That Mickey sure is one smart cookie!! May 2011 CBR TR (update 08/13)

[Lidian]

50's PTC is my favorite! I love the pot roast, so yummy! And yes, that sundae is MASSIVE!!!!!!!!

Sorry to hear that Maya had a tummy ache. Hope she felt better quickly!!!

 

[lbuzz52]

50's PTC is my favorite! I love the pot roast, so yummy! And yes, that sundae is MASSIVE!!!!!!!!

Sorry to hear that Maya had a tummy ache. Hope she felt better quickly!!!

it was sooo good. but then again, southern type homestyle food is one of my many weaknesses. one day though, i hope to have a large group there and really get our table picked on!

UGH! The potty troubles...been there many times. I don't know why, but it seems like going potty is fun to do at the parks.

i think that we figured out at least part of the attraction to the potty- but more on that in an upcoming installment

 

[lbuzz52]

We met back up with Chris and took our seats for the Indiana Jones show just minutes before it started. This day was cooler than the rest of the trip, but it got hot in the afternoon. We were glad to have the cover from the sun. And I was glad to be off my feet for a few minutes. My blisters never fully developed- they never got puffy, I guess from the fact that I didn't get off my feet long enough for them to. So my feet felt better, but did have a little swelling from all the extra weight I carried around.

We had very good " volunteers" for our show. They were very convincing. I was surprised that James loved it! He clapped and cheered the whole time. Maya got a bit nervous, but Once she fully grasped the idea that this was not real life but a movie filming she was better.

It's a fun show, for us it's an every other trip show- there are just too many good ones to fit them all in one day!





After the show, we headed to the animation building. I really wanted to do the drawing portion, but Chris vetoed me. He said that Maya would get frustrated and throw a fit, but think the idea really bored him. Its on the top of my must do next trip list, although i have a feeling i may be doing it alone.

I had read that to get to the characters you either had to go through the exhibit or cut through the gift shop. However, there were signs that pointed to the character greet so we had to do neither!

I've heard the time period near 4:45 at animation referred to as "characterpalooza". Boy is that a good name for it! We walked in and immediately saw quite a few. We decided to first meet the Incredibles, as we had never seen them before.

Chris wandered while we were in line and afterwords took us to a room that was completely empty except the queen.

Next we saw Pinocchio and Gepetto together. While we were in line for these guys, I snapped a few pictures of the Pooh stills through the glass. I thought it was so cool to see these pieces, as we took James to Pooh for his first movie.

We heard a cm say Hook and Smee would be in the same spot so we got back in line after Pinocchio.

There were a ton more characters there but we skipped them as we had already met them during the week- Minnie, Goofy, Pocahantas and Meeko, Mary Poppins and the penguins, Rafiki, Chip and Dale, Stitch, Mulan, and Frozone.

We ended our meetings with Sorceror Mickey.

finally captured one! ​

Awesome experience for thirty minutes of our time!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Wow!!! That's quite the character palooza!!!! I'll have to try that! Awesome pictures!

 

[lbuzz52]

Wow!!! That's quite the character palooza!!!! I'll have to try that! Awesome pictures!

We had a really great time in there. Almost 20 different characters in that room in a matter of minutes. i hope we get to do that again this trip!

 

[lbuzz52]

this may be really old news, but it isn't a subject i have a lot of knowledge on. I know that some of you guys deal with allergies and i saw this site that helps you find a restaurant based on its "allergy friendliness"

you input your allergy/ intolerance, click a location, etc and then it gives you some suggestions.

and... they even have a WDW page!


http://www.allergyeats.com/disney/

 

[lovethattink]

This is the 2nd time in a week I am hearing about Characterpalooza!! Great pics!! Going to have to try that too! Studio Central's website says that the timing depends on the Fantasmic times.

Will have to try the allergy link.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Those were great pictures of the Characterpalooza. I'm hoping to get my Mickey Obsessed son pictures with lots of different pictures on this trip. Hopefully we get to see Scorcer Mickey even if we don't get to meet the others.

