TR - Get your Disneyfied Christmas B-Day Fix! - Hub, Grub, & Up, Up and Away! - fixed photo links & Final Thoughts

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 18 – Family Fun with Space Gods!

More Family PhotoPass Fun! First my Lady and I get the “mistletoe” treatment

And then our Kiddos!

The wizards on the back end of PhotoPass neglected to put a character in PumpkinGirl’s hand – so I took the opportunity to add in Stitch for them!

After picture time we headed back to the food carts and everyone filled up on little boats of good food while we killed time waiting for Thor and Loki’s next meet and greet time. We made sure we would have plenty of time to get there for the “front row” of the stage portion.

It is hard to tell with the bright backlighting of the stage, but PumpkinGirl was very excited!

As was Jinx!

Out they came, putting on a great show – top notch banter

The kiddos and I waited patiently in line, them to meet the characters – me to take pictures

Roxy was hanging back in the seats with all of our stuff. The line moved at a reasonable pace, we were good with it as Thor and Loki were taking a good amount of time with each party that came up. Soon enough we were next and Jinx especially was nervous so PumpkinGirl took the lead for some banter

Then they brought PumpkinGirl forward – I had to post each one of these as all of their expressions are different on each shot and so classic!

Finally pose time

Then Jinx came in – he was a bit overwhelmed

But then he settled down and got a cool shot with them

Then the two of them

We were going to wrap it up but Thor and Loki insisted Roxy and I come up for a pic – Thor insisted I show off my “guns”

And that lead to a cool bonus family pic!

Click Here for Chapter 19 - Guardians of the Galaxy Time!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I LOVE these guys! I too was a little fan-girly when we met them, but they are SO good at making you feel at ease when talking to them. They were awesome with my daughter who talked about her school play (which was about the giants of Asgard) and Loki and I had a chat about a gem 'he' stole from Freya. It was so fun and they were awesome. Probably my favourite M&G. They took their time with each group and were very attentive and just... awesome. I'm so happy you had a great interaction with them.

And that evening fountain photo is perfection! I wish we'd thought of it when we were there.

 

[Jaina]

Some great family pictures in there! Those are often the most elusive pics on the trip, I've found! Sorry you missed the flag retreat! That looks like a super fun meet and greet though!

 

[mnmrmustard]

I LOVE these guys! I too was a little fan-girly when we met them, but they are SO good at making you feel at ease when talking to them. They were awesome with my daughter who talked about her school play (which was about the giants of Asgard) and Loki and I had a chat about a gem 'he' stole from Freya. It was so fun and they were awesome. Probably my favourite M&G. They took their time with each group and were very attentive and just... awesome. I'm so happy you had a great interaction with them.

And that evening fountain photo is perfection! I wish we'd thought of it when we were there.

What a cool play for your daughter to be in, I'm sure they loved that! Great that you had something to talk to them about, I was at a loss as I wasn't expecting to do anything more that take pics of the kids. They are very thoughtful, spontaneous, and generous characters for sure.

Yes, the fountain was just something we stumbled upon - that one family pic is one of my favorites of the trip!

Some great family pictures in there! Those are often the most elusive pics on the trip, I've found! Sorry you missed the flag retreat! That looks like a super fun meet and greet though!

Thank you and yes - I totally agree! No worries on the Flag Retreat, I had a cunning plan to catch it another day

It was possibly the best M&G of the trip, best family one for sure!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 19 - Guardians of the Galaxy Time!

So I can confirm what many other have, the Thor and Loki M&G is awesome! I’ll leave you with this last image from it – the uncomfortable hug!

It was only 6:30pm and we had managed to wrangle yet another GoTG FP – thank you MaxPass!!!! On to the epic façade courtesy of the Collector

So many items to gaze upon!

The main attraction was of course our heroes

We worked our way around under the watchful eye of Tivan Group Personnel

By Grabthar's hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged! …wait, wrong movie!

I made sure we were up front this time around so I could be near this

PumpkinGirl took a look at the desk’s contents

I just thought this looked cool

And here come the spiel

…and the takeover

At the end I was ready and caught Rocket’s hand coming down to grab the Walkman!

