Now I'm Really A Princess!! Princess 1/2 Report Update 6/24 Going Home

[DisneyMomma09]

Enjoying the report and pics. Kudo's to you and Katie.

Thanks!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We were feeling really good after finishing the race. We left the race area and tried to connect with the rest of the family. After a few calls back and forth, we found each other. Katie and I were pretty gross, so we did not hang around long. My grandparents were going to stay for a while and spend time with us in the parks before heading back home. We decided that Katie and I would drive the car back to the hotel for showers and to change while Dan, Colby and my grandparents would take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

Getting out of the parking lot after the race was TERRIBLE! There did not seem to be anyone directing traffic and it took at least 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot. And we were near the end of our row!

Once we got out of the parking lot, we quickly made it back to the hotel. Looking back, we should have just taken the monorail back to the hotel and then picked up the car after our dinner at Epcot that night. Oh, well.

After sitting in the car for so long, our legs were a bit soar by the time we got to the hotel. We quickly took turns showering and gave each other our "I Did It!" shirts. We put our medals on and walked over to the Magic Kingdom to meet everyone else. They were just getting lunch at Pacos Bills, so thats where we headed. Standing up and sitting down were getting pretty painful, but walking was going alright.

We finished up lunch and headed out to do a few rides. We all rode on its a small world. This is my grandmother's favorite ride! They saw it when it was at the World's Fair. Colby was getting tired then, so Katie walked him around in the stroller while Dan and I took my grandparents to see Mickey's Philharmagic. When we came out, we found this:

Katie offered to stay with Colby since she visits the parks at least every other weekend. We took my grandparents on Buzz Lightyear as well as to see Carasel of Progress. One last ride on the Peoplemover and it was time for my grandparents to head home and for us to head to Epcot for dinner. So we headed out of the park.

On the way out we stopped for a few minutes to listen to the Main Street Marching Band:

Up Next: The running princesses meet the real princesses!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We said good-bye to my grandparents on the Monorail ride to the Ticket and Transportation center. They live in Florida through the winter and would not be coming home until the end of April. Then it was on to Epcot.

Katie and I had picked Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for our celebration dinner after the race. We arrived, checked in, and were seated about 15 minutes later. But first, we had to get our picture taken with Belle!

Katie had eaten here before, but it was the first time for the rest of us. We really enjoyed it! It is a neat combination of buffet and table service. It was nice to be able to get Colby something to snack on right away, but then be served our actual meal.

All of the Princesses were great! Colby was not too thrilled to interact with them, but Katie and I had a great time! They all admired our medals and congratulated us, all the while staying in character.

First we met Snow White:

Then Princess Aurora:

It was funny how many more fathers wanted pictures with Jasmine. Not mine, though. He was missing Cinderella on this night.

Colby was thrilled to meet Ariel:

Katie and I were a little more excited:

For the second night in a row, we went back to Bay Lake Tower and watched Wishes from the rooftop. It had been a VERY long day for Katie and I. We were very tired and very soar, so we headed right back to the room and we all went to bed. But not before popping some Tylenol so we were feel better in the morning!

 

[PirateKate]

Congratulations on finishing the race! It must have been awesome to finally reach the end and hear the choir singing for you.

Akershus sounds like a perfect after-race celebratory meal. I've never been too interested in going there, since I figure the boys wouldn't be into it, but it is nice to be able to get some food for the little ones right away.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Congratulations on finishing the race! It must have been awesome to finally reach the end and hear the choir singing for you.

Akershus sounds like a perfect after-race celebratory meal. I've never been too interested in going there, since I figure the boys wouldn't be into it, but it is nice to be able to get some food for the little ones right away.

Thanks! Dinner was so much fun! And the food was really good, too. I am a pretty pickey eater, but even I liked it! As you can see, Colby wasn't too into the Princesses either. Oh, well. Sometimes you have to do things for yourself! (He won't remember anyways.)

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Katie and I woke up feeling much better! We were not soar at all. I think the continued walking all day after the race helped. We were up bright and early this morning and split the Bounty Platter between all four of us. Then we hit the bus and headed to Hollywood Studios for rope drop.

