They Don't Make Pencils in Pennsylvania? A Feb/Mar 2013 Trip Report

[pld5]

What a great start on day 3

Thank you!

 

[pld5]

Sorry for the long delay in updates. I'm finding that real life can get in the way of these trip reports.

When I last left off, we were on our way to Magic Kingdom in the boat from Wilderness Lodge.

Our first photopass pictures in Magic Kingdom.

Okay, a word about the magic shots. I'm not a fan. Most of the time we just look like idiots. I'm sure this gives the photopass photographers loads of entertainment.

And then you do get some cute ones.

First ride - Peoplemover. Its a tradition.

Then we wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear, but we would not have enough time to do so before our appointment at the Pirates League. We promised Edward we would be back to do it at some point that day.

We walked over to Adventureland, and got a glimpse of the New Fantasyland on our way. The walkway between Its a Small World and Frontierland is much too narrow in my opinion and was the source of many bottlenecks on our trip that week.

It was very overcast this day and was sprinkling off and on throughout the morning. We made it to Pirates League for our appointment at 11am.

Here he is before.

Edward and I had talked about what look he might want before we showed up and the one he decided he wanted was no longer an option. I think it was called Smokey Eyed Jack. He thought about the Multi Eyed Jack look but when asked if he could keep his eyes closed for a very long time for the make up to be applied to his eyelids, he said no. So he chose the Blackeyed Jack.

We waited outside after we checked in and then we were called back to choose his Pirate Name. His Pirate Name is James Ironeagle. They roll a dice and look at his birth month and day to choose the name.

Then we waited inside for him to be called to be made into a Pirate. It was very noisy in there and there were a lot of mermaids being done and not so many pirates. We seemed to wait a long time, but finally it was his turn to go to a chair.

Our make up artist's name was Mecca and she was FANTASTIC! She was very personable and stayed in character and completely interacted with Edward. She never made him feel rushed (nor us) and at that point, I did not mind the wait it took to get there.

She asked where we were from and when we told her Pennsylvania, she was very disappointed to learn that we don't make pencils in Pennsylvania. (Hence the title of my trip report). She mentioned this several more times during our visit, along with discussions with Edward about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ("Are they slow?"), TV programs ("What is tv?"), and when he mentioned video games, she curled up in a ball on the floor and said "too much information". Like I said, she really stayed in character and I think Edward fell a little in love.

When she first started his makeup, she pretended to get ready to punch him since he wanted the blackeyed jack look. Then she picked up her stool and pretended to get ready to hit him. When he objected, she said she would paint the look on but that that would be their little secret. If anyone asks, he is supposed to tell them that he got punched in the eye.

Around this point, 2 special visitors came into the Pirates League. They wished Edward a Happy Birthday which was a wonderful memory.

Mecca told us that this is a rare treat because Captain Jack only comes in when it is raining outside.

After his make up was done, he took the pirate oath with Mecca. She starts with asking him to repeat what she says and he does so very seriously. Then she talks really fast at one point and he just looks flabbergasted. At this point, she says she will say that part in Whale because she had asked us what we had already done in other parks and one thing we told her was that we rode the Nemo ride.

Mecca was fabulous and Paul tipped her very well. He got a sash and a sword and then went into a secret room for some Pirate treasure, and a photopass picture or two.

Then we payed our bill and because we had photopass plus, were able to take our picture with us.

This was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad we did it. Edward enjoyed the interaction and we loved seeing him enjoy it.

It was around 12:30 when we came out of there and it was still raining.

Edward had told us he would ride Pirates of the Caribbean when he was 7, so what better time to do so than on a rainy day when you're dressed up as a pirate?

We rode it twice and for a while, he told us that was now his favorite ride.

Then it stopped raining so we were able to take a few pictures outside in front of the sign.

 

[akayek31]

I love PoTC it is one ride I have to do each time I am there. Love the bday cake. Love the view of wishes.

