9 Days of Singin, Snorkelin,Soarin & Safari'in! APRIL/MAY @ AKL ! UPDATE 6/2

[andrews1ma]

I'm joining in! Great updates so far. The AKL looks beautiful!!

Hi and !!! Thank you for joining in!

We all loved AKL- it was really a dream come true. I never thought in all of my wildest dreams no pun inteneded...that we would ever be able to stay there.

I'm joining in too and loving your report so far. You got some awesome pics, and the food looks so yummy lol. I can't wait to hear more about it

Thank you. I am a little frustrated with my camera and am currently seeking an upgrade, but still a point and shoot. I am no where near ready for an SLR.

The food was yummy and there is plenty more to come!
Thanks for joining in!

I see that my awesome daughter managed to close out page one and start out page two. Kind of hoggish, don't ya think???

Anyway, I am glad I saw your new trip report had started, so although my ears are listening to morning announcements, my eyes are skimming through your TR. I'll be back to read in more detail later.

I know isnt she the worst!!!!

I hope you are adjusting well and getting back in to the real world. did you catch yourself looking out of your classroom window to see if the giraffes or zebras were out snacking!

 

[andrews1ma]

Hi there- if you are out there, just stop in and say hi! It will make me sooo happy to say hello back!


Ok- Sunday April 25th.

Today was our Magic Kingdom Day! Our plans were to head to MK in the morning and spend a few hours on rides and then have lunch at Columbia Harbor House. In the bazillion times I have been to MK I have never eaten here so I was looking forward it I figured we could have a nice light lunch, I knew that I wanted the Tuna Sandwich, aka Anchors Aweigh, because we had a big dinner planned! Tonight was our Ohanas night! WOOHOO! We ate there last year and Grumpy and I both agreed that that was our favorite dinner of the trip. We had ADR’s for 7:15 so I thought we could go back to the resort and swim for a few hours in the afternoon and then go back to dinner. Oh and also that night was EMH and the park would be open until 2:00am so after dinner we could head back to MK and watch wishes and ride more rides. Ha! Fat chance! I looked at the forecast and it said that a rain storm would be heading our way in the evening. I still had hopes though.

We arrived at MK around 10:00 am and like the day before at Epcot it was crowded and a bit hotter. We headed off to the right along with everyone else mass converging into the park at that time and grabbed FP’s for Buzz as the wait was 40 minutes. We then went right into Monsters Laugh Floor. I still crack up in that show no matter how many times we have seen it and no matter how many times they do the same Eiffel Tower joke! I love watching the people in the audience that get picked and think that improv is the best comedy!

After that we still had time to kill before our Buzz FP time so what better way than the TTA. I think we may have even ridden it twice without getting off.

I took a few pics while we were relaxing on the TTA:

Model of the future city or what would soon become known as Epcot:

Oh just a little side story- Grumpy decided to wear his silly tees all week- and by day 4 we realized that every day at least 2 people would come up to him and comment on his shirts. The day before was hysterical; he wore his Dude shirt from the Big Lebowski which I absolutely hate! 3 guys came up to him throughout the day and commented on them, and the funniest thing happened at the end of the day as we were walking out of the park. We passed the scraggliest looking guy walking in the park that looked just like the Dude on his tee and the guy gave my husband a look like : Hey, how do you have my picture on your tee”! We all just about died laughing ( go back and look at the pic on his tee).


Ok

After that we were all a little bit hungry but knew we were eating lunch in a few so we decided on one of those yummy spicy cheese pretzels they have at the Launching pad…ha! Fat Chance! Those have apparently gone to the same “Disney Food Final Resting Place” as the Figaro Fries and a few other delicious food items that also went missing later on this trip. One that will absolutely devastate, destroy my son! They do still sell the sweet cream cheese pretzel, but none of us were in the mood for that one. We sat and people watched for a few and then it was time for buzz.

We got on buzz and went right to work- seriously that ride can be exhausting to the fingers!!

