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

Hi Dan! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I am finally all caught up - making the reading rounds one TR at a time!

I have enjoyed yours so much! It is fun to see how much the kids have grown, and how they reacted to the characters and just WDW in general! It is nice they are so easy and go with the flow! Parker is getting to be a Disney expert! I love how Noelle's personality just shows through in the pics - lots of fun!

I have been debating whether the grands will like Fantasmic or not - we don't do scarey at our house, and they don't either so not sure how it will go for them.

Fun shout out to Kingdom Keepers! :thumbsup2

Have a great weekend! It's 80 here in Arizona - didn .t feel likeThanksgiving!:rotfl2:

 
Hi Dan! I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving!

Exiting Fantasmic is one of the reason's I don't see that show! It's ok but trying to get in and out of there is madness. I wish it were set up like DL's version.

I read the first Kingdom Keepers and thought it was ok but it didn't hold my interest too much. Does the series get better?
 
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Dan !! The update was great!! Loved the diaper butt on the bed !!!:rotfl2:Great pix at Fantasmic too!!:cool1:
 

Great update! I love the pic of the lady checking out your stroller...I feel like I do that too, because I only have 1 kid and I'm always looking out for a good one for when we go with 2. :rotfl:

Too funny, DS has recently learned to say his name and now he says it all the time when he sees a picture of himself. When he saw Noelle laying down on the bed, he must have thought it was him because he started pointing and saying his name! :lmao: I guess from the back, they could look alike...blond hair and chunky toddler legs!!
 
Looks like you all had an awesome day at Hollywood Studios! Thanks for the tip on the Kingdom Keeper books. I just finished reading a series on my Kindle and was wondering what I would read next. I may check those out!
 
I also have been reading the Kingdom Keepers books (out of order but I take what I can get at our local library :rotfl2:). I was a little embarrassed at first when I checked them out but the lady at the desk said "oh you are going to love these books!" so guess she knew I was too old to have a young child reading them lol

That was too funny about the lady checking out your stroller - does it have a seat in the back for an older child? My daughter is expecting her 2nd baby in March and has a 5 yr old that gets tired easily when walking so I thought your stroller would work perfect (altho he might be too big).
 
I love that you took the kids into "One Man's Dream" - I love it in there and so many people just blow by there- I guess assuming that it will be boring or their kids will think it's borrowing... I think with a short visit... there is something interesting in there for everyone...:thumbsup2

As a reader and a Disney fan... it sounds like I should definitely check out Kingdom Keepers...

Finally going to get to see Fantasmic next week...:cool1: will try to implement Candi's PMS strategy... hopefully gets us out faster...;)

Parker is the age to have "fears" about all kinds of different stuff... it's sad but developmental... it's tough to be little sometimes...:worried:
 
Still have not done One Man's Dream. I need to fix that. I'm sure my family would love the models and drawings in there.

Pretty sure there is a law of nature that says the kids will have to go do #2 at the worst possible times. Good thing you guys were able to catch the show. And thanks for the tip on leaving through ToT!

All in all, looks like it was a great day.
 
Great update! I've read all (or maybe almost all) of the Kingdom Keepers books. The one with the cruise ship really made me want to go on a Disney cruise!

Your little ones are adorable. Since I've never been to Disney with anyone under 12, it's fun to see from the perspective of parents.
i like how they use everything in the park that might not pay much attention to and just brings to light a little more when you go on the trips.

thanks, i enjoy writing about the trips and glad you can enjoy seeing it through a little ones eyes.

Finally got all caught up.

Great day at DHS Dan!
thanks, we had a fun first day, wow that was just the first full day...well 11 more days to go. lol


Love One Man's Dream

This was the first year we saw the movie and I loved it pixiedust:

Cute pics of the kids

Sounds like a great day

:thumbsup2

i always enjoy that movie, sadly we missed it this year, but just something to add back to the list of must dos next trip.

Sounds like a great first day at DHS!

Thanks for the tip on how to get out of the park faster, I will def be using that.

your welcome, it came in handy from the slow walkers toward the end of the ramp.