We thankfully got the lower tier queue

Hungry?

Someone is watching and he’s wondering where his high altitude ice cave has gone

We boarded our elevator and Rocket grabbed the power cable to start the fun!

We had to be separated on the back row so it was PumpkinGirl and I on the left and Roxy and Jinx at right-center

All too soon it was over, but we were all smiles. We disembarked and walked by this dedicated group of employees

I don't think it would be worth joining the Tivan Group to see what was behind this door

We headed thru the gift shop and I ducked into a doorway in the corner to snap a pic of this EPIC MOVIE POSTER!

As soon as I had scanned our FPs on my phone the four of us had been pummeling MaxPass trying to secure one more “E Ticket” ride to end our night. And by the time we were done with GoTG we had them!!!! Care to guess where we were headed? Tune in next time to see!

Click here for Chapter 20 - A Holiday Cars Land to End the Night

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 20 - A Holiday Cars Land to End the Night

So as you can guess from the title of this chapter, we decided to head over to Radiator Springs and end our night with one more ride on the Racers. We of course have to give you a couple of street shots to start off with.

It was just after 8pm when we headed past Flo’s and you can see the long day starting to seep in on us

Ramone’s was looking stellar

We checked out some merch and then on to the queue!

Smiles everywhere as we made it towards the front

PumpkinGirl caught a shot of all of us in our car right as we headed out onto the track

And off we went!

Good to see Disney allowing beards after all of these years!

Such cool theming

Things were starting to shut down so I got a great shot of the empty queue

All hail Radiator Springs!

Love that neon

We found a CM who was willing to take a couple of family shots

Hey PumpkinGirl!

What a view!

At this point we had Cars Land nearly to ourselves

Pretty awesome, aye? Coming right back with the rest of our stroll thru what was basically a private tour of Cars Land and CA!

Click here for Chapter 21 - Closing up Cali Adventure!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 21 – Closing up Cali Adventure!

We continued on our own private tour of Radiator Springs just taking it all in

Check out Flo’s!

Too bad we couldn’t get a room at the Cozy Cone

Such a cute little tree

Fillmore’s looked very serene

The tractors had all gone to sleep

Finally back to the entrance of the Land

A pair of Scandinavian girls and us traded pic taking duties with this little guy

We joined the herd of guests heading out and only stopped when we got close to the park entrance. The Five & Dime was still doing a small amount of business

Oswald’s had a really cool look – Jinx is there in the shadows

Jinx had taken a shine to Oswald himself and ended up getting and Oswald hoodie that he still wears constantly.

He ended up getting and Oswald hoodie that he still wears constantly.

We left the park and made the long walk back to the hotel. We were pretty beat but had enjoyed a spectacular day. It was a haphazard one with us all meandering around in smaller groups until the evening but we all had so much fun that coming back together it gave us so much to talk about. And adding in the epic character experience with Thor and Loki and awesome fun on Guardians followed by closing up Cars Land – who could ask for more?

We did our shower rotation and settled into bed, planning for our next day in the parks. Tomorrow was going to be our Baby Groot T-Shirt day – whoohoo!. The rest of the fam was going to sleep in, but I had a hankering for CA early entry and more GotG!

Count for the day:

- Goofy Character Interaction (Jinx/PumpkinGirl)
- Radiator Springs Racers (Me, Roxy, & Wes)
- The Little Mermaid x2 (Jinx/PumpkinGirl)
- California Screamin'x2 (Jinx/PumpkinGirl)
- GoTG: Mission Breakout (Jinx/PumpkinGirl)
- Monsters Inc (Jinx/PumpkinGirl)
- Soarin' (Roxy & Wes)
- Toy Story Mania (Me)
- Pacific Wharf Cafe, Lucky Fortune Cookery, & Festival of the Holidays beer flights for lunch
- California Screamin' x2 (Roxy/PumpkinGirl)
- Latin music and dancers from India (Me/Jinx)
- Elena of Avalor Character interaction & Street Performance (Me/Jinx)
- Silly Symphony Swings (Me/Jinx)
- Midway Games - (Roxy/PumpkinGirl)
- Woody Characer inetraction (Me/Jinx)
- Mickey's Fun Wheel (whole fam)
- The Little Mermaid (whole fam)
- Nick Wilde Character interaction (Jinx/PumpkinGirl)
- Thor & Loki stage skit and Characer ineractions (whole Fam)
- GoTG: Mission Breakout (whole fam)
- Radiator Springs Racers (whole fam)

Click here for Chapter 22 - Santa Groot and GotG Rope Drop!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 22 – Santa Groot and GotG Rope Drop!

