PTR; Joshua and Samantha's 1st Trip (Sep 17-26 '09) [Train Tour Pics!]

[jenny105]

Thank you! I'm sure I'll have more questions as the time gets nearer for me to do that. I just got the idea today.

 

[crocko]

Thank you! I'm sure I'll have more questions as the time gets nearer for me to do that. I just got the idea today.

Look forward to hearing about what you end up working out.

 

[crocko]

Day 4 (Epcot)

Of the first 3 days, Day 3 will probably be the latest evening we'll have had...with Spectro and Wishes-watching. Thus, Day 4 is being planned as our most leisurely start day. We have 2 days specifically set to focus on Epcot and have decided to give this first Epcot day a World Showcase focus.

We'll hopefully all get to sleep in an extra hour (maybe) with the initial goal of getting to Epcot in time for our 9:35am reservation at Akershus for a Princess Breakfast . Samantha is excited about seeing princesses and should really enjoy this meal. She asked me awhile back if the princesses would be able to tell that she is a princess I told her that I'm pretty sure they would know.

We'll be able to take as much time as we want to at breakfast since we'll be focused on World Showcase, which generally opens at 11am. Hopefully well-rested and well-fed, I'm excited about starting right at 11am and being able to have as much time as we want to hit the countries. We have no other specific plans for this day, so if we need take rests here and there, we'll be in no rush.

As for what we'll do at the Showcase? Well, since we'll be on the east side (Mexico-side) for breakfast, my assumption is that we'll start in Mexico. That's perfect, because right off the bat we can hit a ride...and go hunt down Donald Duck. Then, over to Viking land (and another ride...too bad both Showcase rides are right next to each other). Then, China...Germany (look at trains and Smurfs), Italy (take some pretty pictures) and over to American Adventure....probably be a perfect time to have some ice cream.

On to Japan (look through their huge store and fun toys), Morocco (anyone see Aladdin?), and France (my sister's favorite place to have dessert). After refreshing ourselves, let's muster up some energy to enjoy the last two countries: United Kingdom (will they still have Charlie & Lola products?) and Canada (pictures in the phone booth, please).

I'm looking forward to this day...I know all of the adults will enjoy it and hope the kids do to...our goal is to hit the Kidcots, which they'll both probably have fun at. (Idea I just had: would be cool to give the kids a "task" of finding something really cool at each country they want to get their picture next to/in front of)

Dinner this day? Not sure....may depend on when we actually finish the Showcase...could grab something at Electric Umbrella before leaving or just head to DTD or back to AKL for something.


Potential punctures in the plan:
-- Boredom. Biggest thing I can see is if the kids just get overly bored and cranky. I hope that with all the unique stores and different things to look at that they will have fun and if tired, just sit quietly in their strollers.


Most moveable mission:
-- Starting point. If we decide we want to "save" the rides for a little bit into the day, we could start in China, hit Germany and Italy, and then backtrack to Germany and take a lagoon boat over to Mexico. This would be something I've never done before. OR possibly even start over in Canada and just save the rides for last.


Adventuresome ad hoc add-on:
-- Special dinner? After the World Showcase, plans are very open. Being at this part of Epcot, though, would make it perfect for trying to get over to the Boardwalk this evening. If so, I think everyone could enjoy having dinner at the ESPN Zone.

 

[jenny105]

We have two days planned for Epcot too. The majority of the first day will be spent in Future World and doing the major attractions. The second will be during the F&WF so we'll be in WS a lot more than we usually are. Are you going to try the new KimPossible attraction? It sounds fun!

 

[crocko]

We have two days planned for Epcot too. The majority of the first day will be spent in Future World and doing the major attractions. The second will be during the F&WF so we'll be in WS a lot more than we usually are. Are you going to try the new KimPossible attraction? It sounds fun!

Not sure if we'll hit any of F&WF, but know that my sis and parents plan on going there on opening Friday.

As for Kim Possible...maybe, need to ask around and see if people think 3 & 5 year olds would have fun with it or not.

 

[crocko]

Well, less than an hour before I can leave work and start my fun weekend.


