Boo! Happy Halloween! October 5-11, 2008 *updated 2.10.09*

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Day 1: Sunday, October 5th
Arrival at the Poly and Chef Mickey's

We got up bright and early and loaded up the car as we headed to Boston’s Logan Airport. We had a 9:45 flight on Jet Blue, so we left the house @ 7:30am. The girls did remarkably well getting up and ready so early in the morning. They wore new Disney tee shirts (Tink for Julia, Minnie for Emma) with capri pants so they could handle the climate of both MA and FL. I also wore capris with a short sleeve shirt and a light cardigan. We all wore slip on shoes with socks, which looked silly, but was easier for
going through security and taking off shoes during the flight. Traffic was light, as it was a Sunday morning, and we made it to the airport in about ½ hour. Not bad at all! The girls each carried a small Princess carry-on backpack with wheels. Inside, I packed all sorts of treasures to keep them entertained - stickers, sticker books, new books, a Tinker Bell magazine that I found at the grocery store (!) for Julia, and lots of Goldfish. Oh, and I made Emma carry her own Pull Ups and wipes.(evil grin) I also packed a change of clothes, swimsuits, and pajamas in their carry-on bags, just in case the Magical Express luggage didn’t make it til late. I was able to get some juice boxes and sippies filled with milk through security, which was a relief. Why do planes
never have milk available for children? We managed to fill the time before our flight was announced, and boarded without any issues. We decided not to bring Emma’s carseat or stroller, which definitely made things easier on the plane! Both girls did very well rolling their bags through the airport and didn’t cause too much trouble. Michael brought along his laptop so the girls could watch a DVD on the plane. We had headphones and a splitter, so they were both very happy. He sat with the two girls in a row of three seats, and I got the good end of the deal and got to sit alone, one row ahead of them! The girls were excited to watch a brand new DVD, “Barbie and the Diamond Castle,” which I had purchased a few weeks ago when it first came, out but held onto for just this occasion. We had plans to purchase “Sleeping Beauty” while we were at Disney, since it was released during our stay.

The flight was a little late arriving, so we landed closer to 1pm than our expected 12:45. We hoofed it over to the Magical Express and were on a bus to our resort pretty quickly. I think we got to the Poly by about 2:30, which wasn’t bad at all. Michael checked us in while the girls and I got leis and colored in the check-in area. We also took a peek in the gift shop and made notes of what we wanted to look at later. (There was a lot!)

Here are some picts of our arrival at the Poly.

Soon we were able to walk over to our room in the Tokelau building. It was on the first floor right at the entrance, room 1939. Great location! We were very close to the quiet pool, and it wasn’t far at all to the Great Ceremonial House or the volcano pool (which the girls loved!). The resort monorail is right in the Great Ceremonial House, and the Ticket and Transportation was close by as well. We used this monorail stop for our trips to Epcot and also for the express ride to MK on occasion. Our room was HUGE! I really appreciated the extra space, as it meant that we didn’t make such a huge mess with our stuff.

Here is our room

Initially, we thought we might go directly to the Magic Kingdom and try to catch the 3pm parade, but instead, we decided to settle in and take a swim. We all enjoyed the Volcano Pool, and Julia really liked the slide. Emma had fun digging in the sand for a while, and then I noticed that she had a distinct odor. Yup, she had pooped in her swim diaper. Moms, you all know what fun that clean up job can be! So, Emma’s pool time was officially over, and I had to drag her back to the room to get cleaned up. Julia and Michael stayed at the pool a bit longer. I ended up having to put Emma in the tub to get her cleaned up! Poor girl. But soon she was sweet and clean again. And at just that moment, our Garden Grocer grocery delivery arrived. I had ordered breakfast foods, milk, a huge container of Goldfish, a case of water, and a 12 pack of Diet Dr Pepper (my one little vice.) I was glad to have made that purchase. Michael and Julia returned so Michael could catch some of the Patriots game, and just then, our luggage arrived from the Magical Express. We were so happy that everything arrived, and before we left for dinner too.

Pool

So, it was time to get ready for our first adventure – dinner at Chef Mickey’s! We did this to kick off our last trip as well – it’s just a nice way to build up the excitement and see the main Disney characters right away. I had purchased some Minnie tee shirt dresses on Ebay for the girls for just this occasion. They looked so cute! I even had a Minnie bow for Emma.

Walking to the monorail. This was a position that Michael and Emma took many times over the course of the week!

We boarded the resort monorail and were lucky enough to be able to ride right up front! The girls really enjoyed the monorail.

See my Baggallini messenger bag?! LOVED that thing!

When we arrived at the Contemporary, we were a bit early for our 7pm reservation, so Michael checked us in while we went SHOPPING! The girls liked so many things that I decided to take pictures of everything they liked. That way, we could decide what our absolute favorite things were and get them before the trip was over.

Here are a few choice items.

Michael and I had previously decided to get a few extra items and have them shipped home for Christmas presents, like this one!

I also left small Tinker Bell Treasures for the girls each morning. I already had a few things picked out that I bought at home (love the Target $1 spot!) but I also planned on getting small things that the girls liked while we were there. This helped to curb the “gimme’s” a little bit. Of course, we saw lots of things we liked! It was time for dinner, so we got the obligatory family picture taken. It actually came out really well, so we plunked down the $30 (or whatever it cost) for it. I will try to scan it and add it here.

We enjoyed dinner, and ate too much. (This would be a common theme during our trip.) Buffets work really well for us, with two picky eaters. Julia has a peanut allergy, so the chef came out to talk to us. I have to comment on how well Disney handles food allergies. We were never made to feel awkward or demanding, and they were always willing to accommodate us. It turned out that Julia could not eat the bread (possible peanut contamination) or the desserts (same), but most other dishes were safe. Of course, she chose pizza and chicken nuggets, as did Emma. When it was time for dessert, Julia was able to eat the soft serve ice cream, and the sprinkles were also safe. YAY! We met Donald Duck, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Mickey. The girls had a wonderful time getting autographs and posing for pictures.

Emma was hysterical waving her napkin!

When dinner was over, we went back into the gift shop and had fun trying on silly hats.

Michael also bought the girls Halloween bags for trick or treating at MNSSHP. (Another splurge… but, oh well, what’s another $20 when you’re at Disney, right?!) We hopped back on the monorail for a quick ride back to the Poly, and tried to get the girls to bed. Michael really wanted to watch the Red Sox playoff game, but the hotel did not get TBS, so we were outta luck. Let’s just say that the girls were a bit keyed up and had a hard time getting the sleep that night. We had an early morning at Epcot planned, and it was already past their normal bedtime. I needed them asleep! We decided that the girls could simply not share the same bed, so Michael had Julia and I had Emma. (That was a bad combination! After that, we swapped!) Eventually, we all fell asleep….

