Cars, Trains, and Planes Oh My! A Feb 2014 TR

[geckodani]

How much do I love that Mickey got down on the ground! Go Mickey!

And I love your shirt, and am looking forward to reading more! And congrats on Baby #3!

 

[ashw100]

How much do I love that Mickey got down on the ground! Go Mickey!

And I love your shirt, and am looking forward to reading more! And congrats on Baby #3!

Thank You!! Mickey is just the best, isn't he?

 

[ashw100]

I have been recovering from surgery the last few days but I am finally feeling up to posting again.


We were seated and placed our orders right away. I got the healthy breakfast, mom got lobster and crab crepes, the guys got Steak and eggs, and Connor had french toast sticks. James shared with everyone. The food was terrible, again I knew reviews were bad, but it was one of those things I felt I had to do at least once. Eggs were runny, bacon rubbery, and pastries dried out. Definitely a one and done kind of thing.










Hey look I got one food picture


I really do love the theming here though.



The activities that were done with the wishing star, announcing princesses, and the swords were completely drowned out by the noise level and most people had no idea what was going on. The one plus of the breakfast was the princesses all except for Jasmine (who is Connor’s favorite) were very engaging and he had so much fun talking to them.







I absolutely love this picture. He looks like his in awe at being in the princess' presence.






She got right down to business. Signed book and quick picture, she didn't stop to chat.


After our breakfast, our server brought out two cupcakes, one for me and one for Joe. See, I had put my birthday on our CP reservation and specifically told the phone CM that I did not want that noted on any other reservation. My birthday had been the week before and I did not want this to seem like a birthday celebration vacation for me. Joe's birthday did fall during our trip and again, I asked it only be added to the dinner reservation that we had on his birthday. Obviously, this did not happen because we got cupcakes all week. They were yummy though

We got out right around 9 so we were able to beat the crowds to fantasy land.

 

[ashw100]

I am waiting up until midnight for my FP selections so I decided to do more update


After breakfast,we jumped right on Peter Pan’s flight.


Connor loves this ride so much. James enjoyed looking at everything, I think he really enjoyed all the dark rides.

No waiting for Under the Sea.






sorry for the horrible pictures

It was pouring rain at this point so we traveled on to meet Ariel in her grotto. I will take any excuse to see my favorite princess, I just love Ariel .




The rain let up; so we headed over to Storybook Circus.





I really wanted to go on Dumbo, I have many good memories riding it in DL as a kid. Luckily, the rain held off for a few minutes and I got one of those red cards to time wait times.







Next, everyone but James and I headed to Barnstormer. Apparently, it started pouring rain while they were on it. James and I didn’t notice because we were nice and dry meeting Goofy and Donald.





While we were waiting for Donald, James kept trying to get away from me to go meet him. I kept telling him to wait his turn but he's 18 months so, he doesn't care. I had no idea he loved Donald so much, I always assumed he had eyes for Mickey only. He was so excited to meet him and touch his beak but of course, when it was our turn he had to have me go with him.





My mom and Joe showed up during our meet with Donald while Connor and my dad rode Barnstormer a couple more times. We stopped in Big Top Treats to pick up a few items. My mom insisted on getting the boys something. We picked up a mini Donald plush for James’ new love for Donald and a Lightening McQueen Mickey ear hat for Connor. I also got a pair of Minnie sparkly ears and a child size poncho for Connor. I bought ponchos at the dollar store but for some reason it never crossed my mind that it would be too big for the boys. Soaked and ready for more rides, we headed to the carousel.





Now it’s time to get a song stuck in your head.








I am not a huge fan of this one. It’s a good ride but I think I can only handle it once per trip. The boys, on the other hand, were mesmerized by this one.

 

[ashw100]

When had just done IASW.

There was no waiting for Mad Hatter’s Tea Party so we headed over there and again I got the red card.





Next, I just had to check of Rapunzel’s bathrooms.







