12 Days of Disney = 1 Happy Family! June 2011 TR (Update x2 7/19)

[meggiebeth]

Thank you! Those cars are so hard to drive because of the rail keeping you on track! But I suppose if it wasn't there, then the ride wouldn't be safe at all. Drivers Ed can be taken at school, but I'm taking it outside of school because then I can take other classes and get more credits (you need 22 credits to graduate). If all goes as planned, I should be able to drive in less than 2 weeks!

I am enjoying school a lot! How is school going for you and your brothers?

Thank you! We do love Halloween, but not as much as some of our neighbors, who decorate their whole front yard with skeletons and ghosts and zombies and stuff. All we do for Halloween is make costumes and carve pumpkins.

That's sad that you don't have family parties. Most of our family lives in Indiana and Ohio (between 5-9 hours away, depending on who we're visiting), so our "family" parties consist of our grandparents and our closest friends from church. I need to find a picture of one of Thing2's birthday cakes! It was even bigger than mine! And yes, I did get some good presents. Actually, I asked my relatives to donate to a charity instead of getting me gifts, but my parents got me a sweatshirt, Disney Monopoly and the 4 Parks, 1 World CD.

I agree with you there- Rory was too short to reach the pedal so I help that down and he steered. Not the best decision I've ever made... At least I'm not the only one!

Does drivers Ed mean you can drive after finishing that class? I wish I could do that!

We are all good thanks! School does get you busy, right?!

Wow- your family parties sound great. Your family lives so far away! Thing2's cake must be huge to be bigger than yours! How on earth can you eat that much cake?

Great presents! That's so kind asking for donations to charity. Did they actually do that? And you still got some presents! I've never heard of Disney Monopoly..... But I have the Four Parks One World CD and I love it! Do you have a favorite song on it?

Happy thanksgiving! Isn't it nearly here? I hope you have a great time! Sorry if I've gotten the dates completely wrong. Hehe!

Patiently awaiting the next update...

 

[ZFamily5]

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone! We stayed home this year and had a great time relaxing and eating, and then we went Black Friday shopping for the first time ever. Back in Florida, June 12th was one of the best days of the whole trip in my mind. We had to get up very early, because we were heading to Star Wars Weekends! Thing2 was the most excited about this, because she is a huge Star Wars fan. We got up around 6:15 and were at the bus stop at 7:45. The night before we had asked a CM what time the buses started running and found out that they didn’t start running until 8 AM, but a bus actually arrived about 7:50. These extra 10 minutes later played a big part in the success of our day. For anyone going to Star Wars Weekends, I highly recommend catching the earliest bus possible. We got off the bus and quickly walked up to the lines where CMs were passing out wristbands for autographs from the stars of Star Wars. Thing2 had previously decided she wanted to try for Peter Mayhew’s (Chewbacca) autograph, and there were quite a few wristbands when we arrived around 8:10. From there, we got in line to go through the turnstiles. We were there early enough that we got to see the Storm Troopers do their little opening show.

We all thought it was very funny and before we knew it, we were entering into the park. Walking into the park, we were all expecting that there would be a rope at the end of the street, so we had previously come up with a game plan. Dad and Thing2 were going to go try and sign her up for the Padawan Mind Challenge, I was going to get fastpasses for Toy Story Mania and Mom and Thing3 were just going to meet us in front of the Great Movie Ride. Upon entering the park, however, we saw that there was no rope up, and that people were already free to disperse among the park. I speed walked over to TSM, expecting a huge line. Much to my surprise, it was me and 3 other people getting fastpasses. I was so shocked, it actually made me kind of giddy. Within a few minutes, I met Mom and Thing3 in front of the Great Movie Ride. After telling Mom how empty it was back there, she sent Thing3 and I to ride standby while she waited for Thing2 and Dad. Thing3 was so excited to ride and it was a walk-on, which was very surprising to me. When we exited, we saw Dad waiting for us. He told us that he sent Mom and Thing2 through standby and asked us if we wanted to go through again. Of course we said yes, so around 8:35, we had been on TSM once, and twice for Thing3 and me.

