Screw In the Light Bulb-All New x 13 4/25!!

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I hope my laptop works now from all the drool while I was looking at your sewing room pictures! so jealous!! i'm still working in the corner of the living room and i'm going to have to give that up soon for the Christmas tree. your space looks awesome! it's definitely worth braving the not so scary now room!

your start at Hollywood looks awesome! we have a lot of character meets planned for that day too. I hope we make them all. I was going to meet buzz, woody and Jessie at magic kingdom, but I'd love to go through the line at Hollywood for all the fun cutouts. i'm trying to only meet characters once (to satisfy the girls need to meet EVERYONE and my husbands limited patience with standing in character lines ). if you had to pick just one place to meet them, which would you choose?

our maddie loved all the pictures of your maddie and the characters. she made me go through them several times so she could name all the characters and look at maddie's beautiful Cinderella dress. she was very concerned when she saw the picture of you and Minnie about the big boo boo on your leg though!

can't wait to hear more!!

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Yay for an update!! I had been going through withdrawal

Oh I just love what you did with your new sewing room. It looks fantastic!! The first few pics actually reminded me of my bedroom growing up, no lie! I'm the oldest and had to share a bedroom with my sister who is 8 years younger than me, ugh! So around the time when I started high school I decided that I was moving to the basement, haha. I didn't care that it was "slightly" unfinished!

Those MU shirts are great! Looks like a great start to your day at H&V!

Are those tour groups that I see?

Wow, 13 characters right off the bat, that's my kind of morning!! We missed Star Tours on our trip, definitely something that we'll try next time.

 

[kmedina]

The boys did have fun when they participated. I still wish they would do it a little more consistently. We have a surprise Disneyland trip in 13 days. Hopefully, they do even better this time.

Your sewing room looks fantastic. It looks like your talents include decorating.

Our server was fantastic at a Hollywood and Vine recently too. He was my favorite on the DisneyWorld side (the Blue Bayou server was slightly better). It looks like Maddie had a great time. We did so much better with characters at HS this time. Although we saw about the same, we spent way less time in line. And, the boys were awake when we saw Buzz and Woody.

I love when the rides are advertised with a 10-20 minute wait but are a walk on. It is like added magic.

I am predicting a soft pretzel. In Maddie's future.

 

[RGirl]

Well, you know I'm in love with and a lot jealous of the gorgeous sewing room.

What a fun DHS morning! Definitely not the FAIL that our first DHS day was. You had some great character meets! I am so jealous of meeting Chip 'n' Dale in their bowlers - we never managed to do it.

I'm so glad y'all did H&V one more time.

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Love your new sewing room! A nice space dedicated to sewing wil make your life so much easier!

Looks like you all got off to a great start in HS! I can't believe how many characters you met so quickly.

 

[marDgreen88]

The room looks great! Looks like it was definitely worth all the work.

The breakfast sounds so fun! Gotta love a successful morning of character meets! By the way, I love the matching Oozma Kappa shirts!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[pkondz]

I'm ashamed at how far behind I've gotten in commenting on your TR Ponz. I've been reading along, but haven't commented. I'm sorry!

No worries.
I know how busy life gets!

But drop a line next time. You don't have to say much, just let me know you were there.
Maybe something like, "OMG Ponzi! I didn't think you could possibly top the last one, but this is the best chapter ever! You're such an amazing, gifted, talented TR writer! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Something like that would be fine.

Hey guys! As I alluded to last week, I have a real life update for you that I’m very excited about!

Without further ado, here’s the brand new space!

Nice job on the room! Looks very cozy and inviting.

We were up around 6 am on Day 2 of the trip (yup, day 2. I promise to do better).

Not good when you haven't got more then one sentence in and you're already promising to do better.

After Bryan and I put on the matching shirts that Maddie insisted we all have she decided on a Cinderella dress for the day.

But of course.

Although I'm dying to know how Bryan felt about the matching shirts!

Love that one.

They let those of us with breakfast reservations in at 7:55, and we made our way to Hollywood & Vine.

While the rest complained and made comments such as, "You have to be rich and/or pay extra to get let in early."

