12 Days of Disney = 1 Happy Family! June 2011 TR (Update x2 7/19)

[meggiebeth]

Great update! I agree with you, since when were you not meant to scream on a theme park ride?! It's not like you go to WDW for absolute peace and quiet.

Looking forward to the next update!

 

[ZFamily5]

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this…I could give some excuses as to how life got so busy, but I think I’ll just jump right back into the trip report. It is now June 14th, 2011, Thing2’s birthday. Originally we were going to go to MK in the morning for EMH and then hop to Epcot for dinner and more fun. However, the night before, we had decided that there were some things we still wanted to do at Hollywood Studios and it would be our last chance to go there. We slept in a little bit this day and arrived at Hollywood Studios just a little bit after opening.

The first thing we did was catch the Indiana Jones: Epic Stunt Spectacular show. Despite knowing what the show entails as far as audience participation goes, I still love the show. In fact, as we were leaving, I announced to my family that I was going to be a stuntwoman one day. This made them laugh for a while, as I’m known to get hurt very easily! The next show we decided to see was the American Idol Experience again. Overall, we found it to be another great show! I think our opening entertainment was better the first time, but it was still a fun show! Before heading out of Hollywood Studios, there was one last show we wanted to make sure we saw. Somehow we timed it so that a Beauty and the Beast show was starting in about 15 minutes. Mom and Thing2 got us some seats while Dad, Thing3 and I got food from Fairfax Fare. If I remember correctly, we got a couple of pizzas and some salad to share. On our way across the street to the theater, it started raining, so we were very glad to be under the cover! It was a great show, as it has been every time for us. By the time the show was over, it had stopped raining, so we decided to head out and take the boat to Epcot. This time we knew to get off at Epcot and not at the Beach Club. We entered through the International Gateway and again began our quest to take a picture wearing a hat from every country around the World. Based upon our pictures, our first stop was Morocco. Why? I have no idea!

From there, we made our way to what looks like Japan (but it very well could be China) for another picture. Thing3 and I made our share of unhappy faces in pictures today.

The next stop in our tour was America.

Thing2 and I had a lot of fun looking around the gift shop to see what souvenirs people could buy to represent America! There were also a bunch of games set up outside, so we stopped to hula hoop for a few minutes.

After we’d hula hooped to our hearts’ content, we kept walking and soon arrived in Italy. After taking the hat picture, we looked around for a little while.

A lady came up and offered to take our picture all together, which we appreciated!

Continued in next post...

 

[ZFamily5]

From there, we continued across the World to Germany, a place I would love to go to for real! My mom has been to Germany and her family had a German exchange student live with them when she was in high school, which sounded pretty cool.

Since the only hats we could find in Germany were beer bottle hats, we had Mom and Dad be the only ones in the picture!

After we’d looked around Germany and smelt the lovely smell of the caramel shop, we moved on to China. We’d explored China more in depth prior to this day, so we were fairly quick to go in, get our hat picture and move on.

The next country on our list was Norway. As soon as we entered the shop in Norway, I could tell I did not want to be in there. It was crowded and hot and I’m not a huge fan of either of those things. However, once we found some hats to wear, it was a quick process to get a picture and make our way back outside.

After leaving Norway, we walked for a little bit and then arrived at our last country, Mexico! I wish I could go back there now, as my Spanish has improved a lot since then! When we arrived, we saw Donald outside! He is my favorite character, so I decided a picture was necessary.

We were the last people to get to see Donald outside because a storm was coming. While I was getting my picture taken, a CM told Dad that Donald is (I can’t remember the exact number, so this is a guess) 70% metal. Whenever there is a storm, they have to move Donald to a safe location so he doesn’t get electrocuted! After that picture, we headed inside. We took a picture wearing some sombreros and then went back outside, where it was already raining.

My sisters and I decided to just go ahead and walk to Innoventions and play some games there, since we didn’t care if we got wet. Mom and Dad decided to wait for a little bit, and met up with us later. I don’t exactly recall what we did at Innoventions until Mom and Dad got there. I do remember when they showed up, they brought a smoothie for us to share. We decided that Mom and Dad needed to see the Create Your Own Video Game thing, so we got in line. A CM informed us that you can’t bring food or drinks in and we were not even half done with the smoothie. I said that I’d go to the other side of the gate and watch them, since I’d done the game already. I was able to get some pretty funny shots of them filming their video games!

After they’d played their video games, Mom and Dad signed up to learn to ride a Segway. I wish I could have done that, but you had to be 16. By this point, it was time to make our way to World Showcase yet again for Thing2’s birthday dinner at Les Chefs de France. As far as the food goes, it was only okay for me. The French onion soup was amazing, however the macaroni and cheese had nutmeg in it, which I was not a fan of. Thing2 got a candle in her dessert and the wait staff sang to her, which was nice.

