4 Trips + 1 Premier AP = Priceless Memories ~ WDW Plans posted!

I did not know California has Fantasmic as well luvin the pics

yes it does! a much different space though since it doesn't have the seating, people have to sit on the ground and some get there a couple hours before hand to save good spots!

Ugh to the crowds!!

But so glad you got to see my favorite show!!! We've never done the dessert seating due to the cost. I'm fine camping out for a spot front and center on the ground!! That's when DH takes the older two on rides while James normally takes a evening nap. We've also watched the fireworks from that area numerous times!! But I agree it's just not the same as seeing the castle in front of you with the fireworks going off behind it!

Great day!!! Looks like you guys are taking it slow and doing what you want while you can! Glad you got to meet up with your friends!

crowds were CRAZY, wasn't even that bad when we went on Thanksgiving in 2003!
I just can't sit on the ground for that long anymore, so was a nice treat to have a chair for my old bones :lmao:
taking it slow way really the only decision, lines were just way to long as the day progressed!
was fun seeing the gang and spending time with the little ones was cute!
 
Tuesday!

our day started like our last few with an early morning entrance to DL, did our usual firsts! no photos of our first part since had taken so many already!

Up first Space Mountain x2, Buzz Lightyear x2 and Star Tours! all in the first hour!

we then headed over to the rope drop over to AdventureLand to ride Indy, they let in all those in front of us and then asked us to wait for a few minutes, before they had us follow a CM through the big queue area, they were already opening up the outside area which snakes back and forth....we found out why when we got about 2/3 of the way through the inside queue, the ride had broken down :scared1: we decided to wait for a bit and fingers crossed it would come back up...waited about 15 minutes and we heard the cheering from inside the loading area!

after our adventure with Indy we went over to Pirates and rode that! when we got out of Pirates the wait time was already 60 minutes! it was about 9am at that point! we decided to ride the train around the loop and then had some yummy cinnamon rolls from the Jolly Holiday Bakery and took a break for awhile, knew we would be doing lots of walking during our tour!
got a bottle of water, hit the restrooms and walked through some of the stores before checking in for our tour!

Walking in Walt's Footsteps was something I'd been wanting to do for a long time and when I heard they had added a visit to Walt's apartment knew we had to finally experience it!

we got checked in and received our name tags, which we got to keep!



headsets and how to use them and ordered our lunches which was included from the Jolly Holiday Bakery while we waited for the tour to start!

our CM, Michael had only been doing tours since October and you could tell he was still a bit nervous, but he did a great job! a cool part about having the headsets was being able to hear different speeches and interviews from Walt through the IPod/headsets connection.

we had a group of a Dad with teenage DS, Dad with 8 year old DD, a single lady and family of mom, dad, grandma and teenage DS and DD, which was great it wasn't too big of a group considering the crowds!

we started off in Main Street learning about Walt's arrival to CA and first visions of Disneyland and how different parts of Main Street were designed! then went to Fantasyland and learned about the different rides there and got to ride Peter Pan - none of my photos turned out, but did get a photo of Megan trying to remove the sword!





next up was Frontierland and some history on the Rivers of America and the ships that sail it! and how this came to be in the park!



the Disney's loved to take road trips and Walt purchased the Petrified tree from a park and gave it to Lily...she made a joke about it not fitting on their mantel at home and decided to gift it to the park for all to see!

up next.....CLUB 33! while we only got to see the lobby, believe me we all tried our hardest to go upstairs for a peek, we were thrilled to see what we could of it!

Michael gave us some info about the history of the Club, Walt wanted a private area to spend time with his special guests and he loved Jazz music! we waited while Michael went to get us admitted outside the door.





when we walked in, we had the opportunity to take as many photos as we wished while getting more info about it.





























after our photo op we headed back out to New Orleans Square and had a quick restroom stop before learning about Pirates and The Haunted Mansion, both rides were originally supposed to be walk threw attractions, before technology made it possible for them to have the boats and doom buggies!

we then got ready to ride the train, but it was packed! when the conductor came down to see how many people we had, he said we could ride in the LilyBelle car! it was the Disney's private car and not always available! we were thrilled to have the opportunity! Michael said it wasn't technically part of the tour and didn't want us to say anything about it to the CM's when we got back....but I told him it was PIXIE DUST, he didn't ask to have us ride!

so we loaded up and enjoy the ride while taking photos and looking at a copy of a family photo album...photos in next post...
 






























the car is so Victorian and beautiful, we felt very regal being able to ride in it!

the train took us around to Tomorrowland and learned about a few of the attractions there before getting to ride IASW together.

we walked back down Main Street to the Disney Gallery and heard our final bit of history about the park







before heading back to the Tour Garden for our lunch! Megan and I both had the caprese sandwiches with fruit and chips! was pretty good, not as good as Earl and Sandwiches though....

after we finished eating the highlight of the tour!

