"Look at those Chompers!!" A January 2010 AKL DxDP TR...FINAL Update: 6/12 Day 8!

[gellybean]

Our wake up call went off at 7:30 am and we were up and at the bus stop by 8:30am. We must have just missed the bus though because we waited FOREVER. We didn't make rope drop, but were to the park by 9:10 so not bad. Especially for us!

I offered to leave Mr. I and the boys at Starring Rolls but he decided to go with me to get the TSM FPs. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be, we must have already missed the mass exodus of rope droppers. The return time was 11am. I was pretty happy with that. The standby line was 40 mins but we were all hungry so we decided to head back to Starring Rolls for breakfast.

Mr. I and the boys grabbed a table while I went and used up NINE snack credits! I got a whole wheat bagle and cream cheese for Mr. I and a cheese danish (he'd requested protein and that was as protein-y as I could find), Dash and Jack-Jack shared a chocolate chip muffin and an apple thing I think, I had a chocolate croissant and a cinnamon roll. We had two juices and a water. 9 credits! This was our FIRST time at Starring Rolls! It was yummy and a great use of snack credits for breakfast!

We made our way around slowly to the GMR. We took advantage of the hidden bathrooms in the Brown Derby that were open even though the restauant was not.

I snapped a few pics along the way.

Waiting for Mr. I and Dash outside of Brown Derby's restrooms

We parked the stroller out by the hat and made our way to a walk-on ride.

Snapped a pic before someone got behind us in line!

Pretty much walk on. Basically by the time we made it down through the queue in the theater, the doors opened and we were allowed in the next cars. We got a gangster this time.

Jack-Jack was unaffected by the whole ride. I was worried he might get scared in a few spots, but he sat in my lap and was fine. After we were done with GMR, we headed to One Man's Dream. For whatever reason, Jack-Jack decided he didn't want to walk on his leash anymore and wanted me to carry him. He's HEAVY! So we didn't spend as much time looking at all the memorbilia as I would have liked to. He did, however, sit through the entire movie. I can't figure him out sometimes!

We all really enjoyed the movie. Dash found it interesting! Just another sign he's growing up. Jack-Jack sat in his own seat the whole way through. We were maybe 4 of the 8 people in there. Not busy at all.

By the time we were done with this it was almost time to ride TSM, our FIRST.
We had missed this ride last year, never got there early enough in the morning to get a FP! Plus it was that much newer so maybe that much busier??

I was very happy to try this one out! Loved the theming inside.

Great job on theming, Disney folks!

I especially loved the dominoes. My family is a huge domino playing family. We play the game called 42! So I had to take a close up shot of a double domino!

The boys seemed to think it was cool, too. The stairs in the queue are interesting. I mean I get why they had to do this but it was a challenge with a 2 year old that isn't great on stairs and wanted to play up and down the stairs the whole time.

About 20 mins waiting in the FP line and it was nearly our turn to get on.

A few pics while we waited for our vehicles to pull up

This is what I got when I asked Dash to show me his excited face.




and we were off!!



I loved this ride!!!! So fun! I was taken aback by the pulling of the cord firing trigger at first. Not what I was expecting! My arm was sore after that ride! Mr. I rode with Jack-Jack and I rode with Dash. I'm embarassed to post our scores. But here ya go:

Our first ride ever on TSM! I beat Dash, but barely!

When we exited TSM, the army guy was standing around for pics. I had dressed the boys in matching toy soldier shirts that day so I definitely had to get a pic with them and the army guy!

Jack-Jack couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

The army guy tried to walk Jack-Jack.

Mr. I grabbed some more FPs to TSM while I took the pics!!

We decided to head out the back way and walk through the Streets of America to make our way over to our lunch ressie, at Mama Melrose's. We stopped for another potty break and I checked facebook on my phone. I saw that LadyLallie and JenJOlt were in DHS that day too! So I was on the look out to see if I saw them anywhere.