 

[Lidian]

I. AM. SO. JEALOUS.

You saw my beloved Queen??!!! UGH! I am SO jealous!!!

Okay, I have to go throw a tantrum for a bit.


...........[tantrum]..............



Wow, I am so jealous! I will have to check for "characterpalooza". Perhaps I can meet my favorite character!

Awesome experience! Glad you saw a lot of characters in such a short time! WOW!

 

[jenseib]

I still need to get to a charaterpalooza.

 

[lbuzz52]

Those were great pictures of the Characterpalooza. I'm hoping to get my Mickey Obsessed son pictures with lots of different pictures on this trip. Hopefully we get to see Scorcer Mickey even if we don't get to meet the others.

he should be out there for you. if it works out i'd recommend trying to go around 5 pm and there should be lots of others out for you too.

I. AM. SO. JEALOUS.

You saw my beloved Queen??!!! UGH! I am SO jealous!!!

Okay, I have to go throw a tantrum for a bit.


...........[tantrum]..............



Wow, I am so jealous! I will have to check for "characterpalooza". Perhaps I can meet my favorite character!

Awesome experience! Glad you saw a lot of characters in such a short time! WOW!

we got SSOOOO lucky with random characters. maybe next time you can meet her. i really would recommend trying ot make it to a characterpalooza one time. its one of my favorite tips ever from this board!

I still need to get to a charaterpalooza.

you do! its great!

This is the 2nd time in a week I am hearing about Characterpalooza!! Great pics!! Going to have to try that too! Studio Central's website says that the timing depends on the Fantasmic times.

Will have to try the allergy link.

I'm not familiar with studio central, but here are some times that i had found previously.

Characterpalooza is an unadvertised character meet and greet session that usually features six to ten characters inside the Animation Building.* The timing and number of characters depend on when Fantasmic begins.* If Fantasmic isn’t scheduled, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 6:50pm.* If the first Fantasmic begins before 7:30pm, then Characterpalooza will not occur because the characters will be getting ready for Fantasmic.* If* the first Fantasmic begins at 7:30pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 5:10pm.* If the first Fantasmic begins at 8:00pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 5:50pm.* If the first Fantasmic begins at 8:30pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 5:50pm.* If the first Fantasmic begins at 9:00pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 6:30pm.

i think you guys should try it some time. Between Air conditioning, short lines, and random rare-er characters, its a hidden gem!

 

[Lidian]

In other words, just show up at 4:50.

 

[lbuzz52]

In other words, just show up at 4:50.

ha! yeah, that's basically it. i guess the rest of the details help a bit if you have to prioritize the characters in there.

 

[Lidian]

ha! yeah, that's basically it. i guess the rest of the details help a bit if you have to prioritize the characters in there.

I'd run in, see if EQ was there, problem solved. If she's there. Stand in line until I meet her. If she's not. Then it doesn't matter.

 

[lbuzz52]

I'd run in, see if EQ was there, problem solved. If she's there. Stand in line until I meet her. If she's not. Then it doesn't matter.

definitely check! or maybe some time you can go for a mini fall break trip and try to find her at MNSSHP!

 

[Lidian]

definitely check! or maybe some time you can go for a mini fall break trip and try to find her at MNSSHP!

I am totally down for a Fall trip after I get college behind me (and get secured in my job).

 

[lbuzz52]

I am totally down for a Fall trip after I get college behind me (and get secured in my job).

as soon as we feel comfy enough we are going to do another fall trip but leave the kids at home. it will obviously be many years from now, when the kids dont want to spend much time with their parents and we can use that to alleviate some of the guilt. still, i'm really looking forward to it.

 

[lbuzz52]

It was almost time for the last Disney Jr show. We found a seat neat the back so we could spread our legs out. I was absolutely surprised at how much James loved this show! He was singing and dancing and clapping the whole time! As in drawing attention to himself! He loved it all!

