"I'm NOT a Princess, I'm Izzy!" - May '15 Land/Sea ~ Updated 6/4: Link to Disneyland TR!!!

[soniam]

At least there were tasty adult beverages at Rebel Hangar, along with dessert, to distract at least the adults Man, I don't know what it is about being outside, but that seems to calm kids immediately. I still threaten to take our 11 year old outside when he starts being rude or sassy

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Jedi Mickey and friends looks amazing! I wish they were still doing it now. But it sounds like this will be no more. Only real Princess Leia's going forward?!?

We have ALL been there!!! That is for sure. In Disney or a regular restaurant! Glad you survived!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

ugh, that does sound like a tough meal - and I am sure for in the middle of it to get in a bit of argument with Dug didn't help (I am sure you were both stressed and what you each said came out much harsher than intended). i am glad Dug suggested you go take a moment and chat with Danielle (and you know you are a parent of a toddler when the phrase "It was nice to talk to an adult" come up )

it does seem like the character interactions were overall pretty good (with Dale being very good) and great they came by a couple of times. Does make it seem a bit more worthwhile in general to pay for a meal like that when it is more than just a "hug and shove" picture with the characters

Glad to hear you enjoyed Rebel Hanger and that you kept the reservation

It's a bummer they will no longer have these Fab 5 in Star Wars outfits with the new land wanting to be all serious and realistic and everything

 

[khertz]

Oh goodness, so sorry to hear about your mom!!

I can really REALLY imagine how that meal went for you. Just today, DD woke up HORRIBLY from a nap. Crying, snotting, inconsolable, and didn't really want anyone to hold her but didn't want to be put down either. Luckily, we were just at home, but had we been trying to attempt a character meal, I can only imagine how disastrous that would have been. And how tense it would make me & DH!! I'm glad it had some bright spots with the characters though, and that you got in a DIS meet.

 

[Dugette]

First, I can feel through the whole thing how tough this meal was! It has me sort of freaking out over our upcoming trips as we take Maya at that age lol!

I'm glad the overall tension came across, as you are totally right on how tough it was, despite all the cute moments. I really hope things go better with Maya!

This is the saddest picture lol

I know!

And then THIS happens and it's all worth it, right?!??!

It sure helps! I cannot tell you how much I loved Dale this meal. Made me wonder if it was the same "friend" of Dale both times, as he was such a standout both times, taking so much time to cheer her up.

I quoted this because I wanted to remember to say I am totally impressed by how many characters they have here! I think that's more than I've ever seen!?

True, it really was a lot of characters at one meal - and we were there long enough that we saw them multiple times, much like a Garden Grill meal.

Eeeek. Oh man. We've been there. Just the stress of the whole evening piled up. I'm glad it didn't cause you guys to grab the check and leave -you still got to enjoy some desserts and end the dinner on a high note

At the time, I didn't even think about leaving because we paid a small fortune for that meal and I wanted to eat a meal. Of course, I might have been wiser to skip out and have a meal at Rebel Hangar instead. But it was tense for a while there. And Dug storming off with screaming Izzy was high on my list of humiliating moments in public.

LOL this is hilarious. Hope Izzy was in better spirits.

I know, it's nuts. I think we expected to have maybe an hour between things, but sure didn't work out that way. Thank goodness she put the grumpies behind her for this. Whew!

I'm so sorry for what you've been dealing with regarding your mom. Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Thanks so much - she seems to slowly be improving each day, but it's a long road.

We've all been there with a fussy toddler. Not much you can do about it. I recently took a short break from my family at Epcot when everyone was tired, hot, crabby, and hungry. Sometimes you just need it.

True, sometimes you just need a break. Especially on a trip when everything can get so intense.

There were really a lot of characters at that meal! That's pretty cool that some came back for a second visit.

I think we were there an abnormally long time (almost 2 hours), so not sure if they always came back - but, yeah, good group of characters for sure!

