So this is how parents relax at Disney! A June 8th-16th report.

[TeresaG]

Thankfully the line for Mike and Sully was short and in the shade so we let the kids out of the stroller and let them walk around.

I love the area they meet and greet. So awesome. Both Alex and Maddie thought it was so cool to be so close to Boo's door.

Soon they arrived and Maddie was beyond excited. She was pointing and yelling "Monsters Inc! Monsters Inc!" and smiling huge and happy. There were only about 4 families in front of us so we were moving along nicely. As we got close Maddie freaked out, said "No do! No do! No like!" which effectively put her out of any potential pictures. I also realized that Mike and Sully don't sign, which was a disappointment to Alex since he loves them and had a special place for them both to sign. It was also a bad mommy moment since I should have known beforehand that they wouldn't sign so I wouldn't have gotten his hopes up. Thankfully Sully giving Alex a huge hug made him feel better.

I think Mike's costume is easily the most awesome costume ever. I would SO rock that at Halloween if I could.

With one last hug we said goodbye

Pictures acquired, we were on our way. As we left Monsters Inc we took a walk by Woody and Buzz to see if the line was more manageable. It wasn't, but check out who we saw along the way!

Alex was starstruck. He plays with green army men at home all the time so meeting one was so cool for him.

Even though he didn't have to, he went over to Maddie to say hi

Maddie wasn't so sure about him though.

She's a tough sell, but eventually she agreed to a high five

OK, you got your high five now get away from me!

Both kids were very excited since for some reason they are both obsessed with the green army men from TS. The interaction was very cute and I appreciated the Army Man trying to engage Maddie since she was a little scared when she saw him.

We were starting to get a little hungry at this point so I suggested we hit Starring Rolls for lunch. I had seen so many pictures of the sandwiches and cupcakes that I knew I HAD to try one. I told Kenny to find a table with the kids and I went in to grab lunch. I got a turkey sandwich, peanut butter cupcake and chips while Kenny got the ham sandwich, Butterfinger cupcake and chips. Both were really yummy. And HUGE. We both shared with the kids and I still couldn't finish mine. Damn heat. I also couldn't finish my cupcake which is testament enough to how the heat was effecting my appetite. I have a sweet tooth like no other and rarely ever leave chocolate on my plate. To only be able to eat half that wonderful cupcake was criminal. What's a girl to do? Go get a to-go box so she can eat it later when she has room. And that's just what I did. Kenny didn't finish his either, but he ate more of his sandwich than I did and doesn't have the sweet tooth I do. I boxed them both up and carried them back to the room. I had a date with yumminess later one.

 

[Princess.Rachel]

Loving your TR! I keep hearing about the butterfingers cupcake!! Now I really have to try one. Love the green army pictures!

 

[jc040404]

Loving your TR so far! Your pics are great and your children are adorable. We were at WDW during part of your trip and even at Epcot on the same day. (14th) Looking forward to following along!

 

[cocofifi]

What a precious family! Love your trip report!

 

[ARmom30]

Hi! Thanks for joining! Sounds like a good amount of our days might have overlapped. I wonder if we were at any parks on the same day?

Some of our days did overlap. We were at DHS on the 9th and MK on the 10th. We didn't go to any parks the day we left because my DH got the bright idea to leave at midnight. Lol.

 

[pooksma]

Great start! As we were reading, DH and I were reminded of many things DS did over his first few trips...including the whole-Mommy Only

 

[PirateKate]

Love the pictures from Sully and Mike and the Green Army guy. It was really nice of the Army guy to take the time to talk to Maddie, too.

Good job taking the cupcakes back to the room. Which one did you think was the best? I've only had the butterfinger cupcake so far.

 

[TeresaG]

Loving your TR! I keep hearing about the butterfingers cupcake!! Now I really have to try one. Love the green army pictures!

MY DH really loved the Butterfinger cupcake. I was much more a fan of the chocolate peanutbutter one though. But without a doubt they are worth a try. I think from now on whenever we go to DHS I'm going to have to get a massive cupcake.

Loving your TR so far! Your pics are great and your children are adorable. We were at WDW during part of your trip and even at Epcot on the same day. (14th) Looking forward to following along!

Thank you so much! That's so cool that we were at the same park on the same day! It was a nice day to be there until it rained. But then after that it still felt nice.

What a precious family! Love your trip report!

Thank you so much!