 

[missangelalexis]

Looks like the pirate league was a success! Edward looks great as a pirate

 

[pld5]

I love PoTC it is one ride I have to do each time I am there. Love the bday cake. Love the view of wishes.

Welcome! My husband's favorite ride is POTC. Before going to the parks with him, I could take it or leave it because I got stuck on it when I was a teenager and had to be evacuated in the dark. Eek! I do love it now, but I think Johnny Depp has helped in that regard.

Edward had a really great day on his birthday and I hope to update more of it in a day or so.

 

[pld5]

Looks like the pirate league was a success! Edward looks great as a pirate

Thanks! He had so much fun!

 

[luckylady]

Love the "scar" on this face. A true pirate look.

 

[akayek31]

I don't remember seeing it without Johnny Depp. I did go when I was 13 with my dad but all I remember is Casey's Corner and Country Bear Jamboree. I am not to fond of the Legend of Captain Jack at Hollywood Studios but getting to watch Johnny talk to me made me glad I went at least once

 

[pld5]

So, when we last left off, Edward was dressed as a pirate, we had ridden Pirates of the Carribbean twice and the rain had just stopped. It was around 1pm at this point and we headed over towards Frontierland for our ADR at LTT.

But not before meeting these folks. The photographer asked if my husband was a pirate too and I said, yea, a Pittsburgh Pirate. He had a wonderful laugh at that.






Paul was very glad to meet Alladin and Jasmine. They eluded us on our previous trips.

Then we had time to ride on Its a Small World, which is tradition for me. I think we pulled fast passes around this same time to ride Peter Pan later that day and then we went to lunch at Liberty tree tavern.



I expected better things from this ADR. The food was okay. The location was LOUD. Our server had zero personality. Edward had his birthday button on and I thought it was noted on our reservation but he didnt' even get a happy birthday. Edward didn't care but it was a dissapointment to me.
A few good things came out of this though. Edward got mashed potatoes on his birthday. He also got a souvenir cup with a lighted pirate, and I got the ooey gooey toffee cake. It was sinful and I ate every last bite from my plate.



As we were leaving it was close to 3pm and they had the street marked off for the parade. We decided to go check out the New Fantasyland and got a chance to ride the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It was cute.



Then Edward wanted to ride Dumbo and we wanted him to try Goofy's Barnstormer since he loved it when he was 4 and it was closed when we were there last January, so we tried to make our way over to it and had to double back our way around to get there because the Seven Dwarves rollercoaster work is right in the middle of everything and you can't get through.



Once it is all complete it will alleviate so much of the congestion.

While we were in line for Dumbo, they gave us a beeper to go play, but the walk on line was so short we really didn't need it. Edward needed to go to the bathroom and he and Paul left the line but when they came back Edward was in tears because he thought I had rode the ride without him. (He has abandonment issues and we don't know why). I assured him I had waited for him but it broke my heart to see my little Pirate in tears. But he bounced back quickly.





From there we went to ride Goofy's Barnstormer. Edward loved it as much as he did in 2010. So we rode it again.







Then we asked him if he wanted to ride a bigger rollercoaster that was no faster than Goofy, but just longer. He wasn't sure but said he would try. So we rode the train to Frontierland and got to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.





Edward rode with me and was very hesitant the whole ride. Finally near the end of the ride he let out a very tentative "woo hoo" and when we got off the ride his words were: "That was awesome! Again?" So we rode BTMRR again. Since it had rained, the park had pretty much cleared itself out after the parade so we were afforded the luxury of basically walking back on to the ride.

After that, we made our way back across the park to Tomorrowland where we fulfilled Edward's desire to ride Buzz Lightyear. Twice.





Taking the path in front of the castle to Tomorrowland.



Enjoying the Tomorrowland Dance Party








Up next: Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party

 

[pld5]

To finish out Edward's birthday celebration, we went to the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert party. Maybe it was the long day, maybe it was the coolness of the air, Maybe it was the cast member clearing our table and dropping two desserts into my purse, but this was not as good as an experience as it was for us in January 2012. The selection of desserts and fruits were fine.





