Boo to Two, Kelley and Missy's Joint TR! Update! 3/28

[Missyrose]

SO, so jealous that you got to meet Gaston! I love/hate him.

Franklin out did himself with those Hallowishes photos! Stunning.

I know what you mean about Gaston. He's such a vile character, but he's so charming in his own way, as well!

Franklin says thank you for the compliments on his photos!

Is that what she danced to? I had no idea what that was, it was crazy! I loved that part too!

It was such a perfect song for that character. When Disney gets it right, Disney REALLY gets it right.

Great pics with the villains! I didn't even bother trying to get over to them, I figured it was a waste of time!

I wasn't planning to do the M&G with the villains, but figured I might as well when I had that extra bit of time before the fireworks.

Wow, I love your Hallowishes pictures! I seriously need to get a real camera!

Thanks! The sad thing is, he wasn't "happy" with the way these turned out. He knows they look good, but he's already plotted ways to make them better next year!

The meet and greet with Gaston is awesome! I think that's one of the best parts of going to MNSSHP. Getting to meet characters that aren't normally out.

Tell Franklin that those Hallowishes pictures are absolutely beautiful!

In our two previous trips, we hadn't really done any character M&G. But when I read up on MNSSHP, I realized that the M&G were a HUGE part of the party and decided to really go for it and have fun with them. We had a blast doing them and we even ended up meeting more characters later in the trip!

Franklin says thanks!

WOW!!! Oh, WOW!!! Franklin done good! Beautiful shots! And I love that math helped him get there!

Very cool party! Great meet & greets!

Franklin blushed when I showed him your post, he says thank you! The party was sooooo much fun. I wasn't sure how we'd like it since we were just two adults with no kids (besides Kelley's kids, of course) but we loved it so much that we're already planning to go back next October!

Wow!! The fireworks pictures are awesome!

Franklin says thank you very much!

 

[Missyrose]

And now for a BREAKING NEWS announcement! You know how I keep saying what we're planning to do at Disney "next year"? Well "next year" is now a reality!

I've been researching renting DVC points and found someone who came highly recommended, so this afternoon I made my reservation! We're going back to Disney next October, officially!

We'll be staying at Animal Kingdom Villas in a Savannah View studio in Jambo for SIX NIGHTS!!! The crazy thing is renting points means it will cost us less than half it would to book at a Savannah View room at AKL with an AP discount. I am sooooo freakin' excited!

 

[Missyrose]

We last left off with Hallowishes, which totally blew me away and I thought was totally worth the price of a party ticket.

We had time to kill until the second parade started, so Franklin and I decided to head to Space Mountain. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, but the line was out the door (so clearly it would take much longer than 20 minutes). We called an audible, and headed for our old standby: the PeopleMover.

Yep, I looked a little bleary-eyed after being on the go since 5 a.m.

It was nearing parade time, so we moseyed back through Tomorrowland to Main Street.

It's parade time!

Much like Hallowishes, the Boo to You parade exceeded my every expectation! Loved the music, loved the characters and I loved all the Halloween fun!

 

[Missyrose]

After the wonderful parade, we were all in the mood to dance! So we headed for Woody and Jessie’s dance party at the Diamond Horseshoe.

Ryan had the moves.

He even got to dance with his best buddy Woody.

Jack was a little more shy when it came to the characters.

But when “Party Rock Anthem” came on, there was no keeping him still!

Fist pumping!

After we worked up a good sweat, we moved on to Adventureland. Where we ran into a few friends.

Then we headed for a little sailing.

First we snagged some treasure...

... then took to the high seas.

We finished up our trick-or-treating with a stop at the trail near the Jungle Cruise. Franklin and I were BEAT, and decided it was time to call it a night.

As we walked through Adventureland, we saw someone standing all by himself, so we stopped to say hi.

On our walk toward the front of the park, the Aloha Isle stand called out to Franklin and he picked up a Dole Whip to enjoy on the walk home.

