Pixie Dust, Princess Magic and Christmas Cheer TR--Princess & Sparkly lizzard seats..

[MagicMomentsMom]

well something happened to my original PTR and just began TR--it appears to be locked ...hmmmm so here is a link to the PTR and Day 1 of the TR
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2218992&page=9


Now on to MVMCP

We got to the Magic Kingdom later than what I wanted but we got there before the actual party started. We got into the park and it was amazing to see GenevaClaire's face light up and ask are we here, are we at Disney?? She forgot all about the swimming fiasco from the hour before.

We got our MVMCP bracelets and headed in for some fun! It was really crowded going in because of all the non party guests leaving--sort of a jumbled up mess. Lesson learned GET THERE EARLIER next time!
We stopped and got this photo on the bridge--the photopass pic is a little better not much--I should have taken the tripod and the bounce flash but I didn't want to be bothered carrying it around. Another lesson learned.

We headed over to Fantasy Land for some dumbo action but before we got there we were sidetracked when we spotted Alice--no line so we hopped over to meet her, (the pics are horrible the faces are blurred beyond terrible so I won't show those here) and ride the teacups. GenevaClaire LOOOOOOVED the teacups, we had it spinning at warp speed and she was giggling non stop. Then It was off to the Carousel with GenevaClaire and Daddy--another great time for her. Then GenevaClaire met the Queen of hearts, she was little worried that she would be mean, but she finally went up and got her autograph and curtsied for her.
Then we headed to Dumbo, it was really the only line we found that night, everything else was a complete walk on or less than 7 minutes in line. woooo hoooo. While they stood in line, I headed over to get some hot cocoa and cookies for us. Well the cocoa was indeed VERY HOT. Burned my tongue on the first sip, I just assumed it was going to be a little less hot. my mistake. Cookies (yuck) seriously. enough said.

While over there in fantasy land we walked right in on to Poohs Hunny pots, she loved Tigger He's just like her all bouncy.

So this is where it gets a little jumbly because I don't remember where we went next, lol. I just know everything that we accomplished that night, so bear with me as I try to piece it together in a logical sort of way....

In adventure land we all rode Aladdin's carpets, which was a really good thing since it went down for refurb during the trip--again absolutely no line for it.

The most popular ride of the evening was definitely Thunder Mtn for GenevaClaire--we had her line up to see if she was tall enough, indeed she was and we were off to ride. The wait time was like 5 minutes and I swear that was just the walking time to get thru the cattle gates and down to the ride loading area--She loooooved it. She giggled and laughed so much that the lady and her daughter in front of us turned around at the end of the ride and said "we love her laugh and we'd just like to ride again just to hear it" awwww how sweet. Although I think it embarassed GenevaClaire. But really the only thing we heard at the end of the ride was AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN. So off we went back into the line again for another ride and then another. We practically had to drag her away, I do believe she would have rode it all night long, non stop if we had let her so off we went to the haunted Mansion, GenevaClaire was definitely not so sure of this one. no one was in line--not one person, we walked up and immediately the doors opened and we were led into the stretching room, GC is starting to have a little more fear, but we keep telling her it's funny scary, not scary scary. She's not buying it--but she says she'll ride. She has her flashy light toy (thank's dissers who told me to make sure she had a light toy on the dark rides)in the begining she's still really unsure, but we get to the ballroom scene and see the dancers and she's hooked--"ooooo look how pretty" and I pointed out the goofy ghosts swinging on the chandelier--now she's giggling and having a good time. She thought that the extra ghost in the doom buggy with us was too funny! First thing she wanted me to do when we got off the ride was call her Grandmother and tell her she rode Haunted Mansion like a big girl. Then it was a quick popcorn snack--1st attempt at trying to use the snack credits on the DXDP, and we find out the machine isn't working. Oh well snack consumed we head over to see the bear jamboree, but the CM at the door told us that if we came in we'd be missing the Fireworks so we didn't go--big mistake, GenevaClaire got Major Upset that we weren't going in...we staked out a spot on the bridge in frontier land to watch the fireworks, which turned out to be a good spot for us to watch, but GenevaClaire hates fireworks. So she wasn't a happy camper. We headed over to tomorrow land and walked right in to Buzz light year--we had a great time Then it was off to astro orbiter--ugh, I didn't want to ride, seriously, I hate heights like that but I did it, all 3 of us in one rocket, because I didn't want to ride by myself, lol. Made it thru that ride, whew.
now here's more fuzzy parts because I'm not sure what we did next but we did end up watching just a little of the 10 pm parade--we were back two or three people but GenevaClaire could see all that she wanted from her Daddy's shoulders--I tried to take pics but none of them turned out, zilch.
The rest of the night is fuzzy, seriously I can't remember what all we did but we had a fantastic, amazing time. We stayed till the park closed and walked out under main st snowfall with some serious magic in our hearts. Little Miss GenevaClaire was asleep before we made it out the exit and slept the looooong wait for the POP bus lines--we stood in line almost an hour before we got a bus to the resort--so we rolled back into the room at 2:15 am, and guess who wakes up, lol. She stayed up for a small snack and then it was bedtime for all of us

