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

[khertz]

Best of luck on your interview!! And have a wonderful time on your mini vacay, sounds like it will be such fun!!

Thanks! I had my second, and I think, final interview this week, so hopefully I hear something soon.

It was a TON of fun!! I'm still kind of reeling and haven't caught up on sleep, but it was great.

Good luck on the job interview and maybe we'll see you in NOLA...I'm sure it won't be TOOOO crowded the weekend before Fat Tuesday especially with Morpheus, Endymion and Bacchus this weekend!

Thanks! I hope y'all had a wonderful time in NOLA as well. I think the cold weather that rolled in definitely took some of the crowds with it. We definitely noticed a HUGE difference between the weekend and Monday/Tuesday!!

Love the family selfie at sci-fi. Devyn has to have the The ipod/ my iphone at restaurants as well. He will get out of control if he has to just sit there and wait for food. I was just thinking about my next trip and How I really want to meet the characters in Hollywood studios more. We always have just enough time to do the attractions and a few characters but we always miss the ones in the animation building. The photos with Paxton with Mike and sully are just too cute!
Good luck on your interview! I have been going through the interview process myself lately and I know that for a job you really want it can be stressful. More so than usual. I know you will do well! I enjoyed all your madi gras pictures!

Paxton is usually pretty good in restaurants, but something about Sci Fi being SO quiet with everyone else watching the movie reels, it seems to magnify his already LOUD voice! The iPhone definitely helps with that at that restaurant in particular.

Thanks! Good luck with your interviews as well! I have really never had to interview for a job because I have only ever worked this same job I've had since graduation. The "interview" for that job, if you can even call it that, was basically telling me how everything works because I already had the position. So this is a brand new experience for me!

 

[dtr_angel]

Oh I hope your interview went well! I also hope you had a great Mardi gras trip!

 

[JessM]

First off I hope you had a fabulous mini vacation! Sometimes those can be the best!

I love the pictures with Minnie. I completely forgot about her new meet and greet, I would have loved to see her. The decor in there is awesome!

Adorable pictures with Mike and Sulley too, I especially love the roaring one!

I've only been to Sci Fi once and it was a long time again, but it looks amazing! I love all the pictures you took you can actually see the restaurant!

 

[khertz]

Hey partner, don't be shy
Come on down here and give us a try
You wanna do some livin' before you die
Do it down in New Orleans
​

Whew, did we have a fun & exhausting weekend in New Orleans!!! I hope y'all don't mind a break on the Disney TR for a couple posts about our Mardi Gras weekend. I was going to update both today, but I had a bunch of errands to run this morning and then I had to upload everything so it didn't leave me as much time as I'd thought.

Our weekend started Friday afternoon when we left home and made the drive into New Orleans. As we were leaving, we grabbed the mail and had a package from Adventures By Disney! DH and I were so excited, thinking it was something for our upcoming ABD trip, but it turned out to just be the most recent brochure. It kept DS busy in the car, though, until he crashed out for a nap. You can see it tucked under his arm here.

IMG_3897 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We kind of ran into some trouble when we got off of the Interstate too soon and hit a lot of traffic on the way to the hotel. Then once we got there, the lane for the valet was full so DH had to drop me off to check us in and drive around until he could pull up for the valet. We stayed at the Queen and Crescent hotel, just a block off of the parade route. We unloaded all of our stuff, which I brought up to the room to unpack while DH brought DS's ladder down to the parade route to set up.

A quick run down on ladders for those that don't know (I talked about them in last year's TR). In New Orleans, people make seats for their kids that they bolt onto a ladder for the kids to sit in during the parades so that they are up high enough to catch beads. DH got his old seat from when he was a kid, which was painted dark green and had a hideous green carpet stapled to it. We pulled off the carpet, and DH spent a weekend sanding it down and painting it. We went with a Lightning McQueen theme and painted the seat part red with black sides. On the sides, I printed some 95 and lightning bold cutouts on my Cricut and he used those as stencils to put on the sides. I also printed out some big letters to paint our last name on the back. Then we made a little cushion for it out of Lightning McQueen fabric. It came together really cute! Here's the finished product.

