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

[cheryllarsen]

enjoyable read. Thanks!

 

[cheryllarsen]

great info. there are some things in here i haven't done before that i will try on next visit!

 

[afwdwfan]

I had figured with the EMH guests getting a jump on us, it would be pointless to head to New Fantasyland yet and to save it for another day when we could go there at rope drop. That idea lasted about 3.24 seconds. So as we departed Crystal Palace, that was exactly where we were headed!

Just hard to resist the pull, isn't it?

Sure, I was excited to experience all of the new stuff, but it just wasn't the same. By no means was I disappointed at all, don't get me wrong, I just didn't get that OH MY GOD I'M FINALLY HERE feeling I had experienced the day before.

I get that. The WWHOP is kind of a new/one of a kind thing and totally immersive. NFL is basically more of what was already there only themed better.

But despite all that, I was pretty happy to see a 20 minute wait posted for Enchanted Tales With Belle, so we decided to stop there first.

Good call. Can't turn down a 20 minute wait there!

We had made it to the front of the line and were just cut off from entering the first pre-show area when it happened. DS announced, "I need to go potty!"

As we got back to the family at the door (they had all waited to the side since another group had been let in while we were gone), DS saw everyone and yelled, "I went potty!!" which earned him a round of applause from those around us in line.

And any guilt you might have felt from moving back up to the front of the line was quickly erased!

DS thought long and hard about which horse he wanted to ride, and once he spotted this one, it was a no-brainer!


Of course, he wanted to ride the Saints horse!! That's my boy...he sees Fleur de Lis, and immediately thinks Saints.

That's great! Getting him brainwashed young!

Spoiler Alert: this is definitely NOT the last time you will see him attempting this during our trip!

If at first you don't succeed...

 

[amazingact21]

It never fails that a potty emergency happens right when it's most inconvienent. However, I've never seen anyone give guests a hard time for something that's out of their control. I know when I was there I had some parent carrying a kid back to their family's spot at least once a day. Those things happen.

Is it bad that I want to do ETWB just to see the room?


That carousel is like a magnet for kids! It's a good thing it's never busy. Something quick and easy to entertain the little ones. And how cool that Paxton picked out the Saints horse!

 

[Pixel Dust]

I'm glad everyone was so understanding of the bathroom situation.

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I see your DH is enjoying his new lens! f/1.8 and nailed it with this shot.

 

[Nermel9]

Aww, I'm sorry you weren't wowed by New Fantasyland like you were expecting! Maybe because you saw it so much in other TR's you knew what to expect? I love it, I'm always amazed by it, I just think the whole area is perfect!

Glad everyone in the Belle line was so understanding about the potty emergency!

Isn't the show adorable? I love it, I just wish the line didn't get so long, so fast! If it isn't the first thing you do in MK, forget it!

 

[marDgreen88]

Gotta love Piglet!

That bathroom story is hilarious. I'm glad the people in line thought it was funny! You know how people can be... though I guess it was too early for that.

 

[khertz]

OK, I'm sure it's just me, but it SERIOUSLY looks like the CM on the left in your first photo is doing a "pretend camera" gesture as you took that photo.

I actually did have the OH MY GOD reaction the first time in NFL. But then again, it was the very first day open EVER, so that may have added to it. Honestly, I really think it'll be SPECTACULAR when the Mine Train opens and all the walls finally come down.

"I went Potty!!" OMG that's adorable.

I finally saw Enchanted Tales and I also quite enjoyed it. Not sure I'd feel the same waiting a long time, but with FP+ it was for sure worth it.

Haha funny. I see Fleur de Lis I think Quebec.

I didn't even notice that, but you're right!

I'm sure being there on opening day is vastly different than entering after it's been open for over a year and you have seen hundreds and hundreds of photos online! I did have that reaction to Carsland specifically because I avoided pictures and reviews until we went to see it for ourselves. And I guess with NFL, while it is beautifully themed, it doesn't put you in any particular movie because you have Gaston's and then Eric's Castle right beyond that.

A 20 minute wait for Enchanted Tales was all right by me as well. Any longer than that, I may not have appreciated it as much!

Isn't that how it normally happens? You get all the way up in line and the kiddo has to potty. My nephew does that all the time.

