May 2011 Yo Ho Ho! Let Down Your Hair! (New 10/9 Lessons Learned #550)

[lbuzz52]

you had some great Pixar meets! I'd love to meet Boo!
Your PP photos turned out great. I love that they took some sitting. Perfect for getting all of Ellie in without making her tiny!
The living coral looks Awesome!
great job going with the flow

 

[Marshay]

I'm finally caught up!! Your Rapunzel party looked awesome! There were so many details- like the braid in the window- that were so cool. It souunds like you guys had an awesome day at EPCOT...I have to say, though, that I am REALLY curious as to what almost got you kicked out of Garden Grill!
Oh- I loved your "par-tay" outfit from the Gaylord National Hotel!! Where did you get those tops? I want them!

Yes, the party was so much fun! I feel like this is the year of Rapunzel for us! Between the movie, meeting them in WDW, having the party and then Rachel acting in the Rapunzel play, it's non-stop Rapunzel.

Now I am also happy to say that we bought Disney on Ice tickets to see the Tangled characters in the show, too!

Garden Grill....hmmm

Thanks -- I love the tops, too! I got the bustier from Charlotte Russe outlet and the blue top from Ann Taylor outlet.

you had some great Pixar meets! I'd love to meet Boo!
Your PP photos turned out great. I love that they took some sitting. Perfect for getting all of Ellie in without making her tiny!
The living coral looks Awesome!
great job going with the flow

Thanks! It was so much fun.

I just finished putting my Picaboo album together of our WDW trip, and our Ocean City, NJ trip, so it was fun to see all those characters again! Can't wait to get my photobook.

 

[Marshay]

So I last left you at Epcot, seeing Pixar characters, going with the flow and letting my girls play on the playground and in the water, getting her underwear stolen and seeing the Living Coral.

I tried to take some more random pictures of Epcot -- not your typical ones but ones that make you say, yep, you're in Epcot

We rode The Land boat ride since we still had about 20 minutes or so until our dinner at Garden Grill.

This was a first time for Jerry and the girls and a 2nd time for my parents and me. However, we hadn't gone since I was about 10 years old!

Dinner at GG is family style, where they bring large platters to your table. The restaurant slowly rotates around so your scenery constantly changes.

Elizabeth was T_I_R_E_D. We had decided to spend the whole day at Epcot and just leave after our dinner. But alas, it was a bit too much for Elizabeth.

When we first got seated, the girls were fine...posing with the characters

So did Jerry

This was how Mickey approached our table -- he hid around the corner and poked his face and hands up. This should have been an early warning that *this* Mickey was a spicy one!

Dinner started out peacefully

Elizabeth was happy to see Mickey, too

My dad said that he never had a picture with Mickey (remember when we went as kids, there was no waiting/wasting time to see the characters!!), so we made sure to get one for him

Elizabeth is really tired but still having a great time with Chip

Then when the characters left and it was time to eat, she basically exploded. Cries of exhaustion, she wanted nothing ... she just worked herself up and Daddy was NOT able to console her. So I switched seats (we were in a big booth) and just held her, rocked her and sang to her and she eventually quieted down and was out for the rest of the night.

She needed a Mommy's touch!

So by dessert time, the characters make their 2nd round and Chip and Dale are flirting with Rachel. First Dale is hugging her and goes walking off with her ... you can tell Rachel is just eating it up. And then Chip grabs her and does the same.

but then Mickey comes by and I'm thinking -- oh, cool! We have all 3 characters right here at our table!! what a blessing!
And Mickey then grabs Rachel and pulls her to him and of course that sets off Chip and Dale. Then we remind Mickey that he already *HAS* a girldfriend, Minnie, and what would *SHE* think of him taking Rachel?

So Chip grabs Rachel back

You can see the utter look of joy of Rachel's face as they are "fighting" over her

And then he keeps her.

Well, all of this is going on for about 10 minutes ... and each time we are laughing harder and harder ... the two ladies in the table next to us are joining and let me tell you -- we can't stop. We are screaming with laughter (Elie slept through it all), the characters are just loving it too and ...

all of a sudden security comes over and "wants to know what's going on!" So we all start talking at once and the characters are kind of sneaking away and we are all still laughing.

It's only then that we realize that our 3 tables have basically taken over the restaurant Noise-wise...people from the hallway outside the restaurant are pointing and laughing at us, too.

