A No Snooze Bar Christmas, Harry & Mickey are Waiting..it is done

[lovethattink]

We should have met you at IOA! Grumpy said he would have loved to ride the Hulk. He said that coaster is GOOOOOD!! We are chicken and he usually has to ride solo unless he is with friends.

It's been over 7 years since I rode Spiderman. I remember I loved it and ranked it 2nd next to Men in Black at Universal.

 

[momabaarjo]

Everybody Loves a Hero, Right?​

Sitting Goo in the front was probably not the best place for him in a 4D Motion simulator ride. A lot of the visual effects of the scary bad guys were right in front of him as well a lot of the movements through him around in the cart. HE HATED THE RIDE. I think that had he been with Ab and me or in the back row we would have had a different outcome. Ab and Boo on the other hand, came off and wanted to ride it again. So as Jeff and Goo head across the way to get a drink, the 3 of us ride Spiderman again.

We meet Jeff and Goo at the refreshment stand after the ride, where I notice Spidey. We all head over to get in line, but Goo is not happy about standing in line so Jeff takes him inside where they look at Superhero merchandise while we wait. Where besides all the cool stuff he could buy he finds

which he is totally out of his budget. Finally, we arrived at the front of the line and Jeff returns with Goo who does not want to see Spiderman. REALLY (I am thinking someone needs a nap)? He loves Spiderman and we had waited all this time. GRRRR…we make him go in any way with Ab and Boo. Ab handed him over the autograph book, which Spidey loved and flipped through! Noting, that he was the only Superhero so that makes him the best, right! (Yes, well no, only because I had not counted on standing in line for anyone but him). I must say that if I was a male, I do not think I would want to be wearing that skin tight costume all day…YIKES! Spidey did his best to get Goo to participate…

We thank Spidey and head back outside where Wolverine appears, but the kids are not interested because just as he appears Captain America comes on the scene and the whole crowd of autograph seekers flocks over to him…us included, we loved the movie! I must say that he was also a lot of fun in the picture/autograph session and asked the kids lots of questions about his adventures!

After saying goodbye to Captain America we continued down the street,

just window shopping and not really stopping anywhere until we cross over into the next island where something lured the boys in, which leads to dad saying yes and mom saying no…and mom getting overruled!

 

[momabaarjo]

Howdy! I am Sarah, next week I am turning 27 (again! bwhahaha) and baby girl (also an Ab,) is turning 2! The Husband and I have been married three and a half years. I found the Dis while planning our Oct 2011 anniversary trip/A's first Disney trip and stumbled across your PTR ages ago and just hung out and lurked and naturally had to stick around for the reveal then trip report.

Anyway back to me, I am a new southerner (DH is originally from the AR/TX) and our new found proximity to FL is helping fuel my love of Disney, although to be honest there is no easy way to get there from here.

We have three dogs, to Papillion's and 1 Irish Wolfhound, bet you can guess which one we got after buying our first house.

Sarah...I remember you from my PTR! Thanks for joining in on the TR, too! Happy Birthday to you Ab, mine has a birthday 2 months from today. That is sad to be so close to WDW, but yet so far!

I missed some of your updates but luvin them and all the pics!

We all miss updates...life happens, just glad that you keep coming back.

Oh I love it that they had her go on! She is a good big sister and she has to act upset mom otherwise it might blow her "cool" cover

She can be sweet...don't tell anyone. Right now she and I are really at odds once again! Be thankful you have a boy, the are so much easier!

 

[momabaarjo]

I love plushies and have so many I will soon need a new room I'm going to post the pics of the ones from my bed in my trip report for you now in a few mins.

I so love the term Plushies much more than stuffed animal! Thank you for sharing your picture on your TR...you remind me a lot of my sister who collected the things...I guess that is why I hate them so much, plus the fact they are always on the floor of my children's bedroom.

Poor thing...having a tough time getting all the chickens to do rides with you I bet they will toughen up as the trip goes on! Poor Jeff, left his stomach back in the Harry Potter area.