First on the 'To Do' list was Toy Story Mania. No worries about getting lost...just let yourself get pushed along with the crowds! We opted to hop in line, since we had never gone through the standby line! It was really cool to see all the details.

Our strategy for scoring high on this game is to keep your elbow up and just keep pulling that string! Colby and Dan were practicing!

Colby liked wearing the glasses!

We also took in all the sights.

Colby loved Mr. Potato Head!

It was hard to get a good picture of Colby because he kept turning around!

After enjoying the ride, in which I got my behind kicked by my DH, we went across the way to wait in line to meet Buzz and Woody, who are current favorites of Colby.

The wait was about 20 minutes, which is longer than we usually like to wait for characters, but we did it for Colby. He enjoyed playing in all the different photo spots while waiting in line, but was not too keen on actually having his picture taken:

This one is pretty cute!

And now he is done having his picture taken...

We finally got up to meet Woody and Buzz...Colby gave Woody a five, but Buzz was a little intimidating. He wanted to be held.

Of course the picture they took of us on our camera came out blurry...

Up next: Disney Disappointment

 

[PirateKate]

Did the crowds at rope drop bother you at all? I've heard it's crazy getting to TSM at rope drop, but I've never actually done it. In fact, I've never been to any rope drop.

Colby looks very cute in his 3D glasses!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Did the crowds at rope drop bother you at all? I've heard it's crazy getting to TSM at rope drop, but I've never actually done it. In fact, I've never been to any rope drop.

Colby looks very cute in his 3D glasses!

Rope drop at HS is like no other. At all the other parks, the crowds disperse to several different rides. At HS, EVERYONE is going to TSM, so it can get pretty crazy! My husband does not like the crowds too much, but he deals with it if I promise him he can have a Mickey's Premium Bar!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

After visiting with Buzz and Woody, we headed to one of Colby's favorite places from our June, 2010 trip: The Honey I Shrunk The Kids play area! I think there was maybe one other family here, so we basically had it to ourselves!

Colby jumped right in and was climbing and sliding away!

On our June trip he did the rope climb about 5 times. Daddy took the first climb!

Then, the fun ended. Just after this picture was taken, Colby was heading back to the enterance to climb again, tripped, fell, and hit his head on about the only exposed rock in the entire play area.

He slammed his head pretty hard and a goose egg started forming immediately. He was screaming. I ran to the cast member working at the exit of the rope course and asked if they had an ice pack. She said no, we had to go to the nearest counter service restaurant for ice!

We ran out of the exit of the playground and looked around. The counter service that is right there was still not open and no one was around. I ran back to the cast member manning the enterance of the playground and asked for help. Again, he said they did not have anything there. He said we had to go to first aid, at the front of the park!

At this point, I was starting to panic because the lump on Colby's head was getting bigger by the minute. Not only that, I was getting angry. Finally, at the shop across from the playground, a cast member offered to take us to the nearest place that would have ice and was open. They quickly got us ice and gave Colby a cookie. This helped calm him down and he did let me hold the ice on his head off and on.

The same cast member offered to walk us to the front of the park to first aid. We knew where this was and could have gone ourselves, but it was nice that we were finally getting some help.

Colby was seen by the nurse at first aid who gave us some infant tylenol and a better ice pack that would not leak. He also evaluated Colby and concluded that he was alright and likely did not have a concussion. He also gave us the phone number and address if anything changed with Colby.

Meanwhile, my SIL and DH went next door to Guest Relations. Katie put in a compliment for the cast member who finally helped us out. Dan relayed how upset we were about the lack of preparation for accidents in the playground area. We waited a few minutes as a higher up came to talk to us. Colby was acting fine at this point, so I was a little more reasonable as we talked to him about what had happened. The cast member noted our concerns...and then gave us a coupon for Mickey's Primium Bars!

Now that I was pretty sure Colby was alright, we picked up our ice cream and took a break watching Beauty and the Beast. We got settled into our seats and ate our ice cream. We still had a few minutes before the show was supposed to start and Colby was getting antsy, so I took him for a walk and we picked up some fastpasses for Rock 'n' Rollercoster. We all enjoyed the show. Colby stood on the seat and was dancing aound, so I was pretty sure he was feeling better!