Security was good about the whole thing and when they realized that everyone was just having fun, they wished us a good night.

By then the characters had left and we were done eating, too.

I don't remember a lot about the food -- I do know we all thought it was decilious and wanted to eat there again. But mostly I remember just laughing and laughing.

This was a highlight of our trip!

 

[Marshay]

After dinner, I volunteered to stay with sleeping Elizabeth and everyone was energized by the laughter. So they all rode Soarin' using the FPs I had picked up earlier and Elie and I just strolled around.

I took some photos that caught my eye

I love this fountain

I mean really love it

a lot!

I wandered into MouseGears and I admit it was really nice just to "go with the flow". Most times I want to be the one riding the rides ... but this time, I really enjoyed watching the sun set, the fountain and shopping.

I met up with Jerry and we rode Test Track at night. Very cool.

Then we left the park. I can't remember if Rachel fell asleep while Jerry carried her on his back...or if she just crashed in the SUV. But she was tired. All that laughing must be equivalent to running a 1/2 marathon!

It was nice letting Rachel walk around on her own (not in a stroller) and she enjoyed it too. She stayed close enough but wandered off when she found something that interested her and then came back.

I took another shower in our luxurious shower, prepared for tomorrow and went to bed. But then I remember my itching again, so I had Jerry take pictures of any black spot in the covers, just to see if they were bed bugs.
He uploaded them to his computer, enlarged them and then compared them to a photo of real bed begs from Google. Thankfully, what we had was just lint.

I slept fine and awoke with no more itching!

 

[cherbear]

what a great fun meal!!!! I love the way the seating is at Garden Grill. I was the same way as you, we had SO much fun at that meal that the food didn't matter! (it wasn't the best we had, but it was pretty decent)

I think the characters are the most fun at that restaurant. I think Chip and Dale were fighting over me there too! I do remember them both being at our table at the same time on their 2nd rotation. It was super fun!

 

[Marshay]

Today is Monday, May 16th and Elie woke us up at 6:23am. We had set the alarm for 7am so we just laid around in bed until then.

I forgot to mention that I had packed some special new stuff for the girls for this trip and each morning when they woke up, it would be a surprise for them, as the Fairies must have come in during the night to give it to them!

Yesterday they had child-size pink princess ponchos (which we thankfully, never ended up needing!)

Today the girls found the package outside the room and it was brand new Minnie and Belle poofy skirts.

And I just so happened to have the shirts to match them! Isn't that cool how Moms and Fairies are coordinated??

Here is Elizabeth in her Belle skirt

And Rachel in her Minnie skirt

I had actually bought these skirts during our July 2010 trip when I got a coupon for 20% off. I saved them up for this trip.

I really wanted Rachel to have the Belle skirt but it didn't come in her size. So I got her Minnie. Well, Rachel liked her skirt ... only until she saw Elie's. Then she preceeded to have a temper tantrum.

UGH!!

Doesn't it just irk you to do something special for your kids and have them NOT appreciate it!?! I guess this is part of being a mom....

But Rachel eventually realized how cute hers was and it worked with her Minnie ears so all was good!

We cooked eggs for breakfast and then realized that we missed the Space Shuttle launch. Dang!! I really wanted to see it. But then my parents told me that it was so cloudy outside that you couldn't see it anyway.

We decided to use today as a rest/pool day in the morning. I wish I had more photos but when I grabbed my camera I forgot to take the battery out of the charger ... so no photos on my camera. Thankfully Jerry had his, but it's a good one so we didn't want to get it wet.

We loved the pool. They had a great little kids area with fountains, climbing things, spurting things, etc.

The pool had both an adult and a kiddie slide. Both Rachel and Elizabeth loved the kiddie slide in the main pool. Rachel made another friend at the pool and we had fun. however, it was a bit cool out and I secretly prayed we wouldn't catch a summer cold.

Then it was time for Elie to nap, we took showers and rested and then headed out to DHS to see the Pixar parade. We had never seen this before.

Jerry went off to get FPs for Star Tours and the girls and I watched the parade. It's cute, very colorful

We didn't have any great plans for today except to do Star Tours, since it had a soft opening. So we wandered around -- oops, there's that 'go with the flow' again, and it's already day 3!!

