The Mostly Very Merry Holiday/Bday Grand Gathering Update 4/6 Calf Grill

[janloz]

Chapter 23: Early morning walk around POP

Thursday, Dec 4th: My mom had reserved the Yultide tour for this morning so she had to be at Epcot for 8:20am. I was awake and so was Mark so we decided to take a walk over to the food court for a snack then walk around POP. We grabbed our refillable mugs and were off. We shared a couple of pastries and then showed mom to the bus to Epcot then started our walk around. Hope you enjoy the tour:

Doesn't he look happy???

Will they ever finish this??

 

[janloz]

 

[janloz]

Chapter 23: DTD: Then it was time to get Dave and Sarah up and dressed so we could get moving to DTD. Dave woke up with a terrible head cold but wanted to take Mark to Lego store so we went to POP food court to get some real breakfast then jumped on the bus to DTD. Sarah had a BBB appt at 10am and we didn't realize how long the bus trip then walk to BBB would take, we were about 20 minutes late. Luckily, they took Sarah quickly while the boys headed to Lego Store.

And inside the store:

 

[Happy Elf]

Loved your Pop pictures! I will show them to Hannah tonight to get her excited (ok, even more excited) to stay there in June. DH will love to see the Star Wars legos at the store. It looks like a neat place! Can't wait to hear about Sarah's BBB experience. I am *thinking* about doing it for Hannah but can't make up my mind!

 

[janloz]

Loved your Pop pictures! I will show them to Hannah tonight to get her excited (ok, even more excited) to stay there in June. DH will love to see the Star Wars legos at the store. It looks like a neat place! Can't wait to hear about Sarah's BBB experience. I am *thinking* about doing it for Hannah but can't make up my mind!

Thanks, last time I never took the time to wonder around the property and there are so many little things to see. We are trying to figure out where to stay next year (hopefully!) and we are debating between moving to POR and getting room with trundle or staying at POP and getting 2 rooms (1 king/2db) connecting so the kids each have their own bed. After looking at the pics again, I would really like to stay at POP. We know it and really like it.

Mark has all of the Star Wars lego kits except the huge ones that are around $300 each and that was the main reason he wanted to go to the Lego store. DH said he just stood there with his mouth open in front of the display. We told him they would ship his kits back to the hotel so he didn't have to carry it around DTD but there was no way he was going to let them out of his sight.

Sarah really enjoyed the attention she got at the BBB and since Mark got so much the day before it was special for her. There were alot of young girls getting it done, Sarah was probably the oldest one there. We got the middle package (no dress) but she wore her princess sweater instead. The photopass pics came out really cute but many of the young girls in front of us were not cooperating for the photographer. I liked the DTD location since we were going there anyway. If you aren't planning to go to DTD, I would recommend the MK location. She got the banner from BBB but didn't want to wear it. She loved the hair style she got (hair extensions) and it would have lasted for another day but we had photo shoot the next day so we washed it out. One suggestion: ask FG not to overdo it with the glitter, it was everywhere

 

[janloz]

While the boys were at Lego, Sarah and I were at BBB: (sorry some of the pics are blurry) Our FGMiT was nice but not very talkative or interactive with Sarah.

I was amazed at how much gel they used in her hair.

Not the best pic of Sarah but you can see that they put her hair up in a small bun then added the hair extension piece.

Notice how red her hair is from the glitter.

These are the Passpass pics

and a cutie that was celebrating her bday at BBB.

 

[janloz]

When we were finished, we looked around the store for a few minutes and then headed over to the Photopass area.

The boys had been over to T-Rex restuarant while we were at PP and some more Lego pics.

We finally met up with the boys are explored some of DTD while we waited for Mom to join us for lunch.

Dave said that Sarah looked like Kendra from "girls next door" in these pics. She certainly didn't look 7 years old.

 

[Happy Elf]

Sarah looks so cute! What a special treat for her! I enjoyed seeing the T-Rex pictures as well. I would like to eat there, it looks like a fun place!

Hannah really enjoyed looking at the pictures from Pop. She is even more excited. She can't wait to go swimming! She decided she did not want to get her hair done. I kinda wondered because she is NOT good about getting it done here at home. She did say, "Wow she's a princess." when we were looking at Sarah's pictures. She also liked T-Rex and thinks she would like to eat there....we'll see!