Also a great way to meet some really great people. :goodvibes

I need to get back into One Mans dream to see the Fantasyland model. :goodvibes


Nice way to end the evening and I hope Parker doesn't have too many many more "i'm scared" episodes but I have a feeling there are more. ;)
it is neat to see in detail the whole area...we didnt spend a ton of time looking at it due to the potty break, but i have the picture to look back on.


you may be right about that, there might be a few more of those moments this trip.

You captured the most perfect LMA shots! I love them!!!

Your descriptions for the photo pass pics are hilarious. I love your daughter's "silly face" with her tongue sticking out even though she didn't know what she was doing.

Also Parker's reaction when he say Stitch in the ground in the pic is hilarious. I chuckled.
thanks, i did that with the one click method...i have one mode that lets me take 7 pictures a second, that i totally forgot about, for that end explosion, but will need to use next time.

thanks, yep i think she knew all along what was going on with her sticking out her tongue or maybe it was those teeth after all that were bugging her.

that was a great face that he was making in that picture wasnt it.:)

Fun update. I agree, the KK books are cute and do make you look at certain things like OMD very differently!

That is so sweet they traded out Parker's light up toy. Almost as sweet as your passed out baby girl on the bed. :goodvibes

Camera did pretty darn well! Someday I'll figure out how to use my manual settings. It's pathetic. Or wait...a plane project on the way to Hawaii! Which would be fitting as I broke it in for the first time on our last trip there.

i also looked around epcot for places that the return could be hidden at the pin trading station i almost went and checked but candi told me no. :rotfl:

i have most of the settings figured out just now figured out a few of hte night time shots that turn out great without using a tripod, but still need to practice with those more.

the plane ride sounds like a perfect place to learn and kill some time.


Dan, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I hope your turkey is moist!
thanks marv hope you had a good one too.

the smoked turkey was great, the oven one...well...they tried.:lmao:

Great update, Dan. I love seeing the Walt Story (we missed it this trip). I love how Noelle is just looking up at al the exhibits.

You got great pictures at Fantasmic (yep, missed that again this year).

Love the photo from Mickey for your celebration.

Hope you and the family had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

poohthanksgiving.gif

both kids juts took in the displays and seemed to enjoy looking at it, it will be better when they are both older and understand it alot more.

thanks kathy hope you had a great thanksgiving as well.


Hi Dan! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I am finally all caught up - making the reading rounds one TR at a time!

I have enjoyed yours so much! It is fun to see how much the kids have grown, and how they reacted to the characters and just WDW in general! It is nice they are so easy and go with the flow! Parker is getting to be a Disney expert! I love how Noelle's personality just shows through in the pics - lots of fun!

I have been debating whether the grands will like Fantasmic or not - we don't do scarey at our house, and they don't either so not sure how it will go for them.

Fun shout out to Kingdom Keepers! :thumbsup2

Have a great weekend! It's 80 here in Arizona - didn .t feel likeThanksgiving!:rotfl2:


they both have great personalities, but she is def. the bigger jokester right now...

we didnt prep him much for the show so he would go in, we tried telling him it was fake and just on water but you know how that works with little ones...so we just let him hide and conforted him then showed him how mickey won in the end.

you stink for such nice weather. :goodvibes

Hi Dan! I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving!

Exiting Fantasmic is one of the reason's I don't see that show! It's ok but trying to get in and out of there is madness. I wish it were set up like DL's version.

I read the first Kingdom Keepers and thought it was ok but it didn't hold my interest too much. Does the series get better?

hey jenny, we had a great long weekend it was a lot of fun and the start of many fun things leading up to christmas. hope yo uhad a good long weekend.

it is a pain to leave, but wasnt too bad, once we got on the top of the stands and walking out.

the next books seemed alot better, you dont have to learn the background as much and they seemed to read alot faster, the one book i think the third one i read in a few days. the last one written is on the cruise ship so i think you would enjoy that.


Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Dan !! The update was great!! Loved the diaper butt on the bed !!!:rotfl2:Great pix at Fantasmic too!!:cool1:

hey rosie, thanks, hope you had a good one too.
glad you enjoyed it.