Both Rachel and Elizabeth got LOTS of compliments on their skirts and t-shirts. This made Rachel even more excited about the Minnie outfit. I was feeling good myself, too, since I how cute and adorable they looked.

Large poster for new Cars 2 that was soon coming out

Then we went to Disney Jr and of course the girls loved it, esp, Jake and the Neverland Pirates. From there we decided to check out the Animation Studios. We haven't done the actual tour yet but since there were no new characters out, we got in line for the Animation class. Rachel loved this from last time, but Jerry had to help her and I actually nursed Elie so didn't get to draw.

This time, Jerry held Elie and Rachel and I had our own tables. It was a great class and they really can make anyone be able to draw.

Here are our drawings ... so who did the best???

Marsha

Jerry

Rachel

Then we decided to try Pizza Planet for our dinner. We were on the DDP and had never eaten here before. I'd say our food was just 'ok'. I like more variety in my salads and the pizza was nothing special. We all got rice kispie mickey ears for dessert but saved them for later.

Photo from our table

We also sat next to another family that was on the disboards, but they weren't into the whole LGMH thing. I can't remember her name.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my parents did not go swimming but went directly to DHS and they had picked us up some extra Star Tours FPs.

Well, while at Pizza Planet, I ran into my Disfriend Carrie again and gave her our extra FPs. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to use both sets and wanted to make sure that someone else could use them. It was neat to see her again. We actually saw each other Sat, Sun and Mon!

After food, Rachel and I rode Star Tours and it was fun. I actually got to see Anthony Edwards in the area above the queue. He was C3PO in the movies. I didn't know it was actually him at the time or I would have taken a picture. but afterwards, then I realized -- doh!

Then b/c Elie wasn't tall enough, and we had gotten a rider switch pass, Jerry and Rachel rode again. Well, they had problems. The ride kept breaking down in the middle of the scene -- 5 times!

So Elie and I wait and wait and wait. We don't know what's keeping them so long...It took them nearly an hour to get out and Rachel and I did it all in about 25 minutes, so I knew something was wrong. Jerry wasn't able to call (no signal) so I admit, I was getting a little peeved.

So Elie and I decide to go to Bug's life playground but it is closed. Instead we find a bench and eat our Mickey Rice Krispie Treats.

Do you think Elizabeth is enjoying hers???

Yum!!

While we are still waiting, Elie now has energy and starts dancing and twirling and running around in circles. She was just toooooooo cute.

Bad pic but you get the idea -- I was trying to entertain us both

And we still wait...

I found an interesting angle for a DHS photo

When they arrive, we break up and I go on ToT and RnR while Jerry takes the girls on the Great Movie Ride. Then I take the girls to The Little Mermaid and Jerry rides ToT/RnR.

A few more photos at night

I like to get down to Rachel's level so it's easier to zoom. However, the photographer didn't want me too. Said there would be too much in the background. I just like the closeness of us

And one of the both of us

With the girls

Ok, you get the idea!

We left DHS and went to bed as soon as we could.

Tomorrow is our Jungle day!! Remember the old "nahtazu" slogan??

I'm hoping Rachel will be brave enough to go on Kali and Everest .... She wouldn't go on them in July 2010 nor November 2010 ... so I'm not expecting much...

But I really can't wait to do some of the REAL rides with her. Will she chicken out? Will I have to drag her on them like I did for Splash Mountain??

 

[Marshay]

what a great fun meal!!!! I love the way the seating is at Garden Grill. I was the same way as you, we had SO much fun at that meal that the food didn't matter! (it wasn't the best we had, but it was pretty decent)

I think the characters are the most fun at that restaurant. I think Chip and Dale were fighting over me there too! I do remember them both being at our table at the same time on their 2nd rotation. It was super fun!

Yeah, it sounds like the characters at GG are just more flirtatious! It was great! I do remember really liking the food, though. I compared it to Liberty Tree Tavern.

And it's so cool when you can get multiple characters at the same time.

 

[Trentmom]

Love the seating at Garden Grill too

Glad Elle passed out and you were able to enjoy your night

Looks like Rachel had a blast

I love that security was called

The girls skirts are so cute.. Glad Rachel came around and realized how cute hers was too

Can't wait to try out star tours

Your Donald's came out great... Tell Rachel she did great

 

[kaoden39]

What wonderful updates!!


