A Birthday, A Graduation, and A Teenager?! (June 7-17,2011) Yak & Yeti/Artist Pointe

[DisDreamz]

Your title caught my eye and I wondered if you were talking about my mom (MeMom) or if that is what your kids called your mom. Now I know you were talking about my mom. Loved the pictures of your daughter with Minnie when she was a baby and now. I love that your big kids still enjoy going to Disney, I hope my girls still enjoy it years from now.

I'm sure your girls will still enjoy it. I think it's hard for the kids to not like it a little when the parents (and grandparents )really enjoy it, but it does change some. My oldest has been to Disneyland so many times that she has less tolerance for lines. She won't stand in a long line for almost any ride she's been on before (which means I don't take her to DL when it's going to be crowded!).

All three kids don't enjoy Magic Kingdom as much for that same reason. They've been able to go to Disneyland so many times they don't find the enjoyment of the MK rides anymore. My youngest is probably the closest to me in being a Disney-nut. She'd happily go any day any time and doesn't mind standing in lines for a ride she likes.

 

[DisDreamz]

June 12 - Sunday

Star Wars Weekends!

Hollywood Studios hosts Star Wars Weekends 3 weekends at the end of May/beginning of June. It's for the true Star Wars fan with not only the disney characters dressed up as Star Wars characters, Star Wars themed parades and shows, but also the chance to meet some of the real stars of the various Star Wars films and tv series. With that in mind, we are not Star Wars ultra fans. However, Jack really wanted to try to get autographs from the actors that played Darth Maul and Chewbacca! Plus I had heard that the 6pm show of the actor that is the voice of Yoda and many other characters on the new Clone Wars series was supposed to be really good. The plan was to get to Hollywood Studios as early as we can and see what we saw.

Unfortunately Mom was having issues so was moving REALLY SLOW. We did manage to get to HS by 10am, but of course all the FASTPASSES for the celebrity autographs were gone (3 hours before!!!).

We entered the park and headed straight for Rock N Rollercoaster.

I still hadn't quite recovered from my previous ride so decided to forgo it this time. So the kids jumped in the line and I headed for Jabba's Hut which had Star Wars Weekends merchandise. I looked around and didn't see anything I'd be willing to buy. They did have some nice posters and things for the uber-fan, but given that wasn't us I walked out without buying anything. After I left the kids still weren't off the ride so I decided to run over to Star Tours and grabbed FASTPASSES for all of us. We met back up and meandered slowly back to Star Tours.

A quick picture in front of Walt's bust!

By the time we got there it was almost time for our FASTPASSES. While we waited for our time, Tink stopped and watched part of the Jedi Training Academy which was going on. Then it was time for our FASTPASSES. We hopped in the FASTPASS line and were quickly on the ride.

The ride was amazing. I'm not sure what planet we visited, but we took a totally different trip than last time (with Darth Vader and through a meteor shower?) and it was even more fun than the first time!!!

After the ride, we were getting hungry so headed for the ABC Commissary. We had to order the Star Wars Weekends specialty desserts!

A Darth Vadar cupcake. The cake was kind of dry and we were disappointed that the Darth Vadar was made out of chocolate so couldn't be brought home.

The R2D2 cup with the chocolate mousse that came inside. The mousse was your typical mousse, nothing special however I love the cup and it's sitting on the top of the piano.

Waiting for their food (I did take a picture of Minnie as well, but none of the multiple pictures were any good).

I can't remember what we all ate. I know I had the fish & chips which I had loved last time and they were okay. I was disappointed to see they got rid of the packets of malt vinegar they used to offer. I think Mom and Minnie had the cheeseburger and the kids had the chicken nuggets, but without photographic proof I have no clue!

Tink really wanted to go on the Great Movie Ride again so we headed over there and passed a line for Goofy and Donald on the way. We tried to jump in it, but the line had just shut down which was disappointing (I'm not usually big on standing in line for characters, but I thought it'd be cute with the Star Wars theme). Mom took a picture of them though.

Then we went over to and waited in the short line for the Great Movie Ride. This time we got a great driver--Jose-- who was a lot more into his role plus we went had the gangster scene which we all prefer! From there we went in search of the Animation Academy which I had heard about on the disboards. We finally located it and waited a few minutes for a new class to start. Jack and Tink did a good job drawing Donald Duck while Mom, Minnie, and I observed.

We then wandered into the shop and we had two Disney artists sign a Star Wars Weekends poster.

