Mission Impossible: Will he even like Disney this time? Our June 2012 TR

[Deesknee]

Oh, poor pup... and DH I'm sure all sorts of things were going through his mind, like how do I tell the kids...etc. Glad she came home.

A brand new charter school. Getting in on the ground floor can only be good for you, I would think.

Congratulations, again!

Dee

 

[BridgetR3]

When I last left off many many days ago now, (sorry!!! I had good intentions!) we were at Club Cool waiting on the guys to join us after riding Mission:Space.

After leaving Club Cool, we decided to see what the Highland Games Tournament was all about. It was the "playground" that they put in Epcot to promote Brave this summer.

First we have some pics of the awesome Brave sand sculpture. It amazes me that people can make things like this out of sand and have it stay together!!

See a pattern here? We are NEVER going to make it to World Showcase......

The boys enjoyed the Highland Games but I only have pics of DS10 because DS6 decided to go play on the playground until we finished the games. THEN, he decided he wanted to play too so Nannia and Poppa took him through it while DS10, DH and I rested on a bench overlooking World Showcase as I wondered if we were going to be able to see any shows.

Shooting a bow and arrow

We had to hit the ???? into the baskets. She gave us the real name for them but I have no clue what they were called.

We also tossed big logs that were some kind of soft material. We had to toss them at the same time so I couldn't take a pic of him doing it.


All in all it was basic carnival games but it entertained the kids. They received a pin stating their "Family" name from Brave and some postcards at the end that had pictures from the show on them. The kids could have stayed here for longer but we adults were bored quickly.

As we waited on DS6 I took some pictures of countries across the water.

At 2:43 p.m. we entered World Showcase.....a LONG LONG time after our plan said to enter. Well, we did say we were going to go with the flow and stop to smell the roses right?? Those roses must have smelled wonderful because it took us forever.

One of the totem poles in Canada.....check out the ominous skies......

HIDDEN MICKEY SPOILER ALERT - I'm about to share a pic of the HM we found in Canada. Scroll quickly if you don't want to see it.

DS10 had out his Hidden Mickey book and we all began searching for the HM on a totem pole in Canada. It took us forever to find it, but we succeeded!


The HM is near the top of it on the left side if you are facing the totem pole that is by itself right by the door to the Canada store.

DH found a red phone booth in Canada that I unfortunately did not have phone numbers for......

I had never seen this part of Canada as the last time we had lunch reservations at Le Cellier and assumed that the bottom section was all of Canada so we didn't venture around. I really like the view from the top overlooking the walkway to Le Cellier and the waterfall.

Notice Figment sticking his head through the hole as well.

DH and DS6 posing in Canada!

One country down, 10 more to go......Will we see any shows now that we are soo very late on our schedule?

 

[Deesknee]

Excellent update!!

I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the phone booth. I forgot. . When my older kids were on their graduation trip they were able to fit 6 18yr olds in it.
We have some great photos.

I love the Highland games idea. Do you know if it is going to remain there? DD would love that! She loved Brave.

 

[BridgetR3]

Excellent update!!

I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the phone booth. I forgot. . When my older kids were on their graduation trip they were able to fit 6 18yr olds in it.
We have some great photos.

I love the Highland games idea. Do you know if it is going to remain there? DD would love that! She loved Brave.

Oh don't be sorry! I had all of the UK numbers and I'll tell you about that in the next post. I just didn't know Canada had a phone booth.

Wow! That's a lot of kids since those phone booths are small!

Ummm, I think the Highland games were just a summer thing but I could be wrong. You may want to check it out. It also had a pretty good sized playground that my DS6 loved.

 

[CatNipRules]

Excellent update!! I'm still trying to figure out the phone numbers for the phone booth.

I love that hidden Mickey. I can't wait to get there and use my book. We love searching the rides for all the hidden Mickeys.

The highland games looked fun and that sand sculpture is amazing. I admire people that can do that sort of thing.

Great update!!

 

[gregbailey01]

Sounds fun!

 

[Lidian]

Congratulations on getting the First Grade teaching job!!!!!! Are you ready to meet your kids yet?

Your cake looked amazing!!! Very impressive!!!

Loved the Brave games stuff going on! That's awesome!

 

[teekathepony]

Just wanted to say congratulations on the new job! I hope you're enjoying the classroom so far and that you enjoy it even more when the kids are in!

