WL Flag Family Of The Day pics added! - Birthday Magic and Disney Diva Hair.

[tinkgurl]

Aw..she looks so cute with her face painted!

Too bad she got a stinky CM though!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Back to Rafiki planet watch and Conservation Station... it was here on our first trip that Aubrey fell in love with Jiminy Cricket. She was so excited to see him again. I was hoping he would be here and we were in luck!

I think these were our first character pictures! Anywho, Pocahontus was also there. She was beautiful...

Brendan was too shy to pose with her. I think he was nervous

Oh wait, I'm about to forget a story... Ok, so in the Conservation Station is the veteranry hospital where they take care of all of the animals. There is actually an observation window into one of the operation rooms. They'll periodically do routine check ups, teeth cleanings... those kinds of things. Well, today there was supposed to be some kind of surgery on a baby gorilla but the only way there were going to be able to get the baby away from the mother was to give the mother a sedative too! We were going to be able to see one of those HUGE gorillas and her baby right up close! I was excited. Well, we sat there and waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever! Turns out, they couldn't get the mother to cooperate so after waiting literally like 30 minutes, they were going to bring out a goat. Wa hoo. I just sat here on my now very numb butt for you to bring out a goat with pink eye? Yeah, so not kidding here. So now we were waiting on the goat. Aubrey didn't care. She wanted to see it. I kept asking her if we could leave and she refused. So finally here comes ole Billy and they're about to give him the IV and what does Aubrey do??? She FREAKS out!!!! She was so scared and did not want to see the goat hurt. She ran away from the window, out of the building screaming all the way. My baby, she hates seeing anyone or anything in pain. Well, my butt was in severe pain by this time but she didnt' seem to care. Oh well. I didn't want to traumatize the child so we left.

Onto our next mission which was to find our very most favorite thing to see at AK. We have been so lucky to run into her on each trip. We've learned where and when to find her and Aubrey hadn't forgotten our last meeting. She couldn't wait to see the "tree lady". The lady that I am referring to is DeVine. If you haven't seen her, you must. It is one of the most mesmerizing things I have ever seen. She can be found on the pathway from Asia to Africa every hour on the hour. So we were off on our quest and lo and behold, there she was. I know this may be shocking to you but I took probably 50 pictures of her. 50 pictures to add the the 150 that I already had at home. Here are a few of my favs from this trip...

The make up is what I think is so beautiful. And the graceful way she walks/floats around the people. I want to be her.

Here is Aubrey getting her first look at her...

I promise you she stood there for 15 solid minutes watching DeVine. Nothing was going to tear her away. Not even a goat surgery

Ok, well I just realized that it is now after 10:00 and I really need to go to bed. I've been staying up way too late lately watching, get this, the Nanny. I know you're out there, people who stay up and watch it too. I just love that show. So tonight I am going to be asleep and a decent hour! More to post tomorrow. Sleep well everyone. Have magical dreams

 

[Disneychix]

Great updates! Aubrey looks beautful in the face paint!

We could see/hear the fireworks from our room at the WL last December. We already knew DS is afraid of fireworks so we had to make sure we kept the door shut and prayed he was alseep by the time they started each night!

 

[ccgirl]

Love your trip report! You are very entertaining! I had never seen those hand pictures at DTD either. I may just have to check it out. This is suddenly turning into an expensive trip for us. We are doing photo mats this year as well. What size did you get? I also love you included the date. I may have to do that too. Sorry....it seems I keep copying all your ideas. hope you don't mind.

 

[tigerdragon]

Thanks for the compliment on the necklace. I get at least one a day! I love it! And no, not at all!!! I actually got it at Sears of all places. They have a really pretty line of Disney sterling jewelry. I got mine in the store but you can order it online too. It was only $50 when I got it. Looks like the price went up a bit. Here's the link...

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...cName=Pendants+&+Necklaces&sName=View+All

Wow, Sears! I would have never guessed that. I thought it might have been from pick-a-pearl in Epcot. I emailed the link to my DH with the title "So Mother's Day is coming up soon...". LOL, I hope he gets it for me.

