More Fun Than Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock-Adventures of the Sweet 16!New8-15

[Queenofallthings]

Those pics made me weepy, they are beautiful!

 

[dismagiclover]

Love the pictures! Those are the moments that Disney is all about

 

[marvali]

Okay, all caught up again! Great pictures and updates. I always love to watch everyone's faces when they experience things for the first time at Disney; seeing the castle, kids faces lighting up when they spot Mickey!

I can still remember the excitement in DS20's face the first time we took him there when he was 2-1/2. It was a February, low crowds and we could just let him walk through MK at his own pace. It was fun to see the things that caught his attention and make his face light up.

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Love those firework pictures.

 

[dseth]

All caught up! Looks like a great trip so far! Lots of pictures to scrap!! Jen I think you have inspired us to drive in November...it's just the two of us this trip so I'm going to grant DH his wish.... He's even more excited about this trip now. I'm going to take the Southwest credits and use them on a girls trip in December I think

Ready for more updates ladies

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Those pics made me weepy, they are beautiful!

Thanks! I couldn't believe I'd missed them when DH showed them to me. There's just so many pictures - but those definitely stand out!

Love the pictures! Those are the moments that Disney is all about

They really are! We were kinda hot and stressed after the crowds, but the kids were just watching the fireworks. Those priorities come back looking at those!

Okay, all caught up again! Great pictures and updates. I always love to watch everyone's faces when they experience things for the first time at Disney; seeing the castle, kids faces lighting up when they spot Mickey!

I can still remember the excitement in DS20's face the first time we took him there when he was 2-1/2. It was a February, low crowds and we could just let him walk through MK at his own pace. It was fun to see the things that caught his attention and make his face light up.

I think that no trip will ever live up to the first one we took with the kids(Haley and Jack, at least) in 2005. We still had meltdowns and issues, but it was the first time the kids saw all of it. DH and I still talk about that trip and how it all seemed extra magical to all four of us.

Love those firework pictures.

Thanks! Is it bad that, as soon as I got done oooohing and ahhhing over them, the first thing out of my mouth was, "Those HAVE to go into the TR!"

All caught up! Looks like a great trip so far! Lots of pictures to scrap!! Jen I think you have inspired us to drive in November...it's just the two of us this trip so I'm going to grant DH his wish.... He's even more excited about this trip now. I'm going to take the Southwest credits and use them on a girls trip in December I think

Ready for more updates ladies

I can't WAIT to scrapbook these. I need to get busy uploading pictures to Walgreens so I can mail-order them (cheaper - 9 cents/print). I really think driving would work - even more so with just the two of you. You can meander if you want to, you can drive as long as you feel like it, not as many potty breaks.... Of course, the first potty break we took was because of DH, so maybe not!

The kids are up at "Grammy Camp" (my MIL likes to take just the kids - no parents - every summer for a few days and do lots of special things with them. They actually called me from Tim and Shelley's not too long ago! ( Hi, Shelley!) I have the next day's report started, and am currently uploading waaaaay too many pictures to Photobucket, so I'll get it sometime soon! I'm trying to knock out both my classes before the kids come home on Thursday, so I'll at least be online most of the time! Tonight I promised DH that we could watch a movie, so it looks like the original Iron Man is in my future. Be back soon!

 

[marvali]

I am worried about buses at Jambo since supposedly they load Kidani first. My friend was there for a SWW in May and said that they actually changed the order to help those at Jambo. I hope this wasn't a one time deal.

When is your trip? We were there last July 4th staying in Kidani. We very seldom saw any issues with the buses being crowded when we got on, or even after Jambo loaded. The difference may be possibly two things though. One, Kidani wasn't completely open yet, only about 3/4s so it may have more occupants now affecting the buses. Secondly, we did a lot of rope drops, so if you are later leaving I can imagine the buses being more full, although you would expect that no matter which resort.

I think that no trip will ever live up to the first one we took with the kids(Haley and Jack, at least) in 2005. We still had meltdowns and issues, but it was the first time the kids saw all of it. DH and I still talk about that trip and how it all seemed extra magical to all four of us.

