Just the four of us...and several thousand other people (a spring break TR) ~ DONE!

[dellasgirl]

Oh my goodness Alexander looks like he had a great time
and the turkey sandwich does look sooooooo good
And you hubby goes to the mall with you? My hubby can't even tell you where our mall is

 

[NMAmy]

We saw the Jedi Training on our trip and DD asked if she could do it. That's when I told her, "For heaven's sake, you're NINETEEN. Let the little kids have a chance." She said, "Man, the little kids get all the fun!"

I do agree with Mia on that magical popcorn. It's stopped many a meltdown--mainly from me. Mickey ice cream bars have a similar effect.

 

[tigerdragon]

After our delish lunch at Starring Rolls our plan was to watch the Indiana Jones show, see Playhouse Disney, and ride RNR. We walked over to the Indiana Jones show, which was just about to begin, parked our stroller, and went in. Most of the seats had already filled so we had to go all the way over to the right. Not great, but we've seen the show twice before so it wasn't a really big deal.

As soon as we sat down Mia started squirming around and trying to get up. I didn't feel like dealing with trying to keep her seated and quiet through the entire show so I just got up and left with her while Dave and Alexander stayed for the show. She had been in the stroller for quite a while and just needed to have some play time.

So I took her out and we walked around looking at things and made our way over to Streets of America. I've never taken much time to look at this area so this was a good opportunity to do so. Mia liked playing around on the sidewalks and enjoying her freedom out of the stroller.

We then went to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground. I hate this place! It's not really made for children as young as Mia, in my opinion. First Mia found some little caves and, while she had fun running in and out of them, it was killing my back and knees. Of course I wasn't going to let her go in by herself. I saw the big slide in the back that looks like a leaf and took Mia to it. I went to the top with Mia and was going to put her in my lap and slide down but a cast member at the bottom yelled up at me that only one person can slide at a time. I said "I can't slide down with my daughter?" Nope, only one person at a time. There was no way I was going to let Mia slide down that slide with nobody there to catch her, and I wasn't about to ask the CM to do that as I'm sure it's not allowed either. So I picked up my very unhappy little girl and left. Like I said, I don't think this is a great place for small children but I know Alexander would have had a blast in there. Maybe if I had Dave with me to "catch" Mia on the slides I would have felt different.

Mia and I walked back to Streets of America. In the time that Mia and I had walked over to the playground it had been sprinkling a little bit off and on. Nothing bad though. Well as we starting walking back towards Indiana Jones the rain really started falling. That was just great. I didn't have our rain ponchos since Dave kept the backpack with him. I had a jacket with a hood but the jacket Mia was wearing had no hood at all.

We ducked under an awning and tried to stay dry for a little bit. I called Dave to see if the show was canceled. He said it wasn't at that point. Mia wouldn't stay under the awning with me and just wanted to play.

Dave called me back less than five minutes later and said they went ahead and canceled the rest of the show. I knew that the rain was not going to let up so I just picked Mia up and made our way back to where the boys were. She was not happy to be carried. I tried to keep her as dry as I could but with all the wiggling she was doing it didn't really help.

Finally, we were back at the Indy show and the boys were walking out. Dave pulled the ponchos out of the backpack and Alexander and I got ours on and we tried to get one on Mia but she hated it. We went and got the stroller and, of course, it was a soaking mess. I don't know why we didn't use one of the ponchos for the stroller.

We talked about what we wanted to do at that point and I said let's go ahead and try to get to the Playhouse Disney show. I knew Mia was going to love it and it was a good place to dry off.

We made our way to the show and parked the stroller. There was no point in using a poncho to cover the stroller now since it was so wet. Thankfully a show was about to start and we were able to go right in.

I can't tell you how good it felt to just sit down out of the rain. My lack of sleep was catching up to me and I was starting to feel really bad.

Then the show started and Mia was in heaven. She was so well behaved and just loved singing and dancing along with her favorite characters.

Some pics of the show

And Mia dancing along (notice the wet head)

I thought the show was really cute and was so happy that we got to see it. It's not something I would have gone to without a very young child though. Alexander wasn't impressed and would probably rather have been anywhere else.

