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[jc040404]

February 15th, 2011 * day twenty-one

Not even a week later, it was time to journey back to WDW for a little getaway. Our plans had us going to POR for the first time, but that was doomed from the day I booked it. I just couldn’t get excited about it and no one else showed much interest either. When asking Andrew what he wanted to do on this trip, all he talked about was Pop Century! He wanted to play on the big keyboard. I went with it. Staying somewhere I wasn’t thrilled about wasn’t going to help this Disney burnout either. A short call later and we were now going back to Pop!

The morning started early, but rope drop wasn’t in our plans. We were still working on the autograph book mission and would be having breakfast with some special friends! Our first stop, the TTC!

Once again, I found myself wandering around the shop with the boys. As we looked around, two things caught my eye. First, they had socks!

I was shocked and couldn’t believe that I’d never noticed this before. Remember my birthday visit and the Target adventure? While I like that happy memory, we could’ve saved the whole thing by looking around here. We had even stopped to buy ponchos here that day! Lesson learned. If you ever need some new socks, the TTC gift shop has you covered!

Second, I kept feeling drawn to the autograph books. Why those books? I had two of them in my bag. Or did I? That odd feeling kept eating at me until I double checked. I’d forgotten the books! Andrew was so upset over this, and I don’t blame him for feeling that way. We had a special meal planned just for these books! I grabbed two more and a new pen before heading to the register.

“Mommy lost our books!”

Blake was upset, too! To be fair, I didn’t really lose them. They were just on my desk at home! No one seemed to understand this point.

That awful "lost" word inspired the CM to lecture me about autograph books before I could pay! Do you know how many books are turned in that they can’t return to the rightful owners? I had never even thought of this before, but it must be a lot. She was pretty upset over it! As she went on, I knew it was only a matter of time before she sent me to a time out. Much like a child, I began to tune her out and look around. Would she put me in that corner? Maybe the other? Either way there would be loads of interesting stuff to look at until my time was up! But if I get one minute for each year of my life.. We’re going to miss breakfast!! This had to end!

Interrupting with the fact they weren’t actually lost and that it wasn’t a big deal to us either way seemed to finally calm her down. Wow. She reeeally cared about those misplaced autograph books! You’d think they’d be happy for lost books. That equals new books bought and more money for Mickey, right?

Before we could leave, the CM instructed me to write to the boys’ names and home address on the inside cover. If I lose them again (They’re not lost!!) someone could mail them to us. I thanked her and said we would. Maybe I’m paranoid, but something about writing their address down in those silly books made me uncomfortable. I lied to the CM and never did it.

We all walked over to the resort monorail. It was breakfast time and we were going to the Grand Floridian! Ever since the day a DVC CM ran away from us for staying at a value, I’ve not been a fan of this resort. I don't get the attitude, and I feel soo uncomfortable just walking inside! It doesn’t help that the place reminds me of grandma’s house. I half expect a lecture about not taking my shoes off to come up at any second. It’s safe to say that we’ll never be staying here!

Eating at 1900 Park Fare wasn’t high on my list, but the boys were excited over seeing Alice and the Mad Hatter. Forgetting the first set of books, Pooh and Tigger were an added bonus on collecting autographs again. We checked in, skipped the picture, and went out to stroller parking.

I’d hoped to catch a few pictures out here, but it was our time before Blake was even out of his seat. Breakfast!

To sum up the meal, the food was great. I like breakfast buffets, so that might not say much. I just really love all the options for my first meal of the day. The service wasn’t the best, but I’ve grown to expect that at Disney restaurants. She was just too overwhelmed to take care of anything. They really need more help.

The characters are what makes the experience, of course, and we had a great time meeting them all! First up was Tigger!

Pooh would follow, but none of those pictures are worth sharing. Haha.. He was the quickest of all the characters, simply signing and taking off.

