The Prius & The Poly Trip Report **Updated 10/31 What I Learned...**

[stacikristine]

Wow! That rain sounds brutal! It's supposed to storm all next week...I'm sure we'll be getting LOTS of great use out of our ponchos

 

[princess_momma]

Wow!! You were a posting fool!!! I really want to go on a mission next time!! My parents didn't want to! Oh well, there's always next time!! And we didn't end up making it to Big River!! We went to ESPN Club and had the BEST time!! You'll have to read about it in my tr!!

 

[princess_momma]

Maybe I need to leave again so you'll post more! You did much better while I was gone!!

I'm just giving you a hard time!! I would much rather be busy like you than have all the free time I do at my job!

 

[Bridora]

Maybe...I'm sure you wouldn't mind going back to Disney so I could post more, right? It's funny how it goes around here. Some days I have enough free time, but lately I haven't. It's just dragging out now, too! I can't seem to fit the pictures in one post without making the day be 3 posts long! I'm glad you had a good time, I've been reading your TR on & off all day!

 

[princess_momma]

You could just go back with me and then I wouldn't have to read a report, cuz we could just share there!

Feel free to drag out the days!! I have only halfway through my 2nd full day and have eleven posts! I think I may be the dragging it out queen! (Not to be confused with drag queen! )

 

[Bridora]

Wow! That rain sounds brutal! It's supposed to storm all next week...I'm sure we'll be getting LOTS of great use out of our ponchos

It was pretty serious rain! I'm just glad it didn't do that our whole vacation.

You could just go back with me and then I wouldn't have to read a report, cuz we could just share there!

Feel free to drag out the days!! I have only halfway through my 2nd full day and have eleven posts! I think I may be the dragging it out queen! (Not to be confused with drag queen! )

Oh yeah! And I'd even let you go to Epcot and do a KimPossible Mission.

"drag queen"

 

[princess_momma]

OH PLEASE Let me do a KimPossible mission!! That'd be great!! We even have the same name...trust me, EVERYONE let me know when that show came out!!

My parents didn't want to. I think they were PROBABLY secretly thinking, "why can't our daughter just stick with being a princess? She has to save the world now too?!"

 

[Bridora]

I am working on an update right now! Don't give up on me, guys...!

 

[princess_momma]

I'm still here, don't even worry!

 

[Bridora]

Our Friday began at the bus stop. We soon hopped a bus over to Hollywood Studios, for Star Wars Weekends!

Looking up at the Monorail track from the bus stop bench.

A little less bus stop, a little more track...a whole lot less crooked!

Just for us, on the bus!

Max is a huge fan of Star Wars. We've got pictures of the kids with Star Wars Characters since Allison was a wee baby posed on the back of a dewback toy in her Daddy's toy room. They've both been Star Wars characters for Halloween. And, seriously, the amount of action figures in our house in innumerable. So, of course, we had to make an appearance at Star Wars Weekends!

I only wish we could have gotten there at rope drop to see all the Stormtroopers guarding the Studios. Will I ever make it to a rope drop?!?

Looks like the 1st thing we did was stop and take a picture of Allison!

I am really kicking myself for not keeping better track of things.

One thing that I really wanted to do in the Studios, that I have never done before, was the Animation Academy. I never even knew this thing existed before I became a DISer! We had been to the Animation Theater before, just to meet the Incredibles at the end. So, this time, I drug my family back, for the Academy.

Max, looking so enthusiastic!

Buuut, when we got finished the class had just gone inside. The next one was not for 30 minutes. Now, I know, 30 minutes at Disney, not a long wait. If you have a nice and interesting queue to move through. Sitting on a little bench? Not fun. I guess I could have sat there and waited while they did other things, but I guess I also did not think of that then!

So, instead, we got in line to meet characters from Up.

(loved this movie!)


Then we spotted Frozone! Never met him before!

By this time, of course, another class had waited and gone in, and it was another 30 minutes until the next class. So, I gave up on my dream of the Animation Academy for another year, and we headed back out into Hollywood Studios.

They had a special place set up for the Star Wars Weekends store. The place that sold all the exclusive to the weekends merchandise, so we went over there to take a look.

Stormtroopers were wandering around!

These guys are so much fun!


