We've got this Rider Swap thing DOWN! - July 2012 TR/ 3/21/15 Final Update COMPLETE

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I'm not positively sure if it was because vacation had finally caught up to them, the heat or the morning swim but the kids couldn't care less that we were in Epcot! Ev was completely conked out in the front of the stroller and Josh refused to come out of the back! I was bummed because I wanted some more Photopass pictures in front of Space Ship Earth. Then, the Photopass photographer suggested that he just take some of just me & Eric! I guess he had noticed our "Happy Anniversary" buttons so he did some cutesy romantic-ish poses.


Photo0344FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0353FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Aren't we cute?! Lol!


Photo0356FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Next on the agenda was, what we affectionately called, Princess Stalking. We just so happened to be returning home from WDW on our Princess-obsessed niece's 5th birthday so before we left, we got a large birthday card for all the Princesses to sign. We knew Ev would get a kick out of meeting them too but since she was only 2 its not like she really knew to care that much.

Our first Princess was none other than the Fairest in all the Land, miss Snow White. We were lucky to get the perfect spot in line, close to the front and in the shade! We had a while until her M&G started but the line was already filling up. Once she came out and started greeting guests, they already had to cut the line off at the end!! Our turn was fast approaching and Ev was still asleep in her stroller and Josh was refusing to come out. By the time we were at the front, I had coaxed Ev out but Josh was stubborn. He was having NONE of this Princess business!! Snow White was great! Ev was still tired and feeling very shy so Snow chatted with her and took her over to the bushes to pick flowers.


Photo0382FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

We got her autograph book and Cousin's birthday card signed.

Photo0371FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Snow White noticed Josh sitting on the Joovy Caboose and invited him to come out. He still wouldn't get out, even when asked by Royalty!! Lol! So she teased him a little and asked if he knew her friend Grumpy. The Photopass photographer even got this shot of him being a silly boy.


Photo0372FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Ev was still feeling too shy to pose with Snow White with out me so here's the girls!

Photo0400FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

After Snow, we wandered over to France to meet Beast and Aurora. My niece used to ADORE Aurora so even if we got the entire birthday card filled with every Princess, it would mean nothing if Aurora's signature wasn't there! Sleeping Beauty was a MUST!!! But Beast was first. (okay, yah, that's Chewbacca but there are no Beast emoji's, okay?!)

It was already so, so hot and I knew we really needed something to cool off. Since we were walking past the American pavilion, I remembered that I really wanted to try the American Dream frozen slushy thing I had seen floating around on the DIS! But.... their soft serve machine was broken. Drat! THEN, as we walked through Japan I saw they had some sort of slushy stand - not sure what it was - but now I was REALLY craving a slushy of some sort! But DH refused to stop. I guess he was really anxious to meet Beast! I must have been whining because when we got to Beast's M&G and we still had a little while to wait before he came out again so Eric said he'd go search out a slushy for me. I think he found one in Morocco or something. I don't remember the flavor but I remember it was orange in color and tasty. It hit the spot!

Beast came out and started greeting. He is another character who doesn't sign, only does photos. I guess Josh found Beast to be appropriately manly enough to pose with so he agreed to come out of the stroller! Ev was kind of intimidated by him, though!


Photo0407FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

He even wanted a photo by himself!

Photo0410FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

After Beast it was Aurora's turn! I had a little trouble finding the beginning of the line to her M&G because there was NO ONE in line yet! Wow! I found a CM who pointed me to the right place but told me that Aurora had still not "woken up from her nap." As we waited, Marie started greeting about 20 feet away and there was a very short line so Eric took the kids over to her while I waited for Aurora.