So I had looked over the Extra Magic Hours for the timeframe we were there and there was an option for CA on this day and DL the next day. Roxy was fine with missing both and the kiddos wanted to sleep in and get the extra time at DL. So I had set out my clothes set out in the bathroom and got up and quietly got dressed while the rest of the room snoozed. Off to the breakfast buffet and then down and outside the Desert Palms for the walk to the parks. I think I had said it before, but it takes about 10 minutes at a regular pace, a bit less for my long-legged self when I’m not pacing with the fam.

Security was a breeze, as was entrance to the park. By 7:45am I was past the circle and heading down to the rope as one of the first guests in the park. On the way a CM said to another CM "look, its Santa Groot!" This was to continue throughout the day

I had a nice chat with a couple of the CMs

And took in the view down empty streets

Say “hello” to my fellow early risers!

At 7:57am they let the rope drop and we followed the CMs down the lane

Around the corner and on to our destination!

A couple of youngsters fast-walked ahead of me, but I knew I’d still be in one of the first elevators of the day

Our host’s visage greeted us at the door

I quickly said hello to some familiar faces

And contemplated trying to take a drink from this goblet

Is the foggy purple one in the top right of the frame the one that has Figment?

At 7:59am I was near the door eyeing all of the implements of destruction

The CMs were good – we were in the Collector’s Office at 8am sharp!

So many unique items to view

The whole process had me on the ride and ready to roll at 8:07am!

While in the office I had checked the wait time and decided to hold off on FPs and just circle back around. This turned out to be a good call as I took a pic of these goodies at 8:13am

This time in the office I took the time to make the FP for a 3rd trip – then off to the elevator. And you’ll notice a big difference from my first ride to this one. I had grown a few inches! A young couple had given me a tip to push out my stomach when fastening the belt – it was still safe and held me, but allowed some “lift” off of my seat during the free fall segments.

The ride was spectacular and I couldn’t wait to try it again. Now the line was really starting to build up, but I breezed right in via the FP line. I gave some thanks to the Collector for helping this epic ride and theming come to life

And admired his cool mask collection

Once back in the office I made sure to stand in a different spot and managed a pic of this Hydra weapon

I then wound my way thru the line and found that I had the same CM loading my elevator for the 3rd time in a row – big smiles!

One more ride with me flying high!

And once outside – I took a moment for a musical interlude!

Click to enjoy my bad Brandy lipsync!

Next up I get a companion and together we have a western adventure and a dangerous voyage!

Chapter 23 – 2 Baby Groots are Better than One!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 23 – 2 Baby Groots are Better than One!

I hope you all enjoyed my musical interlude to end the last chapter! As I walked back up to the area where rope drop was I came back across David, one of Disney’s Finest. So many Great CMs at the parks here!

I make my way back to the hub and couldn’t help getting another selfie with the Man and his Mouse

Around this time Jinx texted me and said he was up and was heading down to breakfast. I asked him which park he wanted to hit and since we had done a full day at CA yesterday he was wanting some more Disneyland fun. That worked for me so I told him to text me when he left the hotel and I’d meet him in front of the Mickey head/Main Street Train Station.

To kill time I took a ride on Soarin’ and then continued the loop around Grizzly Peak

Geyser time!

That’s a big bear!

Brave early morning patrons off on their watery adventure

You can almost hear it roar!

Can’t go past the mill without a pic - the sky was just stunning!

And I loved their little Mickey Head Christmas Tree

At 9:30am I got the text and 15 minutes later we were two baby Groots – complete with red hats!

After snapping the pic I jumped on MaxPass and got us hooked up with immediate FPs to BTMRR! 15 minutes later we were at the loading platform and I took a moment to snap a pic of one of the markers they have there

We sat down and Jinx took off his hat – I decided to live dangerously and just pulled my Santa Mickey hat firmly onto my head and off we went!

