A Mother-Daughter Trip! Now with BONUS BIRTHDAY Trip! (Final Thoughts Coming Soon!)

[RGirl]

As of right now, we are staying at POP in December. We were going to stay in one of the deluxes but at the beginning of January, we put a purchase agreement on a house that's being built. So, I decided to save money & book POP because there's a lot of things we'll need & want for the new house. But, I'm hoping to change from POP into a DVC property. We own a timeshare with Hilton. And through RCI, we can trade our Hilton time into DVC. So, I'm really hoping that something in DVC will come available with our dates.

I have to agree - the planning of the trip is almost as much fun as the trip itself. I've been occupying myself by helping 3 friends plan their trips to Disney. My best friend from high school leaves in 2 weeks, 1 other leaves in April and the other is going in June. I don't know what I'll do once they're all back! I have worked, re-worked & re-worked our possible itinerary & ADRs until I'm blue in the face. Although, I'm sure I'll be looking over them again before my ADR-making date in June.

I really think y'all are going to enjoy the cruise. We did our 1st Disney cruise this past May & loved it!!! My husband & I had only done 1 cruise before that & HATED it! He swore he would never step foot on a boat again. Well, all I can say is that our vacation we're planning for next year is a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy! There is so much to do on the boats & you still get the Disney magic through their wonderful service & of course all the characters on board. Reid absolutely loved the kids club & never wanted to leave! My only complaint about the cruise is indeed the lack of planning you get to do for it!

Congrats on the house!!!! Oh, I hope you will be able to get into a DVC resort! I made the mistake of renting points to stay DVC on our first on-site trip (as you know, since it is featured in this very TR ), and now I can't stand the thought of staying any other way. Well, I did learn that we can do a regular hotel room at Disney while at DL because DD is so tired after a day in the parks that she passes out even if I stay up reading or something. But when we go to WDW, it is such a long trip and WDW takes so long to do that I hate the thought of staying less than a week (even a week isn't really enough) - we cannot do a hotel room that long. Gotta have some space and a kitchen!

Wow - I am jealous. Not only do you have your own trip to plan but others as well! So unfair! I am going to have to start pressuring my boss. I loved planning her first trip, but she did not decide enough in advance. I want to get her locked in on dates way in advance this time. I want to find her a great resort, book tons of ADRs, etc. I hope she can commit soon!

I am so glad to hear about your cruise experience! I think I worry most about how laid-back it will be. I think I could happily sit in a lounge chair and read for 7 days, but I don't think that would be DD's speed at all! She is excited to try the kids' club, and I am just hope-hope-hoping that she will love it. I can't imagine free time for me - I have never had that on vacation and, honestly, as an only parent, I haven't ever had it at home either! We shall see. Man, the excursions are $$$ though. I think I may only book one or two. My mom and her friend decided to join us, and Disney recently upgraded us to a higher deck with adjoining state rooms, which should be really nice. I am hoping to get a Palo reservation for the three of us - and REALLY hoping that DD loves the kids' club so that I can actually go. I can't imagine - a leisurely dinner in a nice restaurant on a cruise ship with no kids? What in the world?????

What was the character situation on your cruise? DD LOVES characters (you may have noticed that :roll eyes - are there very many on-ship? Are all the appearances planned and noted, or are there some surprises? I really don't know much about cruising at all.....

 

[pas130]

Yep - we do have the cruise in July. But there is NO planning. I hate that! I am starting to realize that I get at least as much fun from the planning as from the actual trip.

This is SOOOOO true. My DH keeps saying what will you do when the trip is over???Ummm plan the next one duh?

I love all the character shots, I have lots of plans to take advantages of character meets (I never do this) More wonderful Willow pics. And I have always liked the Living with the land ride

 

[amandaw]

Congrats on the house!!!! Oh, I hope you will be able to get into a DVC resort! I made the mistake of renting points to stay DVC on our first on-site trip (as you know, since it is featured in this very TR ), and now I can't stand the thought of staying any other way. Well, I did learn that we can do a regular hotel room at Disney while at DL because DD is so tired after a day in the parks that she passes out even if I stay up reading or something. But when we go to WDW, it is such a long trip and WDW takes so long to do that I hate the thought of staying less than a week (even a week isn't really enough) - we cannot do a hotel room that long. Gotta have some space and a kitchen!