Can't wait to hear more!

p.s. remember how I said I just got back from a cruise...well it was a girls trip out of Galveston for 4 nights. Sort of boring compared to Disney! Lounging around, drinking, and gambling and that's about it. The whole time I was wishing I was at Disney with the fam instead!

I have always sad there are so many places that I want to go and see, and right now all I can do is sit an plot on how I can get back to WDW!

I'm trying to get up the nerve to ride the Hulk and Dueling Dragons. I am not a coaster fan but the boys are. I rode ToT and RnR for the fist time last June. Once I get on the ride, I usually have a blast( every coaster but ToT. Scared me all 3 times I rode it). It's just making myself get in line that is the hardest part.

You can do it! I agree, the hardest part is standing there watching and waiting. The good thing is that with the Express pass you will have for staying at RPR you will have VERY LITTLE TIME TO CHICKEN OUT!

my heavens! Do you know how many pages I was behind?

You have had to take care of Zoe, you being sick and work...I would say you have been busy!

Thanks for sharing so many great updates! I have comments... lets see...

On Jeff disappearing.... what is up with guys? Seriously though, I suspect something is about to happen. I really hope he isn't getting lost cause he isn't feeling well.

On the meltdown at breakfast.... don't you hate that when it all flares up at one moment and even you are not innocent of losing it a tad? Then I fight being mad at myself for how I acted. Funny... I get mad.. then I am mad at myself for getting mad. Where is the logic??

That is what I am really struggling with right now being mad at getting mad, having uncontrolable issues right now and it just keeps getting worse!

On the suess rides. I vaguely remember then from our trip. Ours was in November so quite a bit of holiday decorations were up. It is very colorful. I love that Goo got Ab wet on the One fish two fish ride

Me too...like I keep saying Goo is the spark of our family...the rest of us are pretty darn boring...he keeps things livened up!

And... on rides... I am sorry you keep having to beg to have your family ride with you. A year of planning and hoping and then on the fly they decide that they are not in agreement with all the hard work you had done over the course of the year.... I know first hand how frustrating that can be.

I knew that there was slim to none chance that I would ever get them on any of the coasters at USO/IOA...thank goodness on my prior trip my partner in crime loved thrill rides!

So I am all caught up now. (at least with your TR)

We should have met you at IOA! Grumpy said he would have loved to ride the Hulk. He said that coaster is GOOOOOD!! We are chicken and he usually has to ride solo unless he is with friends.

That would have been a great plan...

It's been over 7 years since I rode Spiderman. I remember I loved it and ranked it 2nd next to Men in Black at Universal.

Since I went in 2010 they had redone it and I could not believe that could make it better, but the did and now I have read that they have redone it again since January...WOW. I think behind Forbidden Journey this was the favorite ride of atleast Ab and Boo!

 

[annmarieda]

What fun super heroes are for boys. (although it looks like Ab had an equally good time) I am now beginning to remember why we went to US when we did. Just think... if my dd had never come into our lives then I might never have gone bonkers over Disney and instead had spent many a vacation hunting down super heroes.

 

[sl_underwood]

Finally caught up. Leave for a few days and I miss out on a whole lot. Jess read over my shoulder and she is super excited about WWOHP. She will never stop waiting for her hogwarts letter. Love that Ab got picked for Olivanders. Hope Jess can, she thinks it would be awesome. Also loved all the WWOHP updates. Getting excited even though we have several months to wait. Seuss Landing looked fun too. Sorry you couldnt get anyone to ride rides with you.

