delete

[jc040404]

August 28th, 2010 - Saturday - Day 6

I knew we had to be at WDW for my birthday. How could we not? We just didn’t have much of a clue how it was going to work out. All of our plans were done last minute, without any planning at all really. We’re good at that. This is actually how we chose the resort..

Pop, ASMo, and CBR were all available at about the same rate. (Remember, I’m cheap.) I told Andrew to pick one and that would be our choice. He then proceeded to pick and re-pick until he came up with CBR! It was too funny.

I really wasn’t so thrilled with it at the time. I liked the Nemo idea, but a beach themed resort didn’t sound that interesting. I see sand and palm trees everyday, so why would I pay more for that? KWIM? I went with though. We booked one night for 116.28. Pretty nifty, IMO. I’d never seen CBR so low, but I suppose I'd never really priced it either..

On to WDW! We took the usual “up early and hope for rope drop” routine. A monorail ride after and we were waiting in front of the Mickey floral for the welcome show. As excited as we all were to have made it in time to see this, John and I were completely distracted by something else..

A butterfly! It was really quite funny. We kept watching the little guy flutter back and forth, hoping to catch a pic on Mickey’s nose.

“Over there!”

“No! It's over there now!!”

It was great. We were both having way too much fun tracking this butterfly while everyone danced and sang above. I hope we didn’t annoy anyone.

On to the rides! You have to be getting bored by now.. Really. We were doing MK A LOT back then, still do, and it’s all so routine. I promise we’ll do something new this day. I do!

My growing Buzz obsession took us straight into Tomorrowland to start our day.

Me - gettin better?

Andrew = still asleep, I think

Then it was around to Pooh. Blake took off running as soon as he climbed off the stroller and Andrew ran to catch him.

A PPF FP stop and a little cruise into the Haunted Mansion later, we were ready for our morning snack break. I have no idea what I brought this day, probably those Cascadian Farms bars again, but we took a little break near Harper’s Mill. I love taking pictures of that for some reason.

While we were snacking and bird watching, I asked the boys where we should head next. It was a unanimous vote for.. Aladdin’s Magic Carpets? I guess they wanted to mix things up a bit this day. Haha.. We took a path through some buildings that had me completely confused and somehow ended up where we needed to be. Yes, I get lost in MK, despite how much of our WDW time we seem to spend in that park!

We had been too late to see Aladdin and Jasmine, but John stayed in the area to see if they were coming back. He said he had a fun time watching a CM battle a tarp while he waited. It was an exciting day.

Coming out of the exit, we were having the worst time getting Blake to stand up and walk with the rest of us. I couldn’t figure out what had his interest on the ground, but reacted in mommy style telling him not to pick it up, whatever “it” was. Looking down, my baby was fascinated with something he couldn’t quite get a hold on.

Nifty! I’d never really paid much attention to the coins stuck in the ground here, but we spent quite a bit of time treasure hunting now.

Crowd pics!!

It wasn’t exactly busy yet. We moved on to the logical choice and checked in on Blake’s redhead. Or, we started to. There were puddles to jump in first.

Because I’m posting the same pictures over and over and over.. Here’s a new one! Stroller Parking. They need a new sign. This one is getting kinda beat up.

POTC was at five minutes, as it usually is. Love that ride!

When we came out, I noticed quite a few halloween items that were new to the shop. We spent some time browsing around, but didn’t seen anything we really wanted. It was all the exact same stuff as the year before, so we already had some things packed away at home. At the time, we were beginning a quest to find a costume for MNSSHP. I hoped we might get lucky in the Emporium instead before we left. The selection wasn’t that great in here.

...one more coming right up!

 

[jc040404]

Andrew and I wanted a ride on BTMRR while the waits were low next.. It was only ten minutes, but John grabbed FPs for later.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a picture of the ground before.

Andrew was more than a little anxious to get checked in at CBR, so we agreed to one more ride before heading out. Our PPF FP had come due already, so back to FL we went!

Pause for a very serious Andrew vs Blake checkers game. Trust me, it was intense.

