Everything is Satisfactual - A TR (9/22-9/31) Updated 12/9 Last Day

[ILuvCrush]

Very much enjoying you TR!!! The girls are beautiful! I wish my girls had an awesome Auntie like you!

Subbing and waiting for updates!!

Paula

 

[If U Had Wings]

Very much enjoying you TR!!! The girls are beautiful! I wish my girls had an awesome Auntie like you!

Subbing and waiting for updates!!

Paula

Thank you. I keep telling my brother and SIL that they need to provide me with a nephew now, but they told me I'm on my own for that one. I tend to think of being a single aunt as the greatest job. I get to spoil like a grandparent, yet I didn't have to suffer through any teen years to do it.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Bright and early the next morning (6am ) the alarm went off. My father snores terribly, so when on vacation I need to use ear plugs or I'd never get any sleep. With the plugs I don't hear a thing, and had one of the best nights sleep ever. We had a quick breakfast and headed off to the bus stop.

This was one of the few mornings that we actually stopped at POR for pick ups. Nearly every day we took the bus we would head directly to the parks even if the buses weren't completely full. I don't know if this is something new, but it was much nicer than the jammed buses. This morning though we made all stops, but no one got on at any of the POR stations. They were all empty. Very odd! I don't think I've ever seen that before.

We had the coolest bus driver this morning. As soon as we were off and rolling he turned off the new pre-recorded spiel that they run now, proclaiming that he had been with Disney for nearly 20 years and could do a better job than any recording. He was a complete hoot! Kept us entertained the entire drive over to Epcot by telling us jokes, and stories about Disney just like the bus drivers used to. It was so much nicer and more fun than the new regimented recordings. One of the requests he made from us was "No Pole Dancing on the Disney Buses." Disney, he told us frowns on that.

We made it to Epcot and made the hike over to bag check. I wish they would move a bag check closer to the bus entrance. At Epcot it really felt like they made you hike out of your way a bit to get to the bag check area. (MK too). It's a small thing, but it would make things so much easier. We met up with the princesses just through the gate.

They were wearing the other t-shirts that I had made for them, and forgot to take pictures of before. "Little Miss Sunshine" really is our Jasmine, although "Little Miss Chatterbox" would probably have been a bit better. She has a very sweet, empathetic personality so it was perfect for her. By the same token Cin really is our "Little Miss Trouble." When I gave her the shirt she was so excited. She ran to put it on immediately and modeled it for all of us. She loves when we call her trouble. Odd child, but we all love her anyways.

They were all excited to see us, and ready for a new day. Jasmine could think of nothing but Soarin and Cin couldn't wait to go on Test Track. My parents had a present for Jasmine though. Before we left for Disney she had been telling them that she was going to dress as Snow White for her castle lunch this trip, because her Jasmine costume didn't fit her any longer. She was sounding a bit sad about it , so my parents deceided to surprise her with a new Jasmine costume instead of buying her some other souveniers while on the trip. While she was thrilled to get a new costume, what we weren't expecting was her telling us that she couldn't wear it to the lunch, but she still needed a red hair bow for her Snow White costume. I think at this point my mother was wondering why she spent $65 on a costume the kid wasn't going to wear now. We were a little baffled, as she adores Jasmine and was so sad before the trip that she didn't have a costume to wear.

I went over to chat with her and try to find out what her little mind was thinking. Turns out she was worried about her hair. Our Jasmine is a stickler for details. If she is going to dress up as a princess, she has to have the hair of that princess. Now that her long hair had been cut off for Locks for Love she no longer had Jasmine hair. It was short, it was dark…she would have to be Snow White. I love Jasmine, but sometimes she really needs to go with the flow a bit.

I ended up having to spill the beans about my surprise for them later in the week, or she'd never wear the new costume. I told her that I was taking them to the Fairly Godmother's salon to have their hair and make up done and that they could make Jasmine's hair look nice and long again so that she could look like a proper Jasmine. She looked a bit dubious, and wanted to know if they would do her hair exactly like Jasmine's. Finally she was looking excited about her new costume. Ma Tink told Princess Cin that she could pick out her own present while on vacation since she didn't need a new costume.

