Food, SQUIRREL, and When We Are Old...A March 2012 TR

[oopsiDAISY]

I can't wait to try the churros! I've had churros before, but I'm sure they taste much much better at Disney So, did you like the schoolbread? I wasn't too blown away by it. But I know lots of people love it. Oh wait, you had it for breakfast, so that will probably be in the next update.

Those Churros with Caramel Sauce were delicous! Honestly, I remember wishing I would have gotten them instead of the caramel popcorn. Yes, my schoolbread review will be in the next update...

Great update! I'm sorry that you didn't love Maelstrom. It's actually a "must" for us. It's not an amazing ride, by any means, but we like it. It's indoors, you're off your feet. What can be better?

Can't wait to see your PP pictures!



I'd love to do movie nights! However, I'm a horrible cook, and DH won't really be interested. .... Stupid missing smilies.... Anyway, I'd REALLY love to do this with DN (who will get her first trip next year), only she doesn't live very close (it's not far either -- but factoring in gas and stuff, yeah...).

If you do movie nights, be sure to take pictures and post them in your PTR!

I was glad I went on Maelstom, you must try everything at least once, right? But we did think it was pretty cheesy. It will not be a must do for us, but we may go on it again if we have time to kill and it has no wait.

I am SO stinking excited about movie nights! It will be a great outlet for my Disney planning addiction! So keep reading to hear plans for our first movie night...

Great update! I can't wait to see the PP pics!

I will try to finish my last Epcot update today or tomorrow, upload the PP pics to photobucket this weekend, and post them next week!

Excellent update! I can't believe I missed it!

Yah - Maelstrom was a "must do" for us this trip too - and when we got off, we wondered why in the world we waited in line for 45 minutes? LOL And school bread was on our must try list, as well, but we never tried it. Oh well, next time.

I love the pics of the kids in Norway - that is a great spot for a Now n' then!

D~

Oh I would have definitely been upset if we had waited 45 minutes for that ride! It was very much like the old Magic Kingdom dark rides. They are worth the wait because they are classics....Maelstrom? Not so much.

So our first movie night theme will be.......

PETER PAN!!!

My planning mode has kicked into high gear again, so you all get to be subject to my ramblings!

Movie: Peter Pan
Food: Pirate Pizza Boats (french bread pizza w/ jolly roger on a skewer)
Fruit Swords (kabobs)
Pixe Dust Punch (green punch topped with whipped cream and green sugar sprinkles)
Activity: Treasure Hunt (treasure map leading to a treasure chest filled with chocolate coins, beads and nestle treasures candy)

Gabe got a pirate hat and sword from Pirates of the Caribbean that I will use to decorate the table. Brian is going to make newspaper pirate hats for the kids. BFF and her daughter are joining us. BFF is as excited about it as I am! (BTW- they plan to go back to WDW in Oct 2013 too and they always stay at POFQ! I can totally see a dual countdown going! ) I have printed out graphics for 10 other movies that I will fold and put into a bowl. At the end of the evening, the kids will draw one out and it will be our movie night theme for the next one. I hope our first one goes well. I will be sure to photo document the evening to share with all my disfriends!

 

[DMGeurts]

Oopsi!!! That sounds so awesome!!! I wish I had that much time to be creative like that!!

D~ <--- Who is hoping you'll invite her and her family to dinner.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Oopsi!!! That sounds so awesome!!! I wish I had that much time to be creative like that!!

D~ <--- Who is hoping you'll invite her and her family to dinner.

Hey, I am just stealing other people's ideas and tweaking them a little. Last time I checked YOU were designing the most awesome UPB's known to man, and backed up with orders because they are such a hot item!

I just had the greatest idea!!! Would you and your family like to join us for our first movie night Saturday night? Our house is easy to find, just head south out of Minnesota and hang a left at Arkansas. Dinner is at 6:30 sharp. You may want to leave tonight...

 

[DMGeurts]

That is spectacular Oopsi! Unfortunately, we are having our progressive dinner on Friday night... So, I won't be able to leave until Saturday morning... I'll txt you when I am getting close.