At this point we split up. My dad, Joe, and James headed over to a Haunted Mansion with a FP. The rest of us had a FP for ETwB. I was unsure of this attraction and added it at the last minute. Connor can be shy when it come to big groups of people so I did not think he would want to participate. Well when the cm asked for everyone to roar, he let loose not know he was actually auditioning. I was so proud of my little beast. I actually think that he had no idea he was actually performing for anyone and just had fun with Belle. I have a favorite memory of each person from the trip and this is by far my favorite memory with Connor.

















We all met up at Gaston’s Tavern and I needed to try a Le Fou’s Brew.













My thoughts on Le Fou’s Brew: I loved it. I thought it was perfectly sweet and yummy. By this time it was almost 12 and we had gotten WAY more done than I ha planned so we took the WDW train to the front of the park to head out.



We had an amazing spot at the TTC and didn’t want to give it up so we decided to take the bus back to AOA. Everything I had been told about the buses was right we waited 20 minutes and our spot was the very last one all the way at the end. Lots of buses came and went for other resorts, I don't know I just am a control freak and I like to be able to be in control when I can, so I definitely prefer to drive. We did a pretty good job of trying to entertain the boys though.





When the bus finally came the boys were getting cranky and we needed a nap.

 

[ashw100]

When we got back to the resort the guys and James took a nap. Connor, my mom and I went to explore the Cars section.










[URL=http://s20.photobucket.com/user/bashnazz88/media/IMG_2490.jpg.html]

I just loved the theming of this resort, we were not able to tour the whole thing because we were just too tired every day. But, the Cars section was amazing. It was so cool to feel like we were just dropped in the movie. After our break, we took the bus back to Magic Kingdom. Again, it felt like the wait was forever. Every bus showed up, DTD twice, before we got a Magic Kingdom bus. While we were waiting to get on bus, a woman walked up to me and gave me an anytime fastpass. I love random acts of Disney kindness .



When we got to MK, the Street Party was going on and I needed a pick me up. I stopped at the Starbucks, YUM.



We used our next FP+ for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I really wish we would have gone in the regular line because it looked so fun.







We then used our anytime fastpass for Buzz. The cast member just looked at it and handed it back saying to go through and we could use it on another ride. Double pixie dust!










Since we still had our FP we went on Pirates next.



Then we used our last FP+ to ride Jungle Cruise. Sorry, no pictures it was too dark. Our “tour guide” was awesome. We got stuck on the ride for about 10 minutes at the end and she has a good time keeping us entertained.
We got some dinner at Cosmic Rays and ate in the Hub waiting for MSEP. This was one of my favorite things as a kid at DL and I was so sad when they took it away. I couldn’t wait to see it again but, I found out that we were seated in a spot where you couldn’t see the parade. I asked a cast member and he brought me to a spot and told me to watch from there. I have to say that it would have been a great spot if people didn’t show up at the last minute and push us out of the way. People behind us were yelling and pushing and I was so uncomfortable. I purposefully chose February to go because I have extreme anxiety with crowds, especially ornery ones. All the hostility really made the parade viewing unenjoyable. I am sad that the one of the things I was looking forward to is tainted because of this but I also now don’t feel the need to do MSEP for a long time if ever again.







We were planning on leaving right after the parade but the hub completely cleared out and we decided to stay for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. I watched these shows a million times on Youtube and couldn’t wait to see them in person. While we were waiting I started chatting with a cast member who was there with his family. He was so nice and answered a lot of my questions. I love to see cms who are passionate about their work. I am so glad we stayed for the nighttime festivities. We had a great view and really enjoyed it.











We headed back and passed out before 10:30.

 

[leahlefler]

Yay! Updates!

How sad that everyone had to push and shove at the MSEP. I am looking forward to seeing it, because the last time I saw it was at Disneyland in California... ages and ages ago! We're also going in February.. I hope it isn't too awful!

 

[ashw100]

Yay! Updates!

How sad that everyone had to push and shove at the MSEP. I am looking forward to seeing it, because the last time I saw it was at Disneyland in California... ages and ages ago! We're also going in February.. I hope it isn't too awful!

Yea, I was really disappointed by the experience. I do not know if this is a typical experience but I hope your is better than ours was.

