From the World of Adults to the World of Kids, Fifth Birthday Trip is Over!!

[shan23877]

Hope you had a great Mother's Day Kimberly!

 

[kmedina]

Wow! Just found your TR and love it....and can't believe you have so many other Disney trips planned already!!! What line of work does your husband do and are they hiring??!!

Thank you. The trips are pre-planned. I am just amazed that Crap agreed to let our next six vacations be Disney ones. When I asked him, I fully expected him to cut me off after three or four. It shocked me so much that he kept agreeing, so I kept asking him for more. After six, I thought I should stop pre-planning. I do not know if I can go that long without going back to Disneyland in Anaheim. This coming trip will be Xander's sixth trip there. We all love it there.

It will take me quite some time to complete all of them. Right now, the only one that is close is Disneyland. Disneyworld is not until October 2013. There is no set time frame for the others. As long as we take the Paris Disneyland trip before the boys passports expire, I will be happy. I wish I could take them all soon, but we need time to save and plan for them. That would be nice if DH could just pay for these trips without planning and saving, but that is not the case.

Hope you had a great Mother's Day Kimberly!

Thanks Shannon. I hope you had a great Mother's Day as well. Mine was nice. Connor actually had his first really rough dinner ever! There was only one other time prior to that when he did not calm down right away, but even then it did not last too long. Crap and I spent almost half the time we were there walking him around the restaurant. I am not complaining, because having one rough dinner in 10 months is a lot easier than when Xander was a baby.

 

[kmedina]

We got back to the room with enough time to dress for the next event. It was cold in Vegas when we left, so I mostly packed for cold weather. This day, we were in our summer clothes, since it was our “beach day”. Crap reminded me that we had been overdressing all week. Many nights I was carrying sweatshirts and jackets with Connor while Crap carried the stroller and all the bags on our rides back to the hotel. He is right, I thought. Taking his advice, we headed out in the clothes we wore earlier in the day. All week we were hot, so we were finally going to get this day right.

We walked down to the dock, which was right near the building we were staying in. For the first time all trip, we were finally going to take a ferry to the park. It was really a convenient walk. There was a wait for the ferry, but we expected nothing less. It was right around 4pm by the time we arrived at the Magic Kingdom. That was perfectly timed. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party starts admitting people right at 4pm. By the time we made our way through security and to the front, it was time to enter the park. We collected our party wristbands and made our way to our very early dinner. Of course, we stopped for photos along the way.

Did anyone notice that it was not very busy in front of the castle for 4pm? That is because it was windy and raining! We were so cold. Luckily Connor fell asleep on the ferry ride over and Xander was hiding in the stroller. It took a few test shots before you can even see his face in the Photopass pictures. Crap did not even want to stop, but I wanted the pictures in front of the castle in the daylight with the Christmas decorations. Disney only puts them out for the Christmas parties. There are other things that they only put out for the parties, which I will address later.

After pictures, we rushed to the restaurant. Everyone else had the same idea as the rain really started to pour. It was a mad house. The castle entrance was blocked off too, so everyone was looking for refuge to the left or right of the castle. We chose the left, but we needed to keep moving. People were literally stopped in the few covered walking paths. This was very difficult to navigate with a double stroller in the rain. Despite taking a while to get through everyone, we arrived at the check in line a minute early for our 4:15pm reservation. There was barely any room under cover to park the stroller, since so many people had theirs parked there. We made a spot and got into the longest check in line we encountered while we were there.

After almost 20 minutes, we were finally checked in to Cinderella’s Royal Table. It took a lot of patience to get through that line. The lady behind me was screaming unkind things at the staff for the wait, and the party directly in front of me had some kind of issue as well. That party took almost five minutes to check in. I was trying to stay out of all of it, but it was hard being sandwiched in between the madness. If my assumption is correct, the restaurant “misplaced” the reservation for the party of nine in front of us. They did have a reservation number handy but were unwilling to leave the line unless their reservation was honored. About five minutes later, they were admitted into the restaurant. The screaming lady behind me was expressing her displeasure with the fact that they were entertaining someone who did not have a reservation and ignoring the people who did. At one point, the lady behind me asked if we had a reservation. It was a weird question, but I informed her we did. She then said if I did not go around the people who did not, she would.

When we entered the restaurant, the only people in front of us to see Cinderella were the missing reservation party. The mad lady from behind me entered with her party and managed to get their pictures taken with Cinderella before we did by squeezing through us at the knight of armor. After we got our pictures, we waited on the bench like we did the previous time to be called upstairs. Crap noticed that everyone else was just walking straight up and suggested we do that as well. They were ready to seat us when we walked up, so it was odd that no one ever told us to walk up. This was only our second time there, so we were not sure which way the restaurant usually operated (do people walk straight up or to sit down and wait to be called).

The angry lady from behind us in line was already seated at the table right next to us. Lovely I thought. Maybe, she was just cranky and needed to eat, because she was very kind once seated. She even complimented us later on how adorable the boys were. Then, she asked us about the Christmas Party as if the incident out front never happened. Maybe, she felt bad about her behavior and was trying to be nice to make up for it. From the moment we entered the check in line until we were seated, it was a little over 30 minutes. That is half the time it took to get seated at Mama Melrose’s, so that part was not too bad. After the whole ordeal, we were in our seats and happy to get started with the meal.

A little backstory for those who do not already know is that Crap does not like to do girly things, since we have boys. The first time we were in the castle was nearly two years prior to this. My sister wanted to take her daughters to dine there, and I wanted to go there as well. Crap kept saying we should not go, because Xander is a boy. He finally agreed, since my nieces are girls and we were dining with them. I reminded him that I am a girl and like to do girly things myself. This trip, I insisted that as a girl I want to dine in the castle. On top of that, Xander had a great time in the castle the last time we were there. The princesses really responded well to him. Aurora was amazing with him and even called him a ladies man. It was an awesome experience. I was curious to see if Xander would love it again and how Connor would do with it. Right off the bat, we were happy to see a familiar face.

Our server from the previous trip was a very nice lady named Keir. My niece Keira was so excited that their names were so close. They both got a kick out of it. We were happy when she approached our table this trip, because she really is a delight. I asked her if I could take a picture of her, so I could text it to my sister. She said I could. As usual, she took really great care of us. All of the servers at WDW are good, but she really is a star.