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

We started out the morning on a late start since we were all awake at 2:30am--I had planned a late start day on the Breakfast ADR J We got up, got everyone moving and we were off to the Magic Kingdom to wander around a few minutes and then head to our Crystal Palace Breakfast--before we got into the park I had to make a pitstop and buy GenevaClaire sunglasses, because I forgot to pack hers… She didn’t need them the night before, but during the daylight she needed a way to “escape” from all the people. It’s unusual to say the least, but it does make her comfortable to be able to block it all out. So 9.95 Pink Belle sunglasses and she’s a happy camper J
This was GenevaClaire’s first time seeing Cinderella Castle in the light of Day--it was a gorgeous morning, warm and sunny, a perfect backdrop for the beginning of our vacation. We walked onto main st and the first thing that greeted us was the trolley cars and the cast members on board--not sure who they were, they may be performers but we were catching them at the end of Main St, so we didn’t see the show(if indeed there was a show)

GenevaClaire wanted to see the Castle up close so we headed that direction--stopping for a few pics with photopass (too bad I lost that photopass L ) but I did have them use our camera so at least all wasn’t lost.

They were setting up for the taping of the Disney parade on Thursday --so there were large packages in the area right before the castle and lots of people working with the equipment. GenevaClaire was really curious and we had to stop her multiple times to keep from barging in and taking over the production and direction of the Disney Christmas parade. lol

We walked thru the castle and popped into the castle boutique and Tinkerbelle’s boutique. A little girl ahead of GenevaClaire and got to wake up Tinkerbelle, but GenevaClaire did enjoy watching. My fave was the dress and the fairies fighting over” Pink, No Blue” I was able to get a pic of the pink dress, but not when it changed to the blue. Also got a chance to get a pic of the Cinderella fountain and her "crown"

Next stop, Crystal Palace for a late Breakfast--Everyone was starving--we checked in and sat down to wait on our table. We only waited a few minutes and they called our name and we were led to the greatest table--window side--and it was the beginning of the character aisle--we were barely seated long enough to catch our breath before Piglet came and joined us--Let me just say that Piglet was the GREATEST! The interaction between GenevaClaire and Piglet was PRICELESS!

Up next was my favorite Eeyore! He’s sooo hard to photograph, lol. But I did my best.

Then Pooh

Up last was Tigger, maybe it was just me, but Tigger was NOT his happy, bouncy self. He barely stopped and had zero interaction with GenevaClaire or any of us for that matter--maybe someone stepped on his tail earlier???

The food was great, GenevaClaire did an excellent job of eating this morning. She actually tried some different foods, her Dad and I were in shock and overjoyed! Bring on the Mickey Waffles, GenevaClaire is feeling adventurous! Ben was happy with the watermelon--geez I didn’t know he loved watermelon so much, lol. He was also ecstatic with the omelet bar. I was on the lookout for the breakfast lasagna that I had read about on the DIS board and in the guide books- I also met a chef with a sense of humor at the omelet station J I HATE slimy eggs, seriously they have to be near burnt for me to eat them, Yes I know it’s an insult to ask a chef to cook something “overdone” but it is Disney. So as I ask him to cook them “well done” he says in his best northern accent “You mean Burnt”, ummmm yeah, that’s what I mean. Then he starts trying to guess where I’m from, I tell him NC. He says to me you have to be from down on the coast because you don’t have the accent…. Ummmm actually no, I’m a mountain girl. He can’t believe it and asks me how I got rid of my accent, lol. So we chatted while my omelet “burned” Great guy, wish I had wrote down his name. By the way that was seriously the BEST omelet I’ve had!

Ok so now our tummies are full and it’s time to go PLAY! So we head out to Adventure Land--
We ran into Stitch on the way

We’re headed over to Tom Sawyer Island, I know it’s an odd first stop, but that’s what GenevaClaire wanted to do. So we hopped on to the raft and went to explore! We played in the playground, explored all the trails, the swinging bridge, Fort Langhorn, all the escape tunnels, the rifle roosts (which by the way are a great place to get great pics of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad)

We spent about an hour on the Island--maybe a little longer, I didn’t wear a watch the whole trip--the only time I looked at my cell phone “clock” was for ADR timing and park timing--
We got off the Island, headed for GenevaClaire’s first Mickey Ice Cream and headed over to the bridge to watch Tiana’s Riverboat Show

--we had a great viewpoint at first, then we got crowded out and could barely see any then we just had fun wandering our way out of the park
until it was time to get ready for our earl;y dinner ADR’s at 1900 Park Faire. So we hopped back on the Bus to the Magic Kingdom, then hopped on a boat to the Grand Floridian.
(Did you notice that someone did not take a nap today??? )
The Grand Floridian is gorgeous! We walked from the boat landing to the hotel, checked in, got the pic taken in front of the Christmas tree and then headed in…
The food here is FABULOUS! My faves were definitely the strawberry soup and the yummy little dessert tarts and mousse cups. mmmmmm yummy.
The characters are hysterical --the stepmother and the step sisters were a RIOT. Then it was time for Cinderella and Prince Charming to dance and then they choose a “partner’ to dance with--guess who got to dance with Prince Charming!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was sooooo stinkin’ cute!

