Over the river and through the FUN!

[IluvXU]

Love it! What a fantastic place to spend Thanksgiving! Brooklyn really changed a lot from summer to this trip, I know that they do but I really noticed it when she was with Ariel!

 

[hlrababy]

Well, Cousin It is just absolutely adorable!!!!

That sounds like a great plan: Dumbo, Peter Pan, then Ariel's Grotto! Hollie would be so happy and content with that!!

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

Brooklynn chose this one.

I'm not sure if this was the time Jill was headed toward the Cinderella horse but another little girl got on it before her. That might have been this summer. I can't remember. That's fine, though. Brooklynn has ridden it a couple of times before, so it's great for someone else to have that special ride. Brooklynn doesn't care one way or the other.

This was the mroning that we were headed for Cinderella's horse. John really wanted Brooklynn to get to ride it and watched the previous round and being an engineer figured out exactly where it was when it stopped. We were the first ones in line and so we headed that way. I was in the process of getting Brooklynn on the horse when this little girl kicked her leg over from the other side and just looked at me. Oh well. Brooklynn doesn't care what horse she rides she just wants to ride.

I enjoyed the ride on Dumbo this evening...it's my favorite ride! As I plan our trip, I wonder about certain rides, like Snow White, does Brooklynn think it is scary? Hannah liked the movie, but I wonder when she sees the witch "for real" if it will scare her.

Brooklynn has never been scared of any of the rides. SHe has always been ready to go on whatever we take her on even after we scarred her this summer riding Barnstormer (see this past summer's trip report if you missed it). This time however as we stood in line for the Carousel she looked at Snow White and said we couldn't ride it because Snow White was sleeping. We told her that we could ride it because Snow White was awake and she very adamantly stated that no Snow White was sleeping and so we could not ride it. Who knows what caused her to do that that day. She was telling a friend's daughter the other night about the Haunted Mansion and said a ghost rides with you and it is funny. She also told her she needed to ride Pirates and Nemo (the little girl is scared of Bruce). I can't remember, but I do think we rde Snow White later in our trip without incident.

Well, Cousin It is just absolutely adorable!!!!

That sounds like a great plan: Dumbo, Peter Pan, then Ariel's Grotto! Hollie would be so happy and content with that!!

The line in October to see Ariel midday was over an hour long. If you are there at rope drop on a regular morning you pretty much have a five minute wait if you go straight back. If you hit it on an extra magic hour rope drop you can do most of Fantasyland before Ariel is ready when the rest of the park opens.

 

[punkin413]

This was the mroning that we were headed for Cinderella's horse. John really wanted Brooklynn to get to ride it and watched the previous round and being an engineer figured out exactly where it was when it stopped. We were the first ones in line and so we headed that way. I was in the process of getting Brooklynn on the horse when this little girl kicked her leg over from the other side and just looked at me.

i have to say, that's not very disney-like.

 

[bertegirl]

Thanks...my DD was so happy to see the photo of the carousel. I can't really tell her what rides are there and what are not. We need to check out the map online some night, but the WDW website has been sooo slow. The only thing I hear is I want to ride Dumbo.

 

[MeMom]

Great Update
The only rope drop we have ever made it to is AK, and that was on our last trip and completely by accident! That was before the DIS and I even knew that they existed....I have already warned Patrick that we are at least doing the MK this trip because I have heard that they do a "Singin' in the Rain" version, and that is one of my favorite movies!

Now that you know all the DIS secrets, you can make it to a few more rope drops. If you do it a few times on your trip, you get through things very quickly, pretty much just walking on, so it eases things up for the rest of your day.

What a great update! I always love seeing Rope Drop photos because I don't often make it! I didn't catch one on the trip in December and I got one the trip before that! Well...we would have had one on the december trip but it happened to fall on the day of the filming for the Christmas parade...Brooklyn looks very cute as Cousin It! And very cute hula-hooping! I love that she's so into shopping already! She's gonna be like her MeMom!