IMG_2845 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2846 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

You can see that Josh is warming up to all these "girlie" characters!! Well, Marie took way longer than we expected and Aurora came out just as Josh & Ev were meeting miss kitty. I asked the family behind me if they'd like to go first. They were surprised and gladly accepted. I had to let 2 or 3 more people go before me while the kids finished up with Marie. The Photopass photographer with Aurora seemed a little annoyed with me but none of the people in line cared! In fact, they were happy to skip a couple places ahead! Oh well. Eric, Josh and Ev met up with me and soon it was our turn to meet Aurora. Josh had been tasked to get Cousin's birthday card signed so he was a little more agreeable about getting his picture with her.


Photo0417FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Doesn't he look like he's having FUN?!! Lol!

Photo0420FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

At least Ev was enjoying herself.

Photo0414FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

At that point we were absolutely starving so I suggested Tangierine Cafe in Morocco. I've gotta say, GREAT food! Weird service. The girl at the register seemed completely uninterested in anything at all. Not helpful or friendly in any sort of way. Since Ev was only 2, we didn't get a dining plan for her so sometimes we would share our food with her, sometimes the kiddos split a meal and a couple times we would just order her own meal and use one of the Josh's credits. We knew this meant that we would run out of credits at the end of the trip and that we would pay out of pocket for a couple of the kid's meals. No big deal. However, this CM made it a really big deal! Both kids wanted their own chicken nugget meal and we only had one credit left. I ordered mine and Eric's meals, on the dining plan, ordered Josh's meal, on the dining plan, then told her that I wanted another chicken nugget meal but that I would pay out of pocket. She acted like I asked for the moon! At first she wouldn't do it so I told her to just cancel the OOP kid's meal and I would just stand in line again (there was only one other family in there!!) and order it separately. Then she rolled her eyes at me and said she figured it out. Then, when I went down to the window to pick up our order, there were 3 chicken nugget meals on the tray!!! I explained that I only ordered two and only PAID for one but the CM there showed me the order ticket and was like "No, see you ordered 3!" I showed him my receipt that only had the charge for the one meal plus the one on the dining plan but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I took the free nuggets and figured the kids could snack on them later if they got hungry.

At this point we were the only ones in the place so we got this really nice booth at the front of the restaurant to stretch out in.

IMG_2842 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

We could see and hear the band Mo'Rockin' entertaining outside. It was so nice!

IMG_2843 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

I got the Chicken and Lamb Shawarma Platter. It came with spiced chicken and lamb (the kind they shave off the rotisserie at gyros places), tabouleh (that's the green parsley-based salad), couscous (which was wonderful!! I would rather have had double couscous than the tabouleh but they wouldn't do substitutes), hummus, and bread. The food was SOOOO YUMMY! And you get so much! This place was definitely worth the minor headache with the cash register CM. I would go back in a heartbeat!

IMG_2844 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

We still had some time to kill before we were supposed to meet with SIL & BIL and we promised Josh that we could do the Agent P Adventure. I wanted to stop in France to buy a little stuffed Remy for my kitchen so we did that, then headed to Japan.

Continued in the next post!!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, was to help Agent P solve clues to thwart some of Dr. Doofenschmirtz's most daringly eeee-vill plots all over Epcot's Japan.


IMG_2825 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

We stopped in at Headquarters (an Agent P's World Showcase Adventure kiosk) to pick up our Field Operative Notification Equipment, or F.O.N.E. so we could keep in contact with Major Monogram and stop Doofenshmirtz's dastardly deeds. Door had hidden a Babyinator somewhere in Japan and we had to find it and destroy it before he could turn everyone into babies so he could TAKE OVER THE TRI-STATE AREA!!!


IMG_2826 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

...How many of you watch Phinneas & Ferb?? If you don't, look it up on Netflix and go watch an episode right now!! Its hysterical! I don't care if you have kids or not, this show is absolutely brilliant. All these little jokes, like the F.O.N.E, are so much funnier if you watch the show. Anyhow, back on track...

