WHAT A DIFFERENCE 6 MOS. MAKES (or how I learned to love MK) COMPLETE-WRAP-UP 12/29

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm glad that your power was restored fairly quickly! A bunch of our friends around here were without power for pretty much all of last week! Thankfully our power stayed on!

That is sort of bizarre about the fragrances/body lotions. But I've kind of come to the point that I will pretty much not be shocked no matter what direction Disney merchandising takes.

(Now that I've said that...who KNOWS what will be for sale now!)

THANKSGIVING IS SO SOON AND I'M ENTIRELY OVERWHELMED BY HOW QUICKLY THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING. Seriously. Wasn't it just June? I'm now sitting here trying to think of what desserts I can repurpose leftover Halloween candy into. Malt ball brownies (one of the big favorites in our family) are at the top of the list!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Tina! Welcome back! Looks like the snow was fun for Max! I'm glad your power came back pretty quickly. We got about that much snow yesterday, with all the leaves on the trees, I was a little worried, but it melted today, so all is fine. Not unusual for us, but it usually melts almost as soon as it falls.

Wow! Your Feb trip is coming quick! The holiays will make the time go by fast for you, I'm sure.

 

[MEK]

I found those snow pictures a little depressing, although Max looked quite happy in his new, cool, winter coat! Glad you power only stayed out overnight!

Can't wait for more Disney stuff. I prefer to remain in denial about the whole winter thing.

 

[KatMark]

Tina, glad you were able to go spend the night with your mom and only lost power for one night. The country has been having some really crazy weather all year long.

 

[amandaw]

I can't get over the snow! I could NOT deal with that! I'm glad y'all got power back. I've lost power countless times during the hot months & only once during the winter. I will take no power in the heat any day over no power in the cold!

 

[tinacaplan]

I'm glad that your power was restored fairly quickly! A bunch of our friends around here were without power for pretty much all of last week! Thankfully our power stayed on!

It was a crazy week!

That is sort of bizarre about the fragrances/body lotions. But I've kind of come to the point that I will pretty much not be shocked no matter what direction Disney merchandising takes.

(Now that I've said that...who KNOWS what will be for sale now!)

So true...now if they could bottle the smell of the Beach Club...well, apparently they can. There's info about it on the BC thread, but I believe it involves a super pricey scent system.

THANKSGIVING IS SO SOON AND I'M ENTIRELY OVERWHELMED BY HOW QUICKLY THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING. Seriously. Wasn't it just June? I'm now sitting here trying to think of what desserts I can repurpose leftover Halloween candy into. Malt ball brownies (one of the big favorites in our family) are at the top of the list!

I know what you mean...I at least feel the beginning of August was last week. And the change in temperatures has been harsh! It was so warm here until the last week or so and then BAM! Its snowing!! Are you kidding?

Hi Tina! Welcome back! Looks like the snow was fun for Max! I'm glad your power came back pretty quickly. We got about that much snow yesterday, with all the leaves on the trees, I was a little worried, but it melted today, so all is fine. Not unusual for us, but it usually melts almost as soon as it falls.

Wow! Your Feb trip is coming quick! The holiays will make the time go by fast for you, I'm sure.

Thanks! October snow is not the norm for us and we got a lot of it! Some of us had even more than we did. Ick.

I just can't believe how quickly the holidays will come and go...sadly. Christmas, in particular, is going to be great with Max this year. I know he's going to really, truly "get it" this year. I'm sure time will slow a bit once January hits, but that's OK, too. You always walk a fine line between wanting the next trip to get here and not wanting to wish your whole life away.

I found those snow pictures a little depressing, although Max looked quite happy in his new, cool, winter coat! Glad you power only stayed out overnight!

Can't wait for more Disney stuff. I prefer to remain in denial about the whole winter thing.

Thanks! We were among the lucky ones. My two aunts lost power for about a week. You have another trip coming quickly, too! And hopefully I'll get around to an update one of these days.

Tina, glad you were able to go spend the night with your mom and only lost power for one night. The country has been having some really crazy weather all year long.

Yes, we have...we got off easier than Tim. I'm so worried about what this winter is going to be like, though, if this is any indication.

I can't get over the snow! I could NOT deal with that! I'm glad y'all got power back. I've lost power countless times during the hot months & only once during the winter. I will take no power in the heat any day over no power in the cold!