Afterwards Mom decided she really wanted to go back to the condo. The heat was getting to her and she was having problems with her feet swelling (and she had made the bad decision to buy new shoes on our earlier shopping trip and had problems with blisters all week). After some discussion with the kids, we decided to drop her off at the condo and then head over to Magic Kingdom.

So we dropped Mom off and then we drove to the TTC and took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We headed straight for Haunted Mansion where we skipped the cemetary because of the heat. Plus the "line" after the stretching room was packed! We were all shocked at the disorganization of that part. So different than DL! Plus part of the reason I like the Haunted Mansion here is because of the new features at the end of the ride and this time that part didn't work right. Oh well.

It was so hot that I made the decision that we needed ice cream. We wandered around looking for some and finally found a stand in Fantasyland. Tink ordered the chocolate/vanilla swirl in a cup, Minnie and I were going to split the Strawberry Shortcake Sundae, and Jack ordered the--popcorn!

Unfortunately it was at this point that I received a text from our catsitter, the fabulous Tracy! Whiskers had pooped on my bed and had been hiding (usually a sign that he's sick) and she couldn't find Mackenzie at all! After a lot of texting back and forth (which meant I only got one bite of the strawberry shortcake and the bottom of the chocolate/vanilla swirl) between myself, Tracy, Mom, and David we managed to get Whiskers taken to the vet and Kenzie located from her hiding place. Sadly the issues with Whiskers really effected the rest of our trip and he never recovered.

After the kids finished their ice cream and we headed to Tomorrowland with the plan that the kids would go on Space Mountain. When we got there we found out that it was a 60 minute wait, so no go (even if I was willing to wait that long for them, Minnie and Jack refused to wait and Tink couldn't go by herself). We hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and took a ride. Sadly I was still texting so didn't get to enjoy the ride. After that we went on the Carousel of Progress. Minnie led us to a seat, in the front row! Oops it was slightly off center and I was next to a guy who was taking up his seat and part of mine. Plus I was exhausted so was fighting to stay awake during the show. It was so hot and miserable and the kids didn't want to go on any more rides (unfortunately Magic Kingdom is too similar to Disneyland for their taste) so we headed for the exit, stopping briefly to watch the end of a show. We accidentially ended up on the Resort Monorail back to the TTC, but we finally found the car and decided to hit Downtown Disney for dinner.

We got to Downtown Disney about an hour before our reservations (which I had made while sitting watching the show ) at Portobello. We wandered around World of Disney for awhile and then Tink noticed that they did Vinylmation trading. Earlier I had bought a vinylmation to add to my collection (I buy one to commemerate each trip to a Disney "park" we take) and Tink loved the idea of trading. So I let her trade the crying baby Vinylmation for a Hawaiian Minnie. We then went and checked in at Portobello. They couldn't find my reservation, but took my word for it that we had one and seated us quickly.

Minnie and I ordered the mozzarella and tomato salad which was not very good. The tomato actually had an odd consistency almost like it was cooked.

Tink insisted we order Mozzarella Stuffed Rice Balls. She LOVED these. I thought they were really good too although I'm sure they were REALLY fattening.

Jack ordered the caesar salad. He likes his pepper!

The kids menu turned into a chef's hat!

Tink also ordered the kids sausage pizza.

Jack ordered the kids pepperoni pizza.

Minnie had the linguine with clams which she said was flavorless.

I had the penne bolognese and I ordered a plate to take back to Mom as well. It was really good although a huge portion. Sadly we never really ate any of the leftovers we brought home.

After dinner I wanted to get a sweet treat for later. I had heard all about Babycakes on the Disney podcasts I listen to and decided to give it a try. We ordered a red velvet cupcake for Mom, a donut for myself, and a muffin for Tink (nothing for Minnie and Jack who aren't huge sweets nuts). Sadly none of us really liked our treats.

We came back to the condo, gave Mom her dinner, and it wasn't long until I crashed on the couch.

 

[DisDreamz]

June 13 - Day 7

The plan today was to have breakfast at Kona, but after showering and waking Mom, that was changed to skipping breakfast in favor of getting to Animal Kingdom early. We still didn't get to the park before opening--surprised?! Once in the park we headed straight for the Safari which had a 45 minute wait so we grabbed FASTPASSES. We then took the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

There were a lot of interesting caged animals at Rafiki's.

Ugly toads!

Kissing turtles!

Hidden Mickey!

We wandered around for about 30 minutes, briefly stopping in the store to look for souvenirs (and a penny press machine).

Another hidden Mickey!

We hopped back on the Wildlife Express Train and then made our way over to the Safari. We were quickly put in a car in the front which was nice. Our tour guide was pretty good and we saw a lot of animals.