I do not envy you having to wait while they were on the ride. It is so hard to have to entertain little ones sometimes.

 

[Vwdiva93]

Wow your dinner at Garden Grill sounded like it was a blast! That is too funny that security came over because of the laughter

I LOVE those skirts you (I mean the Fairies) got for your daughters! They are just too cute, I wish they came in a big enough size for me

I really like the picture you got of the palm trees in the sunset at DHS too, so pretty!
Can't wait to hear if Rachel braved Kali and Everest!

 

[swwake]

Great updates Marsha! I always love reading your TRs.

I especially love this (frameable!) picture. Look how adorable Rachel looks. Elie too!

Katie's favorite characters are Chip and Dale. I will have to find them when we go in December so they can fight over her again.

Oh I am SO addicted to the Animation class. I may spend all day there when we go in December. The rest of my family can have fun doing whatever they want!

 

[mousescrapper]

Hi Marsha...love all the updates...and glad you didn't actually get kicked out of the restaurant sounded like you had a blast...i think we may try them for a lunch ADR in 2013...be fun, we have never eaten there and would help me get another group shot w/ Mickey in another costume


your DHS day is looking good too...love the girls outfits! My Rachel has a Jasmine skirt...we'll be brining it w/ for the upcoming trips now just to get a shirt for it...I bought Naomi-Ruth a lime green skirt like those at Costco not long ago

I am impressed w/ all your drawings...very good.

 

[Marshay]

Love the seating at Garden Grill too

Glad Elle passed out and you were able to enjoy your night

Looks like Rachel had a blast

I love that security was called

The girls skirts are so cute.. Glad Rachel came around and realized how cute hers was too

Can't wait to try out star tours

Your Donald's came out great... Tell Rachel she did great

Yep GG is just cool all around -- one of our new favorites!

Star Tours was cool -- wish it was a bit longer but it's neat to see which scene you'll get.

Yeah, I like our donald's. Rachel said hers was bad but I thought it was just fine. I can't wait to take her again so she can see how her drawings improve over the years. Maybe this is a new family tradition!

What wonderful updates!!

I do not envy you having to wait while they were on the ride. It is so hard to have to entertain little ones sometimes.

Thanks! yeah, if I actually knew what was going on, I'd probably would have just tried to do a show or ride with Elie but I kept expecting them to either call or come out. But because of the long wait, I got some cute photos of Elizabeth eating her Mickey treat in that skirt -- some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Wow your dinner at Garden Grill sounded like it was a blast! That is too funny that security came over because of the laughter

I LOVE those skirts you (I mean the Fairies) got for your daughters! They are just too cute, I wish they came in a big enough size for me

I really like the picture you got of the palm trees in the sunset at DHS too, so pretty!
Can't wait to hear if Rachel braved Kali and Everest!

Yeah, in retrospect, we were getting a bit out of control -- 7 people LOL, literally and 3 characters, plus the waiters/waitresses trying to get by...

Tink and her friends did a great job!!

I liked the Palm trees picture, too -- love the dark trees against the blue sky -- thanks!

Great updates Marsha! I always love reading your TRs.

I especially love this (frameable!) picture. Look how adorable Rachel looks. Elie too!

Katie's favorite characters are Chip and Dale. I will have to find them when we go in December so they can fight over her again.

Oh I am SO addicted to the Animation class. I may spend all day there when we go in December. The rest of my family can have fun doing whatever they want!

thanks! I enjoy doing the TR ...just gets harder and harder to find the time to do them. I'm so behind on everyone else's TR/threads, but I need to get this TR done so I can start my January one!

Take Katie to GG if you can. If she loves them, she'll get lots of time with them. They come around at least 2 times and there is no rushing at all!

Love your pic of Katie -- a perfect depiction of what those little chipmunk guys do! How fun!!

As I mentioned above, I think the animation class is a hidden gem. We'll definitely be doing this again -- I think it's a new tradition for us.

Hi Marsha...love all the updates...and glad you didn't actually get kicked out of the restaurant sounded like you had a blast...i think we may try them for a lunch ADR in 2013...be fun, we have never eaten there and would help me get another group shot w/ Mickey in another costume

your DHS day is looking good too...love the girls outfits! My Rachel has a Jasmine skirt...we'll be brining it w/ for the upcoming trips now just to get a shirt for it...I bought Naomi-Ruth a lime green skirt like those at Costco not long ago

I am impressed w/ all your drawings...very good.

