Because I am Your Mom and I Say So! (October TR) 3/15 Food and Wine and More

[laashley]

you guys had a great day at AK! you were able to get just about everything in, we skipped FOTLK last year and the year before, too. Thinking we may have to be sure to add it in this fall. I did not know about a "special seat" on Kali RR; use to be one of my favorite rides but the last few years never gave it much thought. I bet Ashton would really enjoy it. We missed out on Camp Minnie/Mickey too thinking I need to really work on AK this coming visit!

We did! I was thinking the kids would meet more characters, but I was okay with it. The special seat is just a regular seat with a bar in front. We just told him he was extra special to get the special wristband and seat. If Ashton likes to get wet it is a must, if not then I would get a poncho. The kids do like KRR, but it wasn't so fun for them in April when they were soaked.

I really like AK, in April we spend 2 days there and was able to see/do pretty much everything. I hope y'all are able to spend more time there, and definitely see FotLK. I think it is growing on me more and more.

Bummer that Noah didn't make it on Dinosaur. I didn't try taking the girls on it because I thought it would freak them out. Looking back, they probably would have surprised me and loved it! I'm impressed that Chloe rode on it twice!

It was a bit frustrating, the cm could clearly see he was trying to avoid hitting his head, but said if he couldn't stand up straight, he couldn't see for certain. There was another cm there who kept saying "if he is ducking down then he must be tall enough". I was glad he didn't go on it, but sad that it was because of the cm. All this being said he rode it in April and hated it (guess he stood up straight then).

Chloe is very much my daredevil when it comes to rides. How fearless Ava was over ToT, she might have loved Dinosaur, but I do think it is the easiest one for kids to get scared on.

 

[laashley]

Animal Kingdom- Part 3
We had just finished riding Kali River Rapids and were on our way out of the park when I noticed a photopass photographer in front of the Tree of Life, so we had to take a few pictures. The kids were slurping on some slushes and weren't interested in getting out of the stroller, so I told them to stay put and attempt a smile.

Then the photographer asked Chloe if she would get out and take a special picture.

Love how they turned out. Noah was offered to do the same, but that kid was more interested in the lemonade!

We were now headed out of the park, but first we needed to upgrade all of our tickets. We had decided that Chris and I would get AP's and the kids would just get hoppers. Went into guest relations and they were able to upgrade all tickets without too much trouble (though it did take close to 30 minutes). Now it was time to head to Epcot and make sure our new tickets worked!

 

[laashley]

Epcot

On the drive over to Epcot I had been checking fastpass times on Test Track, hoping that we would get in before they ran out. (Soarin' was already out before we left AK)

Our first vision of the ball.

By the time we made it through bag check the fp's were gone.

Food and Wine Festival display

We had about an hour before our dinner reservation, so we made our way to the Land pavilion to ride Living with the Land.

It was a walk on, so we were quickly loaded into the boat.

We had planted sunflowers this year and ours were now gone, so Chloe wanted me to take pictures of ones that were still alive.

Signs of the fall season.

Didn't take many pictures, just enjoyed the relaxing little ride. After our ride we decided to see if we could check-in early for out dinner at Garden Grill. We were seated within a few minutes and immediately the characters started coming around (even before we saw our server).

Farmer Mickey

Chip

Dale (I see drinks our server must have appeared!)

Pluto

The restaurant was slowly rotating and we had rotated into the desert. Oh, if you have never been to the Garden Grill you rotate above Living with the Land, therefore, can see parts of the ride below from a glass barrier. The characters started coming around again. This time they were a little more playful.

They were enjoying the view!

When Chip came by he started tickling the kids

So Chloe got him back

Then she got Dale

We were all having a great time, then I hear "hey Ashley" and there is skier_pete with his dd. We said hi and talked for a few. When they left Chloe was just astounded that I knew someone in Disneyworld. Little did she know I had "met" quite a few people that would be in the world while we were.

We finished up our food, paid the server (well her tip anyway- yay for the ddp!) and found skier_pete again to say hi to his dw. We had alot of the same plans, so we thought our paths would cross again over the next few days.

I will throw in a little review of the Garden Grill, since I didn't talk about the food or the service. GG serves a family-style buffet. Breads and salads, then salmon with fresh veges, beef with mashed potatoes, sliced turkey breast with dressing. The kids were served drumsticks, mac n cheese, broccoli and sweet potato fries. I enjoyed the meal, but by far the sides were the best, Chris said that it all was pretty good, and though Chloe ate pretty good (turkey, broccoli, salad) Noah only ate some bread and turkey. The service was fantastic! I definitely would go back to GG.

