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

[whogirl'smom]

What an "incredible" picture of Elasti-girl! We stood in exactly the same place you were for the Stars and Motor Cars parade--great spot for a moving parade but NO SHADE. That's cute that they have the kids come out and dance and feel like part of the show. Ok, ok, we'll go in December!

Uh oh, sounds like fastpass trouble is brewing for later on. I loved the animation (even though dd cried through it because she didn't think her Minnie looked as good as mine or her daddy's ). It was so relaxing after the craziness of rushing here and there. I do plan on framing all three of our pictures at some point to hang going up the stairs. I had forgotten I needed to do that till just now, so thanks for the boost to my memory!

 

[jillyb]

Uh oh...I smell a mutiny!

OT: I was a the mall today eating lunch at Chik-fil-A. I looked up towards the counter and there was a lady standing there who, at first glance, resembled you! I had to do a double take and said "Nahhhh...why would she be in NC?" LOL

 

[KathyRN137]

Uh-oh, a forshadowing!

I know Billy is going to go nuts over the new parade! I'm so glad you posted your pix; they're some of the first I've seen!

But...no more muppets!

Kathy

 

[kaysmommie]

Loved your parade pics! That looks like it will be a must see for us. Now I have 3 parade on the list plus Wishes/ Illuminations . Where did you sit for this parade? Was it across from Hollywood Brown Derby, near the hat?? We want to sit in the shade for sure. Looking forward to your animation studio update. Happy Valentines Day!!

 

[julezdisney]

All caught up!! Love the pix of the Pixar parade. We didn't even bother trying to catch this, as Rach and I had seen it in 2006 at Disneyland. I can't wait for Disney Animation because we didn't do that either.

 

[micandminforever]

Thanks for the parade pictures I love a parade.

 

[faerieprincess]

i'm here and all caught up! Your pictures from the Block Party are fantastic!!! We pretty much skipped that in favour of doing more rides but it did look like fun for the kids!

i thought of your girls every single time i saw a little girl who'd been to the BBB. Pretty much every time i was thinking... "Emily and Katie looked way cuter than those girls". i'm so nice eh?

 

[mom2mek]

What an "incredible" picture of Elasti-girl! We stood in exactly the same place you were for the Stars and Motor Cars parade--great spot for a moving parade but NO SHADE. That's cute that they have the kids come out and dance and feel like part of the show. Ok, ok, we'll go in December!

Uh oh, sounds like fastpass trouble is brewing for later on. I loved the animation (even though dd cried through it because she didn't think her Minnie looked as good as mine or her daddy's ). It was so relaxing after the craziness of rushing here and there. I do plan on framing all three of our pictures at some point to hang going up the stairs. I had forgotten I needed to do that till just now, so thanks for the boost to my memory!

Glad I could help! Yes, the spot was fine but I think going forward I will probably try to get a spot down Hollywood just so we can see the first "bash" spot and then move along...plus no shade! But we kind of knew that going into it and it wasn't too bad.

Uh oh...I smell a mutiny!

OT: I was a the mall today eating lunch at Chik-fil-A. I looked up towards the counter and there was a lady standing there who, at first glance, resembled you! I had to do a double take and said "Nahhhh...why would she be in NC?" LOL

That's funny Jill! I'm in NC all the time though! Just not yesterday! LOL! We live right on the border of VA and NC - in the Hampton Roads area. I do love me some Chick Fil-A though!

Uh-oh, a forshadowing!

I know Billy is going to go nuts over the new parade! I'm so glad you posted your pix; they're some of the first I've seen!

But...no more muppets!

Kathy

I know Kathy! I'm sad not to see Kermit and Miss Piggy riding in the back of their fancy car! I think as much Billy likes dancing, he will absolutely LOVE this parade! It's just jam-packed with fun!!!

Loved your parade pics! That looks like it will be a must see for us. Now I have 3 parade on the list plus Wishes/ Illuminations . Where did you sit for this parade? Was it across from Hollywood Brown Derby, near the hat?? We want to sit in the shade for sure. Looking forward to your animation studio update. Happy Valentines Day!!

