*~Trading Snow & Slush For Pixie Dust~* Jan PTR - 1/17 - Photo Challenge Complete!

[Colleen27]

Congratulations on the reservations you made! Looks like a fantastic plan! It's always a win when you can book the week you want, stay on property, and it is still the cheapest way to go.

Thanks. It literally made my week. I was getting tired of waffling over where to stay!

Your schedule looks great.

Our November trip was our favorite one weather wise. Days were @ 80 degrees, nights were in the 60's, and it only rained once the entire week.

All of my kids have pillow pets too. DS has a penguin, DD has a duck, and DD's ladybug just got a little sister. Apparently there are mini pillow pets; a fact I discovered while waiting in the checkout line at Bed, Bath, and Beyond!

That's the kind of weather I'm hoping for. We're having a perfect summer week here - highs in the mid-80s, plenty warm enough for swimming, with nights in the mid-60s, nice enough to be outside but not so warm that it stays muggy all night. We've lucked into some pretty good weather on our winter trips but as a whole the last 3 have been cooler than I'd like, which was one of the reasons Nov looked better than Dec or Jan this time.

I'll have to keep that in mind about the mini Pillow Pets... and keep Boo out of Bed Bath and Beyond!

Pocahontas is getting a new Pillow Pet for her birthday too. She saw the Paws (Detroit Tigers) Pillow Pet and fell in love, so my mom of course had to buy it for her. I thought the regular ones were expensive... The MLB ones retail for $35!

I'm so glad the free dining worked out for you and y'all were able to book! I bet the trip feels more "real" now that you have gotten that done. Your plans look great, and we will be overlapping a couple of times if all goes the way I've planned it out. We'll be at Epcot in the evening on the 6th, at DHS for rope drop on the 7th, and MK on the 9th. That's the morning of our CP breakfast before rope drop, and y'all will be having lunch at CP that day! How funny.

The pictures from Boo's birthday are so cute. As blasphemous as it sounds, we are throwing DS an Elmo party for his 1st birthday. I really wanted to do Mickey Mouse for him of course, but he practically asked for an Elmo party so I have to give the little booger what he wants! He LOVES Elmo! I'm actually going to look for party supplies today.

I'm still switching around park days (update coming soon), but it is so nice just having the trip booked and moving on to things like fine-tuning the park schedule and compulsively rearranging ADRs.

Boo didn't really know who Elmo was until about a year ago, and then just barely. DM took her to Sesame Street Live in Feb and he was the only character she sort of recognized. She didn't even know Cookie Monster! So I pulled out some of my and my brother's old Sesame Street storybooks and started putting on PBS instead of the Disney Channel every now and then, and now she's almost as into Elmo as Mickey. When Sesame Street Live comes back this winter she's getting a fun surprise - my mom is getting the VIP seats that include a character meet & greet this time.

 

[Colleen27]

Well, I've already started with the rearranging of the plans.

On Nov 5, we're now having dinner at Kona instead of Citricos. I made the ADR late enough that we should be able to catch the torch lighting before we check in. We caught the very tail end of it last trip and I think Stitch will really enjoy it.

On the 7th, I swapped 50s Prime Time for Mama Melrose for lunch. We've never been there, and it fit better with the changes I made to our second Studios day.

On the 9th, we're going to Epcot instead of the Magic Kingdom. This was the reason for the changes - the kids pointed out that we haven't done Epcot EMH in years and wanted to do it again, and this puts us there midweek instead of during a F&W weekend. So now the plan is to sleep in, get to Epcot around lunch time, and stay until midnight or so. Lunch at Teppan Edo - my son is thrilled I figured out how to fit this in - and dinner at Rose & Crown.

On the 10th, we're still sleeping in and lunching at Brown Derby for the Fantasmic package and checking out the Osborne Lights, but I decided we'll just have dinner at Studios afterwards instead of hitting a resort. So I booked 50s Prime Time for dinner right at park-closing (8pm).