Up next: a day in Future World!
What Tink Treasure will the girls receive? Would we stay all day? Take a break and come back? Would Emma be tall enough for Soarin’? Stay tuned…!

 

[Disney Brat]

I just found you! Great start to your TR! The girls looks so cute in their outfits!! Can't wait to read more!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Day 2: Monday, October 6th
Epcot Future World

I was up at 6am, so I coud have some time to myself before the rest of the family was even awake. Once I was showered and dressed, I left the room (with wet hair! Oh, the horror!) and went to Captain Cook’s to pick up two resort mugs. I got coffee for Michael and I made myself a half and half decaf/hot cocoa. I tried to convince myself it was a mocha, but it took a lot of convincing! I brought my TGM plans along with me to review while I slowly woke up. I wanted us to leave by 8am for the T&TC monorail to Epcot. I really wanted to beat the Soarin’ crowd, and I knew that we
needed to arrive early. We also needed to get our double stroller rental for the week, so that would take some extra time.

When I returned to the room, everyone was still asleep! At 7am, I finally started coaxing Michael and Emma awake. I knew to stay away from grouchy bear Julia. She is not a morning person – actually neither am I – unless we are at Disney! I got the girls some milk, Cheerios, and Nutrigrain bars – thank goodness for the Garden Grocer delivery – that really saved us time in the mornings! The girls were excited to see that Tinker Bell had left them Princess necklaces this morning. (Mommy picked them up at Target months ago!) Julia got a pink Belle necklace and Emma got a blue Cinderella. I also had the girls wear rubber safety bracelets that had Michael’s cell phone # inscribed on them, just in case they were to get lost. Julia wore hers on her wrist and we had Emma wear hers on her ankle. Luckily, we never needed to use them, but they gave me peace of mind. I got the idea from a thread on TGM, so thanks to whoever started that!

Unfortunately, we got a bit of a late start, and by the time we left the room it was about 8:15. We must have just missed a monorail train because we waited for quite some time. When we finally got to Epcot, it was already after 9am. This was going to be an important day, as I put my TGM research and planning into action. Michael was not too pleased about how strict my plans were and told me in no uncertain terms that he did not like feeling so controlled. I became uptight and stressed out, and the morning did not go well. I knew that this would happen, and he had promised me he would listen to me, but when it was time to actually follow the plan, he became very testy.

Here are the girls headed to the monorail. Emma is wearing a princess top/dress that I bought as a custom resale on my Gymboree board. Cute, huh? Oh, and I was a smart girl – we bought those mouse ears on our last trip. I packed them so we wouldn’t have to buy any new ones!

So, with me grousing about the late arrival, and Michael getting more and more annoyed with me, we headed over to the stroller rental area. I purchased a 6 day length of stay rental – to the tune of over $160. YIKES! We could have rented a car for that price! But it was worth it to have a place for both girls to sit, esp when it got really hot. Unfortunately, the stroller had an annoying squeaky wheel, so we turned around and replaced it with another one, wasting even MORE time.

By now, it was close to 9:20, but we headed over to Soarin’. I ran over to get four Fast Passes, and we got into the Standby line. I was told it was a 20 minute wait, but it seemed a lot longer than that. Plus, we realized that Emma was not going to be allowed to ride as she is not quite 40 inches. So we had to split up, which was NOT fun. Julia and I waited for Soarin’ while Michael to Emma to Living With the Land. (I have no idea what they thought of this ride, BTW. I’ll ask them and report back.) As we stood in line, I decided that we were wasting time in the standby queue and we should probably just cut our losses and use our FPs later. However, when I tried to call Michael to tell him of the change of plans, my cell phone was on digital roam and would not allow me to make a call! So, we toughed it out and waited. When we finally got to the ride, it was so much fun! This was our favorite ride on the last trip, and it did not disappoint. When we got off the ride, I tried to find Michael and Emma, but they were not where we thought they would be. And my phone was still on digital roam. ARGH. I found a pay phone, and tried to make a collect call to him (I had no change!) when suddenly my cell phone started ringing. Then I looked up and saw them across the room, near the entrance to Soarin’. They had been waiting for a bit, but we finally reconnected.

I think it was about 10am at this point. We decided to head over to The Seas to ride Nemo. On the way, Michael insisted on a Photo Pass shot near the entrance. I got annoyed as it was taking up time, but he insisted. (The shots came out terribly too – there was too much sun and we were all squinting!) We went into Nemo and walked right on. The girls both liked this ride.

Emma and Michael on Nemo

Then we thought we’d catch the 10:20 Turtle Talk with Crush. Julia, for some reason, had no interest in seeing it and started to throw a little hissy fit. Nice… So DH said that Emma and I could stay for Crush, while he and Julia used two of our Soarin’ Fast Passes. HOWEVER, Emma decided that now would be a perfect time to throw one of her famous “I WANT DADDY!” tantrums. She is a total Daddy’s girl, and definitely prefers being with him to me these days. I know it’s just a phase, and she is only three, but this kid has quite a temper and is very stubborn. So here I am with a screaming three year old, while Michael and Julia just sneak off. Lovely. She finally calmed down when I gave her some Goldfish. I am not ashamed to admit that I am not above food bribes, people.

It was at that moment that I realized that I had left some things in the first stroller we had procured that morning. Remember, we had to make a swap for a squeaky wheel. I had picked up several maps and Times Guides, along with a Food and Wine Festival brochure. All gone. Another thing that was missing was my length of stay stroller rental coupon sheet. Yup, that was still in the first stroller as well. Along with the receipt for said stroller. ARGH. This was not turning out to be a good day at all for me. I tried not to agonize over it, and hoped that we could straighten it all out once we were done with our day.

Meanwhile, Emma ate her Fish while she looked at the fish in the aquarium – haha – and then we were able to enter the Crush theatre. Emma sat up front with the kids while I sat on a bench a few rows behind her. I realized that she still had some contraband Goldfish, but there was no way I was going to take them away from her! At one point in the show, she got up and handed her empty Ziploc bag to the girl running the show since she was finished. (blush!) Then she went back to her seat and seemed to enjoy the rest of the show.