At least there were tasty adult beverages at Rebel Hangar, along with dessert, to distract at least the adults Man, I don't know what it is about being outside, but that seems to calm kids immediately. I still threaten to take our 11 year old outside when he starts being rude or sassy

Well, at least beverages - we skipped dessert (unless you count fries?) It sure was magic to take her outside. Not something we normally need to do - this probably was the worst meal we've ever had with Izzy.

Jedi Mickey and friends looks amazing! I wish they were still doing it now. But it sounds like this will be no more. Only real Princess Leia's going forward?!?

I guess so! I really liked the SW fur characters! They were adorable.

We have ALL been there!!! That is for sure. In Disney or a regular restaurant! Glad you survived!

Thanks! Glad we can look back now and only feel slightly traumatized.

ugh, that does sound like a tough meal - and I am sure for in the middle of it to get in a bit of argument with Dug didn't help (I am sure you were both stressed and what you each said came out much harsher than intended). i am glad Dug suggested you go take a moment and chat with Danielle (and you know you are a parent of a toddler when the phrase "It was nice to talk to an adult" come up )

Yes, we were both totally stressed out by mid-meal. It was a refreshing break to cross the restaurant and chat with Danielle for a few minutes, though.

it does seem like the character interactions were overall pretty good (with Dale being very good) and great they came by a couple of times. Does make it seem a bit more worthwhile in general to pay for a meal like that when it is more than just a "hug and shove" picture with the characters

Yeah, I'm not fond of the "hug and shove" type interactions. Luckily, we mostly get across that we are there for fun interactions vs. pictures. Dale (and Chip) always tend to be on that wavelength.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Rebel Hanger and that you kept the reservation

I'm glad we kept this one to have a more relaxed experience there than our first very rushed one. Update coming up!

It's a bummer they will no longer have these Fab 5 in Star Wars outfits with the new land wanting to be all serious and realistic and everything

I agree - they were so fun and adorable! Glad we got to see them this time, at least. In fact, this whole trip was well-timed, given it ended up being the last SWW.

Oh goodness, so sorry to hear about your mom!!

Thanks, it's been a rough month, but things are starting to look up a bit, I think.

I can really REALLY imagine how that meal went for you. Just today, DD woke up HORRIBLY from a nap. Crying, snotting, inconsolable, and didn't really want anyone to hold her but didn't want to be put down either. Luckily, we were just at home, but had we been trying to attempt a character meal, I can only imagine how disastrous that would have been. And how tense it would make me & DH!! I'm glad it had some bright spots with the characters though, and that you got in a DIS meet.

Ugh, sorry DD had a rough wake up! "Snotting" - that's a great verb. I agree - if you have to have that experience, better to be at home. I'm glad we had as many good moments as we did during that meal, but it was overall really stressful (despite not having a lot of photos of the bad stuff, it was an overall theme). Hope DD doesn't try to pull that one on you at Disney!

 

[Dugette]

Glowing at the Rebel Hangar

First off, I forgot a couple Photopass pics. This was probably as we left Epcot that afternoon:



And a pretty cute Photopass shot with Jedi Mickey :



After we finally headed out of dinner, it was time for…um, post-dinner? On the way, Izzy stomped in the footprints of a dinosaur:

Then Izzy and I fell behind Dug because she had to stop and try on a fun hat:





Wonder what Dale would think of her now?

Tigger tail:



I think our Rebel Hangar ADR was about 7:40pm and we showed up right on time and it was a much smoother check in than the previous visit (where it took forever just to get checked in). We were soon seated:



I guess we were all in much sillier moods now :



Well, except that I was trying to read the menu while simultaneously preventing Izzy’s collection of breakable plates from falling :



She was very proud of making a Mickey head, though :



We knew these two drinks had to be ours, after surviving our dinner :



We also got these fries, thinking they’d be good to munch on with our drinks:



Izzy was in a much better mood, even singing and playing music to herself (no idea what the words are):

(click to watch)

A look at the décor:



















They really went all out on the place, considering this was a temporary offering. I really wish they’d kept it – it would be one of the better dining options at DHS for sure. Oh, well, just enjoy the memory of it with us, I guess…

Our drinks came with awesome Star Wars glow cubes (that we still have and Izzy actually brought to show and tell at preschool recently):



Better shot of the drink itself:



Oh, in order to get the third of the three available glow cubes, we had to order another drink (they wouldn't let us just buy a glow cube). So, we got a Diet Coke purely to get the Death Star glow cube:



Here’s all three together:



Color changing fun:



Izzy LOVED these!