We always try to get in at least one Magic Kingdom rope drop and at least one at Epcot so we can get on Soarin' right away and get Fastpasses to do it again.

Brooklynn thinks trying the hula hoops is so fun, and as you can tell, she gets a good laugh at herself, because she's not very good at it yet.

When we used to stay at the GF, we'd get up early and walk by the pool and I always thought it was cool when there were ducks swimming in it!

I just still can't get over how big Brookie's getting.

Someday, I will stay at the deluxes, and my morning walks there will be awesome, I'm sure!

She's getting to be a little 'grownie girl', I tell her.

She says, in her southern drawl, "Yay-uh."

I love sports - I really need to check out some of those resorts! Every trip I plan to do a resorts tour, but it never happens. At least on this trip we'll get to see POR since we'll be staying there! And I have seen the Poly and quite a bit of Animal Kingdom Lodge (one of our favorite places to hang out).

Yay for rope drop! We've only ever seen the opening show at MK once. I hope we get to see it on this trip too.

Your boys would probably like seeing the big icons, especially at Sports and Movies. Lots of good photo ops, too.

Isn't it nice to have a trip to look forward to and a list to make of things you want to do?!?!?

I've never been to a park without having been at the rope drop. I think I've been brainwashed..... Goodness, what would happen if I arrived at noon????

Brooklynn's hairbow is so adorable! I love how Jill does her hair on the bus! It looks like the beginnings of a wonderful MK day!

At noon, the people who have already conquered half the park are leaving to eat and spend a few hours of down time before they come back for the evening, of course!

Fixing her hair on the bus has become the norm now.

Love all the pictures from the All Stars! I know Movies and Music are close so I hope to get over to Music on our trip. And I like that picture of Brooklynn being Cousin It Shes just so adorable and its so cute to see how much shes grown since your first TR!

They are right across the parking lot. The Mighty Ducks buildings and pool of Movies are right across the street from the Music food court. It's just a very short walk. Across the parking lot on the other side of Music is Sports. They're just side by side.

She has really grown since the first trip!

did you see the episode of jon and kate plus 8 where one of the little boys couldn't understand that after the ride was over it was someone else's turn? he was so pitiful!

apparently this lady knows how to do THE WAVE, as well.

she and i should get together and do our renditions of the little mermaid and beauty and the beast. when i was a teenager i would babysit my brother and sister during the summer and they wanted to watch B&tB EVERY MORNING so i still know every word to this day. and they watched the little mermaid so much that the tape broke.

I did see the Jon and Kate episode in Disney. I wish they would have shown a lot more of them there. That was sad that he couldn't ride again, but I'm sure they walked on to about every other ride they wanted to go on. Poor little guy. I do remember how much he wanted to go again.

I loved the jaunt through Fantasyland. It made my evening.
I've always wanted to go meet Ariel but for some reason, I am very hesitant. I think I have loved Ariel for so long that I am little intimidated. Which is just sad sounding.

Put it on your list for your next trip. If the line isn't long, go and see her!

I enjoyed the ride on Dumbo this evening...it's my favorite ride! As I plan our trip, I wonder about certain rides, like Snow White, does Brooklynn think it is scary? Hannah liked the movie, but I wonder when she sees the witch "for real" if it will scare her.

Brooklynn is normally not scared of anything. She has shown a little bit of shakiness in It's Tough to be a Bug once. She has no fear of Fantasmic at all. The Snow White hesitance was something new. We just play everything off as so fascinating that it is cool instead of scary and don't make a big issue of it or talk it up too big.

Love it! What a fantastic place to spend Thanksgiving! Brooklyn really changed a lot from summer to this trip, I know that they do but I really noticed it when she was with Ariel!

I wonder if Ariel realizes she has given Brooklynn her autograph numerous times. She may wonder why she keeps seeing this same little girl!

Well, Cousin It is just absolutely adorable!!!!