Thing2 then voiced her desire to meet Darth Vader, so we decided to walk over and get in line. Prior to the trip, Thing2 had created her own “feminine Jedi” costume, which she was wearing that day. She also had her lightsaber, which brought about some fun interactions. We had to wait about 20 minutes to meet Darth Vader, but it was well worth it, especially to see Thing2’s reaction.

Thing2 also wanted to meet Anakin Skywalker, so we went and got in line to meet him. Again, it was another fun interaction.

We knew we wanted to see one of the “Behind the Scenes” shows (sorry, I don’t remember the name), but we had some time to kill, so we decided to head to the Animation Academy. On our way there, there was a CM standing near the Sorcerer’s hat. As we walked past, he saw Thing2 had her lightsaber. He yelled, “She has a lightsaber!”, whipped out his and they went on to have a battle right in the middle of the street.

That simple exchange was one of Thing2’s favorite parts of the whole trip. After that encounter, we continued on our way to the Animation Academy. We saw the video about Mushu, which we all enjoyed, but Thing3 especially loved it. We also did the drawing class and I’m fairly sure we drew Winnie the Pooh. I’m going to stop here for now, but there’s plenty more Star Wars Weekends pictures coming your way!

 

[ZFamily5]

I agree with you there- Rory was too short to reach the pedal so I help that down and he steered. Not the best decision I've ever made... At least I'm not the only one!

Does drivers Ed mean you can drive after finishing that class? I wish I could do that!

We are all good thanks! School does get you busy, right?!

Wow- your family parties sound great. Your family lives so far away! Thing2's cake must be huge to be bigger than yours! How on earth can you eat that much cake?

Great presents! That's so kind asking for donations to charity. Did they actually do that? And you still got some presents! I've never heard of Disney Monopoly..... But I have the Four Parks One World CD and I love it! Do you have a favorite song on it?

Happy thanksgiving! Isn't it nearly here? I hope you have a great time! Sorry if I've gotten the dates completely wrong. Hehe!

Patiently awaiting the next update...

My sisters aren't the best at driving the cars either!

The rules here are that you can get your permit (allowing you to drive) when you are 15 and after you have taken 4 hours of driver's ed. I got my permit a little more than a week ago, so now I can legally drive! It's very exciting! What are the rules about that in England?

We do have lots of fun with our family, even if they do live far away! And yes, her cake was huge! We had to throw some of it away, because we just couldn't finish it. Usually we are able to finish it because we have a fair amount of people and we all love cake!

I enjoyed the presents very much!! Thank you, and yes, they did donate. I love Disney Monopoly, because I love regular Monopoly too! On the 4 Parks, 1 World CD, I love American Dream and the Magic Kingdom opening show song! It makes me so happy to listen to!

No, you were right! Thanksgiving was yesterday! We had a great time and I ate way too much! But everything was delicious! Thank you for sticking with me, even though I don't update regularly.

 

[jenny105]

How were Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker both there when they are the same person? Intriguing.

Looks like a great time. I think my DBf would really enjoy this but my job is very strict about taking time off in the summer so I doubt we'd get to go anytime soon.

I can't believe TSM was walk-on! That's unheard of!

 

[ZFamily5]

How were Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker both there when they are the same person? Intriguing.

Looks like a great time. I think my DBf would really enjoy this but my job is very strict about taking time off in the summer so I doubt we'd get to go anytime soon.

I can't believe TSM was walk-on! That's unheard of!

That's what we were wondering!

It was a blast! Maybe in a couple of years it would work out for you to go...in the name of research of course!

I know! I couldn't believe it!

 

[dismagiclover]

I just love SWW! We had such a great time there on our June 2009 trip! I love the picture of the light saber battle!

 

[meggiebeth]

Wow! So you can drive, without a drivers license? I thought you had to take a test. So you could literally get in a car right now and legally drive? Awesome!

SWW looks awesome! Your photos are great! Thing3 is adorable! I love the photo of thing2 having a 'battle' with a CM!

Keep the updates comin'!

