A Trip Fit for a Birthday Princess - BBB update 1-5

[CinderelliT]

I know that some people are really creative and dramatic. They do all sorts of crazy intro's type up funny comments, etc., etc. But I just don't have the time to do all of this. I spent 7 hrs the other night typing 15 research pages up of my thesis for class. This is a typical weekly assignment. It is taking up so much of my time, that my photo customers are getting ignored. (NOT GOOD for business!) So without further ado, here is day 2!

We had a hard time getting up in the morning. The kids were really worn out. I thought that we would be used to Drew's school schedule and that getting up in the morning would be no problem. But we were all tired. I thought that vacations were supposed to be relaxing right? Not at Disney.

We finally all get dressed in our matching gear that I made, and I thought we looked pretty darn cute! The kids were beyond excited about Mickey and Minnie's visit, and Drew took to pin trading like white on rice. I created a monster with that boy! But it was good for him, b/c it helped give him something to focus on.

So we jump in the van and drive over to the poly. We decide that it would be best just to park there for the day so we didn't have to worry about folding the damn stroller up to get on and off the tram. We would just take the monorail over to the MK and then back again later on. Oh boy, would this turn out to bite us in the butt later on.

But for now, we were in good spirits as we had a really good 1st day (Well good for our family.)

The 1st pic of the day is this one on our way up the stairs. It's just a decoration on the wall, but do you see all the hidden mickeys?

I love this resort! I want to stay here at some point. I am going to have to save up for it. This is just so pretty!

We go to check in and the CM looks at all of us standing in front of her, and says, "Downs, party of 4. I have you down as a party of 4 adults. Is that correct?"
As she stares at my kids.

Me - "Umm, no. I don't know why you have the reservation like that. Obviously it's 2 adults and 2 children."

CM - "Well, I don't know why you would have booked it wrong."

Me - "I didn't know that I did. Can you change it?"

CM - "I'll see what I can do."

Me - "Does it matter? There's still 4 of us."

CM - "No, it makes no difference."

So she tells us to line up to take our family picture. Well, 1st off, I thought this was included in the package, b/c at Akershus and CRT, we got the pic as part of our meal. It was included in the price. 2nd off, my DS starts freaking out about having a family picture taken. MY SON! The son of a photographer who takes pictures of everything. My son who tries to push customers out of the way in the studio to have his picture taken, decides to freak out and pull a typical Drew and run off.

So DH goes chasing after him. While Kenzie and I watch our stuff. Drew made it a good distance into a gift shop way over on the other side of the lobby. DH drags him back over to us, and we tell him that he doesn't have to have his picture taken, but that me, DH, and Kenzie are going to do it. So then we all line up and Drew is standing off to the side, and of course, he goes running off again! UGGG@

So we get out of the picture thing and appologize and let this line of people that has now formed go before us. DH comes back with Drew and we say skip the damn picture. They tell us to come back after we eat.

So off to the food! This place was SUPER DUPER YUMMY! I want to go back and try dinner there some time too. But everything was good. I would love to have some of that passion fruit juice stuff. The only thing for me is that I am a diabetic and I cannot drink a glass of juice, eat bread, and eat Mickey waffles with syrup. OMG! I would go into a coma. I had to just sample everything and fill up on eggs and bacon.

Character interaction here was pretty good, but it was crowded and we did feel a bit rushed again. Here is my inner Disney snob coming out - b/c we are spoiled by going when there is no one in the parks.

I really should have edited these pics as here we are with food half eaten in all of the pics again. For some reason, it really bugs me. But I do see Mickey waffles, so it is kinda cute.

We love stitch! We always tell our kids that they are Stitch or Experiment 626 b/c they are so destructive.

 

[CinderelliT]

We have never met Lilo before, so this was very exciting for us!

I had made an outfit for Kenzie to wear with a lilo on the front, but it was a bit too big, and I figured 3 outfit changes in one day would be a bit much. So we left it at home to save it for another time.

I'm making some sort of weird face here. No you don't really smell Lilo!

Can you tell who my favorite is? Look at my smile now!

