An obsessive planner learns to go with the flow... Finished and a Link to new PTR

[-Hope-]

By this point in our trip we'd given up on afternoon breaks, they just didn't work for us, so after we left the Land we headed back into World Showcase. We caught a friendship boat from Mexico to Germany so we could get our Kimmunicator in Italy.

As we walked up to Italy we saw the end of the juggling act.

And then we stopped for a drink outside America and the band came by...

Finally, we were on to Japan for our Kim Possible mission but first we watched the end of the drummers show. I didn't get a pic of the drums but I'll share a pic outside the Japan pavillion anyway.

I thought it was so ironic that I'd spent so much time planning to see all of these things and then after I threw the plans out the window we saw most of them anyway. In addition to the ones I've already mentioned we also saw the candy lady in Japan and Mo Rockin outside Morocco.



After the drummers it was time to save the world! The Kim Possible mission was a fun little game that the kids really enjoyed...

After the mission ends the Kimminunicator asks if you want to do another and even lets you choose a country. Jace wanted to do another but Kya was tired. We chose France because it was the one country that Kya really wanted to see so she and I explored while Robbie and Jace did another mission. While we explored Kya decided to get a hand painted umbrella...

I don't know if I've mentioned that Kya is OBSESSED with France. She has a beret, wants to learn French and we are redecorating her room in a Paris theme. So this was really special for her and her umbrella is one of her favorite souvenirs from our trip.

We were all getting pretty tired so we decided to head back to the room but first I had to try one of the famous Grey Goose slushies. I used the rest of the money on the gift card Karen gave me. I was torn between the Lemon Citron and the Grand Marnier but in the end decided on the Grand Marnier. It was DELICIOUS!!

I should mention that at this point I started to notice A LOT of people and several asked me what my drink was and where I got it. I realized that we were leaving just in time because the crowds were starting to roll in for the soft opening of Food and Wine.

Jace decided to get an ice cream cone...

And then just as we all had our refreshments and were ready to leave... Marie walked by!! Kya had to hop in this line so she could meet one of her faves.

Finally we were back on the Friendship to DHS. We happened to be riding with the Duck Whisperer this time. He kept feeding a duck through the front window and when we docked at DHS he had a whole slew of ducks coming up to him and one even on his shoulder. He was a hoot and the kids really enjoyed him.

It was 6:55 when we got to DHS and I was worried there would be long lines for the buses but it turned out DHS was open late that night so it was no problem. We were back in our room by 8.

We grabbed dinner at the resort before going back to the room.

Kya and I got burgers and the guys got a pizza. A large pizza with drinks and dessert is two TS credits but it will feed four people- Kya and I should have just eaten the pizza because we had about half of it left and also didn't eat most of the fruit.

After we ate I took the kids for a very cold night swim (but didn't take my camera) and then we went to bed.

This was a GREAT day. We missed out on seeing Illuminations but it was worth it to be able to relax and enjoy the day without worrying about sticking to a schedule.

Up next... Downtown Disney

 

[Victoriasmom98]

That sounds like a great day Hope!! I was praying that the food pics you showed us didn't include duck!! That's so neat how your captain got along so well with the ducks! You know I'm a big animal lover so I liked that part!!!

 

[-Hope-]

That sounds like a great day Hope!! I was praying that the food pics you showed us didn't include duck!! That's so neat how your captain got along so well with the ducks! You know I'm a big animal lover so I liked that part!!!

No duck on the menu!! It was really cool how the captain loved the ducks. He could even tell them apart and had names for his favorites.

 

[-Hope-]

Ahem... you want to say that again louder? I don't want to say I TOLD YOU SO...but I will!!!!!!!!!

 

[Purpleblanket]

Just found your TR!!! And now I am way behind on my morning!! lol

We were in Dis from Dec. 27 til Jan. 2nd and yes it was very busy. I also, am an obsessed planner but we did find the plans helped since it was so busy.
On NYE there was no way to stick to a plan though as it was just too busy!

I loved the Grand Marnier Slushie as well!!
I started a TR but I'm definitly not as entertaining as you are!!!

Thanks for posting all the fabulous photos!

p. s. I know what the fastpasses are and we used them a lot BUT... what is a GAD (fastpass)
and I Keep reading that people "subscribe" - is there an actual way to have the threads come to my email? So far, only the thread I created gets alerts on my email address.
(I'm still such a newbie on the site!)

Debbie

 

[-Hope-]

Just found your TR!!! And now I am way behind on my morning!! lol

We were in Dis from Dec. 27 til Jan. 2nd and yes it was very busy. I also, am an obsessed planner but we did find the plans helped since it was so busy.
On NYE there was no way to stick to a plan though as it was just too busy!

