Disney Dreamin for Beginners - Our First Trip to WDW Nov/Dec '08

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Read our Pre-Trip Report HERE

Travelling to Manchester

Sunday 23rd November

Left home approx 10.45am after a few minor hiccups. Fairly uneventful drive, stopped at Southwaite for coffee and sandwich at around 12.45pm and back on road for 1.30pm.

A couple of in car photos( well from our car anyway!)

Aaron:

Aidan:

Paddy:

Me:

As we hit Manchester we had a torrential rain downpour which was kind of scary but we arrived at the Travelodge around 3.30pm.
Got checked in and found rooms ok. The room Mum and I were in had a dodgy toilet seat but we said we would put up with it for one night as they wanted us to move rooms rather than have someone fix it! Their systems were down so it would have took forever to move so just left it as it was!. Went along to the restaurant so we could have dinner before Uncle Joe had to leave. Restaurant wasn’t open until 5pm and it was around 4.30pm just now so we had a drink and then Paddy was first in line to order. We waited over an hour for our food which I thought was ridiculous especially as the kids pizzas were clearly chigaco town ones that you put in the microwave for 3mins!Just so you know the kids took these photos hence the blur!
Kieran:

Mum:

Me:

Aaron and his pizza face:

Anyway got everyone back to rooms and showered and bathed. Mum , Aaron and I were sleeping by 9pm and Paddy and boys were sleeping by 9.30pm.

 

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Flight Day

Monday 24th November

Woke at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep, went to toilet and eventually nodded back off but was awake again at 5.15am. Quick cup of tea then get everyone washed and dressed. Pad and boys came to us and then we got everyone checked out. We left Mum with the boys and Paddy took me and bags to airport as we wouldn’t fit everyone in, in one journey!

A couple of pics of the boys in their flight t-shirts!:

You will notice a consistency with Aaron throughout this - he wouldn't let go of his dummy and he never smiled for the camera!
You will all be pleased to know though we have got rid of the dummy now!:spin:

Everything went simple enough and Paddy got the meet and greet guy fine. Got to check in and got throught that within 10mins. Confirmed priority check in but no bulkhead seating but that was fine I didn’t expect it.

Went straight through security and that went fine apart from Kieran being stopped and searched because of the metal straps in his trainers so he had to take them off for them to go through the scanner as well.
We went straight to the gate so we could have a quiet spot to sit and we had brought our own plastic bowls and cereal to have to save a bit of money. So cereal ate Mum and I went for a wander round the shops and got a coffee.
Some airport pics:
Boys hard at work on their Games consoles

Oh wait one of Aaron smiling!

Take a good look mind *** there won't be many!gig:
Granny very excited:

Hhhmmmm Paddy pulling a rather strange face - oh right thats him smiling!gig:

The boys taking a rare look away from the video screen!

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Oh yeah and........ME!

No sooner were we back and coffee drank but we were being called for boarding. Row 36 DEF HJK.

Off we boarded onto Ruby Tuesday!

We took off around a half hour late which wasn’t too bad and the boys were fairly happy with the viewing, Wall E, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight and Simpsons and Scooby Doo to keep them amused. I tried to watch Mamma Mia but Aaron didn’t let me much. He seemed very off. Really grumpy, wouldn’t eat or watch tv or anything.

On board:

We had refreshments and then Kids meals came round – weren’t too bad although the boys wouldn’t eat them as it was cheese and spinach pasta!

Soon enough it was time for our meal Mum and I had the chicken, with cheesy mash which wasn’t too bad Pad had the beef cobbler which he said was nice.

Aaron had slept while we ate but was very restless. I then took him to the toilet to change him and he through up all over himself and me! I had to take my t-shirt off and put my jogging suit jacket on it was disgusting! The rest of the flight consisted of us wiping up sick constantly as it just kept coming! We had to strip him and wrap him in a blanket as I had no more clean clothes left!

Filling out the forms was a bit of a nightmare as we hit turbulence as I started to fill them out not an easy task!

Flight landed around 2.30pm and from touch down to customs and first baggage collection was only 40mins! Then came the second baggage collection. Paddy and I went to Alamo desk and left mum waiting for bags. Paddy being the sucker that he is wanted to upgrade! Brand new Ford Expedition only 5miles on the clock they wanted $50 a day – NO THANKS! Ok $30 a day – NO THANKS Paddy - “do it for $15 a day and you got a dea”l – man goes to speak to manager – MAN – “OK $15 a day it is!”