Enjoying the report!

The vinalmation in question is John Henry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_American_Legends
:welcome: thanks for reading along, and thanks for the link to the vinylmation...do you collect them?


Great update! I love the pic of the lady checking out your stroller...I feel like I do that too, because I only have 1 kid and I'm always looking out for a good one for when we go with 2. :rotfl:

Too funny, DS has recently learned to say his name and now he says it all the time when he sees a picture of himself. When he saw Noelle laying down on the bed, he must have thought it was him because he started pointing and saying his name! :lmao: I guess from the back, they could look alike...blond hair and chunky toddler legs!!

that double stroller we have is great, very light and easy to get around with, and also love how if the older one wants to ride they just jump in and sit or stand...we bought it off our friend for a cheap rate...i have seen many of them for sale on our craigslist around us for really cheap so maybe check that when the time comes.

that is funny that he does, that or was he just trying to say his name while pointing at her that he wanted to meet her and liked what he saw. :rotfl:
 
Looks like you all had an awesome day at Hollywood Studios! Thanks for the tip on the Kingdom Keeper books. I just finished reading a series on my Kindle and was wondering what I would read next. I may check those out!
i think anyone who loves disney and enjoys reading will like them. let me know what you tink of them.



I also have been reading the Kingdom Keepers books (out of order but I take what I can get at our local library :rotfl2:). I was a little embarrassed at first when I checked them out but the lady at the desk said "oh you are going to love these books!" so guess she knew I was too old to have a young child reading them lol

That was too funny about the lady checking out your stroller - does it have a seat in the back for an older child? My daughter is expecting her 2nd baby in March and has a 5 yr old that gets tired easily when walking so I thought your stroller would work perfect (altho he might be too big).

thats why i let me wife check out the books for me then just bring them home. :rotfl:

i think it would work great, we love it, and i think a 5 year old would still fit good, the seat slides back and forth for them to sit on so it gives more or less leg room, and the standing option is nice because they still feel big but gives them a chance to rest.


I love that you took the kids into "One Man's Dream" - I love it in there and so many people just blow by there- I guess assuming that it will be boring or their kids will think it's borrowing... I think with a short visit... there is something interesting in there for everyone...:thumbsup2

As a reader and a Disney fan... it sounds like I should definitely check out Kingdom Keepers...

Finally going to get to see Fantasmic next week...:cool1: will try to implement Candi's PMS strategy... hopefully gets us out faster...;)

Parker is the age to have "fears" about all kinds of different stuff... it's sad but developmental... it's tough to be little sometimes...:worried:
it is a hidden gem and you should have to visit it to get fast passes for TSM in my opinion. lol

i think you would enjoy them, let me know what you think if you start reading them.

and we tried to grow him up to much when is scared of things bad move on our part, but we learned and know (a little more) how to deal with it now, this was really the first time he was scared of things so it was new to us.

good luck on the strategy if you fail the first time just keep practicing PMS skills are not learned overnight they take years of practice for perfection.


Still have not done One Man's Dream. I need to fix that. I'm sure my family would love the models and drawings in there.

Pretty sure there is a law of nature that says the kids will have to go do #2 at the worst possible times. Good thing you guys were able to catch the show. And thanks for the tip on leaving through ToT!

All in all, looks like it was a great day.
i think you would have a good time in there, alot to see to make it not boring and some good reads if you want to take the time for that as well.

yep the #2 law comes into affect at the worst times but when its time you gotta listen to it.

your welcome for the tip...and it was a good successful first day in our books we all ended up back together and still smiling at the end of the day.
 
well i had every intention to do an update today but just plum ran out of time...so will make up for it tomorrow with an extra long one or maybe two updates of the water park day.
 
Aw, that's too cute -- Noelle trying to get to "Uncle Walt".

Great job, bathroom-running Dad! :thumbsup2

Your pictures of Fantasmic turned out really well.
 
Aw, that's too cute -- Noelle trying to get to "Uncle Walt".

Great job, bathroom-running Dad! :thumbsup2

Your pictures of Fantasmic turned out really well.
thanks glenn, the whole bathroom running is successful because of the PMS skills.

i was pleased with the fantasmic pictures as well thanks.
 
