"MO-OM! Take Small Children by the Hand!" An October 2012 TR New 11/9

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Wasn't that an awesome surprise to tour the new Fantasyland! You (and Un) captured some great photos! The three kids in the entrance is really cute!

I agree that October is a wonderful time to go to WDW. I had to take some time off last year, but generally go during Fall Break with just an extra day or two. So jealous of your two weeks off in October!

So you have family in the region? Small world!

Enjoying your updates!

It was a great surprise! Bryan and I are looking forward to spending more time there this December. In fact, I just did FastPass+ this week, and we have a FastPass for Enchanted Tales with Belle! I wasn't sure DH would be interested, but he was the one that suggested it.

I think we're going back next fall...it'll be the last time Haley gets a longer break. They get one week at the school they're at now, but she'll only get the standard Thurs/Friday off once she hits the high school. faint: I just said high school, didn't I???? Not ready for that!) It's one of the things keeping the kids calm about us going without them in December. Well, that and the promise of lots of goodies brought home, haha!

Thanks for reading! I'm on fall break now...hopefully more frequent updates will be coming. I'm not promising anything, however, as I've already been off for a week and this is the first time I've updated!!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Once we left Voyage of the Little Mermaid, we headed back to meet up with Ariel. Along the way, I snapped this shot.


Does it bother anyone else that Ariel has apparently been made into the figurehead on Eric’s newest ship???? Even Bryan commented that it seemed a little twisted!

Anyway, we entered the queue and were surprised to see the line was a little longer than we’d planned (so much for no wait). But we decided to stay anyway, as Haley suddenly decided she really wanted to see a princess. Along the way, I started looking at the light fixtures.







I thought the colorful ones were pretty cool. Jack thought they were sea slugs. Oh, well…the debate kept us occupied while we waited in line.

We finally rounded a corner and were next in line. The Photopass photographer in here was really good. She got a few pics of us waiting.



Haley went right up to her. I loved watching her transform back into a little girl again as she interacted with this wonderful CM! Ariel was amazed by Bryan’s monopod, which Haley had been holding. She just had to examine it more closely.








Then she posed for a few pics with Haley.



She tried to coax the boys into coming to sit with her, as well. Jack finally got brave and came up.



But Will wanted nothing to do with it. Well, I take that back. Will enjoyed flirting with her from a distance much more than actually sitting with her.



It became a game, and Ariel almost got him when she convinced him to come get his card that Haley had taken to get signed.



But that was as close as he came.

I have to say, for our first face character interaction of the trip, Ariel was awesome! She was so full of energy and in character. It was definitely worth the detour!

I forgot to post the picture earlier, but we did spot Gaston as we headed through on our way to the Little Mermaid. He had quite a crowd of onlookers at the time, though.



After Ariel, we wandered back towards the Gaston statue, hoping to catch the man himself with a smaller line. Unfortunately, he was apparently taking a break. We stopped to get some good shots of his fountain, though.








When we go back in December, I want to stop into his tavern and the gift shop. I can’t remember why we decided not to. On our way back, we hit another Photopass person. First, we took a few group shots in front of Beast’s castle (how cool is that??!?)…





Then he got several of the kids on their own. Haley got to pose…





…and the boys got a turn.



They even got to channel the Master of the Castle!




(Will wouldn't pose on his own...at this point, I think we were thankful to get what we did!)

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in New Fantasyland! But now it was time to head across the land to tackle a few mountain ranges…namely, Splash and Big Thunder!

 

[dismagiclover]

Hey there! It's fun to see your kids growing up. I'm so happy to read about POR. We are actually staying there for a couple of nights in December and your pictures help me get even more excited for it. I think we'll have to spend some time just hanging out there. Hopefully it's warm enough for the pool. I also love all of your New Fantasyland pictures. How fun that you got to go during the previews. It is so uncrowded! It was much more crowded when we first saw it this summer. Can't wait for more.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Hey there! It's fun to see your kids growing up. I'm so happy to read about POR. We are actually staying there for a couple of nights in December and your pictures help me get even more excited for it. I think we'll have to spend some time just hanging out there. Hopefully it's warm enough for the pool. I also love all of your New Fantasyland pictures. How fun that you got to go during the previews. It is so uncrowded! It was much more crowded when we first saw it this summer. Can't wait for more.

