An Unforgettable Finish- Oct 2011 TR **Happily Ever After (Completed 5/3)

[jc040404]

Awww!! How adorable that they loved the characters so much! I can't get over Carter cheeks when he smiles. Such a little heartbreaker, I'm sure! Sweet that Landon loved it so much to run back.

 

[PirateKate]

Oh my gosh. This is the cutest update ever! I'm so glad they loved the characters so much. The thought of Landon in another family's photo is hilarious. It would have been so funny if they hadn't noticed, that would have been an interesting surprise in that picture!

Thanks! I loved watching the boys having fun with all the characters. Landon was posing very nicely with the other family. It would be funny if one of those showed up in their pictures.

Oh, hello. I'm back. I just noticed your ticker.

ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY?! Have you had that ticker for long or am I seriously just noticing it?

I've had the ticker for about three weeks or so. It's sort of a last minute trip. We're staying at Coronado Springs and taking Carter to lunch at Crystal Palace for his birthday.

Such a sweet update. I'm so glad the boys enjoy the experience. It really is touching to see that joy on their faces, even with someone else's child. Once you have experienced it with your own child you just get it. It truly is magical.

It's always been nice to see someone else's kids enjoying the characters, but it really does put it all on a whole new level when it's your own. I'm really glad we decided to take a chance on Character Spot. I think it was one of the highlights of our trip.

Love the photobombing of the unsuspecting family.

It was a very Landon thing to do. He's speedy!

OMG! I just loved this update!!! I can really picture those precious boys of yours running up to characters with their cute little smiles. So sweet! That's great that they really loved the characters & weren't unsure about them. I know that's how Reid was even on his 1st trip & it is a relief when you realize they're not scared.

And yes, the look on your child's face definitely makes standing in those miserable lines worth it!

I loved seeing the boys' first character meeting. It went so much better than I had expected. I really did think that at least one of the two would be frightened or at least a little unsure, but it was wonderful to see them rush over so happily. I'm glad Reid liked the characters on his first trip, too. It makes it so much easier when the characters are fun and not scary.

Character lines are the worst, but it is always worth it.

How adorable! I was thinking as I read along that my favorite pic was the one with Goofy, and then I got to the part where he ran back!!

Isn't it just precious to see the little ones with the characters? I wouldn't take back any of the (many, many) hours we spent hunting down the characters for DD. The look on the kids' faces makes it all worth it!

Thanks! I love the picture with Goofy, too. I do wish I had thought to snap one of Landon and the other family, but that would have been pretty weird for them, I'm guessing.

I never knew until this trip, just how precious character greeting can be! I hope we have many hours ahead of us, chasing down those characters. I'm sure it won't be long until the boys are too cool for that, so we're going to make the most of it while we can.

yes that is hilarious that he ran into someone else's photo!

just wondering...are the photo pass pictures actually that small or did you resize them? I'm working on mine and just hoping they will come at a normal size...thanks!

Landon didn't see any reason why he shouldn't pose with them, too. Anyone would be lucky to get a picture with him and Goofy.

Don't worry! The smaller pictures that I posted are really more like redneck photopass pictures. Real photopass pictures come out really well.

 

[Shannon84]

AWWW!!! I cannot believe how adorable it is seeing them meet the characters, I can only imagine what that feels like as their parent and seeing how happy it made them!!

I love that Landon made his way back in...I hope that family sees that picture one day and it makes them laugh

 

[PirateKate]

Wow, that is incredible. I'm glad that Landon and Carter were both so excited to see the characters. That kind of experience totally makes waiting in line worthwhile.

Now if the family Landon posed with just had someone who is a DISer and they could post that picture....

It was a really great moment for us. I'm glad we decided to try the boys on characters. I never dreamed they would love them that much. We're big character people now.

Wouldn't that be great! Probably not very likely, but I'd love to see that picture.

Talk about a great memory-making moment! I always smile when I happen to see young children having the time of their life with characters, and your update definitely brought a grin to my face. Carter and Landon look so excited to see all their friends, and I thought it was adorable that they shook hands with each character...very polite of them.

I'm guessing you and Jeremy will now have to suffer through long lines in the future for more meet and greets.

Let the memories begin!! It was so exciting watching the boys do some character meeting. It's always cute to see little kids meeting the characters, so it was really nice that Carter and Landon had so much fun. The handshaking was very cute, too. Carter and Landon love shaking hands.

