The Rebel Forces Were Strong But The Smith's Are Stronger TR-7/20 FINAL THOUGHTS

[Tnkrbelle565]

I think that Randy went to get FP for Star Tours while we were in the animation building. The line for Chewbacca was waaayyyy longer than that. I stopped and got us some water way over on the streets of America- all the way down near the LMA show at one point. It was so worth it though. Cooper just loves ewoks. he still sleeps with that teeeeny one he got in the souvie shop.

Oh, I didn't really watch the kids, I was just sitting on a wall relaxing while our kids ran from game to game pressing random buttons to see the results. I didn't realize what they were doing until I heard Cooper say "castle, castle, crown, castle crown". The buttons for the 2 options were, you guessed it, a castle and a crown. They stopped reading the questions all together!


I got some great shots of goofy putting his cape over the boys and just having Ash in the pic. Your flash drive with my pics and the photopass pics should be early this week. Yoda clippy included- though do not laugh about the "wrapping", ok?

We really lucked out on the weather. The afternoon showers usually happened while we were doing something indoors and really brought the temp down to a somewhat bearable temp.

ETA- you forgot to say that the kids got action figures for participating in Jedi Training. I noticed it in the huddle picture. And I will add that the boys took off their shirts during the parade. It was just too hot for a fully lined button up. Luckily, I knew it was coming and packed white tanks. They were supposed to have the same emblem as the boys' pants, but I ran out of time. So plain white tank is all we had. Anyway, they wanted to put their shirts back on to show Goofy. It lasted all of 10 minutes and they took them off again. DORKS!

Totally forgot about their Jedi training presents! That was a pleasant surprise. I didn't recall seeing them hand those out before

Ugh, I hate that less-than-magical things keep happening to you! That's terrible that your debit card number was stolen! I had my actual card stolen once and it was just a miserable feeling! Thankfully, I figured out who did it and and she spent an evening in jail Ahh, revenge!

Again, after 3 hours of sleep, I wanted to cry! But thankfully Stacy was there!

Wow, you handled your fraud situation well. Glad it all worked out. Imagine how long it would have taken to figure it all out in the pre-cellphone ages.

Actually that reminds me I should phone my credit card company and tell them I'm heading to WDW soon. Two trips ago the bank froze my card because they suspected theft. Being from Canada my debit card doesn't always work in the states. And don't tell my DH but I'm planning on doing some shopping on this trip.

The kids castle/crown answering question strategy reminds me of a saying we had at university. "When in doubt, choose C."

How's your daughter's reading coming along? I remember you had some questions about different approaches to teaching literacy a couple months back.

No kidding! Also luckily my "home phone" IS my cell phone number! Most likely they would have left a mesasge on my home phone and I wouldn't have gotten it for a week. Ironically, I had alerted Disney Visa that we would be in Disney but never told my debit card company! It might have worked in my favor because one of the places that they bought gas was Florida. If I had alerted them, they may not have picked up on it.

Aisling is reading like a champ now...thanks for asking. She is NOT thrilled that I got workbooks for the summer so she can keep working in it. Math is clearly her strong suit at this point (she even won the math award for her class) so we really need to focus on it to help her retain.

YIKES on the debit card! Glad you (or BOA) caught it quickly. I am a CC person. Charge it all and pay it all off. Get my free disney $$.

I still think Lotso is cute! I am surprised at how many Lotso shirts I sold before the movie was released, but I don't think people realized. I am bummed that we forgot to go in and see him.

Love the character pictures! I just love characters! Wicket is my all time favorite!! I did not care for the line at all!

So nice of Randy to take the kids on the ride! We walked the kids through the line and then waited on the other side. I just was not in the mood for that so early in the day when it was so hot!!

The picture of the kids plotting is the cutest! I can't wait to see some of the photopass too!

We do enjoy our Disney money from the CCs but I find them to be generally a little tempting So in the past, I've tried not to use them too often but we just do now. So much safer than Debit.

What a pain to have to deal with on your vacation that is no fun at all!! But YAY for BOA for checking it out and getting on it so quickly!!!


Awww what a cute picture of the kids in the powwow and the picture of them with Chewy and the Ewok!! Love those characters!!!!

Can't wait for more!

Thank you...and next time I'm yelling at you at DHS answer ok

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

When I last left you...Stacy was trying to convince me that it was ok to check in for an ADR freakishly early. And she was right We checked in and they told us that they may not be able to call us until our ADR time. But they called us after about 5 minutes!!!!!