 

[ashw100]

We were up bright and early for another rope drop at Animal Kingdom. We waited a good 45 minutes for the park to open. Everything I heard about the parks opening early did not apply, they let us in exactly at 9.





As soon as they let us in, we headed right over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. I booked it that way but Connor had to potty so Joe took him and the rest of us went to the ride and met up at the entrance.








The safari was fun. I don’t remember everything we saw but Connor really wanted to see Zebras and he did. Here are some pictures.

















We took the train over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch because 1. Connor loves trains and 2. Connor and James love animals and petting them. We got the first train over and while we were waiting to depart a cast member asked if we wanted him take a picture of us.



The ride over was stressful because Connor became fixated on the coupling between our train car and the next. I was afraid he was going to fall out of the train so, I had to keep pulling him back.





He also NEEDED a picture of the coupling so, here you go (Also, this was taken by Connor)

When we got to Rafiki’s, there was no one around. If felt weird being there by ourselves. It was good though because the boys got free reign of the Affection Station. The goats were out and Connor had a blast following them around and petting them. James, my animal lover, had more fun playing on the benches.

 

[ashw100]

After we had fun petting the animals, we headed back to the train. As we walked up the train pulled out but we had fun letting James roam around and enjoying some pretzels that came in our Mickey bag.



Once our train ride was complete we made our way to our first FP of the day, Finding Nemo. It was a long walk so we enjoyed some things along the way.















The FP was really not needed for this but we had to choose 3, so this was one.






Not great pictures.

We got a DSLR camera for this trip unfortunately, we were not very good with it yet. James fell asleep during the performance and Connor was completely uninterested in it. I thought it was great. I loved the music and I just love Finding Nemo.

At this point we separated. Joe and my parents had a FP for EE so they headed that way. The boys and I planned on possibly riding Triceratops Spin and walking along one of the paths. I made my way to Dinoland but the line for the ride was crazy long, no thanks. So next, I tried to find the Discovery Island trails to no avail. I am terrible with maps and just ended up wandering around aimlessly. The paths were getting really crowded and it was HOT. Connor asked me to buy him one of those water sprayer things. I was so hot and said yes. We wondered around some more just taking in the atmosphere. I tried to stay close to Flame Tree because that was where we were meeting for lunch. Finally, I was so hot that I grabbed a table in the shade at Flame Tree and waited for them there.





We were sitting for about 5 minutes when they showed up with lunch. This place was yummy. I had the smoked chicken salad, dad had turkey leg (he didn’t like it), and Joe had ribs. I don’t remember what the rest had.



The birds started to show up and were getting quite aggressive so we decided to leave. We were headed to our next stop, the Boneyard when we saw Pooh and Tigger’s M & G area. Of course, I always have to stop for Pooh so we jumped in line. They were just leaving for a break but we decided to stick it out and wait. We were second in line and in no time we were ready to say hi to some old pals.









After Pooh and Tigger, Joe and my parents had a FP for Dinosuar. Connor also had one since, technically he was tall enough to ride. I knew Connor would be terrified but asked him if he wanted to go. He said no. We went to the Boneyard to play while they rode. This was not a good idea. I was exhausted (being 6 months pregnant) and both boys took off in two different directions. I tried to find the digging part but couldn’t; I walked the entire thing. If anyone wants to give me a hint for next time, I would appreciate it. Anyway, I was too tired, hot, and miserable to chase them around so I bribed them with ice cream to leave. Don’t judge , it was past naptime and I didn’t have the energy to deal with tantrums. I found on of the stands with ice cream and got in line behind 5 teenage girls. I guessed they were apart of one of the Brazilian tour groups that I had seen all day. I am patiently waiting for my ice cream when literally 15 more girls walked right in front of me to join their friends. I was furious ; one even fell on top of the boys in the stroller. I am not one for confrontation so I just got out of line but not before letting a very nice couple that walked up not to even bother getting in line. So I had to walk to another ice cream cart farther away. I grabbed some Dibs figuring it would be less messy. This definitely kept the boys happy an busy and I got a nice break in the shade. We waited by Dinosaur. Every time I waited for them to ride it felt like lifetime especially, in that hot sun. Once they got off the ride we made our way out of the park.