Yeah, we have an old VHS recording of DS20 on that first trip at 2-1/2 in the car as we were driving up to MK. At that time they had billboards along the road announcing MK. The first one you barely saw the tops of Mickey's ears, and each successive billboard showed a little more until Mickey was peering over the top welcoming you. He was in his car seat in the back, and each time he saw a billboard he would say in a typical high pitched child's voice.....Mickeeeee! You never forget things like that for sure! That is just one of many "first time" memories.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

When is your trip? We were there last July 4th staying in Kidani. We very seldom saw any issues with the buses being crowded when we got on, or even after Jambo loaded. The difference may be possibly two things though. One, Kidani wasn't completely open yet, only about 3/4s so it may have more occupants now affecting the buses. Secondly, we did a lot of rope drops, so if you are later leaving I can imagine the buses being more full, although you would expect that no matter which resort.

We leave in six days. I have read that the park levels were suprisingly low last week. Hoping that is next week's trend too. I think now that Kidani is finished the buses have grown more crowded. We will do rope drop; glad to hear that was a good bus time.

 

[belle8306]

Tuesday
MK

When I last left off, we were just getting to sleep. We had to be up early for EMH. When the alarm went off it was tough to get up, but we knew that the crowds would be lower so we got going.

Will and Tim on the bus to MK.

Today's group included:Bryan, Jen, the kids, MIL, FIL, UT and Tim and I. We got through the gates in time to see the welcome show.

This time they had the "Fire Marshall" introduce the show. The last time I saw it, they had the "Mayor".

We headed straight for Fantasyland. It wasn't crowded at all. The kids rode Dumbo and the Carousel first.

My FIL, Tim and I rode Snow White. At this point we kind of split up. Bryan, Jen, the kids and my MIL, Sue stayed together. Tim, UT, and my FIL headed to It's a Small World.

We wanted to go to the Haunted Mansion next but they weren't letting people into Liberty Square yet.

So, we headed over to Philharmagic. It was a nice break from the heat. It was another hot one, even at 9:00 in the morning. While we were inside we saw Jen's mom and Aunt in the theater. The show was cute as always.


We headed over to the Haunted Mansion and it was a quick 15 minute wait.

We wanted to check out The Hall of Presidents. The were just starting a new show when we walked in. I haven't seen it since they did the refurbishment.
We walked over to the Jungle Cruise. Our skipper was funny. I really enjoy this ride.

Then we decided we needed something cool to drink. What is better than a Dole Whip! We had to wait in line for a while to get them, but it was the perfect snack to have on a hot day. We continued on, stopping for some photopass pictures, and heading into stores to cool off and to give Tim a chance to trade pins. Before we knew it, it was time to meet up with the rest of our group for lunch.

Today we were eating at Liberty Tree Tavern. This was a first for us. I had the pilgrim's feast and Tim had chicken and noodles. They were both good, but the best part was dessert: The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. That was really good! I think Will was very comfortable in my MIL's lap. (Yes, that is Mickey confetti on his face).

We decided that we wanted to take a break after lunch and head back to the resort.

We rested and cooled off. We had plans to meet my brother and SIL at Downtown Disney. They just happened to be in town for a conference for a couple of days and it overlapped with our trip. I was glad we were able to have dinner with them.

We ended up waiting for a Downtown Disney bus for at least 40 minutes. It had me really missing the boats to Downtown Disney at Port Orleans Riverside. We met my brother at the Christmas store and spent some time looking around. Then we went to Wolfgang Puck Express. Tim and I love eating there. They have a great menu. I had the BBQ chicken pizza and Tim had the pepperoni pizza and they were both really good. We gave one of our desserts to my brother and SIL to split. We all had the cheesecake which was also good.

Then we walked around and explored the stores. It was cooler, so it was nice to be outside. The Disney Store was a madhouse! They had to be up early for their conference the next day, so we headed back to the buses. This time the bus came pretty quickly. We headed back to CBR and we were beat after our busy day.

Next up: Epcot, LeCellier

 

[belle8306]

We leave in six days. I have read that the park levels were suprisingly low last week. Hoping that is next week's trend too. I think now that Kidani is finished the buses have grown more crowded. We will do rope drop; glad to hear that was a good bus time.

Yay for 6 days! I hope that the crowds are low then too!

