Show Me Your Smolder! October 2012 B-Day TR NEW 4/1 Trip Wrap Up & NEW PTR LINK!

[Joyciemc]

I am impressed that you were able to make it MK for rope drop! Good hussle!

[khertz]

Originally Posted by ash-n-brensmom

That pic of him "growling"...I really thought he was being a good trex...only to find out he is crying!!
Too funny!

Looks like you guys had a great start to your MK day...hope it stayed that way!

He does do a very good T-Rex impression, even though he wouldn't do it for the picture!

Originally Posted by wgeo

I just had to say Hi! because our trip has so much overlap so far! We're from WI, but our flight connected in New Orleans and were on the same plane that you were! We also stayed in Bonnet Creek for our trip, although we checked in there on Saturday AND we decided to go to DTD and Earl of Sandwich for dinner that night AND we had to park in Timbukto (as we called it!) and walked forever to get to Earl of Sandwich! We love that place though, so even with the really long line it was worth the wait!

Gina

Wow, that is too funny!! Now that I think about it, there was a family I saw at Earl that it occurred to me at the time I had seen at the airport...Maybe it was you!

Glad to have you along. I wonder if our trips overlapped anywhere else? Are you planning to do a TR for your trip?

Originally Posted by Joyciemc

I am impressed that you were able to make it MK for rope drop! Good hussle!

Several things didn't go according to plan this trip, but I was happy our MK morning was well on track for all we had to do that morning!

[MEK]

OK, I'll admit, it took me awhile to find this TR, but I am all caught up.

Love that you took a picture of the empty count down calendar. Best feeling ever!

Ugh to puppy poop on the way to your parents. I am sure you did not plan for that.

Yeah for an uneventful flight. I hate when kids sit behind me and kick the seat, but that's just what kids do.

An red Altima? Awesome for location purposes.

Ugh to the long line at EOS, but your sandwich sounds great.

I love your villa for the first night. Can't wait to see Bonnet Creek. So glad you first day at MK is off to a great start. Really cute pictures of everyone!

[khertz]

Originally Posted by MEK

OK, I'll admit, it took me awhile to find this TR, but I am all caught up.

Love that you took a picture of the empty count down calendar. Best feeling ever!

Ugh to puppy poop on the way to your parents. I am sure you did not plan for that.

Yeah for an uneventful flight. I hate when kids sit behind me and kick the seat, but that's just what kids do.

An red Altima? Awesome for location purposes.

Ugh to the long line at EOS, but your sandwich sounds great.

I love your villa for the first night. Can't wait to see Bonnet Creek. So glad you first day at MK is off to a great start. Really cute pictures of everyone!

Thanks happy to see you here, I know you have been super busy lately with all these Disney trips & TRs!

[khertz]

Day 2 Continued: Sunday October 21st

When I left off, the rope drop show had just started, and DS was quickly pulled to attention to the guy up on the trains station talking (I can't remember who he said he was...the Mayor maybe?). And then the dancers came out and he started smiling a little more.

But then we heard a very distinct sound...a steam whistle!

As he noticed the characters getting off the train and waving, he became a little more excited. He loves choo choos, and apparently was still digging the characters this year.

And it was at that moment that something clicked in his little mind and he uttered one word that just brought tears to my eyes...He pointed to Mickey and said, "Mouse!" Now, I have to tell you why this is such a big deal. In the past, he just didn't call Mickey anything. He could identify all of the Fab 5 characters in the sense of saying, "Where's Mickey? Where's Minnie?" etc. and he could point them out in a picture in a book, but the only one whose name he would say was Donald, but he would really just say, "Duck" for him. So this was the first time he ever "gave Mickey a name" so to speak as in he recognized him and wanted to call him something. It was very exciting for me, even if it was only the second part of his name! I just hugged him so tight and swallowed back the tears (I get very emotional in Disney!) and said, "Yep, that's Mouse!"

The rope drop ceremony ended a little sooner than I had remembered, and soon we were making our way under the train station and getting to see the park dressed up for Halloween! We have not seen the park decorated for fall since our honeymoon in 2007, so this brought back some great memories. Not only was it our honeymoon and our first trip away by ourselves, it was also our first trip to the parks when it was decorated for any holiday!

Even though Touring Plans says now that Dumbo has Fastpass, you don't need to do the Dumbo Dash first thing in the morning, we headed there first. We wanted it to be DS's first ride of the morning as a sort of right of passage, and we also wanted to check out the new Storybook Circus area of the parks. Unfortunately, we didn't bother looking at the map while standing out there waiting for rope drop, and we had no clue which direction we were supposed to be heading in. Just take the map and look, right? Well, DS had commandeered it and wasn't giving it up, and he wasn't exactly a good navigator.