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So Paddy very pleased with himself we head back over to the carousel to see where bags were. Still no bags! We waited and waited, I was trying to put all the paperwork and licences back into the document wallet and somehow Paddy’s licence was missing – he went back over but the guy didn’t have it, searched all bags could not find it! Lucky he has a spare plastic bit in his wallet but still don’t know where it is!
We then get an announcement that after an hour of waiting we had to go back up to level 2 to collect bags! So annoyed we head back up and get bags, car seats etc. Then back down to get to car park!

Check in at Alamo desk to find our car – couldn’t believe our eyes when I saw the size of this thing – its a MONSTER of a car – but very nice – still don’t think I will drive it to be honest though!.

The monster car:

Ok Paddy looking very pleased with himself!:

Tom tom set up and directed us well. Found the resort with ease. Checked in to clubhouse and our house was on Verona Avenue which was only a couple of minutes walk to clubhouse and pool area!
All the baskets from Memories by Betsy were waiting for us and sneaky Paddy had also ordered me one – a Tinkerbell one!

Poor Aaron he was just so ill and exhausted!

Looking at the pictures Paddy's looks so small in comparison to Mum's and mine but believe me it was all packacking!!

With Aaron having been sick and everyone so exhausted we decided to give Walmart a miss and Paddy and I headed round to Publix to grab essentials and went to the little Pizza place to get a pizza to take back. Very nice it was too – 16” and 7” came to $18 and pulblix was around $30.
Got back ate pizza, unpacked and everyone was in bed by 9.30pm which was around 2.30am UK time so we had in effect been up for around 22hrs!

Next Up our First day in Disney!!

 

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Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

Tues 25th November

Aaron came through to us during night and we were up at 3am. Kids and mum then got up at 5am.
This morning we had an ADR at Crystal Palace! I had heard such good things about this through TheDibb that I was quite excited – maybe a bit more than the kids were!
Once everyone was up we all got showered and dressed and managed to be out the door for 7.20am!
We set the Tom Tom up and found Walt Disney World with relative ease arriving at around 7.45am

By the time we parked and found our way to Monorail it was already 8am and our ADR was for 8.15am! We went through bag check but that seemed to take a while as we had a back pack, my handbag and mum had a bag! We were officially late!
Us on the Monorail!

First Glimpse of the Castle

Finally checked in at podium at 8.15 and we were seated within 10mins! The interior is just beautiful with lots of Winnie the Pooh themed Topiray:

Our server was Stephen and he was just so lovely and genuinely seemed interested in us? I know its his job and he has to be smiley etc but he was just lovely and I had that magic feeling! He gave us lots of hints and tips and told us to go to City Hall to get Aaron’s Birthday badge when its his birthday ( which we knew but didn’t tell him that!LOL).
No longer had we sat down but the Characters started coming thick and fast! This is where it started to get a little stressful and a little less “magical” for me. Aaron was still in full on Grumpy mode and just was so whingey , I know it shouldn’t have, but it put me in a bit of a mood as I didn’t have time to watch the other two enjoy it and I wasn’t prepared for the autographs so it was all a little rushed.
I think because I had put so much into the planning I was starting to worry if it was all going to be a bit of a disaster!
Aaron never ate either which was fine as we didn’t have to pay for him but I was getting concerned he was genuinely not well. The food was lovely not that I got to eat much!LOL But lots to choose from. My kids are the most picky of eaters so even though it was a lot of money the buffet was perfect as they could try something and if they didn’t like it go get something else!

Some pics :

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Then the parade and napkin twirling started, the boys just looked at me as if to say – “don’t even think about getting me up there Mother!” Which I knew would be the case but they enjoyed watching the characters and other children joining in!
Finally it was time to leave as Aarons screaming was starting to go right through everyone and we were getting looks!LOL
His mood got worse as we walked back down Main St towards City Hall to collect a Guest Assistance Card ( GAC) for the boys. The man their was really lovely and explained it all well to us.
I have to say I was a little anxious about using this as I didn’t want people thinking we were just trying to “skip” the line.

