My Deep Descent into Disney Madness/May 2013...updated 6x 1/1 and completed

[Carable]

Day 7 - May the Force be with Us

At this point, my crew was seriously overtired and cranky, they were just not prepared for the length and exhaustion of Disney even though I tried to prepare the adults. I did. The kids and I were fine, but the rest of the party were poopers. So, we ultimately decided not to get to HS at opening and slept in.
Que Sera Sera.


I actually got up and ready early and headed down to the Contemporary shops to pick up the gifts we had sent over from HS on Wednesday. I had gotten the wrong opening time from somewhere, so ended up just hanging out down there looking at the mural for 30 minutes. Oh well, there are WAY worse places to waiting at. I did pick up a dress Id been eyeing, a bottle of the Grapefruit Bergamot lotion, my favorite Minnie I Dont Do Mornings mug and a few souvenirs for the peeps back home.

Soon though, we were here...

HS was busy, but not as bad as I thought it would be when we arrived at 9:45am. It was really beginning to get steamy in FL by the end of this week, but there was no rain and that made me happy. Hot, but happy. Of course, as I had learned on these boards, my first stop was TSM to grab the elusive fastpasses. This was my biggest worry about going later, that we would miss the fastpasses. I ran ahead of everyone, literally ran, to get them and SCORE, we got a time for 5:50-6:50!!!

I met up with everyone at the stage watching the Storm Trooper show. We were soon scooted back a few feet to make way for the parade. By some lucky coincidence, we had a GREAT view of the characters as they finished the parade, walked RIGHT PAST US and into a holding area before going on stage. I highly recommend it. I mean, LOOK at some of these pics!

My son's fav:

My daughter's fav:

Pointing right at us!

We decided to hit up the beloved Muppets...I grew up on their TV show, and I loved the show.

these guys!!!!

We went to the Writers Stop to cool off and wait for our Sci Fi ADR. Poor Finley was having some constipation issues that would plague us for the rest of the trip&Note to self: DONT forget to bring Miralax next time. All I can say is that 4 times in the Sci Fi bathroom was 4 times too many, it is way too small and crowded. I considered getting the famous carrot cake cookie but decided against it (a decision I would live to regret).

Soon, we were seated in a big blue car. It was the quietest, easiest meal we had in Disney. Seriously, it was cool, the kids loved the movie, I loved the food. This will be a definite redo for our family, and to think it was almost canceled. We actually didnt use our credits here, but paid out of pocket because we had already allocated them. I just didnt want to miss out on a classic Disney experience. I got the blackberry shake, a special one in honor of Star Wars, although I could never figure out the reason why? It was yummy.
I split a burger with my mom, and it was plenty of food for a noon meal. The kids didnt want to leave. J

I won't subject you to the rest of my horrible food photos, I have got to get a better lens and some lessons before I go next time for these low light photos!

We split up again so the boys could do their Star Wars thing, which Finley just wasnt into. I hated not getting to see Nolan interact, but knew it was best. We ran to FastPass the Mermaid show because she is our FAVORITE.

Meanwhile, we say Disney Jr. since she still watches those shows a little bit. She does love Sophia and Doc McStuffins. It was cute, and she played along but I could tell shes slowly growing out of the Jr. phase. Sigh. We went outside to look at characters, but she was over waiting and autographs by now so we bypassed them.

We were just in time to watch the Mermaid show and it was just as cute as I remembered it. Finn loved Ursula and decided she must live at HS all the time now. The Ariel they had in that show was truly amazing. Finns favorites were Max and of course, the handsome Prince Eric. Seriously, she would rather have met and flirted with the Princes this trip. Who can blame her? And who can I speak to make that happen next time???

Next we bought what ended up being her favorite souvenir of the trip, a Disney charm bracelet and I let her pick any three charms she wanted. Now, we cant wait to go back and get more!

Now, I ushered my parents and Finn to the animation studio. I have fond memories of the old attraction where you could watch the animators work, it was so cool. We stood in the animation class line and there was one 1 seat left, my parents graciously let me have it since Finley wasnt AT ALL interested. It was something I had been looking forward to for months. We drew Goofy and I loved every second of it and it now hangs in my new office!

I never would have know about this little gem without the DIS!