We decided we were kinda hungry after our snack credit breakfast and we knew we had a big date night that night at Jiko so we thought it might be worth it to see if they could seat us a little early so we'd be even more ready for our Jiko yumminess that night. We took the short cut through the back of Streets of America. I checked in and she said she could seat us at 12:15pm a full 30 mins before our ADR. We had about 10 mins to kill so I left Mr. I and Jack-Jack on the bench next to the restaurant while Dash and I went and got in line with Mater and Lightning!



Continued in Next Post...

 

[faerieprincess]

Patiently waiting for the second half...

i love this picture - Jack-Jack looks a lot like Dash in this one!

You did beat Dash...but his accuracy is higher!

 

[gellybean]

Continued from Previous Post!

While we waited a nice older lady asked Dash who the characters were that she was waiting in line to have her picture taken with. He told her and she pulled out a sticky note with a child's handwritten note of Lightning MacQueen and Mater on it. She had an assignment from a 1st grade class to get her picture taken with them while she was on her trip. She was a retired principal that volunteered at her local school and the kids had this request to take a pic with Cars characters. I thought it was neat!

It took a little bit but it was Dash's turn soon enough

I checked back into Mama Melrose's to find out that they had already called our name. Thankfully they still had the slip sitting there and we were seated next! I liked the inside of the restaurant. It was really cute!! I had read bad reviews... and was scared but a few late minute positive reviews plus a lack of good counter service options had made me reconsider and add an ADR for MM-another FIRST!


I'm super glad we did!!

We really enjoyed our meal here!


Mr. I and I ordered aps and the Calamari for 2 was only one of them. I was surprised by this! So I ordered a Caesar salad and we shared both of these. The calamari was really good! One of the betters orders of fried calamari I've had!

The salad was ok. Mr. I ended up finishing it. It was probably more of a real Caesar than I'm used to.

I ordered the shrimp pipette pasta with artichokes, peppers and peas in a basil and four cheese sauce. The bowl was huge and it was delicious! I shared a lot of this with Dash. Mr. I got the Spagetti Fra Diavolo. It was really good. He shared a lot of his pasta with Jack-Jack. Dash ordered the kids pizza and shared some of it with Jack-Jack as well. The rolls and oil were a big hit too!

Just to show you how much Jack-Jack enjoyed Mr. I's pasta

The floor after he was done! We picked up a lot of it and left a nice tip!!

We ordered dessert, even though we were all stuffed. Darn you Deluxe plan.

I ordered the honey ricotta cheesecake and Mr. I ordered the tiramisu. They brought our birthday chef's hats for the boys and ice cream! I didn't get pictures though. I think I was on birthday overload by this point!

Right about this time, the table next to us was seated... it had been pretty empty up til this point. I was sitting with my back to the wall so I had the first glimpse of the guests that were going to be our tablemates.

Imagine my surprise with LL and Jen were seated RIGHT beside us.

It was too funny. I knew they were in the park but never would I have thought they'd be sat literally at the next table. They had added Mama Melrose's as a last minute change that morning.

We visited a bit between bites of dessert and their ordering of their meal. I checked to make sure LL's blisters weren't an issue this trip and Jen and I talked about Austin some since she's moving to Texas this summer! We didn't have a chance to talk very much between bites but it was great to meet them and was super funny to end up seated right next to some Disers! My FIRST Dis meet!!

The honey ricotta cheesecake wasn't any different than any other cheesecake. I ended up eating more of the Tiramisu than the cheesecake!

We settled our bill and headed out. I had promised Dash a ride on Star Tours and Jack-Jack needed an outfit change in the worst way!! All that pasta!



Up next:
Would we have time to use our FPs for TSM before MIL calls and tells us she's on property?!

Would we make it to our date or would Jack-Jack decide he didn't wanna stay with his MiMi?




Stay tuned!!

 

[martinolichfamily]

Great update! I enjoyed MM too when we were there in July...back then I didnt have any clue about ADRs and such....luckily we walked right up and only waited for about 5 mins & that was 4th of July week!!

How cool to run into a fellow Diser!!

Loving that spaghetti face too!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Sounds like a great day Dis meet, getting to go into your ADR a half hour before.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Jack-Jack sure enjoys his food, doesn't he? LOL!! Look at that face! I'm glad you all enjoyed your lunch. Sounds good. TSM is so much fun, isn't it? We love it! Great update.

