The Hill Family's Surprise Vac(PICS)*NEW*Final Thoughts,Tips & Pictures **4/25

[Glendamax]

1 - Great Pictures
2 - Get an agent for your kids! They are SOOOOO photogenic!

 

[PrincessV]

1 - Great Pictures
2 - Get an agent for your kids! They are SOOOOO photogenic!

OMG, that's EXACTLY what I was going to say! Seriously, get them to work modeling and they could finance your next WDW trip!

AND I'm so impressed with your DD and Push. honestly, those kinds of things scare the pulp out of me for some reason; I avoid them like the plague. I'm always envious of the people who fearlessly interract with them and wind up with these awesome stories and memories. Way to go Cmamma's DD

 

[kpk89]

Cherokeemamma, that photo of the fireworks behind the castle is AMAZING!! A keeper, for sure! (and of course ALL of the pics of the kids! My favorite is the one with Goofy)

I am enjoying your report greatly. The barbershop quartet serenading you ... that must've been a hoot!

 

[serendipity]

you really have a knack for photography and your children are so photogenic- amazing! that one picture of the fireworks and the castle I could only dream of ever taking. Maybe I'll steal it for my TR one day! Do you have a very high quality camera?

Also what an amazing story teller you are. I really look foward to reading this report. Your unbirthday sounds amazing, I'm planning on suprising my fiance with one on our upcoming trip!

 

[ash1569]

I am subscribing to this Thread! I LOVE your trip details you are excellent at telling the experience! The pics are awesome! I love them...Your kids are adorable!
Glad to see a fellow POP person also..We are going to Disney in April for our honeymoon and I can't wait we are booked for POP...Where did you get your button u had? do they have honeymoon ones?!

Keep up the great work! I will be watching for MGM post!

 

[cherokeemamma]

Hi Ya'll...
Thanks for reading. I am working on the next installment. I think I must be really slow or something.
Sorry it is taking so long. Hang in there.
Hope you are all having a magical day.

TTFN
Cherokeemamma

 

[MomPlanner22]

As always, I am enjoying your TR very much!

That picture of Wishes is the most beautiful I have EVER seen! It looks like a post card!

I hope my children look half as happy as yours during our trip. Of course, they are 4 and 2 and getting them to look at the camera is a big accomplishment!

 

[fizz13]

Hi there
Just wanted to say how much I am loving your report, and how well you are capturing every moment, your children are gorgeous Love the suprise, love the idea of an un-birthday and loving all your photography, please keep going, I am well and truly hooked fantastic job,

 

[basas]

Love the report!

Looks like y'all are having a wonderful time!

 

[DisneyObsession]

Please Ma'm, can we have some more?!? (In my strongest, "Oliver Twist", English Accent.)

 

[Glendamax]

Please Ma'm, can we have some more?!? (In my strongest, "Oliver Twist", English Accent.)

MOOOOORE?! (Said like the fat man that Oliver is talking to)

 

[Trevor797]

Hey there Cmmama
Have been waiting what seemd like for ages now for the next part of your excellent trip report. I am dieing over here.
Hope your well
Cheers

 

[toony]

More? Just? a? little? bit? more? Pleaaaaaaase?. I miss your report and your bright smiling family pics... puts me into a cheerful mood.

 

[PrincessV]

 

[Glendamax]

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Fairy Tale Bride: Hi Thanks for reading and the nice comments on my family. Congratulations to you on your recent marriage. Lucky you...moving to Orlando. Hey, can we come stay with you?

Hi! Haha! I've had so many people ask me that! I know I would love to get together with some of the fellow DIS'ers once I'm around all the time! Thank you for the congrats! I can't wait to read more! I'm loving it!!

And this is off-topic, but what kind of camera do you have? You're photos are really amazing!

 

[cherokeemamma]

Hi Everyone!

I am Baacckkk! So Sorry it has taken so long to post this. I have had computer/internet issues that hopefully those are all solved now.

Thanks for being patient.

I appreciate the comments on the pictures. I love photography...always have. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved taking pictures. I really cannot remember a time where I did not have a camera. For those of you who want specific camera info: I have a Nikon D50. It is a digital SLR. DH & I got the camera right before our trip so I am unsure of all it can do but I do think it is a wonderful camera. I am hoping to take a class after Christmas to learn more.

I would like to say something to each of you specificially but then I would never get the next installment posted. So I will just say: Thanks for reading and all the nice comments. You guys are awesome!