Thank you! I am really hoping we can get into a DVC resort. We'll be there a Saturday to a Saturday, so more room would really be nice. And at night, I get Reid to bed but then I like to unpack & re-pack our park bag, upload my pictures to my computer & then journal about what all we did that day. So, if I had a den area to do this is, it would be so nice. Although Reid, like Willow, crashes so it doesn't really matter. Except that I normally have most of the lights off. So, it would be nice to see what I'm doing.

Wow - I am jealous. Not only do you have your own trip to plan but others as well! So unfair! I am going to have to start pressuring my boss. I loved planning her first trip, but she did not decide enough in advance. I want to get her locked in on dates way in advance this time. I want to find her a great resort, book tons of ADRs, etc. I hope she can commit soon!

Well, I started out just helping my best friend. Then, she referred 2 of her friends to me. I need to make business cards & start charging! One of her friends has titled me "The Disney Diva". I hope your boss decides on those dates soon so you can do some planning!

I am so glad to hear about your cruise experience! I think I worry most about how laid-back it will be. I think I could happily sit in a lounge chair and read for 7 days, but I don't think that would be DD's speed at all! She is excited to try the kids' club, and I am just hope-hope-hoping that she will love it. I can't imagine free time for me - I have never had that on vacation and, honestly, as an only parent, I haven't ever had it at home either! We shall see. Man, the excursions are $$$ though. I think I may only book one or two. My mom and her friend decided to join us, and Disney recently upgraded us to a higher deck with adjoining state rooms, which should be really nice. I am hoping to get a Palo reservation for the three of us - and REALLY hoping that DD loves the kids' club so that I can actually go. I can't imagine - a leisurely dinner in a nice restaurant on a cruise ship with no kids? What in the world?????

In all honesty, what we found from our Disney cruise is that you can have as laid back of a vacation as you want or you can keep yourself busy on the ship the whole time. They really have lots of activities planned on the ship - for kids, adults & families.

I can only imagine being a single mom that you don't get much down time. I'm a stay at home mom so I'm with Reid 24/7 so I kind of understand - but I do get some relief. From what I've seen on your TR, Willow is outgoing & loves fun - so I think she'll do well in the kids club. I really hope you can get some down time & your Palo meal! And that'll be so much fun with your mom & her friend with y'all.

The excursions are expensive! I bet they're really expensive in Alaska. We didn't do any excursions on our last cruise, but it was only a 3 night cruise. We wanted to make sure we enjoyed it before we went too long since we hated our 1st cruise. The cruise only went to Nassau & Castaway Cay. We've been to Nassau before so we just stayed on the ship that day. Of course, we got off on Castaway Cay. Now, that place is just gorgeous. If you enjoy this cruise, definitely look into doing one of their cruises that go to Castaway Cay.

What was the character situation on your cruise? DD LOVES characters (you may have noticed that :roll eyes - are there very many on-ship? Are all the appearances planned and noted, or are there some surprises? I really don't know much about cruising at all.....

I found there to be a good many characters on the ship. The majority of them are planned & will be listed in your navigator that you will get every day in your stateroom. They even had some characters that we had trouble finding in the park - like peter Pan, Cpt. Hook & Mr. Smee. Reid was soooo excited to meet Peter Pan. We missed the meet & greet with Hook & Smee but did go to a dance party with them. Although we didn't do this we did see it while waiting for Peter - they have a princess meet & greet. You stood in 1 line & then hit up the princesses 1 by 1. They had: Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle & Aurora. Now, we were on the Dream. But, I'm sure it's at least very similar on all of the boats. Also, one night while we were eating in the Royal Palace, a couple of the princesses walked thru waiving at everyone but they didn't stop. And there were a few times that characters would show up in the kids club.

