Oh, D-D-D-Dear! My Piglet's Bday in the World UDD 10/10 The End!

[Seewhatimesdone]

Whoa I definitely did not see Prince Caspian there

 

[creativeamanda]

I promise I have not forgotten my trip report. I just, uhm, have been real busy.

With 35 screaming cheerleaders!

So, I'll finish out June 28 at Hollywood Studios. . .

After a great lunch at Mama Melrose's, we strolled over to see Block Party Bash. We parked it right in front of Mickey's Sorcerer's hat, and we therefore got a great view of the "A Bug's Life" group.

Now, you will have to know a little background here. When Sweetie was about 3, we bought the movie, A Bug's Life. She started watching it. Alot. For three solid months, the only thing on television in our house was either that movie or The Prince of Egypt. I promise I'm not lying. She'd get up and the first thing she would say was, "I wanna see Flick." I honestly wish I was joking about this, but I'm not. That girl was a Flick-o-holic.

And to some extent, she still likes that movie. See what I mean?

But they were really very close to us!

And in honor of Legomom, we got a picture of Elastigirl. . .

Now, this show was at 3:00pm, remember. And we learned a valuable lesson. . .3:00pm show+June 28 in Florida=H-O-T. Learn that equation. It's a valuable one.

Before the parade was over and because it was right behind us, we ran (LITERALLY) over to Min and Bill's to get some frozen lemonade.

I mean, that was the best thing ever! And then we thought we could handle indoor entertainment, so we split from Gillian, who wanted to see more characters, and rode The Great Movie Ride again, where we saw the second show.

We then decided to go over to see Indiana Jones and watch the stunts. I love this scene. . .

We finally met up with Gillian again for dinner at the Backlot Express (yummy french fries, guys!), and rode TSM with a fastpass we obviously got when we came in. And then, we went to see Fantasmic!

It was early but we got great seats and needed the rest. I remember the kids being thirsty and spending like $6 on 2 waters.

While waiting, we clowned around with the camera. . .

The kids played on my Blackberry. . .

And I took one of my favorite pictures with Boo. . .

And out of no where, it started. Fantasmic! really is an awesome show--one of my dh's favorites. . .

And the cool thing is, Illuminations was going on at the same time, and I shot this picture:

Then, out of nowhere, the night was over. We returned to the room and crashed. We knew we were in for a long day the next day.

Gillian was starting to be in great pain, as her blisters were getting worse and worse. But we had Animal Kingdom EMH to look forward to!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

YAY!!!! So glad to see you are back! I was getting worried!

 

[creativeamanda]

YAY!!!! So glad to see you are back! I was getting worried!

Well, thanks for thinking of me.

 

[LegoMom3]

I promise I have not forgotten my trip report. I just, uhm, have been real busy.

With 35 screaming cheerleaders!

All I can offer is this:

And in honor of Legomom, we got a picture of Elastigirl. . .

Well how cool is THAT?!!.... And how cool is it that as I'm sitting here reading this latest installment and happening upon this little gem, that I'm also wearing my ElastiGirl t-shirt that I made for our trip last year?!! Have I mentioned I love The Incredibles?.....

Now, this show was at 3:00pm, remember. And we learned a valuable lesson. . .3:00pm show+June 28 in Florida=H-O-T. Learn that equation. It's a valuable one.

Ain't that the truth!... Although, now that I'm looking through here I'm realizing that I have never seen the afternoon parade at DHS....

We finally met up with Gillian again for dinner at the Backlot Express (yummy french fries, guys!), and rode TSM with a fastpass we obviously got when we came in. And then, we went to see Fantasmic!

.....and I have never seen Fantasmic!.....

Well that is just WRONG!!

And I took one of my favorite pictures with Boo. . .

But this just so right!....how sweet!!

But we had Animal Kingdom EMH to look forward to!

Oooh!!....can't wait for that one!
.

