Our Last Minute CANCER SUCKS Trip

[RVGal]

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

I know you've been busy too. The Minnie hat is better than the Mother's Day hat, right?

I think Daniel really had a great time. He has been asking, regularly, if we can go back. "Mommy's car! Need go Disney World! See pirates! Okay?"

Like it is just a ride across town... and free.

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.

Twinkie is a sweetie. Yes, that 80 minutes was like a snap of the fingers. Especially with a 6 and 3 year old.

 

[RVGal]

Sunday, August 3rd -

Got Mom up and into the bathroom. Joshua was awake quickly after that and ready to go. I got him a snack to keep him busy while I got ready.

Daniel, however, took some convincing that it was time to get up.

We were all ready early and there was a knock on the door. Carol was there checking to see how long before we could head down. I guess we were all early birds that day!

A quick bite of breakfast in the food court and then off to the bus for Magic Kingdom.

There is a thrill for many of us when you first catch site of it. I'm one of those that gets all goosebumpy.

We herded in toward the gates. My boys grabbed various hands for the walk. I thought this was cute.

Joshua with Darryl & Karen:

Daniel with Susan & Paul:

We stopped for a group picture in front of the castle.

There we all are. Joshua & Daniel are in the stroller, which I now realize I should have parked it and gotten them out. Oh, well. Left to right: Carol, Deb, Aaron, Melanie, Mom, Me, Paul, Susan, Darryl, Karen. The whole herd.

I saw this group performing on the way down Main St...

... but we were on a mission. If there is one thing I've learned from my many, many trips to the Magic Kingdom, it is that you want to hit Fantasyland early and then run away as fast as you can. By mid-morning and until early evening, Fantasyland is a mass of bodies and strollers as far as the eye can see. Get in, get out. That's our plan.

First up is the Pooh ride.

Next, I insisted that if anyone wanted to ride Dumbo, it was now or never. I can't stress enough that the Dumbo line moves slowly and it grows to monstrous size quickly. Oh, and the line is mostly in the sun and even under the canopy it is still hot. Freaking hot. Florida in August HOT. If you want to ride Dumbo (and if you have a small child, c'mon, you probably have to ride it) go there as early as you possibly can. It won't ever get better, only worse, during the day.

Everyone but Darryl & Karen wanted to ride, so I handed him my camera.

Carol & Joshua:

Aaron & Deb:

Mom & Melanie:

And a seriously bad picture of Me & Daniel:

I guess he missed Susan & Paul somehow. Anyway, our spin on Dumbo done, we headed to Peter Pan. I saw the sky writer plane up in the sky before we got in line.

Peter Pan is one of those memory-from-childhood rides for me. I don't know if my boys enjoy it half as much as I do. I caught a shot of Carol & Aaron as we were exiting.

Next, dammit, we're right there so I guess we have to do It's A Small World. I mean no offense to those that love the ride. I can understand the appeal. I think. I just don't happen to enjoy watching the round headed kids sing the most annoying song ever over and over and over. My boys love it. I think that is payback for something I did. I'm not sure what I did, but it must have been bad.

One of my favorite pictures, Carol & Daniel on IASW.

Next, we did the Snow White ride.

After that, we hit the Carousel and Mickey's Philharmagic. Fantasyland, done. We had ADRs at the Crystal palace for an early lunch at 11:30am, so it was time to head that way.

 

[mdrob214]

Tricia I made my kids go on IASW last year. I guess I was paying them back for all the stuff I do/ put up with for them every day! Then I sing that annoyingly sweet song whenever they start to get pouty or grumpy!

 

[Mkrop]

I am weird I LOVE IASW!!!

Carol looks so happy!

Like the yellow mouse ear hats too!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Good job getting all of Fantasyland done so quickly! I think the boys' ears are adorable, too. I've decided, as I get older, that I would enjoy "It's A Small Hemisphere" much more. I love IASW, but it seems so looooonnnggg hearing that song each time we go! Half the length would be perfect.

 

[Picabo]

I LOOOOVE the group shot! Absolutely a perfect family picture!

And I must know where those mouse ears hats came from! (Yellow ones) Back in the days they were all solid colors! Do they sell cool ones like that everywhere??? Must have. Must have!

LOVE all the pix! Keep 'em coming!

melanie

 

[RVGal]

And I must know where those mouse ears hats came from! (Yellow ones) Back in the days they were all solid colors! Do they sell cool ones like that everywhere??? Must have. Must have!

The yellow mouse ears came from MouseGear at Epcot (Future World, Innoventions). They had a HUGE selection of mouse ears there. Pink ones with princesses, straw looking ones with Mickey & Donald in safari outfits, black ones with them in pirate outfits. I can't even remember them all, but the kids had a hard time choosing which kind of ears they wanted.