The rotation was pretty fast and soon enough Mary Poppins stopped to visit. On our last visit here, she’d spent a bit of time trying to convince Andrew to eat his breakfast. This time was all about Blake! My shy little guy couldn’t make up his mind about this woman, but she took care of that quickly. Mary pretended to take his muffin! You can’t get between a Blaker and his muffin, so this was war. He glared at her and pulled it back! Whenever we see her by the carousel at MK, he still remembers that one as “the lady that tried to ‘teal my muffin!”

He was nice enough to pose for a picture, despite the muffin war. He had won afterall. Perhaps this was the happy face of his victory over the muffin theif?

Alice followed next, but I really don’t recall much of her visit. It wasn't Andrew’s favorite Alice, so he didn’t really care much. He did insist on keeping the very first page of his autograph book blank in case he ever saw her again though!

And finally, the best for last!

The Mad Hatter was excellent, as he always is! They all talked about the parks and if we were going to be riding the tea cups that day. Andrew insisted we ALWAYS ride them, which you all know just isn’t true! Blake claimed he doesn’t like them one bit. Do you know who else doesn’t like the tea cups?

“POOH!”

The Mad Hatter literally yelled across the restaurant for Pooh to join our conversation! He asked how Pooh felt about those spinning cups. Silly Pooh Bear was clearly not a fan. He pretended to spin and get dizzy. It was all really cute.

Before the Mad Hatter left us, we were let in on an important secret. Which tea cup spins the fastest? He claimed it’s a green one, but don't tell anyone. This was presented as top secret "so don't pass it on!" kind of stuff. I'm trusting you. The boys felt so important to learn this and couldn’t wait to ride that green tea cup now!

Keeping up our race tradition, we had a stairs vs elevator race on the way back to the monorail. Andrew and I joked that we could’ve made it all the way to MK before Blake and John were done with that elevator ride. We found a comfy place to sit and wait, being careful not to let our shoes touch a thing.

Up Next!!

MK! Like you expected anything else from us...

 

[Dugette]

Wow! I don't think I can keep up with your comment.

Ha ha! Yeah, I had to open a separate window and write comments as I read so I didn't forget what I was going to say!

Anyway, I'm not behind on the new update!

Funny that there were socks at the TTC! If only you'd known. Bummer about forgetting the autograph books, but at least you realized it before you were sitting at breakfast. Sounds like a pretty fun meal!

 

[AprilRenee]

Well of course MK is up next! You have to go try out that green teacup!! That would definitely be my next stop just cause i'm gullible enough to believe him!

I love that Andrew is saving his first page for "his" Alice. So sweet!

 

[CAStevens218]

I can see how Pop would be much more appealing to a family with kids when compared to POR! Although I have made Ben promise that we can stay in one of the POR royal rooms for part of our honeymoon!! Keyword is "royal", not "princess"!!!! I loved Pop when we stayed there too though, we will definitely be back some day!!

It sounds like the CM must have lost her autograph book as a child and has never forgotten about it!

I think your Target sock adventure was much more exciting than simply finding them in the TTC!

I have to agree with Pooh about the teacups!

I sure do hope Andrew finds "his" Alice again some day to fill that first page!!!

 

[jc040404]

Ha ha! Yeah, I had to open a separate window and write comments as I read so I didn't forget what I was going to say!

Anyway, I'm not behind on the new update!

Funny that there were socks at the TTC! If only you'd known. Bummer about forgetting the autograph books, but at least you realized it before you were sitting at breakfast. Sounds like a pretty fun meal!

I'm sure we could've found some in the resort, but it was sooo good that this happened before sitting down. Andrew would've been so upset! I did find it crazy that I'd avoided buying them for so long, but suddenly we had four. John and I should've started collecting, too.

The boys had a lot of fun at breakfast, and that's all that matters to me! The Mad Hatter has one of the more interesting pages in their autograph books, too. He made his H look like a hat. Silly, but cute. I think that place is soooo loud though. Despite my love for breakfast buffets, I doubt I'd return unless they requested it again.

Well of course MK is up next! You have to go try out that green teacup!! That would definitely be my next stop just cause i'm gullible enough to believe him!

I love that Andrew is saving his first page for "his" Alice. So sweet!

