Surprised the kids, wife, and my readers w/ a 2 week trip to AoA!(*NEW* 11-7)

[zippyzo]

Just found your report and am really enjoying it. we have never met the toy story characters , i may have to add to our 'to do list'.

looking forward to reading more

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Great queuing area for Buzz and Woody...

You are going to be treasuring those photos of Parker... so cute ...

He's smaller than Andy now in Toy Story but one day

He's going to be the same size/age as Andy in Toy Story III...

 

[airforcemomof2]

Subbing! We are going at Christmas time and I can't wait!! Beautiful family!

 

[englishrose47]

Great pix with Buzz and Woody !!! We had pix with them this trip just past !!As we have G.A. C. we don't have to wait , but we do miss the line as they let us in the back way !!! The guys loved the photo shoot though !! Will have apix or too when ever I start my TR !!! I promise a Rosie link

 

[VandyFan10]

not a problem, the lady actually asked if i wanted 3 of them...one for the end of the bed too.

half way through the trip we found out it could be extended up higher, there was a button to raise it up about 3 or 4 more inches higher.

Will have to remember that! Here's hoping the PnP will still work!

i will show you some pics when we get that part done.

Sounds good!

that little stinker already has me wrapped up and around her finger...luckily i have been able to say no a few times when she wants stuff. good training for when she gets bigger.

That's what little princesses are for Daddy!

hmm, lets see are you staying off site now.

In Nov yes....Jan, not in the plans!

well with this little nugget of information, im going to say that you are now staying in a MK resort on the loop

Yes....will make announcement later

and renting DVC points from someone.

No! But hopefully someday! The BLT Theme Park view is CALLING MY NAME!!!

Erica and I waited in that queue in 2008

yes, I have to get Will back in there! We did it on one of his first trips and he wasn't allowed to get in the floor b/c he didn't have shoes on He wasn't walking yet, so I didn't even think of shoes!! Guess we boycotted them after that! We did see Buzz at Tomorrowland though

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Cool waiting area! We may have to go check that out next time. Love the character photos!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Cute, cute, cute Toy Story pix! I love all of those fun photo ops along the way. Have you guys been on a Disney cruise yet? They would love all the character interaction on the ship.

 

[scottny]

All caught up. I upgraded to windows 8 and lost all my bookmarks so all tr's are being read from the beginning again.

The resort looked so nice. The rooms are so cute.

Great pics with Buzz and Woody.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Oh my goodness, those are some great pictures! I have never seen the pictures from the waiting area for that meet and greet, those are just adorable, absolutely love them.

Makes me want to make the E's go in there next time, just for that! They haven't had a picture with Buzz since they were 1 and 2!

thanks, if you plan to do it, go right when they open to fly through the line, alot better than the 45 plus minute wait later in the day.

Great update! Erica and I waited in that queue in 2008 but that's the last time (we didn't wait in line last trip b/c Seth was only 13 months old and at the time wasn't into Toy Story yet) and I don't remember a lot of the detailing. It's all so awesome! I cannot wait for him to see all this when we go in May. Toy Story is his absolute favorite and he will totally dis Woody and run to Buzz too! He LOVES Buzz - that's who he's gonna be for Halloween. Thanks for posting all these - great stuff! So cute how Parker was so excited. I hope Noelle keeps up the good work with the characters.

glad you enjoyed them, parker is going to be buzz this year as well...he had that and mr incredible last year but wore mr incredible instead so this year he still fits in buzz and wants that.

she always did good if we held her, it wasnt till the second week she would walk almost all the way to them on her own.

Love the waiting area for Woody and buzz pics.

Looks like the kids had a blast, especially Parker.

All pics are so cute

he loved it, he had an excited dance this year where he would jump up and down really fast and try to fly like a bird.

Oh my....those pictures are so much fun. Those kids are so cute and you can just see the excitement radiating out of them.

Am I spying a certain t-shirt on a certain princess? It looks a bit familiar to me.

it was a great trip for parker to "get" the characters this trip, he loved every minute of it and the autographs.

yep that is the shirt from a very special dis chicago meet up.

parker wore his later in the trip.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Oh man! Parker is too cute! It looks like he had a ton of fun meeting Buzz and Woody!

he had a blast, thanks, just wait till later in the day when he sees mickey for the first time, he Loved that.

i see your trip is coming up soon, i bet you are pumped.

Aweee...look at the joy in his eyes meeting those characters. That's what makes Disney vacations so special!

Great pictures, your family is so cute!

those moments make the trips totally worth it...and you forget about the little meltdowns and stobborn moments when you see those.

