Will I be Herding Cats Again?* **** COMPLETED *****

[Nicole786]

We were at Epcot the same day as you! I was at rope drop and checked my pics, but you were near club cool and we were facing the character connection so i didnt see u in any of the pics

 

[mom2mek]

See, when I neglect the DIS I can come on and read 2 updates instead of 1!! Sounds like a great start. How aggrivating is it when our kids get pouty at Disney! How dare them! Hunter pulled that a couple of times too. I love the morning pics of the girls! They look well rested. Would you be surprised to know that Megan has those same jammies? Great rope drop experience. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for catching up Monica! You know me...I just plug along so fast on my trip reports! I'm hard to keep up with!

And no, I am not surprised that Megan has those jammies! Of course she does! My goodness we were separated at birth! Great minds think alike!

We were at Epcot the same day as you! I was at rope drop and checked my pics, but you were near club cool and we were facing the character connection so i didnt see u in any of the pics

Cool! I think my step-dad and husband were waiting over there. You might have them in some of your pics, IDK! I checked out your August TR, are you doing one for the October trip as well? Thanks for reading along! Who knows, maybe you will show up in some of my other pics!

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Sara - How did I miss you had another update. I've got to quit working so much!

I forgot to mention that I love Emily's side ponytail! Gotta love that 80's look we all wore!

Wow - you really did make rope drop - right at the rope! How cool to have all the great character interaction right off the bat. The kids look really happy (of course) and I just love the girls outfits with Minnie! Cute!

Looking forward to more!

 

[mom2mek]

Sara - How did I miss you had another update. I've got to quit working so much!

I forgot to mention that I love Emily's side ponytail! Gotta love that 80's look we all wore!

Wow - you really did make rope drop - right at the rope! How cool to have all the great character interaction right off the bat. The kids look really happy (of course) and I just love the girls outfits with Minnie! Cute!

Looking forward to more!

LOL Michelle - you're slipping!

That side ponytail was cracking me up! Here I thought that having Grammy along meant Emily would have great looking hair the whole time, and that morning...well, let's just say...it looked like I had done it! But she wanted it that way, so that's what Grammy did! Kids are so funny - she kept flipping her hair all around that morning!

Sara

 

[OhioTony]

Great update Sara!!
You know I 'm taking all of your plans for a large group and spouting them off to my brother who is taking his large group and making it seem like my creation don't you?
The stroller rental will be a good idea for them. I never had to do strollers as my kids were beyond that by the first time we went. I s it really that much cheaper than Disney? If so that will be my (your) great tip #1!
Also I have heard of buying cheaper trading pins somewhere to trade with when you arrive. Any info? Have you ever done this? If so , where do I find them?
Thanks for all my great ideas!

 

[DisneyJo]

Thanks for the links, just read all your TR so far and I love your writing style, your kids are cute too, can't wait for more

 

[mom2mek]

Great update Sara!!
You know I 'm taking all of your plans for a large group and spouting them off to my brother who is taking his large group and making it seem like my creation don't you?
The stroller rental will be a good idea for them. I never had to do strollers as my kids were beyond that by the first time we went. I s it really that much cheaper than Disney? If so that will be my (your) great tip #1!
Also I have heard of buying cheaper trading pins somewhere to trade with when you arrive. Any info? Have you ever done this? If so , where do I find them?
Thanks for all my great ideas!

Thanks Lynn! Spout away! I hope I am a little bit helpful! Touring with a large group definitely has its challenges - that's for sure! But it can also be really great! Time apart is really good - even if it's just for short periods of time where you break apart for different "sets" of rides (thrill riders vs. "fun" riders kind of thing) - it can make a big difference! The stroller was $80 (I think) for the whole week. The Disney double would have been $186, so it was quite a savings!

Yes, we bought the trading pins online which worked out great. My kids don't want to trade any of the pins they actually buy in the parks, so the ones we get ahead of time get loaded up on the lanyards in the morning, and then they trade during the day with the CMs (never have traded with another kid or grown-up, only the CMs). I always loved to see them trade (great social skill building too), and seeing them get a $8 or $10 pin for the $2 ones we got ahead of time, is really nice! I got a grab bag from www.mousepinsonline.com and I also got a grab bag from an ebay seller...phyllisf124 - pins were great, shipped really fast, no complaints!