Andrew rode with me and Grumpy got his own car. Here are some buzz pics:

The evil man himself:

Andrew feeling all-proud of his score:

He’s got that look like “yeah, Im da man!”


Andrew’s score:

Now before you all get smug and start laughing at that…..just wait till later on in the trip my boy makes his mama proud and reaches an all time high!!!

I forgot what my score was, but Grumpy said he scored 120,000- no pics to prove it though? Hmmmmmm



After that we made our way towards Liberty Square and got right on Haunter Mansion. Andrew does not dig this ride because it is dark but we forced him and this time he actually got into it. He was checkin all the neat stuff out. He usually closes his eyes so I think he was really proud of himself and that he got to actually see things. He loved the dancing scene and was trying to figure out how they do it. I know he is 10 but he is a chicken, like his mama, when it comes to creepy dark things. I still freak out if a scary movie commercial comes on so who am I to fault him!



We snapped a few pics outside:




Andrew looking a bit apprehensive before going in but trying to tough it out:

Getting a little more psyched while on line:

Cool Chandelier

Pet Cemetary:

Can you see Mr. Toad?

At this point we were starving so we headed in to Columbia Harbor House. I have no pics in here, sorry again. I did get the Anchors Aweigh and Grumpy got the Fried Fish Basket.
Both were scrumptious! I loved the Tuna Sandwich and it was really nice and light. I think this is a great lunch to eat if you are walking around the parks on a hot day and if you like tuna!

After lunch we hit POTC and there was a minimal wait- I think 20 minutes. I have to say, as crowded as the parks felt, the lines were not too bad at all.

One measly pic was sn
apped while waiting on line.

After the ride we saw the cool photopass guy that does the CAPTAIN hook pic. Now don’t flame me here but we did not purchase any Photopass pics so I have nothing to show you! Just thought I would mention that we did it J




Now we were beat and the heat was getting to us. This was the perfect time to head back to the pool for some fun. It was now about 2:00pm so we headed out of the park with all intentions of some how making it back to MK that evening after our dinner. I seriously figured that the sill forecast meant a little Disney shower, you know the ones that you slap a poncho on, hit an indoor ride and by the time you get out it is all done! HA! Fat Chance!


Walking towards Main Street:

Ahhhh, I love those moments!



Oh on the way out Grumpy and Andrew grabbed Root Beer Floats from the Plaza

and I ran to get a Frozen Raspberry Lemonade from The Enchanted Grove. Yummmm and no pics


I did snap a pic of this purty little flower:

Continued on next post..................

 

[andrews1ma]

Continued from last post...............



When we got back to the room Grumpy and Andrew both said they were too tired to go swimming so they decided to chill in the room for a while and rest. Ha- who rests while you are staying at the most glorious hotel! I took my camera and went for a walk to see what I could discover.

Here are some pics that I took from my little walk around the resort:

There weren't too many animals out at this point, or at least not where I could see them so I chatted it up with the CM’s for a while. AKL seriously has some of the nicest and most knowledgeable CM’s I have encountered. They said that it was too hot at the moment and the animals were probably resting but to come back later. I let them know that we were going out for Dinner but would try another evening. Also they reminded me about the Night Vision viewing so I knew that was one of the things on the To Do list while we were there.

Some more pics:

I thought I had taken more on this day , I know I have more of the resort later on.

When I got back to the room Grumpy was sleeping and Andrew was hanging with his PSP. We all took turns showering and getting ready. Andrew then informed me that he had been watching the weather and we were in for a doozy of a storm. I could tell he was a little nervous now.

I need to back track a bit and share a little story that I posted on my PTR. Andrew went to Disney this February with my mom and while they were there, there were tornado warnings all over Disney. He called me from the hotel room freaking out and it took a lot of calm reassuring to finally get him to relax. Thank goodness no tornadoes touched down but I could see that look in his eyes of worry thinking that we were going to have a repeat of that incident again tonight.