Oh were you wondering where we went????


Does this help???

Or this???

Or this????

Yup, we went to Sci Fi.

The kids HAD to sit together of course so they sat in the front, Randy and I behind them, and Stacy in the back. I hated having her behind us. It was really awkward for conversation

See???

Of course Aisling gabbed away the majority of the meal to the boys

Kudos to Sci Fi for giving in to our whims! My entire family ordered things that weren't on the menu and they got them no problem (Randy, Stacy, and I all wanted their fab burgers but they aren't on the dinner menu). Aisling wanted pasta...just pasta...not the kids meals. And they brought her plain pasta Which, by the way, she ate in record time. That kid was starving


Burgers done...we didn't leave room for dessert. But I fell in LOVE with the Celebration dessert on previous trips and have gotten it every time since. So I had to get it to go

A quick trip to the restroom and our first day at the parks was over. Or was it?!?! As we were walking out (greeted by soaken wet ground-clearly the storm had gone over while we were at dinner), I remembered that we needed to add our Jedi Academy pics to our PP card

I can't begin to tell you how long that took. Like everything else that day...there was a HUGE line. People clearly didn't get that you didn't HAVE to look at them at that park. Most of the people in front of me weren't buying, they were just looking! Uggghh can't they have a separate line for those people????

I was in line so long that my dessert started to melt. Luckily, they included a fork Even though I was stuffed, I couldn't waste a wonderful dessert! So i started nibbling. It was gone by the time I got to the front.

Finally I got all the photopass pics added to my card. The CM who waited on me quickly was able to pick out Aisling, Jackson, and Cooper from the bunch (thank goodness). However, he informed me that he was able to pick out my kids because they look so much alike Ok really, Stacy's boys don't even look like each other! And how many characters had we confused that day when they asked where the kids were from and Ash said Boston and the boys said Little Rock????

And on that bit of humor, Day 1 was under wraps. We quickly got a bus back to the hotel. Randy took Aisling swimming for a little bit while I organized for day 2. And we all fell asleep. I started downloading pics onto my computer and fell asleep in bed, computer on lap, camera in hand before they returned

But what shall we do on Day 2? Would anyone/thing ruin our day? Would there be any DIS cameos? And would we make rope drop again????

 

[Dugette]

Good to know that the Sci Fi was accommodating. We had the burgers when we went there in Sept., so it's good to know we could get one again, even when it's not on the menu.

Yuck on the PhotoPass line. At least you had a yummy dessert to keep you occupied!

Funny comment about the kids looking alike!

I love how you fall asleep with all the electronics!

I hope nothing ruins your Day 2!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Good to know that the Sci Fi was accommodating. We had the burgers when we went there in Sept., so it's good to know we could get one again, even when it's not on the menu.

They were great! This is the 2nd time they've actually made the burgers for us at dinner time. Stacy and I got them at our DISmeet last February. When I went in October, I didn't dare ask and tried the chicken- which was good but not as good as the burgers. I made Stacy ask again this time if we could substitute. As you can see, this is a pattern! I make Stacy do the stuff I'm too whimpy to do

 

[Lady Lallie]

What a nice way to cap off your crazy busy DHS day.

Those cars do make for awkward conversation but it's so much fun to eat in them.

I have a great image in my head of you eating your dessert in line.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

What a nice way to cap off your crazy busy DHS day.

Those cars do make for awkward conversation but it's so much fun to eat in them.

I have a great image in my head of you eating your dessert in line.

Oh I'm sure you do! It was quite a sight I'm sure!

I love eating in the cars! It is definitely on our must do list. It's nice and cool in there. They make a great burger and you can veg out and watch tv for awhile

 

[sohappy]

Did you get your package yet? I have some pics of the kid laying down on the curb while you were getting the jedi training pics added. This continued the trend of Cooper laying down on random stretches of sidewalk.

Randy and I were cracking up at the lady who waited in that ridiculous line. She was so happy when she came out and announced to her family, "I got all of the cards consolidated into one". Ummmm. . .really? Just write the numbers down or take a pic and throw them away! No clue what she was thinking!

I think that we went swimming for a bit too. Not long, just maybe 30 minutes. I think we had a super successful day 1. The kids had fun and we didn't have a single meltdown!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Did you get your package yet? I have some pics of the kid laying down on the curb while you were getting the jedi training pics added. This continued the trend of Cooper laying down on random stretches of sidewalk.