That sounds like a great plan: Dumbo, Peter Pan, then Ariel's Grotto! Hollie would be so happy and content with that!!

Her 'wake up' hair can be very interesting!

Fantasyland will not be the same for me in March without Brooklynn.
I'll probably call her from there more than once.

This was the mroning that we were headed for Cinderella's horse. John really wanted Brooklynn to get to ride it and watched the previous round and being an engineer figured out exactly where it was when it stopped. We were the first ones in line and so we headed that way. I was in the process of getting Brooklynn on the horse when this little girl kicked her leg over from the other side and just looked at me. Oh well. Brooklynn doesn't care what horse she rides she just wants to ride.



Brooklynn has never been scared of any of the rides. SHe has always been ready to go on whatever we take her on even after we scarred her this summer riding Barnstormer (see this past summer's trip report if you missed it). This time however as we stood in line for the Carousel she looked at Snow White and said we couldn't ride it because Snow White was sleeping. We told her that we could ride it because Snow White was awake and she very adamantly stated that no Snow White was sleeping and so we could not ride it. Who knows what caused her to do that that day. She was telling a friend's daughter the other night about the Haunted Mansion and said a ghost rides with you and it is funny. She also told her she needed to ride Pirates and Nemo (the little girl is scared of Bruce). I can't remember, but I do think we rode Snow White later in our trip without incident.



The line in October to see Ariel midday was over an hour long. If you are there at rope drop on a regular morning you pretty much have a five minute wait if you go straight back. If you hit it on an extra magic hour rope drop you can do most of Fantasyland before Ariel is ready when the rest of the park opens.

I think I was more scarred by the Barnstormer incident than she was!

Listen to this strategy, all you trip planners. It's a good one.

i have to say, that's not very disney-like.

She should have taken better notes in her Disney Etiquette 101 class.
I wonder if she even knew it was the special horse or if it was just coincidence that she chose that one. Anyway, it was not big deal, other than John's well laid plans for scoping out that horse were felled by a child!

Thanks...my DD was so happy to see the photo of the carousel. I can't really tell her what rides are there and what are not. We need to check out the map online some night, but the WDW website has been sooo slow. The only thing I hear is I want to ride Dumbo.

Here's a suggestion that might help you out.
Go to Dumbo first, then. The line gets long and slow very quickly. Go straight to it, and you'll walk right on. You might want to get back in line and ride it twice while there's not much of a line, because it's bad most of the day. You could ride it twice and then go to Peter Pan and it'll still have a short wait. Those two should be done right away, because the lines get long and stay long as a rule.

 

[scottny]

what a wonderful update and pics.

it did not look too bad for Thanksgiving

 

[MagicShell]

Jill and Memom,

I loved the pictures of the opening at Magic Kingdom. We got to see it for the first time in December. I think it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

I hope Brooklynn continues to want to ride all the rides. My six year old son was much more scared to ride things this time than when he was two and four years old. He loved Fantasy Land but was pretty much scared of everything else. I hope he is brave the next time we go so that we can ride more things as a family.

Thanks for sharing your vacation.

 

[tinkgurl]

She says, in her southern drawl, "Yay-uh."

Haha. My little guy is going through this stage where if you tell him no when he wants to do something he can't, he'll say 'yeah i do' really fast. We don't know where he heard it. And then for awhile he was saying "yes sir". And now he'll say "dicilous" for ridiculous.

 

[Megablocks]

did you see the episode of jon and kate plus 8 where one of the little boys couldn't understand that after the ride was over it was someone else's turn? he was so pitiful!

That reminds me of my brother! When I was about six and he was three, my parents took us up to New Hampshire for a few days, and visited a park called Storyland. On one of the days that we went, it was raining all day. The place was mostly empty, and we were able to ride the rides as much as we wanted, and not always get off when it ended. It was sunny and more crowded the next day, and Michael could not understand why we had to get off the rides, and THEN have to wait in a line.