I forgot to mention that at some point in the day James’ shoe kept falling off. I had bought both boys a pair of Cars shoes for this trip at Target. I noticed that the Velcro had broken and that why they kept coming off. So annoying, they had only been worn for 2 days! I was planning on looking for a pair in DTD while we were there that night but, I spotted some cute Mickey Crocs on the way out and bought them for him. They were ridiculously expensive and only worn for the rest of the trip. What I am going to do with Crocs in the middle of one of the worst winters in history, in Michigan? By the time weather warmed up (in June) they were too small. Oh well , hopefully Nicholas (my 2 month old) can use them some day. So anyway, we headed back to AOA for a much needed rest.

 

[ashw100]

Once we got back to the resort, James needed a nap so he slept and somebody (don’t remember who stayed with him). I went to the main pool with Connor. Honestly, this afternoon is super fuzzy and I have no pictures for some reason. Pretty much we just relaxed.






At about 5, we headed over to DTD for some dinner and shopping.


I guess I took a picture of the completely overpriced crocs on the way.

We first stopped at the Crossroads at the House of Blues and the guys grabbed a beer. Connor noticed that there was a cm standing outside of Disney quest with hula hoops. So we went over and played with those for a little bit. Connor had no idea what to do but it was really cute watching him try. Then, my dad decided to show him how it was done and that was even funnier.


It actually looks like he is doing it here.

We made our way over to the Marketplace to find something to eat. The walls were up all over the place and I didn’t feel like there was much to do. We stopped in the World of Disney. My mom had bought Connor a Buzz Lightyear doll at the outlets in Myrtle Beach the summer before and Connor said that he wanted to Woody as his souvenir this trip. So we got him the doll and then made our way towards Wolfgang Puck Express.





I was really torn on where to eat this night. I have heard great things about WPE and EoS. I went with WPE because it was a better value for our cs credit and I am so happy I did. This place was amazing. My mom and I got the Marghertia pizza, Joe got Pepperoni Pomodoro, dad had a beer, and the boys split a pepperoni. We chose to eat in the kitchen area and it was really fun experience.














Our next stop was to the Christmas store, I was looking for an ornament since we get one for every vacation we take. I couldn’t find want I wanted so we went to Once Upon a Toy. I wanted to get the boys the Mr. Potato Head parts. My dad made a game of trying to fit as many pieces in there as possible and now that we’re home I can’t seem to duplicate what he did. We check out some of the other fun toys but stuck to just getting Mr. Potato Head. We headed back to World of Disney since we didn’t really get to look around. My poor mom was trying to find Elsa shirts for her friend’s daughters. This was at the height of the Frozen craze and no Elsa merchandise could be found anywhere. I was browsing the watches and jewelry and my dad came over and asked if I wanted to get a watch. It was such an unexpected and generous offer. I went with a classic silver watch with “diamonds” around the face and Mickey and Opal as the face. I would never indulge in a purchase like that myself so it was so sweet that he got it for me.

It was getting pretty late and the guys wanted to catch some of the Super Bowl, so we headed back to AOA. The guys headed to the pool bar which had a tv to watch the game. My mom and I bathed the boys and out them to bed. It was a very nice and relaxing evening. After the game, Joe and I decided to pop the bottle of fake champagne that my mom got with our Mickey bag.





Then we headed to bed.
Up next…Epcot

 

[leahlefler]

I love all of the pictures! My boys would be obsessed with the hitch between the train cars, too... future engineers? This is making me so excited for our trip in February!

 

[StarCruiser]

...I tried to find the digging part but couldn’t; I walked the entire thing. If anyone wants to give me a hint for next time, I would appreciate it.

Great trip report. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.

For the digging area in the bone yard, you have to go up the steps and across a bridge. It's to the left when you're heading into the bone yard. The bridge is right by the dinosaur skeleton.