If you aren’t familiar with this meal, H&V hosts breakfast and lunch with a few popular characters from Disney Jr. Honestly, Maddie really hasn’t watched Disney Jr. in over a year, but she had so much fun at this meal on our last trip she insisted on doing it again.

That's okay. I didn't recognize any of the characters!

We were seated right next to the area that some super perky CMs use to lead the little ones in music and dancing with the characters.

I like that line, "super perky CMs"

So true.

Our server came by right away. He was super friendly and personable.

All right class. The word of the day is 'super'.

Bryan had been looking forward to getting a breakfast burrito ever since we last dined here so he grabbed some of those along with some tater tots.

Are the burritos 'make-your-own'?
Or do you just get them pre-wrapped?

Soon enough it was time for fun. The music started, and June grabbed Maddie to dance with her. Maddie had a ball spinning with June and was all smiles.

You must've been all smiles watching her have fun.

We left H&V at 8:35 and immediately noticed that theyd already opened the gates of the park. For us that meant only one thing! Get ourselves to TSMM!

Runnnnn!!!!!!!

I saw this sight as we entered Pixar Place and figured our chances of riding 3 times were slim, but we could certainly manage 2.

Too late!

Next time, run faster.
Or eat faster.... whichever.

Bryan was the big winner of our little group yet again.

He probably cheated.

Guys do that, ya know.



I would.

A CM whod chatted with us as we bounced from line to line warned us that the Fab 5s lines would continue to grow and theyd only be out for a few hours while Buzz and Woody would be there all day. Being old pros at character hunting we ignored his warning and pressed on.

hmmmm.....

Goodbye, Maddie!
So sad.

Of course we had to head back to the hat after that where we realized that we should have listened to that well-meaning CM as the lines had grown considerably.

Old pros, hunh? That'll learn ya!

We got in line for what looked like the most groovy Goofy ever, but didnt get the chance to meet him. He was replaced by Pluto though, and hes always a family favorite.

I've never quite understood that.
So Goofy is one of Mickey's friends.
And he's a dog.
But Mickey also has a pet that obviously can't talk.
And he's a dog

Did I miss something? Or just forgetting?
What did you do to your poor knee?

Whoa! Don't mess with that kid!
She means business!

The ride was a walk on and we were donning our glasses and blasting off in no time. My notes say that we saw Chewbacca and went to Saturn. Bryan contends that we did not actually visit Saturn and that the planet we did go to was devoid of rings, but since Im the one writing this TR, we went to Saturn.

That's why it's good to be the one writing the TR!

We enjoyed our ride despite our planetary disagreement

Better then the other kind of disagreement. :

Bryan was victorious yet again.

Cheated again, huh?

Up Next: Princess Maddie finally gets her favorite snack

Hmmmm.... Wonder what that is.
Thanks for the update Shanaloop!

 

[KatMark]

Shannon, love your new sewing room. I'm so glad you got the plumbing situation fixed before that horrid storm we had (we have a friend who coaches at Washington High School and the stories he has told us are just devastating).

Never been a big fan of H&V (although we've only done dinner) and they didn't do the breakfast when our boys were little, but Maddie sure enjoys herself when she is there.

That picture of the "Brazilian group" walking towards TSM had me shaking. Oh how they drive me nuts.

Great pictures with all the characters by the hat. We need to try and see Chip and Dale next trp...we have missed them a couple of trips now.

 

[danielle79]

I am in love with your sewing room!!!! What a nice space to have. I love the matching M. U. t-shirts. I am sorry about the sump pump problem, that is never fun especially when a big cost hits at holiday time. Our hot water tank is on its last leg but I really don't want to spend the $ before Christmas or Disney in February! That's right i have a ticker, so excited!!!!

 

[deedee2177]

All caught up!! I love your sewing room and can I tell you I want the Tim Gunn poster...please!!!

Loving the updates, your little princess is so cute.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I WANT THAT SEWING ROOM! Love the colors and all of the cute details especially the Tim Gunn poster! Right now, my sewing "stuff" "junk" "crap" is taking over the bedroom. Once we get done with the remodel, I'm getting my sewing room back.