Exactly! The boys thought this was huge news and couldn't wait. I couldn't help but wonder how many "fastest" tea cups there at the end of the day though.

Andrew was so sweet with his Alice love. Even if she's just playing pretend, she was still special to him.

I can see how Pop would be much more appealing to a family with kids when compared to POR! Although I have made Ben promise that we can stay in one of the POR royal rooms for part of our honeymoon!! Keyword is "royal", not "princess"!!!! I loved Pop when we stayed there too though, we will definitely be back some day!!

It sounds like the CM must have lost her autograph book as a child and has never forgotten about it!

I think your Target sock adventure was much more exciting than simply finding them in the TTC!

I have to agree with Pooh about the teacups!

I sure do hope Andrew finds "his" Alice again some day to fill that first page!!!

I want to stay in a "royal" room, too! We give POR a try in time, of course. Pop proved to be perfect later on in this visit.

I like your theory about the CM and those books! That makes sense anyway. She was crazy about it!

You're right about the Target sock experience. Much more memorable this way, too! I'll never forget that birthday!

Giving away the future.. Andrew's given up on "his" Alice now. We never saw her again. With only one teeny visit remaining, I don't see it happening. When we even thought to check, we'd always seem to notice this Alice or the one we saw at EPCOT so much in the last year.

 

[jc040404]

That wait to get in the park was a little nuts. Eventually we made it into the park and to a bigger mess walking down Main Street. The street party was going on and had everyone stuck!

We were able to sneak out a path to the right, perfect for our tea cup destination. Other guests followed us into the previously empty path. It made me feel important, special, even a shepherd of sorts. I guess they could've been going that way all along, but I enjoyed my moment.

As we made it around, the White Rabbit was spotted. The line was bit too long for us, so that signature would wait for another day. Walking to the entrance of our first ride, Andrew spotted someone even more important.

“Rabbit!”

Silly boy, we’d just decided to skip the White Rabbit for now. I reminded him of the group decision not to wait, but he insisted.

“No, Mommmm! Pooh’s Rabbit!”

I dislike the transition to hearing "Mom" over "Mommy" that he's going through this year.

Understanding what he meant, I turned towards Pooh & Tigger’s usual spot and couldn’t believe my eyes. There was Rabbit! Long line or not, we couldn’t pass this one up. Rabbit had been on our dream character list for a very long time. The fastest tea cup could wait a little longer.

Walking over to the character line, I saw that awful sight. A CM was standing at the end of all those guests. We knew what that meant. No Rabbit for us! I didn’t let it go completely and decided to inquire about later. Before a single word left my lips, the CM barked at us.

“The line is closed!”

It must not be the most fun job in the parks. I'll give him that. We've seen lots of people get nasty over being turned away. I wasn’t here to beg and plead my case to jump ahead though. We wanted to know if he’d be back! The reply wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

“He hops in more than any rabbit I know!”

Huh? While I understand the silly Disney game of not really answering, I did not understand this. Would he be back or not? It kinda left the impression that this particular rabbit was around often, unless the CM didn’t know of any other rabbits to compare it to. I suppose the White Rabbit does more walking than hopping..

I decided to go forward assuming he was just clueless on the situation and I was correct. He had no idea if this rabbit would be returning or not. Why not just say that from the start? He did tell us that there would be some different characters in the park in response to the number of things that were closed. Fair enough. We had no real plans to put any effort into watching for the rabbit again.

Disappointed all the same, we decided to take care of that tea cup project. Andrew made sure we quickly made it to a somewhat green colored cup. Our line time was spent worrying that the secret was out and everyone would rush it! I’m glad I didn’t have to spend my day riding this again and again until we got one! The funny thing about those tea cups is they all only spin as fast as mommy lets them. That didn't matter at all. The boys agreed this was the fastest tea cup ever and enjoyed every second of making me sick.

Into Fantasyland and routine, the wait times were all a little wilder than we like. Andrew and I grabbed a FP set for Pooh’s ride, and we all decided to make this a character day. I didn’t know about Rabbit, but I did know of a couple special mice Blake was dying to impress!