D~

 

[oopsiDAISY]

That is spectacular Oopsi! Unfortunately, we are having our progressive dinner on Friday night... So, I won't be able to leave until Saturday morning... I'll txt you when I am getting close.

D~

Awesome, we'll keep dinner warm until you get here!

I just had the coolest thing happen! I am in training all day today. I notice a co-worker with a Magic Kingdom wallpaper on her laptop and a mickey laptop case. We got to talking and she and her husband are Disney freaks too! AND, they stay at POR too! AND they are Dis lurkers...so, WDWDreaming06, if you are lurking on my TR now....WELCOME!!!

 

[Lidian]

Peter Pan! I can't wait to see pics and hear the official details! I love the movie theme nights!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Peter Pan! I can't wait to see pics and hear the official details! I love the movie theme nights!

I am really looking forward to it. I just went to the "tree that grows dollars" and got some stuff for it. So fun!

I will be back next week with PP pictures of our Epcot day as well as a full report of how our movie night went. Have a great weekend friends!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Our movie night went great! I will be back tomorrow to post pictures and a full update on it. In the meantime, would you like to see some Epcot day photopass pictures?

 

[teetee830]

What great pictures. The last one is really good. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Those came put great !!

 

[DMGeurts]

I love your photopass pictures Oopsi!!! Honestly - the one in front of SSE at night is fabulous!! You all look sooooo happy!

Can't wait to see the rest of them!

D~

 

[sandym718]

Great pictures!!

 

[Moira222]

Hi OopsiDaisy! I saw your TR link & had to follow it over to see what SQUIRREL was all about! I've seen your links on Lidian's TR (when I show up) so had to read on.

I LOVE the video of your kids with their surprise. I absolutely got teary and they were just so so so happy and surprised and thrilled. GREAT JOB to mom & dad!

I have heard that there are a few places in downtown disney where dining plan folks don't give the best service. Do these servers not realize that they are creating their own issue? bad service = bad tip! You are a good soul to have tipped well despite the horrible service received. I spent a lot of years in food service, so always try to tip well for good service, but can be snippy if service is bad.

Did you find gratuity envelopes on the CreativeDISigns here? I have tip envelopes for Mousekeeping but like the idea of ones for restaurants!

SO glad to see your review of the restaurant in France because we are going there for our 20th wedding anniversary dinner!!! I was torn between the french onion & the lobster bisque, two of my favs, so now I know to go with french onion. and braised ribs!!! My DH is currently planning to order the half chicken so he will be glad to know you enjoyed it---the potatoes look yummy!!!

LOVE the pearl settings -- when DD and I picked pearls last year, hers was much bigger than mine as well. We talked her out of a ring setting because she is so young, her hand will grow. She agreed to put her pearl in a cage, and wait till she is done growing then she can do a ring, or earrings, or go enough times to have them strung!

Fabulous pictures from photo pass! We never manage to catch the character photo stop in Epcot - usually the line is too long and my DD refuses to wait in a long line for characters, she'd rather be going on rides! Guess I will have to wait alone this year so that I can get a t-shirt signed for her (she is not going so mom & dad can have some grown up time )

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

What great pictures. The last one is really good. Thanks for sharing.

Garsh, awful sweet of ya. Thanks!

Those came put great !!

Thank you!

I love your photopass pictures Oopsi!!! Honestly - the one in front of SSE at night is fabulous!! You all look sooooo happy!

Can't wait to see the rest of them!

D~

Awww, thanks D~! Disney really is our happy place!

Great pictures!!

Thanks so much Sandy! And I can not thank you enough for doing the PP share. We have never done PP at all before due to the high cost. Your time and sacrifice to pull it all together was truly a great gift for our family! Thank you!

Hi OopsiDaisy! I saw your TR link & had to follow it over to see what SQUIRREL was all about! I've seen your links on Lidian's TR (when I show up) so had to read on.

I LOVE the video of your kids with their surprise. I absolutely got teary and they were just so so so happy and surprised and thrilled. GREAT JOB to mom & dad!

I have heard that there are a few places in downtown disney where dining plan folks don't give the best service. Do these servers not realize that they are creating their own issue? bad service = bad tip! You are a good soul to have tipped well despite the horrible service received. I spent a lot of years in food service, so always try to tip well for good service, but can be snippy if service is bad.

