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

[Tnkrbelle565]

Photopass Pictures that I completely forgot to share!

 

[praisehisname]

Those are some beautiful pictures! Love how you can really see all of Aisling's dress in them!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Love the photopass pictures. I love Aisling's dress too.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Great photopass pictures!

The colors are so vibrant in them....you all look terrific...I love your daughters outfits...they are beyond cute

 

[mermaid764]

I'm finally all caught up on your TR and have loved every minute of it.

Your daughter is so adorable and her outfits are precious.

Wow I can't believe the crowds at SWW...that's insane.

It was neat to hear your experience of renting points for AKL..we're thinking of doing this for our next vacation.

Love your photopass pics and can't wait to hear more

 

[Dugette]

Great PhotoPass pictures!

I love the Poly! We only stayed there one night (so far), so I can't really say much, but it was so relaxing (hammocks!), good food (Kona), and great transportation (especially to MK).

Love the outfits the kids had on for 'Ohana! We also had the Lapu Lapu at 'Ohana! Perhaps everyone needs one after attending SWW?

That's cute that Ash got to meet Aaron Kelly ("Mr. American Idol").

Looking forward to more!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Those are some beautiful pictures! Love how you can really see all of Aisling's dress in them!

Thank you! (not that i took them but thanks anyway!)

Love the photopass pictures. I love Aisling's dress too.

Thanks!

Great photopass pictures!

The colors are so vibrant in them....you all look terrific...I love your daughters outfits...they are beyond cute

Thanks!!!

I'm finally all caught up on your TR and have loved every minute of it.

Your daughter is so adorable and her outfits are precious.

Wow I can't believe the crowds at SWW...that's insane.

It was neat to hear your experience of renting points for AKL..we're thinking of doing this for our next vacation.

Love your photopass pics and can't wait to hear more

Thanks! We definitely LOVED renting points. Unfortunately for us (not for them) the people we rented from this year are going next year so we can't rent from them again So it's off to find a new person to trust

Great PhotoPass pictures!

I love the Poly! We only stayed there one night (so far), so I can't really say much, but it was so relaxing (hammocks!), good food (Kona), and great transportation (especially to MK).

Love the outfits the kids had on for 'Ohana! We also had the Lapu Lapu at 'Ohana! Perhaps everyone needs one after attending SWW?

That's cute that Ash got to meet Aaron Kelly ("Mr. American Idol").

Looking forward to more!

Yup I have a whole new appreciation for Poly now that I've seen the beach in person.

I could have used 10 Lapu Lapus after this trip...but let's be honest, I can barely walk straight after 1

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Well we are finally getting a rainy day here in Boston so I might has well finish up Day 3!

When I left you, we were finishing up at O'Hana. We hoped on the insanely crowded monorail and headed over to MK for EMH's. We got to MK just before the first showing of Spectro. I left the gang and ran up to the train station. It was really my goal this trip to get a pic down Main St at night from that spot. Unfortunately it was already several people deep up there so I couldn't get that great of a pic. But you could see how nutty the crowds were

Figuring with the parade about to start, we had better fight our way down to the rides. First order of business, that huge stack of FPs for BTMRR that we had from this morning.

I rode with Cooper. The kids were really obsessed with making sure we rotated adults on the rides. Somehow they managed to remember who rode what with whom. I should mention that Cooper LOVES BTMRR. However, I should not have rode with him...I was terrified he was going to fall out. And this is why. He rode the whole way like this!

Actually the rest of the gang did too!

We got done with BTMRR and the Smiths really wanted to ride HM. Stacy's family...not so much. So we headed over there so we could ride and the boys could wait outside and call their dad. On the way, we had to fight our way back through the Spectro crowds

We got to HM and parted ways...we went to join the Happy Haunts

Luckily we only had to wait about 10 minutes for HM. But when we came out, the kiddos really wanted to find SOMETHING with no wait. So you know where we were heading....

We came out singing everyone's FAVORITE Disney hit and BOOOOOOMMMMM!

I had completely forgotten about WISHES! I love WISHES. I cry at WISHES! But on this short trip, WISHES could not be a priority. We had rides to ride!

