A Winter Escape to the Enchanted Forest-Jan'13 TR:**5/21 Parting Thoughts/New PTR!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Tuesday January 29th

We cut across into Adventureland to look for Aladdin and Jasmine’s meet and greet. Instead of the royal duo, there was Genie!


IMG_7563 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Now, I thought it was pretty cool that Genie was there. I mean, how often do you get to do a meet and greet with him? But DD was NOT a happy camper. So, I asked the CM at the queue entrance when Jasmine and Aladdin were schedule to be coming out to swap spots and she said in about 5 minutes. The line was about 15 minutes long from what I can tell. You know you’ve been to Disney a few times when you can gauge the wait time for a character meet and greet by eyeing the length of the line. So, I got in line while DFIL perused the gift shop next door to look for something for my nephew and niece (his other grandchildren). DD was getting upset despite my reassurances that we were in line for Jasmine. The older daughter in the family standing in front of us heard our conversation and tried to help by telling DD how cool the Genie was. DD was not in a friendly mood so I ended up chatting with the rest of the family. The mom in the family asked if DD had seen all of the princesses and I confidently said yes. Then she reminded me about Rapunzel. DOH! I couldn't believe I had forgotten about her.

Sure enough, 5 minutes later, Aladdin and Jasmine made their way out and all was right with the world again for DD. We were about two families away from our turn when the mom in the group behind us had to answer her cell phone trying to coordinate where to meet afterwards. Aladdin in between his meet and greets heard her and asked the family in front of him goofily “Is she crazy? Who is she talking to?” accompanied by the universal sign language of crazy with his finger swirling next to his head. I could tell by the mom’s reaction that she was going back and forth between being embarrassed, confused, and offended all in a matter of a few seconds. I think she really thought that Aladdin was calling her crazy just for talking on a cell phone while in line and not realizing that he was staying in character who lived in a time period when cell phones didn’t exist. Clearly, a newbie mistake! So to help make her feel better about the situation, I told the family that Aladdin has never seen a cell phone and that’s why he couldn’t figure out who you were talking to. I said “He thinks you’re just talking into a wooden block or something”. That helped, and they all laughed about it.

DD went up to Aladdin and Jasmine and had a brief chat.


IMG_7565 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Aladdin tried to make mustaches on her face with the tassels from his cap. Then he made a comment about how much bigger my camera was compared to the photopass photographer’s which made me chuckle.

After the meet and greet, DD wanted to go into the Tiki Room again, so I sent her off with DFIL while I hustled over to Main Street to get FPs for the princess meet and greet. Thank goodness that the other mom reminded me. I still don’t know how I completely blanked out on Rapunzel. I just assumed we were all done with princesses since I was able to squeeze in the Akershus lunch. After picking up the FPs, I walked back over to the Adventureland entrance. The lines for Aloha Isle were extremely short, so I couldn’t resist. Got myself a pineapple and orange swirl Dole Whip! The CM gave me two spoons but I just needed one. I plopped myself in the shade near the exit for the Tiki Room and enjoyed every bite. DD and DFIL came out and saw what I was up to. They wanted one too. Sure, why not? We had plenty of snack credits to use up on our last day. So, we walked back to Aloha Isle and DFIL/DD stood in line. That’s when DFIL realized he left the bag of gifts he had bought inside the Tiki Room. I walked over to the CM at the Tiki entrance, and thankfully, she had it. Problem solved.

DD and DFIL really enjoyed their Dole Whips. Who doesn’t right? Well, everyone was well refreshed and recharged after that snack. We walked back to Main Street. DFIL joined up with DW who was in shopping nirvana while DS slept in his stroller. I took DD over to meet the princesses. At first I felt a little silly using a FP since the initial lobby area of the queue was COMPLETEY empty. We did get to skip ahead of about 20 people so that was good though. Not sure if I like this set up. It sort of reminded me of the same setup as the Character Spot in Epcot. A conveyor belt of sorts. Rapunzel was the highlight for DD who had already met Aurora and Cinderella during this trip. She still loved meeting all of them and literally pranced and pirouetted out of the meet and greet area.