My little artist was happily coloring. The special Christmas Party menus and guides were out. We were trying to plan our night. The only things on my must list were Holiday Wishes, dancing with Woody, getting Christmas cookies, getting special Christmas party souvenirs and meeting at least one character that is not usually out during regular hours. Crap and I are not parade people, so we both decided to skip that. After Keir took our orders, the princesses started coming around.

Snow White was the first to come around. She approached Connor first, and as usual he tried to figure her out. Xander was happy to see her and actually got out of his chair to greet her. Connor was warming up to the pretty ladies while Xander was already enjoying his time there.

Aurora came around next. Xander enjoyed her so much on that last trip. Would it be as magical this time? She tried, but it was not as magical as the previous trip…with Xander that is. Connor was taken with her immediately. What is it about Aurora’s first meeting with my boys? He was smitten, but he had her smitten as well with his stories.

He even tried to grab her hand.

Ariel approached Connor, and he was very receptive to her.

He started by showing her his tattoo.

Then, he tried to play it cool.

He reengaged her just as Xander was trying to get her attention.

Xander got her attention now, but Connor was not ready to give up.

So, he reaches up and says hello. She said goodbye.

Xander jumped out of his chair when Belle approached the table. He was so happy to see her.

Connor was happy to see her as well. He reached up and grabbed her hand to tell her all about it.

After making them both happy, she said goodbye to my boys.

Connor had made a lot of progress in the high chair, since our first night there. He actually sat in the chair for the majority of this meal.

Then, it was time for the celebration. Xander received yet another birthday cupcake. It made him happy, and he loved the card they gave him.

Both boys loved everything about the dinner. They could not get enough of the princesses, and it seemed like they could not get enough of my boys either. My little lady killers had a great time there. I was glad that this was a hit again and am planning on doing it again on our next trip whether I have a daughter by then or not. When they enjoy it that much, who cares if they are boys or girls? Our night was off to a great start. After a long stop in the restroom to change Connor, we were off to start partying.

 

[shan23877]

Yay!! I'm so glad that the boys had fun! That means you get to go back!

Once at CRT we've been told to walk right up, once we've been told to wait at the benches.

Such cute pictures of the boys. We had that same Ariel at CRT last trip!

I can't believe that way people act. It's frustrating for everyone when there's huge line, there's really no need to act like that. It just makes everyone more tense.

Can't wait to hear more about the party!!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

We may or may not ask for WoC passes when we dine at CC. If we do not get WCT for Connor's birthday or are in the mood for extra appetizers or dessert anyway, we will ask. It could be as little as $8 extra dollars, since desserts work too. The CM said the desserts start at $8.

PIO does not post a lot of pictures of her family either for HKDL, but I still like hers as well. It is just a different way to tell the story. Looking at the attractions is cool too. Crap and I rarely remember to get the shots that are so great in yours. Xander is excited about Disneyland. I am not great at keeping things like that (although I love watching others get surprised at the last minute). Hopefully, Connor has a great time too. Kids usually get a little harder each trip the older they get until they reach about four,so we'll see how it goes.

Xander really did like the pirate cruise and tea party. We all enjoyed the beach and pool.

Thanks.

I see. It will be exciting to eat at CC when it opens this summer.

It is fun to take as many pics of the buildings, rides, etc. when I go to the parks. Glad to hear that Xander is looking forward to the DL trip next month. It does get tough when kids get older and they don't enjoy going to the Disney parks when they get older. My brother was a big fan of Disney when he was young, but now he doesn't care for it too much today like back then.

That is good to hear that he liked the pirate cruise and tea party and enjoyed the beach and pool at the GF. It must have been a very warm day to go to the beach and pool that day after doing all those activities at the GF.

Excited to hear about your day at MVMCP. I was going to ask you if the monorails were running that day during MVMCP. You said that there monorails were having problems during your visit, I was going to ask that both monorail lines were running during MVMCP. I remember when I did MVMCP in December that the Resort line was running and the express line was not running that night. It was just mayhem at the resort line as well as the ferry going back to the T&TC. That exclusive party is not that bad when I did it in 2010 and 2011. But the 2010 was very bad because it was very windy and cold that day. When I did the party last year on the 14th, it was a perfect day to spend at the MK for MVMCP. That is a very nice pic where you and your family took a picture in front of Cinderella Castle.

I'm sorry to hear about the rude guests in the queue at the same time for CRT. People have no patience of waiting in the queue for the rides and for dining reservations. I have seen a lot of people like that all the time at the Disney parks and don't like it one bit. It is disappointing that the queue for a ride or reservations would take that long, but you can't act like that in front of other guests and would give you a bad reputation. I always try to stay positive and the queue would move along.

Great pictures of your kids with the Disney princesses at the CRT.

 

[kmedina]

Yay!! I'm so glad that the boys had fun! That means you get to go back!

Once at CRT we've been told to walk right up, once we've been told to wait at the benches.

Such cute pictures of the boys. We had that same Ariel at CRT last trip!

I can't believe that way people act. It's frustrating for everyone when there's huge line, there's really no need to act like that. It just makes everyone more tense.

Can't wait to hear more about the party!!!

I love dining in the castle and am hoping we do it on most of our future trips. Hopefully, Crap does not object too much.

The first time we were told to wait. The second time nobody said anything after we take our picture. It was weird.

We got some great shots. Ariel was my favorite this trip to CRT even though Connor may have enjoyed Aurora the most.

The people in front of me were not very nice either demanding a seat despite no reservation number, but the lady behind me should not have gotten involved. Dragging me into it was the part that irritated me, but I kept my cool with her. My kids were there, and I was not going to let her affect our mood.

I am excited to write about the party, tomorrow hopefully.

I see. It will be exciting to eat at CC when it opens this summer.

It is fun to take as many pics of the buildings, rides, etc. when I go to the parks. Glad to hear that Xander is looking forward to the DL trip next month. It does get tough when kids get older and they don't enjoy going to the Disney parks when they get older. My brother was a big fan of Disney when he was young, but now he doesn't care for it too much today like back then.

That is good to hear that he liked the pirate cruise and tea party and enjoyed the beach and pool at the GF. It must have been a very warm day to go to the beach and pool that day after doing all those activities at the GF.

