Suzy and Perla's guide to skipping lines and pursuing magic:

[ellajeansmom]

Hi there! Just got caught up on your adventures

Even with bumps along the way it seemed that everyone still had a great time and you were somewhat able to put the stress of work behind you, if not the work itself I was very glad to hear that your Dad is doing so much better.

One of the things that struck me as I was reading was how wonderful it is that Boo now loves the characters and runs to greet them, I remember your earlier TRs when you felt lucky if you could manage to sneak her into a picture with a character!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of this trip and your upcoming DL trip

 

[Lisa0620]

I'm getting caught up too, really enjoying it as always.

A special shout out to Suzy re: Buzz's love of all screens. Maybe you already went on your budget trip, but if not I wanted to mention how much my Buzz (10) loved the new Sorcerer thing at MK. I kind of dragged my feet on signing up for it b/c none of us had enjoyed the Kimmunicator thing at Epcot, but we finally did it the last day and it was just a huge hit with both him and our NT 7 yo. We signed up behind the Christmas Shoppe which was way less busy than at the front of the park. Such a great time filler and I loved that the kids could cast their spells at the same time (no fighting!) I wished we had done it our first MK day too.

 

[houseful of boys]

I'm getting caught up too, really enjoying it as always.

A special shout out to Suzy re: Buzz's love of all screens. Maybe you already went on your budget trip, but if not I wanted to mention how much my Buzz (10) loved the new Sorcerer thing at MK. I kind of dragged my feet on signing up for it b/c none of us had enjoyed the Kimmunicator thing at Epcot, but we finally did it the last day and it was just a huge hit with both him and our NT 7 yo. We signed up behind the Christmas Shoppe which was way less busy than at the front of the park. Such a great time filler and I loved that the kids could cast their spells at the same time (no fighting!) I wished we had done it our first MK day too.

Thanks for the tip! Our trip is planned for August 4th through 11th. Sorcerer's is on my list of must do's primarily because I know that Buzz will LOVE it. I'm glad to hear your endorsement because, to me, it sounds kind of one dimensional, standing in place holding up cards. But for him it will be a hit. He likes Pokemon(ish) stuff and reads Kingdom Keepers, and it kind of sounds like a mixture. I will definitely sign up in Liberty Square if it means standing in a shorter line. Do you know if they open that location at park opening?

We're trying to keep this trip a surprise for the boys (everyone but Charming). We're going to surprise them with a treasure hunt the day before we take off. They don't think we can afford to go until 2013 because we've had to carry two houses this year. But we've sold our house and I've been able to swing a very affordable trip, so SURPRISE!

 

[Lisa0620]

Do you know if they open that location at park opening?

Sorry, I'm afraid I don't know. We did all the rides first on an 8 am opening day and got there around 10 am, there was one person ahead of us. We had tried to sign up at the front of the park on our previous MK day in the afternoon and there was a line 10 deep. (One of those 'lots of CMs standing around but nothing's really happening' kind of lines... ugh.) One of their training screens was apparently down. There's almost nothing to the "training;" basically hold up the key card first so it reads who you are and where you are in the experience and then you hold up the spell cards when it tells you to cast them. A few times (the first one?) it doesn't ask you to cast a spell which was a little unexpected/disappointing. They were encouraging people to go to the Liberty location, but there were no takers because it was really hot. I don't know what the line is like in the front at rope drop.

The CM gives you as many card packs as you have tickets but they encourage you to get only packs for the kids. (We went along with this, but next time we will get 4 packs...) There are key cards in each pack, but we used one key card so the kids were playing together. It's random, so the experience can start in any Land; you could keep trying key cards until you got the Land you wanted to start in.

You're right, there isn't much to it and honestly DH and I only enjoyed it because it made the kids so happy. They liked finding the locations and the slapstick humor in the mini-movies. (If you cast a spell with Flynn's frying pan, a pan hits the villain on the head - hilarious apparently .) It's really well designed, the map and cards are great souvenirs. We saw people (WAY too many single adults...) playing with fancy binders full of cards. Several families had large stacks of cards and asked to trade duplicates with us. We were fortunate that our son didn't get "stuck" on finishing each Land and we were able to leave when the park got too crowded. Most locations are outside and the lines are mostly in full sun. I hope your kids enjoy it!

Edited to add: SO FUN about the surprise trip! I can't watch trip reveal videos on youtube without bawling. Something so extra magical about a surprise trip, I hope you do a TR!

 

[LovesBelle]

Your trip reports are so terrific! I was feeling blue about not being able to get to Disney this year, but reading this let me imagine that I was there again--it was like a mini vacation. Thanks for taking the time to write all this.