We got some more free water and then headed over to use our last TSMM FP.

I rode with Maya again, and we both got our highest scores of the day. She got 35.900 and I got 142,700

Last trip, Maya really enjoyed pin trading. So I had ordered a few new ones before our trip. I put a few of her old ones and a few new ones on her lanyard, and on James'. I made sure to put on some I didn't think were as important to her so she'd have something to trade. Well, this trip she didn't trade one. She said she loved them all and wanted to keep them all. So Chris took each of them to pick out a pin today.

Maya had picked out a princess one in the shop outside of the Little Mermaid. So now he took James to pick one out at the shop across from TSMM. I glanced at the Buzz/Woody meet and greet and the line was an hour. i was glad we got it out of the way earlier

Dinnertime was approaching, but we weren't hungry yet. We decide to go ahead and use our fastpasses for Tower of Terror. On the way, we noticed that people were already lined up for Fantasmic, which was still almost 2 hours away.

​

I was really excited for Tower. I first braved this on our last trip, and I loved it! Maya did not want to ride, so I rode first. The standby said 10, but it was a waste of my fastpass because it was walk-on.

We got our seat assignments and I was in the front row at the opening. Crap. That means there is no good place to hold on in front of me. My weight is not at the most healthy place. So of course I'm sitting next to someone who is in the same boat. I couldn't hold the bar on my left without grabbing rear to do so. I started to get really nervous. My heart was pounding. My feet and palms were sweating. I was really second guessing my decision. Then the doors opened. And we had a short drop. And another. And one more. And that was it. I swear it seemed much quicker. Last trip I remember taking a longer ride to get to the drops AND more drops. I can't wait until one of my kids braves it out with me!

While I was riding, Chris took the kids to a shop. When I got back to them, Maya made me close my eyes so she could show me she finally found her rapunzel figures! I was so happy for her, as it was the one and only thing on her must buy list. 19.95. They had been sold out everywhere!

Chris took his turn on the tower and had the same short 3 drop sequence. It was a little after 7:30, so we decided we would get some food to take into Fantasmic. I took the kids into one line and got a burger meal and a nugget meal for us all to split.

Now, I will say that I think eating at your seat is a great way to pass the time while waiting for Fantasmic. But I don't suggest taking in what we did. One of us pushed James in his stroller while the other carried a big tray full of food. All the way up the long ramp to the stroller parking. (Maya pushed her empty stroller.) We parked and made our way to decent seats- near the middle and about halfway down, on the end.

There was about an hour to waste. We split up the food and put some between Maya and Chris. The rest was on the tray on the bench next to me. James wasn't at the place where he could eat holding his food on his lap so I made him stand up. So of course he knocked over Chris' drink before he has even had a sip. Chris was crabby about it, and I offered to go get him another or share mine but that was refused. Whatever, he wanted to be crabby about it and I wasn't going to be feeding into it. So we went back to eating but James was hyper. I spent the time with one hand one the tray so James wouldn't knock it over and one hand trying to keep James from backing into the people in front of us yet again. I'm sure he was annoying those around us, plus we were getting stared at for bringing in a tray full of food. Eventually we got enough down to not be hungry. Next time, we will take food again- but be much more selective- a pretzel maybe? Or even a wrap sandwich? Something one handed and easy for a child to eat.

Chris took the tray somewhere and he took James to change him. Then Maya and I took a potty break. We came back and Chris and James had slid down enough to make room for a young couple on the end of our row. What a sweet pair. They were from Knoxville, and had the greatest patience I've ever seen in a pair of college age kids. Because once again, Maya shared her life story. They asked her where she was from and it was all over from there. Before the show started, they knew all her cousins' names and ages, their favorite Disney rides, how many times they rode that ride, when we were going home, what she hopes to learn in Kindergarden.

Luckily I had saved the cookies from our dinner dessert and got them a minute of silence. (lol)

The show started and James pointed out everything. Bubbles! Mickey! Water!

