Our 1st trip as a family of three!----Update 11/3 Our Favorites/Trip Wrap-Up

[dawnbu40]

I must say I feel very old and out of the loop because I really have no idea who these characters are I have seen Manny stuff in the stores but that's about it. That said..it is obvious by the "munchkin's" reaction that they are very important

Adorable pictures! That was so nice of the CM to extend the line so she could meet them! No one should be crying at WDW

 

[heaven2dc]

How adorable was that!! I love that your DD is not afraid of the characters.

 

[Dancegrl624]

What a great morning! Madison used to love the Little Einstein's when she was a toddler. I did too! They are just SO cute. Plus, I love all of the classical music and the face that June is a ballerina.

 

[mermaid764]

We saw the playhouse disney show with my nieces and nephews at DCA last year and thought it was very well done.


How sweet that your little girl got to meet quincy after all and it's cute how excited she was to get to meet Manny.

Can't wait to hear more

 

[tinkgurl]

The Playhouse Disney show is so cute! We had a different girl for ours..you'll see her in our pics. I thought of you when we were there though!

 

[LilAnn]

I must say I feel very old and out of the loop because I really have no idea who these characters are I have seen Manny stuff in the stores but that's about it. That said..it is obvious by the "munchkin's" reaction that they are very important

Adorable pictures! That was so nice of the CM to extend the line so she could meet them! No one should be crying at WDW

I have to say, I only know of all of these characters because of my little girl. I would have not known otherwise. She loves all of those shows though.

I thought it was nice that they let us into the line, too! I just figured we would check back later on in the day, so that was a nice little surprise.

How adorable was that!! I love that your DD is not afraid of the characters.

She loves the characters now. As a matter of fact, just the other day we were at Whole Foods and they had this person dressed up in a moose costume and it was like Disney all over again. She followed him around the store until she could rush up to him and give him a hug.

What a great morning! Madison used to love the Little Einstein's when she was a toddler. I did too! They are just SO cute. Plus, I love all of the classical music and the face that June is a ballerina.

I think the Little Einsteins are cute too! I didn't know they have been around that long. I thought they were pretty new! That just illustrates my point of not being aware of the newer shows until having your own.

We saw the playhouse disney show with my nieces and nephews at DCA last year and thought it was very well done.


How sweet that your little girl got to meet quincy after all and it's cute how excited she was to get to meet Manny.

Can't wait to hear more

She was so excited to meet Manny. Every morning and night shw would look through her book and she would talk about how she forgot to get Handy Manny. So that was our biggest mission for the day.

The Playhouse Disney show is so cute! We had a different girl for ours..you'll see her in our pics. I thought of you when we were there though!

I can't wait to read your TR and see all of your pictures!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Awwww, such sweet pictures! I'm glad the CM decided to open up the line and let her meet Quincy My kids are both past the age of being into Playhouse Disney, it's sad when they outgrown that stage!

 

[LilAnn]

Awwww, such sweet pictures! I'm glad the CM decided to open up the line and let her meet Quincy My kids are both past the age of being into Playhouse Disney, it's sad when they outgrown that stage!

I was definitely cherishing every single moment on this trip. People at work always give me a hard time about how often we go to Disney (and I don't even feel like it's that often at all!) and how expensive it is, blah blah blah. But honestly, some of the memories from this trip were totally priceless to me. I can't wait to take her again and again. I'm sure I will miss all of the little kiddie stuff since I love them too!

 

[RachelNinja]

Playhouse Disney looks so much fun for the little ones! I always wanted to know ... is Handy Manny an adult? Because he looks kind of young as opposed to someone like Bob the Builder.

 

[lexmas]

Glad you enjoyed playhouse disney! It's such a great show!

So lucky that she got to see the little einsteins. Who knew crying like that worked on disney cast members?

 

[LilAnn]

Playhouse Disney looks so much fun for the little ones! I always wanted to know ... is Handy Manny an adult? Because he looks kind of young as opposed to someone like Bob the Builder.

Hmm, I've never seen Bob the Builder, so I don't know about the comparison. I think Handy Manny is an adult since he owns his own tool shop and so many people rely on him to fix things. Kind of like Luke fixes all of Lorelai's issues! Sigh. I miss that show.

By the way, I got KK yesterday in the mail and think I'm going to start reading it even though I'm in the middle of another book. I also should be going to sleep now since I worked all night, but maybe I can read just a little bit to unwind.......