Once the gates opened Minnie ran off to Soarin while the rest of us walked leisurely to Test Track to wait for her. Minnie is the shortest adult of the group, but the fastest. I was perpetually amazed on this trip how fast she could move leaving the rest of us trailing behind. It took her only 12 minutes from gate opening to run to Soarin, get Fastpasses and meet back up with us at the entrance of Test Track.

While we were waiting, our drama queen Jasmine, had to show us how hot she was under the nearby misters.

Test Track was a favorite of everyone. Even Princess Cin, who rode with her head buried on my shoulder for the entire outdoors portion of the ride, loved it. The rest of the family went off to Mission Space next, but Princess Cin (who was too short for Space) and I hopped in line again for Test Track. There was no line so we got right back on. On her request we did take a few pictures of Cin with the dummy drawings on the wall outside the pre-show area.

She's pretty close to the average size 4 year old girl drawing.

More day 3 to come!

 

[Hedy]

Jasmine sounds like Mordie with the details (fully tongue in cheek-I'll swap you Ferdie for Cin, how's that You get a nephew, I get a little neice )

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love their shirts. So cute.

I can't believe what a stickler for details Jasmine is. Too funny. Even I am not that bad and I'm a DISer!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Jasmine sounds like Mordie with the details (fully tongue in cheek-I'll swap you Ferdie for Cin, how's that You get a nephew, I get a little neice )

Your brave! Cin is a complete handful. I think you'd regret that trade.

I love their shirts. So cute.

I can't believe what a stickler for details Jasmine is. Too funny. Even I am not that bad and I'm a DISer!

She's more of a worrier and fanatic than my 93 year old Italian grandmother. Instead of making lists she's the queen of detailed drawings and diagrams. I just know that there is a compulsive planning Diser in her yet.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

"No Pole Dancing on the Disney Buses."

Mental Note for Upcoming Trip: CHECK!
(particularly on those, ahem, tipsy, busrides back from PI)

I went over to chat with her and try to find out what her little mind was thinking. Turns out she was worried about her hair. Our Jasmine is a stickler for details. If she is going to dress up as a princess, she has to have the hair of that princess. Now that her long hair had been cut off for Locks for Love she no longer had Jasmine hair. It was short, it was dark…she would have to be Snow White. I love Jasmine, but sometimes she really needs to go with the flow a bit.

I was like this as a child too. Too ease your mind, I turned out ok!
Control issues aside, of course!

Great update!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I was like this as a child too. Too ease your mind, I turned out ok!
Control issues aside, of course!

Great update!

Whew! That's a relief. We all get a bit worried over her sometimes with her control freak issues. When she was a toddler I'd play "tea" with her. If I'd ask for sugar she'd tell me I couldn't have any, so I'd act like I was putting it in myself. As soon as I was done, she'd look me in the eye, and pour my pretend tea all over the floor.

She hasn't really changed much since then.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Whew! That's a relief. We all get a bit worried over her sometimes with her control freak issues. When she was a toddler I'd play "tea" with her. If I'd ask for sugar she'd tell me I couldn't have any, so I'd act like I was putting it in myself. As soon as I was done, she'd look me in the eye, and pour my pretend tea all over the floor.

She hasn't really changed much since then.

That is the greatest!

 

[If U Had Wings]

After getting outselves all depressed watching the Circle of Life it was still a bit early, but we deceided to just have our lunch now since Sunshine Seasons is a favorite stop of ours, and we were already there. I had the italian sandwich which was very good, and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. Yummm!!! I have a definite sweet tooth, and Sunshine Seasons has the best desserts on the meal plan for counter service as far as I'm concerned.

After lunch we rode Soaring one more time before heading over to see Nemo. Of course we had to stop for some pictures in front of the pavillion with the fish.

Sorry none of me. I don't know what it is about taking pictures with those fish, but everytime I take a pictures there I look horribly fat in all of them. Maybe it's the height of the wall, and they way I sit, but I looked just horrible in all of them. Actually, any time I've ever had pictures taken there they make me look like a whale. Which I guess fits in with the theme of the pavillion, but is really sad, because there were some cute ones of me and the girls. I need to play around with the crop on a few of them and see if I can salvage some good face shots of us out of them.

The clam mobiles were one of the few rides when I was feeling a bit crushed in my seat. I ended up riding with Cin and Pa Eeyore where the CM put us all in one clam. Very smooshy. I was able to put Cin in my lap so it was a bit better. Good thing she's tiny.

