"I Wanna See My Castle!" October 2013 TR *COMPLETE* **NEW TR LINK!!** 7/3

[courtneybelle]

Oh man, am I familiar with that "Let's sleep in and relax...just kidding we have to make it to rope drop!!" 9:15 is still great though!

You guys got great pictures in the Nemo ride!

Those Bruce pictures are absolutely priceless

 

[leshunlenese]

I had the nerve to plan a off day one year and ended up adding another day to my ticket because one sleep in is around 8 for us too and I got tired of the pool after 2 hours. Devyn could stay all day. So sleep in is certainly not a thing!!! Looks like you guys had a nice morning at Epcot. And I love Paxton's shirt!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, it's hard to picture a trip to Epcot without a beeline to Soarin'. But it does make for a little more wiggle room that's for sure. And of course NO LINES anywhere else.

I skipped Nemo last trip, but I sure do miss it. I adore the jelly fish something fierce. And of course the "swimming with turtles" segment. And Peach the starfish. Gee, apparently I shouldn't have skipped it.

Hmmm, the last photo in post 1 clearly indicates a future traffic cop. Or maybe a baseball umpire... "SAFE!"

Now Turtle Talk is something I've never seen either. I guess I always assumed it was really just for kids (and I guess it kind of it), but so many have written about how amusing it is, I think I must see it.

 

[amazingact21]

The fact that you all were at a park at 9:15 the morning after a party is impressive to me. I could manage that when it was just DH and I, but I don't about throwing a toddler into the mix. Then again, they get a head start on bedtime via strollers and car seats, so they tend to wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed with the sun.


Either way, hanging out in the seas area looks like it was entertaining and relaxing. You certainly didn't have to worry about it being crowded at that time of day.

I can't help it, even though I remember that photo of Paxton with Bruce from your last TR, it still made me laugh seeing it again.

 

[marDgreen88]

The Seas is definitely one of my favorite pavilions! It's just so cool.

Hahaah I'm glad Paxton did better in Bruce's mouth this time! Too cute.

Turtle Talk really is awesome! I haven't done it in forever and this update has inspired me to do it again!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I love how in Disney, 8am is sleeping in for us all.

My nephews always love wandering around the aquariums at the Seas too. I'm glad your DS loved it!

Hahaha, your picture with DS the prior trip in Bruce's mouth is just hysterical. We had grand thoughts of my oldest nephew having a good old time on all of the rides...that sadly were shattered when we took him on Everest and he's crying in the PP picture.

Love his new picture!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The Seas pavilion is always such a fun place to visit with young children. So good to see you had a better experience and result with the Bruce photo op.

Great pictures in the ride portion of the pavilion!

 

[DDuck4Life]

I'm very impressed with how sharp and clear the ride pix you got on Nemo. Do you use a flash? If not, how do you get them to come out so sharp? I always assumed a flash would just flush out the images, so we never use one. (That and to not disturb the other riders.)

Thanks! I was please with how the ride shots came out. No flash was used during any of the dark rides. I don't want to disturb anyone else trying to enjoy the ride. All of these shots were pushing my camera setting to the limit. I was using the largest aperture I could f1.8 and my shutter speed was low, probably too low but it worked out ok. It was between 1/13 - and 1/40 for the whole ride. Along with panning with the movement of the ride to try and help compensate for the movement of the clam shell and the slower shutter speeds. iso was cranked all the way up. much higher than I would normally want but otherwise everything would have probably come out too dark. ISO was between 8000 - 12800. Next time I probably won't be at that much of an extreme for the settings and will probably aim for darker pictures and try to brighten them after with some post processing. Try to cut back on some of the noise. Hope that helps!

 

[MEK]

I'm guessing you are going to the Land next.

Adorable shirt on Paxton made even better by the fact that it was free!

I think getting to the park at 9:15 was pretty respectable. There always comes that point were its just too much work to hurry in the morning.

Beautiful pics from Nemo. You got the bubbles - too freaking cool. And the pictures of the tanks are wonderful as well!

great update! Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

 

[missangelalexis]

Love all the pictures in these updates! Glad DS had a more pleasant experience with Bruce this time around

 

[khertz]

Oops, sorry you and DH weren't on the same page but it happens. At least you got there early enough that you could still just relax. I'm impressed, even with a line getting through at 9:15 isn't bad.

