"Mom, this is like a whole new Disney!" New 7/30 - pg 43 - Final Thoughts & PTR Link

[DisMomAmy]

I think resort/down days are soooooo needed during a vacation! Great idea. Sorry about the smoke but bravo for you, asking them to head to the smoking area. Gross!!!

About the smokers... I could feel myself getting madder & madder so I just bit the bullet and told them it was bothering us. Funny story to go with that... Alex & Zach know that smoking can kill you... but apparently Alex thinks people are going to drop dead instantly when they smoke... it's always funny to see how he looks at people who are smoking. Of course I try to explain it to him...

Down time is hugely important! I am mildly worried I don't have enough planned how, is it wrong if our full resort day is the day we move to Universal?



I would think your prints would be ok as long as they were in decent frames in a bathroom but I guess it depends on the ventilation situation in there....

After peaking at your most recent update (need to go back and look at it more), I would agree...

I get mad at Tim when he uses the bathroom fan in the winter... I like him to open the door after his shower and have all of that nice warm, moist air pour into the rest of the house! So I guess any moisture problem we have is my fault... but it's not the point of mold or anything gross like that.

It is a good idea to take a break, and not having to rush is always a plus! It is vacation after all!

What a nice relaxing day at the pool!!!

Thanks! I think it was more relaxing for me, Karen & K than for Nancy, Tim & Jeff...

 

[DisMomAmy]

When I left off, we had spent a great morning at the pool & Jeff, Karen & K were leaving to head home. Here are a few of Nancy's pictures I didn't post last time:

Zach in Karen's hat:

When Jeff, Karen & K were leaving:

After they left & we helped Zach pull himself together, we decided to head over to DHS! It was a Fantasmic night and I sort of kept that in the back of my head, just in case we felt like catching the show. We also had a dinner ADR at 50’s PTC – we had all been there before and knew Nancy enjoyed it a lot last time so we were looking forward to it again. But our first stop was the ticket window to upgrade the 5 day tickets to 6 days. Total cost… $9.58 for the three tickets (I didn’t need to upgrade my ticket because I had gotten and AP and Nancy paid for her separately.) For those of you who don’t already know this… don’t be afraid to add days to your tickets – it’s super cheap to do so! They only charge you the difference between a five day ticket and a six day ticket (in our situation).

Once we had dealt with the tickets we headed right to RnRC.

Alex was determined to ride… and before dinner. None of us get motion sick (except Tim with spinning) so I don’t know why Alex worries about this, (I think it might be from a book he read where someone turned green after eating popcorn then going on a rollercoaster) but he is always worried about going on rollercoasters after eating!

We had another great ride – Nancy sat out again. She took this picture of ToT while she waited for us:

After RnRC we headed to 50’s PTC.

Nope... this isn't the place:

Here it is!

Waiting...

Heading to our table:

We had never had a problem with the server messing around with Alex so we didn’t bother to tell her about his autism. Actually, one of the times I told them about him, they told me not to worry that they usually don’t mess around with the kids. Well this backfired on us this time. Alex was really getting into Star Wars stuff so Tim was looking up the names of characters on his blackberry. Alex was writing them down and indicating whether they were good or bad. The waitress kept yelling at Tim for the phone – “we don’t have cell phones in the 50’s… put it away”. Then Alex kept arguing it wasn’t the 50s. Then he got in trouble and had to set the table. He was pretty upset. When the waitress came back we told her and I think she felt bad. She didn’t really joke around for the rest of the night. Zach didn’t really know what to think of the whole situation. I think he felt bad for Alex so he offered to set the table for him. The food was good, as usual, and the desserts were awesome, as usual! Stuffed full, we made our way out of the restaurant and headed toward TSM.


Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued from last post...

After leaving the 50's PTC we decided to go to TSM!! We saw this marching band along the way:

Alex thinks he wants to learn to play the tuba so he thought this was great!

When we got to TSM Zach started begging us to to ride alone… The CM said it was OK so we made sure he was in a cart right next to us and let him. I rode with Tim and Alex rode with Nancy. I’m sure she let him win!

