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

[mom2mek]

Great updates Sara! The kids look fabulous in their costumes!

Isn't MNSSHP the best! Your pictures are making me want to go back right now! You guys really blend in to the scenery with your awesome orange shirts and orange stroller.

That is so random that you ran in to Nichole in the Buzz queue! You probably had better luck meeting that way than if you tried to set up a meet!

Looking forward to more!!

Thanks Michelle! I was glad we went with the orange shirts! Only at Disney, I tell ya! Orange is just not my favorite color on me!

It was such a nice surprise to meet up with Nichole! Of course, the rest of the night I kept thinking how awful I must have looked with my big, bright, orange t-shirt and my humidity-stricken hair! Oh well!

I love how your stroller matches your shirts, very well planned. The kids look so cute all dressed up and I'm glad you're not going mad yet!!!

Thanks Jo. That is too funny about the stroller! It was a rental so that was just pure coincidence! It did match perfectly though, didn't it?

Not going too crazy yet - thank goodness!

Sara

 

[Poohtigeey]

Hey! I think the cloud looks like Abraham Lincoln. I love your pictures, but it makes me realize how clueless I was when we went a couple of years ago. Didn't appreciate the decor. So, I must go back! That's so cool you met Nichole even if it was brief. I read this and just think over and over, we HAVE to get our kids together. WHEN?!! Start planning our summer trip. K?

 

[mom2mek]

Hey! I think the cloud looks like Abraham Lincoln. I love your pictures, but it makes me realize how clueless I was when we went a couple of years ago. Didn't appreciate the decor. So, I must go back! That's so cool you met Nichole even if it was brief. I read this and just think over and over, we HAVE to get our kids together. WHEN?!! Start planning our summer trip. K?

You're right - it does have a certain "Abe-like" quality! Yes, you must go back - how's October for ya? I'll meet you there!

Yes, let's get to planning that summer trip!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 3 – MNSSHP
Part 5 – How fast will we spin on those Teacups?

SO before heading towards Fantasyland, we snapped a couple of pics of Michael in his knight costume and took a little bit of video of him showing off some of his best moves! LOL!

Then we were off to ride the Teacups!

Katie was still asleep at this point and I debated waking her as she loves the Teacups so much, but I knew we would be back to the MK the next day for her birthday, as well as on our last day of the trip, so I figured letting her sleep this one out, wasn’t a horrible thing to do.

Mom, Emily, and I rode in one teacup, and Shawn took Michael on the other. MIL and Step-dad sat this one out. GO figure – they can do Mission Space – ORANGE version, but the little old teacups were too much for them to handle! Wimps! JK!

Mom and I let Emily do all the spinning in hopes that she would think the actual movement of the ride WAS the spinning. Well, the girl is on to us, plus she has mustered up some strength in those arms – she was able to actually spin that cup pretty good! I still managed to get a few pics before we got going too fast.

Shawn and Michael had a blast spinning around (Shawn is truly not a fan, but endured it for his buddy), and as we were getting off the Teacups we heard the announcement that the party was officially beginning. Woo-hoo!

I figured I should go ahead and wake Katie up at this point. Surprisingly, she woke up NOT grumpy (funny how that happens at the Magic Kingdom) and we were on to Toontown! We stopped for a quick ride on Barnstormer – everyone rode except my parents. MIL rode with Emily, I rode with Katie, and Shawn rode with Michael. I think. Then we were off to do some trick or treating down the Alice/Mad Hatter treat path!

(For some reason Emily wasn't interested in getting in this picture with Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were picking their noses and I was telling them that that was rude. Maybe she thought so too!

(She didn't have a problem getting in the picture with Alice though)

Alice was soooo tiny...and her little voice was so cute! She was well cast.

We saw the Queen of Hearts, but I'm thinking we didn't get a picture WITH the kids, as the only one I see in all my pics is of her from the back. Not exactly the best view. (why is it that the queen of hearts always reminds me of Fred Flintstone?)

The CMs that were dressed up as cards, didn't seem real pleased with their jobs that night - not rude, just no expression whatsoever. I just told the kids they were really playing up the part - the cards in the movie are pretty grumpy, right? Maybe that was what they were doing. Who knows?

As we followed the red trail out, we came out right by Space Mountain, so Shawn and his Mom took Michael to ride it and the rest of us headed back to Fantasyland. We had a honey pot with our names on it waiting for us!

Mom, stepdad, Emily, Katie, and I all rode Pooh, and then the girls got in some trick or treating right there near the Pooh's Playful Spot. There was the cutest little Buzz Lightyear in the line in front of us. He looked about 3 and his little blow-up "wings" were as big as he was tall. It was adorable.