When we got out of Crush, I tried to have Emma look at more of the aquarium, but she went back to DADDY mode and began carrying on again. This lasted a few minutes, and I finally just took her outside. She liked looking at the “Mine, mine” seagulls and then, mercifully, I saw Michael and Julia heading our way. We decided to have lunch at Sunshine Seasons, so back we went to The Land. Lunch took a little while, as I had to speak to a chef about Julia’s peanut allergy. The rolls and desserts here were not safe, and it was also awkward to navigate the meal plan credits at a counter service restaurant. I wish they would just have a list of what is and what isn’t included on the meal plan. It was VERY confusing. I finally got Julia a cheese sandwich on normal bread, along with some applesauce and special Divvies nut safe chocolate chip cookies. I love this brand, and I love that Disney carries it. They are pretty good too. I got Emma a regular kids lunch, but she pretty much refused to eat any of it, save for a roll and some cheese. At least I had the foresight to ask for TWO Divvies cookies – she liked that…. Rolleyes. Emma got her milk and Julia got her apple juice, and all was right with the world.

We finally got through lunch and decided to visit the Character Connection. The last time we were here, the characters faced the inside of the building, and I suspect that no one knew that they were even in there. Now, they face the outside so that people walking by can see them through the windows. There was a pretty long wait. The very nice CM handling the line said that Michael could wait, while I took the girls to Mouse Gears. We had some fun selecting more wish list items – see here.

Yes, that’s a Princess Leia Polly Pocket. Julia HAD to have it. Yes, we bought it. Yes, I wish we hadn’t. I HATE Polly Pockets and all of their small pieces and difficult to dress dolls. ARGH.

Emma needed a Tink Polly Pocket. See above.

I did get this Jasmine costume for Julia’s American Girl doll. She won’t set it til December 25th though.

This is one of those reversible dolls. One side is Belle and the other side is Cinderella. It’s actually very cute. We ended up getting a similar one later in the trip that is part Briar Rose, part Aurora and all Sleeping Beauty. Times two, of course. They both HAD to have one. And Michael is such a sap, that he gave in! Yes, he’s a good daddy.

I believe she came home with us later as well.

This we didn’t get, but it IS cute.

Michael called my cell phone, which was working fine now, to let us know that he was getting near the front of the line. (I guess my phone went to digital roam inside the Land Pavilion, but it was fine outside of there. That was lucky, as we would need to use our phones many more times!) I took the girls back to the Character Connection, and we met the same characters we had seen the night before at Chef Mickey’s! (Gwash – was that really necessary?!) But the girls enjoyed themselves, and we had fun interacting with the characters. I have some better shots on my Photopass, but I don’t have the cd yet. I’ll add them here once I have it.

When we were done, we saw Chip and Dale outside, so we got in line to see them as well.

Then we rode on Figment, which was cute, but I think it surprised/scared Emma a bit. It was getting HOT, but Julia really wanted to do the ride “inside the ball,” so I took her on Spaceship Earth, while Michael strolled around with Emma. I can’t recall why we didn’t all do this ride – maybe we thought she’d be scared of the dark? But Julia really enjoyed it, for some strange reason! We were going to ride Mission Space, but somehow that didn’t happen. Michael said he’d skip Test Track for the time being. It was about 2pm, so we decided to leave for a break. Little did we know that that would be it for our Epcot day. (Like my foreshadowing? Powerful stuff, eh?!)

On the way out, we had to deal with the missing stroller rental coupons. Luckily, I had paid using my room key, so they were able to look up the transaction and reprocess it. For some reason, that took FOREVER. We were all hot and tired, and Michael was fuming. He was so annoyed with me for misplacing the coupons. WHATEVER. It was an honest mistake and he didn’t have to be so angry. I know it was just exhaustion and heat, but I was annoyed right back.

That finally dealt with, we took the monorail back to the T&TC and walked back to the Poly. We tried to get the girls to nap, but it just didn’t happen. Michael really needed to sleep and was getting more and more annoyed with the girls, so I finally scooped them up and took them over to Captain Cooks for an afternoon snack. I was in search of DOLE WHIPS! I had heard so many raves on the DisBoards that I had to try one for myself. When we located them, I got two twisty ones for Julia and me, and a Mickey bar for Emma. I wanted to get Julia a Mickey bar too, but the manager didn’t recommend it with her peanut allergy. (I thought I had read that they were safe now, but I certainly didn’t want to test that!) We all enjoyed our ice cream very much, as you can see.

Once we finished our treats, we were going to go back to room to change into our swimsuits, but it started to rain pretty heavily. Of course, the ponchos were back in the room. We bought a $10 umbrella in the gift shop (not too unreasonably priced) and tried to keep all three of us dry as we walked back to the room. Michael was awake at this point, and in a much better mood. He apologized for his earlier testiness, thank goodness, blaming it on the heat. I forgave him and we moved on.
We were supposed to head back to Epcot for a 6pm ADR at Coral Reef. But with the rain and our exhaustion, we decided to skip it. I called the reservation number and was thrilled to get a 6:20 at Kona Café, right at the Poly. I had wanted to eat here anyway, so this worked out perfectly.

We headed back over to the Great Ceremonial House – with ponchos this time – and up to Kona. Dinner was REALLY GOOD. I had the Pomegranate BBQ Pork Chop and Michael had the Pan-Asian Noodles. The girls had their usual – hamburger and hot dog. Oh, the bread here was also YUM, but Julia couldn’t have any. Julia got the fairy punch with the glowing Tinker Bell and I got a Blue "Glow-Tini", just for fun. I don’t know what Michael got, but it was sweeter than my blue glowy thing, so we swapped.

Not sure why I took pictures of the drinks, but there you go.

I SHOULD have taken picts of the desserts. Which were AMAZING. I had the chocolate Kilauea Torte, which was mmm-mmmm good, and Michael had the Banana-chocolate Creme Brulee. The girls had ice cream. The service was a little slow, so Michael ran over to the gift shop and purchased Princess coloring books and sticker books for the girls to keep them occupied.

When dinner was over, the rain had stopped, so we made it back to the room and got the girls to bed. This time, I had Julia and Michael had Emma, and we all slept much better.

Next up- we finally hit the Magic Kingdom!
Will we make it to rope drop? Will Michael kill the touring plans? Will we see some princesses already? And please, oh, please, do a “no rain dance” for us– we have Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tickets for this evening!

 

[julezdisney]

Wow Colleen! I can't believe you started your TR already!!

It'll be days before I start mine, you're putting me to shame! What a good little DIS-er you are....