PPF was up to a twenty minute wait now. We were happy to have those FPs I suppose twenty isn’t bad for this one, but we’d never wait for it anymore.

Andrew didn’t care about the ride at all. He kept going on about when we’d be checking in and couldn’t wait to get back in the stroller to get out of here!

The boys walked ahead and beat us to the stroller parking. Then my sweet little man did something my sweet little man loves to do.

Blakers picked me a birthday flower! Andrew sometimes has issues with picking flowers and told Blake he just killed a plant. He’s so sweet, huh? I don’t want my kiddos destroying the parks, so I suppose I’m glad Andrew wasn’t pulling them off, too. Unprompted, my baby gave me that little purple flower and wished me a happy birthday. It was too adorable! I tucked it in my bag and still have it today.

The boys hopped back in their seats and we were now on to the exit. John pushes the stroller, of course, but suddenly stopped short. (Don’t worry!! No one was close to bump into us! We’re not “those” stroller people!!)

“Hey! It’s a hidden Mickey!”

“Babe, I don't think these are exactly hidden. They’re pretty much everywhere.”

Don’t step on the hidden Mickeys!

I had to take a picture of it and then point out all the “hidden Mickeys” on our journey out of FL. Haha..

As we crossed by the Christmas Shop, John started poking fun at me and my Prince Naveen crush. He even circled over to see if it was “my” Naveen that day. I never shouldn’t admitted how much I loved that guy’s face! Oh well. He really is too perfect though, IMO.. I just wish John would let it rest already!

I can't remember why I took this picture..

Andrew temporarily forgot about his rush to get to CBR when we walked right into the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party! The area was pretty empty, so we grabbed a spot to watch and let the boys dance.

One of my favorites of the boys at WDW. I wish I hadn’t been playing with the date/time stuff then! My camera likes to change the date/time sometimes, and I have no idea why.

Who did Blake see?

..one more tonight.. hit the pic limit again..

 

[jc040404]

Sebastian He would not turn for me to take a picture

Blake was being a little shy with King Louie.

He tried a peek-a-boo game, but it didn’t really go anywhere.

Okay.. Time to go! We’d pop into the Emporium on the way out to check for costumes. No luck. They hadn’t put any halloween merchandise out yet. The CMs inside said they were clueless about when it would go out and hadn’t noticed any waiting yet either. Oh well. Next time!

Before we could get completely out of the park, there was one last stop and that “new” thing I promised that we did this day.

Popcorn! Yep, we had never tried Disney’s popcorn before! Blake was really too little for it and it just didn’t seem fair to him to get it yet. He’d given it a try a couple times before, so we decided to go with it. I even bought the souvenir bucket. The boys insist I use it everytime we watch a movie, too I don’t know if we were all just really hungry or what, but it was sooooo yummy!!

monorail pic!

Since we had a snack along, the ferry won the transportation battle. We were able to sit and snack while we waited.

They were so excited!

John decided to take both boys on the upper deck this day. They had such a blast doing this and I more than enjoyed my little quiet moment down with the stroller.

We're here! Blake was ready to go!

Off to CBR!!

Coming soon! I fall in love with a resort I never wanted to try!

 

[Dugette]

Great updates! Nice work on Buzz! Love that Blake gave you a birthday flower! Can't wait to hear about CBR!

 

[AprilRenee]

Hope you're having fun!


We are! hoping to run into you guys tomorrow. Not sure how likely it'll be but I'll keep my eyes pealed! Have fun!!!

 

[karebear23]

Yeah for trying a new resort! I can't wait to see what you think .

 

[GaRain]

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a picture of the ground before.

I think it is great that you posted that. Does anyone really pay attention to the ground as they walk through the park? Disney does such a great job with ambience that you don't really notice how the ground changes as you walk from land to land.
After taking the Keys to the Kingdom Tour - I notice this a bit more.

Love the birthday update!

 

[jen22984]

Great updates!!!

The picture of Blake on the Magic Carpets is too cute! Love him!!!

I love John's hidden Mickey!

And I love how excited Andrew was to get to the new hotel! I want to try a new resort next time we make it down there, but I'm sure it will be awhile now. Not sure next year is going ot be in the cards for us now!