Did you find gratuity envelopes on the CreativeDISigns here? I have tip envelopes for Mousekeeping but like the idea of ones for restaurants!

SO glad to see your review of the restaurant in France because we are going there for our 20th wedding anniversary dinner!!! I was torn between the french onion & the lobster bisque, two of my favs, so now I know to go with french onion. and braised ribs!!! My DH is currently planning to order the half chicken so he will be glad to know you enjoyed it---the potatoes look yummy!!!

LOVE the pearl settings -- when DD and I picked pearls last year, hers was much bigger than mine as well. We talked her out of a ring setting because she is so young, her hand will grow. She agreed to put her pearl in a cage, and wait till she is done growing then she can do a ring, or earrings, or go enough times to have them strung!

Fabulous pictures from photo pass! We never manage to catch the character photo stop in Epcot - usually the line is too long and my DD refuses to wait in a long line for characters, she'd rather be going on rides! Guess I will have to wait alone this year so that I can get a t-shirt signed for her (she is not going so mom & dad can have some grown up time )

Looking forward to reading more!

WELCOME!!! So glad to have you join the party! Yes, we were quite proud of ourselves for pulling off the surprise, and very proud of our kids for showing genuine gratitude for it! We have tried so hard to teach them to truly appreciate ALL good things in life.

We did not enjoy our experience at RR. I am quite sure we will never return even though it normally gets great reviews. Chefs de France, however, is at the top of our list for fabulous Disney restaurants. It will be a GREAT place to celebrate your anniversary!!!

We loved doing pick a pearl. You are probably making a better decision for your DD regarding waiting to get the ring. Charity LOVES jewelry and rings. Her finger may grow, but maybe we can get the ring sized if need be in the future. Honestly, I just didn't even think that far in advance. When I get to Disney, logic and reasoning go out the window to make room for fantasy!

We never want to wait in line for character autographs or pictures either. We do character meals for that purpose. This particular evening, we were on our way out of the park when we noticed the short wait time for Character Spot, so we just jumped in and did it. I am glad we did. We got some great pictures.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I finally have time to share our movie night with you! It has been a crazy week. I work at a local university and we have had graduation and end of semester stuff to deal with. Movie night went GREAT! The kids loved it, and BFF has already been talking about doing the next one in June. So, without further ado, let's look at some pictures...

I made and invitation to give everyone a few nights before the big event:

I used Gabe's pirate stuff to decorate the table. He got the hat and sword at Magic Kingdom. The bandana was from our Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage. The treasure chest is Gabe's also. I emptied his stuff from it and put candy, beads, and plastic rings in it. We later hid it for the treasure hunt. I also got some glow wands for the kids (you can see them in the background):

Our treasure map is the brown paper rolled up in the forground:

Before we got started with our movie and food, we had the treasure hunt. Here are the kids with ye old treasure map:

Love this picture and Gabe and BFF's DD:

Looking to see what's in the treasure chest:

Now it was time to head in for the movie and some great food:

I had a bowl full of movie graphics for them to draw from to determine what our next movie will be. And our next movie night theme will be......

 

[DMGeurts]

OH WOW!!! Oopsi - this is incredible!!!! I seriously should have made the drive! How creative you truly are!

D~

 

[oopsiDAISY]

OH WOW!!! Oopsi - this is incredible!!!! I seriously should have made the drive! How creative you truly are!

D~

Thanks, D~! I really do enjoy doing things like this for my children. Brian was really getting into it too. We are truly looking forward to doing these movie nights every month. You are welcome to join us for Mulan! ;-D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time to return to our regularly scheduled Trip Report!

DAY 3, MARCH 10, 2012

***I need to warn you ahead of time that this update will be slim on pictures. I apologize in advance!***

This day started so early it wasn't "bright" and early...still dark out. When planning our trip this was going to be our no-park day. Our dinner ADR was planned as a late dinner at a resort, and the plan was to spend the day at POR by the pool. After getting to WDW we decided on a slightly different plan... This day we would be hitting Hollywood Studios for the 7 AM rope drop...that's right, rope drop at 7 am!!! Remember, we are the family that closed Epcot down at midnight the night before. Ambitious goal? Yep. Are we crazy? You don't EVEN know! The plan was to get up early on this day to get Gabe to Jedi Training Academy and do the TSM mad dash, so that on our previously planned HS day we could tour the park at a more relaxed pace.