Now it’s dark outside and she’s tired--super tired, so we decide to call it a night and head back to the room. She’s had an overwhelming 1 ½ days and she needs to wind down and rest some. Tomorrow is another big day at Disney

 

[pipersmom]

Okay, I am LOVING all the character interactions GenevaClaire got to experience..she just looks so happy and sweet in all the pictures. Very cool that she got to dance with Prince Charming I also love the piccie of her with Piglet! The castle looked so pretty, you got an excellent picture of it, I've seen a few in TRs and I think yours is the best I've seen! Maybe because it's closer up? Can't wait for the next installment hon!

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

GenevaClaire has begged since we arrived to go swimming… yes my child is at Disney World and all she wants to do is go swimming so we caved and let her swim this morning--we only had one ADR today for Liberty Tree Tavern so I called and cancelled it. We had the pool to ourselves (no wonder since it was first thing in the morning and everyone else was out playing in the parks) It was cloudy but warm, every now and then the sun would come out full blast. But it was great to be playing in the pool when back home we were having some seriously COLD and NASTY weather. Lucky us we were missing the whole thing.
GenevaClaire was playing away, getting brave in her lifejacket and wanting us to go to the “other side of the pool and leave her there” ummm, not happening Chickie poo. lol
So we got out of the pool, got our lazy vacation selves ready and headed over to an afternoon at Animal Kingdom. Let me say that we had some very special magical moments at the Animal kingdom and it’s one of our favorite parks!

We got there and I was totally unorganized, I hadn’t planned a trip to AK today so I had no plan. GASP. no plan.

First up was food--so we tried Flame Tree BBQ, maybe we were just starved but WOW those ribs were amazing! The paper straws really were a hard sell to GenevaClaire, the texture was not a favorite of hers. it wasn’t very busy, so we were free to wander and just enjoy ourselves. First stop Dino land

we wandered into the carnival game area by accident and when told GenevaClaire we weren’t playing the games we were going to do something else, she went into pout and complain mode. UGH. First time so far in the trip so we’re still batting a 100. Next she sees the primevil whirl and begs to ride it but she’s not tall enough, which I try to explain over and over. We go to the measure station a few times and she’s still not buying the fact that she is not going to get to ride it. Now she’s in full blown pout---so I try to get her to ride
Triceratop spin, NO go. She doesn’t want to ride anything since she can’t ride what she wants. hmph.
well we wander some more and we end up right in the middle of the Jingle Jammin Jungle parade traffic lockdown just beside the Tusker house. Well we were right in the emergency walkway area to the side and the CM working the area trying to keep it clear was having a hard time. GenevaClaire did an amazing job following the rules and was having a great time shaking her “booty” to the music. The CM was very nice to us, he knew we had kept GenevaClaire out of the traffic way and he whispered to me that he had a very special place for her to see the parade, for us to just wait until the parade passed us by and then he would take us to the spot. Well that Made GenevaClaire’s day, she had followed the rules and was a good girl and was being rewarded for it. Yay! So the parade finshes up in front of us and he disappears for a minute but comes back and gets GenevaClaire. He takes us up to the area just directly across from Tamu, Tamu and is taping it off for the parade to loop back around thru the area and has given GenevaClaire a very special job to make sure no one passes across the taped line on the ground. She’s beaming from ear to ear, she’s a true control freak, lol. We start chatting with the CM, Raffie. We start chatting and we find out that he’s from Italy, and GenevaClaire and Raffie have a very strong bond. Both were near death at birth, both suffered severe injuries, Raffie’s arm was trapped in delivery just like GenevaClaire and he never regained use of his, although GenevaClaire did regain use, just not fine motor ability in it. She shows him her feeding tube and her scars and they compare--he told her to always be proud and never ashamed of being different., that she was special. Then they discussed the “places” GenevaClaire wants to travel to in the future, they talk about China and she hears him tell her of the Ice houses. We did get a chance for a pic of GenevaClaire and Raffie together and he offered to be her special tour guide on the Kilimanjaro Safaris next week when he was working. It was one of those moments that made you tear up, she’s normally very shy and won’t show her scars, even covering the large ones on her arm up and never ever showing her feeding tube to anyone, she felt a kinship with him, he was a grown up who was perfectly ok being different. Unfortunately we did not get back to ride Kilimanjaro Safari with Raffie, but I hope if you see him at AK, tell him what a fantastic CM he is! All this during a parade, anything is possible at Disney.

Next stop Raffiki’s planet watch--it’s late in the day but we head over anyway. GenevaClaire loved the train ride and was really shocked to see the animal areas that we passed by while riding the train. Most of the names on the buildings she could read(yay! ) and she even caught a glimpse of a few animals in their holding areas.
Raffiki’s was very quiet, we walked in and found Pochontas just standing there by herself, not a soul in sight, except for her Character handler. So GenevaClaire walked up to get her autograph and a pic with her--Daddy was standing in the back just drooling and mumbling about wanting to have his pic taken with her too, lol. So when GenevaClaire was finished I said ok it’s your turn, Pochontas then said, the Chief want’s a picture too? lol. He backed out and wouldn’t do it. Chicken, lol.

