Memories of Little Green Men and Sardines (6/8-17, 2010) **FINAL UPDATE 2-25-2011**

[photographymom517]

My boys don't like to go shopping unless they are at Disney. DH hates it anywhere.

THANK YOU so much! You have no idea, you made my entire day just by telling me that! I was beginning to think I was the only one with a husband like mine! (although I'm sure yours isn't as bad with shopping as mine...lol)

It was soooo hard on me because I'm used to going on vacation with my mom and of course we looooove to shop. We window shop alot but we buy alot of stuff too! We both save up until we go on vacation & then splurge for things we really want...we also buy for all the kids in our family which makes it tons of fun!!! I love shopping for the kids & other people, not just for myself!

You have no idea how many times I wanted to just sit down & cry in the middle of a store. I know it sounds dramatic, but my husband was seriously mad at me everytime I even went into a gift shop. Come on, how do you seriously go to Disney and NOT go into the gift shops??? I was in the OPR gift shop within hours of arrival! It was definitely hard, but I'm used to it because he hates shopping anywhere, not just on vacation. He goes to the mall & just wanders around...its so hard because I soooo want to go inside the stores and shop! Isn't that why someone invented malls???

I have not done the trading at all. They might have had it in April but I think it's still pretty new. I would be tempted to try it though if I got one I didn't like.

Seriously, I am so addicted to these things! I am sooo mad at myself because we were in NYC last year and visited the World of Disney store there which was shortly after the first park series came out (I am sure you know those are extremely hard to come by now and go for a LOT of money) and I remember seeing all sorts of signs in the window for them. But I didn't really pay any attention to what it was! Ugh, I could've gotten one of the park 1 guys! haha, sorry for all my vinylmation talk. That is so awesome you got the cutester chaser too! I love that one! I wouldn't sell that one no matter how much money you could get for it.

Oh, please please please don't apologize for talking about Vinylmations so much!!! I love them & am so addicted to them. I actually went on Disney shopping last night & was going to order a few. I've been saving up $$$ to send with family when they go on their trip this fall, but was thinking if they offered free shipping online, I'd just order them now (would save them suitcase room & I'd get them sooner! lol) Well, for some reason, all of the "Have a Laugh" series is out of stock so I guess I'll have to wait. Plus, they didn't offer free shipping, it was $5 shipping IF you spent $89 or more & I wasn't really planning to spend that. I'm ordering for the kids for Christmas sometime in October/November so maybe I'll just wait to order my Vinylmations until then!

I had no idea trading was so much fun!!! I'm usually not into that type of thing & have never traded any type of collectibles before, not even when I was younger! I remember my little brother trading action figures & cards and stuff, but I never did. HOW MUCH FUN!!! I Vinylmation trading!!! If I lived near Florida, I swear I'd be broke because I'd be there everyday trading! I love collecting them, but whenever you're at Disney and have the opportunity to trade them, it becomes even more fun!!! It made me feel like a kid again! I traded mine because I got 2 of the same one (you'll find out which one in my next post...if I ever get it written...lol) Its also good if you get one you don't really like or want. I soooo want to try the "mystery box" I just wasn't that brave this trip!

Its so funny because I remember last March/April when we were there & I saw these little Mickey statues for $9.99...and I was like "OMG who on earth would pay that for that tiny little Mickey statue?" HAHAHA! So...now I have 13 of them. A few were gifts from my wonderful family/friends who know I collect them! I bought the ghost, patchwork, and owl from ebay and got 6 of them when we were on this past trip! You have no idea how excited I was whenever I was saving up for them! I know I said it already, but I seriously felt like a kid again...like I was saving up my money to buy something I really really really had to have (like whenever kids save their birthday money or Christmas money for one special thing!) I know, I know...everyone probably thinks I'm crazy!

I can't believe you were at NY and didn't buy a park 1...but I completely know what you mean because like I said, on last year's trip, I thought everyone was crazy for buying them! lol Now I'm addicted!

I am not happy about this construction on Main Street at all Hope!!! Looks like I am going to have to deal with it b/c we will be there in a little over 3 weeks from now!!! But yes, I sure am hoping that the construction on Main St will be over come December thou! Like you the construction in Fantasyland really won't bother me at all b/c we spend the least amount of time there in all on MK!!!

