A child having a meltdown in public.... yep bribes work!! (of course back at the room is MOM time LOL) Alison, remember what Bill Cosby said... "Parents aren't interested in justice, they're interested in QUIET!!" LOL Ahhhhhh sibling rivalry!! LOL
A child having a meltdown in public.... yep bribes work!! (of course back at the room is MOM time LOL) Alison, remember what Bill Cosby said... "Parents aren't interested in justice, they're interested in QUIET!!" LOL Ahhhhhh sibling rivalry!! LOL
Oh and its nore like pure hatred between them..if one says the sky is blue the other fights that its yellow...they truely do not like each other at ALL
Before I start on our HS day let me very honest..I dislike HS. I find it to be boring.. there just isnt enough stuff to do. Also for me at least I find I have little desire to experience the same stuff there every year.. that said we did go..
Original plans were dinner at Sci-fi because when we went there in 2011 it was miserable due to my son's then girlfriend. Well a few weeks before the trip Jadziah decided she wanted to see Fantasmic so I switched our meal plans to Mama Melrose so we could do the Fantasmic package.
Ok so thats the back ground...
It's Saturday September 14... the night before had been both MNSSHP and the Villians night..so I expected HS to be manageable..
no super rush that morning..we were up and at the bustop by 7:30 ( why can't my kids get up and moving that fast at home???)
All sorts of bright eyed and bushytailed
We got to HS and waited for the magic shot picture..
Was worth the wait!
We had FP+ set for Rockin Rollercoaster, TSMM and Star Tours.. with plans to double dip and get paper ones for TSMM.. yep we did it... flame away.. Well there was no need for the RR FP+ so we cancelled that and traded it for The Great Movie Ride...
The place was fairly dead.. it was nice. Ziah wanted to ride RR..the boys and I did not..so we split up..Eric took her and the boys and I went and got our paper fastpasses...
Grabbed those then went over to meet up with Eric and Ziah..
We waited in the gift shop..I had never been in here..both boys ended up getting hats.. I'm such a softy when it comes to my boys..bad mommy!
Ziah was not overly fond of the coaster..but I am glad she at least tried it!
we were all hungry so we stopped at the food area for some snacks..the kids were already grumpy... epic..mix grumpy kids with my least favorite park and it's looking like its going to be a LONG day.. I will survive..I hope.
I was determined to get LOTS of pictures from Photopass over the course of the trip..pictures with all of us in em.. Big ole UGLY stage in front of the hat kinda ruins this shot.. oh well..oh and my triple chin from turning my head..yeppie!! Oh wait and the 9 and 11 years olds were fighting so don't they look thrilled?? Precious family moments!!
It was time for The Great Movie Ride..we love this one. I do wish very much they'd vary the dialogue but such is life.The CM at the 2nd FP+ post was clueless so that was amusing.. oh well.
After The Great Movie Ride we still had some time before our TSMM paper FastPass time. We bounded off to The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow. This was new since our last trip so I was all sorts of excited to have something to do we had never done!
We got in the queue and were right up front..the CM asked my kids if they wanted to be part of the show.. of course! I have to say this is a pretty cool attraction..
Eric and the kids in their show spot
We still had a few minutes before the FP time so we wandered.. this happens a lot with FP's I find now that you have to use them within the time frame..
Misters.. they draw the kids like moths to a flame!
Finally it was time so we headed back to Pixar Place.. and there was Toy Soldiers around..most going unnoticed..lol
It was so nice to interact with them
Well it WAS.. we got photobombed! No idea who this little girl is but she was not having any part of NOT being in our picture..LOL..her mother was mortified..I found it very amusing..
Kept walking..kept seeing soldiers and it amazed me how many people simply didnt notice them!
Now it was FP time
When we got to the line merge they had us go via the handicap entrance.. which was nice because the merge point was packed..
This ride is ok..Declan turns it into a giant competition.. of course..I have NO idea where that child gets his competitive nature...lol
After TSMM I wanted to go do the Backlot Tour.. we didnt do it in 2012 and Taejan would really enjoy it now ...so off we went..with a very grumpy daughter who did NOT want to go.. suck it up buttercup!
So we had the grumpy girl, and her brothers and we got in line for the backlot tour.. luckily it was perfect timing and we were in the show in 2 minutes.. that def helped with grumpy girl!
Someday I want to be part of this!
Just as I thought Taejan loved catastrophe Canyon
Now The Backlot Tour is nothing like it once was..but it has it's own merit.. not saying I wouldnt LOVE to see it leveled for Carsland though.. that would make me WANT to go to HS!
After the backlot tour we went and used our FP+ for TSMM.. then we headed across the park..
And this.. I cant help but think this area is a huge waste of space in a very limited park..but thats just me..