Now our Disney trip was really coming to a close. One last thing to do was to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade with the kids. DW and DFIL were still busy finishing their shopping. DD and I found a spot on the curve in front of the “Arcade” on Main Street. While shopping, DW bought a Jesse hat fully equipped with a braided pony tail that DD had been asking for all day as her one souvenir a day choice. So DD strapped on the hat and sat next to me while we waited for the parade to start. The Dapper Dans were walking around entertaining the crowds. I just enjoyed listening to the sights and sounds from the comfort of our well shaded curbside seat. We sat there about 15 minutes and the parade started. DW and DFIL stood behind us with DS still sleeping in the stroller when the grand marshal car rolled by. But as soon as the music was cranked up and the first group of characters made their appearance, out of nowhere DS flew in and plopped himself right next to me. Both DS and DD adored the parade. And guess what? Captain Hook made his way over to our side, shook hands with the kids, and DD didn’t even flinch! That’s right. Our DD who hates every single villain in the Disney book was laughing when Hook stuck his face into hers.


IMG_7626 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7640 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7643 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7645 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7647 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7653 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7655 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7658 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7671 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7676 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7680 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7694 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7697 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7701 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_7707 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The parade eventually ended and it was time for us to leave. DW grabbed a bag of cotton candy on our way the gates. Which brings me to my random thought – you just don’t see cotton candy on a stick at Disney.

As we hopped on our monorail to the parking lot to get our minivan, we all waved goodbye to Magic Kingdom and Disney. I won’t bore you with all of the details of what happened in the next two hours since it’s all a blur and not so magical. The short version is that getting through security was a nightmare due to an elderly single gentleman in front of us who didn’t understand English and the instructions of the TSA agents. There was one more throw-up from DS. Nobody got dinner because we didn’t have time. And we had to say goodbye to DFIL who headed home to Ohio. Oh, and once we arrived back at our home airport DW misplaced a paid parking ticket and we spent about 15 minutes looking for it before I located it in the bottom of the trunk.

Next Up: Parting Thoughts

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm glad that everything worked out so that your DD could meet all the princesses!

It looks like a nice way to finish up the trip. That parade isn't necessarily my favorite, but it is a great chance to see some characters and just take in the atmosphere of the park.

I'm sorry you had so many bumps in the road getting back home. And the parking ticket being lost in the trunk... yeah, that would be the last place I'd look for it.

 

[khertz]

How nice, getting to enjoy a Dole Whip swirl all by yourself in MK. I'm glad DS perked up enough to see the parade. What a nice way to cap off a Disney vacation!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

It looks like a nice way to finish up the trip. That parade isn't necessarily my favorite, but it is a great chance to see some characters and just take in the atmosphere of the park.

I'm sorry you had so many bumps in the road getting back home. And the parking ticket being lost in the trunk... yeah, that would be the last place I'd look for it.

I think I have my kids to thank for how much I enjoy Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade - they have so much fun during the parade that I enjoy just watching them! And you kind of get that idea when you see DS who was wiped out all day from a stomach bug, wake up and jump out of his stroller when the parade started.

I can laugh about DW misplacing the parking ticket now. I had prepaid the parking ticket (mind you, 4 days worth of daily parking rate at the airport!) once we deplaned and handed it to her since she was going to drive. She went to get the car (supposedly still holding on to the ticket in her hand) while the kids and I waited with our bags by the elevators. When she came back, she didn't know where the parking ticket was! We ended up tracing back her steps at first staring at the ground to see if she dropped it. But before giving up, I mentally retraced and guessed what would be the first thing she would have done when she reached the car - putting her bags in the trunk. So, I opened up our trunk one more time, took allllll of the bags out and sure enough, there it was at the bottom.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

How nice, getting to enjoy a Dole Whip swirl all by yourself in MK. I'm glad DS perked up enough to see the parade. What a nice way to cap off a Disney vacation!