The 11th is now Magic Kingdom day two. I love this and don't know why I didn't think of it on my own - swapping to hit the Epcot EMH means we'll start and end the parks line-up with the Magic Kingdom. Lunch will be Crystal Palace, dinner Citricos.

Then on the 12th I'm going to go over solo to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, which was the whole reason I was willing to brave a Friday during Food & Wine to begin with. Since we'll be at the Beach Club it isn't a problem just to pop over for the concert, and since I'm upgrading to an AP when we arrive there isn't even an extra ticket day expense.

I'm still stalking the dining site looking to change dinner on one of our MK nights, because in rearranging I couldn't get California Grill at a decent time and that's one of my kids' favorites. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something will open up because we all love CG, but if not I'm still quite happy with the lineup I have without it and with the changes we're trying more new experiences than I thought we'd have time for.

 

[Colleen27]

Just a quick shameless brag before I head off for a very busy day of taking Pocahontas to camp and heading downtown for the Kid Rock concert...

The DISBoutique group on the Families board is hosting a Project Runway contest with weekly themed challenges, and I won week one! I can't believe it! The stuff I make is so much simpler than the beautiful appliqued creations so many of the ladies on that thread make, but a no-applique rule in week one leveled the playing field. You can see my entry here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42176051&postcount=4

I'll be taking better pics of it on Boo later, but right now I have last minute camp stuff to get done!

 

[Colleen27]

As the song goes, There ain't no party like a Detroit party!

Saturday morning I was up bright and early with Pocahontas, who was more than a little anxious to get to camp. She loved the outfit I made her for camp and has decided she wants to wear this on meeting days too.

I dropped her off at 1 and headed straight for the city. We're about an hour out of downtown Detroit and camp was in the opposite direction so I had a bit of a haul to get where I was going. By the time I picked up DM and we got downtown it was about 2:30.

DM has a players club card at the Greektown casino, which is right downtown, so we parked there for free and hopped the People Mover around to the stadium.

Pocahontas loves the People Mover. When the kids were younger they used to call it the "Detroit monorail", even though it is far from as quiet and efficient as the real thing. It does offer some nice views, though.

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day for an outdoor concert.

We headed to the stadium right away, just to look around and check out the 'block party' happenings that were leading up to the concert.

One of the reasons I love Disney is the attention to detail and the complete, over-the-top way that themes are carried out. I love Comerica Park for the same reason. As a life-long Tigers fan I was very sad to see the old park go but the new one really is beautiful.

The other thing the new park really has going for it is location - instead of being well out of downtown like the old park, Comerica is right in the heart of everything which makes for much nicer event days and much more support for city businesses. It is really nice to be able to walk around, grab a bite to eat, and shop a little instead of getting off the expressway for the game/event and right back on afterwards.

This is the street behind the stadium, with Comerica Park on the right and the Lions' stadium, Ford Field, on the left.

And this is the front of the stadium, looking towards one of Detroit's oldest and most beautiful theatres, the Fox. We'll be there in January again for Sesame Street Live and Boo's big meet & greet with the monsters.

For lunch, we headed across the street to Hockeytown Cafe, which is a Hard Rock/Planet Hollywood type place devoted entirely to Detroit sports. Lunch was good as always, nothing fancy but great bar food and Bad@$$ beer (Kid Rock's locally-made beer) on tap.

Even 1200 miles from WDW I managed to find a little Disney in my day, this time at the "D" Shop at the stadium. I'd never seen the Mickey Tigers stuff before, but I ended up getting a pin for my lanyard of Mickey throwing a ball with the Tigers' logo, and another for Pocahontas of Mickey at bat wearing the Old English D.

It was a little after 6 by the time we wandered into the stadium to find our seats. Thanks to my mom we had about the best seats in the house - 5th row center on the main floor.

We were the first ones in our section, and it was nice to put our feet up and enjoy a beer.