 

[ZFamily5]

Can any of you tell me, does time slow down when you’re an adult? Time has flown by since I last updated, with choir concerts, speech tournaments and Thing3’s 7th birthday. But now that we’re on winter break (can’t call it Christmas break!), I’m here to update again. When I last left off, we were on the way to see the Behind the Force show during Star Wars Weekends. We arrived about half an hour early and it wasn’t crowded yet, so we found a seat in the 3rd or 4th row. Right before the show was about to start, we realized there were seats in the front row, so my sisters and I moved up so we could get a better view. I took way too many pictures since we were in the front row, so sorry about that!

We saw Ashley Eckstein (voice of Asoka in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”), Tom Kane (voice of Yoda in “The Clone Wars”) and James Arnold Taylor (I believe he’s the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi in “The Clone Wars”).

The show was amazing! Tom Kane is a voice-over actor (voice of Scrubbing Bubbles and a couple of the awards shows), so he demonstrated some of his voices for us. James Arnold Taylor was so much fun to watch. At one point in the show, they showed us how they record an episode and had “auditions” for audience members to come up and record a scene.

I would go see this show again in an instant! Following the show, we walked back to the main street (I really need to remember the names…) to get a snack and find a seat for the parade. I got frozen lemonade and my sisters got popcorn. It was already really crowded, but we managed to find a spot in the front. At this point, we still had an hour before the parade and it was 100 degrees or hotter. Some of my worst memories of the trip happened here. We were sitting on the ground, because it was too hot to stand up for so long. The ground was so warm it was burning our skin and it was so crowded you couldn’t even move. Thing3 started getting upset because it was so hot out, Thing2 was getting way over heated and to make matters worse, the parade didn’t even start on time. AND, right before the parade started, a mother showed up with her kids and shoved them right into our space. They stood up in front of Thing2 and the kids of the nice family sitting next to us. At one point, I got so hot and tired and cranky I decided to lean over and tell them to please sit down so that the kids that have waited for an hour could see. Once the parade finally came, it was very exciting to see, especially for Thing2.

As soon as the last float went away, we made a beeline for the closest air conditioned gift shop. Thanks for reading along!

 

[meggiebeth]

Wow- great photos of the Star Wars parade! I didn't know they even did that for the Star Wars Weekends. Annoying about the mother and her kids who went infront of you just before the parade- but at least you asked them to sit down so you had a better view.

Hope thing3 had a great 7th birthday! And Merry Xmas!

 

[ZFamily5]

I just love SWW! We had such a great time there on our June 2009 trip! I love the picture of the light saber battle!

We do too! And thank you!

Wow! So you can drive, without a drivers license? I thought you had to take a test. So you could literally get in a car right now and legally drive? Awesome!

SWW looks awesome! Your photos are great! Thing3 is adorable! I love the photo of thing2 having a 'battle' with a CM!

Keep the updates comin'!

In the United States (in most states), you can drive once you are fifteen and have your permit. Then, once you are sixteen you can get your driver's license. Yes, I can legally drive as long as I have someone over 21 in the car with me!

Thank you! We had a great time! I love that picture too!

Wow- great photos of the Star Wars parade! I didn't know they even did that for the Star Wars Weekends. Annoying about the mother and her kids who went infront of you just before the parade- but at least you asked them to sit down so you had a better view.

Hope thing3 had a great 7th birthday! And Merry Xmas!

Thank you! I didn't either until I started researching for our trip. It was annoying, but at least they sat down.

Thank you, she had a great birthday. We drove to Chicago and went to a museum that was hosting a special Dr. Seuss exhibit. Merry Christmas to you and your family too! Are you doing anything special for the holidays?

 

[momabaarjo]

I figured things were getting crazy for you with finals...Ab has her last couple tomorrow and Wednesday! She has been a stress case studying for them this last week...I am ready for her to be done with school for a while. I contacted her teachers today warning them that she would miss the first 3 days of the new semester, asking them to get missed work together so that her grandmother can pick it up on Friday before we return...that way she will have the weekend to catch up before Monday when we get back. I know she is going to when she realizes she will miss these days...hoping my thinking ahead will help ease the stress!