DD and Nana wandered around the kiosks and looked at characters, but she wanted no part of standing in line. We wandered around for a bit and soaked in a little Hollywood magic:

Then we went to meet up with the boys at Mama Melroses. I ran up to get Star Wars FPs and then stopped at Writers Stop to get the cookie. NO COOKIE. I was so sad, how was I going to live without tasting that after all the good reviews. I did buy some Wonderland tea that I have so enjoyed, so it all worked out.

kids loved this snowman by Mama's:

The boys ended up not seeing a lot of characters, as the lines were so long, and the few clone troopers they saw walking around wouldn't stop long enough to engage. They did see Indiana Jones and the Backlot tour...

continued in next post... ​

 

[Carable]

Day 7 - Part 2 - A Quick End

It was time to go to Mama Melrose's that we reserved with the Fantasmic package. We stuffed ourselves, good and truly stuffed ourselves. We got free appetizers and my son could not get enough of the mussels. He asks for them everywhere we go now. We were seated by a window, so the pictures came out pretty well this meal. Let me introduce you to the yumminess of Mama's.

Fresh Mozzarella and Vine-ripened Tomatoes

Mixed Greens Salad

Vegetarian Minestrone

Seafood Arrabbiata

Crispy Calamari

Penne alla Vodka

Charred Strip Steak

dessert tray

The food was yummy although I was a bit disappointed with the desserts. Of them all, the chocolate mousse was the best. Our waiter was Sam and he was a professional Disney waiter, best service of our trip.

After a HOT day and that much food, we were all dragging, even me. I was desperate to use the passes we got with our Mamas meal to see Fantasmic, but I wasnt sure I could do it. We did decide to forgo Star Wars, so I found a nice family and gave them our FPs.

Bye Muppets...

Then we went to my favorite, TOY STORY MANIA. On the way we found a few new friends...

We literally had to chase this trooper down. He was set to sign Nolan's book when he saw Darth Vader and he abruptly left to go escort him. My son was heartbroken, so we trailed after him and found him again.

Finally, it was time for one last spin on the greatest ride EVER:

Then I talked the family into the Great Movie Ride!

I did a little CM research and found out that Sweet Spells might still have the Carrot Cake Cookie, so we wandered over there to grab it. SO HAPPY.

At this point, I decided to go back to the hotel with my DH and kids and get us packed up. I really wanted to see Fantasmic, but it was just going to have to wait until the next trip. DH was going to need my help with the tired kiddos. My parents decided to go on and see it. We took a slow walk out, enjoyed the cooling evening air. In the end, we didnt even get to see half the park, but that leaves more for next time, right? HS is just gorgeous at night and I was glad we had the other morning to enjoy it without the crowds. We walked to the bus and my parents came up a few minutes later. They said the lines were just too long for them at Fantasmic and they were coming home too.

I shuttled the kids off to bed early and I spend an hour and half packing us all up. I wish I had been a little more organized during the week at this point. I was done in time for one last electric light parade though and then I collapsed into bed.

One last day in the magic, how would we spend it???

Continued in next post... ​

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Cara! I'm so glad to see all these updates.

First of all Happy New Year to you and your family!

Ahhh you finally got the carrot cake cookie. I've purchased 5 of the last 6 from Sweet Spells so that's my go-to carrot cake cookie location. One of my favorite treats in all of WDW for sure.

In Fin's adorable pirate make-over photo you can see her adorable dimples so well. What a great photo.

Congratulations on booking a Disney cruise. I'm very tempted to extend our late summer trip and add on the shorter cruise. Just not sure my DH can take that much time off work.

I hope you enjoy your New Year and I look forward to your final update!

 

[Carable]

Day 8 - LAST DAY - Let's finish with a bang!

Dun  Dun  Dun&..Our last Disney day. It was sad, but a bit relieving since everyone was so very tired at this point. We will definitely build in more rest days next time we go.

So, today was extra extra early magic hours at AK. It opened at 7am and I knew from research that to really enjoy the AK, we would need to be there by opening and then get out before it was a sauna. But, since we were checking out that day AND my crew was tired, that wasnt an option. So, I tried to talk us out of AK but my mom really wanted to go. So we packed mostly the night before, but we still ended up having a ton of little stuff to get done. One last cup of coffee with my beloved view&

I send Dad and the kids to the arcade, finished packing, and Mom went to check-in with the bellman. NOTE: We were told the night before that if you want a bellman on a busy morning, you need to call by 9am. I heard people complaining at 10am about the slow bell service. I checked us in on the airline through the hotel the night before, it was EASY, fast and professional. So, once the bellman came, we were free to get our groove on.

DH and I wanted to grab a few ornaments in Liberty Square Christmas shop and the elusive sundress I was looking for (should have bought it when I first saw it), so we took Finley and walked to the Magic Kingdom while my parents took my son straight to AK.

It was a busy, hot morning, but you still cant help but love this place.

. Sadly, our trip got a little rough at this point. On our way out, my daughter had some very serious intestional difficulties like she had earlier in the trip, which translated into an hour and a half in the Main Street bathroom madhouse and a grumpy kid.