Up Next: An afternoon break

 

[DisneyMomma09]

After the show, Dan and I hopped over to Tower of Terror. The wait was less than 10 minutes, so we did it twice pretty quickly. When we came off the second time, we found Katie and a sleeping Colby. A little earlier than I would have liked him to nap, but I certainly was not going to wake him up!

We were starting to get hungry, so we decided to head to Pizza Planet for lunch. We found a perfect table just outside, since it was a beautiful day! Colby decided to wake up just as we got our food. After we ate, we were just about done at HS for the day. Dan and I had our Rock 'n' Rollercoaster fastpasses to use. Katie and Colby hung out wondering in the shops nearby. We quickly ride using our passes and then go for another ride using the single rider line.

After riding, we meet back up with Katie and Colby and head for the busses. Back at the hotel, we change into our suits and hit the pool for an afternoon swim. We also spend some time in the hot tub, which felt fantastic!

After about an hour we showered and got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at the Crystal Palace!

Up Next: Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

 

[PirateKate]

Poor Colby! I hate it when my boys fall down and get a big goose egg on their heads. It always happens so fast that there's nothing to do about it. I'm glad a CM finally helped you.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Feeling refreshed, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. We walked over from BLT. It was so nice being so close! I finally uploaded my pictures from my phone and here is the view of the pool from our room! So beautiful!

When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, the first task was to ride the 'choo-choo nain!' We had some time before our ADR, so we rode all the way around. Then we marched down Main Street and checked in at the Crystal Palace. We have eaten here several times and it continues to be one of our favorites! I have always been a fan of Pooh and we enjoy the food.

When I checked in, there were about 3 people also waiting to check in. By the time our name was called, about 10 minutes later, the porch was packed with people and the line to check in stretched all the way to the end of the porch! We had good timing!

We got our seats and since there were no characters nearby, we headed up and got some food. Colby had about 3 plates of macaroni and cheese! Yummy!

Soon the characters started coming closer. Colby seemed very excited! Tigger was coming first and he kept saying, 'Tigger!' I was happy because he was excited to see the characters.

As Tigger got closer, Colby's expression changed a bit...

And when Tigger finally got to our table, well, it was not quite the character interaction I thought it might be...

I'm such a compassionate mommy...laughing while my kid is crying...alright, I will make him feel better...

So that maybe he will let us stand near Tigger for a picture!

When Pooh started getting close, I held Colby on my lap and he let Pooh pose for a picture with us. Colby even looks a little happy in this one!

And here is Colby AFTER Pooh left our table...

Well, since the character interactions were not going too well, we did not wait for Piglet or Eeyore. Instead we headed out for a few rides. Since the parade was starting, we avoided the crowds by heading into Adventureland. Colby loved the Flying Carpets of Aladdin, so he rode that multiple times in a row with no wait.

I wanted to see the new Castle show, so we headed towards Main Street to scout out a location. We found a nice spot and enjoyed "The Magic, The Memories and You" show. It was pretty cool!

Then, shortly before Wishes was going to start, a family came and stood directly in front of us. Well, having just finished a 1/2 Marathon, I was feeling very confident and was not going to let someone block our view, especially Colby's. So I kindly (sort of) asked them not to stand directly in front of us. They kindly moved aside so we could retain our perfect view of the castle and the show.

I LOVE Wishes. I know all the music by heart and sing along to the whole thing (in case people do not take my kind words to heart and continue standing in front of us I might sing a little more loudly than usual!). We enjoyed the show as usual, except for maybe DH, who hates standing in the crowds and then fighting them out of the park. Fortunately, we did not have to catch a bus and were able to leisurely able to walk back to the hotel.

We got Colby ready and put him to bed and then the rest of us got into bed. We were all pretty tired from the day and we had breakfast ADR's at Animal Kingdom in the morning, so we all went to sleep pretty early!

