(3X Update & FINAL!! 3/24)*~*EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!*~*A Mother/Daughter Feb 2013 TR!

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Oh, I would have been LIVID had that happened to me with the noise at the resort! The bus line sounds ridiculous too! I think you handled the situation well though!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OMG, Karen, that seriously sounds AWFUL. I would have been absolutely livid!

Both with the line for the bus and also the BTGs. There is nothing more that I dislike than the BTG that are rude and chanting and don't stop. I'm fine if they're nice and pleasant, but when they're rude, I just want to ban them all from Disney, hahaha. This goes for dance/cheer groups, too, but we run into BTGs a lot more often than the dance groups.

That's good that you called, but very very frustrating. I mean, how can you be screaming so loud that you are keeping up other guests? Blergh, I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

I don't think it's acceptable at any resort, Value, Moderate OR Deluxe. That isn't okay. I'm sorry.... buuuuut maybe you can just keep renting points for DVC!

Oh I totally don't think it's acceptable at ANY resort, but I got the feeling that it would NOT be accepted by the guests at a different level resort...like it wouldn't have even happened. I'm not a complainer (ok, I complain...but to myself, not management!) and I was annoyed enough to call and complain, so that was a biggie. Of course, in hindsight, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal and I know it's not a total reflection on Pop b/c it's not always like that. I did choose to go during tour group season??

A Very Happy Un-Birthday to You! I am so sorry I didn’t get to wish you a happy birthday ON your actual birthday! When I was scrolling through, trying to find my place in your TR, I saw your tattoo! That is so awesome! My goodness, it is beautiful even without the color!

Thanks Erin! I like it in just the black too, but I'm excited to see it with color. I just got a bunch of strapless dresses/tanks for summer to show it off!

Your pictures of the animals on the safari are amazing! Savannah’s pictures were great, too! Love Bob and Steve! You really did pick a good day to go to AK! Your wait times were so short! That EE picture of you and Savannah is hilarious! The CM gave you a dirty look? Really? I think it is kind of to be expected that people take pictures of the ride photos! Yeah, they want you to pay for it but I agree with you that it isn’t some high quality picture that you’re getting when you do that! True will be so jealous that you saw Honey Boo Boo! I feel kinda sorry for that kid, too. I mean, she is just a kid and she can’t even enjoy a trip to WDW with her family without people screaming and acting crazy? She seems to enjoy the spotlight now, but I am always concerned about what happens to famous kids when the spotlight goes away. But, I’ll admit that I am part of the problem! True and I are addicted to that train wreck of a show And I do believe that Sugar Bear is picking his nose! Yes, I know all of their names! Don’t judge me! It’s great that you guys got to enjoy so much sunbathing time that day! The weather looked beautiful and the margarita didn’t look half bad either!

No judging! you wouldn't believe some of the shows I watch! We thought it was funny, the day we got home they were doing a Honey Boo Boo marathon and Savannah was watching it!

Oh, your orange birthday cake was so cute! LOVE the candles! Oh my goodness, that necklace is so adorable and different! I don’t know what it is, but I know it must be from a camera! Is it the setting-thingy? That is the technical term for it, right? Wow, Karen, I barely recognize you from your old picture! Blonde is cute, but being a brunette definitely suits you more And congrats on getting so fit! I say forty is the new twenty! Plus, if I never saw you before and you asked me to guess your age, I would never guess forty! You look good, girl! OK, I just got around to reading your post about your tattoo. I love that you can see part of your tattoo – the leaves on your shoulder are really cool. I can’t see either one of my tattoos, so the next one I get will be in a visible area – and yes, tattoos ARE addicting! It is so adorable that you and your BFF named the trees! Now I see where Savannah gets naming random animals like Bob and Steve! That was such a sweet story about you, Rey and the tree swing! The whole post was touching and I am glad that the tattoo you got had such a personal meaning for you

Ha! I never thought about that...Savannah has the same obsession with animals that I have with trees!

