That Mickey sure is one smart cookie!! May 2011 CBR TR (update 08/13)

[luvmy2babies]

Ha! 72 hours might take eating only peanut butter crackers and ramen noodles for a couple weeks

that'a so funny that your dd passed on the stepmom. she does have quite the glare!

Yeah, the official answer was, "No way, not after the way she treated Cinderella!" I had taken her to the Mickey's Rockin' Road Show when it came here prior to that trip and the Stepsisters were hilarious. Dd couldn't stop laughing, but them being there wasn't enough to convince her. She likes Alice and Wonderland, but with the places she wants to eat next time (Akershus, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill) and the places I want to eat next time (Tusker House, Ohana, Cape May) and the breakfast I have planned for ds (Hollywood and Vine), I am not sure I can fit in a breakfast there on our next trip based on the schedule as I have it right now. It's not until June though which means making ADRs in December (Christmas Eve to be exact) so I have time.

I have to be careful about character breakfasts because of my son. Most children are either good with characters or won't go near them. Some like the face ones and not the furry ones or vice versa. With my son, he's good with face characters, but with the costumed ones, if he's familiar with a character he's good, but if not, it won't matter what they do. We went to Busch Gardens this past April and did the Sesame Street lunch with Elmo and Friends. This was 5 months after Disney. He had however only seen Elmo videos. He had not watched Sesame Street at all. When the characters came to the tables, he cried when Cookie Monster came and would not give Ernie the time of day. When it was our turn to go on stage for the picture with Elmo, I was nervous because Big Bird was next to him. I sent dd first to get a shot, then like everyone else did with toddlers, I gave ds to Elmo:

Under the picture on my facebook page I wrote "Okay, I know who the red guy is, but who in the world is that?" That's the only way I could describe that look. I think he had a vice grip on Elmo's finger there. I was glad he did this well after what happened at the table.

 

[lbuzz52]

Saturday, May 14th cont.



So that ambitious plan for the evening rides... It didn't take us long to forgo our plans- we were once again thwarted by the call of a tiny bladder. Chris decided to head to Frontierland to grab some FP. I took advantage of our extra couple of minutes by taking a short break. You can see the rain has finally stopped. It cooled the temperatures down a bit.

We were meeting the boys Pirates after the restroom. There was no way I was going to pass up the chance to photograph my pirate at Pirates, so first we had a little vacation torture session.

I told Maya to act like she was captured by Pirates.

She said this was her frightened face

James had no interest in my photography requests... ​

The line was practically walk on, so we had very little time to continue our pictures in the queue.

As if Pirates isn't a cool enough ride on it's own, James discovered his crocs glowed in the dark!! If that doesn't call for another meeting with Jack then I don't know what does.

We hopped right back in the 5 minute line to ride the Caribbean again. This time I sat directly next to James. So instead of having the entire ride explained to me in a this is what happens next fashion, I enjoyed YoHoYoHo in a tiny toddler accent. It's definitely a proud mommy moment when your 2 year old learns the Pirates song!


A splash babyswap was our next order of business. It felt sort of silly to use our FP when the queue said 10 minutes, but we did anyway. The fastpass and the standby lines met at the same spot, so it definitely was unnecessary. We literally told the CM we had 2 in our party and hopped right into the first log.

Now I always love Splash, but there is just something extra about it at night. Coming around the curve and seeing the castle changing colors is just a sight that can't be duplicated elsewhere.


James was busy at his very own laughing place, so we traded kids. I suggested that they just save the babyswap and last FP and use standby, so we would have another ride later if we choose.

​

James was quite hyper during our wait, and grew interested in seeing how far away he could run. it didn't take long for him to use all his warnings and get strapped in the stroller.

We were still next to Maya's favorite bathroom- we couldn't leave a without a visit. By this point I'm thinking Maya could lead me through any restroom at the MK blindfolded.


MSEP was coming our direction. James and Chris found a nearby spot to peek at the floats while Maya and I took our chances on a runaway train. I held her ears through the crickety part and then tried to convince her it was twice as fun if she held her hands up. As we pulled into the station she finally gave it a try.

"aren't I brave momma!"

She swore she was going to keep her hands up the whole time she rode with daddy. (she changed her mind!)