 

[CinderelliT]

Upon 1st glance, it looks like Kenzie is eating one of those giant Turkey legs. But it is really just a maraca. They had fun with those. I kept wondering though if they wash those after watching my own kids put their mouths on it. I was tempted to go slather hand sanitizer all over them. LOL! They brought out a cupcake for Kenzie for her birthday and we all sang happy birthday to her. I think she ate more of that than she did for her breakfast. But hey, it's Disney and it made her happy. It made the think that they didn't do that at Akershus, even though I put in the request. Poo on that place!

Mickey even stopped back by to wish her a happy birthday.

After that the waitress comes with the check and Dan looks at it and says it was way to much. Turns out that they charged us more for 4 adult meals, and the waitress was confused too. So the stupid CM at check in told me wrong. Grrrrr... but the waitress was really nice and was able to take care of it in a few minutes time. She was good and kept us with lots of drinks and food on the table. We love Ohana's! It was definitely worth the money. I think with tip that this one only cost us $85? Pricey, but fun.

So we decide to try to take our family picture now. Drew was feeling better with food in his tummy, so we go and line up for our pic. Now I should have known better when the guy working the camera couldn't get the speedflash to go off. He didn't have it pushed on the camera mount right. But we decide it's free right? So we line up and Drew is on the right side, and we are all sorted out nice and evenly. The photographer comes up and moved Drew in front of me and Dan and takes the pic. He tells us to have a seat and wait while it prints.

So here we are waiting:

That girl always has her thumb in her mouth! I have a feeling we are going to be paying for braces with her.

I look like a retarded pirate in this pic. Arrrrgggh!

I was really telling Drew - who was taking the pics to push the button all the way down. LOL.
This CM was a hoot. She was laughing at us taking all these pics, and amazed by the fact that my son could take them and do so well with them, so she sat down with us so we could take hers too! I love Disney people like this.

Up next. Will we get our picture? Will it be free? How will we all look in it? Tune in next time.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

I'm here! I'm here! Joining in and LOVING your photos!! I'm hoping for a good camera for Xmas Lol, key word "hoping" -- he'll tell me we have a wedding to pay for and the camera is the cost of my dress

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq324/downs_realtor/Kenzie%20Birthday%20Trip/Disney268.jpg[/IMG]

totally love the zen shot, esp the castle reflecting!!!


btw- lorelei has the same princess lanyard as kenzie! and you guys sat at ohana's in the same area we did, i think we were one closer to the door. what a riot! we didn't book it for feb, i wasn't overly thrilled with dinner, but i had one of those pineapple alcoholic drinks at the end of my meal and man it was potent! i was ill that nite.

more pics!!!


grrr...im typing in the dark and i messed up your first quote, so my answers in with yours! arguh!

 

[ashleym337]

You're doing a great job!!! i'm enjoying the TR... and I feel ya on the "no love" of replies... no one has done a reply for my report either! hahahahaha Keep up the good work!!

 

[heaven2dc]

I just found your TR and am joining in really quick then going back to read each post. First of all - what precious children you have!! They are so adorable, cute and just downright makes you want to hug them (hope that doesn't sound too weird ) Now back to the first post to read all about your trip

 

[CinderelliT]

I'm here! I'm here! Joining in and LOVING your photos!! I'm hoping for a good camera for Xmas Lol, key word "hoping" -- he'll tell me we have a wedding to pay for and the camera is the cost of my dress

Can't wait to hear more!

Hey twin! You totally need a camera - a good one too. Check out adorama.com

You can get awesome deals on cameras, and we get most of our equipment from them. I would say it is part of wedding necessities.

totally love the zen shot, esp the castle reflecting!!!


btw- lorelei has the same princess lanyard as kenzie! and you guys sat at ohana's in the same area we did, i think we were one closer to the door. what a riot! we didn't book it for feb, i wasn't overly thrilled with dinner, but i had one of those pineapple alcoholic drinks at the end of my meal and man it was potent! i was ill that nite.

more pics!!!


grrr...im typing in the dark and i messed up your first quote, so my answers in with yours! arguh!

LOL! I'm typing in the dark too! Just got the kids to go to sleep a little while ago. They knew it wasn't a school night, so they kept getting up. I'm supposed to be up working on pics I did in the studio the other day, but the DIS is more important. You see where my priorities are right?

I've heard mixed reviews on dinner. Dan's taking me back WITHOUT KIDS for my birthday in Nov. and I am trying to figure out where to eat. I have like a ton of ressies booked, but I am going to have to cancel - They are like for the same time - to just one meal a day. I'm thinking Jiko. Suggestions?

