Ever, Ever After: The TR Formerly Known as Wishing You Were Here- May 2011

[basketkat]

Hmmm....now you have me tempted to order one from DMR!

 

[amazingact21]

I love keeping up with your vinylmation trading! I was browsing the Disney Movie Rewards site the other day and there is a Toy Story 3 vinylmation you can purchase with your points. I thought of you as soon as I saw it! I was tempted...but afraid I would get Big Baby!

I just had to say that I did the exact same thing yesterday morning! My DF does the Disney Rewards and he showed me that I could order a Toy Story 3 Vinylmation. And my response was, "But I know someone on the Disboards who has gotten Big Baby, and he is weird."
It's good to see I'm not the only one using these trading stories. (I ended up ordering one, anyways.)

 

[amandaw]

Even though you got stuck watching the parade, at least it seems like the boys had fun watching it!

 

[afwdwfan]

I had to take a second look at that vinylmation. My first thought was "I didn't think the Goonies was a Disney movie." I forgot all about Quasimodo.

I'm glad the boys got some good interactions with the characters even though it was a disaster trying to get around. It looks like all things considered you had a pretty good day at AK and got along well as the only adult!

 

[tinacaplan]

Nice parade pics, but I'm sorry the CM yelled at you! The parade looks like so much fun, but they tend to occur during the time of the day when we're back at the resort, although we did see some of the parade at MK last year. Max loves Baloo and King Louie (mostly because of the music, not the movie, interestingly ).

 

[Nalila]

I love it when she calls me Landon. I've deduced that Landon is a honorific title for a king of the universe. So far, I'm the only Landon I know of and I intend on keeping it that way.

I've been reading along and thoroughly enjoying your trip report. It's sometimes hard to explain why I'm laughing at the monitor at work...but well worth it to catch up.

We have a Landon in our family who also thinks he is "king of the universe". It may actually be how the name translates if you're under 6...

 

[PirateKate]

I love how all the attention at the parades makes the kids feel special! Even if the cm's don't

I fell for it al the Disney store too. I stayed away from urban though. I got the pumpkin Mickey (cutester?) and the Aladdin (have a laugh). Maya has claimed them both though so I guess that they won't be traded.

It probably wouldn't have taken much attention for Landon to feel special during the parade. It was nice of everyone to stop to talk to him, though.

I tried to pick Have a Laugh instead of Urban, but they were out of Have a Laugh at my Disney Store. Aladdin sounds cool, though, and so does pumpkin Mickey. It gets hard to decide which to keep and which to trade.

"I fell for that deal at the Disney Store here. I got a Woody from the Toy Story Series and some ugly Urban black skeleton with his heart and brains showing. I'm trading that one. "

In case you are curious, that black vinyl you pulled is called X-ray. I have blind boxed that one twice! And I don't buy many blind boxes! Good news is lots of people like the "creepy" designs and will be happy to get it when you trade it away. On the other hand, Quasi is just unfortunate. I agree with you, he just doesn't fit the mold very well.

As for that rude CM, I also don't enjoy being yelled at. I have a low tolerance for shouting unless someone is injured or in peril. I am glad you and the boys were able to enjoy the end of the parade. Have you ever done a character meal with Carter and Landon? I bet they would be a lot of fun.

X-ray...I don't know, it just seems kind of creepy to me. It may be picky of me, but I'd rather my Vinylmation keep all organs safely inside their bodies. At least I'll be making someone very happy soon. My Disney Store has started doing trading, so I'll be taking X-ray over there soon.

I haven't done any character meals with Carter and Landon yet. So far, they were so little and so hit or miss with whether a meal would be pleasant or miserable that I didn't want to waste the money on it. I do think Landon would love a character meal. He met the Chick Fil A cow at the mall the other day and wanted to go home with him instead of me.

I got a little behind, but yay, so glad you finally got to do the safari! I don't like the poacher story either, I guess they feel they have to do something to make it exciting at the end, but seeing the animals is good enough for me!

The parade looks cute, but it's so annoying getting stuck behind a parade, or near a parade when you want to go somewhere else! We always seem to get trapped at MK when they are doing a parade!

Ugh, another weird Vinylmation! I have nothing against Quasi, but I don't think I'd want him in Vinylmation form!

It was a really fun safari, but the end was totally unnecessary. Maybe it's a way for the drivers to get us out of the preserve faster at the end and eliminate any last minute animal stalling. We always have fun, anyway, whatever the ending.

It was a cute parade, especially getting to watch Landon enjoying it. I always mean to plan better and not be trying to cross any park right at parade time, but I still occasionally forget and get stuck.