The kids are up at "Grammy Camp" (my MIL likes to take just the kids - no parents - every summer for a few days and do lots of special things with them. They actually called me from Tim and Shelley's not too long ago! ( Hi, Shelley!) I have the next day's report started, and am currently uploading waaaaay too many pictures to Photobucket, so I'll get it sometime soon! I'm trying to knock out both my classes before the kids come home on Thursday, so I'll at least be online most of the time! Tonight I promised DH that we could watch a movie, so it looks like the original Iron Man is in my future. Be back soon!

Hi Jen,
The kids were great here. We had a "pizza picnic". I am going over tomorrow to do some crafting with them. I enjoyed Iron Man. Hopefully, you will too.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i love the picture of him sleeping with the mickey confetti on his face, its great.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Great update!

We got very used to the boat taking us to DTD when we were staying at SSR last summer, I loved taking that little boat,

I love the toffee cake at LTT....heaven on a plate!

 

[belle8306]

i love the picture of him sleeping with the mickey confetti on his face, its great.

That was really funny! He was out!

Great update!

We got very used to the boat taking us to DTD when we were staying at SSR last summer, I loved taking that little boat,

I love the toffee cake at LTT....heaven on a plate!

The boat is such a relaxing ride. It was a nice alternative to the buses. The cake was really good!

 

[dismagiclover]

Great day! I love the MK opening show. It makes me teary eyed. I've only to be to Liberty Tree Tavern when they had the buffet. I'd like to try the lunch menu. Those DTD buses always seem to be the worse of them all. I'm glad you were able to meet up with your brother and his wife.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I Liberty Square. I know there isn't much there but I just adore it. How did you like lunch at LTT?? I'm debating going there in September.

 

[belle8306]

Great day! I love the MK opening show. It makes me teary eyed. I've only to be to Liberty Tree Tavern when they had the buffet. I'd like to try the lunch menu. Those DTD buses always seem to be the worse of them all. I'm glad you were able to meet up with your brother and his wife.

The opening show is really cute. LTT was good. It is a lot bigger inside than than I though. Seeing my brother and SIL was fun. It was nice that they ended up down there at the same time.

I Liberty Square. I know there isn't much there but I just adore it. How did you like lunch at LTT?? I'm debating going there in September.

I love Liberty Square too. LTT was really good. I think you will love the themeing. The Ooey Gooey Toffee cake was wonderful!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

I always liked getting to MK at RD. You can get so much done before most people start straggling in. I cant wait to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express.

 

[belle8306]

I always liked getting to MK at RD. You can get so much done before most people start straggling in. I cant wait to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express.

We were able to finish Fantasyland before 9:00. It was great! WPE is wonderful! I like how it is a CS place but they bring you your food and refill your drinks like it is a TS.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

(Ok, I know you've heard some of this from Shelley...I'll try not to cover the same information too much!)

As Shelley mentioned, we were up BRIGHT and early Tuesday morning to hit EMH at the Magic Kingdom. We’ve found that we can get some serious rides knocked off our list if we are there first thing in the morning. Though we have also noticed that it’s more effective when we’re not there in the summer! But the alarm went off at 5:45 (ugh! It’s like being at work!) and I got up out of bed to start the day. DH and I got completely ready before waking the kids…they’re still at the easy stage where as long as we have time to feed them and get them dressed, they’re ok.

We hopped on a bus fairly quickly, if I remember correctly. I don’t ever remember having issues catching a bus first thing in the morning. We might’ve waited 5-10 minutes. My kids would much rather sit with other people on the bus, of course.

Haley was with her Daddy, though.

We got to the park even before rope drop on an EMH morning – wow! We cleared the security line and the ticket line. I remember asking Shelley if they did the opening show on EMH mornings – I’d never seen it before. To my delight, they did!

I enjoyed the show – so very Disney! Here’s a picture of the family that was lucky enough to get to open the park today…wow, how early do you have to be there on an EMH morning???

When the show started, Haley and Jack were having trouble seeing from where we were. There was lots of space up at the railing, so I told them they could go up there as long as they STAYED THERE. I told them I’d be back to get them as soon as the show was over. So as the characters were loading back into the train, I made a beeline for the railing through the people piling into the walkway under the train station…and I couldn’t find them.