Tonight, we have a friend who will be babysitting the kids, so Bridgette and I will be going out on a fun date. We have 2 balcony seat tickets to see Harry Potter! (we've both seen once, but are ready to go see again)

Click the link above to see more of what comes with these seats, but we bought a special 2-ticket deal where we get 2 tickets to the movie with reserved balcony seating, 2 entrees, 2 soft drinks, and 1 dessert (all served to our seats, where we have a table as well).
Very excited about this. We haven't done this yet, but think it sounds neat...plus...Harry Potter!


Then, tomorrow we will be having Joshua's 5-year old birthday party. Pizza, cake, presents, and fun!

Hope you all have a great weekend as well!!

 

[jenny105]

Wow! That theatre looks really nice. We don't have ANYTHING like that around here. Just the normal multiplex. Have a great weekend!

 

[crocko]

Wow! That theatre looks really nice. We don't have ANYTHING like that around here. Just the normal multiplex. Have a great weekend!

Thanks!

And yes, it is a very nice theatre....draws huge crowds pretty much every weekend (on HP midnight premiere, all 14 theaters were completely sold out to show HP at midnight).





Date night was very enjoyable....sitting in the balcony being served food spoiled us....I don't want to have to back to being the lower level riff-raff again.

Saturday was Joshua's party....it was fun and he had a good time (will post pics soon)

Saturday night and last night we managed to get Ratatouille watched....only Pixar movie the kids hadn't seen yet. It is good, but probably my least favorite of the 10 Pixar movies. On the DVD, there is a "My Friend the Rat" extra. If you have this DVD, you gotta watch this! Hilarious!!

 

[crocko]

This Saturday was Joshua's party for his 5th birthday (Very exciting).

We've mostly done parties at home, but wanted to get outside somewhere this year, so went to a nice, shady park this year. In attendance were me, Bridgette, Joshua, and Samantha; grandma and grandpa, grammy + an aunt and her boyfriend; her other aunt and uncle; plus 4 friends from church (and one of their parents).

We grabbed some pizzas for everyone to eat. For cake....well, in the past we've had some very neat cakes that have been made for birthdays. This year, we waited too long to get a hold of someone, so Bridgette was left with making cakes on her own (which she has now vowed she'll never let happen again)

The Cakes (she made 5 robot head mini-cakes):

Here's a picture of 3 of the cakes, one of which did not stand up well in the heat

This was my favorite of the 5

The game we planned out for the day had to do with picking up things like a robot. We had a "grabber hand" and like a robot, kids were to use it to pick up various objects and transport them into a basket.


Joshua doing well....

Samantha had trouble and so Joshua helped her the entire time...as long as she had her hand on the grabber, though, she was perfectly happy with her efforts.

Then, gifts! Here's Joshua opening a Leapster game, this one is the new Jedi Reading game (he has and loves the Jedi Math game). He also got the new Up game for Leapster (and will be getting the Ni Hao Kailan game once my sister gets her gifts delivered)

Later, some of the kids were playing a ladder golf game and apparently weren't letting Samantha play

That's okay, though, because in general she was having a great time!

Now...for my favorite picture of the event. Bridgette was getting some candid shots of Joshua hanging out near the corner of the pavilion and managed to get one that makes him look so handsome....his cute hair and those fun little freckles

Last pic....one of the thoughtful parents brought Samantha a gift, too....it was a Snow White dress. Samantha put it on when we got home and apparently took a bite of an apple shortly after.

Prince Joshua tried to give her a kiss to waker her, but she kept on snoozing.




Well, thanks for letting me share with you....it was a fun day!

 

[cheap traveler]

You really have to be careful with those apples. My kids think they are poison also. Oh wait, thats just because they are healthy

Love the birthday party. And especially the melted cake.

I'm going to try out the Kim Possible activity on our Epcot day. What's the worst that can happen? We bail after a few minutes or one activity? No biggie. My DDs don't know who Kim Possible is... but I do

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Epcot day sounds well planned!

the bday party looked like lots of fun...I think the cakes came out great...