Randy and I were cracking up at the lady who waited in that ridiculous line. She was so happy when she came out and announced to her family, "I got all of the cards consolidated into one". Ummmm. . .really? Just write the numbers down or take a pic and throw them away! No clue what she was thinking!

I think that we went swimming for a bit too. Not long, just maybe 30 minutes. I think we had a super successful day 1. The kids had fun and we didn't have a single meltdown!

No package yet

So glad that you were fine with all the times I just left you with my husband! As I'm writing, I realized I did it a lot

Minus the butter/salt in the eye thing...we did have some FAB behavior from those kids!

 

[jessica52877]

Enjoyed the sci fi pictures! I love the cars, but does make for awkward conversation.

Glad you got the jedi pictures. I was so afraid when we left that there would be a long line but thankfully no one was inside. The shops were full and the sidewalk too but it was earlier.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Never been to sci-fi but it looks like fun.

I bet you were melting along with your desert.

 

[jenb1023]

I am behind so I will spare you multi-quotes. . .

Too funny that it has been decided Cooper was the one that Ash would marry and they were quick to say no! Ash has a good eye - those curls are adorable!

How was the DVC webcast? We were signed up for the same one but got home late from the library and missed it.

I still can't believe how packed it was! An hour to get across the park and back is insane! And a price list for a store? Crazy! How nice of that lady to track you down with Ash's AG doll.

We have not tried Starring Rolls yet but it looks great! Add us to the list of people that think DHS CS options are blah.

I can't believe you did not even take your camera to Maine! Who are you and what have you done with Kristine?

The Jedi training looks awesome! I am so glad you could sign up for it! I never did like that random selection system. That happened to us at Toontown rop drop. We were the first ones there and thought that the first ones would ride Barnstormer with the characters. Nope they just randomly picked a family.

I love the photo of their kid pow-wow! So cute! Very cool that you got to meet Lotso and I love the SW Minnie and Goofy!

What a nightmare with the debit card! I'm with Jessica! We love credit cards and charge everything humanly possible and pay it off right away. We've flown to Florida for free or cheap three times from Capital One miles.

SciFi is a lot of fun and a nice break from the heat/sun! That was great that you could custom order like that!

What a pain about PP! I am sure you were exhausted and had to deal with another line! Yuck!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Who wants to see some videos?????

Here is the video of the first part of Jedi Training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GiTIyvr-6o

Here is the video of Cooper and Aisling battling Vader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMhXsy54Pqk

And here is the video of Jackson battling Vader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Mg9E1GHhQ

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Who wants to see PP pics from Day 1????

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

And lastly who wants to see some pics Stacy took????


Like the fabulous reaction of Luke and Leia to Aisling's dress????

Or the proof that I was actually THERE???

Or Goofy being...well goofy with the boys while I was helping Minnie do autograph books???

And finally the kids waiting oh so patiently while Kristine does the PP pics

 

[tksbaskets]

I loved the videos! It was nice that one of your children was able to apply the "Force Push!"

I am still laughing at your pp comment about having proof that you were on the trip. The only photos with me in them on our trips seem to be the pp ones.

LOVE the picture with Chewbacca!

TK

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I loved the videos! It was nice that one of your children was able to apply the "Force Push!"

I am still laughing at your pp comment about having proof that you were on the trip. The only photos with me in them on our trips seem to be the pp ones.

LOVE the picture with Chewbacca!

TK

The Force Push thing was so cool! Jackson did great with it! Just to clarify...only the girl is mine! The boys are Stacy's. Don't they look like they had known each other for ages? That had just met that morning!

This trip was particularly bad with me being in pics. I think there are like 3 PP pics that I'm in. This trip was more about the kids

 

[jessica52877]

Love the photopass photos! It was worth the $ for the jedi pictures alone this time!

 

[jenb1023]

Can't watch the videos at work but I can't wait to see them! Love the PP photos! They got some great shots! And I love the one where Stacy captured Luke and Leia's reaction! I know - PP is usually the only evidence that I go on our trips too! I trusted DH with the camera once and won't make that mistake again - LOL!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Great pictures!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Love the jedi pictures but most of all I love the look on Luke and Leia's faces and the kids melting on the curb while waiting.