Up next: A little rain, but a LOT of fun!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Poor Colby! I hate it when my boys fall down and get a big goose egg on their heads. It always happens so fast that there's nothing to do about it. I'm glad a CM finally helped you.

Yes, it does! It certainly was not the first and I am sure it won't be his last...

I was really surprised they were not better prepared for an accident in the play area!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We were up bright and early on Tuesday morning for our breakfast ADR's at Tusker House. I was excited to have our first breakfast ADR's so we could get into a park early and get some pictures. It started raining while we were waiting for the bus and it continued raining until after we were done eating, so we did not get any pictures on our way into the park. I did snap this picture of Colby on the bus. Apparently he did not like the music...or maybe he did not want to listen to us grown ups talking anymore!

When we got to Tusker House, Katie went to check in. We realized Colby needed to be changed, so Dan took him to the nearest bathroom for a change. Unfortunately, it was a HUGE mess and it got all over his onesie shirt he was wearing. Of course we had used his spare outfit and I had forgotten to replace it. On top of that, none of the stores were open yet! Colby was wearing overalls, so he was pretty covered even without the shirt. Dan went on a search for something else for Colby to wear while Katie, Colby and I waited for our buzzer to go off.

After a few minutes of waiting, we were buzzed and led to our table, even though Dan was still searching for clothes. He came back a few minutes later having found another overall outfit. Colby seemed comfy in his overalls and sweatshirt for the time being, so we decided to wait until after breakfast and decide what to do.

We were better prepared for the characters this time. Each time one would start getting close to our table, one of us would grab Colby out of his high chair and hold him on our laps. This seemed to help and he tolerated getting pictures with them!

Colby LOVES ducks, so Donald is actually one of his favorite characters!

I think he was a little suspicious of Goofy...

And apparently this is the best picture we got with Daisy...

And finally Mickey...Colby looks thrilled to be having this fantastic opportunity to meet the Fab 5 with no line while enjoying a delicious breakfast!

We have no picture with Minnie. I must have been up getting some food when she came by or something.

After breakfast, it was still drizzling a bit, so we decided to go on a Safari in the rain! This was a first for us and I think it was our best Safari we have ever seen!

It started pouring just after the safari began, so I left the camera in the bag so it would not get wet. The rain quickly slowed back down, though, and I pulled the camera out. The highlight of this Safari was seeing all the elephants! Several of them were in the water playing! It was soo cool!

You can also see one of the baby elephants playing in the background!

Playing near the edge of the water...

The lion was also up and walking around!

By the time we finished with the Safari, the rain had stopped. Fortunately, we had put a poncho over the stroller. Unfortunately, it had gotten a little damp with the downpour. Good thing Colby loves to walk! He led us on to our next adventure!

Up Next: Where is everyone?

 

[lbuzz52]

i finally made it over! congrats on the marathon! i had no idea there was so much entertainment. sorry Colby isn't loving the characters- you'll just have to take him back again to meet them LOL i would love to see the elephants playing in the water!

 

[PirateKate]

How old was Colby, exactly at the time of your trip? I know all kids are different, but I'm trying to guess which of my boys will be scared of characters in October. Sitting Colby in your lap seemed to be a good strategy.

I love those pictures of the elephant swimming and playing! I've never seen anything like that on Safari before. Guess the rain worked out.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

i finally made it over! congrats on the marathon! i had no idea there was so much entertainment. sorry Colby isn't loving the characters- you'll just have to take him back again to meet them LOL i would love to see the elephants playing in the water!

Welcome! Disney puts on some awsome races! I hope to run them all someday...

Good news! We are going back in August! Just over 2 months away! Maybe he will be better...but if not, then we just have to keep going back until he is, right?

How old was Colby, exactly at the time of your trip? I know all kids are different, but I'm trying to guess which of my boys will be scared of characters in October. Sitting Colby in your lap seemed to be a good strategy.

I love those pictures of the elephant swimming and playing! I've never seen anything like that on Safari before. Guess the rain worked out.

Colby was 22 months when we were at Disney for this trip. I kind of was expecting his reactions...when we had met other characters at the local zoo or sports teams Colby was less than thrilled. Kids are so different...that will probably give you your best idea as to how the boys will handle the characters.