 

[Clarf]

Wow, I don't even sew but that sewing room is spectacular!

The food for Hollywood and Vine looks delish. I guess I wish they'd update the characters, though. Jake is the only one my kids would get excited about, but you're right, adding Sophia and Doc McStuffins would be great.

I would have either cried or run really fast to get ahead of them if I saw that tour group in front of us.

Holy character meet! That's awesome! We did meet that Minnie in the pink dress last time we were there. It was very important to meet "Pink Minnie," not to be confused with "Red Minnie."

So glad the storms stayed away from you. I have another friend and the tornado literally went through her backyard. So scary. thankfully, they are fine and their house had minimal damage.

Oh, and I didn't get in trouble at work for laughing at your last posts. It's normal to hear me laughing uncontrollably.

 

[Cinderella909]

Shannon,

Your sewing room looks great! I'm sure it's nice to have a dedicated dinning room again. And, a dedicated sewing room is nice too!

Looks like Hollywood Studios was lots of fun! Can't wait for the next chapter... well, I can, but first we stuffed ourselves with Thanksgiving, and now the holiday rush is on!

Hope you had a fun holiday! Karen

 

[shan23877]

Your Tim Gunn poster is fabulous!

I love Maddie's high fashion pictures in her 3D glasses.

Thank you! I loved it!

She's such a little ham

Wow... just WOW!!!! That room is absolutely darling. It seems a lot of my comments here have to be prefaced with "said in the manliest way possible", but I just love the colour and the accents. Bravo!!!

Uh oh, I see tour groups. The first picture didn't look too bad, but the TSMM queue looks filled with them. Yikes.

I so love Chip and Dale. They seem to be everywhere, so it's awesome that they have so many outfits to make it different. Plus, they always provide some of the best character interactions in my experience.

Oh man, I want to meet that Goofy!!! How dapper.

Thank you so much! You're manliness is safe, clearly you just have excellent taste!

yeah, there were a lot of tour groups. They were mostly well behaved, but there are just so darn many of them!

That Goofy is on my bucket list. He just looks awesome.

I don't know... I see 2 possibilities. Either the part about meeting 13 characters or the fact that you said you went to Saturn on Star Tours. I mean, come on. Really????

I figured either would get your blood pressure up.

Looks like money.

Thanks! Good perspective!

Looks like a great sewing room for you. You did a great job transforming it from a dungeon to a useful room!

Thank you! I actually enjoy being down there now. Before I dreaded even having to look for anything in that room.

I'm glad you had a good experience there. I'm absolutely not a fan of that place, but never been for breakfast. It is hard to screw breakfast food up though.

That's always been my theory-how bad can breakfast be? That's why we do our character meals then.

I'd be almost tempted to try it, but they really need to update the characters. Jake is the only one my kids know, and they love him. Are Manny, June and Oso ever even on TV anymore? I'm not sure our kids would even know who the heck they are and they watch Disney Jr all the time. I think Sophia and Doc would make a nice addition. I don't think we could pass on it if they were there.

I really don't get why they haven't updated the characters yet. Maddie had not heard of Oso or June on our first visit there either. They never play those shows at all do they? Sophia and Doc would be great. In fact if they added Sophia we'd have to do it one more time just to see her.

So, your character line predictions are about as predictable as your weather forecasting?

Precisely. I am clearly an expert and everyone should follow my advice.

It looks like Maddiella was having a great time with all the characters, and that's the important part.

She was loving every minute of it!



Time for some Aerosmith??? [/QUOTE]

Well, there's a story about that...

Yay for updates and an exciting real life one!

Oh my gosh I’m so glad you guys weren’t hit badly with the storms!! The room looks great!! Holy the improvement there is amazing!!

Ahahha, oh Maddie, she knows where it’s at! Princesses all the time, but hey, if you’re going to Hollywood and vine, you’re going to see her favorite man, and she’s gotta look good, right? Lol. I do love the new dress too!