With this activity, you get clues, via your F.O.N.E. to places within one of the WS Pavilions. You get to choose which country you want when you pick up your F.O.N.E at the Agent P kiosk. When you figure out your clue, you use the F.O.N.E. to interact with the environment to "stop one of Doofenschmirtz's plans". Once you do that, you get the next clue from Major Monogram & Carl until you are at the last clue and destroy the "-inator" Doof has placed in that country. Its pretty fun and a great way to explore the WS with kids. You don't have to rush through it but you can't linger very long either once you start the mission. I think you get 30 minutes before it resets itself.

Okay, wanna see what its all about?? **Spoiler Alert!!** If you don't want to know what happens on the secret missions, stop reading this post now!

First Doof had redirected the waterfall at the Koi Pond and we had to set it back:

See how its not flowing??

IMG_2830 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Now it is!

IMG_2831 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Then he wilted this poor Bonzi tree:

IMG_2832 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

We had to make it green again.

IMG_2833 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2834 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Getting an alert from Major Monogram!

IMG_2827 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Uncovering a secret message written on this stone

IMG_2835 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2836 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Deciphering clues:

IMG_2838 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Ringing the bamboo chimes:

IMG_2837 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

I can't remember what we were supposed to do with these paintings...

IMG_2839 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Destroying the Babyinator!!! Good thing we got there in time, looks like those tourists were just about to be turned into babies!

IMG_2840 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Once all the danger was totally eliminated, we were able to hang up our Secret Agent hats and watch some Taiko drumming which was extremely cool! Agent P's was such a fun activity, especially for Josh. I wish we were able to to a few more of the missions but we were short on time. Eric's sister called while we were doing our mission. They had just gotten to Epcot so we left the WS to meet them!

 

[MammerJammer]

This is a great report! We're going to have a 5YO and a 3YO with us this summer--so this is great information. Thanks! You guys look like you had a blast.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

This is a great report! We're going to have a 5YO and a 3YO with us this summer--so this is great information. Thanks! You guys look like you had a blast.

and thank you!! I didn't know if anyone was still reading this thing! lol! If you have any questions about going with those ages of kiddos, I'd be happy to answer! or at least try Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

It was early evening by the time we met up with the in-laws.

I've actually started a PTR for our upcoming New Year's Eve trip and they will be joining for a portion of that trip as well! Over there SIL is Mamma Bear (MB), BIL is Papa Bear (PB), little niece is Goldie Locks (GL) and collectively: The Bear Family so that's what I'll be calling them over here now too. If you feel so inclined, pop on over and say hello! I'm pretty friendly and I promise the Bears don't bite

Surprising the Kids with a NYE Trip to Disney World! A Dec 2015 - Jan 2016 PTR
​

Anyway, we meet up with The Bear Family in Future World because we still had had no luck adding them to our reservation at The Garden Grill! We really wanted them to join us and the CM at the podium told us that if we didn't have any luck with WDW Dining, to just come to the podium and they might be able to work something out. We headed to the Land to see what we could do.... Pixie dust!!! They were able to move our reservation to 8:00 pm and accommodate all 7 of us. Since we now had about 3 hours until our reservation we had a little time to kill! First, we grabbed Fastpasses to Soarin'. I'm not sure how we scored those so late in the day! They weren't until much later though. We also stopped at Guest Services to get "Happy Anniversary" buttons for Mamma Bear and Papa Bear and a "First Visit" button for Goldie Locks. They didn't know about the buttons on her ACTUAL first visit a month prior so we thought she needed one now! Also, MB & PB were married just two weeks before Eric & I (Yup, that was a busy month for our family! lol!) in 2005 so we thought they should have those too. Then we went over to The Living Seas to ride Nemo and watch the dolphins. I've gotta tell ya, if you have a toddler and need a break indoors, head to The Living Seas!!! Those girls could have spent hours and hours watching the fish, turtles and dolphins. Plus, we never waited for Nemo. We always walked right on! You'll get that song stuck in your head worse than "It's a Small World" (...in the big blue wor-rrr-rrr-ld!!...) but its worth it to keep your little ones entertained! I think we may have ridden Journey into Imagination too... I don't remember a lot of details about this time.

