March 2012: The Year I Almost Survived Spring Break

[kittylady1972]

Another AWESOME update as I continue to fall woefully behind in mine. One of these days I'll finish my trip and maybe start at PTR devoted to our June trip...maybe!

We have never been inside Pizza Planet to eat, but I think we've had a few meals outside of the area. I never remember them being anything special but that cupcake looks great...except for that whole Mocha thing...not fond of that. Oh well, still might have to try it!

CONGRATS on getting all As as well...that's fantastic!

 

[teetee830]

What was your wait for P&F, because we literally just came from there and into Pizza Planet. (Well, we came from checking the wait and asking when a good time to come back is.)

If it helps, you can tell him we ate there and it was awful. (It really wasn't, we loved it!)

We waited about 30 min. or so. Not bad all in all they even took a break when we were next.

That wouldn't have worked we've eaten there before and DS has a memory like an elephant, he never forgets anything.

 

[Lidian]

Congrats on getting all A's! That is so wonderful!

I can't BELIEVE those teenagers! You would have thought they would've gotten up when they saw adults coming. I would have been fuming!!!

Thank you!

They may not have been American, too. Perhaps they didn't know customs or didn't realize the situation. I dunno. But I was livid, and they weren't stealing the table.

Congrats on your grades!

Your perfectionist tendencies are sure going to help you as an accountant! I originally majored in Accountancy before realising it wasn't for me, I switched to English where basically every answer is the correct one if you waffle enough!!

The lines in Pizza Planet freak me out but I really want to eat there because I love the theming. I'm not sure if the pizza looks that appetising though but your cupcake definitely did! If only I can persuade boyfriend to tolerate those lines...

Thank you!

I absolutely LOVE Accounting. It's the one class I can focus in, I enjoy the homework (practice), and it just "clicks" with me. I struggled in English. I'm not creative. I can write pretty decent essays, as long as it's factual, and I don't have to be very descriptive ... like describing the rose in great detail or something. If "red rose" is satisfactory, I'm great. I'm pretty well with grammar, and in all the papers I did have to write, there were very few grammatical errors. Most of my errors were ... gosh, I can never remember the term ... but where the sentence makes it sound like someone else is doing/feeling something. Shoot, I can't think of it. Meh. One of my favorite professors of all time, who is seriously a kindred spirit, was my English professor.

DH said that it wasn't amazing pizza, but he said it was better than a frozen pizza from the grocery store. The kids thought it was the best stuff in the world, but can't really trust them -- they were caught up in the moment.

If they had pizzas with lots of veggies on them, I may have considered it. I don't like pepperoni, and sometimes sauces bother me.

Congrats on the great grades!!!!

We've never eaten at Pizza Planet, never had CS at DHS actually. Those cupcakes looked delish!!

Thank you!

Those cupcakes are amazing! (They're Starring Rolls cupcakes, just FYI.)

Congrats on your great grades!
The one time we ate at Pizza Planet, there was a really long and slow line. I wonder if that's just the norm there? Glad you rescued your table!

Thank you!

That may just be the norm. It's great for the kiddies, and nostalgic for the adults.

Yay for straight A's!!!!! Your hard work paid off, now you can spend your summer Dising without interruption!

Ah Pizza Planet...that is where we ALWAYS end up. The food is pretty good, but we like to try different things...but EVERY year we get outvoted by the kids and end up there. I must say about our lunch there this year: that cappucino mocha cupcake is by far the BEST CS dessert I have had so far! That being said...DH told the kids that next trip we will NOT be eating at PP...we MUST try something different!

Thank you!

I was sad to not have my Backlot lunch though.

I totally loved the cupcake, but I can't claim what my favorite dessert is yet.

There's only one Liddy Who else gets straight A's across the board, has the same size feet as Tom Cruise, scares tweenie boys away from the pizza table, and says "Huzzah" all the time? Congrats on the finals!

Huzzah! Err... wait ...

I thought that was D?

Thank you!!!

Another AWESOME update as I continue to fall woefully behind in mine. One of these days I'll finish my trip and maybe start at PTR devoted to our June trip...maybe!