 

[DisDreamz]

June 13 - Day 7 Part 2

We were starting to get hungry and I'd heard that the table service at Yak & Yeti was good so we made our way there and were able to get in without a reservation (amazingly this happened all week, we always seemed to be slightly ahead of the lunch crowds--we'd go in and the place would be pretty dead, but by the time we left a restaurant the waiting room would be packed).

Hidden Mickey!

There was a small wait to be shown to a table so I ran and grabbed FASTPASSES to Expedition Everest. When I got back I searched the restaurant, which is much bigger than it appears from the outside, and finally found them sitting at a table by the window downstairs. Lunch was pretty good (a great change of pace from all the meat and traditional seafood we've been eating too) though Jack did spill an entire glass of water that was then an ordeal to get cleaned up.

We started with the pot stickers which were really good (and for some reason I did not take a picture of them).

Then I ordered the Crispy Mahi Mahi which was much heavier than I was expecting. I guess I was hoping it being Mahi Mahi would prevent it from tasting like fish stick, but I was wrong.

Minnie ordered the seared Miso Salmon. While she liked it, it really didn't agree with her and she didn't feel great the rest of the day.

Jack had the hamburger and french fries. Shock!

I think Mom had the Maple Tamarind Chicken, but I'm not sure now.

I have no idea what Tink had, but possibly the burger. We paid the bill where I was disappointed to find out they don't take Tables in Wonderland (I had heard that before, but I had forgotten). They do have an Annual Pass discount though so it wasn't too bad.
We finished lunch just in time to use our FASTPASSES. We headed towards Everest, stopping to watch the monkeys

and take a quick Everest picture.

Funny story: on the way to lunch, we passed the Everest picture spot and Mom yelled out "Do you want me to take your picture here?" and the couple walking next to us said "No thanks!" They thought she was a photopass photographer LOL.

The ride was great as usual. We considered riding again, but knowing Mom was waiting for us we didn't. We met back up with Mom who was talking to her husband on the phone and he had some bad news about the cat. We were able to get through it and not let it ruin our day.

Minnie really wanted to see one of the shows. Since none of the rest of us are big fans of shows we told her she could pick one, so she chose Festival of the Lion King which had a show starting soon. We jumped into line and waited in the holding area.
It was HOT!

We were finally let into the theater and sat in the first row behind the Reserved Seating.

For a show, this one is really good. It had a lot of entertaining parts and they even pulled Tink up near the end to shake some maracas and parade around the theater.
After the show, we passed by these fun cut outs.

We then headed for the park exit.

On the way back to the resort we finally made good on the promise to Jack to find out how we could get games for the PS3. We called the vacation rental company and they told us where they were located. We stopped at their offices and Jack found a video game that he thought he might like (they didn't have great offerings for kids his age and most of the dvds they had were pretty old). We then stopped at the nearby Winn Dixie to replenish supplies for the condo.

Finally we made it back to the condo and the kids got their bathing suits on and I dropped them and Mom off at the water park.

While Minnie and I went back to the room to rest before dinner. Minnie still wasn't feeling well and took a really long nap. The pool closed with just enough time for everyone to get ready for dinner at Artist Point.

We made it to Artist Point a little early so we waited in the lobby for a table. When they finally called us to be seated, we walked by a young girl who said "Hi Minnie!" It was, Jessica, one of the girls the kids had met on the cruise to Mexico!! Small world!
We were taken to a table in the back of the restaurant.

I, of course, had to start with the mushroom soup which was just as amazing as usual.

Mom also ordered the cheese plate which was really good. Minnie and I especially were fighting over the white cheese in the corner.

Jack couldn't find anything on the menu (including the kids menu which I was trying to get him to order off of) so I convinced him to split the Buffalo Strip Steak. Unfortunately I didn't realize the amount of meat was going to be so little. I ended up giving him all of the meat. I did take one bite and it was delicious. The macaroni was alright and the brussel sprouts were pretty good.

I think this was Mom's, but not sure what it was. I do remember she wanted to get the Pan-Seared Airline Chicken Breast but was turned off by it's name.

Tink's salmon which she loved.

Plus Minnie’s salmon (I think?)

A table nearby was being noisy playing games with their kids (we couldn't figure out what the game was, but we heard what sounded like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama) so somehow this turned into my kids putting spoons on their noses!

I had to order the chocolate for dessert. Not sure what it was, but it was REALLY rich so I took most of it home and had it for a snack later.

Mom's dessert, some sort of peach upside down cake

Dinner was delicious as usual (so worth the high price!). We then came home and the kids watched tv and played video games before going to bed.