As we passed the New Fantasyland ropes, we peeked and saw signage that that were not doing dress rehearsals that day, so we were a little bummed about that. We later found out they were doing CM previews all week, so I'll save you the suspense, we never got to step foot into the FLE area. I was bummed because I wanted DS to meet Ariel (she had a page in his autograph book that we were never able to get signed), and see Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Eventually we made our way to Storybook Circus!

I loved getting to see the new Double Dumbo set up, that was a really great idea they had to keep the lines a little less severe there.

Continued in next post...

[khertz]

We walked through the line and had a second to peek inside the play area, which looked phenomenal! But we knew we would be stopping in there later in the trip, so we basically walked right onto the next ride cycle with maybe a 5 minute wait all together. It was this morning while we were waiting that I saw a cute little family of a small toddler girl wearing full princess getup and her two much older brothers wearing black t-shirts that said "Princess Security." I complimented them on their shirts when I saw them later by the strollers!

Finally we got on our Dumbo, and DS was all smiles and ready to go!

However, as we found out the minute our elephant was in the air, this was the year things started making DS nervous, including flying in an elephant. He wasn't scared exactly, but the smile dropped off his face and he was grabbing my arms tight and whimpering a little. This theme continued on most rides to varying degrees of intensity. But no freak outs, and towards the end he seemed like he was enjoying it a little more.

Next up, we wanted to do Peter Pan's Flight before the line got horrendous. I got another surprise in his line when DS saw the ride vehicles, pointed to them, and announced proudly, "Pirate ship!" Definitely not that distinctly, but it was obvious to us what he was saying. After being worried about a speech delay several months ago, he has really grown his vocabulary tremendously!

The posted wait said 20 minutes and we waited a little less than that, maybe 17 or 18 minutes before we were boarding our pirate ship and taking off to Neverland. DH of course was snapping away with his new lens (no, we are not flashers either! lol). They came out pretty dark of course, but he lightened a few of them up decently.

DS seemed to really enjoy it. He was pointing to so many things as we flew over them, and a few times I heard him actually say, "Oooh!"

After that, we headed across the way to another old faithful attraction, It's a Small World. DH was thrilled. That early in the morning, it was still walk on so we got right onto a boat into the first row.

By the time we came off of that, it was nearing 10 am, and we had a 10:30 appointment for a little boy to get his curls cut off! So we started making our way towards Main Street, hoping DS would do as well for his haircut this year as he did for his first last year. Boy, were we in for a surprise!

UP NEXT: Haircuts for a Song

[skier_pete]

Originally Posted by khertz

He pointed to Mickey and said, "Mouse!"

It was very exciting for me, even if it was only the second part of his name! I just hugged him so tight and swallowed back the tears (I get very emotional in Disney!) and said, "Yep, that's Mouse!"

All I can say is......awwwwwwww!

Originally Posted by khertz

Even though Touring Plans says now that Dumbo has Fastpass, you don't need to do the Dumbo Dash first thing in the morning, we headed there first.

Really, that will be the weirdest thing. We've been Dumbo Dashing for 6 years, it'll be so strange to Peter Pan dash instead.

Originally Posted by khertz

As we passed the New Fantasyland ropes, we peeked and saw signage that that were not doing dress rehearsals that day, so we were a little bummed about that. We later found out they were doing CM previews all week, so I'll save you the suspense, we never got to step foot into the FLE area. I was bummed because I wanted DS to meet Ariel (she had a page in his autograph book that we were never able to get signed), and see Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Oh darn! I was really hoping you guys would get a chance to check it out! The Enchanted Tales with Bells sounds especially cool.

Originally Posted by khertz

I loved getting to see the new Double Dumbo set up, that was a really great idea they had to keep the lines a little less severe there.

I think I'm going to be a little disappointed in the move though. One of the great things about Dumbo was its location right behind the castle. While I'm sure we will continue to ride it for a few more years, once our DD outgrows it, Dumbo will definitely slide down the priority list thanks to that location off in the corner.

Keep the updates coming!

[leshunlenese]

Sucks you did not get to see all of the new fantasyland! However, i hear it is great and it just means you have to go back. You now Devyn was diagnosed with a speech delay when he was 18 months. He did speech therapy weekely until he was 3 and once he turned 3 he went to preschool and has it there 2 times a week. The teachers say he is doing so well and that its just a matter of when they , "the kids" want to talk. Having him around other kids helped him too. Before he wa stuck with me all day!

[Sweetpeamd]

Joining in! We were at the World at the same time!!!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

What a great start to your MK day! You're right that the Halloween decorations look very different at MK than what I saw at DL. I do like the pumpkin scarecrows at MK though!

It'll be weird for us as well not to do the Dumbo Dash. I suspect that for our January trip, our rope drop dash will be for Enchanted Tales with Belle, but I'm waiting to see what the full opening of New FL will do to the wait times for attractions both within and outside of New FL. Trying to come up with new strategies is going to be fun.