I need to spend more time post-Nemo looking at the real fish. I guess we're always just in a rush to go to the next place. Maybe in a few weeks I can change that

And yaaaaaaaaay for the Bruce picture turning out much better this time around. But you can always show the bad one to Paxton's future dates

Yeah, it wasn't bad at ALL getting into the park. It was just daunting to see such a huge line when we are used to being there early and being some of the first people let inside. Really threw DH off, I think!

We usually don't spend a lot of time at the tanks either, but in the spirit of having a relaxing morning at the park, we gave it a try. It was really great! Usually we ride Nemo and head out of the building. So it was cool to check out the fish and Turtle Talk first instead of rushing out.

I will definitely hold that crying Bruce picture over his head. But I was relieved that he did a lot better this time around!

The party sounds so amazing! I'm glad you all had a good time . Your pictures were so good! Bummer about your shoes though I hope your feet recovered that night with some rest. I enjoyed the videos of the dance party! Sulley doing the Cuban shuffle lol! Gavin got a kick out of it too, he likes mike, sulley, and boo right now. Talking mickey was so cute! I was confused why he was bouncing too so I don't blame your DS lol. Lots of candy! What a great night and there's still more to come on this trip!

My feet were a little rough the next day and I had to stick with tennis shoes for the next few days instead of sandals. But it could have been worse.

The party was incredible! The dance party was such a fun addition, and we were happy we stopped by. It was so funny seeing the gigantic Sulley getting down!

Hey I think 915 is awesome considering you were out late and "slept in" especially since you weren't trying to ride soarin. I love the seas! I think we've seen turtle talk on every trip somehow. Last trip was the first time we stopped to check out the aquarium though. I'm glad Paxton liked it!

It was definitely good timing. DH relaxed quickly enough too. I kept telling him we don't have anything we need to rush to Epcot for, so why not take our time in the morning instead of rushing around? But he was in the Disney mindset of GO GO GO, I guess!

The crying Bruce picture is really cute though

Haha Thanks!

I'm very impressed with how sharp and clear the ride pix you got on Nemo. Do you use a flash? If not, how do you get them to come out so sharp? I always assumed a flash would just flush out the images, so we never use one. (That and to not disturb the other riders.)

We enjoy the Seas a lot. It's definitely not something we would do if it weren't for our daughter. The last time we didn't spend quite as much time there as in the past, but she still wanted to see Crush. She had her hand raised the whole time and never got called on. Disappointing. She also likes playing all the trivia games. What's funny is she plays them so many times that they repeat the questions, but she still ends up getting the answers wrong!

I'm guessing "The Land" was next. Either that or Figment.

Yeah, the Seas building was never much of our favorite either before Paxton came along. We wouldn't spend as much time there without him, either. That sucks that DD was never called on! I think the kid interaction for that show is so fun, but I'm sure it is disappointing to the kids that don't get chosen to ask their questions.

One of your guesses was right!

 

[khertz]

Oh man, am I familiar with that "Let's sleep in and relax...just kidding we have to make it to rope drop!!" 9:15 is still great though!

You guys got great pictures in the Nemo ride!

Those Bruce pictures are absolutely priceless

DH was definitely in that mindset that morning!!! Even when we discuss having relaxation time, I think it drives him crazy. When we went to Tennessee last spring, which was intentionally supposed to be a relaxing vacation with lots of down time, he couldn't handle it. I spent the mornings reading my book on the couch and he was pacing around saying he was ready to go do something!

The Bruce pictures are so funny! I hope we can do that for many years to come.

I had the nerve to plan a off day one year and ended up adding another day to my ticket because one sleep in is around 8 for us too and I got tired of the pool after 2 hours. Devyn could stay all day. So sleep in is certainly not a thing!!! Looks like you guys had a nice morning at Epcot. And I love Paxton's shirt!!

It's definitely hard to make yourself relax when you are so used to the fast pace of Disney trips! I'm totally the same way with the pool too. I always want to do it, but then I'm bored after a little while. I kept volunteering to run up and take care of the laundry we had going while DH and DS stayed down at the splash area.

Thanks! I was so happy with the shirt, considering I didn't get to choose what picture went on it.

Haha, it's hard to picture a trip to Epcot without a beeline to Soarin'. But it does make for a little more wiggle room that's for sure. And of course NO LINES anywhere else.

I skipped Nemo last trip, but I sure do miss it. I adore the jelly fish something fierce. And of course the "swimming with turtles" segment. And Peach the starfish. Gee, apparently I shouldn't have skipped it.