Pineapple drink sounds yummy! But I can't hold my liquor anymore.

You're doing a great job!!! i'm enjoying the TR... and I feel ya on the "no love" of replies... no one has done a reply for my report either! hahahahaha Keep up the good work!!

Thanks! I'll have to find your tr. I love reading other people stuff. But I am really bad about lurking and not posting. That's a little creepy sounding.

I just found your TR and am joining in really quick then going back to read each post. First of all - what precious children you have!! They are so adorable, cute and just downright makes you want to hug them (hope that doesn't sound too weird ) Now back to the first post to read all about your trip

Thanks! We think they're cute too. Usually. When they aren't fighting or having tantrums. LOL. No, they are brilliant. Thanks for reading!

 

[CinderelliT]

The quality on some of these pics isn't great, b/c I used my photoshop magic and thieved them from the photopass sight. Shame, I know. But I did pay for the disk - so technically, they are mine. I just haven't gotten them yet. And I'm too lazy to clear off the scanner to scan in the ones that we have here at the house. How sad is that? It's my job to do that stuff for everyone else, but somehow I can't be bothered to do it for myself. I'm like that with pics too. I print them out and then don't do anything with them. They are taking over my piano in the kitchen. LOL! One day when the Master's degree is done. 3 classes and six more months. Sigh.

Okay - so the photopass chick who was printing pics come over with ours from Ohana's and says, "Here's your picture. It's $30.00 plus tax."

I'm like, "What? I thought it was included." She tells me - no, it's different from the other places and that was why our meal was cheaper. We have to pay for it seperately. Okay, I thought. If it's decent, we'll get it. We have yet to get a good pic of the 4 of us.

I open the folder and this is our pic:

Not bad, but we are way off center! I think that photographer was drinking one of those pineapple drinks! He should have left Drew where he was to begin with. It's sad when Drew at 5 can line us up better than he could.

I look at it and tell her that I didn't want it. An off center picture is not worth $30.

Dan grabs it - uh oh - here we go again. He says it's really not all that bad and he felt sorry for her to make her work like that. Oh poor baby. It's her job to work. I don't want to pay for it. He says it's not fair to request them to take the pic and then not pay for it, especially with Drew being the nut that he was.

Fine. Pay for the damn picture. Ta da! I need to line it up with all the other ridiculous ones.
See, here's one from a couple of years ago. It was the coldest day of the year in FL and we go to Disney. LOL

I have another from that trip where Drew looks handicapped. I wonder if I can find it.

This isn't it, but yet another where we are not all looking at the camera.

You get the idea. Sad. I'm a photographer and I can't get a decent pic of us for anything - especially at Disney.

So we go and have it added on to our photopass card since we paid for the stupid thing and then Dan realizes that we left Kenzie's princess dress in the van. The monorail is right next to us on the 2nd floor and the van is way the crap down stairs and out in the parking lot. I tell Dan to go get it by himself, and the kids start up - no, daddy, daddy. Okay, we all go together.

Guess what this means though. Between this and the pictures, we miss rope drop again!!

I really want to see the little show. I didn't even know it existed until a few months ago, and now I am bound and determined to see it. I kept dreaming that we would get there early enough one morning with our matching outfits on, that we would be picked for family of the day. That would be so awesome. But hell, I can't even get us there on time to have a shot at it.

After much unnecessary walking, we get everything out of the van and head back up to the monorail and hop over to the most magical place in the world.

At least we were early enough that toon town hadn't opened yet. So guess what that means!!!! We are going to see the fairies!!!!

I went all commando and charged the whole family up to wait at the rope for the Toon town opening.

Here is Dan and Kenzie waiting.

There was this really cool guy walking around (again the things that we have missed by not coming in the morning.) - he looked like a maintenance worker sweeping up trash. But guess what he was doing?

OMG!!!! How cool is that? I want his job. Okay, I can't draw for crap, so you wouldn't know what I was doing, but still. His job is to draw characters out of water with a broom!!! I think everyone who works at Disney is like multi-talented.

This is part of the Disney magic that happens at park opening. I can't believe we were missing all these things.