We'll suffer gladly through long lines if it means Carter and Landon get to do a meet and greet!

I knew they'd love the characters, but I never suspected how much...such a sweet update and great photos! Carter and Landon are just uber-adorable!

I just posted on another TR that I miss having wee tots to take to Disney, and your installment brought back a flood of fond character moment memories!

I really had expected one of the boys to be scared of the characters, but I'm glad I was wrong. It was a really cool experience and I thought Carter and Landon were very cute character-meeters.

Times like that are so magical with little ones. I'm glad we've had so many chances to experience Disney with our boys while they're still so little.

Yippee!! I am so glad the boys enjoyed it! It's true that you just never know how they are going to react until they are in the moment. You got some great pictures of their first meet!

I'm really glad the boys liked it, too. Character greeting has added a lot of fun to our trips lately. It could have gone either way, but I'm really glad Carter and Landon weren't scared. Thanks!

 

[PirateKate]

I had a few updates to catch up on, but now I'm all set!

I know what you mean about the ABC Commissary. Back in the day, it used to be a really great place to eat and it was never crowded. It was like people didn't know that it existed and the food was great. We ate there on our last trip and like you said, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.

I love the meet and greets! I've said it before, but your boys are just so adorable. It definitely makes things easier when they have a good reaction to the characters. I think it just makes it so magical.

I think I'm almost caught up on all of yours, too. Getting there!

It's too bad, because DHS really didn't have enough good counter service places to allow any of them to go down in quality. I guess they can't control how many people go there, but it was a lot nicer when the place was always deserted.

Me, too! It's so much fun taking the boys to do meet and greets. I was prepared for fright or indifference, but I really wasn't prepared for them both to love it that much. Very magical!

Your boys are still cutier than ever, "is that word, it does not look right?' Those were some great pictures and they have wonderful smiles. SO cute!

I think cutier is a great description of Carter and Landon. They seem to get cutier every day! Thanks! They had a lot of fun meeting all their favorites.

What a sweet update! They boys were so cute meeting the characters! I love seeing little kids meet the characters, I can't wait to bring my own child someday (whenver that's going to be ), I'll probably be crying the entire trip!

I can honestly say, it was the best character greeting I had ever seen! As great as it is watching other people's kids, there's just nothing like how it feels to watch your own.

Those are awesome pics with the characters!

Thanks! I thought they turned out pretty good!

I'm glad the boys enjoyed the characters so much, and that the wait was worth it!

The wait was definitely worth it. I'm glad we know now to keep the boys in the stroller at Character Spot. It's so much easier!

Awww!! How adorable that they loved the characters so much! I can't get over Carter cheeks when he smiles. Such a little heartbreaker, I'm sure! Sweet that Landon loved it so much to run back.

Carter has got a great smile, hasn't he? I love to see him and Landon smiling and they did a lot of it when meeting the characters. I think Landon was going to live there with Goofy and forget about coming home with us.

AWWW!!! I cannot believe how adorable it is seeing them meet the characters, I can only imagine what that feels like as their parent and seeing how happy it made them!!

I love that Landon made his way back in...I hope that family sees that picture one day and it makes them laugh

It was really cute seeing Carter and Landon meeting the characters. I don't know if I've ever seen them happier than that. It's really an incredible thing to watch.

I hope they see the picture and laugh, too. I was worried at the time that they'd be annoyed with an extra toddler in their picture.

 

[dara00]

Don't worry! The smaller pictures that I posted are really more like redneck photopass pictures. Real photopass pictures come out really well.

oh, I know how to do that! I wonder if I should wait to post my photopass pics in my trip report until I get the cd, or just use the ones I can get already, lol!

 

[PirateKate]

oh, I know how to do that! I wonder if I should wait to post my photopass pics in my trip report until I get the cd, or just use the ones I can get already, lol!

I'm sure the cd ones will look nicer, but the other ones will be faster...I'm not sure if I would wait for the cd. I probably couldn't resist just sticking in the pictures I had at the right time in the report.

 

[PirateKate]

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[creativeamanda]

I hope someday to spend some time at the Food and Wine Festival again!

We haven't done Figment since our first trip and I remember nothing of it!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Love sampling foods around F&W. So sorry though that Landon protested about his water. You should have given him milk! Both Joaquin and Riley tend to be anti-water. It's a battle just to get them to drink it. Fortunately, in July it was so hot that they really didn't have much of a choice.

