Bella’s Very Merry WISH-mas Party ~ 10 Days of Dreams Come True MAW/GKTW Dec 3-10

[heaven2dc]

Aww....Scooby!!! and Shaggy too! What fun - you can see pure joy on your hubby's face that he was having a blast (and the girls too ) The Spongebob outfits are out of this world cute!

 

[pipersmom]

Very cute Spongebob outfits! The pics with Scooby and Shaggy are awesome, the one with your dh is so funny, cause he looks like he's trying to play it cool, but his grin totally tells the story! You'll get a kick out of this, Piper is doing her vest about 3 ft away from me right now, I'm scrolling down to see the pics, and she says.."What's that drink?" I was all.."what drink, honey?" Scroll up, scroll up she says..."Is that hot chocolate..with whipped cream???" Her fave drink in the world. I was cracking up that she caught that!!

 

[that's nice]

I love Scooby!!! The pics of the gals with Shaggy & Scooby are great!!!!

Your DH looded like he was in doggy heaven standing next to Scooby!!!!

I can't wait to see how you like universal studios.

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

I have been following along and wanted to chime in! I love these pictures! In my opinion I would go with the 2nd one from the Villa, it is too cute! And the one with Bella and Scooby made me want to cry! It is so cute! Can't wait to read more!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Great deals mom! I like the second shot the best, because the smiles are adorable and you can still see Bella's face, even though she's looking up (at Kennedy?). Very cute.

 

[StefaniLyn]

Aww....Scooby!!! and Shaggy too! What fun - you can see pure joy on your hubby's face that he was having a blast (and the girls too ) The Spongebob outfits are out of this world cute!

DH was like a kid on Christmas! He confessed later that he was glad it wasn't Dora!

Very cute Spongebob outfits! The pics with Scooby and Shaggy are awesome, the one with your dh is so funny, cause he looks like he's trying to play it cool, but his grin totally tells the story! You'll get a kick out of this, Piper is doing her vest about 3 ft away from me right now, I'm scrolling down to see the pics, and she says.."What's that drink?" I was all.."what drink, honey?" Scroll up, scroll up she says..."Is that hot chocolate..with whipped cream???" Her fave drink in the world. I was cracking up that she caught that!!

Seriously, it is AWESOME hot cocoa. I don't drink coffee, so whenever I need a warm drink, it's cocoa and I have tried cocoa from MANY places, but GKTW Ice Cream Palace cocoa ranks near the top of my list. It is second only to MVMCP cocoa. Tell Piper that when she is at GKTW, she should get all of her cocoa from the Ice Cream Palace - morning, noon, or night. They have cocoa at stands during Christmas and Mayor Clayton's B-Day too, but it's not very good. Get it from the ICP instead.

I love Scooby!!! The pics of the gals with Shaggy & Scooby are great!!!!

Your DH looded like he was in doggy heaven standing next to Scooby!!!!

I can't wait to see how you like universal studios.

DH really was in doggy heaven. Did I ever mention that our dog is named Scooby? Gee, who do you think named him?

I wasn't sure what to expect from US as I haven't been there since the early 90's. Let's just say I was surprised. I'm working on that update right now. Have you ever been to US Tim?

 

[that's nice]

DH really was in doggy heaven. Did I ever mention that our dog is named Scooby? Gee, who do you think named him?

I wasn't sure what to expect from US as I haven't been there since the early 90's. Let's just say I was surprised. I'm working on that update right now. Have you ever been to US Tim?

I guess your hubby named the dog? LOL

We (DW & I ) have been to US in California on our honeymoon. We haven't been to the Florida one though. We liked it but didn't love it. But I was cast and appeared on an episode of 'Street Smarts'. I don't know if you remember this show but I was one of the idiots they ask questions to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Smarts_(game_show)

 

[StefaniLyn]

I have been following along and wanted to chime in! I love these pictures! In my opinion I would go with the 2nd one from the Villa, it is too cute! And the one with Bella and Scooby made me want to cry! It is so cute! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for your opinion! I have such a hard time deciding.

The Scooby & Bella picture is one of my favorites too. Bella just looks so genuinely happy and carefree.

Great deals mom! I like the second shot the best, because the smiles are adorable and you can still see Bella's face, even though she's looking up (at Kennedy?). Very cute.

Thanks for the help. I think it will definitely be the 2nd photo I use in my scrapbook. I have no idea what she was looking at!