Around the corner from Pochontas is Raffiki himself--GenevaClaire wasn’t so sure of him, he does seem a little more real than the other characters, maybe it’s the colors on the face are so vivid… But finally she did have her picture taken with him and got his autograph.

Next up was Jiminey Cricket and again not a soul in sight around hime, so by this time she’s got the hang of it and she takes her autograph card up to be signed (thanks Natalie!!! Your cards were a HUGE hit with the Characters!)

Then we headed off to the vet window (one of the things that GenevaClaire really wanted to see, since she wasn’t old enough to do the behind the scenes tour at AK) She want’s to be a vet, good thing too, since we have our Animal Kingdom here with 4 dogs and 2 cats. Anyway I digress, she’s disappointed because nothing is going on in the vet area, it’s too late in the day.(don't worry we'll be back for another day at AK before we go home) So we take in the Rainforest Closet rooms, lol. I know they aren’t closets but I sure felt like I was sitting down in a dark closet with headphones on.

We headed out to the petting area but again it was much, much too late and Raffiki’s planet watch was closing so we headed back to the Train station. We all loved the conservancy message and talked about how we could do a better job at home of helping our planet (see Epcot isn’t the only educational park)

On the way out from the train station we ran into the Holiday Stitch and Lilo, I love their red and green hawaiian shirts . So we hopped in line to get a pic and autograph, but unfortunately we didn’t have an autograph card for Stitch to sign, since GenevaClaire had seen the “regular” Stitch on Wed morning at the Magic Kingdom. Well Stitch pouted and played it up really well, we had to beg forgiveness and then he finally let GenevaClaire have her picture.

By this time it’s dark in Animal kingdom and nearly deserted. It was really nice. We did stop at the Christmas Tree on the way with Photopass (and my camera) and got a great pic EXCEPT I didn’t know that GenevaClaire had on Sunglasses at Dark thirty, lol. It’s still a great pic, because that’s exactly what my girl would do, wear sunglasses at night for a picture
we hoof it to the POP century bus stop and head back to the resort it’s been an amazing day at Disney for all of us.

Wonder what tomorrow has in store for us...

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Okay, I am LOVING all the character interactions GenevaClaire got to experience..she just looks so happy and sweet in all the pictures. Very cool that she got to dance with Prince Charming I also love the piccie of her with Piglet! The castle looked so pretty, you got an excellent picture of it, I've seen a few in TRs and I think yours is the best I've seen! Maybe because it's closer up? Can't wait for the next installment hon!

She did have a great time with them! I know Piper will love them too! I know that all of you have to be getting super excited!

 

[pipersmom]

Aww, I love the update. It's so super that you guys met a CM that could so totally relate to GenevaClaire, what were the odds of that? And again, you got so much wonderful character interaction! LOL @ spending the am at the pool, Piper is all about how she has to go swimming while in FL, so I'm sure we'll run into the same thing! We are very excited! 56 days as of today..as Piper announced to me this morning! Poor thing is going to be beside herself when we get to single digits!

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Aww, I love the update. It's so super that you guys met a CM that could so totally relate to GenevaClaire, what were the odds of that? And again, you got so much wonderful character interaction! LOL @ spending the am at the pool, Piper is all about how she has to go swimming while in FL, so I'm sure we'll run into the same thing! We are very excited! 56 days as of today..as Piper announced to me this morning! Poor thing is going to be beside herself when we get to single digits!

Do you have to seal off Piper's PICC line? We seal off GC's peg tube if we're at a public pool or the ocean, but not in a private pool if we're comfortable with the "upkeep". Not being nosy but I didn't know what you used to seal it and we found out that we didn't have to use the medical film, we could use Glad Press n' Seal wrap--she had no allergic reaction to it and it did a great job and didn't hurt when we took it off which was the BEST part of it

 

[pipersmom]

Piper has a port, thank goodness, I can't tell you the stress it's saved us over the last year! However..we looooove press n seal..we use it when she needs a shower, I also use it over the emla cream, and have turned a lot of nurses on to it since I always take a roll with us to the hospital! Piper hates having dressings removed almost as much as having her port accessed, so the press n seal has def been a blessing!

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Piper has a port, thank goodness, I can't tell you the stress it's saved us over the last year! However..we looooove press n seal..we use it when she needs a shower, I also use it over the emla cream, and have turned a lot of nurses on to it since I always take a roll with us to the hospital! Piper hates having dressings removed almost as much as having her port accessed, so the press n seal has def been a blessing!

I never knew about it and neither did any of GC's docs around here, I was on a Gtube board one night and found out about it--works like a charm

 

[-Hope-]

I love all of the character interaction! Your dd looks so happy! I got teary eyed reading about her interaction with the CM- that is so amazing and special!

As for taking the time to swim... we have swimming time in our schedule nearly every day because if we didn't my kids would revolt- WDW or not vacation means a swimming pool and it must be used every day!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Charlefours]

Hello! Reading your TR today and have caught up while DD takes a blessed nap! (she needed one today! ) Looking forward to the next update.

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

I love all of the character interaction! Your dd looks so happy! I got teary eyed reading about her interaction with the CM- that is so amazing and special!