Sorry, this is a short update and not very many pictures. But up next, our first character meet and greet!

 

[NMAmy]

You poor things--it just poured that day, didn't it? We spent all of Sunday afternoon in our room.

 

[tigerdragon]

I might just have to try that turkey sandwich. It sounds really yummy. I am really enjoying your report. Thanks.

Thanks for reading along! The sandwich is so good! I wish I had one now, LOL.

Oh my goodness Alexander looks like he had a great time
and the turkey sandwich does look sooooooo good
And you hubby goes to the mall with you? My hubby can't even tell you where our mall is

Oh, I'm a lucky girl, Dave loves to shop almost as much as I do. He never minds going shopping with me.

We saw the Jedi Training on our trip and DD asked if she could do it. That's when I told her, "For heaven's sake, you're NINETEEN. Let the little kids have a chance." She said, "Man, the little kids get all the fun!"

I do agree with Mia on that magical popcorn. It's stopped many a meltdown--mainly from me. Mickey ice cream bars have a similar effect.

Could you imagine if they did let teenagers do the Jedi Training? It would probably be even more entertaining than the little kids. But the little ones are so adorable and funny. Some of the really young ones look like they don't have a clue what they are doing. I suspect the parents are the ones that are more into Star Wars at that point and just want to see their little ones with Darth Vader.

The Mickey ice cream bars are magic for Alexander. He drove me crazy so many times wanting one, usually right before we were about to eat. He got a few, but not as many as he would have liked I'm sure. I have to admit, I love them too.

 

[twinmom2003]

What a great trip! I love JT, my twin DD's were chosen last year. I hope that all three of my kids get picked for our June trip. How many do they pick now? I am hoping that if I go right at RD all three will be picked. I can't wait to read more!

 

[tigerdragon]

You poor things--it just poured that day, didn't it? We spent all of Sunday afternoon in our room.

Yeah, the rain was pretty bad. Of course it was the one day I didn't check the weather forecast and it just had to rain. I made sure to check the rest of the week and wouldn't you know the weather was beautiful.

What a great trip! I love JT, my twin DD's were chosen last year. I hope that all three of my kids get picked for our June trip. How many do they pick now? I am hoping that if I go right at RD all three will be picked. I can't wait to read more!

I think they choose either 15 or 16 kids for each show. I don't know if you're going during Star Wars weekends in June, but if you do they usually have Darth Maul and choose more kids. They don't just randomly pick the kids any more either. It's first come first serve now, which is definitely more fair. Just make sure to get there early and head to the JTA first and your kids will probably make the first show.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

The Jedi training looks so cool! Your little Jedi certainly looked like it was one of the best parts of the trip! I wonder if Mia will want to be a Jedi or will want to dance with Belle?

 

[tigerdragon]

After we enjoyed the Playhouse Disney show, and sitting, and being dry, we ventured out to find it absolutely pouring. We didn't want to leave Hollywood Studios yet so we ran quickly over to the animation building. We went inside to see the little animation movie. Mia was so well behaved but was starting to get tired. Alexander thought it was hilarious. Dave and I were happy again to be out of the rain.

After the little movie we went into the other part of the animation building (I don't know if it has a name or not) to see some characters. I can't believe we had gone this long without meeting one single character. First up we saw Sorcerer Mickey. The line was long but what else were we going to do?

So we waited about 20 minutes before we finally got to him. While in line Mia would wave and say Mickey and seemed pretty excited. That lasted until we got about 5 feet from Mickey then she clung onto me. She had no interest in actually being close to him. I asked if she wanted to give Mickey a hug but there was no way that was happening.

Alexander, on the other hand, was as excited as could be. He is a character pro and has loved getting autographs and pictures since our first trip when he was 5.

Here's our pics with Mickey.

At the end of the visit with Sorcerer Mickey, Mia did decide she would give Mickey a high-5 and say bye-bye to him. That was one step in her acceptance of the characters.

After Sorcerer Mickey we went over to see the characters from Up. The line there was even longer that Mickey's. So Dave and Alexander stood around in that line while I let Mia wander around and play. I don't think there is one square inch of that building we didn't check out. She also enjoyed walking up and down the stairs over and over again. I got quite a work out that afternoon!