Zoom, zoom:

(click to watch)

We were all so much more content now:





It took 25 minutes for the fries to show up. Really defeated the purpose of ordering them to have with our drinks. We actually had to go to Fantasmic a few minutes after they showed up (had the F! package with that SW dinner), so we asked for a box to take them along. But they were cool-looking and tasty (and had an edible Chewie ):



Funny it took so long to get them, as on our previous Rebel Hangar visit they had brought all our food in like 1 minute. Oh, well.

We left there around 8:30pm to get over to Fantasmic. Glad we made the stop in there. One note - Rebel Hangar sometimes had wandering characters, but we didn't see any on either visit. Still fun, though, and I'd go back (if we could).

Up next: Fantasmic! And a bit of bubbly pixie dust.

 

[Dugette]

Fantasmic & Bubbles

As we headed over to Fantasmic, announcements were saying it was "standing room only", so we were happy to have gotten the dinner package seating. We were directed to a section that was mostly full and took some seats on one of the remaining available benches at 8:51pm. Unfortunately, that bench apparently was free because it had melted chocolate on it that Dug didn’t spot in the dim lighting and the person behind us decided to inform us of that AFTER Dug sat in it. Great. That’s the way the night was going, though. I ran up to get a pile of napkins, as we’d left our pack of wipes in the stroller. It was really disgusting, but at least it was chocolate and not something worse, I guess. Dug was super annoyed, as you can imagine. Anyway, here’s the view from our seats:



There was a spot open on the bench in front of us and Izzy wanted to sit on it, so I let her:



And then she wanted on my lap, no surprise:



Gotta love a photo of us taking selfies :



Soon the show started:









I really enjoyed the show, as it had been quite awhile since I’d seen it and I’d forgotten a lot of the details. I guess Izzy must have been okay, as I have no notes of issues, nor any memories of them. We did get a bit of water spray blowing our way, but it wasn’t too bad or soaking wet.

After the show, we had to fight the mob to get out and collect our stroller , but we successfully did so with time to get over to Tower of Terror for me to use my Rider Swap at 9:51pm (since only Dug had time to ride earlier). I must have been tired, as I didn’t even remember taking these pictures when I was making my notes after the trip :











Dug and Izzy played in the gift shop, apparently:



Oooh, spoiler for whenever I get to the December 2016 trip report, but there’s the video that convinced Izzy she will never ride ToT ever again :



I moved through fairly quickly:



I enjoyed the ride – love the view of all the lights at night. There was a lady yelling, “I hate this! I hate this!” over and over during the ride. I think it was to make herself and her kid feel better about riding? I don’t know, that’s what my notes say, haha. Also, I seem to have gotten the wrong Photopass picture, as I'm not in it. (so not posting)

When I met them in the gift shop, I must have been feeling fairly good, as I gave Izzy her own version of the ride:

She loved that!

Then it was time to make our way out:



As we did so, Dug stopped to use the restroom and Izzy and I found another bubble lady while we waited:



We played for a few minutes and Izzy was having the best time trying to catch the bubbles. The Cast Member was super sweet and then she asked, “Is it okay if I give her a bubble gun for free?” Um, yes! So nice! Here she is showing Izzy how to use it:



Izzy was pretty pleased with her new toy:



That thing was a lot of fun, but by the end of that summer, the bubbles had leaked into the battery compartment and we had to toss it. Fun pixie dust, though! So kind of that CM.

