'Ohana Means Family - An April 2013 TR Updated 8/26!!

[jedimeg16]

Just found and read your entire thread. I enjoyed your trip !
Great family and beautiful children !

Thank you! And there is still so much more to come - including the boys flirting with princesses.

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

Just found and read your TR :
Your boys are so cute and them in their Mickey ears are just adorable!
Your crocheted princess creations are amazing such a sweet idea!
Can't wait to read more

 

[jedimeg16]

Just found and read your TR :
Your boys are so cute and them in their Mickey ears are just adorable!
Your crocheted princess creations are amazing such a sweet idea!
Can't wait to read more

Welcome! Thank you, they are pretty cute (except when they are fighting with each other), but being their mother I know I'm biased. 10 months later and Ian still wants to wear his ears most days!

The princesses have been so much fun to make - I recently finished Vanellope and I hope to make Elsa soon before I start moving on to other female characters.

Our windows will be installed tomorrow and Friday, and we have birthday celebrations for Logan on Saturday and Sunday (one for each side of the family), so I should be back late Sunday night or Monday for another full post or two.

 

[jedimeg16]

After taking one more monorail trip it was time to enter the Magic Kingdom again!

We caught the Springtime Trolley show as we crossed underneath the train station. It was cute to see, but I probably wouldn't have stopped to watch if it didn't happen to stop right in front of us.



The day before the trains weren't running due to scheduled matenence, so we were hopeful that they were working today. Both of my boys absolutely LOVE trains (we'll see this later in the trip too), so I was really hoping that they would get to ride around around the Magic Kingdom. But sadly the trains weren't running our second day at MK either.

Ian was very upset and wouldn't cooperate with this picture.



Brandon and Ryan decided to play a game of checkers. Of course they wanted to sit and play while we were trying to get all 8 of us ready for a family picture.



My 'Ohana



I just love it when kids make faces when you are trying to take a nice picture!

The four of us



Then we split off again - Brandon and Rochelle to Tomorrowland, and the rest of us to an area we hadn't explored yet.

Following Brandon and Rochelle - they decided to hit up Buzz Lightyear one more time.



Another Galactic Hero! But who was it?



It was Rochelle!



After riding Buzz they left the park and spent time at Downtown Disney. Mostly at the Lego store! My brother has always loved Legos and my boys are quickly following suit.





They returned to The Art of Animation for lunch, a few resort pictures, and an afternoon of swimming before they would rejoin us for dinner.

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

Aww that's so cute of Ian still wanting to wear his ears now!
What a shame the train was down for a second day in a row
The faces the boys are pulling in you family photos are just priceless! It would be something me and my sister would do and we're 17 and 15!!!!

 

[jedimeg16]

Aww that's so cute of Ian still wanting to wear his ears now!
What a shame the train was down for a second day in a row
The faces the boys are pulling in you family photos are just priceless! It would be something me and my sister would do and we're 17 and 15!!!!

Even though we were all very sad that the trains were down, we knew that there would be other chances to see trains.

They have gotten better about taking nice pictures when we ask them to, but the funny faces almost always end up being our favorite ones.

 

[jedimeg16]

Life has been insane the past two weeks, but I think we're back to a better schedule and I'm going to try to get a full update or two posted later tonight

 

[jedimeg16]

Like I mentioned in the previous update, after our family picture on Main Street we all split off, with my parents, the boys, Ryan, and me all headed to an area we hadn't gone to the day before - Storybook Circus!



Our trip was just before the new meet and greet areas for Minnie, Daisy, Goofy, and Donald opened, which was alright because we were on a mission that day - it was time for Ian and Logan to ride Dumbo for the very first time!



On our first ride I rode with Logan and my mom rode with Ian. Emphasis here on first.





Either my dad managed to take these pictures while we were still on the ground, or Ryan rode in the Dumbo in front of the one Logan and I were in, I can't remember.

They LOVED it!!!

So much so that Ian kept wanting to ride it over and over. Since Logan had already fallen asleep again at this point all of the adults started to take turns riding with Ian. Thankfully that early in the morning the wait time was non existent and he was able to either run around the play area or get back on the ride right away.