Here's what I DO remember: The boys all decided they wanted to ride Mission: Space again. MB & I really had no interest and we knew Ev & GL couldn't ride anyway so we thought we'd head over to the Land, ride Living with the Land, then check in for our reservation at The Garden Grill. So... Eric and PB head off.... with Josh... both wearing their "Happy Anniversary" buttons...

MB & I checked in 20 min later even though we were still 45 min or so early. The CM at the podium said "Great! Follow me, your table is ready!" We told her that there were still 3 of us missing but they should be back in a couple minutes. She said she couldn't seat us until we were all together for "safety" reasons. We're still puzzled why seating us a few minutes earlier than the rest of our party was a safety issue but whatevs. We were just happy that they agreed to accommodate us so we sat down, gave the girls a snack (I knew those extra nuggets & chips would come in handy!) and waited for the boys.


IMG_2848 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

About 10 minutes later the boys STILL hadn't returned and the CM at the podium was threatening to give away our table! I called DH to see what was going on. He said they were on their way and the hostess agreed to hold our table a little while longer. We sat some more...

IMG_2851 by laurenkp80, on Flickr



IMG_2847 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Another 10 minutes or so passed by and the boys STILL were not back! The hostess was getting mighty annoyed at this point and MB & I were positive we couldn't stall her much longer... where WERE they??! FINALLY they showed up! Something about the ride breaking down or something.... I can't remember exactly what happened but they didn't even get to ride. Why they kept saying they were on their way, though.... I don't know what they were thinking!

At least we could be seated now! As we followed the hostess to our table, we noticed DH & PB weren't wearing their "Happy Anniversary" buttons.... PB kinda looks embarrassed and goes "Yah.... everyone kept wishing US a happy anniversary and someone asked Josh how long his DADS have been married..." OMG, we were dying!

Okay, onto dinner at The Garden Grill! What a fun Character meal! This restaurant slowly rotates past the different scenes in Living with the Land. Its served family style so you don't have to get up and go to a buffet!! I LOVED this, especially with little kids. If you've ever gone to a buffet with littles in tow, you know how long this takes - sometimes several trips before everyone has their food. And if your kiddos are preschool age, they are probably in the "I'll do it myself" stage and will want to carry their own plate which means the potential for spillage is increased by 200%. Its a set menu and the food was pretty good. You get (according to allears.net):

To start:
Basket of Warm Bread with Orange Blossom Honey Butter
Harvest-inspired Farmer's Salad

Entrees:
Char-grilled Filet of Beef with Red Wine Butter

Roasted All Natural Turkey Breast with Stuffing and House-made Gravy

Sustainable Fish of the Day with Tomato Jam

Sides:
Garden Fresh Vegetables, Buttermlik Mash Potatoes and Bacon and Leak Dressing

For Dessert:
Fresh Baked Harvest Fruit Cobbler with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
Kids Menu:
Oven-roasted Drum Stick -
baked macaroni and cheese, broccoli and crispy sweet potato sticks;
Served with choice of small lowfat milk, small water or small juice box.
Dessert: Cupcake Cone with Crispy Pearls​

Since it was served family style, the kids could pick off the adult platter and the adults could pick off the kid's platter if they wanted. Unfortunately I didn't take any food pics!! What was I thinking??? I remember the fish and turkey being pretty good. For some reason I remember the beef being dry. The salad was excellent and one of the only things we got refilled, along with the chicken drumsticks and broccoli.

On to the characters! Chip & Dale are the "hosts" here along with Farmer Mickey and Pluto. They were adorable!! First up was Chip:


IMG_2852 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2858 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

This was Goldie Locks' first time meeting Mickey!! It was incredibly cute. She was obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and had no idea that Mickey was about to come around the corner. Both hands went up to her cheeks in surprise! She just couldn't get enough of him. So precious!