We bumped into Daisy Duck:

Back up Main St we went and the Dream along with Mickey show had started so we stopped to watch this. I was starting to feel a bit more “Magical!” The show was lovely and had a real “feel good” feeling about it.

The boys were getting restless they were desperate to ride rides – in particular Big Thunder Mountain!
So we headed up to Frontierland and got fastpasses for BTMRR ( we just didn’t quite feel comfortable using the GAC yet). The boys were a bit anxious about not being able to go straight on just now but we said it wouldn’t be long so lets go explore!
We found a little pathway that led to Adventureland and right in front of us was Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride with no queue! Lets do this then! Aaron was still in grumpy mode but he seemed to calm down a bit on the ride!

The boys then spotted the Pirates of the Caribbean ride – massive fans of the films so this had to be done next – again hardly any queue so no need for GAC!

The themeing on this is wonderful – Aidan was a little scared at first but then really enjoyed it towards the end! Boys being boys their dollars were burning holes in their pockets so they just had to spend some of it in the Pirates shop!
Kieran bought a sword ( which didn’t last very long after we got home!) and a pirates medallion ( which he still wears today!LOL) Aidan wasn’t so keen on spending his money after all but Aaron spotted maracas which seemed to cheer him up so we bought him one!
I just had to try on the massive sombrero!

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Out side the Pirates ride we noticed the Photopass doing the Magic shots with Captain Hook. Kieran was desperate to get this done but he wanted Paddy with him so Paddy and Him got a fab pic taken! That was our first Photopass pic (I will just add a couple of photopass pics through out the report and I will add a thread at the end withmore Photopass Pics) Aidan was a bit more camera shy!

Across the way we noticed Captain Hook standing for Autographs so we joined the line. The cast member there was soo lovely and really chatted away with Kieran ( Kieran is a chatterbox, Aidan not so much!) which he loved as he loves people indulging him when he speals off Pirates of Caribbean facts!lol
So Autographs and photos done – Captain Hook was great with the kids and ME!

So finally it was time for our fastpass on BTMRR, so Paddy, the big boys and I rode first, as Aaron was sleeping and got a baby swap ticket for mum to go back on with the boys!

We stopped and had a bottle of water from the little cart and as we were walking round Aidan noticed a cart selling a “Hamm” the pig from toy story plush. No idea why but he really wanted to buy it! So he parted with his cash and was very pleased with his purchase! You will notice a theme with Aidan’s purchases as the days go on!lol Mum and I both had to try on some Mickey and Minnie Ears!

We then headed through to Liberty Square where Kieran spotted the Haunted Mansion. Aidan wasn’t sure about doing this but Kieran wanted to. So Paddy said he would take him but the line was enormous so he decided to give the GAC a go! They got as far as the doorway where the Cast Member was in full character and Kieran just flipped! He just found the guy too scary for him so that was that. So we got some pics taken in the stocks instead!

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Aaron was still sleeping, so we walked towards Tomorrowland as Aidan was desperate to ride Buzz LIghtyear Space Ranger Spin.
Aaron woke up just as we got there so we all decided to ride together! We all had a fab time on this ride and even Aaron cheered up a bit!

Kieran was then desperate to ride Stitch’s Great Escape! Stitch is his favourite Disney Character so we just had to do this! Mum and I took Kieran and Aidan and Paddy waited with Aaron as he was back to doing his best Grumpy inpersonation!

The boys absolutely LOVED this ride and were in hysterics the whole time! Aidan has a thing for repeating little catchphrases over and over and his one for the rest of the holiday and WEEKS afterwards was “ missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!” which is what Stitch had said when they were trying to catch him in the ride!lol
Still makes me laugh when he says it now!
Well when we went into the Stitch ride shop – Kieran was in Heaven! He wanted to buy EVERYTHING!!!

I told him we had loads of time and there will be lots he will want to spend his money on and he had already spent around half of his $20 daily allowance anyway. The boys had saved up their birthday money and had it changed to Dollars we also gave them some too. So in total they had around $400 each to spend. So Mum bought them both a Stitch Plush which he was really pleased with!
We went and found Paddy and Aaron and had a little stroll over to Fantasyland for a nose. We were all shattered by this point so decided to call it a day.

Took a wee picture of the castle

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The boys noticed the sword in the stone though and had a little go!

