Heat, humidity and a great Mother/Daughter trip! A May TR **TR Update 12/10**

[ZehnJahren]

My mom isn't a fast walker either, so I was surprised to see you only had a 30 minute wait at TSMM! I know how slow the slow walkers can be and how fast that line grows; and that's not a bad wait! If I saw TSMM posted at 45 minutes, I'd definitely get in line. This year I expect Mom to pick up the pace a little.

Love the unintentional matching this day. It's not matchy matchy but it's enough to be cute for a mom and daughter!

I love the Woody and Buzz photos. I think those characters are definitely some of the most photogenic - the costumes are done so well! I especially love Buzz! But it must have been annoying to have the kids running around driving everyone nuts (because you KNOW they WERE).

I've never done that Captain Jack Sparrow thing at HS. From what I've read it's just a show? How long is it?

 

[MelMel11]

Enjoying your TR. I would love to do a mother/daughter trip!!

 

[KatMark]

Steph, great update.

Mark refuses to walk fast so we always let the throngs pass us by to get to TSM (one of things I like now about the new FP system...we can get it for when we want it).

I love all of your pics with Daisy and Donald; too funny that you and Mom accidentally wore the same shirt.

Tell Mom her score is better than any I have EVER gotten on TSM.

I truly don't get the meaning of that Pirate thing at all. They would NOT let us take pictures the one and only time we went there.

Mom in shackles? Now that sounds interesting.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

My mom isn't a fast walker either, so I was surprised to see you only had a 30 minute wait at TSMM! I know how slow the slow walkers can be and how fast that line grows; and that's not a bad wait! If I saw TSMM posted at 45 minutes, I'd definitely get in line. This year I expect Mom to pick up the pace a little.

Love the unintentional matching this day. It's not matchy matchy but it's enough to be cute for a mom and daughter!

I love the Woody and Buzz photos. I think those characters are definitely some of the most photogenic - the costumes are done so well! I especially love Buzz! But it must have been annoying to have the kids running around driving everyone nuts (because you KNOW they WERE).

I've never done that Captain Jack Sparrow thing at HS. From what I've read it's just a show? How long is it?

I think the short line at TSMM was because it was morning EMH, which lots of people skip in favor of more sleep!

I agree that Woody and Buzz are very photogenic and nicely detailed!

It's kind of a walk-thru and show, it's hard to describe! It's about 10-15 minutes I believe.

Enjoying your TR. I would love to do a mother/daughter trip!!

Thanks, and welcome! It was a great trip

Steph, great update.

Mark refuses to walk fast so we always let the throngs pass us by to get to TSM (one of things I like now about the new FP system...we can get it for when we want it).

I love all of your pics with Daisy and Donald; too funny that you and Mom accidentally wore the same shirt.

Tell Mom her score is better than any I have EVER gotten on TSM.

I truly don't get the meaning of that Pirate thing at all. They would NOT let us take pictures the one and only time we went there.

Mom in shackles? Now that sounds interesting.

That is definitely a benefit of the FP+ system, you don't have to run to TSMM and get a FP first thing to be guaranteed to ride it.

Thanks, we had lots of good character interactions that day. And it was a complete accident we matched, but quite funny!

She is thankful that someone is worse than her at TSMM

They said no flash pictures with us. I don't get it either. It's a good enough size space to put something better there!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Even after stopping to take pictures, the wait time for TSM was just 30 minutes? Wow! That's not a bad wait time at all. We were going to see the Jack Sparrow thing but I didn't know about the cards and were stopped by a CM. It wasn't a must-see for us so we just skipped it all together.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'll be back shortly with an update, but first I wanted to post about something that happened to me.

On Friday my grandfather passed away after falling ill on Wednesday. His whole body started shutting down and he passed Friday evening. He was 85. I did get to see him on Thursday and when I had to leave I told him I loved him and he said it back, which was wonderful since he was so weak talking was nearly impossible for him.

He was an amazing man and a great grandfather. What made it even more incredible was that he is not related to me by blood. He was actually my aunt's husband's father. They got married 21 years ago and from the start he treated me, my sisters and all of my aunt's nieces and nephew's as his own grandchildren too. He actually was a more involved and loving grandfather than either of the ones I was related to by blood (who have both also passed away, both in 1999).

His viewing is tomorrow and funeral will be Tuesday. While his health has been bad for about a decade and we have sort of been expecting him to pass anytime in the past 5 years it's still so hard. The world lost a wonderful man and our whole family lost his love and humor.

Here is the most recent picture I have of me with him, from my sister Heather's wedding almost 3 years ago.







​

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY TWO, WEDNESDAY MAY 21ST, PART TWO

After finishing with The Legend of Jack Sparrow Mom and I decided to head over to the only big thrill ride my Mom will do. But before we made it there we stopped for pictures at the arch!