I loved your pictures of the Star Wars parade....looks like Thing2 was in heaven. I am so sorry about the rude family, same thing happened right in front of us at MK to a nice family who had been sitting on the curb for 2 hours before the parade started. I tried the best to give my best teacher look at the parents and the children...and my assistant principal did the same...they did not seem to care!

I PMed a while back...I need your mailing address so I can send you a little something I made for following my PTR and something for your sisters...a little Christmas treat!

 

[ZFamily5]

I figured things were getting crazy for you with finals...Ab has her last couple tomorrow and Wednesday! She has been a stress case studying for them this last week...I am ready for her to be done with school for a while. I contacted her teachers today warning them that she would miss the first 3 days of the new semester, asking them to get missed work together so that her grandmother can pick it up on Friday before we return...that way she will have the weekend to catch up before Monday when we get back. I know she is going to when she realizes she will miss these days...hoping my thinking ahead will help ease the stress!

I loved your pictures of the Star Wars parade....looks like Thing2 was in heaven. I am so sorry about the rude family, same thing happened right in front of us at MK to a nice family who had been sitting on the curb for 2 hours before the parade started. I tried the best to give my best teacher look at the parents and the children...and my assistant principal did the same...they did not seem to care!

I PMed a while back...I need your mailing address so I can send you a little something I made for following my PTR and something for your sisters...a little Christmas treat!

I'm already stressing about finals and we don't have them until after Christmas break (we are already off)! How many finals does Ab have to study for? We only have four classes/semester, so at least that's not too many classes to study for. This past week was crazy busy because we had to build a bridge using balsa wood for my geometry class (it had to hold 40 lbs. to get an A) and my last driver's ed classes.

Hopefully Ab won't freak out too much missing the first three days of the new semester! I might be really stressed out about missing school right away, but then I'd realize that it meant I'd be on vacation and get to relax. It should be even easier for her if you have her homework so she can catch herself up!

Thank you! Thing2 was in heaven! Ugh....it makes me so mad when people think they have the right to do that! Here's hoping it doesn't happen to your family!

I PM'd you back! So sorry I didn't respond earlier!

 

[momabaarjo]

Watch your mail, I sent a package to you today. The little treat I included is a family tradition of mine...my mother would always put these in our stockings (from a candy company in Denver that is awesome), now I put these my children's stockings each Christmas.

Ab has 9 finals, only 1 more left tomorrow and she is done with this semester. I emailed her teachers Monday and asked them to get the first 3 days work together she would be missing and her grandmother would pick it up on January 6...that way when we get home on the 7th she can get caught up.

I would hate to have finals AFTER Christmas break...Ab would stress all Christmas break over them and not enjoy herself at at all!

Yay for the Driver's Ed...only 5 more months I am reminded her until we can get a permit!

 

[ZFamily5]

Watch your mail, I sent a package to you today. The little treat I included is a family tradition of mine...my mother would always put these in our stockings (from a candy company in Denver that is awesome), now I put these my children's stockings each Christmas.

Ab has 9 finals, only 1 more left tomorrow and she is done with this semester. I emailed her teachers Monday and asked them to get the first 3 days work together she would be missing and her grandmother would pick it up on January 6...that way when we get home on the 7th she can get caught up.

I would hate to have finals AFTER Christmas break...Ab would stress all Christmas break over them and not enjoy herself at at all!

Yay for the Driver's Ed...only 5 more months I am reminded her until we can get a permit!

I'll keep an eye on the mail, thank you!

Wow! That is a lot of classes to have finals in! We are on block schedule, so we will only have four finals (we only have four classes). It's great that you could plan ahead to get her work! That should help with her stress levels! When is her school's winter break? Our last day was Friday and we go back on January 3rd.

I'm not super stressed out yet, mainly because we have a week of school before finals and we haven't gotten any study guides or anything like that yet.

Thank you! Driving is scary (for me at least)!

