Mom, Can You Quit Hanging on to Me and Just Hang on to Yourself? Update 11/2/16

[DopeyDonald]

What a great thread!! I just found it yesterday and am now all caught up, so I'll have to stay tuned for "Operation BS" reports.

You have a beautiful family! I love the part where you asked your kids if they wanted to stop by Epcot "on the way to DTD" lol! I totally think like that, too. That is awesome and those are some of my kids' favorite moments - those impromptu "run ins" just to do a couple of cool things at the part at night.

I will be going this June for my son's high school graduation celebration!! I have no idea where the time went because it seems like only yesterday that he was too little for Space Mountain!! But now both of my kids are teenagers; thank goodness they still enjoy a good trip to Disney!

Yay! So glad you are here

Yeah, you know you are regulars when you "swing by Epcot" Glad to hear I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

So glad you get to go in June - what a great celebration that will be! Wyatt has being going to Disney (the first few trips were to Disney Land , but...) since he was 9 months old - where DOES the time go?!

I'm so glad to hear that your kids still love Disney - I think mine will be that way too -

 

[DopeyDonald]

After seeing all that the beautiful Mexican Pavilion had to offer, we headed to Norway.

I don’t think at the time we knew Maelstrom was closing? I feel like we did because I remember telling Wyatt to soak it all in? Oh well, at any rate we made sure to ride it. I have in my notes that we used a bonus fp+ for this, which I’m not sure where we got – maybe because TT was down for a bit during our time? Yikes – I need to take better notes!

So we rode Maelstrom, checked out the giftshop, colored and stamped Duffy and hung out with some Trolls.

We also took some pics by the waterfall.

We did meander through the Stave church/Frozen thingy for about 5 seconds. We are one of the only families in the World that do not like Frozen. And we’re Scandinavian too! Lol We don’t hate it per se, but really could take it or leave it.

From Norway it was on to China. We were really enjoying our slow meandering walk through EPCOT. It was a beautiful night. We took some pics along the way to show how beautiful the night was.

Once we were in China, the kids did Duffy and we just enjoyed the beautiful Pavilion. We were starting to get pretty hungry though, so our time here was shorter than it should have been.

We did continue on to Germany next however. We LOVE Germany also – My husband is in love with this Pavilion and shopped F-O-R-E-V-E-R here. He LOVES Chirstmas also, so spent some time in the Christmasy shop. He also ended up sneakily buying the girls each a necklace in the crystal shop.
Now that I think of it, the kids and I all were waiting hungrily by the fountain tapping our watches waiting for DH. Finally we decided that the girls and I would leave and go get our supper. DH was going to get a brat in Germany and I was going to pick up supper for Wy.

So where were the girls and I headed to???? FRANCE for the best freaking sandwich (can you call it a sandwich) that you will ever eat. I looked on all ears, but none of the descriptions seem to fit? It’s the ham and cheese on a baguette and it is to die for. We LOVE them. We talk about them all year. Seriously you need to eat one.

Illuminations was gearing up to start in about an hour so it was getting slightly more crowded, but we threaded our way to France in record time. We actually stopped for a hot dog for Cassidy on the way at the African Outpost (trying to find a hot dog at EPCOT is ridiculous) and booked it from there.

There was only a small time and in no time we were enjoying our sammies. Not long after, Wyatt and DH showed up and we gave Wyatt his.

Eating in France

After everyone was full, we sat by the fountain in France and just enjoyed the glorious evening. We snapped some pics – rare ones of DH and I also

We then decided to head back to Future World instead of watching Illuminations. We planned to catch it another night with my mom.
We walked back thru the UK and Cananda and took the short cut that comes out near Figment.

We of course had to take some pics on the way

The moon was so gorgeous this evening

I LOVE this area – it is always so peaceful and pretty

Notice the no shoes on Cassidy – I should have a contest – people could count the number of pics that Cassidy is in with no shoes on.

We had just enough time to ride Figment and take a swipe or two at the interactive instruments

We walked out of Figment and the kids were enamored with the jumping waters. They’ve seen them before, but not at night. They only played for 2-3 mins, but to this day if you ask them what one of their favorite memories of the trip were – they say playing with the jumping waters near Figment

We hustled them over to the Land and we were able to ride Soarin, which was another walk on. – it was a great ride!