At one point we finally found a computer game that was free and I let Mia play around on it. While we were playing it, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. When I turned around it was Goliath! He came over to say hi to Mia. She was still playing and hadn't noticed. When I told her to turn around she was startled to see Goliath right there and jumped a little. She actually did pretty well, better than I would have thought. She kind of touched his hand but that was all she was interested in doing. I thought it was sweet that he had come over to her first before doing his meet and greet. Jojo was there too but she stayed back. Dave saw all of this happening and tried to get pictures, but he was still in line with Alexander and couldn't get any good ones.

After our encounter with Goliath, it was finally time for Dave and Alexander to meet the Up characters.

While in the building we also saw several of the characters from Little Einsteins. Alexander wasn't interested in meeting them. You know, he's "too old" for them. I saw the Incredibles while the boys were in line, but they were gone by the time they finished.

When we went outside it was still raining. We did have our fastpasses for RnR that we hadn't used, but none of us were interested in riding it then. We had another HS day scheduled so we thought we would just ride it then. Dave went to get the stroller and had to literally turn it upside down to drain the water out of the cup holders.

On our way out I stopped at the photo center to add the photopass pictures from Jedi Training Academy to our card. Then we made it to the bus stop and a bus came quickly.

Back at CBR, we got off at Old Port Royale, the food court and shopping area, and got the refillable mugs that came with our quick service dining plan. We liked having the mugs, but I don't think I would ever buy one. We used them quite a bit because we had them, but not enough to really make it worth the price that they cost. We also picked up a few snacks to eat back at the room.

As we started walking back to our room, we saw a mother duck and several babies outside near the pool. The babies were just as cute as could be and were not scared of us at all. They walked under the stroller and all around us.

We took a few minutes to watch them and then another family came up to see them. One of our rules to our children is never, ever, chase animals. So it irritates us so much when we see other children chasing animals and scaring them and the parents don't do anything to stop them. We're not the type to say anything to other people's kids so we just moved on.

When we got back to the room we ate our snacks and all laid down to take naps. All except for Alexander, he never naps. He chose to play with some of the toys he had brought along. It was fine with us because he was quiet and we were able to get some rest.

Well, that's it for now. Up next in the report, Legos and Dooneys at Downtown Disney.

 

[tigerdragon]

The Jedi training looks so cool! Your little Jedi certainly looked like it was one of the best parts of the trip! I wonder if Mia will want to be a Jedi or will want to dance with Belle?

Hmm, I think Mia will probably want to do both! She already loves playing with lightsabers with Alexander at home and will hum the Star Wars music. But she's a girly-girl too who loves to dance. I just don't know which one she would choose.

 

[tigerdragon]

After our wonderful naps we freshened up and headed out to Downtown Disney a little after 6 pm. It had finally quit raining and was lovely outside.

Alexander loves Legos and was just dying to get to the Lego store. As we were walking that way I spotted a store that I had to go into. That store was Tren-D. I love purses the way Alexander loves Legos. I knew what little beauty was waiting in that store - the Disney Dooney & Bourke purses. When I first saw the thread in the community board about the Disney/Dooney collaboration I think I gasped out loud. Two of my favorite things combined together! I salivated over the pictures for months and talked about it for so long with Dave and made him look at the pictures too. He's such a good hubby so he humored me. I just love him so!

So we walked into the store and I spotted the purses right away. Alexander was behind me moaning and groaning because we were not already at the Lego store. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted to look at one and of course I just had to. She got one down for me and I just looked at Dave. He smiled and nodded his head. I had planned on waiting until the end of the week to buy one, just to make sure I hadn't gone overboard with spending money on other things. But as soon as I had that purse in my hands I knew I had to buy it then and there. Dave knew it too. I told the CM I would take it and she asked if I wanted to look at any others. Oh no, I was thrilled with the one sitting in front of me.

Here's a picture of my new little beauty

And my three babies

The purse is quite a bit larger than I thought it was going to be which turned out to make a great diaper bag. I got so many compliments on it and still use it all the time. I love it.