I really do wish DHS had another character meal! I completely understand that they cant do toy story characters as the spacing would be an issue, but I want to do a character meal in that park, and I certainly don’t want Disney jr! Lol

Oh my gosh those pictures are priceless! She certainly looks like she’s having a blast!! Sofia on the other hand is a thing I love and watch, still haven’t managed to meet her, but I love that movie/show!!

Okay, Maddie’s little “giggle and cover her mouth” thing is like, the cutest thing I’ve seen all week, she’s adorable! Awesome character hunting! That is PRO!

This looks like a pretty awesome start to a day, I’m super excited to read more!!

thanks Katt! We were very lucky with the storms.

I don't know why I was even a little bit surprised that she wore a princess dress. Obviously she had to wear the new dress for Jake!

I don't know where the covered mouth giggle came from, but it sure made for cute pictures from the trip!

Great update!

thanks!

I hope my laptop works now from all the drool while I was looking at your sewing room pictures! so jealous!! i'm still working in the corner of the living room and i'm going to have to give that up soon for the Christmas tree. your space looks awesome! it's definitely worth braving the not so scary now room!

your start at Hollywood looks awesome! we have a lot of character meets planned for that day too. I hope we make them all. I was going to meet buzz, woody and Jessie at magic kingdom, but I'd love to go through the line at Hollywood for all the fun cutouts. i'm trying to only meet characters once (to satisfy the girls need to meet EVERYONE and my husbands limited patience with standing in character lines ). if you had to pick just one place to meet them, which would you choose?

our maddie loved all the pictures of your maddie and the characters. she made me go through them several times so she could name all the characters and look at maddie's beautiful Cinderella dress. she was very concerned when she saw the picture of you and Minnie about the big boo boo on your leg though!

can't wait to hear more!!

thank you so much! I feel your pain. My 'sewing room' had to get cleaned up every time we wanted to eat dinner! It was not working!

Well, we've never met Buzz at MK. He's never been particularly memorable at DHS anyway What I like about the DHS M&G is that it's fabulously themed and the background is great for the pictures.

Our meets with Woody and Jessie at MK have always been spectacular though. They have never been anything short of awesome there. Woody at DHS doesn't seem to have as much fun, but maybe that's just been our luck?

So I guess I'd say meet Woody and Jessie together at MK for sure. And Buzz I'd meet wherever it was easiest. We like DHS because he's been easier to catch there.

What a sweet girl. I blew both my knees out in high school. Last spring I felt one of those "pops" that anyone with bad knees dread, and ever since then I've had to be more careful. The knee was sore after the first park day so I used the brace. Please tell Miss Maddie that I'm just fine!

Yay for an update!! I had been going through withdrawal

Oh I just love what you did with your new sewing room. It looks fantastic!! The first few pics actually reminded me of my bedroom growing up, no lie! I'm the oldest and had to share a bedroom with my sister who is 8 years younger than me, ugh! So around the time when I started high school I decided that I was moving to the basement, haha. I didn't care that it was "slightly" unfinished!

Those MU shirts are great! Looks like a great start to your day at H&V!

Are those tour groups that I see?

Wow, 13 characters right off the bat, that's my kind of morning!! We missed Star Tours on our trip, definitely something that we'll try next time.

thank you so much! Both of my brothers opted for the scary cell room in their teens too. I don't really blame any teenager for doing that!

Yup, tour groups. I knew they'd probably be there, but I was shocked at the sheer volume of people in each group.

Star tours is fun-even for a star wars novice like myself.

The boys did have fun when they participated. I still wish they would do it a little more consistently. We have a surprise Disneyland trip in 13 days. Hopefully, they do even better this time.

Your sewing room looks fantastic. It looks like your talents include decorating.

Our server was fantastic at a Hollywood and Vine recently too. He was my favorite on the DisneyWorld side (the Blue Bayou server was slightly better). It looks like Maddie had a great time. We did so much better with characters at HS this time. Although we saw about the same, we spent way less time in line. And, the boys were awake when we saw Buzz and Woody.

I love when the rides are advertised with a 10-20 minute wait but are a walk on. It is like added magic.

I am predicting a soft pretzel. In Maddie's future.

I am so jealous of all of your trips! I hope you're having a great time!