Ok so we get ready to leave about 6:30 ish and I when I looked outside it had just started to drizzle a little bit. We headed over to the Poly and parked there for Dinner. By the time we got out of the car the heavens had opened up. It was POURING, thunder and lightning, crazy wind! The palm trees were bending. Andrew was not looking good. He wanted to go back to the hotel but I knew that I had to convince him to face his fears and stick it out. We checked in and were handed our pagers.



While we were waiting pic:

Look at those ginormous Croc feet!


We waited about 20 minutes or so and then our hostess brought us to our seats. Here is the funny part and oh man why didn’t I take a picture. Ok, so if you have not ever eaten at ohanas it is shaped like a big ole square fish bowl. It has windows all around, with seats by the window, which would under normal circumstances be a score to snag those. During a Monsoon, not so nice! Well wouldn’t ya know it, not only were we seated by the window, but picture this…we were seated with what felt like our faces were smooshed against the window in the darkest part of the restaurant, at a table that would normally seat 2 people but they stuck a 3rd chair and the 3rd chair was placed so that it faced out the window, not the dining area! We had to laugh at this point, well Grumpy and I did, Andrew looked like he was having a full alarm panic attack! At that point we kindly found the hostess and let her know that we would gladly wait, hours if need be, for another table facing away from the window. Cause the weather was wicked, lightning lighting up Bay Lake. If you are into storms and lightning then you would have thoroughly enjoyed this one! It looked like a scene out of Cape Fear. Every time a bolt would strike; the entire lake would light up just long enough to see the palm trees bent over in the wind. Fun , huh?

They were super nice at Ohanas and quickly found us a table that faced away from the window, After that it was smooth sailing and we had a great dinner. Once Andrew got over his fears he got bored cause we were still eating off the skewers of meat they kept bringing!


And grrrr….. no Ohana pics….grrrr I really am annoyed at myself. I think I was just so involved in the food and fun of the restaurant that I completely lost myself!

I will say this, if you have not yet had the opportunity to dine at Ohanas, then it is a must do! They bring you endless amounts of meats and food. For dessert they serve Hawaiian Bread pudding with banana caramel sauce and ice Cream. I actually found the recipe on the dis boards and made it for Grumpy’s birthday last year. It came out really good, but not as good as the one at Ohanas!


Oh but my now obnoxious 10 year old resolved to taking pics of elbows to keep himself occupied and cracking up, for those of you who are not familiar with this fancy photography technique, I will just let you know that it is fowl. Enough said and moving right along….and no I will not post those pics…what a shame that they are the only ones from Ohanas!

So my hopeful little self thought that this wicked storm would pass and that all would be right again in the kingdom, in other words, Water Parade and Wishes on the beach.

The water parade did pass outside the window and we were able to watch it from the restaurant as the rain let up a bit, but at about 10:30 I gave up on watching my beloved Wishes from the beach. We sadly said goodbye to the Poly and sailed back to our resort for the evening.

I will say that we did consider ourselves very lucky to be indoors during that horrible storm. All I could think about were the poor people that got stuck at the parks. I did hear folks talking about it when we got back to resort and the next day at the parks as well. Some people were stuck for hours because you could not go out to walk in that, it must have been nuts!

Here is the current tally of missing items with one new one added:

Missing:

One scallop forest
One Irish Dancer
One Irish Band
One Spicy Cheese Pretzel from The Launching Pad

Up next.....our DHS day, 2 years in the making with lots of Firsts!!!!!!!! and I will give you a little clue....one of those firsts is in the TR title

 

[MeMom]

Yep! We sat right on that top floor corner balcony straight across in this picture, and here was our view.

We could have waved across the pool, or better yet, met down there and sat at an umbrella table and talked about all kinds of fun Disney things.

Right in front of the big windows in the second picture in your last post - that's where Brooklynn fell and scraped her knees up the other day.

 

[andrews1ma]

Yep! We sat right on that top floor corner balcony straight across in this picture, and here was our view.

We could have waved across the pool, or better yet, met down there and sat at an umbrella table and talked about all kinds of fun Disney things.

Right in front of the big windows in the second picture in your last post - that's where Brooklynn fell and scraped her knees up the other day.