Excited to hear about your day at MVMCP. I was going to ask you if the monorails were running that day during MVMCP. You said that there monorails were having problems during your visit, I was going to ask that both monorail lines were running during MVMCP. I remember when I did MVMCP in December that the Resort line was running and the express line was not running that night. It was just mayhem at the resort line as well as the ferry going back to the T&TC. That exclusive party is not that bad when I did it in 2010 and 2011. But the 2010 was very bad because it was very windy and cold that day. When I did the party last year on the 14th, it was a perfect day to spend at the MK for MVMCP. That is a very nice pic where you and your family took a picture in front of Cinderella Castle.

I'm sorry to hear about the rude guests in the queue at the same time for CRT. People have no patience of waiting in the queue for the rides and for dining reservations. I have seen a lot of people like that all the time at the Disney parks and don't like it one bit. It is disappointing that the queue for a ride or reservations would take that long, but you can't act like that in front of other guests and would give you a bad reputation. I always try to stay positive and the queue would move along.

Great pictures of your kids with the Disney princesses at the CRT.

I am the most excited about eating at Minnie and Friends, since it will be Connor's first time with our tradition. Hopefully, CC will be nice, because I am excited for that too. Disney Dining called me today and said they can seat our party of 35 at 1pm on Connor's birthday at WCT. The time is not what I wanted, but I am just happy we have all of the ADRs set. Our guest list is up to 31 as of today. I just hope no more than 35 want to come, since Disney does not want to book more than 35 people. We were bad and still have not booked a hotel. It was a very busy weekend.

I hope Xander stays into Disney when he gets older. There were quite a few years where I lost my Disney interest. When Crap booked our honeymoon to Disneyworld, I was disappointed at first. We had a great time, and now I am pre-planning our 10 year anniversary next year. After Xander's birth and his first trip at 4 months, I became a Disney fanatic again. Now, he is disappointed that most of our trips are to Disney. He cannot dislike it too much, since he agreed to have our next six there though.

It was warm during the daytime. The evening right around 4pm through the rest of the night was a different story. I will touch on that some more. This was the only evening the whole trip that it rained, was cold and windy. It also happened to be the only day that we went to the park in shorts!

The monorail was running when we left for the park, but we did not take it. The boat dock was much closer to our room. It was not running when we left. I will touch on this more when I get to that part of the night. We only rode the monorail twice the whole trip. Once on the way to breakfast at The Contemporary, and once on the way to the Magic Kingdom the first time we went there this trip. That was it despite staying at a monorail resort. It was disappointing.

Thanks. Even though it was cold and raining, I like our MK Castle picture too.

I usually keep my cool so much around rude people in lines that I do not even mention it to anyone. The only two times the whole trip that I was really bothered by people was the lady at MBYBB who kept bumping me and pushed Connor's head into the table and this lady. Both affected me, but I did not let either of them know it. With the first lady, I simply moved to the other side of the table without saying anything to her.

This lady was harder to ignore since she was directly talking to me. I was polite when I answered her questions but refused to do what she wanted me to. Even though I never spoke to the people in front of me in that line, I wonder why they did not have a reservation number. It is possible they just did not bring it, but a part of me thinks the lady behind me was correct in her assumption that they never had one and were trying to bully their way into the restauarant. Whatever the case, they were admitted.


I love the pictures we got at CRT. Thank you. We all had a great time there, so it was a great experience and worth the drama we had to witness before entering.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I am the most excited about eating at Minnie and Friends, since it will be Connor's first time with our tradition. Hopefully, CC will be nice, because I am excited for that too. Disney Dining called me today and said they can seat our party of 35 at 1pm on Connor's birthday at WCT. The time is not what I wanted, but I am just happy we have all of the ADRs set. Our guest list is up to 31 as of today. I just hope no more than 35 want to come, since Disney does not want to book more than 35 people. We were bad and still have not booked a hotel. It was a very busy weekend.

I hope Xander stays into Disney when he gets older. There were quite a few years where I lost my Disney interest. When Crap booked our honeymoon to Disneyworld, I was disappointed at first. We had a great time, and now I am pre-planning our 10 year anniversary next year. After Xander's birth and his first trip at 4 months, I became a Disney fanatic again. Now, he is disappointed that most of our trips are to Disney. He cannot dislike it too much, since he agreed to have our next six there though.

It was warm during the daytime. The evening right around 4pm through the rest of the night was a different story. I will touch on that some more. This was the only evening the whole trip that it rained, was cold and windy. It also happened to be the only day that we went to the park in shorts!

The monorail was running when we left for the park, but we did not take it. The boat dock was much closer to our room. It was not running when we left. I will touch on this more when I get to that part of the night. We only rode the monorail twice the whole trip. Once on the way to breakfast at The Contemporary, and once on the way to the Magic Kingdom the first time we went there this trip. That was it despite staying at a monorail resort. It was disappointing.

Thanks. Even though it was cold and raining, I like our MK Castle picture too.

I usually keep my cool so much around rude people in lines that I do not even mention it to anyone. The only two times the whole trip that I was really bothered by people was the lady at MBYBB who kept bumping me and pushed Connor's head into the table and this lady. Both affected me, but I did not let either of them know it. With the first lady, I simply moved to the other side of the table without saying anything to her.

This lady was harder to ignore since she was directly talking to me. I was polite when I answered her questions but refused to do what she wanted me to. Even though I never spoke to the people in front of me in that line, I wonder why they did not have a reservation number. It is possible they just did not bring it, but a part of me thinks the lady behind me was correct in her assumption that they never had one and were trying to bully their way into the restauarant. Whatever the case, they were admitted.


I love the pictures we got at CRT. Thank you. We all had a great time there, so it was a great experience and worth the drama we had to witness before entering.

That make sense since you eat at Minnie and Friends as your traditional sit down restaurant. Hopefully Connor first time at Minnie and Friends will be a great one. It will be very interesting to how the food will be at the CC restaurant. If the executive chef at Napa Rose restaurant come up with the menu, I would assume that the food will be very nice. I have never ate at NR, but from what I have heard from the other DISers, the food at CC restaurant should be amazing. Glad to hear that you got your reservations at WCT for all 35 party members. That many people for one reservation is not easy to do so at least you got a reservation at WCT for Connor's birthday. There is still time to get a nice hotel for your stay.

Sometimes there could be a great deal at the last second for a room during your trip. I just don't like to book a room at the last second since the room that I want to stay is not available or price jump up.

Hope that Xander would still be a Disney fan when he gets older. It all worked out so well when Crap took you to WDW for your honeymoon. I was a huge DL fan when I was a young child, but when I was a young adult I just lost interested in DL for awhile. Then I have been going to DL a lot the last couple of years and got interested again in going back to DL & WDW. Congratulations on your 10th anniversary next year. Xander is a young kid and will appreciate it when you go on these Disney trips.