During my dad's turn on the flying elephant with Ian we (Ryan and I) decided to head right next door and ride the Barnstormer. It was a cute ride, but we could definitely tell that it was not geared for a pair of adults! Not only was it difficult to get in and out of the seats, but our knees were almost up to our chins!

Once we were done, I rode Dumbo with Ian one more time (we think he rode it about 5 or 6 times!), then we suggested to him that he should go with me to the bathroom and change his clothes. Why? So he could run around in the Casey Junior splash pad in his swim suit!



Ian finally found his "woo woo!"





After watching Ian run around for a little bit (while Logan was still conked out in his stroller) Ryan and I headed into the Big Top Souvenirs shop to use a couple of snack credits. Then we went out to ride a few of the rides we hadn't gotten to the day before as well as to play more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

We took one more picture on our way out of Storybook Circus.



I'm not certain exactly what my parents and the boys spent the rest of their afternoon doing, other than going to Cosmic Ray's again for lunch and Ian riding the Grand Prix Raceway again with Grandpa. Nearly a year after the fact I have forgotten many of the details that we don't have pictures of or I didn't write notes about, which makes me sad.

Now that we've been to (almost) every part of the Magic Kingdom, where to go next?

 

[KatMark]

I somehow lost my subscription to this. I will be back to catch up tomorrow...I promise.

 

[emmysmommy]

I hope you are enjoying your new windows by now! You just keep telling yourself through the chaos and messes of construction/remodels that the end result will be worth it right?

That was too funny that you got Ryan to take photos in the Rapunzel area men's room. Gotta say, I've not had the pleasure of seeing the male's version.

Your 'Ohana breakfast is making me crave that delicious bread. I gave up a breakfast there next trip because they only had a 7:45am reservation and I'm not feeling that.

What? No trains running one day. Oh no!

Cute Dumbo photos!

 

[jedimeg16]

I somehow lost my subscription to this. I will be back to catch up tomorrow...I promise.

It's alright! You have so much else to keep up with, and sometimes things just happen. I'm just glad you found your way here again. You'll have to let me know when Mark is umping in Waukegan this summer, I'd love to have you over for a meal.

I hope you are enjoying your new windows by now! You just keep telling yourself through the chaos and messes of construction/remodels that the end result will be worth it right?

That was too funny that you got Ryan to take photos in the Rapunzel area men's room. Gotta say, I've not had the pleasure of seeing the male's version.

Your 'Ohana breakfast is making me crave that delicious bread. I gave up a breakfast there next trip because they only had a 7:45am reservation and I'm not feeling that.

What? No trains running one day. Oh no!

Cute Dumbo photos!

We've had the windows for a month now, and they have been amazing! Not only have they already been more energy efficient, but the removal of the old ones cleared up an ant problem that we had been dealing with since we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. So far all of our house projects have been well worth the time, mess, and expenses. We have a few more that we want to tackle over the next few years with landscaping in the backyard as our priority this year.

Ryan thought I was crazy for asking him to take the pictures for me, but I'm so glad that he did!

We loved 'Ohana so much, but you are right - breakfast that early on vacation is insane! Even if it had been just a half hour later I think it would have been better.

The trains weren't running both days! We were so bummed - but that will be very very high on our priority list when we go back. I just hope the boys still love trains when they are 6 1/2 and 5. Unless we win the lottery we won't be able to afford a trip until 2017 for our 10th anniversary.

It was easy to get cute Dumbo pictures with the boys so excited about riding in their own flying elephant. We actually just watched the movie and during the parts where Dumbo was flying Ian held out his arms and pretended to fly.

 

[KatMark]

Okay, it took longer than I expected, but I'm caught up. I love all the pictures at the MK and DTD. But my favorite is your DS playing in the splash area by Dumbo. Those photos are just priceless.

I promise to do a better job of keeping up now and NOT losing my subscription again.

 

[jedimeg16]

Okay, it took longer than I expected, but I'm caught up. I love all the pictures at the MK and DTD. But my favorite is your DS playing in the splash area by Dumbo. Those photos are just priceless.

I promise to do a better job of keeping up now and NOT losing my subscription again.

Ian absolutely adored the splash area! I'm not certain how my parents managed to drag him away.

I'm going to be trying to do better about updating too - our trip was almost exactly 1 year ago! We had a busy (but great) time at a convention the fist weekend in April and there are times where we are still readjusting to our normal routines.