IMG_3900 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

While I was unpacking all of our stuff in the room, DH was able to take the ladder down to the parade route and set it up for the parades that night. We eventually ended up right along the curb next to my aunt and uncle's ladder, who we were spending the weekend with! It worked great because in years past, they had to load up the ladders onto a truck every night and a few guys from the group would have to go down early every morning to set them up again. But this year, they hired security, so we were able to leave them out almost every single night and keep our same spots. We all brought chairs from home, and those had to be picked up every night, but whoever got down first every morning would set up everyone's chairs between our ladders and the police barricade so that we could all stand together. Our core group from the larger group traveling was me, DH and DS, my aunt and uncle and their 3 little ones, and two of their friends with their families.

Friday night, there were 3 parades, so we were in for a long night ahead! Our parade watching spot was near the end of the parade route, so it took awhile for the parades to even get to us. Since we'd had kind of a long day and it was pretty chilly, I ended up taking DS in early before the first parade was even over while DH stayed out until the end and eventually came back to the room around midnight.

2014-02-28 19.03.44 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Saturday, we got up pretty early because DH woke up early to shower and go downstairs to check on the ladders and put out our chairs. We got breakfast from the hotel and headed outside to our spot around 10 am. That was kind of our routine every day. We'd get up, eat in the room, and go down mid morning to hang out with everyone in the group. The daytime parades would reach us around 1 in the afternoon. Usually we only had time for DS to stay out for one parade before I would bring him back to the room for a good nap so he'd be ready for the evening parades.

On Saturday, we stayed out to see the Krewe of Iris, an all female krewe. DS was happy to be up in his seat! Whoever was standing behind him on the ladder, he would make sure that not only were their hands in the air as the floats were passing, but also that they were yelling for beads! lol

IMG_3914 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Parade selfie!


2014-03-01 13.03.14 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3920 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3921 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

DS took a good nap in the room from about 2:30 to 5:30. We let him sleep longer & later than normal since we knew the nights would be later than he's used to! I read my book while he napped, and it all worked out well. Once he woke up, DH came up to the room to bring us some dinner. I forgot to mention, the group we were traveling with not only included our hotel stay and parade watching spot, it also included food for the whole weekend!

That night was one of the big parades of the season, Endymion! The two grand marshals were Norman Reedus from the Walking Dead (who talked about his experience in the parade on Jimmy Fallon, and I LOVE that he said that the people you see flashing at Mardi Gras are the tourists on Bourbon St. and NOT the locals...SO TRUE!!), and Ian Somerhalder, who, I'm sorry, will ALWAYS be from Lost. I couldn't care less about Vampire Diaries! Because this parade is so popular, it was pretty packed around us, but we still had our great location and had a lot of fun.

One of the first things we saw was the Budweiser Clydesdales! I absolutely love those horses, and we got to see them in a couple more parades throughout the weekend. They are so beautiful! They even had a Dalmatian up on the cart with the driver, and he stayed so perfectly still you would have thought it was a fake dog until you saw it move its head to look around or lay down.

IMG_3932 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Also, DS was not a great eater this weekend, but I kind of let him do what he wanted and didn't stress about it. This night, I had made him a jelly sandwich because he didn't want the jambalaya they were serving for dinner. I had asked him repeatedly if he wanted anymore so I could go throw it away, and he kept telling me he was done. Ten minutes after I throw it away, he asks for more sandwich. When I told him it was gone, this was the face that followed.

IMG_3925 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Look at all that lip!!


IMG_3935 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Flambeaux!


IMG_3944 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
He eventually got over the tossed sandwich, and silliness ensued with glow necklaces


2014-03-01 19.06.32 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Captain's Float


2014-03-01 19.55.45 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

Sunday, we got up early and walked down the street for 8 am Mass at St. Patrick's Church. It was less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel, which was so perfect! After mass, as we were walking back to the hotel, we were behind a jogger who had obviously stopped to stretch. DS proceeds to ask rather loudly, "Hey, is him mouskersizing?" It was pretty hilarious!!! We changed once we got to the hotel, then headed down to the parade route to get some homemade beignets for breakfast. DS went to town on those suckers. They were delicious!! I think all three of us had our fair share, especially towards the end of breakfast service when they were trying to get rid of them all.