The first picture was my camera, the other 3 were the MM pictures. We started to head to the attraction, but got distracted again by the lure of Starring Rolls. We weren't really hungry, so we got a Red Velvet cupcake to split. I know I took a picture of it, but I cannot find it anywhere! I do, however, have a picture of the guests beside us while we ate!






You may see a duck theme as this TR goes on. Partially because there are so many at WDW, and partially because George's family rescues and raises ducks so I took a lot of pictures for him of them.

Once we were done eating our delicious cupcake we continued our journey toward our attraction destination.






I'm sure you can figure out which directions we were headed by then, so it shouldn't be a surprise that we stopped for more pictures on the way. First two are my camera, the rest are from Memory Maker!
























So, where do you think we were going? Here:






Or here:






Well, if you remember I said one of the reasons we couldn't fly was because my Mom is terrified of heights, so it shouldn't be any surprise that we were getting on Rock N Roller Coaster!











We had a posted wait of 30 minutes, and in reality it took about that. I took more pictures while waiting in line.


















We very much enjoyed our super stretch limo ride to the Aerosmith concert! And our ride picture makes me crack up laughing, mostly at my Mom!






I had a FP+ for ToT later in the day so we headed back the way we came to find the next thing to do. It was starting to get pretty warm so decided to head indoors for the next thing we did, and we chose to go in here!






CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST



​

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Once in the Art of Animation building we skipped the video and went right to the characters. First up, Sorceror Mickey!


















Mickey had about a 5 minute wait, as did our next character, Minnie Mouse!















We did one of my favorite hidden gems next, the animation class. My Mom had never done it before but decided to give it a try despite her lack of drawing skills. We did a new character for me, Rapunzel. I know I took pictures of our drawings, but I cannot find them right now. Once I do I will post them. Mine looked pretty good, but Mom was right about her lack of artistic ability.

We couldn't decide what to do next, but thought we would start walking to the other side of the park since we hadn't been over there yet. Along the way we saw several of the little photo ops set up for Star Wars Weekends. It was a Wednesday so most were closed up to where you couldn't get a picture, but there was one that was still a funny op. I didn't do it, but my Mom did!






My Mom is in shackles! Thankfully though they were made for a creature much larger than her, so she was able to slip out and we were on our way again!



NEXT TIME: TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES




​

 

[saintstickets]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family as you mourn the loss of your grandfather. Thank God that you were able to see him before his passing. A very similar situation happened with my mother two years ago and to this day I'm thankful I was able to see her the day before she passed. For a while there will be sadness but with time the loving memories will replace the sadness. Know that there are many that feel your grief and pray for you and yours. God's peace be with you.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family as you mourn the loss of your grandfather. Thank God that you were able to see him before his passing. A very similar situation happened with my mother two years ago and to this day I'm thankful I was able to see her the day before she passed. For a while there will be sadness but with time the loving memories will replace the sadness. Know that there are many that feel your grief and pray for you and yours. God's peace be with you.

Thank you very much for your kind words and thoughts. I am thankful I got to see him before he passed, and I'm glad you got to see your mother too.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved family member. Some people come into our lives and truly make our families what they are, and when they're gone there's a void that can't be filled. We just lost the patriarch of our family in March, and our family won't be the same.

My mom loves RNRC too! I get very nervous on it, since I don't like the restraints that come down against your chest like that. I always end up putting my purse between my stomach and the restraints so I can move it in the end and have some room to breathe while waiting to unload!

I still want to do the Animation Academy. Would love to see your picture that you drew!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'll be back shortly with an update, but first I wanted to post about something that happened to me.

On Friday my grandfather passed away after falling ill on Wednesday. His whole body started shutting down and he passed Friday evening. He was 85. I did get to see him on Thursday and when I had to leave I told him I loved him and he said it back, which was wonderful since he was so weak talking was nearly impossible for him.

He was an amazing man and a great grandfather. What made it even more incredible was that he is not related to me by blood. He was actually my aunt's husband's father. They got married 21 years ago and from the start he treated me, my sisters and all of my aunt's nieces and nephew's as his own grandchildren too. He actually was a more involved and loving grandfather than either of the ones I was related to by blood (who have both also passed away, both in 1999).

His viewing is tomorrow and funeral will be Tuesday. While his health has been bad for about a decade and we have sort of been expecting him to pass anytime in the past 5 years it's still so hard. The world lost a wonderful man and our whole family lost his love and humor.

Here is the most recent picture I have of me with him, from my sister Heather's wedding almost 3 years ago.







​

Stephanie, I am so very sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. No matter is he was your grandfather by blood, he was your grandfather by love and htat's all that matters.

Praying for peace for you and for your family!