I really think y'all will have a great time! Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[RGirl]

This is SOOOOO true. My DH keeps saying what will you do when the trip is over???Ummm plan the next one duh?

I love all the character shots, I have lots of plans to take advantages of character meets (I never do this) More wonderful Willow pics. And I have always liked the Living with the land ride

Why are these trips so fun to plan???

We really enjoy character meals. We had a FABULOUS one at Disneyland last month.

Thank you! I am really hoping we can get into a DVC resort. We'll be there a Saturday to a Saturday, so more room would really be nice. And at night, I get Reid to bed but then I like to unpack & re-pack our park bag, upload my pictures to my computer & then journal about what all we did that day. So, if I had a den area to do this is, it would be so nice. Although Reid, like Willow, crashes so it doesn't really matter. Except that I normally have most of the lights off. So, it would be nice to see what I'm doing.

I do the same in the evenings, and it was so nice to have the one-bedroom villa. DD would crash on the pull-out couch, and I could have the TV on in the bedroom, get on-line on the iPad, whatever. It was so nice!

Well, I started out just helping my best friend. Then, she referred 2 of her friends to me. I need to make business cards & start charging! One of her friends has titled me "The Disney Diva". I hope your boss decides on those dates soon so you can do some planning!

My boss is always telling me I should start a second business. I can't imagine anyone paying for it - it's so fun to do yourself!

In all honesty, what we found from our Disney cruise is that you can have as laid back of a vacation as you want or you can keep yourself busy on the ship the whole time. They really have lots of activities planned on the ship - for kids, adults & families.

I can only imagine being a single mom that you don't get much down time. I'm a stay at home mom so I'm with Reid 24/7 so I kind of understand - but I do get some relief. From what I've seen on your TR, Willow is outgoing & loves fun - so I think she'll do well in the kids club. I really hope you can get some down time & your Palo meal! And that'll be so much fun with your mom & her friend with y'all.

The excursions are expensive! I bet they're really expensive in Alaska. We didn't do any excursions on our last cruise, but it was only a 3 night cruise. We wanted to make sure we enjoyed it before we went too long since we hated our 1st cruise. The cruise only went to Nassau & Castaway Cay. We've been to Nassau before so we just stayed on the ship that day. Of course, we got off on Castaway Cay. Now, that place is just gorgeous. If you enjoy this cruise, definitely look into doing one of their cruises that go to Castaway Cay.

I found there to be a good many characters on the ship. The majority of them are planned & will be listed in your navigator that you will get every day in your stateroom. They even had some characters that we had trouble finding in the park - like peter Pan, Cpt. Hook & Mr. Smee. Reid was soooo excited to meet Peter Pan. We missed the meet & greet with Hook & Smee but did go to a dance party with them. Although we didn't do this we did see it while waiting for Peter - they have a princess meet & greet. You stood in 1 line & then hit up the princesses 1 by 1. They had: Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle & Aurora. Now, we were on the Dream. But, I'm sure it's at least very similar on all of the boats. Also, one night while we were eating in the Royal Palace, a couple of the princesses walked thru waiving at everyone but they didn't stop. And there were a few times that characters would show up in the kids club.

I really think y'all will have a great time! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks SO much for all the info! You are making me get a little excited about the cruise, which is a good thing. That is so cool that there are lots of character opportunities, and I like the fact that you can find plenty to do even without paying for lots of excursions. I think I will plan to do more on-ship than I had been thinking. That could be really fun!

DD is VERY outgoing, so I am guessing that she will love the Kids' Club. It is hard for me to understand because I was completely the opposite as a kid. I can't relate at all.

 

[RGirl]

32. Who Would Have Thought We Would Be Spending Another Day at DHS?

I let DD decide what to do today, and the day before she had decided that we would be heading back to DHS! It still cracks me up to think about how little love we had for DHS last year and how I expected to spend part of one day there this trip - and it became DD’s favorite park!