IMG_3949 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3950 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Hanging with daddy​

Mid morning, some of our guests showed up! My parents, DH's mom and step-dad, and my sister and Mitchell came down to spend the day. My sister brought me a daiquiri, which was the only drinking I did all weekend, but damn was it good! It was only about 10:30 am, so that's definitely the earliest I have ever started drinking in the day. lol DH and I got to sit and talk for a bit (mostly about the FP+ reservations we'd be making the next day!) while our parents took DS and my godchild to go play with bubbles behind the grandstand.

That morning, they had organized a kids craft table, so we took DS to do that. They had paper plate masks and/or paper bags to decorate, and DS decided he wanted to do a mask.

IMG_3956 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3958 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3962 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3969 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
My godchild/cousin Stryder with his mask


IMG_3970 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
My other cousin Sawyer with hers


IMG_3963 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Where's Waldo?​

Again, DS and I stayed for the first parade, which included my old high school! I went to an all-girls Catholic high school, and we had 2 dance teams. One was just for our school, and the second was for our brother school. Here they are marching in the parade with the marching band from our brother school.

IMG_3972 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3973 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Vince Vance was also in this parade, and he even came down off the float to shake hands with people along the barricades when it stopped. I only know his name because Vince Vance & the Valiants sings my most favorite Christmas song EVER!

2014-03-02 14.02.22 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

After the first parade, DS and I went up to the room for a nap. DH had seen on Facebook that Corey Martin from the DIS Unplugged podcast was riding in Thoth, one of the later daytime parades. I follow Julie Martin on Instagram, so I told her we had made a sign for Corey. DH decided to post a picture of the sign on Corey's FB wall in hopes it would help him see us, but apparently he didn't see our sign.

2014-03-02 12.23.37 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

After DS got up from his nap, we went back down to the parade route for some dinner and for DS to say goodbye to his grandparents, who weren't staying for the evening parade. I think DH was kind of annoyed at having been left down with them for several hours by himself!! lol He came up to the room to get us and made sure to grab his light up Bacchus helmet to go with his Bacchus t-shirt.

IMG_3979 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Once they left, it was time for Bacchus, the other big nighttime parade! I was pretty excited about this one because the grand marshal was Hugh Laurie!

2014-03-02 19.58.45 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


2014-03-02 20.22.52 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3992 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
The best I could get of Hugh Laurie on my iPhone


IMG_3994 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Uncle David & Stryder enjoying the parade!


IMG_4003 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4010 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4013 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

We got to bed late that night, so we slept in a bit the next morning. Since it was Monday, there were no parades during the day. The temperature had dropped overnight, so it was pretty cold and windy when we headed out of the hotel around 10 am. Luckily, it was only a very short walk up a couple of blocks to the Louisiana Children's Museum. It's usually not open on Mondays but they had special hours for Lundi Gras. We had really wanted to go to the zoo, but it was definitely not comfortable enough to be outside all morning, so this was the better choice. I had taken DS here not too long ago with my mom and sister, and all he kept talking about was wanting to go back when daddy could come too, so it worked out really well.

IMG_7809 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Building a dino


IMG_7810 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Daddy's was the only one that stayed standing!


IMG_7813 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Learning about pulleys


IMG_7816 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_7819 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Daddy scaring him with a huge catfish!


IMG_7825 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Captain Paxton driving a riverboat


IMG_7837 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Attacking mommy with the crabs for sale at the mini-Winn Dixie


IMG_7838 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
He just looks so cute pushing that little basket!


IMG_7842 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Making sure all that plastic produce is fresh lol


IMG_7854 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
So proud of himself for conquering the long sound tunnel! He has always been too afraid to go all the way through because the middle gets kind of dark.​

We left the museum around 12:30 and decided to stop at a place along the way back to the hotel called Phil's Grill. It's a burger restaurant where you build your own burger from several choices of buns, meats, sauces, toppings, sides, etc. Sounded like a great concept, so we wanted to check it out.

IMG_4040 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Lunchtime selfie before it went down the tubes...​

What a nightmare!! We were seated quickly, but it took 15 minutes for our server to even come get our drink order, then just as long for the drinks to actually arrive and for us to put in our food order. The kitchen was have a LOT of trouble that day apparently, and we waited almost an hour for our food! It was already later than we are used to eating, and DS was whining the entire time that he was hungry. I did everything I could to distract him, all the while the server is coming by and telling us it won't be long. I even told the hostess it had been almost an hour when she came by and noticed we didn't have any food yet.

