Family, friends, teachers & Stacy too! - The End 9/27 page 14

[DisMomAmy]

We all enjoyed FoW last yr. it was our first time as well.

Wow those are some great shots Alex or Zach ( cant remember which) got of the animals!

That was funny about the girl reading the map on Dinosaur. Lol

I can't remember the name of the section we were in at SVR but the Falls pool (that one with the slide) was the closest pool and the one we went to. So I'm guessing we were in Falls ?? It was our first time staying there.

We haven't tried Shula's yet. It's on our to do list. We usually do one really expensive restaurant each trip and the last couple of times it's been Narcoossees. DH loves the surf and turf there...yum!

We leave for FL next Sat. I can't wait!! We'll be spending 4th of July week in Disney. I am excited and a little nervous about the crowds. I'm hoping its not much worse than April vacation. Have you ever gone in July?

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We have gone to Shula's a bunch of times... we really should try out some new places like Narcoossees.

You must be at Disney now! I hope the heat & crowds aren't too bad. I watched the live stream of the MK fireworks from the Poly last night. Fun!! We've never been in the summer at all. We've never been there any time between early May & early October.

I forgot to say that my DS16 would have found it difficult to lie about his age too ( when he was their age)

That was so very nice of her to say though! They must be so well behaved

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The boys really love the Sandcastle Club... it's been nice to be able to take them there over the past few trips. We'll miss it!

How did I miss this?? Now I have to go & read!!

Hi Doreen!!!

Joining in from your link on the Disney FB page

I love the pics of the timeshare. My parents have a timeshare in Kissimmee, and it really offers something that regular ol' hotel rooms can't. It just feels more relaxing to go back there after a day at the parks and to really rest knowing you can just walk to the fridge and make something in the kitchen. That's not to say that staying on property didn't have its benefits too! I loved not having to rely on anyone for transportation when at the parks and not having to worry about getting lost when my dad was driving around! Staying on property means that my husband and I are by ourselves, so that's always fun too. I look forward to going to the timeshare when we have our own kids!

Smart move having the boys save up their allowance! It looked like it really worked out great!

I was wondering what Alex's backpack held! I think it's so cool how it can encourage someone to keep drinking all day. How much water does it hold when completely filled?

I love how your entire family rides all the thrill rides together! My own family has never done that because my mom doesn't do rides like that and at one point or another, my older brother and younger brother went through phases where they tried acting as if they were "too cool" for certain rides, but in reality, they were just scared! I don't think it'll happen for my future family either because I'm not big on thrill rides! Thunder Mountain and Test Track are my kinds of thrill! Hopefully, our kids will enjoy going on those as a family!

I love staying on property... if we could do it in a 1 or 2 BR villa, I'd be all over that. But for the money, you can't beat our timeshare. It's paid off so we only pay the annual maintenance dues, which are pretty low for the place we actually own at. There is a downside to staying in a villa though... picking up & keeping the place clean!

Alex's Camelbak holds 1.5 liters. It worked out really well for this trip & hopefully will in the future.

We often split up during our trips for one reason or another... Zach likes the animation class, Alex didn't used to... Alex likes Hall of Presidents, Zach doesn't always want to watch it, stuff like that. It works out well because everyone gets to do what they want to do, but we all like the thrill ride (there are a couple Tim doesn't like) so we generally do those together... several times!

Zach got some great pictures!



That's a good one!



Aw, that is so sweet of her!

Overall seems like a great day and a lovely evening (even if it was a pricey one). Nothing wrong with a man's shirt, all the really cool epcot retro ones were, I saw several that I liked!

It's funny how "expensive" has a different meaning at Disney! Many of the every day TS restaurants are what we might consider "expensive" at home. We love having our night out... we'll see what happens in February since the kids can't go to the kids club.

Love my new sweatshirt!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm sorry, but I just had to laugh at the bright pink shorts. There - got that out of my system.

Zach did a great job with the safari pictures. I especially love the elephant shot.

I also love the tract on EE. Pretty cool.

I'm glad that the 15th anniversary crowds were not crazy. Looks like a great park dark.

Nick date night at Shula's. Did you enjoy the food?

Those shorts are funny!

Zach really is a budding photographer! We didn't do a very good job of remembering his camera on this trip though.

We love the food at Shula's. It has never disappointed!

Great updates Amy! I know all about being crazy busy...glad you had some time to update at all!

Flights of Wonder....been there, done that, NEVER doing that again. I'm glad you didn't have any issues!