IMG_2861 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2864 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2866 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Then Pluto:

IMG_2870 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

The last to come around was Dale:

IMG_2880 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2875 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

All in all it was a fun Character meal. The food was just okay; out of all our meals, I think the food here was the most forgettable. Not bad, by any means, just nothing really special. However, because of the fact that they serve your meal family style, the excellent atmosphere, and adorable characters I would definitely recommend this meal to families. Are we dying to go back? No, I don't think its a "must do", especially with all the fabulous options in the World Showcase but if you're after a decent Character meal inside a park, this is a great choice.

We finished up the evening watching bits of the Illuminations fireworks from outside the Land, then went back in to ride Soarin'. It was a great way to end the night on our last full day in Disney World!

Next up: Magic Kingdom, 1st hair cut at Harmony Barber, lunch with Pooh and travel home.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

You have been an updating machine! So much so that you've overwhelmed Photobucket - your pictures have temporarily disappeared!

Thankfully, I read your reports earlier this week as well, so I got to see tons of pictures of your adorable kiddos. Your writing style is also really fun - tons of humor woven in!

It looks like you guys had a wonderful trip! You definitely used Rider Swap to your advantage and it looks like your kids really liked meeting the characters. I also love Josh's experience of becoming a pirate!

I look forward to hearing about your final day... as well as your future trip!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Uugh! I know!! I'm trying to go back & delete some really old posts to get some of my bandwidth back. I am desparately trying to figure out how to post photos here from Flickr so i can finish this report. I've scoured the internet & still can't figure it out!!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

You have been an updating machine! So much so that you've overwhelmed Photobucket - your pictures have temporarily disappeared!

Thankfully, I read your reports earlier this week as well, so I got to see tons of pictures of your adorable kiddos. Your writing style is also really fun - tons of humor woven in!

It looks like you guys had a wonderful trip! You definitely used Rider Swap to your advantage and it looks like your kids really liked meeting the characters. I also love Josh's experience of becoming a pirate!

I look forward to hearing about your final day... as well as your future trip!

Glad you stopped by!! I really hope I can get this photo thing sorted out soon. Yeesh. I had totlly forgotten about that bandwidth limit until it was too late! I'm a cheepskate and don't want to pay for the pro version so I'm doing some research & experimenting to figure out how to post photos properly.

Any tips? Lol!!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Yay!!! My photos are back!! After deleting some old posts, duplicates, and a good two hours converting the rest over to Flickr, I guess I freed up a sufficient amount of bandwidth. Phew! I was seriously going to cry if I had to redo my whole TR.

Now I can get back on track and finish this thing!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hooray - your photos are back!

I look forward to your next update!

 

[allybabba98]

What a great report! I am so impressed with everything you accomplished, I want my DH to read this so he can see how it should be done! I have three boys so I get not wanting to meet the princesses. Last time I think they felt sorry for me being the only girl so they agreed to meet a "few". I will pop over to read about your New Year's plan too.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

What a great report! I am so impressed with everything you accomplished, I want my DH to read this so he can see how it should be done! I have three boys so I get not wanting to meet the princesses. Last time I think they felt sorry for me being the only girl so they agreed to meet a "few". I will pop over to read about your New Year's plan too.

Thank you so much! We DID do a lot of stuff, now that I look back on it. We bit the bullet and spent the $10 to get the subscription to TouringPlans.com. I don't know why paying for a $10 app seems so painful... I mean a trip through the Starbucks drive through costs me more than that! Anyhow, it helped us a TON and I know we wouldn't have gotten to do as much without it. Our DHS day, we followed it to the letter and we still had tons of time left to wander around and redo some of our favorites. On our first Epcot day, we deviated majorly in the beginning of the day, in part because of our delay at Mission: Space, but we didn't get to do nearly as much as we did on our DHS day. We will be getting it for sure for our NYE trip!