 

[noodleknitter]

I love the mouse ears! How do you get such good ride pics without a flash? I don't know if my camera is too slow, or what.

 

[RVGal]

I love the mouse ears! How do you get such good ride pics without a flash? I don't know if my camera is too slow, or what.

Honestly, I don't know. My camera has a Sports/Action setting on the dial, which is where I had it for the rides. It also has a Low Light setting on the menu, which I also selected for the rides. I guess that combination works well sometimes? I have dozens of crappy shots that are just a blur, but I did manage to get some that came out really clear too. Luck of the draw? Or just snapping often enough that something eventually worked? I wish I knew.

Nothing came out clear in some of the rides. Like Peter Pan and Snow White. I have several pictures of colored streaks on a black background from those rides. I guess those are darker and my camera can't pick up anything. Nothing worked on Pirates of the Caribbean either and I thought it would.

 

[RVGal]

This post will be entirely about our lunch at CP. That's all. Lots and lots of pictures of my family with Pooh & Friends. You have been warned. No yawning or whining about being bored. I get enough of that at home.

We headed from Fantasyland back around the castle to CP.

We checked in (on time this time around) and it was only a few minutes before our party of 12 was called.

Who are we here to see? Oh, yeah. Pooh and his Hundred Acre Wood pals!

We were seated at two tables for six right next to each other. That was nice. We got in line for the buffet. The food was good. Really good. I do, however, have a complaint about how the food was arranged. They have the kids station up front with little plates (chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, and... green beans, I think?). Fine. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that the ketchup and mustard (like for dunking the chicken nuggets in) was at the end of the next section of the buffet. Or there is a nice selection of bread (sliced, crusty rolls, etc) at the beginning of a section of the buffet, followed by cut fruit, salads, etc. Fine. Oh, but at the end of that section is sliced meat, cheese & those condiments I discussed earlier. Well, heck. I would have grabbed some bread had I known I could have made a sandwich, but I'm not going to get back in line to get the bread now! It just seemed to be grouped oddly. Things that should have been next to, or at least within sight of, each other weren't. Other than that, it was a great meal. I particularly enjoyed the mediterranian chicken. Yum!

We finished eating and the characters hadn't made it to our table yet.

Daniel kept calling them. "Pooh! Tigger! Where are you?!?" After one of those exclaimations, Tigger tapped him on the shoulder. "OH Tigger! You here!"

Next up was Pooh.

There was a lull between characters and some of us took the opportunity to grab another dessert. Or two. Whose counting, it's a buffet.

Eeyore was the next to arrive.

Last, but not least, Piglet.

Melanie absolutely LOVES Piglet. She had a stuffed Piglet toy that she brought and when she showed it to Piglet, he made quite a fuss over it.

We had a really, really good time.

 

[Mkrop]

I'm Grumpy bc you Are Dopey!

I love his shirt

 

[sherreis]

IASW - oh my. I used to love it. But, now that I'm older that song can get on your nerves after awhile. When I called CRO yesterday morning at 7:05 AM to book under the new code, that was the first song I had when I was on hold for 35 minutes. Can you imagine - listening to that and you haven't had your morning coffee yet?

CP looked like fun for everyone. It's nice to see adults getting into the pics with the characters. I'm making a note for our trip for us to make sure that it's just not the kids this time in those pics. I love CP and can't wait to get back there.

Looking forward to hearing more...

 

[loribell]

Great installments Tricia. It really looks like you guys are having a great time.

 

[scotlass]

Hey youse....

youse look like you had soooo much funny !!

 

[nascarcheshirecat]

I just roared with laughter over the caption of the photo
of you and Daniel saying bad pic.

I am so glad all of you had a great time.




ps- eating mutiple desserts at Disney only counts as one.
you are in the Mickey zone.
that is the rule.

 

[MAJ RN]

Just catching up on your report and all of your great pics. Your family looks like you are having a great time. I like to see that your sister Carol is smiling and having a great trip. Hope all is well with your sister.


Melissa

 

[LaraK]

Playing catchup on your report...and yes, the Catsup should be near the nuggets.

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

I love the report. I hate the reason you took the trip.

I am so glad Carol is home. I will keep her in my prayers

 

[bubba's mom]

I just roared with laughter over the caption of the photo
of you and Daniel saying bad pic.

[/B]

i did too....LOVE Daniel's face in that shot!!

Looks like a great (long) lunch....but, everyone having a great time! Lots of great pix of Carol!


btw....when we were at MK in '04....IASW was under it's major rehab...we didn't get to do it Bubba has never been on it!

 

[RVGal]

I just roared with laughter over the caption of the photo
of you and Daniel saying bad pic.

i did too....LOVE Daniel's face in that shot!!

Well, you've gotta admit. It is a bad picture. I'm doing a blink-squint combo and Daniel looks like he smells something nasty.