I think I have more pics of the Main St construction. I will look for you & post them prior to your trip so you can see. The ones I posted already show pretty much all of it though. I couldn't believe it. I always take so many pics of Main St & love the views from around Crystal Palace. I didn't take any pics near CP this trip because of the construction around Casey's. I'm still hoping its gone for your Christmas trip! I know they have to update things, but I'd be disappointed if I ended up with tons of construction pictures instead of Christmas decor!

 

[photographymom517]

Sorry I haven't posted an update recently! I have just been very busy! Hopefully I will have a chance to post over the weekend or early next week!

 

[stephielela]

i've been gone for a week so i'm trying to catch up on all the TR's, but i just wanted to pop in and say that i LOVE epcot. we spend more time there than other parks. the world showcase is my fave place EVER so i totally understand!

 

[photographymom517]

For all of you Vinylmation-lovers (like me!!!) check out these links! I was watching these videos on You Tube this morning & they are so neat! I love the custom vinylmations that people design. I really want to try to make some of my own, but I have absolutely NO art skills whatsoever! I have a really good friend who can draw anything (and she doesn't need anything to look at, she does it all by memory!) so I might ask her to draw some designs for me! If she does, I will post them here for you! She works part-time so I probably can have them within a few weeks after I order the blank vinylmations.

In the meantime, take a look at these links! I was so excited to hear there are more sets coming out in the fall! My family will be going so they can get me some of the new ones! So exciting!!! They have a Park 5 set, an Animal Kingdom (window boxes), and a Holiday 2 set coming out in August, September, and October! They also have a Star Wars set but I'm not interested in those so I probably won't buy any of them.

Check out these websites!!!

Vinylnation Site

Soon to be Released!

This was my favorite Vinylmation video on You Tube. If you use the search engine at the top of YouTube, you can find other videos including the D-Street Opening videos from Disney (from April). I that store whenever we went to DTD. I have so many pictures of it!

You Tube video of Vinylmations

This is such a GREAT idea! I don't know why I didn't think of it! What a great way to save your autographs & create your own custom Vinylmation all at the same time!!! I really really love this idea & think I might buy the new Glow in the Dark 9" Blank Vinylmation to use on our next trip to Disney!

Autograph Vinylmation!

If anyone has any other Disney or Vinylmation news and/or links, let me know!!!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I love all of your detailed photos from Toontown! Have you ever been to Disneyland? You will obviously miss Toontown from WDW when it is gone, but the one in DL is awesome! If you haven't been, you really should plan a trip out there sometime to see it

I feel exactly the same way as your DS on those teacups!

 

[photographymom517]

I love all of your detailed photos from Toontown! Have you ever been to Disneyland? You will obviously miss Toontown from WDW when it is gone, but the one in DL is awesome! If you haven't been, you really should plan a trip out there sometime to see it

I feel exactly the same way as your DS on those teacups!

Glad you liked the Toontown photos! I have more...just wait and see (if I ever get around to posting another update...lol).

I have never been to Disneyland...well, technically I was, but I was there when my mom was pregnant with me!!! I have always wanted to travel out west & have never been there. I'd love to go to New Mexico, Las Vegas, and of course Disneyland!!! I have quite a long list of places I want to visit so hopefully someday we will take a road-trip or fly out there!

I think someone mentioned Goofy's house at Disneyland & since he's my favorite character, I'd love to see that!!! I think we want to take a Disney cruise in a few years, but after that, I'd love to plan a trip to California! Just have to convince my husband to take a longer plane ride (he hates flying, I love it and think its so exciting!)

I know what you mean about the teacups. I love them, but everytime I've ever ridden them (even within the same day) someone has thrown up either right before my ride or DURING my ride. I don't have very pleasant memories of the teacups other than I remember riding them with my dad when I was 5 years old! That is special to me because I have very limited memories of my Disney trips as a child.

 

[reelmom]

I was thinking of you and your love of Vinylmations yesterday. I was looking at my trading pins, many of them Vinylmation ones and was wondering if you had seen them at Disney? Don't want to be the cause of another obsession, but they are so dang cute.

 

[photographymom517]

I was thinking of you and your love of Vinylmations yesterday. I was looking at my trading pins, many of them Vinylmation ones and was wondering if you had seen them at Disney? Don't want to be the cause of another obsession, but they are so dang cute.

That's very kind of you to think of me & let me know about the Vinylmation pins!!!

