Lurker comes out of hiding...And write a Trip Report!

[addictedtothemouse]

It was so cute to see our little princess playing with the common folk. She was the only royalty in the playground.

Well you know that the royalty needs to mingle with the commoners so they know that they are cared about.

What can I say. Whatever gets him back works for me. If it's seeing Belle again, so be it!

Use everything to your advantage!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Our youngest acted just like Hailey at the Princess Breakfast. The other two weren't that much better but they did pose for pictures. It was our first character meal. The kids got way more comfortable with it as the trip went on and were totally into it by their second trip to the world.

I hope Hailey comes around for you.

 

[amyjoq]

Well you know that the royalty needs to mingle with the commoners so they know that they are cared about.

I agree - so lucky she lets us be seen with her.

Our youngest acted just like Hailey at the Princess Breakfast. The other two weren't that much better but they did pose for pictures. It was our first character meal. The kids got way more comfortable with it as the trip went on and were totally into it by their second trip to the world.

I hope Hailey comes around for you.

Our next trip Haley will be 8 - hoping we get a few character picks - if now with Haley at least with me. I'm almost tempted to take a solo trip before then!

 

[amyjoq]

FINALLY - A smile!

After Epcot we went back to the hotel to rest a bit. Haley wanted out of her dress as soon as we walked in the door. Fine by us, the glitter was getting EVERYWHERE! Jason sprawled out on one bed asleep in no time - I swear sometimes he's more like an infant than a grown man! Haley layed down on the floor in between the beds watching some Disney TV while I wrote in my journal.

We went back to MK around 7pm. Got this shot of the front I missed the first time through the gates.

OH and wised up and rented a stroller and used a few snack credits on popcorn and soda. Saw Mary Poppins across the way - we strolled over and watched for a bit, the nice CM asked is we wanted a turn before she closed the line, sadly, no, no turn for us thanks anyway.
We had a 9pm ressie at Crystal Palace - only time available at my late call (late by DISer standards thats for sure) - you'll see a pattern here that I didn't plan all that great - we missed a lot of parades. Very important parades that are number one on our list for our return trip in a few years.

I took a few more pics of the castle on our way to Toontown - because you can never have enough pics of the castle!

Turns out all the pics I took look exactly like this one. Go figure.

Here's where a bit more research would have come in handy. Even though I had the fail proof plan from the Ultimate Guide that was similar to TGM, we had veared only a tiny bit - at this point we were heading for Toontown.

Not the greatest idea. It was pretty packed. Didn't wait in line for Goofy's ride, parked the stroller way down by the train tracks and made our way into Mickey's house - Minnie's was closed Took pics of just about everything I could take a picture of.

I love the fish over the fireplace!

Looks very similar to my own kitchen on any normal day of the week.

My favorite part of Mickey's House .... the backyard! LOVE the dog sign!

On a side note - I had NO IDEA all the interaction with Minnies House you get to do till my SIL came back from her trip in June. Sooo very upset all over again Minnie's was closed - yet another must do on our list for next time.

We left the crowd and headed back to fantasyland. Haley wanted to ride the spinning tea cups. Not quite Jasons cup of tea so he sat out. This is when it happened.....A SMILE! Our little princess finally smiled!!!!

Got the mouse!

A smile out of Jason as well - on the phone with his cousin.

Usually that phone is attached to his head 24/7 - surprisingly, this was the only extended phone call. It was nice - a vacation from his phone!

It was getting close to our ressie so we headed back toward the main hub and took a few pics along the way of the Castle changing colors. By this point, Jason had given up asking why so many pics. Haley really enjoyed watching the changes. Pink was our favorite.

The Crystal Palace all lit up.

I went and checked us in - was behind a very rude gentleman not real happy he couldn't get in. It seemed to take forever for the CM to hand me my magic wand, lots of typing going on, not sure if she was posting to the DIS board to what! We stood against the fence railing watching the castle for about 10 min before our magic wand started making all kinds of racket. Left our stroller there - saving our spot for watching Wishes later on.

Loved being greeted by these two:

We were sat along the windows with a nice view of the Castle and the Spectomagic Parade - not a full view of the parade but enough to catch Haley's attention for a few minutes. This was the second buffet for us today and I have to say, my stomach was not liking it. I helped Haley fill her plate with a slice of pizza and some mac and cheese. She didn't eat. And when she see's the picture of the restaurant today - she'll tell you that's where she didn't eat.
As each character came around, Haley quickly hid under the table, only poking her head up to see what the excitement was all about during the kid parade, then going right back under. Once Jason and I were done, we quickly settled up the bill and went to claim our spot for the fireworks.