 

[CinderelliT]

So there is a MOB of people waiting to get into toontown. I think that the rest of the park is dead. What I wouldn't give to be going on rides at that moment, but I'll be darned if I'm missing the fairies. Why did I have to wear our mickey shirts today? I should have worn them yesterday. Now Tink won't know just how much I love her.

The cast members start walking, and thank god they walk with that rope, or else we would have been trampled.

Seriously, I feel safer walking in the thousands of people trying to exit the park after fireworks. OMG! Crazy parents and their strollers. (Like I'm not one of them.) It was a battle to try to all squeeze in this little spot to park the stroller. Then my dumb-butt 5 year old is sitting in the stroller instead of Kenzie and he doesn't really fit. So I tell Dan to go run and save us a spot in line while I figure out how to get his legs out of there.

A few minutes later and we were working our way in line to see the fairies! YAY! I look up at the wait times, and it says 45 mins. for fairies, and 10 mins for the princesses. Wow, the poor princesses are getting no love.

Drew and I have to work our way past a ton of people to catch up with Dan. I really hope they didn't think that we were trying to be rude or cut in line. I get to him and in typical Downs family fashion, I say, "Where's the autograph book?"

He looks at me, "It's in the backpack."

"Well, where's the backpack?"

"It's in the stroller. Where do you think it is?"

"Well, it was on your back. Why is it in the stroller?"

A CM standing nearby in the EMPTY princess line hears us, and I guess he felt an argument coming on. He says it's okay to get out of line, since it was going to be a while.

Ugghh! Off I go to look in the backpack and squeeze past all those people I just stepped over to get into line. I get there and look through every pouch in the backpack and guess what??? No autograph book. (again Homer Simpson voice over going "Doh")

I try to call Dan on his cell, but I guess he doesn't hear it. Off I go to weasel my way back into line and climb over all those people again. I'm glad I don't ever have to see any of them again.

I get there and Dan says, "Where's the book?"

"I don't know. I can't find it. Are u sure u put it in there?"

He says, "I didn't have it last, you did."

"No I didn't. I had to take the kids to the bathroom at the Poly while you were getting that stupic picture put onto the photopass card. I handed all the stuff to you. Don't you remember?"

"Hmmm..." he grunts. He knows I'm right, but doesn't want to admit it.

"Maybe," he says.

I'm about to go all postal on him. Do you know how long I worked on that thing? Do you know how long we've been waiting to see the fairies. 2 years! Ah, well, this is just ANOTHER excuse to make him bring me back.

He asks me, "Where's the backpack?"

"What? Why? It's in the stroller. Where else would it be?"

"I thought you were going to grab it."

"I was going to grab the autograph book, but it WASN'T there. I don't want to drag that thing around. It's heavy."

At this point, Drew starts up with the "I'm thirsty" whine. I tell him to wait. Dan says, "If you would have brought the backpack in, he could have a drink of water. I packed water bottles in there."

Then both kids: "I'm thirsty. Iiiii'mmmm THIIIIIIRSTY."

You ever seen Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure where her eye starts twitching right before she loses it???

 

[CinderelliT]

Yup. Twitch. Twitch, twitch. Twitch.

I have to remind myself that we are at Disney and that this is supposed to be fun.

Hold my breath. Count to ten and think of my happy place - the castle all lit up at night:

Okay, open eyes and open mouth responsibly. There are little kids around.



"Drew, Kenzie - you promise to be good AND to be quiet AND to wait in line nicely if we go get you a drink?"

"Yes."

"Okay then. Dan go get them a drink."

He looked stunned. But no way in hell was I going to climb over all those people again. It was his turn to get all the dirty looks.

He took forever, and we had moved up pretty far. He came back with NO backpack after all of that, and just a bottle of water.

"You didn't find the autograph book either? And where's this backpack that you insisted upon?"

"That thing is heavy. I packed a bunch of drinks in it. I don't want to carry it around."



I was so ready to kill him.

"So where's the autograph book, since YOU had it last?"

"I think I stuck it in the Ohana picture and I left all that stuff in the van."

OMG!!!

Twitch, twitch. Twitch. Twitch.

Think of my happy place:

I'm at my happy place. I can do this.

 

[CinderelliT]

Finally, we move up where we start to see some theming:

I'm going to let the autograph book go. But really, and entire day without it? Arrrrggg!