Wishes was starting when they finished their ride, so once again we watched from a less than prime spot.

If I had been thinking, I would have pulled out my lines app. But I wasn't. And I didn't. We journeyed to Haunted Mansion, only to find the line at 20 minutes. It was already 1030- that was cutting it way to close to the 2nd MSEP. Tonight was our only chance to see it, and we wanted a good front row spot.

Right across from the Country Bear Jamboree is a spot with a wooden fence for the adults to rest on. We pulled the strollers up to where the ropes would soon be, and rested our feet for a minute.

I got out the fudge and started slicing small pieces. My attempt at a sugar rush was too late though. James had already crashed and he was not interested in waking up.

We were close to losing Maya, so I made her slice extra large!

It worked!

Oh, that fudge was devine! Give me a cold glass of milk and I'd have been in heaven. Next, we tried a bite of Chris's cookie. He was in love, but I found it a bit bland. It took us a minute to realize why there was such a different opinion. I should have tried that before the uber rich fudge. Chris had gone straight to the cookie.

There were still 15 minutes or so until the parade would be out way. I didn't spend that time calling my favorite Naartjie store to order an outfit- I promise. I'm going to say i spent the time enjoying the cooler temps the rain had brought that evening.

So- the question that's been asked a million times- Spectro or MSEP?


.

 

[lbuzz52]

Yeah, the official answer was, "No way, not after the way she treated Cinderella!" I had taken her to the Mickey's Rockin' Road Show when it came here prior to that trip and the Stepsisters were hilarious. Dd couldn't stop laughing, but them being there wasn't enough to convince her. She likes Alice and Wonderland, but with the places she wants to eat next time (Akershus, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill) and the places I want to eat next time (Tusker House, Ohana, Cape May) and the breakfast I have planned for ds (Hollywood and Vine), I am not sure I can fit in a breakfast there on our next trip based on the schedule as I have it right now. It's not until June though which means making ADRs in December (Christmas Eve to be exact) so I have time.

I have to be careful about character breakfasts because of my son. Most children are either good with characters or won't go near them. Some like the face ones and not the furry ones or vice versa. With my son, he's good with face characters, but with the costumed ones, if he's familiar with a character he's good, but if not, it won't matter what they do. We went to Busch Gardens this past April and did the Sesame Street lunch with Elmo and Friends. This was 5 months after Disney. He had however only seen Elmo videos. He had not watched Sesame Street at all. When the characters came to the tables, he cried when Cookie Monster came and would not give Ernie the time of day. When it was our turn to go on stage for the picture with Elmo, I was nervous because Big Bird was next to him. I sent dd first to get a shot, then like everyone else did with toddlers, I gave ds to Elmo:

Under the picture on my facebook page I wrote "Okay, I know who the red guy is, but who in the world is that?" That's the only way I could describe that look. I think he had a vice grip on Elmo's finger there. I was glad he did this well after what happened at the table.

You've got a lot of great meals planned. How many days are you going? the only one I haven't been to from your list is garden grill. I'd have trouble picking one to let go of to make room for 1900. Your ds could really change his character opinions between now and then. My ds was so interested in doing what big sis did that nothing could hold him back this trip. I was nervous about the characters too.

Your elmo picture is great

 

[pinkxray]

Park Fare looks fun. It is going to have to go back on our to do list for one day. I have decided to cancel our ADR in Oct. I plan on getting into MK at exactly 4pm for MNSSHP and no amount of buffet food can change my mind.

Maya looks so pretty in her pink outifit. Where did you it?

I can't believe you went back to MK afterwards and the kids lasted so long. If we were out of the park at 8pm there was no way we were making it back.

The fudge did a great job at waking Maya up

 

[luvmy2babies]

You've got a lot of great meals planned. How many days are you going? the only one I haven't been to from your list is garden grill. I'd have trouble picking one to let go of to make room for 1900. Your ds could really change his character opinions between now and then. My ds was so interested in doing what big sis did that nothing could hold him back this trip. I was nervous about the characters too.

Your elmo picture is great

Thanks to the military salute promotion (plus my decision to brave a summer trip) we are going for 10 days/9 nights and I'm so excited. We have never been on a vacation of any type of that length. Our first trip to Disney was 6 nights, but we arrived in the evening the first day (a Sunday) and left early on the last day (a Saturday) so we really only had 5 park days, with 2 of them cut short due to the aforementioned stomach issues. We still had a blast, but I'm so looking forward to this upcoming trip. It seemed like that one just wet our appetites.