Weather in Orlando can change dramatically during a day which turned to be great and all of a sudden it started to change to a cold and rainy day. I know what it is like in Florida when all of a sudden a day is great and all of a sudden it was cold and rainy.

I see. It make sense to take the boat to the MK while it was close to your room. That's what I like about the GF, Poly, & Cont. hotels because of riding the monorail to the MK or EPCOT.

There are times that I can let something go from rude people and other times I just can't let go of those rude people that do rude things. I hate those types of people that have no respect for the other people at the parks. That was really rude by that one lady which bumped you, Connor and the other lady that time. She should at least said that she was sorry for bumping you.

That was really odd that the group in front of you at CRT didn't have a reservation number to eat at CRT. They could have forgotten there reservation number, but you should always bring it just in case if something goes wrong just like that. From what you said that it sound like that group in front of you try to bully there way in CRT. I can understand that CRT is a popular restaurant to eat at WDW and reservations are hard to get in.

 

[kmedina]

That make sense since you eat at Minnie and Friends as your traditional sit down restaurant. Hopefully Connor first time at Minnie and Friends will be a great one. It will be very interesting to how the food will be at the CC restaurant. If the executive chef at Napa Rose restaurant come up with the menu, I would assume that the food will be very nice. I have never ate at NR, but from what I have heard from the other DISers, the food at CC restaurant should be amazing. Glad to hear that you got your reservations at WCT for all 35 party members. That many people for one reservation is not easy to do so at least you got a reservation at WCT for Connor's birthday. There is still time to get a nice hotel for your stay.

Sometimes there could be a great deal at the last second for a room during your trip. I just don't like to book a room at the last second since the room that I want to stay is not available or price jump up.

Hope that Xander would still be a Disney fan when he gets older. It all worked out so well when Crap took you to WDW for your honeymoon. I was a huge DL fan when I was a young child, but when I was a young adult I just lost interested in DL for awhile. Then I have been going to DL a lot the last couple of years and got interested again in going back to DL & WDW. Congratulations on your 10th anniversary next year. Xander is a young kid and will appreciate it when you go on these Disney trips.

Weather in Orlando can change dramatically during a day which turned to be great and all of a sudden it started to change to a cold and rainy day. I know what it is like in Florida when all of a sudden a day is great and all of a sudden it was cold and rainy.

I see. It make sense to take the boat to the MK while it was close to your room. That's what I like about the GF, Poly, & Cont. hotels because of riding the monorail to the MK or EPCOT.

There are times that I can let something go from rude people and other times I just can't let go of those rude people that do rude things. I hate those types of people that have no respect for the other people at the parks. That was really rude by that one lady which bumped you, Connor and the other lady that time. She should at least said that she was sorry for bumping you.

That was really odd that the group in front of you at CRT didn't have a reservation number to eat at CRT. They could have forgotten there reservation number, but you should always bring it just in case if something goes wrong just like that. From what you said that it sound like that group in front of you try to bully there way in CRT. I can understand that CRT is a popular restaurant to eat at WDW and reservations are hard to get in.

We have never eaten at Napa Rose either but are excited to dine at Cathray Circle. I am so happy that we got Connor’s birthday reservation worked out. Now, I just hope more than 35 people do not want to come. This will not be the first time we booked the hotel less than a month out. Hopefully, we still get a good deal.

If Xander gets tired of Disney, we may have to try other vacations. I just hope he comes back to Disney when he gets older like I did. We want to invest in DVC and take our grandbabies to Disney. Thank you. DH and I are about to celebrate 16 years together, which is half my life. Our anniversary trip next year should be nice.

The sudden weather change only happened on the day we wore summer clothes to the park! Murphy’s Law.

I was surprised the monorail was not available more, since that was part of the reason we picked the GF. It was disappointing.

Crap and I let most things go that may bother others. I really should have moved sooner before the first lady bumped us again. The second lady should have handled herself better or at least left me out of it. She was so disruptive that she bothered me more than the people in front of us. People who call others out usually make more of a ruckus than the original perpetrator(s).

I think it is unlikely that the people in front of us had a reservation. There was no reservation listed in the system and they did not have a reservation number. The lady behind me was probably correct when she cried shenanigans. It was not her business though. Even though I was curious too, it was not my place to get involved. While unlikey, there is a chance they had one. If that is the case, I feel bad that they arrived to a missing reservation and had to put up with everything. Although, they were not exactly nice to the CM either, so I do not feel too badly for them.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Awww what a nice dinner! I think I'm going to show this post to my DH, because he says we can't do princess dining with a boy. I would really like to do CRT one day (I haven't been since it was King Stephen's place), and its nice to see how much your boys enjoyed the experience.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Phew! I didnt realize I was that far behind! See your not the only one. I couldnt even remember where I left off. The weather there changes at different points. Just when you think you dont need something, then bam you need it. Go and figure. Xander's cake was amazing and looked really good. That mac and cheese looked good. It did not look like it was over cooked.

How nice to watch wishes from your room. All the pictures are amazing. Maybe someday I will get to dine in the castle. When we went in Dec 06 it was so humid I think the pool would have been refreshing, but I didnt bring a bathing suit. Oh well. Xanders day just worked so well all day. At least you had no melt downs. That makes it very enjoyable.

Sometimes when you get those upgrades, they arent really what you expected and glad you didnt pay extra for it. Okay , hopefully I can keep up now. Cant wait for more.

 

[Imagineer5]

Loved the latest updates!! Esp little Connor with the princesses. How did your DH do at CRT, since he was so opposed to it? We are forgoing CRT this trip, but are going to try out AKershus instead.

Thank you. Those nusring skills took a lot of practice. I never nursed my oldest in public, because I was uncomfortable and had a hard time adjusting him. Xander was a much better latcher but was not as still as Connor. All of those concerns went out the window after Connor was born. There are times where it is still difficult to nurse Connor one handed. He does not always lie still when he's nursing, and I need both hands. When he is perfectly still, I can nurse him with one hand and do things like eat with the other. Some things get easier with age and others get harder. Now that he is 10 months old, he squirms a lot more at times. At the same time, I have had more practice with it and can adjust better. The older she gets, the stronger your arms will get too.