On our last trip in April, we on purpose took the path you took to get to Dumbo so that DFIL could walk through the Castle on his very first visit to MK! So your DS did a great job of navigating if you ask me

[Chelley00]

Ugh. The picture of him pointing at the choo choo during rope drop and smiling is way too cute!

[rachel09985]

Love your MK photos! That sky is amazing!

[khertz]

Originally Posted by skier_pete

All I can say is......awwwwwwww!

Really, that will be the weirdest thing. We've been Dumbo Dashing for 6 years, it'll be so strange to Peter Pan dash instead.

Oh darn! I was really hoping you guys would get a chance to check it out! The Enchanted Tales with Bells sounds especially cool.

I think I'm going to be a little disappointed in the move though. One of the great things about Dumbo was its location right behind the castle. While I'm sure we will continue to ride it for a few more years, once our DD outgrows it, Dumbo will definitely slide down the priority list thanks to that location off in the corner.

Keep the updates coming!

Yeah, the Dumbo Dash was still worth it, but definitely not necessary. Seems that since people know there is FP and 2 Dumbos, you don't need to rush there in the morning, so they were going other places. We didn't, but we could have walked right back on again where normally the line would already be building up. And although the Storybook Circus part was pretty cool looking, it was kind of shoved off in no man's land. It looks like once the FLE fully opens, it will flow a lot better but for now it really is shoved off in the corner!

I wish we could have experienced it too. Unfortunately, the week we went fell right between general public soft openings and AP previews so we didn't get to take part in either one!

Originally Posted by leshunlenese

Sucks you did not get to see all of the new fantasyland! However, i hear it is great and it just means you have to go back. You now Devyn was diagnosed with a speech delay when he was 18 months. He did speech therapy weekely until he was 3 and once he turned 3 he went to preschool and has it there 2 times a week. The teachers say he is doing so well and that its just a matter of when they , "the kids" want to talk. Having him around other kids helped him too. Before he wa stuck with me all day!

I think that was exactly the problem with Paxton, he was home with me all day and didn't really "need" to talk because I just knew what he wanted and did everything for him without him needing to ask. Now that he is in daycare 5 days a week, his vocabulary has improved in leaps & bounds. He is always coming home with a new word it seems like! Hopefully you continue to make progress with Devyn!

Originally Posted by Sweetpeamd

Joining in! We were at the World at the same time!!!

That's awesome! Are you planning to do a TR for your trip?

Originally Posted by DaveinFallsChurch

What a great start to your MK day! You're right that the Halloween decorations look very different at MK than what I saw at DL. I do like the pumpkin scarecrows at MK though!

It'll be weird for us as well not to do the Dumbo Dash. I suspect that for our January trip, our rope drop dash will be for Enchanted Tales with Belle, but I'm waiting to see what the full opening of New FL will do to the wait times for attractions both within and outside of New FL. Trying to come up with new strategies is going to be fun.

On our last trip in April, we on purpose took the path you took to get to Dumbo so that DFIL could walk through the Castle on his very first visit to MK! So your DS did a great job of navigating if you ask me

The DL decorations are more larger than life & character oriented, which I like, but not knocking the MK ones at all, because they do a great job! I think DH got even more pics of them our early entry morning later in the trip.

I know, by the time we go next year, our old touring plan will have to go out the window since the FLE will be totally open except for the Mine Train ride. It's a little nerve wracking, but very exciting!! At least having ridden the Little Mermaid ride at DCA so many times, I know I don't need to rush to that first thing, I mostly just want to check out the queue.

We always love walking through the Castle in the morning before it is closed off for the stage shows. So I guess you are right, DS was a good little navigator after all!

Originally Posted by Chelley00

Ugh. The picture of him pointing at the choo choo during rope drop and smiling is way too cute!

Thank you! He was even more excited when it was finally time to ride it later on in the trip!

Originally Posted by rachel09985

Love your MK photos! That sky is amazing!

Thanks! The sky was cloudless that day which made for beautiful photos, but man was the sun brutal!

[RachelNinja]

How adorable that DS said "mouse" and "pirate ship"! Ahhh, Disney is definitely the place to be. I definitely would have started tearing up during the morning show.

Love the "Princess Security" thing. Very clever!

[CandleontheWater]

yay for early morning rides on Dumbo! I love the new storybook circus section, I think it is a lovely addition to the parks.

I'm sorry that Paxton got a little nervous on Dumbo, I was afraid that Everett would be that way this last trip, but thankfully he was OK, and the only time we had issues was when we weren't riding the ride he wanted to be on at that exact moment.

I also feel you on the whole speech delay dilemma. I was worried about Everett for a while too, but it ended up being OK. I just think that some little boys are way more interested in moving than talking at first, but eventually they catch up. What a nice moment with Mickey, its thinks like that that makes the whole trip worth it!