I loved the Grand Marnier Slushie as well!!
I started a TR but I'm definitly not as entertaining as you are!!!

Thanks for posting all the fabulous photos!

p. s. I know what the fastpasses are and we used them a lot BUT... what is a GAD (fastpass)
and I Keep reading that people "subscribe" - is there an actual way to have the threads come to my email? So far, only the thread I created gets alerts on my email address.
(I'm still such a newbie on the site!)

Debbie

Hi Debbie and I'm glad you find my TR entertaining, I try to keep it interesting.

The GAD fastpasses are the special fastpasses Disney issued last year during their Give A Day (GAD) Get a Disney Day promotion. Since we had tickets for multiple days it didn't really make sense to use our vouchers that we received after volunteering for park tickets. Disney had the option to get special fastpasses instead so we did. They were great because there is no waiting with them, you put the special card into the FP machine and it spits out a ticket with an immediate ride time. No backtracking or sending runners to get FP- it was great!

To subscribe you go to the top of the page where it says "Thread Tools" and click on it, then a drop down box will appear with the option to subscribe. When you click on it it takes you to a page where you can then choose to get email notifications by clicking on another dropdown box. Then just click subscribe at the bottom of the page. Easy peasy.

 

[ronnmel]

Great day!

One question though. Why did you take the boat to DHS to take the boat back to your resort (same thing in the morning)? Why not just take the bus straight from the Epcot main entrance?

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

You guys had a really great day!

Um, is it a bad sign that my favorite pic from this post was the Grey Goose Slushy?

 

[-Hope-]

Great day!

One question though. Why did you take the boat to DHS to take the boat back to your resort (same thing in the morning)? Why not just take the bus straight from the Epcot main entrance?

There were a few reasons we chose to take the boat. First of all the kids really wanted to try as much of the different types of transportation as possible, the ride is very relaxing and it was a really nice way to see some of the other resorts. The main reason though was that we were tired of walking at this point and we didn't have to backtrack at all but still got to see several countries and go back into FW. And it is a LONG way from the WS entrance to the buses when you're feet are that tired. We were more interested in a relaxing way to travel than the quickest and it just worked better for our touring plans.

 

[-Hope-]

You guys had a really great day!

Um, is it a bad sign that my favorite pic from this post was the Grey Goose Slushy?

Mine too! I keep trying to figure out where I can get one of those things outside of Disney!

 

[Purpleblanket]

Mine too! I keep trying to figure out where I can get one of those things outside of Disney!

Ha.. me too! and I'll even admit I copied and pasted your photo of the grand marnier slushie!!


Debbie

 

[-Hope-]

Ha.. me too! and I'll even admit I copied and pasted your photo of the grand marnier slushie!!


Debbie

 

[ronnmel]

There were a few reasons we chose to take the boat. First of all the kids really wanted to try as much of the different types of transportation as possible, the ride is very relaxing and it was a really nice way to see some of the other resorts. The main reason though was that we were tired of walking at this point and we didn't have to backtrack at all but still got to see several countries and go back into FW. And it is a LONG way from the WS entrance to the buses when you're feet are that tired. We were more interested in a relaxing way to travel than the quickest and it just worked better for our touring plans.

Cool, makes sense.

 

[-Hope-]

Our last full day at Disney started off at Downtown Disney. We had tickets to MNSSHP in the evening but no park tickets left. I'd wanted to have plenty of time to really enjoy DTD so I'd planned it this way on purpose.

We slept in and headed to breakfast at about 9:30. Up to this point we'd been using snack credits for breakfast but we had plenty of CS credits at this point so we decided to have a big breakfast.

Robbie and Jace both got a platter with french toast sticks, sausage or bacon, a biscuit, eggs and potatoes. It was HUGE!!

I had french toast and sausage. No one in my family really cared for the sausage links, I'd opt for bacon (or skip the meat altogether) in the future.

Kya had eggs and potato wedges. The fact that the eggs are covered in ketchup helped me remember who ordered them.

Since we were using a CS credit we all got drinks and a dessert but didn't really want dessert for breakfast. So, we all got an extra drink- one to have with our breakfast and one to take with us. It worked out pretty well.

After breakfast we hopped on a bus and headed to DTD. We'd only spent a small amount of time here on our first night- just enough for Kya to make an ear hat and Jace to make a light saber- so we were excited to go back and explore.

Our first stop was the Lego store. Jace was SO excited! When he spotted the serpant in the water his whole face lit up.

We spent about an hour in this store while Jace built, created, raced and shopped. Kya wasn't as interested as Jace but she managed to find a few fun things to do while we let him explore. He had saved up money for so long and been so excited about this that we didn't want to rush him. You can really see his excitement in these pics.