Time to keep heading out, after bidding farewell to the super magical CM:





We played with the bubbles a bit in the boat line (trying not to get them on anyone). It was kind of a long line, but with park closing, they were running boats often and we were on one at 10:39pm:



Izzy and I got off at the Swalphin to walk back on the Boardwalk:





I think Dug took the boat to the Boardwalk stop, to save on walking. Izzy and I were here at 11pm:





Looks like Izzy played with her tiny lightsaber to end the night:



We were in bed shortly thereafter. It had been a LONG day!

Up next: We finally eat in the castle, after all these years!

 

[annie170]

Glad to hear your Rebel Hangar went better than dinner. Love the glow cubes!

I think they should have kept that place, too. It would be great to have that option among the limited ones in HS.

How nice of that CM! I love when I read that Disney regulars, like yourself, are sprinkled with pixie dust. You deserve it.

 

[schmass]

The response from Izzy at the end of ROL is so sweet!

Sorry that you guys had such a rough meal. I'm glad that there were some good points during it - I can't believe all the character interaction - wow!

Glad you made it to Fantasmic, but sorry about Dug's pants - ugh. At least it happened at the end of the night?

So cool about the bubble toy for Izzy!

 

[Imagineer5]

Well the Rebel Hangar sounds like it was pretty laid back at least, and everyone was in much better spirits - those drinks I'm sure helped! LOL! Loved the glow cubes you got, too! Awesome you were able to grab seats for Fantasmic right before the show thanks to the package, although the chocolate stain must have been really annoying. What a way to end the night!!

So sweet of the CM to give Izzy the bubble toy <3

 

[pkondz]

I got a call on the evening of January 29th from a local hospital telling me that my mom had fallen

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she's doing well, now?

Oh, boy. She doesn't look overly thrilled at all.

You can see how thrilled she was.

Thankfully, Chip managed to get her to crack a smile:

A chink in the armor!

I guess he tried to use his powers on Izzy :

The force is strong with this one.

In an act of extreme generosity (or succumbing to the forces of the dark side ), she shared it with Darth Goofy:

Or not...

Donald was clearly no match for the marshmallow :

Well, to be fair.... hello! Chocolate covered marshmallow!

This cracks me up. You look like a teenager with your phone.

But I was starving and ready to eat at this point. Which, of course, meant that Izzy was DONE. Considering the awful state she’d started the meal in, things had gone reasonably well up to this point. But now, she was screaming and crying and inconsolable – nothing in my bag o’ tricks was helping. I know we were getting looks from other diners and I heard someone at a nearby table say, “I’ve been there.” Since we couldn’t calm her, and she was loud enough to be distracting, I felt that she had to be taken outside to calm down.

Yup. Been there.

At least Dug had consumed a plate of food, so I suggested that he take her out while I finally got to eat something. Well, given the tension of this whole meal, I probably didn’t make that request in the nicest way and he overreacted, jumping up and loudly stating (like where other tables overheard ), “Fine, since you think I’m not doing anything to help, watch this…” He took Izzy, who was now screaming even louder, and headed out. Leaving me to look foolish and just eat my food sheepishly, hoping the other diners would look away.

Oh, that's too bad. But... I appreciate you're telling that. Not every single moment of real lives is all sunshine and roses.

That's cool!

First off, I forgot a couple Photopass pics. This was probably as we left Epcot that afternoon:

In a slightly happier time.

Cute shot!

I guess we were all in much sillier moods now :

Really? Doesn't show...

She was very proud of making a Mickey head, though :

Budding imagineer.

A look at the décor:

Cool place.

Our drinks came with awesome Star Wars glow cubes

Those are cool!

So, we got a Diet Coke purely to get the Death Star glow cube:

Worth it.

Izzy LOVED these!

Who wouldn't!

(and had an edible Chewie ):

What was that made of?

Unfortunately, that bench apparently was free because it had melted chocolate on it that Dug didn’t spot in the dim lighting and the person behind us decided to inform us of that AFTER Dug sat in it.