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Hi, joining in. Sorry I'm late.

We've ate at Sunshine Seasons before and we enjoyed it. It's something different besides burgers and nuggets.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

Jaime

 

[BridgetR3]

No I didn't run away!! lol.....I've been swamped with work and travel!! My new school sent me to a conference in Orlando, FL!!!! No worries, it wasn't tax payer dollars. Local corporations sponsored the teachers' airfares and hotel rooms. SOOOOO.....I was able to see Downtown Disney!!! We ate at Paradiso37 which was pretty good but not great. We had a wonderful evening one night just enjoying the sights of DTD.

However, we are home now. I started school last Monday with 17 wonderful but VERY ACTIVE first graders!!! We had a great week. Both of my boys are playing soccer, one competitively throughout the state and one just for fun so we are at the fields on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sat. am, and Sat. pm. My life is just a LITTLE chaotic at the moment!!!! WHEW.....but I'm still here and each time I get a chance to stop for a second I promise to update/post!

Excellent update!! I'm still trying to figure out the phone numbers for the phone booth.

I love that hidden Mickey. I can't wait to get there and use my book. We love searching the rides for all the hidden Mickeys.

The highland games looked fun and that sand sculpture is amazing. I admire people that can do that sort of thing.

Great update!!

Here are the UK phone numbers (I've never seen Canada phone booth numbers.) -

Left phone - 407-827-9862
Center - 407-827-9863
RIght - 407-827-9861

Read my next post to see how much fun we had with the phone numbers!!

 

[BridgetR3]

So when I last left off, we were in Canada headed to the great UK. I must say that World Showcase didn't have quite the same beauty that it has during the Flower and Garden Festival. I would love to go back during that time because it is so beautifully decorated.

Wonder what he's thinking about......

When we got to the UK, I took out my cell phone so that I could surprise my kids. I told them that I wanted a picture of them in each red phone booth so DH took my camera to take pictures and I called the phone booth with my cell phone. DS10 came running out of the phone booth when it started ringing. It freaked him out! He was hollering, "MOM it's ringing!!!" I told him to answer it. (He never noticed my phone or that I was listening to it. Poor child.....) He went in and answered it, but started laughing when he realized it was me and hung up on me.

DS10 answering my phone call......

DS6 wasn't paying attention to his brother so I was able to get him too. He went into the phone booth and answered the phone. He hollered, "SERIOUSLY MOM!?!??!?! SERIOUSLY!?!?!?" They both found it hilarious that I could call them at Disney.

DS6 screaming SERIOUSLY at me....lol....too bad DH couldn't get his face in the pic because of the bar.

We moved away from the phones but continued to call them as people would go in to have their picture taken. Two stories of our conversations -

One time a mom was taking a picture of her teenage daughter who went in the right side phone booth. We called the phone booth and the girl came out screaming. She refused to go back in. lol.....

A little later, we called the left booth and spoke to a lady about the weather. She told us that it was raining hard at Epcot. Check out my pics....no rain..... cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo......

We left the UK and headed to France. My entire party was insistent that we NEEDED to go to the International Gateway. I had to tell them quite a few times that it was JUST the walkway to the hotels and the Boardwalk. No one wanted to believe me. Finally I was able to convince them to keep going. I think they still believe that I caused them to miss something back there.

We took a few PP pics on the bridge between UK and France. Once we arrived in France, we were all very HOT and thirsty. I looked for the scent boxes in the gardens while DH got a water and grabbed a seat. Did you know that the scent boxes are only out for F&G Festival?? That makes me sad!!! I love those boxes!!!

DS6 found Aurora and wanted to meet her. This was our first character meet of the trip!! He is in love with "gwirls" and she was no exception. She asked him if he was a prince to which he of course said yes. She then asked if he had ever fought dragons and again he answered yes. She responded that she was very proud of him and that he could be her prince. He was in LOVE......

I'll share PP pics at the end of this "day" at Disney.

Well that 's all for now because DH is playing an online game and my uploading pictures is causing him so much lag that he is dying so he is getting upset with me. To each his own!!

Have a great week!! Hopefully I'll have time to come back and visit before next weekend! Be thinking of us. I'm afraid that they are going to move this TS Isaac track right on top of us overnight. We definitely don't need another hurricane (not that anyone does).