Click to enjoy our Riotous Ride thru Big Thunder Mountain!


As you can see from the video we had an great time. Out next adventure was to be a classic – time to join our Pirate Brethren!

It was still early so all was quiet in the Blue Bayou

Things did not go well for these buccaneers

Davy Jones had some choice words

And Barbossa let the fortress know that he meant business

That poor waterlogged mayor

Jack apparently needs a new wardrobe

The Classic Redhead – huzzah for the larboard side

Enjoying their spoils

He keeps good company

That dog isn’t budging!

He’s quite the shot!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!

Ye ole map of Tortuga greets us on the way out

Cheers from your valiant seafaring pair!

We were enjoying out time and needed to keep the “E-Ticket” mojo going, so we decided our next stop would be at the NBC’d Haunted Mansion!

Chapter 24 – Haunts, Island Adventure, and 2 Groots Become 4!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 24 - Haunts, Island Adventure, and 2 Groots Become 4!

After finishing our rousing expedition to Tortuga and back we wrangled MaxPass FPs for the residence for 999 Ghosts! We stopped for a quick shot of Jinx with the “Not Brigham Young’s” hearse!

I love the detailing they put in to the NBC makeover including the Jack Skellington tie-ribbons

Same thing inside the foyer

And I have to include at least a couple of stretching room shots, right?

Since I did a bunch of shots on our last time thru I’ll just share this one in the séance room with a side view of Leota while Scary Teddy makes mischief on the back of the chair

We finished our tour of the happy haunts and I asked Jinx what he wanted to do next. I was very happy to hear he wanted to take a trip to the Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island! This is a favorite of mine form childhood and although it has had a major facelift since then it is still a magical place of exploration. And one that Jinx had been very much looking forward to experiencing with me.

We waited our turn and soon were on the barge crossing the Rivers of America

We wound our way thru the trails and came across the bone cages from Dead Man’s Chest. We could use a little help here!

After that Jinx went to work on the capstan (had to look that up) to bring the treasure chest and an unexpected greedy former pirate

We walked on and in the distance I heard a train whistle

We climbed upward around the pirate ship stern

As we progressed southward we could hear the occasional screams from some voyagers escaping Brer Fox and Brer Bear

At that point we got a text from Roxy and PumpkinGirl, they had and made their way into the park. We told them where we were and said we could meet them in New Orleans Square. They decided to take a quick trip on the railroad while we worked our way back to the mainland

We wound our way back around the trails, saying a quick ‘hello’ to the Mark Twain as we went

We kept texting and had decided to meet at the queue for PotC. Their short journey came to an end and PumpkinGirl got a quick pic with the conductor

Meanwhile we chugged back across the river saying farewell to Tom’s island

At this point we were taking different paths to the same destination and both ran into cool characters. Roxy and PumpkinGirl caught Jack just as he was ducking back stage

At the same time we were on the other side of the Café Orleans and ran into Dr. Facilier – he was a kick, Jinx loved him!

We said our farewells to the “good doctor” and the family was reunited in the PotC queue. Huzzah for two Groots becoming four!

We had a grand voyage together and came out the other side HUNGRY! Where to eat? Somewhere special! Somewhere that held fond remembrances to the me of yesteryear. Tune in next time to see!

Click here for Chapter 25 – Good Grub, a Special Portrait, and More Happy Haunts!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hey you lurkers! I can see the view count going up so I'm guessing I'm not just putting this up here for my own amusement

I hope you all are enjoying my TR and that you all have a DisneyTastic weekend in store!

 

[Steppesister]

Just back from my own jaunt to the Motherland, and had a fantastic time. I spent the last hour binge reading your last (MANY!!!) updates and am all caught up. I can't comment on everything I'd have liked to, but suffice to say, it brought back some really nice memories. I especially loved all of you photos of DCA at night with the holiday stuff up. And doubly so the Carsland photos! You are such a sweet looking family.

Thank you for hanging in there with me!!!!

Still here... and there's always a spot reserved for you on my thread too. Miss you over there.