We checked Soarin' before we left the Land, but the wait was posted as over an hour. Noah did get checked to make sure he could ride it and he was about an inch over the 40" mark, so we hoped when we came back the next morning we would have no problems.

From here we decided to try out Test Track, 30 min. wait, so we jumped in line.

First making sure Noah could ride, no problems here either! Noah was so excited for his first ride on TT. When we loaded into the car I said to Noah hold on to your head, it gets fast. He immediately grabbed his head tight.

At the end Noah gave TT a thumbs up.

It seems that his face and thumb don't match though!

We did play around a bit in the dump area where the gm cars are. My favorite-

The kids favorite- green camaro

Noah was holding his ears because of the loud cars from Test Track.

We were staying for Illuminations and still had about 2 hours before they began, so what to do next?



continued here

 

[longing2Batdisney]

great updates! on the upgrades! to bad you did not know at the time you would be going back in Dec, you could have upgraded AP's for the kids too!

Ashton did the same as Noah on TT, gave it a thumbs up but the facial expressions did not match. When Dayne asked him to go ride with him and Luke he said maybe later

GG looks like a lot of fun; it is one that we have on the list to try in Sep. But, I was under the impression the fish was talipia or catfish; salmon, yuck! Ashton will eat the bread, mac n cheese, and mashed potatos. So, I think we will be OK there.

I wish I would have made better contact with all you guys so we could have met up, too. But, luckily we live close enough we can try to meet up (again) soon.

C

 

[laashley]

Epcot continued...

We decided to go into world showcase and to Mexico. We all wanted to take another boat ride.

Then we shopped for awhile. All I bought was a passport for each of the kids. Chloe was eyeing a coin purse, but her money was already gone. We left the Mexico pavilion and went in search of a frozen drink. Chris ended up getting a fiesta margarita for me and him.

The kids were really getting into the pin trading, they had to stop to see what each cm had. We stopped to get a water in Norway and one of the cm's gave Noah a Guido (from Cars) pin. I think Chloe traded for a Hannah Montana pin (yikes!). Noah was super excited for his free pin, but he was getting really tired, so I found a spot to sit and wait for Illuminations. Chloe and Chris went to ride Maelstrom since we still had almost an hour to go.

About 10 min. after Chris and Chloe left Noah needed to go to the bathroom. I had the stroller, the drinks, and two bookbags with me and he had to #2. Not the highlight of my day. I abandoned the stroller, drinks, and 1 bookbag and rushed Noah to the potty. Thankfully, when we returned all was still there in our firework spot. Chris and Chlo were back shortly after. I informed Chris next time his bag has to come with him- Noah has awful timing. We were all ready to pass out, but we just relaxed until Illuminations began.

Finally the torches are lit.

Illuminations-

I don't know if it was the view, but I just wasn't that impressed. I think next time we watch it we will from the front of WS. Does anyone have a spot they love?

We stayed seated until the crowds cleared out, then made our way to the car. Kids fell asleep on the way out. I love having a car because all we have to do is transfer the kids from the stroller to their seat. Oh, and there is always a seat available!



Next up- day 3!

 

[laashley]

great updates! on the upgrades! to bad you did not know at the time you would be going back in Dec, you could have upgraded AP's for the kids too!

Ashton did the same as Noah on TT, gave it a thumbs up but the facial expressions did not match. When Dayne asked him to go ride with him and Luke he said maybe later

GG looks like a lot of fun; it is one that we have on the list to try in Sep. But, I was under the impression the fish was talipia or catfish; salmon, yuck! Ashton will eat the bread, mac n cheese, and mashed potatos. So, I think we will be OK there.

I wish I would have made better contact with all you guys so we could have met up, too. But, luckily we live close enough we can try to meet up (again) soon.

C

I really wanted to get the kids ap's. Chris was hoping without ap's that I wouldn't find a way to get back so soon. It would have saved us a little on the december trip, which would have been good.

You know it might have been tilapia. I think it was, didn't write it down, so I am trying to go by memory and a wdw food app. It was too "fishy" for me whatever it was. I like my fish drenched in vinegar!

I had a feeling that was the end of Test Track for him. He just isn't fond of anything loud or fast.

We definitely have to get together again soon!

 

[skier_pete]

Hi from South Lake Tahoe, CALI! Living up to my name...just got off the slopes as we ready to leave for the airport. DW takes longer to get ready, so I thought I'd stop by the DIS.

Yeah for shout-out to me! I think our experiences were pretty similar at GG...food was good not great, character interaction was really fun. It was great meeting you, I do wish we had found some time to chat a little more along the way, or at least get a picture together. (You do show up in one of our videos though - as you were walking with your DD and DS to meet us.)

Your DS and our DD treat TT the same...hate the loud noise of the cars going by. She always has her ears covered, too!