 

[jc040404]

Great updates! Nice work on Buzz! Love that Blake gave you a birthday flower! Can't wait to hear about CBR!

I don't know if I was using the cheats yet then? I can't remember when I read that in your TR. Not as good as Dug did though!

Hope you're having fun!


We are! hoping to run into you guys tomorrow. Not sure how likely it'll be but I'll keep my eyes pealed! Have fun!!!

VERY unlikely now. We're not even there. Blake was up all night. When we woke up to that storm, a family vote was taken. That resulted in us finding something else to do today and trying again another day. I'm beginning to think that posting about a Disney Day kinda jinxes us! I hope you all are having a magical time!

Yeah for trying a new resort! I can't wait to see what you think .

You'll find out soon! Okay, I did kinda give it away that I really love CBR now.

I think it is great that you posted that. Does anyone really pay attention to the ground as they walk through the park? Disney does such a great job with ambience that you don't really notice how the ground changes as you walk from land to land.
After taking the Keys to the Kingdom Tour - I notice this a bit more.

Love the birthday update!

I would LOVE to do some of those tours! It's from reading on here that I started paying attention to the changes from land to land. It is really interesting how much work they put into the details!

Great updates!!!

The picture of Blake on the Magic Carpets is too cute! Love him!!!

I love John's hidden Mickey!

And I love how excited Andrew was to get to the new hotel! I want to try a new resort next time we make it down there, but I'm sure it will be awhile now. Not sure next year is going ot be in the cards for us now!

I point out those hidden Mickeys all the time now, too! Hmm.. I guess I'm just as bad as he is sometimes.

Can't imagine why WDW isn't looking so good for you now. You've always got DL, right?

 

[Sleeping*Beauty]

I am now craving Disney popcorn, I swear it is the best popcorn ever. I'm glad you guys liked it too.

 

[jc040404]

I am now craving Disney popcorn, I swear it is the best popcorn ever. I'm glad you guys liked it too.

I think I'm craving some right now, too. The smell of that stuff was enough to have me wanting to try it. Blake is probably technically still too little eat to be eating popcorn, but he does fine with it so I'm glad we can finally add this to our snack options!

 

[jc040404]

We’re here! I totally forgot to get my camera out to catch a pic before there.

We found Custom House and parked the car. Inside, it was packed. I couldn’t believe the line to check in and had never seen such a mess in all of our Pop stays. The regular check in line was super long and lots of people were gathered around a television waiting. I was more than a little thankful for doing online check in. We were able to walk right up!

The CM that helped us was cheerful and nice, but nothing special sticks out about the experience. The boys said hello and she gave them both “I’m Celebrating” buttons for my birthday. I was surprised to learn that our room was ready. With the number of people just sitting around in here, I assumed we’d be in for a bit of a wait. We were given Jamaica 44, and the CM told me this was a preferred location. I hadn’t done a lot of research with this resort pick, but I did know this building isn’t really preferred. This was the area I was hoping for after a quick scan of the CBR thread, so it was perfect for me. I guess it’s the “preferred” area of the standard buildings maybe?

We gathered the boys from their cartoon watching and headed back out to the car to find our new home for the night.

Up to this point, I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the place. I thought the pink buildings actually looked kinda ridiculous. The yellow was a little better, but still not super amazing. We had a corner room, and Andrew was in charge of letting us in..

And...

I was in love. I thought this room was so bright and cheerful. The colors were perfect. There was just enough Nemo to make it adorable, but not a living cartoon. Of course, since we always stick with values, the size was a plus as well. I took too many pictures.

Blake loved it!

Too cute!

There were only a few things I wasn’t super thrilled with. First, the carpet was kinda boring and felt worn under your feet. I love the new carpet at Pop right now.