Hmmm, the last photo in post 1 clearly indicates a future traffic cop. Or maybe a baseball umpire... "SAFE!"

Now Turtle Talk is something I've never seen either. I guess I always assumed it was really just for kids (and I guess it kind of it), but so many have written about how amusing it is, I think I must see it.

We are the Epcot outliers, for sure. But it definitely makes for an easy morning when you don't plan on being there before rope drop and you aren't headed for any of the headliners!

Apparently you shouldn't have!!! You seem to enjoy quite a bit of it. Can't say I blame you, it's a cute attraction. And I just love the movie, so I definitely love the ride too!

I can see both of those possibilities from that picture.

I always thought the same thing about Turtle Talk, but it's similar to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. You don't have to have a kid to be amused by kids asking an animated turtle questions. His answers are hilarious! Definitely worth checking out.

The fact that you all were at a park at 9:15 the morning after a party is impressive to me. I could manage that when it was just DH and I, but I don't about throwing a toddler into the mix. Then again, they get a head start on bedtime via strollers and car seats, so they tend to wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed with the sun.


Either way, hanging out in the seas area looks like it was entertaining and relaxing. You certainly didn't have to worry about it being crowded at that time of day.

I can't help it, even though I remember that photo of Paxton with Bruce from your last TR, it still made me laugh seeing it again.

Yeah, it's definitely a lot different getting ready for the parks when it's just two adults before adding a little one in. I don't know how they manage to wake up so happy after a shorter night of sleep than what they are used to. He does that at home too!

It's nice that at least we have one park we can go to where we can not have to worry about encountering long lines, even if we get there later than usual.

It made me laugh too when I pulled it up to post it!!

The Seas is definitely one of my favorite pavilions! It's just so cool.

Hahaah I'm glad Paxton did better in Bruce's mouth this time! Too cute.

Turtle Talk really is awesome! I haven't done it in forever and this update has inspired me to do it again!

The Seas is a great pavilion! So much to see, so I'm glad we spent more time there than usual checking it out.

I was glad he did better too! As funny as he was on the last trip with his unexpected freak out, it was much nicer getting a picture of him smiling again.

I love how in Disney, 8am is sleeping in for us all.

My nephews always love wandering around the aquariums at the Seas too. I'm glad your DS loved it!

Hahaha, your picture with DS the prior trip in Bruce's mouth is just hysterical. We had grand thoughts of my oldest nephew having a good old time on all of the rides...that sadly were shattered when we took him on Everest and he's crying in the PP picture.

Love his new picture!

I know, how funny! Good thing the parks don't normally open until 9 so "sleeping in" till 8 is still possible every now and then.

He definitely loved it! I'm glad we checked it out this time instead of rushing through it. It's nice to take it slow sometimes and not rush from one ride to the next.

It's stressful in the planning stages to not know how kids are going to react to certain things, but it does make for some funny pictures!!

The Seas pavilion is always such a fun place to visit with young children. So good to see you had a better experience and result with the Bruce photo op.

Great pictures in the ride portion of the pavilion!

It definitely is! A great way to start off the morning, that's for sure.

I'm guessing you are going to the Land next.

Adorable shirt on Paxton made even better by the fact that it was free!

I think getting to the park at 9:15 was pretty respectable. There always comes that point were its just too much work to hurry in the morning.

Beautiful pics from Nemo. You got the bubbles - too freaking cool. And the pictures of the tanks are wonderful as well!

great update! Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Can't beat the price of FREE! I love their shirts and have ordered them for a ll of Paxton's birthday parties, so I was really excited to get not only a free one, but one with a Disney character!

That's exactly it! After a long, fun night the night before, it was nice to take my time getting ready in the morning and not having somewhere to be at a certain time. Unfortunately DH didn't agree.

I had to work Easter Sunday, but we had a great day on Saturday! Hope yours was nice as well.

Love all the pictures in these updates! Glad DS had a more pleasant experience with Bruce this time around

Thanks! I'm glad it was a more pleasant experience too. Definitely beats a freak meltdown!!

 

[afwdwfan]

The first thing we did when we got in was to run through the Trick or Treat line by Stitch's Great Escape, which only took a couple of minutes. Then the music of the Tomorrowland Monsters Inc. dance party got to be too much to ignore, so we headed over that way hoping to get DS to dance! He wouldn't, but we did enjoy seeing our pals Sulley, Mike, George Sanderson (complete with sock!) and, most importantly, BOO!