We have never been inside Pizza Planet to eat, but I think we've had a few meals outside of the area. I never remember them being anything special but that cupcake looks great...except for that whole Mocha thing...not fond of that. Oh well, still might have to try it!

CONGRATS on getting all As as well...that's fantastic!

I absolutely LOVE Mocha. I usually get mocha coffees and stuff.

Thank you!!!

We waited about 30 min. or so. Not bad all in all they even took a break when we were next.

That wouldn't have worked we've eaten there before and DS has a memory like an elephant, he never forgets anything.

That's not bad at all! Did you guys have a good meeting with them? I'd love to hear about it! I was sad to miss them last May ... we were pulling out of WDW the day they opened. Sigh.

Tell your DS they changed the recipes and it's nasty.

 

[solana131]

Huzzah! Err... wait ...

I thought that was D?

Nope, pretty sure it was you

 

[Lidian]

Nope, pretty sure it was you

I still think it's D.



ANYWAY ... I have no vanished off the face of the planet. I promise. I've just been busy.

What could be keeping you so busy?

Uhmm... err ... things.

Yeah? What kind?

Video game things, okay! Yes, I have been lost in the world of gaming ... Diablo III hit the stores shortly after DH's birthday, and we've been playing it too much. And now the local pool is open, so we'll be there a lot. However, I am working on some UPDATES for you! Oh... my woohoo smiley is gone. Ugh. I wish we could customize what shows on the main window so I don't have to go searching for them in the [more] area. Grrr!

Anyway, updates coming TONIGHT! I need to scour my other pages first, and they're uploading as I type.

 

[Lidian]

We last left off having lunch and riding GMR. We checked the official app and saw that Indiana Jones was about to start, so we made our way over there. I think we got distracted, as it had already started when we arrived. As we were walking through the entrance, a CM informs us that there is only standing room available. I looked at DH with a "can we try again later" look, but he promptly (and happily) told the CM that it was fine, we'd take it! Ugh. So we looked around ... and there was a TON of people standing. DH and Kouga are tall. They had no issues seeing over people. I, on the other hand, couldn't see. So I just stood there and talked to the kids. I was livid, as I wanted to see the show, too. I think a CM may have noticed that I was upset (and the fact that DH didn't bother looking around to see if there was a better place for me and the kids to watch the show at), and came over to see if things were okay. I nodded, as I didn't want to say anything, and she said that there was seating available, just to follow her. So we followed her. To the Reserved section. We were in the second row. It was ... AMAZING! I appreciated the pixie dust. The CM's started seating other people in the Reserved section to, so it wasn't just us being singled out, but I was truly thankful for the seat and visibility to the show! There was still LOTS of people standing after the Reserved seats were filled. I posted on FB: "There is NO WAY the CC is accruate. SRO for Indy?

Out of four trips, this was the first time the show had been so packed that it was SRO while we were visiting. I was NOT happy. But we enjoyed the show! Here's some pics!

That's an awful lot of feet .....

Take a picture!!!

Uh oh!

After Indy ... we made our way over to the Muppet Store to look around. It was a bit before 3pm. We decided to do some shopping!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Wow~that's some great pixie dust!!! This update makes me wanna get to my HS pixie dust on my own TR! Alas, I still have another whole Disney day to post about before I make it to HS...and I am taking my TR so slow, that will probably be another month...

#@!*$# smillie mess! They have this and this but no whistley face "roll eyes" dude?!? WHATEVER!!!

 

[Lidian]

So I wasn't truly honest in the last post. We did go to Muppets Store for shopping ... but not immediately.

Our goal was .... PHINEAS AND FERB!!!! They arrived the day we were driving back home in 2011 ... so I was SAD to miss them. (They were originally scheduled to open before we arrived, so the delay upset me, and I begged DH for just a few more hours just to see P&F.)

P&F is a household name. It's pretty much the only cartoon everyone in our entire house LOVES! We even DVR all the episodes, to ensure we don't miss one! Yes, we are obsessed .. just a wee bit. So when I asked earlier and the CM told us that no matter what time we came, minimum wait would be an hour ... I was ready. But ... I had a plan. They close down the set for an hour or two so P&F can eat lunch and find Perry or whatever. I thought that if we arrive close to the time they re-open the set, we'd have a smaller wait. Let's see if my strategy works.