As for taking the time to swim... we have swimming time in our schedule nearly every day because if we didn't my kids would revolt- WDW or not vacation means a swimming pool and it must be used every day!

Can't wait to read more!

It was one of the most amazing days we had when she met Raffie at the Animal Kingdom

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Hello! Reading your TR today and have caught up while DD takes a blessed nap! (she needed one today! ) Looking forward to the next update.

hi there and WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! naps are great thing aren't they! Next trip update coming later today

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

We woke up to yucky grey skies and inevitable rain--we were hoping that it would just be for a few hours little did we know….
Our day was already planned out at Epcot with the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Askerhus in Norway. So we bundled up in jeans, jackets and brought the umbrellas and off we went for an 8:15 breakfast…

It was just barely raining as we made our way from Epcot’s entrance over to World Showcase and Norway. We were welcomed in to Askerhus and were immediately put into the picture line with Belle. It pays to have an early ADR, no wait. Belle was absolutely gorgeous! The photopass pic was so much better than mine, GenevaClaire kept averting her eyes in about 80% of the pics I took… but here is the one I captured…

We were seated, I loaded up a plate for GenevaClaire and then it was Princess time--first up Cinderella
she was lovely and very gracious in true Cinderella style

Then GenevaClaire’s favorite Princess, Princess Aurora, although I have to say I was disappointed in this one, she seemed to be in a crabby mood and really didn’t say a word to GenevaClaire, which I know GenevaClaire was disappointed since she is her favorite.

The Ever Beautiful Ariel

Presenting Snow White

We finished up Breakfast only to head out to more rain, more than a sprinkle but still ok. we headed over to Test Track-- the park was DEAD seriously, not many people walking around. Guess we should have listened to the weather report for today…lol.
Test Track had NO wait, a complete walk on. GenevaClaire LOVED it, my little daredevil speed lovin’ little girl. She has Sensory Processing Disorder and is a Sensory seeker, so any proprioceptive motion or fast speeds, spins etc, really is something that she craves. (good thing, lol) We ended up riding three times all with NO wait. Each time the ride ended we would hear “AGAIN AGAIN” Guess maybe I should have named our trip report that

After Test Track we headed over to Innoventions because now it is truly pouring down the rain. First ride was Journey Into The Imagination with Figment. GenevaClaire wanted to ride this sooo much because she loved the pics of Figment in her Kids Guide to WDW. We got in the building and realized we weren’t the only ones who had headed inside to the Dry places that they could find. It was CROWDED, but we still only waited like 10 minutes. Needless to say we didn’t mind, it was warm and dry in the building. After the ride GenevaClaire decided she had to have a Figment of her own, so she decided to spend her own money to buy him and I bought ponchos for all of us--regular raincoats weren’t cutting it in this weather.
Then we headed into Image Works Lab, just as we came into the area, Dr. Allbright was doing her spiel and needed a little volunteer to help her. So GenevaClaire was more than happy to volunteer. She donned on her labcoat and geek specs and she looked PERFECT, lol. She was now Dr. Smallbright. Although she was super nervous she did a great job with the whole skit.

Then it was the Fire Safety house and I’m happy to say that GenevaClaire was able to exit the building on one try to the safe spot. We wandered around in Innoventions and GenevaClaire took part in a lot of fun stuff. But we had to head out to Coral Reef for our early Dinner Ressie--so we headed out into the rain towards the Living Seas area.
More people were definitely in the park now but still low crowds. We got checked in to Coral Reef a little early and had to wait for awhile for our table. The inside is gorgeous, I had hoped for an aquarium seat but instead we got the top tier. Still a great view, but not quite the same. I have to confess I’m not a seafood/fish eater, but Ben usually is, well today he decided he didn’t want a seafood entrée, so he got some sort of fish appetizer and we both ordered the New York strip and OH MY WORD. Seriously that was the best steak I’ve ever put into my mouth EVER. GenevaClaire was being very well behaved (thank goodness, lol) she was having a great time playing with the tinkerbelle light up toy that came on her cup and was very entertained until we finished up. I did splurge on the ECO cocktail--it was very yummy--it had an ACAI liqeur in it--Ben and I both are ACAI drinkers (Ben more than me, lol) and he’s constantly drinking Sambazon Acai or Naked Juice Acai, so I had to order it. Plus really cool thing, it came with an ACAI seed bracelet. A neat little souvie for me.
So after we ate we headed over to the living Seas and rode Nemo --another very short wait--it’s a great ride, the effects are super cool and it leaves an adult wondering how did they do that… but our ride kept having issues, and stopped a lot but it finally got back on track. We visited the aquarium areas and GenevaClaire loved the quiz machines--I tried to get her to stay for the Turtle Talk with Crush but she was not in the mood to sit and needed to bounce around and move so I didn’t force the issue with her. We missed the shark mouth photo opp because at this point she was starting to overload, too much noise and action going on around her and she wasn’t able to filter it or calm her self. So we left that area and decided to head out of Epcot. The Rain was horrible and all of us were at the point we could say we’ve had enough, so off we went…
an early night back to POP, watch a little TV, I got to surf for a little while and all was well.