 

[kimmylaj]

i love let them be little, i had to play it again as i was reading, now if only i could convince dh that it is a necessary addition to his iphone. lol. awesome job on spongebob coordination and at a good price too. very well played my friend

 

[StefaniLyn]

I guess your hubby named the dog? LOL

We (DW & I ) have been to US in California on our honeymoon. We haven't been to the Florida one though. We liked it but didn't love it. But I was cast and appeared on an episode of 'Street Smarts'. I don't know if you remember this show but I was one of the idiots they ask questions to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Smarts_(game_show)

Nope. Wrong! Sort of. Well, you're actually more right than wrong. Actually we told the girls it was completely up to them when naming the dog. So DH convinced, bribed, brainwashed, whatever you want to call it, but he got both of the girls (just AJ and Kennedy at the time) to vote for Scooby. It was a consipiracy and DH was the ringleader! I wanted to name him Chayse.

So you were on a game show, eh? Did you win anything? I had to check it out on Wikipedia but once I saw the logo I remembered seeing it several times in the past. You should change your screen id to StreetSavant Do you remember any of the questions they asked?

I have no idea if US/IOA is similar to the one in Hollywood. I just finished writing the first part of my TR for US and I am about to post it so I can tell you now that we LOVED it. It was much better than I anticipated!

Ok, now I'm going to post the next TR installment. Just need to think of a catchy title

 

[StefaniLyn]

i love let them be little, i had to play it again as i was reading, now if only i could convince dh that it is a necessary addition to his iphone. lol. awesome job on spongebob coordination and at a good price too. very well played my friend

The song makes me At Bella's preschool graduation last year they played it along with a photo montage of Bella and her classmates. Thank goodness the lights were out and I brought my kleenex. For those non-country fans, even the lyrics are enough to make you teary eyed:

I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand.
You felt so good in it; no bigger than a minute.
How it amazes me you're changin' with every blink.
Faster than a flower blooms, they grow up all too soon.

So let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give 'em hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let 'em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

I never felt so much in one little tender touch.
I live for those kisses, your prayers an' your wishes.
An' now you're teachin' me how only a child can see.
Tonight, while we're on our knees, all I ask is:

Please, let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give them hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let 'em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

The so innocent, precious soul:
You turn around, an' it's time to let them go.

So let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give them hope, give 'em praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let them sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

Let them be little.

 

[StefaniLyn]

With our trusty GPS leading the way, DH drove us to Universal Studios. In the interest of saving time, we thought it would be a good idea to feed Bella in the van on the way to the parks each morning. Big mistake. Huge. Gigantic, colossal, enormous! Bella was in no mood to eat, and she wanted nothing to do with the yogurt she needed to eat. While battling her swinging arms, I fed her bites of yogurt as she screamed the entire way to Universal Studios. Whenever we hit a stoplight, I would quickly help her take a drink. Her swallowing coordination is very poor and when the van takes off, a larger than usual amount of liquid is ususally swallowed. If Bella isn’t prepared for it, it will cause her to gag and vomit. Bella came pretty close to ruining her new Spongebob outfit before we even arrived at the park!

As we neared the park, the GPS went a little wacky and decided to take us to the employee entrance! Knowing this wasn’t correct, we turned around and found the regular parking ramp, despite our GPS telling us in a sassy Tinkerbell voice: “Oooooh noooooo, now you’ve reeeeeeally done it. Hang a U’ie.” LMAO I love my GPS.

I haven’t been to US since the early 90’s when it was fairly new but experiencing many technical difficulties. I still recall the Jaws ride, but Nickelodeon Studios was by far my favorite part of the park. I remember tasting ‘slime’, viewing the set of Allegra’s Window, and having my 15 minutes of fame as I auditioned for a game show. Alas, Nickelodeon Studios is now gone, and while Jaws still remains, the Universal Studios I remember is essentially nonexistent. I know nothing about the ‘new’ Universal with the exception of what I have read here on the boards. I truly didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t give the park or it’s staff a whole lot of credit. Boy was I wrong!

After disobeying our Tinkerbell GPS, we pulled up to the booth attendant and showed her our GKTW pin /MAW pin /Guest Access Pass. I had combined them all into one lanyard, not knowing which would come in handy at any given time. She gave us a green tag to put in our front window and instructed us to follow the blue line! Yea – preferred parking, here we come!