I realize rather quickly out the door that I NEED a bathroom, good thing there is a big one just next to the Crystal Palace, hidden a bit back from the main walkway. I made my first stop there, came back to Jason and Haley and stood waiting for the fireworks as massive crowds begin to form.
At this point, Haley is cold. Endless complaining about being cold. Our jackets? Back in the room. So I go in search of a sweatshirt. There is a shop next to Casey's that connects to another shop on the other side of Casey's - I ran through there - Jackpot! Lots of kids stuff. Shirt, shirt, shirt, toy, shirt, shirt......no sweatshirt. I find a Princess Jacket, carry it around a bit hoping to spy a blanket or something. We're on vacation, what the heck, $40 for a Jacket. As I walking out of the store - I JUST CAUGHT A GLIMPS of Tinkerbell! OMG! Camera - no where in sight. I push my way back to Jason and Haley - bundle her up and watch a few of the fireworks. These aren't the greatest shots but they'll do.

Haley begins complaining about the fireworks and wanting to leave. We decide to go ahead and make our way down mainstreet to try to beat the crowds. We make it to the train station to return the stroller when the fireworks ended and the crowds began emerging towards us. It is at this very moment my stomach does it's thing. Where my nerves from traveling the day before and the excitement from day one has caught up with me - that and a buffet - not a good combo for me. I need a bathroom and I need it NOW. I run ahead of Jason out the trainstation - a nice CM pointed the way to one just outside.
15 minutes later I emerge, Jason and Haley silently waiting for me, and the crowd is gone. We headed to the bus - another 30 minutes and two buses later we are on our way back to the hotel and sleep. I need me some sleep. After one more visit to the bathroom that is

Day 2 - DHS/Epcot. And our one and only character pic!

 

[addictedtothemouse]

Great update. Mom and I didn't make it to any parades except the one at AK and we didn't see any fireworks.

 

[amyjoq]

Great update. Mom and I didn't make it to any parades except the one at AK and we didn't see any fireworks.

In my planning pages for our next trip (not for another 2 years ) I've listed the must sees and parades and fireworks are underlined...twice.

 

[amyjoq]

Welcome to Day 2 of our vacation. Per our carefully laid out plans we were to visit Disney Hollywood Studios and being one who follows the rules, this is where TGM said to be today so this is where we will be.

We had an ADR at Hollywood & Vine at 9:10am with the Playhouse Disney Characters. We were at the bus by 8am - I was even able to salvage the princess hair for another day. We had packed several coordinated outfits for Haley and each day I would pull out just two and she got to pick. So easy to get her dressed each day when I did that - sure enough the one day I didn't, she wanted something else.
Today she chose her peach skirt.

It became very clear to us early in the day that DHS would be our favorite park by far - I took TONS of pictures! So uploading to photobucket with a slow connection has been, well, a test of my patience to say the least.

We were let in right away once at the gate - again I didn't pull the camera out to get a pic of the entrance - too concerned about getting IN the park I guess. I did grab one of the hat before proceeding down the street to our ADR.

By now Jason has stopped asking me why I'm taking a picture of everything I see. He's a quick learner.

Haley actually ate this time. (at our ADR last night at Crystal Palace she spent more time under that table hiding than actually eating) It was great that they gave her something to DO - a coloring sheet of Rocket from Little Einsteins. I thought today was going to be our day for character pics! She had her eye on LEO the entire time. One by one they came around and one by one Haley promptly ignored them.
Then came JOJO - what a great JOJO! We LOVE JOJO and she was not going to let Haley ignore her. Instead she looked over Haley's shoulder and watched her color. Haley did not move! She completely acted like JOJO wasn't even there! I got our one and only character pic, it's not a great pic but it's my pic and I love it!

After breakfast we headed back to the front of the park for a stroller (we learned our lesson on day 1 ) Of course we had to wonder through the crowd waiting for the rope drop. We only caught a little bit of this guys act but I thought it was hilarious - especially when we said 'hey there's Ester Williams' as he pointed to an older ladie walking beside the truck.