We went to get in line, but they weren't letting ANYONE in line ... so we were lined up to get in the line. We took turns going into the Muppet store as we waited.

I snapped some pics of the P&F set.

As you can see by the timestamp (maybe), the time is roughly 2:47. They are scheduled to arrive at 3:10 according to the sign (but I could have swore the Times Guide said 3:00). Anyway ... more pictures!

Around 3:00 roughly, they allowed us to get into the formal queue. I really thought it was stupid that they made us wait and had to form a line around the queue. There was a TON of people there, but only about 3-4 families in front of us. So once P&F came out, we should meet them pretty quickly. Let's see how this holds up.

Around 3:10ish, Cletus Filmore arrived! He introduced himself and told the crowd that he was helping P&F film a movie and they'd be arriving soon.

By this time, the line was COMPLETELY full and people were lined up outside the line to get into the line. (If that makes sense.)

Then it was announced ... P&F have arrived and they made their way out!

First Ferb arrived, and Cletus had to film it (and we were instructed to be a wild crowd and he'd film us, too -- and he did, he'd run up and down the "inside" of the queue and we had to scream and wave).

The little girl in the blue was standing at the "front" of the line. So this can give you an idea of how far back into the queue we were -- not far at all. Like I said, roughly a handful of families were in front of us.

Then Phineas came out.

It is now 3:12 and both characters have "entered" the set. They ran around and got the crowd riled up and played with their guitars (blow-up).

Yes, they had music going, several PP photographers, and of course, Cletus. The boys finally made their way over to the stage to greet guests (3:13).

While they were greeting guests, Cletus was filming various scenes for the movies and recruited volunteers from the line (with statements that they could reclaim their spot after filming was done). He explained the scene and asked for volunteers, randomly pulling kids and adults out of the line and handing them props.

It was noisy, but it was a ton of fun to watch! The scenes we saw were based on some of the episodes (not re-enactments, but characters and settings). The kids were having a blast, and the adults were getting into it as well (well, most of the adults). Honestly, I think J would have been okay if he was pulled from the audience ... but they didn't take families close to the front since they'd be meeting P&F soon.

And then ..... It was OUR TURN! Time stamp shows around 3:21. So we waited roughly 40 minutes or so to meet P&F. DH was not thrilled at all with the wait, but he kept himself busy with his phone. So it was definitely less than an hour, but not by a huge amount. I handed the camera to DH and told him to snap away (and our card to the PP photographers and instructed them to do the same).

Phineas snatched me up, hugged me, and wouldn't let me near Ferb. lol Ferb took the kids. They loved our Perry shirts (and this really makes me wish I had found one for DD).

I tried to hug Ferb, but Phineas wouldn't have anything to do with it. He did finally let me give Ferb a hug and I thanked them for their time. We have several more PP pictures (but that's at the end of the TR). I don't recall everything that was discussed, but we did talk to the boys for a couple of minutes. Afterwards, we collected the boys (DH and Kouga) and our belongings and made our way to our next item on the agenda. OH! As they were signing the autograph books, Phineas collected all the belongings and took them over to a CM to hold for us while we did pictures. That was super nice to not have the books in our hands!

Wait a minute. Let me back up. Kouga decided that when we got in line for P&F, he would go wander around on his own. So it was just us for P&F (DH didn't get in the pictures). Afterwards, I text Kouga to see what he was into and I sent DH and DD off to ride RnRC and ToT.

DS and I made our way over to the Animation Courtyard. We went inside to see how the lines were for the characters. Mr. Incredible was out and his line was pretty short. I tried to talk DS into getting in line, but he didn't want to have anything to do with Mr. Incredible, so I didn't force the issue. I didn't understand why, as he loves the movie and watches it frequently. Kids will be kids. The line for the other characters (Sorcerer Mickey and Pooh) were horrendous. So I let DS play with the little games and stuff inside. I got a text from DH that the lines were 90+ minutes for RnRC and ToT. I told him to put her in the Single Rider line for RnRC. He said Single Rider was 120 minutes. It was LONGER than standby. I was sure that he was confused, and told him to ask a CM. He text me back stating that the Single Rider line was closed because it was longer than standby and the times were correct. So I let DH know where we were and made our way outside into the courtyard (after DS finished coloring Iago for the umpteenth time).