The monsters dance party looks pretty incredible. I can't believe they have so many Monsters characters that you never get to see!

But instead of just grabbing a seat on a bench, we went for the better option of taking a spin on the TTA.

That's how you do it!

I'm not sure DS knew what to make of this talking Mickey thing happening! He seemed confused.

Ok, I really think the talking Mickey would be cool... But at the same time, I can see how it can be confusing at best for a kid. And in a worst case scenario, I can see how it could make them run screaming from the room and I can't say that I'd blame them.

Not bad for thinking we weren't going to Trick or Treat at all during the party!

MNSSHP definitely wins the "free" snacks category against MVMCP. I'd much rather load up on name brand candy in quick moving lines, than fight the masses in a slow moving line for a cookie and some hot chocolate.

Overall, I am thrilled that we put out the money for this party and we had a fantastic time! I can't wait until we can go to another one, hopefully next year if we are able to take DS out of school. We all three loved our first MNSSHP!

That's great! It really seemed like a perfect evening!

We headed straight back to The Seas With Nemo and Friends first.

Your DH was anxious to get into the park at or near RD, and this was the first stop???

Not sure what's happening here, but I thought it was funny!!

Well clearly, there are too many cool things to look at! There's that one over there, the other one over that way and the one he's actually looking at!

Not exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to take the pictures! However, I can happily say that this year was MUCH improved!!!

But I did note that DS really liked when Crush was showing off his swimming skills and crashed into the tank. I don't know that it will always be a must-do on our future trips, but we will definitely check it out again!

It is a nice little show. And with the added variable of kids talking to Crush, you never know what you're going to get!

We had tackled one building of Future World, and were ready to head onto the next. Any guesses?

Based on park geography, Paxton's age and the fact that you said you weren't doing Soarin, I'm going to go with Figment.

 

[Nermel9]

Such beautiful pictures from The Seas! What a lovely pavilion it is!

Turtle Talk with Crush is so adorable! I haven't seen it in years, but I did really like it! Can't blame Paxton for not wanting to sit up front, I think maybe a talking turtle might be weird for a little kid! It's even a little weird for me!

 

[scottny]

Great parade pics.
WOW! Great castle and Wishes pics.
Great Mickey pics.
Glad MNSSHP was good for all of you.
Nice fish pics.
I am caught up again

 

[khertz]

The monsters dance party looks pretty incredible. I can't believe they have so many Monsters characters that you never get to see!

That's how you do it!

Ok, I really think the talking Mickey would be cool... But at the same time, I can see how it can be confusing at best for a kid. And in a worst case scenario, I can see how it could make them run screaming from the room and I can't say that I'd blame them.

MNSSHP definitely wins the "free" snacks category against MVMCP. I'd much rather load up on name brand candy in quick moving lines, than fight the masses in a slow moving line for a cookie and some hot chocolate.

That's great! It really seemed like a perfect evening!

Your DH was anxious to get into the park at or near RD, and this was the first stop???

Well clearly, there are too many cool things to look at! There's that one over there, the other one over that way and the one he's actually looking at!



It is a nice little show. And with the added variable of kids talking to Crush, you never know what you're going to get!

Based on park geography, Paxton's age and the fact that you said you weren't doing Soarin, I'm going to go with Figment.

It was really cool getting to see so many different Monsters Inc. characters besides just Mike & Sulley! I was also glad they didn't make it into a Monsters U dance party. It's a good movie, but I prefer the original movie & characters.

Yeah, talking Mickey probably causes a LOT of confusion for kids. I'm glad it didn't freak Paxton out (or make him ask any questions...).

The aprty was so great! I'm glad we made the time to trick or treat, because Paxton loved it, and the lines moved really quickly. I have seen lots of complaints on the boards about the decline in candy product, but 75% of the stuff we got was name brand candy!

This is EXACTLY what I kept telling him!!! If we are not doing Soarin' or Test Track first thing, there is absolutely NO reason to hurry over there!! I think he just can't stand the thought of not getting there at rope drop now after doing it for so many trips in a row.

Crush was really great, and kids definitely add in an unpredictability factor.

Such beautiful pictures from The Seas! What a lovely pavilion it is!