Walt's apartment!!!!!!!!!!

we were not allowed to take any photos - the CM only took one photo of each family with their camera!

walking into the apartment brought back memories of my grandma's house, the stuffy smell and seeing the Victorian touches of roses and cup & saucer collection (My grandmas had a huge collection of them too)....its a very small studio apartment with a bathroom, it only had a small kitchenette and no bedrooms...the two couches pulled out for them to sleep on.



we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone! it was more than worth the $$ IMHO!

after that we said our thanks to Michael and went over to the benches to see what we wanted to do next.
 
Wow, some crazy busy days you got into there! Still seems you got quite a bit done both days! So there are two different rides in Carsland for RSR??? :confused3

Everyone doesn't get to sit for Fantasmic in DL??? :eek: I guess if it was that way at DHS there would be a lot more people going with the dinner packages! ::yes::

Great job on the TSMM score! Or was that Megan's??? :rolleyes1

That tour looks like a lot of fun, and what great luck getting to ride Lilly Belle!!! Definitely some good pixiedust: You got some great pictures.....so very elegant! :banana: Then getting to see the inside world of Club 33 AND Walt's apartment!!! That is some tour, and sounds like it is definitely worth the cost. :goodvibes
 

it was now about 2pm and knew that riding anything was not going to happen to we decided to go back over to the Disney Gallery and finish looking around...









was surprised to see photos of the apartment since we were unable to take out own....


a good photo of the lamp that sits in the window to represent Walt memory...the photo of us with it in the back ground got washed out from the sunlight






The Voices of Liberty were visiting, so we went to enjoy them and watch Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln since the next show was starting...before we finished looking around the gallery

























we decided to head out after we finished the gallery and walked through the World of Disney....was on the hunt for a gift for my mom as a thank you for taking us back & forth to the airport, finally found her a DLR coffee mug with Grandma on it, she loved it! we looked around, but didn't find anything we "had" to have and headed back to our room to rest!

we were pretty tired so choose to stay in for the night and ordered room service for dinner...Megan had a cheese burger and I had a Asian chicken salad both were very good!

I got some packing done and things laid out for the next day and we watched tv after taking our showers!
 
Wow, some crazy busy days you got into there! Still seems you got quite a bit done both days! So there are two different rides in Carsland for RSR??? :confused3

Everyone doesn't get to sit for Fantasmic in DL??? :eek: I guess if it was that way at DHS there would be a lot more people going with the dinner packages! ::yes::

Great job on the TSMM score! Or was that Megan's??? :rolleyes1

That tour looks like a lot of fun, and what great luck getting to ride Lilly Belle!!! Definitely some good pixiedust: You got some great pictures.....so very elegant! :banana: Then getting to see the inside world of Club 33 AND Walt's apartment!!! That is some tour, and sounds like it is definitely worth the cost. :goodvibes

hey Marv! we did get lots down especially in the first couple of hours!

Carsland has Radiator Springs, Mater's Junkyard and Luigi's Flying Tires, the rest is stores and food.

nope no sitting area of F! just sitting on the ground or if you are lucky a few tables/seats on a terrace for one of the restaurants, but think its partially blocked by trees.

nope all the high scores on TSM are mine :thumbsup2
the tour was SO AMAZING and worth the $$!
 
hey Marv! we did get lots down especially in the first couple of hours!

Carsland has Radiator Springs, Mater's Junkyard and Luigi's Flying Tires, the rest is stores and food.
No I meant in your update you said something about finally getting the tire shop instead of the paint shop, or something like that??? :confused3

Didn't you say the cheese and dessert got you seating for Fantasmic? Or did I read wrong? Where is the seating that you got to use and also see the fireworks??? :confused:
 
decided to finish up our TR....