Luke also got to meet Darth Maul before we left. Luke tried to get into the Jedi Training Academy, but we got there a little late (we just happened to be walking by). Hopefully, next time we can plan on being there for a spot closer to the stage!

We walked around some more, taking in all the Star Wars sights, and then headed back to the Polynesian with our souvenirs.

 

[Bridora]

I think we had eaten lunch at the Backlot Express before we left the Studios. If not, we had lunch at Captain Cook's. The kids loved the touch screen ordering system!

After we dropped a few things off in our room, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. If you will recall, back on page 8, the post entitled "Boat Launch to the Magic Kingdom" followed by "I'm Walking Right Down the Middle of Main St., USA!" Those should chronologically go here.

We arrived in time for the afternoon parade, then headed into Adventureland for some of adventure, of course!

We had 7:00 ADRs at Crystal Palace. We had never been there before, so we were excited! The kids prefer a buffet. Luke strongly dislikes waiting for his food!

Crystal Palace from the bridge.

I used our wait time to take some shots of Cinderella's Castle.

And some of the waiting area!

Sorry, I once again again have no food pics! We had a great time at Crystal Palace. We got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet. They even had a parade through the restaurant that the kids could join in! The food was good, too!

Next up: The rest of the evening in the Magic Kingdom. I was definitely in a picture-taking mood that night!

 

[princess_momma]

Oh I am loving your updates!! I bet Star Wars Weekend was perfect for your family! It sounds like you guys kinda like Star Wars a little...

That's too bad that you didn't get to the Animation Academy! I went in through the gift shop (where all those amazing sculptures and stuff are) and then snuck in. I didn't do the whole tour/movie thing. I was the last person they let in too! (Maybe it helped that I was a singleton? ) But I am jealous that you got to meet characters...I so desperately wanted to meet the Up! characters. I loved that movie as well! And anyone from the Incredibles. There was such a long wait for everything when I went to the character section though and the Up characters weren't even out! Its like we each did half the fun stuff there...we'll just combine our experiences so we can say we got the whole package!

Oh and I LOVE Allison's sunglasses. Is it weird that I also have a heart-shaped pair? Mine are just plain red and they are so fabulous. She's got some style!!

 

[Bridora]

Oh I am loving your updates!! I bet Star Wars Weekend was perfect for your family! It sounds like you guys kinda like Star Wars a little...

That's too bad that you didn't get to the Animation Academy! I went in through the gift shop (where all those amazing sculptures and stuff are) and then snuck in. I didn't do the whole tour/movie thing. I was the last person they let in too! (Maybe it helped that I was a singleton? ) But I am jealous that you got to meet characters...I so desperately wanted to meet the Up! characters. I loved that movie as well! And anyone from the Incredibles. There was such a long wait for everything when I went to the character section though and the Up characters weren't even out! Its like we each did half the fun stuff there...we'll just combine our experiences so we can say we got the whole package!

Oh and I LOVE Allison's sunglasses. Is it weird that I also have a heart-shaped pair? Mine are just plain red and they are so fabulous. She's got some style!!

Yeah, and just think...before I met Max I had never seen Star Wars!

We did split that whole part pretty evenly, huh?

Thanks! She does enjoy fashion. She loves accessories, the only problem is that they never make it even half the day on her...

 

[princess_momma]

Yeah, and just think...before I met Max I had never seen Star Wars!

We did split that whole part pretty evenly, huh?

Thanks! She does enjoy fashion. She loves accessories, the only problem is that they never make it even half the day on her...

Aw that's cute!! I haven't seen all of them and don't remember which ones I've seen. Maybe I'll have to watch some more! Its cute how much you're whole family enjoys it though!

Accessories can be a pain...I have given up on most for now. Landon loves to pull on all my necklaces or grab my sunglasses or anything so I just took a break from them! Because I wasn't even making half the day just like Allison lately!

 

[stacikristine]

That's so fun that you were there for Star Wars Weekend! I would love to go to that. My dad, brother, and I LOVED watching the old movies when I was little. And of course we love the new ones now! I really like the detail pics you took--especially the ones outside CP. Looks like a fun day!

 

[Bridora]

Aw that's cute!! I haven't seen all of them and don't remember which ones I've seen. Maybe I'll have to watch some more! Its cute how much you're whole family enjoys it though!