 

[gellybean]

I am officially a DIS Veteran NOW!!!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Dash's excited face looks more like he's terrified! Isn't the queue for TSMM awesome? It's almost an attraction in and of itself!

 

[gellybean]

We have one for our first night there. My parents are coming to meet us for dinner that night. My step dad is a big meat eater so he will love it. My mom loves anything with bananas in it and she also love shrimp. So they will be set. My kids will normally eat meat and noodles... so here's hoping. Eric also loves shrimp, and he never gets it here. I don't like seafood so we never have it. When we were teenagers he took me to Red Lobster for our 1 year anniversary and I ordered popcorn shrimp, because he said it was good . He said I had to eat the whole thing if I wanted this really yummy looking desert... So I did eat it all, but now I hate it.

I'm super excited to hear how your meal at 'Ohana went!!

So sorry to hear that you don't like seafood!!
I'm nearly in the same boat. I like shrimp, lobster, and crab but that's about it. No fish fish, which is sad cause most of it's really good for you.

Can't wait to read your TR! HINT HINT

All caught up again! Great report! Ohana look Yum-O for dinner!!
We have a ressie there but for Breakfast. I cant wait to see the Poly!
Waiting to read more!!

Glad you're caught up!! Can't wait to hear about your breakfast ressie there. We're gonna have to try it one of these days. Love the Poly.

Patiently waiting for the second half...

i love this picture - Jack-Jack looks a lot like Dash in this one!

You did beat Dash...but his accuracy is higher!

I noticed that. Thanks for rubbing it in. I did tell Dash that, at the time, to make him feel better. Don't think he quite got the concept.

Great update! I enjoyed MM too when we were there in July...back then I didnt have any clue about ADRs and such....luckily we walked right up and only waited for about 5 mins & that was 4th of July week!!

How cool to run into a fellow Diser!!

Loving that spaghetti face too!

It was cool to run into a fellow Diser. And at the next table was too funny.

That's awesome luck that you got in to MM without an ADR during July 4th week. We were really spoiled by out ability to 'walk in' on ADRs this trip. I don't know how I'm ever gonna be able to go back during peak season!

Sounds like a great day Dis meet, getting to go into your ADR a half hour before.

It was a great day!!! Just wait to hear you read about date night that evening!

Jack-Jack sure enjoys his food, doesn't he? LOL!! Look at that face! I'm glad you all enjoyed your lunch. Sounds good. TSM is so much fun, isn't it? We love it! Great update.

He does enjoy his food. This would not be the last meal this happens....

TSM rocks!! Love it! I could go on it over and over!

Dash's excited face looks more like he's terrified! Isn't the queue for TSMM awesome? It's almost an attraction in and of itself!

He does look a bit terrified doesn't he? LOL The queue is FAB! Almost fabulous enough to make me want to ride it standby. Almost.






SORRY for the delay everyone!! PAGE 4 of the TR board! ACK!!

We headed out of town for Spring Break and stayed much longer than we intended too. A week without internet?! How on earth did I survive?!


But it was a nice relaxing break!! AND I was able to finally convince my parents to take my beagle off my hands!! I'm so excited about this. He really loves it out in the country, and they have 10 acres. He just got way bigger than he was supposed to and deserves more space than our little house and itty bitty back yard!

I have gotten another chihuahua. For anyone that didn't read my PTR, I had a chihuahua puppy that was mortally injured by my brother's dog on Christmas Eve. It was a hard decision... to get another one, but it's been a good thing. She's great and just the right size for our house and yard. And she's nothing like Bella (our chi) so that makes it better for me somehow, because I don't feel like I'm trying to replace Bella.

Anyway, it's been a blessing that my dad decided to take Jasper. He is much happier and has room to roam and be a hound dog and I still get to see him often. And my dad loves that he's a natural cowdog. So it's a win win for all parties involved! :

I am still getting caught up on housework and laundry for being gone 9 days! I will get day 4 done in the next few days and hopefully get another day done this week. I'm determined to have this puppy FINISHED by April 20th - 3 months after our return date!


Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely time of year!! Have a great week!

 

[reyasmommy]

I love the themeing in the line of TSM too. We used a FP’s the last time we went too, and I was amazed at how long it took us to get through the line with a FP. And holding a sleeping baby on those stairs wasn’t fun or easy on the back.

The picture of the army guy walking jack jack is hilarious.


Looking forward to more.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hey there gelly! I was wondering where you disappeared to. Glad you had a good spring break, and congrats on the new puppy

 

[gellybean]

When I last left you, we were cleaning up a mess on the floor in Mama Melrose's and Jack-Jack was in desperate need of a clean up himself.

We stopped to take a few pics while Mr. I settled the bill.

We made our way out of the restaurant, and realized that we had 10 mins to make it to the Lights Motor Action show.... Why not!

So after several promises to Dash that we would make it on Star Tours, we headed over to the stroller parking area and got Jack-Jack out.

Well the crowds were pushing in to make it to the start of the show and Mr. I was walking much faster than we were so I motioned for him to go ahead. He has way more upper body strength than I do, to carry Jack-Jack around, so I'm thinking he'd know that I'd need his help eventually.

I was wrong.




He got farther and farther ahead and I felt like Jack-Jack was gonna get stomped on so I picked him up. It was a warmer afternoon, and he's 33 lbs easy. I was dying.

Or at least I thought I was until we turned the corner and saw the flight of stairs up into the stadium. I lugged him up the stairs, Mr. I well ahead of me. I was really dying.


Or at least I thought I was until I got up into the stadium and realized there were no seats anywhere except the very top of the stadium.


I WAS REALLY DYING.

I tried to let Jack-Jack walk up most of the stairs himself but with the number of people behind me, and my not so skinny butt blocking half the aisle, I felt like the oversized load on a two lane road in Texas. Backing up traffic!

So I did what any sane mom would do. I picked him up and headed up the stairs.


ALL THE WAY up the stairs.


I WAS OFFICIALLY DEAD.


OMG! I seriously thought I was about to pass out. I mean I was standing on the very top of the bleachers, having to walk across and back down the other side to find a spot and literally my head was spinning. I was scared I was gonna fall over and take Jack-Jack with me.


I found a spot finally, practically the top row because I wasn't about to try to walk back down more stairs, as dizzy as I was, and sat down with a confused Jack-Jack. He saw his daddy and his brother (who had joined Mr. I as soon as he saw him) and didn't understand why we weren't all seated together. Well, buddy, Mommie was confused too. I guess when you say "go ahead" in women's language the men hear "leave me for dead" in their native tongue.

The one lone picture I managed to take the entire show.

I remember most of the show... after I stopped hyperventilating. The boys enjoyed it, even Jack-Jack.

When the show was over, I stayed put until Mr. I could help this time. I was still . I mean really, he got the easy part, taking Jack-Jack down the stairs. But at least I wasn't worried about falling over dizzy and dropping him.

We eventually made our way out of the stadium and retrieved our stroller. We headed back the way we came, taking a picture in front of yet another fountain.

I realized I hadn't gotten a picture of Jack-Jack's hat from MM so I grabbed that pic as well.

We eventually ended up at the family restroom across from Star Tours. I got Jack-Jack changed into his back up outfit, and left him with Mr. I while Dash and I headed into the short standby line for Star Tours.

Mr. I and Jack-Jack caught the end of the Jedi training and eventually Mr. I got Jack-Jack to sleep.

Dash and I had a great trip through space and meet back up with Mr. I in no time.

We had 3 FPs for TSM burning holes in our pocket, so we had the brilliant idea to baby swap and leave a sleeping Jack-Jack asleep. Except when I got over to TSM they don't do babyswap. I guess because there is no height limit, they don't offer the feature. I was kinda disappointed. I mean what about kids that don't want to ride or have stimulus issues or just want to take a nap?? C'mon Disney!