 

[estherhead]

I've enjoyed your trip reports, too! I can't wait to hear all about Disneyland - it is on our list!

It's hard to believe but our DL trip is less than 2 weeks away!!! I've come on here to finish this up because the pressure's on!

Hi! I'm a major lurker on your Trip Reports, I LOVE them. In response to this, if you're going to do two shows in one night at Disneyland, I highly recommend watching fireworks and then catching the second Fantasmic! showing. I've done this a zillion times, and it has never failed me as a strategy. Let me know if you want some specifics.

Thanks for the love. I want the specifics, even if I don't use them!

Hi there! Just got caught up on your adventures

Even with bumps along the way it seemed that everyone still had a great time and you were somewhat able to put the stress of work behind you, if not the work itself I was very glad to hear that your Dad is doing so much better.

One of the things that struck me as I was reading was how wonderful it is that Boo now loves the characters and runs to greet them, I remember your earlier TRs when you felt lucky if you could manage to sneak her into a picture with a character!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of this trip and your upcoming DL trip

Yes, Boo has come a long way. She's now transferred her obsessive fear to spiders. I guess she's the kind of person who can only have one obsessive fear at a time. She and the characters truly make my trips. They are so cute together.

Your trip reports are so terrific! I was feeling blue about not being able to get to Disney this year, but reading this let me imagine that I was there again--it was like a mini vacation. Thanks for taking the time to write all this.

Our last day was my favorite. Stay tuned.....

 

[estherhead]

I set my alarm the night before for 6 am. But my internal clock is bizarrely accurate and my eyes popped wide open at 5:59. So I just shut it off. I sincerely cannot remember the last time I used a snooze button. There is no need as my body just awakens at the proper time. Even if I'm really tired.

My shoulder & neck felt much, much better and I was glad I had endured the massages and neck roll the night before.

It was time to pack. The year was over.

I went into the bathroom and got ready and then went into the giant walkin closet to pack. I got myself 100% packed and started on the laundry. I figured there wouldn't be much since I'd done a load every day. I was wrong. Donald has this thing on vacation of hoarding his laundry. I ask every day as I throw a load in if he wants anything washed and he always says no or just throws in one or two things. Then there it all is in a giant stinky pile awaiting me when we pack. No matter my complaints on the subject and that it isn't like the laundry does itself when we get home, the giant pile awaits me at the end of every trip.

It filled up a full sized garbage bag.

By 7:00 I had us all packed (I snuck into the girl's room while they were still sleeping and grabbed their stuff) and coffee was made and mine, at least, was drunk. So I started in on the kitchen. For some reason the kitchen normally falls on my shoulders on trips. In general I don't mind. I'm an early riser, a quick packer, and have a good working knowledge of food safety. But this morning every time I lifted anything I wanted to yelp in pain.

But I couldn't quit. Because every second we took to pack, was a second sucked out of our last day at Magic Kingdom. And I knew the chances were I wouldn't see my castle for another 2 years. So there was NO WAY I was just sitting down and waiting till others had the time.

Instead, I made all of the children help me. I just stood in the middle next to the cooler and bags and barked orders. It actually ended up looking a lot like us putting away the groceries 6 days earlier. They were very motivated kids. Complain or stop, you don't get to re-ride your choice at MK today. That's right people, I know how to motivate.

Within 30 minutes we had that done and Donald had everything packed as well. So I laid down again on my towels hoping to reset my shoulder and neck again. Milo and Suzy were done by 8:00 and it was all men on deck to get those bags and food and people into the vans. I felt like we did amazing. We were pulling out of our delightful Disney house by 8:20.

Because we were spending the next week on the beach, we had bought double groceries at the store. Lots more to go in the van when we were leaving than came down originally.

Is it me or did Jack-Jack JUST wake up in this picture?

I called to checkout while Donald and Milo filled up at the 7-11. So expensive! Total rip-off.

We did not make rope drop. But this photo was taken at 8:59. Not too shabby, not too shabby at all.

And this one at 9:07:

Awwww...

Happy, happy people!

9:19 am:

Oh yeah! Let the party begin. Well, ok, the party has clearly already been going for several days. But, let THIS day's party begin.

My beautiful castle, how I will miss you:

Right down the middle of Main Street USA:

Yeah, we got here early enough, I'd say.

I don't have any notes on this part of the day. But I don't need notes to tell you that someone, generally Suzy or I, went and got FP's to something. That I know for certain.