I finally got so aggravated that I went up to the window where they were expediting and told the guy there that we had been waiting an hour, my child was starving, and was at least his grilled cheese ready? Turns out, his sandwich was ready and was just sitting there, so the guy gave it to me to bring back to the table so at least DS could start eating. Our burgers arrived about 10 minutes after that. I have to say, if it wasn't for the extremely slow service, I would probably be raving about this place because the food was absolutely delicious once we got it. It even prompted me to write my first review on Yelp because the service was so absurdly bad. The owner replied with his personal email address, and I emailed him but haven't gotten a response.

After that terrible experience, we walked back to the hotel. As we are approaching, I see what looks like our truck rolling down the street and stopping in the valet lane!! DH recognized the plate, and it was definitely ours, so we stopped to see what was up. The valet asked if it was our truck and we said yes, and he apologized for the wait. I looked at him like he was crazy and said, "We didn't call for it!" Apparently they had called the wrong ticket, but it was pretty scary to think that anyone could have taken our truck if was an upgrade from their actual vehicle that the valet was supposed to be picking up! Luckily we walked up when we did, but that left a bad taste in our mouths. Once that was straightened out, we went up to the room and we all three took a little nap before the nighttime parades. When we got up, we had to bundle up because it was cold outside and dropping quickly! It was in the low-30's with the wind chill. Brrr!!

2014-03-03 19.17.13 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Thank goodness I threw his mittens in the suitcase at the last minute!


2014-03-03 21.59.33 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4047 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Freezing family selfie! (Excuse the food in DS's mouth)


IMG_4049 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

You can kind of see in that last picture how few people there were compared to the nighttime parades over the weekend. The cold definitely kept people away!

I drank about 3 cups of hot chocolate, and I was still freezing. DH was on the ladder with DS and I was down on the ground. Every once in awhile I'd look up at DS and ask if he was too cold and wanted to go inside yet, and he'd look down the street and see more parade coming and say, "But there's more floats coming." He is DEFINITELY his father's child. He loves Mardi Gras!! Eventually he gave up, and after an hour of parade I took him up. It was entirely too cold!! DH stayed until it was over, though, he's a trooper when it comes to Mardi Gras!

The next morning was Mardi Gras day! DH got up early and went down to set up everyone's chairs, and came back to report that it was REALLY cold and windy again today...and that it was raining! Womp womp. Even though DS and I were bundled up in layer after layer in anticipation of the cold, we both decided not to take DS down in the cold AND rain. I stayed up in the hotel room with him and finished packing because we were supposed to be checking out at noon. My aunt and uncle were supposed to be staying until Wednesday, so we were going to move our stuff to their room to hold for us since we were leery of leaving anything with guest services after the valet incident. But when I called, it turns out they had not been booked for that night like they thought, so they were just packing up and leaving because of the weather. DH went down to the parades trying to make the best of it, but he came up after less than 30 minutes. We decided to just head back home early. So thankfully we had the whole weekend with beautiful weather before then, because we would have been totally disappointed if we were only going for Fat Tuesday and got rained out!

It took forever to get out of the city with all of the streets closed for the parades, but eventually we made it to Metairie where we stopped for lunch before heading home. We'd needed to waste some time because part of the Interstate was shut down due to the icy wet weather, and some of the bridges on the alternate route home were closed also! By the time we finished eating, the highway was open again so we drove home.

All in all, it was a really awesome weekend!! I think DH was a little disappointed because he is used to doing Mardi Gras differently, but I personally loved it. We had a room in walking distance for when any of us had had enough, we had wristbands that got us food all weekend and gave us access to the nearby Hotel Intercontinental for bathrooms so we didn't have to go all the way back to our room, and best of all, we got to hang out with great family and friends to watch the parades! DS loved it because he is a parade junkie and he had kids around his age to play with in the mornings when waiting for the parades to start. It was a great mini-vacation! I hope y'all enjoy the pictures in these couple of posts, even though almost all of them are from iPhones. I'm going to try to do a Disney trip update sometime this weekend if I can!

 

[khertz]

Oh I hope your interview went well! I also hope you had a great Mardi gras trip!

Thanks!! I had my second interview this week, so now I am just waiting anxiously to hear if I got the job or not!

First off I hope you had a fabulous mini vacation! Sometimes those can be the best!

