"Santa must have heard that we love balloons!" TR *8/27 Update*

[Sherry E]

What wonderful Goofy's Kitchen photos! The characters look as though they were really interactive and attentive on that day. I especially love the photo at the entrance with Goofy and your group.

That cake is adorable!

This is one big reason why it's always fascinating and a revelation to look at other people's photos, and see their trips through their eyes - I always spot something that I have never seen in the past. Do you know that, considering all of the times I have eaten at Goofy's Kitchen and as detail-oriented as I am, I have somehow managed to completely overlook those little details like the Goofy hat and his hands (with the fruit and the burger and the banana split) on the buffet tables? How have I missed those all of these years? Your photos showed me something I haven't seen, or somehow haven't paid attention to even if I have seen it!

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

Hi! I'm a newbie (previously just a lurker), but I just wanted to say I'm enjoying your trip report we're planning our first trip to Disneyland this December. I love how Santa did the box of balloons and the activity books were great. We were thinking of doing a breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, but it sounds like Goofy's Kitchen was a hit... Maybe we'll have to do both I also appreciate you off site hotel review. Desert inn is one we're looking at. Your kids are precious and I like to see your older one so into it all.

 

[PHXscuba]

OK, I am caught up so far! I agree the Remember Dreams Come True is awesome -- it's now my favorite Disney fireworks show. We also enjoyed our Goofy's Kitchen meal, but didn't see quite as many characters.

Looking forward to reading more!

PHXscuba

 

[lsulindy]

What wonderful Goofy's Kitchen photos! The characters look as though they were really interactive and attentive on that day. I especially love the photo at the entrance with Goofy and your group.

That cake is adorable!

This is one big reason why it's always fascinating and a revelation to look at other people's photos, and see their trips through their eyes - I always spot something that I have never seen in the past. Do you know that, considering all of the times I have eaten at Goofy's Kitchen and as detail-oriented as I am, I have somehow managed to completely overlook those little details like the Goofy hat and his hands (with the fruit and the burger and the banana split) on the buffet tables? How have I missed those all of these years? Your photos showed me something I haven't seen, or somehow haven't paid attention to even if I have seen it!

You have to have noticed the hands!! You're just not remembering. Or maybe they're new! The kids got a kick out of them. I don't do nearly as many detail shots as I used to do. I have a hard time juggling the kids and camera, and if I can get the camera out, they don't stay still long enough for me to take pictures or anything! I'm trying to take a pic of something and realize that I lost one of them! But I try to take pics of things that the kids notice to help reinforce their memories. We really enjoyed Goofy's. As I said, I was nervous after reading some reviews, but we thought it was a very good experience.

Hi! I'm a newbie (previously just a lurker), but I just wanted to say I'm enjoying your trip report we're planning our first trip to Disneyland this December. I love how Santa did the box of balloons and the activity books were great. We were thinking of doing a breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, but it sounds like Goofy's Kitchen was a hit... Maybe we'll have to do both I also appreciate you off site hotel review. Desert inn is one we're looking at. Your kids are precious and I like to see your older one so into it all.

DS is a character. He's quite "quirky" to use my sister's description! He never thinks he's too old or cool for anything. He really just enjoys life and has a good time. Reading trip reports really helped me get a lay of the land for our first trip, hope mine can help you out!

OK, I am caught up so far! I agree the Remember Dreams Come True is awesome -- it's now my favorite Disney fireworks show. We also enjoyed our Goofy's Kitchen meal, but didn't see quite as many characters.

Looking forward to reading more!

PHXscuba

Can't wait to read your reports and compare notes. Glad y'all had a great trip!

 

[lsulindy]

We left the Disneyland hotel and headed back to the Desert Inn & Suites. On the short ride, the 2 year old fell asleep. We checked the weather on our phones, it had been 0% chance of rain the night before. We see that there's just one small rain cell over us, so we decided to just head straight to Hollywood. I took a quick run upstairs to get our bags and pack some snacks. When I got to the room, I saw the suitcase sitting outside the door. We had gotten ready in my parents' room, and I had forgotten about it. I went into the bathroom and was almost knocked over by the smell. It was awful. I realized why DH put it outside. Clearly scrubbing it down with soap and water in the shower did not help any!