I'm going to guess to Space Mountain. But, see, I didn't spend much of this day with the family. Boo and I had our own things to do. So we only hung out at the first three rides. Buzz Lightyear:

Monsters Inc (you aren't allowed photos. I snuck this one cause we got on TV):

And yes, you better believe we danced like crazy.

It's a Great Big, Beautiful Tomorrow.

Oh, that's not what it's called? Are you sure? Ok, Carrousel of Progress.

And, yes, we sing. 11 of our 12 know every single word. And we've tried to get on American Idol where good singing is always allowed. Except when it isn't. Which is always. So we sing at CoP. We know all the words and we are all on key. It makes us happy. And our happiness is just as important as other people's happiness. Where is the sticking out your tongue smiley?

And that is where Boo and Mommy left everyone. To be honest, I don't know what they did. And I don't care. Because Boo and I had a FABULOUS hour just the two of us. Sigh of delight.

We started with a turn on another carousel:

You can draw your own conclusions of our mood from the following smile:

The stepsisters were out and about wreaking havoc on Fantasyland.

They don't have a handler since they are well able to take care of themselves. Boo has a great relationship with them already and made herself comfortable as they made their way over to their little photo corner. We were first (and kind of only to begin with) and it was really nice.

She's explaining their meal together from our March trip:

And here I have no idea. But clearly Boo is explaining something about Fantasyland to them:

Even when she's with the ugly stepsisters, Boo has the princess pose DOWN flat:

I fixed Boo's hair while we were in the super short line for It's a Small World:

And then it was about 11:30 am and I was feeling a bit hungry. What should we eat? It's our last day at Disney World and I want it to be super memorable and special for my little angel.

What would you have gotten?

 

[estherhead]

Yup, a strawberry and chocolate sundae for two. Was there really any other choice? That bad boy is YUMMY!

And then I decided to do another thing that I've only done once but loved: the barber shop. It always has a line. But I pondered since the crowds seemed to be on the low side this day and it was nearly noon that perhaps the line would be really short.

So we decided to risk the short walk over there to at least check out the line.

And that was when I had one of the HIGHLIGHTS of my year.

There was NO LINE and in fact there was these guys:

A barber shop quartet IN a barbershop IN Disney World. Could anything be cuter? They took Boo right away and the quartet sang to her while the barber got started on her hair. It was amazing. Just AMAZING!

Red gel streaks and pixie dust:

Look at that face!

I mean COME ON!

As we were exiting, my family arrived. They headed to the potty and then look what greeted us:

As we were watching the little parade, Team Suzy arrived.

And then that was it. Mickey and Donald waved goodbye from their float and we floated out, high on a year of magic.

I'm just glad we didn't go home.

And so were they.

Clearly, some people are still in serious vacation mode:

We actually were kind of just hanging out for a minute as we caught the first tram, and the Suzy clan did not.

Our drive to the coast was uneventful except for two things.

One, we were hungry for real food and so stopped at a McDonalds thanks to Bing. It was the only thing on this one exit except for a high security very scary prison. It was a VERY nice McDonald's. But we still high tailed it out of there pretty quick.

Two, Boo started singing Zip-a-dee-do-da in a really really funny voice. We started video taping her and she pretty much sang that song like Bing Crosby all the way to the coast.

And that's it. Unless, of course, you want a small chapter on Daytona Beach......

 

[preschoolmom]

And that's it. Unless, of course, you want a small chapter on Daytona Beach......

Yes, Yes! I hoped you were going to add the beach portion to your report. I understand if you don't have time - but I'd love to hear about it!

We're going to add a beach portion onto our next trip.

 

[Riviera510]

And that's it. Unless, of course, you want a small chapter on Daytona Beach......

 

[estherhead]

I don't need a lot of encouragement.

Want to see the cutest little beach bunny ever?

Ta-da! Sweet little pink suit with her adorable MK Barber shop hairdo. Magical, Magical, Magical!!!!!!!

Daytona was very nice experience. Mostly we sat on the beach, I won't lie. And mostly it was DELIGHTFUL. Actually, not mostly. Totally.

At first, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the fact that cars could drive on the beach, wouldn't it be dangerous for the kids? But it's sand, so they all drive slow. And Donald and I had bought a giant shelter. So we would set up a little spot in the row of cars each morning. And then hang out on the beach all day without worrying about the sun.

Seriously, that shade thing was AWESOME. I got it on clearance and it was easy to set up. We still use it all the time for all kinds of things. Yard sales, camping, anything with sun or rain. Pop it up, voila. Best $59-69 I ever spent (can't remember how much I spent. )

AND, an ice cream truck came by every day.