Oh, I love it when my kids’ cheeks get all pink like that! Savannah looks so rosy! It looks like you had a fantastic time at MK! That was good luck to see the same DJ from the night before! The DP looks wonderful! I want to do that, too, but I already have enough problems with rearranging my trip! Maybe another time I’m so glad you got such a great table! The pictures of the castle light show were really neat. That is great that you got to go on BTMRR four times in a row! Ooh! You have a blog? I’m going to have to read that later! Wow, I am so sorry that you had to wait so long to get on a bus to go back to POP! It is also too bad that the BTGs were being so loud that late at night. I’m not a complainer either, but I am pretty sure noise like that would have put me over the edge, too. OK, now I am all caught up! Sorry that I wrote a novel in your TR I can’t wait to hear about your next day in WDW, though!

I'm so procrastinating writing up our last day! It flew by and I don't want the TR to be over!

Great trip report

Also, I subscribed to your blog. I am in my own transition where I realized that it's time to pay more attention to my health now that my kids are grown. But as I get more and more into walk/running I keep having setbacks including PF. So frustrating.

Oh yay! Thank you for subscribing!! PF is so awful, I realized that my whole fear of injury is based around PF. Some injuries you can just rest a couple weeks and you are better...PF set me back nearly a YEAR! My feet are still a little sore after running, and I sometimes feel like I'm just on the cusp of getting it again. Ugh!

I saw those lines forming for the buses when we left before the fireworks started....ouch 55min. That is crazy!!

Was is insane is that AFTER the fireworks, we we went and rode BTMRR for 30 minutes and STILL the line was massive! They did rectify the problem the following night, I'll write about that in a bit.

I would have been furious too with the noise at Pop! Good for you for calling, that is unacceptable!! I know that there is noise by laws in every hotel. When we first arrived the Dance Competition was on and I found there was no issues with them (except that there was lots of them) they seemed very well behaved. But later in the week the Cheerleader Competition girls were arriving and I found that they were out if control, very loud and some even rude. I also didn't see any supervision with any of them. If it was my daughter acting like that I would not have been impressed to say the least. When we were in line for Space Mountain a group of them came in after my 7 yr old DS and I, half of them pushed their way in front of us and then realized not everyone was doing that so then pushed their way behind us. When we got to the part where there is windows they were banging on the glass so hard and screaming at the top of their lungs to bug the families on the other side. Ridiculous!! (oops sorry...see you are not the only one to ramble on...lol)

It was pretty crazy. Savannah said that one girl pushed her out of the way at the soda machine and they overwhelmed the sidewalks (and SMOKING AREA?!?!?) to where you were sometimes forced into the grass. I wish there were a solution for the tour groups, but I don't see one...other than not staying at a value during TG season.

Defs gonna pop over to your Princess Half blog! It's something I really want to do, but I highly doubt I'll be ready by next year, I'm considering one of the shorter races, or one of the EE challenges! It looks awesome!

EE challenge looks awesome! I actually had my sights set on the EE 5K when I first started running, but we ended up not being able to go at that time of the year, so I had to push it off. I'm really excited about the Princess...and SCARED!

I've been part of that Pop bus line, ugh, it's SO not fun, the AoA one isn't much better, we waited about the same if not longer and it was at the lowest crowd time of the year! I can't stand the people that think they can cut, ugh!

BTG's all over the place really does ruin it, I'm glad you eventually got your sleep!!

The bus lines are something I've dealt with, but this one was just out of control. Seriously, I just feel like when you pay this kind of money for a vacation, this kind of thing shouldn't be the norm. I'm excited that we will have a car next trip b/c I liked having a vehicle on our previous trip. Taking the buses sometimes was fun and relaxing, but at the end of the night, it's really nice to walk to the car and just GO, instead of waiting!

Oh, I would have been LIVID had that happened to me with the noise at the resort! The bus line sounds ridiculous too! I think you handled the situation well though!

It was just one of those glitches that was certainly not pleasant, but not that big of a deal when I look at the whole trip. It made me rethink PoP in the future, during tour group time though!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Chapter 19: The beginning of the end. Boo! Hiss!

Friday, February 8th came too fast! Our last day.