Once out in the courtyard, I looked over and saw none other than HANDY MANNY! So I told DS to get in line so he could meet him (recall that he missed HM at breakfast and cried over it). The line was super short and only had two families in it. Since we got his autograph already, I just sent DS. He talked to HM for a few minutes (I couldn't hear what was being said).

I do recall big hugs and DS was happy he got to meet HM. I had to ask, but DS said that he was giving a thumbs up to the "toodles" (tools) for doing a great job. Yep, he calls all tools "toodles". So Mickey has Mouseketoodles and Handy Manny just has Toodles. It's awesome, I know!

I checked the line for Jake (as he was out, too), but it was longer than I was willing to wait (granted, it wasn't bad overall -- maybe 15-20 minutes). But we met him for breakfast, so no need to wait again. Then I saw a very upset DD and DH coming our way. We decided to check out the Lights, Motor, Action show (as Kouga was already there). So we made our way there and I apologized to DD for the poor planning. We had kept our tickets used for FPs on ST all day. FPs were gone for RnRC and ToT. I felt bad for DD, as they were her favorite rides, but I didn't think we'd need to FP those rides since we relied on TP's CC.

We walked through Pixar Place and I spied a Green Army Man. He was absolutely still, like a statue, and everyone was staring at him. A few people snapped a pic as they walked by ... but I think some people thought that he was actually a prop/statue. The kids were intrigued.

And then he moved. It startled DS (as he thought it was a statue).

I told DS to go over there and say "hi". This is where it gets precious!

DS walks over to GAM and just stands there, staring at him. I was about to call to him when ....

He lunged and wrapped his arms around GAM! It took GAM by surprise, but he hugged him back. (Notice what else he's doing in the picture, too.)

He swiped DS's sunglasses!

He gives them back and is trying to tell DS how he wants to pose for a picture. And I zoomed in and noticed ... GAM is standing on DS's foot. It's only the "stand" part of GAM's foot, so there's not much weight, and DS never said anything. DS puts on his sunglasses and moves into position.

It was totally epic. No one else was stopping for GAM. It was pretty crowded still (in the park), and people were just walking by.

So after seeing DS give GAM one of the biggest hugs ever, we continued our way to LMA. Only to spot my favorite attraction and it's refurb sign. Sigh.

Oh how I missed you Backlot Studios Tour. And FYI, while it was still crowded, everyone was at IJ or LMA, so you could actually walk again! lol

 

[Lidian]

Wow~that's some great pixie dust!!! This update makes me wanna get to my HS pixie dust on my own TR! Alas, I still have another whole Disney day to post about before I make it to HS...and I am taking my TR so slow, that will probably be another month...

#@!*$# smillie mess! They have this and this but no whistley face "roll eyes" dude?!? WHATEVER!!!

I can't wait to hear about it!

And they have the basic ... which is lame, because people will do that anyway without having to press it. Sigh.

 

[solana131]

Yikes! 120 minute single rider line! Thats craziness. Glad you got a "good" spot in line for P&F. Their lines were crazy even in Feb when we went. The parks were dead, but P&F were very busy. I guess they have changed the projection show and Wishes to include them for the summer. I wil report back about that after my trip. We like them too, but DS is just starting to get into them now, so we didn't have to wait in those lines. Next time though.... yikes!

 

[Lidian]

Yikes! 120 minute single rider line! Thats craziness. Glad you got a "good" spot in line for P&F. Their lines were crazy even in Feb when we went. The parks were dead, but P&F were very busy. I guess they have changed the projection show and Wishes to include them for the summer. I wil report back about that after my trip. We like them too, but DS is just starting to get into them now, so we didn't have to wait in those lines. Next time though.... yikes!