I love the pictures with Minnie. I completely forgot about her new meet and greet, I would have loved to see her. The decor in there is awesome!

Adorable pictures with Mike and Sulley too, I especially love the roaring one!

I've only been to Sci Fi once and it was a long time again, but it looks amazing! I love all the pictures you took you can actually see the restaurant!

Thanks! It was definitely wonderful, and I look forward to doing it again for a future Mardi Gras.

The decor in the Minnie are is absolutely adorable, and so perfectly Minnie! I'm glad we went in there, because I had been planning to skip it.

DH got some great pictures of the inside of Sci-Fi! He was definitely enjoying getting all of those photos when they have been super dark in years past.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

This is so exciting. The closest I've come to Mardis Gras is at Universal (though they do have a pretty darn good parade all things considered). Plus BEADS!!! Lots and lots of BEADS!!!

WOW multiple parades??? I had no idea at all. I thought it was just 1 parade and done.

I have to add that the ladder thing fascinates me. Plus you have parades spots included??? How cool! And incidentally I totally would have fan girled Norman Reedus.

Bahahahahaha... easiest Where's Waldo ever.

Haha I saw Corey on my last trip. He sure does get around. Awesome sign too!

HOLY CRAP about your almost potentially stolen truck!!!!!! Unreal!

I really enjoyed this especially knowing so little about it. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

 

[MEK]

And I thought the whole state of Louisiana was at Disney World during Mardi Gras. Seriously, there were people from LA everywhere on Tuesday and Wednesday. I've got to give props to you guys because everyone has SO much home town spirit. Loved all the shirts and beads. One CM told us that a lot of people rent out their houses for the week and use the money to go to Disney. Is that true?

Hugh Laurie. Awesome! Perfect for that roll.

Paxton looks so much older. He really is growing up.

So glad you had a great time despite the cold and rain.

 

[khertz]

This is so exciting. The closest I've come to Mardis Gras is at Universal (though they do have a pretty darn good parade all things considered). Plus BEADS!!! Lots and lots of BEADS!!!

WOW multiple parades??? I had no idea at all. I thought it was just 1 parade and done.

Multiple parades over multiple weeks! There's parades for at least three weekends leading up to Mardi Gras day in New Orleans and surrounding cities, plus a few sprinkled in on weeknights. The weekend leading up to Mardi Gras when we were there is basically one long party. 2-3 parades during the daytime and usually 1 big parade or 2 smaller ones at night.

I have to add that the ladder thing fascinates me. Plus you have parades spots included??? How cool! And incidentally I totally would have fan girled Norman Reedus.

I only recently learned that the ladders are unique to New Orleans. I only live a couple of hours outside of the city, and people here had never heard of such a thing! People get very creative with them when it comes to decorating and customizing. Plenty of people put cup holders on them, or some kind of contraption for collecting beads.

People were going nuts over Norman, but I don't watch Walking Dead. The only think I know him from is Boondock Saints!

Bahahahahaha... easiest Where's Waldo ever.

Haha I saw Corey on my last trip. He sure does get around. Awesome sign too!

On Facebook, Corey seemed pretty bummed to have missed our sign! I know those floats can pass by pretty quickly!

HOLY CRAP about your almost potentially stolen truck!!!!!! Unreal!

Right?! Thank goodness we walked up when we did!

I really enjoyed this especially knowing so little about it. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

Absolutely! I don't think it would be a proper khertz TR without some Mardi Gras fun!

And I thought the whole state of Louisiana was at Disney World during Mardi Gras. Seriously, there were people from LA everywhere on Tuesday and Wednesday. I've got to give props to you guys because everyone has SO much home town spirit. Loved all the shirts and beads. One CM told us that a lot of people rent out their houses for the week and use the money to go to Disney. Is that true?

I'm entirely sure that at least MOST of the state was there! I know about 75% of my Facebook friends were. And that used to be us when I was a kid, all those spring trips in my signature were Mardi Gras week, save the very first one when we went for Easter week. I'm sure you saw lots of LSU & Saints gear!! I don't know anyone personally who has done that with their hours, but it sure doesn't surprise me!

Hugh Laurie. Awesome! Perfect for that roll.

Paxton looks so much older. He really is growing up.

So glad you had a great time despite the cold and rain.

Love Hugh Laurie! I was so excited to see even just a glimpse of him.

Don't I know it! He seems to get bigger all the time.

