This is either madness... or brilliance; declansdad, pooksma and declan...update10/16

[pooksma]

Following the conquering of Everest, this was next on our list.

After DS had made his photographic genius come alive, he didn't want to take the camera to the Studios. Guess he hasn't been bitten hard enough by Dad's shutter bug. So after short naps and a quick bite at the food court, it was off to Hollywood.

There were no FPs left for TOT so we stood in line, and stood in line, and (you get the idea) DS had some hesitation and we told him he didn't have to ride if he didn't want to, that we would be back again and he could try next time, but ever the thrill ride junkie, he went.

This ride was fantastic! It scared the you-know-what out of me but I loved it! DS-not so much. I think it was the unpredictability that put him off. He did say he would ride again.

We didn't want to stay too late as we were tired but snuck in a few more firsts. The Great Movie ride was fun and our CM was super. He did a great job. I was surprised how much DS liked it. Each time we would go by a movie he knows I love (Casablanca, Mary Poppins and Wizard of Oz) he would get excited for me.

We also checked out the Narnia exhibit-a book I loved as a child and a movie he loves now. It was interesting but could have been so much more.

Time to head back now with a quick stop at the jets behind the Hippy Dippy Pool. This was one of those times where I said-go ahead and get wet-never mind the clothes. It was a good way to end our day. DS was cooled off and I got to sit and enjoy my surroundings. Somehow we mixed up where we were with DH-he thought we were at the Goofy Pop jets but we found each other and drug ourselves back to the room and bed.

Stay tuned for MK- Stuck on Splash and a flash of Mary Poppins

 

[wannago2disney]

Declan did an excellent job on his photos. My kids love to take pictures but are not yet very good. But they are only 2 and 4 so they have lots of time to learn!.....Thank goodness for digital cameras though!

I am sorry to hear that Narnia wasn't great...my kids love the movie...in fact we all do (though a movie never seems to be as good as the book!)...so it is on our to do list for January....would you say it is still a "must" or a "no biggie" if it gets missed?

Tosh

 

[MeMom]

Very nice picture of Tower of Terror. Jill and I didn't ride that this time, but everyone else did. They went to ride on fastpasses while she and I went and got a place at Fantasmic. Since it will just be the two of us and Brooklynn again for the next two trips, we probably won't ride it again until spring, when we have another adult with us. We could baby swap, but then we'd have to ride alone, and that wouldn't be nearly as much fun as riding together and laughing together on the drops. I'm pretty claustrophobic, so I have to talk myself through things (silently) while the elevator door is shut, but I do because the ride is worth it. I always breathe a very deep sigh of relief when the doors open.

We thought about seeing Narnia. Would you only do it if you had lots of extra time, or is it worth making the time to see it? Most reviews of it have said that there's not much to it. This trip, Jill and I are going to try to get around to the things we didn't have time for this summer, so that could be on our list.

Declan looks like he's having a great time in the water at Pop. It was surely hot when we were there. The pool was much used by our gang.

Declan - your Animal Kingdom pictures are great! I hope you'll show us a lot more of the pictures you took.

 

[declansdad]

Declan did an excellent job on his photos. My kids love to take pictures but are not yet very good. But they are only 2 and 4 so they have lots of time to learn!.....Thank goodness for digital cameras though!

I am sorry to hear that Narnia wasn't great...my kids love the movie...in fact we all do (though a movie never seems to be as good as the book!)...so it is on our to do list for January....would you say it is still a "must" or a "no biggie" if it gets missed?

Tosh

Very nice picture of Tower of Terror. Jill and I didn't ride that this time, but everyone else did. They went to ride on fastpasses while she and I went and got a place at Fantasmic. Since it will just be the two of us and Brooklynn again for the next two trips, we probably won't ride it again until spring, when we have another adult with us. We could baby swap, but then we'd have to ride alone, and that wouldn't be nearly as much fun as riding together and laughing together on the drops. I'm pretty claustrophobic, so I have to talk myself through things (silently) while the elevator door is shut, but I do because the ride is worth it. I always breathe a very deep sigh of relief when the doors open.

We thought about seeing Narnia. Would you only do it if you had lots of extra time, or is it worth making the time to see it? Most reviews of it have said that there's not much to it. This trip, Jill and I are going to try to get around to the things we didn't have time for this summer, so that could be on our list.