The handprint pictures are adorable! I've never seen that stand before either.

Isn't DeVine amazing? We saw her for the first time on this last trip. We all really enjoyed watching her, especially my DH.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Whew! So many updates! I'm all caught up now. First off, I've never been in WoD at DTD, but I'm not sure I want to go. You aren't the first to talk about how crazy it can get in there.

The ride pics of the kids at DTD are too cute.

How precious is that memory of being all bundled up with your beautiful daughter watching wishes from the balcony???

Love the matching shirts. You've got yourself one heck of a hubby who will wear matching shirts. If we even "accidentally" match around my house, my DH will change immediately.

DD looks so sweet singing her "Wheels on the Bus" song. Good daddy for singing along with her!!!

Your DD's face is beautiful, but esp with face paint on. Boo to the not-so-magical CM. She could at least pretend to be happy for your daughter's sake. (LOVE brother's reaction to the face paint, btw!!! )

Your character pics are too cute. Never seen Jiminy OR Pocahontas. You are right, she was beautiful! Too bad about not getting to see the gorillas. I would have been disappointed about not seeing them, too.

DeVine is GEORGEOUS!!!! I've never run across her, either. But I have never been down that trail, I don't think. Seems I have some exploring to do on the next trip!

I'm sure there was more I wanted to comment on, but I'll leave it at that for now!

Loving the report. I love the detail you put in it. It makes it feel like we're right there with you.

 

[disney2mom]

Great update! Aubrey's face painting was so cute! We have never seen Devine at Animal Kingdom. I think we spend too much time doing the same rides over and over, my kids love Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids! Keep the posts coming

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

At the Picasso comment!!! I seriously make my DH spend his own spending money when he lets my DD get her face painted because house $$$ is not being spent on that

Sorry you got a less than magical CM

More amazing pics!!! love the all!!! I've never seen the black swan before.

WOW at your weight loss! Since I missed the story...how did you do it???

 

[DisneyTiger]

Aw..she looks so cute with her face painted!

Too bad she got a stinky CM though!

Yeah, but she still had a blast!

Great updates! Aubrey looks beautful in the face paint!

We could see/hear the fireworks from our room at the WL last December. We already knew DS is afraid of fireworks so we had to make sure we kept the door shut and prayed he was alseep by the time they started each night!

The face paint really did come out great. And she did it in like 5 minutes!

The fireworks from the balcony was awesome. DS did make sure that the door was closed tight when they were going on. He is not a fan!

Love your trip report! You are very entertaining! I had never seen those hand pictures at DTD either. I may just have to check it out. This is suddenly turning into an expensive trip for us. We are doing photo mats this year as well. What size did you get? I also love you included the date. I may have to do that too. Sorry....it seems I keep copying all your ideas. hope you don't mind.

Haha! Thanks! The handprints are really such a cute idea. I just finally hung theirs in their room today! The mat that I used last trip fits a 5X7 picture. It was just the right size to fit in our bag. I kept it in a Walmart bag just to keep it protected. Please feel free to use any of my ideas. I'm flattered

Wow, Sears! I would have never guessed that. I thought it might have been from pick-a-pearl in Epcot. I emailed the link to my DH with the title "So Mother's Day is coming up soon...". LOL, I hope he gets it for me.

The handprint pictures are adorable! I've never seen that stand before either.

Isn't DeVine amazing? We saw her for the first time on this last trip. We all really enjoyed watching her, especially my DH.

I know! I was in sears one day and just happened to see them! The other jewlrey in that Disney line is pretty too! I hope you get a good suprise for Mother's Day.I have actually done the pick a pear thing too but I did it just outside of The Beach Club when we stayed there in '08. Now that was a fun experience! I got a really nice and valuable pearl too! I'm going to do it again with Aubrey when she's a little older.