However, the crowd had different ideas. We weren't going anywhere! So we watched. The interesting part about watching from Fantasyland is that you have to look in two directions!

I eventually gave up turning and just focused on spot

Fireworks over...we again had to S L O W L Y make our way back up the street!

Stacy decided that it was time for the her and the boys to head home. Aisling wasn't anywhere near ready so we stayed. This was an issue that we knew that would come up with this trip. Her boys are early risers and Aisling is a night owl. The boys had been troopers about staying out late at DTD and again tonight but they had had enough.

We decided to go watch Philharmagic. We got in and got our glasses and then heard "Mr Randy, Mr. Randy" We turned around and they were back! Who wants to end a day at MK riding IASW??? So they joined us again and then really left at the end of Philharmagic. Stacy texted to update me on the bus situation and let me know when they got back to the hotel.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Great PP Pics! Those are really great shots of you in front of the castle!

I really like the Wishes pictures from Fantasyland. It's neat having a picture of the fireworks right above the carousel!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Meanwhile, we headed back over to Frontierland because we STILL had FPs for BTMRR and SM

As we were walking there, they were yelling that Country Bear Jamboree was about to start. Now I haven't seen this show since I was Aisling's age so we figured...why not?

I'll tell you why not...it's boring. And when you have been running around from 15 hours a day for the past 4 days...you will barely (not pun intended ) keep your eyes open.

We were all dozing off so we decided we better do a pick-me-up ride! Sadly this late at night and we STILL needed FPs for SM and BTMRR. The standby was still at 60 minutes for each.

I put on my ride face for Splash!

When all the FPs were used up, we decided to give POTC another ride. However, when we got over there, Capt Jack was causing problems and the ride was closed. The CMs put on an entertaining little show (again...only at WDW) and just when Randy decided to use the potty...the ride re-opened.

Next up was Tomorrowland. We hit Buzz and The Laugh Floor (which still had a really LOOOONG wait) The people sitting next to us had a little girl with an outfit with Heather's designs but frankly, I was so tired, I couldn't be bothered to strike up a conversation with her.

Aisling really wanted to ride CoP. Unfortunately this was our first ever evening EMHs so we didn't really think about the fact that it wouldn't be open. We promised Aisling next time. We decided that everyone was really starting to get worn down and it was time to pick a final ride.

Of course Aisling picked her favorite...the People Mover!

Infared Aisling

Randy debated trying to squeeze in Space Mountain BUUUUTTTTT

That's right folks. It was almost 2am at this point and THAT was the line!

And it was time for us to call it a night! Daddy was extra nice and carried the tired baby

On the way out we stopped and watched the coolest thing ever

This guy was drawing the Fab Five with WATER! I have never seen them do this before! It was mesmorizing. Either that or it was 2am and we had left our hotel at 7:30am!

The good thing about leaving with an hour left until the end of EMHs was that the bus wasn't that packed and we actually got seats. Which is really nice when you are going from MK to AKL...that ride is really long when you have to stand!

The princess was out in minutes

So there you have it. We did NOT make 3am but we came pretty close with a 6 year old in tow!

What will Day 4 bring us???? Will be finally sleep in???

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Great PP Pics! Those are really great shots of you in front of the castle!

I really like the Wishes pictures from Fantasyland. It's neat having a picture of the fireworks right above the carousel!

It was really neat. The Finale was coming at us from all directions!

 

[mermaid764]

More great updates!

Wow I can't believe the crowds were still that crazy at that time of night

That's amazing that you guys lasted as long as you did having gotten up that early...gotta love how you almost need another vacation at the end of a disney vacation to catch up on sleep.

Looking forward to more

 

[sohappy]

Stacy really outdid herselves on the kids outfits! I think they are my favorite EVER! I really love the clean classic look of the boys shirts! Stacy, have you always known how to sew?

Ash's face is just adorable! I am surprised the dress made it through dinner. So nice of Aaron to ask if you wanted a picture. I would have had NO idea who he was. I don't know who most people are though. LOL !