 

[jenny105]

Your kids are adorable. I think the cakes came out great! That's way better than if I made an attempt at it!

I love that the kids were wearing Wall-E shirts for the occassion.

 

[crocko]

You really have to be careful with those apples. My kids think they are poison also. Oh wait, thats just because they are healthy

Love the birthday party. And especially the melted cake.

I'm going to try out the Kim Possible activity on our Epcot day. What's the worst that can happen? We bail after a few minutes or one activity? No biggie. My DDs don't know who Kim Possible is... but I do

Yeah...that's a good philosophy and is the way I'm starting to feel about it....wouldn't hurt giving a try, eh?

Epcot day sounds well planned!

the bday party looked like lots of fun...I think the cakes came out great...

Thanks....Bridgette wasn't thrilled with them, but hey...they tasted really good

Your kids are adorable. I think the cakes came out great! That's way better than if I made an attempt at it!

I love that the kids were wearing Wall-E shirts for the occassion.

Yeah, that was fun....and the pink one Samantha was wearing...I hadn't even seen that one until she put it on

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Just catching up:

Love the YOAMD picture

Your kids are so cute! I love that picture of Samantha and her friend, both as Alice.

In looking in on your plans, it looks like we're going to be at HS AM EMH at the same time on the 19th!

I love your Pepper Ann pin... I miss that show.

Congrats on your ADRs!!! Those are good ones... and 'Ohana on arrival night, yayyy!

I just saw the staticy hair.

I can't wait to read what you think about Kidani and hopefully see some pictures, I'm staying there in January.

WHAT??? 3 trips in one year??? I think getting the AP had that affect on people, I'm doing that too.

In reading further, it looks like we'll be in that mad dash to TSM together on Sept 19!


I can't wait to read more John!

 

[crocko]

Just catching up:

Love the YOAMD picture

Your kids are so cute! I love that picture of Samantha and her friend, both as Alice.

In looking in on your plans, it looks like we're going to be at HS AM EMH at the same time on the 19th!

I love your Pepper Ann pin... I miss that show.

Congrats on your ADRs!!! Those are good ones... and 'Ohana on arrival night, yayyy!

I just saw the staticy hair.

I can't wait to read what you think about Kidani and hopefully see some pictures, I'm staying there in January.

WHAT??? 3 trips in one year??? I think getting the AP had that affect on people, I'm doing that too.

In reading further, it looks like we'll be in that mad dash to TSM together on Sept 19!


I can't wait to read more John!

Glad you came and checked this PTR out.

Very cool that we'll be at Studios the same time. As for that EMH dash to Toy Story Mania...let's make a deal...I won't push you if you don't push me.

 

[crocko]

I've made it to July 29th!


50 DAYS TO GO!!!!

 

[crocko]

Day 5 (Animal Kingdom)

Last day of the first half of the trip.....4th full day and thus, time to hit the only park we will not have been to yet...Animal Kingdom. The day before (World Showcase day) will hopefully have allowed for everyone to get to bed in decent time. Thus, we should be ready to go for another morning EMH at Animal Kingdom (I don't know if I've ever done this park NOT on an EMH day )

Hopefully (as happened on our December trip), they will let everyone in to the Discovery Island portion a few minutes early and have a fun opening show.

Then, we'll get ourselves positioned to the left and ready to head to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. I love doing this ride first thing in the morning (it's become an AK tradition). After that ride, the next 1.5 hours is up in the air. We have a 10am breakfast reservation at Tusker House (yay for Donald!) My thinking right now is that we head on over to Dinoland for a little bit. If they still have the "centralized FP thing" going on at AK, then I could try and pop by and get a FP for something later. We could spend an hour in Dinoland, either digging for dinos or maybe riding a couple rides. (I think it would be nice to do this area some before it gets hot later).