I head downstairs to the van, and when I get there I'm told that mom needed to go to the bathroom and had just went upstairs (the bathroom rotation continues!). This detail will be important later!

Mom comes back down, and we head to Hollywood! Our first stop is to see the Hollywood sign. I'd mapped out a route according to the top suggestion on this site: http://www.pachd.com/free-images/hollywood-sign.html

On the way, we passed the Scientology Celebrity Centre. Dh and I got a little kick out of that. No celebrity sightings though.

Based on the picture, I don't think we were where we were supposed to be, but the GPS on my phone said we were at the correct address. We saw a park where we could park our car, the road was closed past there, and it would have been quite a hike up the hill from there before we could see anything. It was solid trees and we could not see the sign at all. So, we drove around (getting a little annoyed at each other along the way) until we found a street with a decent view of the sign. I hopped our of the car and took a pic, but I had to stand in the middle of the street to do so. On one side the sign was blocked by power lines and on the other trees. So, I ran in the middle of the road like a fool and took a quick picture with my phone.

Meanwhile, my dad and dd have both fallen asleep!

We drive a few streets over and realize we have another good view. Dd had really wanted to see the sign, so I reluctantly wake her and we pile out of the van for some obligatory pics.

We get back in the van and head to Hollywood Blvd. We arrive from N Orange Drive, and park in the Dolby Theatre parking garage. We walk out onto the sidewalk and immediately see the Chinese theater.

There is a stand selling tickets for the Hop On Hop Off double decker bus tour. I hadn't pre-purchased the tickets just in case there were weather issues. So, we buy our tickets and then walk down to see the theater. We had warned the kids in the car that there would be people in the area who dressed up like characters. We explained that these were not the real characters, but were simply people wearing costumes. We told them that these were people trying to make some money by taking pictures as characters with people but we were paying money for this vacation and the double-decker tour bus, so we would not be paying to take pictures with or buy anything from anyone on the street today. Our little talk worked well, and it wasn't a big issue.

We see Godzilla's star on the short walk.

There is no charge to enter the outer area with the handprints and footprints, but we did have to line up to enter and on entry they take your photo in front of a green screen with the option to purchase it. I did not purchase the picture, but they do have an option to view it online and you can email it to yourself and/or friends.

I don't know how high Rita Hayworth's heels were, but my smaller than average footed 6 year old fit perfectly in her footprints flat-footed!

He didn't do in on purpose, but I think this is the perfect face for Johnny Depp!

We took a quick bathroom break in the Dolby theater (photo from upstairs at Dolby, as I mentioned before my camera didn't handle glare well at all.)

and then went to wait for the next bus.

After a few minute wait, we are the first ones on the next bus.

snack time!

Another bus across the street

After a wait for more people to load the bus, we're off!

Continued here

 

[lsulindy]

We start on the red line, and see the sights on Sunset Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd.

http://www.starlinetours.com/images/SL-HH/HHmap.png

Sunset Tower Hotel:

We got off of the bus by the Beverly Hills courthouse so that we could take the yellow line to the Santa Monica pier. It was pretty cold up in the wind on the top of the bus, so we all got Hot Chocolate from Kelly's coffee while we waited for the next yellow bus. When we got back on the bus, mom, dad, and I opted to sit downstairs with the 2 year old while dh went back upstairs with the older kids. I thought I could get the 2 year old to fall asleep for a quick nap, but it didn't happen.

We got off of the yellow line at the Santa Monica pier.

We walked down the pier and decided have lunch at Mariasol's which is at the very end of the pier over the ocean.

The kids really enjoyed the porthole (not sure what you call it, it had a pipe down to just above the water.)

Everyone enjoyed their food, and all of the other adults enjoyed margaritas (not I, because as much as I love margaritas, I have a bum pancreas due to a medical mishap, so no alcohol for me. I was only a little jealous.) I had a combo meal with a chicken taco and a cheese enchilada. The taco was just ok, but the cheese enchilada was delicious. You'd kind of think something simple like a cheese enchilada couldn't be too spectacular, but it was amazing. I could eat one (or 3) right now! YUM!