I loved the 'gas station' you pic up the strollers at. I had to take a pic of the tanks - my grandpa used to own a Texaco and the tanks resembled these.

This one just because:

After reading a book on Walt Disney before our trip I had to take a pic of this one:

Following our UG plan, we headed towards the back of the park to the Backlot tour

and took some pics of New York along the way.

About here Jason asked if this is what New York really looked like. I said yes, but imagine a thousand more people and yellow taxis everywhere.
Can't forget San Fransisco:

Finally we make it to the Backlot tour, we only had to wait a few minutes before the ride opened and we filed in. In the first line queue we didn't have to wait very long. We were soon ushered onto the bleachers to watch the making of Pearl Harbor. I felt sooo bad for this ladie:

She's in there - under the wall of water

I went a little nutty trying to capture every moment of this show cause that's how I roll. So I won't bore you with all of them but there were these:

Oh mommy! Vin Diesel's rear end has touched these. Ahhhhhhh.

Okay - back to reality - up next the rest of the Backlot tour and our day at DHS!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Oh mommy! Vin Diesel's rear end has touched these. Ahhhhhhh.

Too funny!

 

[OhMari]

I did the Keys to the Kingdom tour and I found out these camels were recyled off a float from a parade. We saw another float getting dismantled and it had signs on it, where all the parts were going.

I hope you return and finish your report.

 

[addictedtothemouse]

I found you! again. I need to pay more attention to DHS. I've only seen Fantasmic.

 

[Disneyfan71]

I'm on board too..I love all the pictures by the way

 

[amyjoq]

I'm BACK!!!

Sorry - I was lost for awhile but have found my way back.

I need to upload some photos to photobucket tonight and I'll post and update in the morning.



Amy.

 

[amyjoq]

Sorry - had to take a few moments to catch up where we left off. The Backlot tour and Vin Diesel's bottom - but onto other exciting things....like the 'closed' set the tour takes you through. Closed - yeah right.

Jason went in first, then Haley, then myself on the tram that takes you through the backlot. We pull around and see these:

Very cool.
Then we pull into the closed set and here is what we see as it happens, and I can tell you that as the water decended upon us, Haley and I scooted as far away from the wall of water as we possibly could, Jason didn't even flinch.

Finally, we leave the 'closed' set and move along behind the stunt show where we saw Herbie:

Cut in half strangely enough. We figured that phenomenon out later on in the day. (excuse my spelling please - try to use big words and the spelling rats my pea brain out every time)
And of course I had to snap a pick of this:

Upon leaving the backlot tour we follow our UG plan and head back to the other side of the park. Yes, that's right, the OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK. Which, actually, isn't that bad of a walk. We were heading to Playhouse Disney Live for Haley. We dump the stroller and stand in line, and from our viewing we appear to be just two rows back and guarenteed a spot in this show. Finally the line starts moving and we walk the length of the front of the building and then we make the turn, not in the direction I thought it was going to take, but back to a section of a winding que line. By the time we make it back to the front of the building again, they stop traffic. A groan is heard from Jason. It is extremely hot and we had thought the park seemed pretty empty, well we found the crowd! And then 10 more people were let it, and then 10 more and they stopped the line right in front of us. And it is here that Jason said:
'If they stop this line right in front of us, I'm going to .....' and he trailed off because we were then let in with about 8 other people.
Playhouse Disney Live is really cute and if you have a toddler who loves these shows, they love it. Haley LOVED it. And all the kids are up and dancing, it's a really fun time. The only thing is you have to sit on the floor, I understand why, but after about 10 minutes I couldn't feel my neither regions anymore and was getting very unconfortable so for a short show, it felt like 4 hours.
Every time a the book page was turned, Haley told me to take a picture so here you go:
Mickey and Goofy:

Handy Manny and the tools:

Little Einsteins:

Pooh and Friends:

Being in the very back of the show was a bonus for us, we were one of the first families out the door. We walked down to the Little Mermaid show and decided to watch, there was only a 5 min wait. This was our first show experience of walking right in and thinking we were walking right into sit down. Oh no no no. We walked into a large room with really great decor - lots of neat things to look at - I think it was stuff like what Ariel was collecting but I can't remember exactly.
This is where we learned that our daughter does NOT like crowds. Jason was again holding her and they kept asking us to 'fill the space in front of us' so we kept moving closer - it was here that heard the line we would hear at every show we go to the rest of the trip:
'Dad, I want to get out of here.' and she would lay her head on his shoulder like a poor sad pitiful little thing. And sniffle, always a sniffle - probably thought that would seal the deal. No such luck. And Jason would reply:
'Me too, just a few more minutes.' And this is where I learned that my own DH doesn't exactly enjoy crowds either.
Finally we were let in and the show began and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It was a nice mixture of the film, the puppets, and Ariel. And Haley enjoyed it as well. It's a nice feeling to have your 5 year old sit through a whole show without asking to leave every 5 minutes.
Here's the one and only picture I snuck (with my flash off - I'm a rule follower and the announcers clearly stated NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY, amazing how many people ignore that request, I felt bad for the actors)

Had I paid attention to what the area near the Little Mermaid was all about, I would have seen that it was all about Walt Disney. And getting to learn to draw. We've marked this as a place we don't want to miss next time!

Up next - Characters and pizza and ACTION!!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

There are many rule abiders out there it's just that we don't stand out because we are doing what we are supposed to be doing!

Glad to see you are back again!

 

[amyjoq]

After The Little Mermaid Haley was getting a bit hungry and so were we. We started walking and I started taking pictures along the way of cool things we saw from the outside but never made it to the inside.

The Chinese Theatre (I think) - thought it was so pretty.

The Muppets - we didn't see the show - on out list for next time - but the area was really cool. I tried to get a picture of the fountain but there were too many people hanging out on it.

Our Destination - Pizza Planet! Not exactly what I expected on the inside. Not sure why. I think I really thought I'd be stepping into the movie or something.

Haley and I jumped in line while Jason took the stroller to get a seat. We just got one pizza meal and shared. Haley was very helpful getting the straw and napkins. We walked outside and just stood like two dummies in the middle of the courtyard area, we couldn't see Jason anywhere. My phone starts ringing and I'm all but chasing my bag around my body to get to the phone. It was Jason - turn around goofball. Oh. He chose the seat in the very far corner next to the building and in the shade thank goodness but I couldn't see him for anything.
Jason and I were not all that hungry but the slice turned out to be so big we were all three able to eat a good piece of it. AND we were given another smile for the camera.

Isn't she just the cutest little princess!

Oh - we saw this guy too:

After we ate we took out time walking around the area - our destination - Lights Camera ACTION! Turned out to be our absolute favorite part of the whole day. We both love cars and NASCAR and racing and I love movies so seeing it all come together was really cool for both of us. Next to Belle, this was Jason's favorite part of the whole trip....Next to Belle.
I got a big kick out of this store - a Snowman in Florida - and I loved the name of the store:

We took yet another picture of some characters with other people's children:

And I just couldn't resist this one:

And finally - we were there!

Yet another line that felt like it was going to take forever but once one section filled up, they moved us onto another section...in the shade....and then yet another one. Haley was getting very tired, she was complaining the entire wait. Finally they were letting us in and were able to sit right in the middle - got to love that. And I took A LOT of pictures but I won't bore you with ALL of them. Here are a few..

There's Herbie - all in one piece!

And the finally.

What did Haley do during this show? She was sprawled out on the bench between myself and Jason sleeping. Slept through the whole thing, including the screeching tires and all the bangs of the fire! She was one tired baby girl!

Afterwards we headed toward the front of the park to head over to Epcot to ddo a little World Showcase Tour. Stopped and had an ice cream sitting on a bbench in New York watching the people walking by.

She's still waking up, can you tell?

Making our way out of the park I really wanted to SEE Tower of Terror, not necessarily ride TOT. So we walked down and found the crowds, took a few pics, and walked right back to the gates.

Look at all those people. Haley was ready to GO. So was Jason. Too many people. We could barely walk down the street, let alone turn around.

Thought this McDonalds was awesome.

Walking out I snapped a picture of this mickey:

We chose to take the boat over to Epcot and while waiting at the dock we saw a little taste of home:

The ride over to Epcot from DHS is nice but there are several stops. You do get to see a lot of the other resorts. After the second stop Haley was 'Ready to get out of here'. Phrase of the week.

Next up: Epcot and drinking our way around the world....or did we?

 

[Diamondintheruff]

It does look very crowded in your TOT shot. I'm with Hailey. I'd want to get out of there too!

 

[addictedtothemouse]

Poor Haley. But it sounded like she had some fun also.
And she is a cutie!

