Seven days of Sunshine, Storms, Sweaters and ....Sickness??

[BridgetR3]

After exiting WS, we decided to just start going on rides in the order that we came upon them since there really weren't any lines. First ride was Journey into Imagination with Figment.

My men on Figment's ride....DS5 and DH happy with bellies full...

This was a cute kidsy ride that both boys really enjoyed til Figment said he had a blast and then DS5 hated the ride. Lol......

The boys enjoyed making music in the play area after Figment.

After this ride, my knee was hurting really really bad (remember I have no pain meds YET) but I didn't want to stop because I wanted them to be able to see and do everything so we are missing a lot of pictures from here on out. I think I was more interested in grabbing onto any railing I could find to take the pressure off of my knee rather than lift the camera and take a pic. I'm sorry about that now but I know at the time how bad I felt.

After Figment, we rode Nemo which was really neat. I don't know why we didn't stop by the Land and ride Soarin. I had FP's for the ride but for whatever reason we decided that we would come back later. I seem to remember that the incline looked too steep for me with my knee troubles and I was not sure how the boys would handle “flying”. We did not stay around to see Crush because the boys were ready to go even though we walked all the way into the room right before you get to Crush before they decided to leave.

DS5's teacher was also at DisneyWorld the same time we were and at this point I received a text from her asking us if we were in World Showcase. We knew that we would be at Epcot and Hollywood Studios on the same days and we wanted to meet up. Actually I booked her trip for her when I booked ours. We talked Disney A LOT before the trip!!

DS5 was determined to see what was in the golf ball so off we went. We rode Spaceship Earth and chose our futures. Then we played with all the little games in the dump off area. Here's some pics of the boys giving energy to houses and businesses.

They had a great time and worked so hard. Those sticks are heavy and DS5 was tired when he was finished giving power to over 5 million people.

After leaving we decided to go trade pins and vinylmations so we head to the store right by Electric Umbrella (I don't remember it's name right now) and who did we see?!??!?! MRS. VICKIE , DS5's teacher from his school. Here's a pic of their meeting.

I also met a DIS'er here which was sorta hilarious. You see, before Disney my hubby didn't really know that I DIS'ed. He knew that I spent lots of time online checking out Disney stuff but he never really knew about the DIS. So this younger guy (late teens/early twenties) came up to me (I had LGMH's on my lanyard) and asked if I DIS'ed. I said, “Why yes I sure do!” We exchanged screennames and talked about TR's that we were both following all the while my DH, my son's teacher and her whole family look at me like I've grown antennas and an extra eye. When the gentleman walked away I explained it to them but I still don't think that they “got it”. Unfortunately I did not write down the guy's name and now I don't remember it at all.

DS5 loved getting some time with his teacher! We sat and visited for a little while and then headed off to Test Track. We made it all the way to the room where they are loading cars, past the video and everything, and DS9 backs out. This is not unusual as he is VERY leary of most things in life and is a worry wart by nature. So I take him out with me while DH and DS5 rode it. Both DH and DS5 loved it. Here is the PP pic of them on the ride.

I think Disney needs to add more attraction photos to your PP CD because after all, you spend enough money on the CD to pay for the photos....

After Test Track DH rode Mission Space which was not something I was interested in so I just waited with the boys. We had dinner at the Electric Umbrella and I bought a jacket to replace the one that had been destroyed on the way here (since it was 53 degrees and windy outside). Of course when mom “treats” herself to a new Disney jacket, everyone needs something!!! DH bought himself a jacket too although he NEVER gets cold at home and he had one in the room and my bill skyrocketed. I will bring TWO jackets next time! lol......

After all of this I just did not have the energy to walk all the way back to Soarin to use our Fast Passes and since we were coming back on Thursday I decided to just find a seat for the fireworks and wait til Thursday to ride.

Illuminations was nice but I rathered Wishes from Magic Kingdom. During the fireworks here at Epcot, DS5 couldn't contain himself anymore. He hollered, "I LOVE DISNEY!!!" I answered, “I do too, little buddy, I do too.”

One last pic as we walked to our buses......