Have a great day everyone.

TTFN

 

[cherokeemamma]

Wed., Sept 14 MGM

Once again we are awoken by the evil and annoying Stitch…Go away Stitch. Give me Mickey. Just Mickey!

We are all slow to wake up this morning. No one seemed to be in much of a hurry. While planning, the goal was to get to each park at opening. I don’t think it happened but once for the entire trip. That would be one out of eight mornings. Kinda pitiful isn’t it? At the time we just wanted more sleep. Finally, we all eventually got up, showered, dressed and grabbed something to eat as we walked out the door. We then stepped out into a beautiful morning. We got on the bus with very little wait time and we arrived at MGM within just a few minutes.

As you have read we celebrated my unbirthday yesterday and it was quite fun. Now everyone else in the family wanted to do it too. We would all love to be at WDW for our real b-days but it just isn’t possible. I hope I don’t get flamed for this but I really see nothing wrong with it. DS wanted this day to be his official, unofficial birthday….so it was. We stopped at Guest Relations and picked up a button for him to wear.

As we entered the gate we became aware of a plan…DS and DD’s plan. Their goal was to get to RnR as quickly as possible and ride it as many times as possible. They would do it over and over but 3 times in a row is my limit. Especially on a granola bar stomach before 10 am. We did rush to RnR and there was not a wait at all. So we rode 3 times…I think I might have been turning slightly green again. Now I love RnR and I love Aerosmith but 3 times in a row is enough for me. We did promise to ride again later. We always keep our promises. The kids always love the ride pictures so we took the time to look at those and laugh at ourselves.

A redneck version of the original!​

After the last ride we decided to shop a bit in the gift shop. Both kids picked out t-shirts and they were sent back to our room. (what a wonderful service…love it)
As you can see by DD pictures below I need all of your prayers. Oh my…what will she be like in a few years? Scary…

We saw this T for our DS and thought it was very appropriate for him. Fits his personality quite well.

I am ready for the ToT. Enough looping, I am ready for some dropping. DS has never ridden this but he is sure that he will this time. DD will have no part of this ride because she believes the preshow video. She is convinced we will die if we get on this elevator. Last year she and DS waited while we rode and DS said she cried the entire time because she was convinced that we would die. No matter what we say or do to convince her it is OK she will not be swayed. Once again, she wants to wait while we ride. She promises there will be no tears this time. Now at least we have her understanding that the elevator will not really be struck by lightning and it is just a story. DS is really nervous as you can see by the picture below. I think this ride is awesome. The attention to detail is just fabulous. I love it! DH loves it too. But will DS? … Yes!! He loves it too! Maybe next time DD will ride…hopefully. This is her last fear to conquer at WDW.

After all of that looping and dropping we are hungry. DH really wanted to try the turkey leg. I was hoping for something from Starring Rolls but I had read so much about the turkey legs. Everyone said they were wonderful. I also had read that they are full of salt. We decided it would be best to get just one and share. They really are humongous. We each had a couple of bites but none of us were super thrilled with it. I was secretly disappointed. I could probably live my whole life and never have one again and I’d be ok with that. Oh well.…Different strokes for different folks. It did take the edge off our hunger.

We then found Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable…DD was so excited and had to get an autograph. I think DS was somewhat embarrassed but he went along with her. A couple of years ago DD just loved Kim Possible and would talk about her all the time. She was completely into her character she used to say things like “I am gonna save the world!” She was run and jump and try to be just like KP. So when she saw her I think all of that old excitement just came flooding back to her. She thought KP was so pretty. Next we saw Sorcerer Mickey. Once again, there was no one in line. Yippee! You guessed it we had to stop for a photo op.

We were now really ready for some lunch. We wondered around to various CS stops but couldn’t find a place we all agreed on. We really wanted some AC so we settled on the ABC Commissary. I don’t know how you all feel but I think MGM has the worst CS in all of WDW. Lunch turned out to be surprisingly good and we gobbled it up. Maybe we were just hungry but I definitely think it was better than last year. DH and I each had the Fish and Chips as well as a Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bar - DD had the Chicken Nuggets, FF, Applesauce and Chocolate Mousse – DS had a Cheeseburger, FF and the Chocolate Mousse. As we were leaving ABC I spotted a LGMH. Could it be? Yeah!!! Another Disser. I did stop and introduce myself but have I cannot remember her name. Sorry! She was the person who started the fridge swap at POP….if that was you I am so sorry I forgot your name. Hope you guys had a great trip!