 

[billysmommy]

I was looking through TR's and started reading yours and when I got to the pictures said "Hey I know them"

It looks like you guys had a wonderful time so far ~can't wait to read about the rest of your trip

The custom outfits for the girls are gorgeous!!!!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Hey Lori! I actually know you!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Day 3: Tuesday, October 7th
MK morning—Green

We awoke refreshed and ready to finally get to the Magic Kingdom and meet us some princesses. After all, that’s why we came here in the first place! I got us all up and out the door in a timely fashion, and we were at the T&TC express MK monorail well before 8:15. So far, so good! We arrived before the opening show had even begun, and I nudged the family over towards the right so that we could get our stroller more quickly. Michael wanted to be in the middle so the girls could watch the welcoming show, but I reminded him that we had to make a run for Fantasyland and this little move would set us back. He acquiesced, and we could still see the show from our diagonal location.

Here is Emma on her favorite perch, watching the opening festivities.

Tinker Bell had left some charm necklaces for the girls this morning. Each necklace came with a bling Minnie head and space to add more charms. Tink also left a Sleeping Beauty charm for Emma and an Ariel charm for Julia. Daddy indicated that the girls would be able to add to their collection each day. They seemed to like their necklaces. (Tink decided to get necklaces and not bracelets for obvious reasons!)

Halloween decorations

Our first view of the castle! This always makes me tear up. The girls were SO excited to see Cinderella’s Castle for the first time.

We would be returning to the MK several times during this trip, so we did not make a
bee line for Dumbo on this morning. Instead, our hit list included meeting Ariel in her grotto, taking in Toontown, and getting Julia onto some fast rides. I had read online that although Toontown officially opens at 10am, it often opens at 9:45, so we had definite plans to be in that area early. I had also read that Ariel sometimes opens her grotto early as well, and this was an absolute must for us. The grotto had been closed during our January 1007 trip, so we simply HAD to see Ariel time. So we made a beeline for the grotto and were surprised to see that Ariel was already receiving visitors! I knew that this could be a very long wait, so I was thrilled that we only had to wait for 5 other little princesses before it was our turn. The girls were SO EXCITED to meet the first princess of our trip.

That precious autograph and image in hand, we were free to take in a few rides before heading over to Toontown. So, I took the girls on It’s a Small World, while Michael made some comment about getting Fast Passes for himself and Julia on Splash Mt. I think he really didn’t want to go on IASW! I, however, adore this ride, and Emma especially loved it. When we emerged, Michael was nowhere in sight so we hopped some horses on Cinderella’s Carousel. Julia seemed bored, but Emma was beyond happy.

We finally reconnected with Michael who said that they were not actually handing out Fast Passes for Splash or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was a good thing, really. I was glad to be in a green park that morning!

It was close to 9:45, so we made our way over to Toontown. Michael started complaining that we were waaay too early, when we noticed that the gate was already open. In fact, we missed the opening as I did not see any characters near the rope. No problem. We went over to Toontown Hall of Fame. I was a bit disappointed to see that only one of the three rooms was open. We knew that Tinker Bell and the Fairies were going to start meeting guests later in the month, but I had heard a rumor that they might be out already. This would have been amazing for the girls. They LOVE Tink and the Fairies. Julia had been reading the Tink books, we have all of the original dolls, and we have been waiting for the Tink movie to come out for almost 2 years now. I have to take a minute to rant over the elimination of the original fairies like Prilla and Rani in favor of these new ones, Silvermist, Fawn, etc. We have become invested in Prilla and Rani and Fira, and now they have all but disappeared. I, for one, am pretty annoyed. Okay, rant over. You know we’ll be first in line for the new Tinker Bell dvd when it debuts on October 28th! At any rate, there were no fairies to be seen.

So, as I mentioned, there was just the one room open, but we were happy to see that it was the PRINCESS ROOM! And we were in the very first group of people admitted to see them! Again, thanks to my online sources for the tip to arrive 15 minutes early. I find standing in line to meet characters to be a total time suck, so I felt very good about getting in so quickly. When we got into the room, we were given an audience with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle. The girls were beside themselves! Although all of the Princesses were lovely and sweet, Belle was especially kind and gentle, especially with Emma. Julia enjoyed her interactions with all three of the Princesses, and spent some time talking to Aurora about the Sleeping Beauty DVD, which she knew had just been released that very day. Savvy kid, no?!

Belle encouraged the girls to hold out their skirts as if they were making a curtsey. CUTE!

And these pictures show how truly sweet Belle was

We didn’t bother waiting for Mickey and Minnie since we had already seen them at both Chef Mickey’s and the Character Connection in Epcot the day before. So, it was 10am, and we were done meeting characters! SCORE! At this point, Michael and Julia tried to slip away to do the Frontierland rides that we knew Emma would be too small for. I expected another tantrum from Daddy-lovin’ Emma, but thank goodness, she was assuaged with a trip to Minnie’s house. She loved it, especially the popcorn in the microwave.

When we were through with our house tour, I attempted to take her on Goofy’s Barnstormer, which was basically a walk-on. We got up to the front of the line, where she proceeded to freak out. I certainly did not want to traumatize my daughter, so we backed out and walked back through the queue. I think I tried to secure some milk for her at this point, but I couldn’t locate any. She only likes milk – no water, no juice - which can be a problem at times. I got her back into the stroller and walked towards Pooh’s Playful Spot. I thought she’d enjoy the playground, but she was only interested for a few minutes.

As we left, I saw that Pooh and Tigger were just leaving a character greet. I tried to steer Emma in the other direction so she wouldn’t see, but I was not quick enough. Luckily, she was content to wave and say hi to them, and I was grateful that they responded to her.

I believe we rode the carousel one or two more times before we found Julia and Michael again @ 10:30 or 10:40. They had been able to walk on to both Splash and BTMRR. They sat towards the back of their Splash canoe and only got a little wet. Julia indicated that she actually preferred BTMRR, and said that she was going to make me ride it next. Um, no thanks. That’s why Daddy took you in the first place, and not me! I do *not* do roller coasters! Now that we were all together, we were able to get into my most favoritest ride ever – Peter Pan! We had a 10 minute wait, which was fine. (We ended up going on this ride 4-5 more times, and this was the longest wait we had during the whole trip.) I just love the ride and the music and everything about Peter Pan! We made sure to wave and say “Bye, Nana!” and we all noticed “Ariel” in the mermaid lagoon. We had a great time and we promised the girls that we would ride again soon. After that, we took in Mickey’s Philharmagic, which was just beginning a new show. I think Emma was a little skeered, but she did OK. Julia and Michael loved it. I enjoyed it too, but I am not able get the full effect of the 3-D. I have strabismus (or a lazy eye) and I basically only see out of my right eye. My eyes simply don’t work together, and there is no way that I can view the 3-D features. It’s always been this way, and it’s normal for me, so no biggie.