Next up – Running of the bulls at Hollywood Studios and the madness of trying to get Toy Story FP's while signing the boys up for Jedi Training. Could we get both??? Notice no one has been sick yet...tomorrow's another day....who gets sick? Will it ruin our plans?

 

[BridgetR3]

Followed you over here from my TR, and I'm all caught up & enjoying it so far! Your boys are adorable & look like they are having so much fun! We did a number of Mardi Gras trips when I was younger, and it always felt like New Orleans really must be a ghost town because EVERYONE was wearing Saints or LSU t-shirts and wearing beads! I remember one year we went to see the old Who Wants to be a Millionaire show, and the whole audience was chanting LSU before the show started. I would love to take another MG trip someday because the crowds usually aren't bad and it's fun to see other NOLA families there, but MG is my husband's absolute FAVORITE holiday, and I don't see him willingly giving it up, even to go to WDW!

My DH doesn't know this yet but I am planning a 2013 MG trip!!

I just have to find the perfect time to tell him.

 

[saintstickets]

During the fireworks here at Epcot, DS5 couldn't contain himself anymore. He hollered, "I LOVE DISNEY!!!" I answered, “I do too, little buddy, I do too.”

A Kodak moment without the photo! I love it! Keep up the great TR!

 

[jenseib]

What a great ending to the day

 

[BridgetR3]

A Kodak moment without the photo! I love it! Keep up the great TR!

It definitely was a moment I will remember forever!

What a great ending to the day

Yes it sure was!


So I have not abandoned you all but I caught a VERY NASTY bug from one of my students and had been feeling too ugh to even update. I've read other people's TR but haven't sat down at the computer long enough to update mine. Therefore, since I'm feeling better, I will update it today with our HS day!!! And hopefully I'll be back at work tomorrow!!

 

[BridgetR3]

So today I could finally get out of the house and was feeling well enough to run a few errands. While I was out, I decided to spend some of my birthday money on Disneyland Adventures for the Kinect/Xbox and boy is it fun. I have played that all night instead of updating my TR.

Long before we ever stepped foot onto Disney property I had been warned about Hollywood Studios and the "running of the bulls". I had prepared my family for it and made sure that we all got up EXTRA early that day to be at HS super early to wait for rope drop since we wanted both TSM fast passes and to sign the boys up for Jedi training.

The time stamp on this picture says that it was 7:56 a.m. We caught a bus quickly and made it to Hollywood Studios in plenty of time to sit and wait for opening. While in line at HS, DS5's teacher met up with us again and we all hung out in line visiting. As they opened the turnstiles, DH was sent with our cards to the right side with DS5's teacher and her family while the boys and I turn left. We watched the cute little show...at least what we could see of it. I really wish I had lifted my camera up and taken a crowd pic because boy was it crowded!!!

The rope dropped and we raced over to Jedi Training. I was probably slower than most people and definitely slower than I will be the next time since I had never been in the park before. I did have a little bit of trouble finding the spot but eventually (5 minutes later) we were there and in line. When we got to the front, they were signing children up for the 12:40 p.m time which would not work for us since it was in the middle of our lunch reservation at Hollywood and Vine. Therefore they put us in the 2:20 p.m. one since I was really worried about missing line up.

While we were exiting the line, my phone started ringing. I answered it and it was DH telling me that he was sick.....REALLY sick. He seemed fine 15 minutes ago when I left him. My first question (I know I'm REALLY compassionate) was, “Well did you get the Toy Story fastpasses?” He told me that he thought we may have gotten some but that he, himself, had never made it to that part of the park. You see, just as the cute show was ending, he had to find the nearest restroom and handed off all of our cards to DS5's teacher. I was hoping that she had our FP's or else we may not be able to ride Toy Story Mania. I called her but there was no answer so we got in the short line to meet the StormTroopers.

DS5 waiting patiently in our short line....notice the person in the background with beads. Yes, this was Mardi Gras day and there were Louisiana people everywhere!!! Loads of Mardi Gras beads!