There's like pinecones, tree branches, and some long fake grass nailed to the wall. My kids of course start trying to rip it off the wall, and it appears as though they aren't the first. At this point, I'm ready to destroy something too.

At least the line is moving quicker. A CM comes over and hands the kids a freebee. It's a kit to make a little Tinkerbell house. How cool is that? Of course Drew throws it back at him and says he doesn't want it.

I apologize and go get it and put it in my pocket. We are finally next in line to go see the fairies, and Drew drinks the last of the water and hands me the empty bottle. Well, I don't want it. What am I going to do with it? There isn't a trash can in sight. Grrr... Twitch, Twitch.

I store that in my pocket too.

Finally, The doors open and I can see Tinkerbell!!!

Rosetta comes to take the kids away.

I wish I had gotten a better picture of that! The photopass guy was in the way.

As much as I want to go run up and hug the fairies, I want to let the kids enjoy it first. (See, I HAVE to go back.)

Rosetta was really cute talking to the kids. She spent a lot of time with them. (Much better than the character meals.) She was talking to Kenzie about her birthday and how old she is:

Drew hold up his hand and proceeds to tell her that he's five. She looks at him and says, "Oh, you're a handfull huh?"

You have no idea honey! Of course Drew agrees.

Rosetta made a joke b/c Kenzie kept calling her "Fairy" and telling her that she wanted to go see "Tinkerbell". And she was like, "I see how important I am. You know Tink's name, but not mine?!"

It's funny b/c Kenzie loves the new Tinkerbell movies, and we watch them all the time. We even had seen the brand new one that had just come out too. I figured she would know her name.

Finally, it was time for Tink!

She was a riot too. She had the Tink attitude down to a science, and was picking on us b/c none of us had any Tink stuff on. (I knew it!) She wanted to know why she wasn't their favorites. And instead of Kenzie and Drew telling her that she was, or that their favorite was Tiana, Kenzie tell her that her favorites are The Chipmunks. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

What?

I don't remember what Tink was saying here, but she was playing with the kids and giving them a little attitude. Kenzie wasn't too sure about her.

Up next was Vidia:

The thing is, she's kind of bad. The kids weren't too sure of her either. But she was really nice, and man! She had Vidia's smirk down to a science. We loved her. She was awesome. All the fairies were really fun.

 

[CinderelliT]

After the fairies, we spill out into the giant toy store there. I love this one. It has my little ponies and potato head parts, lots of princess stuff and more. What I don't love is trying to keep an eye on the kids in there. They go crazy!


I really want a Mickey. I only have a wedding one:

I am worse than the kids sometimes!

Kenzie really wanted a Minnie.

Here she is telling Daddy just how much she needed this Minnie for her birthday:

I would have gotten it for her too. Especially since Drew got a toy the day before and this was her birthday trip and she had gotten nothing. But - she has so many stuffed animals in her bed - Including 3 Minnies - that there is barely room for her to sleep.

Here are some pics I took in the studio before we left with some of their Disney animals:

The sad thing is that's not even all of them. Sadder, is that some of those were mine from college.

So we squish some pennies, take a potty break, and realize that it is hotter than Hates out there and it is only 11 am. We decide to get out of Toontown and stop to take a pic in front of the sign. Drew had claimed the stroller yet again, and he wasn't about to get out of it to give up his spot. So it was just Dantheman and Kenzie:

Poor Dan spent the ENTIRE trip carrying at least one child at all times. I am glad he is strong, b/c both are over 50lbs. There is no way I can carry them any length of time. At this point, his shoulders were already hurting.

We go off to the Teacups. One of my favorites. It was also the 1st ride that the kids had ever been on. I have pics of Drew at age 2 and Kenzie at 9 months on it with their Aunt Kimmie. I'll have to find them and upload a few, b/c they are so cute.

The kids fought over whether we were getting a blue or a pink teacup, and we let Kenzie pick since it was her birthday. But she was nice and picked one with a blue stripe for her bubba. Awww...

These are hysterical. Dan was working hard to get us going so fast, and Kenzie was just loving it. Drew was gripping on to me for dear life.

 

[ashleym337]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pictures on the tea cups... those were amazing!!! what setting was your camera on and how can i do it! LOL and i'm very much looking forward to seeing the fairy's this time... it will be our first too!