Thanks for the links, just read all your TR so far and I love your writing style, your kids are cute too, can't wait for more

Thanks Jo! I hope to have more up very soon!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 2 - Epcot
Part 3 - Do We Deviate from the Plan?

So when I left off last, I was contemplating, as my group's fearless leader, whether or not we should go on ahead with my plan for the Character Connection considering all the great character interaction we had just had at the ropes. Our other option was to just get a jump on the rest of the plan. Oh, what to do, what to do...

The crowd started walking and we followed along with the herd, my Mom hanging a little behind while pushing the empty stroller. The Character Connection CMs were waving hello to all the people heading past to Soarin and I made the decision to just go ahead and head in - at least this way we would have some better pictures than the ones I got at the rope!

Well, we were the first ones in the Character Connection! It was so exciting to see all the characters waiting there at the front for us! We weaved through the non-line and got some great photopass shots of Michael, Emily, Katie, myself, my mom, and my MIL with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy! After a few pictures with the entire group, the Fab 5 dispersed into their individual areas and we saw each character one by one.

It was completely empty in there and totally fabulous! What an amazing way to start the day (and the trip!) I was so glad I decided to listen to that voice in my head!

We exited the Character Connection at like 5 minutes after 9:00 having seen all five characters, and getting lots of photopass pictures (I will add them later when we get the CD back). I also have video of this, but can’t quite figure out how to get the video off the new video camera just yet. I just haven’t had time to sit down and read the instructions and/or install the software in order to do so. I know! I know! Here I was complaining about not having the camera so I could post stuff, and now I have it and haven’t been able to figure out how to get the dang stuff to my PC! Ugh. Sorry. Don't desert me!

We exited out in front of the Land and looked around for the guys. Um….nowhere to be found. Ok, well maybe they went ahead and headed to the Seas which is where I told Shawn we would be going after CC. I thought it was too funny that we were able to see all 5 of the Fab Five and exit before they even obtained FPs for Soarin! Slow-pokes! As we were crossing over towards the Seas, we saw them coming out of the Land, so we waited and then filled them in on all the fun we had just had! Next up….The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the longest queue known to man!


Right as we were getting to the “mine, mine” birds, the kids spotted a CM that had some pins and decided to trade. Yay! Our first trade of the trip! Michael and Katie traded….Emily was too shy and just watched.

On to Nemo…there’s a clam-mobile with our names on it!

Man that queue is long, but really….it’s so well done! I love how the winding entrance queue, albeit very long, is designed to give your eyes time to adjust to the attraction’s darkness! It gives you that serene feeling of going deeper and deeper underwater!

Michael holding his breath as we were getting "deeper and deeper"!

It’s really quite pretty and this particular morning….it was completely empty as you can see! I suppose you can spend time looking at all the lovely little details of the queue if you are waiting at all to actually ride it. We however, were not. And just for the record, if I’m ever in the park when that queue is filled, just shoot me! Anyway, we walked, and walked, and the walked some more until we just walked right into our clam-mobile!

Pop Pop rode with Michael, Emily rode with Grammy, Katie rode with Grandmommy, and that left Shawn and I to ride with each other! Awww! Shawn, of course, was on a mission to take lots of pictures this trip, but was having a little camera malfunction trying to get his setting correctly for the dark ride. (He did not want to take flash photos even though we were the only people on the ride at that moment….no other clams within eyesight were even filled with people) He never did get his camera settings right before the ride was over! He kept trying, even taking my camera and using the little 2" screen as light to get his camera's settings right, and still couldn't manage to do it before the ride was over. LOL!

Everyone loved Nemo, especially the last part when the characters are “in” the real tank, and when we got off we were all set up with about 20 minutes to explore some of the Seas before heading to the first Turtle Talk of the morning at 9:40. First thing we did…use the bathrooms! Ok, so 15 minutes to explore the Seas…first off we watched the dolphins (so beautiful and graceful),

and then we walked over to the manatee area (nothing there right then….just the floating heads of lettuce), and then we headed into the area with the tanks and the “real” nemo fish in them! So cute. Those eels though? Ick.

(She was trying to tell me something here!)

We took the obligatory “Bruce” picture before making our way over to Turtle Talk a couple of minutes before 9:40.