So we all crawled out of bed at 6am. We had showered the night before, and the kids had even gotten dressed and slept in their clothes so that all they had to do was roll out, brush teeth and hair, and head for the bus stop. We got up and headed out.

I grabbed the to-go container holding that precious school bread for us to eat on the bus, you know~this school bread:

Remember? I got two of them for all of us to share.

So I grabbed it and headed out the door...um, big messy school bread + no utensils in the room = take LOTS of napkins and wolf it down caveman style. It had SO MUCH custard on the inside. I am sure it was probably pretty gross watching me eat that thing, but it was SOOOOOO GOOOD!!!!! I will definitely get it again for another breakfast treat, BUT I will make sure to take utensils to the room with me next time too!

We arrived at HS ready to split up: Brian and Gabe were heading left to sign up for JTA and the girls and I would veer right to run in the TSM dash...only there were NO crowds to run with. I am here to tell you that 7 am is the BEST time to get to HS!!!

We got over to Pixar Place and I called Brian immediately and told him there was NO LINE FOR FASTPASSES and the line for the cue was not even out the door!!!! Folks, this was our lucky day! I picked up the fast passes for TSM. After the boys got signed up for JTA, we all decided to try out the new Star Tours...yeah, this took priority over the short wait time at TSM! LOL!!!! We REALLY enjoyed it and were looking forward to doing it again on our next HS day. Leaving Start Tours, one of the CM's commented that crowds were predicted to be at capacity that day!

We headed over to TSM to take advantage of the low crowd levels.We had about a 10-15 minute wait, but we met another family waiting in line. It was their first time, and we got to talking about all the planning it takes. The wife and Brian and I chuckled at how the husband was clueless going into the planning process just how time consuming it is and how you have to make those dining ressies so far in advance. She had a friend that "coached" her through the process. They were really nice, and she was already telling him about how they would have to come every year now (he thought it was a "once in a lifetime" trip, yeah right!). We really enjoyed visiting with them in line. Then we took each other's pictures in front of Mr. Potato Head:

After leaving TSM we decided that I would do R&RC with Jillian, then Brian would do ToT with her. On our second HS day we would switch. So Brian and the little ones walked around and browsed gift shops while Jillian and I rode, then the kids and I walked around and browsed gift shops while Jillian and Brian rode. Brian got a great shot of ToT:

Then it was time for JTA. Gabe was READY for this. This is his favorite thing about Disney now. He really enjoyed it last year. The girls did it last year, but decided to opt out this year. Here are our pictures of the event:

Our little padowan!

In training.

UH OH~here comes Vader!

But alas, that is NOT who Gabe will be fighting...

THIS is the nemesis Gabe will take on:

You get him little buddy!

Yes, Vader and Maul were defeated and none of the padowans would move to the dark side. It was a great day for the Jedi!

After JTA we used our fastpasses for TSM. Then it was time to decide what to do for lunch. HS just doesn't have any stand out selections for CS...or TS either for that matter. On our March 2011 trip we had done Pizza Planet, so I was hoping for something different this time. You should also know that I do not like pizza. My family all knows this, but I also know they love it and therefore I give in many times so that they can enjoy it. Anywho, it was time to decide where to eat lunch...so the conversation went a little like this:

Me: What should we do for lunch:

Kids: Pizza Planet!!!"

Me: How about ABC Commissary?

Brian:We at there when we were here before (ahem, that would have been in 2006!)

Kids: Pizza Planet!!!

Me: Backlot Express?

Brian: We ate there last year (we DID eat there on our second HS day last year)

Me: Well, what do you suggest? (said to Brian, not the kids)

Kids: PIZZA PLANET!!!!!!

Brian: Well, we could just eat at Pizza Planet again.

Okay, FINE!!! We had lunch at Pizza Planet...with Brian promising me and warning the kids that we will NOT go there again on on next HS day or even on our next trip. Yeah, I probably should have gotten that in writing...