It took me all of about 15 seconds to have tears in my eyes. All I could think about was that someone had told them to move along once the show ended, and they’d been swept up in the crowd. How would we find them?? Thankfully, I turned around (Sue might have been calling my name to get my attention) and there they were. They’d been chasing after the streamers that were shut off at the end of the show.

You can tell I’m not in the best frame of mind in this picture!

Now that everyone was back together, we followed the crowd into the park. Jack was looking at his map.

Haley had decided the night before that she really wanted to ride Dumbo. On our first trip in 2005, we’d hit an EMH and decided to ride Dumbo first. For some reason, she refused (she was four, which seems to be the magic age to not want to do random things/get freaked out by characters and some shows at Disney for our family – Jack was the same way) and just decided she didn’t want to. But she’s seen video of Jack and I doing it and decided she wanted to do it at least once. But we ended up going the wrong way around the attraction (thank you, Mommy) and by the time we found the end of the line, it was pretty obvious that the majority of the people at the park had the same idea. Haley took one look at the line and said, “I don’t want to wait.” So we hit the carousel instead.

And then Jack had to have his turn at pulling out the sword (he loves doing this)

We had split up into smaller groups before now, but kind of all conglomerated together again and tried to figure out which ride with a short line to ride next (never a bad thing!). Someone suggested Small World (Haley’s perennial favorite), but I asked them to wait for my mom and aunt, as they had mentioned riding with her. (Bad idea, since Mom and Aunt Dee ended up hitting a bunch of rides on their own once they got there, and this was one of them!) So everyone else headed to Peter Pan and Will and I walked around a bit. Bryan called to suggest we run and get Splash Mountain Fastpasses. I’d never ridden Splash before now, and that was one of my big goals for this trip. So I found them in a part of the line where they were accessible (there is a lot of construction going on over here, so the queue seemed a little different) and grabbed their tickets before heading off with Will again.

Of course, the path to that part of the park isn’t far from Peter Pan, so it didn’t take me long to remember (thanks to the CM that was manning the rope – he was very friendly though) that Frontierland isn’t open for EMH. He suggested I try Tomorrowland, so I thought I’d head to Space Mountain. I cut around the side of the castle and who did we find?

There was no one there! I think we waited for one little girl. I asked Will if he wanted to see her, and he was saying “Yeah!” and all but jumping out of the stroller almost before I got the question finished. He is definitely a ladies man…more evidence to come on that later in the trip.

Anyway, I was in a bit of a funk this morning (or for half the trip, if you ask my DH). I was worried about getting Space Mountain Fastpasses in case one of the others didn’t want them. (Why I didn’t pick up my phone and call them, in case they weren’t on the ride yet, I don’t know…) So I wandered halfway into Tomorrowland, also wondering about Buzz Lightyear passes, before I gave up and wheeled Will back to Fantasyland to wait. I did manage to snap a picture or two while I was wandering aimlessly, though…

We didn’t stop for Mary and Burt, since it was only Will and I. But I at least got a good picture!

I found a shaded spot in Fantasyland and sat myself on a bench while Will got to get out of the stroller and stretch his legs. Not two minutes after we’d arrived, though, my phone rang. It was Bryan – they were out of the ride and on their way to Tomorrowland to catch Buzz. So, we got back up, Will got back in the stroller, and we headed off. DH waited for me to catch up and saw that I was frustrated. At the time, I was hoping my mood had to do with the fact that I hadn’t eaten breakfast. I’d been determined to get a cinnamon roll from the bakery for breakfast instead of having cereal in the room. So DH took Will and went to meet the others while I went and got breakfast. Of course, the line at the bakery was as long as some of the rides, but at this point I didn’t care. Besides…it would have air conditioning! About 20 minutes later (I think…I didn’t time it, but that’s what it felt like), I had these beauties.

No, they weren’t all for me! My MIL had also expressed interest, so I’d gotten her one as well. And there was no way my kids wouldn’t want some. I called DH as I was leaving but got no answer – I figured they were on the ride. So I sat down at the little tables outside the Plaza and had my breakfast (yes, I ate a whole one by myself!). It was good…not quite as good as my MIL’s homemade ones, though. Or maybe that’s just what I’m used to. Definitely a good use of a snack credit, though!