Oh, I hope you love POR as much as we did! I'd love to be staying there in December, but it's not in the budget. That's ok, though - we've never stayed at POP before, and love trying new resorts! I have several updates written...now to just get the pictures uploaded and post them!!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

It was time to head out of New Fantasyland. Mom had gotten to see it, and now we had a couple of kids who were done with the adults taking pictures and “taking it all in.” They wanted some rides! So we were off to begin our conquering of the Disney Mountain Ranges!

But, we got sidetracked.

We ran into Jen and her family as we exited. They were excitedly ticking off all the things they’d already ridden that morning (Splash, Space, BTMRR, Haunted Mansion…). Jen asked me what we’d managed to get on. Well, we definitely hadn't hit as many attractions as they had that morning. I did tell her about New Fantasyland and how excited I was to have seen it…but she didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm. She couldn’t figure out why we’d only gone on three rides so far that morning! Oh, well – they’re Disney fans, but even they think I’m a bit obsessed.

They were headed for a ride on the carousel next, and our kids immediately begged to go, too. So we all headed off.



We all got on and grabbed a horse. Well, I stood next to Will and made sure he was ok (he gets a bit freaked out on the horses that go up and down…only when they’re at the top, of course! ), but everyone else, including Jen, grabbed a horse. We had a nice spin around the prince’s carousel.





The great thing was that Un was taking pictures the whole time (you can see him in the background above). He took a BUNCH of pictures – these are the best ones.





(Can you see Jen and I trying to have a conversation across the kids and over the music in the background of this one? She was starting to ask me about New Fantasyland…I think it just didn’t register with her at first. They ended up heading straight over there once we all got done!)

After our spin, we split up again. We had mountains to scale! The older two were really excited about Splash. Will was trying to be excited, as well, but he wasn’t quite sure.



We had ridden this as a family the last time we were at Disney in 2010. I can't find the photo now, but it was one of the funniest ones we took.
Haley and Jack both ducked down as we crested the hill (Will stayed back with my DMIL), and the ride photo looked like Bryan and I were riding alone! But they were both excited about going on it again.



The wait was really short, so we decided to hop in the stand-by line. We gave Un our cards so he could get us BTMRR Fastpasses (the wait was much longer, and he had no interest in rides where his camera equipment could get wet!) and headed for the queue.



It was a really short wait, and I hadn’t really spent time in the queue before (we’d always gotten fastpasses). It was fun to see everything. But before we knew it, we saw this.



To our surprise, they herded us towards the front of the boats! Haley and I had NO interest in getting that wet, so we let the boys fill in that lane. This caused a bit of an issue, since somewhere along the way one of Will’s siblings had mentioned that you got really wet in the front. He didn’t want to get wet, but he’d decided he needed to be with Daddy for some reason, and that meant he had to be in the front. Now, let me be clear – Bryan and I are not the kind of parents that force our kids to ride things. But we really and honestly thought he’d enjoy this ride, so we did a little sweet talking. It worked – he got in. But he wasn’t thrilled.



We headed out follow Briar Rabbit. I love this ride! I feel like the length makes it worth any kind of wait, and I love looking at all the different scenes. And then, of course, there’s this view before you take the plunge.



Un managed to catch us coming out of the thorns.




(I love Bryan's expression here!)



I have to admit that Will was not happy. He just doesn’t like being wet if he’s not in a swimsuit! If he spills water on himself at the table, he can’t just let it dry (even if it’s a small spill). He has to go change. He was still complaining when we got off and took our Redneck Ride picture.



We filed into the gift shop, and Will was still in not-so-great shape. But we were lucky to catch the eye of an observant CM, who spread us some Pixie dust! She heard that it was Will’s first ride, and decided he needed a sticker and a certificate commemorating the occasion. That took his mind away from being wet!