When we got off we headed over to meet Crush, and found we had just missed a show. We deceided to just wait for the next one. This is probably the one time on our trip that we dealt with a bunch of really rude people. As the doors were about to open, people where suddenly pushing their children toward the front of the line pushing people over to get in first. Then once in theater, no one would move to let anyone in or make room for anyone on the benches. So rude! Cin was a bit disappointed that she wasn't picked to ask Crush a question as she wanted to know where Squirt was.

Jasmine had to stop for some Bruce pictures.

Of course, as usual, Cin had to jump in front of her. I'm hoping my SIL got some better shots of Jasmine.

Again this was one of the few spots where we dealt with some rude guests. Instead of waiting paitently in line to take pictures, there were a few guests who cut the line and pushed their kids in for pictures. They were the ones too, who stopped for what felt like about 100 pictures while there was a huge line of kids waiting for their turns. Disney could really use a CM or two to monitor this area and keep some control.

We left the pavillion and headed over to the Imagination Pavillion.

This is what I get for telling the girls to look amazed at the fountains.

As usual there was no line at the Imagination ride. It's such a shame how they ruined this ride from the original with Dreamfinder and a non-annoying Figment. This version of the ride just annoys me. I can't even imagine how terrible the brief non-Figment version was of this ride. I never saw it, but if this ride is an improvement it must have been pretty bad. It's just an utter shame that a company that has "Imagineers" working for them can't come up with a good ride about Imagination.

We stayed to play with the toys for awhile in the labs. The girls were having fun leading the orchestra, and Minnie and I joined them for the musical squares that you step on and they play different instruments. We made some funny pictures with the photo labs, but unfortunately they weren't working correctly so we couldn't send email a copy home.

We went to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience , were I showed Cin how to sit cross-legged in her seat so she wouldn't have to feel the mice running through the audience. I don't blame her, I hate that part myself! It always makes me scream a bit even though I know there is nothing there. It's such an ick factor I guess. Here are the girls acting cool in their 3-D glasses.

We were all anxious to see the new Spaceship Earth, so we had a little pit stop before heading over. Cin was being her normal goofy self so decieded to have a seat on Pa Grumpys knapsack.

I get the biggest kick out of that picture. That is the true Cin, always doing something for a laugh.

While we were waiting for everyone to finish up in the restrooms, a cast member in a dream team costume came wandering over and started chatting with Mickey and me. I think we both realized who she was and were looking at each other out of the corner of our eyes. Hopefully we were about to be granted a dream!

She was super friendly and kept chatting with us as the rest of the party finally joined us. She asked if we knew where the wheelchair entrance was for Spaceship Earth, and then walked us over and brought us into the building and all the way over to the ride.

Then she left.

Sigh. A bit disappointing, we were so convinced we were going to win something - dream ears, a fast pass, DVC - anything. Nothing. She was really nice though and very helpful. I don't know if we would have found the handicapped entrance otherwise.

We got right on the ride. We followed the CM's tip to make funny faces when it took our pictures , and were so glad we did. At the end of the ride it was too funny when they showed us on the ride. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't ridden it yet since the refurbishment, but making funny faces adds a bit to it. Princess Jasmine thought it was so funny we could here her laughing 2 cars away. I think the unexpectedness of it really added to it for her.

The sky was beginning to get pretty dark and ominous looking, but Cin wanted to ride Test Track one more time. We had one last group of FP's so we headed over there hoping to get on the ride before the rain started. While we were in line they started making announcements that bad weather was approaching and that the line could be shut down at any time. We just made it on before they shut down the ride. She was getting to be an old pro by now and didn't bury herself in my arm the entire time.

To come .... will we make it to dinner before the downpour begins???

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love that picture of Cin on the backpack. How cute is that!?!

I agree with your on Figment. I love the stuff after the ride, why can't they convey that kind of coolness into the ride? Sigh.

 

[micandminforever]

Great EPCOT pictures.

 

[castmemberb4]

Cassie I am loving your TR, as the childless Aunt of many nieces and nephews who are all adults now I totally identify with you. Mine still come over and hang out with their old aunt & uncle ocasionally, I'm sure Jasmine and Cin will too. They are both adorable BTW. Jasmine's pefectionism and little Miss Cin being the constant comedian must be a great source of amusment. We leave for WDW in 11 days and our youngest Niece & Nephew are going along with several other family members, We are all so excited to be going together, your TR has me that much more excited.