I thought it was crazy, too! Especially since all my research said that waits shouldn't get over an hour on headliner attractions ALL week. I was LIVID. (Guess what I won't be using next trip! )

Star Tours waffled between 20-60 minutes all day as well. Usually it was around 40 minutes, but we kept it on FP all day. Final count coming up later.

I know P&F is like the Rapunzel of DHS. Stupid lines. That said, I'm okay with our wait of about 40 minutes. It wasn't ideal, but we did get to see them. And we may be able to bypass them next year if lines are still crazy.

Let me know about Wishes/Castle Show! Looking forward to reading about it!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Awesome encounter with P&F! Poor DD not getting to go on her fave rides. I know my oldest would have been so crushed and mad at us if she had not been able to...probably would have never heard the end of it! Good for your DD for being more understanding about it!
We didn't see LMA this time. We decided there were other shows that would take precidence this year...mainly Indy since we didn't get to see it last year. We will have to see LMA next year, since Lightning McQueen was added to it. I am sure the kids will enjoy that.

 

[Lidian]

Awesome encounter with P&F! Poor DD not getting to go on her fave rides. I know my oldest would have been so crushed and mad at us if she had not been able to...probably would have never heard the end of it! Good for your DD for being more understanding about it!
We didn't see LMA this time. We decided there were other shows that would take precidence this year...mainly Indy since we didn't get to see it last year. We will have to see LMA next year, since Lightning McQueen was added to it. I am sure the kids will enjoy that.

I felt so awful for her. She was crushed and mad and she SULKED forever. She did eventually get over it ... but it did take awhile.

I hadn't planned on seeing LMA this year, since we saw it last year, but DH enjoyed it last year and it was something to do.

 

[lbuzz52]

yeah for straight A's!!!!


i'm so happy that you guys got to see P&F. I was disappointed too last year when they were delayed. It looks like so much fun!

 

[twilightsparkle]

This is an amazing TR. Thanks so much for posting it.

 

[MHTeacher]

I was going to post how sweet the picture of your son and Handy Manny was, and then I saw the pics of him and the GAM! Now that was cute!

 

[DMGeurts]

Liddy - Loved your updates!

I especially loved your pixie dust at IJ!

The pictures with P&F were great - they really turned out nice too - the colors just pop!

And the Magical Moment with the GAM!!! PRICELESS!!! DS totally deserved it, and I'll be he made GAM's day too!

We miss you guys so much - it's great "seeing" you again through your TR... funny thing is, you haven't changed much since we saw you last...

D~

 

[sandym718]

Great updates!! Loved the GAM interaction!

 

[Lidian]

yeah for straight A's!!!!

i'm so happy that you guys got to see P&F. I was disappointed too last year when they were delayed. It looks like so much fun!

Thanks!

It was a blast! Cletus does a great job at keeping the crowd entertain!

This is an amazing TR. Thanks so much for posting it.

Thanks! It's not over yet!

I was going to post how sweet the picture of your son and Handy Manny was, and then I saw the pics of him and the GAM! Now that was cute!

Awww, thanks!

Liddy - Loved your updates!

I especially loved your pixie dust at IJ!

The pictures with P&F were great - they really turned out nice too - the colors just pop!

And the Magical Moment with the GAM!!! PRICELESS!!! DS totally deserved it, and I'll be he made GAM's day too!

We miss you guys so much - it's great "seeing" you again through your TR... funny thing is, you haven't changed much since we saw you last...

D~

Thanks D! I'm sure it did make GAM's day. How many kids run up to him and hug him? It surely can't be as frequent as any other character. I'm sure he does get hugs, but they're far and few between. Even in our past visits with GAM, the kids just asked for an autograph and picture. (We didn't get an autograph this year, my mind was too busy going "Awwww!")

Hmm... Wonder why we haven't changed much since you saw us last?

Great updates!! Loved the GAM interaction!

Thanks! It was great!!

 

[hcoker1]

Really enjoying your trip report! We are going at March Break next year and I am dreading the crowds but can't do much about it. It sounds like you guys got a lot done in the mornings every day.

Looking forward to the rest of the report.