After my wonderful little shopping expedition, we made it over to the Lego store. It was like Alexander walked into his own personal heaven. There were Lego sets everywhere! We always make sure to go to the Lego store early in every trip, otherwise I would never hear the end of "When are we going to the Lego store". Alexander saved his allowance for months so he had quite a bit to spend. He wound up spending about $120 in there, which was only half of what he brought. I had told him not to spend it all because I knew there would be other souvenirs that he would want. If he had any money at the end of the week I promised him we would go back to the Lego store and he could spend the rest of it there.

Mia and I left the boys in the Lego store and I was going to take her out to the little playground right outside the store. Unfortunately it was closed due to the rain earlier in the day. But they do have a lot of buckets of Legos and the larger Duplo blocks for kids to play with. Mia had a lot of fun playing around with those. She liked to pull a few out, put them on the table, and put them back in the bucket.

After a little while of playing with the Legos, Mia started to get a little bored of them so we went to World of Disney to see what they might have for her. We walked around inside and found our way to the room with toddler clothes and toys. We walked around in there looking and playing with everything. She found a Handy Manny toy that she especially liked. I didn't get it then, but she did get it in her basket on Easter.

It seemed like it had been at least an hour since we left the boys in the Lego store so I called to see when they were going to meet us. Dave said they were checking out and would be done soon. A little bit later, Dave and Alexander found us at WoD and we left there without buying a single thing.

It was about 8:30 pm and we were starving. We walked over to Wolfgang Puck Express for dinner. This is the best counter service place in all of WDW in my opinion. It's especially great if you are on the dining plan. They even have waiters that bring out your food and refill your drinks.

We walked in and perused the menu. I usually know what I want to get at every restaurant before I even go in, but I just wasn't sure here. There are so many wonderful things to choose from. I finally decided on the bbq chicken pizza, creme brulee, and lemonade. Dave chose the salmon which I know came with sides but I can't remember what they are right now, creme brulee, and iced tea. Alexander got the kids macaroni and cheese, a cookie, and Sprite. Mia, of course, just shared everything we had.

Everything was just so delicious! I loved my pizza so much! Dave said his salmon was very good too. Alexander didn't like his mac & cheese, but it's because he is so picky. He likes traditional mac & cheese. You know, the yellow in-a-box kind. This at WPE is more of a penne noodle with a white creamy sauce. I don't know what's wrong with that kid because I thought it was yummy. He ate a few bites of it and moved on with his cookie. Silly boy.

We left WPE with full tummies. Well, I don't know if Alexander was full or not but he said he had enough to eat. Before we left Downtown Disney I had to go the the Christmas store. On every trip we buy an ornament with the castle on top and have them write our last name with the year on it. They always turn out so beautiful and each one looks so different with the little touches that each engraver adds.

After I paid for the ornament it was time to leave and head back to CBR. I went outside to find Mia walking in circles on a small garden wall. This became a favorite pastime of hers on this trip.

When we got back to the room is was about 10 pm. I put Mia to bed and she went to sleep right away. I stayed back in the room with her while Dave and Alexander went down to check out the beach. Then they went over and refilled our mugs. When they got back it was lights out and we were all soon sound asleep.

Up next: Epcot!

 

[tigerdragon]

Uh oh, did I lose all my readers? Any lurkers out there come out, come out wherever you are.

I don't think I'll be able to get an update in today. Busy busy day today. I'll try to get a new update in tomorrow.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Love your bag! You are lucky that Mia goes right down. My one daughter gets overtired and has trouble going to sleep (even now at 8!)

 

[tinkerbell615]

Still reading. My DS wants to try WPE so I am happy to hear that you liked it. I guess we will have to make a stop there on our trip this summer. We will also be traveling with a two year old this time. Gosh it has been forever since we had a little one with us. He is DS's girlfriend's little boy and we just can wait to see him when he gets to the world. I am enjoying your trip report very much.