DeVine is unbelievable to me. I really could watch her all day. If I could be any character in Disney, it would be her hands...er, vines down. LOL

Whew! So many updates! I'm all caught up now. First off, I've never been in WoD at DTD, but I'm not sure I want to go. You aren't the first to talk about how crazy it can get in there.

The ride pics of the kids at DTD are too cute.

How precious is that memory of being all bundled up with your beautiful daughter watching wishes from the balcony???

Love the matching shirts. You've got yourself one heck of a hubby who will wear matching shirts. If we even "accidentally" match around my house, my DH will change immediately.

DD looks so sweet singing her "Wheels on the Bus" song. Good daddy for singing along with her!!!

Your DD's face is beautiful, but esp with face paint on. Boo to the not-so-magical CM. She could at least pretend to be happy for your daughter's sake. (LOVE brother's reaction to the face paint, btw!!! )

Your character pics are too cute. Never seen Jiminy OR Pocahontas. You are right, she was beautiful! Too bad about not getting to see the gorillas. I would have been disappointed about not seeing them, too.

DeVine is GEORGEOUS!!!! I've never run across her, either. But I have never been down that trail, I don't think. Seems I have some exploring to do on the next trip!

I'm sure there was more I wanted to comment on, but I'll leave it at that for now!

Loving the report. I love the detail you put in it. It makes it feel like we're right there with you.

World of Disney had not been that bad at all during last trips. I actually really love going there. They just have sooooo much stuff. Just on this night, there were sooooooo many people! = CRAZY!!!

Holding Aubrey on the balcony watching the fireworks is something that I will never forget. And neither will she! She's already reminded me of a few times since then

You should have seen us on our trip in Sept '08. I'm pretty sure I made shirts for 6 of the 7 days we were there and he didn't complain once. The only time he has complained was when I started making the shirts for this trip. He asked how many I was doing and I said only 3. He was obviously happy about that. He is such a trooper and is just as obsessed with WDW as me, he just doesn't openly admit it I can tell you though that we would never EVER dress the same in real life!

We were so happy to see Pocahontas. She was a lot prettier or more realistic than the last one we met. And she was so sweet to the kids. I just love the interaction between the characters and the children. They don't come out of character at all even when the parents get involved. Like when Aubrey asked Ariel where Max was and I interrupted saying, "Baby, I'm sure Ariel doesn't know where he is right this second." Ariel then looked me square in the eye and said, "oh yes I do, he's down at the beach fishing with Eric!" I was like, "well, ok then". I like it because the kids are totally in belief of everything and then you find yourself believing it all too! That's why I love Disney

Oh, and not seeing the gorillas was disappointing but more for my rear end than anything. I was sitting there on the hard floor scrunched in with 30 other people. I swear I regain feeling in it for at least 30 minutes!

Oh, you MUST MUST MUST find her on your next trip. Just take the path that leads from Asia to Africa. There is usually a photopass person there taking pics in front of the tree. It's a great view. Just double check her times. It's either every hour or every half hour. It's worth the wait I promise! Hope you find her!

I'm glad you feel like you are there with me. I know I can get a bit long winded but it's just because I want to remember every moment and by writing it it makes it all come back to me. And now I have it down in writing, along with people's reactions to them which makes it that much more special. Sharing these memories with peopel that "get it". You know? I don't know many people in real life that "get it" so it's so nice to have my little family here

Great update! Aubrey's face painting was so cute! We have never seen Devine at Animal Kingdom. I think we spend too much time doing the same rides over and over, my kids love Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids! Keep the posts coming

You should definitely try to find her. I promise you won't be disappointed. We love Everest and Kali too. Just a little word to the wise... if you happen to get the face painting, make sure to do it AFTER you ride Kali and not before. My sister had both of her girl's faces painted and then went on it. Needless to say, they came out screaming from the paint streaming into their eyes. Mom and dad were screaming from the dollars and cents streaming off of their faces!