Sad to be reaching the end of my TR. But I'm getting ready to launch my PTR for the solo trip in October! I'll post the link once I have it started!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I've started a new Pre-Trip Report for my October solo trip!!

Here's the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3114607

I hope you can join me again! I'm also trying something different for this PTR so come on over and help me put together a photo safari list!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

One more plug for my PTR that I started for my solo October trip! Hope you can join me!

Some parting thoughts:

For the foreseeable future, we will be making our January trips an annual one as long as DD’s school calendar continues to have a four day weekend for the last week of January. Between the lower crowds and cheaper prices, we love visiting at that time of the year and don’t mind the occasional cold spells or refurbs. And we’ve been able to steer clear of any major troubles or nuisance with the tour groups, we can only hope that continues to be the case.
I love visiting and traveling with other family and friends to Disney especially when they are Disney novices. Watching them experience Disney things for the first time makes things even more enjoyable. Plus, the additional help with the kids is always appreciated! DFIL came with us for our last two trips and we had a blast with him. I think for our next trip we’ll mix things up a little again and see if other people would like to join us. I’m going to try (once again) and see if my brother’s family can come with us. Sadly, he has decided that he does not enjoy Disney World trips after his last attempt with his wife and son (who was 2 at the time) really wore him out. I’m still convinced it’s because they hadn’t planned things out accordingly, that they visited during a peak season, and they didn’t know all of the little tips and tricks that could have made things a little easier. Despite that, my nephew had a great time and I know my sister-in-law would LOVE to tag along with us and just follow our plans along! We shall see.

Whoever we go with, I’m really looking forward to our next couple of trips since our kids are beginning to get easier to take on trips. Next January, DD will be 7 ½, and DS will be a little over 4. It will also give us opportunities to expand our activities and try new things with them with more restaurants becoming “eligible” for our itinerary. We will most likely be saying goodbyes to Riderswap next time but I’m very excited that DS will finally get to catch up and try Soarin’, Test Track, and BTMRR.

I really appreciated everything about the Art of Animation Resort. Our kids absolutely loved this resort and if it were up to my DD we would be heading back there again and again. I on the other hand would like to keep trying new resorts. It definitely has features very attractive to kids and families. I most appreciated that we finally have a suite option when we travel with other folks that doesn’t break the bank.

New Fantasyland was great. I’m aware that it is a bit light on the rides right now but I just adored all of the theming and atmosphere of the area. And I am absolutely convinced that once the Dwarves Mine Ride is completed that New FL will be unbelievably awesome! Of course, the wait times for it will be like 300 minutes but that’s another story. I’ve been telling people who tell me how disappointed they’ve been with New FL (and there are those out there) to reserve judgment until the mine ride opens which I think will be the marquee attraction for New FL. Even just removing all of the congestion from the construction will do wonders!

My love for photography just keeps getting stronger (and more expensive) thanks to Disney. Like many on DIS, it was our Disney trip last April that opened my eyes to the possibilities of photography and since then it has continued to snowball into a massive hobby. With the big 4-0 just around the corner, it’s probably a good thing that I have something to keep me distracted from skidding off the mid-life cliff. And it’s cheaper than a convertible! Over the past year, I’ve been reading and learning so much about taking pictures and trying them out in everyday life and not just on vacations. I cannot wait until I get back to Disney to try out new shots with my family! I’m already stocking up on memory cards for our next trip since I’m pretty sure I can easily hit 3000 next time – as long as neither of the kids begin throwing up again.