With a happier four-year-old in the stroller, we headed out to meet up with Un. Our BTMRR passes were almost ready, believe it or not! We just hung out in the shade for a few minutes and people watched. I think Un also talked to his brother (Bryan’s dad) for a while.



Then it was off to the abandoned mine!



We REALLY had to do some coaxing to get Will on this one. I think we promised him food afterwards (they really hadn’t eaten much at CP). We were glad we had FPs…we ran into Jen and family in the queue. They’d hopped in the stand-by line as a last ride before they left the park. The sign had said 20 minutes…but they’d already been in line for 30, and they weren’t there yet! In fact, they had a good amount of queue ahead of them. We chatted for a few minutes before our line moved on and they didn’t. I don’t know what the issue was, but they looked pretty tired and done when we left them!

We loaded up for our train ride. Will was with me for this one, so Bryan took a few pics of us.


Not a great start…it’s loud at first!


He warmed up to it later, though!

The verdict? Not his favorite ride, but he definitely liked it better than Splash!

Ok – it was time to head to lunch and hold up our end of the bargain. I know there are QS places closer to where we were, but we ended up heading out



And trekking over to Pinnocchio’s.



As I mentioned before, I’d done my homework and I knew where the kids would eat in each park. Pinnocchio’s also had the added benefit of the window looking out over IASW. Of course, I hadn’t looked at the time – it was the peak of the lunch rush, and there was no way we were getting a seat over there. I got in line and the guys headed to a table with the kids. It took me a while to get through the line, and I had NO IDEA where they’d ended up. They’d been seated towards the back of the area, right next to the doors. We had enough room, though. The only issue was when I headed out to the restroom and came back – by then they had a CM trying to seat everyone, and I had to explain that my family was already seated and I could find my way back by myself.

Ok...since I already had the pics uploaded and the update written, I thought it would go faster. Photobucket had other ideas, though. It's a school night, folks...this tired teacher has got to get to bed!! I'll be back soon - I promise!

 

[annie170]

You got some really nice photos in the new FL! I swear we got dozens of pictures of different family members with that Ariel. She was so patient.

Have a great time in December!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

You got some really nice photos in the new FL! I swear we got dozens of pictures of different family members with that Ariel. She was so patient.

Have a great time in December!

She was a GREAT Ariel! I was just helping a friend of mine plan a one day trip to MK with her three little ones (3 and under ) and showed her those pictures. She couldn't believe how in-character Ariel had been!

Thanks - I'm getting really excited for December! I guess I should post an update on our plans...heaven knows that I won't be doing a pre-trip! At this rate, I won't have THIS trip done before we leave!!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Yay for conquering a couple of the mountains! That is pretty impressive for a 4 year old. And I don't like being wet either! I had to chuckle at your friend's amazement that you hadn't gone on many rides. DH and I took a trip without the kids one year and I hardly went on any rides. I'd send DH off on some he wanted to go on, but I was perfectly happy just browsing around, plopping myself on benches and reveling in the fact that I was in Disney. Most people don't understand this attitude.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Yay for conquering a couple of the mountains! That is pretty impressive for a 4 year old. And I don't like being wet either! I had to chuckle at your friend's amazement that you hadn't gone on many rides. DH and I took a trip without the kids one year and I hardly went on any rides. I'd send DH off on some he wanted to go on, but I was perfectly happy just browsing around, plopping myself on benches and reveling in the fact that I was in Disney. Most people don't understand this attitude.

I can't wait to have that attitude this trip! We have some FPs booked, and we'll hop on things if the mood hits us. But to be honest, the only park where we'll want to go on more rides than we have FPs is MK, and we have MVMCP tickets, so we can get some of those taken care of then, too.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

A month from today I'll be in DISNEY!!!!

I thought I'd take a minute and update everyone on our December trip. I love that my ticker doesn't even have "month" in it anymore! We leave the afternoon of the 5th. I'm taking a half day, so I have to be ready before I head to school that morning. DH is taking the whole day, so hopefully he'll be ready by the time I get home!! We'll have to leave shortly after that in order to make our flight.