So far, I think I've had way more weird Vinylmation than good ones. That's okay, though. They need a lot of bad ones in order to make the good ones good.

Sorry that you couldn't escape the parade madness, but at least Landon had a good time interacting with all the characters. And that Vinylmation looked a little creepy. Hope you were able to trade it for something better!

Seeing the parade ended up being pretty fun, although I'm sure if I had planned on it, the boys never would have stood for it. Sometimes, the things you don't plan are the best things of all.

We saw the parade at AK for the first time on our last trip. I like how all the animals moved. Parades make it SOOOO difficult to get anywhere in the parks if you are just walking, let alone pushing a double stroller! Once again, you seem to go with the flow so easily! At least the boys were pretty well entertained by the parade and not in the middle of a meltdown. That could have been ugly!

I don't know if I would have been as impressed with the parade itself, if I hadn't have had my two boys who were really into it. It really is tough to get through a crowd with a double stroller. Just as well we gave up and just enjoyed the parade. And I am really glad neither of the boys were in meltdown moods. That would have been awful.

Sorry you got stuck during the parade. Its really tough to navigate AK during parade time, I really wonder why Disney decided to put a parade in that park at all, it just seems like poor planning overall. Glad the boys enjoyed it though!

I'd trade Quasimodo too! He looks extra creepy in vinylmation form!

This is really the first time the parade at AK has ever given us any trouble. I guess we've always gotten lucky and never been trying to go across the parade route. It probably would have been fine if I had just followed the parade out of Africa. Oh well. We had fun anyway.

Quasimodo really doesn't make vinylmation look good. There are so many other characters I'd have rather had take his place in the animation series.

 

[RachelNinja]

Yay for a successful trip on the safari!

There's a small percentage in Howard and me that hopes for an ugly Vinylmation because then we can keep on with the trading! Well, HE can continue with the trading. I didn't purchase any yet and probably won't (I compare everything to craft supply purchases), but I get to experience the fun of trading through his!

 

[PirateKate]

Why did the CM have to yell at you? Couldn't you see you had no where to go?

Glad the boys enjoyed the parade.

I'm not into the Vinylmations at all, but the one you had was really awful. And the one you traded for isn't much better. Hope you have better luck on the next trade.

She was sort of walking down the aisle yelling at everyone she came across. I don't know, maybe a bad day or something.

The boys did like that parade. Maybe they'll get to see it again next time.

I think Vinylmation is sort of an acquired taste. I actually thought they were kind of goofy looking the first time I saw them. .

I seems like the parade makes it really difficult to navigate through Animal Kingdom, but I don't think the CM needed to yell at you because of it.

I'm glad the boys enjoyed the parade, though.

The parade does make it hard to navigate, since it goes in a big circle. Just bad timing on my part, mostly though. I think in the future, it'll be easy to avoid. And the boys did have a great time, seeing all the characters. They were fun to watch.

I think I would be trading that one right away too! It just looks like Big baby grew up into something worse

It does look just like the grown up version of Big Baby. Oh, well. I guess if every trade were good, then I'd have way too many Vinylmations.

Ugh! Getting stuck because of a stroller is a bummer. I'm glad you were able to get a front row seat and make the best of it though.

It sounds like the boys had some great character interactions.

The front row seat was really nice. The boys had a great view and they didn't have to wait at all for the parade to come. It all worked out really well.

The boys were so cute, interacting with the characters. I wish I had gotten it on video.

Hmmm....now you have me tempted to order one from DMR!

Go ahead! You can always trade Big Baby later.

I just had to say that I did the exact same thing yesterday morning! My DF does the Disney Rewards and he showed me that I could order a Toy Story 3 Vinylmation. And my response was, "But I know someone on the Disboards who has gotten Big Baby, and he is weird."
It's good to see I'm not the only one using these trading stories. (I ended up ordering one, anyways.)

I hope you don't get a Big Baby, but they're really not so bad, as long as you know you'll trade it as soon as you get a chance. Maybe you'll get an Evil Dr. Pork Chop. Mine shipped really fast. Has yours arrived yet?

Even though you got stuck watching the parade, at least it seems like the boys had fun watching it!

They sure did have fun watching it! Parades are kind of hit or miss with the boys. I guess everyone was still in a fairly good mood from the Safari.

 

[basketkat]

Go ahead! You can always trade Big Baby later.

Well Big Baby (or someone...lol) is on their way to my house! Ha!