I thought about waiting until 2013 when Fantasy Land would be finished, but in 2013, dd turns 10 and ds turns 3: double Disney World whammy on my pocket book. So when this promotion got extended I figured we'd get another trip in before then. We'll have 8 park days this time and after the first four one DTD/Bay Lake day (Staying at WL). 10th day is a travel day. So far, I've put in 3 half days and daily midday breaks because I know it will be super hot compared to our first trip (November).

I have the dining plan so I have 9 TS meals available, but I'm trying to do an equal mix of breakfasts and dinners so we're not pressed to get up early every day. My dd is not much of a morning person. I imagine being on the monorail GF would be easy enough to get to. We did Chef Mickey's last trip and walked over from MK, but I just have breakfasts for parks on the hopeful list right now (Akershus, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine).

I'll start talking to dd about the meals after fall break. We're going down to Sea World for that. She's an aspiring scientist, loves learning about plants, animals, fish, etc. I think Animal Kingdom was her favorite park and she was not too happy with me after finding out how close Sea World was to Disney. Thought about trying to squeeze Sea World in during the June trip, but my crew would not be able to see it all in one day esepcially in that heat. DD treats these ventures like an expedition with me as her research assistant. She's been begging to go to Sea World. I got a good deal on a package. The trip is a surprise. Fall break is 10/27-30th. Picking them up at 2:15 on 10/26 and driving straight to the airport for a 5:05 flight. I can't believe it's so close.

Thanks for the compliment about the picture. Just like a lot of my pictures from Disney, my daughter was caught looking at her brother's reaction instead of the camera. She loves that little boy. Cute story for you: I was reading one of your updates the other night and my son spotted the picture of Maya and James outside 1900 Park Fare. He pointed at Maya and said, "his sister". The boy knows a big sister when he sees one.

I just noticed you did a PTR for this trip. I'll have to go back and look at it.

 

[lbuzz52]

Park Fare looks fun. It is going to have to go back on our to do list for one day. I have decided to cancel our ADR in Oct. I plan on getting into MK at exactly 4pm for MNSSHP and no amount of buffet food can change my mind.

Maya looks so pretty in her pink outifit. Where did you it?

I can't believe you went back to MK afterwards and the kids lasted so long. If we were out of the park at 8pm there was no way we were making it back.

The fudge did a great job at waking Maya up

I totally agree about getting ot the park at 4. we went to MNSSHP the trip before this one- my plans were to get there at 4pm, see Ariel (that was Maya's costume) and shortly after eat a quick meal somewhere so we were ready to line up for the carriage and the dwarfs. We wanted the kids to rest up for a late night beforehand, and due to the lovely toilet issues and maintenance timing at the hotel the plans had to be delayed. so not only did we get there later than i wanted, no one wanted to eat until after the party started. We spent forever waiting for food at CR's because many places were closed down after the party started. i felt that the time was not used in the best manner.

That fudge was rich! I'd glad it worked. She would have been so sad if she missed MSEP!

The only reason i was successful in getting them to stay out so late was that we didn't get to the park until 3pm.

Believe it or not, i found that outfit at Carters (the baby store). i think they went up to 6x, and luckily she fit.

Thanks to the military salute promotion (plus my decision to brave a summer trip) we are going for 10 days/9 nights and I'm so excited. We have never been on a vacation of any type of that length. Our first trip to Disney was 6 nights, but we arrived in the evening the first day (a Sunday) and left early on the last day (a Saturday) so we really only had 5 park days, with 2 of them cut short due to the aforementioned stomach issues. We still had a blast, but I'm so looking forward to this upcoming trip. It seemed like that one just wet our appetites.

I thought about waiting until 2013 when Fantasy Land would be finished, but in 2013, dd turns 10 and ds turns 3: double Disney World whammy on my pocket book. So when this promotion got extended I figured we'd get another trip in before then. We'll have 8 park days this time and after the first four one DTD/Bay Lake day (Staying at WL). 10th day is a travel day. So far, I've put in 3 half days and daily midday breaks because I know it will be super hot compared to our first trip (November).