After TSM we decided to ride Star Tours again. We went the long way via the Streets of America and found a few more souvenirs along the way.

Continued next post...

 

[DisMomAmy]

While I was taking the boys on Star Tours, Tim & Nancy combed the gift shop for a Luke action figure… the one we didn’t have and Alex really wanted. Luckily Nancy found one! But she didn’t want to give it to Alex yet since she didn’t have anything for Zach. The boys were suspicious about the bag, but didn’t question her too much about it. I don’t remember when she gave it to him or what she gave Zach, but he loved it!

After Star Tours we headed back to Sunset Blvd. making this stop along the way:

Zach decided he was ready to try ToT again! But Alex didn’t want to!!

Tim took Alex to RnRC. Zach & I headed to ToT... He asked for his headphones then posed for this picture:

When we got up to the little room with the movie, I asked if we could skip it. The CM let us… I don't know if it had anything to do with Zach's GAC that we had used to access the ride or if they would do that for anyone, but I was happy!! The CM had us wait outside the door and she kept peaking inside. When the movie finished, she opened the doors back up and let us in, we just walked through the room and joined the rest of the group we would have been with.

Do you think he rode? Did we have to escape down the chicken elevator?

 

[Native NYer]

The ticket upgrade was cheap! That definitely makes adding a day worth it.
Hmmm I think he rode ToT.

 

[DisMomAmy]

The ticket upgrade was cheap! That definitely makes adding a day worth it.
Hmmm I think he rode ToT.

The difference between an adult 3 day ticket & 10 day ticket is only about $25! And they only make you pay the difference if you add days.

 

[karebear23]

Tim took Alex to RnRC. Zach & I headed to ToT... He asked for his headphones then posed for this picture:

When we got up to the little room with the movie, I asked if we could skip it. The CM let us… I don't know if it had anything to do with Zach's GAC that we had used to access the ride or if they would do that for anyone, but I was happy!! The CM had us wait outside the door and she kept peaking inside. When the movie finished, she opened the doors back up and let us in, we just walked through the room and joined the rest of the group we would have been with.

Do you think he rode? Did we have to escape down the chicken elevator?

I've always wondered if they would let you skip this. DD wants to ride...but I think the preshow would be a bit scary?

Yum 50's Prime time! Love it!
Looks like you all had a nice time at the pool!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

oh how fun, a bonus night, and not a bad add on cost at all. Love the picture in front of ToT, he looks so cute with his headphones. Was he really scared or pretending? I hope he rides again.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I hope Alex won't be too upset that Star Tours will be closed when we go in Feb/March.

 

[Peter Pan Fan 22]

It looks like you guys had a relaxing morning at your resort. I had planned a resort day on our trip too, but it never happened. My family is too antsy. My dad definitely enjoys some lounging time, but most of my family would rather go, go, go!

I Love those Animal Kingdom prints! When I get my own house I'm so gonna have a Disney themed room. I'd like to have a Disney inspired kitchen. I'm already planning it all out... even though I have no plans to get my own place anytime soon.

You took some great pics of The Streets of America! We never seem to spend much time just looking at all the details there.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay for three updates!!! What a fun evening at DHS! Too bad about Alex getting in "trouble" at Primetime! I better remember to let the kids know it is a possibility. Connor would fall to pieces if he really thought he got in trouble.

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Your boys are just so cute!

Poor Alex...getting picked on at dinner.

Can't wait to see if he rode ToT!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I've always wondered if they would let you skip this. DD wants to ride...but I think the preshow would be a bit scary?

Yum 50's Prime time! Love it!
Looks like you all had a nice time at the pool!

Zach was definitely most scared of the preshow! I was really happy that they let him skip it.

50's Prime Time is always yummy!

oh how fun, a bonus night, and not a bad add on cost at all. Love the picture in front of ToT, he looks so cute with his headphones. Was he really scared or pretending? I hope he rides again.

He was really scared, but he was hamming it up for the camera in that picture.

I hope Alex won't be too upset that Star Tours will be closed when we go in Feb/March.