How funny everyone applauded his return and the "I went potty!" Potty emergency's are no joke.

We had three participants from our group on our July trip. It was too much fun.

Your DS is trained well if he sees a Fleur de Lis and thinks Saints right away.

For our very first Disney attraction and that to happen, I was not optimistic about the rest of the trip!! I was very glad that was the one and only time I ever had to leave the line to take him to the restroom. I did find that I paid more attention to the time and how long it had been since the last time we took him, and I MADE him go, whereas at home he will tell me when he needs to. They really are NO JOKE, and I was so happy everyone in the line was so accommodating!

It really is a cute show and fun to watch, but I'm sure it's even more fun when the kids in your group are involved. It was still fun having FIL participate as a knight even though Paxton didn't want to join in!

Is there any other way?? And of course, not only to notice the fleur de lis, but to insist on riding that one.

Aw man, sorry your first reaction wasn't jaw-dropping! It was for me, but I think that's because all the Belle stuff was first and she is my queen

DS is a good kid. So many kids get so jumpy and overbearing when it comes to characters, dogs, etc. so good for him for not jumping on the dog! And at his announcement to the room!

ENCHANTED TALES <3 love it so much!!

I am going to have to look for the fleur de lis horse next time I ride now that I've been to New Orleans!

I loved the whole area, and thought it was beautifully themed, but it just didn't give me those goosebumps that WWoHP did. I am a huge HP nerd though, and I had been looking forward to finally getting to visit there for YEARS, so that probably had a lot to do with it. I'm truly glad that you had that reaction to it, though! It's really amazing to see anything you have dreamed of becoming part of your whole life as a reality for the first time!!

He is not nervous around dogs, per se, but he is careful around them, and I think that stems from my mom having SO many dogs and they are always jumping and going crazy when we first walk in the door at her house. He probably didn't want that dog jumping up on him, so he was happy to wait until the dog laid down to pet him!

NOLA love!!

catching up... sorry I fell so far behind, but it's exciting getting to read so much all at once!

That stinks that DS wasn't tall enough to ride the train, but good he didn't notice. That could've made for a good toddler melt down!

I'm sure it helped that it was WAAAAAAY up over his eye level so he really didn't even notice it! Because Lord, YES that would have been an epic meltdown indeed!

totally listening to the jurassic park theme song on youtube because I'm not familar with it. I saw the movie when I was pretty young in the theatre but I don't remember anything about it

So I'm curious, at age 3 how is nap time? Can you ask him if he's tired and he will go take his nap, or it is a fight? I'm wondering how it is going to be with Gavin when he can talk more and if that is going to make his sleep better or worse, lol.

Nap time is most days a struggle, but usually only to get him IN the bed. Once he's there he falls asleep pretty quickly, especially at Disney with the early mornings and occasional late nights, plus the hustle and bustle of just being in the parks. Stroller naps were a lot harder this trip because he is older and can fight his sleep more when he is out in public than he did a baby. He can even go a whole day without a nap if he needs to for whatever reason, but that first day in Universal he was acting every bit of needing a nap! There were actually a couple of other days over the trip where he didn't take one and he was fine. The problem with him talking so much now is he can stall with the best of them come nap time!!

I loved the spidey video. I can't believe he wasn't afraid of the green goblin!
Yay I'm glad you finally got DS to sleep. That is like the best moment ever when you see those little eyes going shut, it's a victory! (at least in this house haha)

Oh my gosh, it TOTALLY is, especially on that day because he REALLY needed it!

Your dinner looked really good!

I'm glad DH didn't get stuck for long!

Haha at the clean bed and dirty bed, great idea though!

It worked out so perfectly! I am a weirdo when it comes to napping in the same bed where I sleep at night if we have been outside sweating.

Illuminations AND Wishes - that's the dream right there... and from your balcony! Serious score. Amazing pictures.

It was a perfect first night of the Disney portion of our trip!! We have been trying to get fireworks views every trip, and it hasn't worked out since our first one at BC in '09, so it was nice to finally have one available for us again!

That's awesome his birthday was your first disney day. I'm impressed that you made it out the door in 30 minutes.

The slowest thing for us in the mornings was always feeding Paxton, so now that he is older and we can take breakfast on the go (or in this case, not at all since we were headed to breakfast), it wasn't too difficult luckily. I always made sure my bag was packed and ready to go the night before too, so that cut down on getting ready time in the mornings!