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

LOL! I'm typing in the dark too! Just got the kids to go to sleep a little while ago. They knew it wasn't a school night, so they kept getting up. I'm supposed to be up working on pics I did in the studio the other day, but the DIS is more important. You see where my priorities are right?

I've heard mixed reviews on dinner. Dan's taking me back WITHOUT KIDS for my birthday in Nov. and I am trying to figure out where to eat. I have like a ton of ressies booked, but I am going to have to cancel - They are like for the same time - to just one meal a day. I'm thinking Jiko. Suggestions?

Pineapple drink sounds yummy! But I can't hold my liquor anymore.

disney and disboards of course! a girl after my own heart! lol

dinner wasn't too bad, i just think i was done with buffets and the whole idea of more more more more by then. my pineapple drink was so yucky tho! and i did catch your photog pic comment! lol i think the dude forgot to out any flavour in it, cus all i could taste was strong and bitter alcohol. i don't drink much, but man we had to go back to wl and i needed to nap to recover before taking the kids for a swim.

love the tink pics. glad you got a great tink. last's yrs for us was awesome-except b fell asleep waiting for an hr. so he missed "bell-bell". in april she wasn't as great. i was kinda sad. terrence scared the you know what out of him. lol

and you and dan so cound like allan and i. we were at gymnastics with the kids yesterday am and man you'd think we were kids the way we were snipping back and forth. keeps us young!!!

love the pics of the dude doing the water art. it's the small things at disney like that i love to take time for. in april on our last nite by pirates there was a dude trying to create one and ppl kept walking all over it. we were the only ones to stop and look and it was kinda pointless. he'd get the head shaped out and someone would stop him....then it would dry up. lol

 

[mermaid764]

Joining in

I just found your TR today and am really enjoying it.

Your pictures are amazing, and your kiddos are adorable.

From the way you described your room at Pop, it sounds like the exact same one we just stayed in from the end of August through the first week of September.

Looking forward to more

 

[CinderelliT]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pictures on the tea cups... those were amazing!!! what setting was your camera on and how can i do it! LOL and i'm very much looking forward to seeing the fairy's this time... it will be our first too!

I have a DSLR, so I turn the flash off, put it on full manual, and slow the shutter speed down a bit. So the shutter is at like 1/40th of a sec. or 1/60th of a second. Then focus on the people and follow the camera on to them and not on the background. If you don't have a DSLR, you might be able to do this just by turning your flash off. It will automatically make it leave the shutter open longer to get in more light.

disney and disboards of course! a girl after my own heart! lol

dinner wasn't too bad, i just think i was done with buffets and the whole idea of more more more more by then. my pineapple drink was so yucky tho! and i did catch your photog pic comment! lol i think the dude forgot to out any flavour in it, cus all i could taste was strong and bitter alcohol. i don't drink much, but man we had to go back to wl and i needed to nap to recover before taking the kids for a swim.

love the tink pics. glad you got a great tink. last's yrs for us was awesome-except b fell asleep waiting for an hr. so he missed "bell-bell". in april she wasn't as great. i was kinda sad. terrence scared the you know what out of him. lol

and you and dan so cound like allan and i. we were at gymnastics with the kids yesterday am and man you'd think we were kids the way we were snipping back and forth. keeps us young!!!

love the pics of the dude doing the water art. it's the small things at disney like that i love to take time for. in april on our last nite by pirates there was a dude trying to create one and ppl kept walking all over it. we were the only ones to stop and look and it was kinda pointless. he'd get the head shaped out and someone would stop him....then it would dry up. lol

I was worried we would get Terrence and the kids wouldn't like him. Kenzie has all of a sudden gotten into this stage where she is scared of strangers - especially men. Thankfully, we had a good fairy experience. In spite of the bickering. LOL. Dan and I are such total opposites in everything. It is amazing that our marriage works as well as it does! But we don't ever really fight. Those are truly few and far between.

Joining in

I just found your TR today and am really enjoying it.

Your pictures are amazing, and your kiddos are adorable.

From the way you described your room at Pop, it sounds like the exact same one we just stayed in from the end of August through the first week of September.

Looking forward to more

Thanks! That would be cool if we stayed in the same room. I don't know the room number - I'll have to go get out our paperwork and look it up.

Next installment coming up soon!

