Stitch's Great Escape...A Mom and Me Birthday Celebration! *7/26 Link to new PTR*

[brookelizabeth]

Jay...we just added on a September trip to CSR! Do you have any tips to share with me on that resort? We are probably going to request Cabanas for the same reason you requested the Casitas-close to the bus stop and the main building (we don't mind that it's the last bus stop).

 

[MouseTriper]

I miss you too! MSN? Email me and let me know when...and YES you did it. I HAVE NEVER SEEN THOSE NAPKINS BEFORE! I laughed so hard. You did make dh scratch his head over why someone would send napkins in a card. I was DELIGHTED! And have set them up so that only I can use them. LOL THANK YOU!!!

Hahahahaha.....that is HILARIOUS!!!! Your DH must surely think I am a loon! Though my own DH thought I was crazy to bring them back from Disney in the first place, let alone send them off to you. Hahaha. I had put them up and away and he kept trying to use them and I would hollar..."NOOooooooo THOSE are for JAY) Hahahaha. I just had to find something that I just knew you had NEVER seen at WDW!!!! (Oh and just for record...to everyone else...they were NEW (not used) Christmas napkins from WDW....LOL).

Hahahahaha....hey is your email and MSN down??? We need to chat..I miss ya!!!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I do understand busy for sure. Had the Relay for Life last weekend. Seemed like the longest 12 hours ever. I'm not good at staying up all night now that the 60 is creeping up.

I think after the family reunion next weekend I will start my TR. I wanted to this weekend but my dear mil is in the hospital with a broken leg and is having surgery Saturday. She is about 100 miles from us. So we will just see how things go.

Will anxoiusly await more of Stitch.

Ginny

 

[jaycns]

Day 6...Another Day at MK

We quickly got ready and made our way to the bus stop. Today we were once again headed to the Magical Kingdom. We had seen/done a lot the day before, but we had missed a lot as well. On this day, we were going to right that wrong.

Once again we started our day by saying "Mickey Mouse".

I love the balloons on Main Street! I love how they shine, float, swish, make noises when they rub together, the shadows they cast on the ground, the way they bounce when the balloon seller walks with them and how they bump around and sort of boing all. Also, after seeing the new movie, UP, I think I will always be reminded of that as well.

**SIDE BAR- GO AND SEE UP!!! It was a great movie. I loved it. I laughed. I CRIED! I was a total sappy dweeb...but it was so touching and funny and amazing in 3-D.**

After loving the balloons, we continued on to Fantasyland. We took a ride with Winnie the Pooh (no wait!) and both of us sang along the entire ride. Don't worry, no innocent ears were harmed during our ride, we were in our own hunny pot. Ha ha ha.

After singing our way through the Hundred Acre Wood, we popped over and took a spin in the Tea Cups. We were able to ride twice in a row without even having to hop off! It was a twirling good time! Stitch took a lot of glee in trying to spin me silly. Two points for his old mom that he wasn't able to get the better of me.

Following the Tea Cups, we made haste for Tomorrowland. It was the land we hadn't even set foot in the day before (by design) and this day was going to be all about enjoying it to the fullest.

First up? SPACE MOUNTAIN, of course!! On our way in, we grabbed a fast pass and then we preceded to ride it three times in a row (getting off and going around each time). When the lines grew to more than five minutes long, we headed over to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. A family favorite! I was bound and determined to kick some birthday boy booty. But...I didn't. HA HA HA. What was I thinking, of course he was going to whip me good. Well, at least I gave it my best shot.

We rode Buzz four times in a row! WOO HOO...the ride-a-thon continued! We were going around to get in line for ride number five when we were distracted by the sight of one of both of our favorite characters...the great Experiment 626 himself! STITCH (the big blue one). He was busy throwing photo pass cards into the photo pass photographer's hat. He looked lonely over there playing all by himself and that just wouldn't do at all!