First Kieran had a shot:

To no avail....

Then Aidan:

Again nothing
Then Paddy thought that having the strength of a Roman Gladiator that it wouldn’t be a problem for him:

No sorry not even a Roman Gladiator will get this thing out!
Well Aaron decided he just had to have a go:
We nearlly missed this!

Couldn’t believe it, was soooo funny!

A lovely lady noticed and said to a Cast Member who was standing by as she thought they gave out certificates if you managed to pull it out? The cast member apologised as he didn’t have any but he did give Aaron a Prince for a Day Sticker which being the moody little so and so didn’t seem all that bothered about and wouldn’t even stand so I could take a photo but here is the best I got!:

So off we trotted back up Main St, we were going to stop for a photopass picture but it was just sooo crowded and busy we couldn’t be bothered waiting ( wish we had as we don’t have many decent photopass pics with the castle).

On they out the boys spotted Chip ‘n’ Dale so we had to stop for Autographs . The line was quite big so Mum took Aaron into the Emporium for a look around
They boys loved Chip ‘n’ Dale they were really good with the kids!:

We finally found mum – that Emporium is MASSIVE! You could get lost in there! She bought Aaron a Donald Plush seeing as she had bought the other two a Stitch one earlier.
We hopped back on monorail back to the car which we found relatively easy again and the set the Tom Tom up for Walmart as we needed to get lots of things for the villa inc a couple of tracphones.
OMG this place was huge! There was sooo much to see we did spend about an hour and a half in here but the kids were really tired so we said we would definitely try to get back again before we have to leave.
We spent $266 in here on food for the villa, tracphones and a few bits and pieces for people back home that had a list for us!lol
We went to the burger king across from Walmart for tea for easiness. According to my receipts 3 whopper meals and 3 kids meals came to $27
Back to Villa sorted the shopping out chilled out, got kids bathed and we were ALL in bed for 8.30pm – it had been a very very long day!

Next up Hollywood Studios!

 

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Day 2 - Disney Hollywood Studios

Wednesday 26th November

Disney Hollywood Studios today! Paddy and I were up and about around 4.45 this morning, Mum followed shortly after with Aaron. We sat and had a coffee and a bagel while watching the Weather Channel – to be a nice day today! Then the channel was quickly turned to Playhouse Disney for Aaron. He still wasn’t right today, really miserable and choked with the cold. He then started to be sick again when he tried to eat some breakfast. Finally cleaned him up and managed to get him dressed, then tried to wake the other two up! They were harder to get moving! Finally got them all washed and dressed but even after our early wakening we still didn’t get out the door until around 8.30am.
Found Disney Hollywood Studios easily and was actually quite excited about today!

We parked in Stage and jumped onto a tram over to the main entrance!

We got our first Family photopass picture taken but Aaron still wasn’t in the mood for playing for the camera! So most of our photopass pics are of him looking away unfortunately!

We then spotted Stitch and Minnie standing for photos and autographs! Unfortunately the Minnie line was cut off as she had to make an appearance elsewhere ( highly in demand is Miss Minnie Mouse) but we weren’t all that bothered as all we were interested in was Stitch!
Stitch is Kierans absolute all time favourite Disney Character and OMG his face just lit up when he spotted him! He ran so fast we couldn’t keep up with him. I’m really surprised how patiently he waited in line to see him although he was dancing around quite a bit!LOL
His face as soon as it was his turn was just wonderful , I have to admit I did start to weep slightly ( and am doing now as I remember it like it was yesterday) , I just thought to myself “ this is what its all about- this is the Disney Magic” this is what makes me smile – seeing my kids soo happy! If all we come back to Disney for again – it would most definitely be just for these little moments!
So here are a few of the pics from that meeting:

Ok tears wiped away now! We decided we would head to Toy Story Mania as this was the new attraction and we knew that there would be big lines!
We spotted a little topiary on the way:

These are the little things that made me so emotional all the little extras that Disney think of to theme and decorate the parks it was all just so wonderful!
We headed through the archway into the animation courtyard and spotted Playhouse Disney Show

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We thought as there was a show just starting we should do this first as Aaron is in love with all Playhouse Disney Characters, its on from 7am in our house! We thought “this will definitely cheer him up!”
Off we trotted to the theatre, Aaron didn’t cheer up much at all but we thought the show was good and hoped to do it again once he perked up a bit!