We were right across from Snow White topiary Nichole...sort of to the right of the hat if you were standing in front of it...right in front of some bathrooms! It was a pretty good spot, but I would have preferred seeing the Monsters inc or Toy Story floats for the spot! Maybe further down like right across from the boat.... Maybe on Hollywood, sitting about halfway down - perhaps right near the Sunset intersection...

Happy Valentine's day to you too!

All caught up!! Love the pix of the Pixar parade. We didn't even bother trying to catch this, as Rach and I had seen it in 2006 at Disneyland. I can't wait for Disney Animation because we didn't do that either.

Thanks Julia! Wow - I didn't know it had been at DLR for that long! It's a cool parade, we liked it!

Thanks for the parade pictures I love a parade.

You're welcome! It is a fun parade...Shawn got a ton of pictures...maybe I will post some more...

i'm here and all caught up! Your pictures from the Block Party are fantastic!!! We pretty much skipped that in favour of doing more rides but it did look like fun for the kids!

i thought of your girls every single time i saw a little girl who'd been to the BBB. Pretty much every time i was thinking... "Emily and Katie looked way cuter than those girls". i'm so nice eh?

Awww Sare...that's sweet! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! I'm sure it was so magical! As you can see, I didn't get that far in my report....par for the course!

Sara

 

[jillyb]

That's funny Jill! I'm in NC all the time though! Just not yesterday! LOL! We live right on the border of VA and NC - in the Hampton Roads area. I do love me some Chick Fil-A though!

OMG!! I had no idea! LOL If you're ever in the Charlotte area give me a ping and we can do some Chick-Fil-A! LOL

 

[mom2mek]

Day 5 - Disney Hollywood Studios
Part 8 - Donald? Is that you?

When we left the parade, we headed over to the Animation Studio where we waited about 5 minutes before being let in for the show. None of us had ever seen it before, and I thought it was really cute. I enjoyed hearing about the stages of development for the characters and I thought the Eddie Murphy impersonator doing the voice for Mushu did a fairly good job! Sounded very much like him and his humor was perfect for my age kids! Only problem was the girl who was doing the "live" portion of the show was saying her lines either too slowly, or pausing too long in between her parts, because she was usually being "interupted" by the character! LOL! I kept thinking "talk faster, girl, the kids are gonna be on to ya"!

As we left the movie portion, Shawn, Michael, Pop Pop, and Grammy all headed over to do the Animation Academy. I took Emily over to get in line for Sorcerer Mickey and my Mom helped Katie with the little animation screens. After a few minutes of NOT MOVING for Mickey, Emily wanted out of line and decided she wanted to try the Animation Academy, so we got out of line and I took her over there. Of course, the session that was about to go in (that Shawn, Pop Pop, Grammy, and Michael were doing) was full, but the CM who was standing there counted the # of people, and thought she had enough for one more. Phew. Emily joined the others and I went back and got in line for Mickey. Ugh...all the way in the back of the now much longer line!

Katie kept tinkering around with the cute little screens and eventually (after still not moving at all in the line) I decided to jump out of line and just go enjoy what she was doing. I didn't think I was going to get that far in the line before the rest of the group got out of the class, and just thought I was missing out on at least what Katie was doing. (I think part of the problem with the slow-moving line was that there was no PP CM there...just the handler, and he wasn't exactly grouping everyone together and snapping the picture like the PP person would have been, which I think moves things along quicker. He was just standing there, and each group was taking about 5 minutes with Mickey. They stood, talked, had Mickey sign the book, talked some more, then asked the handler to take a picture, yada, yada, yada....UGH.

I enjoyed helping Katie with her pictures a lot more...

Her picture that she colored:

Then she added the background stuff (and was very proud of herself):

After she finished her masterpieces, she wanted to go check out Wall-e and give him a hug!