Then, come 9:40ish head on back over to Africa for breakfast. After breakfast (probably about 11am) we'll have another 6 hours to do whatever we want to in the park. To start, since we're already closeby, I expect will get on the Wildlife Express Train and head over to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Kids will enjoy the train ride and I think there will be a few fun things for them to do over there (hopefully see a couple fun characters as well)

Then, with the remaining time.....
Main goals:
-- Finish Dinoland
-- Camp Minnie/Mickey
-- Finding Nemo show
-- Take some time to look at Tree of Life (possibly It's Tough to be a Bug)
-- The late afternoon parade

Sideline goals:
-- Festival of the Lion King
-- Maharajah Jungle Trek
-- Kali River Rapids (??) [Joshua's tall enough and Samantha is very close]
-- Flights of Wonder

Man, there's a lot to try and do with a couple of first-time kiddos. This is the only planned day at Animal Kingdom, but the last 5 days, there should be opportunities to come back and do more should the need exist. (Our last full day in the park, AK has EMH late hours!)

As of right now, we are planning to stay all the way to 5 o'clock closing and then head back to AKL. Bridgette, my sister, and my dad have a 7pm reservation at Boma this evening. My mom, the kids, and I will fend for ourselves. So, probably just eating at the Mara quick-service location...possibly getting on a bus and heading to DTD or a park if we have a specific eating desire.

I say probably eat at Mara, though, because we'd like to take this evening and partake in some of the Kidani Village fun. Besides the splash pad/swimming areas, there are lots of fun activities going on each day, plus a fun game area as well.....not to mention the fun of just going outside and watching the animals. So, after a hard-fought day to try and get as much accomplished as possible at AK, we'll have a nice relaxing evening at the Lodge that night.

Food summary: late buffet breakfast , snacks as necessary during the afternoon, then Boma/Mara for dinner.

Hopefully this will be another night to get to bed in decent time.


Potential punctures in the plan:
-- Rain. It'll be September and there could definitely be rain any and everyday during our trip...but speaking from experience, Animal Kingdom is probably the most difficult park to be in when it rains -- lot of outside attractions and lots of big open spaces between attractions. Should it rain hard at times during the day, we may find ourselves seeing precious time slip by while we wait it out at whatever our current location may be.


Most moveable mission:
-- Safari time. It'll be hard to convince the "gang" not to do this ride first, but there's apart of me that thinks heading to Dinoland U.S.A. first could be a more productive solution. If the kids want to ride (Samantha probably will not) then we can hit Dinosaur first, then Triceratop Spin (Bridgette and I may try to sneak over to Primeval Whirl). Plus, there's some things hear I haven't noticed before. Kid's Discovery Clubs, a Cretaceous Trail, plus the Boneyard! Doing this area before it gets hot, sounds good. In an hour and 30/40 minutes, we could probably knock this area of the park out. Grab a Kilimanjaro Safaris FP before heading into breakfast and then ride it either after breakfast or after Rafiki's Planet Watch.


Adventuresome ad hoc add-on:
-- Primal parade. If timing works out, the kids might get a chance to pick up an instrument and tramp across the lodge in their very own African parade.

 

[jenny105]

I'll be in AK that day, at Tusker House right before you! We'll probably be leaving as you're about to sit down. Maybe I'll see you!

 

[crocko]

I'll be in AK that day, at Tusker House right before you! We'll probably be leaving as you're about to sit down. Maybe I'll see you!

That would be neat. I'll have to make sure and have my DIS goggles on.

Oh, and make sure to leave us some good buffet food

 

[crocko]

Thursday! I'm coming to love Thursdays.....


7 MORE WEEKS UNTIL DISNEY WORLD!!!

The Letter T
Ride - Turtle Talk with Crush (almost a ride...kids should definitely enjoy this)
Non-ride - Tree of Life (I love looking at this tree...so fun to take pictures of, too)
Characters: Troy, Taylor (HSM), Turner, Tigger, Thumper, Timothy Q. Mouse, Tramp, Timon, Tinker Bell, Tick-Tock, Tarzan, Terk, Tweedledee/Tweedledum, Lady Tremaine, Thomas O'Malley, Tiana (P&theFrog)

So excited.....busy July is almost gone and now we have 7 weeks to focus on getting our final packing/preparations done. Some camera equipment to purchase, shirts that need made....packing run-throughs need to be completed.....