Aaron still was whingey when we left and we spotted a little cart outside the theatre that sold Playhouse Disney merchandise so we decided to buy him a magic doodler which was in the shape of “toodles” from “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” – well OMG I can’t believe it he was in love with it and it turned out to be the buy of the holiday as it kept him amused a massive amount of the time! It was pricey at $26 but it was definitely money well spent!LOL

Ok so we started to head over to where Toy Story Mania was and we couldn’t believe the size of the lines! Not even the standby lines but the fastpass line was hitting nearly an hour long!!!!

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So this was the time to utilize the GAC, we spoke to a Cast Member who just directed us straight in. I must admit I did feel terrible for those people waiting in line but as the holiday went on we did need it more and more but we did only use it in situations like these. We still had an almost 20-30min wait once we were inside but the themeing was soo well done the kids seemed to enjoy looking around. They did get a little restless after around 15mins but not too bad.

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We got into our little carriages I took Aidan was with me, Aaron with Paddy and Kieran went with Mum – we had an absolute ball! The kids really enjoyed it and Paddy said that Aaron liked pulling the little string to fire so that was a big plus for us! Aidan enjoyed it the most I think though. He was whooping and screeching and laughing all the way round! It was great sounds to hear!Seeing as that was a success we came out on a high

A few photos moments:

And then Aidan spotted the merchandise cart! He wanted to buy all the plush toys from Toy Story but we convinced him to just buy one just now! So he chose Rex the dinosaur! Pleased with his purchase we stopped for a drink – it was really warm by this time! Quick loo stop and then we noticed the Prince Caspian thing! The line for the meet and greet was huge and the boys weren’t all that bothered about meeting him strangely? So we headed into the film! Nothing to write home about this – to be honest it wasn’t really worth going into but at least it was another thing off our list to do – but safely to say we won’t waste time doing it again!LOL
Aidan had been desperate to make sure he would be tall enough to ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster ever since he found out we were going and according to our measurements he was – JUST!
So off we trotted round to RnR! We used the GAC again with a baby swap ticket for Mum as Aaron had fallen asleep. Paddy, Kieran , Aidan and I went together. YEY Aidan is tall enough!!! How excited was he – unfortunately we have to photos in line as we left the cameras with Mum!
Here are a few outside though!

Aidan was buzzing but I think this was making Kieran more anxious. Aidan is ferry hyposensitve he loves all things sensory, the wind in his face, bright lights, the feeling of adrenaline on rides is just up his street , Kieran on the other hand not quite so sure! This caused a problem as Kieran seen Aidan as “ rubbing his nose in it” because he is younger than Kieran. Aidan just couldn’t think like that and was just super excited to be getting on the ride so much so he starting flapping and making his noises, which annoy Kieran loads.
So we get right to the point of ready to board our “Limmo” and Kieran freaks out and tries to run away! We can understand that he was scared and didn’t want to do it but we were more concerned for his safety as he just doesn’t think first and could have had an accident so close to the track. Obviously we got the usual looks and tuts from onlookers but I tried to remain calm and excited for Aidan, Paddy took Kieran out the emergency exit and Aidan and I rode on our own!
It was absolutely brilliant! Aidan loved it sooo much he was desperate to go back on again so we baby swapped with Mum and her Paddy and Aidan rode again! Mum enjoyed it too!
Aidan would have kept going on but twice was enough for now! Paddy and I wanted to do Tower of Terror but the boys didn’t just so we left that for another day, but here s a photo!

We headed round to Star Tours as that was next on the list that the boys were desperate to do! Aaron was still sleeping so Mum, Paddy and the boys rode and I watched the Jedi Training. The boys were disappointed as it had already started and had wanted to be picked but the crowd was so big there was no way they would have been picked anyway so they kept heading to Star Tours

Time for Lunch we think! Aidan knew there was a pizza planet like in toy story here so that’s were lunch had to be! There was a long wait so I grabbed a seat for us outside while Paddy ordered,
3 Pepperoni Pizzas and 2 cheese pizzas, Milk, Choc Milk, 2 sprites and an Ice Tea came to $45.
We actually quite enjoyed it! Aaron started to wake up and wanted to have a run around so we let him loose over by the snowman!