I love toddler bedhead. I still haven't cut Gavin's hair so it's really long. He gets some serious bedhead but I think it's so cute. He looks pleasant for it being so early!

Thats so cute they sung Happy Birthday to him and gave him mickey confetti. I love the picture of him playing with it!

It was such a perfect way to start off the day! He loved that Pixie Dust and if too long had gone by without him seeing it, he asked where it was to make sure it hadn't disappeared.

I love the fall decorations! And I love the empty park photos. I love the "3" birthday picture

I'm sorry DS didn't eat well at Crystal Palace but I guess that's how it goes at character meals. Getting into the park early and empty park photos are priceless though and worth it I think. I think it's going to continue to be a tradition for us!

Totally worth it!

I had the same reaction to New Fantasyland. I was expected to be wowed and awed and it was just like "oh..." don't get me wrong I loved it, but maybe too much hype?

It may have been that for me as well. I was expecting to be wow'ed and I just wasn't. Not that I didn't love or appreciate all of the details they included, but it just wasn't the reaction I was expecting!

Haha at the potty emergency. Paxton sounded very proud of himself. ETWB looks awesome, I hope we get to do it next time!

He was definitely proud! It's an adorable show, and I was glad we did it. I had thought of skipping it because it seemed SO princess heavy, but it really was not at all. And Paxton enjoys Beauty & the Beast well enough, so it kept him interested.

Haha, I totally noticed that CM in the pic too! I thought that she may be saying "Goochie goochie goo" or something like that.


Oh no, that "Potty Emergency" really stinks! I was waiting for this to happen with one of my kiddos during our trip and I'm shocked that it didn't! I'm glad that you got your spot back in line. It was probably a good thing that Paxton announced to everyone that he went potty.

We really enjoyed Enchanted Tales with Belle too. And oh my, that Magic Mirror really IS amazing. Where does the bottom of the frame and wall go? So darn cool!! What great pics of Lumiere and Belle, especially with it being so dark in there.

How fun to see the Stepsisters on the Carrousel! Oh and I LOVE that Gaston fountain!

That's really pretty amazing that with 4 kids, you had no potty emergencies!! Not that anyone seemed to care that we had to leave and come back anyway, but Paxton making the announcement and everyone laughing made me feel infinitely less guilty about having done so.

I know, right?!?! I even thought, "I better watch close because everyone says they don't know how this mirror works" so I figured if I watched carefully I'd see how it happened. But nope! I just don't get it! Disney magic, I suppose.

 

[khertz]

I don't think I have mentioned that we are heading to WDW at the end of January, so yet again your TR could have better timing We figured we better get in one last trip before he turns 3 in July.

I'm glad you had a positive experience with Belle. We have yet to try this just because I think it might be a bit boring for Zavier...glad to hear it is short. I think it might be one of those we put on our fastpass+.

Glad Paxton had a better experience on the carousel this trip lol. Zavier loved it on our trip to Sea World in September so I'm hoping he has also switched to loving it as well

So excited that we will be able to go to Be our Guest on our next trip. We made fastpass+ reservations (if that is even what it is called) for lunch. Most excited for the grey stuff cupcake...yumm!

GREAT idea! We were so happy we were able to sneak in one more trip of him being free, because we saved so much money with the character meals and party tickets, etc! I hope y'all have a great time!

I was worried it would be boring for Paxton too, but he really seemed to enjoy it! And, yes, it's pretty short so even if he doesn't love it, at least you won't be in there forever. Getting a FP+ for it is probably wise. It seemed to have long waits most of the day, so we really lucked out only waiting 20 minutes.

He ended up liking the Carrousel a little TOO much...he wanted to ride it every time we passed it up!

Enjoy your BoG lunch! I really wanted to try to Gray Stuff cupcake, but they seem to only serve it at lunch. We missed out on that since we only went for dinner.

Kudos to the photographer! The morning pictures walking onto main street and just throughout the day are beautiful!

I can taste all those items on your plate from crystal palace. we skipped it the last few trips so I cannot wait to go back next year!

I love ETWB! Our first visit there in September my nephew was the beast and Dev was chip. I really thought it was going to be more for girls like almost everything else but I was so wrong.