After the Lego shop it was on to World of Disney for somthing Kya had really been looking forward to- getting a Disney outfit for her American Girl doll. The My Disney Girl doll clothes fit American Girl and once Kya learned this she knew she HAD to have an outfit. They had a few different princess outfits and a polka-dot Mouseketeer dress. She debated for a while but finally settled on the Jasmine outfit.

Next it was on to Goofy's Candy Co. Man this place is fun! Just looking around was a treat. We did have a bit of drama because Jace wanted something that wasn't a snack credit but had no money left to spend. I tried to tell him that what he picked wasn't a snack credit and he wasn't listening so then he got really upset with me. I don't know if any other mom's have kids who get upset when you DO tell them something because they say you're treating them like a baby but then get upset when you DON'T tell them because you should have warned them. It's pretty much always my fault when he's upset. It was okay though, I walked outside and looked at the birds outside RFC and cooled off and let him cool off before going back inside.

Once everyone was calm the kids decided to get the marshmallows on a MH straw. They both got them dipped in chocolate, rolled in oreo and then drizzled with chocolate. YUMM!

We had lots of snack credits and Robbie and I didn't want anything so they also got cookies.

Next stop was Days of Christmas. I was so busy looking around in here and that I forgot to snap pics of the ornaments I bought and then didn't want to unwrap them after I bought them so I don't have pics for these, sorry!

Karen wanted an ornament since she wasn't going to be able to get one this year and finding one for her was my first order of business. I wasn't sure what she already had or what she wanted so I decided to call her. However as soon as her phone started to ring I saw the perfect ornament for her- Jack Skellington! It was a Christmas ball shaped like Jack's head with black glitter in the eye sockets. It was SO Karen.

The kids were sitting outside with Robbie snacking on their stuff from Goofy's so I had them come in one at a time to choose their ornament. Jace found one that is a Pixar lamp wrapped in Christmas lights which was perfect since his favorite Disney movies are Pixar. Kya came in and found a pink ball with Minnie sitting on top tying up pointe shoes. She's quite the ballerina so this one was perfect for her.

Once the kids had their stuff I set out to find something for myself. I settled on a MH ball that is off-white with gold accents to match the other trimmings on my tree. I hopped in line and waited. And waited. And waited some more. The line in DoC was seriously the longest line I waited in ALL WEEK!

When I finally got to check-out we got a bus and headed back to the room. We were all hungry so the kids and I had leftover pizza and Robbie had a standard burger so no pics. After we ate I took the kids to swim (one last time) and Robbie relaxed in the room.

Up next Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I just love DTD!!!! Oh and I could spend hours in Days of Christmas!! The one ornament I did get is "Our Honeymoon" one. I love it!!! I'm anxiously waiting for your take on MNSSHP.....

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Oh yes, my kids are the same way when they are mad. Either I'm not doing enough hand-holding or I'm treating them like "a baby" Can't have it both ways, kids! LOL My kids also drench their scrambled eggs in ketchup, which I think is completely gross, but to each their own On a brighter note, Jace looked completely adorable in the Logo store! It was clear he was having fun! My kids loved that store too. It sounds like you got some very nice ornaments at DoC as well!

 

[-Hope-]

I just love DTD!!!! Oh and I could spend hours in Days of Christmas!! The one ornament I did get is "Our Honeymoon" one. I love it!!! I'm anxiously waiting for your take on MNSSHP.....

I love DoC too!

Oh yes, my kids are the same way when they are mad. Either I'm not doing enough hand-holding or I'm treating them like "a baby" Can't have it both ways, kids! LOL My kids also drench their scrambled eggs in ketchup, which I think is completely gross, but to each their own On a brighter note, Jace looked completely adorable in the Logo store! It was clear he was having fun! My kids loved that store too. It sounds like you got some very nice ornaments at DoC as well!

I'm so glad to know I'm not the only mom who goes through that with her kids, lol. And yes Jace had a ball in the Lego store.

 

[-Hope-]

After swimming we rested for a while. There was no reason to rush to MK before the party because we'd done A LOT on our MK day and everyone was really tired at this point. Plus we wanted to make sure we weren't too tired to be out late at the party. So, we left for the party at 5:30.

Kya dressed as Minnie in the red polka-dot dress she got from Savannah...

And Jace dressed as a Price is Right contestant. His shirt has a pic of a worried looking Pluto and says, "Have your pet spayed or neutered!"

We knew that CoP would be closed during the party and Jace really wanted to ride it so we headed to Tomorrowland as soon as we got our treat bags and wrist bands. We got there at 6:40 but the ride was already closed. It was very disappointing for Jace and the party didn't start for another 20 minutes so I was confused by it. We hopped onto the people mover just so we'd have a few minutes for Jace to get over his disappointment and for me to figure out what we were going to do next.