The chiropractor is on the other side of the Santa Ana freeway on Ball Road, about a 1.5 mile walk. He has this awesome hydraulic table that you walk up to, stand on its base, and he lowers you into place. Once there he uses gentle pressure on the problem area and foot pedals to trigger areas of the table to pop up and do the manipulations. It is extremely effective and got the rib mostly back into place.

YAY! for getting fixed up.

Roz wants to make sure you have all of your paperwork in

Favorite character of that movie. Love her!

I had a nice conversation with Mr. Potato Head

After your flight(s) I'll bet you had a lot of "interesting conversations".

On the way from Monsters Inc PumpkinGirl caught up with some of the roving entertainment

One of my favorite groups! Love Five and Dime!

And you'll notice our little charging station setup - I have a large external battery and a USB hub that allows all of us to recharge at once!

Cool! I need one!

It will hold a prized spot on my desk at work

Sweet!!!!

Gorgeous. Truly! Very colorful and festive.

Army hat and Bearded Veterans shirt and gave me a salute and thru gestures thanked me for my service – it was a very unexpected and cool.

Nice touch, Woody!

Cool shot, Mike! Very artsy.

 

[buteraa]

I love the Groot shirts. I'm really enjoying your report.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hey All, I meant to post yesterday but ended up having to remove about 1/3 of the smoke tree in my front yard as it was starting to buckle the fence between our yard and our neighbors. It turned out to have been a LOT more work than I thought it would be. But I'm back this morning and will be posting another installment ASAP!

Just back from my own jaunt to the Motherland, and had a fantastic time. I spent the last hour binge reading your last (MANY!!!) updates and am all caught up. I can't comment on everything I'd have liked to, but suffice to say, it brought back some really nice memories. I especially loved all of you photos of DCA at night with the holiday stuff up. And doubly so the Carsland photos! You are such a sweet looking family.

Welcome back, glad you had a fantastic ...or DisneyTastic time! Thank you for digging in there to catch up on my little endeavor

Thank you on the pictures, I loved the feel of the park at the holidays, especially closing Cars Land - that was so cool. Thank you for the compliment on our family, we really enjoyed our time together on this trip. Much less stress than past trips.

Still here... and there's always a spot reserved for you on my thread too. Miss you over there.

Thank you - and I'll be right over!

YAY! for getting fixed up.

I really needed it, I was a mess.

Favorite character of that movie. Love her!

She is great, perfect deadpan.

After your flight(s) I'll bet you had a lot of "interesting conversations".

LOL, lets just say I was "animated"

One of my favorite groups! Love Five and Dime!

We only saw them in passing this trip - need to catch their full show.

Cool! I need one!

They are handy for sure!

Sweet!!!!

There is another one on eBay, unfortunately it is not cheap

Gorgeous. Truly! Very colorful and festive.

It really was - I'm glad we stuck around for it

Nice touch, Woody!

Woody is the Boss!

Cool shot, Mike! Very artsy.

LOL, thank you!

I love the Groot shirts. I'm really enjoying your report.

Thank you very much - we got sooo many compliments on those shirts!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 25 - Good Grub, a Special Portrait, and More Happy Haunts!

We sailed the 7 seas on PotC as a family and survived! But we had built up a mighty hunger! Where to eat? Well I’ll have you know I had this one lined out. We would have a meal and watch the show at the Golden Horseshoe! This was a big one for me. On my first trip to Disneyland as a tender lad of 7 during our Bicentennial year of 1976 I had 4 memories that stuck. One was riding the Skyway thru the Matterhorn.

Two was the Bicentennial Parade

Third was the Main Street Electrical Parade

And last was watching the Golden Horseshoe Revue in the Golden Horseshoe Saloon. This stuck with me so well that a few years ago I started looking for information on Facebook and saw that there was no page for it! So I made one myself!

It started out as a page for the Revue itself but Facebook actually recognized the hits it was getting and converted it to the official page for the Golden Horseshoe itself. And I am proud to have Don Payne come on board as a fellow Admin – he understudied for Disney Legend Wally Boag and took over for him in his role in the Revue. We have been thanked by fans and by family members of the original Revue actors for putting it together and keeping it running.

https://www.facebook.com/TheGoldenHorseshoeCA/

So you might guess it was a big deal to be standing here again.