Some of our days did overlap. We were at DHS on the 9th and MK on the 10th. We didn't go to any parks the day we left because my DH got the bright idea to leave at midnight. Lol.

We didn't go to any parks the day we left either, but our flight out was at 8am so we were on the ME by 5am. Way too early but at least we got home early.

Great start! As we were reading, DH and I were reminded of many things DS did over his first few trips...including the whole-Mommy Only

Oh good, so you can tell me is the mommy-only stuff ever ends?? She's killing me by making me the only one who can do anything for her.

Love the pictures from Sully and Mike and the Green Army guy. It was really nice of the Army guy to take the time to talk to Maddie, too.

Good job taking the cupcakes back to the room. Which one did you think was the best? I've only had the butterfinger cupcake so far.

I agree it was nice that the army man tried to engage her. Especially because there was a line of kids waiting to meet him. I think he must of heard her screaming "Army man!" before our turn and then when it WAS our turn she was scared.

Personally I thought the Chocolate Peanut butter one was the best. Kenny liked the Butterfinger best. I liked that the chocolate PB one had the peanut butter mixed in with the chocolate frosting so neither flavor was overwhelming. The butterfinger one had a more cream based frosting which I wasn't a fan of. I doubt you could go wrong though.

 

[TeresaG]

We had ADR's at Mama Melrose at 4pm this day, and since we were staying late for Fantasmic! and all the lines were pretty long (not to mention it was 98 degrees!) Kenny and I decided to take the kids back to the room to swim and relax. We'd come back to the park in time for our ADR. Before we left I ran over to ToT to get myself some FP's for later. I love ToT and especially love going on it at night.

I have to say, the kiddie pool at Pop is a wonderful way for parents to relax. We let them play for a good hour or so before we went back to the room to change and head back to the park. Both kids were getting a little grumpy which meant naps were probably in our future.

We boarded the bus back to HS and no less then 5mins after entering the park the kids conked out. Go figure. We strolled along slowly and ducked into a few gift shops to look around (gift shops are torture with kids -or is that just my kids? regardless, we rarely go walking around in them since it turns into a whole lot of "don't touch please." "No, we're not buying that right now" "Don't run" etc. etc.)

I quickly snapped a picture of the kids sleeping. They always look so sweet an innocent.

Our ADR time was quickly approaching and I started getting a little nervous about having to wake the kids up to eat. I'm firmly in the 'Never Wake A Sleeping Baby' camp, but knew bringing a double stroller in the restaurant would be challenging. Maddie woke up before Alex (seeing as this was her second nap of the day) and she was happy as a clam to be in the gift shop. This of course presented a problem with Alex. Alex is not your happy waker-upper usually. In fact, he can be downright unpleasant when woken before he's ready. It's the mommy in him. He also usually requires 5mins to himself to shake off the nap and become my happy boy.

Should I wake him and risk a miserable dinner? What was our other option? We weren't going to skip dinner so all we COULD do was wake him. Dinner with a grumpy Alex was not something we were looking forward to though...

 

[Disneychix]

I LOVE TOT at night too! So fun at night!

My DS is the same way, he is a miserable waker upper! It takes him a l o n g time to get re-adjusted to the awake world.

 

[pooksma]

Ahhh, nothing like a sleeping child

In response to your question about the "Mommy only" phase, it hasnt ended here (DS is 10) but it has subsided to a "Mom...Mom...Mom!" even when Dad is right there. In fact, his highness is calling now...

 

[TeresaG]

I LOVE TOT at night too! So fun at night!

My DS is the same way, he is a miserable waker upper! It takes him a l o n g time to get re-adjusted to the awake world.

TOT at night is the best way to experience the ride! It's so much better!

I think MY DS gets his bad waking up mojo from me. I'm the same way.

Ahhh, nothing like a sleeping child

In response to your question about the "Mommy only" phase, it hasnt ended here (DS is 10) but it has subsided to a "Mom...Mom...Mom!" even when Dad is right there. In fact, his highness is calling now...

Or two sleeping children! When they would both sleep at the same time it was Disney Bliss.

OK, hearing that at 10yrs old it still hasn't ended isn't making me feel any better. In fact, I'm going to forget you said anything and keep hoping she snaps out of it in a year or so. Yup. I'm going to live in my little lala land over here.

 

[TeresaG]

With about 10mins before our ADR I decided to pop into Mama Melrose and ask if it would be possible to check in early and wait outside to be called.

Not my pic, but I'm trying to keep things visual...