 

[creativeamanda]

All I can offer is this:

Thanks--I need it

Well how cool is THAT?!!.... And how cool is it that as I'm sitting here reading this latest installment and happening upon this little gem, that I'm also wearing my ElastiGirl t-shirt that I made for our trip last year?!! Have I mentioned I love The Incredibles?.....

I don't know if that's cool or too coincidental to be! When I saw here, I remember thinking, "I gotta get a picture of that for Legomom!"

Ain't that the truth!... Although, now that I'm looking through here I'm realizing that I have never seen the afternoon parade at DHS....




.....and I have never seen Fantasmic!.....

Well that is just WRONG!!

You NEED to do both! But in your defense, I seem to remember the great deluge last year when you wanted to go to Fantasmic!

But this just so right!....how sweet!!

I love that picture

Oooh!!....can't wait for that one!

I can't either, but I have laundry to do that's calling my name! "Amanda--come clean us", it says!
.
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[vamassey1]

Great pictures! I really liked this parade. We had the Monster characters in front of us. Our Green Army Man was a hoot.

 

[TarzansKat]

I have a confession. I've never seen that parade.

:::runs to duck and cover:::



I've heard it's really good, we're just always doing something. I should make a point of it, it really looks like fun! And I would soooo love a Frozen Lemonade right now.

 

[creativeamanda]

Great pictures! I really liked this parade. We had the Monster characters in front of us. Our Green Army Man was a hoot.

Watching the green Army Man was awesome--I couldn't even believe all of that he had to go through to be dressed like that to begin with, and then he is just awesome!

I have a confession. I've never seen that parade.

:::runs to duck and cover:::



I've heard it's really good, we're just always doing something. I should make a point of it, it really looks like fun! And I would soooo love a Frozen Lemonade right now.

It is fun, but I would NOT recommend it in 95+ degree Florida sun. The Frozen Lemonade was a welcome treat after that!

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Great update!! Very cute pictures!! Ahhh I've learned that afternoon parade equation very well, too many times sitting in the hot sun for a parade!!

 

[creativeamanda]

Monday, June 29, 2009. . .we break a tradition. It's a funny little one, but we break it, nonetheless. . .

No, we go to rope drop.

No, we know it's gonna be rainy. . .

We (meaning the kids and I) get up and go to breakfast. And yes, I pay for the whole thing out of pocket.

They were hungry. I was hungry. And 1:00 at the Grand Floridian Cafe seemed a long ways away. . .

So, we took a stroll to Riverside Mill. . .

Bye, bye, room. . .

The kids got kind of tired of my tireless photography.

Breakfast was closer. . .

It never ceases to amaze me how close the ducks get to you at WDW resorts. We picked up these two who decided to follow for a while.

And we got to Animal Kingdom in time to join the crowds.

Who obviously were NOT in Dinoland.

So, we go over to Dinoland and ride Dinosaur.

This was my first time on this ride. At the end of it, I could do nothing but laugh hysterically. All of the jumping out at me and everything, I could only laugh. My kids thought I had gone nuts. But there you have it.

Then, we head over to Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Where I got some great pictures of animals.

Now, refresh my memory, is this tree actually a fake?

I love the elephants. . .

Then we take a trip over to look at the Tree of Life from a distance before Everest.

I had never been on Everest, and it was awesome! My son and I were second from the front, and my girls were at the very front. Yet again, I laughed hysterically at the end. I did not expect the way it was, but loved it!

We went over to see It's Tough To Be A Bug and walk through and see some of the animals before we took the bus over to the Grand Floridian for lunch. We were there early, (about 45 min) but I took the chance that they would seat us early, and they did.

The kids playing around. . .

The Grand Floridian, IMO, is one of the most beautiful resorts on site. I know plenty of people find it stuffy, but I don't.

And my favorite pictures of the day. Boo absolutely loved Disney transportation. Here, she is wistfully staring out of the windows.

So, we are on our way back to Animal Kingdom. We have Fastpasses in hand for EE (we got them as we left earlier), and our bellies are full. Animal Kingdom EMH, here we come!!!!