 

[momabaarjo]

Step Right Up​

What could get me overruled by dad…silly carnival games? I HATE THESE GAMES WITH A PASSION, JUST ABOUT AS MUCH AS I HATE THE PRIZES THAT COME WITH THEM, ON TOP OF WASTING MONEY! The boys spot the carnival games even before we crossed over into

and right away they begin begging. Remember this is supposed to be a YES vacation, but I said NO...and got reminded of of my YES vacation. Jeff overruled me for which he got the silent treatment and a dirty look. The whole time I am thinking to myself where am I going to back these things in a suitcase when we get home? So the boys play the water gun game (at least they were the only one playing so one of them is going to win, do you see the potential problem in that)? It's Boo

and against Goo

and who wins…Boo and picks out this UGLY wolverine superhero stuffed thing (okay I might be able to get that in a suitcase). Being a parent you know what happens next, Goo is upset he did not win and instead of letting him learn the lesson, dad forks out another $5 and competes against Goo

and lets him win…so what does he pick out? How on earth am I going to pack this? (I guess it would have been worse as we were leaving IOA that afternoon a teenager had won a HUGE...about the same size as 2 of my boys) banana...that would cost another plane ticket to take home. Wolverine gets stuffed inside the backpack, attach the penguin onto the side and off we go to explore Toon Lagoon.

This area of the park is themed nicely (but I am thinking pretty dated and really needs to go to more current cartoon characters). If you know who the cartoon characters are then you can enjoy this area more…and of course my kids don’t know who 99% of them are and I go about trying to explain as we pass by each, but there are some that I really don't know much about.

The kids did not have any interest in any of the shops so we just wandered through the area until Boo spots…

 

[momabaarjo]

What fun super heroes are for boys. (although it looks like Ab had an equally good time) I am now beginning to remember why we went to US when we did. Just think... if my dd had never come into our lives then I might never have gone bonkers over Disney and instead had spent many a vacation hunting down super heroes.

Thank goodness for you Zoe came along...

Finally caught up. Leave for a few days and I miss out on a whole lot. Jess read over my shoulder and she is super excited about WWOHP. She will never stop waiting for her hogwarts letter. Love that Ab got picked for Olivanders. Hope Jess can, she thinks it would be awesome. Also loved all the WWOHP updates. Getting excited even though we have several months to wait. Seuss Landing looked fun too. Sorry you couldnt get anyone to ride rides with you.

I am so glad to see you feel a little better to be posting and reading. Lots of prayers and thoughts have been heading your way!

 

[BrerMama]

I totally understand how you feel about the carnival games. Our family is flipped, though. I'd be the one giving the kids money to play and Dan the Budget Man would be the one flipping out at the thought of spending money on stuffed animals we may or may not be able to get home.

On our last Disney trip, we ended up spending $50 to buy a Disney embroidered duffel that brought home nothing but plushies. We may have gone a bit overboard on the stuffed animals.

 

[annmarieda]

OMG, you had to bring home the penguin? That is huge! I always wonder how people do it... they buy all those big items at the shops. How do they fit them in their bags to bring home? I guess buying and then paying extra for those bags is what they do.

 

[petals]

I always carry stuffies home.. But then I always buy to many to fit in cases

nice updates. I never thought about Toon Lagoon before but I don't know who half the characters are either

 

[momabaarjo]

How Wet Can You Get?​

So what caught Boo's attention?

Yep, 1 of the 3 rides that I had planned to skip this Christmas…the Bildge Water Rat Rapids ride (think Kali Rapids) but wetter! The temp by now is in the lower 70s so it is not too terribly cold (if your not wet) and the sun is out. So we stand on the bridge for a while and watch, mistake…someone wants to ride. But Boo is the only one that wants to go, and me being a mom trying to make memories feels bad and decides to go with him (okay secretly I am plotting, if I ride this maybe I can guilt him into riding one of the coasters with me )…after all how wet can you get?

On our little raft trip there is a family all decked out in rain ponchos…guess where mine are? If you said back in the hotel packed away in a suit case you would be right! So how wet do you get?