Chapter 15. This is the life.

What gets better at disney than going in the parks...How about a nice relaxing day of waking up whenever you want, chilling at the water parks and then having a nice monorail ride to dinner at one of your favorite places.

Sounds like a day i want to have, sign me up.

So we didnt set the alarm this morning and slept in till the ripe time of 7:10am.

yep that is sleeping in for our family...noelle usually gets us all up in the 6 oclock hour so we were doing good.

When candi asked if we wanted to get dressed we decided to pajama it to the breakfast that morning.

So out the door and a view of what we had from our room door as I dont remember if i shared it or not yet.

to the right.
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straight ahead.
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to the left.
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Since we were on the free dinning plan, we had 2 Counter service meals a day...that took care of all the lunches and dinners.

well i scheduled a few dinners this trip OOP so that shifted a few of those dinner CS meals toward breakfast...everyone follow good lets get on with it.

This was one of those shift CS breakfast meals we were excited to try some AoA breakfast foods this trip.

here is the menu from the far right station which the rest of the day housed the burger menu.

DSC07254.jpg

I went with the chicken burger, i liked it so much i actually ended up getting it another morning as well. it was awesome the chicken burger was moist and delicious, the egg with the sauce had a great spice to it. and the pepper jack cheese added just the right amount of heat as well. Another morning candi had the breakfast platter which she enjoyed.

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the creation station.
DSC07252.jpg


candi headed over to the french toast/inter-nation stand and opted for the french toast..she really liked this as did parker they both ordered it later in the week as well.

when my order came out there were fries with my burger, now i love me some fries, but for breakfast i figured i should not get them so i told her to sub them the breakfast casserole when i ordered...

i told the lady that and she said ohh they through fries on with all burgers...not a problem ill get you a side of the casserole, just tell the lady at check out it was our bad.

all set we headed to check out.

i think i might try and make a version of that sandwich sometime at home i liked it that much.

just like at home eating breakfast in our PJ's, except after breakfast at home you dont get to trade pins and vinylmations.
DSC07255.jpg


and even though it was frowned upon by candi, i still ate most of the fries...what they were just going to go to waste why not have fries for breakfast on vacation.:confused3 i hope they screw up my order the next breakfast.

while candi and noelle finished up, me and parker headed into the gift shop to trade vinylmations and pins. then met back up with the ladies to head to the room.

changed for the water parkers and ready to go we headed out.

DSC07256.jpg



when we got to the bus we walked right onto a arriving bus, and left right away. we were the first stop before AK, so we arrived pretty quickly. once there we waited less than 10 minutes to get into the park, got our locker and waited at the chains to be let in...

well 10:00 came and went, with people still waiting. we heard over the lifeguard radio that the rest of the guards were not in position at there locations and had to wait....come on you know you open at 10:00 get to your spot. finally at 10:10 the park was opened by the first slider of the day going down summit plummit.

I headed up the ski lift quickly to get my ride on, and down before to many people get in line...i was the 3rd person on the ride, clocked 56 on the mph radar, pulled out the wedgie factory that was going on, and met up with the family...

we headed back up the mountain to ride teamboat springs as a family or the family tube slide for those of you that are unfamiliar with the naming there.

we were set down, and noelle was nestled in my side ready to ride, the lady running the ride said she is free to go down as long as she can hold onto the strap by her legs....okay no problem, i wrap her hand around the strap and that set her crying radar off like no other, she didnt want to hold on for anything.

so candi grabbed her and said you go with parker we will meet you at the bottom.

parker loved the ride.

we headed toward the pikes peak kid play area for a while and the kids loved it.