Ugh... Thanks... a little earlier notification would've been nice...

at least it was chocolate and not something worse, I guess.

Ew!

There was a lady yelling, “I hate this! I hate this!” over and over during the ride.

Also, I seem to have gotten the wrong Photopass picture, as I'm not in it. (so not posting)

That's why I always scan my MB.
It's saved me a couple times last trip.

The Cast Member was super sweet and then she asked, “Is it okay if I give her a bubble gun for free?” Um, yes!

Nice!

 

[afwdwfan]

I know that I've been absent around here for a few weeks, so figured I'd let you all know what's been keeping me busy.

Oh no... so sorry to hear. Prayers for your family as I'm sure this will be something you'll be dealing with for quite a while.

But we did take our trip - just with a wifi and phone plan to keep in touch. Everything was fine, though, and we had a good time.

I just hope you were able to relax and enjoy yourself and not be too worried about what was going on back at home.

Izzy and I spent about 2.5 days at WDW while Dug attended a conference in Orlando. We had a great time - she is my little thrill ride buddy! (4 rides on Test Track, 3 on Soarin', 2 on 7DMT, 2 on Barnstormer, 2 on BTMRR, 1 on Splash, 1 on Dinosaur, etc.)

Awesome!!!

Rivers of Light (Tusker House dining package seats - that meal was a blast too)

Ok, I've got to know. What do you think of the dining package? Worth it or not? Prime seating? We're considering whether we want to go that route or not this summer.

I've missed a ton of work (thank goodness I had a stockpile of excess vacation time!) and will be going in tomorrow - which happens to be my birthday

Well, happy belated birthday!

You can see how thrilled she was. And here is the most disinterested she has EVER been in a Minnie meet:

Uh oh...

Dug managed to run up to the buffet at that point to get some food for Izzy and himself. Izzy’s plate:

Looks like a very typical toddler plate.

And honestly, I'd be perfectly happy eating corn dog nuggets and mac & cheese too.

In an act of extreme generosity (or succumbing to the forces of the dark side ), she shared it with Darth Goofy:

Well, I'm glad that she was starting to somewhat come around and interact with characters.

Such a great meet! Dale was a bright spot of this evening and really the whole trip, for that matter. And we’re not done with him just yet…

Awesome!

At least Dug had consumed a plate of food, so I suggested that he take her out while I finally got to eat something. Well, given the tension of this whole meal, I probably didn’t make that request in the nicest way and he overreacted, jumping up and loudly stating (like where other tables overheard ), “Fine, since you think I’m not doing anything to help, watch this…” He took Izzy, who was now screaming even louder, and headed out. Leaving me to look foolish and just eat my food sheepishly, hoping the other diners would look away.

Uh oh... well, to paraphrase the comment you overheard from someone else... we've all been there.

Good to talk with an adult (that was seated far enough away to not know of our troubles) after all that.

Worth it, though. Jedi Mickey’s was a TOUGH meal for us. In fact, as I wrote this, I just mentioned it to Dug and he immediately was like, “That was one of the hardest meals we’ve ever had!!!”

Those are just as memorable as the great ones...

We knew these two drinks had to be ours, after surviving our dinner :

They really went all out on the place, considering this was a temporary offering. I really wish they’d kept it – it would be one of the better dining options at DHS for sure. Oh, well, just enjoy the memory of it with us, I guess…

That really does look like it was really cool. Hopefully there will be something even better and more impressive in a couple of years.

It took 25 minutes for the fries to show up. Really defeated the purpose of ordering them to have with our drinks. We actually had to go to Fantasmic a few minutes after they showed up (had the F! package with that SW dinner), so we asked for a box to take them along.

Oh wow... that's slow for fries, but at least you had a snack to take with you to Fantasmic

Unfortunately, that bench apparently was free because it had melted chocolate on it that Dug didn’t spot in the dim lighting and the person behind us decided to inform us of that AFTER Dug sat in it. Great. That’s the way the night was going, though.

Yeah, I'd be frustrated too. And frustrated is putting it mildly.