With as exhausted as we both were, the walk back to CR seemed to be three times longer than it was earlier. And we both toppled into bed as soon as we got home. I noticed the voicemail light blinking on the phone. I listened to the message and it was to explain the check-out process. Hmmmm, I thought, that’s odd. Maybe the system still sees our room-only reservation ending the next day and our package reservation beginning and it thinks that means we are “checking out.”

I was exhausted, so I decided to call the “front desk” instead of going downstairs. I knew I’d be getting the call center instead of someone actually at the Contemporary. But I figured this was just a system glitch and nothing would actually be wrong. The CM on the phone pulled up our reservation and found two, our original one and the one created by the CL CM when we checked in. She wasn’t sure what she was looking at and she suggested I speak with the CL CM in the morning to sort everything out. I was too tired to argue, so I thanked her and hung up the phone. It was time for bed. Our first day at Disney was in the books and it was a truly fabulous start to our trip!

 

[brookelizabeth]

] Apparently, one day at work he printed out a Google Earth image of MK and used a protractor to determine the best place to stand while using his wide-angle lens. Yep, he took this very seriously.

That's hilarious.

And really awesome - those pictures are AMAZING!

Loved all your Halloween party pictures! Not looking forward to the news in the next update.

 

[Missyrose]

That's hilarious.

And really awesome - those pictures are AMAZING!

Loved all your Halloween party pictures! Not looking forward to the news in the next update.

All that work he put into figuring out where to stand really paid off, the pictures turned out great!

I'm not looking forward to that news either, that's probably why I've avoided writing it for this long.

 

[Nermel9]

Great update! I love the Peoplemover!

Your parade pics are so amazing...make mine look freakin awful!

Aww the dance parties always look like so much fun!

I love that Minnie ghost shirt you are wearing, where did you get that? I saw so many people with different variations of that shirt while I was there!

 

[Joyciemc]

Woohoooooo!!!!! For an October trip! We're going to be in WDW mid October 2012 and can't wait!

 

[natebenma]

Great updates!!! I'm glad I wasn't too far behind. It was a busy week/weekend (more about that at the end of the post)

Congrats on your new booking. Sounds wonderful! I'm already ready to savor Franklin's Savannah photos.

The parade photos are, of course, spectacular. I especially love the one of the crocodile. My son Ben played the crocodile in a performance of Peter Pan a couple of years ago, so there is a special place in my heart for that character.

The spiderweb on Space Mountain is seriously cool! I have never seen that before.

The dance party looks like fun. Was it crowded? The pictures don't show many people. Was it set up like normal M&G, with lines to meet/dance with the characters or were they free-range?

YAY for a ride on the Peoplemover. Always a great standby.

PS- You and Franklin were in one of my dreams a couple of nights ago. Not in a creepy, stalker way, I assure you! I ran into you at a restaurant in DW, and I asked if we could take a picture together so I could put it in my TR, but you said no.

My busy week included a lot of photography. My son had 3 performances of Robin Hood and I take the pictures of the special guests who pay extra to be in the front row. I also was involved in the photo registration for a mother-son dance at the Mother-Son Play Ball dance, so I think that the sports-photography connection subconsciously linked to you guys.

Other lowlights of the week included anonymous threats against Ben and a few friends in a boys bathroom and my older son being placed on probation for our Disney trip in June due to a low effort grade in Home Ec. ACK!!!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Again, great pictures! How cute are those boys sitting in Pirates? I can't believe you saw Rafiki by himself; how cool!

 

[Missyrose]

Great update! I love the Peoplemover!

Your parade pics are so amazing...make mine look freakin awful!

Aww the dance parties always look like so much fun!

I love that Minnie ghost shirt you are wearing, where did you get that? I saw so many people with different variations of that shirt while I was there!

We love the PeopleMover too! Just such a scenic way to pass the time at MK. The dance party was a ton of fun, I highly recommend it. We got both our T-shirts made from a woman on ETSY (Debbiemomofjack), I was REALLY happy with the way they turned out.