Oh how I want to be back there right now, and I love your idea of sitting under one of those umbrella tables talking Disney talk!

Yikes for Brooklyn and her boo boo knee. Isn't it funny how a picture can represent such different things to different people. I am sure if you showed the picture of the window to Brooklynn she would probably wince in pain!

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

We have done Ohana for breakfast but not for dinner. It is on the list of must dos. I love storms so I probably would have really enjoyed where you guys were seated first. Isn't it awesome to just walk right outside your hotel and see all those animals?!?!!?

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Great update! we were at POP for the storm; Dayne and Luke were suppose to go to DHS for EMH with the cheerleaders...needless to say they just stayed in Classic Hall (which had me worried because I thought they were in the parks)...

Ohana's sounds great! I had planned to do breakfast this last trip and ended up scrubbing it...next trip will be our food trip

poor Andrew with the storm I can remember being that scared...but, I bet it was awesome to see the storm through those windows!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Great update!!! A day at the Magic Kingdom is always fun to read about!

What do you mean missing treats??? Now, I am really worried!

Connor hates creepy, dark things, so I am always surprised that he likes the Haunted Mansion as much as he does. Yeay for Andrew enjoying it this time!

Mmmm, root beer floats are one of our favorite things to get at Disney World! The ones at Sleepy Hollow in Liberty Square are really good, too!

Love the pictures of your walk around the Lodge!

Ugh about the storm! Thank goodness the waitress was able to switch you to a different table!

 

[andrews1ma]

We have done Ohana for breakfast but not for dinner. It is on the list of must dos. I love storms so I probably would have really enjoyed where you guys were seated first. Isn't it awesome to just walk right outside your hotel and see all those animals?!?!!?

Ohanas is great for dinner- especially for the little ones. During dinner the ukulele player comes out and plays some music, they do the limbo, have a parade around the restaurant with instruments. Oh and they play a this game where the kids have to sweep a coconut around the restaurant- I think it is a race. Andrew is too old for that stuff now but we still enjoy watching all the other kiddies having. And the food is great too!

Yes it was absolutely dreamy to be able to walk outside and see the all the sweet animals....ahhh I soo wish I was there right now. I would be checking out the night vision right now to see which animals were still awake and roaming around.

Great update! we were at POP for the storm; Dayne and Luke were suppose to go to DHS for EMH with the cheerleaders...needless to say they just stayed in Classic Hall (which had me worried because I thought they were in the parks)...

Ohana's sounds great! I had planned to do breakfast this last trip and ended up scrubbing it...next trip will be our food trip

poor Andrew with the storm I can remember being that scared...but, I bet it was awesome to see the storm through those windows!

You must do ohanas- and honestly that is a great place to meet up if you have a big group. Every time we have eaten there, there is always a party of like 12 laughing and having a great time.

It was a little creepy to see the storms, but if you like that sort of stuff then I am sure it would look awesome. When the lightning would crack, the entire bay would light up and it looked ominous, seriously like out of a horror movie!

Great update!!! A day at the Magic Kingdom is always fun to read about!

What do you mean missing treats??? Now, I am really worried!

Connor hates creepy, dark things, so I am always surprised that he likes the Haunted Mansion as much as he does. Yeay for Andrew enjoying it this time!

Mmmm, root beer floats are one of our favorite things to get at Disney World! The ones at Sleepy Hollow in Liberty Square are really good, too!

Love the pictures of your walk around the Lodge!

Ugh about the storm! Thank goodness the waitress was able to switch you to a different table!

We will have a another day at MK to report on so stay tuned.

No worries on the treats, just a few things that we like to have when we go to Disney but nothing major.

In regards to HM, I think once Andrew convinced himself that it is Disney and that HM was just silliness he was fine. We rode it again later on in the trip as well and I think now its one of his must do's.