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Day 5 was another grey and COLD day with light sprinkling rain to start our morning--and then we were off on our trek to the home of the stars, Hollywood Studios. But today was more cold than rainy---so our first stop was to find GenevaClaire a heavy sweatshirt--all of my attempts to buy the super girly princess designs was completely overidden by Daddy and we ended up with a cute pink WDW design--it’s a little big but it was the closest size to GenevaClaire that we could find.

Then we headed off to ride Tower of Terror--GenevaClaire has talked and talked about riding tower of terror so we said ok, she had loved all the other rides so off we went. I picked up Fast Passes just in case she absolutely loved it and wanted to ride it again soon. The theming of the ride is amazing, all the details, the line was moving too fast to really enjoy all the hidden details but it was super cool. Then we get into the room with the TV and GenevaClaire hates to be crowded in-- she starts to panic, then the lights went out, some thunder and loud static coming from the Twilight Zone TV--she’s nervous, we ask again if she wants to ride and she says yes. So we board the elevator up--we’re put in one line and then the phone rings (never a good sign) we find out that this one is now “broken” for real and we’ll need to move down. Ok so we move--it’s our turn we get in, take our seats and off we go…. WOW what a ride. The pre show before the drops are what scared GenevaClaire, she hates loud noises and the thunder and lighting were horribly loud and dark--then the drops and the ups and the drops. WOW. one of my fave rides. GenveaClaire was a little shaken, she kept saying her butt popped up off the seat, lol. When I asked if she wanted to ride again, without hesitation she said NO. So we wandered around the gift shop and we both got Tower of Terror badges and she got a great flashy wand with the TOT logo on it. The good news is she really did like the ride and she thought it was cool that her bottom popped off the seat but she didn’t like the thunder and lighting sounds. Every person we met she had to tell them that she rode TOT, it was kind of funny because almost every one we met had a story of someone who was much older, mature, etc that wouldn’t dare ride it but GenevaClaire just smiled and said “I did”. She was quite proud of that accomplishment and loved showing off her TOT badge

Our next stop was something for breakfast--we ended up at starring rolls and I got a great chocolate croissant but Ben wasn’t too happy with the choices and ended up going back for a sandwich and chips because he was still hungry. lol. We headed over to Toy Story to see what the line situation was--no go. The fast pass return time was for 8pm UGH. We weren’t willing to wait in standby so we trotted over to
Animation courtyard--we found Sorcerer Mickey, Mrs. Incredible, Mr. Incredible, The UP characters.
GenevaClaire met Sorcerer Mickey first and she had to tell him about riding TOT and show her badge, he was so cute and acted shocked--everytime a character engaged her or acknowledged something she just beamed.

Mr. Incredible

and no matter how many times I begged she wouldn’t wait in line to see the UP Characters, I was so sad, but I did get a cute pic of them posing with another kid’s flat stanley, lol.

next up was the animation class, we hadn’t planned on doing this, but GenevaClaire insisted on doing it and I’m so glad we did. I loved it and GenevaClaire had a great time too.
Playhouse Disney characters were lined up in the area right outside Playhouse Disney, The little Einsteins, JoJo and Goliath. We hopped in the line for the Little Einsteins (we were trying fill up a little time before the next Playhouse Disney live show) so GenevaClaire met June and Qunicy.

It was perfect timing because they opened the doors for Playhouse Disney live just seconds after she finished visiting with the Little Einsteins. We headed up to the front on the left side because the center area was already full-- so we thought in the front was good--nope, not good. We learned that up front in this show is not the best place, because you can’t see the character puppets or you only see just parts of their heads. It was a cute, lively show--GenevaClaire enjoyed herself. Now by this time Daddy’s stomach is grumbling and he wants a snack--so he heads off to get nachos --which GenevaClaire starts eating right away along with her popcorn.

We were just outside the Stage 5 area, near Ariel and the animation courtyard. So I headed over to to see the next show time and it was just minutes away. So I headed back to pick up Ben and GenevaClaire and we zipped over to the show. GenevaClaire made a little friend while waiting in line and then they both insisted that we sit together during the show--they were so cute. GenevaClaire had really been craving some true interaction with kids. The show was phenomenal, the Sea Witch scenes almost did GenevaClaire in, but her “little friend” helped her out in this area. When the show finished both of the girls wanted to go do the movie ride together, awwww how sweet. But they had to meet other people so we went off to get in line at the Great Movie Ride--we were in line just a few minutes when the ride broke down, phooey. So we headed over to Star Tours…

well that wasn’t such a good idea, GenevaClaire HATED star tours, way too loud for her, she kept telling us afterwards that Star Tours was scary, LOUD and she never wanted to ride it again.

