Stormtroopers, Mickey Bars, and Mission Space, Oh MY!

[bouncycat]

Hello there everyone!!! I know, I'm a little late in starting, it'll be worth the wait!!

We visited the World May 22nd to the 26th with some first timers in tow. I am Christie, avid Tigger lover, and all around Disney nut. My ds is Tyler, he turned 13 right before our trip.

The rest of us that went was my DH Chris, who is in the Coast Guard

DH's nephew who is 19, this is Matt.

Dh's niece is Amanda. She's Married, and has 2 kids. Jon is her hubby, he turned 40 the day we arrived. Andrew is 5, and Sara is 18 months old.

None of DH's family has been to WDW before, so we thought we'd do up a trip right for them. We stayed at the Treehouse Villas at SSR, and they were AWESOME!!! I wanted us to all stay together comfortably, and this room did not dissappoint us at all!! We stayed using the Military discount with quick service dining. We figured we'd use our meal credits for breakfast and lunch, and then cook dinner in the Treehouse. Here are some pics I got of the inside when we checked out.

We LOVED the treehouse!!! All of us were in Heaven! I was apprehensive about the bus transportation, but it really was a non issue.

Our first day, we left my house early, to arrive at DHS for SWW before checking in. Andrew had NO CLUE that it was anything to do with Star Wars that day, so that was a nice surprise for him!!!

Next update, our DHS day!!!

 

[ILoveMyGirls]

Great start. Can't wait to read more.

 

[bouncycat]

Great start. Can't wait to read more.

YAAAY!!! You're #1!!

Patience my dear friend. I'll update soon! Needed to get away from the main computer....was there ALL afternoon uploading pics to photobucket!! so my eyes are a little crooked!! HAHA Plus, I have no life.....so updating will be the highlight of my day!!

 

[KatMark]

Saw on Pink's TR that you started one and thought I'd join in if you don't mind.

 

[bouncycat]

QUOTE=KatMark;41371081]Saw on Pink's TR that you started one and thought I'd join in if you don't mind. [/QUOTE]

Nope!! Don't mind if ya join me at all!!! I think I've asked you questions on the CSR thread some time ago, we ended up not going there cause they weren't available, but remember you spoke highly of that resort.

I do hope you enjoy!!

 

[bouncycat]

For those who don't know me, or the family, a little history. Dh's side doesn't get together much, we live in Florida, they're in Tennessee and Kentucky. We hadn't seen Matt since he was 10, and Amanda since she was in high school. This was hte first time we met her dh Jon, and the 2 kids. All I kept saying while planning this trip for the past year was "I can't wait to get my hands on that baby!" Welllll......we'll get to that LOL

They left TN after Andrew's preschool graduation, and drove all night. Jon and Matt work nights, so that put me a little at ease. Amanda called me that Saturday morning the 21st and said they were on the turnpike, about an hour out! So....time to get out of bed!! LOL

They arrived, and I made pancakes. Amanda and I went shopping for our dinners for the treehouse, Jon slept, Matt slept, Tyler and Andrew played, and we had Sara with us. We got the shopping done, and got home, Chris made an old family recipe for Brochettes for everyone, and then we had ice cream cake for the May birthdays. Chris got the cars loaded up, put Amanda's car in our garage, then all we needed to do was wake up and get to DHS for SWW!!!! The guys are all big SW nuts, especially Andrew!! I got a couple pictures at my house with the kids playing and such.

We got the kids cleaned up and showered, and in bed at a decent time. I think us adults were in bed before 10. The alarm was set for 6am!!!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi my friend! You're off to a great start! Can't wait to read more. I need something to hold me over until late September. It's killing me to have to wait so long. I was spoiled last year.

Hope you guys are doing great and looking forward to the next installment.

 

[bouncycat]

Hi my friend! You're off to a great start! Can't wait to read more. I need something to hold me over until late September. It's killing me to have to wait so long. I was spoiled last year.

Hope you guys are doing great and looking forward to the next installment.

YAAAAAY!!!!!! Leanne's in the house!!! Where's Dana? We can't start the party without Dana!!! LOL Chris was talking to Joe on FB the other day, and I guess Joe was mentioning that he may need a quick weekend trip before september....Chris said to bring it on!!! If ya'll don't have the points, you can always stay here with us! We got lots of room!!! I'll do the first part of HS up tomorrow morning. This one I have SOOOOOO many highlights, and memories to share....it may take a while!!! LOL Anyways, thanks All ya'll for joining in the first day!! THose who are with me on FB know that I got LOTS of pictures!!!!!

 

[pinkxray]

I need to come back later once I get out of work to catch up. Loading pictures on photobucket takes forever.it almost makes me want to cut down on the picture taking next trip. Almost.

 

[bouncycat]

I need to come back later once I get out of work to catch up. Loading pictures on photobucket takes forever.it almost makes me want to cut down on the picture taking next trip. Almost.

it won't stop me from taking so many pictures!! I do like the idea we had to upload them nightly on our laptops, and then exchange sd cards between mine and Amanda's cameras. That way we each had ALL pictures, just in case her angle was better than mine, or vice versa.