I didn't write up my day until we were at the airport the next morning, it was a whirlwind day! I do know that I woke up slightly later than normal and went down to the food court and had a waffle & coffee. I sat outside and just soaked up the Florida air as much as I could.

It was easier to get Savannah up this morning, I woke her at 7:30 and I think she was more motivated because she knew it was the last day. We didn't leave until 8:30 and still got to DHS before rope drop.

Ah...there's that tower that I never intend on going up in!

HOLY CROWDS!!!!! I knew the crowds might grow today since there were more tour groups arriving and I had been watching the crowd levels for weeks. This was crazy though, I have never seen DHS this busy at opening. The lines were WAY back past the bag check and they just held everyone there since the park had not opened and there was nowhere for anyone to go!

This further solidified my thoughts on no-slow-time at Disney anymore. Our previous January 2012 trip I had been told would be "dead" and really slow, but it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, both our Jan & Feb trips we got everything done, had some fantastic pixie dust with walkons in the mornings (rope drop has EVERYTHING to do with that) but you can just tell that the levels of people are higher than in the past.

I busied myself taking pictures of Mickey with birds perched on his arm and eventually we got into the park!

We headed where everyone heads at rope drop and once everyone was in the park it didn't seem too busy, but you could tell from the FP return times that it was! Our return time wasn't until 11:10. Shew! The standby was already very long, so we opted not to ride...this was probably our first mistake.

I don't DO 45 minute lines though, so we headed to our next must-do!

We walked right on! This was great because since we hadn't ridden in a year, we were nervous and watching that dang "limo" take-off is nerve wracking! My heart was thumping out of my chest b/c that takeoff is ROUGH. I ADORE the ride, aside from that, but during that takeoff I have to count b/c it's nearly painful and I feel like I'm falling! I know, dramatic.

We loved it, as always, and jumped right back in line again! Basically walked right on again, although it took a few minutes more this time. We talked later about WHY we didn't get back on AGAIN at this point, I'm unsure. It may be b/c the nature of the ride and thinking I needed a break, but in hindsight, we should have ridden again.

Our energy took a nosedive at this point. Walking back towards the hat...

I have no idea where our enthusiasm for DHS went, but it was gone! Maybe it was a last-day thing, maybe we were just wanting to do thrill rides, but we had over an hour to burn and we couldn't figure out what to do! We talked about just getting in the standby, but it was over an hour at that point. Neither of us really wanted to do the animation class or muppets...we just wanted our TSM and that was it?!?!

We decided to get our PP picture taken and it ended up being my FAVORITE picture of the whole trip. I just love it!

We even got a magic shot, which we normally don't ever do.

We decided to watch the Disney Rocks show to kill some more time. KILL TIME on the last day?!?! This just felt wrong. Oh and I am SO GLAD they got rid of the stationary stage they had put up in front of the hat! That thing was ugly, I'm glad they went back to just rolling in a float for this show.

Savannah likes watching the dancers, so I snapped a few shots to remember what we did. It's not my favorite show, but it was nice to sit and just relax.

I just read this morning that they are cutting this show as of April 6th. I wonder what they will have next?!?! Hopefully something good! We liked the Highschool Musical better than the Disney Rocks, it will be nice to have something new.

STILL not time for our TSM FPs and we realized that DHS was going to be a wash for us. We really just wanted to ride TSM and I felt like we were wasting away our morning just waiting for it! We decided to head over to Starring Rolls for a snack while we waited...

We got a butterfinger cupcake to share...and a plan came out of nowhere. Must have been the sugar rush!

No seriously, this thing must have WOKE US UP with all the sugar!

As we sat there, I looked up the hours to see if anything had changed and noticed that AK had extended hours. This was strange and had not been announced or on the calendar previously. Hmmmm....

We talked about how we still needed to do Test Track and that there would already be a line now but that we didn't really want to waste anymore of our day at Epcot either! So, we could go grab a FP to TT for later and then head back to the resort...but taking one last ride on EE sounded fabulous too...and you have to go to MK on your last night! Wait...