Then it was Honey I shrunk the kids play area--and I thought we had lost our minds for even walking in that place. It’s absolutely crazy in there, hundreds of kids running around screaming, Parents stacked up 5 deep on the “wall areas”, the other frantic parents darting around looking for their child who was gone in somewhere but never came out.. GenevaClaire was overwhelmed with all the screaming but she still wanted to play and it was almost closing time so, Ben and her went through and played around. I did manage to catch a few pics (only because of pure luck)

then Muppet Vision 3D--I wasn’t so sure about the 3D theaters for GenevaClaire, she doesn’t sit still for longer than 5 minutes usually, loud noises really send her over the edge and I had no idea how she would react to the surprises or the 3D effects. Well I’m happy to say that She LOVED it and would request it again before our vacation was up. We came out of Muppets and it’s time for Osborne lights. They had already closed off the “streets” area and were directing people around by Mama Melrose and down near the Lights Motors Action area--well when I looked up the street at the MASSIVE wall of people stuffed and smooshed together in the Streets Of America, I said a silent thank you prayer that we had not made it into that crowd.
We stopped for a photopass photo and they were great and used my camera too. We enjoyed the music--I love Trans Siberian Orchestra and they were playing quite a few of their songs. Then it was time to make our way across the street to get back out of the crowd, this was by far the most “crowd” we had witnessed and it was a little unnerving to say the least, but we got lucky and CM with a large “costume” cart was parting the seas of people in front of us so we hopped behind him and we had a pretty quick exit out of streets of America--into the Pixar/TSM area.

On the way out I was trying to “slow down” and enjoy the store windows--my fave was the Rockette Minnie Ornaments Display--

then back to POP to eat , but before we could eat GenevaClaire got pulled into a fun little Hokey Pokey song and Dance with the POP CM’s , it was really cute! Tomorrow’s another day full of magic at Animal Kingdom and EVEN MORE Pixie Dust for GenevaClaire ( I told you that the Animal Kingdom was her Pixie Dust place this trip, lol)

 

[-Hope-]

You guys had so much great character interaction! Every day of your trip there seems to be something new that makes me smile. I'm impressed that GenevaClaire rode TOT- my 9 and 10 yo have absolutely no interest in it what so ever!

You have me worried about the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area- I was hoping for it to be a nice relaxing break! We will be at DHS on a Monday in September so I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed that it won't be quite so crazy! You mentioned a wall area- does that mean there are no benches? My parents are going to be with us and I've tried to plan our park tours so that they have opportunities to rest and I thought there would be benches in the play area. No big deal if not; I guess they can just find a bench to wait for us.

Anyway, loving your TR, can't wait to read more!

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

You guys had so much great character interaction! Every day of your trip there seems to be something new that makes me smile. I'm impressed that GenevaClaire rode TOT- my 9 and 10 yo have absolutely no interest in it what so ever!

You have me worried about the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area- I was hoping for it to be a nice relaxing break! We will be at DHS on a Monday in September so I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed that it won't be quite so crazy! You mentioned a wall area- does that mean there are no benches? My parents are going to be with us and I've tried to plan our park tours so that they have opportunities to rest and I thought there would be benches in the play area. No big deal if not; I guess they can just find a bench to wait for us.

Anyway, loving your TR, can't wait to read more!

It's not really "walls" but I didn't see any benches at all, but seriously that place was utter chaos, so there might have been one or two somewhere.... I know that right outside the play area to the right is an eating area, not sure which restaurant but it was covered so they would at least get a break from the sun. It was a very magical vacation for us, I'm still in withdrawls, and it's all that GenevaClaire talks about or even during her imaginary play sessions--she's always pretending to be a CM or working on a ride, lol. It's even made it's way in to her school play sessions, she has to play something Disney related Glad you're reading along! I should have the next day up soon, if I can get GenevaClaire nursed back into the land of the healthy...

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

the next post will be up in a few days

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

This is the halfway point in our trip (and trip report, lol) It's been an amazing time so far and lots of fun to go! So here is day 6 at Animal Kingdom--because we were there for 12 days we visited each park multiple times--which was great for our family and not feeling rushed thru our park time...Today was a super Magical day for GenevaClaire at The Animal Kingdom--remember me telling you at the begining of this TR that Animal Kingdom was definitely our pixie dust place

We spent our 6th day at Animal Kingdom-surprisingly when we got up the weather was much better, still a bit cold, but the sun was trying to shine. We had an 8:15 ADR with Donald and friends at the Safari Breakfast at Tusker house. The food at the Safari breakfast was amazing, seriously the best buffet that we had eaten at. I have to say my favorite was the bread pudding, mmmm. good stuff.
GenevaClaire met Donald and all of his Safari buddies and then she had the chance to dance around the dining room with the characters making music! We missed seeing our DIS buddies at Breakfast but no worries because we ran into them later in the day!

We finished up in the early morning hours and headed towards Kilminjaro Safaris--the sun was up and shining and we knew we’d see some fantastic animals and we weren’t disappointed.

After our Safari, we headed off to the Pangini Exploration trails, the nicer weather was definitely helping us, because more animals were out this morning.

Another great thing about the Animal Kingdom was the Kid’s Discovery Club. The little stations through out the park offered “mini teaching” opportunities for GenevaClaire to learn about conservancy and animals. She actually did almost all of the Kid Discovery Stations and had the entire book filled out, but unfortunately it was in my back pocket (I forgot) when we got wet later in the afternoon and it was ruined.

We headed back to Conservation Station and Rafiki’s planet watch again, so that GenevaClaire could hopefully see the Animal kingdom vets working.