Love the gorilla pics. They were very shy for us on our trip this year. You got some good views!

Too funny about Flights of Wonder! I guess you aren't a huge fan.

We were excited to see the big gorilla! I wish we were able to see the little one. We haven't had much luck with her.

Hey I am cought up and can't wait to read more

What a fun AK day, looks like you had a great time and so cool about the extra little side interactive things. My kids love that kind of stuff.

I love that you guys do the whole couple dinner thing and the boys go to the kids club. I have a hard time lying about age too, one time a ticket lady at a local place told me to say Joey was 2 or 3, he is 5 but really small (she couldn't believe he was 5), I just couldn't do it and bought him a ticket. So will Alex be dining with you next year?

can't wait to read more

We aren't very good about stopping to take advantage of the little extras. It seems like our AK days always end up being shortened for one reason or another. This time it was because we had our dinner plans. We usually get there twice, but for shorter times & want to hit the favorites each time. I really want to plan an AK only day on our next trip so we can take our time & stop for the extras.

We've had a couple times that they have marked Alex down as a child at a TS restaurant and we haven't said anything, but I've felt weird about it. We actually told the CM one time at Chef Mickey's and he just told us it was easier to put it through that way than to change it. So much for being honest! If Alex isn't going to the kids club, I doubt Zach will want to go so we'll probably skip the night out thing or do it when we have family there to stay with the boys. Though I'm sure we'll still have dinner at a nicer restaurant once during the trip.

It has been too long since I have been able to check in here. It was good to see the AK pictures. I wish we could have been there on anniversary day, but school was back in session after a nice two week break and right at state testing time, so that was a definite no!

Flights of Wonder is nice to see occasionally. After the show, they bring out a bird or two to hang out on stage, so it's nice to get close-up pictures and to hear kids get to ask questions.

Zach got nice pictures! Good job, buddy!

Too bad Alex can't hang out in the kids' club any more. They need a place for teens.

Being at AK on the 15th anniversary was fun, but it really wasn't that different than any other day for us. I bet you & the girls would have enjoyed the little extras that we didn't take the time to see.

I'm not sure how excited Alex would be about getting a closer look at the birds. Zach would probably enjoy it though.

They really should open up a couple teen clubs! Maybe that's a job for you when you retire from teaching.

I love the report so far

Thank you!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sorry I have sort of stalled out again... I don't have the next day actually written yet or I would have posted it by now. I try to write a bunch at a time in Word so I can just copy & paste but I'm behind again. I'll get another update posted this weekend. Next week looks to be another busy one!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Day 7 - Tuesday 4/23

After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts, we were on our way to MK in time for rope drop! The people waiting for rope drop were crazy this morning. I don’t know if my patience was low today or what but it seemed as though there were a ton of people trying to weave through the crowd to get up closer. Hello… we are all here to see the show & enter the park! Did they think we were waiting for something else?










Amidst the madness as we made our way up Main Street.


Today was the first of two days that Zachary’s teacher, Mrs. B, was going to be at Disney. (Mrs. B is married to Mr. B – Alex had both of them as teachers – Zach will most likely have Mr. B for 5th grade. They have a little almost 3 year old daughter.) We knew they had a character breakfast at Cape May but planned to keep in touch by text so we could see them at some point. Zach was very stressed all morning, wondering if/when we were going to get to see them. I was starting to feel like a stalker with my texts!

Our plan was to head to Storybook Circus. First stop…



Second stop:




I think the boys went a second time by themselves:
























Next up… Dumbo!


But first, we had to play. Even though there was no line, we opted to stop in here first.






Continued...​

 

[DisMomAmy]

The boys are definitely on the older side for the play area but they enjoyed it.






I love the water!




And the view from above!




The character tent opens at 9:45. It’s nice to have 45 minutes to get some rides done before having to be over at the tent. There were only a couple people in the line to see the boys and quite a few in the line for the girls so we jumped in the line for Donald & Goofy. By the time we were done visiting with them, there was no line for Minnie & Daisy.

















I love how they take these candid shots in between characters.


Alex was doing his duck call for Donald.
















Continued...​

 

[DisMomAmy]

We stopped in the Big Top Souvenir shop & bought a few small things, including one of my new favorites… a caramel & sugar covered apple, cut up into more manageable pieces. From my receipts, it appears Zach bought a slushie of some kind.
Next we headed over toward the Enchanted Forest area.


























I know... we haven't met the teacher yet, but that's all I have for now! I'll try to get back and post the rest of the morning later this weekend.