Notice the boys' shirts for this pic. Yes they are both dressed as Indiana Jones, one of their favorite characters. Well, I didn't realize what kind of pixie dust this would give to us! Let me back track a bit to tell you the story....While in line waiting to sign up for Jedi Training, a CM noticed the boys' costumes and asked me to "stick around" for a minute. Little did we know that she was radio-ing the Indy show to put us in the front row!!!! We also got to meet Indy after the show! The boys love Indy but they were SUPER excited to meet Marion.

O.k. Back to the Storm Troopers with a couple more pics....

After meeting the StormTroopers, we walked back towards the middle of the park to say good bye to DH who was going back to the room for a while. The boys got interested in the Disney Channel Rocks show so we stopped to watch it. As we were watching it, my phone rang again and it was DS5's teacher who thankfully HAD gotten fastpasses for us to TSM and had our room keys so that DH could leave. I really was lucky that they were in HS also this morning and that they took our cards when DH got sick!

Here's some pics of the Disney Channel Rocks show......

LOL...DS5 is dancing in this picture although a video would have shown it better. He would take off his hat and spin around while putting the hat back on. Silly boy!

At this point, I met up with our friends and gave DH his room key so he could go rest. He has health issues and we figured it was a flare up of sorts so he was going to take it easy.

WARNING - Our HS day was really "different" in that we only rode two rides ALL day long. It was just the boys and I for most of the morning and we spent sometime enjoying shows and walking around. I was really really surprised at how people say that there is nothing in this park for the little ones. My boys absolutely LOVED HS and want to spend two days there next time.

After Disney Channel Rocks finished their show and rode away, we walked towards Toy Story to see what the wait time was like. I knew it would be too long but it was still only 10 a.m. We enjoyed the decorations at Pixar Place but the wait time was 120 minutes and none of us were ready to wait that long. We kept walking to the Backlot Studios tour which I thought was something we would enjoy but as soon as we got in line DS5 had to potty (doesn't that ALWAYS seem to happen?!?!?!) so we left to go to the restrooms and along the way discovered that Disney Junior would soon be starting. We decided to skip the ride and watch the show since both boys LOVE Jake.

DS5 waiting for the show...this was our one warm day of the trip as it was in the low 80s. It would have been a perfect day to swim in our so-far unused CBR pool but this was our only planned day at HS and we had reservations for things most of the day. I did regret not scheduling two days at HS but hey, that's what a second trip is for!!!

Once inside, we were ushered to the VERY front of the third section. Now, I had heard that you shouldn't sit in the front because you won't be able to see but the lady would have nothing of meeting trying to sit in the back so we grabbed a front row seat and made the best of it. Actually I think the benches in the back are the best seats!

My view of the stage....

This CM creeped me out because he sat there the ENTIRE time just staring forward into empty space. Now I know that he was probably “crowd control” or whatever but at least SMILE!!!!

This lady on the other hand was priceless. Her expressions were soooo over the top that the kids loved it. I know we will have to visit again on this trip before they get too old for the show!

So after singing Happy Birthday to Minnie, we left to head back to Backlot Tour. I had promised DS9 that we would go straight back after seeing DisneyJunior.

Up next: Was it a mistake to leave Backlot Tour and go to DisneyJunior? Will DH make it back in time for our lunch at Hollywood and Vine? Will the boys be able to do Jedi Training or will we have to miss it with our poor sick dad?

 

[jenseib]

I hope your DH got to feeling better. I got sick at Universal one year...May years ago....I ran to the bathroom. A bit later my Mom comes in with my DD, who was almost 5...and all I hear is "Hey Mom...are you puking?"

 

[BridgetR3]

When I left you we were sitting in the Disney Junior show, enjoying the air conditioning while watching JAKE!!! DS5 was in heaven and enjoyed the show a lot. After the show we headed back to the Backlot Studios Tour because DS9 was now suddenly really interested in it. Toy Story still read 120 as we passed but now instead of the Backlot Tour being 15 it was 50 minutes!!! I was not waiting 50 minutes while trying to entertain these two monkeys by myself. Besides, it was 11 a.m. and we had lunch reservations at 12:20. We found during this trip that reservations for meals take away alot from the trip. You are always concerned with being late so you choose not to do things based on your reservation time. We have decided that at least for the next trip we are going to do all quick service food places. I think if we ever get to go during a slower time when it's cold and we can not swim (A LOT of if's) I would love to do the TS restaurants again but for now, our time is precious. Speaking of which, our 180 day mark passed this weekend and I wasn't on the internet making ADR's. It feels like I'm missing out somehow.