 

[Deesknee]

So when I last left off, we were in Canada headed to the great UK. I must say that World Showcase didn't have quite the same beauty that it has during the Flower and Garden Festival. I would love to go back during that time because it is so beautifully decorated.

Wonder what he's thinking about......

When we got to the UK, I took out my cell phone so that I could surprise my kids. I told them that I wanted a picture of them in each red phone booth so DH took my camera to take pictures and I called the phone booth with my cell phone. DS10 came running out of the phone booth when it started ringing. It freaked him out! He was hollering, "MOM it's ringing!!!" I told him to answer it. (He never noticed my phone or that I was listening to it. Poor child.....) He went in and answered it, but started laughing when he realized it was me and hung up on me.

DS10 answering my phone call......

DS6 wasn't paying attention to his brother so I was able to get him too. He went into the phone booth and answered the phone. He hollered, "SERIOUSLY MOM!?!??!?! SERIOUSLY!?!?!?" They both found it hilarious that I could call them at Disney.

DS6 screaming SERIOUSLY at me....lol....too bad DH couldn't get his face in the pic because of the bar.

We moved away from the phones but continued to call them as people would go in to have their picture taken. Two stories of our conversations -

One time a mom was taking a picture of her teenage daughter who went in the right side phone booth. We called the phone booth and the girl came out screaming. She refused to go back in. lol.....

A little later, we called the left booth and spoke to a lady about the weather. She told us that it was raining hard at Epcot. Check out my pics....no rain..... cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo......

We left the UK and headed to France. My entire party was insistent that we NEEDED to go to the International Gateway. I had to tell them quite a few times that it was JUST the walkway to the hotels and the Boardwalk. No one wanted to believe me. Finally I was able to convince them to keep going. I think they still believe that I caused them to miss something back there.

We took a few PP pics on the bridge between UK and France. Once we arrived in France, we were all very HOT and thirsty. I looked for the scent boxes in the gardens while DH got a water and grabbed a seat. Did you know that the scent boxes are only out for F&G Festival?? That makes me sad!!! I love those boxes!!!

DS6 found Aurora and wanted to meet her. This was our first character meet of the trip!! He is in love with "gwirls" and she was no exception. She asked him if he was a prince to which he of course said yes. She then asked if he had ever fought dragons and again he answered yes. She responded that she was very proud of him and that he could be her prince. He was in LOVE......

I'll share PP pics at the end of this "day" at Disney.

Well that 's all for now because DH is playing an online game and my uploading pictures is causing him so much lag that he is dying so he is getting upset with me. To each his own!!

Have a great week!! Hopefully I'll have time to come back and visit before next weekend! Be thinking of us. I'm afraid that they are going to move this TS Isaac track right on top of us overnight. We definitely don't need another hurricane (not that anyone does).

SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME that you got both boys in the phone booths!! AND strangers! Love it. I have never actually called the phone booths. I will have to get the numbers from you and try it this time.

Aurora is my favorite princess. Glad she made your son feel special. I have nver heard of the scent boxes. But then again, I have never been for garden and flower event.

Looks like your DH had a nice time.

Hope your new job is going well. And that hurricane misses you all completely. You will be in my prayers.

I was so happy to see this update. Looking forward to the next. Have a wonderful week.

 

[Deesknee]

Just checking in. Hope all is well, and you personally were not affected by the hurricane.

Hope the soccer practices/games aren't wearing you down too badly. I remember those cold fall mornings.

Hope school kids have calmed and aren't quite so active.

 

[BridgetR3]

Well I'm here. Sorry!!! I"m a bad bad DIS'er!! I hate when I read TR where they don't update for weeks at a time and then I became that person!!! Life is CRAZY here! We are super busy every single day and just stopping to breathe seems to take too much time!!! (O.k. slight exaggeration....) I am going to try to update tonight hopefully after I check on a few things on my computer because I actually have a free evening. Maybe I'll see you guys in a couple hours......

 

[BridgetR3]

Before we met Aurora, Poppa and DH decided to go to the restroom. As we waited on them, we visited with Aurora and collapsed onto a cement planter in France. It was HOT HOT HOT. We were TIRED. The boys were WHINING......