After our meal, we walked around the backside of the restaurant where some people were fishing. My son LOVES to fish. He's obsessed. So of course he lamented the fact that we didn't bring him a fishing pole! Here he is pretending to reel in a big catch.

Although it was cool out, my daughter was constantly saying she was hot. This was her clever way of trying to convince us that she needed to go swimming. After what seemed like forever to her, we finally head onto the beach.

They took ds by the hand without any prompting.

Once the first wave hit their ankles, they couldn't run out of the cold water fast enough!

some fun in the sand

Continued here

 

[lsulindy]

All exhausted, we head back to the bus stop

We have to wait about 20 minutes for the next bus. The bus stop was crowded and their was no place to sit besides the ground. The kids got whiny, and this was the least pleasant part of our day. Luckily it didn't last too long, and we're soon back on the bus.

Beverly Wilshire:

row of luxury sports cars on Rodeo Dr.

We get back to the Beverly Hills Courthouse and have to unload again.

Luckily, there's a yellow line bus there and we can get right on. Everyone sits downstairs except for me and older ds who head to the top. The suns going down and it's very cool, but he's not ready to give up the fun yet!

We head through an area without many sights. It's getting colder and colder and then it starts to mist. I finally convince ds that we need to go down and sit inside the bus. The bus is much more crowded than the earlier buses since everyone is heading back in. We struggled to find a spot to sit. Then we start passing through areas with some sights I would have liked to see, but we're inside in the dark and the bus is crowded so it's difficult to see. We finally turn back onto Hollywood Blvd and are by Hollywood and Vine. My mom sees the stars on the ground, so she starts to get off the bus at that stop. We were spread out in the available seats, so luckily I was in a spot where I could grab her. She figured we had to be at our spot because there were stars on the ground, but we're still a mile away. She'd have had a long walk! A few minutes later, we're at our stop. DS2 and DD have long been sleeping and DS7 is pooped. We had a hard time convincing them to walk back to the car.

The kids LOVED riding the double decker bus. For the price of it, I'm not quite sure it was worth it. We got to see some sights along the way whereas if we had taken the car from the Chinese theater to the Santa Monica pier, we wouldn't have seen as much. And, we didn't have to worry about parking or getting lost. But, we probably would have had time to add another stop in if we'd driven. The kids definitely enjoyed riding the bus much more than they would have enjoyed riding around in the minivan for the day though.

We have a quiet trip for the 45 minute ride back to the hotel, and are excited to get to sleep because we're hitting California Adventure in the morning!

Continued here

 

[Sherry E]

You have to have noticed the hands!! You're just not remembering. Or maybe they're new! The kids got a kick out of them. I don't do nearly as many detail shots as I used to do. I have a hard time juggling the kids and camera, and if I can get the camera out, they don't stay still long enough for me to take pictures or anything! I'm trying to take a pic of something and realize that I lost one of them! But I try to take pics of things that the kids notice to help reinforce their memories. We really enjoyed Goofy's. As I said, I was nervous after reading some reviews, but we thought it was a very good experience.

I'm sure you're right - I must have seen those Goofy hands and the hat in the past but for some reason didn't really pay attention. I probably looked right past them. Maybe I was too eager to get to the eggs and bacon and just completely bypassed those little details!


Okay, let me just say that I loved, loved, loved your last installments and all of the photos you shared.

I am being redundant, but I just loved your Hollywood photos and especially your Santa Monica Pier/beach photos! Even though it's only about 20 or 25 minutes away from where I live, I haven't been to the Pier in years. I haven't been to Santa Monica Beach in years, either, even though I used to go there a lot as a teenager. Just last year I was thinking that I need to get back to the Pier one of these days to take some photos and check out what's new, but I never got around to it. So if I end up there this year, finally, I will have you to thank because your pictures inspired me to go!

When I was looking at your Hollywood/Santa Monica photos I almost felt as though I was looking at cool new places I had never been - and then I realized that it had just been so long since I had been to those places that they seemed new to me! Plus, you got a photo of the Chateau Marmont - something that I do not have one single photo of, despite its legendary status!