We are going back in August and Colby will be 27 months...we will see what that brings!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

The worst of the rain had stopped by the time we got off the Safari. We started walking and ended up by Flights of Wonder just before a show was about to start. Colby loves 'Tweet tweets' and we had never seen the show before, so we went on in. We all enjoyed the show.

We kept moving after the show and made our way over to Expedition Everest. Dan and I got some Fastpasses and decided to wait in the 10 minute line for a ride. Katie took Colby over to ride TriceraTop Spin. The wait for Expedition Everest was not even 10 minutes, so we were off and by the time we walked over to DinoLand, Colby and Katie were done with their ride.

Next we walked over to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the Festival of the Lion King. Colby loved dancing around to the music and roaring like a lion! He was excellent for the show.

By this point, it was getting late. We had not waited for much, but we had done a lot of walking around the park. We were starting to get a little hungry, so we headed for our favorite place at Animal Kingdom...Flame Tree BBQ! Dan and Katie got the food while Colby and I got a great table down by the water with a view of Expedition Everest!

After lunch, it was time for Colby to take a nap. Katie offered to walk around with Colby while Dan and I went to use our EE fastpasses. By this time, the sun had come out and it was a beautiful day! When we get over there, we found that there was no need for our fastpasses:

Yippie! I rode 5 times and Dan rode 4 times in under 40 minutes! It was awesome! We checked in on Katie and Colby. This is what we found:

Dan and I left Katie and the sleeping prince to do a little shopping. After shopping a bit, we went back and picked up Colby and Katie. I wanted to watch the parade because I had never seen it before, so we headed toward Discovery Island to find a spot close to the exit since we were going to leave after the parade.

After finding a spot, I went in search of a pretzel. We munched on our pretzel until the parade began. We really enjoyed all the different animals. It was really neat to see them move!

Pluto came up so quickly, Colby did not even have time to get upset!

When the parade ended, we headed for the Exit.

Up Next: Our Last Night

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We left Animal Kingdom and headed for the busses. We were eating dinner at Ohana, so we hopped on a bus headed for the Polynesian. We got to the Poly and walked up to Ohana. By the time we got there, it was just about 5:00 and our ADR time was 5:15. Katie and I went to check in while Dan walked around with Colby.

Our buzzer went off and we were led to our table. It was a pretty quiet, off the main room. We ate our fill of noodles, wings, dumplings, steak, chicken, pork and shrimp. The shrimp is my favorite, but it is such a mess to peel it! Soon, the entertainment started. Katie took Colby to parade around.

We finished up our meal and then headed out to the monorail. Unfortunately, the monorail was not working, so we had to go down and catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom. It took a little longer, but we got there.

Katie and I wanted a picture in front of the castle with our medals, so that was first on the agenda.

It was getting late, so Katie offered to take Colby back to the hotel and get him ready for bed while Dan and I enjoyed some rides and Wishes. Our good luck from earlier continued to follow us. Space Mountain had no wait and we rode twice in a row. Then we went across the park and rode Thunder Mountain twice in a row with no wait. For both these rides we walked straight through the line and onto the next waiting train. Awesome!

We skipped Splash Mountain, even though it was posted as a 5 minute wait, because we did not want to get wet. We rode Pirates and then headed to Main Street to watch Wishes. We found a nice spot just in front of the Plaza Restaurant. When Wishes was over, we wandered through the stores down Main Street. I got a new long sleeved t-shirt and we got our 2011 magnets. Then we wondered across the street and grabbed some candy to use up a few more snack credits. We got some fudge and some Goofy pre-packaged candy.

Finally, we left the Magic Kingdom for the last time...until August...and took the lovely, relaxing walk back to BLT. We got back to the room to find Colby asleep. Yeah! We did a little packing as quietly as we could before heading to bed.

Up Next: Saying Goodbye…

 

[lbuzz52]

Wow! I can't believe your luck with the lines. Especially Everest. I'm jealous!
It seems that Colby did better with the characters that day. James was just over 27 months this trip and did well with them- but not until he saw his favorite one. After that he was excited for them all.