Our Last Minute CANCER SUCKS Trip

[KStarfish82]

Great update Tricia! Toy Story looks awesome! I love the theming....makes me wish I was going to DHS this time!

 

[nana2tots]

So So Sorry, You know i lost my Dearest Friend, my Dear Daughter Sandi, Nov'4th 2007, It is all i can do to get myself going anymore, I miss her so much, she was an only child. I wish you all the Best and will be saying Prayers.Oh , my Sandi's trip w/ the gang was June 06, I am so happy we all got to go 2-gether to her most Magical place in the world. WDW

 

[sherreis]

Thanks for the update and I hope Carol has a good day so she can come home. "There's no place like home" and hospitals are not nice places (I'm a nurse).

Thanks for the latest update. TSM looks awesome and I can't wait for our chance on 10/17. My kids are going to love it because they love watching Toy Story.

 

[tlinus]

Still here - awesome update.

Toy Story was an awesome ride

glad to hear that you talked to Carol - she is still in our prayers.

 

[Bloodhound]

Hi, Im glad your she is doing as well as can be expected...The Toy Story ride looks awesome and I cant wait to ride it in Oct at Disneyland

 

[snowbell]

I am sorry I am a day late on finding this trip report or I would have been saying prayers for Carol during her surgery. I am glad that things went well.
I lost my father to cancer three years ago... it is definitely a tough road. you are a good sister. We just found out yesterday that my good friend has cancer. We don't know if it is lung or lymphoma... we find out tomorrow. Keep him in prayers as well.. he is only 39...
as for happier things -- I still call it Epcot center sometimes. I am so used to it. TSM was great. I had to go on it solo b/c my family was getting ready to go to another park and I had a dismeet to get to.
I cannot wait to hear about the rest of your trip to you and your family.

 

[loribell]

Great update Tricia. Toy Story Mania looks great!

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Just found your TR...love it and want you to know I have added Carol to my prayer list! ALL things are possible!...I am praying for a MIRACLE!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Mickeefan]

Isn't TSMM great? We were lucky enough to be able to get onto it 10 times over 2 days during the first week of June. I can't wait to get back, in 27 days, to ride it again! And, I'm so much better at it than Buzz Lightyear!

I'm glad to hear Carol made it through surgery.

 

[RVGal]

Our ADRs were at Hollywood & Vine for 4:20pm. It was about 3pm when we got in line for TSM... and that took about an hour and a half... yeah, we were running late.

We hoofed it to H&V as fast as our various wheeled devices would allow and checked in at the podium, not entirely sure if they would tell us that we were too late or not. We got a pager no problem and the nice CM said it would only be a few minutes. I'm guessing that the fact that we were at an off peak time between lunch and dinner helped tremendously.

We sat down to wait...

... and it really was only a few minutes until our pager went off and we were seated at a table.

We all enjoyed the buffet very much. The only complaint from anyone was Daniel (my 3 year old) didn't like the macaroni & cheese. Come to think of it, neither of my boys liked the mac & cheese at any of the Disney restaurants this trip. I tasted it and the only way I can describe it is that the cheese tasted like the nacho cheese they serve with chips in a clear plastic tray at stadiums. Not bad, if you like that flavor. My boys just don't happen to be among those that do. Other than that, we all stuffed ourselves. There was a wide variety of food and I thought it was a step up from the usual buffet offerings.

Let's see. After dinner, most of the group rode Star Tours. Daniel is a little too small for that yet, so he and I waited in the store. There was some Star Wars shopping before we moved on.

We saw the Muppet Vision 3-D, which I've always loved.

And we played some games in the Pizza Planet arcade. Carol wanted to do the Backlot Tour, which I haven't done in years, so we headed that way. We managed to catch the last tour of the day.

Catastrophe Canyon:

I tried to get a few pictures of the props and costumes on the way out, but with them behind glass I didn't do a very good job.

It was time for the rest of the herd to head to Fantasmic. The boys and I called it a day so that I could get them to bed on time. It stinks to have to miss out on the night time activities, but if Joshua has a seizure it takes him a long time to recover. So, better to miss out on some of the good stuff than have an entire day shot because of his condition.

Next up: The Magic Kingdom. Finally.

 

[Picabo]

Tricia...I am loving your TR! Thanks for making it so fun to read and including all the wonderful pix! Your boys are adorable!

Where did you all find the Minnie Mouse ears wtih polka dots? I KNOW my DD#1 would LOVE those! Can you still have your name put on the back?

What is Toy Story Mania? It's a 3D ride??? Looks FUN!

How did you 3yr old like Fantasmic? Is it scary for little ones? (My girls will be 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 when we go...)

melanie

 

[RVGal]

Tricia...I am loving your TR! Thanks for making it so fun to read and including all the wonderful pix! Your boys are adorable!

Where did you all find the Minnie Mouse ears wtih polka dots? I KNOW my DD#1 would LOVE those! Can you still have your name put on the back?

What is Toy Story Mania? It's a 3D ride??? Looks FUN!

How did you 3yr old like Fantasmic? Is it scary for little ones? (My girls will be 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 when we go...)

melanie

First, thanks. I'm enjoying going through the pictures and reliving the trip.