So where do I take my two active monkeys?? The playground of course!!! Yes we went all the way to Disney to play at a playground. It's the kids' trip right?!?! Off we went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. This was a great place to let them get their energy out!

So later on in the day, I was having the kids tell their dad all about what they had done while he was gone. I said, “Tell him you slid down a giant film.” My DS9 says, “We slid down a flim.” So I corrected him, “No it's a roll of film son.” He says, “Mom, what's film?” LOL.....I guess film is now as far gone as cassettes and 8track tapes.

This picture of the PlayDoh definitely does not do it justice until.....

you put some kids next to it!

I loved the way the streets are made to look like you really are in New York City, etc.

We stopped for a minute to look at the Moychindice while I spoke to DH on the phone. He called to let me know that he had slept for a while and was feeling a little better so he decided to take a bus to HS to meet us for lunch.

So we headed back to the front of the park to wait on him...while waiting we watched Disney Channel Rocks again (my boys LOVED that show) and shopped in a few stores.

Remember how worried I was about Jedi Training....let's see if we make our 2:20 show time.....DH met us and we all headed to Hollywood and Vine for our 12:20 reservation. This was probably our most disappointing table service experience of the whole trip. As we walk up, we noticed that the entire outside waiting area is FULL like packed so full that people are standing. This is not a good sign. We waited for what felt like forever. If it were not a character meal we would have definitely just cancelled our reservation and eaten something quick because we were VERY hungry. In the end, we were not seated in the restaurant until 12:50 and by then even DS 5 was ready to give up on the whole character thing and just grab something from the nearest stand. It seems Disney tried to "fancy it up" the buffet here by putting delicacies with little or no taste. I'm usually pretty easy going with food and will eat most things. My family on the other hand is fairly picky. I did try quite a few of the seafood meals offered at this buffet and most of them were either very bland or cold when they should have been at least warm. I know this sounds harsh but honestly all four of us ate from the children's buffet for this meal. Yay for baked chicken and potatoes on the kids' buffet!!!

My DS5 looking for Special Agent OSO...

Luckily when we sat down there were no characters on our side for a little while which gave us time to get plates of food and begin eating since we were very hungry.

Timestamp on this photo says 1:10 so we had a good 20 minutes to begin eating. They also did one dance in the middle of the restaurant during that time that the boys both participated in. I was glad to see my DS9 join the dance since at home he would have been too cool to do it. He seemed to relax a lot at Disney and allow himself to be a kid for a little while.


Special Agent OSO visits us....

Here is Leo...funny story about Leo - He came to our table and as I was getting up with my camera he sticks his hand out for a high five from me. Well it took me a while to figure out what he wanted because I hadn't had many characters interact with me over the children first. After a second or two I realized what he was "saying" and I went to high five him but by this point I think he must have thought I ignored him so he moved his hand and I slapped the side of his glasses and head. He grabbed the side of his head and I couldn't stop laughing. I felt SOOOOO bad! Look, he still gave me a thumbs up!!!

June was by far the sweetest and stayed with us the longest. She even hugged DS9 which he loved! I was surprised that he was so interested in the characters especially since he “knows” that they aren't real even though I still believe!

One last pic on the way out and we race over to Jedi Training.....Did we make it or did Hollywood and Vine take too long?

 

[jenseib]

I have heard many bad reviews of H&V too. The food always seems to be just OK, or yuck. We may try it someday, but right now the current characters are not a must for us.

 

[BridgetR3]

Hey all,
I'm here and I will have at least one update for you tomorrow!!! Wow, life gets busy around the holidays!!

In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful time with your family during these holidays!

 

[BridgetR3]

Our restaurant was right by the Jedi Training stage which was good because we needed to rush over if the boys were going to make it for training. Our performance was at 2:20 but the little jedis had to be there at 1:50 and this last picture has a time stamp of 1:44. Cutting it close......but we made it and as soon as they put us in the group DS5 realizes that he has to potty. This was also a recurring theme on our trip. NO matter how many times either DS went to the potty before some type of wait, they ALWAYS needed to potty RIGHT before the event. DH flew him to the bathroom and back just in time to move towards the stage.
O.k. Onto the show....