And I have to remember about the root beer floats in liberty square. I thin we had once gotten them at the place outside the Enchanted TIki room, but never at Liberty Square- good to know cause you never know when that sudden urge for a root beer float will hit and it's nice to know you have options!

ugh..the storm!! I was so bummed about not being able to watch wishes that night, whether we went back to the park or just stayed on the beach at poly.. I would have been fine with either. Oh well, like I said we have another night coming up at MK and I will say that it was much better .

 

[laashley]

Subbing! We were there April 19-28. We even were at Epcot the 24th too! Seems are paths didn't cross though. Can't believe the storm ws that bad. We were at WL eating at WCC And in no clue. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[andrews1ma]

Subbing! We were there April 19-28. We even were at Epcot the 24th too! Seems are paths didn't cross though. Can't believe the storm ws that bad. We were at WL eating at WCC And in no clue. Can't wait to read the rest!

Yippee a new reader!! and thank you for reading along!

I wonder if we did cross paths, who knows!

You were lucky that you were at WCC, it was probably so loud and entertaining in there that you didn't even realize it! I love WCC and wished we would have done that again on this trip, maybe next time.

I have another update coming right up.

 

[andrews1ma]

Day 4:

I decided to give this update a little title and call this the “I may not be a singer but I can sure rock!” update

Today was our DHS day, oh boy !!! This day was 2 years in the making! We visited back in 2007 briefly, for one day where I spied some mysterious construction going on… hmmmm I thought…. What could it that be? When we got back from that trip and I did a little research ( I was new to the boards then) I realized that this construction was going to be the new Toy Story Mania ride! When our 2009 trip came about TSM was up and running and it was a must do…for me anyhow. We spent 10 glorious days at The beach club, a boat ride away from DHS and did not visit it once! Don’t ask…all I will say is it was not by my choosing.


So here we were today, my DHS day! I was seriously jumping up and clicking my heels with excitement. I had a few first lined up for today and I got to do them all! We also had an ADR for 50’s Prime Time, which we ate at the last time we were there and loved the food and the atmosphere.

According to my notes we got up around 8:30, Andrew ate his breakfast in the room

And we were inside DHS at 10:00 am on the dot.

Tram car ride:

The first stop was to grab one of these:

Well actually the first stop was a potty break, where Andrew perused the map ..

and then we grabbed our coveted TSM Fast passes. The wait at that point was not too bad, maybe 45 minutes but the FP return was not bad, I think either, 12:30 so we went the FP route.

Andrew then wanted to check out American Idol.

The first show wasn’t until 11:00 am so we had a little bit of time to kill……what should we do…la la la la la ..oooh I knew…….I think I can sing and I have been told I have a purty voice…so why not mortify my son and go try out for the American Idol experience!

So that’s what we did, yes folks, I marched my non-professional, only sing in the car and shower voice to the back of the theater and auditioned for the American Idol Experience!

Andrew was dying, all he kept saying was “ You know you’re not gonna get picked mom, and then you’re gonna be bummed all day” I quickly reassured him that I was 99.9% sure that I would not get picked and that I was completely fine with that. I was doing this for the fun of it and just to say I did it! At that point Grumpy decided to audition as well, which made me seriously laugh out loud!

The CM’s greeted us and gave us the instructions. They said we needed to pick a song from a list that they provided and we needed to sing it in front of the talent agents. I picked “Part of your World” by Ariel and Grumpy did “ Born to be Wild”

When we got inside I was taken into a private room and Grumpy into another. OMG when I got in the room there were seriously 2 people sitting there!! I started hysterical laughing, which made them start laughing. I told them that I did not expect real live people to be in here. I honestly don’t know what I was picturing, maybe an animatronics, or one of those screens like they have at turtle talk with crush!!!

Nope, there were real live people, sitting right there! What was I to do, it was too late to bail so I sang my tune and they liked me, they really liked me! They asked me to pick another song…. Grrr and sing it Alco Pella.
. I was so not expecting this and it is really hard to remember lyrics and tunes right on the spot. I chose Sheryl Crows’ “ If it makes you happy” I will say that I was sooooo nervous. Here’s the rejection part…. They said that I had a really pretty voice but they wanted someone with a little bit more confidence…I told them it didn’t help that my son –who was now peering in the little circular window at me- kept saying “ you know you’re not going to get picked!” They laughed again!