We were early enough this time to experience Affection Station, GenevaClaire got to brush a few animals and even heard a donkey braying in the background. GenevaClaire was excited to tell the CM’s that she had neighbor donkey just down the road that we hear all the time. Inside Rafiki’s we caught the last few minutes of a presentation with Scarlet, the scarlet Maccaw.

Then we were off to the vet viewing window, both windows had patients this morning. The first patient was a presidential pardoned turkey from a few years ago, he was having leg trouble and they were labeling him as lame. He had received an antibiotic implant in his leg and was trying to wake up from the anesthesia, he was sort of cranky and very wobbly. In the second window they were giving xrays to another animal. GenevaClaire really wanted to go on the behind the scenes tour but she’s not old enough for quite a few more years. The characters were out again, but GenevaClaire had met all of them on our first trip to Rafiki’s so we only waved and passed by. We were headed back to the train and off to A bugs Life.


The best part of a bugs life is viewing the Tree of Life so close, the detail is AMAZING. The show is pretty fun too! I had so she never felt it (neither did I) but we did feel the bugs under our bottoms as they exited the theater. Ewwwww, that’s the weirdest, silliest feeling ever.

GenevaClaire then decided we were headed to Camp Minnie Mickey to meet some characters and have a quick Mickey Ear Ice Cream. The character’s were all decked out in their Holiday gear and even their Character areas were decorated beautifully for Christmas. GenevaClaire decided on meeting Minnie Mouse. Her reaction to Minnie was too cute, when she first walked up to Minnie, she told Minnie she loved her red high heels, lol!

Up next some magical pixie dust for GenevaClaire at Animal Kingdom....

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Up next at Animal kingdom a super special pixie dust moment for GenevaClaire--
When we were leaving Camp Minnie Mickey, we stopped at Lion King--the line was extremely short and we were in the front. Remember Animal Kingdom is our Pixie Dust place--a CM came up to GenevaClaire and told her that she had a special surprise for her--that she was going to use Pixie dust to open the show for everyone.


She was soooooooo excited, so she waited patiently for her special moment. We were sent down the path ahead of everyone else and then right after us they allowed the other guests to walk down the path. By this time GenevaClaire is beyond excited and she finally got the chance, but not before the CM introduces our family to the waiting crowd and lets GenevaClaire use pixie dust to open the theater doors. It was so cute! I thought that was the end of the special pixie dust, but then we were led to reserved front row seats in the Wart Hog Section. WOW. We were in awe of how close we were to the show. Ben was chosen to give the wart hog sound to our section and GenevaClaire was having such a great time.

The show is unbelievable and I can’t believe we were so close, half the time I felt like we were sitting right in the middle of the show. At the end of the show, GenevaClaire got to get up and dance around as part of the show. She said it was follow the leader. When we were exiting the show and headed to pick up GenevaClaire’s stroller, I heard a voice behind me saying my name--totally shocked I turned around to find another Dis’er, she had recognized GenevaClaire and I from our Pics here on the DIS and they were at the same Lion King Show. Her little girl, Amelia is soooooo cute! We only chatted for a second but I did get a really cute pic of the girls. (I don't want to post the girls pic till I hear back from her Dis'r Mom) GenevaClaire loved being a part of the show and her special seat, she talked about it all day.

We headed over to Pizzafari to feed GenevaClaire some lunch then it was off to Kali River Rapids--I got out the ponchos to wear on the ride and Ben looked at me with shock, surely I wasn’t going to be one of “those people” who wore ponchos on a water ride. Well based on that look I put my poncho back up and just got GenevaClaire’s out for her.

Again the line was a walk on, absolutely no wait. We had a great ride, well it was great until our “raft” turned and I was going down the hill backwards, that’s never a good thing, and I knew that I really should have put on my poncho, but TOOOOOO LATE.

At this point I’m soaked, not just a splash but totally soaked--GenevaClaire and Ben got “splashed” but not wet. At the end of the ride, we heard those famous words from our childs mouth, AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN. Well I was walking off the ride ringing water out of my jacket and my hair dripping, and my unmentionables were unbelievably wet, so I declined another ride. GenevaClaire and Ben rode again--this time I was on the bridge and got a few pics of their wet ride.

We then headed down the Mahrahjeh jungle trek--it was very late in the day and the animals were tired and hungry and most were pacing in their enclosures waiting to go backstage to eat and rest for the night. First up was the komodo dragon, he/she was chilled out on a rock.

Then the tapier, but she was pacing rapidly and it was hard to get a good pic of her so you'll just have to imagine, lol.

Then the fruit bat’s, their enclosure was amazing, all the details

then the tiger area--again pacing back and forth waiting to be let back into the backstage area, the CM’s told us that the colder weather was hard on them and by the end of the day they all are pacing back and forth to their off scene areas.

I loved the prayer ribbons hanging in the trees--did you know that if a bell is hanging on it then it means that the prayer was answered

We headed back to POP for the evening and saw this beautiful sunset over the lake

Today was a very special and amazing day for all of us, we love Animal Kingdom, and it’s full of favorites for us. I’m always surprised to hear people say that they don’t like Animal Kingdom, it has so many opportunities for wonder and amazement