The girls were starting to get crabby and Emma still hadn’t had her milk, so I suggested that we eat lunch, even though it was only 11:30. Michael thought I was nuts, but I warned him that the lines would get “zoo-ey” as we approached 12:00. He reluctantly agreed, and we went to Pinnochio Haus since it was right there. We had a minimal wait and ordered pizza and hamburgers with fries. How healthy! This was another counter service place where I was confused by what was and what was not included in the meal plan. I wish they would just have an itemized list of what your credits could be used for. Oh well. The girls picked at their kids’ cheese pizza, and I think they ended up with the burgers while WE ate the pizza.

At this point, we decided to headgo back to the Poly for some R&R before our big night. We were going to attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and I was determined to get my family to nap so we could enjoy a late evening. As we left Fantasyland, we saw this lady, just standing behind the castle all alone. So of course, we had to stop to say hello! As we did so, a line began to form. Yay, us, for having sharp eyes!

As we headed out, we paused to look in the shops. The girls each chose a charm for their necklaces – Alice for Emma and Minnie for Julia. And I surreptitiously added the newly released “Sleeping Beauty” DVD for Wednesday’s Tink Treasure. Julia popped her head over just as I was making my purchase, but luckily, we were not caught!
We took the ferry back to the Poly. It was a nice relaxing boat ride, and we all enjoyed it. We did have to stop at the Grand Floridian on the way, but that was fine. It was about 1:30 when we got back to the room. The girls were hot and tired, but resisting sleep. I was INSISTENT that we all nap though. And eventually, everyone did get to sleep. Thank goodness! My initial plan was to leave for the party at MK @ 4-4:30 and eat dinner in the parks, possibly at Pecos Bill’s, which seemed to have a wide selection of menu offerings. (Although your MNSSHP ticket says the party starts at 7, you can actually enter the park with your ticket starting at 4pm. Another little tidbit I learned online.) However, at 4pm, the girls and Michael were still asleep, so I decided that we would eat at Captain Cooks instead and leave a little later. It was then that I realized it was raining. HARD.

Up next- MNSSHP:
Rain, rain, go away!
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party - or is it? (Scary, that is?)
Will we have to wear ponchos with our costumes?
Will we turn into pumpkins if we stay up too late?

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Ooooh Oooh!

I interrupt this trip report with some news. We ordered the big Castle playset which we plan to give to the girls for Christmas. It just arrived!! Is it bad that I want to open it up and play with it myself now?

 

[julezdisney]

Open it! Play! They'll never know!

Boy, youre blazing through this report..... but I like it so keep it coming!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Open it! Play! They'll never know!

Boy, youre blazing through this report..... but I like it so keep it coming!

I didn't get to play. I ended up having to sit outside the 3 year old's room all night. She's having trouble sleeping, and I refuse to bring her into our bed. Yeah, it was a lonnnng night.

I have to get this thing take care of now, while it's still fresh in my mind If I wati too long, it will never get done!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Day 3: Tuesday, October 7th continued

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party evening

We left off with everyone sleeping and the rain coming down. I forgot to mention that Michael had purchased internet service in the room. After my brief nap, I logged on to check my email and also to check out (what else?) TGM and the DisBoards, where I clarified a few things and made a brief check in post. By now, it was 4:45 - Michael and Julia started to awaken, but Emma was still out. This was good though – she’s the one with the temper! I decided to run over to Captain Cooks (in the rain) and bring dinner back to the room so Emma could sleep a bit longer. I picked up burgers and grilled cheese, along with some Dole Whips! YUM. Getting it all back with an umbrella was a bit of a challenge, but I made it work. It took a fair bit of time, and when we started eating, it was already @ 5:30. Dinner was surprisingly good for “fast food,” and we all loved our dessert. Julia noticed it first – the rain had stopped. WOOOOOT! We got the girls into their costumes, and made our way to the ferry boat.

There was one other family heading to the party on the boat. They had a Tinker Bell and a Pirate who were both adorable.

Before we left, the girls received an extra treasure from Tinker Bell: light up spinny Sleeping Beauties for the parade/fireworks. These little beauties have the lights on pink satin skirts that twirl around when you spin them. Ca-yute!

Entrance and decorations

It was later than I had wanted to arrive, about 6:30 rather than 4:30, but Michael and I were grateful that the girls had taken nice long naps (especially the Emma) and that the rain had stopped. We noticed that it was not all that crowded on Main Street, likely due to the rain and the fact that non-party goers would soon have to exit the park. As we approached the castle, we realized that the Dream Along With Mickey show was just starting, so we stopped for the girls to see it. They’d been asking about it all morning! They both enjoyed themselves.

I noticed another little girl wearing the exact same costume as Emma (from Costume Express.) I spoke to her mom and asked if hers had been backordered too. It had! We both laughed about that. When the show was over, it was definitely time to clear the park of non-party ticket holders. Julia kept asking about riding the Haunted Mansion, but we told her we’d do it later on.

Michael insisted that we had to trick or treat (much to my chagrin), so we headed to Alice’s TOT party on the red path between Toontown and Tomorrowland, expecting to actually SEE Alice. Well, THAT was a major time suck. Plus, Julia couldn’t actually eat most of the candy that was being handed out by the Playing Cards (due to her peanut allergy). And no Alice. : (

Since we were now in Tomorrowland, we decided to ride Buzz. It was a walk-on. We all had fun, except for Emma. Too dark, too loud. Poor girl. After the ride, we were able to meet Buzz himself. The girls enjoyed that!

At that point, I felt that we were really wasting our expensive party tickets. I suggested we head to Fantasyland for some rides, but Michael kept insisting that we got TOT-ing and look for characters. I was done fighting him with the tour plans, so I gave in and let him take the lead. We went back to Toontown to see what was happening in the Hall of Fame. We saw the Queen of Hearts right inside the door! Emma was scared of her, but Julia is all about the villains these days, so she was game for an autograph and a pict.

Again, only one room was open, but we were told that the Princesses were there WITH THEIR PRINCES, so we hopped back in that line to see the same princesses we had seen earlier in the day. YUP. But we were excited to see the princes. This time, we stood there for quite awhile. I then realized that Alice characters were in the front section, so I pulled the girls out of the line to meet them while Michael waited for the princesses for us. I KNOW. This was probably not such a good move on my part, but I hated to just stand there wasting our precious party time! We were able to meet the Mad Hatter, who was very funny. Emma even invited him to a tea party! Then we saw the White Rabbit and Mr Walrus.

We almost saw Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, but they had to leave. Still no Alice though. So we rejoined Michael in the princess line which hadn’t made much headway. A few minutes later, poked my head back and saw a vision of blue. We were getting closer to the entrance, but I hightailed it outta the line with the girls to FINALLY meet Alice. She was very sweet and taught the girls how to curtsy.

continued....