At this point I just have to mention that while I did take my good camera I didn't want to lug around my bag or my heavier lenses, so all of these were taken with my tiny, light "nifty 50" fixed lens. There's no zoom; we were really that close.

Up next, the concert...

 

[Colleen27]

The opening act was Ty Stone and the Truth, a local country-rock band that is on Kid Rock's record label. I've just missed seeing them at a couple of summer festivals this year so I was looking forward to it. I was apparently one of only a few, though, because the stadium was still mostly empty.

They put on a good show, but nothing to write home about visually. I like their brand of country music and bought their CD at the end of the night, but their stage presence left something to be desired.

Up next was Sammy Hagar. I'm not really a fan, probably owing to a teeny-weeny childhood crush on David Lee Roth. Van Halen just wasn't the same without him... But I digress.

I was pleasantly surprised by Hagar's performance. He's got to be pushing 60 but still has a lot of energy on stage and I like the whole Mexico/tropical beach vibe that he puts into his show.

He stuck to his classic party songs - Can't Drive 55, Rock Candy, Only One Way To Rock - which was a big plus. I hate when the one of the aging rocker gets out there as an opening act and wants to pimp new material that no one really knows or cares about in front of fans who aren't there to see him anyway.

He was just wrapping up when that beautiful day started looking not so sunny. It was hard to tell the lightning from the camera flashes at first but soon the lightning took center stage, so to speak.

At what should have been the break between Hagar and Kid Rock, security cleared the field thanks to a severe thunderstorm system that was blowing through. The skies opened up just after the announcement was made, and we got SOAKED!

Fortunately the storm was short lived. As they say, a hard rain can't last, and the field wasn't even completely cleared by the time we were turning around to head back to our seats. The clouds even cleared enough to give us a pretty little sunset and perfect Michigan twilight.

After about a 30 minute rain delay it was finally time for Kid Rock!

Detroit Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Su did the intro which got a huge reaction from the crowd. We Detroiters are a stubborn lot and nowhere is that more evident than in the persistent believe that someday, somehow, this year's new star will be what it takes to make the Lions a winning team. The Lions had a pre-season game at the same time as the previous night's Kid Rock show and they won, so it was the talk of the town anyway.

I've seen Kid Rock in concert more times than I could accurately count (I've tried but in my younger days... ) and this was the best I've ever seen him. His Detroit shows are always the best because of the relationship he has with his fans and the city as a whole, and this one was spectacular. His newest album has a very blue collar/blues feel to it that just fits the tone of the city so well, and he moves so smoothly from the hard/hip-hop influenced older material to the more thought-provoking and lyrical newer songs.

One minute he's all 'redneck, rock-n-roll son of Detroit' and it is the party of the year...

And the next he's 'flyin' high in an old lawn chair' singing a mellow country-influenced tune like All Summer Long or Flyin' High.

The best part of the show was his encore. A well known Detroit reverend delivered the introduction, and Kid Rock sat down on a stool on an otherwise dark stage to sing Times Like These.

I heard them say they're shutting Detroit down
But I won't leave 'cause this is my hometown

And it's times like these we can't replace
It's times like these we must embrace
And even though it's bittersweet and brings us to our knees
It makes us who we are in times like these

It almost felt like a completely different show compared to the lasers and pyrotechnics and fireworks of the upbeat music, and he is such an amazing performer. You can feel just how deeply he means those words, and the whole concert event is evidence of that - the entire block party atmosphere and having the show at the stadium is his way of bringing people and money into the city, and everywhere you looked you saw his Made In Detroit clothing like and Bad@$$ beer, companies that are putting folks here in Michigan to work when so many others are laying off and moving out.

Never one to end on a down note, the encore couldn't end there. For the fun, jazzy Rock & Roll Jesus a gospel choir took the stage to back him up, and for the last song he brought up the house lights to play the title track of his newest album, Born Free.