We quickly made our way over and my little Stitch joined the original 626 in a game of flick the cards. It's hard to say which Stitch actually won the contest...suffice it to say, they both looked like they were trying very hard. Ha. The photographer had suggested they play until someone had three in. Both of them tossed the last card at the same time and only one of them went in. BOTH of them claimed that their card was the one that went in. A lot of finger waving and chest pointing on the 'real' Stitch's part indicated to us that he thought he was the winner. A lot of the same along with a few "I know mine went in because I could see it leave my fingers and yours are all covered in fur so you couldn't!" and "My card flew past yours at the last second!" came from my little Stitch. Ha ha ha. In the end, the photographer declared it a tie and we told them to share the victory. This of course called for a handshake and that turned into a hug....or was he going to strangle him?

There was still nobody with Stitch so we stayed a little bit longer and they walked a few feet and then started dancing together. My Stitch did the funky robot and the Egyptian and I swear I heard a chuckle coming from the original Stitch's head. I have video of the two dancing fiends and I will add it as soon as I get it uploaded. After the dance off, a few more pictures were taken.

The pictures that were taken with the original Stitch were some of my favorites from the entire trip. Maybe even more for the memories behind them than the images themselves. We had a lot of fun with the original 626!

Following our fun meet and greet we hopped on to the CoP. Once again we sang along (quietly...we didn't want to disturb the others riding with us). I love the song from the CoP. It always sticks in my head and I never mind. "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow....."

Just about the time we were done with that, I noticed that we could use our fast pass for Space Mountain. We grabbed another one on our way in and hopped on board for our FOURTH space journey of the day (and it wasn't even lunch time yet!). Speaking of lunch time, when we hopped off, it was defiantly time to do some snacking. For this snack break, we went with a classic. Mickey Bars and Mickey Sandwiches! They were so good and really hit the spot!

When Stitch was looking to throw away his trash, I directed him to one particular garbage can. I did this because I had caught movement out of the corner of my eye (and saw a group of people starting to look twice at the can).

It was then we met, PUSH, the talking trash can. Stitch loved him! We spent about ten minutes laughing at his antics, talking to him and YES, he did let Stitch deposit his Mickey ice cream wrapper. In fact, I think he even kind of liked it. HA HA HA.

Thanks to our snacks, we had a bit more fuel in our tanks before we needed to stop for lunch. So, we chose to enjoy one of Stitch's favorite attractions (and my least favorite Disney attraction of all time). Stitch's Great Escape is NOT my idea of a good time. Let's be honest, you barely see him, he spits at you, it stinks, the shoulder harnesses bounce up and down on you, the lights flicker and on top of it all, there is ALWAYS some child screaming as if they are being dipped in boiling oil. Nothing short of me loving my little Stitch oh so much as I do could have gotten me to head back into that attraction knowing what was in store. But look at this smile, I just couldn't say no. I am still not sure what he sees in it. But...to each his own, I guess.

 

[jaycns]

Day 6...Another Day at MK (part 2)

That torture over, we made our way to the TTA, a ride that the both of us really enjoy.

I love that you can see his teeth starting to grow in here!

My little guy was so tired after our morning ride-a-thon that he started to fall asleep as we rode! It was pretty funny. His head bobbed a few times and then his eyes snapped back open and he somehow seemed refreshed after his 45 second nap. Ha ha ha. Only a child at Walt Disney World could show that sort of stamina.

This next picture proves that he was indeed awake by the time we got to the next attraction. We were on our way for a repeat lunch at the Columbia Harbor House. Along the way we both wanted to stop and enjoy the Haunted Mansion one more time.

And my "no flash photography" attempt at a few shots on the ride.

Upon exiting we took our hitchhiking ghost to lunch with us. I won't go into the details of our second lunch at CHH. I will leave it at the fact that it was once again a very tasty meal and that we both had exactly the same thing as we had the day before.