I know, right? I would love to move south, but I don't see that happening 'till we retire in a bout thirty years or so... Oh well. I'm with you...powerless in the summer is a lot easier to deal with!

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Tina!

It has been pretty busy here lately too, no snow though !

I was shocked to read that you were snowed in the way you were! It looks like the height of winter, speak of the weather being crazy!
Max looks cute in his winter gear

Where's your pre-trippie by the way? I miss your planning ........

Just 2 more days to double digits for us!

 

[annmarieda]

What crazy weather! Knock on wood, we seem to be spared this year... it is pretty darn cold though...

But... if there is any consolation in getting snow..and losing power, it is play time.

 

[tinacaplan]

Hi Tina!

It has been pretty busy here lately too, no snow though !

I was shocked to read that you were snowed in the way you were! It looks like the height of winter, speak of the weather being crazy!
Max looks cute in his winter gear

Where's your pre-trippie by the way? I miss your planning ........

Just 2 more days to double digits for us!

Hi, Karin! I think we have like three or four days...but its getting so much closer! I can't wait! As for a PTR, I don't want to even start one until I get a little further with this TR. I think I might be better at the PTR than the TRs, though. I don't take nearly enough pictures.

One thing I will say is that our trip is going to be so short, there isn't a lot of planning to do. Go to MK, hang out at the Poly, repeat... Although, going in February, I feel like I should make two sets of plans: one if we have pool weather and another if we don't.

What crazy weather! Knock on wood, we seem to be spared this year... it is pretty darn cold though...

But... if there is any consolation in getting snow..and losing power, it is play time.

Oh, it is crazy. And it was just another thing to deal with and there's a lot on my plate as it is. So much I would love to have resolved, but time will tell all. And, in the meantime, I'll just go to Disney as often as I can!

 

[that's nice]

We live in the central area of the state, just a north of New Haven and the shoreline, so we didn't get hit as bad as the more northern part of the state. Even just a few towns to the north got a lot more snow that we did. (Hi Tim!) That said, our general area got just enough that tree limbs went down all over the place and electrical lines went down with them. We live in a town with its own electric company and rarely lose power, so I was confident that morning that we were set.

Hey Tina

Glad you got power back in one day. We lost ours on Sunday night and got it back on Monday night. We did end up with 15+ inches. It was crazy. My sister just got her power back on Sunday- she lives in Avon.

Gotta love the LL Bean jackets! I think that is a Northeast thing.

I hope you were able to enjoy th eweather today. It was beautiful out!!!!!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Our first post-breakfast stop was to see the heroes of my son’s life: Mater and Lightening. Allow me to vent here for just a moment: the entire Cars franchise has been a goldmine for Disney. Max goes crazy for anything Cars-related and I cannot believe he is the only child who does so. So why, Disney, why are they so neglected at Disneyworld? I know they’ve added Lightening to the LMA show, but that seems woefully inadequate. And the Lightening/Mater meeting and greet often feels more like posing with a couple of statues or something.

Ok..stepping off the soap box. I did not get great pics of this magical moment:

Phineas and Ferb were up to their usual antics next door and Mark was eager to hop in the line to meet them. Max was having none of it and had a fair large meltdown. Luckily, nearly every Disney park has plenty of little nooks and crannies to take a screaming preschooler into. In this case, I believe I parked his stroller in the empty exit area of the Muppets.

In the meantime, Mark goes off in search of FPs for Star Tours, which he gets pretty easily. We then go into the Muppet show and Max starts to have a good time. I know the show is corny and perhaps needs some refreshing, but I do love this show. And I cannot wait for the Muppet movie! Soon...very, very soon!

Moving on...let me just say that I’m not entirely sure what happened with the rest of our photos from this day. This detail is important a little later...

After the Muppets, I send my Star Wars loving husband off to Star Tours, while Max and I have some fun on the Streets of America. He particularly loved the “Singing in the Rain” umbrella.

We turn the corner and walk into the ever busy Pixar Place. Its nearing noon and the place is jamming. I decide to get in line for Buzz and Woody’s photo op. The line appeared fairly short, but I forgot that the queue extends for quite a while inside. Which, given the heat, turned out not to be a bad place to be.