 

[Nettaboo]

Just found your TP..I am loving it

 

[michellem1118]

I'm still here! I somehow missed that you'd updated yesterday. I your new purse/diaper bag. Maybe if I manage to get pregnant before one of the summer trips, that'll be a good way to justify spending all that money on a purse... "but DH, it'll make a great diaper bag!" In reality, I'll probably just end up with one of the smaller ones, though.

Can't wait to hear about your Epcot day!

 

[MerryFlora]

Just joining

Love your report so far. Your kids are adorable, what a blessing! I'm a SAHM too

I'm really interested in your TR because Spring Break 2011, same week as you, might be an option for us. I am wondering how it compares to February, we had bad weather this year and get guilt about missing a week of school every year

Also interested in CBR details, it looks beautiful. Looking forward to more updates. Thanks for writing!

 

[tigerdragon]

I woke up at 6 am and laid in bed waiting for the 6:30 wake up call from Mickey. We all got up and were ready to go at 7:15. First thing was breakfast at Old Port Royale. Dave and I had the Isle Bounty breakfast which included french toast, eggs, bacon, biscuit, and sausage. Since the dining plan breakfast doesn't come with a dessert we got two drinks. We each had chocolate milk and juice, which we used later for Mia. Alexander got the kids Mickey waffle. I didn't care for the breakfast at all. The toast was limp and the eggs were barely identifiable as actual eggs. They were a yellow lump of...something. I did like the bacon and just gave my sausage to Dave since I don't care for sausage. Dave liked all of it but he likes everything. It's very rare that I hear him complain about food. Alexander enjoyed his Mickey waffle very much. I wish I had gotten the adult size Mickey waffle instead.

After breakfast we caught a bus to Epcot and arrived just before rope drop. We were there during the Flower and Garden Festival. There were so many beautiful topiaries.

Alexander really liked this one since his favorite animals are giraffes.

Our first stop at Epcot this morning was the Character Connection to see the Fab Five. I was hoping to see everyone early enough before the line was too long. We waited about 10 minutes but the kids were both very happy watching cartoons while we waited in line.

Then it was our turn. Up first was the big cheese himself, Mickey Mouse.

Mia did not want to interact with him but was fine when we had pictures made.

Then it was time for Pluto. I thought I had some pictures of him but I guess we didn't take any with our camera. We do have some on the photopass CD (which I still don't have yet).

Then it was time for Minnie. As you can see in the Mickey picture Mia is wearing a red and white polka dot dress. I bought this dress off of ebay specifically for Mia to wear when we saw Minnie Mouse. Well, Mia had different plans for me because she was not interested in seeing Minnie at all. I guess seeing Mickey and Pluto was enough for her and she almost started crying when we got close to Minnie. So this is the only picture I have of Mia and Minnie together.

Minnie tried to interact with Mia a little bit to make her happy but Mia was having none of it. Minnie did indicate to me that she like Mia's dress. I just love Minnie.

We did get Alexander's picture with Minnie.

After Minnie came Donald. I didn't even bother to take Mia to Donald because I really didn't want to start our day at Epcot with her traumatized. Alexander got his picture made with Donald and got his autograph.

After Alexander had his picture made, the character handler told me to come closer to her and have Mia look out the window. While we were doing that she had Donald come up behind us without Mia noticing. Then he stood behind us and the photopass photographer was able to get Mia and I with Donald without Mia ever knowing about it. I thought that was a sweet thing for the cast members to do, but it wasn't really a big deal to have Mia's picture with Donald. I wish I had done that with Minnie instead. I know, poor Donald, he never gets the love. Just kidding, we love Donald too.

Finally it was time for Goofy. Goofy is Dave's favorite character. A few years ago we were at Chef Mickey's and when Goofy came up to Dave he noticed Dave wearing a golf hat. So Goofy stood by Dave and they both pretended to golf together. It was so hilarious to watch. So, ever since then, Dave has just loved Goofy. Dave would also make a great Goofy too.

Here are the boys with their Goofy pic.

After our fun times with Mickey and pals we went over to The Land to get fastpasses for Soarin'. Our return time was 10:54.