The boys noted that there was an arcade inside and were desperate to go play so Paddy took them and Mum and I took Aaron for a wander round the shop across the way ( the name averts me just now) but they had lots of gorgeous stuff as all the Disney shops did! When we had finished looking the boys still weren’t out so I went in to find them. Paddy was struggling to get Aidan to leave and he proceeded to have a major meltdown and ran away from us, very scarey two minutes as the place was mobbed and he is soo fast he can outrun an Olympic gold medallist!LOL
Anyway we tried to get him to calm down by saying lets go have a look in the Star Wars Shop but he just started flapping and high pitched squealing. To any onlooker it just looks like a badly behaved child whose parents can’t control but to anyone else who has children with special needs this is a normal day to day situation which isn’t the easiest of things to handle in a public place. We have to let it run its course. The thing is he came out of it as quickly as he went into it and next thing was “ Mum can we go get an ice –cream?” LOL You have to laugh I suppose – don’t sweat the small stuff!


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So we noticed that people were starting to line up and realised that Block Party Bash was due to start soon so we found a fantastic spot outside the sounds Dangerous thing across from Indiana Jones! The boys sat well and had icecreams lovely Mickey Premiums – very yummy!

But they did start to get fidgety after about 15mins so Paddy suggested taking them over to the Indiana Jones stall. That sounded like a plan and Mum, Aaron and I will wait here. This really horrible woman pushed her kids past me to stand in front of Aaron who was sat in his buggy! I was not amused at all as I had been saving that for the boys to sit there. Paddy came back with the boys only 5mins later to see there was hardly any space but I just squeezed them in beside us. I don’t understand how people think that pushing their kids in front is acceptable – If they wanted a front seat get here earlier!!! Ok rant over!
Block Party bash started to come round and we had a great spot where they stopped right in front of us! We absolutely LOVED this parade! It was soo full of energy and the Cast Members must have been soaking in sweat in this heat – I don’t know how they can do it in peak summer!
Kieran really seemed to get into it and a few times I caught him clicking his fingers and singing under his breath to the music! Its was a great moment which I sort of caught on camcorder ( yet to sort that footage out tho!).

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After the parade had moved on, we went over to the Inidana Jones stall Paddy really wanted an Indiana Mickey so happy with his purchase we decided to head off and catch the last Beauty and the Beast show!

Aaron wouldn’t settle so Paddy took him outside. Mum and I ( the boys too – I think) absolutely LOVED this its one of my favourite Disney films and I’m going to take my Mum to see it with my sisters for her Birthday in Edinburgh as we loved it that much!
When it finished I couldn’t find Paddy outside so I phoned him! He had taken Aaron up to Playhouse Disney as the Little Einstein Characters were there!

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We spotted a lovely classic car which Mum and Paddy had to have photos taken with:

And a couple of larking around photos:

We then decided that we were absolutely knackered and decided to call it a day!

A wee picture of the Christmas Tree outside!

and a nice sunset

Headed to Applebees at Berry Town Centre for tea which was lovely! Paddy says their Ribs were the best he had all holiday! I have to say their mash potato was to die for – cheesy mash just delicious!
Think in total including tip the meal was around $70 for us all!
Again another chill out night watching telly and early to bed for all!

Next up Thanksgiving!

 

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Day 3 - Thanksgiving - Downtown Disney

Thursday 27th November – Thanksgiving

Today we had a bit of a lie in until around 7.30am. We had a bit of a lazy morning just having breakfast and sorting out washing etc. We all got washed and dressed and around 10am we decided to go for a walk to the clubhouse and pool area at the Regal Palms. Sorry no pictures tho because we forgot to lift the camera and this happened to be the only time we visited!
Going to Florida in Nov/Dec was lovely the weather was just nice, the problem we had though was it was still too chilly for swimming in the morning and we were never back before dark to go in the evening! So unfortunately the kids never got to try out the pool at the resort, but to be honest they never asked so never felt like they missed out on anything!
The pool area is lovely – not quite as big as it looks in the pictures but nice all the same! We had a good nosey around then headed back to the house.
Today’s plan was supposed to be spend the morning at Epcot Future world and then head over to Downtown Disney for the afternoon as we had an ADR booked for Planet Hollywood today. But because we were a bit knackered after the buys couple of days and Jet Lag was setting in we said we would give Epcot a miss and just do Downtown Disney instead.
So we got everything we needed for the day – including the Kids and Granny!LOL into the car and headed on over.
Again the Tom Tom and great signs at Disney guided us well and we parked up opposite Disney Quest.
The boys were desperate to do this just now but we managed to persuade them to just have a good look around first.