He was on stage for about 2 and a half hours, start to finish. After the show we took our time leaving the stadium, then stopped for a beer at Cheli's - another hockey-themed bar, this one owned by hockey great Chris Chelios - where the local rock station was having their after-party. It was 12:30 by the time we made our way back to the casino and almost 2 before we grabbed a bite to eat and got back to my mom's house.

I slept all day yesterday and I still have a few hundred pictures to sort and edit. It was such a great time and next year I will definitely be taking Stitch. He'd have loved the show! The whole event was just spectacular, from the silly little games and the ferris wheel, the proceeds of which went to Kid Rock's charity, to just having an excuse to spend a rare afternoon downtown. I've had a bit of a crush on Kid Rock since the first time I saw him live and even met him briefly back in '96, and I love seeing the direction he's taking his career and how he's using his pull to help the city and the state.

And if you stuck around this long, there's a semi-trip related note to come out of all of this. The last day of our last trip was Mardi Gras, and Ken noticed all the Saints/purple & gold in my pics. Guess what? He decided he likes that idea - the man who won't wear matching/coordinating colors when I'm planning Disney outfits has decided that he wants us to get matching Detroit shirts for one day of our trip.

So with that in mind I was shopping the Tigers shops and the Made In Detroit booth and I think I've settled on one I like. On the front is a collage in the shape of Michigan's 'mitten' made up of different local team/business logos, highway signs, and other icons. The back simply says "We're all Detroit".

So now I'm stalking a few local stores/websites because I can find the men's version in stock but the women's and kids' are harder to come by. I'll find them between now & Nov, I'm sure.

 

[TigerTown]

I just found your PTR and will be subbing As a fellow Detroiter and occasional WoW player I am looking forward to your report.

As for the conert...it looks like it was a lot of fun. I took my wife to see Bon Jovi at Comerica a few years ago and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We looked into Kid Rock ticks but the only ones we could find at a reasonable price were up in the 300 level...no thanks. Anyway enjoying the PTR so far!

 

[Colleen27]

I just found your PTR and will be subbing As a fellow Detroiter and occasional WoW player I am looking forward to your report.

As for the conert...it looks like it was a lot of fun. I took my wife to see Bon Jovi at Comerica a few years ago and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We looked into Kid Rock ticks but the only ones we could find at a reasonable price were up in the 300 level...no thanks. Anyway enjoying the PTR so far!

The DIS is such a small world - I clicked on the trip report in your sig and realized we were at the Beach Club at the same time as you! We were there 8/20 to 8/23/07 for my older daughter's 6th birthday, but our only park time was a few hours at Epcot and the Pirate & Princess party on the 21st and Magic Kingdom on the 22nd. We spent the rest of the trip in the pool.

I LOVE your screen name! That is one of my very favorite Disney movies ever since I was a little kid. My grandfather had season tickets at the old stadium and I practically grew up there so it has huge nostalgia value for me. I've worn out 3 copies of the Tiger Town VHS and am eagerly awaiting/hoping for a DVD release eventually.

Comerica was a lot better for a concert than I thought it would be. Old Tiger Stadium wasn't bad - I saw the Eagles and the Three Tenors there - but Comerica was better. Nothing like Ford Field, where the acoustics are just terrible! I saw Kenny Chesney there once and have absolutely no interest in ever seeing another concert there.

 

[afwdwfan]

It looks like you had a great time in Detroit. I love Kid Rock's music, although it doesn't have quite as strong as an appeal to me as it does you with that obvious Detroit connection. I'm sure that was a fantastic concert, thanks for sharing your thoughts and the pictures!

 

[TigerTown]

I LOVE your screen name! That is one of my very favorite Disney movies ever since I was a little kid. My grandfather had season tickets at the old stadium and I practically grew up there so it has huge nostalgia value for me. I've worn out 3 copies of the Tiger Town VHS and am eagerly awaiting/hoping for a DVD release eventually.