And then we made our way to the gift shop and waited for the rest of the crew. Come to find out, while we were in there, those beautiful blue skies you just saw in my parade photos, had turned to gray and it had rained a bit. By the time we came out, it had passed, but the stroller was nice and damp. Oh well.

The rest of the group emerged and we saw the drawings.....I think when you put Emily's, Michael's, and Shawn's up side by side, it's kind of like looking at The evolution of Donald Duck....Emily just chuckled at hers, but Michael was disappointed in his, as is typical for Mr. Perfection.

Emily:

Michael:

Shawn:

We wandered around the gift shop a little longer and then started towards the Sci-Fi for our early dinner ADR!!

Shawn went to check us in and I took a few pictures outside.

Then Shawn came out and said they needed to see Katie. Ok? Weird? So I brought Katie into the restaurant and they handed her the phone...she had a phone call from GOOFY!!! She was so cute standing there listening to him wish her a Happy Birthday.

Then the CMs let us all hear it on speaker phone.

Katie said that Mickey must have told Goofy that it was her birthday! LOL!

We were seated right on time at 4:40 in two cars next to one another.

One car had only two rows, so Emily and I took the back seat, and Pop Pop and Michael were driving. Mom and Katie were across from them, and Shawn and his Mom sat across from me and Emily. They had some hitchhikers in their back seat.

Our server came right away and got our drink orders! I got the Space Invaders margarita again, as did my Mom, and I think the rest just got regular drinks. I ordered the Hamburger for dinner and it was very tasty. I think Shawn got the Beef and Blue Salad and his Mom got the Shrimp Pasta. My Mom got the Reuben and my Step-dad got the Hamburger like me. We were all very satisfied with our choices. We just love the Sci-Fi! It's so much fun in there! Katie was full of herself just talking up a storm with my Mom, and it was cracking everyone up!


Only problem with this meal was we were FREEZING!!!! I think because it had been so warm all day, then the rain came in, cooled us down and got us all a little damp, and then we went in to the sub-zero restaurant. I had brought my sweatshirt with me that day and had it tied around my waist, so Emily put that on to warm up.

We had a great time at the Sci-Fi!

We left there around 6:00 and Shawn and I quickly decided that the plan would be to ride TSM with our 2nd set of FPs and then get the heck out of there. We had debated Fantasmic that night but said we would just play it by ear as the day wore on. I was very proud that we didn't let the kids fantastic attitudes at that point in the day talk us into staying longer....or so I thought....

Off to Toy Story Mania again!

 

[Poohtigeey]

Yay! Great updates. Great pictures. I just want to be there with you! Micheal did a great job on his Donald picture. I've never done that before. It really sounds like you all had a wonderful time! It's kind of hard to read you report because it makes me want to go back so bad!! I can't wait to read more, but I'll be patient because now that you're sick I'm guessing no update for awhile. Feel better soon!

 

[micandminforever]

I agree Micheal did a great job on Donald, and Katie did a wonderful job on her picture.

Your pictures from the Sci Fi makes me want to eat there on my next trip. The last three trips I have eaten at the 50's.

 

[mom2mek]

Yay! Great updates. Great pictures. I just want to be there with you! Micheal did a great job on his Donald picture. I've never done that before. It really sounds like you all had a wonderful time! It's kind of hard to read you report because it makes me want to go back so bad!! I can't wait to read more, but I'll be patient because now that you're sick I'm guessing no update for awhile. Feel better soon!

Thanks for reading Monica....I feel lost without my "girls" reading my report! Glad you're back and feeling better! I hope to still post some updates in the next few days so I can get this thing finished up! I swore it wouldn't take me as long to finish this time, and so far I'm not keeping my word!

I agree Micheal did a great job on Donald, and Katie did a wonderful job on her picture.

Your pictures from the Sci Fi makes me want to eat there on my next trip. The last three trips I have eaten at the 50's.

Thanks! I think Sci-fi is just classic Disney! I love it there! Is the food the best in all of WDW? No. But it's good and the drinks are GREAT!!! I really want to try 50s PTC too though. It looks like a really fun time!!