Let’s just say that by the end of the ride I was a drowned rat, and the people in the ponchos, well guess what they were dry, not because of the ponchos but because the raft never turned to get them wet. I kid you not the raft never turned to get them wet...and they laughed at me the whole time! Talk about bad luck, I seem to find it. At the exit we are met with Jeff and Ab’s laughter! I swish my way over to the line that is formed in front of the people dryer (on my first trip, we took a picture inside of it just because we thought it was such a funny thing)...I am gladly waiting and paying for a little bit of drier clothes! Boo wants to ride again, heck how much wetter can he get than what he is already is…enjoy it! Jeff takes Goo over to

Me Olive Playground area while I wait and Boo rides some more. Three more rides later and we tell Goo that he is wet enough and Jeff goes to ringing out his shirt and socks!

I am within 1 more 10 minute cycle and the dryer is all ours, until a rumble happens…

 

[weezy26nm]

How Wet Can You Get?​

So what caught Boo's attention?

Yep, 1 of the 3 rides that I had planned to skip this Christmas…the Bildge Water Rat Rapids ride (think Kali Rapids) but wetter! The temp by now is in the lower 70s so it is not too terribly cold (if your not wet) and the sun is out. So we stand on the bridge for a while and watch, mistake…someone wants to ride. But Boo is the only one that wants to go, and me being a mom trying to make memories feels bad and decides to go with him (okay secretly I am plotting, if I ride this maybe I can guilt him into riding one of the coasters with me )…after all how wet can you get?

On our little raft trip there is a family all decked out in rain ponchos…guess where mine are? If you said back in the hotel packed away in a suit case you would be right! So how wet do you get?

Let’s just say that by the end of the ride I was a drowned rat, and the people in the ponchos, well guess what they were dry, not because of the ponchos but because the raft never turned to get them wet. I kid you not the raft never turned to get them wet...and they laughed at me the whole time! Talk about bad luck, I seem to find it. At the exit we are met with Jeff and Ab’s laughter! I swish my way over to the line that is formed in front of the people dryer (on my first trip, we took a picture inside of it just because we thought it was such a funny thing)...I am gladly waiting and paying for a little bit of drier clothes! Boo wants to ride again, heck how much wetter can he get than what he is already is…enjoy it! Jeff takes Goo over to

Me Olive Playground area while I wait and Boo rides some more. Three more rides later and we tell Goo that he is wet enough and Jeff goes to ringing out his shirt and socks!

I am within 1 more 10 minute cycle and the dryer is all ours, until a rumble happens…

This was 1 of our favorite rides and we rode it over and over again. But it was July/August. And you are right, you get SOAKED.

 

[Mom&RN]

Aaahh, somehow I got three updates behind!! I LOVE the thrill rides and thankfully so does my son so we ride them all. The only thing I can't do is Mission Space more than once (if I do it more than once in a day I get like Jeff was after the Harry Potter ride) You are a good Mommy to ride the wet ride. I CANT STAND getting wet and would have told my son no.... wet rides are my one won't do it/can't make me thing I'm ok with splashed, just not soaked!

 

[annmarieda]

1st... you and your cliffhangers!!!

2nd... oh my goodness!!!! you can tell how wet Good got!! You are such a good mom. Even when temps were a tad higher...we did not brave Kali

 

[momabaarjo]

Goo's Alter Ego Emerges​

Okay so maybe not a rumble that anyone else can see, but a rumble in my mind (it was a good one and of course I won)! A group of people who had been standing off to the side of the line all the sudden decide that it is their turn and cut right in front of me…when clearly the line was behind me and I had been standing there for the last 30 minutes. Why did I not say anything, well I was out numbered for one and they spoke no English. Sigh…I just wait another cycle!

20 minutes later and $10 less in my pocket I feel a little bit drier…but still uncomfortable (the things we do to make memories) so I went over to the merchandise cart and bought a pair of workout type Capri pants…I emerge out the bathroom with wet denim in hand and feeling really self consensus in the pants! We make our way through the rest of Toon Lagoon and Boo does not even mention wanting to go on…

From Toon Lagoon we cross into Jurassic Park with our very own little grumpy T-Rex in tow...