Apparently, Bruce had swallowed Michael by this point!

We walked into the holding area for Crush, just about 1 minute before they opened the doors to go in, so the kids didn’t have a whole lot of time to look at the rays, but were happy to be heading in without waiting around. Now, Michael had told me beforehand that he didn’t really want to sit up front and I told him that was fine, he could sit with me, but when we got in there, he went right up front. Go figure! I guess he had the herd mentality and just followed the rest of the kids. We sat in the second row behind all the kids and the show got started. I have to say, I have always enjoyed Crush, but this time, it was the best version that I have ever seen!

The questions from the kids in the audience were similar to ones you hear all the time, but his answers were hilarious! One of them asked what he named his children. He said the oldest was Keanu, the youngest was Squirt and then there is Crush Jr, and Crush Jr, and Crush Jr, and Crush Jr...on and on. It was so funny! He said he didn't think that one through! LOL! And at one point one of the kids asked if he had to breathe air and he went into this long explanation of how he does, but that he could a long time before he needs to, and then he paused, totally silent, and then swam to the top of the screen really fast and disappeared only to come back a couple of seconds later and said Phew - thanks for the reminder - that was close.

Anyway, Michael got picked for a question and when Crush asked him what his name was, Michael went right to his question - "What is your favorite food?" To which Crush replied...."uh, nice to meet you..."what's your favorite food"! Interesting name, dude. LOL!

Then Michael told him his name!

Then he asked his question again, and this time, Crush told Michael that seagrass was his favorite food, and then asked Michael what was his favorite food and Michael said Ice Cream. Crush said....awww dude...I love some ice cream...Wait, what's that?

It was cute.

Here is my first picture of a mother/son first trip to Disney! Awww...

So after we left Crush, we decided to split up. Shawn, my step-dad, MIL, and Michael went to ride Mission Space, while Mom and I stayed at the gift shop at the Seas for a little while and did some shopping with Emily and Katie. Emily and Katie both got something - Emily got some cute Mickey and Minnie flip flop pins, and Katie got a Scuba Diver Mickey! I bought my MIL a pin lanyard and two pins to get her started on her pins as she had expressed an interest in them after she saw the kids doing the trading with the CM. I also got myself some cute little Mickey Mouse magnets. Oh, last but not least, I got Michael is coveted disposable camera.

The CM in the store wished Katie a Happy Birthday and gave her some Mickey Mouse stickers and some Sleeping Beauty tattoos he had behind the counter.

With our purchases safely stored away, we made our way to the Imagination Pavilion to ride with Figment!


Continued soon....


Sara

 

[DisneyJo]

TT sounded so great, how funny that Crush swam to the top to get air

 

[kaysmommie]

Finally and update . I think going to Character spot was the right choice! Can't wait to see the pics when you get them. Turtle talk sounds like it was really funny this time. When we saw it in March it was exactly the same as the last show in October. looking forward to the rest of Epcot & Figment. Another ride and pavillion we didn't make it to .

 

[vermontgirl]

Loving your update....you are such a good writer......you've got me hook line and sinker. Awesome fish pics. Tre cool about Michael and Crush. So, did your MIL get into the pin trading? Can't wait to read more.......getting typing! LOL

 

[mom2mek]

TT sounded so great, how funny that Crush swam to the top to get air

Crush was really good this time. When we went last November, he was fine, but this one just really nailed it!

Finally and update . I think going to Character spot was the right choice! Can't wait to see the pics when you get them. Turtle talk sounds like it was really funny this time. When we saw it in March it was exactly the same as the last show in October. looking forward to the rest of Epcot & Figment. Another ride and pavillion we didn't make it to .

Thanks Nichole! Turtle Talk was really great and it was nice that Michael wasn't too shy to raise his hand! I was so glad he got picked...you hate to see them raise their hand so enthusiastically and not get chosen. I hope to get to FIgment and the rest of our day soon!

Loving your update....you are such a good writer......you've got me hook line and sinker. Awesome fish pics. Tre cool about Michael and Crush. So, did your MIL get into the pin trading? Can't wait to read more.......getting typing! LOL

Thanks - you are very kind! Turtle Talk was really great and getting there for the first show was fantastic - not crowded, no waiting out front, just walked right in! MIL got very into the pins themselves (it becomes an issue later.... - not a big issue, but I'm just sayin....) but she never wanted to trade anything.