I actually found out about them by accident! I ordered a set of pins from ebay...it was a mystery set where you can pick any amount that you want for around $1 a piece. I just wanted about 20 or so to start out with for pin trading. I ended up getting a couple of the Vinylmation pins in that set!

Thanks for letting me know about them! And you are right, I don't need another obsession!!!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Hey girl! Just wanted to stop by and say hey!!! Hope all is well and can not wait to read more about your trip!

 

[photographymom517]

I know alot of people have been wondering about the Fantasyland Expansion. I was looking at videos of custom Vinylmations this evening on YouTube and found this video. It's a speech by the Disney Resorts & Parks President, Jay Rasulo. I thought it was pretty interesting. Enjoy!

Fantasyland Expansion Video

Also, I'm working on an update right now so I will post it hopefully by Monday morning, possibly this weekend if I get time. I'm so sorry I haven't posted another update yet! I just have to get more photos uploaded to PhotoBucket.

 

[photographymom517]

Hey girl! Just wanted to stop by and say hey!!! Hope all is well and can not wait to read more about your trip!

Hey Reese! Thanks for stopping by...too bad I don't have another update posted yet!

I'm working on an update right now so hopefully I'll have something posted soon. I really wanted to post sooner than this, but I have just been so darn busy the past few weeks! Things have just been crazy here! This week, so far, I only have to take the dog to the groomers on Monday so I will be free all week to post! Maybe I'll try to get 2 updates done since its been so long since I posted!

So excited for your summer trip!!!!! I can't wait to read about it once you get back! I'm so jealous, I'm ready to go back already!

 

[photographymom517]

After riding the Mad Tea Party, we walked through the rest of Fantasyland. The crowd levels were just ridiculous & to be honest, with that many people there we weren’t really enjoying ourselves that much. Ride times were all over 45 minutes & some were over 100 minutes!

I think the lines looked worse than they really were. We decided to sit down for a little while & look over the map to decide what we really wanted to do until around 8pm or so. This, of course, was because we were heading to Main Street to watch the Electric Parade!!!

While we were looking for somewhere to sit down, I decided to walk past It’s a Small World. It was really important to me that our son ride this because its one of my only memories of going to Disney as a child. I also thought that it would be more enjoyable for him to take a boat ride since he was so terrified of the teacups!

I took some pictures of the crowd levels at this point, but can’t find them anywhere. I’ll have to check my cell phone to see if I took pics on there. I’ll post them later if I find them.

I also saw this, which I’ve seen on other trip reports, but have never seen in “real life” on any of my trips!

Some photos of the construction walls around Peter Pan

Then, we saw this sign

I can’t remember exactly what the wait time was, but I’m pretty sure it was less than 25 minutes because my husband wouldn’t wait in lines longer than that. It was so crowded & humid and our son was also a little fussy. I think it was just overwhelming to him & he was having trouble taking it all in. I could tell he really wanted to be excited, but he was just miserable in the humidity and didn’t understand yet why we kept taking him out of his stroller, standing in lines, riding the ride, putting him back in the stroller, and then doing it all over again. He loves his stroller & actually just wanted to stay in it!

However, our son got really excited whenever he saw this!

 

[photographymom517]

To give you an idea, the line was completely full from where they load the boats clear back to the sign where you enter. During past trips, I’ve never seen a line that long for IASW! I was really shocked! The sign said 25 minutes, but I just looked back at the times on my photographs & we actually only waited 11 minutes. Honestly, it felt like it was 40 minutes but it was much shorter than that!

Here are some photos.

I took a lot of pictures on IASW, but just shared some of my favorites. I tried taking a picture of my son on the ride, but couldn’t get a clear one because he kept moving around. He was excited at first, then became a little scared. As the ride progressed, he became more interested & was pointing at the animals. I took a lot of pictures of the animals for him!

After our ride, we decided to walk through Frontierland. For some reason, on last year’s trip, we didn’t go to Frontierland at all. I have no idea why, but I think it was because we went straight to Pirates first thing in the morning & because barely anything was open at that time, we just walked right past the rest of Adventureland & never went back through Frontierland. Its funny that we didn’t….some of my only childhood memories of Disney are from Frontierland! And for some strange reason, I didn’t take any photos in Frontierland! I think it may have been sprinkling at this point of the day & I didn’t want my camera to get wet. It was absolutely gorgeous on our trip…we had great weather!!!