​

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Jack LOVES the Barnstormer ride. He would ride all day if I let him. I think he rode three times in a row last trip and then we went back another day and he rode some more.

Love the new character outfits/backgrounds. You got some great PP pictures with characters.

The construction really looks like its coming along. Can't wait to see more of your day.

 

[KatMark]

Amy, I am all caught up again.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the character pictures with Donald, Goofy, Daisy and Minnie...they are wonderful.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Jack LOVES the Barnstormer ride. He would ride all day if I let him. I think he rode three times in a row last trip and then we went back another day and he rode some more.

Love the new character outfits/backgrounds. You got some great PP pictures with characters.

The construction really looks like its coming along. Can't wait to see more of your day.

Alex is that way with Rock 'n' Rollercoaster & Expedition Everest!

The new characters are a lot of fun. We don't usually wait in character lines but if you hit this one right at opening (45 minutes after park opening), there are almost no lines!

I love being able to see the construction! I can't wait to see it done.

Amy, I am all caught up again.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the character pictures with Donald, Goofy, Daisy and Minnie...they are wonderful.

Hi Kathy! Glad you are caught up... I'm so far behind everywhere!

The circus themed characters were a ton of fun!

 

[DisMomAmy]

So far we were having a very productive morning. We had explored Storybook Circus, met some characters & made our way over toward the Enchanted Forest. Next ride...

Under the Sea! (Sorry… the line was going too fast for many pictures.)






This picture seems to be at rope drop??? I think my pictures are all mixed up!






















After going Under the Sea, we headed to Tomorrowland. Tim sat out while I took the boys on Space Mountain.


We stopped in the gift shop to collect our PP picture & Zach bought a bracelet. Receipt says it was 10:45. While in Tomorrowland, we rode Buzz, Stitch, Carousel of Progress, then had lunch at Cosmic Rays. Lunch receipt says 11:40 so we did all Buzz, Stitch & CoP all in less than an hour.




After lunch the Bs still weren’t there! We were getting hot & tired and needed a break soon, but Zach was still really anxious to see them. We knew they were on their way so we decided to explore Fantasyland some more & rode Peter Pan, watched Mickey’s Philharmagic & It’s a Small World.


Still not quite there… we went over to Casey Junior & let the kids get wet. For some reason, Alex really wanted to do this so we promised him we could do it on our way out.
Then finally… The Bs were there & riding the carousel. We made our way over and found them!

I present... Zach & his teacher, Mrs. B! (Notice the wet shirt from Casey Jr.)


They had anticipated arriving much earlier, but didn't realize how difficult it was going to be getting from the Wilderness Lodge over to Cape May at the Beach Club using Disney transportation. They knew you could walk from Epcot to Cape May, but they didn't realize you can't walk there from the front entrance. Not having park hoppers, they couldn't walk through Epcot. I'm not sure how they ended up getting there but they finally made it. They were late for their ADR but had a great meal there. When they finally arrived at MK, they rode a few rides, then left to go back and relax/nap at WL. They had a late dinner with the princesses so they needed to make sure their little girl was well rested!

On the way out we stopped for Dole Whips. I think Tim must have taken Alex on another ride or to find a popsicle because Zach & I were in the Dole Whip line alone. While waiting, he noticed the sign for the fairies that said the line was 60 minutes long. He told me to text Mrs. B and let them know that they shouldn't see the fairies right now. Then a few minutes later, he asked me to text her again to make sure she knew that he wasn't in line for the fairies, that he had just noticed the sign.

We made our way out & stopped at Walgreens for a few things. Receipt says it was 3:04pm. Having stayed at MK longer than planned, we didn’t have much time to rest. We decided to skip the pool & just relaxed in the room. We had a 5:00 ADR at Chef Mickey’s so we enjoyed the showers & AC before it was time to head back out.

Up next... Chef Mickey!
​

 

[eandesmom]

Zach is SO cute about Mrs. B! I love the fairy line story. What a sweet picture! I miss that age. Evan saw his 8th grade honors SS teacher at the gym on sat and was basically hiding from him. He LOVES this teacher but thought it was so WEIRD to see him in real life. LOL!

I am sorry for the belated comments, I read your earlier update on my phone and then never made it back. It is such a pain to comment on the phone and I swear, half the time, it doesn't "take". Very annoying.

Great morning and really great PP shots, I really do love the theming of Storybook circus and the colors and can only imagine how soaked the kids could get. I bet they make a fortune selling towels there.