I have the dining plan so I have 9 TS meals available, but I'm trying to do an equal mix of breakfasts and dinners so we're not pressed to get up early every day. My dd is not much of a morning person. I imagine being on the monorail GF would be easy enough to get to. We did Chef Mickey's last trip and walked over from MK, but I just have breakfasts for parks on the hopeful list right now (Akershus, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine).

I'll start talking to dd about the meals after fall break. We're going down to Sea World for that. She's an aspiring scientist, loves learning about plants, animals, fish, etc. I think Animal Kingdom was her favorite park and she was not too happy with me after finding out how close Sea World was to Disney. Thought about trying to squeeze Sea World in during the June trip, but my crew would not be able to see it all in one day esepcially in that heat. DD treats these ventures like an expedition with me as her research assistant. She's been begging to go to Sea World. I got a good deal on a package. The trip is a surprise. Fall break is 10/27-30th. Picking them up at 2:15 on 10/26 and driving straight to the airport for a 5:05 flight. I can't believe it's so close.

Thanks for the compliment about the picture. Just like a lot of my pictures from Disney, my daughter was caught looking at her brother's reaction instead of the camera. She loves that little boy. Cute story for you: I was reading one of your updates the other night and my son spotted the picture of Maya and James outside 1900 Park Fare. He pointed at Maya and said, "his sister". The boy knows a big sister when he sees one.

I just noticed you did a PTR for this trip. I'll have to go back and look at it.

Do you have a PTR for your trip?

Sibling love is awesome!!!!

Your plans sound similar to ours; we usually do 9 days, 8 nights- the first being a travel day and typically not a park day. but we like to squeeze some park time in on departure day. The midday breaks are key to hot weather. I've never been when it wasn't at least in the 90's. We typically don't go back to the resort most days, so i also like to throw in a couple TS lunches to give us a nice air conditioned break.

Your Sea World surprise wounds awesome! Do they have halloween events that weekend? I wish we had a longer fall break.

 

[lovethattink]

1900 Park Fare looks fun! I remember eating soft serve icecream there. I did the taboo. I put strawberry soup on my icecream. The soup tasted much better that way! That was years ago. Back then they were doing a villians dinner. It was a blast. But just as you said the food wan't anything spectacular.

Love the pics 1900 Park Fare and MK!

 

[lbuzz52]

1900 Park Fare looks fun! I remember eating soft serve icecream there. I did the taboo. I put strawberry soup on my icecream. The soup tasted much better that way! That was years ago. Back then they were doing a villians dinner. It was a blast. But just as you said the food wan't anything spectacular.

Love the pics 1900 Park Fare and MK!

that sounds tasty- and a villian dinner sounds like sooo much fun! was it not popular? what happened to it?

 

[lbuzz52]

To those of you still reading along, THANK YOU! I really enjoy your comments! And to my lurkers, please feel free to say hello!

I know i'm taking a while to finish... but feel some relief in knowing that Saturday, the day i am about to finish reporting, is the middle of the trip

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Maya's "scared" face in the Pirates picture is adorable.

 

[petals]

Luvin the updates!

 

[lbuzz52]

Maya's "scared" face in the Pirates picture is adorable.

She definitely has her own ideas about things sometimes She had fall pictures at school today, so i'm very curious to see what expression she brings home.

Luvin the updates!

Thank you! Your trip will be here soon!

 

[stephielela]

Feel free to drag out this TR as long as necessary! I need something to keep me occupied till my vacation!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Do you have a PTR for your trip?

Sibling love is awesome!!!!

Your plans sound similar to ours; we usually do 9 days, 8 nights- the first being a travel day and typically not a park day. but we like to squeeze some park time in on departure day. The midday breaks are key to hot weather. I've never been when it wasn't at least in the 90's. We typically don't go back to the resort most days, so i also like to throw in a couple TS lunches to give us a nice air conditioned break.

Your Sea World surprise wounds awesome! Do they have halloween events that weekend? I wish we had a longer fall break.

On Friday and Saturday (10/28 and 10/29) while we are there they have the Sea World Spooktakular with workers dressed like Sea Creatures, a trick or treat area, a Sesame Street show and some other things. Sounds about our speed as dd doesn't like the really scary stuff. I'm probably going to dress them as pirates. I found some cute costumes online.