We really enjoyed our ride.

As we were walking out, we saw that we had about 1 min to make it on SE, so we did! Boom. Not bad for thinking we were only going to ride Soarin – lol.
I will leave you with this pic-

 

[DaisyDuck001]

We are one of the only families in the World that do not like Frozen. And we’re Scandinavian too! Lol We don’t hate it per se, but really could take it or leave it.

I'm also lukewarm on Frozen.

Looks like Wyatt photobombed you here. Nice picture anyway.

Where is Wyatt's upper half?

 

[DopeyDonald]

I'm also lukewarm on Frozen.

Looks like Wyatt photobombed you here. Nice picture anyway.

Where is Wyatt's upper half?

Too funny that you pointed out the photobomb by Wyatt. That particular stunt got him in a bit of trouble. I kinda yelled at him after that. (He'd ruined about 4 takes at that point) I was getting so tired of him being goofy during pics etc. I told him that I do not love taking pics and here I was finally taking a pic and he had to go and be obnoxious. (it was hot and I was tired and that didn't help.) I think he finally realized that there needs to be a cap on how obnoxious one is.

I spewed out some feelings, he listened and we moved on - He was very good the rest of the trip about not getting too goofy in pics. I told him I want him to still have fun, but maybe just tone it down a bit or watch to see if it's really bugging me.

And now that I type this I feel like a hag, but Wyatt loves to have fun and be goofy and I love that about him, but Wyatt also will do it until everyone wants to punch him in the face.

And also, my nighttime photography needs some work....I'm not sure where the top half of my son is!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Whether you knew of the closing or not, so glad you made it on Maelstrom. But maybe just as important, Troll pictures. I know the trolls can be tied into Frozen, so they may remain. I'd really hate if they disappeared too.

I really love to just wander World Showcase myself. I think that's what I like most about it actually. I don't feel like I need to rush.

I'm making a mental note of that sandwich. I love love love sandwiches on baguettes.

 

[BellaBaby]

I just found your TR and read it over the last couple of days. Along with the "short but not sweet" TR. I am sooo happy sweet little Cassie is going to be alright!! My heart goes out to you and your family for going through such a rough time! :good vibes Your family looks like such a fun loving group. I love the "swing by Epcot" and eating ice cream before dinner attitude as well!! How fun!

I'm glad you got pixie dust and you got moved at WL to better accommodations! You totally deserve it so don't feel guilty. Although I'm sure I would've had a hard time saying something too, glad you had the courage!!

So exciting you're leaving soon again!! Been to Wisconsin Dells many times as I grew up outside Chicago and now we occasionally stop there for a few nights when visiting IL. Although it's been quite awhile now. Because WDW vacations take precedence! So the kids will be even more pleasantly surprised!!

Looking forward to hearing more…following along!!

 

[DopeyDonald]

I am sitting here with tears in my eyes as I type this. Disney is so awesome. Let me explain:

DH and I have been kicking around "reveal" ideas for the morning we leave. The kids have NO idea and I am dying trying to keep the secret. It is going to be SO SO SO worth it.

My idea so far is this - I called and ordered a Cinderella Dress from WDW. They dont' carry them in big enough sizes for Annie on the Disney Store website. Cassidy also has the one from DW and I love it. So. I called on the 6th and ordered it. They guy was super nice and got me all hooked up. I was all bubbly and talkative and told him why I needed it etc and how we were going to surprise our kids.

He told me I called and ordered it just in time as they say to usually allow 3 weeks for delivery, and it was 3 weeks to the day. So no big deal, he was confident we'd get it etc.

Any way back to the plan. Oh and I also ordered a stuffed Jaq and Gus from the Disney Store.

So - I am going to box the dress up in a nice white dress box with pretty tissue paper. I am going to have a fancy invitation on it that says:

Golden Birthdays aren't for shopping malls, dolls and waterparks.

Golden Birthdays are for Royal Balls, Princess Dresses and Dancing with Princes.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...... I am so excited. I plan to have Jaq and Gus sitting on top of the dress box, saying that I got a little help with her present from them.

I also got our Magic Bands in the mail the other day. I ordered everyone's matching yellow "gold" for her "golden birthday" trip.