 

[janloz]

Sarah looks so cute! What a special treat for her! I enjoyed seeing the T-Rex pictures as well. I would like to eat there, it looks like a fun place!

Hannah really enjoyed looking at the pictures from Pop. She is even more excited. She can't wait to go swimming! She decided she did not want to get her hair done. I kinda wondered because she is NOT good about getting it done here at home. She did say, "Wow she's a princess." when we were looking at Sarah's pictures. She also liked T-Rex and thinks she would like to eat there....we'll see!

Thanks, I have read reviews of T-Rex that it is very loud and can be scary for little kids. We have a Rainforest Cafe near our house and Sarah didn't like going there for years since it is so loud and she hated the "monkeys". Now she enjoys going but we still don't sit near the monkeys. I have seen a lot of parents have to take their kids out of the restaurant since they were scared and crying.

You can always buy the Princess hair accessories as many of the stores around Disney and do it yourself. I don't think we would do it again but it was fun to do it once. She did feel like a princess, that's for sure. We still have the hairpiece and have done it at home for her a few times which is cool.

I can't wait to go swimming in the pools again either. I am still trying to get DH to commit to going in Sept 2010 for my bday.

 

[Happy Elf]

Thanks, I have read reviews of T-Rex that it is very loud and can be scary for little kids. We have a Rainforest Cafe near our house and Sarah didn't like going there for years since it is so loud and she hated the "monkeys". Now she enjoys going but we still don't sit near the monkeys. I have seen a lot of parents have to take their kids out of the restaurant since they were scared and crying.

I figure we will walk in T-Rex and scope it out before deciding to eat there. Hannah made think it looks neat in pictures, but may change her mind when she sees how big they really are!

I can't wait to go swimming in the pools again either. I am still trying to get DH to commit to going in Sept 2010 for my bday.

Good luck! I'll send some pixie dust your way! I'd love to go for my birthday, but the darn school schedule keeps getting in my way!

 

[janloz]

I figure we will walk in T-Rex and scope it out before deciding to eat there. Hannah made think it looks neat in pictures, but may change her mind when she sees how big they really are!



Good luck! I'll send some pixie dust your way! I'd love to go for my birthday, but the darn school schedule keeps getting in my way!

My hairdresser's son decided they were too loud and big when they went but still went to the build a dinosaur store on the way out.

I am concerned about going in Sept since we would have to take the kids out of school for the week (if we are going, it is for a week) but we took them out this past year and neither one had any problems making up their class work plus Mark still made Honor Roll. We don't go that often and our teachers have been very good about make up work. My SIL is a teacher (high school) and was "sick" for 3 days so she could join us in December.

 

[janloz]

We were waiting for Mom to join us at DTD after her tour so the kids and I decided to go into Goofy's Candy Store. Heaven on Earth for them. We went over to the Custom dipped Mickey Rice Krispies, pretzels, etc area and I let them each order 3 since we had 40+ snack credits to use. We could still get the 3 pretzel sticks for 1 snack credit. The CM asked if we were waiting since we had 9 orders, . Well, it took almost 30 minutes for her to complete them, we should have left and come back but we waited.

This is all jelly beans.

Dave waited and waited for us outside and we finally met up with him and Mom was just getting to DTD so we took some more pics.

It was starting to get busy. We decided to head over to Wolfgang Puck Express since it was next to were we met up with Mom.

I got the Sausage and roasted pepper flatbread, Mark got the Meatball flatbread, Sarah got pasta with butter (surprise, surprise) and Dave got the Chicken Ceasar Salad. We could easily have shared one flatbread, they were that big. We all got cookies for dessert which we took back to the hotel. The food was very good and would recommend it. One of the best CS we visited.

After lunch, Dave decided he would go back to the Pop and take a nap since he was not feeling good and we were going to MVMCP that night. So he took the packages and went to the bus and the rest of us returned to the Lego Store so mom could get Mark his birthday presents.

More Star Wars Legos in hand, the kids wanted to go swimming so I took them back to POP while Mom explored the stores in DTD. We returned to our room to find

 

[mybabesuz]

Ummm...What is this supposed to be... Not seeing it...Trying...