 

[PirateKate]

I had to take a second look at that vinylmation. My first thought was "I didn't think the Goonies was a Disney movie." I forgot all about Quasimodo.

I'm glad the boys got some good interactions with the characters even though it was a disaster trying to get around. It looks like all things considered you had a pretty good day at AK and got along well as the only adult!

It's been so long since I've seen the Goonies! I have to say, I think I prefer it to Hunchback of Notre Dame. That movie's too depressing.

We ended up having a great time at AK. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how well most of the day ended up working out. Going into it, I thought it could have gone either way and been really fun or really hard, but it definitely ended up being mostly fun.

Nice parade pics, but I'm sorry the CM yelled at you! The parade looks like so much fun, but they tend to occur during the time of the day when we're back at the resort, although we did see some of the parade at MK last year. Max loves Baloo and King Louie (mostly because of the music, not the movie, interestingly ).

Thanks! I wish we could manage to leave the parks before parade time most days. Landon keeps falling asleep before we can get out of the park. Maybe we'll make it when he's older.

Jungle Book has some good music. I'm not too surprised Max likes all the songs. Baloo and King Louie do some good singing during I Want to be Like You.

I've been reading along and thoroughly enjoying your trip report. It's sometimes hard to explain why I'm laughing at the monitor at work...but well worth it to catch up.

We have a Landon in our family who also thinks he is "king of the universe". It may actually be how the name translates if you're under 6...

Hi! I'm so glad you've been enjoying my trip report. I bet it would be difficult to explain laughing at the monitor at work.

You know, when we were choosing a baby name, we thought Landon meant "Long Hill". We didn't know we were getting a King of the Universe. Maybe I should start telling Landon what his name really means.

Yay for a successful trip on the safari!

There's a small percentage in Howard and me that hopes for an ugly Vinylmation because then we can keep on with the trading! Well, HE can continue with the trading. I didn't purchase any yet and probably won't (I compare everything to craft supply purchases), but I get to experience the fun of trading through his!

I understand that small percentage perfectly! It's always sort of nice when I get a Vinylmation that I want to trade, since it means there's more trading fun to be had. I'm sure I would be happy experiencing second hand trading through Jeremy, but oddly, he doesn't seem interested.

Well Big Baby (or someone...lol) is on their way to my house! Ha!

Big Baby can sense fear...remember you can always trade him. Let me know which one you get!

 

[TeresaG]

It's nice that the boys enjoyed the non-planned viewing of the parade. I would've been so frustrated to have been yelled at by a CM in that situation. I understand needing to keep things moving, but what were you supposed to do??

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I fell for that deal at the Disney Store here. I got a Woody from the Toy Story Series and some ugly Urban black skeleton with his heart and brains showing. I'm trading that one.

My kids would kill for that one!!! They are all into that sort of thing...

We must have missed that, the kids (including the big kid!) would have been all over that!

Guess I need to pay more attention!

 

[PirateKate]

It's nice that the boys enjoyed the non-planned viewing of the parade. I would've been so frustrated to have been yelled at by a CM in that situation. I understand needing to keep things moving, but what were you supposed to do??

I guess I can handle a random CM yelling a lot easier than I can handle one of my boys yelling. Since they were happy, it wasn't that big of a deal. Now if they had been crying and I couldn't get through and then the CM yelled at me, I would have been furious.

My kids would kill for that one!!! They are all into that sort of thing...

We must have missed that, the kids (including the big kid!) would have been all over that!

Guess I need to pay more attention!

How funny! I wish your kids had gotten it instead of me. I'm not into that kind of thing at all.

I go to the Disney Store way too often. So many days I wake up and have the whole day with the boys ahead of me and absolutely nothing to do. Going to the Disney Store and playing at the mall playground often seems like a good option.

 

[MickeyLover20]

Love your TR...your boys are adorable! I'm glad to hear that you got so much done by yourself with your boys. They seem to be well behaved. We go in 9 days and I can't wait...I just hope that my DD is as well-behaved as your boys...although I will have my DH there and won't have to do it myself. Can't wait to hear (read) more about your trip!

 

[PirateKate]

I got us all back in our room at Pop Century and collapsed on the bed. I was exhausted. My day had been so much fun, but I was so tired. It felt great to relax in the cool air conditioning and let the boys have some free time.

It felt so great that I relaxed for several hours. The boys were happy playing amongst themselves until a little before seven, when they started to get hungry.

I was ready to venture back out for our evening as well, so I grabbed our things and we left.

I had intended to go to Downtown Disney, where we would eat dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express and then do some shopping and stop by Goofy's Candy Company for a Make Your Own Treat.