I see your little one is a year old..we're thinking about taking our son Parker is Disney in Feb. which will put him at about 16 months..how did you handle naps..meals..meltdowns lol etc....my parents are coming along with us..but i'm just concerned it may be a little overwhelming...did you guys survive ok?!

well it seems to work different for everyone...some people try and stick straight to there schedule that they have at home and that works for us, we go a little different.

parker was 8 months on his first trip.
noelle was 13 months on tihs trip.

as far as naps, we just went about the day and did the parks pretty much like normal...when they were tired they just fell asleep in the stroller, or wanted to be held and we knew they were going to fall asleep in our arms, then we would put them in the stroller to sleep it off, and find something to do while she slept.

a few times, we would have one person just sit and relax with her while she slept...and the other took parker on a ride or show.

then we would swithc and the other would sit and wait.

the relax time was nice for the other parent, but of course parker wanted to keep going so it gave him some one on one time with each of us.

meals, were pretty much normal, just tried to order sometihng we knew she would share with us...or if not then we bought something that she would eat.

meltdowns, just try and take them out of the situation and everyone calm down, we had our share of those, and didnt always handle it right, but it happens, and everyone moves on.


just know that things wont go perfect, but there will be many perfect memerable moments each day and have fun.

having the extra help will be a plus for you, and dont forget that they will want out of the stroller and just hold your hand and walk around a little enjoy that, it is a fun time.

What a great meet and greet.
I can see the excitement in the kids.

thanks pat, it was a blast seeing the characters with them this trip.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Awe! What a great encounter.

thanks so much.

Just found your report and am really enjoying it. we have never met the toy story characters , i may have to add to our 'to do list'.

looking forward to reading more

thanks for reading along. it is a really neat meet and great, you would enjoy it.

Great queuing area for Buzz and Woody...

You are going to be treasuring those photos of Parker... so cute ...

He's smaller than Andy now in Toy Story but one day

He's going to be the same size/age as Andy in Toy Story III...

very true, one day he will, but we are just trying not to grow him up to fast...enjoying each stage of there littleness.

Subbing! We are going at Christmas time and I can't wait!! Beautiful family!

glad to have you along with us.

i have a christmas TR from two trips ago in the signature if you want to read that to get you more pumped for your trip.

thanks.

Great pix with Buzz and Woody !!! We had pix with them this trip just past !!As we have G.A. C. we don't have to wait , but we do miss the line as they let us in the back way !!! The guys loved the photo shoot though !! Will have apix or too when ever I start my TR !!! I promise a Rosie link

the skipping hte line is nice im sure, but i bet you guys would like to wait in some of the lines or at least be able to see them.

you better post a link as you know how bad i am about finding hte reports when they start.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

That's what little princesses are for Daddy!

and she knows it,

Yes....will make announcement later

are you doing a preTr?

yes, I have to get Will back in there! We did it on one of his first trips and he wasn't allowed to get in the floor b/c he didn't have shoes on He wasn't walking yet, so I didn't even think of shoes!! Guess we boycotted them after that! We did see Buzz at Tomorrowland though

good reason to boycott

we saw the line at tomorrowland many times but parker never said anything about meeting him, i think he was happy with just riding his ride over and over, his line in tomorrowland was pretty long most of the time.

Cool waiting area! We may have to go check that out next time. Love the character photos!

it is a neat waiting area, much more interesting than some of the others around the parks.

Cute, cute, cute Toy Story pix! I love all of those fun photo ops along the way. Have you guys been on a Disney cruise yet? They would love all the character interaction on the ship.

no we really want to but want to wait till both kids are big enough to go in the kid areas without us having to worry about them not liking being away from us.

we are thinking maybe when noelle is around 7.have you been?

just squeeze in more park trips till then.

All caught up. I upgraded to windows 8 and lost all my bookmarks so all tr's are being read from the beginning again.

The resort looked so nice. The rooms are so cute.

Great pics with Buzz and Woody.

sorry to hear scott, hope you get them back after you go through them again.

thanks, hope you guys are doing better now after the storm...i saw on FB that the skys seemed to clear up for you.

 

[glennbo123]

Very cute. I'm glad that Parker got to meet his heroes and that Noelle did well with the characters.

 

[xkaittloveex]

I absolutely love this Trip Report!

Your children are beautiful and your wife is very lucky to have such an amazing surprise.

Cannot wait to read more.

 

[LindaBabe]

Subbing. Totally loving your report - you take great pics and have a way with words. PS I think 5 is the perfect age to start cruising! Think of the princess photos! And Mad hatters tea which is really for toddlers. . .

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Great pictures! We've never gone to the Buzz and Woody area just because the line is always ridiculous. Parker looks like he's having the time of his life!

 

[katt789]

Ah what a great playful morning! I have yet to meet Woody & Buzz in that meet & greet, for the same reason, the wait time's just too long once I'm done with TSM hahah!! Great pictures from the m&g!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Very cute. I'm glad that Parker got to meet his heroes and that Noelle did well with the characters.

first week as long as you were holding her with them she did great.

he was thrilled to meet them.

I absolutely love this Trip Report!

Your children are beautiful and your wife is very lucky to have such an amazing surprise.