Woohoooooo!!!!! For an October trip! We're going to be in WDW mid October 2012 and can't wait!

Wuh-hoo! It looks like you'll arrive the day after we leave. Where are you staying?

Great updates!!! I'm glad I wasn't too far behind. It was a busy week/weekend (more about that at the end of the post)

You and me both! It's taken me forever to get these updates up, darn life getting in the way of my Dis-ing.

Congrats on your new booking. Sounds wonderful! I'm already ready to savor Franklin's Savannah photos.

We're soooooo excited about the new trip! I know it seems a strange resort choice for two people who so loved being "in the middle of it all" at CR. But we were looking at staying at CSR and renting a car for that trip. And then I began researching renting DVC points so we could stay at Bay Lake Tower. Looking at the point chart, it dawned on me that we could stay for six nights in a Savannah View studio for just a few dollars more than five nights at CSR (even with the AP discount). AKV looks incredibly gorgeous and the thought of hanging out on our balcony, watching the animals sounds heavenly.

The parade photos are, of course, spectacular. I especially love the one of the crocodile. My son Ben played the crocodile in a performance of Peter Pan a couple of years ago, so there is a special place in my heart for that character.

I put that photo in especially for you! I remembered that adorable photo you posted in my PTR about the play. Ben was a much cuter crocodile than the one in Boo to You.

The spiderweb on Space Mountain is seriously cool! I have never seen that before.

The dance party looks like fun. Was it crowded? The pictures don't show many people. Was it set up like normal M&G, with lines to meet/dance with the characters or were they free-range?

There weren't too many people at the dance party, but that may have been because we went later in the party. It's just a free-for-all. There's a DJ on the stage and the characters are in the middle of the dance floor. No lines, just walk up and dance with Woody, Jessie and Bullseye!

PS- You and Franklin were in one of my dreams a couple of nights ago. Not in a creepy, stalker way, I assure you! I ran into you at a restaurant in DW, and I asked if we could take a picture together so I could put it in my TR, but you said no.

How much fun would it be to have trips that overlapped? We would totally take pictures with you!

My busy week included a lot of photography. My son had 3 performances of Robin Hood and I take the pictures of the special guests who pay extra to be in the front row. I also was involved in the photo registration for a mother-son dance at the Mother-Son Play Ball dance, so I think that the sports-photography connection subconsciously linked to you guys.

Other lowlights of the week included anonymous threats against Ben and a few friends in a boys bathroom and my older son being placed on probation for our Disney trip in June due to a low effort grade in Home Ec. ACK!!!

Ugh, rough week for you. Hope this week is better!

Again, great pictures! How cute are those boys sitting in Pirates? I can't believe you saw Rafiki by himself; how cool!

They were so cute on Pirates! I think the characters in Adventureland are so overlooked compared with the ones in the hub/Fantasyland. We had no wait for Aladdin/Abu OR Rafiki, it was awesome!

 

[Missyrose]

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a day full of football, family and fabulous food!

 

[natebenma]

Thanks for specially posting the crocodile photo! That was so sweet of you to remember!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too! It was greating having almost back to back to back football!

 

[Missyrose]

Thanks for specially posting the crocodile photo! That was so sweet of you to remember!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too! It was greating having almost back to back to back football!

Thanks! I had a good Thanksgiving. My family did dinner on Wednesday night because I had to be at work at 3 on Thursday (and then I worked all weekend). But there was plenty of football on to keep us entertained at work.

New update coming shortly!

 

[Missyrose]

Even though we had a late night at the Halloween party, we woke up at 7 a.m. for breakfast and get the room thing straightened out. Plus everyone knows there’s no sleeping in at Disney, there’s a rope drop to make!

If you remember from the last chapter, there appeared to be some sort of mix-up with our room reservation and the person manning the "front desk" phone had told us to talk to the Club Level CM in the morning about it.