FOUR PARKS ONE DAY!! Yep! The plan was in motion. We were going to hit all 4 parks. Epcot twice, actually, because we were going to go grab FPs...AND we wanted to go back to the resort for lunch and maybe some pool time. We could do this! It sounded more fun than just staying in 1 park all day! We headed back over to TSM and stood there patiently waiting for our FP time. Ok, not really patiently. I realized that if we had just stood in standby, we would have been out of this park for the day already, but you know, hindsight. Hindsight is for monkeys. That's what I say!

Finally it was time! A strange thing happened! First off, MORE two-person-pixie-dust! As we came through the FP line, they asked how many and when we said 2, they sent us to the RIGHT of the stairwell, into a special line that took us right up the stairs and back down. No going down the little hallway and back. This two person stuff is awesome! Even shorter wait! Next, was the actual ride... Savannah & I were neck and neck throughout, but she was ahead of me until the last bonus round. We went crazy and our final scores popped up...

We TIED?!?!? Has anyone ever seen it do this?!?! If we hadn't had different scores throughout the game, I might think it was broken. I thought it was crazy that we ended up with identical scores. Savannah was annoyed b/c she thought for sure she was going to beat me. LOL.

As soon as we were done, we headed straight out of the park! We had 3 more parks and resort time to get to! It was our last day, we had to make the most of it!

Up next... that's the QUIET pool???

 

[Victoriasmom98]

ooooooooooooohhhhhh boy!!! 4 parks in one day!!! AND resort time?? I cannot wait to hear this!!!!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Oh, those PP pictures of you and Savannah are so sweet! I have that Butterfinger cupcake on my list of must-haves when we go there! Yum! OMG you’re doing four parks in one day! I want to do that challenge, too, but I didn’t want to say anything about it in case it didn’t work out Well, now you know, so don’t tell in case the kids and I can’t pull it off! OK, back to read… That is so cool that you and Savannah had the same score in TSM! I am really excited to hear about the rest of the day

 

[Riles_and_Gabe]

Awesome update! I can't wait to see if you guys pull it off hitting all 4 parks I would like to try that at some point but with a 4-year old I don't think that will be happening on this trip.

I also have the butterfinger cupcake on my list. We had it last November and it was amazing. I wonder how many cupcakes they have to make in a day?

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[lisaviolet]

Page 11 - I'm on page 11!! So I'm getting there.

Can I just say that page 11 is BEAUTIFUL.

Oh Karen, I know I sound ridiculous saying this so many times, but your pictures just are so incredibly exquisite.

I can't believe I'm still not prepared, at this point in time, for their ability to make me SIGH with such gusto!!!!

I heard myself jump my breath multiple times - VERY LOUDLY.

 

[jerelle]

Loving the 4 parks one day spirit! We haven't had park hoppers since 2000! GO TEAM!

Great photos too. I love the mommy/daughter one as well. It's precious.

 

[cheekypoppins]

omg eh? thats too funny i've never had anyone get the same score as me! i love that u wear matching shirts together thats too cute!!!I can't wait to see how your 4 parks one day mission goes<I've toyed with the idea a few times but I think it'll work out better in October when I'm with my oldest daughter.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

4 pars, 1 day - sounds like a fun plan to me!!!

That's hilarious that you guys tied on TSM! I've never seen that before!!

 

[Ambersgram]

Really enjoying your posts. Your pictures are terrific. Can't wait for the continuation.

 

[Tinker326]

You know, with small kids especially, HS is my least favorite park. We havn't even gone there since 2008 (we go every year almost too) just because we go for shorter trips and cut that park out. This November will be our first time back in that park in forever......

And if only for my beloved ToT...... I do love that ride!

Can't wait to see the '4 parks, 1 day' thing go!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

ooooooooooooohhhhhh boy!!! 4 parks in one day!!! AND resort time?? I cannot wait to hear this!!!!

It was quite a day! I'm getting ready to do an update, hope you are getting ready for warmth and sunshine right about now!