After lunch we started toward the front of the park. Along the way, Stitch had fun passing along our Space Mountain fast passes. It was a very sweet moment for me. I loved watching my little guy get so much joy out of spreading a small bit of it himself.

The very last thing we did on our way out of the park was to have a few more Photo Pass pictures taken.

Here is the face you get when you ask an eight year old boy to say "I love princesses!"

I asked them to snap one in front of the balloons (yes, I do like those balloons a lot).

One final Magic Kingdom picture before we hopped aboard the CSR bus that was happily pulling up right as we were walking up.

Once back to the CSR, we made our way to our room.

We found our friend T.C. waiting for us in the window upon our return. What a cool mousekeeper to have taken the time to make a swing for him in the window!

Once we were in the room we kicked off our shoes and fell fast asleep for a very needed and restful afternoon nap. We spent that late afternoon/evening much the same way as those that came before. We swam, played at the playground, kicked up our feet in the hammocks, played in the arcade, played sand volleyball (lots of fun), ate another tasty meal at the Pepper Market (more of that yummy shrimp pizza for me and yet another kid's pizza meal for Stitch) and had another sweet moonlit conversation fountain side. It was a perfectly relaxing end to a day that started with a lot of excited riding.

It was also an early evening. Both of us were fast asleep by 9:30 PM. I am sure that dreams of our next day's adventures were dancing through our heads.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[Tatania]

Hi Jay,

Just wanted to let you know I'm still here reading, just been way too busy to post on threads.

Stitch's Great Escape is NOT my idea of a good time. Let's be honest, you barely see him, he spits at you, it stinks, the shoulder harnesses bounce up and down on you, the lights flicker and on top of it all, there is ALWAYS some child screaming as if they are being dipped in boiling oil.

That had me in "stiches". I still miss the Alien ride - though it used to scare the pants of my son and his cousins - and think this new one isn't nearly as much fun.

The more I read your report, the more happy I am to be staying at the Coronada when I go with my sister. I've got a rough itinerary done for the ADRs next week and will buy RideMax as well - as it's her first visit. I'm biulding in a lot of down time because I get very tired out these days tramping the parks. The resorts are my favourite places now.

 

[29apr00]

Stitch's great escape has to be one of the worst rides Disney has ever done! I can't believe it's still going! Ugh! Stinky!

Love the 626 pictures thought! My kids love Stitch too, he's great!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Well Jay, another fantastic day at MK. In total agreement about Stitch's Great Escape. That ride is awful. Aliens was so much better. Lucky you got to do Space Mountain and TTA. They were both down when we were there. Boo Hiss! That time with Stitch was almost as good as with Donald in Epcot. He has had one lucky birthday this trip. Keep up the good reporting. Enjoying every minute.
Ginny

 

[SoonerGirl]

And the ride marathon continues!! What a fun day (except for that unfortunate visit to Stitch's Great Escape - I loved your description of that attraction! Thankfully, my kids hated it too, so I won't ever have to step foot inside it again!).

Your encounter with the real Stitch sounded like so much fun, how lucky that you got him all to yourselves for such a long time. I can't wait to see the dancing video

 

[brookelizabeth]

Just curious---did you make rope drop to hit all these rides over and over again before lunch?

What a very magical time with Stitch, the 626 one-but I'm sure it was magical for YOU with your Stitch-just watching them and loving the moment. I look forward to the video of them dancing!

GREAT SHOT!!

I love that you can see his teeth starting to grow in here!

This is so sweet. I love pictures of kids that show them "growing up" too.

Yummm...more CHH.

Here is the face you get when you ask an eight year old boy to say "I love princesses!"

That is hilarious!

I asked them to snap one in front of the balloons (yes, I do like those balloons a lot).

What a great idea! I'm going to try to remember that....

Your evening sounded perfect-relaxing and enjoying the resort! This is what DH loves to do most, and I love the parks most, so I'm half tempted to try for early mornings so we can get in both...though we value our sleeping in as well. It's a toss up. Taking an afternoon nap, along with pool time and all that sounds VERY appealing....I'll have to talk to DH about all that...