As we were exiting the TTA we saw that the line to meet Buzz was already forming so we got in line for that. The character line was also a candy line so we got our first candy of the night too.

After meeting Buzz we dropped in on Stitch's 626 Dance party where we congaed, hokey pokeyed, and just danced. Jace got a kick out it when Pluto noticed his shirt and gave him a big thumbs up.

As we headed out of Tomorrowland we hopped on Space Ranger spin. It was completely walk-on, you just have to love the low crowds at parties.

At 7:30 we found a spot right up front for the 7:45 Villain show. We could have been front and center but we wanted to be sure to meet Cruella so we stayed to the right. We LOVED the Villain show, the costumes, the lights, the dancing, the music- it was all just AMAZING!

After the show the kids had to get pics with a couple of villains- Cruella and Dr. Facillier. Cruella was HYSTERICAL! When she saw Jace's costume she very loudly proclaimed, "Jace, come on down!" Then she read his shirt and said she had her own way to control the pet population!

Dr. Facillier was great too and really took his time with each person. He wasn't supposed to sign but there was a mentally challenged boy in front of us who couldn't understand that and he signed his book anyway- it's moments like that which really make me love Disney.

I did get pics but they are so not worthy of showing to others- I should have used my flash but I hate it so I didn't. Oh well, the kids have the pics for themselves and I just don't share them with others.

We could have also met the Queen of Hearts but she doesn't sign autographs after the Villain show so we decided to wait. Big mistake. We never did find her later and I think she wasn't out because she's usually next to the Mad Tea Party which was shut down for refurb.

After the Villains we wanted to get to Pecos Bill's to eat because it closed at 9. We were headed out of the hub when we realized that the entire area was roped off and we couldn't get through at all. I asked a CM where we could get around and she said, "As soon as he passes it will be open." I knew IMMEDIATELY who HE was and was so excited! My family didn't have a clue but I told them to just watch. The Headless Horseman passed right in front of us- I think I could have reached out to touch him! Of course I didn't get a decent pic of this either but I didn't even care. It was just so cool to be that close to him.

Continued in next post (too many images, lol)

 

[-Hope-]

After he passed we started walking toward Pecos Bill's but we had such good viewing of the parade that we stopped to watch. (I was so good at going with the flow by now that I didn't even question this.) We were on the steps of Liberty Tree Tavern so we could see even though we were in the back.

We made it to Pecos Bill's by 8:30 so we had plenty of time. The kids had burgers and Robbie and I had taco salad (which is great with the fixin's bar). I was so tired and hungry that I forgot to take pics but the food was really good.

After we ate we were headed back to Fantasyland. We hadn't ridden Dumbo yet and I really wanted to try to ride during Hallowishes. On the way though the kids got sidetracked by the Liberty Bell replica in front of HoP. Jace loves history and wanted a pic so we stopped to get one (again, not worth posting). So, we ended up watching the fireworks from the line for Dumbo instead of actually being on the ride. If you have people who like the boom of the fireworks (Robbie does) then FL is a great place to catch the show. It was LOUD and it was also really cool because fireworks were happening all around us- some things are shot off right in front of the castle and others are back behind FL on both sides so we were completely surrounded. It was really cool. If you've already seen a fireworks show from in front of the castle and want to shake things up a bit I definately recommend viewing from Fantasyland. Not a great place to take pics but great for viewing.

We also finally rode Dumbo and I thought it was fun to do at night. After Dumbo we wanted to see Philharmagic one more time and we walked in just as they were filling the theater. We this show!!

We were really starting to get tired by now but we had a few characters we wanted to meet still and also wanted to do a few more treat trails. We looked for the Queen of Hearts but, as I said before, never found her. So, we just headed over to the Judges Tent because we'd met Mickey earlier in the week but not Minnie.

We only had to wait about 10 minutes so that was great. A funny moment when Mickey tried to sign Kya's book and she told him she'd already gotten his autograph earlier in the week he made a big show about suddenly "remembering" this. He also fawned over her costume which she loved.

Next stop... The Mad Hatter. Alice was getting tea but the line was short so we got him by himself and then waited for Alice and got them together.

Kya didn't know quite how to react when they were carrying on with their conversation and pretending not to notice her.

We then went out through the treat trail and back to Main Street. I was worried about crowds at the buses since we basically followed the second parade down MS but it was a short wait and we were back to our room by midnight. We were EXHAUSTED but it had been another great day at Disney.

Up Next... Going home.

 

[DrMomof3]

It looks like you had fun at the party!!!

Amanda