Finally, I can say that I will not tire of Disney vacations. Even with all of the walking and waiting, my family really does enjoy them. And the best evidence is what happens when we come home. The kids told me repeatedly that they wish they were still at Disney for at least a good two weeks. DW looks forward to our next trip (and that says a lot!) and doesn’t mind talking about which resort she would like to try out next. She still thinks I’m crazy for starting the countdown to our next trip 300 days out. As for me, I carry the “Disney feel” with me as long as I can after coming back from the vacation and the DIS helps me do that. You should see the look on my patients when I start singing “Time for your check-up” from Doc Mcstuffins or the “Hot Dog” song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And no, I don’t sing those to the pre-teen and teen crowds. Planning for our next trip also helps me keep the Disney magic around my life.

Thank you to everyone who stuck around through the end of this trip report!! I had a great time sharing our Disney adventures with you!

 

[khertz]

I'm sad your TR is over, Dave, but now I can just look forward to the next one. OCTOBER!!!

You sound a lot like DH when it comes to the photography. He has been really getting into it, a little more with each Disney trip, and yes it's an EXPENSIVE hobby! But I get to reap the benefits with nice pictures, so I don't complain. He is actually taking a class this summer at the local University, so he's hoping to be even better by the time we go back in the fall.

I really enjoyed reading about your trip and getting to "know" you and your family a bit better!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I'm sad your TR is over, Dave, but now I can just look forward to the next one. OCTOBER!!!

You sound a lot like DH when it comes to the photography. He has been really getting into it, a little more with each Disney trip, and yes it's an EXPENSIVE hobby! But I get to reap the benefits with nice pictures, so I don't complain. He is actually taking a class this summer at the local University, so he's hoping to be even better by the time we go back in the fall.

I really enjoyed reading about your trip and getting to "know" you and your family a bit better!

Thanks for following along this TR! Now we both can focus on our October trips!!

 

[emilyindisney]

Overall it sounds like you had a fantastic trip! I agree that the crowds and prices in January are tough to beat. Your photography is beautiful and I'm sure you'll continue to impress this point-and-shoot girl in your future TRs!

 

[emmysmommy]

Dave, I loved the sentiment of your wrap up. Disney is a wonderful place to build memories for your family! Your kids will remember these trips the rest of their lives.

I agree that January is a great time for WDW - especially the crowd levels. Sounds like a great annual vacation tradition. I'm glad that you will be back in October as well since your PTR is going to be great!

I must say that you have a bit of detective in you with the parking ticket incident. Good job thinking logically... I guess that comes in helpful with your profession! However, the singing doc thing had me cracking up! I'm sure parents can appreciate that demeanor as well.

I'm so glad that I 'discovered' your TR and I look forward to more. For only picking up photography a short time ago I have to say once more that you have amazing skills my friend!!!

Now I have to jump over to your PTR and see what's happening!

What, no convertible for your milestone birthday?

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Overall it sounds like you had a fantastic trip! I agree that the crowds and prices in January are tough to beat. Your photography is beautiful and I'm sure you'll continue to impress this point-and-shoot girl in your future TRs!

Thank you for the kind words and for following along! We did have a great trip and I'm hoping to have a better one next January as I plan a few firsts for the kids!

Dave, I loved the sentiment of your wrap up. Disney is a wonderful place to build memories for your family! Your kids will remember these trips the rest of their lives.

I agree that January is a great time for WDW - especially the crowd levels. Sounds like a great annual vacation tradition. I'm glad that you will be back in October as well since your PTR is going to be great!

I must say that you have a bit of detective in you with the parking ticket incident. Good job thinking logically... I guess that comes in helpful with your profession! However, the singing doc thing had me cracking up! I'm sure parents can appreciate that demeanor as well.

I'm so glad that I 'discovered' your TR and I look forward to more. For only picking up photography a short time ago I have to say once more that you have amazing skills my friend!!!

Now I have to jump over to your PTR and see what's happening!

What, no convertible for your milestone birthday?

Thanks Brenda for the kind words! I'm equally happy that we found our mutual TRs! Been really enjoying your TR and the occasional glimpses of The Happiest Place On Earth!