They are going to drop over. I CANNOT wait. Seriously. I honestly can't even pack or plan or do anything because if I think about our trip at all I will burst wanting to tell them.

Keep in mind this going to be at 4:30 am... lol I can't decide if we should tell them the night before but....waking them up would be amazing too. We'll see how it goes...and how the weather is, if it's iffy at all we may drive down to MSP the night before.

Oh and back to the tears in my eyes right now. I just got an email from UPS. They are delivering a 2nd Day Air Package tomorrow. FROM DISNEY WORLD.

THEY ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Whether you knew of the closing or not, so glad you made it on Maelstrom. But maybe just as important, Troll pictures. I know the trolls can be tied into Frozen, so they may remain. I'd really hate if they disappeared too.

I really love to just wander World Showcase myself. I think that's what I like most about it actually. I don't feel like I need to rush.

I'm making a mental note of that sandwich. I love love love sandwiches on baguettes.

ACK -I never even thought about the trolls leaving! They wouldn't do that to us would they??

Yep, the World Showcase is made for wandering

And do not make a mental note of that sandwich. Make a giant paper one and stick it to your suitcase so you remember. It's that good.

I just found your TR and read it over the last couple of days. Along with the "short but not sweet" TR. I am sooo happy sweet little Cassie is going to be alright!! My heart goes out to you and your family for going through such a rough time! :good vibes Your family looks like such a fun loving group. I love the "swing by Epcot" and eating ice cream before dinner attitude as well!! How fun!

I'm glad you got pixie dust and you got moved at WL to better accommodations! You totally deserve it so don't feel guilty. Although I'm sure I would've had a hard time saying something too, glad you had the courage!!

So exciting you're leaving soon again!! Been to Wisconsin Dells many times as I grew up outside Chicago and now we occasionally stop there for a few nights when visiting IL. Although it's been quite awhile now. Because WDW vacations take precedence! So the kids will be even more pleasantly surprised!!

Looking forward to hearing more…following along!!

So glad you are here - I love new readers - it makes this so much fun! And I'm so glad that everyone here "gets" me and my way of Disney!

WDW vacations always take precedence! It's just the way it is

 

[minnieprincess]

What great plans for the Golden Birthday! Your daughter will love it!

You've got me dying to plan something like this, unfortunately my daughter's golden birthday isn't until she's 29 and she's only 2 now!

Good luck keeping the secret! I would be bursting to tell too!

 

[BellaBaby]

I love the idea of incorporating Jaq and Gus! She will love it!!

 

[MissMaryQC]

How I'd I fall so far behind?!?! You're churning out updates faster than I can read 'em!

Firstly I love the photo session you had with Annie! I've never seen the wings magic shot before, SO cute!! Annie is definitely your mini me; the photos of you two are darling.

The TT ride photo is too funny; all that hair every where!!

I have to admit I do not remember the Maxico ride AT ALL, the last time I was in Epcot was 2011, and we started the day in Canada, by the time we got to Mexico I needed a siesta! The kids are too cute in the sombreros though!

That picture of little Cassidy with the troll is a hoot; she looks a bit scared!

LOVE the waterfall photo, such a great shot of your kids.

The colors in the sky are magnificent! I'd have taken a bunch of photos of it too!

I don't think I've ever eaten in France, had a cocktail but never food. Gonna have to look out for that sammich next time we venture into Epcot.

You and DH look very cute in that photo, even if Wyatt was being a jerk teenager. My mama says teenagers are the worst, but if you let them live they usually become decent adults!

The fountain looks lovely all lit up at night, and I adore the picture of Cassidy sans her shoes; very cute. It's so great that kids enjoy such simple wonders, like the jumping fountains. I hope they're able to hold onto that! ixiedust:

Your reveal sounds AMAZING!!! I think I'd about die if I got that for my golden birthday. I say wake those kids up early and tell them then, otherwise you'll have kids awake all night; I still can't sleep the night before a Disney vacation!!

 

[amberg93]

I think the news had broken at that point, or maybe just a lot of rumors. I know Marie and I rode it for the reason that it was closing.

It does look like a beautiful night.

Oh my goodness, France has amazing food. Seriously, they know how to do the bread over there.

You accomplished a lot of rides. However, I love IllumiNations too much to skip it so I could never do that.