You will get there. Just keep trying. I really think nursing through the world is much easier than dealing with bottles. We did the bottle thing with Xander (at 4 months -Dl, 6 months -Dl and 10 months -Knott's Berry Farm), so I have done both. Connor is still nursing on demand, so I will be nursing him through our Dl trip this June. It will be so hot, so I am guessing that will be a little harder.

Thanks!! I am looking at getting the My Brest Friend travel nursing pillow, but I'm going to wait until right before the trip to see how well she nurses without my support. I def don't want to deal with bottles, mainly bc it'll be crazy to try and pump numerous times. I am consdering doing Kids Nite Out though, for an evening or two for just DH and myself, and if that's the case I'll have to bring along the pump. Hmmm.

 

[kmedina]

Awww what a nice dinner! I think I'm going to show this post to my DH, because he says we can't do princess dining with a boy. I would really like to do CRT one day (I haven't been since it was King Stephen's place), and its nice to see how much your boys enjoyed the experience.

It really was an awesome dinner. Even though Crap will never admit it, I am sure he enjoyed it too. If you want to convince him to let you dine there, remind him that you ARE a girl. No matter how old a girl is, she will most likely enjoy dining there. It worked on my DH. Good luck. I hope you go.

Phew! I didnt realize I was that far behind! See your not the only one. I couldnt even remember where I left off. The weather there changes at different points. Just when you think you dont need something, then bam you need it. Go and figure. Xander's cake was amazing and looked really good. That mac and cheese looked good. It did not look like it was over cooked.

How nice to watch wishes from your room. All the pictures are amazing. Maybe someday I will get to dine in the castle. When we went in Dec 06 it was so humid I think the pool would have been refreshing, but I didnt bring a bathing suit. Oh well. Xanders day just worked so well all day. At least you had no melt downs. That makes it very enjoyable.

Sometimes when you get those upgrades, they arent really what you expected and glad you didnt pay extra for it. Okay , hopefully I can keep up now. Cant wait for more.

We were not dressed properly for the weather most of the time we were there. It was not too bad though. Xander loved the cake and the mac and cheese.

It was nice watching Wishes from the room. I am so grateful for the upgraded view. You should dine in the castle if you get a chance. We always pack our swimsuits when we travel just in case, but Crap does accuse me of overpacking. Sorry you missed your chance to swim that trip. Xander had a great day. He behaved pretty well most of the time we were there, and Connor is an easy baby most of the time no matter where we are.

You're right. I am grateful for the upgrade to concierge, but I know after doing it that I will never pay for it.

 

[kmedina]

Loved the latest updates!! Esp little Connor with the princesses. How did your DH do at CRT, since he was so opposed to it? We are forgoing CRT this trip, but are going to try out AKershus instead.

Thanks!! I am looking at getting the My Brest Friend travel nursing pillow, but I'm going to wait until right before the trip to see how well she nurses without my support. I def don't want to deal with bottles, mainly bc it'll be crazy to try and pump numerous times. I am consdering doing Kids Nite Out though, for an evening or two for just DH and myself, and if that's the case I'll have to bring along the pump. Hmmm.

Thank you. Crap will never admit it, but I think he enjoyed CRT as well. I can always tell when he is anjoying himself, and he looked like he had a good time there. He enjoyed it on our last trip too. Akerhaus was good too. We actually did that on this trip. It is under the link entitled I Do Like Girly Things if you want to read about it.

I love my Boppy, which is a similar pillow. We used it a lot in the first few months. Now that Connor is a more skilled nursling, we do not need it as much. Nursing is a lot easier than dealing with bottles and/or pumping. I never used a pump at WDW, but we did use one on our cruise a few days later. We did an excursion and left the kids on the ship. It was scary for us, because Connor never took a bottle from my DH or MIL. He was not used to being away from me for that long either. As soon as I am done with this report (which I almost am now), I will start the DCl one.

 

[kmedina]

Luckily, the rain stopped before we exited Cinderella’s Royal Table. We were happy to find the stroller still under cover and dry. The previous time we dined there we were not given an option to park in covered parking. Unfortunately, it was still very cold and windy. This was the only day I did not have my jacket. I thought Crap’s idea to leave it at the hotel was genius, since I had not been using it and did not want to carry it back to the hotel another night. There was no way I was chancing the boys getting cold, so I brought their hoodies. They used the nursing blanket for warmth as well. Our first stop after leaving was to find me something warm to throw on.

We entered the gift shop closest to the castle that sold sweat shirts. I asked if they were selling the special Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party garb. She said they would put some items out but were not allowed to do so until after 7pm when the party officially started. That was still a bit away. My options were to be cold for a while longer and hope a nice party sweatshirt was available or buy a regular one. Obviously, I went with the latter, because it was cold. After making my selection and dropping a whopping $65, I was finally warm. Crap joked with the CM that rang me up that they must not sell too many, because there were so many people buying sweatshirts in there. We were not the only ones ill prepared for the rapid weather change.

Connor had not nursed for any significant time, since we left the hotel room. There was a very short nursing period at CRT before the princesses ever started coming around. He was hungry. I was not nursing him outside. We stumbled upon the last showing of Country Bear Jamboree. It seemed as good a spot as any. As soon as we were seated, he nursed. It took him no time at all to fall asleep. The princesses must have worn him out. He gets the most worn out when he is having fun. By the time the show wrapped, it was almost time for Woody’s dancing area to open.

When the doors opened, we were of the first to enter. Xander was in the mood to dance. He was not interested in dancing with Woody, but he was happy to see him. I told him to say hello, since he slept through the last meeting. Xander waited patiently for the other kids to finish dancing with Woody. Then, he approached him and said hello. After that, he said he was ready to go.

Soon after leaving we saw a line for the Country Bears. We had seen one of them before but not the other, so we hopped in line. Connor was still asleep, and there was no Photopass photographer around. We left the boys in the stroller.

I heard Snow White and all Seven Dwarfs were out, so we made our way to their character spot. The line was over two hours long by the time we got there. Knowing that Crap had no intention of staying for the whole party, I did not want to wait two hours to see them. If we would have planned better, we could have missed the line. A theme for this trip was that a lot of our character lines could have been shortened with better planning. Lesson learned. Next time we attend the party, we will pick one character location and scout it out before it even opens. At least we could find our Christmas Party merchandise now.