 

[CinderelliT]

I feel as though I have abandoned my TR! I just have not had the time to stop by and write. School has really taken a toll on me. I have 4 more days of class and then a 2 week break. Woot, woot!

Let's see if I can pick up where we left off...

The white rabbit and Alice were outside of the tea cups, but the line was super long. Kenzie has just gotten into Alice - she likes the new one better than the cartoon, but likes it too. She gets a bit confused between Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins. I don't know how that is possible, but she calls the Mad Hatter, Mary Hatter.

Okay, we watch way too much tv in our house. We always have a movie playing.

Anyway, we decided that it was too hot and crowded to do much in Fantasy land. We didn't even get near Dumbo - as that line was up to 40 min. wait. It was about noon and melt your face off hot. How do we live here all year long? I couldn't survive without AC.

Since it was Kenzie's birthday, we asked her what she wanted to do. Both my kids LOVE Halloween - it's their favorite Holiday - so naturally, she wanted to go to "Mickey's Halloween House" aka the Haunted Mansion.

The kids were fighting over the stupid stroller again, so we literally ran to get there. Poor Dan was dragging Drew along at that point. I only got this one pic of the construction wall.

I tend to panic on rides. I am so worried that it will stop and I will get trapped on one and get sick. Sounds silly, but it really causes me panic. The dark stretching room is also another place for panic. But the cool ac was such a relief that I tried to really relax and enjoy it. No panic attacks for me this time.

So I brought my camera in with me and figured I could turn the flash off and put it on manual and try to get a few cool shots. On the picture threads on these boards, there are some amazing photographers and I am always trying to figure out how they get some of these really cool shots. It's totally addicting. That damn camera weighs like 20 lbs and goes EVERYWHERE with me.

No flash, no harm right? Right?



WRONG! I suppose b/c I have never shot in an enclosed space that is in complete darkness before, I swear I did not know that this would happen. But there is a sensor on my camera that tests the light to figure out the exposure. Well, it has a white light on it. NEVER knew it was there. I knew there was a sensor, but I didn't know it lit up. And it lit up as well as a flash or flash light. Damn!

So when I went to take this pic, I was mortified that I lit the whole room up! Plus, the guy in the next carriage over had some REALLY loud choice words for me. Sorry dude! I didn't know it would do that.

I tried to do a couple more where I covered the sensor and where our carriage was not facing anyone else. I really didn't want to ruin anyone else's ride. I felt like such an @ss after that.

They did come out cool though. Sigh. Other photographers had to have their sensor light go off to though. Right?

Drew took these for me:

I hate these pics b/c OMG do I look fat. I have gained SOOO much weight in the past year that it is not even funny. See pic of me in blue shirt in the signature. That was taken less than a year ago in Nov 09. Wow. I keep telling the doctors that I think my weight gain is unnatural, and now that I have packed on an extra 40lbs, they are finally listening and testing me for various things. But I really don't like the way I look. Anyway, that it a lengthy story for another time.

On with Disney!

After the HM, I wanted to do a bit of shopping - AC again - and get some new pot holders for the kitchen. I got a mickey hand glove, and his pants. They are so cute! Love them! DH laughs that this was my souvenir for the trip, and ironically, I don't cook. (I really don't. He usually does it.)

Pixie Dust coming up...

 

[CinderelliT]

One of the things that was really exciting for us on this trip was that both of our kids are now big enough to go on almost all of the rides! - With the exception of a few roller coasters. I cannot believe my babies are that big already!

So we decided to head over to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! YAY! It has probably been about 15 years since I have been on either of these rides. Seriously!

I couldn't remember how wet Splash Mountain was, but decided not to risk it with the camera. Yep. I PUT THE CAMERA AWAY. I was kinda sad about it. I should have taken a pic of the kids in front of their 1st big ride.

Anywhoo, on the way through Fronterland, we were trucking it. I was just hoping to go get some FP's and come back later in the day. I figured we could go over to Pirates' or one of those rides. Plus, it was getting close to time for Kenzie's BBB appt. Well on the way, this lady comes up to us. (Bless you woman!) I have no idea who she was or why she picked us (I think it was the matching shirts honestly), but she asked if we were on our way to SM. Yes, we replied! And she whipped out 4 fast passes that were good right then!!!