I enjoyed the ride – love the view of all the lights at night. There was a lady yelling, “I hate this! I hate this!” over and over during the ride.

I don't think I've ever been on that ride where there hasn't been that one person yelling some version of that.

That thing was a lot of fun, but by the end of that summer, the bubbles had leaked into the battery compartment and we had to toss it. Fun pixie dust, though! So kind of that CM.

That's some nice pixie dust! I'm glad she did that! I certainly would never want to buy one for that very reason though - way overpriced and cheaply made.

 

[mousehappync]

Omg. I'm aching for you even months after. There is NOTHING worse (ok, maybe that's not true, but in this context) than an expensive, non-negotiable experience that your kid is just NOT having. And the screaming-- I sure hope people were sympathetic, especially since you were trying so hard to help her. (People who ignore their kids while they cause chaos do not have my sympathy-- like the kid at LTT who quite literally kicked me--I mean like seriously kicked my leg--for ten minutes while he lay screaming in the booth next to my chair while his parents totally ignored him. I have zero sympathy for that family.) I'm so glad your immediately-scheduled next meal went better. I am glad that at least the pictures and videos make it look like she enjoyed parts of it, but, man. Toddlers. Aren't they something?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The Rebel Hangar does look really cool - would be neat to bring it back as another option in DHS since they seem to keep adding Star Wars related things. Does give me hope for how cool the dining options in the actual Land will be once done!

Gotta love those light up cubes with the drinks - though I bit annoying you couldn't just buy one without a drink.

I love Fantasmic! so many Disney feels with the show. (side note: was just listening to the Disneyland Podcast where Micheal Bowling is going through Disneyland in the 90s and part of it covers when they premiered Fantasmic! at Disneyland and about the construction for it and how big a hit it was, etc.)

That was an awesome CM! Love when they do a bit of pixie dust like that and really, I am sure that costs Disney next to nothing but makes your trip that much more magical!

 

[BlvInMagic]

That Pixie Dust Bubble Maker was certainly well deserved! So nice to see that your night ended on a happy note

 

[heathsf]

I didn’t see anything in it that we needed or didn’t already know – guess I missed that pocket in front with the luggage tags for the cruise, oops!

Oops!! I hope that doesn't turn out to be a problem later.

She also wanted to put her Magic Band on when we pulled it off the countdown chain. Sure, why not? I think we all put them on, at her insistence:

Good idea! I'll probably wear mine to bed the night before our next trip

Oh, and a little bag with raingear (stroller cover, umbrellas, rain jackets, etc.) that I put in the stroller bag once we got it ready to gate-check (my sneaky trick for things you can't fit in a checked bag! )

Great idea!

So, anyway, we got our two bags up to the counter and the skycap says, “Oh, you’re on the way to Disney World? Bad news, it closed. All the dreams came true! Too bad.” Darn, all the dreams already came true?!

I probably wouldn't laugh

I was on my way to Dug’s sister’s nearby house. She and her husband live near the airport and are very kind to let us park in their driveway and give us rides. They are awesome and actually enjoy helping out travelling family members. So, I got there and she came out and hopped in with me.

Wow that's really lucky! Too bad they're moving...

I thought that was odd – why wouldn’t she have learned it in the training for her job as a TSA agent?!

That's what I was thinking!

Fortunately, this time Izzy decided that very same potty was acceptable and actually used it.

Oh, toddlers!

Sure enough, the TSA person wanted to see the carseat sticker

My carseat didn't get checked last year. I did make sure it was FAA approved ahead of time though, just in case!

I found it interesting that the little girl in front of us was doing handwriting homework. I remember those sheets. I could see since her mom was reclined, of course:

The flight attendant said no to the restroom and then critically told me that Izzy had kicked the seat in front of her during the two seconds I turned to look at the flight attendant. Well, of course, there’s .2 inches of legroom and she’s upset. Honestly, if you’re going to selfishly recline your seat into someone else’s tiny bit of space (or allow your child to do so), then you need to assume you’re going to take a few blows.