I love the idea of the ring AND the trip, but I usually have a practical side to me too.

$130 for any meal just makes it taste not nearly as yummy. Don't you think? Chef Mickey's and all of them are much tastier during free dining!

I love the Brady Bunch and often have thought of the Poly and those two episodes, although they were odd episodes!

Jessica, you are too sweet! I think it might have to do with the fact that I made 9 total things for this trip. Vacation cutie tees x3, star wars outfits x3 and ohana outfits x3. Everything else we had from our previous trip.

I really, really wanted to do white linen and a hawaiian print for the outfits. I went back and forth a hundred times worried that they would be filthy. Funny enough, these were the cleanest outfits of the trip!

I love, love, love to sew for Aisling. She is seriously so appreciative and just loves the attention she gets. I was so glad that I got to actually witness it!

My grandmother taught me to sew when I was young, maybe 8ish. I didn't do anything special, just following patterns. I sewed a little when the kids were babies- again, nothing special, costumes, diaper bags, etc. When we got ready for our first trip with the boys (5/2008), I searched the disboards non-stop. When I found the disboutique thread, I was in heaven!! I actually remember completing an outfit for the boys for each day and thinking, "but I still have ideas left, I must make more than one outfit a day!". Applique has been a learning process for me. I think I get better every time I try something new or different. I still much prefer by hand because I can get larger appliques and exactly what I want (and no one else has). I guess I still believe what my parents told me when I was little- you can do anything you set your mind to because I still try things that I think are out of my league!

Sorry to hijack

Love the pics. And yes, my boys always do better in the morning (as witnessed by us making rope drop every.single.day. Even though we didn't get in until after midnight Sunday and didn't set the alarm at all for Monday morning, we were at Epcot right at 9. I don't know if you knew that or not, since we did our own thing on Monday.

 

[sohappy]

Oh, and I agree that Ohana was hit and miss. We went in september with my parents and I HATED it. The boys loved it, but I just ate noodles and salad. It was free dining, so I didn't really complain. My parents really liked it too. I wasn't super excited to go back, but I knew Kristine and family wanted to go, I thought the boys would eat well, and let's face it, I never miss a chance to dress the kids up! I LOVED it this time. I don't remember chicken the first time, but it was really really good this time. That was the only meat I ate and for some reason, that makes it all better, I guess. The boys didn't eat well, but I think that they were constantly distracted by having someone else to play with. They didn't want to waste precious time eating when they could play! I agree though that I probably wouldn't pay OOP for it. And I am totally with Kristine that I will never go again with DDP. I like having everything paid off before I get there. i was constantly worried about how much I was spending (which ended up being much less that I thought).

 

[Queenofallthings]

Wow...I'm impressed! 2am with a happy 6 year old, you don't see that often! My DD17 has always been a bit of a night owl so I totally get it!!

 

[praisehisname]

I love the pics you got from the train station showing Main Street all lit up!

I can't believe how insane the waits were even at 2am!!!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Ok, that pic of Randy carrying Aisling down Main Street gave me chills! So neat!

What a freaking busy day/night! I can't believe the lines at 2am Y'all are some troopers!!!

Great night time pics. Was Fantasyland already under construction?

 

[Lady Lallie]

Great updates!

Your photopass pictures are awesome. What was on your shirt...balloons??

I really want to stay late enough at MK so I can see those sidewalk drawings. They look amazing in the pictures I have seen but I bet they look even better in person. So cool!

I love your Wishes photo with the carousel. It's really pretty. A photo you don't see a lot on here.

 

[jenb1023]

Love all of the photos - yours and pp! The Ohana outfits are amazing! We had breakfast there and were not overly impressed either - especially when paying OOP. We stayed at the Poly for two nights in May and loved it! The rooms are huge! But at those prices, I don't think we would do it again. I love how well the kids got along! I am finally caught up on your TR and plan to stay that way!

 

[kimmylaj]

wow that is amazing how late aisling stayed up. we stayed up at a friends swimming till midnight with my 4 and 7 year olds and its a quarter to ten and they are still asleep. that could cause me a rope drop problem in august