I am so glad you had a good experience there too. Our server was just awesome!

yay for them being awake! Did they have fun?

You have an amazing memory!

Well, you know I'm in love with and a lot jealous of the gorgeous sewing room.

What a fun DHS morning! Definitely not the FAIL that our first DHS day was. You had some great character meets! I am so jealous of meeting Chip 'n' Dale in their bowlers - we never managed to do it.

I'm so glad y'all did H&V one more time.

Thanks for being my sounding board while I was renovating! You rock!

It was fun! The heat got to be overwhelming in the afternoon, but a good morning helped.

I'm glad we did it one more time too. I wish they didn't grow up so quickly...

 

[shan23877]

Love your new sewing room! A nice space dedicated to sewing wil make your life so much easier!

Looks like you all got off to a great start in HS! I can't believe how many characters you met so quickly.

Thank you! it's a relief to have a space to keep everything and not worry about my messes.

We were on a character roll that morning! Maddie was very pleased!

The room looks great! Looks like it was definitely worth all the work.

The breakfast sounds so fun! Gotta love a successful morning of character meets! By the way, I love the matching Oozma Kappa shirts!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Thank you Marissa! I've missed your TR. I hope you'll be back at it soon!

Thanks! The shirts were a hit!

No worries.
I know how busy life gets!

But drop a line next time. You don't have to say much, just let me know you were there.
Maybe something like, "OMG Ponzi! I didn't think you could possibly top the last one, but this is the best chapter ever! You're such an amazing, gifted, talented TR writer! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Something like that would be fine.

I think that could be arranged...

Nice job on the room! Looks very cozy and inviting.

Thank you! That's exactly what I was going for. Very manly way of commenting on the decor by the way.

Not good when you haven't got more then one sentence in and you're already promising to do better.

Good point.

But of course.

Although I'm dying to know how Bryan felt about the matching shirts!

I shouldn't have been surprised.

He was surprisingly ok with it! Probably only because his baby girl wanted them, but still-pretty ok with it!

Love that one.

That's Bry's favorite too. I have one that I think you'll love from later that evening. I even attempted some photoshopping on it!

While the rest complained and made comments such as, "You have to be rich and/or pay extra to get let in early."

Probably! And clearly we are among the affluent in our homemade matching shirts...

I like that line, "super perky CMs"

So true.

I'm pretty sure it would take several espressos, an energy drink, and lots of sugar for me to achieve that level of perky even for a few minutes. My hat's off to them.

All right class. The word of the day is 'super'.

I did over use that one a bit

Are the burritos 'make-your-own'?
Or do you just get them pre-wrapped?

Build your own-he's a huge fan

You must've been all smiles watching her have fun.

It will never get old.

Next time, run faster.
Or eat faster.... whichever.

We never did manage to outrun all of them this trip.

He probably cheated.

Guys do that, ya know.



I would.

He probably did! He cheats at Monopoly too. I'm sure that's why I've never beaten him.

I've never quite understood that.
So Goofy is one of Mickey's friends.
And he's a dog.
But Mickey also has a pet that obviously can't talk.
And he's a dog

And Mickey is a mouse who's also buddies with a duck. Is there any documentation of Mr. Disney experimenting with illegal substances?

Did I miss something? Or just forgetting?
What did you do to your poor knee?

I don't think I ever said anything. I messed up both knees pretty badly wayyyyy back in high school (no cartilage left in either). Last spring I felt a tell tale 'pop' in the right one. I've worn the brace a lot since then. I just needed a bit more support on our second full day.

That's why it's good to be the one writing the TR!

Exactly! It's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Hmmmm.... Wonder what that is.
Thanks for the update Shanaloop!

She's fairly predictable.

Thanks Ponzoopi

Shannon, love your new sewing room. I'm so glad you got the plumbing situation fixed before that horrid storm we had (we have a friend who coaches at Washington High School and the stories he has told us are just devastating).

Never been a big fan of H&V (although we've only done dinner) and they didn't do the breakfast when our boys were little, but Maddie sure enjoys herself when she is there.