 

[CJsMom]

Great pictures of Stitch and Stitch - another great day at MK!! I had read about kids screaming in the Stitch attraction, so I described what would happen to my kids as we walked by, and they refused to go on. So I've never experienced Stitch's Great Escape. I did like the Alien Encounter - but sounds like I'm not missing much.

 

[Candice30]

i'm still here also...finally finished my trip report so i can refocus on yours. i thought i was going to get lost as i made a last minute trip to the world but on my return found out you were busy also and hadn't updated. all caught up now.

i agree with you on stitch. definitely not a ride i stop for but went on with the kids cause they wanted to. you just can't say no can you?

 

[teruterubouzu]

It was then we met, PUSH, the talking trash can. Stitch loved him! We spent about ten minutes laughing at his antics, talking to him and YES, he did let Stitch deposit his Mickey ice cream wrapper. In fact, I think he even kind of liked it. HA HA HA.

Too funny!

 

[MovienutNiffer]

Loving these updates so far! My nephew saw I was looking at these pictures yesterday and FREAKED when he saw Stitch! He loved the balloon shots too (especially the Princess balloons because he luvs the Princesses - as in he wants to give them kisses! He said so!). He was asking me today if there were any new pictures but I said unfortunately not so we had to look at all of your pictures again! His mom is going to kill me because he asks every other day to go to WDW - and I'm sure you know how many times a 3 year old can ask questions!

 

[Illini4ever]

Wow, I'm getting tired just reading about the day. That little Stitch sure has a lot of energy!

The Stitch ride was actually the very first ride my husband and 2 kids rode. I fortunately got to sit it out with our little one. All I remember were the kids being pretty horrified. My daughter swore she would never ride it again. So fortunately I won't have to worry about ever going on it. What a great mother you are, being tortured on a ride all for your kid. What mothers don't do, huh?

 

[DisneyJo]

You sure got loads of rides in that morning, lucky Stitch! And what great interaction you had with the other Stitch it sounds so much fun

 

[lazydoxy66]

Tell Stitch I am so jealous of his time with 626!!!! That must have been fantastic!

The shot of him asleep on TTA says it all. You did a lot in a short time.

 

[jaycns]

Jay...we just added on a September trip to CSR! Do you have any tips to share with me on that resort? We are probably going to request Cabanas for the same reason you requested the Casitas-close to the bus stop and the main building (we don't mind that it's the last bus stop).

Have fun! Lucky ducks, you are ALWAYS at Disney now! I am really happy for you guys!

Hahahahaha.....that is HILARIOUS!!!! Your DH must surely think I am a loon! Though my own DH thought I was crazy to bring them back from Disney in the first place, let alone send them off to you. Hahaha. I had put them up and away and he kept trying to use them and I would hollar..."NOOooooooo THOSE are for JAY) Hahahaha. I just had to find something that I just knew you had NEVER seen at WDW!!!! (Oh and just for record...to everyone else...they were NEW (not used) Christmas napkins from WDW....LOL).

Hahahahaha....hey is your email and MSN down??? We need to chat..I miss ya!!!

MSN is now back! It was down (I once again lost my password, you would think I would learn to write it down...and I did this time ).

And yes, my dh thinks we are both 'off in the head'. HA HA HA. He said he didn't know anyone was as Disney obsessed as I was (I keep telling him I am not unique and if he just visited the DIS boards he would see I was no where near the most obsessed either).

I do understand busy for sure. Had the Relay for Life last weekend. Seemed like the longest 12 hours ever. I'm not good at staying up all night now that the 60 is creeping up.

I think after the family reunion next weekend I will start my TR. I wanted to this weekend but my dear mil is in the hospital with a broken leg and is having surgery Saturday. She is about 100 miles from us. So we will just see how things go.