Second, we had that “smoking area” view. I was not a fan of that and would’ve asked for something else had I known. This doesn’t seem like the best spot for one of these really. The way it’s surrounded by the buildings, the smoke has nowhere to go. You’re forced to walk into it. These should really be placed a little farther away from the buildings so it's not trapped. It was nasty and I really don’t want my family walking into that everytime we leave our room. Thankfully, we were just here this night and only had to deal with it once. In the last few years, I’ve lost way too many people to what I truly believe were smoking related issues so I have quite the opinion on it. I'll stop before someone is offended..

Then there was this problem..

Blake suddenly HAD to wash his hands every few minutes! It was cute, but on a longer stay might’ve driven me nuts after a bit. He thought it was awesome, of course.

We decided to just hang out in our comfy cute room and finally have lunch. (We grabbed sandwiches before heading to CBR. I forgot that part.) Everyone was loving it and we're hoping to make this our longer stay resort in a couple of months. (I don't think I'm going to be able to justify a deluxe in my mind. I'm just too cheap for them. )

After eating and a couple episodes of “Sonny with a Chance”, we couldn’t wait to check out more of this place. Blake hopped in the stroller and we were off to explore!

Finding I loved the room, the buildings grew on me as soon as I saw them again. Well, all except the pink ones. Still not a big fan of those.

Andrew loved the space. I didn’t love the running off. Snakes and alligators are all I could think about as he ran in that direction. We live beside a lake that happens to be home to about a six foot gator. I’m constantly worried about these things and the boys are never allowed around there. I have no idea why he thought it was okay to do this that day! John called for him to run back.

We found that our building was a much shorter walk to the bridge than the resort board would have you think. If we hadn’t been looking around so much, it would’ve only been a couple of minutes!

...next...

 

[jc040404]

Our goal had been to find Old Port Royale and go check out the kids’ pool. That was what had Andrew so excited to get to the resort. We managed to get lost somehow, but eventually found our way. It was so hot that day and the pool area was packed. There wasn’t a chair that hadn’t been claimed yet and lots of “too big” kids were running the area. I don’t think we picked the best time of day to check this out!

Blake’s first water slide! He was fearless.

Blake was thrilled with it all and had so much fun splash and playing. Andrew wasn’t a fan and didn’t want to play here. He was terrified of the giant bucket that dumped water all over them! This is why you’re not seeing any pictures of Andrew playing. He wasn’t! We didn’t end up staying very long because of that and were soon headed back to the room for a break.

That was the plan anyway. The boys weren’t interested in resting at all. They did both really try. Maybe WDW excitement had them that day. They had a bit of quiet time, but I decided to take them out to play so John could sleep. He was snoring away with no problem!

Sadly, it didn’t look like this was going to last very long. Check out that sky! It looked rough, but we stuck around for about ten minutes anyway.

Andrew said he was on top of the world! Isn't that from Titanic? He's never even seen it!

I love that one of Blakers.

Little drops of rain started to fall, so we all ran back to the room to stay safe and dry. John was getting ready to come find us when we walked in. He had unpacked all of our stuff while we were gone and had some fun news for me.

"You know you didn't pack any more socks for yourself, right?"

Silly question. I couldn't believe I did this. Who manages to remember everything but their socks? My wonderful husband did offer to let me borrow some of his.

"We're going shopping!"

We also had to figure out something for dinner anyway. The rain was reeeeally coming down, so none of this was all that appealing. Despite how cute our room was, we couldn't just sit there all evening, so off into the storm we went! John ran to bring the car closer while the boys and I waited under cover,against the building.

As we stood there, I noticed a WDW van driving around. She must've noticed us and saw John driving over with the car. The CM actually jumped out of the van with an umbrella and ran over to us! We all ran together under the umbrella to where John was waiting for us. How awesome was that? I wish I'd remembered her name to send some happy compliments. It was so nice!

Coming soon.. I get socks for my birthday!

 

[CAStevens218]

WOW, I have been MIA for a while since my trip! I'm finally back on and caught up with your trip report!

I love that you tried Caribbean Beach! We are thinking about a split stay between a moderate and deluxe for our honeymoon (not until 2012, but still thinking already, lol!!), and CB is one of the options! Glad to see you ended up loving it!