 

[ZFamily5]

After sitting in the sun for what felt like forever for the parade, we practically sprinted into the nearest gift shop to enjoy the air conditioning. According to the pictures, after the parade, we went to use our second set of Toy Story Mania fastpasses for the day.

We had another amazing ride and were so happy that all of the Star Wars stuff drew crowds away from some of the other attractions. Following that, we went to the Backlot Tour. It’s not one of my favorite attractions, mainly because even though the vehicles are covered, it gets very warm sitting there! I’m pretty sure after that we headed over to Hollywood and Vine for “lunch” (we were calling it lunch, but had it booked as dinner for the Fantasmic package). There was a very long line to wait to be checked in when we arrived. To make matters worse, the line didn’t move very fast at all, however after we finally got to check in, it was only a few minutes before we got seated. The food here was just alright for us, but the desserts were amazing! Our favorite was the chocolate mousse! Yum! Right after lunch was our meet and greet time with Peter Mayhew. Thing2 had been looking forward to this for quite a while, because she LOVES Star Wars! The actual meet and greet was very disappointing. We walked into this little room, he didn’t even talk to us, just signed his headshot and leaned forward for a picture. I understand he’s getting up there in age and can’t move around well and everything, but we would have appreciated a little bit more interaction.

For quite a while after that, we just walked around and took pictures with various Star Wars characters. The line for Chewbacca and Wicket was the longest because they had to go inside for a break every 5-10 minutes!

After all of our photos and autographs, Mom took Thing2 to get signed in for the Padawan Mind Challenge. Dad, Thing3 and I walked up to the main stage to find a place to watch. When we got to the stage, there were already tons of people waiting for the Hyper Space Hoopla, which wasn’t for almost 4 more hours at that point! Luckily, there was a special roped off viewing area for the parents of the Mind Challenge kids to watch from. The kids all walked onto the stage with a blue lightsaber and a green lightsaber and would raise the one they thought corresponded with the correct answer to the trivia question. When they answered one wrong, they were “out”, which meant they just moved to the side of the stage, but could keep answering questions.

Thing2 didn’t make it to the end, but still had a great time. There was one kid who had been at every Star Wars Weekend that year and had played in the game almost every time (we were sitting near his family), and he was the one that won the whole thing. That seemed a little unfair to us, but all of the kids won a prize (autographed lightsaber) so there was nothing to complain about.

Next update: Hyper Space Hoopla, Fantasmic and Extra Magic Hours!

Thanks for reading!​

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

I'm finally caught up, I've been away from the boards for awhile, life gets in the way sometimes! Earlier in your TR you asked if time slows down as you get older, sadly, it just goes faster!

Great Star Wars stuff! Wow, I think you were actually kind to the women who pushed her kids in for the parade spot, I would have been furious!!

 

[ZFamily5]

I'm finally caught up, I've been away from the boards for awhile, life gets in the way sometimes! Earlier in your TR you asked if time slows down as you get older, sadly, it just goes faster!

Great Star Wars stuff! Wow, I think you were actually kind to the women who pushed her kids in for the parade spot, I would have been furious!!

Life definitely gets in the way! And darn! I was kind of hoping time would slow down as you get older!

Thank you! I didn't feel very kind in the moment, but she made me angry!​

 

[meggiebeth]

Great update. The photos of you meeting the characters look so authentic! My brother would be in heaven there. Happy New Year! Hope you had a good Christmas!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

The autographed light saber sounds cool... that kid having played so many times probably had the answers memorized and that's not fair. But it was cool that she got to participate!

 

[ZFamily5]

Great update. The photos of you meeting the characters look so authentic! My brother would be in heaven there. Happy New Year! Hope you had a good Christmas!

Thank you! We thought they looked very accurate too! Maybe some day your family could experience SWW! Thank you! I hope you and your family had a good Christmas and a happy New Year too!

The autographed light saber sounds cool... that kid having played so many times probably had the answers memorized and that's not fair. But it was cool that she got to participate!

It is pretty cool. We were a little upset that the kid knew the answers, but it's just a game and Thing2 still had fun playing!