months, then when ours was announced, we didnt even know who she was -- but yes, she was amazing!

H&V is definately not known for the food. We ate there a few years ago and it was the same way, but I knew the little boys would like the characters.

JTA was so fun for Hunter -- and yes, it was fun for us parents too

The kids had a great time with Buzz & Woody! Woody even rearranged the kids so that Evan was standing with him, and Jaxon was standing with Buzz.

Another updated coming up tomorrow hopefully.

 

[ampc3]

Just found your TR from the DTR ..... your family is adorable and enjoying reading all about this wonderful trip! you have me thinking now about trying Chefs de france to try and see Remy? looking forward to more!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Just found your TR from the DTR ..... your family is adorable and enjoying reading all about this wonderful trip! you have me thinking now about trying Chefs de france to try and see Remy? looking forward to more!

Welcome!!

Chefs was quite yummy! Remy was the cutest thing ever! His handler was hilarious

More to come soon! Trying to get an update out tonight