Wednesday - our last day :( we got up and ready the headed to DCA, was in line again about 645 and ready to hit our favorites!

first up we rode RSP, then TSM, I won yet again :thumbsup2



then Screamin' x 2....I had to take a little break and then we rode it one more time! before heading over to Tower of Terror, then Soarin! stopped to have a cinnamon roll from Fiddler, Fifer & Practical café...took forever! and then walked through a few stores and rode Monsters Inc again....sat for a bit and did some people watching the crowds were awful yet again, it was almost 10 by then and we had to check out of the room...we walked back down, finished packing, printed our boarding passes and checked our luggage with bell services.

the line for the monorail was too bad so we rode that back into DL....seeing the crowds as we rode in we knew getting on any rides was going to be impossible, we did stop to see a few of the wait times, but most were already 60+ minutes, so we decided to see a few shows!

Megan had never seen Captain EO and I hadn't seen it in years! what a laugh! Megan couldn't believe how cheesy it was, though she thought Michael looked so much better!

we then headed over to Frontier Land to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, but they weren't play that day The Laughing Stock Co was, so we got a seat, a snack of French fries and enjoyed the craziness

The back story....the mayor of the town was looking for a groom for his "daughter" .... "she" wasn't very pretty :lmao:







they picked three potential grooms from the audience, blind folded them and
"Sally" asked them questions










in the end, this guy "won"



it wasn't as funny as the Billy Hill show (they are an amazing group of singers and guitar, bango players) it was pretty good!

after the show we went and took some PP pictures in front of the castle!










and Megan's photo with Belle.....she photo bombed Megan :lmao:



as Belle walked by, she mouthed "sorry" to me...I though it was cute!

we still had a little bit of time before our lunch at Carnation Café, so had to get a special photo of my princess



we had a yummy lunch...we LOVE carnation café! I had the baked potato soup and turkey sandwich on pretzel roll and Megan had a cheeseburger and shake!

I had been texting with Kris - Kylee had an doctor appt in LA and were planning on meeting us in DTD before we left that evening and then meet some other friends of theirs, we had some time before they came so though we would find a spot to watch the parade and people watched...Kris texted they were heading out and should be there about 4 which was when the parade started, I told her we would just meet them in the lobby back at the DLH, we gave our seats to a family looking for a space and jumped on the monorail...we got back to the lobby and I got our luggage, Kris and them showed up about 445 after having issues with some traffic and finding parking, our shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 530, thought we had plenty of time so I never took any photos....at 505 I got a text that the shuttle was outside errr....so we had to say a quick good-bye and get out there! we were upset that we didn't have long enough to visit and even more so since we ended up sitting in the shuttle for another 25 minutes waiting for the other family! wish I knew that before hand!

drive to airport went quick, got through security in 3 minutes and to the gate in plenty of time....got some food for the plane and had an uneventful flight home...mom picked us up and we were home around midnight!

it was a wonderful trip! inspite of the crowds, we enjoyed every minute!

up next the PP photos!
 
No I meant in your update you said something about finally getting the tire shop instead of the paint shop, or something like that??? :confused3

Didn't you say the cheese and dessert got you seating for Fantasmic? Or did I read wrong? Where is the seating that you got to use and also see the fireworks??? :confused:

oh sorry, yes there are two different sides of RSP inside...one is the paint shop and one is the tire shop...same ride just two different shops!

yes you only get seats if you purchase the dessert package for F! the seats were on the New Orleans side of the Rivers of America in a raised area so we didn't have any heads in front of us.
 
Photopass pictures!

Tower of Terror











Screamin'



















Radiator Springs







and space mountain....this was the only one that showed up on my PP :confused3

 
a some fun ones from DCA!


Squirrel !!!!!!!!!!






Cars Land



Megan didn't like my driving :lmao:












thanks for joining in on our fun!


up next will be our Thanksgiving / Birthday / Scrapping Friends Blowout trip to WDW! been working on our park days and ADR's the past couple of weeks and getting DISmeets figured out! will start my PTR on that in a couple weeks!
 
What great updates!! The tour looks amazing. Hurray for extra pixie dust!

Love the castle pictures, especially the Tink magic shot.

The Up pics are great too.

I miss not having a Diamond Horshoe Review show. Those slap stick comedy cowboy shows were always a hit.
 
What great updates!! The tour looks amazing. Hurray for extra pixie dust!