I've already started talking about the new ride so that he knows the old will be closed next time (even though he doesn't know about the trip yet). I think he'll be OK. I can't wait for the new one though!!

It looks like you guys had a relaxing morning at your resort. I had planned a resort day on our trip too, but it never happened. My family is too antsy. My dad definitely enjoys some lounging time, but most of my family would rather go, go, go!

I Love those Animal Kingdom prints! When I get my own house I'm so gonna have a Disney themed room. I'd like to have a Disney inspired kitchen. I'm already planning it all out... even though I have no plans to get my own place anytime soon.

You took some great pics of The Streets of America! We never seem to spend much time just looking at all the details there.

My family is usually too antsy... but it worked out well with the extended family along with us. I'll plan some down time next year... we'll see if it actually happens!

Yeay for three updates!!! What a fun evening at DHS! Too bad about Alex getting in "trouble" at Primetime! I better remember to let the kids know it is a possibility. Connor would fall to pieces if he really thought he got in trouble.

Yes - I'd give him a heads up that they are just fooling around!

Your boys are just so cute!

Poor Alex...getting picked on at dinner.

Can't wait to see if he rode ToT!

Thanks Julie!!

Alex got over it pretty quickly but he was definitely not into the game she was playing at dinner!

 

[DisMomAmy]

When I left off, Zach and I had decided to ride ToT!!

We had just skipped the preshow and were making our way toward the elevators! Zach was very nervous, but the preshow was the biggest hurdle. We had made it this far before but chickened out at last minute. Would we make it this time?


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He did it!!

I bought the photo but had trouble scanning it today so I just took a picture of it... Zach was afraid his headphones would fly off his head so he made me hold them. I think they would have been fine... they are pretty tight.

We bought a t-shirt to commemorate the occassion!

A proud Gramma took a picture of us in front of the Hollywood Hotel when we met back up at RnRC:

After our rides on ToT & RnRC we decided to call it a night & headed out of the park back to Vistana. I didn't even suggest F! since we were at a good point to say good-bye to DHS. Plus we needed to get a good night's sleep in preparation for our last Disney day!

Daily recap: A nice laid back day at the pool, followed by dinner and a few rides at DHS. Uncomfortable situation at 50s PTC for Alex… Zach finally rode ToT!!

Up next: Our last day - where did we go? Julie - do you remember what park I emailed you from?

 

[Native NYer]

Yay he made it through ToT!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hurray for Zach riding Tower of Terror!

So, did he like it? Does he want to ride it again sometime?

 

[JPFamilyMom]

WOW!!!! Zach you are so brave. Mom give him a high five from me. That is so great. I'm such a chicken. LOVE the picture from the ride and after the ride with the new shirt.

Sounds like a great day to me... relaxation...and overcoming a fear.

 

[Hallowishes]

wow zach did it! terrific! i love the t-shirt he chose!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Yay he made it through ToT!!!

Hurray for Zach riding Tower of Terror!

So, did he like it? Does he want to ride it again sometime?

Oh yeah... I guess I should have mentioned that... he loved it!!

WOW!!!! Zach you are so brave. Mom give him a high five from me. That is so great. I'm such a chicken. LOVE the picture from the ride and after the ride with the new shirt.

Sounds like a great day to me... relaxation...and overcoming a fear.

I'll pass along the high five! It's funny because Alex is our daredevil, but he only rode ToT and seemed to be a little freaked out... he says he'll just ride it once a year now.

wow zach did it! terrific! i love the t-shirt he chose!

Thanks! The shirt is a little big, but I wanted it to last. Always thinking ahead to the next trip...

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Amy! I'm back from our camping trip (agreed that it is a MUST for a family with boys!) and all caught up!

Love the updates! Zach's Phineas and Ferb shirt is way cute! Sorry about the minor meltdown. I've always thought it would be fun to meet up with family at Disney, but the more I read these reports, the more I think maybe we should just stick with the 5 of us! The nightmares of touring with a big group might not be worth it....especially with me being a "always have a plan" type of girl and my extended family not so much!

A laid back resort day is a great idea! The pool looks fabulous! Good for you for saying something to the smokers.

Yay for Zach for braving TOT!