 

[amyjoq]

It does look very crowded in your TOT shot. I'm with Hailey. I'd want to get out of there too!

You should have saw the look on her face when we turned down the street and saw the crowd - ready to leave for sure!

Poor Haley. But it sounded like she had some fun also.
And she is a cutie!

She had lots of fun - just a bit crabby when she first wakes up...

 

[amyjoq]

Or attempting to anyway..

This is the part Jason had talked about on the way from St Louis to Orlando, how his buddies at work had done this and told him all about it....blah blah blah.

We chose to ride the boat from DHS to Epcot. It was a nice break from the walking and we didn't have to wait very long for a boat...AND it was not crowded. This has become a very important advantage for our little princess. Except that after the 2nd stop to drop off passengers at resorts and pick up new ones, she was ready to ... GET OUT OF HERE.

It was pretty cool to arrive at Epcot via the boat. Althought this was our first visit to explore the park, we had already seen the ball the previous day.

First up, we headed to what seemed like the complete opposite side of the park to ride Nemo. Very important to get that ride in. Nemo was Haley's favorite for a very long time and she loves loves loves underwater creatures. Took the two obligatory pictures - was too slow to get the tram in the pic with the big golf ball.

Pretty cool ride. A bit of a disappointment the way the shows I had watched on the travel channel really played it up but Haley enjoyed it and was shocked each and every time she saw Nemo and his friends with real fish. If you think about it, it really is a neat creation. We did not go talk to Crush, before I could even point it out Jason and Haley were off in another direction looking at the sea creatures. We could not leave the area without a very important purchase - a dolphin, complete with metal emblem stating it was from WDW. She went after Nemo in the store and walked out with a dolphin. She was being pretty good and the things we had done so far making her stand in crowded areas, waking her up to leave the show, she deserved a dolphin.

Walking back over to the world, we began our tour. We attempted to visit Canada - no such luck, it was roped off. At the time I didn't even notice the really sweet little cottage - another thing on out next trip list.

Here is Canada from afar:

The view of the other side of the World:

We traveled into London. I really wanted to explore this country but Haley at this point was not a good shopper, she still thought she needed something from every store and still wasn't all that keen on NOT touching everything so I was content to just walk and look.
London streets - that's Jason in the kacki shorts pushing Haley.

Someone elses child in the phone booth:

We decided to each lunch here:

Yummy! Fish and Chips. The fries were fresh cut and Haley would tear off the ends that still had the skin on the them and feed them to the ducks (she's too young to read the sign that clearly stated - Do not feed the birds).

We thought they were pretty funny looking anyway:

We also saw Mary Poppins from afar, I was too busy eating to take a picture. After lunch we continued our tour.

France:

Couldn't leave this country without a picture of these:

Stain glass windows from Beauty and the Beast - Jasons favorite Disney film.

Morocco:

We actually ventured in further than most of the countries. Here is where Jason started his drinking tour - not drunk enough to try the different beers so he went with Bud Light. It was here we took yet another character picture without our child:

Up next - Japan - where I took several pics and we watched some dancers for a few minutes and Jason purchases another American beer in a foreign country. (His liver was feeling back to normal by this point)

The architecture in Japan is so breathtaking. I just stood and admired the buildings. Haley was dragging her foot and one overly loud comment was made by what must have been a cost savvy grandma who exclaimed "She's gonna ruin those shoes' as she pointed to us. Sure enough, the toe was falling apart. No worries, just pretty little Sleeping Beauty shoes that were meant for play after this trip anyway.

Then we went through America where we did not purchase a foreign beer.

Nor did we venture into the buiding. Next trip we will be venturing into several buildings - one of the reasons I'm almost tempted to take a solo trip - or one with my sisters and my mom anyway. Jason and Haley were just holding me back! We have a rule for the next trip - what ever one of us wants to try or do, we all have to try, no complaining!! Got that little rule from another Diser - thank you!

I'll stop here at the halfway point.

To be continued.....more American beer consumed in Foreign places and a race out the gates...

 

[Diamondintheruff]

It's very hard going to WDW with people that are not as excited to try or explore all the stuff you've been reading about.

I'm heading to Disney for my next birthday with Dh just so I can do all those things I've always wanted to do but couldn't because of the kids.

Seems like you covered a lot of territory today though. I bet everyone was beat tonight.