I explained I had a sleeping kid in the stroller and I wanted to allow him as much time as possible to sleep. Surprisingly the hostess told me it wasn't a problem and to just bring the stroller into the restaurant and park it near our table. I quickly explained it was a double stroller and therefore pretty big but she just gave me the "This is Disney lady." look and told me it was not a problem.

We had a corner table which worked out perfectly with the stroller. We sat Maddie in a highchair and moved the other chair out of the way so we could park Alex in its spot. Perfect set up. Since this was a Fantasmic! dinner package we were able to get appetizers before our entree. I got the tomato and mozzarella salad so I could share with Maddie. Kenny got some salad that he could NOT share with Maddie. What is it with men? Do they think it always has to be mommy who shares? feh. Anyway, my salad was good, but I only got to eat the mozzarella since Maddie inhaled all the tomatoes. We ordered all of Alex's food and figured if he woke up in time he would eat it and it would be a perfect cooled off temp and if he didn't I'd box it and bring it with us for when he did wake up.

I can't remember what we got exactly. I had a pasta with chicken so I could share with Maddie, and Kenny got a flatbread that he would share with me. I ordered Alex the chicken parm. The food was alright. Not bad but not great. Alex woke up halfway through the meal and was in ok spirits. A little crankier than usual, but he perked up. He ate most of his meal and some bread. For dessert I got gelato (which is not gelato but nice try), Kenny got some cake (I can't remember) and Alex got a sundae. I didn't think Mama Melrose was horrid, but I'm not sure if I'd go back. Everything was just 'meh.' Nothing great.

After dinner we headed over to Toy Story Mania because our fast passes were burning a hole in our pocket. The line went very quickly which was nice. Kenny and Alex rode together and me and Maddie rode together. Maddie and mommy are stuck like glue. If she could surgically attach herself to me she would be a happy girl. Maddie enjoyed the ride, laughing through all the crazy turns and screaming "Woody! Booseye! Buzz!"at every chance she got. Daddy beat all of us but whatever, I had a baby to keep entertained at the same time so that's an automatic handicap.

As we were leaving Toy Story Alex put his foot down about meeting Woody and Buzz. We had put it off as long as we could in hopes that the line would dwindle down and when I looked over to see the damage I was pleased to see the line started INSIDE the building. For the first time all day. So we agreed to go meet his buddies and walked over.

The line was at least a 35min wait. Possible longer. It doesn't move very quickly, but at least the queue is cute. I have to admit, the prospect of tying Alex to the rocket was very appealing by the time we reached that part. Alas it was fake. I tried to get pictures in the cute cutouts, but my camera lens is a stationary lens which means I need more room than I had to take the pics. I tried though.

I love how Maddie is peeking out over in the corner.

Leave it to my son to be obsessed with the bad guy. He LOVES Zurg.

Finally it was our turn! Buzz and Woody pointed to his Birthday button and made the appropriate "Happy Birthday!" motions. Kenny was holding Maddie who was already screaming "No do! No want it!"
Woody was very impressed with the book.

Buzz was all ready to sign with his stamp..

..but then he decided the book was cool enough to warrant a real signature.
Maddie was watching the goings on unimpressed.

Woody tried to engage her though by going over to her and trying to convince her to grace him with a high five.

After a few hesitant moments Maddie agreed and gave him a tentative high five.

That seemed to break the ice and she allowed her picture to be taken with the family.

As we left the meet and greet we decided to head over to Tower of Terror because mommy was very excited to ride.

 

[PirateKate]

For some reason, the last time I was at Pop, I never checked out the kiddie pool. It looks like it's zero entry and surrounded by soft foamy stuff in case of falls. How deep does it get? Was Maddie able to wade independently? At the kiddie pool in our neighborhood, Landon tends to fling himself completely underwater, causing me to freak out and pick him up before he drowns.

I'm glad Mama Melrose's was able to accommodate the stroller. It sounds like a pleasant meal. Tower of Terror at night is the best. It's extra magical at night.

 

[lbuzz52]

We boarded the bus back to HS and no less then 5mins after entering the park the kids conked out. Go figure. We strolled along slowly and ducked into a few gift shops to look around (gift shops are torture with kids -or is that just my kids? regardless, we rarely go walking around in them since it turns into a whole lot of "don't touch please." "No, we're not buying that right now" "Don't run" etc. etc.)

I quickly snapped a picture of the kids sleeping. They always look so sweet an innocent.