I know how you feel about not wanting to spend the extra money though! It hurt just to think about it! But we decided that we would do a more relaxed trip with a lot of pool/resort time, so its a little easier for me to justify!

Can't wait to keep reading!!!

 

[PirateKate]

Caribbean Beach looks great! That is the one moderate resort we have never stayed at. Now, I'm seriously considering it for our next trip. I think my boys would love playing in the water. Is it supposed to be for little kids only? I hate it when there are big kids in toddler play areas.

 

[jc040404]

WOW, I have been MIA for a while since my trip! I'm finally back on and caught up with your trip report!

I love that you tried Caribbean Beach! We are thinking about a split stay between a moderate and deluxe for our honeymoon (not until 2012, but still thinking already, lol!!), and CB is one of the options! Glad to see you ended up loving it!

I know how you feel about not wanting to spend the extra money though! It hurt just to think about it! But we decided that we would do a more relaxed trip with a lot of pool/resort time, so its a little easier for me to justify!

Can't wait to keep reading!!!

Welcome back!! How was your trip??

It was really nice there. I need to remember that. I really started working on our longer trip last night. It's going to be early March or May, depending on when he can get free from work. I tried sooo hard to justify the Poly, but it just wasn't working. I can't make the jump in my mind when I know there are so many other options that cost less. With AP room only, it was 2062 for six nights and CBR is only 779. BIG difference! I considered a split stay, too, but we'll stick with here. What deluxe are you looking at? Might I live through a TR next year instead?

Caribbean Beach looks great! That is the one moderate resort we have never stayed at. Now, I'm seriously considering it for our next trip. I think my boys would love playing in the water. Is it supposed to be for little kids only? I hate it when there are big kids in toddler play areas.

I don't remember exactly how it was set up in that area, but I think it might've been by height. I just recall a lot of kids that shouldn't have been running wild in here getting pushy at the top of those slides. It made me uncomfortable letting Blake up there much. (John was following him to watch.) I'm with you about big kids being in toddler areas. That drives me nuts! There aren't a lot of safe places for the little guys to get out and run as it is.

Hope you try out CBR! We haven't managed to get back there yet, but everyone really enjoyed what we did see. I think there's even a new playground since we've been. I have some CBR FAQ thread reading to do!

 

[Dugette]

Glad you loved CBR! Looks really nice. Love the double sinks. I'm with you on Pop's carpet being nicer, though! That kids pool area looks like fun!

Can't wait to hear about your birthday socks!

I tried sooo hard to justify the Poly, but it just wasn't working. I can't make the jump in my mind when I know there are so many other options that cost less. With AP room only, it was 2062 for six nights and CBR is only 779.

I totally understand how you couldn't justify it. We actually paid under $2k for 9 (okay 8 1/4) nights at the Poly and we could only justify the length of time we stayed because we knew we had Club Level! A few days as part of a split stay is a little easier to justify. But do it in the low season! (And ask for a non-connecting room, there are very few and they might just put you in Hawaii )

 

[CAStevens218]

Welcome back!! How was your trip??

It was really nice there. I need to remember that. I really started working on our longer trip last night. It's going to be early March or May, depending on when he can get free from work. I tried sooo hard to justify the Poly, but it just wasn't working. I can't make the jump in my mind when I know there are so many other options that cost less. With AP room only, it was 2062 for six nights and CBR is only 779. BIG difference! I considered a split stay, too, but we'll stick with here. What deluxe are you looking at? Might I live through a TR next year instead?

Our trip was fabulous! We had a great time AND we got engaged!! Ben proposed at the California Grill during the fireworks! That, and we rode Tower of Terror 12 times over the course of the trip, which makes it a success in my book!!

The only down side of the trip was that it was freezing!! We were just as cold if not colder than we are here in Connecticut!

We are thinking about the Beach Club. We are really between Beach Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge, but the location of Beach Club helps it pull head, in my opinion. However, this is just at this point and could change significantly over the coming months!!!!! We fell in love with the Polynesian when we ate there on this trip, so who knows what will happen!! The only reason we are even thinking of anything beyond value is because we are probably going to register for the honeymoon rather than for gifts. But we shall see...