I think I have the Tinkerbell pin you missed getting, it is the cardmember exclusive Tinkerbell pin from last year. The background card is different and says "The Disney Club" and there is no year on the pin. I am not really collecting that series and would be more than happy to mail it to you if you want it. You can PM me with your address if you're interested. I also have what I think is the first pin from that collection It's Mickey from Fantasmic, do you have that one?

I've gotten pretty long winded on your TR but I also have to say i mourn the loss of the original Journey Into Imagination too. I sometimes worked in that pavilion (the Land was my primary location) and knew the Dreamfinder character. I was heartbroken hen they changed that attraction, be glad you missed the 'without Figment one' but the current one is just about as disappointing.
Lynn

 

[If U Had Wings]

Great EPCOT pictures.

Thanks. I actually had thought I had taken more, but it must have been my SIL. Our family has so many cameras going you never know who is snapping one.

Cassie I am loving your TR, as the childless Aunt of many nieces and nephews who are all adults now I totally identify with you. Mine still come over and hang out with their old aunt & uncle ocasionally, I'm sure Jasmine and Cin will too. They are both adorable BTW. Jasmine's pefectionism and little Miss Cin being the constant comedian must be a great source of amusment. We leave for WDW in 11 days and our youngest Niece & Nephew are going along with several other family members, We are all so excited to be going together, your TR has me that much more excited.

I hope they keep wanting to hang out with their aunt as they get older. It's really amazing how fast they are growing up! When they get a bit older I'd love to take them on trips separately. Your going to have a great time with your niece and nephew. My favorite Disney trips are the ones I've taken with them.

I think I have the Tinkerbell pin you missed getting, it is the cardmember exclusive Tinkerbell pin from last year. The background card is different and says "The Disney Club" and there is no year on the pin. I am not really collecting that series and would be more than happy to mail it to you if you want it. You can PM me with your address if you're interested. I also have what I think is the first pin from that collection It's Mickey from Fantasmic, do you have that one?

That would be wonderful! I'll send you a pm, thanks so much. If you collect pins I'd love to swap you for it. I have a pretty good collection of New York edition pins. Just let me know if you collect any special types. I must have missed the Fantasmic one too. I never knew about the Disney Visa pins before.

I've gotten pretty long winded on your TR but I also have to say i mourn the loss of the original Journey Into Imagination too. I sometimes worked in that pavilion (the Land was my primary location) and knew the Dreamfinder character. I was heartbroken hen they changed that attraction, be glad you missed the 'without Figment one' but the current one is just about as disappointing.
Lynn

That's so cool that you worked for Disney. I wish I had known about the college program when I was in school. I would have been there in a heartbeat. My brother actually worked for the company, but the ESPN portion here in CT. I miss Dreamfinder so much in that ride! I'm glad I didn't miss anything with the non-Figment ride.

 

[castmemberb4]

Hey Cassie
I'm not going to quote you here since my last one was so long. I'm more than happy to send you the pins. I used to collect them before it was so popular, actually started with Hard Rock pins back in the 80s when you got them free with your check, now I've pretty much gotten out of it b/c the market is so saturated with pins it's not much of a challenge any more.

I'm sure Jasmine and Cin will always be willing to hang out with you because you're a cool aunt, even when mine were in the teenager years they still were willing to go on family vacations, of course it helped that I the "cool Aunt" worked at Disney World and they could get in free

I was there for 5 years and loved it, but in the end it's still a job. The best thing about my time there is it's where I met DH. Going back now is so much better b/c as a castmember i couldn't afford to eat in the TS restaurants and now I can.

Lynn

 

[castmemberb4]

Crissy !
I just realized I keep typing you name Cassie!
I'm so sorry! There is no excuse for getting someones name wrong!

Lynn

 

[If U Had Wings]

Crissy !
I just realized I keep typing you name Cassie!
I'm so sorry! There is no excuse for getting someones name wrong!

Lynn

It's okay, really. I hadn't even noticed.