Having read about it on the DIS and from whatever character stalker I “liked” on facebook, we had found out that Mickey was now out in three different spots at MK. One was at the Hall of Presidents and it would be our next destination.

When we walked to the entrance, I was amazed at how empty it was. Was Mickey really in here?? Shouldn’t there be lines out the door? This was shocking to me so I made sure to double check with the CM at the door. She smiled and pointed us right inside. There was only one family seeing Mickey!

It was around this time that Blake had learned something so completely awesome that it would carry him the rest of this AP year. The boys have more Mickey stickers than any child really needs and one in particular would be Blake’s inspiration. He gathered all of the same that he could and stuck them all over his bedroom walls to practice. Sweet child. Lucky the result was adorable to me. This was the birth of the Mickey pose!

Expect to see this A LOT from here on. Blake is super proud of himself and insists on doing it for just about every character picture now. He was thrilled to finally show Mickey, but the mouse couldn’t have cared less. Poor Blakers. He had first run right up and posed just to show it off, facing his friend. Nothing. He did pose like Blakers, so I know he saw it.

I won’t lie. I was disappointed. Not even a thumbs up or something? He just turned Blake around and rushed him away. C’mon, Mickey. You’re breaking a two year old’s heart here! I told Blake that Mickey just couldn’t see very well in here. It was a little dark, so my explanation worked for him.

Andy-Roo complimented him on his new “America outfit” and Mickey gave him a thumbs up. I felt like stealing all of his cheese for ignoring Blakers now! Andrew didn’t think of the books, so I didn’t bring them up either. This wasn’t the Mickey I wanted to remember!

Back at stroller parking, we were greeted by the sight of a guest shaking our stroller. Yep, two hands on it and shaking away. What exactly was she trying to do? John and I were dumbfounded and exchanged confused glances. He was the first to question this odd activity. She looked up, but continued to shake it.

“I want to sit down!!”

“On my stroller??”

She gave him a nasty glare and walked away. I looked around to see what she might be hoping to sit on, but there was nothing. Weird. Very, very weird. John checked the stroller for missing items first. Since we don’t exactly leave anything on it, all that nothing was safe. What a relief!

We moved on to the next character meet!

Walking towards Frontierland was an adventure. There was a dance party in the street! It was packed with guests and characters having a blast. We didn’t stick around and headed straight to Splash Mountain instead. Nooo, I wasn’t about to ride that thing today. We were visiting Mickey! Again.

The mouse was more in demand over here, so we had a wait in front of us. It wasn’t too bad when you added the line entertainment. The CM with Mickey and Minnie was hilarious to watch! She didn’t intend to be, but the way she took this job so seriously had John and I sharing whispered jokes the entire time. Guarding Mickey Mouse must be an important honor. If someone started to move one inch forward, she yelled at all of us to move ahead. Do you see that space?? Don’t you dare let your child touch that rope either. You’ve got a stroller? No strollers!!

“I can move that for you, if you’d like!”

That always came when she was five or six feet away with said stroller in her control already. “If you like” after already doing something became our joke of the day, used to annoy each other in fun. It was great. Disney needs to put her in a show instead.

When our turn came, this experience turned out to be much better for Blakers! He ran in front of his friends to show off the pose and Mickey went nuts over it. Yay! Blake was beaming and loving the reaction.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t go quite as well for Andrew. The location had him facing the sun and he didn’t like it. I think the picture speaks for itself. He loved the outfits though!

Before we could hurry away, Mickey inspired one more Blaker pose! The little guy got a high five for it, too.

Mickey can see much better in the sunlight!

 

[xiaoiao]

Reading this will help the time pass to my December trip!!!

 

[GaRain]

What a cute outfit Mickey has on there!
Blakers and his pose are just wonderful.
I find myself leaning and sticking one foot out in my character pictures as well!

 

[CAStevens218]

LOL @ being a shepherd through the crowd!!