These are my absolute favorites of this last series of pictures, especially the first photo. That is just awesome. Are you on Facebook? That would make an excellent Facebook Timeline cover photo, I think.

They took ds by the hand without any prompting.

Once the first wave hit their ankles, they couldn't run out of the cold water fast enough!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

That is interesting that you can get off and on different buses, I didn't realize you could do that. The Pier has been on my list for my two trips, but it keeps getting pushed aside for other places.

I also really loved the daughter and grandpa nap time in the car.

 

[PHXscuba]

Also loved the photos Sherry reposted. The one of the three heading into the waves is precious.

I agree that the novelty of the bus probably kept your kids happier than the minivan. Kids don't look at "sights" the way we do.

PHXscuba

 

[lsulindy]

I'm sure you're right - I must have seen those Goofy hands and the hat in the past but for some reason didn't really pay attention. I probably looked right past them. Maybe I was too eager to get to the eggs and bacon and just completely bypassed those little details!

Okay, let me just say that I loved, loved, loved your last installments and all of the photos you shared.

I am being redundant, but I just loved your Hollywood photos and especially your Santa Monica Pier/beach photos! Even though it's only about 20 or 25 minutes away from where I live, I haven't been to the Pier in years. I haven't been to Santa Monica Beach in years, either, even though I used to go there a lot as a teenager. Just last year I was thinking that I need to get back to the Pier one of these days to take some photos and check out what's new, but I never got around to it. So if I end up there this year, finally, I will have you to thank because your pictures inspired me to go!

When I was looking at your Hollywood/Santa Monica photos I almost felt as though I was looking at cool new places I had never been - and then I realized that it had just been so long since I had been to those places that they seemed new to me! Plus, you got a photo of the Chateau Marmont - something that I do not have one single photo of, despite its legendary status!

These are my absolute favorites of this last series of pictures, especially the first photo. That is just awesome. Are you on Facebook? That would make an excellent Facebook Timeline cover photo, I think.

I understand. There's so many places in New Orleans, that I've either never been to, or haven't been to in years, or have never taken my kids to see. Need to get out in our own towns more! Glad you liked the pics. That beach one is great. I'm still so annoyed with that camera though!

That is interesting that you can get off and on different buses, I didn't realize you could do that. The Pier has been on my list for my two trips, but it keeps getting pushed aside for other places.

I also really loved the daughter and grandpa nap time in the car.

We've done the on and off tour in New York too and really enjoyed it. We had multiple days though. I think with the LA one, you'd need multiple days to make multiple stops b/c there's just so much travel time involved. We didn't even do the third line, and we passed the Farmer's Market and Tar Pits after dark. Wouldn't hurt to start earlier either. We didn't board the first bus till noon.

Also loved the photos Sherry reposted. The one of the three heading into the waves is precious.

I agree that the novelty of the bus probably kept your kids happier than the minivan. Kids don't look at "sights" the way we do.

PHXscuba

It was pricey, but the grown-ups got to see the sights, and the kids still talk about riding the bus, so I think we made the right decision.

 

[lsulindy]

Now, it's Monday morning and we're up excited to head to California Adventure. I walk over to my parents' room, and a smell hits me. When we arrived back at the hotel the night before, the suitcase was no longer outside of our door. I assumed that housekeeping had taken it away. No. My mom, who hates to throw anything away, had brought it into their room! She saw it when she went up to use the bathroom and was "afraid it would get wet in the rain" so she brought it into their room. She claims that it aired out and doesn't smell anymore, but my nose begs to differ. I tell her that it was a very inexpensive bag and was over 10 years old, and we were just going to go to Target to buy another one. She refuses to put it out, b/c she's not just going to throw away a "perfectly good suitcase." So, she agrees to keep it in her room for the week!

My parents aren't quite ready yet, so they say they'll meet us there. On the way out, we stop by the breakfast at the hotel. Apples, oranges, bananas, toast, pastries, cereal, oatmeal, juices, milk, coffee. Not too much, but enough to hold us over for a while.