Because of the time of the reservations, we’d missed Illuminations, but it was okay since we’d seen it before. We walked back to Future World yet again. At this point, I was getting sad, knowing our vacation was drawing to a close. We decided to take one last ride on Figment for Thing3, which she loved, as usual.

We then decided it would be a good time to go purchase some souvenirs at Mouse Gears. Thing3 got a Baby Dumbo plush, Thing2 got a Winnie the Pooh plush to go with the Tigger we’d given her on the plane, Mom got some Mickey Mouse pajamas which she loves and I got a plush Donald. We decided one last ride on Spaceship Earth was needed on the way out. I was sad to leave Epcot, but we still had part of a day before flying back home. We took the bus back to POR where Thing2 got to open her birthday presents from Mom and Dad. She got a Disney snowglobe, an R2D2 light up toy and a birthday Vinylmation.

After that long day, we were all ready for bed and fell asleep quickly. Thanks for reading!

 

[ZFamily5]

YAY MK! Hahaha, goodness, some people need to loosen up! I bet if they had joined in on the screaming instead of being annoyed, they would have had a lot more fun! It's Disney World, yall. Hahha oh well.

Hooray for SMALL WORLD! Hahha it's a classic, gotta love it. Right now I'm a little jealous of Thing 2, celebrating my birthday at Disney is a dream of mine!

I wish I could be there now!

I agree, but I guess we had a difference of opinions!

We love Small World! It's great!

Celebrating my birthday at Disney is a dream of mine too...but with a September birthday, 3 kids in school and a teacher as a mom, it's probably not going to happen anytime soon!

I love your park hopping! what a great way to end the evening! Ab and I screamed on a ride for the fun of it too...loads of fun, sorry you had fun haters along for the ride! I must admit...wish I was on the people mover right now, too! And to think I planned on skipping it!

Thank you! We love evenings at MK!

I can't wait for you to get to that part on your TR!

Skipping the Peoplemover wouldn't have been a wise choice! So slow, but so fun!

I didn't know the new rule was dead silence on a roller coaster. Those people need to get over themselves!

Great update! I agree with you, since when were you not meant to scream on a theme park ride?! It's not like you go to WDW for absolute peace and quiet.

Looking forward to the next update!

I don't know! They were probably just over tired!

 

[momabaarjo]

I have to say that I am so jealous of all the family pictures...I wish we would have done more with our camera...I think I am much better than what I got on Photopass...

How did we miss the beer top hats...too fun!

 

[ZFamily5]

I have to say that I am so jealous of all the family pictures...I wish we would have done more with our camera...I think I am much better than what I got on Photopass...

How did we miss the beer top hats...too fun!

I agree that you are better than Photopass! Some of the ones we took were awful!

We thought they were pretty funny!

 

[marDgreen88]

Wow, almost done! Hahha, Thing 3 in the picture of yall in the Chinese hats is too funny!

 

[ZFamily5]

Wow, almost done! Hahha, Thing 3 in the picture of yall in the Chinese hats is too funny!

I know! I'm almost there!

She's such a ham!

 

[ZFamily5]

Sorry this last update is taking so long! We are busy people right now!

Thing2 was in her school musical "Mulan" last week and this week she is in a neighboring town's production of "Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".

Thing3 has been very busy with dance because her recital is in 2 weeks!

And finally, I've pretty much been living at school last week and will continue to do so this week because I'm in the sound crew for my school's production of "Hairspray".

In short, I hope to have the last day done either on Sunday or Monday of next week! Thanks for sticking with me!

 

[jenny105]

Ooh I love Hairspray! I know all the songs by heart. One of my favorite musicals. Glad to hear you and your family are doing well!

 

[meggiebeth]

Hope you are doing well! How'd thing2 get on with Mulan? I wish our schools would choose that as a musical!

Wow, sound crew for Hairspray! I hope you're doing okay, and had a good Easter

 

[ZFamily5]

Contrary to what you may believe, I've not been abducted by aliens. Again, I will have to apologize and hope you'll come and read by last update as soon as I get it up.

Ooh I love Hairspray! I know all the songs by heart. One of my favorite musicals. Glad to hear you and your family are doing well!

Me too! I knew all the words before the show, but after seeing the show 11 times, I think they're ingrained in my head forever! Thank you!

Hope you are doing well! How'd thing2 get on with Mulan? I wish our schools would choose that as a musical!

Wow, sound crew for Hairspray! I hope you're doing okay, and had a good Easter

Thank you! I hope you and your family are doing well!

Thing2's school gives you a small section of the script to read in front of the director and if you did well, you're in the show. She was hoping for Mushu, but she got the emperor's assistant, which was good too. She got to play the gong!

Thank you! I'm doing great, just busy! Hope you had a great Easter and are doing well too!