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Everytime I think I've decided to stay at ASMusic, I see pics of POP and I want to change my mind. Fun walk around this morning with you.

Pretty as a princess! They did a wonderful job at BBB.

Love the pink sunglasses.

Glad to hear your DS found the perfect Lego to add to his collection.

Did you eat at TRex?

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

My guess is a peacock ???

 

[janloz]

Here is another view:

Swan and a heart. Don't know why they are together but it was cool.

 

[janloz]

Everytime I think I've decided to stay at ASMusic, I see pics of POP and I want to change my mind. Fun walk around this morning with you.

Pretty as a princess! They did a wonderful job at BBB.

Love the pink sunglasses.

Glad to hear your DS found the perfect Lego to add to his collection.

Did you eat at TRex?

We have only stayed at POP and POFQ and we really enjoy both. My dream is to stay at WL but I can't justify the cost. Maybe someday if I get 40% off pin. We would rather spend the money on Deluxe dining and park hoppers.

Sarah looked really cute and she is SO girly, the pink glasses are a MUST. Pink everything is a MUST. Her bday is Saturday and we actually asked people to NOT get her pink stuff since that is 90% of her clothes.

I think he has 20+ Star Wars Lego kits , they are all over the house. He was never into Legos until about 6 months ago and now that is his favorite thing besides video games. The larger kits are really expensive, I think he has about $600-700 in kits now. He puts them together by the directions and then won't take them apart so we are going to build shelves in his room for him to display them.

We didn't eat at T-Rex, the boys just went in there to take pics. It had just opened and it was packed.

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

There's nothing wrong with pink. It's a great girly color.

I wish Sarah a fabulous birthday. (I'm sure she would love to celebrate it in WDW like her brother did)

If it's Lego that makes him happy, so be it. I'm sure he would love shelves to display all the sets.

 

[janloz]

There's nothing wrong with pink. It's a great girly color.

I wish Sarah a fabulous birthday. (I'm sure she would love to celebrate it in WDW like her brother did)

If it's Lego that makes him happy, so be it. I'm sure he would love shelves to display all the sets.

I love her in pink, she looks so pretty but the other day so was in pink from hair elastic to sock/shoes, too funny. Another color would be nice once in a while.

She did celebrate her bday in Disney 3 years ago and took full advantage of it wearing the bday buttons all week. Not shy about it at all unlike Mark who didn't like all the attention. Everytime we see the new celebration commercials on TV, they ask when we are going again and say that they hope the celebration continues through next year so I can take advantage of it.

I like the fact that he is into Legos now since he can figure them out himself and he has to use his brain for more then videos. They are really cool when they are all together, I just wish they were less expensive.

 

[janloz]

Sorry for the delay with TR, life gets in the way sometimes. When we left off, the kids were going to the pool at POP and Dave was sleeping since he was suffering from a cold. While we were at the pool, MIL/FIL returned from HS where they had lunch at Brown Derby with Susie and said that it was very good but they were full and probably didn't want to go to Kona for dinner. So we agreed to grab some CS at MVMCP instead. For those thinking about doing this, DON'T!!!! But more on this later. Here is a pic of the bowling pin pool near our room:

There were hardly ever anyone in the pool but again some of the days weren't too warm.

One a side note, Sarah had her BBB hair do so swimming in the pool became an issue since she really wanted to go under the water but not ruin the hair. So I went up to the room and got clips, bobbie pins, etc so we could keep it out of the water . It did get a little wet but not so bad so we just blow dried it and were good to go to MVMCP. So if your child wants to go swimming the day they have BBB done, consider going to BBB later in the day or you just wasted $50.

So we got dressed for MVMCP and Dave was feeling much better after his nap so we headed out to the bus to MK. We wanted to get there by 6pm so we could see the castle lighting show.

Here is the entrance:

Then we headed inside, it was crowded with people leaving for the day.

the MVMCP costumes for the CMs, they were so cute.

We made our way to the end of Main St near the Plaza and waited for the castle show to start. The Fairy godmother comes out and starts:

All I can say is WOW!!! The pics do not do it justice. If you can ever get to WDW at the holiday times, I highly recommend it.