She just enjoyed buying them...
all the time...
no matter what we were in the middle of trying to do/see/accomplish.

Oops - spilled the beans on the "issue"

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Ugh - I missed another update! I've got to quit working so I can stay on top of my DISing - I am so far behind!

Anyway - great update as always. I'm glad you followed the voices in your head and went to character connection first. How fun to be ther first ones there and get a picture with all of them! Great way to start your day for sure!

Love the picture of Michael in the Nemo queue holding his breath.

We still have not seen the dolphins for manatees.

Great picture of Shawn and his mom!

Can't wait for more!

 

[julezdisney]

Great update! Love TT! I can't wait to see it- we've watched it on YouTube, it's adorable & funny! That was one thing I was bummed about missing out on my switching from DLR/DCA to WDW. Since we weren't doing Epcot, we'd miss TT. Oh well.

Next time!

 

[mom2mek]

Ugh - I missed another update! I've got to quit working so I can stay on top of my DISing - I am so far behind!

Anyway - great update as always. I'm glad you followed the voices in your head and went to character connection first. How fun to be ther first ones there and get a picture with all of them! Great way to start your day for sure!

Love the picture of Michael in the Nemo queue holding his breath.

We still have not seen the dolphins for manatees.

Great picture of Shawn and his mom!

Can't wait for more!

Shame on your work...getting in your way of really important stuff!

Awww....love watching the dolphins! One of these days, I would love to just go to Epcot, hang out in the Seas, ride Soarin, and then drink a GGLCS! I just wish I had one of those great 2 or 3 week trips, when you don't feel like you have to do so much in such a small amount of time! I could watch the dolphins swimming for a long time! So graceful!

Great update! Love TT! I can't wait to see it- we've watched it on YouTube, it's adorable & funny! That was one thing I was bummed about missing out on my switching from DLR/DCA to WDW. Since we weren't doing Epcot, we'd miss TT. Oh well.

Next time!

I have a video of Turtle Talk too Julia. I will post it as soon as I get my head out of the sand and read the dang instructions for this camera! I don't know if we got the whole thing, but a good portion of it!

Sara

 

[anl]

Hey Sara...found your new trip report. I love seeing all the pictures of your kiddos! I was thinking of sending a FPV to Soarin and me taking the kids into character connection as well...So you think that's a good plan? I'm trying to follow tgm and I know you do as well so it's fun to see what worked for you and what didn't.

 

[mom2mek]

Hey Sara...found your new trip report. I love seeing all the pictures of your kiddos! I was thinking of sending a FPV to Soarin and me taking the kids into character connection as well...So you think that's a good plan? I'm trying to follow tgm and I know you do as well so it's fun to see what worked for you and what didn't.

It worked really well for us!

I guess it depends on your group and the other rides that you want to do that day, but for us...it worked great - we were in and out in 5 minutes, with some wonderful moments and some great pictures! I know people have gone at other times of the day and waited a long time to get in, so when the crowd rushes to Soarin....CC is a nice alternative!

Thanks for reading!

Sara

 

[vermontgirl]

It worked really well for us!

I guess it depends on your group and the other rides that you want to do that day, but for us...it worked great - we were in and out in 5 minutes, with some wonderful moments and some great pictures! I know people have gone at other times of the day and waited a long time to get in, so when the crowd rushes to Soarin....CC is a nice alternative!

Thanks for reading!

Sara

Just for example, when we were there 2 weeks ago, we waited in line exactly 1 hour.....always follow the voices in your head!

 

[mom2mek]

Day 2 - Epcot
Part 4 - Does Katie reach that magical 40" threshold?

So let me continue and hope to get through more than one ride and one show this time!

When we left the Seas we were split into two groups: Mom and I took Emily and Katie over to Figment, and Shawn, Pop Pop, and Grammy took Michael over to ride Mission Space. Oh, but they did do one little other thing...they sidetracked on the way over and picked up fastpasses for Test Track. Woo-hoo!