Here is where Mom and I had to figure out what we were going to do about the parade. See, my plan had always been to see the 2nd parade; however, with the rain we had last night at Epcot, combined with the threatening looking clouds, we had thought we might should try for the first parade instead - just to ensure we didn't miss it, if the later one ended up being cancelled.

Well, here we were, without 3 of our party, and about 30 minutes before the parade. Ugh. After much debate, we decided to chance it and wait for the 2nd parade. We were just really hoping that the weather (that looked like it had cleared up by this point) would hold out so that we could see the parade later on.

After some trick or treating, we walked on to Snow White and Cinderella's Carousel and then we decided to venture over to Dumbo while a large portion of people were waiting for and/or heading to find a spot for the 1st parade.

Did we make the right choice?

 

[jillyb]

Ohhhh....a cliffhanger!!!

 

[mom2mek]

Ohhhh....a cliffhanger!!!

That's funny Jill! I'm sooo not good at cliffhangers! But thanks!

Sara

 

[jillyb]

That's funny Jill! I'm sooo not good at cliffhangers! But thanks!

Sara

Are your sure? Because I could have sworn I heard dastardly villan music afther that question mark.

 

[mom2mek]

Are your sure? Because I could have sworn I heard dastardly villan music afther that question mark.

Too funny!

 

[DisneyJo]

That photo really looks like she's saying bwaahhaaaha I'm going to spin them so fast

 

[mom2mek]

That photo really looks like she's saying bwaahhaaaha I'm going to spin them so fast

Isn't that the truth?

I think my days of glissfully gliding around in my cup and not spinning are over!

Sara

 

[OhioTony]

I can't believe I'm just now catching up onyour TR! I guess I've been too busy reading the other one!

Your Mom is such a sport to go along with things like putting Tinkerbells in her hair! That is too funny!
You got some amazing pics of all the decorations at the MNSSHP! We went several years ago but didn't get there until almost dark and the decorations didn't show up as much.

Well if you keep typing I promise to read more faithfully!

 

[mom2mek]

I can't believe I'm just now catching up onyour TR! I guess I've been too busy reading the other one!

Your Mom is such a sport to go along with things like putting Tinkerbells in her hair! That is too funny!
You got some amazing pics of all the decorations at the MNSSHP! We went several years ago but didn't get there until almost dark and the decorations didn't show up as much.

Well if you keep typing I promise to read more faithfully!

Thanks for catching up Lynn! My mom and step-dad are always great sports when it comes to acting silly with their grandkids! We had a lot of fun!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 3 - MNSSHP
Part 6 - Is Pop-Pop too scared for Haunted Mansion?

Ok, so executive decision had been made. We would go to the 2nd parade.

Now, we were on to Dumbo. The line didn't look too bad so we jumped in line for a spin on our favorite elephant. Well, surprise, surprise! Even at the party, we couldn't get on Dumbo quickly. It looked to be about 2 cycles before we would get on, but it felt like we waited FOREVER! Maybe it was just my expectation of being able to get on quickly...I don't know. What I do know is, even though we were waiting longer than I wanted, I was so happy to be getting on it at the party. I said to my mom how glad I was because it really took the pressure off the other Magic Kingdom day we had planned. I figured at that point that we wouldn't HAVE to ride it on the other day if the kids got to ride on it this night. Yay! What a relief!

At least while we waited, there was a dance party going on behind us to help occupy the girls!

While waiting in the line, Shawn called. They had left Space Mountain and made their way across a very-crowded castle hub (DUH - Parade!) and got a couple of photopass pics on the other side of the castle. I told them they could go on to Haunted Mansion and we would meet them there.

Here are their photopass pics:

Finally, it was time to ride! We boarded our Dumbo and then....we waited....and we waited. I don't know what the deal was with Dumbo that night, but we sat on the ground for almost 5 full minutes just waiting to fly. UGH!!!!

Finally, just as we were taking off, my phone rings again! So, as I'm flying through the air I'm talking to Shawn because they have decided they want to grab a bite to eat since we weren't there yet. Okey dokey then.

As we left Dumbo, we went over to a completely empty Pinnochio's. I mean ghost-town empty! Kind of creepy. They have already found some seats (that was hard - there was NO ONE there! LOL) and ordered up a few things to share. Michael filled me in on Space Mountain and how much fun he had and Emily and Katie filled Grammy in on all that they had done.

When it was time to go, we all thought a quick ride on Peter Pan was in order. Then the plan was to meet up with our ghost host on the Haunted Mansion. This is where Pop Pop made a big deal about how scared he was to go on Haunted Mansion. He kept saying "I'm not going on that...no way...na uh...nope..." which of course got the kids all giggling and trying to drag him out of the door. Katie was trying to pick him up here. LOL!

Then all 3 tried...

When we came out, the people were very thick through Fantasyland. The first parade had finished up and the people were flooding the rides. Ahhh!!! We took a look at Peter Pan and it said 20 minutes, (and looked every bit of it, if not more) so we decided against it, since we wanted to get on Haunted Mansion before we needed to get our spot for Hallowishes.