We went into store after store. Every store we went into was either already sold out or did not have anything good. The party started less than an hour ago, and we could not find anything worth purchasing. A CM suggested we go to Main Street, since they get the most stuff. Crap and I agreed to check that on the way out, since there was no guarantee we would even get anything by the time we walked all the way over there. As we searched for stores, we also noticed that all of the lines for cookies and characters were quite long. Since we are not parade people, we decided to go on rides. Hopefully, we could see some characters and get some cookies during the parade.

Our first stop was BTMRR. Xander rode this at Disneyland but wanted to try it again, since it is a train. I went first, since Connor was still asleep. The line was less than 10 minutes long. We rode it and Xander had no interest in riding it again with Crap. More people came over in the time we were on. Crap did not want to wait that long to ride it solo. Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion.

Xander did great on this ride when he was four months old and grew more wary of it each time after that. He did better the last time we were on it. I figured it was time to ride it again to see how he would do. It was also going to be Connor’s first time riding it. Would he handle it as well as Xander did? The line was not too long here either, so we walked through the fun queue. Connor and Xander both clinched me in the stretching room a little. This is most likely due to the people who scream in there more than anything else. They both did well on the ride though. We are both curious to see if he has the same regression as Xander. Our next trip is a month away, so we will likely start testing this soon. Xander keeps getting better on it, so I am thinking he will do perfectly fine next time.

It was time for Pirates of the Caribbean next. Once again, the line was not too long. Both boys did well on this ride. There was one time at Disneyland (which has a better version of PoTC by the way) that Xander actually cried through that rise. He was about two and a half. That was by far the hardest trip I’ve taken with him too, since he cried through a few of the rides.

Connor was awake and ready to nurse again. I found a seat at the restroom near Pirates that was covered just enough to escape the cold and wind. Crap and Xander went somewhere while I was nursing Connor, but I cannot remember where. They were in search of pirate loot, but they were gone much longer than the amount of time it would have taken to shop. It is possible they rode a second time, but I am not sure. After Connor was done nursing, we made our way to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Once again, we found a short line.

The parade had started at this point. We caught a view of it every time the carpets went up. Then, something that has never happened to me or Crap in our very many trips to Disney happened. Cast members asked if we wanted to ride again without getting off and walking back around, since the line was very short. Xander said he did, so rather than rushing over to the nearly empty cookie line, we stayed in our carpet and rode again. That was a little extra Disney magic. After the second straight ride, we exited. The nearby cookie line was not long.

We quickly reached the front of the line to find snicker doodle cookies. Some of you may remember that Xander is picky and allergic to many things. He cannot have snicker doodle cookies and does not like hot chocolate. I asked if they had an alternative snack. They gave me some processed gluten free cookies. Crap found a table that was actually open. The snicker doodle cookie was good. Xander despised the processed cookies and refused to eat them. Even though I am not a fan of hot drinks, I had a few sips of hot chocolate. After we finished our snacks, I noticed the nearby line to see the Genie and Jasmine was getting longer.

I love Aladdin and the Genie. In high school, I even had a friend draw up the genie character to place on my letterman’s jacket. She really did a great job with it. If you happen across this, thanks again Angie. Xander and I got into line. Within a few minutes of getting into the line, the parade wrapped up in our area. The line behind us got incredibly long. Handlers said every half hour the characters switched. Jasmine and the Genie had only been out a few minutes when we got in line. When their half hour was up, Abu and Aladdin would come out. While I love Aladdin, it is all about the Genie for me. It is odd that I am not really into the princesses. Despite my desire to do girly things once in a while, I am not very girly. Princesses have never really been my thing even when I was young.

Luckily, we reached the front of the line three minutes before the switch, so we got to see the Genie. Jasmine was there too. It must have taken a little over 20 minutes to get through the line.

We headed toward the castle to find a spot for the Magic, The Memories and You and Holiday Wishes afterward. Considering we got there a little later than we should have, we found a nice spot that was only slightly obstructed. There was still a bit of a wait and everyone was standing. People clamoring for better or last minute spots kept pushing and bumping into us to get through. One lady knocked the water bottle right out of my sweatshirt pocket, because she bumped me so hard. It was a madhouse. That is why we rented the boat the first time we watched Wishes that week, did the dessert party the second time, and watched from our hotel room the third time. Even though this show is different than regular Wishes, I did want to watch at least one show near the castle, so we could get the closest view possible. This was the one I chose to watch nearby.

The great thing about watching the Magic, the Memories and You near the castle is that you can actually see all of the pictures and really enjoy the show. It was the first time all week that we really got to watch it. Disney really did a great job with this show. We were not in the park all day, so I did not expect to see any pictures of us. If I had seen one, I probably would have cried. Pictures of strangers were making my eyes water. I hope Disney does this show for a long time, because I absolutely loved it.

Disney let off some fireworks after the show wrapped and before Holiday Wishes started. We stayed in the same spot while we waited for Holiday Wishes.

After a short wait, Holiday Wishes started. The familiar soundtrack started playing and Tink set to the sky.

Crap must have really been into the show, because he only snapped four pictures. Maybe I just love fireworks and Christmas, because I thought Holiday Wishes was a lot cooler than regular Wishes. For a brief moment in time, you forget that you are crowded like a sardine getting bumped every few seconds. The show is that amazing that it is all worth it. My eyes watered up again, and I felt so happy to be standing right there in front of the castle. There was no other place I would have rather been. Everyone needs to watch the show in front of the castle at least once. By no means am I discounting the other ways we watched. They were all amazing, but the easiest and the cheapest way to watch was the best.

The only thing left on our to do list was to buy a Very Merry Christmas Party souvenir. Crap could not even navigate the street with the double stroller. Neither of us had ever seen Main Street that crowded. There were people everywhere. I told Crap I would meet him out front. He did not need to be with me to pick something out, and I figured it would be easier on him to just exit the park. It took a while, but I finally made my way through to the stores up front. After walking through a few, I asked a CM if the small selection I saw was all that was left. She said most items were gone within 10 minutes of putting them out. Next time, I need to go into the store right at seven to get something while Crap gets right into a character line at 7pm. We have our plan of attack. Every trip is a learning experience.

I left the store with no souvenir. Spending money on something I did not want just to have a token of the party did not appeal to me. When I exited the park, I was not surprised to see the monorail was closed. The park closed at 7pm that night, and it was already after 10pm. Disney changed its policy to where the monorail only runs an hour after regular park closing, so it is not available for special parties and extra magic hours. That is another thing we found out after we booked the reservation.