 

[LegoMom3]

We had the same seats for EE!!! DS12 and DS9 were in the very front, and I was in Row 2 with DS7. You can see EVERY thing from that broken track where you wait for a moment before going backwards! This quickly became one of my all-time favorite rides at Disney!!

I love all your photography but I understand about the kids growing tired of Mom always snapping a picture!.... I am plagued with the same obsession.

And once again, LOVE the snapshots of POR......

.

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

LOL I am assuming the laughter is a good thing??

 

[creativeamanda]

We had the same seats for EE!!! DS12 and DS9 were in the very front, and I was in Row 2 with DS7. You can see EVERY thing from that broken track where you wait for a moment before going backwards! This quickly became one of my all-time favorite rides at Disney!!

I love all your photography but I understand about the kids growing tired of Mom always snapping a picture!.... I am plagued with the same obsession.

And once again, LOVE the snapshots of POR......

.

I loved looking out and seeing Spaceship Earth. I would love to be riding EE during Illuminations. That is on my "to do" list--so I'll have to do AK EMH again, .

I miss POR so much. At first, I always looked for a closer price--ya know--we can just afford a couple more hundred. But now, all I want to do is go home. . .

LOL I am assuming the laughter is a good thing??

Of course it is!

 

[creativeamanda]

After our bus trip back from the Grand Floridian, we headed in to see my favorite tree in the world again. Talk about awesome!

We headed over to ride Dinosaur again, when we heard the famous words. . . . "I need to go to the bathroom." Back out of line we go, and over to Fastpass to get one. After bathroom, we headed across the park to EE again. After all, we had to use those fastpasses!

Soon after EE, we noticed that the parade was going on. And I learned something important--I am not a huge fan of afternoon parades. I love Spectromagic. I adore Boo to You, but Jammin Jungle and the old Dreams Come True Parade would not be on my must do list again. Either way, we did see Donald. . .

We then headed over to the Lion King Show, which is my favorite on property. . .

I still would love to know how he does this. But I don't want to do it myself!

Then it was time for my favorite CS location on property: Flame Tree Barbeque. . .It was still as yummy as I remembered, and as this is Dan's favorite CS as well, I decided to call him and rub it in. Coming out of FTB, we got a few more pictures. By this time, EMH had started, and we could relax a bit.

I don't know what Boo was doing here. . .

Once EMH had started, we rode. . .you guessed it--Expedition Everest. Again. It was about dusk by this time, and we were getting more and more excited.

We ran from EE over to Kali River Rapids. Which, believe it or not, is more comfortable when it is not 40 degree weather. We rode it twice, and my kids? Well, we'll let the pictures speak for how wet they were before we changed clothes. . .

By this time, Animal Kingdom was dark, and beautiful. Had I known better about my camera, I would have gotten better pictures, but I thought this was beautiful with the twinkling lights.

And in that dark, we rode Expedition Everest a final time. This is really something you have to experience at night! You can't see where you are going, but you can look around and see lights in the distance. It truly is awesome!

After EE, we decided to head back to the resort. And this is one of the few times you could see this--my car--only one of like 3 in the parking lot. . .

Coming up. . .Oh D-D-D-Dear! It's Piglet's Birthday!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Great update! I am planning on us doing an AK evening EMH when we are there in December. It looks really cool at night! Can't wait!

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Aww what a great update I have never eaten at Flame Tree; we'll have to try it! Animal kingdom is so beautiful at night, especially since you can hear the animals coming alive!

Looking forward to Piglet's birthday

 

[creativeamanda]

June 30. We all get up early again, and leave Gillian behind to pack up. I had packed by throwing everything in Space Bags and removing as much air as I could with my massive body weight.

The kids wanted to take another trip to the water parks, so we decide to get up and drive over to Blizzard Beach.

This time, we did not even take Sweetie's camera, as we wanted to do some of the rides/slides and not take too much time going back and forth between the lockers. The first thing we do when we get in is grab a photopass photographer for this:

Boo got her 4th--yes 4th birthday button here and she wore her Espanol birthday button all day!