 

[ashw100]

I love all of the pictures! My boys would be obsessed with the hitch between the train cars, too... future engineers? This is making me so excited for our trip in February!

Lol, I have a family full of engineers so maybe. I'm excited for you too and I am glad I can add to the excitement.

Great trip report. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.

For the digging area in the bone yard, you have to go up the steps and across a bridge. It's to the left when you're heading into the bone yard. The bridge is right by the dinosaur skeleton.

Ah!! Thank you so much. This is so useful.

 

[ashw100]

This day was supposed to be the kids day for a little break and mine and Joe's day to do WWoHP. However, when I found out I was pregnant we had to rearrange things. I was bummed to miss Harry Potter but it all turned out for the best. We had a great day at Epcot and now I get to go back to UOR in just 10 days!!!

So, I should mention here that my in-laws hand gotten in the night before. We didn't get a chance to see them because they got in so late. Once again, I was up bright and early at 6:30 trying to get everyone up. Every morning I heard complaints about why we had to get up so early. But I needed to get on Soarin' since we didn't have a fp+. Once everyone was up we called Joe's parents to find out what they were doing. It turns out that they got the room right next to us. How awesome is that? We stopped over and they told us that needed to get their tickets. My father-in-law had gotten military tickets but had to go some where (probably Shades of Green) to show proof and get them, so we said we would meet up later. The rest of us headed over to Epcot or Efcot as Connor called it.





We got there with plenty of time to spare. A little tip my dad picked up was to stand near the tap stiles that were letting pre-rope drop reservation in. It was a lot less crowded and we were closer to the front then we would have been otherwise. Once again, they let us in right at 9. There was a little preshow, I thought they didn't do this but they played some music and welcomed us to the park, so that was fun. As soon as they let us in we booked it Soarin'.


I became quite good at walking and taking pictures at the same time.








We got a rider swap and it was the first time for Connor to be measured. I
measured him at home without shoes and he was just over 40". He made it no problem. My parent, Connor, and I rode the first round. I just love this ride
but I have never ridden it at WDW only DCA. Connor seemed confused by the ride but he liked it enough to want to go again. Joe sat with James in the seating area of Sunshine Seasons and I guess he was not having fun. A cm gave him a coloring page and crayons and cheered him right up. What came from this was his very first piece of art.




On the second ride it was me, Connor, and Joe. I was little annoyed because we handed the cm a rider swap and he thought we were Asking for one and we told him to we want to ride. He seemed annoyed and measured Connor again. Once again, awesome ride. After Soarin', there was no wait for Living with the Land. I really enjoyed the ride. It was relaxing, I learned a lot, and it was cool seeing everything.








After our boating adventure, we went to the Living Seas. I think we had a fp but since there was no line we saved it to try to switch it later. I have heard a lot of bad stuff about this ride but I think it is awesome. I think it is so
cool how they put the characters into the tank plus I love Finding Nemo.







After Nemo, we went across to Turtle Talk with Crush. We must have just missed the last show because we were the first people in the waiting area and we waited about 15 minutes. Connor had fun looking at the fish and James played the trivia game with Joe and he eventually fell asleep. The show was very cute but I don't feel the need to do again anytime soon.







At this point, we met up with the in-laws. I think my mother-in-law was annoyed with the buses and I resisted the urge to say "told ya so." We walked over to Test Track because I had gotten a fp and we grabbed a rider switch as well, in case someone wanted to ride again. For some reason that I can't remember my in-laws had to go to guest relations. James was still asleep so I pushed our fp for the character spot back an hour and headed to Starbucks. I worked at Starbucks for 4 & 1/2 years before I became a stay-at-home mom, and our tiny town doesn't have one, so I jump at any opportunity to indulge in my favorite coffee.







The view was beautiful and peaceful here


James woke up and I wanted to do something so we headed over to the world showcase. We hit the Mexico pavilion.








Couldn't get the hat on long enough to get a good picture.