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

continued

That done, we went back to Michael, who said that he had had to let a few people go in ahead of us since we weren’t back yet. Luckily, no one seemed to mind. We were soon ushered into the Princess Room, where we met with Aurora and Prince Philip and Cinderella and Prince Charming. The princesses remembered the girls from earlier in the day, and commented on their costumes. The Princes were both very sweet. I loved how they got down on their knees to talk to Emma, who being such a daddy’s girl, was clearly in awe of them! Prince Charming even held her chin in his hand to talk to her – so sweet and gentle. AWWWWW.

It was now 8:30, so clearly we had committed to staying through for the second parade, since the first one had already begun at 8:15. Michael thought it would be fun to meet Mickey and Minnie in their Halloween costumes, so off we went to the Judge’s Tent. You guessed it. We were not unique in our plan. I was cursing myself for not doing this right at 7 (when we were getting peanut-laced candy from a deck of playing cards…) But I digress…. So we waited and WAITED to see the Mice (Mouses?!) Time was creeping along, and I was NOT going to miss the 9:30 fireworks show. I told Michael that if we did not get in before 9:15, we’d have to pull out of the line. Wouldn’t you know it – at 9:15, we were finally granted access to the elusive room. Of course, there were still others in front of us, but it didn’t take THAT long to meet Mickey and Minnie. And they sure were cute in their costumes. The girls loved it, and we even got a full family picture.

It was now getting dangerously close to 9:30, and we all had to go potty! But we made a mad dash towards the castle and ended up on the Tomorrowland bridge with what ended up being a great view of the fireworks. THANK GOODNESS. Daddy got out the light up spinning Sleeping Beauties, which the girls enjoyed. And I also had some glow necklaces for all of us to wear. We knew from the 4th of July that Emma would be fearful of the fireworks, so we had brought along a set of headphones to help drown out the booms. We had her put them on, and they did seem to help. She was enraptured with the pretty lights, as were we all! I have never seen such a display of colors before! The fireworks were absolutely stunning. No picts – they didn’t really come out all that well!

The fireworks came to a close, and Julia really wanted to go to the front of the castle for the Villains Mix and Mingle. She was so excited about the villains for some reason! So we parked the stroller right up front just in time for the 9:45 show. It also seemed like a decent spot to camp out for the 10:30 parade. As the Villain show began, we realized that it was very dark and loud and terrifying for poor Emma. So Michael took her for a stroll, losing our great parade spot. Julia and I tried to enjoy the show and not worry about that. It was just a brief show, and afterwards, the villains lined up in the courtyard to take pictures. There was a rope in front of them, and they did not sign, but they tried to get in as many photo ops as possible. We were lucky enough to get some great shots with several of the baddies! I was surprised that Julia had no fear at all. Except for Jafar – we skipped him!

The Quicked Ween, I mean Wicked Queen, from Snow White

Malificent from Sleeping Beauty

Captain Hook, who tried to abscond with Julia!

And Cruella De Ville, with whom we got the VERY LAST PICTURE. Julia was excited about meeting her since we had just seen 101 Dalmations for the first time over the summer.

During all of this mayhem, I realized that I had no idea where Michael and Emma were. Thank goodness, I happened to see them in almost the same spot we had secured earlier. Emma was doing better now – Daddy got her a snack and a drink, so she was happy. We were ready for the 10:30 parade, which started approaching after a not – too – long wait. We saw the Headless Horseman, and Emma was not thrilled. The parade began with a few princesses and some familiar faces, followed by a bunch of ghoulish characters. These didn’t turn out all that well – sorry!

As the Haunted Mansion characters came by, I realized that both Julia and Emma were not looking too good. They were really quite SCARY. Julia looked at me and said, “I thought this was a NOT so scary Halloween party.” I agreed that maybe they got that part wrong. To make matters worse, the grave diggers came by with their shovels that they dragged on the ground, making sparks. This sent Emma over the edge. The shovels were LOUD and the sparks were really too much. Michael held her and turned her away from the parade. She calmed down a bit, and was happy to see the Pooh characters come by. I was a bit disappointed that the Princesses weren’t more involved, though I understand that Halloween is the villains’ turn to shine. I also missed the pretty lights of the Spectro parade. Because there were so many Halloween parties this week (4 while we were there) and we did not get Park Hoppers, we were not able to see Spectro and Wishes on this trip. I really did miss them! We did, however, enjoy the theme song for the parade, and we are still singing, “Boo! Happy Halloween!” to each other. Hence, the name of this trip report.

Once the parade was over, Michael told me to follow him, and he quickly got the stroller back over to Fantasyland. He said he had a surprise. There, behind the Teacups, on the way to Pooh’s Playful Spot was a sight that one rarely sees at WDW. Snow White and all SEVEN DWARFS. They were posing for pictures, but not signing autographs. Michael said that he had heard they would be there while he had been comforting Emma earlier. We were so excited to see them! That was a special occurrence indeed! The line was pretty long, so Michael stood in line while I took the girls on the Pooh ride – walk on. They liked it, but I think Emma was a little scared – again, dark and noisy with the thunder. We made our way back to Michael who was still waiting for Snow White. The line moved pretty quickly, and we soon got our once in a lifetime photo op, which I shared earlier, but will also post here now.

It was now 11:30, and the girls were clearly exhausted. We all were. It had been a verrrry long day. Julia decided that she was a bit too scared to do the Haunted Mansion at night after seeing the parade, so we agreed that she could do it later in the week when we visited MK again. The one thing that we didn’t get to see was Cinderella’s pumpkin coach. I forgot to ask about it earlier, and it was now too late for us to seek it out. I am still disappointed about that!

So we headed out, and once again took the ferry back to the Poly. Both girls stayed awake for the whole ride, but they were running on fumes. We got them to bed very easily that night. I think we made it back to the room just before midnight, so we avoided being turned into pumpkins with just minutes to spare!

We had a good night, but I fear that we wasted too much time on the characters. We only went on TWO rides! They were both walk-ons, but geesh. For the kind of money we spent to be here that night, we should have taken advantage of getting on to rides with no wait. But I know that meeting the characters, especially the villains for Julia, was a highlight for the girls, and they were happy, so that’s all that matters. And the fireworks were AMAZING, a definite highlight of the trip. However, we could have definitely done without the scary parade. It was really too much for a little one. I’m still torn over whether I would do this event again or not. Time will tell, if we ever get the opportunity to do something like this again.