Boys crack me up about the "Princess thing"! I mean, when we were kids there was no "Princess thing", they were just movies!! I do kind of wish more of the Princesses met with their Princes, though. Maybe that would help our boys find them more acceptable The ONE princess my son was actually excited to meet was Merida! I think it had a lot to do with getting to shoot the bow & arrow but at least that was something!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

On our last day in Disney World, I had to get up INSANELY early! Like 4:45 am, early!!! There was a bit of confusion over this and my memories are kind of foggy. I mean it WAS 4:45 and it WAS 2.5 years ago but here's kind of what happened.

We were taking the Magical Express back to the airport at 2:30 to catch a 5:00 flight. We had plans to spend the morning in the Magic Kingdom and wanted to do early checkout so that meant I had to go, in person, at 5:00 am to the front desk to check our bags and check out of our room. When we first called, the person had told us that we ALL needed to be there but when we talked to the shuttle driver, he said, no, only one person. Actually what he said was "WHO told you EVERYONE had to go?.... *Uuuhg*... it was probably a college program kid... they never know what they're talking about!" I had to laugh! I had no idea if it was or wasn't a college program "kid" but he sounded like Dennis the Mennis' grumpy old neighbor grumbling about "kids these days!" Then he was all "Your (Magical Express) bus isn't until 2:00? Why did they have you check out so early??" It was funny how he questioned everything. He was very helpful and kind, though.

Once I got back to the room, we were pretty much ready to head to the Magic Kingdom for the Extra Magic Hour. Donald's cousins wanted to come too!


IMG_2887 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

The bus was running late again so we missed the opening show and rope drop but not by much. We grabbed FastPasses for the Princess Meet & Greet in Town Hall but the machine was broken so there was a CM just handing them out! Score!! So we went to grab FastPasses for Winnie the Pooh's Adventure as well, then headed straight to Perter Pan's Flight. It was already a 30 minute wait! *As a side note: I'm really looking forward to the new enhanced queue! The original queue is long, boring and HOT! After Peter, we popped over to the newly opened Storybook Circus to ride Dumbo! The new interactive queue had only been open for a few weeks and we were really looking forward to checking it out!


IMG_2953 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Look closely and you can see the peanuts in the cement! (Don't worry, they aren't real!)

IMG_2903 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

The new concept is a "line-less" queue and it was brilliant! It's not quite *line-less* because you DO stand in line at the beginning, then they give you a pager like the ones you see in restaurants, and you're let loose in the Big Top play area. Once your pager starts buzzing, you return it to the CM and you stand in another short line for the actual ride. The kids had a lot of fun in here and it was nice place for parents to sit and wait in the air conditioning!
IMG_2896 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2888 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Dumbo flying overhead!

IMG_2889 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

The play structure has all kinds of clown-like circus acts, including Dumbo's burning building act. A lot of the toys and lights are interactive too, and made sounds or moved around when you played with them. The Human Cannonball slide made a *boom* sound when you slide out!

IMG_2890 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2891 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Soon our pager went off and it was time to ride Dumbo! But the kids didn't want to leave the play area! lol!

IMG_2892 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Josh and I rode together for this first ride and Eric rode with Ev.

IMG_2893 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2894 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

The new centerpiece was gorgeous! And I LOVED how you fly over water. It was so pretty!

IMG_2895 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2896 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2899 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

New Fantasyland was still under construction and flying with Dumbo gave us a little sneak peek! Here's Prince Eric's seaside castle!

IMG_2902 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

...and Beast's castle...

IMG_2904 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

After Dumbo we went back to Winnie the Pooh for our FastPass time. But it was broken down! The CM said they had no idea when it would be up and running again so he told us that our FastPasses would be valid all day. So we went on the Happiest Cruise that Ever Sailed!

Sorry... terrible picture...