We left the villa a little before 9:00, enjoyed another lovely walk to DHS, and arrived there about 5 minutes after opening.

We split off from the masses headed toward TSMM and took a right toward DD’s favorite ride.

We grabbed FPs.

And jumped in line. We rode three times in a row stand-by - walk-on every time.

At that point, the line had started to form, so we grabbed another set of FPs, grabbed a slushy coffee thing for me and a mango slushy for DD and headed off to Star Tours. We hung out for a bit enjoying our nice cold drinks (and reading the map).

Then we enjoyed our first ride of the day on Star Tours and were able to grab a set of FPs after we exited.

[cont. in next post for picture overload. Again.]​

 

[RGirl]

[Cont. from previous post]

It was getting close to time for a showing of the Beauty and the Beast stage show, so we headed back in that direction.

What a great show! We both really enjoyed it. But DD was heartbroken when Gaston stabbed The Beast - she thought The Beast was dead and was not at all consoled by the idea that he had turned into a prince. I had to assure her that The Beast would still be in Epcot.

Next, we made a stop at Sweet Spells and got DD her first-ever cotton candy! It was a big hit.

We wandered over to see when the next showing of VotLM was, but it was quite a ways off, and we had seen it last year, so we continued on.

Up next: 33. Just How Many Times Will We Ride ToT?​

 

[amandaw]

I am loving the picture of DD in line for ToT - she is just so excited & happy to be going on that ride! I don't think we'll even attempt to get Reid on that in December - he can be a bit of chicken. I'll be happy if he just rides Haunted Mansion with me.

That cotton candy looks really good - wish I had some now. Think they deliver?

Too funny that DD didn't want Beast into the prince. I like him better as Beast, too!

Thanks SO much for all the info! You are making me get a little excited about the cruise, which is a good thing. That is so cool that there are lots of character opportunities, and I like the fact that you can find plenty to do even without paying for lots of excursions. I think I will plan to do more on-ship than I had been thinking. That could be really fun!

DD is VERY outgoing, so I am guessing that she will love the Kids' Club. It is hard for me to understand because I was completely the opposite as a kid. I can't relate at all.

You are very welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions! I might not have been on the same ship but I might be able to help you with some stuff.

If it makes you feel any better - I had total cruise booking remorse about 3 months prior to the cruise. I was afraid we would all hate it, especially my husband. I was afraid Reid would be bored. No need for any of those worries! Wait until you see the navigator each day: If it's anything like the Dream, there is never a time during the day with absolutely nothing going on. In fact, the cruise we're looking at for 2013 is the 7 night during Thanksgiving week & it's a Western Caribbean cruise. I was really hoping that it would be an Eastern Caribbean cruise for that week but oh well. The ports for the western cruise are grand cayman, cozumel, costa maya & castaway cay. And there are 2 at sea days - I think. We know for sure that we'll get off at Castaway Cay but other than that we may get off in Grand Cayman & that will be it. I've been to Mexico & don't need to go back (no offense to anyone who likes it). But, it doesn't bother us because now we look at the ship as the main destination for the vacation. That's just how much there is to do & not do!

 

[RGirl]

I am loving the picture of DD in line for ToT - she is just so excited & happy to be going on that ride! I don't think we'll even attempt to get Reid on that in December - he can be a bit of chicken. I'll be happy if he just rides Haunted Mansion with me.

That cotton candy looks really good - wish I had some now. Think they deliver?

Too funny that DD didn't want Beast into the prince. I like him better as Beast, too!

DD really has a thing for the Beast. She has NO interest in him as the prince though. I guess she saves that for Flynn Rider.

You are very welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions! I might not have been on the same ship but I might be able to help you with some stuff.