At the Picasso comment!!! I seriously make my DH spend his own spending money when he lets my DD get her face painted because house $$$ is not being spent on that

Sorry you got a less than magical CM

More amazing pics!!! love the all!!! I've never seen the black swan before.

WOW at your weight loss! Since I missed the story...how did you do it???

Yeah, we had a budget going in Disney but that just never seems to stick for us. And Aubrey didn't even notice the boring CM. She was so excited she couldn't care less. The black swan was pretty neat. I can now add it to my collection of 4.569 pictures from AK!

Yeah, after I went and found that old pic, I decided to go through all of our other old pics. Man, I was huge. I have been doing Jenny Craig and have lost 50lbs. My goal is to lose about 30 more. We shall see. Going to Disney is great because you can eat pretty much what you want, within reason and because you walk so freaking much, it's alll burned off by the end of the day

 

[DisneyTiger]

Devine was wonderful as always. I have a sister who has been to Disney many times and has never seen her. They always look for her but have never had any luck. So I just had to take a minute and call her to let her know who we were seeing. I know, I'm devious

After that, we decided to head over to Everest to get FP's. Now, the crowds were definitely heavier than we're used to. We've onlly been at off seasons (mid May, Sept, Nov, early Dec) so having to wait in line was something we were not familiar with. And fastpasses running out, well we've just never had that problem before either. The only time we experienced this was on a last minute trip for New Year's. LSU made it to the Capital One Bowl which was being held in Orlando. We were in the parks on New Year's Eve and I swear to you that I will NEVER EVER do that again! Thankfully it was before we had kids and we were with some friends of ours. We actually stood in line for 90 minutes to ride Splash Mountain. Crazy. But, I do have to say that it was by far the most fun we had ever had on New Year's Eve. We were in the world showcase for midnight and it was a blast! Anywho, we made our way over to Everest and all the FP's were gone. I was bummed. And the single rider line had a 50 minute wait So sorry, we'll be back in December. I'll catch you then, Yeti. So I just had to take this pic. Something that we have never seen before...

Triple digit wait times!!!! And sadly, this was not the longest one we came across. I think Everest got up to 140 by the time we left there. I'm sorry, I just could not do that. Can you imagine spending 2 hours in a line for a ride that lasts, what a minute and a half! It's awesome and all, but no thanks. So needless to say, we passed. Bummer.

After this, we headed over to Theater in The Wild to watch Nemo. Jason and Brendan saw this show last time without us so Aubrey and I didn't know what to expect. It was AWESOME! I wish we had better seats though. Next time we'll try to get closer!

On our way out of the theater, we decided to get a little treat. Here is Brendan enjoying his popcicle. I just had to post this because he looks like such a little man in this pic, with his legs crossed like a grown up. Too cute...

We stopped right outside of Dinoland to let them eat their treats so when they were done, we decided to let them go play in the Boneyard. Ok, can I tell you how much I (normally) love this place? It is so much fun and there is so much to do. Well, when there are 500 other kids running around, it's not so much fun. At one point we lost Aubrey. I mean, really lost her. I had no idea where she was and I started to get frantic (sadly, this would not be the last time that we lost one of our children on this trip). Neither Jason or I even realized that there was a whole other side to the Boneyard. You can cross over that little bridge and there is a whole "dig site" for the kids to play in. She really was no where to be found but thankfully she did show up. She was just running around minding her own business. Scary!!!! So after that, I wasn't going to let her out of my sight which meant Mama would be doing some rope climbing. Man, I got my workout that day! Since I had never been to the dig site, Aubrey and I deided to head over there and check it out. She immediately made friends with two little girls that were there. For some reason, Aubrey has this facination with being buried in the sand. So, she was able to sucker these two girls into doing it...

Thankfully, this place is not filled with sand. It's filled with tons of tiny little pebbles that are much easier to clean up than sand. Thank you Disney She got such a kick out of this and I was ok with it because I knew all she had to do was stand up and shake a bit and it all would come off of her. Finished product...

