I am nuts.....for bringing the in-laws-a May/June 2011 TR.

[BridgetR3]

Joining in!! popcorn:

We are from south Louisiana as well but on the other end of the state by Lake Charles! Go TIGERS!

Can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Love the Hoop Dee Doo Review post! It's a favorite of our's too...except for the beans, they are always a bit hard or something.

 

[donnaf516]

Love the HDDR! Always a blast!

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Joining in!! popcorn:

We are from south Louisiana as well but on the other end of the state by Lake Charles! Go TIGERS!

Can't wait to read more about your trip!

Glad to have you along.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Once we were in MK, we headed to Tomorrowland for FP’s for Space Mountain. I don’t quite remember the order of what we did and I don’t have any notes about if we actually got FP’s and if we actually used them. My notes say we headed over to Splash Mountain and there was a 45 minute wait so we didn’t wait. Madi and I rode the Carousel at some point.

We found a spot in Frontierland to watch the Electric Parade. Madi fell asleep before the parade even started.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Parade pics:

You see Alice pointing our way, she noticed Jaden's Happy Birthday button and told her Happy Birthday!

That was a lot of pictures of a parade that you probably seen a dozen times already!

After the parade, we headed back to Splash Mountain and Jaden and Shannon rode with a 5 minute wait.

Then back to the resort.

 

[204charity]

Love the pics of the electrical parade!

 

[winkers]

I'm late to the party, but when I saw your title a voice inside my head screamed "NOOOOOOOOO"!

I've taken MIL twice and decided never again!

 

[amandaw]

One of these days we'll get around to trying HDDR....the food looks really good!

You got some really great pictures from the parade. But, the one of Madi sleeping is the best....so cute!

ETA: Woo Hoo! How 'bout them Tigers?!? SEC Champs & 13-0!

 

[BelleTinkMom]

I'm late to the party, but when I saw your title a voice inside my head screamed "NOOOOOOOOO"!

I've taken MIL twice and decided never again!

It's never too late. I don't think my MIL will ever vacation with us again. And that's quite ok with me.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

One of these days we'll get around to trying HDDR....the food looks really good!

You got some really great pictures from the parade. But, the one of Madi sleeping is the best....so cute!

ETA: Woo Hoo! How 'bout them Tigers?!? SEC Champs & 13-0!

HDDR is really good. It is a little pricey, but I would recommend that everyone try it al least once. My girls have a blast.

That is the one of the great things about my girls, they would always just sleep anywhere. That is why even though Madi may be getting a little to old for a stroller, I still get one so she can rest.

GEAUX TIGERS!!

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Hollywood Studios

We didn’t have any ADR for breakfast, so we ate at the food court.

We arrived at HS at 8am for morning EMH. We headed straight for TSM and grabbed FP’s.

This was the FP return time already:

Standby Wait time:

We decided to head to RNRC. On our way there, the girls wanted to see Chip and Dale and Pluto.

Photopass Pics:

A few pics on our way:

 

[BelleTinkMom]

On to one of Jaden's favorites.

Shannon, Jaden, FIL and I rode RNRC. The posted wait time was 45 minutes, but it was only about 15 minutes. FIL was a little queasy. I don’t think he rode anything else for the remainder of our trip.

I rode TOT by myself.

Then we went onto the Animation Academy. I had read about being able to draw a character, so we headed there. We watched the video and then headed into the waiting area with all the characters. The kids didn’t want to see any of them. Next time we will bypass the first section and just head straight in and not watch the video.

We wouldn’t make it into the area to draw a character, and we didn’t want to wait till the next group.

We headed over to Disney Junior Live on Stage for the 10:30 show. Madi still likes this one.

I didn't take many pics in the Show.

When we headed out of the show and we headed to the other side of the park.

The show in front of the Scorcerer’s hat was just starting, so we decided to watch…until it started to rain. And not a little drizzle, a downpour. We headed under the hat real fast to wait it out. Of all days, I forgot to put ponchos into our bag. That was the only day I didn't bring ponchos and thats the only day it rained.

After about 15 minutes, the rain turned into a drizzle so we made a dash for the Great Movie Ride. MIL was hesitant because she said we don’t tell her what the ride really does. In the end, she rode with us.

When that was up, it was still drizzling. The next American Idol show was about to start so we headed there.

It is really easy to stay out of the rain at HS. There is a lot of indoor shows to get out of the rain.

We decided to see the next showing of Indiana Jones. I knew my in-laws would like this one. They like action movies. Before we headed into the arena, we grabbed a little snack – funnel cakes.

They did a shortened show because of the rain. The in-laws liked it.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I wasn't about to take my camera out in the rain.

I want to finish this TR before the end of the year. I may also post some of our plans for our upcoming Disney cruise in May. I am not to excited about it, so maybe if I do a little PreTR, I will start to get excited.