Glad you enjoyed playhouse disney! It's such a great show!

So lucky that she got to see the little einsteins. Who knew crying like that worked on disney cast members?

It is a cute show!

I think it worked because we are so used to the crying and dramatics, that is doesn't always faze us. Plus, I had no control over the line, so I didn't have to feel guilty.

 

[LilAnn]

With our Playhouse Disney meet and greet complete, we headed over to Pixar Place to find some more of our little girl’s friends. Last August, the only characters on our must-see list were Lightening McQueen and Mater.

As you can see from last year’s photo, we had to hold our little girl in our arms. That was the norm for our August trip. There was no running to hug the characters, no eagerness to hold their hands, just apprehension. The two cars were the closest we came to the level of excitement she was displaying this trip. However, as excited as she was to see them, both cars are constantly making noises and Lightening “revs” his engine up every once in a while. Those noises freaked her out just enough to stay in our arms. So even though she was a pro at greeting the characters, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this coming interaction.

Once we got to Luigi’s garage, we were happy to see that there were only a few people in line to see the cars. Before long, it was our turn to see Lightening McQueen and Mater. As you can see in this picture, our little girl was still a little freaked out to see them up close. She asked if I would go with her and hold her.

But this time around, she was much happier. She wasn’t climbing up my shoulder at all!

I have to say, I enjoy seeing the cars up close. I mean, how cute are they?

Lightening just looks so friendly and happy!

Love Mater’s buck teeth!

I love how their eyes will move from side to side too. We said good-bye to our friendly cars and continued our walk over to Pixar Place. En route, we passed the Sci-Fi Diner and our little girl just had to climb in the car parked outside. I hope to eat there one day on a future trip. We figured that she would be a little freaked in the dark with the “scary” movies playing this time around. Maybe next time?

We waited around a bit, hoping to get a chance to snag a photo of her in the car all by herself. However, there was one little boy who just wanted to stay in the car and cruise for a while.

Maybe she thinks that people in Disney drive on the right side of the street?

We had a hard time convincing her to get out of the car, I think she just wanted to sit there and pretend to drive all day.

However, we managed to coax her out by dangling the prospect of meeting Woody or Buzz in front of her. Since she hadn’t met Buzz yet, she clambered out of the car and we were off!

Since we weren’t sure who was going to be inside Andy’s room, we were psyched to hear from the castmember that the characters would be switching and Buzz would be hanging out by the time we got to the front of the line. Perfect!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Anyone want to try their hand at the little girl toy in the sea of little green aliens?

If you look carefully at that pic, you can see my husband hiding behind her. Our little girl was too short to pop her head over the aliens, so he had to go behind her and help lift her up.

On a side note, our little munchkin adores those grab-a-toy games with “the claw” whenever we go to our local Red Robin. She also knows that her Uncle G will always be willing to give the game a go. I just found out the other night that she just reaches into his pockets looking for the change so he can play a game for her. Which prompted this conversation I had with her the other night:

Me: I have to go to work tonight.
DD: Why? (her favorite word right now)
Me: Because I have to make money.
DD: Why?
Me: So we have money to go to Disney World
DD: Uncle G has money.

Sorry for the little sidetrack, but I found that conversation to be hilarious. We have also had a similar conversation that ended with her saying “I have money. I have 2 dollars! We go to Disney World now?” Sigh, if only.

Okay, back to our trip. So I have to write about this perfect Disney moment I witnessed in front of us. It didn’t happen to us, but I honestly had tears in my eyes watching this.

There was family in front of us with a little girl and little boy. The little boy was dressed from head to toy like Woody. It was the cutest thing – he had the cowboy boots, the cowboy hat, everything. The parents found out part way in the line that Woody would be going in and Buzz would be out and were panicking trying to figure out what to do and how to tell their little boy that he wouldn’t get to see his idol. They decided to stick out the rest of the line since they had already invested 15 minutes in it and try back later to see Woody. The little boy was probably around 3 years old so they tried to explain it all to him, but I don’t know if he was getting it.