Wow that was pretty rude of the flight attendant. Sheesh

 

[heathsf]

MCO = My Child’s Ornery

after having blown nearly a half an hour trying to change our toddler into more comfortable clothes.

This is probably a preview of what my next trip will be

I like how we can’t quite see the creepy clown, due to the tree. Perfect!

Awesome view!

 

[heathsf]

Before I could really even comprehend what was going on, she had climbed up on the little patio table (so that she could see the view over the balcony wall) and immediately toppled it. Thankfully, I reacted quickly enough to catch her and she walked away without a scratch, but it scared us both.

Good reflexes! That sounds very scary...

Even after doing that for a bit, it was STILL too hot. We were well into Epcot before I felt comfortable letting Izzy have it.

Oh well, so much for getting to eat before arriving at Epcot

 

[heathsf]

I've only had a cronut from Dunkin Donuts and while I thought it was good, it wasn't amazing. Yours looks pretty good with the ice cream though!

After a few minutes, Izzy was no longer happy about ice cream vs. Dole Whip, so I went and got her a non-alcoholic Dole Whip of her own. But, in true toddler fashion, she refused it and was in tears because it was TOO BIG.

And I was one of the only parents hovering around.

That would be me too.

I mean, Izzy just fell over in our living room yesterday. Just standing.

Awesome picture of THAT guy

 

[Dugette]

Glad to hear your Rebel Hangar went better than dinner. Love the glow cubes!

Thanks, it was a very good experience, especially after what we'd just been through.

I think they should have kept that place, too. It would be great to have that option among the limited ones in HS.

It really would have been a nice addition to DHS. I think we all really enjoyed it and would have gone back if it stuck around.

How nice of that CM! I love when I read that Disney regulars, like yourself, are sprinkled with pixie dust. You deserve it.

Aw, thanks. It was so unexpectedly sweet. I mean, they are nice enough just blowing endless bubbles for her to chase, but this was extra magical.

The response from Izzy at the end of ROL is so sweet!

I was definitely happy to hear that.

Sorry that you guys had such a rough meal. I'm glad that there were some good points during it - I can't believe all the character interaction - wow!

It was definitely heavy character interaction. Which, of course, would have been much better with a happy kid. But still had good moments.

Glad you made it to Fantasmic, but sorry about Dug's pants - ugh. At least it happened at the end of the night?

Yep, felt like a fitting finale for the evening.

So cool about the bubble toy for Izzy!

It was a really magical gesture.

Well the Rebel Hangar sounds like it was pretty laid back at least, and everyone was in much better spirits - those drinks I'm sure helped! LOL! Loved the glow cubes you got, too! Awesome you were able to grab seats for Fantasmic right before the show thanks to the package, although the chocolate stain must have been really annoying. What a way to end the night!!

The drinks were good and the glow cubes were a nice bonus! Great to stroll into Fantasmic at the last minute, but the chocolate was a huge bummer.

So sweet of the CM to give Izzy the bubble toy <3

It really was.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she's doing well, now?

She's definitely improved a ton. Hard to say how close to 100% she'll recover. But she is doing quite well for such a severe injury. She's still in a transitional care unit and we don't know where she'll go after that - depends if she's able to go home (with some help coming in daily) or if she'd be better moving to assisted living, etc. But she's mentally pretty sharp and has a very good memory. She's doing better physically, with dizziness improving, leading to improvements in standing and walking, etc. One day at a time. She did have a repeat CT scan the other day and all of the blood within her brain is gone (it reabsorbs slowly), so that is great. The blood outside her brain is still there, but diminished, so that's good too.

Oh, boy. She doesn't look overly thrilled at all.

A chink in the armor!

The force is strong with this one.

Or not...

Well, to be fair.... hello! Chocolate covered marshmallow!

True. We went out to eat at the Melting Pot last weekend and they had chocolate covered marshmallows on their dessert tray - she loved those! (as did I - yum!)