We were looking for a restroom & somewhere to sit down for a little while. While looking, we passed by a little stand & I stopped to buy our son a pretzel. The cost was $4 but I used a snack credit.

My husband took our son to Adventureland to look for a place to sit down while I stopped by a little gift stand. They had a lot of hats & I was in search of these Minnie ears that I saw a million people wearing throughout the day. They were ears with black sequins on them & a red bow in the middle. They were really cute & I wanted a pair, but couldn’t find them anywhere!

They didn’t have them at the stand, but I asked the lady & she said that I should check on Main Street. They have a store there with only mouse ears & hats. I remembered hearing about this store from DIS right after she mentioned it to me! I bought our son a little train with Mickey Mouse driving the train. It was $4.95. I just wanted to buy him something because he was very good throughout the entire day, regardless of our transportation disaster & changing our plans a million times! He loves trains & I thought it would be a nice souvenir for him from Disney since it was a train AND Mickey!

I caught up with my husband and son. They were sitting on a bench right in front of the Aladdin Carpets.

This picture is taken right beside Aladdin’s Carpets, but it isn’t the “spitting camel“, its just the regular statue. But this reminded me to point something else out. At each park, there are different statues that shoot water out & all the kids love to run through them. It was so hot & humid that I think most of the adults were running under them as well, some were even standing there for a few minutes enjoying the cool water! Our son was scared to death of them. This was completely confusing to me because he has a sprinkler at home & loves it. His is a little alligator & it shoots water out of 3 different spouts & they spin around. He loves water, he runs through puddles, he loves to swim…but he was terrified of anything at Disney that had water running out of it! So, whenever he was done with his pretzel, we had to run by the camel so he wouldn’t be afraid!

 

[photographymom517]

I remembered that I really wanted a Dole Whip. I was in search of the Dole Whip stand, but couldn’t find it. I was searching & searching & kept walking back and forth through Adventureland looking for it! I finally found it (I actually walked right by it a few times, but was distracted by the spitting camel!!!) We decided to walk through the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse first.

I took a lot of pictures of this as well because I didn’t remember it at all from any of our past trips. I’m actually not sure if I even walked through it before. (I keep calling my mom to ask her things about past trips because I don’t remember! Unfortunately, she was not with me during my last 3 trips so she isn‘t sure of everything either!)

Anyway, back to our trip! My husband & son found a bench while I got in line to get a Dole Whip. Neither of them wanted one, so I stood in line and called my parents because I hadn’t talked to them all day. I was surprised at how quickly my husband had found a bench because the park was so crowded, you weren’t able to find anywhere to sit!

I purchased the Dole Whip at 7:59pm and it cost $2.89. I paid OOP for it. I ended up giving almost the entire thing to my son! It was melting so quickly that I barely got a photo of it before it started running down the sides. We were also trying to move to another bench because I figured out why my husband found a bench so quickly…he was sitting in the “smoking area” right beside Adventureland. Nothing against smokers, but I cannot be around it very much because it burns my eyes and I have a weird skin reaction to it. I think its just certain types of cigarettes because my sister-in-law smokes a lot & I’m around her at least 4 times a week. We decided to just keep walking because we wanted to stop by the hat shop on Main Street before finding a spot to sit down.

I ended up eating a few more bites of my Dole Whip and then giving it to my son. It was just so hot & humid out that once he tasted it, he really liked it. It was nice for him to have something cool to eat. I just sat the cup on the tray of his stroller & he ate it as we walked. I was shocked that he didn’t make a huge mess especially because it was melting so quickly! I will definitely try another Dole Whip next trip, but I will buy 2 so my son can have his own!

We wanted to stay for the parade & fireworks tonight because we weren’t sure how tired we’d be on our full MK day the next week. We decided to stop by the hat store on Main Street and then find a place to sit for the parade. This is the sort of comical part of my day. Once we got to Main Street, we couldn’t believe the amount of people already sitting there. Right after I got the Dole Whip, we started walking towards Main St. I kept making comments to my husband about the amount of people & how everyone was shoved in the park like sardines.

I just said…”Look, sardines again…”

 

[photographymom517]

I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of all the people. I think I was just amazed! We also had a very long day so I just didn’t feel like carrying my camera anymore (and failed to bring an extra set of batteries on PARADE and FIREWORKS night!)