Here's another shot of her digging. I just thought this was a pretty shot of her hair so I decided tos share...

After the boneyard, we met up with Jason and Brendan and decided to let the kids ride Triceritop Spin. They LOVED this especially since we were terrible parents and wouldn't get in the really long Dumbo line the day before LOVE this picture!!!

By this time, the kids were getting tired and hungry again. Man, for such small people, kids sure can eat alot! We got them a snack and decided to watch the parade. Aubrey loved it. Brendan fell asleep literally with a Cheeto hanging out of his mouth. I missed the photo op by a second! Here's what I got...

We laughed so hard but took this as a sign that it was time to go. We headed to the bus and were on our way back to the lodge.

 

[DisneyTiger]

In this next post, I will take you through the most frustrating night EVER...

We made it back to WL and by this time, Brendan had gotten in a little cat nap and was ready to go again. I decided to take the kids down to the beach while Jason rested. I had mailed ahead two sand buckets and some shovels in the package o' diapers and wine so they would have something to play with. Here are a few cute shots of them on the beach...

Now, I don't remember exactly how this night got so messed up. All I know is it did and it was not fun. For some reason, I guess we really didn't have a game plan and decided at the last minute to head out to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic since this was one of the only nights that it was going on. Why doesn't this show happen more often?? It really makes life difficult. Anyway, we headed down to the bus stop which is right next to a patch of tall grass and bushes. You would have thought that this was a playground by the way my kids had a blast running around in it. They loved it! Jason joined in the fun and was being silly like he was in the middle of the jungle or something...

We tried to get Aubrey to do the same pose

The bus came and honestly, I cannot give you any kind of timeline here. I really think I have blocked the experience out. We arrived at HS and sometime after something. It was close to Fantasmic time but we really weren't worried because we've walked into this show last minute many times. In fact, I always tell people to not worry about lining up an hour early. The place is HUGE! Well, I have also never been at this time of year. So here are my pictures from this night...

Wanna know why these are the only pictures that I'm posting? Because it's all I got. When we got to the gate, the CM nicely said "Hello and welcome to Hollywood Studios. Oh, and if you're here for Fantasmic, it's full." Ok, I was shocked and so upset. Aubrey had been talking about this show all day. She remembered it from our trip in 2008 and wanted to see Mickey "save the day" again. There was no explaining this to her. She was freaking out. We tried everything to console her. Finally, cotton candy did the trick. For a little while anyway. We tried to do something while we were there. Anything... but it was just too packed! We could barely move. Really, it was miserable. I finally said, let's just go do the Great Movie Ride. There's never a line there! Ummmm, did you know that when there are 4,000 people in line at TGMR, it wraps around the building?! Yeah, that's something else I've never seen. I would have taken a picture but I just wasn't in the mood. After going back and for about what to do, we finally decided to just leave. So yes, we went all the way to DHS and all we did was get some cotton candy. Even the beer lines were too long. It was just a total and complete wasted night. I don't even remember going back to the hotel. I suppose it was uneventful because I don't have pictures of it. I do know that when we got back to our room and got the kids to sleep, I remembered that the next day was Brendan's birthday. We had to muster up some energy to decorate the room for him. We did the same thing for Aubrey and she got such a kick out of waking up to decorations. So we did it and then we passed out trying to forget the previous few hours.

So that was it on our second day. Up next photopass pics and Brendan's 3rd Birthday!!!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Just kidding, aparantly I don't have any photopass pics from this day. That's stange but now that I think of it, I don't remember taking any. Oh well, more to come tomorrow. Sleep tight everyone

 

[my2disneyboys]

Hey Tallissa, It sounds like maybe you and Jason had one too many cocktails Ok now I know for sure, you need to plan a trip for the first week in Feb with the kids!!! I have never seen the place so empty in my whole life.... walk on every ride.... show up 2 minutes before parades and fireworks and still have plenty of great spots.... no fast pass needed the entire week!