We walk across the street and get in line at DCA about twenty-five minutes before 9 (opening time) DCA did have EE that day. Our line is moving much slower that others and DH notes that almost everyone in our line is having their picture taken. We get to the front and the worker scans our tickets and says "Oh, this is your first day in the parks! Welcome! You're going to need your picture taken." We explain to her that we had already entered and had our picture taken, but she poo poo's us like we have absolutely no idea what we're talking about and says we need pictures. The photo taker next to her takes our pics, and then the entry CM scans our tickets and lets us in without checking our IDs and without realizing that we've used the tickets before. So, that caused me to have some doubts about their new system. My parents told me that when they went through, my mom needed a picture, but my dad didn't (he'd had the issues with his ticket the first night and had to be reissued his). Before that I thought maybe the whole system is down, but apparently that was not the case.

We walk up Buena Vista Street and get to the area in front of Carthay Circle. We can see the crowds suddenly start to move and realize the rope dropped. DH takes all of our tickets to get in line for RSR fastpasses, and I take the kids and head back towards Toy Story Midway Mania.

We get to TSMM and I try to take pics of the kids in line, but the line is moving quickly and the kids are too excited to stand still. The lady behind us in line kindly offers to take our picture for us.

We wait for about 15 minutes and right before we're going to load we see DH walking up to the area. We all wave and then load our vehicle. I get on one side with DS2, and DS7 and DD6 sit on the other side. The CM comes to tell me that DD6 cannot ride with DS7 and she needs to ride on my side. So, she moves over and I can see a man loading into the seat with DS. I thought this was odd and then realized that it's DH! The CM saw us waving and let him in to ride with us.

I can't remember what our scores were, mine wasn't very high, but was the highest in the group, so I'm quite pleased with myself.

While we were waiting my parents had called to say they were in the park. When we exit the ride, they're there waiting for us. California Screamin' only has a 5 minute wait, so MiMi and PePaw take the younger ones on the carousel while we go with DS7 to ride his first ever upside-down coaster. (DD6 was SO upset that she wasn't tall enough to ride!)

Before going on an upside-down coaster:

And after:

Looks older and much cooler, right?

So, how did you like that?

Our ride photo:

When we exit the ride, we see that Donald is meeting in the gazebo across the lagoon, so we find my parents and kiddos and head over. There's only one or two people in line ahead of us.

Meeting Donald video

We see Duffy across the way with no one around and DS2 takes us running. He immediately goes in for a bear hug even though he has no idea who Duffy is! So glad the PP photographer got a pic, b/c I wasn't ready! He now asks about Mickey's bear all the time!

Leaving Duffy, we see a photopass photographer. Dh suggests that we do pics, but then keeps walking as I stop and talk to the photog. So, dd has a photo shoot!

This border was available for these shots, maybe Sofia will be meeting soon?

And, a magic shot:

The rest of the crew is standing in front of The Little Mermaid when we finish. It's a walk-on, so we hop aboard.

It keeps pausing a bit, so I'm able to get a few OK shots without flash.

This ride wasn't open for our last WDW trip, so this was our first time experiencing it. Very meh to me. Didn't hate it. But, it didn't really do anything for me either. The kids didn't seem too impressed after and this is one of the few rides that was never asked for or mentioned again.

Once off the ride, we head over to the Lunar New Year celebration

We see that Minnie is meeting and get in the short line

It's now time for our RSR fastpass return time, which I believe was 10:45, so we head over to CarsLand. We're all so excited to see it for the first time!

Continued Here

 

[lsulindy]

We walk over to CarsLand and WOW! I don't hate Cars, but it's not my favorite. But, we all loved Cars Land. It really is like you've walked into the movie. Such a surreal experience. Many people on the WDW boards talk about a Pixar land at DHS, and I think some amazing attractions could be made from Pixar films. But, the overall affect just wouldn't be the same as walking INTO the movie. It really changed how I felt about lands designed around a single movie.

We turn in our fastpasses and have about a 20 minute wait.

And, we're off!

Our ride photo, my hair had a blast!