No ticker for 3 years? Oh phooey on that. I got one for January of 2014. So go for it. I am planning a mommy son day at epcot sometime this week. I can use those types of trips as a little buffer. Some of these days may get kinda long on here!! We were SOOOO not short on laughs, and fun, and the farting. Oh my goodness, I kept looking at Jon, and said "we married into this family you know" LOL But there's NO WAY i'd have life any other way!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in, followed the link from pink's TR.

Wow, the Treehouse Villas, awesome!

 

[Lidian]

I'm sneaking over here as well from pink's TR. Hope you don't mind if I lurk!

 

[bouncycat]

Don't mind at all!!! I'll update pretty soon on the DHS part.

 

[bouncycat]

So, we left my house around 7ish in the morning. Everyone was pumped and raring to go!!

I had the younger kids and Amanda in my car, and Chris had Jon and the teenagers in his. The teenagers immediately put the ipods in the ears, compared music, etc. LOL That thing teenagers do!!

Amanda started taking pictures, which was fine with me. She kept wanting to get signs, and I told her to wait, I'll tell her when the good sign was coming up.

Here's the good sign!!

So, we get to DHS, check the cooler in the back of my car, grab the stroller and everything else, and head to the entrance. Andrew saw the sign, didn't think much of it, and then, he saw the storm troopers!!!

There's pure joy on that face!!!!

Amanda said she was good, if she doesn't do anything else, the look on her little boy's face was magic enough for her!

We figured everyone was heading towards star tours, and we were right. We went towards ToT and RNRC, and rode those. Well, all but Jon and Sara rode ToT. Amanda screamed the whole time!! That shirt at the end that says just breathe and scream? Yea, that was her. Chris was laughing the WHOLE time!! I was in the second row by Andrew, telling him what was coming. We got off that ride, and I get "Aunt Christie, I don't want to do that ride ever again"

For RnRC, it was only Chris and I, and the teenagers. Amanda and Jon took the kids to Jabbas hut.

I guess while they were in there, a cm lady commented on Amanda's pins. I had been collecting them for about a year. I had the Beauty and the Beast pin from the Disney Movie Club, which is exclusive, and the CM liked it, and of course Amanda wasn't gonna trade that one. Even more so after a CM wanted it!!

After we left that area, we went towards TSMM, and got a fastpass to return later. Then we got in line to meet the characters!!

Next up, will Andrew and Sara like characters????

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It is always fun when you surprise somebody and they react like that.

 

[bouncycat]

It is always fun when you surprise somebody and they react like that.

LOL Yep, it is. We've been doing that for a few years now. Throwing surprises in there. Since they've been having military discounts, we've been taking family and friends over there for a 4 day trip. Last year was my friend Sylvia, her son had NO clue we were going to DW, and we got a video of him in the car when he saw where we were going. It was awesome!!

Andrew started bouncing in the stroller after that, we had a sit and stand for them, so he was in the stand part just bouncin like Tigger!!! And ya know, that's why we keep going back. I LOVE seeing little kids light up over different things there. I could sit on a bench and watch kids all day long! This time it was extra special, cause it was family.

 

[pinkxray]

Aw, I am so glad Andrew was so excited. It sounds like everyone is having a good time so far.

I agree with you about watching the kids in Disney. I just love watching all the little ones meet the characters for the first time or walking down Main St and taking it all in.

I am glad you loved SSR. I remember that you wanted BLT so it is nice that is worked out. They do look pretty nice

 

[bouncycat]

Aw, I am so glad Andrew was so excited. It sounds like everyone is having a good time so far.

I agree with you about watching the kids in Disney. I just love watching all the little ones meet the characters for the first time or walking down Main St and taking it all in.

I am glad you loved SSR. I remember that you wanted BLT so it is nice that is worked out. They do look pretty nice

You are so right, I did want BLT. That will come into play later. I wanted to avoid the mad stampede out of the MK, and watch fireworks from our balcony, and see the monorails while drinking coffee in the mornings LOL The Treehouse worked very well for us, since Matt came, probably worked alot better than BLT, even tho the 3rd bathroom would have been nice, but we never had any issues with 2 bathrooms, and the bunk room was nice for the boys.

Matt never did open up the sleeper sofa, he just slept on the sofa. And man, that dude can SLEEP!!!!

I wanted Deluxe dining too, but issues with our taxes and me losing my job last year didn't help that matter, so we had the quick service, and that worked out for the better for us too, because Sara would have NEVER sat there patiently for all those TS meals. SO....everything worked out for the better, the issues were pretty much non issues, and everyone had a blast. There were hiccups, but what trip doesn't have those? LOL

 

[bouncycat]

Ok, so we come around the corner, see a 50 minute wait already for TSMM, so we got fast passes to return later on. After we grabbed those, Chris wanted to see what time the stunt show was at, and Amanda, Jon, Andrew, Sara and I hopped in line to see Buzz and Woody. I have never been thru this que before, and it was unlike any character que I've ever seen!!! There were props to take pictures of!!! So, we had fun waiting in line LOL

THis is Jon pushing the little ones on the way to the pixar area.