We finally got to the bus loop to grab the AK bus, only to find out they dont have one from the MK, so we trekked back to the Toaster in the hot sun with a constipated daughter and a grumpy daddy. Sigh. We just missed the AK bus and ended up opting for the $20 cab ride. What are you going to do, right?

We got in to the AK, and it was my first time ever, and I was so impressed with its beauty. I saw my favorite animal&

We met up with the rest of the fam in Harambe as they disembarked from the Safari. Silly parents stood in the long line instead of grabbing a fast pass&did they not learn anything from me this past week? So we grabbed a FP for us later

and headed to lunch at...

Flame Tree BBQ, another recommendation from the DIS boards. It was not busy, it had great shady outdoor seating and amazing food. Bun was a big generic, but the meat was sublime. Key lime mousse was yummy when I mixed it all together.

Then we wandered over to the Boneyard since we were close and the kids chose it over the Bugs Life show.

Kids absolutely LOVED the dig site, seriously, we could have spend the day there and theyd have been happy as larks. Shade was very welcome, I can tell you that. It really was so much hotter at AK. I did find I had to turn on my teacher voice a few times with some unattended kids who were throwing sand and such.

I did run to grab a Dinosaur FP, just in case I could talk the crew into it riding it (which I didn't).

Then we had to extract the kids and walk quickly back to Harambe for our safari.

I wont bore you with tons of photos, but here are the few that came out. It was a really amazing experience, I cant wait to go on it again in the early morning!

Then we went on the Pangani Walk, but by then it was so crowded and so hot that it was hard to really enjoy what few animals were out. The kids loved the fish and the gorilla. My kids loved the little hut with the cockroaches and lizards, and my son used a picture of this one lizard for a habitat project he did later on in the year. SCORE.

After a brief discussion, we decided to get out of AK before the 3:45 parade. It will leave us more to explore next time, right? Saw this cutie on the way out...

We were back at the Toaster by 4pm. We spend some relaxing time in the air conditioning playing in the arcade one last time and eating one last meal at the Contempo enjoying some Mary Blair artwork.

Then spent those last remaining snack credits and hopped aboard our Magical Express and back to real life.

Final thoughts post up next... ​

 

[Carable]

Parting Thoughts

It was a trip of epic proportions and I’ll never forget the trip that brought me back to the magic again. Here are a few of my thoughts in no particular order...

Dining Plan was too much food for our family, and we didn’t like having to schedule that many sit-down dinners. It felt like we went from reservation to reservation. I might try a QS dining plan next time and just pay out of pocket for a couple of TS options. We won’t do character meals again, it just wasn’t the interaction I was hoping for. One caveat though, I’d like to do one meal at Cindy’s place next time, though!

Epcot was HUGE, I had forgotten really, and I really missed some places I wanted to visit in the World Showcase. It was just too much for the kids on hot days, I wish they were open earlier, it would be a great early morning wander.

I wished I had rode the mountains at MK, it will be my goal next time!

My favorite foods were the Nutella Berry Waffle and Maple Crème Brulee.

We all need to drink water and fiber on our vacations!

I will make sure to schedule days off and do more evening things. I just loved the parks at night.

I want to stay at the LODGE something fierce.

I’ll only squeeze in a water park with a longer vacation, although the kids still think it was a highlight of the trip.

I’ll let DH have a day to go golf and do his own thing.

I’ll let myself do a Disney Spa one day.

I loved the gift card idea for the kids…we put their money they saved and the money we gave them and put on one card. When it’s gone, it’s gone. They were really good about not asking for everything and were more conscientious about what they spent money on.

I’ll definitely have the kids help me plan next time.

I’ll have back-up touring plans in case things aren’t open.

I was proud that we didn’t wait more than 15 minutes for anyone other than Jasmine and she was WORTH it.

Kids + night shows = not gonna happen until we’re older.

Late EMH are amazing.

Schedule in more pool time!

I won’t bring the big camera next time, it was heavy and hot. I’ll invest in a smaller camera for the next trip.

I’ll bring a lighter bag with 2 straps like a backpack.

Photopass+ = great investment

Homemade shirts are awesome!

Thanks for listening to my rambles and bless each of your Disney-loving hearts for taking time to go on this ride with me. May your next trip come quickly and be magical!​

 

[Carable]

Brenda! Thank you so much for reading along, you have been so sweet to a newbie like me. Now that my report is done, I can go back and enjoy everyone else's for awhile now! Congrats on Thread of the Month, so worthy, and I'm looking forward to catching up on your thread.