Turtle Talk with Crush is so adorable! I haven't seen it in years, but I did really like it! Can't blame Paxton for not wanting to sit up front, I think maybe a talking turtle might be weird for a little kid! It's even a little weird for me!

Yeah, it's the one where we spent the most time this trip, for sure. Now that Paxton is actually interested in the aquariums, it's easier to wander around in there.

I can understand that!!!

Great parade pics.
WOW! Great castle and Wishes pics.
Great Mickey pics.
Glad MNSSHP was good for all of you.
Nice fish pics.
I am caught up again

Thanks so much! DH definitely worked hard on taking & editing those photos, so he appreciates all of the positive feedback!

 

[khertz]

Day 7 Continued: Monday October 28th

After finishing up at The Seas, we were ready to head over to something else. Most of you guessed right, we were headed to the Imagination Pavilion!

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The wait time was, of course, nonexistent that early in the morning. So in no time, we were following the purple footprints down the hall to the loading area.

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And then we were off on a tour of our senses with Figment! I know people hate this attraction, but I have always really enjoyed it, and now DS loves it too!

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"With F•I•G•M•E•N•T you can see things differently!"


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Everyone's favorite part!


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We went out to the little play area that you exit into, but DS wasn't interested in much there except for the computers to build your own Figment, so we did that. I asked what he wanted to name his Figment, and what I typed in the space is exactly how he answered me! lol

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Look how beautiful of a day it was!!

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We stopped for a quick restroom break, then decided we wanted to head over to World Showcase so we could be there close to when it opened at 11 am, mostly for Belle! She had a spot in DS's autograph book, but I wanted to be there at the beginning of her first set instead of having to wait in a long line later.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that we were able to walk all the way down to France where there was a rope instead of being stopped at the bridge like we were on our last trip. So we took some time to play around in Canada first.

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As soon as they lifted the rope, we headed right down to Belle's meeting spot along the water with only a couple of families ahead of us. We did have to wait a few minutes for her to come out. DH took this photo while we waited. Seriously, just a beautiful day!

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 7 Continued: Monday October 28th

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And soon enough, it was DS's turn to meet the lovely Belle!

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She was absolutely sweet & wonderful, very chatty with DS. Of course, the most popular question was asked, and DS was happy to answer, as usual.

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Then she asked about his Mike Wazowski shirt and what his favorite part of Monsters Inc. is, and he replied with, "When we find Nemo."

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She had the Belle voice down pat, and was super sweet! She looked genuinely interested in everything DS was saying to her. Then they got together for some posed photos.

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After a great meet with Belle, we started walking and talking. We were about ready for lunch, and well, when I'm in World Showcase and hungry, let's be real, I just want to eat at Via Napoli!! lol We had a dinner ADR there for Tuesday night, but decided we would try for a walk-up today for lunch instead. It was still a little too early, so we took our time walking around and enjoying the gorgeous weather and surroundings.

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I went inside to check about being seated, and was told it would be no problem, but that they didn't open until 11:30 am. So we spent a few minutes letting DS run around the pavilion while we talked about how we could change up our plans for Tuesday.

Since we had cancelled our dinner ADR, there was really no reason to come back to Epcot in the evening. We decided instead to come first thing in the morning (it would be an am EMH day, but we figured we'd be okay) and take turns on Test Track using single rider. Then we'd have time to hop over to AK for the rest of the morning, which made me happy because I felt like our first day there wasn't nearly enough time and I had been so disappointed to miss out on so many character meets that you can only get there. Then we'd take our nap, and go back to DHS in the evening. We had been trying to figure out how to squeeze in a Lights, Motors, Action show for DS to see since they added Lightning McQueen, and it just never worked out right. So with a free afternoon, it made sense to do it then! Usually our last full day ends up being a "whatever park we want more time in" day when I'm planning, so we can change it up as necessary. That definitely helped us out this trip, and we took full advantage!

UP NEXT: A Fantastic Lunch!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I won't go as far as to say I hate Journey into Imagination, but that whole area really needs work. Especially for such a cool looking building.

I swear I could look at World Showcase photos all day.

Ahhhh how nice to be asked how old you are and only require one hand to answer.

 

[MEK]

Beautiful pictures of the world showcase. I agree with Rob, count me in as someone who could look at them all day.

Paxton's PP are pretty cute, too.

"Triangle" Now I am even more convinced that Paxton is Brian's much younger twin from another mother. That was seriously Brian's favorite word. He would always point at things and call it a "triangle". Too funny!