And these were while we were in line!!

And then we got to the front, time to meet Buzz and Woody!!!
Andrew pretty much ran at Woody, and gave him a HUGE hug!! It was awesome!! Sara was content with daddy holding her, as long as the characters kept their distance, she liked them. Andrew was pretty much all over the characters!!! LOL

That was Sara with Woody close. This next one is the one we got all together, except Jon and the baby.

So, after we came out of there, Andrew was on We found Chris and the teenagers, and found that the first stunt show was at 11:30. Sweet!! We have enough time to do the backlot tour. So we hopped on, got right inside to the preshow, and soon after, we were in the car going!!!

And poor Jon was closest to the water!! LOL

After we got off there, we went thru the gallery, got a couple more shots before going to the stunt show.

They really enjoyed the backlot tour, and seeing the things in the boneyard. After this, we had just enough time to get to the stadium for the Lights, Motors, Action show!!!!

 

[bouncycat]

We got off that ride, made our way thru the end, and the gift shop, then had to high tail it to the LMA theater. The shade was ALLL the way at the top, so I had to walk up stairs. The FIRST day, and I'm doing stairs!!

For those that don't know me well, I have a type of Muscular Dystrophy, and stairs are NOT my friend. I do try to stay out of my wheelchair as much as possible, cause I feel that I miss so much while in it. I knew this park this day would be busy, so I huffed it. Anyways.

Waiting on the show to start, Chris was talking up this show bigtime, since it's one of his favorites. I passed out stickers to kids, and applied sunscreen on anyone I could reach. (I'm a skin cancer survivor, so sunscreen is pretty important to me)

Then, the show starts with the Ballet chase. Amanda LOVED this part. I got a few pics, and I was trying to get her face.

Right after the stunt show, while Amanda and Jon were trying to find ours out of the sea of strollers, I got this picture. Now, in the Middle is my DH, on the right is his nephew Matt, and on his left is his son, Tyler. I named this one "3 Irvine's all in a row" And it got good reviews on FB, from Matt's mom. You can sure tell that they're all related too, got that tall skinnyness about them!!!

After the stunt show, it was BLAZING hot outside. So, we went and ate lunch at Pizza Planet, everyone was pleased, and then we decided for all of us to go check into the room.

We head to SSR, I get to the counter, made sure our request to be at the south bus stop was made.....and Our room was NOT ready!!! That is the first time that has happened to me on our many trips. So....what to do?? We could use the main pool, but our swim suits were in an area that we had to dig to get them. So....we decided that the best place was to go to DTD. The only store I wanted to go into at that point was World of Disney. We went in there, and was looking for ears for the youngest 2, and got a couple good hat pics.

So, we're checking out hats, having a good ol time, or trying to. MY dh was aggrivated that our room wasn't ready. So....just told him it'll be fine, so he calmed down, and about 45 minutes after trying to check in, I got the text with the room number. So, we buy just a couple of things, and head over to the Treehouse area.

Now, remember, I can't do stairs well, so Amanda and Matt help me up the stairs to the room, told the guys to bring up the stuff, and I'll start putting stuff away. Amanda put Sara down for a nap. We're unpacking things, and we forgot to put our wireless router with us from our house. OK. So, me and Chris venture out to Wally world, to find a router. We got one, brought it back, hooked it up, and poof, we're online!!!

This first night was my nite to cook, so I made spaghetti. I wanted to make sure it was easy, as standing is hard for me too. I had it done, and we were eating soon after. Jon wanted to stay behind and not go back to the parks. This, is how we found Matt

And that's how we left him. So....Chris and I, Amanda, Tyler and Andrew and Sara went BACK to DHS. Got some shots on the bus

I kept TRYING to get Sara to come to me....but poor baby didn't want nothing to do with me. I do know enough about little ones that age, that they'll warm up to you when you're ready. I didn't give up tho!!!

So we get back in the park, and decide to check out Jabba's hut again. I didn't go in there earlier, and I wanted the passholder shirt. So, we got that for me, I got one for Amanda, and the passholder pin, since it's Darth Maul, and she's a big fan of his.

These were in Jabbas hut this year.

After Jabba's hut, we went to ride the Great Movie Ride. I didn't take any pictures in there, but everyone on there loved it. After that, we went to ride TSMM!!! I got a few pics inline.

I think I'm at my picture limit, so I'll finish up day one in the morning!!!! I hope everyone is enjoying so far!! Amanda and Andrew enjoyed TSM, Sara did too, sitting between Amanda and Uncle Chris!!

Next up.....STAR TOURS!!!!