What is it with boys and the carrousel?? It is one thing we can ride other places lol
Devyn insisted on riding it but like you, i was like It is his birthday

Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you guys!

DH will appreciate that! I think he just gets better with his photography every trip!

I know what you mean, I almost skipped ETWB because I thought it would be more for girls, but no! It was fun for every kid that was in the audience, even Paxton who didn't participate.

Yes, that Carrousel just drew him in, more than once that trip too! But at least there it's free! If he wants to ride it at the Baton Rouge mall or the park, it costs money!

Hope y'all had a Merry Christmas as well!!

I don't think I commented on your last post about your CP breakfast. Wait - yes I did.

So glad you were able to bet out of the line and back in pretty painlessly. That is so great that Paxton got applause for making a potty stop.

The pictures for this update are really lovely.

Too funny that Paxton wanted to ride the "Saints" horse.

I totally agree with the CP love, MEK!!!

I was glad it was not the nightmare I had been planning on. Some of those threads about leaving and re-entering the line on the Theme Parks boards can be brutal!!!

Thank you.

He is our kid, all right.

Great update on Enchanted Tales! Our kids were shy too last year and didn't want to participate in the storytelling of Enchanted Tales but they still had a great time watching. I'm curious whether they will feel differently in January when we go back. And great pictures of all the details of the queue and the library!

It was pretty fun just watching, but I imagine it's a lot more fun when your kids are participating. Like you, I hope by the next time we go, Paxton will be interested in joining the show. I hope your kids (or maybe at least just one!) will decide to interact!

I'm glad the potty emergency was handled and you were still able to get back in line! Also glad it was only a 20 min wait! How funny that you saw Anastasia and Drizella on the carousel!

I was so glad it was only a 20 minute wait too...any longer than that I might not have enjoyed it as much!

enjoyable read. Thanks!

great info. there are some things in here i haven't done before that i will try on next visit!

Thanks so much!! Glad I could help!

 

[khertz]

Just hard to resist the pull, isn't it?


I get that. The WWHOP is kind of a new/one of a kind thing and totally immersive. NFL is basically more of what was already there only themed better.

I think you hit the nail right on the head there!!

Good call. Can't turn down a 20 minute wait there!




Toddlers. And worse, potty training toddlers!


And any guilt you might have felt from moving back up to the front of the line was quickly erased!

Definitely! I was happy to find people were very understanding!

That's great! Getting him brainwashed young!

It's the New Orleans way!

If at first you don't succeed...

He definitely took that advice to heart this trip!

It never fails that a potty emergency happens right when it's most inconvienent. However, I've never seen anyone give guests a hard time for something that's out of their control. I know when I was there I had some parent carrying a kid back to their family's spot at least once a day. Those things happen.

Is it bad that I want to do ETWB just to see the room?


That carousel is like a magnet for kids! It's a good thing it's never busy. Something quick and easy to entertain the little ones. And how cool that Paxton picked out the Saints horse!

It's weird for me, because I know in that same situation, I would never give a parent a hard time for taking their child out and returning for a potty emergency. But when it came time for me to do it, I got so nervous! Like I said, I can identify with Piglet as a big ball of anxiety.

Not bad at all, you should do it! It's a fabulously themed attraction!

So true, I was glad it was never busy, because we could never seem to pass it without him wanting to ride this trip!

I'm glad everyone was so understanding of the bathroom situation.

I see your DH is enjoying his new lens! f/1.8 and nailed it with this shot.

I was too! Those threads about it on the Theme Parks board had me expecting people to throw elbows!

He was very excited to take his new equipment on this trip, and I'm so happy he did!

Aww, I'm sorry you weren't wowed by New Fantasyland like you were expecting! Maybe because you saw it so much in other TR's you knew what to expect? I love it, I'm always amazed by it, I just think the whole area is perfect!

Glad everyone in the Belle line was so understanding about the potty emergency!

Isn't the show adorable? I love it, I just wish the line didn't get so long, so fast! If it isn't the first thing you do in MK, forget it!

I think that is definitely part of it. I definitely think the whole area is AMAZING, and will be even more so once the Mine Train is open and there are no more walls up. I just didn't get the same reaction as I did going into WWoHP for the first time, and I had expected it to be similar for me when going into NFL for the first time. Maybe I had gotten it all out the day before at WWoHP!