The show is still a lot of fun, but is a much abbreviated version of the original Revue. We got some grub and settled in

The show even came to us while we were eating!

After a good meal I went up to the stage and Roxy snapped a couple of pics for me

And then got a shot of me next to the “Originals” in the Revue’s Hall of Fame – Wally Boag as Pecos Bill, Fulton Burley as The Irish Tenor, and Betty Taylor as Slue Foot Sue

One last shot of the place before we headed out

Before we ate we had set up an appointment for a caricature to be done of the kiddos – the timing worked well for us to head there and get it done

While we waited we again rain into the Doctor, who was ready with his trademark pose

Meanwhile progress was being made

I kept getting more Santa references from passer-bys

Big Smiles!

It took about 30 minutes for the finished product, but it was worth it – Baby Groots and all!

While we were waiting I had of course been busy on MaxPass and scored another ride on HM – whoohoo!

Good doggie

I love the animated portraits as you head towards the ride loading area with Zero flitting thru them

PumpkinGirl got a good shot of the Hatbox Ghost

They all look so happy

The trumpets blare

Roxy was with PumpkinGirl for this ride so she took a pic of her as we rode

We moved out looking for more adventure – join us next time to see where we go!

Click here for Chapter 26 – A Roll around the Park leads to Spins and Songs!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 26 - A Roll around the Park leads to Spins and Songs

We came out of the Haunted Mansion and upon looking for our next bit of fun realized we hadn’t been to Toontown yet! I looked on MaxPass and secured FPs for Roger Rabbit and we headed to the New Orleans Square Train Station. Upon arriving I was happy to again see the Lilly Belle!

While we waited for the next train to arrive I scoped out the French Market and contemplated beignets but the line was too long to risk it before our transportation arrived. Loved that the Skellington bows extended to the sign though

Our train arrived and I was happy to see that it was one of the outward-facing ones to get some good snaps thru Frontierland/Rivers of America

The Indian Chief welcomed us

Everything looks so serene at the trappers cabin

They did such a magnificent job with the makeover thru here

I couldn’t get a good shot of the Shaman, but did get a decent shot of the Indian Village thru the trees

The foxes yipped at us as we went by

The sky and scenery was very majestic

We arrived at Toontown and had a few minutes before our FPs kicked in so took in the AWESOME Christmas decorations they had up in the town

Our time had come and we headed into the queue and off on our “spin”. I was cautious about this one as it didn’t want it jerking my neck back out of whack. PumkinGirl and Roxy got in one car and Jinx and I in the one behind them. PumpkinGirl managed to catch a couple of pics of the two of us.

On that last one you can see how my arm was resting on the side of the car. It turns out I didn’t need to worry about my neck, it was a quick twisting turn that got me. My arm had stuck to the ride vehicle and the turn basically yanked the skin on my inner bicep and left me with a very colorful bruise. Lesson learned with that one!

Meanwhile PumpkinGirl managed a shot of Jessica, who she had still been obsessing over and was still collecting pins for

Soon enough Roger was showing us the door

We checked out the Five and Dime for more pins

…and the Post Office to check our mail

We did a little more wandering around before heading out and on to IaSW

Beautiful Holiday touches here too

Hello from the Fam!

And then we were welcomed to the holiday fun!

Epic tree!

So colorful!

I want him in my front yard for Christmas!

Very cool

Good words to live by

Our voyage complete I have to say I loved the makeover and the change in the music they have for the Holidays. So glad we took the time to ride it.

Now we had to decide what to do next. We hadn’t done much with Characters this time around but there was one specific one that the kiddos had to get. And I had one thing I personally wanted to do and had missed the previous day. Who would we see? Where did I need to be? And what surprised would I find on my way??? Tune in next time to see!!!

Click Here for Chapter 27 - Character Meets, Special Salutes, and Madness Ensues!

 

[Steppesister]

The cariacature turned out super cute. Love that! It's something we've never done; done tons of silhouettes, but not those.

Someday, I'd LOVE to see the Christmas overlay at Small World. It looks so pretty. I like that's it's not just projections too.