Max was getting antsy. I thought about what to do to entertain him. While Max certainly enjoyed the Toy Story movies, they are not his favorites (see above), so the whole trip through Andy’s room was not all that entertaining to him.

I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow this was when Max learned how to take pictures. And take pictures he did. He decided it was a good idea to constantly point the camera down, so we have lots of pictures of sidewalks. That I have no idea what became of them. Sigh.

Eventually, it was our turn with Buzz and Woody. Here’s some great character interaction, even if you can’t tell from the picture how much fun Max is having:

Its at this point that we are reunited with Mark and go out in search of more family fun. Max is in a great mood by then....what will we do next?

Oh, and by the way, Mark really enjoyed the revamped Star Tours. I never got to ride it, though. Sigh. Nevertheless, this was shaping up to be one of the best days of our trip!

 

[tinacaplan]

Hey Tina

Glad you got power back in one day. We lost ours on Sunday night and got it back on Monday night. We did end up with 15+ inches. It was crazy. My sister just got her power back on Sunday- she lives in Avon.

Gotta love the LL Bean jackets! I think that is a Northeast thing.

I hope you were able to enjoy th eweather today. It was beautiful out!!!!!!

We have had some nice weather. And then it gets all blustery and chilly out again! I'm sad to be losing the time outside with Max. I really hate the winter and cold weather. What are you gonna do though?

 

[tinacaplan]

So, I've been away much of the last week. Trying really hard to be disciplined at work and not check the boards! Then I spend my time at night just staring at pictures of the Poly. So excited to be staying there...and over the weekend, we hit
DOUBLE DIGITS!
Woo-hoo! And with Thanksgiving only a week and a half away...well, the time is going by FAST! Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks to all of you who are sticking with me and my incredibly sloooooow updates. ​

 

[MEK]

for double digits!

Great pictures of Max and the car characters. That picture with Buzz is too cute. I do get your point though. I know when my boys were younger they would have flipped over the Cars characters, so it would be nice for them to be more accessible. I guess its hard since they are CARS.

So are you going to post any of the pictures Max took?

 

[annmarieda]

for the double digits!!! It will fly by now.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I also thought it was kind of strange how the M&G for Cars is set up, but there probably isn't that much more that can be done with a car . Kids LOVE those movies though!

Yay for double digits!!!!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm excited to check out the revamped Star Tours next summer.

Yay for double digits!

 

[amandaw]

I completely agree with you about Cars being neglected at WDW. Reid loves Cars, Toy Story is his favorite, but he really loves Cars, too. I was very unimpressed with the "meet & greet" for Lightning & Mater.

 

[tinacaplan]

for double digits!

Great pictures of Max and the car characters. That picture with Buzz is too cute. I do get your point though. I know when my boys were younger they would have flipped over the Cars characters, so it would be nice for them to be more accessible. I guess its hard since they are CARS.

So are you going to post any of the pictures Max took?

Thanks, Mary Ellen. I am so excited and I think I need this trip more than any of the others, if that's possible.

Don't know what happened to those pictures. I know we both took pictures later that day, but don't know where they are.

for the double digits!!! It will fly by now.

Thanks...I hope so! I know the time between now and the first of the year will, but then we hit January and things just sloooooow down. Maybe we'll have a bunch of snow days like last year and it will go by real quick. You're under a month now, too! Very exciting.

I also thought it was kind of strange how the M&G for Cars is set up, but there probably isn't that much more that can be done with a car . Kids LOVE those movies though!

Yay for double digits!!!!

Thanks...I just want Carsland or Toy Story land like they have at Disneyland and DLRP. I just think the Pixar movies get short shrift at Disneyworld.

I'm excited to check out the revamped Star Tours next summer.

Yay for double digits!

So...now that you mention next summer...is a Glennbo PTR in the offing?

I completely agree with you about Cars being neglected at WDW. Reid loves Cars, Toy Story is his favorite, but he really loves Cars, too. I was very unimpressed with the "meet & greet" for Lightning & Mater.

I just wish they did a bit more for boys, in general. But I'm a bit biased in that regard...

 

[ChefDisneyLu]

I am normally a TR lurker but I just read this whole report and can't wait for the rest!

I don't know if anyone answered your question but the cream cheese pretzels in MK are in tomorrowland and they are awesome!

Thank you for sharing

Lisa