We went out to lounge to talk to CM, he had to make phone calls to straighten out what was going on. He invited us to eat breakfast while he worked on it. We sat down t eat, but I wasn’t hungry. I was hoping it was just a system glitch. But as a Type A over-planner when it comes to vacations, I like to know exactly how things will go and I felt very unsettled with this whole hotel situation. Franklin took this opportunity to take some pictures of the CL lounge.

The CM came back and explained that there were two reservations for us, our original one and the one the CM who checked us in had created for our upgrade. He didn’t register it properly in the system, so our room had been reassigned to someone arriving that day. We had to move rooms but they were giving us CL access for the rest of our stay. Now, I know many people will argue that we should have put up a fight, saying that it was the CM’s mistake and we shouldn’t have to move rooms after we’d been told we’d be staying there for the whole stay. But considering the massive upgrade we were given, I didn’t think I had much leverage to argue with them.

We frantically repacked, called to get our luggage taken down to be held until our room was ready. It was now past 9, rope drop had already happened at DHS and we were running really late for our day’s plans.

On our way out, we stopped by the front desk to find out if we could be texted when our new room was ready. The front desk supervisor, Rod, knew about our situation because he had been brought in to untangle the mess that had become of our reservations. He apologized for what had happened. I thanked him and told him that I hoped they would make sure that everyone who does check-in knows exactly what they’re doing, so no guest in the future has to go through the disappointment we were going through that morning (especially since we’d altered plans for later in our trip because we were so excited to enjoy the view from our room). He apologized again and asked if we had a couple of minutes, he wanted to check if there was a Theme Park View room to move us into instead of the Bay Lake View we were being moved into. There wasn’t one Friday or Saturday, but he could move us on our last night if we wanted. We agreed.

So, yes, we were bummed about losing the amazing upgraded room. And after being on such a pixie dust-induced high the day before, Friday started with me in a serious funk. I tried to look at the silver lining, we were given CL access for the whole trip (still an upgrade) and we had one more night in a TPV room to look forward to. Silver lining, right? Plus, this way we got to see how we liked Bay Lake View rooms in case we ever wanted to come back to CR and not pay for the upgraded view.

Since we were running behind schedule for the day, we decided to take a cab to DHS instead of waiting for a bus.

We were through the turnstiles pretty quickly, since the crowds had already dispersed into the crowds. Franklin went to get Toy Story Mania FPs, he texted me to say the line went all the way back to One Man’s Dream.

I decided a meet and greet with my favorite character, Minnie, may be just what I needed to help me break out of my funk. I got in line and ended up being one of the last people they let into the line.

She noticed I was wearing her boyfriend, Mickey, on my T-shirt. She said she loves him. So cute.

The CM helper said more characters would be out in a few minutes. She explained who would be where, so I headed to the other corner where Tigger and Eeyore would be arriving. Sure enough, I was first in line when they came out and surprisingly enough the hug from Eeyore actually helped snap me out of my funk.

Meanwhile, Franklin had made it to the front of the FP line.

Franklin came back, FPs in hand. We headed for the ride I was most excited to ride: the new and improved Star Tours! I was a BIG fan of the old version and I’d heard nothing but raves about the improvements. The posted wait said 20 minutes, but it ended up being a walk-on.

I loved the new version of the ride. The 3-D is awesome and the simulator is so much more fun now, it really throws you around. And in the grand tradition of pictures of Franklin in silly Disney hats...

Next, it was time for me to stop delaying the inevitable: my first ride on Rock-N-Roller Coaster. Some of you who read my first trip report or my PTR know the backstory, but for those who didn’t, here’s the quick and dirty version.

I’m a ride chicken, always have been. For most of my life, Big Thunder Mountain was the only roller coaster I would ride. On our 2010 trip, however, Franklin (with the help of a YouTube video) convinced me to try Space Mountain and I loved it! So he launched a year-long campaign to try and get me on R-N-R. I watched some videos on YouTube again and felt like if I could get through the launch, I might actually like the ride.