We played Putt-putt at a very expensive putt-putt course with live alligators. It was fun.

We also ate made & yummy food:

We played on the computers:

We played in the sand and surf the next day (and the day after that, etc):

We had family time:

We made more yummy food:

We met and had friends over and played music:

Which I must pause here for just a moment and say that this was actually Milo's highlight of this trip. I'm not saying he isn't also a WDW die-hard. But this guy in the above photo is the son of the inventor of western fiddle. You know the phrase "country western"? This guy's dad invented the music part of the western part of that phrase.

So without getting into all the details, I'll just say that Milo was SHOCKED when Emmy invited over some friends to play music and this guy walked in. I thought Milo was going to faint. Exactly like a 12 year old girl meeting Justin Beiber. Exactly like that.

How can you top that?

You can't. The beach of relaxation was a fitting end to our AMAZING year of Disney.

I'll be back later tonight to sum up our entire year.

 

[estherhead]

A year. A year of Disney.


Who should I thank?

First, I'd like to thank myself for thinking of such a genius idea of buying annual passes. Woohoo! Great idea!

Then, I'd like to thank Suzy, Milo, and especially Donald for thinking it was a smart way to spend our money.

And I'd like to thank Walt for having such a great idea. And his successors for trying hard to keep the Disney parks true to his ideas.

And finally, I'd like to thank all of you for letting me write my long & winding story and for pretending to read and enjoy it. Because as fun as it is to go to WDW for an entire year. It's also so nice to drag it out for an entire OTHER year so that it feels like 2 years of Disney.

And thank you for listening to all my family drama. As I prepare to go to Disneyland this year, these TR's are a surreal reminder of how crazy last year was. Thanks for giving me a safe place to vent.

As for our trips.

What to say?

Our original trip to POR with Mom with the best room ever. Now I understand the glory of a preferred room. All Stars? Not that important. POR? Glorious.

And then the rest of my family arrived. And we so enjoyed the rest of POR. And Boo and I had done everything we liked so we were just able to let Donald and the big girls do whatever they wanted.

And Boo loved the characters.

Then we went BACK to WDW and we went CAMPING! It was so delightful and convinced my family to camp! We've been camping since and even went this past weekend. I LOVED it. And surprisingly, my family does it too. And the best part is, we're really good at it. It's cheap. Our friends enjoy it and are willing to go with us. And we live in a beautiful area of the country with all kinds of mountains, lakes, and hiking opportunities. All within an hour drive from here.

Plus, Boo LOVES and I mean LOVES camping. This past weekend it poured and the first night terrified her. But the next day she had so much fun hiking and playing in waterfalls and hiking and catching frogs and eating the marshmallow sandwiches (that's what she calls s'mores) that as well fell asleep she said, "Mom, can move here?" When we were hiking there was this rock house formation and it just captured her imagination and she wanted to move right in.

So thank you, Disney World, for an actual lasting change this year.

Then, we discovered the bliss of the Boardwalk. That Mulan can't go to crab shacks. And that we really enjoy Epcot being in walking distance.

And our June trip.

We LOVED our Windsor Hills home. If you can't afford on site, or you have a large party, Windsor Hills is barely a step down. It's great. And you'll find us there again in the future.

We discovered the American Idol Experience is dumb.

We loved taking Emmy around. A new person is so fun. But we also discovered that the 11 of us are a lean mean machine.

And finally, we discovered that we really love a shade house on the beach. You know why? Because we are old.

That's right. I've now come to terms that I am middle aged. And I'm ok with it. So expect a tiny mixture of middle age touring in with our exuberant style.

And now. Expect a link in the next (and last) chapter of this TR to my Disneyland Pre-trippie. I'll be starting it soon.... We're off & running. Again.

Thanks everyone! It's been a great ride.

 

[jedijill]

A year. A year of Disney.


Who should I thank?

First, I'd like to thank myself for thinking of such a genius idea of buying annual passes. Woohoo! Great idea!

Then, I'd like to thank Suzy, Milo, and especially Donald for thinking it was a smart way to spend our money.

And I'd like to thank Walt for having such a great idea. And his successors for trying hard to keep the Disney parks true to his ideas.

And finally, I'd like to thank all of you for letting me write my long & winding story and for pretending to read and enjoy it. Because as fun as it is to go to WDW for an entire year. It's also so nice to drag it out for an entire OTHER year so that it feels like 2 years of Disney.

And thank you for listening to all my family drama. As I prepare to go to Disneyland this year, these TR's are a surreal reminder of how crazy last year was. Thanks for giving me a safe place to vent.

As for our trips.

What to say?