We got into BB, and headed for Snowless Joes to rent a locker and purchase sunscreen. Yep--I forgot the sunscreen and as a result, paid $14 for a can of sunscreen. The purchase of the sunscreen, however, must have been what led to the next situation--it started to rain.

Slightly at first, but then it got harder. And harder. And all of the sudden all of the wet people at Blizzard Beach decided they didn't want to be wet and ran for cover.

Of course, when we got to the parking lot, it was hailing, so they may have had a point. We stayed there for 2 hours, and although we would have liked to go over to Typhoon Lagoon one last time, by the time we got down the road a bit, we knew that we needed to just collect Gillian and take the bus over to Magic Kingdom to get Boo's birthday fun card and ride the rides.

So, we got to Magic Kingdom just before lunchtime, when the heavens opened up! It was pouring, and we decided lunch at Cosmic Ray's was in order. After standing for what seemed like forever in the chicken section, we got our lunch and ate. We did this quickly, because that place was a mad house. Everyone decided to have lunch and get out of the rain at the same time. As I was leaving, I saw tinkgurl, but it was way to crowded to say hello. I wish I had, in retrospect.

After lunch, we rode a few rides, including Peter Pan, The Haunted Mansion, Snow White, saw Philharmagic, and Pirates of the Carribean.

Then, we decided to queue up for the afternoon parade. And we saw something that I think happens but very rarely--they canceled the regular parade for the Rainy Day Cavalcade. . .

We were at the beginning of the parade route, because we had gotten Splash Mountain fast passes. We figured we were already wet, so. . .

Anyway, the Cavalcade. . .

Minnie Mouse, quickly becoming my favorite.

The Fairy Godmother, telling Boo Happy Birthday from the parade route. It made Boo's day!

THe end of the parade--short, but the CM near us said this parade was not held often.

The best part was the looks on the stepsister's faces--that was priceless!

We then shopped a little near Splash Mountain, and went to. . .

Where we ended up in the front!!!! I hate heights, but this one really isn't as bad as I remembered.

After SM, it was time for our ADR at Crystal Palace.

Before going in, I snapped this. . .

And we waited a while before getting food so we could see the characters.

Boo's favorite. . .

Playing around. . .

The best Tigger ever!

Pooh. . .

Happy birthday to Boo!

And then her favorite was there. You can just tell here--it makes tears come to my eyes looking at this picture right now. And you have to know the background. One of Boo's first movies she watched as Piglet's Big Movie. All of the sudden, Piglet was everywhere--stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, shirts. She was even Piglet for two Halloweens in a row! She loves Piglet, and will walk around and say, "Oh, D-D-D-Dear!"

So this picture is simply priceless!

The kids before we left the restaurant.

Back on the porch.

And the view from our table was not bad, either. . .

So, dinner was over, and we were tired. We stayed around a little more for last minute pictures, but we also had shopping to do. And I had packing to do, because we were going home the next day.

Coming up, Photopass finale and Downtown Disney.

 

[creativeamanda]

When I left you all, Boo had just finished her birthday dinner at Crystal Palace. We walked out of CP, and I snapped this shot:

We then went over to the rose garden area.

I only wanted pictures over there, and we proceeded to the castle. Mind you, this is July 4 week, but apparently the rain kept the crowds real low.

This was my first walk ever through the castle. I really enjoyed the mosaics there.

After the castle, we went on to Snow White and the Carousel. Stinky looks all overjoyed, doesn't he?

Finally, we spun around on the teacups before leaving.

One last look. . .

As we left, the purple monorail was coming through.

And as always, Boo was upset about leaving. . .

When we returned, Mousekeeping had left another towel animal.

We drove over to Downtown Disney (how could I have forgotten about the boats ) And visited World of Disney and the Pin Traders to spend the rest of Boo's money.

One of these will certainly be our Christmas card this year.

My favorite store of all time. . .

We went back to the room, where the kids almost instantly fell aslepp while I packed the car.

Coming up--a Grand Finale.

 

[tinkgurl]

Ugh, please don't remind me of that rainy day!