Waiting to go on stage.....this is while DS5 is at the restroom....

Receiving instructions before we get our light sabers!

Woohoo!! We have weapons!

One of the few times he actually got the light saber out of its holder....

Practicing our moves to battle Darth Vader

Light Saber woes.....

This sweet CM helped him countless times because he wouldn't flick it hard enough to get the light saber to stay out.

DS9 had no problems. He was always ready and eagerly listening to the Master.

Uh oh Darth Vader shows up....

I LOVE DS 5's face on this one!!! He was scared to death of Darth Vader but was brave enough to stay up there and fight him even if it took the Jedi Master pushing him forward!

He did get braver!

DS9 wasn't scared at all. He loved every minute of it!

Checking out Darth Vader's shoes....

I thought the end speech here about good vs. evil was pretty cool.

We are officially Jedi!!
After the Jedi Training, we grabbed ice creams and found a seat on the curb for the Block Party Bash.

 

[jenseib]

Looks like that was a big hit with the boys. I know al about the potty trips. We seem to have to go at the most inoportune moments as well.

 

[BridgetR3]

O.k. so I need to get this show on the road in order to start my PTR for our next trip!! My goal is to do one update each and every night so hang on tight!!

When I last left off we had just finished defeating Darth Vader and the evil Storm Troopers. We were now on our way to Indiana Jones but first, we stopped for ice cream and drinks. I think this was the one and only time ALL trip that we actually stopped to enjoy a snack and just relax. I am going to try to fix that next time!!

So we grab our ice creams and drinks and sit on a curb to watch the parade. Here are some of our pics….

After the parade it was time to grab our seats for the Indiana Jones show and since we were right across the “street” from it we didn’t have far to walk. Because the boys were dressed like Indy, we were able to get front row seats and were told to hang around afterwards to meet Indy and Marion.

Meeting the volunteers…

My boys loved the action in this show. Next time we go we will have to watch Lights, Motors, Action.

My 5 year old meeting the girl of his dreams….he loves Marion!!! I have a pic of them with both Marion and Indy but it is dark and needs help…lol…

After the Indy show, we decided to finally use our FPs for Toy Story.

I love the theming to Pixar Place with the oversized toys. So many of these brought back memories of things I had as a child. Here are some of my favorites….

Finally!!!!

Loved that the Peter Pan viewfinder was filled with Peter Pan “films”.

My cute riding partner

Our scores…he was more in awe of the pictures and the fact that we kept spinning so he often forgot to shoot.

Love these guys!! I didn’t notice them until this point in our day! Lol….

Sorry not many pictures after this. I guess it was dark and we were quite distracted to stop and take pics.

After this, we decided to eat a quick dinner since it was around 6 p.m. and catch the first showing of Fantasmic so that DH could go back and rest at the hotel. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of the little quick service food places right by the line for Fantasmic. However, as we finished eating and headed toward the arena to be seated, the CM was beginning to announce that it was standing room only for the first show. We really didn’t feel like standing especially since there was another hour til show time so we decided to wait for the second showing.

Just as we began to head away to find something else to do, we ran into DS5’s teacher again and decided to go ride something all together. We found the rest of her group and headed back to ride Backlot studios tour but it was closed. Sadly, we never made it on that ride although I really think my kiddos would have enjoyed it. It is definitely a must do next trip.

We then headed back to Great Movie Ride since we figured it wouldn’t have long lines and we really needed to get into line for the second Fantasmic.

We really enjoyed the ride and got the gangster side. I hope that when we ride it the next time we will get the wild west side.

After riding together we all got in line to wait for Fantasmic. We waited for right at one and a half hours for the show. The boys played with DS5’s teacher and her adult children. They were really good about waiting but honestly I don’t think Fantasmic is worth that wait. Next time I may do standing room only just so I can walk in without waiting.

My boys HATED Fantasmic a lot. There were scared of most of it and are not interested in seeing it again. I’m a little bit thankful for that!!!