Blake's pose is just too darn cute!! I love that he was sooo proud of himself! I'm glad the 2nd Mickey meet and greet went better for him!!

Those Mickey and Minnie outfits are fabulous by the way!

AND, sooo sad about Rabbit! He is definitely at the top of my list, its too bad they don't have him out more often!!!!

 

[eecteacher82]

Ok, I'm finally back! I have been such a slacker with posting on other people's TRs lately! I don't think I can remember everything I wanted to comment on!

First off, I LOVE the Mickey pose! How cute is that! He is looking like such a little man these days!

Glad you liked 1900 Pare Fare! We had dinner there in December and really enjoyed it! I have been thinking about doing breakfast there, but so many other places keeping winning!

I can't believe you were lectured about "losing" autograph books! That was crazy!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[jc040404]

Reading this will help the time pass to my December trip!!!

Hi & Welcome!

What a cute outfit Mickey has on there!
Blakers and his pose are just wonderful.
I find myself leaning and sticking one foot out in my character pictures as well!

I love the different costumes/outfits Mickey and Minnie have! I wish Disney used more of them out in the parks. They were so cute!

Love that you Mickey pose, too!

LOL @ being a shepherd through the crowd!!

Blake's pose is just too darn cute!! I love that he was sooo proud of himself! I'm glad the 2nd Mickey meet and greet went better for him!!

Those Mickey and Minnie outfits are fabulous by the way!

AND, sooo sad about Rabbit! He is definitely at the top of my list, its too bad they don't have him out more often!!!!

Leading the crowd is awesome! I'm sure they were headed the same way, but it made my morning that it seemed like we were followed. It cracks me up to take a different path or go to the other side of a register, and watch people start to do the same.

Blake is crazy proud of his little pose. It's so sweet!

I wish WDW would use Rabbit a little more! He's awesome!! John has always told me I'm most like Rabbit when it comes to remembering and figuring things out.. I dunno if that's good or bad really.. but I want to meet him! They could always add him to Crystal Palace??

Ok, I'm finally back! I have been such a slacker with posting on other people's TRs lately! I don't think I can remember everything I wanted to comment on!

First off, I LOVE the Mickey pose! How cute is that! He is looking like such a little man these days!

Glad you liked 1900 Pare Fare! We had dinner there in December and really enjoyed it! I have been thinking about doing breakfast there, but so many other places keeping winning!

I can't believe you were lectured about "losing" autograph books! That was crazy!

Can't wait to read more!

Glad you're back!

Blake is growing up too fast! John took him for a haircut today, and I couldn't bring myself to come along. It's silly, but he looks older and older everytime he gets a trim. Breaks my heart.

Better never lose your autograph book!

 

[jc040404]

John took our stroller from Miss “If you like ” lady and we headed on our way. While he claims the speedway is his favorite ride, I was really starting to believe otherwise. He pushed us on to POTC. John really seems to love this ride! He parked the stroller and in we went.

The wait time was a little more than usual, but I blame our leader. He took the wrong path and had us waiting behind the herd. Oh well. It wasn’t a terrible wait and nothing compared to our honeymoon visit. Riding POTC for the first time is one of my more vivid first Disney memories. It was so hot and we stood in line forever!

The ride this time was the same fun with some odd entertainment added in. The two women behind us would not stop talking! They seemed to be gossiping about another woman and how annoying/ugly/tacky/dumb/etc she can be. Despite the line of complaints, it did seem obvious this person was a friend, too. How wild.

I wasn’t making a point to listen, but it was tough not to with how loud they were. It was the oddest thing to me. Here you are on one of the coolest Disney rides, and you’re saying mean things about a friend stuck at home? I wonder how much they brag about their fun and exciting Disney trip when they got back, leaving out the part about spending entire rides talking about her!

Our Pooh ride FP time was coming up fast, so we made our way back across the park after the pirate adventure. We decided to walk around to see if Tiana and Naveen might be out for a chance to add them to autograph books three and four.