If it makes you feel any better - I had total cruise booking remorse about 3 months prior to the cruise. I was afraid we would all hate it, especially my husband. I was afraid Reid would be bored. No need for any of those worries! Wait until you see the navigator each day: If it's anything like the Dream, there is never a time during the day with absolutely nothing going on. In fact, the cruise we're looking at for 2013 is the 7 night during Thanksgiving week & it's a Western Caribbean cruise. I was really hoping that it would be an Eastern Caribbean cruise for that week but oh well. The ports for the western cruise are grand cayman, cozumel, costa maya & castaway cay. And there are 2 at sea days - I think. We know for sure that we'll get off at Castaway Cay but other than that we may get off in Grand Cayman & that will be it. I've been to Mexico & don't need to go back (no offense to anyone who likes it). But, it doesn't bother us because now we look at the ship as the main destination for the vacation. That's just how much there is to do & not do.

You are definitely making me feel better! I was starting to have a little buyer's remorse myself, especially now that the final payment date is looming. I'm glad to hear that you all had so much fun, and it is really encouraging that you liked being on the ship so much. I definitely want to see some of Alaska, but I'm not feeling so tied to the idea of having to spend big $$$ for excursions. Surely we can just disembark and explore a little on our own.

What types of stuff did you enjoy on the ship? I am interested to hear what some of the offerings were!

 

[shan23877]

Can't get enough of the pics of Willow, she is just too cute.

I must have missed something, but a cruise?

I just talked DH into waiting until Maddie is a little older to do DCL, eager to see how you like it! (so that means you'll be TRing for a while yet. )

 

[amandaw]

You are definitely making me feel better! I was starting to have a little buyer's remorse myself, especially now that the final payment date is looming. I'm glad to hear that you all had so much fun, and it is really encouraging that you liked being on the ship so much. I definitely want to see some of Alaska, but I'm not feeling so tied to the idea of having to spend big $$$ for excursions. Surely we can just disembark and explore a little on our own.

What types of stuff did you enjoy on the ship? I am interested to hear what some of the offerings were!

I'm glad I can help! We definitely enjoyed some pool time and Reid loved the kids club. Ed & I went to the production shows 2 out of the 3 nights & we really enjoyed them. They aren't the cheesy-style shows that you would normally associate with cruises. They are on par with Disney park shows (probably even better). There is also the movie theatre that I wish we would've had time to go see a movie there. And what's really great is that they will play Disney movies that are currently in the theatres....even the 3D ones! And of course....character meets!

I pulled our navigator from the day we're docked in Nassau just to give you an idea of soe of the things offered:

- Exercise classes (if that's your thing - I don't like to exercise at home so I'm definitely not about to do it on vacation )

- Family Crafts

- Wine Tasting, Beer Tasting, Mixology, Martini Tasting, Whiskey Tasting, etc.

- Character Dance Party

- Animation Class

- Family Origami

- In the kids club, the kids can go in & just play whatever they want. But, they also have many organized games & activities all through the day & night for those that want to participate.

- Some of the character meets: princesses, peter pan, pinnochio, minnie, goofy, donald, aladdin, mickey, chip & dale, tinker bell, daisy, jack sparrow

- Live music (at night in different locations)

- Family Disco (night)

- Family karaoke (night)

- If DD goes to the club at night, you could go to the adult lounges!

That's just to name a few!

 

[pas130]

Sorry I can't pose any insight on the cruise I am a chicken when it comes to boats...

But, I am enjoying the pics. My DD4 really wants to do ToT alas she is 38 inches 2013 hopefully.

 

[amandaw]

My DD4 really wants to do ToT alas she is 38 inches 2013 hopefully.

Poor Baby! Buy her some high heels!

 

[cocofifi]

More great installments. I love the fact that the cuteness totally owns ToT! It took every bit of courage I had to ride it when we were there in October.

 

[RGirl]

Can't get enough of the pics of Willow, she is just too cute.

I must have missed something, but a cruise?

I just talked DH into waiting until Maddie is a little older to do DCL, eager to see how you like it! (so that means you'll be TRing for a while yet. )

Thanks!

Yes, we are cruising to Alaska with Mickey in July! Now if I can just find a way to drag out this TR long enough to include that trip too. I feel like this is the only forum where TRs really get going!