I'm on my second copy as well. I love the good memories it brings back when I watch it!

One of my favorite parts is when the boy is on his bike racing to get to Tiger Stadium near the end of the movie. I don't know where his house was but they show him driving down some random street then going through the "chicken" arches at Eastern Market, then crossing the Belle Isle bridge ( going on to Belle Isle) before arriving at the stadium. Now if you don't live here you wouldn't think anything of it but for those of us that do, its hilarious. None of those places are even remotely close to each other let alone "on the way" to the ballpark.

 

[Colleen27]

One of my favorite parts is when the boy is on his bike racing to get to Tiger Stadium near the end of the movie. I don't know where his house was but they show him driving down some random street then going through the "chicken" arches at Eastern Market, then crossing the Belle Isle bridge ( going on to Belle Isle) before arriving at the stadium. Now if you don't live here you wouldn't think anything of it but for those of us that do, its hilarious. None of those places are even remotely close to each other let alone "on the way" to the ballpark.

Ah, yes... The classic "We really filmed this on location, honest!" montage, where the main character just happens to drive past basically everything identifiable as from Detroit. Cracks me up every time.

 

[Colleen27]

Well, it's official... Pocahontas is now a Disney adult!

It has been a very long week full of birthday celebrations, and I've been a bit under the weather to top it off so it kind of went by in a blur. We had 6 girls sleep over on Saturday, about 20 people for the family party on Sunday, then 4 girls stayed Sunday night and 1 last night. Needless to say it has been a while since I got a moment of quiet!

We had a lot of great fun, though I was a little remiss in my photography duties since I was running the festivities on auto-pilot. I did at least manage to snap a pic of my girls in the matching birthday outfits my mom gave them. Notice the feathers? Pocahontas got hers done at a neighborhood salon. Boo got hers out of my craft supplies and brought me a barrette so she could be just like her big sister.

My tomboy Tiger fan had to have a Tigers-themed cake, even though it meant getting it from a bakery 10 miles away instead of the one 10 blocks away.

In the spirit of the day, the kids got out a baseball bat for the pinata instead of using a stick. That baseball didn't last nearly as long as Elmo did at Boo's party!

I didn't get pictures of the sleepover fun but I really wish I had. Pocahontas decided on make-your-own pizzas and a sundae bar for the menu, and the sundae bar was something to see... Sprinkles, mini-marshmellows, gummy bears, Tigers team color M&Ms, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, Nerds, bananas, cherries, chocolate sauce, whipped cream... enough sweets to cover the entire kitchen table, and four flavors of ice cream to heap it all on! Between the candy-fest and the nail art kit she got for her birthday, the girls were up all night and had a blast.

With the last big occasion of the summer over I'll be turning my attention to working on our detailed park plans and such in the next few days. Just imagine, a Disney-related post on my PTR might be not that far off!

 

[Colleen27]

I feel like such a slacker... Only 71 days left on the countdown and I'm just starting to turn my attention to the day to day plans.

Oh well, there's no time like the present to get started!

November 5 - Arrival day

This is going to be a long one, and I'm figuring on a fair bit of 'first day of vacation' excitement to help get through it.

I'm still watching airfares so I'm not sure where we'll be flying out of - there's a good time from Flint but right now the fares there are much higher than out of Detroit. I'd rather go out of the smaller airport, but the convenience isn't worth the $600+ price difference so I might just end up booking Delta from Detroit.

Either way, the options are all early morning - 7am from Flint, 7:30 or 9 out of Detroit. So we'll be getting to MCO around lunch time at the latest, and heading straight for Magical Express to get us to All Star Music.

I haven't made any room requests, but I will check the "first floor" option when I do the online check-in because with a stroller, ground floor is just so easy. The family suites are all in the preferred section and the two closest non-preferred buildings, and I really don't care which we end up in. So it'll be a surprise - either Calypso or Jazz.