That picture of the "Brazilian group" walking towards TSM had me shaking. Oh how they drive me nuts.

Great pictures with all the characters by the hat. We need to try and see Chip and Dale next trp...we have missed them a couple of trips now.

Thanks Kathy!

We have several friends still in that area. Devastating is the right word.

H&V is really nothing outstanding, but we've always had a lot of fun there. Maybe you'll try it again when your future grandbabies are that age.

I hope you're having a great trip!

I am in love with your sewing room!!!! What a nice space to have. I love the matching M. U. t-shirts. I am sorry about the sump pump problem, that is never fun especially when a big cost hits at holiday time. Our hot water tank is on its last leg but I really don't want to spend the $ before Christmas or Disney in February! That's right i have a ticker, so excited!!!!

thank you so much! I'm really excited about it. It's much nicer to have a place to do all my projects.

A February trip? Where will you be staying? How long? Details please!

All caught up!! I love your sewing room and can I tell you I want the Tim Gunn poster...please!!!

Loving the updates, your little princess is so cute.

Thanks so much!

All I did for the poster was save the image from a google search, upload it to walgreens, and choose poster size. Viola! I had a poster within the hour! I think you need one!

I WANT THAT SEWING ROOM! Love the colors and all of the cute details especially the Tim Gunn poster! Right now, my sewing "stuff" "junk" "crap" is taking over the bedroom. Once we get done with the remodel, I'm getting my sewing room back.

I've never had a sewing room before, but I can already tell you that I don't ever want to lose that space!

I loved the purples, it's girly but so is sewing! I did most of it pretty inexpensively!

Thanks so much Lisa!

Wow, I don't even sew but that sewing room is spectacular!

The food for Hollywood and Vine looks delish. I guess I wish they'd update the characters, though. Jake is the only one my kids would get excited about, but you're right, adding Sophia and Doc McStuffins would be great.

I would have either cried or run really fast to get ahead of them if I saw that tour group in front of us.

Holy character meet! That's awesome! We did meet that Minnie in the pink dress last time we were there. It was very important to meet "Pink Minnie," not to be confused with "Red Minnie."

So glad the storms stayed away from you. I have another friend and the tornado literally went through her backyard. So scary. thankfully, they are fine and their house had minimal damage.

Oh, and I didn't get in trouble at work for laughing at your last posts. It's normal to hear me laughing uncontrollably.

Pink Minnie is WAY different from Red Minnie! I totally get that!

I'm so glad that your friends were spared. Very, very scary.

Ok, good! I hope to make you laugh more often then!

Shannon,

Your sewing room looks great! I'm sure it's nice to have a dedicated dinning room again. And, a dedicated sewing room is nice too!

Looks like Hollywood Studios was lots of fun! Can't wait for the next chapter... well, I can, but first we stuffed ourselves with Thanksgiving, and now the holiday rush is on!

Hope you had a fun holiday! Karen

Thank you so much Karen! Bry and I are both very grateful to have organized spaces again.

It was a fun, fun morning.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

 

[shan23877]

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (and Ponzi I hope you had a great Thursday)! Do forgive me for not updating on the holiday, I was exhausted once it was over. I do have 2 updates tonight to make up for it...

The One With the Snack​

Character hunting must work up an appetite because shortly after our spin on TSMM, Maddie declared herself to be starving. And, of course only one snack would do.


Maddie has a serious love of Mickey shaped pretzels. Any time she has a pretzel in the real world she laments its non-Mickey shape.


Pretzel shaped pretzels don’t taste as good as Mickey shaped ones.


Sadly, these Mickey shaped delicacies can be hard to find at 10 am. We’ve found a reliable source in Epcot’s Future World, but at the other parks we haven’t been as successful. With that in mind, Bryan went ahead of us to grab some Tower of Terror FP while Maddie and I hit up every snack counter on our way down Sunset Boulevard.


Some photos as we walked

​

We popped into Starring Rolls where I ogled the cupcakes, but didn’t buy anything. We checked out Sweet Spells, but not surprisingly they only peddle sweets. As we approached the turkey leg stand I was preparing Maddie for the inevitable disappointment when we spotted it…One of the little souvenir stands was open AND selling Mickey pretzels!