I'm glad I can help! We definitely enjoyed some pool time and Reid loved the kids club. Ed & I went to the production shows 2 out of the 3 nights & we really enjoyed them. They aren't the cheesy-style shows that you would normally associate with cruises. They are on par with Disney park shows (probably even better). There is also the movie theatre that I wish we would've had time to go see a movie there. And what's really great is that they will play Disney movies that are currently in the theatres....even the 3D ones! And of course....character meets!

I pulled our navigator from the day we're docked in Nassau just to give you an idea of soe of the things offered:

- Exercise classes (if that's your thing - I don't like to exercise at home so I'm definitely not about to do it on vacation )

- Family Crafts

- Wine Tasting, Beer Tasting, Mixology, Martini Tasting, Whiskey Tasting, etc.

- Character Dance Party

- Animation Class

- Family Origami

- In the kids club, the kids can go in & just play whatever they want. But, they also have many organized games & activities all through the day & night for those that want to participate.

- Some of the character meets: princesses, peter pan, pinnochio, minnie, goofy, donald, aladdin, mickey, chip & dale, tinker bell, daisy, jack sparrow

- Live music (at night in different locations)

- Family Disco (night)

- Family karaoke (night)

- If DD goes to the club at night, you could go to the adult lounges!

That's just to name a few!

This is fantastic!!!! Thank you so much! I have been really looking forward to the evening shows, but I am so excited that there are so many others forms of entertainment as well. I can't imagine it, but how fun would it be to be able to go out in the evening and enjoy some of the adult things??? Like I said, I can't really imagine it......

Sorry I can't pose any insight on the cruise I am a chicken when it comes to boats...

But, I am enjoying the pics. My DD4 really wants to do ToT alas she is 38 inches 2013 hopefully.

Awww - I really didn't think DD was going to make the height cut-off in October, but we were so happy when she did. Of course, now she has her sights set on the "really big rides." These teeny girls, though, take a LONG time to grow!

More great installments. I love the fact that the cuteness totally owns ToT! It took every bit of courage I had to ride it when we were there in October.

Thanks! DD's great love of ToT is just plain bizarre, isn't it???

 

[pas130]

Poor Baby! Buy her some high heels!

She could totally pull it off..we have MANY MNAY heels to go with all her princess dresses, and the girl can sport heels better than I ever could

Awww - I really didn't think DD was going to make the height cut-off in October, but we were so happy when she did. Of course, now she has her sights set on the "really big rides." These teeny girls, though, take a LONG time to grow!

It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't the only one It is hard to watch her older sisters go on the rides she can't...but we are gonna get ice cream and buy stuff I think. Last time we did the carousel and small world twice. Just her DS3 and I...it was great 2013...it's on !!!!

 

[CandleontheWater]

Welcome back from Disneyland and sorry I've been MIA on your report!

I just love the look of joy on Willow's face when she is getting on a thrill ride, and the photo of her holding her fastpass stash was just priceless!

Great plan to go straight for tower first thing in the morning, it must have been so much fun to ride ToT over and over again!

I cannot wait for my DS to get tall enough to try them out! I measured him tonight just for kicks and he is only 36 inches. What do you think the chances are that he'll grow 4 inches in a week?

 

[RGirl]

She could totally pull it off..we have MANY MNAY heels to go with all her princess dresses, and the girl can sport heels better than I ever could

It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't the only one It is hard to watch her older sisters go on the rides she can't...but we are gonna get ice cream and buy stuff I think. Last time we did the carousel and small world twice. Just her DS3 and I...it was great 2013...it's on !!!!

Can your DD run in high heels too? Willow blows me away with her high-heel ease!

That must be hard for her to watch the siblings go on without her. But it does give you an opportunity to do something special together!

Welcome back from Disneyland and sorry I've been MIA on your report!

I just love the look of joy on Willow's face when she is getting on a thrill ride, and the photo of her holding her fastpass stash was just priceless!

Great plan to go straight for tower first thing in the morning, it must have been so much fun to ride ToT over and over again!