 

[ZFamily5]

Our last morning at Disney…I won’t lie, there were some tears shed in the room. We got up around 6, got dressed, fixed hair, etc. and were at the bus stop around 7. There weren’t too many people on the bus with us, so that was nice. When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, we got in line with the other people waiting for dining reservations and we were soon in the park. After a quick picture in front of the castle,

we made our way over to Crystal Palace and checked in. The wait was very short and soon we were at our table. The first of the characters was still a ways away, so we went up and got ourselves some breakfast. The first character we got to meet was Piglet.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t know why I wore my hat through the entire meal either… Piglet was soon followed by Tigger, who was a little more energetic than Piglet.

In between characters, our server brought Thing2 out a birthday cupcake, which I believe she enjoyed!

Next came Eeyore, who was fine, but there was no spectacular interaction or anything.

Finally, we got to meet Pooh, who I adored as a child and still do. Again, his interaction with us was fine, but nothing amazing.

After we’d met Pooh, we were ready to go, however our server hadn’t brought the check yet. Dad decided he’d run and get fastpasses for Peter Pan, since the park was just starting to open, and the rest of us would wait for the check. We met Dad out on Main Street and began our last day at the Disney World. We ventured up Main Street and into Fantasyland. I know we rode Pooh and Snow White (Thing2’s favorite) with minimal wait times. Thing3 then wanted to go meet Pinocchio, so Mom took her to do that

while Dad, Thing2 and I walked to Frontierland to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain. Before long, Mom and Thing3 were meeting up with us. Since the line for Splash Mountain was still short, Dad, Thing2 and I hopped in line. Mom managed to get a picture of our log coming down!

Meanwhile Thing3 played on the little playground.

We met up again and this time Dad stayed with Thing3 while Mom, Thing2 and I rode. Sadly, he didn’t get our log coming down, but we had fun anyway!

We then went into Tomorrowland; I believe riding the TTA (People Mover?) and possibly the Caroseul of Progress. From there we went to ride the Mad Tea Party one last time.

Continued in next post...

 

[ZFamily5]

Based on notes and pictures, we just kept crossing across the park that day, next eating lunch at Pecos Bill, back in Frontierland. After lunch we went at used our Big Thunder Mountain FPs, which Thing3 decided was her favorite ride! Then we went to see the Country Bear Jamboree. We had just missed a show, but decided to stay and wait, so we entertained ourselves with taking pictures.

Finally, we got to go in and see the show! Thing3 fell asleep during the show, but the rest of us stayed awake!

From there, we decided to go back to Fantasyland and use our Peter Pan FPs. It’s Mom’s favorite ride at Magic Kingdom, so she was happy we got to do it one last time. Finally, we rode It’s a Small World. It’s our customary “last ride of the trip”. These are our favorite dolls:

After we got off, it was about 2:50 and sprinkling. Thing2 and I decided we wanted to try and catch the parade one more time, so we took off to find a spot on Main Street and the others were going to check out the shops on Main Street for last minute souvenirs. As Thing2 and I walked, the rain steadily got harder. Because it was raining, there was almost no one on Main Street. Dad had said we could get a snack, so we bought some popcorn and a bottle of water and sat down on the curb. As we at our popcorn and it kept raining, there was an announcement that said the parade would be delayed. While we could have gone into a nearby store to stay dry, we decided to just sit in the rain and wait it out. Why? I have no idea, but we sat on the curb, talking about our trip and eating popcorn in the rain for probably half an hour, until the parade got cancelled and we were drenched. Looking back on it, that moment is one of my favorites of the whole trip, because it’s something you can’t plan. It was so random and fun to sit in the rain with my sister in my favorite place. However, things got a little worse when we realized neither of us knew where our parents were. After a few frantic minutes, however, we found them in the Emporium. They were a little shocked we’d sat in the rain for that long, but not too mad (I think). Mom had decided she wanted us to go meet Mickey and Minnie again, so off we went, Thing2 and I in drenched clothes to meet the Mouse.

After that, Thing3 wanted to meet the princesses

but the rest of us had no interest. Mom took her to meet them, while Dad took Thing2 and I to get hot chocolate (at Disney! In the summer!) to warm up and pick out a keychain and a postcard (the things I collect). Mom and Thing3 still weren’t out, so we went into the Main Street Bakery to use the rest of our meal credits. I took a picture of the CM taking our order because I wanted to capture how much food we got.

I believe there are 6 sandwiches, some cookies, a ton of water, fruit and more! By this time, Mom and Thing3 were with us. For some reason, we danced out of the Magic Kingdom together (another picture to come, it won't upload right now).

We then boarded a waiting bus, where we all got upset again because we didn’t want to leave. Back at POR, we waited for the Magical Express, so I took a picture of all of our bags of food.

Before too long, we were headed back for the airport, where we ate our Disney food before going through security. We took a few pictures with the Snow White of the airport

before finding our terminal, boarding the plane and getting home to see my grandma.

**When Thing2 gets home from her fashion camp this afternoon, I’ll have her help me gather up souvenirs for pictures. Thank you for reading this very long trip report!

 

[3timesmom]

Last day at Disneyworld, how sad ! Nice trip report , I'm waiting to see the souvenirs pictures...