~

We've had really good luck on our trips when it comes to our rooms being ready. We usually check in between noon and two and have never had to wait, so I'm hoping that luck will hold this time too.

If our room is ready, DH will take the kids to the pool while I unpack a bit. Then I'll join them. I think DM will probably want to nap, since she's the only one of us who seldom sleeps on the plane and isn't used to late nights. Boo might need a nap or a rest too, depending on how she does on the plane. Last trip she slept but things change so quickly at her age that I'm not counting on anything.

After a few hours of relaxing around the resort, we'll head off to dinner.

Nothing like starting off the trip with a bang - dinner is at our all-time favorite Disney restaurant, California Grill.

I'm breaking one of my personal rules with this one. Usually I don't book a cancellation-penalty meal for our arrival night, but with my last change of plans I had a very hard time finding any night that worked and so when a 5:30 on the 5th popped up I took it. With an early flight and at a time of year when weather delays are unlikely I'm not all that worried, but I'm still watching for something on one of the other nights that would work instead.

After a lovely sushi-filled DxDDP kick-off, it is on to the first park of the trip.

This is the only Magic Kingdom evening EMH during our trip, so I finally get the fun of both starting and ending a trip with the Magic Kingdom!

I'm keeping the plans for the evening pretty loose. The focus, at least early on, is the evening entertainment. The Main Street Electrical Parade is at 9 and I haven't seen it yet, so that's high priority. Wishes is at 10 but isn't really a must-do; we see it every trip but have never tried the ride-during-the-fireworks strategy so we might sacrifice a good viewing spot in favor of a few rides this time.

After Wishes we'll hit up some of the best-at-night rides like Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain, and if it is warm enough, Splash Mountain. In the last hour before the 1am close we'll head to Fantasyland; after midnight it really clears out and we just love late night walk-ons on Dumbo, the Tea Cups, and the Carousel.

A crazy-long day, to be sure, but I think it'll be a great start to a magical trip, and I allowed plenty of sleep-in time the next morning to recover.

 

[blessedmom4]

COLLEEN!! I just found your new PTR!!! How exciting for you, another trip to plan. I KNOW you are on cloud nine. I didn't reaize you had made that fabulaius dress for PR One of these days I AM gong to sew AND embroider. Just wanted to let you know I was here (I am behind on everything ) and so excited for you!

 

[Colleen27]

COLLEEN!! I just found your new PTR!!! How exciting for you, another trip to plan. I KNOW you are on cloud nine. I didn't reaize you had made that fabulaius dress for PR One of these days I AM gong to sew AND embroider. Just wanted to let you know I was here (I am behind on everything ) and so excited for you!

I'm still following your PTR too though I can't keep up most of the time. I was so happy to read about Rachel playing at HoB, that is so exciting for her! I can't wait to see trip report pics of that incredible experience!

I was so thrilled with my week one PR outfit. Actually, I'm happy with how all three came out and have something really fab almost finished for week four, but I couldn't believe I actually WON that first week! I never feel like I'm quite in the same league with so many of the talented DISboutiquers and that was just such a happy-dance moment. You'll be seeing more of my PR entries as I get the daily plans going because everything I've made so far has been inspired by this trip.

 

[Colleen27]

Well, with the voting for DIS project Runway week 3 over, I can post pics of Boo's day one/travel outfit. Inspired by All-Star Music, it has appliques of each of the resort's icons/sections, except for the Beauty & the Beast logo from the Broadway section which is painted. The music around the cuff is 'Be Our Guest', though with a missing measure where my mind got ahead of my brush.

Pocahontas will wear capris from the same music fabric with the sheet music cuff, which are already finished, but I haven't decided on how I'm going to embellish her t-shirt - maybe the modified resort logo same as on the front of the dress, or maybe something that will work in the icons instead.

And now, on to the day two plans.