I did not try the Taste of Scandanavia, but I did have the meatballs. I agree. Should have gone with the meatballs.

 

[Missyrose]

Love, love, LOVE the boys reactions to the characters! All the pictures are just adorable! Don't feel too bad about passing up the meatballs at Food and Wine, I've yet to read a review where anyone actually liked them!

 

[amandaw]

Looks like the boys were having so much fun!

I'd really like to go to F&W one day. That shrimp taco does look really good. Can't wait to hear about what other yummy bites y'all tried!

 

[marDgreen88]

Hahaha, Carter and Landon are already more brave than I am- I'm afraid of escalators. SO LAME! Hahaha how cute that they were so proud.

That shrimp taco DOES look good... and I don't even enjoy shrimp all that much haha.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm a firm believer that once you exit the Nemo ride and end up in the wide open spaces of the aquarium area of the seas pavillion, it is like an open invitation to run around and just go crazy. It looks like they were really having a good time. It's especially nice that they were entertained in a somewhat confined area so that you could watch them and the aquarium at the same time.

I'd love to go to F&W sometime. That would be a fun way to try some new foods... even if not all of them are something you'd want to eat again.

 

[Queenofallthings]

I love spending time at The Seas and it looks like to boys had a blast! It's funny how a little ledge can amuse them for so long isn't it?

Love sampling at the F & W....it's my favorite thing to do!

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

Glad to see that the Seas was such a blast for the boys! I don't think I know a kid who doesn't love watching fish.

Oh how I wish I was at the Food and Wine Festival right now. Those shrimp tacos were just delicious!

 

[AlohaLucie99]

Hi
Just wanted to apologise for ambushing you on the Pooh ride the other evening. I got a bit over excited at recognising you from your pics on the DIS. Love your trip reports ... you write really well. Your description of Carter and Landon at the character meet at Epcot was really cute ... I think all of us mums finally understand the appeal of these meet and greets when we see the expressions on our children's faces. Have you done Camp Minnie & Mickey yet? Go when the Lion King is on as wait times are minimal.
Enjoy the rest of your stay and I look forward to reading that report also.
Love
Lucie

 

[PirateKate]

We made it back from our trip last night. We had a great time, as always. Carter wanted to live at Coronado Springs forever and was sad come home. I know just how he feels.

I won't be writing a trip report on this trip. For one thing, we went almost completely camera and picture free this time, which would not make for the most interesting reading. For another, I've always been one of those people who hates starting a new book before finishing the one I was reading. Apparently, that little bit of craziness applies to trip reports, too, and I just can't seem to start a new trip report until I finish this one that I've already started.

Some quick highlights from this trip:

We were driving down the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway when Wishes began and we had the most incredible view of the fireworks. We probably could never time it that well again.

Carter and Landon both adored the Magic Kingdom. They can both rattle off all their favorite rides now- Ride Horsies, Drive Cars, Peoplemover, Tiki Room, Pirate Toes, Teacups, Country Bears, Watch Glasses Show (PhilharMagic), and Pooh. It's nice to have two more people to talk Disney with.

As we were leaving The Many of Adventures of Winnie the Pooh one night, I ran into a DISer- my first ever DIS meet! It was great to meet you, Lucie! Thanks for saying hello!

On our last day, Carter celebrated his third birthday at the Crystal Palace. He loved it and wanted to go back to the Crystal Palace for dinner, too. He was very proud of his birthday cupcake and his birthday pin, which I stuck on his side of the stroller.

Despite the forecasts originally calling for rain, we were lucky to have beautiful weather the whole trip, thanks to my purchase of a City Mini Double rain cover. If you buy a stroller rain cover, chances of rain drastically decrease.

We had so many more great moments this trip, but I'll stop there. It was sad when the trip was over, but not too bad this time. I know when we're going back. And next time, it'll just be Jeremy and me at the AKL. We're going to eat at signature restaurants and ride all the thrill rides and sleep in late and stay up late and never, ever set foot inside a Baby Care Center or a playground. Can't wait!

 

[amandaw]

So glad to hear that y'all had another great trip!

You're next one sounds absolutely perfect!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm glad you had another fun trip. That's really exciting the Landon and Carter are really getting into the spirit of Disney and know the different rides, even if they do have their own terminology for them.