I started jumping up and down I was so excited! I couldn't believe that this was happening to us. I read about this sort of thing all the time, but I never thought it would happen to us. I could have kissed her, but thought better of it. LOL.

THEN she asked us if we were going on BTMRR. Well, yes! The kids are finally big enough! So, guess what?????? She whips out another 4 FPs for that ride that are good right then!!! Seriously???

I kept telling her thank you over and over. The entire family was soooo excited. It totally made our day. She was awesome and amazing! I was so excited that I didn't even think to get her name or find out if she is on the DISboards. If she is, THANK YOU! It was so generous of her to give us pixie dust like that. It was our 1st time going on these rides as a family, and it made it even that much more magical.

It may seem silly that something as simple as FP's made our day, but it really did. That was so awesome! All I remember about her was that she had short hair and blue Mickey Mouse stud earrings on. LOL. She's a woman after my own heart! Much luv to you.

FP's in hand, we parked the stroller with camera well hidden, and walked onto SM! We were all excited! I was nervous too and I SCREAMED at every little drop. But it was so much fun! The kids absolutely loved it, and we did get soaked on the way down. But it was so hot, that it felt really good! Of course the ride stopped afterwards and we got stuck for a little while - about 15 mins., but we were good and happy. No panicking either. I was very proud of myself.

Afterwards, we went and squished special SM pennies to put in our book as a way to remember the kids 1st big ride. Then we went off to the Thunder Mtn.

I guess I'm getting old, b/c I don't remember that ride being so bumpy. LOL. I always knew that it was, but I could really feel it this time. We had so much fun on it. Drew was really brave and even put one arm up in the air. Kenzie almost came out of her seat a couple of times - I don't think she would have like fell out or anything to that extreme, but it was enough to scare her. So I had to hang on to her for most of the ride and my normally fearless wild redhead said she didn't want to go on it again. She did have fun though, and said she would do it on another trip, but not right then.

We decide to work our way back to the castle. We debate about lunch and feel that a snack would be better at the moment. Off we go to find a Dole Whip.

This is another one of those things that I always read about, but in my many trips to Disney, I have never tried. It's always been on my bucket list, but I either can't find the place, or one time my blood sugar was through the roof, and there was no way I could eat it.

I knew the place was over by Adventure land, and I wasn't exactly sure where. I thought it was by the magic carpets, and we did find an ice cream place there. We got in line to ask if that's where the Dole Whips were, and the person in front of us messed up their order. SO GUESS WHAT??

Pixie Dust!

The people ordered a giant chocolate ice cream and changed their mind, so they turned around and gave it to us! It was big enough for Dan and the kids to share! It was crazy that we were having such good luck.

But alas, no dole whips there. They were up just a little further across from the Swiss Robinson Tree House. And there was a ginormous line. It rivaled that of the Aladdin carpets. But I was determined to get my dole whip.

I decided on a dole whip float. I was thirsty because it was HOT. I should have taken a pic, but the camera was still packed up and I was left with trying to push the stroller through that narrow line while trying to hold my Dole whip. We decide to go sit on a bench in the shade and enjoy our ice cream. Yep. We sat down and relaxed. We hardly ever do that. It was so nice and peaceful! Any my Dole Whip was super yummy. BUT - it was also bad for my blood sugar. So I ate a little bit of it. Tried to share it with the kids, but they weren't having it. They thought it was yucky and daddy's chocolate was much better. LOL!

Once the chocolate was done, and I was still nursing the Dole whip, we figure we should go head over to the castle to check in for Kenzie's BBB appt. I thought we could get that over with and grab a small and quick bite to eat afterwards since we had an early dinner ressie planned for that day.

Up next, will our pixie dust continue...

 

[CinderelliT]

OK, have to interrupt to post a few old school pics. These are from our 1st family trip in 2007. Our magical trip.

My babies get their 1st pair of ears and ride on the tea cups!

I thought I had some decent tea cup pics, but they are blurry, or you can't see the kids - just the tops of their heads. Dan took those, b/c I'm in them. I don't know what he was doing. LOL SO, I'll spare you.

But here is my beautiful bald baby on Small World with her Aunt Kimmie. They so look alike, and everyone thinks that Kenzie is her baby.

She's not to sure what to expect at first.

But then she LOVES IT!

And just to show that we can't take a normal family pic - this is 2 different trips last year: