Look at all those Minnie hats!! A 3 generation Nov/Dec 2011 TR - updated March 23

[ellajeansmom]

Still Day 1 - DHS

Having finished our lunch, the girls and I headed off while the rest of our group finished eating, I would meet them at the JTA stage at show time. To pass some of the time I thought they were going to get a hat for Jean but that didn’t happen and I never figured out why – something about her picking it out herself even though she had said she wanted the same one as Ella. It may have been a worry over size as Jean has a notoriously large head (her hockey helmet is a size bigger than Ella’s!) Anyways, the girls and I checked in at the Sounds Dangerous building and then we just sat down on the floor with everyone else. It was nice to be in the air conditioning and off our feet! After a few minutes three guys came in with a video camera and microphone. They were apparently trying to capture some clips of people enjoying different aspects of the park for promo videos on the resort channel and it was great because it helped pass the time. I’m still not sure whether they were actually doing this or whether they were streetmosphere actors. Basically the guy with the microphone interviewed each of the kids, asking them questions about Star Wars – some of the answers were pretty funny!

All of a sudden it was time to go out to the stage, the “younglings” all got in a line, the parents gathered all the stuff and off we went. When we got to the stage the kids were lined up along the side of the viewing area and were given padawan robes. I joined the rest of our group in front of the stage.

There wasn’t a lot of people in the audience at this point but it filled up as the show went on.

The kids were ushered up on stage where they met their Jedi Master, who was very entertaining with his side comments and jokes. They were given lightsabers, practiced activating and de-activating them and then learned a sequence of moves to be used in a sword fight.

Suddenly Darth Vader invaded the stage, the padawans were gathered over to the side

and then one by one they battled Darth Vader using the routine they had just learned. Here is the video of Ella's battle (I hope this works, let me know if it doesn't)



Can you tell she had been practicing before we left from watching youtube videos?! In case you missed it, as Ella was leaving the stage, the Jedi Master said “and Darth Vader goes down to someone wearing a polka dot hat”!

Here is Jean's video:



Throughout the whole time a PP photographer was taking pictures, here are some of those:

The show finished with the padawans waving to the crowd and receiving certificates:

The girls had great fun doing this and we of course had fun watching them – E and I both got shivers when Yoda’s voice came on at the end!

The plans for this day most definitely included an afternoon break at the pool but before we headed back to CS, we had some FPs for TSM to use. When we got them out we realized that somehow we only had 6…E realized that when he got them in the morning he had forgotten to use his own card, d’oh. Grammy volunteered to pass and she would go buy Jean a hat like Ella’s while we rode. We established a meeting place and off we went. We had a blast of course – Nana and Jean were in the car behind Gramps and I

and we could hear them giggling away throughout the ride.

We found Grammy and Jean quickly donned her hat (that’s 2 Minnie hats!), then before we left we decided we should get FPs for TOT for that evening so Ella and I ran to get those while others had a rest room break…we did stop for a PP pics on the way back:

We did then head out to enjoy an afternoon rest and swim.

Next time...a fantastic show, a terrifying ride, and a time warp!

 

[Queenofallthings]

I got behind Lara...sorry I have been MIA!

Great updates and fanastic pictures! I especially love the ones of the girls in their Jedi training....so cute!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Oh My! I've missed like 3 updates!!! They are all great updates though! Yay for the FP and Jedi Looks like a great day so far!!

 

[Angies1274]

Love all your Jedi training pictures and the videos were so cute!! It looks like the girls had a great time!

Sounds like you a fun ride on TSM!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[ellajeansmom]

I got behind Lara...sorry I have been MIA!

Great updates and fanastic pictures! I especially love the ones of the girls in their Jedi training....so cute!

Not to worry, you know how far behind I can get! Thanks, they made pretty good padawans I think!

Oh My! I've missed like 3 updates!!! They are all great updates though! Yay for the FP and Jedi Looks like a great day so far!!

Hi Megan! Yeah, I was really pleased with how the timing worked for the morning, especially the first half hour - it got us off to a great start knowing we were signed up for JTA and had FPs for TSM!

Love all your Jedi training pictures and the videos were so cute!! It looks like the girls had a great time!

Sounds like you a fun ride on TSM!

Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks Angie! Ella did admit to me on the weekend, as she watched the video again, that it was a bit scary since Darth Vader is so tall, but overall they had a blast

 

[ellajeansmom]

Still Day 1 - DHS

We had had a very full morning and early afternoon so we were on our way back to the rooms for a break. Back at CS, we found the stuffed animals having some fun:

I mandated a 20 minute quiet time for the kids before we changed to swimsuits and headed for the pool. Rest time complete, I took some pics on the way to the pool:

Nana and Jean lazed in a hammock while they waited for Ella and I

We all enjoyed the pool here, it was busy but not crowded, the girls did the waterslide a couple of times and the line for that was not long. Grammy went down the waterslide with Jean the first time – here they are coming into the pool

and here are a couple more pool pics:

Walking back to our rooms:

The plan for the evening was to ride ToT, watch F!, have dinner at 50sPTC then see the Osbourne lights. Here is Ella enjoying having both grandma's along:

By the time we got back in the park it was 5:45 and F! started at 6:30, we decided not to risk getting bad seats and to squeeze in ToT before dinner (Jean was getting anxious at this point that she was not going to get on her favourite attraction but she was not getting upset about it). We all grabbed some snacks and waited for the show to start. Here is E playing a game on his phone to pass the time:

We had told the grandparents that this was Ella and my favourite show and it involved characters, fountains, projections and fireworks and assured them it would be worth waiting for 45 min sitting on steel benches. In no time it was starting, between the girls and I we took a couple of shots but we mostly sat back and enjoyed

As it ended Grammy turned to me and said “That was absolutely wonderful, and more than worth the wait!” That made my day and I was able to relax that much more and not worry that I was “dragging” the grandparents around

Unfortunately we ran into a bit of an issue getting out of the theatre…Gramps had gone to the men’s room while we went to retrieve the stroller and somehow in the mass of people that is the exodus from F! we missed him leaving. We waited until no one was left in the theatre and finally went out the exit, passing on his description to the couple of CMs we encountered and telling them that we would be at Covers, right near the exit. We landed back in Hollywood Blvd and still no Gramps. To add to the stress of this, time was ticking away for us to be able to ride ToT and get to our ADR in reasonable time. Between the 5 adults we had 3 cell phones, of course Gramps did not have one. Grammy and Nana were not going to do ToT anyways so we decided to leave them at Covers to get our PP pics from Phineas & Ferb and Jedi Training Academy put on our card and keep an eye out for Gramps. Our theory was that he had somehow gone out the entrance and was over in Sunset Blvd, which of course we had to walk through to get to ToT. E and the girls and I headed that way watching for Gramps and sure enough found him out in the street near the entrance to F! I’m still not sure how he ended up there but we quickly texted Grammy that he was found and we continued on to ToT. We ended up not using the FPs as the standby time was only 5 minutes. This was the first time for E and Ella to ride as well as Gramps, here is our bootlegged pic, do you think we had fun?

Laughing and in great spirits we walked very quickly over to 50sPTC. Nana and Grammy were waiting for us – they had been successful with the PP pics and we were only a few minutes late. Grammy had tried to check us in already but of course since the whole party was not present they didn’t let her. Now that we were all here we checked in and some seats opened up in the waiting area

After only a 5-10 minute wait we were shown to our table. The grandparents loved the theming and Nana and Grammy got very excited every time a new show came on the TVs. Our server was great, she played her part but didn’t go overboard and recognized that Jean had hit a wall and didn’t push her at all.

Dinner was very good – Grammy and I had pot roast, E had fried chicken, Nana and Ella had spaghetti, Gramps had the sampler plate, and Jean had mac and cheese. Neither of the girls ate very much - probably a combination of too much popcorn at F! and just riding ToT. But we were on holidays so I let it go. I really liked how the rooms were set up here so that there is only 3 or 4 tables per room, it really gives the meal a different feeling than the large open dining rooms.

After dinner we headed towards Streets of America to take in the Osbourne lights. I wasn’t sure how we would like this, I know most people rave about it but I had a feeling we would feel it was over the top, and I was right. It definitely is spectacular, but it’s just not our thing…and it was crowded. We took a few pics from the end of the street but opted not to walk down the street.

The girls did think is was cool that it was snowing but that was it for us.

We debated what to do next…it was after 9:00 and it had been a long day. Ella and I had talked about her and I staying on (it was EMH) but she was beat. We decided to stop in Tattoine Traders on the way out as E wanted a Yoda shirt, and the girls ended up each getting a lightsaber. We left the park, found the truck and headed “home” and all went straight to bed. It had been a great day!

Next time, a day full of wildlife and royalty…

 

[Angies1274]

Great update!!

Looks like the girls had fun in the pool!! We love those afternoon breaks!

I'm so happy that everyone liked Fantasmic! We definitely think it's worth the wait as well. It's one of our favorite night time shows!!

Glad you found Gramps!! I remember what it was like coming out of F! People are everywhere...I can't imagine getting separated!

We haven't tried 50's PTC although I've always heard great things. I think I've mentioned it before but DH has always been nervous about the servers. Glad to hear you had a good one and she didn't go overboard.

 

[ellajeansmom]

Great update!!

Looks like the girls had fun in the pool!! We love those afternoon breaks!

I'm so happy that everyone liked Fantasmic! We definitely think it's worth the wait as well. It's one of our favorite night time shows!!

Glad you found Gramps!! I remember what it was like coming out of F! People are everywhere...I can't imagine getting separated!

We haven't tried 50's PTC although I've always heard great things. I think I've mentioned it before but DH has always been nervous about the servers. Glad to hear you had a good one and she didn't go overboard.

Thanks Angie!

Yes, the afternoon breaks are key to being able to stay even a little bit later in the evening - since this day was so hot the pool was most wonderful!

Gramps did give us a bit of a scare getting separated from us - you always worry about the kids getting lost, but we "lost" the oldest member of our party He was thankfully quite calm about the whole thing and knew we'd be along sooner or later.

I was very glad our server took pity on Jean, and we didn't really see any of the servers getting too carried away. I would guess that they're pretty good at reading people and figuring out who will play along and who is uncomfortable.

 

[ellajeansmom]

Day 2 (Mon. Nov. 28) - AK

Today was AK day. The plan was to arrive by 9:30 so that we could hit character greeting at Camp Mickey/Minnie then see the FotLK. We weren’t too bad at getting up and going especially after the long day at HS the day before but it seemed to take a while to park and we had to wait for 2 trams at least before we could get on (people were pushy this morning ). It was already 10:00 by the time we were through the gates so we decided to forget the character greeting and head straight for FotLK at a leisurely pace. Jean took some pics along the way:

It was during this time that Grammy’s eyes and nose started running, although not too badly at first. We found our seats in the theatre, I think we were in the warthog section and settled in to enjoy the show. Some of you may remember that LK is Ella’s favourite Disney movie – when she was a toddler we would put it on to settle her down when she woke up from nightmares and she loved it so much we took her to see the full stage production in Toronto when she was just 2! It was of course fabulous and most of us sang along throughout (well I know I did anyways!)

When we got out I suggested we wander the character paths just to see how the crowds were…it was busy so we agreed to make our way out. Ella spotted Pocahontas though and "pretty pleased" to meet her, the line wasn’t too long so we agreed. Some decorations beside the line:

After only a 10 minute wait it was our turn, E decided to join us for this pic, hmm curious!

By this time Grammy’s eyes were really watering badly. Luckily, from past experience, we knew exactly where the first aid centre was and how helpful they are! I took her in there and the nurse gave her an anti-histamine and some for later. Grammy was surprised and impressed that there was no charge, the nurse replied, “No problem, Mickey wants you to enjoy your day at AK!”.

Continued in next post....

 

[ellajeansmom]

We re-grouped and headed for KS. On the way Jean saw a cart and convinced Nana that a stuffed baby Simba was what she wanted for her present (Nana had told them she would buy them one thing each during the trip). We had a good safari, here are all our pictures, Nana and Grammy took lots since it was their first time riding and even though I wasn't planning to I still ended up with lots as well, enjoy!

Nana and Grammy especially were impressed with how close the animals were – Nana joked that we didn’t have to chase these giraffes to get cool pics as my brother did when he went to Kenya!

We were stopped for a bit while these guys took their time crossing the road:

The new baby Simba seemed to enjoy the adventure:

Next time, we go for a walk to see more animals!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Great updates!! 50s PTC was discussed at my food safety training today and I told the ppl at my table that I've eaten there 5x in the last year. They were all surprised haha.

I can't believe how much the girls have grown in the past few years!! They are super tall now!!!

 

[Angies1274]

It sounds like a great day at AK so far!! Love your safari pics!

 

[ellajeansmom]

Great updates!! 50s PTC was discussed at my food safety training today and I told the ppl at my table that I've eaten there 5x in the last year. They were all surprised haha.

I can't believe how much the girls have grown in the past few years!! They are super tall now!!!

Yeah, the girls are growing like crazy...we were at the cottage last weekend and we have a wall where we measure them every opening weekend in May and closing weekend in October. DH and his sister were both measured there as kids so the girls have fun comparing their height to Daddy's and Auntie K's at the same age. Anyways, according to the wall Ella grew 2 inches over the winter - she only has about a half inch to go and she'll pass Grammy!

It sounds like a great day at AK so far!! Love your safari pics!

Thanks Angie! I can't take all the credit for the safari pics, they are a combination of 4 different photographers - actually maybe 5 since I think Ella took some shots with my camera

 

[ellajeansmom]

Day 2 continued...

After our exciting safari, we took a short break and had some fruit snacks that I had brough along, visited the rest room, etc. Ella decided that she wanted a baby Simba from Nana too, and amazingly enough there was another cart selling them just there.

We then explored the Pangani Trail, this was one of my must-do’s for the day as we had missed doing the trails last time. We saw fish

Notice how easy it is to pick Ella and Jean out of the crowd with their hats?

I still can't get over the bright colours of these

A bird was taking in all the activity

The hippo was under water - I don't think I've ever seen a hippo this close up.

Next we came across some of Timone’s friends

and finally the gorillas.

By the time we were done we were all getting pretty hungry. I had in mind to eat a Y&Y, then we could also get EE FPs and make plans for the afternoon (rain was predicted and we were starting to see the clouds moving in). The lines at Y&Y were pretty reasonable and we easily found a table around back. Again the grandparents could not get over the quality and quantity of food we were getting. I feel like I keep repeating myself but they were raving about the food every meal - I think that maybe they thought the first day we had just had good luck with the food!

I had a tentative plan of going to the Finding Nemo show after lunch but Gramps mentioned more than once that the map showed a train that seemed to go to a conservation centre…anyone I’ve heard of that has gone out to Rafiki’s has enjoyed it so I said sure why not. First though, E ran to get FPs for EE and we watched some monkeys play while we waited

Up next, a train ride and an awesome character meeting...

 

[ellajeansmom]

With FPs for EE secured we backtracked to the train and off we went. Grammy took advantage of a photo op on the walk from the station to the center

It started raining lightly as we arrived so I covered the stroller in ponchos and we headed inside.

We were not disappointed, we spent a good hour looking at the exhibits and then Rafiki himself came out. The girls went over to meet him and he was delighted with their baby Simba’s.

This was one of the best character greetings we’ve had - the girls weren't too sure at first about the interaction with a non-speaking character but they caught on…luckily Nana thought to take a video, here it is



It was such a touching thing for Rafiki to do, it was a really great moment

You can see that it is not crowded at all in here, there wasn't even really lines for Rafiki and Pocahantaus (who we decided to skip as we'd met her earlier in the day) and people were walking in front of us not realizing there was a character meet happening. Before moving on Grammy wanted a picture too

After that the girls wanted to go outside to the petting zoo area but first stopped for a picture with this cut-out

The rain had more or less stopped, it was just kind of drizzling. We checked out the gift shop area where Grammy decided she was going to embrace her inner kid and buy herself a Minnie hat, Nana said well if you are then I am too, so I said I couldn’t be the only girl in our group without one, so we all ended up with Minnie hats As my title indicates, this caused a bit of a stir over the next few days, especially when we all walked together, people were actually turning around to look at us and more than one little kid said “Look at all those Minnie hats!”. Anyways, I think it was here that the girls decided to buy lanyards and start a pin collection (I’m pretty sure I did not tell them that people traded pins as a hobby ). Then they actually went out and patted some animals.