The kids "met" Mater and Lightening
then we were ready for a snack.. I was determined to get to Pizza Planet. Declan went here last year with Noah but the other 2 kids had never been ..I felt like a total failure as a mom..
Our new mission was paper fast passes for Star Tours ( again flame away)..
Dont like look so thrilled??
the wait time was 10 minutes so we skipped getting FP's and walked right on..Eric went to the food place near Jedi Training and had a beer..he can't do the motion simulators!
They love this ride so all of a sudden I had happy kids again.. wonder how long it will last???
Declan was the rebel spy this time around and we had a ride vehicle filled with non stop talkers. The kids next to Declan gave him a blow by blow of what was happening..so glad my son has some tact and manners otherwise those kids would have been told to stuff it. The people behind me talked through the entire ride..so annoying!
Now it was time for our FP+ and we rode again.. much quieter crowd this time lol
Taejan had been begging for the car show.. it was hot so I figured sure.. we can sit through this and get a break.. sorry but once you've seen this show its fine..no need to see it again for me..but Taejan loved it..
We sat in the very top row and it was anything but cool in there .. we were all very overheated now and needed something inside... of course I said "Voyage of the Little Mermaid".. Declan groaned.. more Ariel is more happy right?? not to him..ha ha such is life son!
On the way over we saw more Toy Soldiers..and people were still just walking by them..wth??
ET phone home?
Ariel time!
After that we went to the Animation Building.. Ziah was dieing to meet Venelope.. but the line was CRAZY long and you know my kids.. they don't wait in character lines!
We opted to go ride The Great Movie Ride..AGAIN.. yes its a little cheesy and the same thing over and over but hey..its a nice relaxing way to cool down!
As we got in the line we saw what would be one of MANY times we saw the same sight.. someone on the ground, EMT's with them.. this time a young girl.. overheating issues..poor thing.
Whoot whoot this time we got the Cowboy..YES!!!! that made doing the ride again so worth it!!
Not that anyone noticed no updates for a day or so..but I'm back...
After The Great Movie Ride it was nearly time for our meal at Mama Melrose.
We had a 10 minute wait from when we checked in until we got to our table. Had a great waitress and fantastic meal. I love that we get an APP with the Fantasmic Package. Mid way through the meal Declan dropped ALL of his silverware off the table..loudly. Now it was because he was fidgeting and being goofy. I could have gotten upset ( heck I already was half the time before they wouldnt stop fighting) or I could laugh... so I went with laughing... it was just easier. Well as you can tell from the title of this TR this silverware issue was going to plague us for the next 14 days!
After we ate and got out seating pass we headed back out into the blazing heat. Goodness it was hot... I'm pretty sure I already sweated off about 10 pounds..
Well simply because I was NOT in the mood to see Indiana Jones I guided us back over to the Animation building... there was a little hope in me the line would be less.. and it was!!! Almost no line in fact:
I had the happiest little girl in the WORLD right here.. was a nice change from
grumpy girl let me tell ya!
I love the pure happiness on Ziah's face
These guys had no line either!!
Sorcerer Mickey did though and the kids..well we had pretty much lost them for the day I think.. so we skipped his line!
So now it was all of 5pm.. Fantasmic was so far off and my kids were done.. we made the family decision to skip it. As we were heading out of the park I was looking for a family to pass our seating things off to.. found a mom dad and two younger kids..when I asked if they were planning to see Fantasmic they said they hoped to.. then I offered the pass.. they were so happy.. WIN!
As we got a little closer to the exit some CM's were playing with bubbles..now my kids LOVE bubbles ..in fact...and I am dead serious.. Declan's baseball nickname is Bubbles ( think power puff girls.. one friend is Buttercup and one Blossom).. think I'm kidding? This is his helmet:
So anyway..CM's bubbles.. and yes a photopass guy! WIN! I love these candid moments!
After a nice bus ride back to the North Depot ( and the walk through the shrubs, across the parking lot and up the retaining wall of course!)
We took the kids over to one of the mansion pools for a nice swim
I got some pictures
We had an early crash night.. after a quick run for chicken tenders and fries to bring back to the room of course!
Yep..that's was pure survival tactic lol. Declan is usually the easy one simply because ziah and Taejan make such a point of fighting ALL the time. But he was being so crazy goofy and I was so done being upset lol
Alarm went off about 6:30.. while the kids were getting ready we decided that instead of Animal Kingdom the next day we wanted to hit our first ever Disney Waterpark.. so I got on to My Disney Experience and cancelled all our FP+.. well grr me I accidentally canceled TODAY's.... luckily , since the entire world wasn't yet using FP+ I was able to fix my mistake! This won't be so easy when all Disney guests have FP+..
It was a touch early so I decided we would walk to the Main Building and I would Map that walk from our room.. Over a 1/3 of a mile!