 

[jedimeg16]

Ryan and I were having too much fun running around during our afternoon without the boys, so as a result I don't have pictures for the first half of this update.

After splitting off from my parents and our boys we went clear to the other side of the park to secure Splash Mountain Fastpasses, then it was a detour to Pirates. And just after we boarded our boat (we were in the front row) and we nearly on our way, the ride broke. We had gone far enough that we were past the docks, but not far enough that we were in the water yet. Since we were stalled there a few minutes I happened to catch some of the conversation between the two ladies behind us, one of whom was a current Cast Member. After a short while our ride continued - I sort of was able to catch sight of the mermaid in the water "enhancement", but I wasn't terribly impressed. The ride broke down again when we were in the auction scene, with the audio going down. This is when I started talking with the ladies behind us because the CM mentioned that she was convinced that the bald pirate there comes to life at night and we started discussing the Kingdom Keepers series of books. Eventually we finished our trip through the Caribbean but we still don't know what happened. It might have been George.

Then we were off to visit some Tiki birds because it was turning out to be a very hot day. Ah glorious air conditioning!

After Tiki birds we played through quite a bit of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I finished my Fantasyland quest, and played through Adventureland and Liberty Square while Ryan played Adventureland and started Fantasyland. It was time for our Splash Fastpasses, but the ride was down and we could come back anytime to use them, so we made use of the nearly deserted bathrooms and paid a visit to the bored photo Cast Members and picked up Brandon and Rochelle's ride picture from the day before.



We also grabbed Big Thunder Fastpasses since many of the people being turned away from Splash were heading straight for Big Thunder and the line was getting very long very quickly. After a few more stops to play Sorcerers and a break to share a bottle of water and a Mickey Premium Bar we were back to Big Thunder. Ryan refused to ride this ride on our honeymoon, but now it's one of his favorite roller coasters

Another trek part way across the parks and we were in line for another new attraction - The Little Mermaid ride! The little crab mini games in the queue were fun, but I was so excited to see the audio animatronic Scuttle!



I thought the ride was super cute, while Ryan was a little bit freaked out by how realistic the characters looked.

A quick stop for a picture of the Gaston statue, a run over to the Fastpass machines for an after dinner ride with my parents and our boys, and we had time for one more attraction before dinner.



The line was a little bit long, but I knew if I wanted to have a chance to see Enchanted Tales with Belle it had to be before dinner. Belle is my favorite princess and there is no way I would miss this attraction.



I was a Dancing Plate!







We exited the library just as it was time to check in for dinner. Where were we eating? Would I have enough time to get to the check in podium? Continued in the next post!

 

[jedimeg16]

Thankfully we didn't have far to go, because we were eating at Be Our Guest!!!!

As soon as I started to find out details about the New Fantasyland expansion when we were starting the plan this trip I knew that I would not be able to rest until I had secured a chance to eat at this amazing restaurant. It's the sole reason I was awake at 6am to make dining reservations on our 180 mark, and thankfully it paid off!



Waiting with my little Tank



When our buzzer when off and we went up to the front of the gates, I recognized one of the Cast Members there! Her name is Marisol, and we had worked together at All Star Sports! She had been one of the General Tenders in charge of the cashiers, and while she typically worked the lunch/dinner shift and I was mostly on breakfast/lunch there was some overlap on some of the days we worked. After a quick hug and introductions of Ryan and my boys to her, it was time to walk in to the restaurant. Our table was in the main ballroom, right up next to the window! My brother the geek was the first to notice the heat under the table from the RFID technology that is used during lunch service at Be Our Guest. I think he was secretly a little bit bummed that we were there for dinner instead.

Rochelle got to hold our candelabra



I loved how the napkins were arraigned like roses



All of the adults ordered the steak, except for Rochelle! She picked the (I think) Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops. All of the food was delicious!



Because we were celebrating my mom's birthday as a part of the trip (and it was mentioned on our reservation) we even got to try the grey stuff!



I think things have changed since last year and anyone can have the grey stuff now, which I think is better.



After dinner we went into the library to meet the Beast. Ian wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, but Logan was willing to give it a try.





We took a few more pictures of the restaurant before heading out.









How did we finish out our time in the Magic Kingdom? Continued in the next post!