As we all got close to the front of the line, they saw Woody heading out of the room. JUST as the family got to the front of the line. I was heartbroken for them. The little boy looked so excited to see Woody, even if just to wave good-bye. The castmember at the front of the line saw the little boy all dressed up and pulled the mom over to the side. Can you guess what was going to happen next??!? You know there was some more Disney magic on it’s way! She was going to bring Woody back out just for him. The mom told her husband to grab the autograph book and you saw him book it out the door and clamber back through the line….holding a pink princess autograph book. Guess his sister was going to have to share.

Then the door opened, and out stepped Woody. I honestly had a huge grin on my face and tears in my eyes as I watched the little boy run up to his idol and have some one on one time with him. Woody made such a big deal of his outfit and then came the crowning moment for the little boy. Woody asked him if he could sign his cowboy hat. You should have seen the parents' expressions. I think it was a priceless moment for the parents as well. Then the whole family got in for a photo. What a perfect moment! I wanted to take a photo of it myself, but thought that might look weird for a complete stranger to do. I can just imagine that was the highlight of that little boy’s trip.

After that encounter, I have to tell you that our meeting with not nearly as exciting. Our little girl waved good-bye to Woody and waited patiently for Buzz to come out. She had her book out ready to go.

I don’t know if you noticed it in her face, but she was little apprehensive about meeting Buzz. She was courageous enough to hand him the book…

and watch him “sign” her book (or stamp it).

But there was no hug. She thought he looked “mad” so she was scared. So of course, I popped in for a picture with her.

She was willing to touch his hand at that point.

And like any good toddler, she tried to push all the buttons on his suit.

I think it was his eyebrows that freaked her out. I guess he does look a little stern.

Now our little girl could relax since she met Buzz, Woody and Jesse over the course of our trip.

 

[GaRain]

Hmm, just wondering why Buzz has to "stamp" his signature...
Cute pictures though, and I loved the story of the boy with Woody - how awesome!

 

[dawnbu40]

Great update!
for the little one for being so brave with those characters!

I love the story of the magic experienced by the family ahead of you. I must admit I can think of several occasions where I teared up watching another family receive extra pixie dust!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Buzz has to stamp because he can't sign. Just look at his hands!

What a great update. Love the story about the little boy dressed like Woody. That was definately some Disney magic. I probably would have cried if I saw that.

I know what you mean about Buzz's eyebrows. They can look a bit menacing to a little girl. Madison gave him a hug when she met him, but she said it kind of hurt!!! He is made of hard plastic.

 

[lovegrumpy]

Loved it. That's great what they did for that little boy.

 

[mermaid764]

The pics with the cars characters turned out great and I love the pic of your daughter in the sci fi car....too cute!

What a touching moment for that family, disney magic at it's best

 

[lexmas]

Buzz does look a little crazy, huh? Oh well. Where is Andy's room? I will have to do this with DS, he says the one character he wants to meet is Woody. Which means we'll have to get in line 8 times and see Buzz a lot, as is our luck, but that's okay.

That story about the little boy and Woody is adorable. That's so amazing that they brought Woody back out for him!

I love your conversation with your DD about money. DS is like that too. We were walking through the gift shop at the zoo and he wanted something so we were just like, "we don't have any money, do you have money?" and of course he said he had some in his piggy bank at home, and we were like, "well, maybe next time" and then for like, a week, whenever we went anywhere DH would always catch him shoving all the coins from his piggy bank in his pockets! Whoops.

 

[RachelNinja]

What a great update!

They do SUCH a great job making Lightning and Mater look real that it can be kind of scary to a toddler ... or a 25-year old. Haha. If they were just there as props, it'd be a different story. But they really make them look and sound so realistic!

Oh wow! I thought I read somewhere that the car was gone from the front of Sci-Fi Diner. That's why I didn't look for it. I would've like to take a pic of it, but seeing your DD take so many pics definitely makes up for my not being able to see it myself!

I had to copy and paste the "I have 2 dollars" part of the update and send it to Weird! Seriously, if only! Haha, we could go to WDW so much more often!

I got teary-eyed reading about that magical moment for the little kid wanting to see Woody! Oh to be a CM! What a wonderful job to spread some magic!

And I agree ... Buzz's eyebrows make him scary! Did he react when DD was pushing the buttons?

 

[Dancegrl624]

Andy's room is located directly across from TSMM. I believe the line opens at 10am. Last year, we were the 3rd family in line and we got to meet Woody and Buzz together!!! This year, we're on the hunt for Mike and Sully. I guess they hang out by the Backlot Tour...we'll have to take a peek.