Now , I'm not complaining.. we loved our rooms location overall. This longer walk though meant we rarely used our refillable mugs..there was no sending the kids to the food court to fill em like we had done at POFQ. But such is life.. I really really wish Disney would put drink stations at the main pools at least....
So anyway.. we got to the South Depot... Taejan had his mohawk hat on from the day before and it was a hit..lol..
We boarded a bus fast.. whoot whoot... then we kept going thru the depots and at the East Depot we had a pile up of busses.. because one person didn't have a clue... it was a hot mess. Four busses in view behind us but there was 2 more I couldn't get in the picture AND one in front of us... unreal!!
We arrived at Epcot...finally.. bag check..done..
now we wait! and I annoy the children.. whats fair is fair..they annoy me I shall return the favor!
And we are IN
First stop was for Taejan to see his long lost twin!
I don't usually do character pictures..but I figured it was a family reunion afterall!
Up next.. head over to The Land.. plan was to grab paper fast passes then use our FP+...
We ended up in line with a really nice group. Two couples..both had engineers for kids which meant Taejan was enthralled ( Taejan dreams of being a welder or engineer or worker-man). They loved that my kids were homeschooled ( I love hearing positive things from people because all too often it's not positive!)
Great ride.. although my favorite part is when its over and everyone unbuckles at the same time..lol the sound is cool.
So we rode Soarin... now we have some time to kill so of course it's Living with the Land time. Not sure why but we love this boat ride..its calm , relaxing and bonus I can check it off as the kids science...lol
The kids were ready to gorge themselves in free soft drinks from around the world ( can I count this as social studies???)...
Man the floor was UBER sticky in here already..nasty!
No fun to be had though..last year Taejan got to dance with the CM's.. this year the place was more muted... and half the soda was out in half the dispensers... grrr..
Off to The Seas.. we of course rode Nemo.. then the kids played around and explored
Lots of divers in the tank
Taejan loves turtles..some day he wants to be like Turtle Man..so I grabbed him this:
Then it was Turtle Talk time. We have never done this.. it was epic!! Aside from the utter lack of ability to follow the "rules" by various parents.. that is highly annoying!
Declan got called on my Crush..amazingly Crush was able to say Declan's name correct..whoot whoot.. then Crush wanted to talk to Declan's Papa Bear.. asked Eric how many offspring he had.. Eric told him 4 Crush was like i have 63 and then "it's not a competition"..was great. Then Taejan gets called on.. Crush butchers his name..lol. and my oh so smart turtle loving 8 year says " I have a turtle" to Crush ( instead of asking a question). Crush says "I have a human" and pulls out BuzzLightyear. I really wanted to do Turtle Talk again because we def had a blast!!
Just a pic of me and my girl
We are heading over to get an Agent P mission..
Got it.. now off to Norway.. with a quick stop on the way
After Norway it was almost our ADR time..but I had a small surprise for Ziah.. I had noted the times her favorite bear was out and made sure we would get over there! She LOVES Duffy... she has never been attached to anything until she got Duffy last year...
Duffy took her hat!
and wore it!
the hat is back but now he took Taejans Crush..lol
This was by far one of our best interactions. It can be hard at character meets because we don't do autographs so unless you get a really great character they dont always know what to do to fill the time..lol
Pure bliss for Ziah
After a great time we headed off towards Morocco once again!
As we made our way over to Restaurant Marrakesh we made a few little stops..
The girl wore her 1D shirt and HAD to have her picture taken with the phone booth!!
We stopped and the kids saw Aurora.. not one of them wanted to meet her..but there was no line and I made them!
This is a totally new dinning experience for us. I wasn't really sure how it would go. It was almost last minute that we picked this place ( as in like 3 months before the trip..lol)..
The place is so pretty!!
Although my OCD wanted to fix that lamp..lol
We got sat right away.. we had a great waiter who explained the dining plan offerings and told the kids if they didnt want what was on the kids menu they would gladly fix them kid portions of anything on the adult menu.. that was awesome. The belly dancer was out and she pulled the kids right in.. didn't even give Miss Grump a chance to say no!
I ordered and LOVED the Lemon Chicken.. wow yum. Taejan and Ziah opted for hamburgers.. they aren't typically kids food kinda kids but they hadnt had a burger in weeks so they decided they wanted one!
More dancing!
The experience was great and we WILL be going back in 2014! I can't wait for my mother to see this place!
I'm uploading a video of the kids dancing.. they had the best time. it was so awesome!!
After the meal Ziah bought herself a Genie Lantern..this is how I know she's growing up...no toys, no stuffed animals.. a lantern for her room...
Declan had money to burn on Pokemon stuff in Japan so off we went there
We had a little street entertainment while we continued walking
I seriously nearly had a panic attack watching this guy
Our Test Track FP time was almost upon us and of COURSE look at that sky
Will we make it??
Oh here's the video of the kids dancing.. I hope..lol