Long day so far, glad you were able to get out for a little bit and take a break.

 

[KatMark]

Amy, I love the story about Zach and Mrs. B and the text about the fairies. That is just too cute.

You got a lot done in that short amount of time.

 

[MeMom]

What a wonderful update to start my day with! So many good pictures make me feel like I am in Magic Kingdom this 'all-too-soon-before-school-starts' morning. I am far, far behind in my DIS duties, but I picked the right morning to come by here to get a wonderful Magic Kingdom fix.

Zach was so sweet to worry about his teacher getting there and then taking care of her touring plans with wait times when she finally got there.

You got quite a bit in on this magical day.

Alex is looking so teenagery. Unfortunately, that signals the beginning of the temporary stupidity of the parents in your home for the next few years. You don't yet realize how little you really know, and you will wonder at times how you made it to this point without the assistance of your wise teen. Don't worry; when he finishes being a young teenager, you slowly start getting your smartness back. And when he gets in his twenties, you'll become smarter by the year. It's an amazing process!

I really like the Dumbo wait & play area. The girls always enjoy running around in there while waiting for the ride. Sometimes, they would rather stay and play than ride. I'm with you on the water feature - it really adds a certain charm to the ride.

I got pictures of the sideshow characters in March. It's always cool to get characters in new and/or unique outfits.

Candid shots are the best, in my opinion. While the Photopass person is usually busy lining up the perfect shots, I am at the side getting pictures of the chaos.

I think I might have gone with Zach on the slushie purchase. They are refreshing on a hot Disney day.

 

[wiigirl]

Love all your pics!

 

[RachelNinja]

Great updates! I had to laugh when you said Zach needed you to text Mrs. B again to clarify that he wasn't in the fairies line! Too cute!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Yes Amy we are in the world now!! Yay

The 4th was insane! We saw MK fireworks on the 3rd and went to EP on the 4th.
If you don't know what you're doing and don't utilize FP you will be screwed 4th of July wk. it was ok but I don't think I'll be in the parks during that time again for a while.
We are having a great time. We had friends here last week and we are picking up my parents and sister and her family from MCO in about a half hour.

Your Fantasyland morning looked great. My DS12 rode Dumbo last night around 9:30 for the first time since he was 4. It was so fun!!

Loved your pics with the characters. I haven't seen them there. Loved their costumes.

Both my boys would be hiding from their teachers no matter how much they like them. Zach was cute!! Being a teacher, I would have been flattered that he wanted to see me.

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[pwdebbie]

I just found your TR and I have added a link to it here: Trip Reports! ***Official April 2013 thread*** This way, other April trippers will be able to find your TR.

We were there at the same time but I haven't found us in any of your pics yet.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I agree you got a lot done that morning. The story with Zach, the Fairies and Mrs. B is too cute. Great memories there

 

[DisMomAmy]

Zach is SO cute about Mrs. B! I love the fairy line story. What a sweet picture! I miss that age. Evan saw his 8th grade honors SS teacher at the gym on sat and was basically hiding from him. He LOVES this teacher but thought it was so WEIRD to see him in real life. LOL!

I am sorry for the belated comments, I read your earlier update on my phone and then never made it back. It is such a pain to comment on the phone and I swear, half the time, it doesn't "take". Very annoying.

Great morning and really great PP shots, I really do love the theming of Storybook circus and the colors and can only imagine how soaked the kids could get. I bet they make a fortune selling towels there.

Long day so far, glad you were able to get out for a little bit and take a break.

Zach is at a good age right now. Still likes hugs & snuggles but gaining more & more independence every day. Alex has never been a big snuggler but he's still OK with me being nearby which is pretty good for a middle schooler.

I know what you mean about reading on the phone & not getting back to reply... happens to me all the time... or it used to. I haven't had as much DIS time as I'd like lately.

That Casey Jr. water play area has a little too much water if you ask me! The kids really do get very wet... quickly!

Amy, I love the story about Zach and Mrs. B and the text about the fairies. That is just too cute.

You got a lot done in that short amount of time.

Hi Kathy! It was a fun morning at MK! Luckily we caught up with the Bs!

What a wonderful update to start my day with! So many good pictures make me feel like I am in Magic Kingdom this 'all-too-soon-before-school-starts' morning. I am far, far behind in my DIS duties, but I picked the right morning to come by here to get a wonderful Magic Kingdom fix.

Zach was so sweet to worry about his teacher getting there and then taking care of her touring plans with wait times when she finally got there.