Napping Jack-Jack in Pixar Place

We all waited on a bench for the minutes to tick toward 3pm so our window would open up. Mr. I talked to his mom and she was already in Orlando. So we knew this would be our last ride on our only day in DHS. I was a little sad, but knew that we'd be back. We hadn't hit any thrill rides that day. I had just discovered my love for ToT last trip, so I was a little bummed to miss it, but it takes up so much more time when you child swap, and we were really wanting to stay together this day. Next trip!

Finally our FP window opened, and Dash and I took the first ride. We loved it!!! I didn't take my camera with us but I think we both bested our previous score by 20k each, easily. The ride stopped for quite a while so we got a little bonus time. It was neat to just soak it in all while it was stopped.

Mr. I was ready for his solo ride. This was just one more moment that solidified for me that Mr. I likes Disney. He rode TSM by himself.

Dash and I pushed a still sleeping Jack-Jack over to Starring Rolls again. I really wanted to try a Butterfinger cupcake.

I got one, and a bottle of water. I was surprised that the icing inside the butterfinger topping was white... Didn't really hit my yummy meter. I boxed it and put it under the stroller. We waited a while, sitting at the tables outside of the cafe. I snapped some pics as we waited.

Before too long, Jack-Jack woke up. We walked back toward Pixar Place, texting Mr. I to make sure we didn't miss each other, and then headed out of DHS around 4pm, saying bye for this trip.

We had awesome bus luck. An AKL bus was sitting there waiting. We loaded up and were on our way! Mr. I got another call that his mom was at AKL waiting on us in the lobby!!



Up next:

Would there be an issue checking in a 3rd adult during the middle of our stay?

Would we make our date night afterall?

How would MIL do, sharing a bed with her grandsons?!


STAY TUNED!!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Hauling up all those stairs?? Oh boy that doesnt sound fun at all. At least he took Jack-jack back down the stairs. Because i know i wouldnt make it.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Okay, it’s like 10:49 pm and I’m supposed to be going to bed in 11 minutes…just enough time to squeeze in a TR update from my gelly and I’m cruising along at a great clip until I get to “I guess when you say "go ahead" in women's language the men hear "leave me for dead" in their native tongue.” I laughed for a full five minutes…cried a little and maybe even peed in my pants. And I did all of this as quietly as possible so as to not wake my sleeping babies…I just thought you should know.

I can’t commiserate I’m afraid…I have the opposite problem. I think my husband is missing the gene necessary to take the lead when we’re walking somewhere...he always waits politely for me. This frustrate me because I'm always thinking...just GO!!

Maybe he just likes looking at my derriere… Whatever the reason, I don’t return the favour…I’m off like a bat outta hell and I’ll wait for him once we get to where we are going…usually!! Although I do like his derriere…

Can’t wait for more…

 

[Lovemy3babes]

The stairs at LMA are horrendous, aren't they?! They are steep and I was completely worried about a child hurling themselves down them accidentally. Or maybe even me because I'm not so graceful. Great update! I'd love to see a photo of your new puppy.

 

[praisehisname]

All caught up again; I was breathing hard just reading about your trek up the stairs at LMA! Looking forward to hearing about your date night!

 

[babytrees]

read your report in one sitting.

My girls will turn 18 and 14 on May 14th, so I know all about the strange questions from strangers. My pat answer is Cassidy told us she would get a baby sister on her birthday and she did.


Love your writing style

 

[vinotinto]

Joining in late, but glad I'm here. I laughed so very hard at the Goofy's outing - everything from the guy with the Mickey oral fixation to Mr I getting 3 pretzels and you only getting one Absolutely hilarious!

 

[xDisneyAngelx]

Great trip report so far. Your chidren are so cute. I am looking forward to read the rest of your trip. Take care

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Finally caught up with your TR! I've been so all over the place with our upcoming trip, but I'm glad I was able to catch up.

I love how Mr. I rode TSM solo! I think my DH would most likely do the same, but we don't have a child as an excuse - he just doesn't want to listen to my whine about how bad he'd beat me.

about the Lights! Motors! Action! show. DH will totally leave me to carry a child up thousands of stairs. That's mentality of men for you.