(whhaaaa...my favorite ride)

When we were walking through Fantasyland, the step-sisters came running through screaming "MOTHER!!!! MOTHER!!!!" and then the step-mother appeared and they all huddled together complaining about something (I have no idea what as I couldn't really hear them) but it was hilarious! Then they took off scampering and complaining about something or other. They weren't stopping for pics or autographs, just in the park and in character. It was fabulous!

On our way towards Haunted Mansion, we saw Cinderella's coach but the line was so long we just didn't think it was something the kids would tolerate standing in line for.

Sure...they saw it...they thought it was beautiful....but they were all about the rides that night.

I think because this was our first day at the Magic Kingdom, they just wanted to get on stuff, you know? Had we already been to the park on another day, then it might have been an easier "sell" to them to stop for characters and photo ops! They were pretty much on a mission tonight!

We passed by and Shawn managed to get a nice picture of the coach with no people in it, so maybe I could photoshop the kids in it later!

As we continued walking we noticed this cool Mickey Head pumpkin in the water. Such amazing details at the party.

We hopped in line at the even-more-than-normal creepy Haunted Mansion and the kids kept "encouraging" Pop Pop to not be scared! It was too cute.

Haunted Mansion was a basic walk-on and we all loved it. Katie and Emily were hilarious again with all the talk about "they need to clean in here"! And they loved looking for Hidden Mickeys. I found that whenever they seemed a little nervous about something, I could occupy them with that little task and it usually worked!

Well, the line to get IN Haunted Mansion was non-existent, but the line for the photopass out front was not. It wasn't too bad though - just a couple of groups in front of us. Here are the results.

Cracks me up!

By this point it was a little after 9:00 so we thought we should head over to the Crystal Palace to get a spot for the fireworks. I think along the way the kids did some more trick-or-treating and we made it to a nearly empty CP area around 9:15. With the big bathrooms right there, we all took advantage of that and then plopped down for the show. What a great spot. The girls, Shawn, MIL and I all sat right there in front of the restaurant (sort on in between CP and Casey's though) and my Mom, Step-dad, and Michael sat on a bench on the porch of the CP. I was a little surprised that they left most of the lights on at the CP porch. But Mom said it didn't take away at all from the fireworks and it was nice to have a real spot to sit down. The show was amazing and the girls were dancing around to the music.

Shawn didn't have his tripod, but still managed to get some nice shots of the fireworks. It was still fairly cloudy so as they went on it got harder to get pics without smoke in them as the heavy air kept the smoke lower to the ground.

Fireworks pics coming right up...

 

[mkluvsmickey]

How did I miss two updates? Darn work!

Love the pics of Emily on the teacups - so cute!

And I love how Pop-Pop pretended (at least I think he was pretending ) to be afraid of Haunted Mansion.

Great picture of Shawn, his mom and Michael in front of the castle too.

You are making me want to get out my MNSSHP music cd - think it's a little early?

Great job Sara - I'm really enjoying all your great pictures and commentary!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Fireworks pics coming right up...

 

[jillyb]

How cool that your DH, his Mom and Michale got a picture together in front of the castle! I'm sure that's a very special picture for them. The picture of the kids trying to carry Pop-Pop out made me laugh out loud. Another great update! Off to read "more"!

 

[mom2mek]

How did I miss two updates? Darn work!

Love the pics of Emily on the teacups - so cute!

And I love how Pop-Pop pretended (at least I think he was pretending ) to be afraid of Haunted Mansion.

Great picture of Shawn, his mom and Michael in front of the castle too.

You are making me want to get out my MNSSHP music cd - think it's a little early?

Great job Sara - I'm really enjoying all your great pictures and commentary!

Thanks for getting caught up Michelle! My loyal "first-poster" had forgotten about me! (I'm tellin ya...crack addiction... these responses are!)

Yes, Pop-pop is very good at pretending he is not going to get on things - helps the kids feel brave, ya know?

Might be a tad early for Halloween music, but feel free. I won't judge.

Just waiting on you, kiddo!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

How cool that your DH, his Mom and Michale got a picture together in front of the castle! I'm sure that's a very special picture for them. The picture of the kids trying to carry Pop-Pop out made me laugh out loud. Another great update! Off to read "more"!

Thanks Jill. I like that castle picture too - Shawn doesn't cause he was so hot and sweaty by then!

The Pop Pop pics crack me up too! I wish you could have heard them! Hilarious!

Sara

 

[ProudMommyof2]

The party seems awesome! I would soo love to take a Mommy/Daughter Trip in mid-Sept for her birthday and MNSHP

 

[DisneyJo]

I just love all the PP photos, so cute, especially the Haunted Mansion ones