When we got closer, Blake couldn’t resist the music in the air. He started marching! I loved it! The little guy had such a great time with his swinging arms and caused a few other guests to stop in their tracks to watch this. What Blake didn’t expect was walking right into the source of that music. As soon as he saw an actual band playing away, the game was over. He stopped at once and stared.

Then he saw a “really cool leaf” on the ground. End of that! Tiana's line was too long for them to want to stop, too.

Blake was being a marching boy? Out of the stroller? I’m sure you may noticed somebody is missing from some of the story this day. No, I’m not just trying to make up for the lack of Blake stories. Andrew was being so quiet and even asked to ride in the stroller after POTC! This was odd, but I didn’t worry too much. He could’ve just been having an off day. While very rare for Andy-Roo, we all have ‘em sometimes. Blake enjoyed the freedom, so the switch was welcomed.

Somehow, we ended up coming around the back of the castle. This isn’t John’s usual path in that kind of journey, so I’m still not sure quite why. It was a nice detour for us anyway. We first checked out the Cinderella fountain here.

I remember the first time I ever saw that. I’d read about this magical fountain you’re supposed to kneel in front of. When you do, a crown appears over Cinderella’s head. When we walked by, I remember stopping and wondering, “Is that it?” I guess I expected something a little more impressive.

While we were in awe of Cinderella and her amazing crown, someone slipped into the area. It was Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother! Blake was thrilled to see her and wanted to visit.

Andrew was a little slower to join the fun. He seemed lost in looking at the castle. He had been confused about why the it was covered then and ask for Cinderella. She would know, right? It was her home! The Fairy Godmother claimed she might know and on the conversation went. It was tough to listen to. While this woman is very sweet, the way she talks down to children makes my head hurt. I noticed it the last time we saw her, too. I'm sure she means well. Is the Fairy Godmother supposed to be like that?

Back on our way to Pooh’s ride, someone else was running out to a M&G spot. We detoured again to visit with Peter Pan!

He signed the boys’ books and we were on our way. Not the most interesting visit, but mission accomplished all the same. As the boys began to walk away, he called out to them to watch out for pirates.

Blakers hopped up to me with his opinion on the meeting.

“Peter Pan has a big nose.”

Blake is a huge Peter Pan fan. He dresses up in that costume to this day and battles big brother. I thought this might’ve been a little more exciting for him than that! FWIW, I didn’t think he had a big nose. Everything seems bigger from a two year old’s perspective though. It did make us laugh anyway.

Next Up! The sword in the stone. Just as every visit before, that silly sword didn’t move a bit! This might be another of example of why my family doesn’t do the planning thing. How many stops would we make before we actually got to Pooh’s ride?

You're going the wrong way, Blakers!

What is with the square up in that tree? Anyone know?

Almost at the magical spot, our narrator came back in, “At last the rain went away, and everyone gathered together to say..”

Nothing. The ride just stopped, the door open before us. What a let down. I don’t think it’s any secret that this is the most important part of the ride for my family. The boys didn’t know how to respond to this. Do we still shout? Just as Andrew instructed us all to “Hooray!” on our own, the ride began again!

“Hooray!”

And it stopped. For a split second.

“Hooray!”

Double celebrations. That was pretty fun.

Back at the stroller, it was obvious that Andrew was fighting something more. He claimed to feel perfectly fine, but his eyes were telling a different story. I was between his allergies or an actual cold starting, but knew we needed to go check in for a break. We’d first stop in Cosmic Ray’s to get him a drink.

While in here, I tried to keep to the side with the boys. John went alone to get some drinks. It was a bit crazy with CMs trying to keep games going with children and guests rushing around with trays. One of the CM left the group to visit with Blake and Andrew. They were each given little Sonny Eclipse cards. That made Andrew’s day and he began to chat a bit. The CM had given Blake a “Happy Birthday” card. It wasn’t Blake’s birthday!

On our way to leave the park, we stopped to watch the ending of the castle show again. We don’t seek it out, but if it’s already going on.. Why not?

I love how the boys both get into shouting “Dreams come true!” along with the characters in that show. It’s so sweet!