A lot of people had the same idea as Crap to leave before the party was over, because the boat line was long. Crap was not in it though. Where was he, I thought? I walked back to the gates and waited there. It seemed like I waited there for a while before he exited. The whole time I was in the store and out front waiting, he was just trying to navigate his way out of the park with the double stroller! He is such a patient man, but he was still irritated that people would not let him through. People were basically stopped on Main Street. Double strollers can be a pain in situations like those.

We made our way to the line. Two large boats in a row came thankfully, because we made it on to the second boat. I do not remember the exact time, but it was around 11pm by the time we reached our hotel room. It was a great day.

 

[shan23877]

Love the pictures of Xander dancing, and I especially love that that's all he wanted to do at the party

We had cold evenings and mornings on our last trip. I was so sick of the one sweatshirt that I took, I considered buying the $65 hoodie, but couldn't do it. I'm not one of those people who think that everything at Disney is overpriced, I actually think that a lot of things are reasonably priced. (Probably meals being the big exception, but even those aren't bad) However, I just couldn't do the $65 hoodie.

I'm so glad that you got to see the Genie!! We saw him on Maddie's first trip and I was so excited! I've never been too girlie myself, not sure where Maddie got that. I would have loved to see Abu too. I've always been partial to the goofy animal sidekicks.

Yay! for an extra ride on the Magic Carpets! I'll bet that Xander loved that.

The Magic, Memories, and You is my favorite. I cry every time I see it. I wish that we were going to be there this summer when they do the sandcastle part You guys got a great picture of Tink flying! I just can't see enough pictures of the castle with Christmas lights. It's soooo cool.

I can't believe that it took Crap so long to get down Main Street!! That's insane. Sorry that you didn't get a MVMCP souvenir. Did you look online when you got home? We spent our whole trip looking for one particular thing last month, and I ended up buying online when I got home

Crowds or not, there's nothing like watching Wishes from in front of the Castle.

 

[kmedina]

Love the pictures of Xander dancing, and I especially love that that's all he wanted to do at the party

We had cold evenings and mornings on our last trip. I was so sick of the one sweatshirt that I took, I considered buying the $65 hoodie, but couldn't do it. I'm not one of those people who think that everything at Disney is overpriced, I actually think that a lot of things are reasonably priced. (Probably meals being the big exception, but even those aren't bad) However, I just couldn't do the $65 hoodie.

I'm so glad that you got to see the Genie!! We saw him on Maddie's first trip and I was so excited! I've never been too girlie myself, not sure where Maddie got that. I would have loved to see Abu too. I've always been partial to the goofy animal sidekicks.

Yay! for an extra ride on the Magic Carpets! I'll bet that Xander loved that.

The Magic, Memories, and You is my favorite. I cry every time I see it. I wish that we were going to be there this summer when they do the sandcastle part You guys got a great picture of Tink flying! I just can't see enough pictures of the castle with Christmas lights. It's soooo cool.

I can't believe that it took Crap so long to get down Main Street!! That's insane. Sorry that you didn't get a MVMCP souvenir. Did you look online when you got home? We spent our whole trip looking for one particular thing last month, and I ended up buying online when I got home

Crowds or not, there's nothing like watching Wishes from in front of the Castle.

Xander loves to dance (just not with other people, lol). He is always up for dancing. I know he does not get that from me.

If I brought my jacket in that night, I would not have dropped the $65. I did not want to go all the way back to the hotel to get it, since I knew Crap wanted a short night. It would have limited what we were able to do. That is why I did it. For $65, you can bet that I still used that thing at home too.

I am from Vegas, so I think the food prices at Disney are reasonable. It all depends on what you are used to. The signature meals at Disney are a lot less than they cost here. As far as quick service goes, the strip's meals are usually a tiny bit more for that as well. We just paid $33 for quick service at the casino the other day when the kids were at my MILs. That was just for one course and a drink. Of course, you can find better deals for both off the strip. Tourists pay more to eat in most places. Some things at Disney are unreasonable though, like that hoodie and Xander's crayons.

I am glad we saw the Genie. Xander does not really know who he is, because we have not watched Aladdin in a long time. It is time we watch it again.

Xander really loved the extra ride on the carpets. He thought it was so neat that we did not have to get out when the ride was over.

The Magic, The Memories and you is awesome. I am glad we saw it up close. We love the castle covered in lights. Two of them are from our Photopass CD, so we did not take the shots. It was a lovely sight we saw though, so I included them. Most of his Tink pictures were blurry. Then, I stumbled on that one.

I could not believe it took Crap that long to get down MS either. As soon as I saw him, I asked him if he stopped. He shot me a dirty look and told me how hard it was to get through. My husband is such a patient man, so things like that do no usually bother him. It must have been really irritating. As far as I know, the Christmas Party items are only sold during the party. I never checked online. We did not have a specific item in mind, but I did not want to waste money buying something I did not even want ot like. The only items left were nothing I would ever buy and they were overpriced at that.

I agree that it is worth putting up with crowds to watch Wishes in front of the castle. That said, I could not see doing it more than once a trip.

 

[mvf-m11c]

We have never eaten at Napa Rose either but are excited to dine at Cathray Circle. I am so happy that we got Connor’s birthday reservation worked out. Now, I just hope more than 35 people do not want to come. This will not be the first time we booked the hotel less than a month out. Hopefully, we still get a good deal.

If Xander gets tired of Disney, we may have to try other vacations. I just hope he comes back to Disney when he gets older like I did. We want to invest in DVC and take our grandbabies to Disney. Thank you. DH and I are about to celebrate 16 years together, which is half my life. Our anniversary trip next year should be nice.

The sudden weather change only happened on the day we wore summer clothes to the park! Murphy’s Law.

I was surprised the monorail was not available more, since that was part of the reason we picked the GF. It was disappointing.

Crap and I let most things go that may bother others. I really should have moved sooner before the first lady bumped us again. The second lady should have handled herself better or at least left me out of it. She was so disruptive that she bothered me more than the people in front of us. People who call others out usually make more of a ruckus than the original perpetrator(s).

I think it is unlikely that the people in front of us had a reservation. There was no reservation listed in the system and they did not have a reservation number. The lady behind me was probably correct when she cried shenanigans. It was not her business though. Even though I was curious too, it was not my place to get involved. While unlikey, there is a chance they had one. If that is the case, I feel bad that they arrived to a missing reservation and had to put up with everything. Although, they were not exactly nice to the CM either, so I do not feel too badly for them.