Coming up next: An afternoon in the World Showcase
• Would we ever wake up the next day?
• Will we die of heat exhaustion?
• Should we rename this the “food and whine” festival?
• What does "traditional Norwegian fare" mean exactly?

 

[29apr00]

And my favorite picture from the whole trip!

Oh my that picture is too precious!! I love it!!

Off to catch up!!

 

[AWilliams]

Hi Colleen!

Great report so far! I love all the pictures and it sounds like you guys had a blast. I can't wait to read the rest!!

Amy

 

[29apr00]

What a great trip so far!! Love all the pictures, and your pic with Snow White and all 7 dwarves!! WOW Great find dad!!

Sorry the parade was a bit scary for Emma. I was thinking the same thing looking at someone elses pictures, seemed to have crossed over to the "Scary" halloween part.

I completely understand your frustration on Dh's not following the plan!! My dh physically ripped it out of my hand and threw it away after about 2 hrs in Epcot. He refused to be on a schedule like that. Thus we missed lots of stuff, but everyone had fun so i guess that's what counts.

Can't wait to follow along!

 

[HeatherSue]

Hi! I made it over to your TR after you used my TR as advertising! Great TR so far!

The girls look so cute!

I've never seen Prince Phillip or Malificent (sp?) in the parks- how cool!

I've only stayed at POP, but I'd love to try out one of the fancier resorts one of these days.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Day 4: Wednesday, October 8th Epcot World Showcase day

First of all, I would like to apologize for getting those first few days out so fast, and then making you wait for over a week for this update. I am embarrassed to admit that I have been sucked into Twilight FanFiction stories, and I have been spending all of my free time reading them. They aren’t even that great, and some of them are out and out smut. My poor little eyes! But for some reason, I have been having a hard time tearing myself away….

ANYWAY, I promised myself that I would do get in a few installments over the course of this week. The longer I put this off, the more details I am apt to forget! I’m not getting any younger, dear readers, and my eyesight is even starting to go.
So, without further ado….back to the trippie!


We last left off with us getting to bed around midnight after a very long, but fun day. I had scheduled the next day to be a sleep in morning. I hate to waste precious rope drop time, so I planned this day to be an Epcot World Showcase day. Since the WS does not open until 11am, this worked out beautifully giving us plenty of extra time for much needed sleep. I took a chance and reserved the Princess Storybook Lunch at Askerhaus in Norway. The last time we were at WDW, we did this as a breakfast, which we really enjoyed. This time, I booked lunch so we wouldn’t have to get up so early, knowing that lunch would be traditional Norwegian fare. Not generally in our top 10 list, but we’d give it a shot. Let’s see what happens….

I wanted everyone to be up and ready to leave by about 10:20 so we could catch the Epcot monorail and arrive at the WS for its 11am opening. My darn internal alarm clock had me up by 6am! With under 6 hours of sleep, I tried really hard to close my eyes and catch some more zzzz’s, but I just couldn’t do it. So, I got up and took a leisurely shower, played on the internet, went over to Captain Cook’s, and looked over our itinerary while the rest of my family slept. When I left the room, I was overtaken by tropical steam. My reading glasses fogged up immediately. The air was heavy and thick, and I was drenched after being outside for just a minute – not by rain, by humidity. It was going to be a fun day, I could tell!

Eventually, we coaxed the girls to wake up. They were excited to see that Tink have left behind the new “Sleeping Beauty” DVD. Today, they wore the princess twirl dresses that my mom had made for them, especially for this trip. Julia’s dress had an Ariel print, and Emma’s had a pink princess print. I found iron on patches at JoAnn’s that I added on the bodices for the crowning touch. The girls really looked darling.

We finally made it over to the T&TC monorail so we could board the express Epcot train @ 10:30 or so. I recall there being a fairly long line and wait to get on, but we finally got on the train. Once we arrived and procured our stroller, it was already after 11. We just had to get to lunch in Norway by noon, so we decided to look at Mexico and Norway and then have lunch. On the way, we stopped for a PP picture with the Epcot ball. I don’t have these yet, but I’ll add them when I get my CD. The girls were already complaining of the heat. We plied them with water, and we indulged in a $17 water mister fan thing. (Of course, I have several cheap ones here at home, which I did not bring along. What’s another $17 when you’re hot and sticky, right?!) I was glad we bought it though. We definitely made good use of it!

We went over to Mexico and met Mexican Donald. The girls really enjoyed meeting him!

Then we went into fabulously air conditioned Mexican Pavilion. The girls had fun trying on silly hats and looking at the stalls.

I thought it would be fun to do the Mexican ride. On our last trip, this ride had been closed for refurbishment, so we had not been able to go on it. But I had been on it during a trip Michael and I took way back before we were even married in 1998, I think? I remembered it as being like It’s a Small World, and I thought the girls would enjoy it. For some reason, Emma freaked out and would not, could not go on the ride. That was too bad. Julia and I went on and had a great time. She even wanted to go again, but when we reconnected, Michael wanted to keep moving.

So we left our a/c bliss and trudged over to Norway. It was about 11:45, so we checked in for our 12:00 princess lunch. We decided to skip Maelstrom, but I brought the girls into the shop across from Askerhaus. We had fun looking at the trolls and the princess things. The girls liked the Viking swords too.

Finally, we were called in to lunch. We were greeted by Belle, and we posed for a photo that was included with our meal (no extra charge.) The picture came out well, but it is not on PP. Here is one that we took. Belle liked the girls’ dresses, so they were happy.

We got into the restaurant and met with the chef to discuss Julia’s peanut allergy. Here the rolls (and some of the desserts) WERE safe, so she was very happy. We started off with a deli platter, which I enjoyed. Jarslberg cheese is my favorite, so I was in heaven. It’s sort of like a nutty swiss, and I have always liked this kind of cheese.
I believe the girls ended up with pizza, naturally. Michael had Traditional Kjottkaker with a cauliflower, garlic, cheese infused mashed potato, and a red wine beet sauce. He said it was pretty good. I had Braised Pork Shank with Garlic mashed potatoes and red wine sauce. This I did not care for, but I was proud of myself for taking a chance on something new. I ended up getting more deli meat and cheese, and making myself a sandwich! For dessert, the girls were given bowls of ice cream (not on the menu, but recommended by the chef for Julia.) We were also given the following three samples on a platter to share.