I'm not sure about doing a trip report...still thinking about it!!

 

[jc040404]

Glad you loved CBR! Looks really nice. Love the double sinks. I'm with you on Pop's carpet being nicer, though! That kids pool area looks like fun!

Can't wait to hear about your birthday socks!


I totally understand how you couldn't justify it. We actually paid under $2k for 9 (okay 8 1/4) nights at the Poly and we could only justify the length of time we stayed because we knew we had Club Level! A few days as part of a split stay is a little easier to justify. But do it in the low season! (And ask for a non-connecting room, there are very few and they might just put you in Hawaii )

I can't wait to read that TR!

I'm not sure how I feel about split stays really. It seems like a hassle to pack up in the middle of a stay. John is reeeeally working on me about this poly stay. I think I've heard how this will be our last big trip before Andrew starts school at least half a dozen times. "And we won't be getting APs again.." Andrew just wants to stay at Pop Century. I do want to try the Poly and I'm completely conflicted over it all. It is my "dream" resort, but I have sooo much trouble spending money! How bad is just going with garden view? I guess I should do some research. This would all be a little easier if he could give me some dates to work with though!

Our trip was fabulous! We had a great time AND we got engaged!! Ben proposed at the California Grill during the fireworks! That, and we rode Tower of Terror 12 times over the course of the trip, which makes it a success in my book!!

CONGRATS!!! How exciting!! During the fireworks like that sounds so incredible! Ben sounds amazing already.

But seriosuly.. twelve times on Tower of Terror??

The only down side of the trip was that it was freezing!! We were just as cold if not colder than we are here in Connecticut!

Did I know you were in CT? That's where my honey is from actually. I absolutely love it up there. Such a pretty state! It did get crazy cold for a bit though. Glad you still had fun despite the freeeeziness.

We are thinking about the Beach Club. We are really between Beach Club and Animal Kingdom Lodge, but the location of Beach Club helps it pull head, in my opinion. However, this is just at this point and could change significantly over the coming months!!!!! We fell in love with the Polynesian when we ate there on this trip, so who knows what will happen!! The only reason we are even thinking of anything beyond value is because we are probably going to register for the honeymoon rather than for gifts. But we shall see...

I love the idea of registering for a honeymoon instead of gifts! I would have totally done that had we gone the big wedding route.

I'm not sure about doing a trip report...still thinking about it!!

LMK if you do! I'd love to read all about it, especially that fireworks proposal!

 

[jc040404]

“Does Disney sell socks?”

I’m sure they have to sell socks somewhere, right? We didn’t know where to look and didn’t want to spend the entire evening searching. Our journey took us off property to the magical world of Target. They have lots of socks. The boys spotted a bunch of silly pairs, so I left with some interesting gifts. Happy Birthday to me! (FWIW, my birthday is really the next day.)

It was still raining, but not quite as bad. We sat in the Target parking lot trying to make a dinner decision. This is what Disney dreams are made of, right? Would we stay off property or go to a park? A park won, despite off property probably being the easier choice at the time. MK was open until midnight, so we were off in that direction.

At the TTC, the rain was coming down a bit more. We hadn’t prepared for this, so I did something new and exciting. We stopped in the shop and bought Disney ponchos. Well, for me and Andrew anyway. Blake was dry in the stroller and John refused to wear one. He told me I was crazy. We did the entire first Disney year without buying ponchos. He then said I wouldn’t wear that thing for more than thirty minutes, if it lasted that long. Andrew and I were ridiculously excited over these silly things that day, so I didn’t care. John just laughed at our silliness and stood by his belief that I’d never use these things again.

“You smell like a cheap shower curtain.”

He’s such a charmer, but I suppose he was right. They were pretty gross, but they were Disney ponchos!! It is sad that I’ve secretly always wanted a reason to buy one?

We headed up to the monorail next and the rain started to lighten a bit. That wasn’t good. After my husband’s smart comments, I wasn’t about to take it off I wore it on the ride over and all the way to CHH. It kept raining, but became more of a light sprinkle. I really didn’t need the poncho at all and soon pulled the hood down. Andrew had his off before we neared the castle. When we parked the stroller, I did finally admit he was right. I hate when that happens. For the record, the ponchos have been in the back of my car ever since! I do own a Disney poncho now though and isn’t that all that really mattered?

