Well guys, I certainly thought I would have finished this report by now but it seems like life has gotten even crazIER since the superbowl. We've been celebrating the big win with a parade and of course there is MARDI GRAS!!! Let's just say we've had a few extra things to include in our days!
Our last day at Disney was a trip back to DHS. The day before was just to have dinner and see Fantasmic and the lights. This day was about rides and shows, but mostly shows.
We started the morning at rope drop to get the coveted Toy Story Mania fastpasses and ride. MIL was with us and was a good sport and just going along with us. DH of course went ahead of us (a little faster) to secure fastpasses while we got in line. We met up very close to the same time at the beginning of the line. We were very excited to finally ride TSM as it opened right after our last visit to DisneyWorld ended.
The queue was great and so was the ride. It was really fun and I understand why it is such a popular ride in a park with not so many family friendly rides. I rode with DS and DMIL this time (yeah 3 across one seat) and DS and I had a blast while MIL watched - she doesn't really participate - I offered.
After TSM, we headed to the Little Mermaid - one of my favorite shows - and then made a b-line for Sorcerer Mickey who we completely didn't know was there last trip!
By this time, it was already time to make it over to our last ADR - Sci-Fi Drive In. This was our first time there and it was very cute! I loved the theming and the food was typical Applebees type food. We let the kids eat in the front seat so they had fun pretending to be driving. Our server even gave them a temporary drivers license.
The cars can accomodate up to six but it's by twos so one person was going to have to sit by his/herself. MIL insisted that she could sit alone in the backseat. I wanted DH to sit with her but she insisted no. I kinda' felt bad having her sit by herself alone in the back seat but I felt like I needed to sit close to the kids. I wasn't going to depend on her to help them.....flashback to van on ride to Disney.
It was a great meal. I will probably come back on future visits.
After our meal, we wanted to make sure we had good seats to see HSM3. DD is a BIG fan. She knows all the words, all the dances, etc. We've had 2 HSM bdays and she watches the dvds every chance she gets. We went about 20 minutes early and sat right behind the line - center. We had passed earlier and thought about stopping but it was so crowded, she wouldn't have seen much. We sat anxiously waiting and were not disappointed. Disney has great talent. DD was even asked to go up to dance, but again...she said no, she'd rather watch.
I wish she'd learn to live a little. DS and I were dancing and singing along but if DD wasn't going to go up, little brother wouldn't go either.
Since DD had the chance to see her favorite, we now had to make it to see DS's favorite (although I have to say seeing HSM was a BIG deal for him too). We made our way to the back to see Star Wars. I would have loved for him to be in the Jedi Training but he said NO WAY! I didn't push because I knew that Darth Vader would come out and DS would have RAN in the opposite direction!
So we waited for the next show right up against the rope. The show was cute not great but the funniest thing was the reaction of my kids. DS didn't run when he saw Darth Vader but he back up behind us a bit. The best reaction was when Darth Maul came out and came right up to where we were standing. I turned to see DS's reaction and couldn't find him. DH pointed out that he was behind me, squatting down, watching from between my legs!
Too funny! DD was being pretty brave until Darth Maul came right up to her and "iffed" at her. I don't know if "iffed" is a local slang but that is when it looks like someone wants to fight you and they kinda' jump forward at you with their chest out. Anyway, DD jumped backwards about 2 feet! Soooo funny! She laughed and was a good sport. The kids in the training were cute. I wouldn't want to be Darth Vader as even the littlest kids were attacking quite agressively!
We had to make another stop to see Lightning and Mater today as the guys had on their Cars shirts.
After the guys took their pictures, we stopped to take a picture of the beautiful nativity on our way to Lights Motors Action!
I was excited for DS to see this show as last trip, he fell asleep on me before the show started. I knew he would absolutely love it because he loves cars, motorcycles, etc. He is finally at the age where the loud noise doesn't bother him so much as well. Here's his critic of the show:
as well as an extra pic:
We also wanted to get in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular for DS as well. We didn't get to see it last trip. He, as well as the rest of us, enjoyed that one as well. On the way there, we stopped to say hello to a few old friends:
Indy show:
By this time, many people were either in Fantasmic or going to see the Osborne lights. Since we had seen both last night, we used the time to catch up on a couple rides. We first passed by Star Tours. We didn't go on it last trip b/c DD was a little nervous and DS wasn't tall enough. This year we were ALL ready to go for a ride especially DS who was anxiously awaiting his Star Wars birthday party I promised him. When we got there, the standby was only 10 minutes and I doubt we spent that much time in line.
Here is R2D2 in the ship in the queue:
DS loved it so much that we had to walk right back on after we got off! MIL was waiting in the gift shop using that time to shop for DS's bday present. She wasn't too happy we were going again and couldn't make up her mind which toy to purchase, but we went anyway because you just can't tell that cute little 5 year old face no!
When we got out the second time, we did have to tell that cute little 5 year old face no as he wanted to go AGAIN, but we bribed him with the promise of gifts and using our TSM fastpasses. He made out like a bandit in that store between MIL and us but we knew we would be bday shopping while we were there.
We made it to TSM to use our fastpasses and the lines were still long! Glad that we had fastpasses, we got in line and were soon riding. Gotta' love that ride! So fun! As we were walking out, we realized that Buzz and Woody were taking pictures across the street. I didn't know that this morning! As we were walking up, they were just closing the door but they let us in as the last family for the night. This was a beautiful place for character pictures. I really like the way Disney is building places for characters. It might not be as spontaneous as wandering into them but at least if you gotta' wait in a line, it is out of the weather and the backgrounds make you feel like you're visiting them at their "home."
At that point, we were tired and hungry. We were running around trying to fit everything in and never stopped to eat supper. Instead of finding a quick service there, we decided to spend our last meal at Pop. The foods always good and we could try to spend any left over credits. We didn't ride the movie ride or backlot tour which are pretty much our former traditions in this park, but we really wanted the kids to see their favorites. No Tower of Terror and no Rockin' Roller Coaster either.
Back at Pop, we ate supper and got the kids taking baths while we packed up to leave the next day. I'm going to miss Pop.
The next morning we had breakfast in the food court to spend our last remaining credits before we left. It was going to be a looooong 12 hour drive back home on Christmas Eve, but I knew it would be worth it to sleep in our own beds tonight.
WOOOHOOOO! 
Our small town is celebrating, fireworks, horns even the local police are saying "Who Dat" on the loud horn!! 
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You're finishing your TR and I'm just getting started w/ mine from the same time! Come by and compare notes if you like. 