Hope Connor's birthday lunch at WCT would be a memorable one. It will be nice for you and your family to get your room for your vacation.

I think that xander will appreciate disney alot when he gets plder. You should get a membership with DVc for all those Disney trips that you plan on doing in the future. That is a long time and hope that you and Crap have a great anniversary trip next year wherever you go.

It was just bad timing that day at CRT. I wish that the people at the park would be more nice to the CMs & other people.


I'm at work right now and I will read the rest of your tr later tonight.

 

[MrsTeddy]

I had Logan beside me while I read the last 2 updates (CRT and the Christmas party!) he was so excited and asking tons of questions! I'm loving these reports as a way to get him prepared for the trip! ALthough he insists Connor's name is John! LOL

It looks like the boys had a great time!

Its too bad you had to buy the hoodie, things like that always happen to me too, the one time I don't bring a sweater it would rain! LOL

I love the photos of Xander dancing he looks so happy!

 

[shan23877]

Xander loves to dance (just not with other people, lol). He is always up for dancing. I know he does not get that from me.

If I brought my jacket in that night, I would not have dropped the $65. I did not want to go all the way back to the hotel to get it, since I knew Crap wanted a short night. It would have limited what we were able to do. That is why I did it. For $65, you can bet that I still used that thing at home too.

I am from Vegas, so I think the food prices at Disney are reasonable. It all depends on what you are used to. The signature meals at Disney are a lot less than they cost here. As far as quick service goes, the strip's meals are usually a tiny bit more for that as well. We just paid $33 for quick service at the casino the other day when the kids were at my MILs. That was just for one course and a drink. Of course, you can find better deals for both off the strip. Tourists pay more to eat in most places. Some things at Disney are unreasonable though, like that hoodie and Xander's crayons.

I am glad we saw the Genie. Xander does not really know who he is, because we have not watched Aladdin in a long time. It is time we watch it again.

Xander really loved the extra ride on the carpets. He thought it was so neat that we did not have to get out when the ride was over.

The Magic, The Memories and you is awesome. I am glad we saw it up close. We love the castle covered in lights. Two of them are from our Photopass CD, so we did not take the shots. It was a lovely sight we saw though, so I included them. Most of his Tink pictures were blurry. Then, I stumbled on that one.

I could not believe it took Crap that long to get down MS either. As soon as I saw him, I asked him if he stopped. He shot me a dirty look and told me how hard it was to get through. My husband is such a patient man, so things like that do no usually bother him. It must have been really irritating. As far as I know, the Christmas Party items are only sold during the party. I never checked online. We did not have a specific item in mind, but I did not want to waste money buying something I did not even want ot like. The only items left were nothing I would ever buy and they were overpriced at that.

I agree that it is worth putting up with crowds to watch Wishes in front of the castle. That said, I could not see doing it more than once a trip.

That's a good point. It really is about perspective. I work at a pretty expensive restaurant, and we go out in Chicago often enough that the TS prices don't really shock me. I guess it's the QS that get to me, but just because I don't really enjoy that type of food (like the bad burgers and chicken finger type places). In the end I always just figure that there's no point in worrying about it because its the price you pay for being there. Can't be changed. DH and I have discussed DVC, and neither of us feels like it would be a good fit because when we're on vacation we have no intention of making meals in the room or doing laundry. I would have considered it when they still allowed you to customize your DDP during the trip though. We love DDP because we can pay up front and then never think about prices again. I do think that most things are pretty reasonable, like $25 for a T-shirt is pretty common. But you are right, those crayons were highway robbery, and the price of the hoodies shocked me. I would expect $45 or so, but $60? I'd be wearing it all the time too!!!

My DH would have been fuming if it took him that long. I am the one who possesses all of the patience in our family

We try to do Wishes from right in front once too. The rest of the time, we're just glad that we saw it. But, wait until you hear how we got the best seat in the house on this trip. It was nuts!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Those are very nice pictures of Xander dancing with Woody during MVMCP.

During my day during MVMCP, most of my group brought sweatshirts and long pants while I was one of the crazy people of just wearing shirts and shorts that night. But we were lucky that it wasn't cold that night. Just like you, I was looking around the MK for MVMCP souvenirs. There were not too many stores that had the MVMCP souvenirs then the Emporium at MS. Even I didn't get the shirt size that I want when I did MVMCP. If you want to get the right souvenirs during the party, I would do it first thing when it starts or run the risk of not getting it at the end of the party.

You got to do a lot of rides that night. Glad to see that Xander went on BTMRR.

That was really nice of the CM to let you ride Carpets again after there was no one in the queue.

Great pictures with Genie and Jasmine at the character greeting.

One of your castle pics from MS is a very nice one which there weren't anyone in the picture. I was kind of surprise to see in that pic that there were no people in it.

Glad that you got to see MMY which has the Holiday segment in the middle of the show. It was nice to see the Holiday segment of MMY. You should think of seeing MMY at DL IASW. I know that you checked out my MMY pictures at IASW on my last two trips and you should see it in person. Cinderella is very nice, but I would still pick IASW MMY over Cinderella's castle MMY.

Very nice pics of Holiday Wishes that night. I like Wishes & Holiday Wishes fireworks at the MK during my visit. It is so fun watching the nighttime shows at the Disney parks and would have no problem watching the fireworks, Illuminations, F!, etc. over and over again every night at WDW.

I remember the same thing when Holiday Wishes was over and the guests around us tried to leave the park, but I stayed around the Hub to watch Celebrate the Season in front of Cinderella Castle while everyone else decided to go on some rides. It wasn't worth it to leave the park after the fireworks since I knew that it would be a nightmare. I'm sorry that you didn't get a MVMCP souvenir that day. I know what it felt like not getting what I wanted during MVMCP. As I said above before, if you want to get the souvenir that you want during a exclusive event, you have to get it when the party starts and have to carry it with you the whole time. Even with the expensive souvenirs during MVMCP, I was fortunate that they accepted my Premier AP for the merchandise. Even though I was not happy to get the shirt size I want, but I did get something during the party which was a shirt and the MVMCP pin.

You did tell me that the monorail wasn't running during the party. Just as you said that after regular hours are over, the express line was shut down even during the party. They should have the express line running during MVMCP. Just like when you were leaving the MK during MVMCP, it was just a nightmare getting out of the MK.