Cannot wait to read more.

thanks for reading along, and the nice comments...i agree she is pretty lucky.

Subbing. Totally loving your report - you take great pics and have a way with words. PS I think 5 is the perfect age to start cruising! Think of the princess photos! And Mad hatters tea which is really for toddlers. . .

thanks for reading along, and glad you like the pictures. i like to keep my writing fun. spelling not a huge fan of so you will see alot of those mistakes

is the mad hatters tea on the ships? or is that what they have at the grand floridian? i am already planning on having candi and noelle do that when she gets older.

Great pictures! We've never gone to the Buzz and Woody area just because the line is always ridiculous. Parker looks like he's having the time of his life!

that early park opening helped us with that this year, i think alot of people who get the park, end up getting fast passes and then just go see them right away which is what builds the line up so fast.

Ah what a great playful morning! I have yet to meet Woody & Buzz in that meet & greet, for the same reason, the wait time's just too long once I'm done with TSM hahah!! Great pictures from the m&g!

try really hard to get there 30 minutes before scheduled opening to get in early, then you will have plenty of time ride get fast passes and then get in line for the meet and greet as soon as it opens.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

In looking at pictures of the activities we did next this morning one thing came to mind, the song hold my hand there is a link to the music video...You may or may not like the artist, but it does remind you that no matter what is going on in your life good or bad, there is always someone that is there for you. (at least that is what i take from it, i could be way off)

let continue with the chapter shall we.

we had just seen the men of the hour buzz and his sidekick woody.

we grabbed the stroller and headed through the masses past the buzz entrance.

glancing back the stand by time is 45 minutes and fast pass says we are in the 9:26 time.

I notice a cute little thing in front me so i follow her and see where she is headed.

i keep following her and she has no clue.

i am almost caught up to her now,

we begin our stroll down the empty streets of america.

and we take time to notice some things we have always rushed past, like a bike on the fire escape of this building.

the lights are going up and about half of the buildings were decorated already.

i find the chinese laundry i have always missed in the past, and take a picture of my dear friend jordan on the DIS speaking of he is doing great for those of you who know him.

my stalking of that cute girl in front me must have worked she let me take a picture with her and the "cars" fellows.

about this time noelle didnt want to be put back in her stroller she tasted freedom and liked it.

she wasnt going back in, we were fine with that, it gave her time to burn off some energy and have some fun without many people around to worry about.

Here is where the song comes into play, these next series of pictures really just let you know you can relax you are on vacation and to take it all in, because who knows how long they will let you hold there hands and just enjoy walking and strolling around before it is lets go gang buster and hit every big ride there is daddy.

brother and sister.

was it forced, no, did we maybe say hold your sisters hand and go ahead and walk, maybe...

did they seem to enjoy it and actually love each other.

yep.

we kept on jugging.

parker was ditched for mommy, somehow mommy always is the trump card for the kids.

we end up going past the muppets and stop for a photo opt by the barricades...i thought about telling noelle to go ahead under them and that would allow me to chase after her and see what is around the corners of those buildings, but i didnt want to ruin a good family moment.

she saved the best for last...noelle and daddy having a little heart to heart as we strolled along.

you can see my camera bag set up, here, little point and shot hidden in front pocket of shorts, sony Nex DSLR goes on one hip bag, the video camera goes on the other hip bag all within easy reach and ready to grab for quick shots...

around the corner we run into the sci fi drive in and parker wants to take a spin, i havent tought him driving skills yet so i was a little afraid.

chapter continued in the next section.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

we go past the hub, and were going to wait to see daisy, since we missed her that morning when we were walking in. but they were cutting the line off since it was break time for them. so we continued on and hit up the nifty little ramp that we found earlier that morning.

verdict it worked great, glad they put it in, made the trip around to TSM much shorter.

we park the stroller and looks like there is still some hand holding going on.

and i never really paid much attention to this but liked it at the entrance.

we made it back into the fastpass line pretty quickly for the morning.

parker loved his duty of the red pass holder.

some hand holding continued.

we continued on until we were almost to the bottom of the stairs. not to shabby if you ask me.

if anyone has seen failur to launch, candi likes the part where they show sarah jessica parker and how you move your fingers really fast for the double tap to fire the paint balls,

candi practiced that motion here to see if she was quick enough to beat me this round.

i was worried the one finger was moving so fast it was not even visible in this shot.

also i had the advantage? or disadvantage of a little partner in crime this round of the TSM.

we would be riding in bo peep.

lets see how me and the little sharp shooter faired this round.

and was it good enough to win and claim victory among the other riders.

it sure was, time for a victory shot with me and my little princess.

for you parents with little ones, this shows how noelle rode with us on the ride, stradling one leg, with are arms around her.

very easy to hold her tight to you while going between scenes...and then when you stop still in a position to grab the gun and aim in one hand and fire like crazy with the other.

hope you enjoyed the updates, and happy halloween.