I don't have a PTR for the Disney trip yet. I'll probably start it after the Sea World trip. I hope to do better than I did with our last trip. I did a full PTR, but never finished the TR. I'm keeping a journal for the Sea World trip and may post that later.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

What a great evening at MK! Colby loved that play area outside of Splash, too. Yummy fudge! I'm glad it helped perk you guys up!

Spectro or MSEP? I would have to say Spectro. I think it has to do with what parade you saw first or have early memories of. I do not remember seeing night parades when I was younger, but I do have fantastic memories of seeing Spectro on my first trip as an adult in 2006, so I think that is why it stands out in my mind. I am glad they have brought MSEP back, though, so that those who do not remember it could see it!

 

[petals]

Thank you! Your trip will be here soon!

I know 53 days... I'm getting so excited now

 

[lbuzz52]

Feel free to drag out this TR as long as necessary! I need something to keep me occupied till my vacation!

good- it's hard to end one unless you have a new ticker to start on...

On Friday and Saturday (10/28 and 10/29) while we are there they have the Sea World Spooktakular with workers dressed like Sea Creatures, a trick or treat area, a Sesame Street show and some other things. Sounds about our speed as dd doesn't like the really scary stuff. I'm probably going to dress them as pirates. I found some cute costumes online.

I don't have a PTR for the Disney trip yet. I'll probably start it after the Sea World trip. I hope to do better than I did with our last trip. I did a full PTR, but never finished the TR. I'm keeping a journal for the Sea World trip and may post that later.

that sounds like a lot of fun! we aren't into the scary things yet too, but my kids never pass up trick or treating.
let me know if you do start a PTR/ TR!

What a great evening at MK! Colby loved that play area outside of Splash, too. Yummy fudge! I'm glad it helped perk you guys up!

Spectro or MSEP? I would have to say Spectro. I think it has to do with what parade you saw first or have early memories of. I do not remember seeing night parades when I was younger, but I do have fantastic memories of seeing Spectro on my first trip as an adult in 2006, so I think that is why it stands out in my mind. I am glad they have brought MSEP back, though, so that those who do not remember it could see it!

It was a nice, relaxing evening.

I'll tell you my opinion in the next update.

I know 53 days... I'm getting so excited now

i can't wait to see your Christmas pictures!

 

[lbuzz52]

So my dear husband, who does love to spoil me, surprised me the other night by trying to "bring a little Disney halloween" to me with Minnie's bake shop cookies and Mickey pumpkin buckets. and even better, he said
"i have to admit, i am kind of ready to go back... just how bad is it at Christmas time? "

well so, as any DIS'er would do, i spent the rest of the evening pricing random trips and checking availability. not exactly what he meant, i'm sure, but in my mind he was giving me permission to start looking into it.

I looked at the day Maya gets out of school- if we arrived one day earlier we would be eligible for free dining. the package price was very reasonable. the ADR's were slim pickings, but i can be persistantly checking. however, the flights were a bit crazy- it would cost more for the four of us to fly then it would for the hotel, tickets, and dining. plus, i'm sure by the end of the trip the crowds would start getting kooky (Dec 14th - 21st).

so that week probably won't work, but the whole point of this is that it is now out on the table. i was good and didn't push and now a new trip is out on the table!! now i just have to find out when it will work out. i don't mind her missing a day or two but would rather not make it a whole week out of school if i dont have to. of course, there are a few other factors weighing on the dates. when chris was at his old job, he could only go in the summer and we didn't want to. now the best time to go for him is january, which would be awesome for temps and crowds but Maya can't go. we'll figure it out though.

i'm having major issues with this computer right now. it doesn't seem to want to be able to open two windows. kind of a necessity if i want to upload from photobucket. so hopefully that will work soon. i usually do my updates on my lunch break, but I.T. dept decided to just temporarily give me this craptastic piece of metal while they work on mine and its awful. this note took about 15 minutes to type out here LOL. so soon, but not today

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

How exciting to have a potential trip in the works!

 

[shan23877]

Hooray for a possible trip! I'm still trying to get DH to agree to go before fantasyland is completely finished! I think I'll get him though! I bet you'll find a time that works for all of you. Good luck!