It was nearing 8pm at this point, and our tummies were rumbling. The day’s activities really had our eating thrown off. The boys snacked a lot on fruit and crackers in the room, but we know we really should’ve gotten to dinner much earlier than this. We were ready to finally eat! Lucky us, CHH was PACKED that night. It was too wild and I didn’t expect it at all. In the end, we all had full tummies and it completely cleared out before we finished.

Walking out of CHH, that super light sprinkle had even gone away. The rain was over. I quietly stuffed our ponchos into a bag and we went in search of some fun in Fantasyland!

First stop.. Dumbo! Even though the rain had stopped, it seemed that no one was really interested in riding. We walked all the way through the line and immediately joined the group waiting for the current ride to end. I have never been on Dumbo so fast!

In our short wait, Blake was insisting that we get a yellow Dumbo and look what happened..

He got his yellow Dumbo! You even get to see a picture of me. Scary..

We joined John at the exit and he pointed us to Snow White. No line there either ! I sometimes use “no line” to refer to just a few in line, but this is 100% literal. There was no one riding at all. The CM in control even held it up so we could hop in. John suggested something different and we went with it. The boys rode alone in the seat in front of us. I loved cuddling with my honey while we both watched them point things out to each other.

This Snow White ride proved to be pretty nifty. We were being paused in every scene for a few seconds. The first couple of times I thought the ride was having issues or they were slow loading, but then it started to seem intentional. Every new scene, we would stop. How awesome is this? I pulled John’s camera out again for pics later on.

Best Snow White ride ever! The CMs around here all seemed to be in such amazing moods that night. Everyone was full of smiles and laughing. It was so nice to seem them all having fun, too!

We wandered over to grab FPs for Pooh next, but found the machines were shut down. Oh well. We’d just check out standby or skip it. To the 100 Acre Wood we went!

Once there, the standby wait turned out to be.. Nothing. There were only a few people ahead of us! Yay! We did find ourselves waiting for just a short bit. Pooh was still having honey pot issues. I’m not certain what was going on, but quite a few people did show up to help out on that one.

Soon we were on our way..

“Hooray!”

We hit another walk on and took a spin in the tea cups..

Then it was race time! The Indy Speedway was at ten minutes, but it turned out to be about fifteen or twenty. We were in that line for a very long time. I kept wondering why they weren’t opening one side of the track if the line were building up so much. As we neared our turns, I noticed they were removing cars from the track! Huh? The park was still open for another two hours. I didn’t understand this at all..

Andrew and I rode off ahead of Blake and John. We won the race, of course. It wasn’t like the rest of our family could pass or anything.. Then waited for them at the end. I watched as a CM would jump in each car when it returned and drive it around to another area, off the track. Now I was super confused. What was going on with the race cars?

“The park closes at ten tonight,” my husband said when we were all back together again.

Oops! I had the hours all wrong. So much for our late night at MK! Everything was closing up and CMs were urging everyone towards Main Street. We started in that direction, knowing Wishes would be beginning soon and found a nice spot where Tink would fly over our heads. It was neat to how the CMs all lined up to stop guests from going back into Tomorrowland. They were very intimidating! Okay, not really, but it was interesting.

With Wishes over, everyone was in the crazy rush to leave the park. We just stayed in our spot and enjoyed watching the castle change colors.

Don’t turn around! You’re not allowed in there anymore!

This was one of those perfect Disney moments. The boys were in the best moods and we were all so in awe of that castle. We’d never been around here to see the stars and moon on it before. Andrew was especially interested in finding out how many times the castle would change colors. Blake squealed everytime one would fade out for the next. He even called out the new color..

“Yellow!”

Hmm. It seemed that every change produced a new “yellow” castle. Guess it didn’t really matter what Dumbo we got earlier, right? He still doesn’t totally get colors. We’re working on it.

...next...