I had been warned about the loooooong walk to get to the actual park from the parking structure. Thanks to the assistance of moving walkways (does anyone else find these fun?), the first part of our trek wasn’t too bad.

We met my DBIL, TJ by the multiplex theater and continued walking. TJ lives and works in Orlando (as an animator for EA games) and we were thrilled that he took the day off to join us at US.

We continued on and saw restaurants, stores, face painting, and other attractions. Universal Studios? Nope, just kidding. We had only made it to Universal’s CityWalk.

It was raining a little harder now so Kennedy put on her poncho. Then she asked me to take a picture of her surfing. The other two joined in.

Another 10 minutes of walking (now unassisted by the moving walkways so we had to use our own two feet – how dare they!) and we finally, finally made it to Universal Studios!

Before going through the turnstiles, we stopped to check which rides Kennedy and Bella would be tall enough for.

Kennedy is about 47 inches. So let’s see – ET? Check! Simpsons? You betcha! Mummy? Hmmmmm . . . not quite. Bummer

And Bella’s height test? ET? Easily! Woody Woodpecker? Without a doubt! Jimmy Neutron? Ummmmm . . . . ahhhhhhh . . . . questionable!

We proceeded through the turnstiles and head to the left to pick up our stroller. I have my ‘complimentary’ stroller ticket that I picked up from GKTW this morning. I show them the ticket and ask if it’s possible I could pay the difference for a double. No worries, I am told I can just have a double stroller! Yea!

I had no touring plan for Universal so we just begin meandering down the street when Bella spies a familiar face on a sign. It’s Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoons Blast. Oh, but we know Bella is just a hair under the height requirement. However, there are stationary seats for little riders so we give it a shot.

It’s our first time using the GAC/GKTW/MAW badge and we weren’t quite sure what to do with it. So like any brave parent leading her family . . . . I handed it to Bella and told her to show the lady at the front of the line!

Of course I went with her! What kind of coward . . .er, um, I mean mother do you think I am? The lady closed off the end of the line and lead us around to the far side of the entrance. We got some interesting looks from others who had clearly been waiting for a few minutes when they realized that we would be admitted before them, but nobody said anything. After I whispered into Bella’s ear to “stand very, very tall” in her 2 inch chunky heeled tennis shoes, she was measured and SHE MADE IT! Just barely, and maybe it was the large hairbows, but Bella was exactly 40 inches and able to ride Jimmy Neutron! She was soooooo excited!

It continued to rain outside and while most of us were under a canopy, there wasn’t quite room for all of us. As I had only brought enough ponchos for my family, TJ decided to use Kennedy to keep dry!

After just a few moments, we were lead into Jimmy’s Lab. We watched a short video and discovered that evil Ooblar was trying to steal Jimmy’s Rocket creation, the Mark 4! We had to help him!

After the video, the doors opened and we hopped into our rockets! (4 people per rocket).

After brief instructions, we were soon chasing Ooblar through many of the greatest Nickelodeon cartoons. We saw the Fairly Odd Parents and Spongebob (and experienced a splashdown into his pineapple under the sea). We flew through a backyard party with the Rugrats and accidentally dragged Angelica up the stairs by her ponytails! But the best part of all was doing the Chicken Dance with a giagantic alien chicken! We were all laughing out loud and having a great time!

As we exited the ride into a store filled with every Nickelodeon character, game, toy, and souvenier you can imagine, we noticed a Spongebob backdrop to our left, but no Spongebob. We looked around, and saw a line of people waiting to see him. I asked an employee when he would be coming out and she said ‘wait here just one minute.” And went behind a door only to emerge with Spongebob several seconds later! We started towards the back of the line when that same employee shouted “Stop!” So I did. Uh Oh! What did I do wrong? The employee gestured to Bella and motioned for her to come through the exit so she could be the first to meet Spongebob! AJ and Kennedy quickly followed.

The girls ran to Spongebob and gave him big hugs.

He indicated that he liked their sweatshirts and, expressed disappointment that DH and I were not wearing them as well. Spongebob and my 3 Spongebabies posed for a picture that turned out so awesome I ended up using my complimentary photo voucher to purchase it!

After browsing the Nickelodeon Store for a few minutes, we exited and heard a SHRIEK!