Declan looks like he's having a great time in the water at Pop. It was surely hot when we were there. The pool was much used by our gang.

Declan - your Animal Kingdom pictures are great! I hope you'll show us a lot more of the pictures you took.

The Narnia exhibit is mostly a trailer for the next movie. The set is kind of cool though.

Declan says thanks for the compliment and he'll see what he can do.

 

[pooksma]

I would say Narnia is not on my MUST-DO list, although it may be on others.

Happy Labour Day!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Our trip back to POP took about 60 minutes. Our driver got lost and ended up off property. I think we were almost to Celebration before she found her way back. Oh well, it is always an adventure at WDW.

Were there people standing?



I am really enjoying your trip report. I just got back from a trip with my DS(6) and DD's (4 & 8). My DS tried a lot of new things on this trip too. Declan's photos are great.

 

[DreaGirl]

Yeah! I caught up!

Thanks for the tip about going in the left lane. I had read that before, but forgotten until your reminder. I added that to my "Disney List".

Declan is such a cutie and the camera really loves him.

I'm also glad to read your review on Donald's. I was thinking about adding that, and now I'm glad I didn't.

 

[declansdad]

Were there people standing?



I am really enjoying your trip report. I just got back from a trip with my DS(6) and DD's (4 & 8). My DS tried a lot of new things on this trip too. Declan's photos are great.

No the bus wasn't full or I'm sure there would have been many irate people.

Do you have a trip report?

 

[declansdad]

Yeah! I caught up!

Thanks for the tip about going in the left lane. I had read that before, but forgotten until your reminder. I added that to my "Disney List".

Declan is such a cutie and the camera really loves him.

I'm also glad to read your review on Donald's. I was thinking about adding that, and now I'm glad I didn't.

Declan loves having his picture taken. It can be very hard to get a candid shot of him. If he sees the camera, he feels the need to pose. I don't know how many times we heard, "Dad, take my picture with this."

Donald was good for the food but there are better character meals.

 

[Temair]

Sounds like a great trip. I'm looking forward to reading more.

 

[pooksma]

MK Part 1

Once again the dates and our breakfast bookings failed to gel. (Unintentional pun here to be explained later)

We had 8am ressies at CP and it was beyond cool to walk down Main Street with so few people. Declansdad took off to get pics as DS and I checked in.

Breakfast was great and our server was very attentive. We saw all of the characters ...except my personal fav. No I wasn't happy and neither was DH. Sent him off to FP Space Mountain- a tip I picked up from Lesley

By the time he came back we were ready to leave and headed to Adventureland to ride BTM. This was DS' first "thriller" and he still thinks its awesome. We were on and off in less than 15 minutes. DS then decided he wanted to climb the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.

Since we still had some time before our FP window opened, we decided now would be a good time to get DS' haircut. Those of you who read our pretrip know that he refused to get it cut before we left. It was still early so we didn't think it would be to crowded at the Barbershop.
Bernadine was super and here are the final results:

He was on cloud nine!

Still to come...Mary Poppins on the fly and Splash at a standstill

 

[wannago2disney]

Love that hair!

I am so excited about getting my kids hair done there. My son saw the pics of Declan's doo and said that it is wicked cool!

 

[DreaGirl]

Cool hair Declan!! I love the red!

Thanks for the tip on the fastpass. We are going to CP for breakfast at 8:00 so I'll send DH!

Great update.

 

[betsywdw]

What a great update! Declan's hair is so cool! I love the red mickey in the back! I can't believe Tigger wasn't at the CP, that should be illegal!

 

[declansdad]

What a great update! Declan's hair is so cool! I love the red mickey in the back! I can't believe Tigger wasn't at the CP, that should be illegal!

Tiggr was there, just never came to our table. He was almost there but then they started the parade. When they came back he was about 2 tables away and then a handler pull him over to the other side. It make me so when they do that. We had been finished eating for about 20 minutes at that point so we decided to leave.

It really POed me because pooksma and Declan always enjoy the interaction with Tiggr and some of my favourite picture have involved the three of them.

 

[lovesdumbo]

No the bus wasn't full or I'm sure there would have been many irate people.