Goo has had it and wants nothing more to do with IOA and he is making this known loud and clear! We stop to take a picture with T-Rex, but he refuses to get near it.

He thinks that they are like the ones at our local science museum that are motion/sound activated and he is afraid that the thing will come charging out of the foliage at him. Ab tries to convince him otherwise and goes first to show him…but Mr. Grumpy Goo Pants is not having it! But then something above him catches his attention (mid update cliff hanger)...
I explain to him that those are the Ptyderdon flyers that only kids with parents can ride. Really, “I gotta do that!” and with a smile we make our way into the Jurassic Playground (which I must say was CROWDED, so much that you could barely move).

Ptyderdon flyers is a ride that only children under a certain height can ride, adults can only ride if they have a child. Ab and Boo are under the height restriction, so they decide they will ride together, leaving Jeff and Goo…I gladly decide to sit out and enjoy some time of sitting. The wait time is posted at 45 minutes, and after 30 minutes I begin to watch the sky for my dinosaurs to fly above me….right at 35 minutes I was able to snap these photos…

I figured that it still would be awhile before they came to meet me at the entrance, considering there was a whole playground to play in…but Goo was not interested…too crowded so with Goo in a little better mood we head off in search of JP River Expedition (Ab is excited because this in one of her best friend from elementary schools favorite ride) and I try to walk us quickly past the splash zone/viewing area so that the kids could not see the raft drop and once again refuse to ride with me....

will we make it past or once again will I be reduced to begging and be disappointed in skipping another ride?

 

[momabaarjo]

This was 1 of our favorite rides and we rode it over and over again. But it was July/August. And you are right, you get SOAKED.

I think had it been summer and we were dying of the heat, we would ride it over and over again.

Aaahh, somehow I got three updates behind!! I LOVE the thrill rides and thankfully so does my son so we ride them all. The only thing I can't do is Mission Space more than once (if I do it more than once in a day I get like Jeff was after the Harry Potter ride) You are a good Mommy to ride the wet ride. I CANT STAND getting wet and would have told my son no.... wet rides are my one won't do it/can't make me thing I'm ok with splashed, just not soaked!

Good mommie... no just a guilty one wanting Boo to have fun and saying no. Next time we know what to expect...although I am not sure I really want to carry dry clothes, then wet clothes around the entire day.

1st... you and your cliffhangers!!!
Come on you love them...
2nd... oh my goodness!!!! you can tell how wet Good got!! You are such a good mom. Even when temps were a tad higher...we did not brave Kali

Just wait for Kali...

 

[FosterA]

Loving all your updates!
I can just see you walking around in some pants you had to buy off a cart I hope there wasn't a giant spiderman printed on the butt or something!

David would have totally taken the kids and spent money buying stuffed animals too by the way. The more I hear about Jeff, the more I think him and David are an awful lot alike when it comes to theme parks.

 

[BrerMama]

What a cliff hanger! I know we can't wait to ride Jurassic Park this summer. It's been our favorite movie since before our oldest was born, and he wore out our VHS when he was in preschool. Love it!

 

[momabaarjo]

Loving all your updates!
I can just see you walking around in some pants you had to buy off a cart I hope there wasn't a giant spiderman printed on the butt or something!

No funky stuff on them...in fact I wore them to bed last night...they just were too big in the waist and a little more form fitting in the thighs than I like.

David would have totally taken the kids and spent money buying stuffed animals too by the way. The more I hear about Jeff, the more I think him and David are an awful lot alike when it comes to theme parks.

Yep, like you said brothers from a different mother!

What a cliff hanger! I know we can't wait to ride Jurassic Park this summer. It's been our favorite movie since before our oldest was born, and he wore out our VHS when he was in preschool. Love it!

Love the movie too...funny how our kids can watch the same movie over and over again when they are little and when you question them about it when they are older, they do not remember the movie at all...