I tried to video the ride, but didn't so such a great job. I couldn't hold the camera steady, I was in the middle and it was hard to tape around the windshield, my camera didn't focus well in the dark, my hair was blowing everywhere, and it accidentally cuts off for part of the race. But, after that ringing endorsement, if you still want to check it out....
Radiator Springs Racers video

Radiator Springs Racers did not disappoint. We all loved the ride. I'd seen pics, but I didn't realize how expansive the rock work was. And, the dark ride portion was so well done. Those animatronics were amazing. We got the new tire option at Luigi's, the only down part was that we didn't have a car to race. I didn't mind, but the kids were disappointed. My plan had been to get 6 fastpasses, then get a baby swap pass so the kids could ride once with DH and I and once with my parents, but since my parents met us late we didn't have the 2 fastpasses for them. So, we only had one ride for the day. The kids kept asking to ride again so they could race, but we told them we'd have to do it another day.

While we were on RSR, my parents took the baby to meet Mater and then got ice cream while they sat and watched the Mater and Lightning McQueen meet. DS2 could not get enough of that. He loved just sitting and watching them.

When we caught up to them, he'd crashed.

Luigi's is currently down and due to that the line at Mater's is building. We want to do those 2 with DS2 anyway, so since he's sleeping, we decide to head over to Tower of Terror cutting through Bug's Land.

The wait at Tower of Terror is posted at 35 minutes, and the FastPass return time is 40 minutes out, so we pull a FastPass and decide to kill some time in Bug's Land.

Continued Here

 

[lsulindy]

The wait for Flik's Flyers is posted at 15 minutes, so my parents, the two older kids and I get in line. We wind up waiting 30 and DS wakes up in the meantime so DH passes him to me and we ride.

Once the ride is over, we head over to use our ToT FPs. DD chickens out even though she rode 2 years ago in WDW, so it's just DH, DS7 and me. We get in the fastpass line and soon realize that something is not right. Once we get in the boiler room, we see that only one elevator of 3 is operational. We waited 55 minutes before our ride.

I enjoyed the DL version just as much as the WDW one. We only rode once though, so I didn't have a chance to learn the drop sequence. I'd guess that would make a difference if doing multiple rides. DH didn't know that the DL version didn't move forward along a track, so he was shocked when we dropped. He thought there was more ride before that happened. I rather enjoyed watching that! haha

While we were riding, my parents met Flik and rode Heimlich's Chew Chew train and Francis' Ladybug Boogie. I'd really wanted to ride the Chew Chew train and sadly never made it back on it.

Once we met back up with them, it's 1:30 and we're all hungry. After a short discussion, we decide to head back to Cars Land and have lunch at Flo's V-8 cafe.

Heading out of A Bug's Land

Continued here

 

[Caboosey]

He also loves to joke about everything. His new hilarious joke is "I not go Dennylan." Then I dramatically reply "Oh no! That's terrible!! If you don't go to Disneyland, who's going to hi-5 Mickey Mouse?" Then he laughs "ME!! I go Dennylan! I hi-fi Me Mows!" And, he cracks up!

Ha ha, I am cracking up at everything this kid says!

 

[Disney owl]

great reports can't wait to read more, thanks

 

[lsulindy]

Ha ha, I am cracking up at everything this kid says!

He's quite a character! Been joking since he can talk, and gets and can attempt sarcasm. Yesterday at church, he kept putting my necklace in his mouth. I asked him to not eat Mommy's necklace. He made a big slurping sound and then said "Mommy, I not eat your neck-a-lace, SLURP, I drink your neck-a-lace! SLURP!" He's hilarious and absolutely precious, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about the school and teenage years!

great reports can't wait to read more, thanks

Thanks! Welcome! It's nice to know I'm not talking to myself!

 

[lsulindy]

When I left off, we were headed back to Cars Land to eat lunch at Flo's.

DH and my dad get in line to order food, and the rest of us head around back to find a table. I mentioned it before, but the rock work for Radiator Springs Racers is so expansive. Sitting behind Flo's, you are in a canyon. It's incredible. There were only 2 other families back there. It was a very peaceful meal.

Even though lunch is on its way, DS was in need of animal crackers immediately!