The grand finale of Fantasmic….

We definitely enjoyed our HS day even with DH getting sick. We only rode TSM and GMR as far as rides go so lots of rides are still on our to-do list. This was probably our second favorite park!
Up next – our MK day and a MAJOR meltdown at the Grand Floridian!!! Who would turn heads at the restaurant?

 

[jenseib]

I have yet to see fantasmic too. I have a feeling Claire wouldn't be impressed with the villains.

 

[BridgetR3]

It definitely wasn't "kid friendly" in my opinion BUT then again, my kiddos are very ummm sheltered.

I liked it o.k. and would love to go back just me and DH so I could actually watch the program instead of consoling the boys!

 

[BridgetR3]

Day 5 Part 1 Magic Kingdom

I was so ready to see the rope drop show at Magic Kingdom since we missed it the day we checked into our hotel. I was also hoping that some of the BIG crowds we saw that first day would now be gone or at least at the other parks. We were exhausted but were finally able to get up and over to Magic Kingdom by 8:30 am. The crowd was small so far so we were hoping for a great day!

While waiting for the opening show, we took pictures of the kids.

GEAUX LSU!!!!

We also stopped for PP pictures but the boys did not want to look at the photographer so in every picture they are looking at something else. Here’s one of the best ones….

I was hoping to get picked as the family of the day but we really weren’t anywhere near first and we really didn’t speak at length to any CM’s so I was o.k. with just watching. They did, however, pick a family from Louisiana for rope drop!! We all cheered for them. Here are some pics in case someone recognizes them as DIS’ers.

As we entered MK, we headed straight to get FP for Buzz Lightyear but chose not to ride it so that we could get to Tomorrowland Speedway in hopes of NOT waiting an hour for the kids to ride. This ride for me is blah, just o.k. but my kids LOVE it. The wait time was about 15 minutes and we hopped into line.

I LOVE this sign!! Look at our top speed!

I love this one too!! The biggest spectacle in racing describes our driving experience WELL!!!!

Continued in the next post....

 

[BridgetR3]

After riding these extremely fast cars , we decided to slow it all down a bit and go to Fantasyland to ride Winnie the Pooh. I love the queue. My kids loved the queue. Everyone’s kids loved the queue and I think it sort of slows down the line some but that’s o.k. because honestly that’s the only part of Pooh that I like. I did not like this ride at all. I don’t understand it (or the story that goes with it) and my kids weren’t really excited about it.

These poppers are so much fun to play with!

Our honey pot!

After riding Pooh, we headed over to Splash Mountain to grab Fast Passes for after lunch. On the way, we ran into Frontier Donald and since DS 5 is SUCH a Donald fanatic, we stopped to take pictures with him. The line was long so I took it upon myself to run ahead to Splash and get the FP’s while the others waited in line. I made it back just in time for our turn.

Once we said good-bye to Donald, we headed to Agrabah in order to ride those amazing flying carpets!

A few pictures we took in Agrabah…such a detailed area!!

You will notice the DS 9 does not like heights….you can tell because any time he gets scared he covers his ears.

End of ride = smiling while covering his ears

Sad fact is that neither of my kids would ride Dumbo last time we were there! Maybe next time in the new area.....

We had just a few minutes left until we could grab more FastPasses so we decided to see the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and grab Jungle Cruise FP’s before heading out to lunch.

After this, we took a train ride to the front and hopped on the monorail to head to lunch at the Grand Floridian. Someone is going to have a meltdown BIG TIME!!!! Any guesses??

 

[BelleTinkMom]

Love your LSU shirts. We are always wearing some sort of LSU when we are there also. Now that I think about it, we wear LSU almost every day.

 

[BridgetR3]

Love your LSU shirts. We are always wearing some sort of LSU when we are there also. Now that I think about it, we wear LSU almost every day.

Thank you!! The boys had a different matching theme each day. We joined in on the fun for the Saints day and the LSU day. We saw LOTS of purple and gold while we were there!!!

 

[saintstickets]

Loving your TR. Keep it coming. I guess you can tell from my screen name what comes next from me....Who Dat!