Flourless Chocolate Cake – yum!
Sponge cake layered with raspberry jam topped with
vanilla pastry cream and white chocolate shavings

Traditional Rice Cream – no one cared for this
topped with Strawberry Sauce

School Bread – I have died and gone to heaven!
A Norwegian Specialty
Baked sweet dough filled with pastry cream
topped with toasted coconut

And Julia was able to sample this too. She REALLY liked it. I enjoyed the school bread so much that I made Michael go back to the bakery for more later in the day!
During lunch, we meet Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella (who does not normally make appearances here) and Ariel in her wedding dress. While we were excited to see the latter two, we were disappointed that neither Snow White, nor Mulan was at lunch. We had had a wonderful interaction with Mulan on our last trip and we were hoping to see her again.

Lunch was done by 1:15. Although we could have headed over to the adjacent China, I advised Michael to cut across and start over in Canada instead per my touring plans. Now, in retrospect, I’m not sure that this was really the best choice, but oh well. The WS was pretty busy, and we noticed a lot of older people without kids. This could definitely be attributed to the Food and Wine Festival. This event takes place in the fall, and includes new kiosks from all sorts of countries, as well as special classes and tastings. Michael was excited about a few of the booths and wanted to try some exotic drinks and food.

We approached Canada, and I wanted to find a cute shop that I remembered from our 1998 trip. Michael had bought me a gorgeous porcelain Anne of Green Gables doll there that I still adore. When we asked about the shop, we were told that it no longer existed. So that was sad. We moved on to the UK. I remembered meeting Mary Poppins and Pooh in the toy shop on our 2007 trip, so we headed there to find some characters. Mary was having a jolly holiday, but we were able to locate not only Pooh, but also Tigger and Eeyore in the back of the toy shop! Julia had her picture taken, but Emma got scared and refused to approach them. I’m not sure why this happened – maybe because all three were so big all together?

We asked if anyone else was about, and we were told that Alice was outside. We found her in the gardens, While Michael and the girls waited in line, I went into the tea shop and bought some black currant tea. This stuff is amazing!

We were getting DRENCHED with sweat, and it was only about 2pm by now. Since we slept in, we planned to tour the WS without break and have an early dinner, but it was clear that we would have to make a slight change in plans.

When we got to France, we looked for Belle and the Beast in the gardens. They were not there, but we did meet Marie the cat from the Aristocats. (I know, I didn’t know who she was either, But the girls didn’t seem to care. And Emma was clearly over her character fear from earlier.)

As we left that area, I asked Michael to get me a Grand Marnier slush. Ever since I saw Samantha Brown’s TV special, I wanted to try that! And it was all kinds of YUM – like a creamsicle. Michael got something too, but I have no idea what it was!
As he stood in line, I saw a flash of blue and told the girls to run with me. We found Belle in her town dress, without much of a line at all. She was really sweet with the girls, and spent a fair bit of time chatting with them. We reminded her that we had just seen her at lunch, and she replied that she had been hot in her ball gown so she changed into her town dress.

As we moved along, we saw The Genie in Morocco. We were told that he would be joined by Jasmine and Aladdin in half an hour, so we proceeded on. The girls doused their heads in this fountain. It was HOT!

We moved on towards Japan. I wanted to have the girls see Miyuki the candy lady, but her next demonstration was not for over an hour, so we kept going. It was just too hot and crowded to really explore the different countries, and we were getting tired, cranky, and WHINY. Yup, the “Food and Whine” Festival was aptly named…. We just walked right through America, and I have to say, I would have liked to poke around a bit more. I think Michael ran back to get some saki in Japan while we did this. I can’t stand that stuff!

We just walked right through Italy without stopping at all (SAD) and in Germany we looked for Snow White. We were informed that she was needed at the MK, but Dopey was out meeting guests. Poor Dopey was standing right in the sun. He must have been sweltering! Michael suggested he move a bit more into the shade, and Dopey and his handlers were very happy to oblige.

As we approached China, I was determined to find Mulan! We found Mushu, but no Mulan. We were told that she would be back soon. So, what did we do then? We backtracked ALL THE WAY to Morocco to find Jasmine and Aladdin with the Genie. Guess who was there? Only Genie. At this point, I wasn’t sure that the girls would last much longer, so we met Genie, and then headed back towards China.

Mulan still wasn’t there, but she arrived while we were in line to see Mushu. Luckily, she was as sweet as we remembered, and she spent some quality time with the girls.

Having acheived our goal of finding Mulan, we were clearly done for the day. It was not even 4pm, and my initial plan had been to nosh our way among the food stands for dinner, but that was just not to be. Michael really didn’t get to enjoy himself at the F&WF as we had hoped, but we agreed that it was time to get out of the heat. As we passed through Norway, Michael stopped in the bakery and bought some more school bread for me. AWWWWW.

Enjoying school bread

Emma fell asleep on Michael as we monorailed back to our room. In fact, we had a hard time extricating the little spider monkey from him! When we got back to the room, I was just exhausted, but the girls had perked up a bit, Michael took them to the pool for a much needed swim, allowing me to nap for a bit. By the time I joined them, it was about 5:30. I took over watching the girls in the pool for a bit, while Michael picked up burgers and fries at Captain Cook’s, which we ate poolside. Oh and we also had more Dole Whips.  It started to drizzle just as we were finishing, so we made a mad dash back to the room.

We just hung out and let the girls watch a little television for a bit, while Michael took off on his own for a little quiet time. I won big points for getting both girls to fall asleep before 8pm! Michael said that I could go out to view the fireworks from the beach while he stayed with the girls – if it wasn’t raining. Though it was misting, I went out anyway, and I was able to see the Electric Water Parade in the harbor. It was so cool! The rain had stopped, so I wiped down a chaise to watch the Spectro Fireworks show from afar. I had a nice time chatting with a mom and two of her girls from NY. They had just arrived and the mom made sure that her daughters didn’t mention the fireworks to her other two daughters who were still in their room! There was a lot of low cloud cover, making the fireworks difficult to see, but it was still a lot of fun.
When I got back to the room, everyone was blissfully asleep. I crawled into my bed with Julia, and fell asleep pretty quickly myself.

Up next
Disney Studios
• Will we survive the Toy Story Mania Dash?
• What are they filming, and why can’t we go near the Sorcerer’s Hat?
• What does this "critical battery" message on the digital camera mean?
• Will that darn bus ever show up?

 

[gattra]

Great Update! I'm really enjoying your TR! Keep up the good work!

 

[HeatherSue]

As I was reading your trip report, I was thinking "Her girls sure look like my best friend's kids." Then, Tessa came up and said "Is that Ryen and Madison?" So, I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that! They are just so cute!!

I love Julia's poses in the pictures! Too sweet!!

 

[29apr00]

Great update!! The dresses are too cute! Great character finds, but i'm sorry it was so hot. That really does make the day worse. Glad they were able to get to the pool and cool off! Yeah for relaxing down time for you and dad!