 

[amandaw]

Sorry to hear about the rain that day. But, like you said, at least DHS is one of the easier parks to stay out of the rain.

So, I have to ask....why are you not excited about the Disney cruise in May? I think y'all will really have fun. We loved The Dream....there is so much to do & see.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Sorry to hear about the rain that day. But, like you said, at least DHS is one of the easier parks to stay out of the rain.

So, I have to ask....why are you not excited about the Disney cruise in May? I think y'all will really have fun. We loved The Dream....there is so much to do & see.

I don't really know why I wasn't to excited. I have great news coming up!!

 

[BelleTinkMom]

So we surprised the kids with the Disney Cruise as one of their Christmas presents. Being Shannon would be at work for Christmas, we celebrated last Wednesday. We gave them the cruise as a present. I had made clues that they had to open and then I wrapped balloons in a box with a sign attached stating: We are going on a Disney Cruise with a picture of the cruise ship. Jaden guessed we were going on a cruise by the last clue they opened, but she didn’t guess Disney. When they opened the box, the balloons floated up and they saw the sign. It worked perfectly. The only disappointment, they weren’t really excited. I even cried, because I thought they would be ecstatic.

When we booked the cruise way back in December of 2010, I was super excited. We didn’t want to tell the kids, because it was so far in advance and we didn’t really know if we would definitely go. The dates of the cruise may have been the same time as the girls’ dance recital. Everything has worked out and we are able to go. But, now I am not too excited. Don’t’ really know why, I’m just not. Maybe now that the kids know, we can plan and get excited together.

The plans were to leave home on Friday morning and drive to Port Canaveral, and spend the night so that we would be there to board the cruise on Saturday, June 2nd. I had been thinking. And Shannon hates when my wheels start turning. I thought we could leave when I get off of work on Thursday, drive at least half way, it takes us about 13 hours to get to Orlando. Stop for the night and then drive the rest of the way on Friday and spend Friday evening at Downtown Disney. He thought that was a good idea, but he had also been thinking. His thought was to leave on Wednesday when I get off of work, drive part way, sleep, and drive to Orlando arriving around lunch time. Spend Thursday afternoon and Friday going to the parks and spend the night Friday at the Port.

So who’s idea will we go with?

 

[amandaw]

Awwww.....I'm so sorry about the girls' response to their surprise cruise! But, hopefully, as it gets closer, y'all will all get more excited as you do more planning for it. I would definitely consider doing a little bit of parks prior to the cruise. That's what we did this past May & it really was a fun way to combine both experiences. If it makes you feel any better.....I started have doubts about the cruise about a month or 2 before we went on ours. And, for a while, I wasn't too pumped about it & considered canceling it. I'm glad I didn't - we had a great time. We can't wait to do another Disney cruise. There's just so much to do - for both kids & adults. If you have any questions, let me know! I really hope y'all have a great time & can get excited for it!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh I am sorry to hear that the kids weren't that excited about the surprise cruise. You just never know how they are going to react to things. But, like you said, you can now all start planning together so I am sure that the excitement will build. Uh, do you even have to ask which plan to go with? I'd go with Shannon's of course!

 

[BridgetR3]

When we told our kids about their first Disney trip, they were like, "Oh ok." and went back to playing. However, now that we have gone and experienced it, they screamed with delight when we told them about our June trip.

I would think that if your kids have never been on a Disney Cruise, they probably weren't excited because they have no idea what to expect.

Once they understand what that means, they will be ecstatic.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Awwww.....I'm so sorry about the girls' response to their surprise cruise! But, hopefully, as it gets closer, y'all will all get more excited as you do more planning for it. I would definitely consider doing a little bit of parks prior to the cruise. That's what we did this past May & it really was a fun way to combine both experiences. If it makes you feel any better.....I started have doubts about the cruise about a month or 2 before we went on ours. And, for a while, I wasn't too pumped about it & considered canceling it. I'm glad I didn't - we had a great time. We can't wait to do another Disney cruise. There's just so much to do - for both kids & adults. If you have any questions, let me know! I really hope y'all have a great time & can get excited for it!

We have been looking on youtube and watching the Cruise DVD. They are talking about it more.

I may have some questions as the cruise gets closer.

Oh I am sorry to hear that the kids weren't that excited about the surprise cruise. You just never know how they are going to react to things. But, like you said, you can now all start planning together so I am sure that the excitement will build. Uh, do you even have to ask which plan to go with? I'd go with Shannon's of course!

They are talking about the cruise a little more. I've been showing them some videos and we watched the Disney Cruise DVD, so they are understanding a little more.

When we told our kids about their first Disney trip, they were like, "Oh ok." and went back to playing. However, now that we have gone and experienced it, they screamed with delight when we told them about our June trip.

I would think that if your kids have never been on a Disney Cruise, they probably weren't excited because they have no idea what to expect.

Once they understand what that means, they will be ecstatic.

I hope their excitement builds a little more, maybe then I will be more excited.