We decided to ask a CM what time the parade started. It said 9pm and 11pm on the Times Guide, but I thought I’d double check. So, I saw 3 CM’s talking & said “Excuse me, could you please tell me what time the parade starts?” And he said “9pm, why do you want it to start at a different time?” and he laughed.

I told him that I was just wondering because I couldn’t believe so many people were already sitting down waiting. I mean, there wasn’t even a free TINY centimeter of ground anywhere on ANY sidewalk. You could barely walk up & down the sidewalk. The CM told me that usually people start finding spots about 90 minutes ahead of time. I thanked him and just kept walking. I wish I had a picture of the people sitting down!!!

My husband asked me if I wanted to find a spot to sit down. I told him that I doubted it would be more crowded in 5 minutes than it was right at that moment so we might as well go into the hat shop first.

You guessed it…the hat shop was packed full like sardines! It’s not a huge shop to begin with and it was extremely hard to manuveur a stroller in there. Our son was also getting fussy so my husband decided to take him onto Main Street to look at the lights.

I found the ears that I was searching for all day immediately & went to the counter to check-out. I didn’t realize it, but the CM said they don’t use that counter as a cash register (its right beside the embroidery counter). I thought it was odd because there is a cash register there.

A few seconds later, another CM came over & asked the CM (who was talking to me) if she could wait on this other lady. Everyone else in the store needed embroidery but this lady didn’t. She looked down & saw I had Minnie ears in my hand & said “please wait on this lady as well, then close up the register.” So, I was really lucky! The other line was out the door & up the ramp going towards the other end of the store! I only wait a few minutes and then caught up with my son & husband.

There was a section on Main Street (right in front of Exposition Hall) where there weren’t many people. I don’t know why more people don’t wait here. We had a nice view of the floats coming around the corner, so I was able to take photographs of them coming towards us & then again when they were right in front of us. Normally when I try to do this, people in front of or beside me are in my way. But since we were at an angle, I could get more photographs, which I was of course thrilled about!

Here are some I took, they aren’t the greatest but these are my favorites. I also was amazed that some of the floats from waaaay back in 1985 are still there today!

 

[photographymom517]

After the parade was over, we had a quick discussion about whether to stay or not. The fireworks weren’t scheduled until 10pm and the parade was over around 9:20pm. We looked down Main Street & were trying to figure out how to get through all of those people with a cranky toddler in a stroller.

Most likely, if we decided to stay, we would have to get something to eat & drink. We figured most places would be crowded. If we didn't get something to eat, we could ride something or walk around Toontown or Fantasyland again. We decided those weren't good ideas either since the wait times were so high & our son wasn't a huge fan of rides yet.

We were just exhausted after a long day & couldn’t even think of one thing we really HAD to do before leaving.

So, the next thing we saw was this:

We saw a CBR bus pull out of the bus stop right as we were walking towards the front of the line. We only waited a few more minutes for another bus & we were on our way back to CBR. We all changed our clothes, set the alarm, & passed out once we got back to our room!

I told my husband to make sure we were up early. We had 10am ressies at Play n Dine at Hollywood Studios, but I had my heart set on making it to rope drop!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

I finally finished up Day 2 of our trip! I apologize that it took so long. Things have just been crazy around here recently. I keep thinking I have a “free day” and it always ends up that someone calls me and adds something to my schedule! I need to add more photos to Photo Bucket, but I’ll work on typing up the entire Day 3 and Day 4 this afternoon. I actually updated my Table of Contents this morning after I wrote my update!

Have a good Wednesday everyone!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

I really enjoyed the update! The crowds seem almost intolerable. If you liked the Dole Whip and you like pineapple juice, you might want to try a Dole Whip float next time. It will defnitely be less messy. I hope you got to see the fireworks later in your trip, but I understand not wanting to stay.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Mmmmmm, a Dole Whip! It's such a wonderfully refreshing treat when it's so hot out, but you're right - they melt fast!

Loved the pics of the MSEP, I was able to see it a couple of years ago at DCA, it's a fabulous parade.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ooooh, thanks for the pictures of the MSEP! I can't wait to see it when we are there next week!

 

[2kids2luv]

Mmmmm...a dole whip sounds yummy about now. I can't believe how crowded the park was. Keeping my fingers crossed DHS will be better. Nice pictures of the Electric Parade.