I got my little “ I was rejected by American Idol” button :

(that’s not what it really said) , scooped up my pride and headed out the door to my son who was waiting with a big hug for me. Grumpy did not get picked either and he said that was the most embarrassing thing he had ever done!

We left AI Experience proudly wearing our Reject buttons and decided to do “One Man’s Dream”.

Don’t you just want to hug him!!!!!! Look at his smile!

This was another first for me and I was dying to get in there. We walked through and read all of the exhibits.

I would have loved to play Barbies when I was little with all of these models, especially the castle and this tree!!

It was so cool to see Walt’s office:

and all of his visions right there. I loved the little Epcot video loop and hearing Walt talk about what it was originally to be. If you have not done this, then this is a must do for your next visit!

Continued on next post..........

 

[andrews1ma]

continued from the last post......



After we walked through this we realized that it was almost time for the AI show so we skipped the movie at the end, thinking that we would come back to it later and hurried over to watch the show.

We liked this a lot, especially the warm up guy and the judges. The singers were pretty good. There was actually a dad that performed and he sang Sweet Home Alabama. He had the audience going! Everyone was standing and clapping and singing along. It was good fun!

Here are a few pics I snapped before the CM’s made the warning that there was no flash photography allowed…ooopsie!

The theater is very cool and it does feel like you are at the real deal ( although I have never been to the real deal )

We were hoping at that point to catch the finale show later on in the evening, after our dinner ADR.





We decided a bite before heading over to TSM so we stopped at Min and Bills Dockside

and had a Hotdog Pretzel. This is Andrew’s new fave CS meal!



I did remember to take a pic but only after it was half eaten- sorry.

I thought this was a nice light lunch and it came with a drink and a cookie. The only thing that I didn’t care for too much was that it was a boiled hot dog and I think it would have tasted a whole lot better if it was grilled first, or cooked on one of those roller type cooker things that you see at stadiums. We finished up and headed over to TSM. woohoo! I was psyched!

We entered through the FP line and I immediately realized that was a mistake. I was looking forward to the line as much as the ride! After seeing all the pics on the Dis I couldn’t wait to get my own pics of the giant game boards, potato head, etc…. I told Grumpy that we would have to try to get back on this ride without a FP if the wait wasn’t too and he agreed. I did take a few:

Although I never call Andrew- Andy, I loved this little sign and wished that my guy were still little enough to post this on his bedroom door.





We did have something very funny happen on this line. Right before you pass through the turnstiles to head up the stairwell, there is the giant log cabin.

This is where you grab your 3D glasses. When we were about to get a pair all of a sudden a hand came out from behind the bandana curtain. It was a CM trying to straighten out the glasses. I told Grumpy to tap the glasses and say Boo! He did and the CM’s hand jumped, she peeked her head around the curtain and started hysterical laughing. She was such a good sport! She came out of the log cabin and asked how many people were in our party, when we told her 3 she said darn, I cant do it with 3 people? I think she wanted to do something to get us back but couldn’t. We were all hysterical!

More line pics :

Our ride car- we got the little green aliens!

My Score- I rode alone.



I absolutely loved this ride! I cant believe I had missed out on that for soooo long! I vow that I will never, ever take another trip to Disney and not ride that ride!!!



I will leave you here as we have all of the neighbors coming over to watch the Hockey play off game tonight on our brand new TV that we spent the entire weekend hooking up! I need to go get the goodies prepared!

next up- you all now know that I cannot sing, but will soon find out that I can rock an air guitar!

 

[MeMom]

So many good pictures!

Good for you for trying out for the show. I have never even seen American Idol on TV - not once. I know enough to know what it's about, though. We might try to catch the show during our summer trip, since we've never done it.

The pretzel dog looks good. Was that a kids' meal?