Sara

 

[KathyRN137]

Then the CMs let us all hear it on speaker phone.

Katie said that Mickey must have told Goofy that it was her birthday! LOL!

[/FONT]

How exciting! Did Shawn arrange that or was it cooked up by the Sci Fi staff?
She must have been thrilled!

Kathy

 

[faerieprincess]

Yay! Great update, Sara - you got through a couple of hours in this one Sci-Fi sounds like fun, i'm almost sorry i cancelled that ADR (back in Sept). Emily's and Michael's drawings are both good!

 

[mom2mek]

How exciting! Did Shawn arrange that or was it cooked up by the Sci Fi staff?
She must have been thrilled!

Kathy

Just the Sci-Fi staff! Neat, huh? I had it noted on all of our ADRs that it was her birthday, but that was the only place that did something other than the dessert type thing! She was indeed thrilled! Didn't at all question how it could be played back on speaker phone for the rest of us to hear it!

Yay! Great update, Sara - you got through a couple of hours in this one Sci-Fi sounds like fun, i'm almost sorry i cancelled that ADR (back in Sept). Emily's and Michael's drawings are both good!

Hey, you're right Sare! I got through like 2 hours!! WOW! I'm on a roll! I hope I can just wrap this night up in one more update! I really didn't figure that this day would take me so long to get through. I hope everyone isn't as bored reading it as I am writing about it! LOL! Just kidding...it just wasn't nearly as exciting as some of our other days!!

Sara

 

[whogirl'smom]

It's not boring! I love reading about your day! I saw some odd sized frames at Michael's this week (11x17 maybe), so I'm going to measure our pictures and see if they fit. Tell the kids they did really well! And at least you had no tears.

 

[kaysmommie]

Great update! I love the pictures of Donald. You should have went to draw, it is so fun. Last March I got laughing so hard in there I almost peed my pants , I'm no artist though. Love the picture with Katie getting her Bday phone call from Goofy. Also Sci Fi is on our must do list for May. I even made two ADR's in case this time. Do I need to request a car when we check in??

 

[OhioTony]

Love those updates!
I love that Katie got a phone call from Goofy! It's the little things like that that make Disney so special!
Sci-Fi is one of our favorite restaurants. Even if we don't make an ADR here we will go at an off time just for milkshakes and onion rings.
Waiting for more on TSM

 

[mom2mek]

It's not boring! I love reading about your day! I saw some odd sized frames at Michael's this week (11x17 maybe), so I'm going to measure our pictures and see if they fit. Tell the kids they did really well! And at least you had no tears.

Awww...thanks! I don't know why I haven't been as enthusiastic for writing about this day as I was about the other days!
Picture frames for the Animation pics sound great!! Good luck!

Great update! I love the pictures of Donald. You should have went to draw, it is so fun. Last March I got laughing so hard in there I almost peed my pants , I'm no artist though. Love the picture with Katie getting her Bday phone call from Goofy. Also Sci Fi is on our must do list for May. I even made two ADR's in case this time. Do I need to request a car when we check in??

Thanks Nichole! I did really want to do the Animation, but thought dividing and conquering (me to Mickey, Mom with Katie, rest to Animation) made sense! Now I wish I had just done it! Oh well, next time!

I don't think you can request a specific car, but you can definitely tell them you DON'T want to sit at one of the tables in the back (there are very few of them though)!

Love those updates!
I love that Katie got a phone call from Goofy! It's the little things like that that make Disney so special!
Sci-Fi is one of our favorite restaurants. Even if we don't make an ADR here we will go at an off time just for milkshakes and onion rings.
Waiting for more on TSM

Thanks Lynn! Milkshakes and onion rings sound divine! Well, especially if you replace milkshake with margarita! LOL! The Space Invaders margarita is sooo good! Gotta love the blue cube, too! The space invaders is a lot better value than the glowtini, IMO!! Here is a picture of mine from last year (I didn't get a picture this time, but it was just as good):

Soo good!!!

Sara