We weren’t the only ones feeling triumphant after our journey

​

We sat and enjoyed a cold beverage and a snack for a bit. Maddie tired of 'resting' and wandered over to browse the merch.

​

Since she’d conquered Space Mountain the day before, Maddie was feeling extra brave. She somehow got it in her mind that she needed to ride Rock N Rollercoaster. We knew she was too short, she knew she was too short, but no amount of reason was getting through to her. We agreed to let her be measured by the CMs and let them be the bad guy. (Awesome parenting tip #3457 from us. You're welcome.) As it turns out, this tactic didn't work either. It took all of 3 seconds for her to begin sobbing from the disappointment once she was turned away.


To appease her I suggested that we backtrack to the Animation Building and meet some new friends. Crisis averted.


The line for Ralph and Vanelope was long, but we didn’t really have anywhere else to be so we joined it. Even though it’s an area that changes characters often, it was really well themed. Anyone who played a video game in the ‘80s or early ‘90s would have a lot of fun checking out all the details.

Not a touch screen game, but trying to make it be kept her occupied



​

While we were in line a CM wandered through and told us that Ralph and Vanelope wouldn’t be signing any books, and gave us a little baseball card sized autograph card. I was tasked with keeping it safe, and I’m proud to say that I accomplished that mission.


After 20 minutes or so it was our turn to meet the big guy. Maddie went straight to Ralph for a hug and a twirl. Vanelope was in need of some attention too, so she showed Maddie her dancing skills (Maddie reciprocated of course). The PP guy stationed there was great, he took tons of photos and encouraged Bryan and I to jump in and meet them too.

​

After that fun meet, we went back to Sunset to utilize our ToT FP.

​

In the past Maddie has had mixed feelings about ToT. She likes the ride, but the building itself and the little movie have caused her some concern. On this day, though, she was determined to do it right. She was going to not only keep her eyes open, but her arms up as well. She made it through the whole wait without covering her eyes once, and since gravity was not on her side, I helped.

​

On the way out we somehow ended up chatting with a really nice CM. In her excitement, Maddie was telling her that she’d done the whole thing with her eyes open. The sweet CM really had no idea what Maddie was talking about, but thoughtfully and carefully filled out a Certificate of Bravery for Maddie to keep. First ride or no, DD was thrilled.



Up Next: Lunch!

 

[shan23877]

The One With Mama Melrose​

Our lunch reservation that day was at a new-to-us restaurant-Mama Melrose. We were doing the Fantasmic package for the first time, so that pretty much narrowed down our choices for us.

We checked in a few minutes before our ADR time and were directed to wait in the lobby. The wait seemed to take much longer than it should have since we could clearly see that the dining room was mostly empty, but we could have been a bit cranky from the long, hot walk to the restaurant.

Ok, maybe I was the only cranky one, these two look perfectly happy



​

Mama Melrose is described as a “casual but colorful Italian eatery with a California twist” by Disney’s website, and the décor as “Checked curtains, overhead string lights, hanging foodstuffs, and walls crowded with Mama’s eclectic mementos transform this former backlot warehouse into a cozy and inviting dining space”. To me the décor was much more ”kitschy ‘80s throwback” and I liked it! The lobby and dining room walls were filled with photos of past-their-prime celebrities, and the decorative foodstuffs reminded me of the fake fruit my grandma favored in ’83. The walls were exposed brick, the ceilings featured exposed pipes, and there were white Christmas lights strung everywhere. I suspect that Joanie and Chachi would have felt right at home here. I loved it!

Lobby




Dining room






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Once we were seated we waited a bit longer than was necessary to be greeted by our server, and once we were he wasn’t very friendly. He did however provide us with water and soft drinks quickly so he wasn’t all bad.


We began with appetizers (apps are included in the Fantasmic package I believe, so even if you aren’t on the DxDP you’ll get them). Maddie ordered a green salad with no dressing (she’s weird), Bryan chose the Caesar salad, and I ordered the caprese salad (I’m pretty sure I asked for no onion).