SkierPete

 

[laashley]

Hi from South Lake Tahoe, CALI! Living up to my name...just got off the slopes as we ready to leave for the airport. DW takes longer to get ready, so I thought I'd stop by the DIS.

Yeah for shout-out to me! I think our experiences were pretty similar at GG...food was good not great, character interaction was really fun. It was great meeting you, I do wish we had found some time to chat a little more along the way, or at least get a picture together. (You do show up in one of our videos though - as you were walking with your DD and DS to meet us.)

Your DS and our DD treat TT the same...hate the loud noise of the cars going by. She always has her ears covered, too!

SkierPete

Wow, I am a slacker. Hope you had a fun skiing trip!

We should have taken a pic, don't know why I didn't think of that.

I don't get my son at all. He has to turn up the tv way too loud, but any other loud noise and he is freaking out. Now that he is older I try not to play into the whining- just cover your ears and it will be ok. He is getting better about it.

 

[laashley]

October 18- Part 1

Epcot

Plan for the day was to make rope drop and start at the Character Connection. Even after a fairly late night we were ready on time and out the door. We made it into the park, through bag check. Chris was off to get TT fp's and the kids I were in the back of the crowd waiting for the ropes to be lifted. We couldn't see much of the opening show from where we were, but that way ok. Soon the rope was dropped and we were off to CC. I spotted some disers, MeMom and Brooklynnsmommy at the front of the CC line. I said hi real quick and got into line. The tv's kept the kids attention and before long it was our turn to meet the fab five!

With Mickey the kids were a little subdued, but they started waking up with Pluto!

Not really sure what happened with Minnie. Chloe was trying to strike a pose!

Then came Donald. Noah runs right up to him and pops him on the bill. This was right after, it was so quick that no pictures captured the attack!

Donald fussed at Noah a bit.

Time to hug on Goofy!

We had some great interaction at character spot!

As we exited, we saw that our disfriends had waited on us. We all said hi and were off to go under the seas....

Took a quick picture before going into the Seas. The two blondies are Brooklynn and Bella (left to right). The sun wasn't cooperating with our choice of photo spot. Then we were off through the long, winding queue to find our clam. Chloe and Brooklynn were leaving us behind, they were excited to ride. It's so funny watching how quickly two little girls make friends. Our underseas ride was cute and after we viewed the fishes (well, turtles, dophins, manatees, and fish).

Chloe felt it necessary to help little Bella along. I think Bella could have led her just as well!

continued here

 

[laashley]

continued from above...

After we looked at all the aquariums, we all went to

There was a little while before showtime, so the kids played the informative games.

Show Time!

The kids sat in front to get a close up of the show, but none of them were picked to ask a question. The show was a little bit funny, probably more so for those under 10 years.

Before we said goodbye to our disfriends we had one more thing to do. Visit Bruce!

While the kids were in line for the picture I saw lovemytwoprincesses (Heidi) and said hi. So before we parted ways Memom got us all to take a picture, that is disers and kids.

Pictured are Heidi (lovemytwoprincesses) and her girls Erin and Ava, then Jill (Brooklynnsmommy) with Bella and Brooklynn, then me and Chloe.

Memom herself didn't jump in the picture though, and Noah was too busy doing this to be bothered.

We said goodbye to our disfriends and was just about out the door when the kids spotted the souvies. Chloe did talk us into more souveniers, even though they had used up their money. So far they were getting something new everyday, wow we must have been being pretty nice. This time Chloe picked out the fill a jewel bag- had jewels in the shape of shells and Nemo. Noah selected the Nemo and friends bath toys. Here is what Chloe really wanted.

See that Ariel doll. Well, it is Ariel on one end and I think Aurora in the other. Have to flip the skirt. That doll was $27. The jewels were about $10, so she got the jewels.

After we made it out of the Seas, Chris was off to secure some fp's for Soarin' and the kids and I made our way to the fountain.

When Chris met up with us, plan was to go all ride Test Track. Noah said "no way". Guess he didn't enjoy it as much as he said he did the night before. So, Chloe and I went to TT and Noah and Chris grabbed Kim Possible tickets and rode Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta tour. After Chlo's and my wild ride we met the guys in WS.

About this time I thought about lunch. Chris and I were planning to eat around the world, but I was hoping to feed the kids in future world. Chloe and Noah said they weren't ready for lunch, so we started our way around the world.



Next up- Food and Whine...

 

[Moira222]

where is character connection? This is something new to me, I never heard of it. Or.....is THIS the famed and mysterious Disney Visa Rewards character spot???OOOH I hope it is....

I love all the pics & thanks for posting your dismeet photos too.

 

[bjakmom]

Great trip report! This is the exact week I booked for 2011 - did you attend any of the MNSSHPs?