Accessories can be a pain...I have given up on most for now. Landon loves to pull on all my necklaces or grab my sunglasses or anything so I just took a break from them! Because I wasn't even making half the day just like Allison lately!

I remember that little ones and big earrings don't go well together!

That's so fun that you were there for Star Wars Weekend! I would love to go to that. My dad, brother, and I LOVED watching the old movies when I was little. And of course we love the new ones now! I really like the detail pics you took--especially the ones outside CP. Looks like a fun day!

You would enjoy Star Wars Weekends for sure! It's so much fun!

 

[Bridora]

We left Crystal Palace and headed back out toward Main St. I was taking lots of pictures just then. It makes me want to be there right now, just looking at them again!

I wish that room with the light on was ours!!

The kids found some friendly ducks over in the grass.

Here are two of my favorite pictures:

I just love this area. It's where they do StoryTime with Belle. We have only ever gone to the storytime once, when Allison was probably five. I thought it was cute, but we don't make it to too many shows...

Mad Tea Party!

Our ultimate destination was ToonTown Fair. We go way back with Goofy's Barnstormer, or as we call it, Goofy's Airplane Rollercoaster! It was a little more crowded over there at the time, put we have great memories of riding over and over (and over!) at times! This was one of the first things the kids were tall enough to ride. They loved measuring themselves against that stick!

I love these twilight shots!


We hung around here a bit & let the kids play on Donald's Boat. They wanted to go through Minnie & Mickey's houses, so we did that next. It was truly a nightmare in there! It was majorly crowded. I prefer it with a bit less people, thank you. We had to straight bypass the kitchen in Minnie's house...not one more person could fit in front of the stove or refrigerator. And there was a line to sit in the chairs! Luckily, we made it out. Allison wanted to meet either the fairies or the princesses. Luke did not. So we split up. The boys went (I don't remember where, but they came back with two illuminated character pin-on things) in one direction, and the girls went in the other. We decided on princesses, because the wait time was shorter. We only had time for one line, though, because they would be closing soon. I really wish we had met the fairies, though. She hadn't met any of them, and had met all the princesses. Plus, the fairy line ended up moving quicker, oh well! There's one more thing for our 'next time' list.

Writing in her book while waiting in line. She met Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle.

We found the boys near the entrance to ToonTown, playing with snails!

Creepy, isn't it?

I'm not sure that we did the laugh floor at this point, but we did it sometime! I think those signs at night make pretty pictures, don't you?

We ended up over in Adventureland for the rest of the night. Our last ride was Pirates (have I mentioned it's one of my favorites?) We let the kids look through the store, but when I heard the fireworks I had to rush out to watch! I really can't not watch them. Every single one of our Disney vacation DVDs has at least one mostly full showing of Wishes on it. We were watching one not too long ago and I told Max if he sees me pull out the camera to record Wishes again to just tell me to put it back! We don't watch every show from Main St., though, so at least they are from different vantage points. However, it is worth watching from the Main St. Train Station at least once! It'll bring a tear to your eye.

So that concluded our Friday. Saturday would be our last day in the parks. How sad.

 

[princess_momma]

WOW!! All your pics just look so peaceful and dreamy. They really make me wish I was there right now too, even more than most pics of the parks usually do. Such a good update! Sometimes splitting up just works!! Glad you guys had fun. Hopefully you can meet the fairies next time without too long of a line. Sneak peek for you: I did end up going to meet the fairies, but only Tink was there! I don't know why none of the others were. But I didn't really care, I'm only attached to Tink!

 

[Bridora]

WOW!! All your pics just look so peaceful and dreamy. They really make me wish I was there right now too, even more than most pics of the parks usually do. Such a good update! Sometimes splitting up just works!! Glad you guys had fun. Hopefully you can meet the fairies next time without too long of a line. Sneak peek for you: I did end up going to meet the fairies, but only Tink was there! I don't know why none of the others were. But I didn't really care, I'm only attached to Tink!

Thanks, Kimmy! It's fun going back (after such a long time...) and looking at all the pictures!

 

[princess_momma]

Thanks, Kimmy! It's fun going back (after such a long time...) and looking at all the pictures!

Understandable! I haven't even been back a full month yet! I think I went too fast...I don't want it to end again! I'll probably keep going back and look at pictures even when I am done! I can't wait to go back!