After lunch and all of our morning must do's being done we headed out of the park...at noon. Remember the CM prediction about crowd levels? Well, as we were walking OUT of the park, we were sooooo glad we were leaving...the parking lot was packed, the busses were rolling in one after another dumping our loads and loads of CHEERLEADERS!!! We had made a wise choice to make it a short HS day. We certainly did take advantage of our EMH's though. By noon this is what we had done:

TSM-twice
ToT
R&R
Star Tours
JTA
Lunch at Pizza Planet

I would say that is a pretty fabulous half day! We headed back to POR for a nap and some pool time before it was time for dinner.

Here is my biggest regret of the trip: I took no pictures at dinner...and we had dinner with some very special people. We had dinner at Ohana with my cousin and her two daughters. We had late reservations (8:30 pm), and still ended up having to wait 45 minutes to be seated!!! By the time we were called to our table it was well after 9pm. We were extremely hungry and children were starting to get tired. She is a BIG picture taker, she didn't even get any pictures.

We thoroughly enjoyed the food at Ohana's, and the kids loved doing the hula and coconut races. We had a great evening visiting with her and the girls.

I now want to tell you one of our funniest moments at WDW. My cousin (I will call her DC) is married to a former astronaut. She is my age, and he is a MUCH older man...like 40 yrs older than her. Anyhow, I will not mention his name, but he is the real deal. I googled his name to verify it when they were dating. DC's hubby has been on SIX, count them SIX, space missions. He helped do repairs on the Hubble telescope for goodness sakes. He was not able to join us for dinner since he had just gotten home from a weeklong international trip and was just tired. I HAVE met him though, because he has been to some of our family reunions.

Anyhow, we were telling DC about our day at Epcot. Brian told her how queasy MS made him. She proceeded to tell us the BEST Mission Space story EVER!!!!

So, when DC and her astronaut had been dating for about a month he took her to Epcot for her birthday. MS had just opened up, so she asked him if he had ridden it yet. "I haven't ridden it, but I helped design it." For real? Yep! She dragged him on it...and HE GOT SICK! The man that had actually been to outerspace got sick on Mission Space!!!!

I just loved that story...so Lidian, tell your DH he still could have made a good astronaut. Don't let Mission Space make him feel like less of a man!

That was the end of a great day at Disney. Day 4 would be our LONGEST day at WDW...

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I had a great Mother's Day weekend. My Mother's Day gift was ordered last week, and it came in the mail Saturday...well, most of it. Brian ordered me the Disney family car decals. The problem was that the online Disney store was out of little boys!??? So, he had to order "Gabriel" from ebay. The rest of the family came in on Saturday, and Gabe just came in today. Here is our Disney Family:

And just for fun~ here is the license plate I have had on the front of our car since our trip in March 2011:

Saturday we started our fun with lunch at Chic fil A , and then we finally got to go to Opry Mills. It had been closed for two years due to the Nashville floods in 2010, and reopened about a month ago. It is so much better now! All of the children's and family stores are together in their own wing of the mall.

We visited the Disney store. We got the kids some stuff. Gabe got a Mickey ball cap. Charity got a Minnie t-shirt and Mickey flip flops, and Jillian picked out a Mickey beach towel:

We also visited the Lego store....that store is so much fun!!! The kids had a ball playing with the Legos and the Lego computer games. Then we bought some Lego sets for them. We played in the "musical" playground in the middle of the mall, and had some ice cream.

After we got home, we had a junk food dinner (Hamburger Helper, which I VERY RARELY make), and watched Horton Hears a Who. It truly was a great day, and the kids went on and on about how much fun it was.

They played with the new Lego sets all weekend, and have grand plans now of expanding their Lego collection. Brian is making plans now to build a hobby table for them.

 

[Lidian]

I'm totally coming to your movie nights. Can we go back in time so I can attend the last one?

Loving your updates! I told DH the story, and he was all "How did he get sick????? Nasa does way worse stuff to them than that." I told him that he doesn't know all the variables. Leave it to him to ruin a hilarious story.

Waiting for more!

 

[solana131]

Love the decals I'm going to have to check those out in July!