IMG_2915 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

And Prince Charming's carosel

IMG_2917 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2919 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Josh was REALLY hoping he would be the one to pull the sword from the stone!
IMG_2920 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Pooh was STILL down so we decided to go stand in line for Merida. Can you believe that the park had not even officially opened yet?! YUP! It was still during EMH!

Merida M&G continued in the next post....

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Brave was HUGE in our house at the time... I mean, not Frozen-huge, but who could have predicted THAT? Huh? Anyway, both kids really like Brave which is awesome because when do brothers and sisters agree on anything? Am I right?! SO, meeting Merida was a big deal.

Merida's M&G was amazing! Its in the little courtyard right next to the Cinderella's Castle on the Tomorrowland side. When we got inside, the whole place was decorated like a Scottish castle and the older kids could try to shoot a bow & arrow into a target while they waited to meet Merida.


IMG_2909 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2906 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Josh LOVED this activity! Every kid who tried got to hit the target; it was easy enough so no one left feeling like they couldn't do it. They also had a PP Photographer snapping pics of the kids shooting! Very fun!


Photo0424FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0431FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

I loved all the details in this area!


IMG_2908 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2913 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2914 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Merida's little brothers!

IMG_2907 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Then it was our turn to meet the brave princess, herself! She was wonderful! I'm not a Scottish accent expert but she seemed pretty legit. She called Josh "Warrior" - which warmed him up to her even more - and called Ev "Princess". They absolutely adored her!


Photo0462FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0461FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0441FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0460FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

This was a super fun M&G. I love how this was so hands-on, it really felt like we were transported to Merida's kingdom for a few minutes. Totally awesome!

After Merida we had a date with some more Royalty.... Josh was SOOOOO excited!! Lol! Just kidding. He pitched a fit. We kindly reminded him how many things we did for HIM that Ev wasn't able to do (Pirates League, Jedi Training, "big kid" rides...) so he could put up with the Princesses for 30 minutes! Plus we had to get Cousin's birthday card signed! Since we had a FastPass, we didn't wait long to meet them.

First up was Cinderella. They had not changed their costumes and hair styles yet so these are the "old" version.

Speaking of.... my theory about the change revolves around Sofia the First. Seems that they changed the Princess's looks when they started appearing in the show on Disney Jr. They obviously need to re-style them so they would fit the look & feel of the show. I wonder if they figured that their demographic would be more familiar with the Sofia the First version of the Princesses than the original movies? The modernization of the Princesses seriously bugs me but my daughter couldn't care less... show her a pic of pretty much ANY blonde in a blue ball gown and she'll say it's Cinderella. *sigh* Okay... back to the TR...

I am SOOO curious how face characters are trained because they are spectacular!! They always seem to know exactly what to say to bring each child out of his or her shell. LOVE it!

Photo0467FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0483FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0477FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Belle was next. Ev ADORED her! They chatted about books and libraries and dancing. It was so precious!

Photo0496FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0502FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr


Photo0507FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Last was Rapunzel. She was so excited to sign Cousin's birthday card! She said "I LOVE birthdays! Best day EVER!"

Photo0525FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Oh look! He's smiling!!

Photo0522FourBySix by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Not saying that he had a complete change of heart but by the time we were done, I think these ladies had won Josh over... just a little. We had already had a pretty busy morning but we were still trying to pack it all in! We still had lots of plans for the morning!

Next up... Harmony Barber & More Dumbo.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

WHAT THE HECK! My photos are gone again I seriously don't know what's going on or how to fix it.

 

[MammerJammer]

Awesome! I had no idea they changed the princesses' dresses and hair! Is this for all the classic princesses?

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Awesome! I had no idea they changed the princesses' dresses and hair! Is this for all the classic princesses?