The Toy Story Midway Mania queue is something else! We're doing a Toy Story party for Brooklynn's August birthday. I'd like to have some of those big things for her party, just like I wanted to swipe the DTD Winnie the Pooh log for Bella's!

I am glad you got to spend some time in One Man's Dream. I always like it when people take the time to appreciate everything that went on in the past that created the Disney World we know now.

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

I love TSM it is one of my favorite rides! I might be trying that pretzel dog this summer.

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a fun update!!! Hurray for finally getting to DHS and riding TSM, but I do have to say that the highlight has to be you AND Grumpy auditioning for American Idol! Too funny!

That hot dog pretzel looks mighty tasty!

 

[kcandbella]

Great update! Good for you that you auditioned for American Idol Experience. I wouldve never had the courage to even audition. We also were first timers on TSM and LOVED it!!!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Great update! we love TSM! especially Ashton...great pictures
Congratulations! to you both for trying out for AI!

 

[andrews1ma]

So many good pictures!

Good for you for trying out for the show. I have never even seen American Idol on TV - not once. I know enough to know what it's about, though. We might try to catch the show during our summer trip, since we've never done it.

The pretzel dog looks good. Was that a kids' meal?

The Toy Story Midway Mania queue is something else! We're doing a Toy Story party for Brooklynn's August birthday. I'd like to have some of those big things for her party, just like I wanted to swipe the DTD Winnie the Pooh log for Bella's!

I am glad you got to spend some time in One Man's Dream. I always like it when people take the time to appreciate everything that went on in the past that created the Disney World we know now.

It was pretty embarrassing but still fun and I am proud to say that I did at least try out.

The pretzel dog was good, I just wished the hot dog was grilled. Andrew loved it! You can order it as a kids meal or I think you can use it as a snack credit but don't quote me on that. Oh and it is normally made with mustard in it but I asked for one without it for Andrew and that was not a problem.

I was regretting not going on the regular queue for TSM- I don't know what I was thinking! If you look at my pics you will see that there was hardly anyone on the regular line but since it was my first time I didn't know how the line worked. I thought maybe there was the hidden part with a ton of people waiting on it, but no worries, there's more TSM to come on this trip!

How cool would it be to have some of those props for a party!!

I love TSM it is one of my favorite rides! I might be trying that pretzel dog this summer.

You should definitely give it a try. You cant go wrong if you like pretzels and hot dogs. I remembered reading about them on another TR and thinking "yummmm" so I am glad they still had them when we got there- cause you know how things mysteriously disappear in Disney- especially the yummy things!

What a fun update!!! Hurray for finally getting to DHS and riding TSM, but I do have to say that the highlight has to be you AND Grumpy auditioning for American Idol! Too funny!

That hot dog pretzel looks mighty tasty!

for me and my first time on TSM!!! the audition was definitely a nerve wracking experience! I still cant believe I did it!

Hot dog pretzel was a hit. I just hate that I forgot to take a pic before I ate some but at least I remembered to take one at all.

Great update! Good for you that you auditioned for American Idol Experience. I would've never had the courage to even audition. We also were first timers on TSM and LOVED it!!!

Thanks! I dont think I would ever do it again. I don't know what I was thinking!

TSM ahhh

Great update! we love TSM! especially Ashton...great pictures
Congratulations! to you both for trying out for AI!

Thanks!

I think everyone should try out for AI!!!!!!!!!!

I am going to try and get another update up tomorrow night to finish out our DHS day. There is still a lot to cover from that day. I will say that it was my most favorite day of the trip. I love DHS!

 

[MeMom]

I am glad they still had them when we got there- cause you know how things mysteriously disappear in Disney- especially the yummy things!

Yes, they do! We are still learning - if you want it, buy it, because next time you come, it will be gone. I wanted three mixing bowls with spouts this trip. I bought the last two MouseGear had and couldn't find them anywhere else. I wanted three AKL beach towels, and I ended up with the last one they had! Maybe they'll restock by the time we get back, but I am really convinced that if I like something, I better go ahead and get it right then.