We did get a photopass picture of all of us.



And several pictures of the castle.









A blurry Wreck It Ralph castle.


We also got to see a little of the MSEP from our location.





But after sitting for a little bit after being on the move all day, we all got a bit tired.

So when the birthday boy asked if we could go back to the hotel, we said yes and left right before Wishes started. We got to see a little bit of Wishes walking down Main Street, but we made it out of the gates and to the boat launch before the crowds.

I think we grabbed a flatbread and some chicken from Roaring Forks and went up to our room to find this.





All in all, a wonderful Birthday celebration for our 7 year old.



Up next, Downtown Disney for our Day of Rest.

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay, I'm glad Edward enjoyed BTMRR! Bummer that you guys couldn't enjoy the dessert party But I'm glad overall his birthday was a successful day!

 

[iupalum]

loving your TR so far. your pics are great and Edward looks like he had a fantastic b'day. we're planning our first family trip for Oct. 2014. I went once to WDW eons ago and this will be DH and DS's first trip. DS will just have turned 8. BTW...loved seeing the Steelers and Pens represented. Lived in southwestern PA myself before moving to NC.

 

[pld5]

Yay, I'm glad Edward enjoyed BTMRR! Bummer that you guys couldn't enjoy the dessert party But I'm glad overall his birthday was a successful day!

Thanks! We just had a much better experience at the dessert party the year before. Although, if you are at all crowd phobic and want a guaranteed seat to see Wishes, I still would recommend it for that reason.

We are thrilled that he enjoyed BTMRR! It is so fun to see him grow up and try new things. I hope he will be willing to try Haunted Mansion with me on our next trip.

 

[pld5]

loving your TR so far. your pics are great and Edward looks like he had a fantastic b'day. we're planning our first family trip for Oct. 2014. I went once to WDW eons ago and this will be DH and DS's first trip. DS will just have turned 8. BTW...loved seeing the Steelers and Pens represented. Lived in southwestern PA myself before moving to NC.

Thank you! I love taking pictures of our experiences, so i sometimes feel that these trip reports were made for people like me. ;-). I think age 8 will be a great age for your son's first trip. We discovered so many great "boy" experiences for our son and I'm sure by 2014, there will be more!

Where are you in NC? I have an aunt in Atlantic Beach. It's beautiful there.

 

[iupalum]

I love TRs with pics. It makes it so much more realistic for me reading.
We lived near Somerset, PA and moved to Concord, NC (right outside of Charlotte) in 2002.

 

[pld5]

Wow, I can't believe I haven't updated this report since April. So much has been going on and I apologize.

So I last left off at the end of Edward's birthday, and we had a fabulous day. We planned Wednesday as a day of rest from the parks and used it to go to Downtown Disney.

Here are my boys enjoying a little breakfast at club level before heading out to catch the bus to DTD.



Waiting for the bus.




First thing we did at DTD? Tried on hats.








We wanted to go to the Lego store to get something for Edward for his birthday. We ended up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set that would complete his collection of all of the characters. We also picked up a Chima set and some other various items that Paul wondered how we would get home. I can't rave enough about how helpful the staff at this store were. We showed one staff member a picture of an item that Edward got at his party at home and he knew the serial number of it and also pointed out which items to look at so as to get the most value for our money. They gave Edward stickers and just generally fawned over him and it was great.








We had a lunch reservation at TRex at 1:30 so we headed over there. It was pretty noisy in there but our table was at the end of the noise, so we actually had a relaxing time.



I don't know why we bought this souvenir cup. It does not store easily.

We looked at a few items in the gift shop and had a good time.





We then headed over to use our 2 vouchers for Disney Quest (meaning we had to purchase one admission). It was pretty pricey and we would not have done this if not for the vouchers that came with our package. But because it was pricey, we pretty much had the run of the place. Imagine an uncrowded place in Disney!