Will anxoiusly await more of Stitch.

Ginny

Please let me know when you start the trip report.

Hi Jay,

Just wanted to let you know I'm still here reading, just been way too busy to post on threads.



That had me in "stiches". I still miss the Alien ride - though it used to scare the pants of my son and his cousins - and think this new one isn't nearly as much fun.

The more I read your report, the more happy I am to be staying at the Coronada when I go with my sister. I've got a rough itinerary done for the ADRs next week and will buy RideMax as well - as it's her first visit. I'm biulding in a lot of down time because I get very tired out these days tramping the parks. The resorts are my favourite places now.

Wow, a first visit....SO MUCH FUN!! I hope you enjoy the Coronado as much as we did!

Stitch's great escape has to be one of the worst rides Disney has ever done! I can't believe it's still going! Ugh! Stinky!

Love the 626 pictures thought! My kids love Stitch too, he's great!

I don't know how they ever approved that one in the first place. I love Stitch (LOTS). He really is one of my very favorite characters. However, that attraction just is NOT good. I hope they do something to it one day without removing the Stitch theme from it.

Well Jay, another fantastic day at MK. In total agreement about Stitch's Great Escape. That ride is awful. Aliens was so much better. Lucky you got to do Space Mountain and TTA. They were both down when we were there. Boo Hiss! That time with Stitch was almost as good as with Donald in Epcot. He has had one lucky birthday this trip. Keep up the good reporting. Enjoying every minute.
Ginny

We did end up having a few awesome character/CM interactions. I think the low crowds made it all possible. Without tons of guests lined up to visit they can take the extra time to make the interactions extra special.

And the ride marathon continues!! What a fun day (except for that unfortunate visit to Stitch's Great Escape - I loved your description of that attraction! Thankfully, my kids hated it too, so I won't ever have to step foot inside it again!).

Your encounter with the real Stitch sounded like so much fun, how lucky that you got him all to yourselves for such a long time. I can't wait to see the dancing video

LUCKY YOU...I wish I could say the same (that I would never have to step foot in it again). Lucky for me though, on my next trip (with Goofy), I won't have to even pause in front of it. Goofy (thankfully) has never liked it!

 

[jaycns]

Just curious---did you make rope drop to hit all these rides over and over again before lunch?

YES, every day we were there by rope drop. Except for one...and we were there fifteen minutes afte that day. The first hour or so is basically devoid of lines (or at least it was for us).

What a very magical time with Stitch, the 626 one-but I'm sure it was magical for YOU with your Stitch-just watching them and loving the moment. I look forward to the video of them dancing! I need to find that video along with some video clips of him in the CSR's pool. I just cannot find where I saved them on my computer... HA HA HA. I am getting more and more forgetful each day. I blame having four boys.



GREAT SHOT!! Thank you!



This is so sweet. I love pictures of kids that show them "growing up" too.
I was so happy when I saw his teeth in this one. They look so sweetly young with their adult teeth just starting to grow in and/or their baby teeth just fallen out gaps. I wish I had pictures of my other boys in this short but sweet phase of life. I mean, I do have pictures (of course), but none that really show off the tooth thing as much.

Yummm...more CHH. Yum is right. They make one heck of a sandwich there!



That is hilarious! I know he was joking around, but the entire time we were getting our pictures snapped he was going on and on about princesses to him. I couldn't stop laughing.



What a great idea! I'm going to try to remember that.... You can do it. Say it aloud three times. "I want balloons in the background, I want balloons in the background, I want balloons in the background". There, now you shouldn't forget.

Your evening sounded perfect-relaxing and enjoying the resort! This is what DH loves to do most, and I love the parks most, so I'm half tempted to try for early mornings so we can get in both...though we value our sleeping in as well. It's a toss up. Taking an afternoon nap, along with pool time and all that sounds VERY appealing....I'll have to talk to DH about all that...