Oh my goodness first of all your reveal sounds like it's going to be amazing. Secondly, the Disney people really are going so far to make things work for you! So exciting! Have an amazing trip!

 

[DopeyDonald]

What great plans for the Golden Birthday! Your daughter will love it!

You've got me dying to plan something like this, unfortunately my daughter's golden birthday isn't until she's 29 and she's only 2 now!

Good luck keeping the secret! I would be bursting to tell too!

Thanks! We are getting so close, I think it may actually happen (us keeping the secret I mean... lol) I do feel terrible, though - NO ONE knows we are going, not even my parents. They are blabber mouths! lol They know we are going on a getaway, and I plan on telling them the details the Monday before we leave - they won't be seeing the kids in person after that so hopefully the secret will stay safe!!

I love the idea of incorporating Jaq and Gus! She will love it!!

Thanks! The dress came today and Jaq and Gus shipped yesterday. We are going to watch Cinderella as our movie night next weekend - hee hee

I think the news had broken at that point, or maybe just a lot of rumors. I know Marie and I rode it for the reason that it was closing.

It does look like a beautiful night.

Oh my goodness, France has amazing food. Seriously, they know how to do the bread over there.

You accomplished a lot of rides. However, I love IllumiNations too much to skip it so I could never do that.

Oh my goodness first of all your reveal sounds like it's going to be amazing. Secondly, the Disney people really are going so far to make things work for you! So exciting! Have an amazing trip!

I know, I feel like we should love Illuminations more, but we don't. Once a trip is good enough. We were spoiled to have seen it in 2000 when it had the millennium celebration parade thing and laser show - THAT was amazing.

And yes, Disney is Magic - the dress arrived today!!! Now it's real!!! Woo Hoo!

 

[DopeyDonald]

How I'd I fall so far behind?!?! You're churning out updates faster than I can read 'em!

Firstly I love the photo session you had with Annie! I've never seen the wings magic shot before, SO cute!! Annie is definitely your mini me; the photos of you two are darling.

The TT ride photo is too funny; all that hair every where!!

I have to admit I do not remember the Maxico ride AT ALL, the last time I was in Epcot was 2011, and we started the day in Canada, by the time we got to Mexico I needed a siesta! The kids are too cute in the sombreros though!

That picture of little Cassidy with the troll is a hoot; she looks a bit scared!

LOVE the waterfall photo, such a great shot of your kids.

The colors in the sky are magnificent! I'd have taken a bunch of photos of it too!

I don't think I've ever eaten in France, had a cocktail but never food. Gonna have to look out for that sammich next time we venture into Epcot.

You and DH look very cute in that photo, even if Wyatt was being a jerk teenager. My mama says teenagers are the worst, but if you let them live they usually become decent adults!

The fountain looks lovely all lit up at night, and I adore the picture of Cassidy sans her shoes; very cute. It's so great that kids enjoy such simple wonders, like the jumping fountains. I hope they're able to hold onto that! ixiedust:

Your reveal sounds AMAZING!!! I think I'd about die if I got that for my golden birthday. I say wake those kids up early and tell them then, otherwise you'll have kids awake all night; I still can't sleep the night before a Disney vacation!!

Darn it - I had a huge reply typed out to you in the post above and I have no idea what happened to it! Let's see if I can remember what I typed!

I know - look at me go on the updates! I'm just so happy that I dont' have to resize photobucket anymore!! lol

And yes, I love the photos of Annie and I too. Poor kid has such a hard spot in the family. I really love when I can do things with her. I wish it could be more often.

You NEED to ride Gran Fiesta Tour - SOON. And then you need to proceed to France and order the sandwich - SOON. I mean it!

And yes, it was a gorgeous night - PERFECT for walking the World Showcase.

Yah, I really got after him after that pic. It was seriously like the 4th or 5th time he'd done that on that one photo! Sometimes it takes a "mom snap" to set things right! He was much better the rest of the trip.

We had so much fun at that fountain. I know we will spend more time there this trip and I'm going to try and get some video this time - I hope they never lose their love for little things like that also.

And now we've decided to maybe tell them the night before, but then drive down to MSP. DH and Annie are the only morning people and I think it would be UTTER CHAOS that morning trying to get out the door by 5am. This way we would still surprise them, but they would be coherent and could pack some things. We are torn. We had it in our heads to wake them up, but I'm thinking this would maybe be better....?