We're trying a new resort this time - Pop Century. We're looking forward to exploring the evening we get there (and maybe even venturing over to Art of Animation). Depending on whether or not we arrive on time, we're debating heading over to the one of the deluxe resort area to take in the decorations. Anyone who's ever been there - the monorail loop, or the Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk area?

Friday morning, we're planning on hitting DTD. DH wouldn't dream of a trip without a visit there, and between the goodies we promised the kids we'd bring home to soften the blow of going without them and the Christmas presents we're hoping to pick up, we'll have a list. After that, we'll head to DHS for our scheduled FP attractions (Star Tours, Tower of Terror, and Rockin Rollercoaster). We'll grab dinner at some point, and finally get to see the Osbourne lights! We're supposed to be at the front entrance to the park around 9 for DISapalooza, and we can't wait to ride TSM over and over again, plus get to know some fellow DISers.

Saturday is our Epcot day. We have an ADR for lunch at Rose and Crown, which is new for us. It's our Candlelight Processional package, and it'll be nice to try something new. This is our only sit down meal of the trip, so I think we'll enjoy it! We'll be going to the 5pm Candlelight Processional, and Whoopie Goldburg is the narrator - can't wait! After that, we're not sure how long we'll stay. It'll depend on what we've been able to see (our FPs are all for the morning in FW, but I really want to see World Showcase at Christmas). I love Illuminations, but I also want to see some of the other holiday decorations, so there's a chance we'll head to some of the resorts we haven't seen yet. We're planning on seeing what we feel like doing. It feels good to plan that way!

Sunday will be our MK day. We plan on being there bright and early so that we can get what we want to done. I want to soak up the atmosphere! We have FPs for Space Mountain, BTMRR, and Enchanted Tales with Belle (YAY!!). We're going to hit Carousel of Progress, which is something we've always wanted to do but haven't, and Haunted Mansion (which only one of our kids will actually ride on). We have tickets to the party that night, so we'll make an entire day of it with no napping breaks...wow!

That will be the end of our whirlwind trip...our flight leaves at 11 on Monday. But by that point, we'll be ready to get back to the kids, and we'll be glad to have had even a short little trip.

Ok...that's enough of December 2013. Let's get back to October 2012!

Once the kids had some food (the adults were stuffed) and all of us had a cold drink, we headed back out. The guys decided to take the kids for a spin…literally.



Well, to be honest, Bryan decided to take them for a spin. Un took pictures.

I don’t do spinning rides anymore (which is too bad…I loved a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl or Scrambler when I was a kid. Or at least, until I HAD kids) and headed over to get FP for the last mountain – Space! On the way, I snapped this picture.



Love the topiaries!

Meanwhile, Bryan and the kids hopped into the queue. I actually was back by the time they actually got on the ride. There was no explaining the lines today! So the first picture is from me:


Such hams.

Then from Bryan’s POV:



And finally, from Un. His are definitely the best! I love these because I have a favorite for each person on the ride. First there’s Bryan:



And then Haley:



And Jack:



And Will.



Who knew there could be so many great photos from one simple ride on the teacups??

And once everyone was done, we decided to head over to the Storybook Circus area to take a peek since our FPs weren’t for a little while yet.

Ok...it was a short update, but it was an update! Thanks for reading...I really am trying to get this done!

 

[annie170]

Your December trip sounds awesome! The Candlelight Processional is on my bucket list, as well as the Osbourne Family Lights. We've done a few five day weekends and always had a good time. For a quick trip, I'd skip AK also!

Un is quite the photographer! Not only are those teacup photos great, but the Splash Mountain ones are pretty amazing!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Your December trip sounds awesome! The Candlelight Processional is on my bucket list, as well as the Osbourne Family Lights. We've done a few five day weekends and always had a good time. For a quick trip, I'd skip AK also!

Un is quite the photographer! Not only are those teacup photos great, but the Splash Mountain ones are pretty amazing!

We're really excited for December! It's something I've wanted to see for a long time. And Bryan is just NOT an AK fan. I think I'd enjoy strolling through the park at my own pace on a cooler day, but we've had been so darned hot every time we go there, it's just left a bad taste in our mouths. Maybe if we had all day on Thursday...but no, I'd probably lobby for more time at Epcot!