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parker loved the freedom this trip to run to the top and come down the slides all on his own.
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noelle really liked this area.
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while waiting for parker to come down the slide, i spotted a cutie in the shallow water playing around.
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kid body slides.
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kid tube slides
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then a little race down the tripple slides.
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i have to teach parker about the whole water turns dark blue when you pee in it.:rolleyes1

then it was time to play in the water fall.
DSC07280.jpg


noelle talked mommy into dunking herself all the way under.
DSC07284.jpg



then me and parker headed over to the bigger kids play area, which was alot of fun and we had a blast going on hte bigger tube slides there playing on the iceburgs with the rope neat above them, etc.

then it was time for candi and parker to head up to the ski lift, and down the family slide together, me and noelle hit the wave pool for a few waves, and saw a few interesting sights of the brazillians in there bikinis...then left and road the lazy river around toward where candi and parker would be coming down the slide at.

noelle sat in the little kid middle filled tube, meaning the tube had a solid middle to it, for little kids to sit in...she loved it she sat indian style, and i walked nest to her while she nestled back into my chest and shoulder and just enjoyed the ride.

it was a perfect moment with my little girl just being quite, :hug:since she cant talk much yet...and enjoying the peace of the lazy river (since it was still not busy)

waiting at the bottom of the slide for parker and candi, we see them coming down with everyone in the tube looking backwards at something.

well turns out his sun hat fell off at the start so they watched to see his hat chasing them down the whole way and to make sure it made it.

sure enough it did, it floated in the current right back to them at the bottom.

we all hopped back in the lazy river and floated around towards the lockers to eat lunch.

i was ready for my chili dog, parker had the hot dog, and candi shared the nuggets with noelle...who also took some of our sides and parkers sides.

continued in the next update.
 
Chapter 16. Catching some Fish in our room.

after lunch we decided to call it a day. and since we had the camera we took a few pictures by the melting snow family.
DSC07291.jpg


the lifeguard who took this said now stand there and get the summit behind you.

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the parker wanted his own with the snow men, and his bucket that his lunch came in.
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we took our time leaving the park, and wanted to get some of the detail that we usually walk right past.

first the sled by the entrance.
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then the beach shake.

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the sledding saucers.
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and i liked the sayings on these things so i took pics of them as well.
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when we got back to the hotel candi took noelle back to the room to get a little nap in before dinner while parker and i headed to the main pool the nemo pool.

as we were walking into the pool parker saw a CM manager type with a slap hand stretchy toy that he liked so he gave it to him...picture coming up soon.

we had a blast in the main pool there is music/talking underwater which is really cool.

parker wouldnt go all the way under but did turn his head to the side and listen and liked it. we played for maybe 45 minutes or so and had a good time.

back at the room all napped up and refreshed and changed, parker started to play with the slap hand.


when i asked him what he was doing he said he was going fishing.
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one cast didnt make it and he caught a parker right on the forehead.
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then he wound up big time
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and he caught himself a flounder.
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but dont worry it was a catch and release program, besides i didnt have a stove to fry up the catch.:thumbsup2


when we were almost ready candi noticed another hidden mickey in the bathroom.

can you see it?
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marv actually found it when i posted the first hidden mickey picture in the bathroom wall.

here it is zoomed in....it is right under the clock on the wall. on the necklace...and is actually a full body hidden mickey.
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fish caught, mickeys found, all relaxed it was time to head to dinner.
 
Dan, what an awesome update.

Love the pajama breakfast idea.

It looks as if everyone had a great time at the water park. Love Noelle playing in the water with her mommy and seeing Parker come down the slide all by himself.

I do love my some Lazy River time...especially first thing in the morning when no one else is on it. And good for you getting some daddy/daughter time together. :goodvibes
 
My kids just love Blizzard Beach !! It is a great water park. Tell Candi she is making all the rest of us look bad while she looks cute in her bikini.
 
Sounds like a great day :thumbsup2

How cool you all had breakfast in your PJS...looked like some good stuff on menu too :goodvibes

Looks like Parker was having a blast on the slide being all independent

Looks like a great day overall

I was looking at the bathroom pic and the hidden mickey I saw was to the left of that gold thing.. It look like a blue silhouette of Mickey head

Great pics :goodvibes
 
Nice Blizzard Beach update. It isn't often you see pics from the waterparks. I have actually never even been to the waterparks!

I found that hidden mickey too!! I actually saw your first hidden mickey pic before i left and then I was so happy I found the other hidden mickey on my own.
 







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