Thanks! Couldn't have asked for better weather, considering it was supposed to be raining Sunday through Tuesday. I consider it pretty lucky it only rained on Tuesday since we thought we'd have a few washout days after spending all the money for the package!

 

[courtneybelle]

I miss New Orleans so much!! I was only there for a weekend and I have been dying to go back. So jealous you got jambalaya AND beignets, my two favorites!!

Besides the awful tow situation and the weather, it sounds like such an awesome time! Thanks for sharing the pics!

I have to go hop the pond now, haha. Hopefully I'll have some good tips and pictures for you guys!! We are using GoAhead Tours but I imagine ABD is going to be amazingggg because Disney rules at everything.

 

[skier_pete]

You know, I don't know what's wrong with me. Somehow I NEVER linked to your TR. I feel so embarrassed. I thought I had read it as you posted, but now I looked and I clearly haven't.

I have a disease and it's called middle age. UGH!

I'll be catching up over the next couple weeks. See ya real soon!

 

[emmysmommy]

I really enjoyed reading about your Mardi Gras trip since I had no clue that there were multiple parades and "grand marshals". Bummer about the cold/wind on the last day but at least your newest parade junkie loved the experience!

That's scary and frustrating about the valet incident. Can you imagine if someone said, heck yeah, I'll take that truck. No bueno.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[jane2073]

I am jealous that you got to see Norman Reedus AND Hugh Laurie!!

I usually watch the parades online but totally forgot to this year.

 

[Suziannie]

I love the idea of super quick trips lately!

I've got one planned this year after years of thinking if we couldn't go for a week or longer it wasn't worth it.

I hope you guys have fun!

 

[dtr_angel]

wow, thanks for sharing your mardi gras vacation. It looks like a great trip! I remember seeing your update about last year and it was such an eye opener. I know nothing about Mardi Gras Looks really cool!

I hope you have had some time to relax since you've been back. 3x 12 hour shifts before you left, that sounds rough!

 

[khertz]

I miss New Orleans so much!! I was only there for a weekend and I have been dying to go back. So jealous you got jambalaya AND beignets, my two favorites!!

Besides the awful tow situation and the weather, it sounds like such an awesome time! Thanks for sharing the pics!

I have to go hop the pond now, haha. Hopefully I'll have some good tips and pictures for you guys!! We are using GoAhead Tours but I imagine ABD is going to be amazingggg because Disney rules at everything.

New Orleans is one of those cities that people just fall in love with! I know I miss it terribly because even though we are close, we don't get there nearly often enough. We were fed like kings all weekend!! The food was amazing.

Despite a couple of minor setbacks, we had an amazing weekend. I was so excited to share, so I'm glad people appreciate it!

I'm so excited for you!! Hope you have an amazing time in Italy!!!

You know, I don't know what's wrong with me. Somehow I NEVER linked to your TR. I feel so embarrassed. I thought I had read it as you posted, but now I looked and I clearly haven't.

I have a disease and it's called middle age. UGH!

I'll be catching up over the next couple weeks. See ya real soon!

Aw, that's okay! At least you're here now!

I really enjoyed reading about your Mardi Gras trip since I had no clue that there were multiple parades and "grand marshals". Bummer about the cold/wind on the last day but at least your newest parade junkie loved the experience!

That's scary and frustrating about the valet incident. Can you imagine if someone said, heck yeah, I'll take that truck. No bueno.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

My little parade junkie had an AWESOME weekend! He usually only gets to experience one or two parades at a time, so he was just amazed that we just kept going to them every day all weekend long.

Man, all I could think is someone calling for their 30 year old beat up car from the valet and then our 3 year old truck rolls up...Can you say UPGRADE?! Thank goodness we were there when we were.

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

I am jealous that you got to see Norman Reedus AND Hugh Laurie!!

I usually watch the parades online but totally forgot to this year.

One of my friends from work went absolutely nuts when I sent her a pic of Ian Somerhalder. Looks like we had a good crop of grand marshals this year!

Bummer.

I love the idea of super quick trips lately!

I've got one planned this year after years of thinking if we couldn't go for a week or longer it wasn't worth it.

I hope you guys have fun!