And since we’re all friends here, I’m willing to show you my truly hideous ride photo (mainly to prove I actually went on the ride).

That concentration you see in my face is me counting to three during the launch, because I knew once I did that, the worst part of the launch would be over. And lo and behold, I actually liked the rest of the ride! Enough that when we came out, I said we could get in the single-rider line and go again.

Unfortunately, the single rider line stopped moving as soon as we got in it. Not a single person got put on the ride in 15 minutes. We were starting to get worried about being late for our 11:05 ADR at Sci-Fi Dine-In, so we bailed.

We’ve documented my love of shopping, so when I passed the store on Sunset Boulevard where I bought two of my shirts last year, I just HAD to stop in. Sure enough, I bought two T-shirts and a polka dot scarf (which is so cute because some of the polka dots are Mickey heads).

We hurried out of the store to get to our ADR in time, would we make it? Find out in the next chapter!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I would have been disappointed too if that debacle with the room had happened to me. I'm not a huge complainer though, so I likely would have taken the road that you did.

Okay, that is a very awesome ride picture. I think that it's great to have proof that you did something though.

 

[Missyrose]

I would have been disappointed too if that debacle with the room had happened to me. I'm not a huge complainer though, so I likely would have taken the road that you did.

Okay, that is a very awesome ride picture. I think that it's great to have proof that you did something though.

I was trying very hard to NOT be disappointed, I was still in Disney World after all! But even with everything that happened, I can't wait to go back and stay at CR again. We looooooooved the resort!

You're very kind about the ride picture. I still think I look ridiculous.

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Hi Dis friends I know I have been severely lacking in my dis-ing lately, and I apologize! It's been a crazy couple of weeks! And now, back to the trip...

Friday Oct 14th, 2011

This morning we did rope drop at DHS. We were running a bit late (Momma was NOT gettin on that bus without coffee in hand! )

We got to the park around 8:40. We stopped and took in the sights, and grabbed a few pictures:

Then we headed through the turn styles. Mike weaved his way to the front of the pack to get in position for the Toy Story Midway Mania dash! I held back with the boys. As soon as the crowd started moving and thinned out a bit, I headed over to TSMM with the boys and parked the stroller. Mike had grabbed fast passes – already with a return time of 11am-12pm. By the time we met back up with him the TSMM line was ridiculous – all the way back past the Studio Backlot Tour entrance! – so we decided to just wait for our fp return time and have that be our only ride.

A CM overheard us trying to decide our next move, and he suggested we hop in line for the Buzz and Woody meet and greet. At that point there were only 3 other families in line, and the CM said it would definitely be the shortest wait all day. So we did that.

Ryan and Stinky Pete in the Meet and Greet line

Jack and Mommy

Our family with Buzz and Woody!

Then that same helpful CM directed us over to the Lightning McQueen and Mater meet and greet, so we did that next!

Then after getting our Cars fix, we went to the Muppets 3D and watched that.

Ryan is ready to go in his 3D glasses!

The boys really got a kick out of the Muppet movie! Then we went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground area, and it was practically empty, so we let them run around in there for a while. Then we did some character Meet & Greets while we were passing the time before our lunch ADR.

Piglet hugs!

A family shot with Chip and Dale!

Ryan met Handy Manny - or as he says "handy mandy"

And then it was time to head over to the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater to meet up with Missy and Frank-a-lin...

 

[Missyrose]

Two happy boys and their VERY happy mommy!

Love the Cars shirts with the Cars characters!

Then after getting our Cars fix, we went to the Muppets 3D and watched that.

Ryan is ready to go in his 3D glasses!

Way to rock those glasses Ryan!

Piglet hugs!

Awwww, so cute!

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Awwww, so cute!

Thanks Missy Ryan really loved meeting all the characters. And I have to say it totally warmed my heart to see him run to Piglet and hug him like that! Next time I will have to work on getting Jack to do some character Meet & Greets!