Oh, those PP pictures of you and Savannah are so sweet! I have that Butterfinger cupcake on my list of must-haves when we go there! Yum! OMG you’re doing four parks in one day! I want to do that challenge, too, but I didn’t want to say anything about it in case it didn’t work out Well, now you know, so don’t tell in case the kids and I can’t pull it off! OK, back to read… That is so cool that you and Savannah had the same score in TSM! I am really excited to hear about the rest of the day

I won't tell! It was a LOT of fun and really a perfect way to end the trip.

Awesome update! I can't wait to see if you guys pull it off hitting all 4 parks I would like to try that at some point but with a 4-year old I don't think that will be happening on this trip.

I also have the butterfinger cupcake on my list. We had it last November and it was amazing. I wonder how many cupcakes they have to make in a day?

Can't wait to read more!!!

Oh yes, I think it would be difficult with little ones! The cupcake was good, but I liked the red velvet the last trip better!

Page 11 - I'm on page 11!! So I'm getting there.

Can I just say that page 11 is BEAUTIFUL.

Oh Karen, I know I sound ridiculous saying this so many times, but your pictures just are so incredibly exquisite.

I can't believe I'm still not prepared, at this point in time, for their ability to make me SIGH with such gusto!!!!

I heard myself jump my breath multiple times - VERY LOUDLY.

Oh Lisa, you really are my biggest fan. Nothing like a little Lisa to boost my ego! I'm glad you are catching up! Shouldn't be too hard at the rate I'm updating! I've kind of lost my momentum here!

Loving the 4 parks one day spirit! We haven't had park hoppers since 2000! GO TEAM!

Great photos too. I love the mommy/daughter one as well. It's precious.

Thanks!

omg eh? thats too funny i've never had anyone get the same score as me! i love that u wear matching shirts together thats too cute!!!I can't wait to see how your 4 parks one day mission goes<I've toyed with the idea a few times but I think it'll work out better in October when I'm with my oldest daughter.

It was a lot of fun, I would recommend it...it may become something we do every time...run around and do our favorite at each park on the last day! We were going to put iron ons on all our matching shirts, but we decided that we liked them enough to wear at home and we never wear them much once we get home when we do that, so this time we just wore the plain shirts. I think it worked out perfectly and it was nice for the pictures too.

4 pars, 1 day - sounds like a fun plan to me!!!

That's hilarious that you guys tied on TSM! I've never seen that before!!

I haven't either, I thought it was cool, but Savannah was annoyed since she had been ahead of me and winning most of the time!

Really enjoying your posts. Your pictures are terrific. Can't wait for the continuation.

Thank you for reading!

You know, with small kids especially, HS is my least favorite park. We havn't even gone there since 2008 (we go every year almost too) just because we go for shorter trips and cut that park out. This November will be our first time back in that park in forever......

And if only for my beloved ToT...... I do love that ride!

Can't wait to see the '4 parks, 1 day' thing go!!!

My love/non-love of DHS seems to go back and forth, depending on the trip! I like the old Hollywood feel of it, but I think what really did us in this time was that we knew it was our last day and wanted something "BIGGER" and "BETTER" for the last day. That's why the 4 parks idea seemed so much fun.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hello readers! It feels like forever since I have updated, sorry about that! We had a pretty busy week, including a Taylor Swift concert to attend, so I just haven't had time. The good and bad news is that since it was a whirlwind day at 4 parks, I didn't take as many photos as I normally do. Good because you get a lot more info for each update, bad for LISA because less photos! Ok, on to our 4 parks plan!...

Chapter 20: "That's the QUIET pool????"

When I left you, we had just concocted a plan to do 4 parks in 1 day! When we finished TSM, we headed right out of the park, waving goodbye to DHS. We walked right over to the Friendship boat and hitched a ride to Epcot. We had to grab some FP's for later!

I love this boat ride to Epcot. So relaxing and beautiful!

I love seeing the backside of France when the boat pulls up...it's ALL I saw of France this trip, BTW. Didn't do WS at ALL. Luckily Rey and I spent most of our time in WS on our Anniversary trip, so I wasn't too sad about it.