YES!!! I Think Rapunzel & Tiana are the same but Cinderella, Belle, Aurora & Snow White all got "makeovers". Maybe Jasmine too.... I'm not sure.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

For our last morning, we were determined to get in as much as possible it seems! I guess I didn't realize how much we did in such a short amount of time! It was so much fun though. When DH first gave me my surprise gift and told us we were doing to Disney World, the first thing I did was make an appointment for Ev to have her First Haircut at Harmony Barber Shop. I had heard all about this and thought it was the cutest thing but I had absolutely no hope of it ever happening. Well... miracles happen! Ev's hair doesn't grow very fast (even to this day she's only ever had 4 haircuts in her life) so even though she was nearly 2.5 years old, she still hadn't had her first haircut!


IMG_2928 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

Our appointment was for 10:00 am and I was starting to feel a little apprehensive because I wasn't sure how Ev would do. She had some serious "stranger danger" issues at the time and she especially didn't like any one coming into her personal space or touching her. For example, she would scream bloody murder at the doctor's or dentist's office when they even came near her. Luckily, the stylists at Harmony Barber are very experienced with little ones and it was a very pleasant experience! They had toys and stickers to distract her...


IMG_2929 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2931 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2932 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

We even got lucky and watched the parade go by!


IMG_2924 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2925 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2926 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

They make a really big deal out of the First Haircut at Harmony Barber. For $18 The child gets not only a haircut but a set of mouse ears that say "My 1st Haircut", a certificate, and a lock of hair is carefully wrapped in tissue and placed into a keepsake drawstring bag.


IMG_2935 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2936 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2937 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

She did great!! She loved getting her hair cut and it turned out so cute! Our only regret was that we waited until the last day of our trip to get it done. After, we thought we should have done it at the beginning so she would have had her cute new haircut for all our photos! lol!

I didn't want Josh to be left out of the whole experience so we got him a style with colored hair gel and confetti. I think it cost $5.


IMG_2941 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


IMG_2942 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

His hair style lasted a surprisingly long time! It still looked great after the plane ride home and even for a couple days after. Even the confetti stayed in! We probably let him go too long without a shower but we were all reluctant to "wash Disney" out of his hair.

I felt like both of these were a GREAT deal for a cool experience on Main Street USA! I would highly encourage anyone to pay them a visit and if you're lucky enough to be there when your little one needs a first haircut, DO IT! For $5 I am sure we will make the colored hair gel and confetti a fun "last day" tradition. It was so cool to come home on the plane still wearing a little bit of Disney.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I really love the theming in the new Circus area - we don't spend much time there, but it was REALLY well done. I think Dumbo is especially pretty at night!

I love the carousel. We missed it in 2012 (I don't remember why? ), but we rode it in 2013.

Ev did such a good job with her haircut! It really is a steal of a deal at Disney - I'm surprised more people don't do it! (Likely because they're not on the DISboards and didn't know it was there! )

Josh's hair is also super cool!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I really love the theming in the new Circus area - we don't spend much time there, but it was REALLY well done. I think Dumbo is especially pretty at night!

I love the carousel. We missed it in 2012 (I don't remember why? ), but we rode it in 2013.

Ev did such a good job with her haircut! It really is a steal of a deal at Disney - I'm surprised more people don't do it! (Likely because they're not on the DISboards and didn't know it was there! )

Josh's hair is also super cool!

Oh my gosh, it is SUCH a good deal! And Disney isn't a place where "deals" abound... I mean, even when there is a sale or promotion, its really just bringing the price down to a normal level.

When you think about it, kids' haircuts at Great Clips (or other chain stores) are about $13. Classic Ear Hats are about $13.50 so getting the ear hat and haircut for $18 is a steal! And Josh's "do" for $5 is a total no-brainer. There's not much at Disney you can get for $5!!

The Dumbo area is really cute. I'm not a particular fan of the ride but it IS a very well done version. I'm sure the kids will want to ride when we take them this winter but I won't be going anywhere near it when Eric & I go sans kids! Lol!