Our original trip to POR with Mom with the best room ever. Now I understand the glory of a preferred room. All Stars? Not that important. POR? Glorious.

And then the rest of my family arrived. And we so enjoyed the rest of POR. And Boo and I had done everything we liked so we were just able to let Donald and the big girls do whatever they wanted.

And Boo loved the characters.

Then we went BACK to WDW and we went CAMPING! It was so delightful and convinced my family to camp! We've been camping since and even went this past weekend. I LOVED it. And surprisingly, my family does it too. And the best part is, we're really good at it. It's cheap. Our friends enjoy it and are willing to go with us. And we live in a beautiful area of the country with all kinds of mountains, lakes, and hiking opportunities. All within an hour drive from here.

Plus, Boo LOVES and I mean LOVES camping. This past weekend it poured and the first night terrified her. But the next day she had so much fun hiking and playing in waterfalls and hiking and catching frogs and eating the marshmallow sandwiches (that's what she calls s'mores) that as well fell asleep she said, "Mom, can move here?" When we were hiking there was this rock house formation and it just captured her imagination and she wanted to move right in.

So thank you, Disney World, for an actual lasting change this year.

Then, we discovered the bliss of the Boardwalk. That Mulan can't go to crab shacks. And that we really enjoy Epcot being in walking distance.

And our June trip.

We LOVED our Windsor Hills home. If you can't afford on site, or you have a large party, Windsor Hills is barely a step down. It's great. And you'll find us there again in the future.

We discovered the American Idol Experience is dumb.

We loved taking Emmy around. A new person is so fun. But we also discovered that the 11 of us are a lean mean machine.

And finally, we discovered that we really love a shade house on the beach. You know why? Because we are old.

That's right. I've now come to terms that I am middle aged. And I'm ok with it. So expect a tiny mixture of middle age touring in with our exuberant style.

And now. Expect a link in the next (and last) chapter of this TR to my Disneyland Pre-trippie. I'll be starting it soon.... We're off & running. Again.

Thanks everyone! It's been a great ride.

This has been a great trip! Thanks so much for sharing. Can't wait to read your DLR report!

Jill in CO

 

[estherhead]

My Disneyland TR beginning:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2924026

 

[taymaesmom]

I have truly, truly enjoyed your year of Disney! So excited to read about Disneyland!

 

[preschoolmom]

I've loved reading about all of your adventures! Thanks so much for sharing them with us!

 

[preschoolmom]

I don't take a lot of encouragement.

Want to see the cutest little beach bunny ever?

Ta-da! Sweet little pink suit with her adorable MK Barber shop hairdo. Magical, Magical, Magical!!!!!!!

Too Stinkin' Cute!

 

[Mommy2BnB]

That is one cute little beach bunny!

Thanks for posting about your beach trip too. I am soooo sad that your year of Disney is over. I have truly enjoyed reading about your family and touring style. The Pearla and Suzy clans truly are a lean, mean, packing, and getting through the parks team!

Off to read your DL pre-trippie.

 

[estherhead]

This has been a great trip! Thanks so much for sharing. Can't wait to read your DLR report!

Jill in CO

I have truly, truly enjoyed your year of Disney! So excited to read about Disneyland!

I've loved reading about all of your adventures! Thanks so much for sharing them with us!

Too Stinkin' Cute!

That is one cute little beach bunny!

Thanks for posting about your beach trip too. I am soooo sad that your year of Disney is over. I have truly enjoyed reading about your family and touring style. The Pearla and Suzy clans truly are a lean, mean, packing, and getting through the parks team!

Off to read your DL pre-trippie.

Thanks for sticking with me this year, everyone! I can't believe it took me a whole year to write this! I guess it takes just as long to write about a year of Disney as it does to have a year of Disney.

I'm very interested to see how this California trip goes. I'm slightly concerned that I've over booked us and we won't be as chill as I'd like. But it's hard to not just want to run around and see it all when it'll be our family's only trip to California all together. It's such a HUGE place that even doing a tiny tiny portion of it is impossible.

But I do think the Anaheim part should be pretty calm. We, of course, will be crazy park goers our first 2 days, but the last 3 hopefully will be relaxing.

Donald has his heart set on going to a Staple center NBA playoff game. That may make things a bit crazier than normal as he'll go alone ($150.00 tickets you better believe he'll go alone!) and the rest of us will go back to DL.

 

[Torrance]

Thank YOU for sharing your year of Disney! I learned so much for our upcoming WDW trip, and have really enjoyed following along! I've loved reading. Thanks again!

I'm looking forward to reading about your DL trip (heading there now)!