Unfortunately, GG doesn't serve lunch. They stopped that a few years ago. So if you want to do them, go for dinner only. We were on the DDP and it was one of the more expensive meals, so using the DDP worked for us. (We did only 3 nights of DDP out of our week trip.)

Yeah, the farmer Mickey was pretty cool. I hadn't done any research on GG prior, so didn't know what he would be wearing. You do get a lot of time with him, too, so that's a bonus.

Oh, I loved the Jasmine skirt too but when I looked for it, they didn't have it in Rachel's size. I went back this May to buy it but they didn't have any good shirts to match either on-line or at the stores. I think I ended up buying Snow White and Ariel instead. I'll give it to them for Christmas for our January trip.

I really like how the costume is a skirt -- less $$ than the full dress and more practical to wear. Easy to dress up or down, too.

YEs, those Costco skirts were adorable!! I was tempted to buy one but since I had the ones from this trip and the new ones I had bought at Disney, I knew that would be too much.

I have never felt that drawing was a talent of mine ... but I swear if you take the class, you come out feeling like you could be an artist!

Have you/your family taken the class?

 

[kaoden39]

I can understand the pictures of Ellie when you were alone. She was being the Ellie she is when you have your one on one time.

 

[Marshay]

I can understand the pictures of Ellie when you were alone. She was being the Ellie she is when you have your one on one time.

yep -- you understand!!

Now that Rachel is in school all day for 1st grade, I'm really getting to spend that one-on-one time with Elizabeth. It's fun to see her personality. I call her my little imp -- she is one tricky, devilish (in a good way) child. She loves to dance, twirl, play games, run, etc.

Her two favorites expressions are a smirk and a pout/crinkly nose -- both done in fun!

 

[kaoden39]

yep -- you understand!!

Now that Rachel is in school all day for 1st grade, I'm really getting to spend that one-on-one time with Elizabeth. It's fun to see her personality. I call her my little imp -- she is one tricky, devilish (in a good way) child. She loves to dance, twirl, play games, run, etc.

Her two favorites expressions are a smirk and a pout/crinkly nose -- both done in fun!

I noticed that. I think that when she curls her little nose up it is adorable!!

 

[lbuzz52]

What a great moment at Garden Grill!
I absolutely understand why you like to crouch down for some pics too. I love to zoom in, and we have some really ackward height differences in ours.
monday was our DHS day too. i wish i had thought to get your number before hand and text you. i wonder if we were in the same Playhouse show?

 

[Marshay]

I noticed that. I think that when she curls her little nose up it is adorable!!

yep, so do I! Now she kind of scrunches her mouth and nose together.

What a great moment at Garden Grill!
I absolutely understand why you like to crouch down for some pics too. I love to zoom in, and we have some really ackward height differences in ours.
monday was our DHS day too. i wish i had thought to get your number before hand and text you. i wonder if we were in the same Playhouse show?

Garden Grill was just so fun!

Let's say we were both enjoying Disney Jr together !! We just didn't know it!

I'm sad to say that I only met one Disboarder this trip in person (3x though). I'm always hoping to meet more...

 

[Marshay]

Sorry for the delay again.

The good news is that I completed my Picaboo album of our WDW May trip and OCNJ July trip. Just waiting for it to be shipped.

Girl Scouts starts tomorrow and I'm excited for that.

And I applied again for the disney mom's panel. I do it every year...never made it past round 1 but there's always next time, right?

The bad news is that my wonderful friend and cat of 15 years was put to sleep last week. It definitely still gets to me.

Ok, on with our TR!!

 

[cherbear]

Sorry for the delay again.

The good news is that I completed my Picaboo album of our WDW May trip and OCNJ July trip. Just waiting for it to be shipped.

Girl Scouts starts tomorrow and I'm excited for that.

And I applied again for the disney mom's panel. I do it every year...never made it past round 1 but there's always next time, right?

The bad news is that my wonderful friend and cat of 15 years was put to sleep last week. It definitely still gets to me.

Ok, on with our TR!!

you WILL make it on Mom's Panel this year!!


I'm so sorry about your cat