We made a b-line for Test Track to grab out FPs, but were a little disappointed when we arrived...time wasn't as late as we had hoped! So, Savannah sat down and I went to the restroom for a minute. When I came back we kind of stood there stalking the FP machine, waiting for the time to go up! I'm sure people thought we were nuts...or didn't understand the process. We wanted the time to be a little later so we had a longer break! We finally grabbed them, it would give us until nearly 4pm to get back. Sigh...the days of coming back anytime after your FP are long gone. It would have made it so much easier!

Straight out of the park we went, and at a pretty speedy pace! We had a date with some lunch at POP! We got back to the resort and sat outside and enjoyed our last lunch. Savannah got her FAVORITE thing in the World, mac-n-cheese. She says Disney makes it better than anyone.

I got a veggie burger. YUM! I have since identified this burger. It's a Morningstar Chipotle burger (1/4 pound)...I got some at Sam's Club and then realized it was the same. This was fantastic, they put avocado on it.

After lunch, I wanted some pool time and Savannah said she wanted to just rest in the room for a bit. I decided I would head to the QUIET pool (Computer pool). I headed over there and didn't make it all the way. Before I even got to the pool I could hear them. I had heard that they were putting the BTG's in the 80s and 90s sections but hadn't thought about the pool until I got in range of it. It sounded like a cheer competition going on! Seriously sounded like HUNDREDS of them practicing and cheering. I turned right.around.

Back to the Hippie Dippy pool I went! I laid in the sun and fell asleep for a bit, woke up at 2:30 and headed back up to the room. We had 3 more parks to get to!!!!

We hopped on the bus to Epcot and went straight to TT to use our FPs. We were really excited to see all the changes! I thought it was a bit confusing in the FP line. You were supposed to grab a card/wristband but it didn't say if each person should get one or just one per group. It felt rushed at the machines and I just basically kept walking and we got on.

I liked the sleek/tron look, I think it's more modern looking, but it did feel like something was missing a bit. Only took a couple shots and then enjoyed flying around the track as always! That was always our favorite part anyway!

We enjoyed it, but it was a little lackluster for a ride that Savannah wanted to ride multiple times last trip? I'm glad we rode, but also REALLY glad we didn't wait in an hour+ line for it! OUT of the park we headed, but we had to stop for our picture for our 4-park proof!

We walked up JUST as the AK bus was pulling away. Ruh-Roh! I thought for sure we would have to sit for 30 minutes at this time of day, heading to AK, but another bus pulled right up! Pixie dust again! Do you know what you get when you head to AK at 4something in the afternoon? Yep...and empty bus!

We arrived at AK (wish I had written my times down!) to a wonderful sight...people LEAVING.

We stopped to enjoy some fowl, this goose/swan? would NOT look at me. Just kept preening. The NERVE!

We stopped for some more park-proof (we look so tired in all these shots, but we were having fun!)

I'm sure you I don't have to tell you where we headed next! If I do, you haven't been paying attention.

Up next...the lights come on at AK.

 

[Riles_and_Gabe]

Awesome Post!! I want more but don't want your trip to end at the same time.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

You really made the most out of Disney transportation. The kids and I might have to take the boat to EP one day, because it looks like a really nice ride. The new Test Track looks pretty cool! I can’t wait to hear about your time in AK!

 

[jerelle]

I just love how HARD CORE you guys are! Go ladies!!!!

Keep 'em coming.

 

[katt789]

I have to say, I have yet to take the boat all the way from DHS to Epcot, it just seems like too long when I could just walk ahaha! I usually go up to the Swan Dolphin and walk to Epcot from there! Never noticed the back of France though, and such pretty resorts!

Yum! Avacado on a burger, I’m sold! I’m not so sold on the new test track, it’s the same ride, but more “tron” like. And the whole “design your own car” thing just superbly backs up the line, I miss the old one haha.

 

[cheekypoppins]

oh that looks like a pofq bus after lunch leaving MGM lol this tr is making me more excited for my May trip AGGGGGHHHH I can't wait

 

[DisneyMagicMomma]

Oooooo! It was TOO short! I mean, I KNOW where you're going but I wanna SEE it! Hurrrrry.