The kids spotted the candy shop :

and had to have a Mickey chocolate Bar which were lovely – there was so much to choose from! I picked up Princess Hot Chocolate Selections for my friend Natalie’s (the lady who designed lots of the stuff I made) daughter as I was making up a box of goodies for her kids to post from Disney as a thank-you for all the help she gave me. Natalie had said that Erin loved these hot chocolate powders that colour the drink as well so thought these would go good in her box!

We then got a picture taken on the holiday bench

There are so many lovely little shops in DTD and lots of Sunglasses shops! We spent a good while just going in and out of shops – much to the kids annoyance!LOL
We got some pictures taken by the lovely fountain:

Then carried on walking through the old Pleasure Island area

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After a few photo ops we headed into the Harley shop for Paddy to have a look around we then spotted the photo op area with the bikes!

Paddy and the kids loved it The queue was far too long for the other bike so we left it at that!

Paddy was starting to feel hungry so we stopped at Cookes of Dublin so he could get some chips!
We all had some of Paddy’s chips much to his annoyance as we had all said we didn’t want anything but they smelled so good when he brought them out!

They didn’t last long and then we kept walking round to Disney market Place

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And saw the new T-Rex restaurant, we said that we would try to come back and eat here at some point but never did,

It did look lovely and somewhere the kids could be noisy without causing a scene I would expect judging by the noise coming from it!
We got the typical photo taken with the Lego Nessie:

Kids didn’t want to go into the Legoshop – we got to Legoland quite regularly so don’t think they thought it would be all that interesting!LOL
We then spotted the World of Disney store!

We knew this would probably take a while to get round so we split up! Mum took aaron and a phone and Paddy , Me and the big boys had a good look around:

In here this is where Aidan bought “Wheezy” the penguin from Toy Story 2 plush, we now knew that he was on a mission to collect as many cuddlies as possible and mainly Toy Story Characters! Wheezy is such a small character in the film that we didn’t know why he wanted it so badly but hey ho its his money and never could we have imagined that Wheezy would become Aidan’s new best friend who goes absolutely EVERYWHERE with him now!
We also bought some bits for Aaron’s birthday in here, namely the Fab 5 figure playset and Peter Pan play set.
Kieran needed to go to the loo when we left so Mum, Aidan Aaron and I stood at the Stitch entrance to World of Disney and this is when the kids realised that Stitch “Spat” it was soo funny, but Aidan being Aidan he wanted to stay under it and get soaked!

Here a little video clip



Aaron found this hilarious – which made me smile to see him actually enjoying himself as he still hadn’t been great on the walk round!

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[caz1712]

We then spotted Ghiradellis and as we had heard so many great things about the ice cream in here we thought that a treat was in order!

Aidan had a chocolate icecream cone, Kieran had a Chocolate Shake, Aaron had vanilla ice cream, Mum had a Peanut Butter Sundae, I had a Hot fugde Sundae and Paddy had a Banana hot fudge sundae – they had other names but I can’t remember!LOL That all came to approx $40 – expensive but oh so nice!

It was now time to head over and have a look in Once Upon a Toy! The kids had been desperate to do the build your own lightsabre there so that’s what was next on the list!

The boys had lots of fun building the lightsabre while Mum and I had a wander around. I got Aaron a soft Mickey Mouse bowling set for his birthday and a little Handy Manny book he had spotted, Mum got Aaron a Little Einstein Toy for his birthday and then that was us!
We kept walking round towards the Christmas shop and Winnie the Pooh shop. Didn’t want to go into the Christmas shop as the boys were in hyperactive mode and was scared in case they broke something so Mum went on her own and Paddy, Me and the boys just sat outside.

We spotted the Poohs corner bench and thought we could try getting some pictures taken but Aaron was having none of it this was some of the attempts, needless to say we eventually gave up!LOL

Mum eventually came out and we walked round towards Rainforest café and had got some pictures taken of the kids:

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