Mission Space was a walk on and they opted for the green side since it was Michael's first ride. I'm not sure which one did which "job" on the ride, but I know they all loved it and were itching to go on the "orange" version later! Here are some pics Shawn took while they were over that way:

Michael on the way over to Mission Space:

Back with the weenie riders, we walked into the Imagination Pavillion and right onto Figment without even slowing down! The girls enjoyed our ride again this year! They love the skunk part (ewww) and they love the air blast (took me by surprise this time – why didn’t I remember that from the last time we rode it?) After we got off the ride, we made our way over to the Imageworks area where the girls did some playing.

I think they had to have recently re-done this section, as it looked slightly different.

We didn't hang out too long, because I figured the other group would be done and waiting for us over at Soarin, so we sort of hurried through the rest of Imageworks and made our way back over to the stroller. We checked out the water fountains

and Mom tried calling my step-dad to see if they were done. They were just getting off the ride and said they would come right over.

We gathered our group and headed back over to the Land to park the stroller. Another thing about our stroller was that it was a nice muted orange color and it was very easy to find in the crowd of strollers. I fixed Emily's pins on her lanyard (her new ones from the Seas) and Katie took Scuba Mickey out of the stroller to carry inside with her.

I thought if we had time we would ride Living with the Land, but once we got in there, there was a long line! HUH? Well, turns out it was just that they weren't lining people up in the queue ( I don't know why) and they were all standing outside in the common area right at the base of the escalators.

But still, it looked like a longer wait and I didn't want to miss the other group when they got there. So we just made our way over to Soarin and took that opportunity to put Katie's height to the test! At home, she was like 39 3/4" tall, so I figured with shoes at Disney, she would probably make it and I was really hoping she would, as a whole other world opens up for you at Disney, once you pass the magical 40" threshold!

Well, she passed! Yippee!

Then Emily felt the need to measure herself to make sure she was "still" tall enough to ride. LOL! I made another phone call to Shawn and he said they were on their way, but they were taking their time enjoying the sights. Um, ok....but we do have an ADR at Coral Reef at 11:30, could you please enjoy the sights a little quicker please?

I’m not commando, but I do know how to "move with purpose" when need be! No "move like you're drinking a latte", here, people! You just don’t smell the roses when you have an ADR you don’t want to miss! You smell the roses after I smell my mojito at the Coral Reef!

The girls were getting restless, so we watched the Living with the Land boats coming back into “dock” (we so could have gone on that after all this time – ugh) then we killed time looking at the gift shop! I think our late night arrival the night before combined with our early morning this morning, was catching up with them. Taking pictures usually makes the time pass quicker, but how come time just flies when you are at Disney, EXCEPT WHEN YOU ARE WAITING FOR SOMEONE ? Then it seems like they are taking FOREVER and a DAY! Our ADR was for 11:30 and I knew that even with Fastpasses, you still had to wait a little bit to get on Soarin and it was now right at 11:00!

(you can see Scuba Mickey in this pic!)

Finally they arrived a couple minutes after 11:00 and we whipped through the FP line to the holding area for Soarin! I must have a thing for queues, but I just love the “hangar-like” feel of the Soarin queue! Yes, I hate to fly, but I love this ride!

Waiting:

We waited about 10 minutes before getting in our rows and then another 5 before going in. Katie, of course had to be measured two more times before she got on the ride! Each time, I held my breath (after I told her to stand up straight, put her feet all the way back….with a nervous look on my face I’m sure) She passed all 3 check points and we were headed for her first “big girl” ride!

I snapped this quick picture of her getting buckled.

By 11:15 we were off on our flight over California! As usual, we all loved this ride and the kids claimed to even have seen the hidden mickey on the golf ball that I told them to look for! Uh-huh…sure!

Katie absolutely loved her first big girl ride, so on our way out of the Land, Shawn picked up 8 more fastpasses to use after lunch. Now we were off to dine with the fishies. How would my first surprise go? Or should I say, Where ARE those menus?

Sara

 

[kaysmommie]

Great update. Katie is finally big enough for Soarin! I have no idea why they are so stricked with Soarin . Hoping she got to ride lots of new stuff this trip. Thomas loves TT, Soarin, and BTMRR. It's so great when they are big enough to ride. Love your pictures too! All of the kids look so much alike. I think Michael having blonde hair as always thrown me off, but you sure can tell they brother and sisters . I can't wait to hear about Coral reef which is still one of my favorites. Not my absolute favorite anymore though .