We cut through the Emporium on our way out, but John and Andrew were attacked by a chatty CM. It was a little funny. She started talking to Andrew as we passed and just wouldn’t stop. Blake and I took the opportunity to find a new mug for John.

We didn’t buy any of those.

Eventually John managed to break away from friendly CM lady and saw what we were up to. He said he’d prefer a travel style mug, but couldn’t make up his mind. I found the way he studied the mugs hilarious. It wasn’t as if Disney has changed much of the merchandise in years. He knew what they had!

To the monorail!

Being a walking/marching boy is exhausting. Somebody looks ready for a nap!

 

[CAStevens218]

Poor Andrew, I hope he ends up feeling better after taking a rest!

I love your touring style, it is pretty much like ours. We know what park we are going to and where we are eating, but the rest is up for grabs! We generally have a few rides that we start with at each park, but then we figure it out as we go! You never know what/who you'll run into!!!!

I have that cheshire cat mug in your picture! Its HUGE, I love it!!

 

[Dugette]

That's interesting that Pooh's Rabbit was doing a meet and greet. I had no idea he appeared in the parks! Very cool with the Hall of Presidents Mickey...never seen that one before! I'm surprised that they had multiple Mickeys appearing at once in the same park...I've always heard they try to avoid that so kids don't wonder how Mickey is in two places at once. Funny about the ending of that Pooh ride...at least you got two Hooray's! Seeing your pic of Sonny Eclipse made me say to Dug, "I can't believe we never got in to see Sonny Eclipse." To which he responded, "Who's Sonny Eclipse?" I guess we missed a few things in our Year of Disney. More reasons to go back, I suppose (that and eating at CHH, of course )

 

[jc040404]

Poor Andrew, I hope he ends up feeling better after taking a rest!

I love your touring style, it is pretty much like ours. We know what park we are going to and where we are eating, but the rest is up for grabs! We generally have a few rides that we start with at each park, but then we figure it out as we go! You never know what/who you'll run into!!!!

I have that cheshire cat mug in your picture! Its HUGE, I love it!!

That's the best way to tour sometimes! It does lead to a lot of doing the same thing each visit for us though.

Those mugs are so big! The cheshire cat mug is so cute, too.

That's interesting that Pooh's Rabbit was doing a meet and greet. I had no idea he appeared in the parks! Very cool with the Hall of Presidents Mickey...never seen that one before! I'm surprised that they had multiple Mickeys appearing at once in the same park...I've always heard they try to avoid that so kids don't wonder how Mickey is in two places at once. Funny about the ending of that Pooh ride...at least you got two Hooray's! Seeing your pic of Sonny Eclipse made me say to Dug, "I can't believe we never got in to see Sonny Eclipse." To which he responded, "Who's Sonny Eclipse?" I guess we missed a few things in our Year of Disney. More reasons to go back, I suppose (that and eating at CHH, of course )

Each Mickey was in a different part of the park anyway. I think the one we skipped was by Space Mountain maybe. So long as they're not in view of each other, I guess it's okay. You can explain away anything with pixie dust, right? Andrew didn't believe at this point, but I was a little surprised that Blake didn't comment on Mickey beating us. With all the racing we do, seeing the mouse here first must've inspired the thought. Maybe he doesn't buy it either? I've never asked..

So funny about not him knowing who Sonny Eclipse was! I could see how someone would miss this. We never eat there, so without a couple of drink stops we'd not know who he was either!

 

[jc040404]

When our turn came in that long check-in line at Pop Century, I was a little disappointed in who was calling us his way. The same CM from our MK AM EMH experience check-in would be taking care of us. If you remember, he was in a rotten mood that day and only spoke once. I hoped that maybe it had just been the early hour before, but this seemed his personality. He didn’t even smile.

Because of Andrew’s desire to play on the giant keyboard, I’d put a request for the eighties buildings. We didn’t care which floor, just hoped to be in that area. Our room assignment had us in the fifties. If what they told us in the last AP year is true, this probably meant no one bothered to look at our request at all. I asked if something in our preferred location might be available, joking to John that we always get stuck in the fifties.