DS7 got the mac n cheese kids meal, DS2 got the turkey sandwich, DD was getting tired and insisted upon a hot dog. DH normally would never entertain special requests, but in the name of melt-down free family vacation, he drops off everyone's food and then sets of in search of a hot dog while his food gets cold.

I got the turkey meal with mashed potatoes and beans. It was very good. The beans weren't my favorite, the potatoes were good and the turkey and gravy were great. This was probably my favorite meal of the trip.
DH got the New York Strip Loin and my parents both got the Pork Loin. Everyone enjoyed their food. It was a little pricey for a quick service, but the atmosphere was great, the food was very good, and there was a lot of it. It was satisfying, and we all left very full. We thought it was a great value for the price.

Lightning McQueen and Mater drive on the pathway behind the restaurant to and from their meeting spots at the Cozy Cone Motel. We got to see them trade out while we were eating.

DS2 picks up his McQueen food carrier, holds it up and yells "Hey Lightin uh-Keen! I got your toy right here!"

A few minutes later, they've swapped and Mater is heading back.

DH goes to the bathroom and comes back with milkshakes for the kids. I'd wanted to get them Red's Apple Freezes, but he didn't know that and I didn't say anything. The kids are thrilled with a special treat and enjoy their milkshakes. DH also got a collection of the Cars buttons from Flo's, and we each get a different color to wear.

We head across the street to the Cozy Cone to meet Lightning McQueen.

DD was wearing her birthday button, so he sang her Happy Birthday!

I'd read before on the DIS in comparisons of WDW vs DLR that the CMs aren't as friendly at DLR. I saw more than one comparison that used birthday buttons as an example. DLR CMs just don't acknowledge them as much. Well, we've never had a WDW birthday, but I have to say it would be impossible to shower a child with more birthday attention. It became a running joke how often DD was wished happy birthday. She'd get wished Happy Birthday by the fastpass checker, the fastpass collector, the ride loader, the seatbelt checker, then she'd get wished happy birthday by the unloading CM. CMs just walking in and out the park off-duty would wish her happy birthday. The dancers in the parade would stop and wish her happy birthday. Sometimes, she'd ask if she could take the button off, and then a few hours later she'd ask to put it back on. Towards the end of the week, she wouldn't wear it much, but would ask for it every now and then.

Continued here

 

[lsulindy]

Right after we exit the McQueen meet, we see Mater coming to swap out with him.

The older kids want to meet Mater, but DH has only ridden 3 rides so far today and he's itching to put some more notches in his belt. So, he convinces the kids to go ride Mater's ride instead.

DS7 was a little too hyper to stand still for a pic.

The wait was posted 15 minutes, but once we got in line one side of the ride went down. So, we waited about 30. I loved the references to all of Mater's shorts in line, and it gave the kids time to finish off the milkshakes.

I don't think DS has ever seen anyone square dance, but when the music came on in Mater's line. He quickly put his foot up and started bouncing. I don't know where he got that from!
Twistin' Twirlin' Whippin' Whirlin'

DS2 kept pulling on DH's button and didn't know why. He asked DS to stop and DS told him the cars were giving high fives!

High Five video

There was a photopass photographer at the exit to the ride who had taken this pic and handed me a regular PP card with it. I had read that they may sometimes do this if they saw you with a PP+ lanyard, but she seemed to be doing it for everyone.

We enjoyed Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. It's a simple ride, but well themed and fun. DS2 has a Cars puzzle filled with all the characters. The other day he was making the puzzle and saw a picture of the tractor. He said "that Mater's tractor! I ride that! I ride with MiMi PePaw. Bubba ride with Sissy. You ride with Daddy." I was shocked that not only did he remember the ride, but he accurately remembered who rode with who!

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[lsulindy]

The group was all together, so we took some PP pics on Route 66.

My parents decide to sit and rest while we head to Luigi's.

The line was moving quick (no real line until the outside in the back) through the office section, so I didn't get to look as much as I wanted. I did quickly point out the files he had for the other cars to the kids.

We got the hang of it pretty quickly and picked up a lot of speed. There were many giggles all around!


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