I packed my kids little airplane gifts in pails with shovels, and they were such a pain because they were so bulky.... when we got to the Poly on the first day I took it out and it cracked! oh well, I am glad it looked like your got some use!!

 

[ccgirl]

Thanks for the update and the pics. I have never seen the lines that long either but we usually go in OCt or May. I'm sorry your trip to MGM was a bust. It really frustrates me that Fantasmic is not shown every night anymore. We have one opportunity to see it the first week in May. Luckily, we can just walk there from BWV. I think I will get there 90 minutes ahead just to be safe. Thanks again....can't wait to ready about the birthday! Happy 3rd birthday to Brendan.

 

[DisneyTiger]

Hey Tallissa, It sounds like maybe you and Jason had one too many cocktails Ok now I know for sure, you need to plan a trip for the first week in Feb with the kids!!! I have never seen the place so empty in my whole life.... walk on every ride.... show up 2 minutes before parades and fireworks and still have plenty of great spots.... no fast pass needed the entire week!

I packed my kids little airplane gifts in pails with shovels, and they were such a pain because they were so bulky.... when we got to the Poly on the first day I took it out and it cracked! oh well, I am glad it looked like your got some use!!

Oh on this night, I think the problem was that we did have enough cocktails It was just crazy. And I know exactly what you mean about the parks being empty. That's totally what we're used to! We have barely had to use fast passes in the past! It was definitely a different experience but we made the most of it. I don't feel like we missed out on anything. We just had to tweak our plans every now and then. As far as a February trip, it's probably not going to happen. Mardi Gras is really late next year (March 8) so if we go it's going to be then. Butttttt, I'm actually thinking about taking my nephew in May for his senior trip. My graduation present for him. I don't know. But I do know we'll be there 12/1 - 12/6. I am sooooo excited abou that because it's a really slow time and it's beautiful!!!!

How frustrating about the buckets. I'm telling you, shipping ahead is the way to go!

Thanks for the update and the pics. I have never seen the lines that long either but we usually go in OCt or May. I'm sorry your trip to MGM was a bust. It really frustrates me that Fantasmic is not shown every night anymore. We have one opportunity to see it the first week in May. Luckily, we can just walk there from BWV. I think I will get there 90 minutes ahead just to be safe. Thanks again....can't wait to ready about the birthday! Happy 3rd birthday to Brendan.

Yes, I agree about Fantasmic. I love that show but you really do have to arrange your trip around it if you want to see it! Love the BWV! We've never stayed there but the location is great. Staying at BCV was so awesome. We loved being able to walk to Epcot and DHS!

 

[BippityBoo]

HI!!! So happy I found your TR

I live on the Northshore by New Orleans. Who Dat?!

I just love your kid's LSU and Saints shirts. I am dying to know how you made them!

Did you see the new LSU shirts for sale on disneystore.com? They are precious!

Hope you will join my TR too!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2374556

We stayed at the WL too! Isn't it just amazing! Can't wait to read more about your trip! We are dying to try TRex. Looks amazing (even though it is quite expensive!)

 

[Believeinfairytales]

So sorry you didn't get to see Fantasmic! I've yet to see it, but I figure that's one of those things that will keep me coming back b/c there's still things I haven't seen!!!

Looking forward to the Birthday Boy's Big Day!

 

[tigerdragon]

Oh that's terrible about not being able to get into Fantasmic! We weren't interested in seeing it this year and I guess that's a good thing. I would have hated to wait such a long time to see it.

 

[PrincessEmmysMom]

Hi! Fellow Louisianian here...GEAUX SAINTS! I live in Mandeville. I am enjoying your TR so much and can't wait to see how you decorated the room for Brendan's birthday. We are going at the end of June (can you say HOT) for my dd's 7th birthday so I need ideas. Oh the things we do for our kids...

 

[coteau_chick]

I can't believe how disappointing that night was. I hope that was the last of those kind of crowds you encountered. Do you plan using tourguide mike? I always plan according to his crowd calendar. I love the picture of Aubrey in the grass.