Second, the baseball cap style Minnie Mouse ears that I'm wearing in some of the pictures (and Carol and Aaron are playing around and wearing in some of the pictures), I bought at the first souvenir stand inside Disney Hollywood Studios because my head and face were hot.

The traditional style Minnie Mouse ears that my niece, Melanie, is wearing in most of the pictures, she bought at the Animal Kingdom. They stopped somewhere on the walk from the entrance of AK to the Safari to buy that and, yes, her name was stitched on the back.

Third, yes Toy Story Midway Mania is a 3-D ride. It is like a ride thru video game. Each rider gets a cannon with a pull string and you try to hit targets as you ride. I won't go into more detail than that, but it is a lot of fun.

And fourth, the boys and I didn't do Fantasmic this year. I have to keep Joshua on a strict bedtime and with the show not starting until 9pm, it just didn't work this time. I have seen it many times in the past and I will say that it is probably my favorite show that Disney puts on at any of the parks.

As for scary, that depends on your kids. The show is about Mickey having a bad dream and all the villians show up, but there are recognizable segments acted out from different movies and really pretty stuff too. We went when Joshua was 4 and Daniel was a baby and Joshua loved it, but the villians have never really bothered him. I heard some kids crying when the villian sequences would play out, so I know that it scared them. If the villians scare your kids, I'd say it would be iffy for this trip. If not, go for it!

 

[sherreis]

That back lot tour looks interesting- I've never done that before. I think I'm going to try and include that on our DHS day in October. How do the boys like that one?

 

[Disney_Angel]

sub...

 

[RVGal]

That back lot tour looks interesting- I've never done that before. I think I'm going to try and include that on our DHS day in October. How do the boys like that one?

The Backlot Tour starts out in a small stadium setting where they pull a few people from the audience to act out a scene. Then you move to trams for a driving tour that shows you a bunch of props (I'll be honest, mostly from movies that I've never heard of or didn't care about) and you stop in Catastrophe Canyon where you see the action sequence like I show in my pics. They do this bit where they make it seem that you've driven onto a live set by accident and ooops, fire is erupting, water is rushing toward you, etc. Then they drive you around to the back side of the canyon where you can see that the whole thing is a set and they point out how they do the special effects. When you leave the tour, you walk through a building that has lots of costumes on display (Darth Vader, Darth Maul, some Narnia ones, etc.).

My boys thought the "talking parts" were dull, but they loved the movie set at the beginning and the Catastrophe Canyon section and seeing the costumes as we left. It isn't a long tour and I think it is really worth doing at least once.

 

[FreFam5]

I'm glad that the surgery went well. I hope that Carol is home now and feeling better.

You do have to tell more about your must be the center of attention SIL. I have quite a few family members like that - the kind that try to "one up" everyone no matter what is going on!!!!!

I'm looking forward to reading more of your trip.

 

[Picabo]

You do have to tell more about your must be the center of attention SIL. I have quite a few family members like that - the kind that try to "one up" everyone no matter what is going on!!!!!

.

Yup, I know a few like that as well! haha

 

[bubba's mom]

I'm sorry I'm late , but I did read and ketchup to here.

I can't believe your room key/ticket didn't work...what a pain Glad to hear it was fixed promptly tho...you are a much more patient person than I (or DH)....

Looks like Toy Story WAS worth the wait! Glad you all had a blast at it...guess I know the first attraction you're hitting when you go back in a couple months

Despite being a bit short, seems Daniel had a blast anyhows...good for him! Some day soon, he'll be tall enough for everything, Joshua will be better with the 'tired' thing....life will be normal again!

The important thing is it looks like Carol is having the bestest time....exactly what she needed. I'm sorry I missed her surgery, but I always think about her and when I'm sending a prayer, she is always in them!

Just wanted to let you know, I was here and finally caught up....I'm LOVING your report and especially the pictures. (Don't know why, but Daniel's in particular for some reason....maybe his expressions?)

oh, and ps...you look "hot" in that hat

 

[RVGal]

I'm glad that the surgery went well. I hope that Carol is home now and feeling better.

You do have to tell more about your must be the center of attention SIL. I have quite a few family members like that - the kind that try to "one up" everyone no matter what is going on!!!!!

I'm looking forward to reading more of your trip.

Carol's surgeon gave the green light for her to go home this morning. They are in the process of getting her released and then she'll be on her way home.

SIL is... unique. My brother her loves her, so that automatically makes her a part of the family KWIM? You don't have to worry about being accepted or earning a spot in our family. I don't think she has figured that out yet. I could get all analytical about what my brother sees in her and what is bizarre about it and all that, but it isn't my life to live. It's theirs. And it seems to be working for them, so it's all good.

Let's just say that the last time I saw her was my father's funeral almost 2 years ago. She somehow tried to make that day about her and that didn't fly. She was... miffed, I guess, about that. This was the first time she decided to join Darryl on a trip since then.

 

[aldisneygrl]

Twinkiemama sent me over here to read your TR. I am so impressed that you could plan a trip for that many people in that SHORT amount of time.

Glad to hear you sister came through her surgery. I hope she gets to go home today. Count me in on the prayer brigade. *We must have been posting at the same time, so congrats to Carol for getting to go home. *

I have loved your TR so far. That Toy Story ride looks amazing. There is so much to look at that 80 minutes must have flown by!

Can't wait to read more.