Living with the Land was a walk-on (isn't it always?) so we decided to ride that while we were there. I'm sure there are a lot of people who pass up this ride and think it's lame, but we all really enjoy it. I like seeing all the things they are growing and it's so cool that they actually use it in their restaurants.

Here are some pics from the ride.

Aren't the sunflowers pretty?

You can't tell it here, but Alexander noticed the individual lettuces are shaped into a giant Mickey head.

After our little ride we went over to ride Nemo and see Crush. But before we went in Dave took these pictures which I think are just beautiful.

And then of course we had to take these pictures too.

Mia wasn't interested in looking at the camera and smiling. Alexander was very cooperative though.

Then it was on to the Nemo ride. Mia loved running through the queue area which looked like a maze to the kids. Alexander would run a little bit ahead of Mia and she would chase after him. This was almost as good as some of the attractions at Disney.

We all loved finding Nemo and then went over to see Crush. There were a few other people in the room that you wait in, but not too many yet. Alexander was one of the first kids in line. While we were waiting the kids really enjoyed watching the stingrays and we took several pictures of them too.

Please excuse the binky, Mia is addicted to it.

I love this picture. I think Mia's reaction is hilarious.

Finally the doors opened up and we went inside. The kids get to sit on the floor in front of the parents. I thought Mia might like to sit with the rest of the kids but she wasn't interested in that so I sat off to the side with her so I wouldn't be in anyone's way. Alexander was up front in the second row of kids.

I just have to say that I absolutely love Turtle Talk with Crush. It's one of the best attractions anywhere for me. The technology is amazing to me and I love the interaction.

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to tell you what happened in the next part since I have a little princess that just woke up from her nap. I will tell you though that both kids had some interaction with Crush and there was another little girl that was just hilarious.

 

[tigerdragon]

Love your bag! You are lucky that Mia goes right down. My one daughter gets overtired and has trouble going to sleep (even now at 8!)

Yes, I do feel lucky that Mia sleeps well. She's very stubborn in many ways but has always been good about going to bed. Alexander, on the other hand, is 9 1/2 and every night is a struggle. He uses every trick in the book to try to stay up later.

Still reading. My DS wants to try WPE so I am happy to hear that you liked it. I guess we will have to make a stop there on our trip this summer. We will also be traveling with a two year old this time. Gosh it has been forever since we had a little one with us. He is DS's girlfriend's little boy and we just can wait to see him when he gets to the world. I am enjoying your trip report very much.

I highly recommend WPE. It's so yummy! We've eaten there before and have never been disappointed.

Will you be doing a TR? I would love to hear about your experiences with a 2 year old. It is definitely challenging at times, but so worth it and so much fun!

Just found your TP..I am loving it

Hi, glad to have you here!

I'm still here! I somehow missed that you'd updated yesterday. I your new purse/diaper bag. Maybe if I manage to get pregnant before one of the summer trips, that'll be a good way to justify spending all that money on a purse... "but DH, it'll make a great diaper bag!" In reality, I'll probably just end up with one of the smaller ones, though.

Can't wait to hear about your Epcot day!

LOL, that's funny about trying to justify the price. Good luck with that! I think all of the purses are beautiful, so I'm sure you'll find one that you love. I did see someone carrying around the larger tote (the one I got was a medium) and the large one was just huge. I think my shoulder would be killing me by the end of the day if I had to carry that everywhere.

Just joining

Love your report so far. Your kids are adorable, what a blessing! I'm a SAHM too

I'm really interested in your TR because Spring Break 2011, same week as you, might be an option for us. I am wondering how it compares to February, we had bad weather this year and get guilt about missing a week of school every year

Also interested in CBR details, it looks beautiful. Looking forward to more updates. Thanks for writing!

I'm glad you're joining in! Thanks for the compliment! I think my kids are adorable too.

Spring break is such a wonderful time of year to go, even with the crowds. I really don't mind the crowds so much though. That's probably because we have always been when there are crowds.

CBR is great and we do love it so. If you have any questions about it feel free to ask.

 

[dellasgirl]

Love your new purse/diaper bag
Isn't it amazing how kids can smile/look at the camera on command
My two girls could be glaring at each other one minute and both have
huge smiles w/arms around each other the next.