“But it will be a NEW room in the Fifities!” the CM jumped into our conversation.

He didn’t want to check for us at all. I was annoyed but didn’t push it. We know how to walk. Another CM did tell him to try anyway and he was able to find a room in Andrew’s desired location in less than two minutes. We were ready to go. Something in the way he laughed when telling us to “Enjoy your room!” gave me a very bad feeling inside when we left. This didn’t sound good at all. What were we just given??

We all hopped back in the car to move closer to our home for the next two nights. As we made our way around the building, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d found the reason for the laugh and tone. Every few doors had a paper taped to it with a tour group name across the top. Hmm.. Maybe this building wouldn’t be much fun afterall! I didn’t think tour groups used Pop Century for anything. I will say that we didn’t have any problems or hear a peep out of any of them.

While the boys and I settled into the room, John ran over to get some food. We were all pretty stuffed from that huge breakfast, even this late in the day so no one really wanted much. Andrew was far from interested in food and nibbled some grapes before falling asleep. The poor guy was worn out. The rest of this visit wasn't looking good. I hoped he’d feel better after his break. We decided to skip going to another park this day.

After a nice long nap, Andy-Roo seemed to be feeling much better. He was definitely full of energy anyway! He couldn’t wait to run outside to play. After he had something more to eat, we headed down the elevator to have some fun!

Yep, that’s what all the fuss was about. They had the best time running around and picking out letters. We would then have one of the best Disney evenings ever, and we spent every moment of it at Pop Century! While we were running around at the keyboard, I had each boy spell out his name in pictures..

As silly as it was, we had so much fun doing this. We hit all the major fun spots around this part of the resort.

We searched for the Potato Head couple..

Then the boys spotted a map This was huge. Andrew LOVES maps. They made plans to seek out the playground.

Along the way, we played Twister.. Well, the boys played Twister anyway.

There was a lot of dancing whenever we changed decades, of course. Blake just couldn’t resist! I love that about this resort.

John and Blakers broke some Disney rules..

While we’re breaking rules.. The boys tried to break into a car, too.

Eventually, they did find that playground.

We played here until after dark and everyone had such a wonderful time. It was simple, but it was perfect. We stopped inside to see if the boys wanted a snack before heading back to the room for bed.

The evening wasn’t the most exciting to read about, but it was wonderful for us. I set an early wake up call and hoped that Andrew would be just fine in the morning. We're going back to DHS!

 

[AprilRenee]

I didn't think it was boring at all!! I LOVE the pictures with their names! I think Andrew and I will have to steal your idea when we go next time. It's looking like we're going to go in the end of Jan. I'm buying plane tickets tomorrow and then I guess it'll be official.

Now I just have to book a room/package. I just feel a little weird about it though. I'm excited but a little concerned that we won't enjoy it as much. I'm sure we will, it's just that there are so many other things and places I want to see and do, but every time I have sat down to plan a trip somewhere else all I can think about is how I would rather just go to Disney again. So that's what we're going to do! DH (and I) want to see WWoHP over at Universal so we're probably going to do 2 days at Universal and 5 at Disney. So that will be something new to do.

Anyway...that was kinda off topic...back to your TR!

 

[Dugette]

Looks like a great evening (except for how Andrew was feeling). Such cute pics around Pop! As many times as we stayed there, we still missed seeing a lot of that stuff. Great idea to have them spell out their names on the keyboard...love it! Sorry you had a non-magical CM at check-in. Hope the rest of the stay goes well!

 

[akayek31]

I loved the 80's section when we stayed there in February. It was in the Roger Rabbit section. I love how you spelled out their names on the keyboard. This time we requested the 60's section since my son won't be there to run back and forth to fill our mugs. It is a mother/daughter trip for her 15th birthday

 

[jane2073]

I loved your post! The few times we have stayed at Pop Century, we have never taken the time to really look around. We are missing out on a lot!

I think it is so adorable that Blake is doing his Mickey Mouse pose in almost every picture! Cute!!!