 

[jedimeg16]

Since we took so many pictures after dinner, we were actually in jeopardy of missing the end of our Fastpass return time! This was also when my dad started to get cranky, because earlier I had walked to the Fastpass machine several times waiting for a return time that I thought would work with dinner.

But while we were technically a minute late getting to the line we were allowed in because I explained that we had just finished dinner. It was time to fly again, this time on Peter Pan's Flight!

My boys are very familiar with Captain Hook and Peter Pan because of the Disney Junior show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates", so I was hoping they would enjoy the ride.

Logan waiting in line



And I was right - they loved it! And even Ryan was surprised! He had only thought that it was a ground moving ride like Buzz Lightyear, so when our pirate ship took off he was not expecting it. It was getting late at this point, so Ian and Logan went on one more ride of it's a small world with Grandma and Grandpa before they called it a night.

Ryan and I still had energy to burn, so it was off to Tomorrowland to meet up with Brandon and Rochelle.

Rochelle caught this picture of the backside of the castle



We all rode the PeopleMover before I went and added all of their ride pictures from Space Mountain (plus one from Buzz) earlier in the day.









Then it was time for a Siblings versus In-Laws Buzz Lightyear Challenge





We don't remember who won, but sadly Ryan didn't join the other three of us as a Galactic Hero. There's always next time, right?

By then it was pretty late and we had an early breakfast the next day (what was it with me and making early breakfast reservations?), so we headed out of the park. The Main Street Electrical Parade was going on, so at times we had to weave through the stores to get past the crowds of people, but eventually we made it. The line for the Art of Animation bus was really really long, so we decided to jump over to the much shorter Pop Century bus. This definitely worked to our advantage because we were able to sit near the back in the two rows of seats that faced each other.

What happened on the bus ride back can only be described as epic. Somehow we managed to catch the beginning part of "Bohemian Rhapsody" coming over the speakers on the bus and we all started to sing along. Keep in mind that all four of us were born in the 80's, anywhere from 8 to 13 years after the song was released, but we all sang every single word! A lady sitting across the aisle from us, who appeared to be in her mid 30's, commented that she was impressed that we even knew the song.

The bus arrived at Pop, and we strolled through the resort and across the bridge that connects Pop Century and Art of Animation. It was a very nice walk, and when we got back to the room there was a package on one of the beds. Kimmie had overnighted the shirts that I had left at home! My mom and brother were in on the plans, and part of the reason Brandon and Rochelle had gone back to the resort during the middle of the day was to hopefully pick up the shirts and walk up to dinner wearing them. I was just so surprised and shocked at how thoughtful Kimmie was. Before crashing for the night I went into the connecting room and gave Ian and Logan kisses, and then the rest of us fell asleep.

Next up - a different park, 3 new restaurants, and some drama.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates!

I'm glad you and hubby got some fun rides in while the kids were away.

So VERY happy you enjoyed your dinner at BOG. We've eaten there three times now and have had a great meal two of the three times (the last one was just okay); we're going to do lunch in September.

I'm glad the kids liked Peter Pan; that's always a pretty good one for kids.

Great photopass pictures on the rides.

 

[jedimeg16]

Great updates!

I'm glad you and hubby got some fun rides in while the kids were away.

So VERY happy you enjoyed your dinner at BOG. We've eaten there three times now and have had a great meal two of the three times (the last one was just okay); we're going to do lunch in September.

I'm glad the kids liked Peter Pan; that's always a pretty good one for kids.

Great photopass pictures on the rides.

It was definitely fun to do things at the faster pace that we wanted to go at, but still a little bit sad because we weren't with the boys the whole time.

We're considering a BOG lunch on our future 10 year Vow Renewal trip, but that's still 3 years away.

It was so much fun to ham it up on the rides for the pictures. That alone made PP+ worth the price.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will be back with a regular update later tonight, but today we are going to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Disney Archives exhibit before it leaves. I just hope we can see more of the museum than just the trains....

 

[PrncessA]

Subbing! Love your TR! Your boys are adorable and I am in love with your crocheted princesses!!

 

[jedimeg16]

Subbing! Love your TR! Your boys are adorable and I am in love with your crocheted princesses!!

Thanks for joining in! Once I get a chance to post the next few updates I can promise more adorableness out of the boys and a few more princesses