Edward enjoyed the Fix It Felix game and Ninja Fruit and we all enjoyed the POTC virtual ride. I could see this as a perfect place to send Edward for an afternoon when he is a tween or teenager, but don't see the need to make a special trip to do this again.

We made a stop at Goofy's Candy company. He had a ball with this mirror.







We spent about 5 hours at DTD then headed back to WL for dinner at WCC. More time than I would have imagined on our "day of rest" but it was a good day.





Dinner at WCC was disappointing for me. The ribs were too fatty and I think we were all a little more tired from our long day than we expected to be. It was served family style, but it seemed to take a long time for food to be brought after we ordered it. We did have an entertaining waiter, but he was not our server. Edward interrupted him when he was explaining the menu to us and he gave Edward a pen and told him to draw him a picture. So Edward drew a picture of what he wanted.





A diet coke. Our waiter LOVED this and got a very satisfying laugh on a very busy night for him.

 

[Terkina]

Sounds like you had a great day at Down Town Disney

 

[pld5]

Sounds like you had a great day at Down Town Disney

We did! I was really surprised that we were there so long, but thanks to the DIS and to the vouchers, we were able to figure out it was more than just shopping.

 

[pld5]

We slept in a bit this morning and enjoyed our breakfast at Club Level again.

I love these pictures of my husband reading the newspaper. He looks so grown up (and he never does this at home!)



We booked a Storytime experience through AAA at Epcot so we needed to be there by 12:15. We headed out a bit early and rode Nemo again and then did Turtle Talk with Crush. Despite Edward having on a green shirt that said "DUDE", he was not chosen this year to talk to Crush. But he enjoyed it as always.



We then spent some time with the Great Piggy Bank adventure in Innoventions before reporting for our Storytime.

Edward on the stage.



Mary Poppins is our story reader! Paul keeps hoping it will be Jasmine. Last year we had Snow White.


This is so cute and it is a nice way to have some interaction with a character and not just a posed photo op.







After our story, we were hungry and stopped at the Electric Umbrella (I think) for some chicken nuggets and fries. Apparently everyone else was hungry, too.



Then we walked through Innoventions East for a brief time and were surprised that there wasn't much there. We did get a lesson on plug safety though. Paul wanted to do Mission Space so Edward and I waited in the play area outside of the exit of the ride. While in the gift shop, we found a lighted mickey on a lanyard.

And we actually found something personalized that said Edward. Not Ed, or Eddie.

And we tried on a hat.


We then went on Ellen's Universe of Energy and were surprised at how long it took. She looks so different in this than she appears now!



Somewhere along the way we picked up a fast pass for Test Track and it was now time for our ride. But we were awfully close to our dining reservation at Teppan Edo. But we wanted to ride Test Track. We made the decision to be late for our 520 reservation and hope they would still have a seat for us. Edward loved Test track. I only rode it once before last year so I don't remember it being any different than before other than the preshow.



We RAN to the Japan pavilion and made it there at 540. They were still able to accomodate our reservation (WHEW!) but it would be a 20-30 minute wait (not a problem). While waiting, I went to do Pick a Pearl. And got the largest pearl they had done all day!





That was fun and Edward got his long awaited Pikachu. We were called to be seated in the restaurant and the servers made quite a fuss about Edward's pikachu and he was very happy. They were impressed with my pearl, too.

Dinner at Teppan Edo was excellent. Edward enjoyed using his chopsticks and also liked watching the chef prepare our meal in front of him. We sat with a young boy and his grandparents and a couple in their 20's and enjoyed our conversation as well as our meals.











After dinner, we went to get a cage for my pearl and then started our walk back around the world showcase. After that, we called it a night and headed back to the resort.

 

[Terkina]

sounds like you had an relaxing day at Epcot. The story telling looks great for kids.