I pulled out my schedule because I remembered that there was a show in France with some acrobats that I thought my boys may like sometime around now. So I checked and SCORE......it starts in 10 minutes. We waited......and waited.....those minutes seemed to drag on while we waited in the heat. DH went off in search of a water to take Tylenol for his headache and I tried my best to keep the kiddos happy in the miserable heat. FINALLY (right on time) I see the guys come out to perform and just as the CM stated when we asked, they are performing RIGHT in front of us. YAY!!!!

"Pssst......Mom......Mom.......MOM!!!!!!!.....(I was taking pictures rapidly and ignoring him)"
"What, SON!?!?!?!?!?"
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"NOW?!?!?!"
"Yeah I need to go bad."

Had this been my 6 year old, it would have been all good but this was the 10 year old, the child who knows before the instant that he has to go BAD.....I almost had a mommy but I contained it. I could see the bathrooms from where we were so I let him go by himself. Yes by himself.....he's 10....I can see the entrance and exit so I'm o.k. right???

Well back to the show.....

The show went on for a while and suddenly with a lump in my throat after about 5 minutes I realize that he is STILL in the bathroom or at least I think he is. I hope he is. He is in there right?!?!?! I immediately grab DH and send him in search of DS10 which makes him..... because DS10 didn't choose to go beforehand like the other guys. DH goes in and returns in record time to let me know that DS10 is fine but that the line was a little long and he ummm needs more time. Long story shorter.....poor baby missed the ENTIRE show in the restroom!!!

This is the only show that we saw all day at Epcot but it was a great show!!! I loved it and would enjoy it more in the fall when it's cooler! Those guys are great!! Highly recommend seeing it.

After leaving France, we head off to Japan to pick my pearl. I was really looking forward to this and DH knew that it was special to me. Upon entering the store, the kids got excited because we have played a Kimpossible mission in here on the last trip and they captured the baby BB's inside the store. However, this sets DS6 OFF because Kimpossible is closed this trip and we can't play and he's tired and it's hot and he didn't sleep enough last night and....and......and....... and he loses his little mind in the store. So DH leaves with him to go walk outside in hopes that a stroll in his stroller (yes my 6 year old still used a stroller at Disney on this trip....no please.....) will send him to la la land for an afternoon nap. It's worth a shot right?

I let DS10 pick the oyster for me.

The CM really seemed to enjoy her job. She really beat those drums!!

Our pearl was 7 and a quarter. I put it in the carriage pendant I had purchased online and wore it for a lot of the trip.

Great pearl picking!!!

Nannia was next to pick a pearl and DS10 helped her as well. DS6 was supposed to help one of us but I'm really hoping he's sleeping by now.

Bowing to the lady.....

I love the look on their faces in this one!

Her pearl was 7.25 as well. As we were leaving we noticed that it had been raining outside which we hoped would cool things off a bit. It had stopped for now but little did we know that LOTS more was coming and FAST!!!

There was a group playing in the Japan pavilion but we wanted to keep going as it was already 2:15 p.m. The kids were begging to ride and were not really interested in looking through the countries since there were no missions to do this time.

Coming up next time......when would the skies open up on us??? Would we have to leave the park? Would DS6 EVER take a nap!??!?!?!?

 

[Deesknee]

Nice update! Don't you just hate that feeling, that creeps up on you when you worry about your kids. guilt...even when it is not justified. I teetter on what the safe age is to let your child go to the bathroom alone. Glad it worked out fine. Although sorry he missed the show. It looked amazing! So sorry about the rain... and the melt down.
How is your job going? You are a great writer, I enjoy reading your updates.

 

[BridgetR3]

Nice update! Don't you just hate that feeling, that creeps up on you when you worry about your kids. guilt...even when it is not justified. I teetter on what the safe age is to let your child go to the bathroom alone. Glad it worked out fine. Although sorry he missed the show. It looked amazing! So sorry about the rain... and the melt down.
How is your job going? You are a great writer, I enjoy reading your updates.

Thank you!! Yes I HATE that feeling about whether or not I'm making the right choices. My job is going well but it takes up all of my time. I hate that. Next year will be much much better since I will have everything planned out already but for now it's absolutely crazy!!!

Working on my next update right now! Coming up tonight!

 

[BridgetR3]

As we left Japan and it stopped raining, it had that ultra muggy, humid as h-e-double hockey sticks feel to it so we decided to see the Voices of Liberty and the American show at the American pavilion. This would also give DS6 a quiet place to sleep.

We went inside and began searching for the Hidden Mickey inside the rotunda (is that what it's called?). It took a long time for us to find it and we eventually had to cheat but victory was ours!