I adored the new train stuff they added especially the left turn! HA! If you take the Mark Twain next time, make sure to look at the trestle. There's a cute surprise there.

Fun, packed update for us!
ETA!!! I had no idea the Golden Horseshoe was a show as well! It is very reminiscent of Hoop de Doo which is a total hoot. Super glad you did that!

 

[gardengirl2790]

I’ve been lurking and following along. I thought I’d say hello to a fellow Oregonian. You have a sweet family.

 

[mnmrmustard]

The cariacature turned out super cute. Love that! It's something we've never done; done tons of silhouettes, but not those.

Someday, I'd LOVE to see the Christmas overlay at Small World. It looks so pretty. I like that's it's not just projections too.

I adored the new train stuff they added especially the left turn! HA! If you take the Mark Twain next time, make sure to look at the trestle. There's a cute surprise there.

Fun, packed update for us!
ETA!!! I had no idea the Golden Horseshoe was a show as well! It is very reminiscent of Hoop de Doo which is a total hoot. Super glad you did that!

The caricatures were so worth it - when we got home we had copies made up so each kid has one plus one for Roxy and I. Mine is in my office at work.

IaSW Christmas overlay was AMAZING, you gotta see it for sure! New train layout rocks and I know about those little critters under the trestle - saw them from the island.

It used to be a grand show indeed - Hoop de Doo was loosely based on it actually.

I’ve been lurking and following along. I thought I’d say hello to a fellow Oregonian. You have a sweet family.

Howdy my fellow PNW'er! Thank you for reading along and for saying Hello!!! More fun to come!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Chapter 27 - Character Meets, Special Salutes, and Madness Ensues!

It was mid-afternoon on a sunny and non-smoggy day at DLR as we clamored out of our IaSW boat. The kiddos had been looking into characters for a change instead of rides on the Disneyland App. We’re not huge on characters as the kids are older and we don’t want to spend 30 minutes plus in line to get a pic. But there are exceptions!

In this case the kids wanted to find a certain free-roaming troublemaker. That’s right, they wanted their Peter Pan fix! We found him causing mischief near the Circus Train and Jinx made a beeline for him. The first thing Pan noticed was a necklace Jinx was wearing. He may have been the only one to actually read it during our trip. To Roxy’s chagrin it said “Don’t be an A******”

As you can see he made some fun of that and they both had a big laugh

Jinx finally gave an “oh well”

Pose time!

Next up was PumpkinGirl! Pan really liked her hat

They had a good conversation too

Look at those guns!

Pose time for them – big laughs!

…and big smiles!

That put the kiddos on a character kick so we took a look in the app and found that Moana was out in Adventureland. It was a bit of a wait but we got to be the last family to meet her for that timeframe so she took her time with us.

After some good banter we did the classic pose

Once we came out of that it was time to split up. I had done the logistics to make the Flag Retreat this time, even knowing I had some crowd obstacles to overcome. While I undertook that endeavor the rest of the fam was going to hit Indiana Jones again!

No pictures for their experience but I went on a real adventure! I was winding my way down Main Street at the same time as the Christmas Parade. Queue the reindeer!

They were of course “pulling” Santa down the lane

HEY SANTA!

I made my way across the street to the flag pole area. While waiting for the ceremony to begin I snapped this grand Christmas picture of the tree with the lamp post and poinsettias

Soon enough the ceremony began

Presentation of the flag

It was a wonderful ceremony with a good crowd of onlookers. I was proud to have witnessed it.

When it was over I meandered back up the street and as I got closer to the hub I started to hear the unmistakable tones of the piano and laughter. Lo and behold between the Refreshment Corner and Jolly Holiday I came across Michael banging out some ragtime tunes!

Click to enjoy Michael tickling those ivories!

Michael was joined by the Mayor of Madness – the Hatter!

…and he wasn’t alone. Tweedle-Dee and Dum were along for the ride, playing musical chairs with some kids.

After the game one of them said “Hi”

…and pointed out my Santa hat, which he liked very much!

Afterwards I got a great selfie with the Hatter himself!

Click here for Chapter 28 - A Walt Disney World Interlude!