Since we're planning to be at the Magic Kingdom until the wee hours I expect we'll sleep in a bit, but I know the "first day of vacation" excitement will get us up before it gets too late. Then it is off to my personal favorite park!

I already have Boo's outfit for this day done as well, another PR inspired by her current favorite Disney attraction:

Pocahontas hasn't decided if she wants a match to this one or if she'll just wear one of the many Mickey outfits she already has.

When we get there, I'll zip over to pick up Soarin' fastpasses and then catch up with the others, who will be heading off to one of the prettiest places in a very pretty park, the Canadian gardens, to check in for our lunch ADR at Le Cellier.

We've never been to Le Cellier, so this is one I am very much looking forward to. I've made ADRs here twice before only to find when we checked in that they were running so ridiculously behind that we chose not to wait. I hope that the third time will be the charm, and made an opening-time reservation to tip the odds in our favor.

After lunch the plan is to explore Future World, since this is a Sunday during Food & Wine and the World Showcase will be more crowded than usual. A few of our favorite Disney attractions are here, so I'm sure some will be getting more than one go-round, and I expect some of the play areas to eat up a fair bit of time too, particularly in the Imagination and Seas pavilions.

Since it will be well into the busier time of day, I'm not really worrying about touring plans or minimizing wait times. Instead we'll hit things in roughly geographical order, knowing that we'll have a second, less crowded day here later in the week.

So leaving the World Showcase, the first thing we'll come to is Boo's favorite - the Imagination Pavilion. Journey Into Imagination lured us in for more than one ride in March and I see no reason November will be any different, especially since Figment is one of Stitch's favorites too.

Stitch is a huge Star Wars fan and pretty into several of Jim Henson's more memorable creations as well, so he really wants to see Captain EO. Not exactly a headliner but pre-CG Lucas special effects make for good fun for getting our geek on.

Next up will be one of my favorites - Living With the Land. No matter how many times we've ridden the greenhouses never fail to fascinate me, and I'm planning on taking the Behind the Seeds tour again next year when DH & I are at Disney without the kids.

And of course while we're in the Land we have to use our FP for Soarin', assuming the return time is up. The kids are really excited for the FP/baby swap touring combo because they get to ride all their favorites twice with little or no wait!

Then on to the Seas for a visit with our favorite fishies, and a quick stop to see DH's favorite Pixar characters - the seagulls. Last trip we got him the "Mine, mine" coffee mug featuring these guys because they just crack him up.

I know Pocahontas will want to spend a fair bit of time exploring the Seas pavilion. Last trip we spent a long time just watching the manatees, which are her favorite animal, and I expect we'll do the same again this time.

We'll probably skip Innoventions this time, because last trip with Stitch the only thing he wanted to do was play Kingdom Hearts and he can do that at home! The exhibits there are so similar to things we see at science centers and museums we go to elsewhere, and don't change often enough to distract us from other Disney attractions.

So after the Seas it'll be on to Spaceship Earth. This is another that usually gets multiple visits and the line is usually minimal in the afternoon, so this will be a great time for a first stop.

Throughout the afternoon, I'll be bopping back and forth across the park to pick up FPs for the other two headliners when the window opens. If we have time, we'll take a quick flight to Mars and a spin around Test Track on our way back to the World Showcase for our dinner reservation. If not we'll catch them on the way out.

Of course, if we do Mission Space after dinner I'll stick to the green experience... to avoid getting a bit green myself!

I made dinner reservations for the home-run hit of our last trip, La Hacienda. Although I'm generally on a quest to try new places on our trips, the food and service at La Hacienda were so very good that I couldn't resist the lure of a repeat visit!

After dinner we'll call it a night, using up any leftover fastpasses and maybe stopping for another spin on Spaceship Earth on our way out. Illuminations will wait for our second Epcot day, because Day Three brings an early morning and a must-do rope drop.

 

[Colleen27]

Day three will have us up at the crack of dawn, or as close to it as my family gets anyway, to get to Studios no later than 8:30 for the Toy Story Mania stampede.