At this point, DS6 could not wait any longer for the show. He could not stand to be awake any longer. He could not stand us. He could not stand himself. He had a mega-super sized meltdown on a bench inside the Voices of Liberty show.

I offered to take him to the nearby restaurant to get food and sleep so I missed the show but he was able to eat some nuggets for a small snack and he went right to sleep. Holy moly is that show LONG or what!??!?! I don't know the official minutes on it but if you watch the entire thing it has to be almost an hour.

During that hour, this happened........

It stormed the ENTIRE time. The restaurant was completely full and VERY loud but DS6 slept and I watched the rain..... My own little bit of

After the rain slowed down, I was able to meet up with our friend from home who is working at Epcot in the American pavilion. It was great to see her!!

FINALLY, after what seemed like days my family emerged from the show.....

Silly duck child.....

Their thoughts on the show - "You didn't miss much."

Walking further around the world.....

Next up - Germany.....

We stopped to watch the train but it was not working (maybe because of the rain?). A CM was working on it but it seemed to need lots of help.

The CM did get it to work for a few minutes but it jumped the track. I think that the wind and rain caused a lot of the mulch (bark) to get on the tracks because he was brushing off the track in quite a few places.

More pics from the train.....

The attention to detail here is amazing! I loved it!


We are 0 for 2 on seeing the train working. On our first Disney trip, we didn't make it back this far to see it. On this trip, it was broken. DH is a BIG train enthusiast because he works for a national railroad company. Wonder if we will ever get another trip in for a chance to see it working......

The other reason I love Germany - WERTHER'S STORE!!!

I chose a pecan caramel and chocolate turtle. (Don't remember the exact name for it) I was a bit surprised unfortunately that the pecans are super salted. Next time I will probably just wait and get this at Goofy's Candy Co. or the other DTD candy store as it was way too salty to even finish.

 

[BridgetR3]

From there we ventured the rest of the way around the world in a mad dash to finish before dinner because my in-laws wanted to eat dinner at the Mexican pavilion QS place.

I rushed along behind them snapping pics along the way of whatever looked cool but I honestly don't remember much about the countries throughout.

Here are some pics from our very quick journey around the world.....

DH and the boys playing the bongos

I don't know but it was pretty.

Chinese shop ceiling

DH posing for a pic with another hat....Notice his shirt - yeah don't get too excited yet. I had purchased that for him to wear on vacation so he would "fit in".

The humidity is awful and I don't realize til later that my lens is foggy.

Can I live there?

Love this flower....wish that one of them were open while we were there. So pretty.

I finally got to see Norway. Yes, I made them stop to ride the ride. I had missed it on my first trip and I wasn't planning on missing it again even if we were all starving!!

Loved the little ride. My boys were afraid of the backwards drop but it was fine. DS6 still talks about this one and how the troll almost got us.

My little viking

Still clearly have the fog look....my oldest is imitating the troll and the little one is going to kill him.

FINALLY realized that something was wrong and cleaned my lens....one last pic of Norway and we are running off to Mexico.

I love the 3 Caballeros. Such a cute air conditioned ride!! Thankfully there was not a line because we were STARVING!!!

We get off the ride and rush over to the little restaurant to order our dinner only to realize that none of us want anything on the menu. WHAT!?!?!??! Are you kidding me?!??!?! We rushed through World Showcase to decide NOT to eat in Mexico. So where did we end up??? Electric Umbrella for the best burgers I've ever had. That's what happens when you are starving....

Along the way we ran into these cuties taking a bath....DS6 wanted one as a souvenir. I told him that they couldn't fly back with us. He understood but was all the same.

Next up - Club Cool for the men, and what are we going to do for the rest of the night? Will we watch Illuminations? Will we visit World Showcase again?

Stay tuned......

 

[Deesknee]

Nice update. I'm sorry your little one had a melt down. They do get over stimulated. As do many adults I know.

that is too funny that you all rushed then didn't want to eat in Mexico after all. I'm glad you got a decent burger in the end though. We find World Showcase to be tough to eat at with our kids.

I love Norway, but DD is same as your boys, doesn't like the going down backward part of the ride. She HATES it.

You got some great photos of the Germany train. Sorry it didn't work long. It really is amazing the details.

Thanks for keeping up the updates. I enjoy them.