I cannot wait for my DS to get tall enough to try them out! I measured him tonight just for kicks and he is only 36 inches. What do you think the chances are that he'll grow 4 inches in a week?

Welcome back!!! Is your TR still going? I stopped receiving alerts.

Hmm, 4 inches in a week. It could happen.....

 

[RGirl]

33. Just How Many Times Will We Ride ToT?

After passing up VotLM, we decided to try out something we hadn’t done before - the Backlot Tour. We enjoyed the first part and watching fellow WDW guests get soaked.

But then, when we got to the tram part, we were informed that the “ride” was down. We all waited and waited, and finally, they told us we could continue to wait or come back later and skip the first half of the attraction. We decided to leave and come back because we had some Monstrous friends to find.

Yep, it was time to meet Mike and Sully! When we arrived at their meet-and-greet spot (which, by the way, is virtually impossible to find, possibly explaining why we never saw anyone else there despite walking by there several times), only Mike was out. So we got in “line,” and DD met Mike. She was a little unsure of him and not too pleased that he didn’t sign autographs,

The CM said that Sully would be back in 20 minutes, so we headed out to get a snack - a pretzel for me and corn dog for DD.

And then we went back to meet Sully. And, for the first time, DD was scared of a character! She still wanted to meet him, but she was not wanting to get too close to him. Poor Sully - he even tried playing peek-a-boo with her, but she was very wary of him!

After this meet-and-greet, we headed back to finish the Backlot Tour.

From there, we headed back towards Star Tours.

We enjoyed our last Star Tours ride of the trip - tomorrow would be our last day, and we were spending it at the MK.

Where would we go next? ToT, of course!!!!

We rode with one set of FPs, and as we were exiting, a woman approached us - she had been so blown away by DD’s great love of ToT given that there were teenagers standing around who wouldn’t ride. hahaha She told us that she had lupus and therefore used a GAC, which allowed her to take her party on with her. She wanted to take DD (and me, of course) for another ride. I explained to her that we did have another set of FPs (I really didn’t want to take advantage), but she was insistent and obviously was going to get a lot of joy from riding with us, so I eventually agreed. We had a lovely time with this kind woman. She told me how she and her husband were never able to have children and how they had dedicated much of their lives to making other children happy. She was so sweet.

Of course, after our new friend left us at the ToT exit, we got right back in the FP line and rode again. And then again. And then we were out of FPs. DD started crying her head off because she wanted to ride one more time - apparently, she had “forgotten to laugh,” which was a tragedy because this was her last ToT ride of the trip. I really did not want to wait stand-by for a ride we had already done so many times that day. We were having a pretty animated conversation about this not far from the ride entrance. The CM there came up and asked me if DD was trying to decide whether to ride. I explained that, “no, she was trying to convince me to go on it for the EIGHTH time that day.” He started laughing and handed us something, which I’m guessing is what they give for baby swap (?).

Anyway, DD won - we rode one more time. haha (I think that might have been ride number 12 on ToT for this trip.)

Up next: 34. A Delicious Dinner and a Bad Night​

 

[shan23877]

We had such a hard time finding Sully and Mike too! We were in the gift shop in front of the M&G when we finally asked someone where it was! Mads got scared of Sully as well, but she wasn't as brave as Willow. She made her dad pinch hit for the photo op

What a nice lady you met at ToT! I'll be that she really enjoyed riding with the two of you. A bit of pixie dust for Willow with that nice CM. Probably a little annoying for mom though!

I'd be sad that the TR is winding down if I wasn't looking forward to the DL trip so much!

Wow I got really smiley happy on this one...

 

[amandaw]

Willow definitely looks like she is not so sure about being there with Mike & Sully! At least she was brave enough to get some pictures taken.

That is so incredibly sweet of that lady to take y'all back on ToT with her GAC. And then, to have the CM give y'all one more set of FP's....just magical!

I can't believe the next day was y'alls last day! So happy that you have Disneyland next to keep us entertained!