 

[If U Had Wings]

When we got off of Test Track it was starting to drizzle a little bit. We needed to get over to Germany for our dinner ADR, so it was everyman for themselves as we sprinted across World Showcase. Jasmine was sitting on Ma Tink's lap in the wheelchair directing Pa Grumpy to jog. I was with Cin, and she kept urging me to run faster. (I am soooo not a runner). How out of wack am I that a pipsqueak of a 4 year old girl can out run me? We ended up just making it! As soon as we got there it started pouring complete with earth shaking thunder and lightning. It was a bit scary. We were wasting a bit of time in the shops before our time, and it felt like the lightning was striking right outside in the courtyard.

Dinner was at Biergarten. It's not my favorite restaurant, but only because the menu is heavy on meat and I'm not a huge meat eater. The food that they have is very good, there just isn't a lot that really appeals to me. I did love the tomato salad, and the potato leek soup. The pretzel bread was delicious too. I had some chicken too that wasn't bad, and I tried a bit of the sausage, but found it rather tasteless. It really needed a bit more spice. Desserts were okay, but nothing that really stood out as special or outstanding.

My brother though was in meat eaters heaven.

I swear he ate about 3-4 plates filled with nothing but meat, a huge jumbo stein of beer, and then another big plate of dessert. I don't think any veggies crossed his plate. It made my tummy hurt just watching him eat all that meat. Ugh!

The best part of Biergarten though, and what really makes it worth it as an ADR is the entertainment. They have a band that comes out and plays some German music. They then invite all the kids up to take part and dance. The shows run on the hour, so we were able to catch two of the performances. Both times the shows were a little bit different, so if you see more than one, your not hearing the same songs. The girls love it and couldn't wait to get up and dance. Here is a little film clip of Cin and Grumpy, and Jasmine and Mickey dancing to the band.



As you can see, as usual Cin is looking more at the camera than bothering with her dancing.

That was during the first show. When the second show came around I suggested to Cin that she ask Pa Eeyore to dance. She flat out refused. I don’t know exactly what was going on there, but I had noticed over the course of the day that neither of the girls where asking to ride with him. They'd go to me, or my parents but not him. He tends to take these things very personally, so I had tried a few times to get them to ride things with him. It was kind of standing out and even though I don't particularly like him I felt bad. Cin flat out refused to dance with him. My father, who was going to ask her to dance again, wisely decieded against it, so as not to make Eeyore feel worse. Cin went and did the chicken dance with her dad and Jasmine instead.

We left the restaurant after the second show. It was about 8:45, so we were just in time for Illuminations. Perfect timing! There was no crowd at all around World Showcase, and we were able to walk right up and get a prime viewing spot right along the railing. The show was nice, but it was without the globe which was down for refurbishment. The show felt incomplete without the globe, something was definitely missing. I didn't really notice an increase in fireworks, which supposedly they added. It felt like we were watching the center of the lake, and really not seeing anything. I know so many people love Illuminations, but for me it's my least favorites of the end of day shows even with the globe. I much prefer Wishes and Fantasmic, and if I had to pass on one end of day show this would be the one.

The humidity was really building on the walk back. The girls were exhausted, and Pa Eeyore's bad knee was locking up on him. His asthma was starting to bother him, so we had to make a few stops before with hit Future World so he could catch his breath. Meanwhile Minnie and Mickey were walking as if they were in the Olympics and left all of us in the dust while we were waiting for her father. We eventually made it to the bridge between World Showcase and Future World. Pa Eeyore was having more and more difficultly breathing. Ma Tink gave up her wheelchair to him so that we could get out a bit faster. We practically had to force Eeyore into it, but we made it out with any more stops.

An even bigger big drama queen goodbye was waiting for us tonight from the girls as we weren't going to be seeing them the next day. They were going off to Gatorland, and Mickey and Minnie had decieded not to join us at Ohana for dinner. I was a bit annoyed, as Ohana was my one dinner plan for all of us was being cancelled, yet I had been game and had agreed to dinner at two places I didn't particularly like, Biergarten and Hollywood & Vine. When your traveling with my brother and SIL though, you just to realize that any plans that will be cancelled won't be theirs.

Coming next - Ahhhhh some free time to myself!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Okay. I would have been so frustrated if I was waiting for my SIL's Father to make sure he was okay and making it out of the park and SIL was speeding ahead.

You are a better person than I!

 

[trixiequilts]

And I.