This cracks me up. You look like a teenager with your phone.

I know! That happens a bunch at character meals and meets, since I'm taking video with my phone and they sometimes randomly surprise me with hugs and such.

Yup. Been there.

Not a fun place to be.

Oh, that's too bad. But... I appreciate you're telling that. Not every single moment of real lives is all sunshine and roses.

Exactly - I try to cover the highs and lows of our trips here.

That's cool!

It was really impressive!

In a slightly happier time.

Cute shot!

Thanks!

Really? Doesn't show...

Budding imagineer.

Cool place.

It was!

Those are cool!

Glad we got them - they still work too! (almost 2 years later)

Worth it.

Yep, and I think we even drank it too.

Who wouldn't!

What was that made of?

It was like a thin, crispy cracker type thing.

Ugh... Thanks... a little earlier notification would've been nice...

Yes! Why couldn't they have said something sooner, since they clearly knew!?

Ew!

That's why I always scan my MB.
It's saved me a couple times last trip.

I usually do too, but maybe I missed that one?

Nice!

Sure was!

Oh no... so sorry to hear. Prayers for your family as I'm sure this will be something you'll be dealing with for quite a while.

Thanks, Andy, I appreciate it. This has definitely been a lot to deal with and, as you said, will continue to be. The one thing everyone will tell you about brain injuries is that it's a long road. They say 18 months is what they consider a "baseline" for recovery, but it still continues (at a slower pace) after that. It's so hard to know, about 1.5 months out, how she'll be at 18 months. So, there's a lot of unknown still, but I think she's doing really well, all things considered.

I just hope you were able to relax and enjoy yourself and not be too worried about what was going on back at home.

We did pretty well at that, but it was definitely different. We had wifi and I did have some correspondence with those involved in her care, as they moved her between an intensive rehabilitation program and a transitional care unit while we were gone. But it was good to get away for a bit, even if it was in the back of our minds.

Awesome!!!

Izzy is still talking about how much fun she had during those couple days at WDW. She keeps saying she wants to go back right away and have more fun. (guess I've taught her well )

Ok, I've got to know. What do you think of the dining package? Worth it or not? Prime seating? We're considering whether we want to go that route or not this summer.

For us, it was definitely worth it. But it was also the second night of the show and we were unable to book advance FP (due to our untraditional AP upgrade), so I wanted to make sure we'd see the show. Plus, we did the cheapest meal option (breakfast), it was only 1 adult and 1 child so not too expensive, and we had a really fun character meal too. Then we were able to get to the show just a little in advance and still sit in a section that seemed to have a pretty good view. Since I haven't been in any other sections, i can't tell you for sure what they are like, but I felt like we had a really straight-on view of things from where we were. I am leaning towards doing the dining package again when we go back, so that Dug can see the show. (Though I will check reviews on FP viewing later in the year to see if that's an option).

Well, happy belated birthday!

Thank you!

Uh oh...

Looks like a very typical toddler plate.

And honestly, I'd be perfectly happy eating corn dog nuggets and mac & cheese too.

Me too! And, since she was such a mess during this meal, most of that went untouched.

Well, I'm glad that she was starting to somewhat come around and interact with characters.

Awesome!

Dale was so great to take the time with her!

Uh oh... well, to paraphrase the comment you overheard from someone else... we've all been there.

Those are just as memorable as the great ones...

Sure are! I still cringe thinking about this one too.

That really does look like it was really cool. Hopefully there will be something even better and more impressive in a couple of years.

I sure hope so!

Oh wow... that's slow for fries, but at least you had a snack to take with you to Fantasmic

Yep, at least they had a box for us.

Yeah, I'd be frustrated too. And frustrated is putting it mildly.

I don't think I've ever been on that ride where there hasn't been that one person yelling some version of that.

That's some nice pixie dust! I'm glad she did that! I certainly would never want to buy one for that very reason though - way overpriced and cheaply made.

Totally agree! But so sweet of her to just give one to Izzy.