Act 2: Scene 3 - Donkey Love and Ogre Affection

 

[StefaniLyn]

Sorry to leave you hanging. It's just that darn 25 photo limit. Anyway, where were we?

Shriek? Did I say shriek? I meant SHREK! Bella was bouncing up and down yelling Shrek! Shrek! Shrek! at the sight of the Shrek 4-D show just across the street from us. We grabbed the girls by a hand and ran across, hoping to escape the rain. At the end of the line, we once again found an employee and Bella showed her the GAC/GKTW/MAW pass.

Instead of being lead to the wheelchair accessible line, the employee asked if we would prefer to wait somewhere warm and out of the rain. Um, YES! So we were lead around to the side of the building into a small room by a stairwell. It was dry, and most importantly, WARM. And it was awesome! We were able to sit and relax while waiting for the next show to start.

After about 5 minutes, a Dungeon Keeper came to get us, just like the sign said.

We were lead to the front of a waiting area and given 3D glasses before the rest of the line was let in from another entrance. The inside waiting area itself is amusing and filled with all sorts of torture devices.

Once the waiting area was filled, we saw short show featuring the Magic Mirror, 3 Little Pigs, and some other Shrek Characters. It was amusing, but lead the girls to believe we were going to be tortured in the next room. We assured them they would be fine! We couldn't wait for the movie to start.

After the show, theater doors opened and we found our seats inside. The show itself was great. It included many of the characters from the movie as well as the voices of he original cast (I think!). Lord Farquad (now a ghost) kidnaps Fiona and we tag along with Shrek and Donkey as they try to save her. In typical 4D fashion, we experienced water sprays, wind, and seat movement. There was also a fire breathing dragon that warmed us all up. It was great! Bella became scared a couple of times, but was fine once she removed her 3D glasses. Of course, in the end they all lived Happily Ever After!

We exited through a store filled with Shrek-everything. As we approached the exit of the store, we noticed that it was no longer raining – IT WAS POURING! We crowded into a small vestibule and, like a hundred other people with the same idea, attempted to put on our ponchos. That’s when we spotted Shrek and Donkey across the street. DH went to go get the stroller (still parked over by Jimmy Neutron) while we headed over to see Shrek and Donkey.

We joined the line behind two other families. When we made it to the front of the line, the employee nicely reprimanded me for joining the regular line. He said that we should always go through the exit when meeting characters and show them Bella’s lanyard.

Shrek and Donkey were amazing and I wish DH didn’t take the video camera with when he went to get the camera. They were HILARIOUS! First, Shrek introduced himself and his friend, Donkey.

Their voices were both identical to Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy. I was impressed. Then Shrek asked AJ what their names were. AJ introduced herself, Kennedy, and then Bella.

All of a sudden, Shrek started singing (to the tune of Rhianna’s Umbrella) Under my Um-Bella Bella Bella Bella, hey, hey, hey! and had them all dancing around. It was adorable.

Then Donkey insisted everybody “put your hands in the air, and wave them like you just don’t care . . . “ I was nearly falling over from laughing so hard. Kennedy was having a giggle fit, and even the people in line behind us were laughing hysterically!

Shrek and Donkey posed for a few pictures with the girls (I wish I had taken their ponchos off!)

and they gave good bye high fives.

But wait, it wasn't over yet. Shrek and Donkey spent even more time with the girls.

I must admit that at this point, even though I was practically rolling on the floor laughing, I felt kinda bad for the other people waiting in line because Shrek and Donkey were spending so much time with our girls. Fortunately, it didn't take us long to get used to this special treatment as we experienced it all week long!

After two rides and two character meets, my impression of Universal Studios was positively positive. And we couldn't wait to see more, more, more!!!

Act 2: Scene 4 - A Shoe Swappin', Jaws Droppin', Simp-ly Good Time!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Too cute! I love Shrek. I think my list of movie nights is growing.

What did the Universal strollers look like? I'm trying to decide between borrowing an umbrella for Tessa or using the rentals at the parks.

 

[StefaniLyn]

Too cute! I love Shrek. I think my list of movie nights is growing.

What did the Universal strollers look like? I'm trying to decide between borrowing an umbrella for Tessa or using the rentals at the parks.

The strollers at Universal are very similar to Disney. They are hard plastic. The doubles were roomy enough for my AJ and Kennedy to sit on the seat and Bella to sit in front of them. I'm trying to find a picture, but I think the only one I had was lost on the flashdrive. Sorry.