I thank God everyday for online shopping!

I love sleeping babies! They look so sweet and I'm always tempted to wake them up and love on them. Luckily my common sense usually steps in.

So what does buzz's real signature look like?

 

[lnk1229]

Love the picture of the family with Woody and Buzz- We didn't get a chance to meet them during our last trip.. That's okay tho.. Just another reason to go back again!!

 

[Cin]

Hi! Joining in too. I really want to stay at POP too so I am excited to hear how your trip was. The kids are adorable. I love the smiles on their faces seated in the stroller at the airport. I miss my kiddos being that little sometimes. Mine are all grown and gone now (youngest is college) so hug your little ones and savor every precious moment because they grow up so quickly.

 

[jc040404]

Love that you were able to bring the stroller inside with you. For the most part, Disney seems awesome about understanding things like that. I'm sure it made the rest of your day easier than waking him would have.

The Buzz & Woody pics are too adorable. I love how Maddie had to warm up to them. She's such a cutie! Nifty that Buzz actually signed instead of stamping, too. I had no idea he did that!

 

[TeresaG]

For some reason, the last time I was at Pop, I never checked out the kiddie pool. It looks like it's zero entry and surrounded by soft foamy stuff in case of falls. How deep does it get? Was Maddie able to wade independently? At the kiddie pool in our neighborhood, Landon tends to fling himself completely underwater, causing me to freak out and pick him up before he drowns.

I'm glad Mama Melrose's was able to accommodate the stroller. It sounds like a pleasant meal. Tower of Terror at night is the best. It's extra magical at night.

Oh the kiddie pool at Pop was the reason our vacation was so relaxing! It was zero entry and padded with that softer ground all around it. I would say it was no deeper than Maddie's thighs, so it was pretty shallow. I was very comfortable letting her walk around by herself while I watched from the side. I never took my eyes off of her, but I let her do it alone. The worst Maddie would do was mimic her brother (naturally ) and lay on her tummy in the water. Even when she did that she kept her head above water with no problem.

I thank God everyday for online shopping!

I love sleeping babies! They look so sweet and I'm always tempted to wake them up and love on them. Luckily my common sense usually steps in.

So what does buzz's real signature look like?

I'm the same way about sleeping babies! Even if 20seconds before they made me want to rip my hair out, as soon as they fall asleep I just want to hug and kiss them. And then I remind myself these cute little babies will turn BACK into the little pains they were before falling asleep and I stay faaaaaar away from them. lol!!

Buzz's real signature looks similar to his stamp. I should try to take a picture of it.

Love the picture of the family with Woody and Buzz- We didn't get a chance to meet them during our last trip.. That's okay tho.. Just another reason to go back again!!

Ever single time we go to Disney we have to meet Woody and Buzz. Every time. We're not allowed to skip it. Even when the line is over an hour, we have to wait in it.

Hi! Joining in too. I really want to stay at POP too so I am excited to hear how your trip was. The kids are adorable. I love the smiles on their faces seated in the stroller at the airport. I miss my kiddos being that little sometimes. Mine are all grown and gone now (youngest is college) so hug your little ones and savor every precious moment because they grow up so quickly.

Hi! and thanks for joining in!! We really loved Pop and would stay there again in a heartbeat. I hear it all the time to enjoy them while they're young and I think it's great advice. We try to enjoy them as much as possible...even when they drive me nuts.

Love that you were able to bring the stroller inside with you. For the most part, Disney seems awesome about understanding things like that. I'm sure it made the rest of your day easier than waking him would have.

The Buzz & Woody pics are too adorable. I love how Maddie had to warm up to them. She's such a cutie! Nifty that Buzz actually signed instead of stamping, too. I had no idea he did that!

Yea, they didn't even bat an eyelash at the stroller situation. I would have never asked to bring a double stroller OPEN into a restaurant, but they said it wasn't a problem and no one made me feel funny for bringing it in. I imagine they get a lot of families with sleeping kids so they're used to it.

I had no idea that Buzz signed instead of stamped either. Maybe it was because the stamp wouldn't stay on a 4x6 picture (which is what our autograph book was). Either that or he thought our book was super cool...

 

[TeresaG]

As we left the meet and greet we decided to head over to Tower of Terror because mommy was very excited to ride. The kids were in rare form which means there was a lot of "Alex stop touching your sister" and "Maddie don't hit your brother" being said. I was suddenly very happy to be going on ToT lol. We got down there a little before my FP so we just sat down and waited for the last 4mins to tick down. Kenny wasn't looking thrilled at being left with the kids while they were in such great moods, but I invoked this being my Birthday trip he sucked it up with a smile. Sorta.