We took the train back and by the time we got off the rain had stopped completely and we noticed a definite decrease in the crowds – everyone must have run home when the rain started! We headed towards EE, but decided we needed to stop and get some pictures of the ladies sporting our matching hats!

Next time...the yeti derails us and we enjoy a parade!

 

[Queenofallthings]

All caught up Pangani is one of Jasmine/s favorites!!!! Great pictures and what a great day you are all having!!

 

[ellajeansmom]

All caught up Pangani is one of Jasmine/s favorites!!!! Great pictures and what a great day you are all having!!

We were definitely having another great day - before the rain it was still warm but not nearly as hot as the day before, the rain cooled things down quite a bit and we didn't let it slow us down at all! It's great to have you back, looks like you've been busy this morning catching up on all your TR's...I'm sure you are in WDW withdrawal

 

[Angies1274]

Great updates!! It looked like you had such a fun day at AK! I think we are going to try and do the trails on our trip now that we have more time at AK. Love the character interaction with Rafiki!!

 

[ellajeansmom]

Great updates!! It looked like you had such a fun day at AK! I think we are going to try and do the trails on our trip now that we have more time at AK. Love the character interaction with Rafiki!!

The trail was very neat to explore, there are signs and CMs on hand to provide information about the animals We still have the other trail to do next trip!

 

[ellajeansmom]

I can't believe how quickly June is flying by and how neglectful I've been of this trip report It has been quite busy around here so I thought I would hijack the TR and provide a little real life update with pictures

So on June 9 the girls had their annual dance recital. This is a full day event for us as there are 2 performances, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Here they are in the morning getting their hair done:

I volunteer at the afternoon performance, then the enjoy the evening performance with the family. Ella was in two numbers this year and I realized we never took a picture of her in her ballet costume so I took a picture of her "official" picture:

We also found out that week the Ella had passed her Royal Academy of Dance Gr. 2 Ballet exam, so we were extra proud of her!

Ella's other number was from a musical theatre class. They did the Wizard of Oz (condensed into about 5 minutes!) and Ella was the Wizard:

Jean did tap class this year, here she is with Nana & Gramps:

and some more family pictures...

Ella with Nana & Gramps

Ella with E and Auntie K (E's sister)

The four of us

The girls with Auntie K

So, the next day I had wonderful intentions of coming home from church, weeding my front garden and posting some updates here. Turns out the rest of the family had a different plan as I was welcomed home to a surprise party for my 40th birthday! Here are some pics...you'll notice there was a Disney theme

Surprise!

With my best friend since Gr. 2 (note the Belle balloon)

more decorations...a Minnie balloon

Nana & Gramps doing a speech

cake time!

The picture at the top of the cake was of me posing on a canon at Edinburghcastle when I was 8.

It was a great afternoon

The next weekend found the girls and I at Canada's Wonderland, a Cedar Fair park about 1.5 hours away from us. We were there with friends from church and had a fun day, but its not Disney - they have fast passes but you have to pay a huge amount of money for them, there is hardly any theming, and they don't know how to move people efficiently (took me 45 minutes to park)

This is us in front of the park's icon mountain - we look a little bedraggled as we had been on water rides earlier

We decided to be really bad and shared this for dinner

While we were having fun, E was at home putting in hardwood floors in our two front rooms with help from our Dads. They finished that up on Sunday and then we went to Grammy & Grampy's house for dinner and Father's Day celebrations.

Finally, this weekend we were away at our church's annual family camp, another fun time as usual!

Now, the girls only have 4 days left in school, all the activities are wrapped up for the summer and we're looking forward to having life be not so crazy for the next little while.

Thanks for indulging me in the real life update, we'll now return the TR!