(Continued from above post)
So we gather up my mom and sister and I hear them talking about how cool the entrance into the park is . I know they will love it once we get back into the park . The area we were in was kind of away from everything and I knew I needed to get them out into the center. Well next we do out TSM fastpasses . then with MC Queen and Woody out of the way we are free to just enjoy the park.
We stop by the Coke area and the kids get sprayed down to cool off . I hate those things . They seem to germy to me! But good luck keeping the kids out. And it was so hot I knew it would keep them cool.
My mom having had her gastric needed to eat small amounts every so often. Dont think the kids ate to much that morning either and everyone was hungry for a early lunch. A early ( or late) lunch is always a good thing because it means avoiding the crowds. It makes a world of difference in how much you will enjoy your meal. We decide to head to Pizza Planet.
We go in and its nice and cool and pretty quiet. Its about 11:20ish I think and we just beat lunch rush. We order and get settled. The kids immediatly eye the machines and games. What I love about here is its so easy to get them to eaty because I wont let them play till they do! They eat really well althought a bit fast. We finished eating just in time as the lunch crowd was coming in. But lucky for us they were mostly eating or ordering. So we had some time on the machines to ourselves.
My son goes to the same claw machine everytime . The one with the little Woody dolls in it. He thinks its one that he doesnthave in his collection. But this year again for the second time we get nothing out of it! It doesnt even grasp. I feel bad because its all he wanted that day and it was our second year trying! Well I go over to a different machine and win a dalmation stuffed animal. Its not Woody but he doesnt complain he just hugs it and agrees to share with his brother.
We discover quickly that rather than waste time trying to win things we have more fun getting stuff out of the gumball style machine on the far end. They have those japanese keychain type Winnie the Poohs that have little outfits on. Kind of like the newer Polly POckets . Anyone know what I mean? They also have Disney figurines and keychains . The figures are so cute! They have Nemo , Monsters Inc , Princess characters , etc. . Some of them are even packed on little cards like action figures and the little Nemo came with a little fish food barrel. So cute ! They were a dollar's worth of quarters each.
Even a tiny mini Buzz action figure on a card!
But beware. We spent about 50 in those machine ( 30 my mom, 20 myself) and there were a few that were put in empty! After our 5th one we told the manager. If this happens to you there is a place you can go right across the street from the resturant ( right when you walk out the doors) and they will give you back your quarters. I am not cheap like that but after the 5th time we got wise to it. It did happen a few more times but we didnt go back for those. * My DD just informed me that its the store directly across from Pizza Planet. She said the guy said it happens a lot .
They had the same Toy Story mugs we had from the year before so we skipped on buying those. Pizza by the way is very good to me. Kids like it as well. My sister didnt care for it but didnt mind it either.
We decided to head over to Jedi Training which we knew would be starting soon. Coming out of Pizza Planet I saw the Dream Team standing under the archway waving me over. They were handing out " Year of a Million Dreams" ears. I called the kids over and we all got a pair. I thought they were really pretty. And you know what?......... I must pause here for this. My mom.... put them on!!!!! Everyone did ! OMG everyone actually got over being moody and wore them! Wow. I was shocked and very happy.
Full bellys and free Mickey ears we headed over to Jedi Training. It was full blast hot now. I was in awe of the Jedo training. I mean wow! We are all Star Wars nerds in this family. Even my sister is a fan. First of all we were lucky to have the guy that does all the Disney promotional work. He is one of the best Jedi knights. Its the first time we saw this show and I was wowed by Darth Vader . The boys could have been chosen easily. There were not even enough kids there. But they got all of a sudden insanely shy. My mom kept yelling at them to go up which I think is what made it so bad. They didnt want to. I think that even thought they wernt scared of Darth Vader ( in fact my boys think hes awesome not evil , lol) they were a bit suprised by the fact that this was a talking walking Darth Vader.I mean it was cool . The storm troopers also awesome. And they are not the kind of kids that like to get up on a stage. ( Although they almost did , and they did Woodys roundup before.)
Well in the short duration of the show everyone was feeling overheated .