Continued on next post....

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

I’d texted DH when he hadn’t answered his phone, and he called me when he saw it. I figured out where they were and headed there. They were actually going back into the ride to try to find Haley’s hat, which had apparently fallen off her head while they were on the ride. When I found them, they were in the Merchant of Venus and hadn’t been able to find it and Haley was upset. See, it wasn’t her hat – it was Jack’s Darth Vader hat (she’d left hers at home). We assured her that no one was upset with her (Jack is my laid back one – he kept telling her it was ok, though I’m sure that had more to do with the fact that he had another hat on his own head more than how attached he was to the hat) and that we’d check the lost and found later. The kids and Bryan snacked on one of the cinnamon rolls while we made our plans. Sue was also there, and we decided that DH would take the Will (a diaper change was sorely needed), Sue would get FP for Splash Mountain, and I would take Jack and Haley to wait at the entrance of Toontown for rope drop so we could see Tinkerbelle and friends. We all split up and headed out.

This was our first time seeing the fairies. In 2008, they hadn’t been available yet. Haley had been talking excitedly about meeting them. We arrived at Toontown at about 9:40 and settled in behind the small crowd that had already gathered. We didn’t have to wait for long, though. Haley and Jack had tried to make themselves comfortable on the ground in the shade when a buzz ran through the crowd – the CMs at the rope had announced that we would be going in early! We waited a few more minutes, sang “Happy Birthday” to a few people in the audience, and we were off! I think they let us in about 10 minutes early. We, of course, made a beeline for the Judge's Tent! (Isn't that what it's called?)

We walked right in (it ended up being nice not having a stroller, because we ended up passing lots of people who had to stop to park) and got in line – again, we were glad for the air conditioning! Right after we got into the official line, I heard my name – DH was behind me! Jack had made it clear that he wasn’t quite as excited about meeting these characters as Haley, so he left with DH and Will to wait for us in the store. Haley busied herself watching the little video clips, and the line moved pretty quickly.

I think there might have been fifteen people ahead of us, tops, including parents and other adults. We really did well! Before we knew it, we were shepherded into the hall leading to Pixie Hollow by the friendly CM. Haley was amazed by this place. There is a graphic that flits along the hall of a fairy – all you can see is her pixie dust trail, though. Because we were the last group let in, she was able to walk along the hall and follow it in at least one direction. Here she is posing with some of the details in the queue:

And then we were next. The doors opened, and who came to get escort us in but….

I was so upset – remember how we’d bought these cameras on Wednesday, and left Friday? Well, my camera had gotten stuck on the red-eye reduction and I couldn’t get it to change. I had to settle for a more basic setting to keep it from delaying when I took a picture, and I wasn't ready to take a picture of Fawn taking Haley’s hand and leading her in to Pixie Hollow. I did get a good look at Haley’s face, though…priceless!

Here is Fawn showing her wobbly curtsy (Haley was wearing a shirt that said “It’s good to be the princess,” and Fawn was talking about how she wouldn’t make a good princess – the interaction with them was amazing!)

And posing with Haley

Once we were done with Fawn, we hit the big draw….

Tink was very gracious. She asked where we were from, and when Haley said “Indiana,” she immediately asked if we knew Tiger Lilly, since that sounded like a place she’d like to visit. It took Haley a minute, but she snapped out of the “I can’t believe I’m here” phase and grinned and shook her head. I was afraid I would have to explain it there for a second.

After Tink, we waited for Terrence. While we waited, we realized that next to Tink was the Autumn Scepter from the Tinkerbelle and the Lost Treasure video.

You've gotta love the details Disney includes!!

And then Terrence was ready. He was very friendly and talkative as well (I can’t imagine how much they have to practice signing their character names to be able to sign them while holding these conversations!). He also asked about Tiger Lilly visiting us, as well as a few other things.

And that was the end of our trip to Pixie Hollow. Haley took my hand as we walked out, and I asked her what she thought of Pixie Hollow. She looked at me with a big grin on her face, and said, “I can’t stop smiling!” That’s all I needed to hear. I’d done my duty as a mom.


Back with more later – I've got to run out to school to pick up some things for my grad class. Coming up: more heat, a yummy lunch, and I finally get to ride Splash Mountain!