While we were waiting for our first course, rolls were served. They were warm and delicious. The olive oil provided didn’t suit us, but luckily there was butter too!

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Appetizers were served by Mr. Sunshine.

Every restaurant seems to have their own twist on the classic Caesar, and Mama Melrose is no exception. Theirs featured a whole slice of baguette in place of the croutons-which Bry said was “soggy”. He also noted that the lettuce was all leaves and no hearts (this could be good if you’re a person who prefers leaves. We tend to enjoy our veggies with as little nutritional value as possible).

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My caprese was fine. In retrospect, I was setting myself up for disappointment with that order. Here in the Midwest late July and early August is prime time for tomato lovers. This is the place where tomatoes can (and should) be picked straight from the garden and eaten after a quick rub on the shirt. Ordering tomatoes in Florida at this time of year was not likely to be my best choice. The mozzarella wasn’t the best quality, but it wasn’t bad.

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Maddie did not eat a single bite of her salad, instead occupying herself with the rolls and butter. Once she accidentally got some butter on her nose hijinks ensued. Like any good parent I took photos rather than discouraging the whole butter on the nose/face thing. (That's excellent parenting tip #5673)

Pre Butter Incident













Having butter on your nose is very, very funny





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Entrees arrived shortly thereafter. I had theChicken Campanelle - wood-grilled chicken over Campanelle pasta tossed with four-cheese sauce with broccoflower, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and sweet onions $18.99; with Shrimp $20.99. There’s a chance I requested to have the onions left off this as well. I really, really liked this dish! I would definitely order this again. Even though it was in a creamy cheese sauce it didn’t feel heavy and the vegetables in it were great (probably because they were covered in the aforementioned cheese sauce).

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Bryan ordered the Carne D' Italia Flatbread - with pepperoni, house-made sausage, pancetta, and spicy marinara sauce 13.99. His notes include the following “Nice. Spicy. Sausage. Good.” I assume that means he enjoyed it.

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Maddie chose her Italian restaurant standby-plain spaghetti. Spaghetti itself isn’t listed as an option on AllEars, but I don’t remember having to make a special request for it (I really hate asking for things that aren’t on the menu-it’s just a weird thing of mine). Maddie said her noodles were DELICIOUS!

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As he served dessert (no options were given, you just get a sampler platter) Mr. Happy Pants commented that Maddie looked like “a very young Audrey Hepburn” and with that all was forgiven. What can I say? I’m easy.


He did actually explain what was on our dessert platter, but I didn't write it down right away. Here is what I did write down later:

Tiramisu? (neither Bryan nor I is a fan, this went untasted)

Odd Cheesecake lump- surprisingly good

Panna Cotta-overcooked and tasted like plain gelatin.

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I know that doesn’t sound like a rousing review, but the dessert really did not disappoint us. We were plenty full from our entrees.


We settled up with the server (with a generous tip, I really am that easy), he did take the time to explain the Fantasmic voucher to us, before we headed out into the heat of the day.


Mama Melrose
Food-5

Service-5

Would we return? We probably would. We loved the preferred seating for Fantasmic (which sounds more reliable than the FP+ seating) and really did enjoy our entrees very much. The décor is really cute, and it’s a nice place to cool off in the concrete heat of DHS. We had a good time there, and that counts for a lot.


UP NEXT: We Meet Our Brothers!

 

[MEK]

Adorable pictures of Maddie. I am glad her mood improved after her RnR rejection. Just goes to show what some characters, a little dancing, and a ride on ToT will do for you!

Your lunch looks pretty -yummy - especially your entree. I ate at Mama's in June and it was pretty good, although it gets mixed reviews.

Love Maddie's dress.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Poor Maddie! Even though she knew that she was too short for the coaster, she was still disappointed. There's always another trip though. The girl is a much braver woman than I. It took me over a dozen trips to Disney before I went on Tower of Terror.

Your food at Mama Melrose's looks pretty darn good right now. I can tell that my peanut butter and cracker breakfast has worn off. We ate dinner at MM this past May and our waitress had an attitude like nobody's business. She would have fit right in at 50's Prime Time.