I'm so thankful for any kind of trip, even a short one, because we were totally not supposed to see WDW at all in the year 2014! We have only done one other super short trip, and it's still totally worth it for just a taste of Disney when you REALLY need it! Thanks! Hope you do too!

wow, thanks for sharing your mardi gras vacation. It looks like a great trip! I remember seeing your update about last year and it was such an eye opener. I know nothing about Mardi Gras Looks really cool!

I hope you have had some time to relax since you've been back. 3x 12 hour shifts before you left, that sounds rough!

It's a really amazing experience, and something you really can't get the same anywhere else. Other places have their versions, but it's nothing like experiencing it in New Orleans!

This weekend has been a MUCH needed break! Three in a row was rough, but it was worth it to be off for the long weekend in New Orleans.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Great updates! I haven't been to New Orleans yet let alone during Mardi Gras but sounds like a lot of fun with all of the parades!

I think we should adopt the ladder seat concept for all parade viewing at Disney World. Oh the threads and comments we would see just on DIS would be totally worth it.

Sorry to hear that the weather didn't quite cooperate on your last couple of days. But sounds like DS got a lot of enjoyment out of the trip.

 

[DDuck4Life]

One thing that wasn't posted earlier in the Mardi Gras posts is for all the Star Wars fans the Empire showed up during Mardi Gras as well. It's pretty cool to get a high five from a storm trooper walking past!

The 501st Legion had a marching group in the parade looking for recruits to join the Empire. You can check out the video here.
501st Legion Mardi Gras

A little background on the group

"...The Legion is an all-volunteer organization formed for the express purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts under a collective identity within which to operate. The Legion seeks to promote interest in Star Wars through the building and wearing of quality costumes, and to facilitate the use of these costumes for Star Wars-related events as well as contributions to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work..."

 

[khertz]

Great updates! I haven't been to New Orleans yet let alone during Mardi Gras but sounds like a lot of fun with all of the parades!

I think we should adopt the ladder seat concept for all parade viewing at Disney World. Oh the threads and comments we would see just on DIS would be totally worth it.

Sorry to hear that the weather didn't quite cooperate on your last couple of days. But sounds like DS got a lot of enjoyment out of the trip.

It's definitely a lot of fun! One big party! But we were in an area surrounded by families, so that kept it very family friendly.

Oh my goodness, I can just about imagine the looks of death we would get rolling up to the MSEP with DS's ladder. The outrage!!!

DS definitely had a blast, and I'm thankful the weather held up the rest of the weekend even if it didn't on Mardi Gras day. The forecast had been looking pretty bad for Sunday through Tuesday, so I was very happy that it mostly cleared up!

 

[khertz]

Since I'm not doing a full PTR, I wanted to do a quick update on our May trip before getting to the next October update! During our Mardi Gras weekend, our 60 day window to book our FP+ opened up. On the drive down, we had re-listened to a couple of WDW Today podcasts that they had done about the removal of legacy FP from DHS and MK and what strategies they recommend for reserving FP+. We went with some of their recommendations according to their touring plans for families with young children, but made a few adjustments based on our plans. Just wanted to share what we ended up reserving!

Saturday May 3rd at DHS

•Toy Story Mania - 10:35 am - 11:35 am
•Tower of Terror - 11:55 am - 12:55 pm
•Star Tours - 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Our strategy is to still ride TSM at rope drop and try to do as much as we can during the am EMH. We booked another for mid-morning so we can hopefully ride twice. Then ToT for after lunch so DH and I can switch off before leaving for our break. I booked ST for the evening to have something to do when we come back from our break between dinner and Fantasmic. I went with ST thinking DS may be tall enough to ride by then. If we ride this walk-on or with a short standby in the morning, we may switch it to something else or ride again if DS liked it.

Sunday May 4th at MK

•Splash Mountain - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
•Peter Pan's Flight - 5:25 pm - 6:25 pm
•Big Thunder Mountain - 6:25 pm - 7:25 pm


At MK, we wanted to have most of our FP+ choices booked for the afternoon since we are planning to be there for awhile after our break and figure that will be the more busy time compared to the morning. We plan to go straight to 7 Dwarfs Mine Train if it is open by then and all ride standby in the morning, then go to Peter Pan's Flight and the rest of Fantasyland. I booked a later PPF in case DS wants to ride again or the line is too long after 7DMT. However, if 7DMT is not open by then, we will probably go to PPF first and change that later FP+ to something else. I want to do Splash, and I'm hoping DS might be adventurous/tall enough for both Splash & Big Thunder so I wanted those to be our other choices. I went with Splash after lunch so that if we get drenched, we are leaving the park anyway, so it won't matter!