I know, I was surprised at the wait time given that it had been an EMH morning. Any longer, we would have skipped it and gone another morning at rope drop.

Gotta love Piglet!

That bathroom story is hilarious. I'm glad the people in line thought it was funny! You know how people can be... though I guess it was too early for that.

Maybe I am giving all those understanding people in line WAY too much credit, and this could be the actual reason they were so understanding! It hadn't happened to them dozens of times over the course of a day yet!

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh my gosh! Too cute about the potty announcement! Definitely worth of a round of applause.

Excellent photo of the magical portal! I'm obsessed with that doorway for ETwB. Last time I went I was so disappointed that the door was already open - so unmagical! I do love seeing Lumiere and the adorable littles perform so it is still totally worth it.

 

[DDuck4Life]

I'm glad everyone was so understanding of the bathroom situation.

I see your DH is enjoying his new lens! f/1.8 and nailed it with this shot.

Thanks I loved the new lens and it stayed on my camera 90% of the time. The majority of the pictures from my camera in this TR will be with the new lens.

The lens and camera were both new so this trip was the first time I really had extensive shooting time with both together. While there was a learning curve to go along with the new equipment. Sometimes it would not do what I was expecting. the 18-35mm is pushing me to get rid of the 17-50 f/2.8 as they over lap a little too much.

Oh my gosh! Too cute about the potty announcement! Definitely worth of a round of applause.

Excellent photo of the magical portal! I'm obsessed with that doorway for ETwB. Last time I went I was so disappointed that the door was already open - so unmagical! I do love seeing Lumiere and the adorable littles perform so it is still totally worth it.

Thanks, I had not seen what would happen with the portal only heard that it would transform. So, I was almost caught just staring at the window wondering how it was doing that. I was still able to snap a few shots while being in awe. After seeing it this time I would have been bummed as well on missing out on the door opening.

 

[khertz]

Oh my gosh! Too cute about the potty announcement! Definitely worth of a round of applause.

Excellent photo of the magical portal! I'm obsessed with that doorway for ETwB. Last time I went I was so disappointed that the door was already open - so unmagical! I do love seeing Lumiere and the adorable littles perform so it is still totally worth it.

He is pretty good about breaking the ice, that's for sure.

That doorway is seriously so amazing. That would be a huge bummer for it to be already open! Definitely unmagical.

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

I just finished your last TR and am now caught up with this one. I love the pictures from WWoHP we love those movies in fact we have been watching the movies from start again. Love your little guy he is too cute. Look forward to reading more.

 

[Imagineer5]

What an awesome start of Paxton's birthday!! Glad you got to do enchanted tales with belle without too much of a line, and the potty incident (actually the gassy part leading up to it LOL) made me laugh. We haven't had to deal with that yet (though a super stinky diaper is no fun either) though we are talking about doing the nakey weekend potty training soon! Oh, and isn't that mirror just so so cool!

Glad someone volunteered from your group so it made it more special - I am so shy, as is DH, that I fear Aria will never volunteer for that stuff.

The carousel really is a draw, Aria always wants to do it too. That's cute the characters were riding it! Can't wait to see more.

 

[khertz]

I just finished your last TR and am now caught up with this one. I love the pictures from WWoHP we love those movies in fact we have been watching the movies from start again. Love your little guy he is too cute. Look forward to reading more.

Welcome, and thanks! In case it wasn't completely obvious, we are total Harry Potter nuts and really really loved the WWoHP area!

What an awesome start of Paxton's birthday!! Glad you got to do enchanted tales with belle without too much of a line, and the potty incident (actually the gassy part leading up to it LOL) made me laugh. We haven't had to deal with that yet (though a super stinky diaper is no fun either) though we are talking about doing the nakey weekend potty training soon! Oh, and isn't that mirror just so so cool!

Glad someone volunteered from your group so it made it more special - I am so shy, as is DH, that I fear Aria will never volunteer for that stuff.

The carousel really is a draw, Aria always wants to do it too. That's cute the characters were riding it! Can't wait to see more.

Oh gosh, good luck with the potty training! I'm so glad that part of Paxton's life is done.