Love the castle pictures, especially the Tink magic shot.

The Up pics are great too.

I miss not having a Diamond Horshoe Review show. Those slap stick comedy cowboy shows were always a hit.

thanks Tink, figured since I was so close to finishing I would knock it all out today! it really was great and loved getting the extra pixie dust!

knew you would like the Tink shot, Megan wanted to get the castle photos with her birthday ears from you guys to have as a special memory, I am putting that photo of her in the frame you gave her too!

it really is a fun way to spend some time, love how silly it is!
 
I am a lurker around here, but have enjoyed your TR so much! :thumbsup2

I kept noticing your purses, and was wondering if you would mind sharing where you got your purses at? I love them! :thumbsup2
 
I am a lurker around here, but have enjoyed your TR so much! :thumbsup2

I kept noticing your purses, and was wondering if you would mind sharing where you got your purses at? I love them! :thumbsup2

Welcome! happy you've enjoyed my TR's!

aren't they super cute! a friend made them for us, she's on the DISBoutiquers group, the pattern is called Rosetta! I can PM you her info if you'd like!
 
Welcome! happy you've enjoyed my TR's!

aren't they super cute! a friend made them for us, she's on the DISBoutiquers group, the pattern is called Rosetta! I can PM you her info if you'd like!

I would love if you could PM me the info! They are super cute!
 
Love the updates and all of the special birthday fun. LOVED the LillyBelle Train, you know how we love trains in this family! REALLY loved the pic of you and Megan hugging! I hope you and Megan have a wonderful, safe trip. Thanks again for calling.

To VroomVroom...Lisa bought me a bag from Ellen for my birthday and I LOVE it! BEST Disney purse out there: cute, stylish, functional, roomy and it washes up great...I LOVE MINE, I use it every week in some capacity. Mine is similar to Lisa's in color/size. (Thanks again Sis).
 
Lisa, you were an updating machine.

The tour sounds like so much fun (I'm debating a tour at WDW in August right now). And fun pictures in your Lillibelle car on the train.

I can't pick a favorite Photopass picture because they are ALL great. I love Belle walking through Megan's picture.

It sounds like an absolutely beautiful 13th birthday trip; thanks for sharing.
 
I would love if you could PM me the info! They are super cute!

will do!

Love the updates and all of the special birthday fun. LOVED the LillyBelle Train, you know how we love trains in this family! REALLY loved the pic of you and Megan hugging! I hope you and Megan have a wonderful, safe trip. Thanks again for calling.

To VroomVroom...Lisa bought me a bag from Ellen for my birthday and I LOVE it! BEST Disney purse out there: cute, stylish, functional, roomy and it washes up great...I LOVE MINE, I use it every week in some capacity. Mine is similar to Lisa's in color/size. (Thanks again Sis).

thanks my Sissy!! it was so much fun! yes I do know you love of trains! I love that one too! guess she does like me :lmao:
we can't wait to get to NJ for the Bat Mitzvah, talked to my friend yesterday and she is much calmer then she was last week :goodvibes

I know you love your bag as much as I did!

Lisa, you were an updating machine.

The tour sounds like so much fun (I'm debating a tour at WDW in August right now). And fun pictures in your Lillibelle car on the train.

I can't pick a favorite Photopass picture because they are ALL great. I love Belle walking through Megan's picture.

It sounds like an absolutely beautiful 13th birthday trip; thanks for sharing.

I guess I got on a roll :rotfl:
oh what tour are you thinking about???? we loved doing the Wild African Trek in AK! I can't wait for Megan to be over 16 so we can do the backstage tours!
the train car was so cool to see and ride in!
we had a ton of different shots, thanks to having the PP+ they took at least 8-10 shots each time! love the photo bomb from Belle!
 
I didn't realize the Bat Mitzvah was in Jersey. How did I overlook that one detail?

I have a picture to post for you, Judy and Vroom Vroom Lightning. When we were at Mouse Gears last, there was a bag very similar to the ones Ellen makes. Too much time has passed. I think it was pink and blue stripes. The stripes were thinner than Ellen's if I remember. I'm going to have to dig for the picture. The bag was in the children's section.

When I saw it, I took a picture right away for Judy, and was wondering if her friend at the Swan/Dolphin store carries that bag?! Can you imagine her face when those bags arrived?! Talk about karma...nough said.
 












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