Then the villians come out. James starts shaking his legs- his "I'm so nervous" thing. Then he started crying. So I held him backwards so he couldn't see the stage. He curled up to me and started to fall asleep.

I saw Maya lean over to chris. They got up and Chris says "I'll be right back" as he's walking away. He was taking her to the bathroom. He didn't ask he if she could hold it. If he had, he would have found out that it was an excuse because she too was scared.

Nor did he ask me how long was left. If he had, he would have known that the emergence of the boats signals the end. As they walked away i was watching this.

I weighed the thought of him fighting against the crowd and texted him we would meet them at the bathroom. He didn't get it quickly though, and fought his way against the crowd before turning back. We waited for them at the bathrooms.

Just an example of why you always need to have a plan in place in case you get separated.

There were late EMH that night, and I wanted to check out the dance party. I was outvoted, though, due to the appeal of playing with Tapunzel figures. so we headed with the masses to the bus stop. James fell asleep on the way. We waited for a second bus so I could sit with him. Meanwhile, I talked with Maya and it was then I discovered the potty was a ploy to avoid seeing the dragon.

We were back at the room by 10:10. There was message on the phone that our packages were ready for pickup. Maya and I decided to go get them and also fill the mugs so James could go to sleep. She grabbed Rapunzel and buckled her in the stroller and we were off.

There was a bit of a line for package pickup. Maya spent the time showing Rapunzel everything in the store. By the time I was finished, she had decided there was nothing there that Rapunzel wanted to buy.

We went to the other side of the building and she picked out two drinks for the mugs. One of the bags was shaped ackwardly, so I hung it on the stroller handle- I wasn't allowed to put it up front as it Rapunzel needed her space.

As we walked back, Maya was going on about BBB. She still couldn't believe how many people stopped Her to tell he how beautiful she was. I told her I wasn't surprised Then she begged to go back to "funtastic" on our next trip??? Um- didn't you just make up a story so you could leave?

So we were deep in conversation when she decides to push the stroller and let it take itself down the final hill of the bridge. You know what happened next. It toppled backwards with the weight of the package on the handles. And both drinks spilled out. We were only steps away from our room though, so we didn't go back to refill. We got the cups off the ground and there was still enough for Chris to drink. Maya played with her new Rapunzel figures, then we were off to bed.

I really enjoyed DHS this time. As a whole, the park seemed smaller. I'm not sure if that was because I had a better lay of the land or because I had been in a cruddy mood on our last trip there? I do find it hard to fit everything in if you try to see a lot of shows though. It seems that a lot of the time your free time isn't enough to do anything before the next show time.

Just a couple random notes- The things I hung to dry three days earlier were still wet. I was my last clean dry outfit so I had to lay a pair of shorts over the air conditioner.


Also, I used a new VB Hipster for the trip- as long as you kept just a few things in there it was great. For me, that meant chapstick, gum, camera, cheat sheets, a flip camera, phone, receipts, and wallet. If you added even one or two more things, it was not as good with the weight distribution. Keep your contents at a minimum and its really great for the parks!

Just one full day left- we have a really fun morning coming up!

 

[jenseib]

We've spilled a few drinks in our day too. LOL!
I'm just glad Rapunzel was safe with the stroller accident.

 

[luvmy2babies]

More than a few spilled drinks in our time too. So many that now, I bring no spill bottles and pour drinks into them. My dh would have stayed crabby about it too.

I kind of want to see Fantasmic, but between the wait outside, then the wait inside and the chances someone will need to go potty meaning we'd lose our seats because everyone would have to get up, and the chances that someone would get scared, I just didn't go in the last time. We watched the high fireworks on our way out the first time we were there. Hoping to see Illuminations on our upcoming trip on our 2nd Epcot day.

Enjoyed your pictures of it. Glad Maya found the toy she was looking for. We had that on our first trip, only with an Ariel set. Ariana wanted it early in the week and I told her to wait and we almost didn't find it again. I was sweating on that one.