You got quite a bit in on this magical day.

Alex is looking so teenagery. Unfortunately, that signals the beginning of the temporary stupidity of the parents in your home for the next few years. You don't yet realize how little you really know, and you will wonder at times how you made it to this point without the assistance of your wise teen. Don't worry; when he finishes being a young teenager, you slowly start getting your smartness back. And when he gets in his twenties, you'll become smarter by the year. It's an amazing process!

I really like the Dumbo wait & play area. The girls always enjoy running around in there while waiting for the ride. Sometimes, they would rather stay and play than ride. I'm with you on the water feature - it really adds a certain charm to the ride.

I got pictures of the sideshow characters in March. It's always cool to get characters in new and/or unique outfits.

Candid shots are the best, in my opinion. While the Photopass person is usually busy lining up the perfect shots, I am at the side getting pictures of the chaos.

I think I might have gone with Zach on the slushie purchase. They are refreshing on a hot Disney day.

Hi MeMom! Glad I could brighten your day! We have four more weeks of summer vacation to go but I know you start back quite a bit earlier than us.

Yes, unfortunately, Alex is turning into a teenager. In many ways he is very young for his age, but in others, he is definitely almost 13!

We had a fun morning at MK. We didn't need to wait in the Dumbo play area (there was no wait for the ride itself) but we wanted to check it out. It is a great addition to Dumbo! We had only ridden Dumbo once or twice before they moved it - the line was just too hard to deal with.

The new character area is fantastic! Lots of great character interaction. I agree that those candid PP pics are great!

I just subbed to your new report & am happy to see I'm only 12 pages behind. I'll get over there to catch up soon.

Love all your pics!

Thank you!!

Great updates! I had to laugh when you said Zach needed you to text Mrs. B again to clarify that he wasn't in the fairies line! Too cute!

That was a very funny moment! He's growing up too & gets embarrassed way too easily now!

Yes Amy we are in the world now!! Yay

The 4th was insane! We saw MK fireworks on the 3rd and went to EP on the 4th.
If you don't know what you're doing and don't utilize FP you will be screwed 4th of July wk. it was ok but I don't think I'll be in the parks during that time again for a while.
We are having a great time. We had friends here last week and we are picking up my parents and sister and her family from MCO in about a half hour.

Your Fantasyland morning looked great. My DS12 rode Dumbo last night around 9:30 for the first time since he was 4. It was so fun!!

Loved your pics with the characters. I haven't seen them there. Loved their costumes.

Both my boys would be hiding from their teachers no matter how much they like them. Zach was cute!! Being a teacher, I would have been flattered that he wanted to see me.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Glad you had fun at WDW over the 4th! I doubt we'll ever be there over the 4th. If I lived nearby I might check it out once to say I've done it but between the heat & the crowds... no thank you! I really like having our trip out in front of us all winter as a reward for making it through!

I love the new Dumbo! It is so much easier to enjoy it now without that awful line it used to have!

I just found your TR and I have added a link to it here: Trip Reports! ***Official April 2013 thread*** This way, other April trippers will be able to find your TR.

We were there at the same time but I haven't found us in any of your pics yet.

Thanks for sharing my link!

I agree you got a lot done that morning. The story with Zach, the Fairies and Mrs. B is too cute. Great memories there

Aside from the stress of when the Bs would arrive, it was a great morning.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm sorry it's been almost three weeks since I last updated... this summer's been a bit more hectic than usual! I just finished typing up the rest of day 7 and all of day 8 so I should have a couple updates this week!

Moving on with Day 7... Chef Mickey & a night at MK!

We had a dinner ADR at Chef Mickey’s at 5:05pm. We arrived in plenty of time. As usual, the food was OK but the characters were great.





















Awful picture of Alex, but photographic proof that we did see Pluto:


















After dinner, stopped at Bayview Gifts. Alex has started collecting vinylmations – he bought Stitch Yoda.

We decided to take the monorail over to MK. We stopped at all of the stops on the way there. We stopped at the Emporium on the way in. My friend, Laura, had been there with her family in February and there was a Minnie that her younger daughter wanted but never bought. It was one of those things where she saw it but didn’t pick it up thinking she’d get back… but didn’t. I took a few pictures of Minnie’s and sent them to Laura for her to confirm which one to buy. I was told she was wearing pink & had a satiny dress. Here’s what I came up with:





Moving on… we made our way up Main Street. Mandatory castle shots:









Continued...​