(I took this picture during the day when I grabbed my FP. I haven't taken any shots at night...bummer...)

Finally it was my FP time so I waved goodbye and skipped away. Now, every time I've had a FP to ToT I've never had to wait in the outside queue; usually I start in the lobby right before going into the TV room. This time I was waiting outside. At first this didn't bother me, but then I realized we had to be by the Fantasmic! entrance by 8:45pm and that they started letting people in by 8pm. There was no way I'd be done by 8pm. Chances were good I wouldn't be done until 8:30pm. I texted Kenny to tell him my status and I could tell he was a little anxious that we wouldn't be getting good seats based on my wait time. I wasn't willing to leave the line yet, but if I wasn't moving by 8:15pm I told him I'd leave.

Thankfully the line started moving and I was able to enter the elevator and "discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension, beyond the deepest , darkest corner of the imagination, in the Tower of Terror." Now, I ride this ride every chance I get, sometimes twice when I'm lucky enough, but this time it was GREAT! I had one really, really long drop down and one really long lift back up. I can't remember having such a long lift back up before being dropped back down. It was great. I was so happy when I left the ride, and I quickly texted Kenny to tell him I was done and on my way to meet them by the Beauty and Beast show.

As I walked near them I could tell something was wrong. Kenny had that look. He obviously had a fun time with the kids while I was gone. Maddie had mulch in her hair and Alex was pouting when I got near them. Not to mention they were wet. "Do I want to know?" I asked him hesitantly. "No. Let's just go." Ooookay. nothing like taking the wind out of my awesome ride sails.

We walked the 12 miles to the seating area (ok, not really but it was quite the walk), and had to park the stroller halfway there. We got pretty decent seats, but thanks to the dinner package there wasn't any seats that I would consider to be very 'bad.' We always try to stay near an end (since with young kids you just never know) and were happy that we found a spot near the end. We settled down and waited. And waited. The kids were getting super restless so I was happy when it finally got dark. I whipped out my special stash of glow sticks and that made them happy until the start of the show. Never under estimate the Target dollar spot. My husband doesn't understand my obsession, but the glow sticks should be testament enough.

Soon the show began. It seemed innocuous enough at first. Mickey dancing around to fun music, images projected on water -cool right?

This was our first time seeing Fantasmic! so we really didn't know what to expect. I had read that it could be scary for some kids, but honestly, I didn't know more than that. This goes down as a mommy fail. Instead of Fantasmic! it should be called "scare-your-young-kids-half-to-death!" Yea. Not fun. If you heard screaming and crying kids and parents saying "Shh! Shh! Mickey is going to save everyone! I promise!" it was us. As soon as the show was over Alex said "mommy, I don't ever want to see Fantasmic again." No problem baby. Once was enough for us too.

Of course, this herd of people in the mass exodus were all headed out of the park so this was going to be the first test of the bus situation at Pop. When we stayed at All Star Sports the line for the bus after Wishes was horrendous. We waited over an hour -no lie- to finally board a bus back to our room. That experience was the reason Kenny was anti-values for all future trips. I knew this was going to be a tough first test, but we came out right near the exit of the park and it seemed like they were pointing everyone out so instead of waiting a little while before leaving (which was the already agreed upon attack plan following any night shows) we just left with everyone else.

We got to the bus stop for Pop and the line was (obviously) long. It wasn't horrible though. The line started outside the queue, but there was a bus loading so it was moving. When that bus was stuffed and pulled away, another bus pulled right in. We actually made it on the second bus. Go figure. It was full and standing room only, but Pop isn't too far away so we went with it. Someone was kind enough to get up so I could sit down with Maddie on my lap. Alex stood right in front of me, but he was very happy to be standing. I held on to him and he held the bar so I wasn't too nervous. All in all, not even Kenny could complain about Pop's first bus test. We barely even waited. And while yes, holding the stroller while standing is not fun, it's pretty much the way it goes when you're the dad.

When we got to Pop we went in for drinks and to fill our mugs before going back to the room. When we got to the room I changed the kids into jammies, set them up in their beds with the TV on (and the DS for Alex) so they could decompress a little before bed. Within 30mins we were all happily snoozing, our first full day at Disney coming to a happy close.