Our cruise is early August, so we'll be in WDW in mid August...maybe we'll cross paths. I'm also working on a DL trip the next spring, as well. I have definitely caught the bug. Break.

 

[feistygalkmc]

Crafty Time

Well, I'm getting towards the end of my PTR, nothing that exciting other than I'm definitely seeing some changes and use of the park hopper more during the week. I'm also trying to see if I can do an ADR moving around, but the computer system was down AGAIN this afternoon. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. For now, I will share with you the rest of the T-shirts I made.

For Star Wars Weekend Day at HS (I made these both using graphics from the internet and embellishing in Photoshop):

And probably my favorite shirt for DD! Can you find Princess Leia? I actually added all the lightsabers to the princesses. I think she will LOVE it.

Matching Mommy and Daughter shirts for me and DD (created this one too with found graphic):

Last Day shirts for the kiddos to wear since we don't leave until 8pm. I'm hoping CM's will send them home with a little extra magic! This was inspired by RustManFan's disign, but I did my own take on it.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Crush from Finding Nemo, so I knew I needed a shirt for myself. I got the mickey head with Crush from another Disigner (I'll credit as soon as I can) and added the fish and text. The mickey head is really fantastic quality!

The Incredibles has been a family favorite for years and I can never get enough of Edna Mode. So I had to make myself another shirt. I created this one. I debated heavily between this quote and "No Capes". Seriously two of the most memorable lines in Disney Pixar movies!!!

I have run out of transfers and I don't think I'll do any more. If I did, I wanted to make DD and I matching Ariel shirts that say Mermaids in Disguise. And I found a shirt disign with Belle in glasses that look like mine that say Real Princesses wear Glasses. So, we'll see if my OCD kicks in and I JUST have to have them, but I'm running seriously low on time.

I wanted a Pascal shirt, because he is my favorite sidekick of all time. BUT, I've gotten another cute idea to do with him and you'll have to wait for my TR to find out what I've got in store.

Continued in next post...​

Oh WOW I haven't even got but 3 posts into your TR and I LOVE YOUR SHIRTS! They are really good! I have a DISsign order in today and I have been trying to figure out, what is the best transfer to use? And I wonder if somewhere like kinkos can print onto them for you? What did you use to make yours? Just curious because they look really really good! Now....back to reading lol

 

[Carable]

Thank you for the compliments, Feistygalkmc, I still love those shirts. My son still wears his all the time and I wore mine all summer. I'll be bringing them on my summer trip, too. I think the kids will still fit into them. I also have a few more in mind for the cruise portion.

I highly recommend Amy's Transfers, which were recommended to me by various DISers. She mailed them to me very quickly. They went on easily and have laundered well. I just printed them at home on my dinky inkjet printer. I made sure I had new ink installed. I'm not sure if Kinko's would have a copyright issue with printing them, that would probably be a good question for the Disign board. I also used quality tshirts, as well, not the ones I could find at the craft store. It was worth a little extra cost to me. The folks on the DISign boards are amazingly talented and helpful, aren't they? I got most of my ideas from there and just tweaked them to fit my family.

You must be so excited about your upcoming trip! Thanks for reading my little piece of Disney, it means a lot to me.

 

[feistygalkmc]

Thank you for the compliments, Feistygalkmc, I still love those shirts. My son still wears his all the time and I wore mine all summer. I'll be bringing them on my summer trip, too. I think the kids will still fit into them. I also have a few more in mind for the cruise portion.

I highly recommend Amy's Transfers, which were recommended to me by various DISers. She mailed them to me very quickly. They went on easily and have laundered well. I just printed them at home on my dinky inkjet printer. I made sure I had new ink installed. I'm not sure if Kinko's would have a copyright issue with printing them, that would probably be a good question for the Disign board. I also used quality tshirts, as well, not the ones I could find at the craft store. It was worth a little extra cost to me. The folks on the DISign boards are amazingly talented and helpful, aren't they? I got most of my ideas from there and just tweaked them to fit my family.

You must be so excited about your upcoming trip! Thanks for reading my little piece of Disney, it means a lot to me.

Thanks! I will check those out, I am mostly going to use the shirts for our princess and maybe one or two for me since I already have some I ordered for hubby from Disneystore and myself. And I found some bows for our little girl on etsy along with a couple of cute park dresses and going to match the bows with her custom shirts. So fun! I finished your trip report along with another last night reading furiously lol I enjoyed reading it very much. I think for our next trip I am convincing myself to rent points through DVC and stay at BLT after reading your report. My favorite part was the surprise you set up in the room and the tinkerbell notes. Just loved that! Thanks so much for the inspiration and a good read, just may have to do my own trip report this time.