DH and I are pretty shy too, so it always surprises me how outgoing Paxton is! But for some reason that morning, he just wasn't showing it. I think by the next time we go he might be up for a role in Enchanted Tales.

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Thursday October 24th

When I left off, we had just made our way back into New Fantasyland and to our next stop on our tour of new things, Under the Sea~Journey of the Little Mermaid. Now, this was not entirely a new attraction to myself, DH, and DS since we had ridden it multiple times on our back to back trips to Disneyland last year. The ride was brand new to the rest of the group though, and new to all of us (and what I had been most looking forward to) was the queue...Eric's castle!!!! From all of the Disney movies when I was a kid, this was always easily my most favorite castle because it looks so different from the traditional slender pointed spires. Here I am going on about it when I should just start sharing the photos. Easily my new favorite queue in all of WDW!! This time of the morning though, we didn't have much opportunity to explore the details since the wait time was the amount of time it took us to walk through the queue without stopping.

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DS really got a kick out of this waterfall for some reason! He just really loved it, and was pretty upset when we moved away from it and he couldn't see it anymore. But then we just distracted him with all the whosits and whatsits in the queue.

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He also really loved Scuttle. Every time he saw him he would start yelling, "Look, look, Mama, there's SCUTTLE!" It was kind of hilarious. We got up to the boarding platform, and DS decided to ride with Katie and his buddy Mitchell. I did remember to warn them that he had gotten kind of scared last year at the part where the clamshell goes backwards down as you go under the sea. Good thing we were already familiar with that ride, or that could have gone very badly for my sister!

Soon, we were under the sea partying it up with Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian. Of course, I was singing along with all the songs. I mean, how can you not, right??

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DS, Katie & Mitchell riding in the shell before us


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When we came off of the ride and met up in a group, everyone had pretty much the same reaction. Loved it! Katie & my mom especially so, because the three of us have always loved that movie. And my mom has always had a crush on Prince Eric. It was fun for me getting to ride an attraction I loved so much in California in my "home park."

Next, the birthday boy said he was ready to ride It's a Small World, so we exited New Fantasyland once again to head to his very favorite ride in all of WDW. There was hardly any wait, so soon enough, we were getting situated in our boat and taking off on the happiest cruise that ever sailed! Unless you are my dad, he was setting off into one of the seven levels of Hell.

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Ooh La La!


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No offense to the entire rest of the ride, but the drunk hippo is seriously the best thing about this whole attraction. Just sayin'.


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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Thursday October 24th

When we came out of Small World, of course my attention was immediately drawn to this amazing and spectacular site just beside me!!

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There was a small line forming nearby for Peter Pan's meet & greet, which was scheduled to have another set starting soon. So a couple of people in the group went to get us a spot in the line so DS could meet his idol while I went to marvel over the Tangled bathrooms and snapped my fingers at DH saying, "Take a picture of that! And that!" So prepare yourselves, there is a whole lot of Tangled bathrooms headed your way!!

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"Frying pans...who knew, right?"


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Ahhh, don't you just feel happy now after looking at all of those?? I know I do! I probably could have stayed in the Kingdom of Corona the rest of the day and braided my hair, but instead I decided to join the rest of the group in the line for Peter Pan. Only we were told it was probably going to just be Wendy. We almost left the line, but then figured we had been standing there awhile, so we'd wait it out and see. It did end up being only Wendy, but it was still a wonderful character meet!

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Love this photo that PhotoPass got!! I used it on our Christmas cards this year! He didn't seem to notice or care that Peter Pan was not there also.


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PhotoPass version


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This was after he told her he was going to be Peter Pan for Halloween.


PP-011 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-187 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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Okay, take a look at DS's face in that last photo. I don't know why, but for a lot of characters he would interact with them and be so cute, but when it came time for pictures, he would completely zone out!! She kept trying to get him to hold his arms out like he was flying, but as soon as she would let go of his wrists, he would drop his arms down. She said he must have floppy wings. lol

VIDEO: DS Meeting Wendy Darling


3-188 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Thursday October 24th

PP-012 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
PhotoPass version​

After taking some pictures of him flying with Wendy, she signed his autograph book. She was one of the characters I wasn't sure we would find, so I had her sign in Peter Pan's spot, which she was happy to do for us.