Having Un along anywhere is like having your own personal Photopass photographer! The series of Splash Mountain pics are great to have. There are a bunch that I didn't post - so many that when you click through them quickly, it's like a movie!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

We headed into the new Storybook Circus area. I remember sitting outside the rope for Toontown on our last trip so that Haley could meet the Fairies. This was what greeted us this time.



I love the theming here. We really didnt DO much while were were in the area, but we took a ton of pictures because it was so bright and colorful!










(I loved all the posters  can you tell?)

We didnt really have any must-dos in this section, so we did what my husbands family always defaults to&shopping!



I could have spent hours in this store looking around at all the details.


I loved this - the floor looked like it was stitched together!


These were the cash registers. How cool is that?!

The kids enjoyed playing with all the different items available.



Haley (again showing how much shes my child) found a quiet spot to read.



And I took a few minutes to snap pictures of some of the fall-themed sweets at the large counter in the middle of the store.







Finally, we exited. We didnt buy much  I think Jack bought a stuffed animal (he has so many at home he cant fit them on his bed if hes actually in it, but thats what he wanted) and I bought the Phineas and Ferb Christmas CD, which we love. I was eyeing a t-shirt, but I ended up coming back and getting it the next day.

At this point, Will was pretty toasted.



We had thought about taking a ride on Dumbo, but for some reason hed decided he wanted to ride The Great Goofini (aka the Barnstormer). Since our FPs for Space were just about ready, we split up. Jack and I went to ride Space, Bryan and Haley took Will on the Barnstormer&and Un went along as the Paparazzi.





They had a ball, as you can tell. What I have written down is that Bryan said something like, It took us 20 minutes in line for a ride that was less than 2. Oh, well  Will had a successful thrill ride under his belt with no worries at all. I think it was worth it!

Jack and I headed to conquer our final mountain.



Im not sure why&but I have NO pictures! Maybe it was because I was trying to convince Jack to wait until after the ride to get the ice cream cone hed been wanting at Aunty Gravitys (he saw it on the map and decided it HAD to come from there). But we went on our first ride ever into the galaxy! Yes, you read that right. For some reason, even though this was my 8th trip to Disney, I had never ridden Space Mountain! I dont know why I didnt ride it with my dad (we were the thrill riders when I was young). When wed been there with the kids before this, Bryan had ridden a time or two but Id always stayed with the kids because it was something he really wanted to ride, and I didnt want to mess with rider swap (because I didnt know how easy it was!). So I was almost as excited as Jack was. We had a blast! I wasnt sure if hed still enjoy it since it was so dark, so I decided to try to keep a hand on him. I ended up with my hand on his head for the first half of the ride, until I realized that he was whooping and hollering because he was enjoying it and finally gave up and just enjoyed the ride.

When we exited the ride, we met up with Un, Bryan, and the kids near Aunty Gravitys just as it started to rain. This was really the only run-in we had with rain the entire trip, though, so it was hard to complain. Jack and Bryan only had a little while to use their FPs, so they decided (well, Bryan convinced) Jack to ride first and get his ice cream afterwards. We got a cone for Will while they ran to ride and we waited out the brief shower, and then headed across the hub to find a spot in Frontierland to watch the parade. It hadnt been on our list of things to do today  wed actually planned to head back and rest after our long morning. But Will seemed re-energized by Goofini and the ice cream, the older two were raring to go, and it was 2:30. We couldnt go back yet!!

Up next: Parade time!

 

[dismagiclover]

Great updates! I love all of the teacup pictures! I want a paparazzi to take pictures of my family on our Disney trips! I love the theming of the Storybook Circus area too. Everything is so cute! Congrats on hitting all three mountains! Great day so far and I can't wait to see Un's pictures of the parade.

 

[annie170]

Eighth visit before you've ridden Space Mountain?!?! Actually, I've skipped riding it a few times due to long wait times (before fastpass) and once while I was pregnant. Glad you enjoyed your first time!

Do you have any fun adr's planned for your December trip?