 

[mickeystoontown]

The morning is definitely off to a good start...cupcakes, drawing and more characters!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved family member. Some people come into our lives and truly make our families what they are, and when they're gone there's a void that can't be filled. We just lost the patriarch of our family in March, and our family won't be the same.

My mom loves RNRC too! I get very nervous on it, since I don't like the restraints that come down against your chest like that. I always end up putting my purse between my stomach and the restraints so I can move it in the end and have some room to breathe while waiting to unload!

I still want to do the Animation Academy. Would love to see your picture that you drew!

Thank you! He definitely had a huge impact on our family and we will all miss him.

I love RnRC! It just makes me laugh a bit because my Mom doesn't like going upside down but enjoys this roller coaster since it happens in the dark so she doesn't see it coming and get nervous.

Definitely do the Animation Academy! It's much fun and a free souvenir to take with you. I need to look for my drawing to get a new picture of it until I find the ones I took that day.

Stephanie, I am so very sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. No matter is he was your grandfather by blood, he was your grandfather by love and htat's all that matters.

Praying for peace for you and for your family!

Thank you Lisa! You are completely right, love makes someone family, not blood.

The morning is definitely off to a good start...cupcakes, drawing and more characters!

Yes, it was definitely a good morning with a good amount done already.

 

[KatMark]

Stephanie, first and foremost, I am so sorry to hear about your Grandpa. I remember over previous reports his illnesses. No matter how much it is expected, it still hits very hard.

What a great day at the Studios. All of the Memory Maker pictures are terrific, especially Minnie and Mickey.

I want to get the one with "Chip" when we are there in September.

Rapunzel to me would be rather hard to draw. In fact, I think we did her once and mine was awful and I threw it away.

The picture on Rock & Roll is hilarious. Your mom is a braver soul than me. No way I can do that ride.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Stephanie, first and foremost, I am so sorry to hear about your Grandpa. I remember over previous reports his illnesses. No matter how much it is expected, it still hits very hard.

What a great day at the Studios. All of the Memory Maker pictures are terrific, especially Minnie and Mickey.

I want to get the one with "Chip" when we are there in September.

Rapunzel to me would be rather hard to draw. In fact, I think we did her once and mine was awful and I threw it away.

The picture on Rock & Roll is hilarious. Your mom is a braver soul than me. No way I can do that ride.

Thank you very much Kathy!

I really liked all of the Memory Maker pictures too! The Chip one was the photographer closest to the entrance to Beauty & The Beast, and they actually used the wall at the entrance to take the pictures.

Rapunzel was hard to draw, a lot harder than the non-human characters!

Thanks, I thought it was funny too, especially since I reminded her about the picture being taken then and she still made that face!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Sorry for being MIA this week. My grandfather's viewing and funeral were this week, I was busy at work and had other things going on too. I had every intention of posting another update the last few days but each day I ran out of time. Then this morning I got more sad, horrible news.

Those that have followed my previous TRs may remember me talking about my Uncle Bubba. He was the one in my December 2012 TR that had to be rushed to the hospital and almost died while I was at WDW. For those that didn't read that, or just forgot what I said, I'll tell you about him. He is my Mom's sister's husband. In November 1999 he was told he wouldn't make it until Christmas, which he obviously surpassed and then some. His family has a very bad problem with diabetes. One of his sister's passed away in her 30s from it a couple decades ago. He developed it in his late 20s and it was so badly affecting his entire body that they told him in 1999, at 35 years old, that he was dying. He has slowly gone downhill over the years, with his heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and more all slowly failing, nerve damage all over and more. Throughout it all though he has still been happy and funny.

Just yesterday my Dad stopped by there in the morning to pick up something from them. My parents got a call 6:30am this morning that he passed away overnight. I don't know any details yet, just that he passed away at home sometime during the night and was found this morning. While my grandfather's passing was absolutely sad, this one is worse in terms of the impact on my family. He was only 50 years old and my aunt and cousins are going to have a lot to go through with his passing. I won't be posting exactly what, as it's a lot of their private information, but I appreciate prayers and good thoughts for them. Thank you all.

I probably won't get to post an update today with everything going on now, but I will try to get one done soon.


​

 

[KatMark]

Oh, Stephanie. I am so so sorry to hear about Uncle Bubba. I do remember when you told us about that in your TR.

Sending prayers to you and all the family to get through this difficult time, and hugs for you my friend.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Oh, Stephanie. I am so so sorry to hear about Uncle Bubba. I do remember when you told us about that in your TR.

Sending prayers to you and all the family to get through this difficult time, and hugs for you my friend.

Thank you so much Kathy, I truly appreciate it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Stephanie, I do remember you writing about your Uncle Bubba. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. Praying for you and your family.