Anything I am overlooking? Or advice any FP+ users can give?

Also, I don't usually do updates so close together, so if you are interested, make sure you check out the 2 posts from our Mardi Gras weekend on the previous page!
​

Day 5 Continued: Saturday October 26th

When I left off, we were booking it out of Sci-Fi to make the 12:10 Disney Jr. Live on Stage show, and hoping it wouldn't be cancelled like the morning shows had been. When we arrived at the animation courtyard, they were letting people in to the show, and we made it just in time to be let into the theater for the next show! Unfortunately, we were seated behind a bigger couple, so DS, who was sitting in my lap, had to lean out into the aisle to really be able to see. But, he once again LOVED the show! We had only ever seen the show for the first time on our last trip, and that was before the refurbishment that added Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First. So it was like a brand new attraction for all of us!

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It may be only me, but I love Sofia's theme song! I sing along to it every time it comes on. So catchy!


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Getting some gold doubloons
​

DS was clapping and dancing along to this show, and having a really good time! They could really make this attraction better by adding some kind of seating though. Sitting on the ground is so uncomfortable, especially with a 35 pound kid in your lap!

After the show was over, we tried to head over to Sunset Blvd. and use the FPs we had gotten earlier for Tower of Terror.

05-096 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DH went first, but the standby line was up to 90 minutes, and the CM told him the FP line would be at least 30. After giving it a try and not really moving in the FP line at all, he bailed on the line and we decided to go see Muppets 3-D instead. We never did get to use those FPs! That seems to happen to us with ToT a lot, actually...

05-097 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
This way!​

We got over to Muppets and into the pre-show area where DS was, as always, acting silly with his 3-D glasses on! We were actually there long enough to see most of the pre-show, which is really a treat because it's just so funny! That's a holding area where I don't mind waiting awhile to get into the next show. Love those Muppets!

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Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Bean Bunny??? Pretty sure I have, but just in case...


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We got into the theater and found our seats. I was a little nervous how DS would do with this show, despite how well he had done with PhilharMagic earlier in the trip, only because this show has all those booms and explosions at the end and loud noises can sometimes freak him out. I figured we'd have to wait and see, and mentally made an escape plan should he indeed freak out!

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I may or may not have elbowed my DH and whispered forcefully for him to get me a photo of Bean!​

Much to my relief, DS did wonderfully with Muppets! He did watch without the glasses, but he wasn't scared of Sweetums or the explosions at the end at all, so no need to put that escape plan into action!

After the show, we figured we should head out of the park for DS to get a nap. We definitely wanted him to get a good one because we were headed to Mass that afternoon and didn't want him to be a total brat!

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Pretty balloons on the way out of the park


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And a garbage can...lol​

I'm pretty sure we all caught a nap this day, but DH and I got up a little earlier to get freshened up and changed for Mass before getting DS up. If you have read my TRs in the past, you know Mass is usually a staple of our trips and that we usually go to the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. However, we were changing it up a bit this year. We have been to the Saturday evening Mass there before, and getting out of the parking lot and back to Disney property is a total nightmare! We didn't want to risk being too annoyed to try to get back to the park that evening, so we looked into other options before the trip. There was another church just as close to us as Mary Queen of the Universe, and they actually had an earlier Mass at 4:30 pm instead of their 6 pm service.

We ended up leaving the Disney bubble and heading to Celebration for the first time for Mass at Corpus Christi Catholic Church there. On the way, I took a few pictures of the pretty houses and townhouses with white picket fences and all! It looks like a really lovely place to live one day.

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Corpus Christi Catholic Church​

I was a bit dismayed when we got there to find out there was no type of cry room where I could take DS if he got too noisy. We sat in the very back though, so I could make a quick escape to the atrium if I needed to. But luckily, there was no need! DS was pretty entertained by a few cars we had brought for him to play with and a coloring book, and he played very quietly for the most part.

When we left, I tried to get this photo of the Celebration sign, but we were kind of far away so it didn't turn out great.

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Leaving the Disney bubble can be a nice detour, but it is always nice to return under these lovely arches!

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Continued in next post...