Studios is firmly a one day park in my mind but we've got two days for it this trip to catch evening EMH and the start of the Osborne lights, so if we miss anything we'll just catch it on day two, along with the attractions that didn't make it into the day one plan.

Stitch and DH have never ridden TSM because we didn't get to Studios for rope drop on our last whole family trip, so this is probably the biggest must-do of the entire trip. The plan is to ride once and then grab fastpasses so that we can swap off who has Boo's "help" with the game.

After the first round at TSM we'll grab a quick bite at Starring Rolls and decide who is going where. Studios is always our divide-and-conquer park because of the difference in the kids' interests so we'll spend a lot of the day going in different directions. Fortunately my mom doesn't do thrill rides so she doesn't mind taking the day at Boo-speed.

DM and Boo will probably head straight for Disney Junior. Boo is a huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan so she loves the show. It is probably her only Studios must-do.

From there, they'll probably hit the Little Mermaid show and spend some time stalking characters in the Animation building.

DH & I will take the older kids to hit Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster.

If we finish up with the headliners in time for the 11:30 shows I'll meet up with DM & Boo for Beauty & the Beast while Ken takes the older kids over for the 11:30 Indy stunt show. After the shows we'll all meet up for lunch at Mama Melrose.

After lunch we'll stick together a while. I want to keep the afternoon pretty low-key because we have a semi-late evening ahead of us, making this the longest park day of the whole trip.

The big kids want as many go-rounds on Star Tours as we can fit in so we're going to use Boo for the baby-swap factor to ride twice now and then come back during evening EMH. It was still closed for rehab on our March trip so I'm looking forward to this as much as they are!

While everyone is in one place we'll stop in at the new Phineas & Ferb meet & greet before we split up again. Then Ken will take the older kids over to the 4:30 Lights Motors Action show while DM & I spend a little more time character hunting with Boo and check out One Man's Dream.

Before we leave for dinner we'll use our TSM FPs if we haven't already. Then we'll head out of the park to the boat docks and catch a ride over to the Boardwalk.

Dinner is an early seating at Flying Fish, which was one of the outstanding meals from our last trip. I know Stitch will love it so I made the reservation even though I know DH's options are really limited because of his fish allergy. He'll just have to tough it out and order the steak.

After dinner, it'll be right back to Studios for some evening EMH fun. I don't really have a plan for this other than to spend a fair bit of time at the Disney Junior dance party with the girls. Ken & Stitch will probably run off for a second go at the thrills or more Star Wars voyages.

Even with the EMH the park closes at 10, so it won't be a super-late night like MK or Epcot EMH.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Colleen!! Followed you over from my PTR... I'm not going to try to read all of this tonight but I'm subbed so I'll be back!

 

[khertz]

Our park plans are already lining up! We will be in Epcot in the afternoon on the 6th and at DHS for rope drop (hopefully!) on the 7th.

 

[Colleen27]

Hi Colleen!! Followed you over from my PTR... I'm not going to try to read all of this tonight but I'm subbed so I'll be back!

Our park plans are already lining up! We will be in Epcot in the afternoon on the 6th and at DHS for rope drop (hopefully!) on the 7th.

I'm really hoping the family cooperates with getting up in time for that rope drop. It really makes DHS touring so much easier.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Finally made it through your report... I think it's so funny that we were at Disney the same week in March & we're going the same week in November! Your dresses are amazing! That's what caught my attention when I bumped into you at Dinosaur - your daughter's adorable dress! Then I spotted the Colleen LGMH!

Looks like our plans overlap on a couple days. We'll be at DHS on the evening of the 10th, then at MK the morning of the 11th! And IF our waitlist comes through, we'll be at BCV the 8th - 13th. If not, well be neighbors at BWV! I'll keep my eyes open for you! Are you going to design a November Mickey Head?