We only just left Pizza Planet but the heat was making everyone thirsty and cranky again. We went over and sat down with my mom at some table by the Jedi show ( outside some resturant) .
So now it was decided we would get drinks which somehow also turned into icecream. Well of course they didnt see icecream by where my mom had settled down at. ( The tables over by the Star Wars training) So we have the bright idea ( ok I) to go get the ice cream from Dinosaur Gerties and bring it back to the tables. [Hahahaha... Stupid! Ice cream cannot survive 20 seconds in that weather! We order all 6 cups and before we even walk away its running down our arms! They guy working there was so nice. He tried to help us. But no... Its okay we did this to ourselves. Ready set , RUN!
Back at the table we set down our puddles of chocolate and vanilla soup. Now we had to go wash up. You know ot was one of those days were you just were not going to get a lot done no matter what so you had to resign yourself to it and be happy. I did that and I was ok. The parade had started so we sat and watched it go by. We had no choice we were kinda stuck. So we took some hat photos. No me... No pics of me in 1000 degree heat. I would be on the other end of that camera all day!
After getting all cleaned up and getting situated I wanted to check out the INdiana Jones store. I love the Indy movies. I have a special room dedicated to Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider stuff. I picked up a cool Indiana Jones figure ( the big one with the broken pillar and artifact). He will go so well next to my Lara Crofts!
As we walk out of the store I see my mom sitting on a bench talking to some guy in a white vest. Could it be? OMG it is! A dream team member. Leave it to my mom ... Seriously. She just always has people walk up to her wherever we go . So she introduces me to Chris. He shakes my hand and tells me how he raced my mom down to Rocknrollercoaster and since she beat him she won some fastpasses for us. LMAO
We ended up talking to him for about a hour. I have to say that we really enjoy doing that on our trip just as much as any rides. He made our trip. Not because of the fastpasses but because of his personality and the fact he took time with us. We learned so much about him .
He told us how he used to be a parking lot attendant but the upper management noticed how he had a good attitude and promoted him to a dream team member. he also mentioned how he was one of the guys who handed out nights at the castle. We joked that he better be looking for us then at MK cuz we would be looking for him! lol he also mentioned how much fun it was the he was picked to be the one to give away the trip around the world to all of the Disney resorts . The one where you get a all expense trip to all the Disney parks including hotels , food , spending , airfare , etc. PLUS a check to cover taxes! Really neat.
We told him about my sisters upcoming audition and he told us all about the princesses . We spoke with him about moving down ourselves and working for Disney soon and he gave us lots of advice on what to do we even got a referral from him ( and someone else we met which I will tell you aboutlater). He told us the best areas to live in etc . .
He playfully joked a bit with my mom and told us how she told him we were thrill riders. I had to laugh at that one. " Mom I dont call Thunder Mountain a thrill ride!" . But he said " Oh cmon you are going to Ride Rocknroller coaster 2 times now and handed us another batch of fastpasses again! lol I was like OMG Noooo I cant ride that! Thanks but noooo.. lol Well my husband and daughter were very happy about getting to ride. None of us ever had but I dont do upside down coasters! And I didnt want my little 15year old baby on one! :O Well he said I have other fastpasses but you are going to go ride rocknrollercoaster! lol (EDIT- It seems like that day I was SUPPOSED to ride RNR. I even had a RNR employee offer to take me right to the front of the line on as I was waiting for my daughter and husband to come out! lol Someone up there just wanted me to do it!) I cant believe how many times they rode RNR in a row. They loved it!
So okay after chatting a long time with him I had wished I had those little cards made up ( I saw some here on the dis) that had the link to my trip report so Chris could have followed along. I did tell him about the Dis boards though.
( This was one of the only time my mom let me take a pic of her. She had just had the gastric so she was not wanting any pics yet. She doesnt mind now! Must be nice! She is like less than half her former size. I just have to starve myself and kill myself at the gym! ( Sorry I am bitter.. On a diet and not such a nice person right now... Wait.. Do I smell chocolate? Seriously this stinks... ( Ok ok back on topic)
Cont below ( I gotta go find something gross and crunchy to eat.. carrots yeah... yum)