I love to sleep in (it's rare, but I do love it when the chance presents itself) and it does feel great to be able to laze around and enjoy a relaxed start to your day. And we have done it both ways. Some vacations we are all about heading to the parks just a little bit later (about 10:00 AM) and then being able to enjoy those extra minutes of sleep and relaxed morning pace. That is so nice in and of itself. However, getting up early and hitting the parks at opening was great too. As long as we gave ourselves permission to go back and nap, swim and relax all evening long. That way, we got our extra vacation sleep and our relaxing moments...just at a different time of the day.

We used to be the go-go-go family from sunrise to late into the night. However, with the realization that we will surely be back again, we have slowed our touring pace way down. We have no need to always be on the go, we can see what we missed the next time we visit. Also, we love downtime at WDW now. It's a nice way to balance out the hectic pace of the parks with the wanted/needed relaxed pace of what we are also hoping for in a vacation.

My words in red!

Great pictures of Stitch and Stitch - another great day at MK!! I had read about kids screaming in the Stitch attraction, so I described what would happen to my kids as we walked by, and they refused to go on. So I've never experienced Stitch's Great Escape. I did like the Alien Encounter - but sounds like I'm not missing much.

HA HA HA you are not missing much at all! Although, in it's defense....someone must like it?

i'm still here also...finally finished my trip report so i can refocus on yours. i thought i was going to get lost as i made a last minute trip to the world but on my return found out you were busy also and hadn't updated. all caught up now.

i agree with you on stitch. definitely not a ride i stop for but went on with the kids cause they wanted to. you just can't say no can you?

I couldn't say no...but I did (for a fleeting mean mom moment) think of it. When dh is there, I always sweet talk him into taking them on it. I really could never experience it again and be happy about it.

I need to catch up on your trip report. As soon as I get this one done, I have about 15 trip reports I have subscribed to that I need to go back and finish up. Yes, I am addicted to reading trip reports.

Loving these updates so far! My nephew saw I was looking at these pictures yesterday and FREAKED when he saw Stitch! He loved the balloon shots too (especially the Princess balloons because he luvs the Princesses - as in he wants to give them kisses! He said so!). He was asking me today if there were any new pictures but I said unfortunately not so we had to look at all of your pictures again! His mom is going to kill me because he asks every other day to go to WDW - and I'm sure you know how many times a 3 year old can ask questions!

HA HA HA, he is a little man after my own heart. I think dh gets sick of me asking to go back to WDW as well. I will have another update very shortly.

Too funny!

The trash can, PUSH, actually said "Yum, I do so like ice cream on a hot day". It was really funny.

Wow, I'm getting tired just reading about the day. That little Stitch sure has a lot of energy!

The Stitch ride was actually the very first ride my husband and 2 kids rode. I fortunately got to sit it out with our little one. All I remember were the kids being pretty horrified. My daughter swore she would never ride it again. So fortunately I won't have to worry about ever going on it. What a great mother you are, being tortured on a ride all for your kid. What mothers don't do, huh?

You are so lucky! No more of that attraction for you! Poor little daughter though. I feel so badly for the terrified kids (and always, always, always you find some in that attraction).

You sure got loads of rides in that morning, lucky Stitch! And what great interaction you had with the other Stitch it sounds so much fun

It was a great morning, full of RIDES (oh so many rides) and fun!

Tell Stitch I am so jealous of his time with 626!!!! That must have been fantastic!

The shot of him asleep on TTA says it all. You did a lot in a short time.

We were both plum tuckered out by the time we got back to the CSR mid afternoon. We just couldn't wait for a nap!

And I did pass on that a DISer said how cool that was...his advice "Tell them to go to Disney and visit him too". Ahhh...what good advice. I think I should follow that myself.

 

[MrsSpratt]

Jay -

would you mind if I sent you a PM? I have some questions regarding your wonderful surprises for your family!

Thanks,

Mrs. Spratt