 

[skier_pete]

where is character connection? This is something new to me, I never heard of it. Or.....is THIS the famed and mysterious Disney Visa Rewards character spot???OOOH I hope it is....

I love all the pics & thanks for posting your dismeet photos too.

Character Connection is the M&G area in Future World, it's as you turn right to go to Soarin/Land/Seas/Imagination.

It is also always our first stop at Epcot. Sounds like we should have just synched up our trips. You did almost exactly what we did the day before!

 

[Nermel9]

Great update (finally! )! I love the pics with the characters! I always want to go there, but the line is always so long, no matter what time of day it is!

Looks like you had fun with some DIS friends!

Can't wait to read about F&W!

 

[laashley]

where is character connection? This is something new to me, I never heard of it. Or.....is THIS the famed and mysterious Disney Visa Rewards character spot???OOOH I hope it is....

I love all the pics & thanks for posting your dismeet photos too.

Look below for skier_pete's reply. He explained it perfectly. Oh, and stay tuned for the disney visa meet and greet details (we visited that one later in the day-should get to it before you leave). I will say for Character Connection the earlier the better. We had about a 10 minute wait first thing.

Thanks!

Great trip report! This is the exact week I booked for 2011 - did you attend any of the MNSSHPs?

We did, on the 21st. It was a thursday. If you want a little preview of how thursday went look at skier_petes tr (link is in his signature). It will probably take me awhile to get there. We enjoyed MNSSHP, but wish we would have done it earlier in the trip (was quite crowded).

You will enjoy going in October. The weather was great and the crowds were good (except for the aforementioned MNSSHP).

Character Connection is the M&G area in Future World, it's as you turn right to go to Soarin/Land/Seas/Imagination.

It is also always our first stop at Epcot. Sounds like we should have just synched up our trips. You did almost exactly what we did the day before!

We were planning doing Epcot the day before, but the F & W weekend crowds had me scared. When we decided on park hoppers, I changed around our days a little. I think our touring plan for MK was the same too. I remember thinking that we must have been right behind you that day and just never caught up.

Great update (finally! )! I love the pics with the characters! I always want to go there, but the line is always so long, no matter what time of day it is!

Looks like you had fun with some DIS friends!

Can't wait to read about F&W!

I know, geesh, only took me 2 weeks. I really am hoping to atleast do smaller updates more frequently. Then again Chloe's birthday is next week and we leave for disney on the 27th, so don't hold me to it.

We have had the best luck with CC at rope drop. It's hard to make it the first stop because I am so ready to rush to Soarin', but we are always able to get in all the rides we want with CC first.

We were lucky to meet up with dis friends on a few days. The Disers are just great!

Don't get your hopes up too high. I said food and whine was to come and boy did I mean it.

 

[MeMom]

Chloe felt it necessary to help little Bella along. I think Bella could have led her just as well!

Bella still has rock/concrete dust on her tail fin.

The kids were cute together. They were certainly an enthusiastic group - very excited about everything!

I want that gift shop to have some new things this summer, as I think I may do my outside bulletin board in Nemo next year. It's Toy Story this year. I know it's a long time out, but I just have a feeling I might want to do Nemo.

Of course, what I'd really like is to have Mr. Ray's Lagoon with some stingrays for the kids to see up close.

 

[laashley]

Bella still has rock/concrete dust on her tail fin.

The kids were cute together. They were certainly an enthusiastic group - very excited about everything!

I want that gift shop to have some new things this summer, as I think I may do my outside bulletin board in Nemo next year. It's Toy Story this year. I know it's a long time out, but I just have a feeling I might want to do Nemo.

Of course, what I'd really like is to have Mr. Ray's Lagoon with some stingrays for the kids to see up close.

I just pm'ed you and Jill to let you know.

Bella and her dirty behind, didn't notice it before. What are black pants good for if not to show where you have been.

Yes, very spirited. They so wear me out.

Mr. Ray's Lagoon would be the best. If only... I know you aren't a fan of the characters in the plastic bags, but the ones of Nemo and friends are so very cute. You could rescue them quick. That shop does need more Nemo stuff, slim pickens.

 

[onescgirl]

Great update. I love Chloe's outfit & her hairbow! Both of the kids look adorable with the character pictures.

That is a awesome picture of all of you Dismoms & the kids!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

Great pictures at the Character Connection!

I had to laugh at the picture of the group of us. I love that you, Jill, and I are all looking at the camera, while every one of the kids are looking somewhere else!

Bummer that Noah didn't want to ride Test Track again, but I'm glad that you and Chloe got to go.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Great Update!! We've never visited the Epcot Character spot. Do they only have the Fab 5 in there?