 

[MissMaryQC]

And now we've decided to maybe tell them the night before, but then drive down to MSP. DH and Annie are the only morning people and I think it would be UTTER CHAOS that morning trying to get out the door by 5am. This way we would still surprise them, but they would be coherent and could pack some things. We are torn. We had it in our heads to wake them up, but I'm thinking this would maybe be better....?

Oh yeah, if you guys aren't morning people the night before would likely be ideal. They're gonna love it no matter when you tell them, I'm sure!

 

[DopeyDonald]

I’m not even gonna apologize…I would just sound like a broken record. I cannot believe we leave in 2 days. And actually we are going to drive down to MSP on Tuesday, so really tomorrow is my last full day at home.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…..

So not ready to go, but it’s OK. We NEED to go.

I’m all set – Got the Cinderella’s Coach Balloon ordered, the dress all wrapped in a gorgeous box, the glass slippers, Jaq and Gus and….I think that’s all. Now to just make it till Tuesday night!

Okay, back to the trip at hand.

Thursday morning – Nana was flying in around noon. Annie and DH had Annie’s choice that morning – a horseback ride. She was FINALLY old enough. Wyatt, Cassidy and I just stayed back to switch rooms. This was the day we were switching to the main lodge. We packed up our Studio and made the first of many trips to our new rooms.

We went to the front desk and got our new room assignment. It was AMAZING – first floor, just down the hallway a few paces from the Mercantile. The kids were in heaven.

Once the kids and I got settled, it was time for DH and Annie to come back. I sadly have no pics of them on the horses as they don’t allow cameras on the trail and DH didn’t even bother to bring one. Oh well. She rode Bugsy and he rode Ditto, or it may have been the other way around. But they both had an amazing time!

Once they were back it wasn’t too long before Nana was pulling up on the Magical Express. We were right out front to meet her. The kids were so excited to see her.

We moved on into the lobby for of course more pics!

We took Nana to the room to get settled and decided that we should all go have some lunch at Roaring Forks.

Nana and I split the tuna sandwich and it was SO good. The kids had more pizza and chicken I’m sure and I think DH had the Roast Beef Sandwich, which is always good.

Then of course we had to take a few more pics outside – we were using the shortcut across the courtyard to get to our room – that was AWESOME. Couldn’t take the stroller, but Wyatt and Annie were able to run across in no time and grab food.

I know that’s not a real long update, but I really should go pack some more while the kids are sleeping. I also need to make a Target list for tomorrow. I know I need a memory card for my video cam so I can catch the big reveal on Tuesday. Of course these next 2 days are packed with school, 2 Basketball games for Wy, Dance for Annie and preschool for Cassidy. I will be SO happy when Tuesday night rolls around and we are driving to MSP!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Oh yeah, if you guys aren't morning people the night before would likely be ideal. They're gonna love it no matter when you tell them, I'm sure!

We've decided on Tues night for sure. We are going to drive down to MSP that night instead of in the morning. We live about 3 hrs away, so even if we don't leave till 8-8:30 pm we'll be OK. Wyatt has a basketball game at 4:30 in a town 35 miles away so we are going to tell them when he and DH get back from that. I usually go to his games too, but wont' be going to that one.

Instead I will be frantically trying to load the car without the girls noticing. Not that they would...lol they are pretty easily distracted. I'll tell them to clean the gerbil cage and they will keep busy I'm sure.

Then when they boys get home we'll send Wyatt to the shower and get the surprise all laid out and when he get's out we're gonna drop the bomb - actually better let him get dressed first....

 

[MissMaryQC]

Tomorrow! You guys start your adventure tomorrow!!

Super excited for you, and I can't wait to see the reveal pics, maybe even a video?!

I know the whole family will be so excited to celebrate Annie's Golden Birthday!

Nana has arrived, rooms are switched, I learned they have horse back riding in WDW! I'd say this is a great update!

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ah boo to no pictures for the horse ride, but still, I'm sure it was a great and fun experience.

Oh my, seeing these pictures is getting me so pumped to stay there.

OMG this reveal is going to be so amazing!!! I hope you are able to share it here. Have a GREAT trip!!!!

 

[MusicMicha]

Nice little update! We are traveling home tomorrow, Have an amazing trip!