 

[yinyanggirls]

The strollers at Universal are very similar to Disney. They are hard plastic. The doubles were roomy enough for my AJ and Kennedy to sit on the seat and Bella to sit in front of them. I'm trying to find a picture, but I think the only one I had was lost on the flashdrive. Sorry.

That's okay. Your description is great. It sounds like the double would almost be too much for one kid. I was thinking a double would give her room to sleep if she wanted but I don't know for sure if she will. Maybe a single or umbrella will be fine for her.

 

[All7OfUs]

I was happy to fnd, after being gone far too long, that I had missed only 2 updates!! Scooby and Shrek. They were both great updates!! Honestly, I expected far fewer pix., but looky loo, you have some great memories, at least from the days you've shown so far.

Shrek, especially, sounded hilarious!! I wish I could have been there.

I'm happy to hear that you got to have "special" stuff all week long. I know some people don't get it, but then again, some people don't get it about how you have to feed her 4 times a day either. Bummer about the rain! I do hope those ponchos kept you high and dry!

 

[pipersmom]

It looks like you guys had a great time in spite of the rain, hooray! That pic with the girls and spongebob is an awesome pic! All three of them smiling and looking at the cam! I have trouble just getting one to do that, nevermind three! Very cool the girls getting so much time with the characters. I'm really looking forward to Shrek and Donkey as well..everyone who has mentioned them has had a wonderful experience with them. Piper loves the Shrek movies, but has seen them lots. I'm thinking we may need to rent ET for one of our nights. Can't wait to read more!

 

[StefaniLyn]

That's okay. Your description is great. It sounds like the double would almost be too much for one kid. I was thinking a double would give her room to sleep if she wanted but I don't know for sure if she will. Maybe a single or umbrella will be fine for her.

I would actually suggest the double. It's not huge (just wide enough for 2 girls to sit side by side), and the paths at the parks are plenty wide so we had no trouble navigating with it. Especially if you think she might sleep, the double will be more comfortable.

I was happy to fnd, after being gone far too long, that I had missed only 2 updates!! Scooby and Shrek. They were both great updates!! Honestly, I expected far fewer pix., but looky loo, you have some great memories, at least from the days you've shown so far.

Shrek, especially, sounded hilarious!! I wish I could have been there.

I'm happy to hear that you got to have "special" stuff all week long. I know some people don't get it, but then again, some people don't get it about how you have to feed her 4 times a day either. Bummer about the rain! I do hope those ponchos kept you high and dry!

I had already uploaded nearly all of my photos from Day 1 and 2 to facebook before my flash drive crashed thankfully. So while most of these pictures won't be printable, I can still link them to my trip report. Day 3, 4, 5, and 6 are going to require you to use a lot of imagination because I only have a handful of pictures for each of those days.

I was pleasantly surprised at the special treatment we recieved at Universal. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't expect it.

The rain wasn't too bad, yet!

It looks like you guys had a great time in spite of the rain, hooray! That pic with the girls and spongebob is an awesome pic! All three of them smiling and looking at the cam! I have trouble just getting one to do that, nevermind three! Very cool the girls getting so much time with the characters. I'm really looking forward to Shrek and Donkey as well..everyone who has mentioned them has had a wonderful experience with them. Piper loves the Shrek movies, but has seen them lots. I'm thinking we may need to rent ET for one of our nights. Can't wait to read more!

I was shocked myself, and a little worried that it my luck had come too soon and it would be the only great picture I had all week so I bought it right away!

Sometimes it's Shrek and Donkey, but at other times it's Fiona with Donkey. I'm not sure if there is a schedule of who will be there at what time. We just got lucky and it was Shrek (my girls LOVE him, especially because he is so funny)

My kids had previously seen Shrek, but I think a Shrek Family Night would have been awesome. Roasted Pig, gingerbread men, swamp slime . . . . the food especialy would have been fun to come up with!

 

[heaven2dc]

Loved Shrek & Donkey!! I am so glad to hear you all had a great time at US - we've never visited and hope to on our next trip. Too bad it was raining so hard but hopefully it lets up so you can enjoy the rest of your day. BTW do you think (now that you've visited US) that a one day pass would be enough? I'm not sure whether to visit Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios - I really want to see the Harry Potter attraction but can't remember which park it's supposed to be at.