It was a good plan, designed entirely around what would be easiest for one person and two toddlers to do.

It wasn't until I pulled into the parking lot at Downtown Disney that I realized the flaw in my plan. It was seven o'clock. It was Friday night. There wasn't a parking spot to be had.

I immediately gave up on finding a good parking spot, realizing that I would be lucky to find any spot at all. I circled the parking lot again and again, driving slowly, hoping to find someone leaving.

Unfortunately, for every car leaving, there were nearly ten other cars racing for the spot.

It was sort of like playing musical chairs with a hundred people and only one chair.

I turned on the Wiggles for the boys and told myself to remain patient and calm and I would surely find a spot sooner or later.

After twenty-five minutes of circling, it finally hit me- if the parking lot for Downtown Disney was this crowded, how crowded must Wolfgang Puck Express be? How long would we be waiting in line at Goofy's? How would I even get the stroller through the crowds in the store?

Well, forget that. I had had enough of circling and the boys needed some dinner. I'd go somewhere fast and easy. But where?

My first thought was back to Pop Century, where we had successfully eaten the night before. But I had just eaten there the night before and I didn't want to be known as the weird lady who eats alone with two toddlers.

Where else could we go? Probably a resort would be best. Wilderness Lodge? I'd never been there and would like to see it. But it was all the way up by the Magic Kingdom. It would take so long to drive there.

What was close by? Saratoga Springs. That would do just fine. There would be plenty of parking and I couldn't imagine that Artist's Palette would be too busy. And after dinner, if I still felt like Downtown Disney, we could walk over and do some shopping.

I drove to Saratoga Springs and the security guard seemed very happy that I was coming for dinner. She said I had made a great choice. I sure hoped so.

I was thrilled to see all of the empty parking spots right in front of where I was going. I luxuriously pulled into a spot that had two empty spots on either side.

I got the boys out and put them both in the double stroller. We weren't going far, but since it was just me, I felt the stroller would be easiest.

We made it to the Artist's Palette and I tried to decide which food the boys would be most likely to enjoy eating. Nothing really jumped out at me as a boy-pleasing entree, but the roast beef sandwich looked really good to me.

The boys have been known to eat sandwiches before, so I figured I'd give it a try. I grabbed a sugar cookie for dessert and also grabbed a yogurt parfait, which I knew Carter and Landon would love.

According to the signs, I was supposed to pay for our food and then go back to pick up the sandwich. It seemed a little unusual to me, but no big deal. One less thing to balance on the handlebars while I paid.

I had tossed my black zippered bag containing all of my Special Items in the parent console of the stroller. What a handy little bag.

I had purchased it specifically for Disney and it was perfect for safely carrying my cellphone, car keys, room key, money, credit cards, and driver's license. It even had a clip so all my Special Items were secured to the stroller.

I fumbled around with the clip, trying to get my Key to the World out of Special Items to pay for our meal. It was a bit trickier to do one handed. I dug the card out and paid and went back to get the sandwich.

Balancing the full tray on the handlebar of the stroller, I found an empty table right next to the highchairs. I handed out sandwich pieces first, which the boys ate, but didn't seem to love.

Carter liked the chips that came with the sandwich.

Landon found the chips difficult to chew, but enjoyed the roast beef and bread.

I liked the roast beef sandwich and the chips and had no problems chewing either. I saved the yogurt parfait for the boys' dessert and they both preferred it to the cookie.

They were right. It wasn't a very good cookie. Dessert choices had been slim, though, and I didn't regret getting it. Out of what was there, it had probably been the best.

The boys finished off every last drop of their yogurt. It had been another great meal. Not at all what I had planned, but very nice all the same.

As I cleaned up our table, I started to feel rather tired. No Downtown Disney for us tonight. I couldn't wait to get back to Pop Century and get to bed.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Smart move skipping Downtown Disney, sounds like it was crazy busy!

 

[basketkat]

I'm glad you chose to skip DTD...it sounds like it may have been a really busy night!

 

[teachermommy78]

The parking there is rather crazy!!! I'm glad you were able to have a relaxed dinner. It was probably better to end up in a quiet spot than a busy one. After being busy all day I bet the boys liked to soak up quiet time with mom.

I think it is your duty to share Disney store vinylmation sales/promos with your loyal readers.

 

[oOJulieOo]

Downtown Disney gets so crazy sometimes, I don't even like to be there myself, let alone with a double stroller to maneuver!

The few hours of relaxing in the room with the air conditioning sounds lovely!