Last trip, we just could not seem to get the timing down to see the Indiana Jones show. This year, it was on our must do list. Thankfully, the time worked out great and we walked right in. The theme music from the Indiana Jones movies was DH and my theme song when we were first married. I guess Indy has a special place in our hearts. DS really wanted to volunteer to be in a show so he was very disappointed that you had to be 18 to be picked. I was disappointed for him. The show was fun but man was it getting hot! It was so humid. I could not wait to go into an air-conditioned building. So right after the show we headed to Sounds Dangerous. I am quite sure I had a nap during at least part of this show. Hey...it was cool and dark and I was hot and tired. What can I say? So, if you are looking for a nice, cool napping spot…this one worked well for me. On the way out there are several machines where you can dub your voice with a character. We all got a real kick out of this and we spent quite a bit of time in there playing with all the machines. The kids especially loved it.

We wondered into a few stores and decided to find a place to view the parade. There were several CM close by jumping rope with kids. My DD and DS wanted to join in on that fun as well. My DS is very competitive so he enjoyed the challenge of seeing if he could beat the record for the day. He came very close but he did not beat it. The kids also traded a few pins with these guys. One of the CM had just started working there. I think he was from Michigan. The poor guy was just sweating buckets. I mean he was drenched. I guess you have to become acclimated to the heat and humidity. He seemed to really be loving his job. I asked him about it and he said, “I have a job with Disney and I get to play with kids and talk to nice people all day. What is there not to love?” I saw him later in the evening at Fantasmic and he was still smiling and still sweating. He was working hard, too! I hope he is enjoying his job there.


The parade was great. Several of the characters noticed DS b-day badge and acknowledged him. Darth Vader gave him a fist in the air and the Pink Ranger pointed at him and gave him a thumbs up. Mary Poppins waved and mouthed happy birthday. He was lovin’ all the attention. DD was having a blast also.

After the parade we were seeking a bit of AC again so wondered into a few stores and just did some window shopping. The kiddos wanted to do Star Tours. DS is a huge Star Wars fan. After the ride we hung out looking around in the gift shop. DS found and purchased a Darth Tater pin. As we were shopping a CM called DS over and said he had a phone call for him. Justin looked so surprised and confused at this. The CM handed him the phone and it was Goofy wishing him a Happy B-day!!! Justin broke out in the biggest smile you can imagine because Goofy is his absolute favorite. I have no idea how they knew that because no one asked us. I guess it was just pixie dust! They then presented him with a card signed by all the staff of Star Tours. They each wrote a little note to him as well using several lines from the Star Wars films. It was just awesome and completely unexpected. This is the type of thing that makes us love Disney so. We all walked out of there feeling just great and my son was on cloud nine. Thanks to all of you at Star Tours!!!

We were having dinner at the 50’s PTC. Our ADR’s were for 5:40pm so we had about 20 minutes to waste when we noticed several characters were out signing autographs. We met Snow White and the Evil Queen, Cruella DeVil, Pocahontas and Meeko, Mary Poppins and the Peguins. Most of these are characters we had not met before so DD and DS were excited about getting their autographs. Cruella was so funny. She asked my kids if they were from the same liter. When it was time to take their picture she said, “Say puppies!” They both thought that she was hysterical. Then we met Pocahontas and Meeko. She asked DS if she could give him a b-day kiss. He said yes, and she kissed him on the cheek. I had to get a picture of it even if it wasn’t in focus. He quickly asked us wipe it off. Then Mary Poppins wrote him a special B-day note in his autograph book. It was all just a very magical and special time for DS. I am not sure he would admit to how much he loved it but he was smiling from ear to ear all day.

TTFN
Next up: Dinner at the 50’s PTC with Uncle Dale and Spanky

 

[lovealldisney]

Another great installment!! Thanks Cherokeemamma!! Your kids are so cute!! It seems to me your family really has a lot of fun! Taking all those fun pictures is creating such wonderful memories for them!! Love your TR!! Keep it coming!!

 

[lexmelinda]

Wow, I am sorry I'm so late to the party. I'm loving your report and although I'm only up to the tiara tea party, I'm looking forward to more already written but new-to-me installments. Thanks for writing and I have a question although it's probably been answered already in one of the many posts here....what kind of camera do you have? Your pictures are fabulous! BRAVO!