MeMom, I love the early morning All-Star pictures, and the rope drop pictures. Aside from the morning EMH at MK on our first full day, I'm also going to ask about doing a rope drop at Epcot. We are doing a segway tour there, and might stick around after that, but that's Kailyn's birthday, so whatever we do will be up to her. I would love to get in Soarin' more than one time this trip, though.

 

[declansdad]

Love the "Cousin It" photo.

 

[carissanboys]

That was a very close and exciting race!

I can't wait to see where you guys have your Thanksgiving Day dinner.

 

[kathleen27]

Nice update & cute photos.

The two of them discussed things.

That is such a cute picture. I like the added touch of Brooklynn's blue hair bow and Ariel's blue flower.

 

[mama2girls]

WooHOO!!! Im all caught up now. That was a marathon of a reading session! We are just about ready to book our August trip. I cant wait!! Ahhh, POP for 10 nights! I am really hoping that they do free dining agian this year. Usually its the last week of August through September. Thats why we picked Aug 24-Sept 3 for the trip. We have enough saved for the trip with the dining plan but if we get free dining, then that means we will have extra money!! Thats always a nice thing. Im deciding on whether or not I will do a TR. After reading yours, thats a lot to live up to! You do such an awesome job!!!

 

[bertegirl]

Thanks so much for the advice. We will do Dumbo 1st and 2nd then. Hopefully we can get to MGK during EMH.

 

[hlrababy]

The line in October to see Ariel midday was over an hour long. If you are there at rope drop on a regular morning you pretty much have a five minute wait if you go straight back. If you hit it on an extra magic hour rope drop you can do most of Fantasyland before Ariel is ready when the rest of the park opens.

WOW!!! That is the one character that I want Hollie to meet since she has pretty much met most of the ones she likes! Thanks for the heads up Jill!!! That will come in very handy for us in November!

 

[Happy Elf]

Brooklynn has never been scared of any of the rides. SHe has always been ready to go on whatever we take her on even after we scarred her this summer riding Barnstormer (see this past summer's trip report if you missed it). This time however as we stood in line for the Carousel she looked at Snow White and said we couldn't ride it because Snow White was sleeping. We told her that we could ride it because Snow White was awake and she very adamantly stated that no Snow White was sleeping and so we could not ride it. Who knows what caused her to do that that day. She was telling a friend's daughter the other night about the Haunted Mansion and said a ghost rides with you and it is funny. She also told her she needed to ride Pirates and Nemo (the little girl is scared of Bruce). I can't remember, but I do think we rde Snow White later in our trip without incident.

Brooklynn is normally not scared of anything. She has shown a little bit of shakiness in It's Tough to be a Bug once. She has no fear of Fantasmic at all. The Snow White hesitance was something new. We just play everything off as so fascinating that it is cool instead of scary and don't make a big issue of it or talk it up too big.

Thanks for the help! I'm trying to plan out what we will ride, but I'm afraid Hannah might chicken out on a few things....or she my surprise me!

And on a side note...I finally figured out how to multi-quote...I'm so excited!

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

We went and had our 4D ultrasound done today. Here are some pictures of the little one we will be greeting in 11 weeks.

She could be dreaming of Disney World with a smile like this one.

Also on a very happy note she is actually measuring a few days smaller than where we are. I had only gained 4 pounds since my last appointment 4 weeks ago and that included Christmas. After looking at my weight gain, the ultrasound, and other measurements my doctor feels very confident that we won't have a 10 pound baby in April. She said instead of a candy bar every day she recommends one every other day, but other than that I should be fine. So that was definitely happy news.

 

[shannon47142]

what incredible pictures of the baby!!

 

[punkin413]

very cool pics, jill!!! those 4D ultrasounds are so cool. i hope i get to have one when i get pregnant. my brother and his girlfriend had one recently and he called me and was so excited because his baby's toe looked like his!