3-189 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After waving goodbye to Wendy, we made our way to Adventureland, thinking we might try to get on Pirates of the Caribbean, but the wait was too long so we headed over to the Tiki Room instead. At that point, we got separated from the group because the parents were hemming and hawing and we didn't feel like waiting for them, so we jumped in line as the next show was letting in.

DS absolutely loves the Tiki Room song and we listen to it in the car all the time. But this was the first time we had been back since DS started with his new fear of loud noises, including thunder. I had prepped him a few times before the trip by showing him videos of the show on YouTube and hoped he wouldn't freak out. Thankfully, there were no meltdowns, and he seemed to really enjoy the show for the most part. The drummer tiki guys made him a little nervous but other than that, he enjoyed himself!

3-190 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-191 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-192 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

While in the show, I was texting back and forth with Missy (missyrose) trying to figure out when and how we could meet up with her and her new husband Franklin (PixelDust) since it was the only day that our trip overlapped with their honeymoon. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out that we were able to meet up with them, and I was so bummed! I love all of Missy's TRs and Franklin's photos! If you haven't read them yet, you definitely should!!

Anyway, after we left the Tiki Room, we knew we needed to start heading in the direction of Main Street since our 1 pm appointment for DS to get his hair cut at the Barber Shop was coming up soon. We set off through Adventureland towards the Hub.

3-193 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DS was so intrigued by these tiki guys every time we would walk past. But as soon as you tried taking him up close to them, he didn't want any part of that!

When we got up to Main Street, the Move It Shake It Celebrate It parade was going on, so we stopped to watch. Okay, before I get to the pictures, I just have to say we saw some incredibly entitled people when we got up to view the parade in front of Casey's! Just as we walked up, a mother and her kid started to run across the street. A CM tried very hard to stop her and tell her for the performers safety that she couldn't do that, but she blew past him to the other side of the street, and you could tell the CM was upset. Then another lady came up beside me and I could tell she was trying to get across, but I told her she was not going to be able to. As soon as she put one foot in the street, the CM on the float in front of us held her arms out to stop her. The woman took another step and was immediately swarmed by CM's from the parade to get her back onto the curb. She threw her hands up and yelled out an expletive, but she didn't try to run across again. I just can't believe the nerve of some people! It should be pretty obvious that with large floats and performers trying to dance, it is not safe for the performers OR the guests for people to be trying to run across the street during the middle of the parade!! Maybe it is the New Orleans girl in me, but I know how to act at a parade. lol

3-198 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-199 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-200 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-201 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-203 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-204 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-205 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-206 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-207 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


3-208 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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(I just watched a YouTube video of this parade to get lyrics for my title and got all teary eyed during the Celebrate You part at the end! Just having an "I wanna be back in Disney World SO BAD" kind of day!)

Once the parade was over, we REALLY had to be headed to the Barber Shop. I was still keeping my eyes peeled for a Missy or Franklin sighting, but I spotted another familiar face instead...Mary Ellen (MEK)!! I'm sure I scared the heck out of her because she was walking towards me on the sidewalk and I just kind of jumped in front of her and said, "HEY!" It was so nice to finally meet her and her husband Denny. And so funny that she was the ONLY DIS'er I had not in some way tried to find a specific date and time to meet up with her, I only knew we were both in MK that day. She was such a sweetheart, and even told DS Happy Birthday, but he was being a booger and not very talkative at the moment. Just as we were about to part ways to get to our appointment, I remembered to have DH take our picture together!

3-209 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

While I am plugging TR's in this post, go read Mary Ellen's!! She is another awesome photographer with really great TRs!

To close off this post, I will leave you with this incredibly random yet cute pumpkin restroom sign that DH spotted as we headed up to the Barber Shop.

3-210 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

UP NEXT: Harmony Barber Shop

 

[JessM]

I completely agree that Ariel hands down has the best castle. The one is NFL is just perfect! I love the ride too, its so colorful!

My Dad feels the same way as yours about Its a Small World! He attributes it to getting stuck on there for an hour one time

The Tangled bathrooms are just too perfect, they are so well done and beautiful. I love all your pictures!

The Wendy meet and greet sounded great! I missed her this year, next time!

Great parade pics! They came out great!