Do you have a trip report?

I don't think so-I'm coming up on my busiest time of year at work so I won't have time. That busy time will be rewarded with a trip to Pop!

I don't know how many times we heard, "Dad, take my picture with this."

I heard a lot of that (well with "Mommy") especially when he saw a trash can. He had asked before we went if we'd see Push-the talking trash can. We saw him our last full day and he was great. We saw him on the walkway between the castle and tomorrow land. I told Push my DS really wanted a photo with him so Push asked the Photopass photographer to take it!

 

[declansdad]

Still August 16th


After finishing up with the haircut, we strolled up Main Street to find some entertainment.

First,

and then,

(sorry to the couple they were serenading but I cropped you out.)

The Castle was closed for the shows so we walked around and visited some shops, watched Philharmagic (still a great show) and Declan and I rode Dumbo.

It was now time to head for SM and we were also able to get more FPs so we split up again. Pooksma and ds headed straight for the Mountain while I detoured to get FPs for Buzz.

Declan's gel still wasn't dry so we opted to do TTA first. This is a great attraction. It is always a great way to cool off and relax a bit. At SM, we walked right through the FP line to the loading area and waited maybe 3 or 4 rockets before boarding. Declan thought this was much better than our first day wait and we should do it like this every time.

After Buzz, pooksma and Declan went for pins and drinks while I (again) headed across the park for FPs for Spash. After a brief rest from my cross park dash, we all headed into Fantasyland. We mostly looked around but Declan and I rode the Carousel (walk on) and then pooksma and ds went on Dumbo again (30 minute wait). While they were sititng in their elephant I noticed pooksma's favourite character walking by, Mary Poppins. I was given orders to follow and watch her. She rode the Carousel for a couple of turns and then went to the rear of the Castle for autographs. By the time we got there she was already to go back in to get ready for the parade. Pooksma was . I was able to get a cool picture of the Castle though.

We still needed more time before Splash so we had to find something else to do. The line for Peter Pan was 60 minutes so that was out. What are two loving parents to do? Well, we forced Declan on.......Small World. We have only ridden Small World once and that was on our first trip. Declan was just about 3 at that time. He rode it , proclaimed it to be lame, and has refused to ride it since. We said too bad, let's go. While other parents deal with unhappy children in line for ToT or SM, we had to deal with it at Small World. (We did here him singing the words as we made are away through the countries. He said he only did it in case the Dream Fast Pass people were watching.)

With pouty child in tow we make for our last ride of the day, Splash. When we get there I notice that something is not right. The Fast Pass line is back past the spot where you enter and the Stand By line says 30 minutes. I double check with the people in front of us and they confirm it is the line. Unhappily, we decided to stand in the line. I can't tell you how many peple tried to barge past the CM. I guess they thought we were all just standing in a big line to see what was going on.

Apparently, Spash had been having some mechanical difficulties and the line had backed up. I must say that I am very impressed how fast we did move through to the loading area. I would say we were no more than 10 minutes getting through to the log. As we were making our way through the ride, we started to here an announcement that said Brer Fox and Brer Bear were causing a commotion upstream. In other words, mechanical problems again. We were stopped in one spot for 5 minutes or so and after that there were intermittent problems. We made it through but without much of the story. We were all in the front row so we did get wet but not as wet as on Kali.

At this point we had been at MK for about 8 hours and we were beat. We headed back to POP, ate, and were all sleeping pretty early.

Well, that's it for now folks. I hope you are not bored yet. Next up, Disney Studios.

 

[DreaGirl]

Sounds like a great finish to the day! I was laughing at Declan's protest of Small World.

I'm not bored...keep it comin'!!

 

[MeMom]

Nice pictures of a fun day. I like the way Declan has two arms up, being that Dumbo is such a thrill ride! That's cute. Don't you wish you could jump right back into that friendly little elephant right now? Sorry that Ma didn't get to see Mary Poppins. Maybe you could do a character breakfast that she appears at sometime. Your castle picture is very pretty.

 

[Wingedheart]

I'm not bored either!! Waiting with anticipation for each installment - anything to keep the magic alive for another day, week, month...until next April anyway!

My older kids protest a bit about Small World too, but they sing it for days afterwards!!!