It seemed like forever since they went on test track and James was getting antsy. I decided to ride the three caballeros. James loved seeing his new favorite Donald Duck. The only downside to this ride was that we were seated behind three obnoxiously loud women.

 

[ashw100]

As we were getting off the ride my mom called me. I guess they were trying to reach me for awhile. Apparently, Connor was upset so they were all annoyed. We met up outside Mexico and I got the lowdown on Connors tantrum. I guess after he designed his car his three year old mind thought he would get ride inside of his creation, and when he didn't he kind of freaked out . By the time they got to me he was fine again and I thought the whole thing was pretty funny but then again I didn't have to deal with it.


This is him crying about the car not about being scared.

We headed over to Norway to meet up with the inland again plus I had to see the insane 5 hour line for Anna and Elsa.




We went to Kringala and I contemplated getting some school bread. Honestly, I don't really care for coconut or custard so I decided against it. I went with the sweet almond pretzel because I heard that was good too. Unfortunately, this was not good. I found it really dry and hard, so I didn't even attempt to finish it. My in-laws had a lunch reservation at Marrakesh so they went to do that and we agreed to meet later. I still had. My fp for character spot so we all headed that way. I dropped everyone off at Club Cool and made sure to tell them they had to try some Beverly. James and I made our way to the character spot and I am glad we had a fp for this one cause the line was long.


Peek-a-Boo with Mickey












After our m & g, we met up at club cool. I asked how Beverly was and they were not too pleased I told them to try it. I tried some flavors but we were in a rush because we had to get back for a nap. I picked up a Minnie tank top in club cool. I did not bring enough tank tops because I thought it wouldn't be too hot but I was wrong. It was high 80's most days, which I loved, but we had come from -20 degree weather. The 100 degree difference has hard on us. After my shopping, we headed back to AOA.





I tried to lay James down for a nap but he was too wire to sleep, so I gave up. We all headed to the big pool and ate our lunch from Landscape of Flavors there.






We swam for a bit but James fell asleep in the pool, I guess he was tired after all.


Sleepy baby



After our relaxing afternoon at the pool, we met up with Joe's parents and headed back to Epcot.





We had a fp for Spaceship Earth so jumped in line for that right away.





After our travels through the past and future, I tried to make a new fp for
Maelstrom, since we never used our Nemo. There were none left so we decided to see if we could ride standby later. We went over to innovations to try the chase m & g. We waited less than five minutes and met Pluto and Minnie.












This m & g was awesome. I didn't feel rushed since there was no one behind us waiting or watching us. The characters were great as well as the photo pass cms. I will definitely be doing this m & g again.

We played around in innovations for bit. I had structured and planned our trip
so much, but it was nice to throw the plans out the window sometimes and just let the kids play.

 

[ashw100]

I was about to give up on this report but I hate leaving things unfinished so here I am again. If anyone reads this say hello so I know I am I not talking to myself (I do that anyways so its okay if I am ).

We went to Mouse Gears next. I hadn't gotten the boys theirs ears yet and the shop was pretty empty so I got them then. It took awhile for the embroidery because I guess the cm messed up James. While I waited, the rest of the party looked around. The night before, Joe had seen a man with Darth Vader Mickey ears, it was too late to go back and get them at that point. Luckily, I found them here and surprised Joe with them.



We decided to head over to the World Showcase for some dinner.



The Maelstrom wait was 30 minutes which is too long for hungry boys. Its too bad the attraction is closing and now we won't be able to experience it.





We stopped to watch the performance in the China pavilion but it was super
crowded so we moved on after a little bit.








Connor and James had fun playing the drum.





The boys were getting very hungry so we stopped at the outpost to get them hotdogs, very exotic fare.






In Germany, we stopped at Karamell Kutch. I think we got the popcorn and a
caramel cookie. We stopped in some of the shops here as well.











Joe and I ate in Japan. The food here was so yummy. We really enjoyed what we got. We let Connor have the ice cream from our meal. He was so excited because he got to have a cookie and ice cream, dreams do come true at Disney . My mom took James outside while we ate because we was getting restless. I guess a cm saw he was upset and made him an origami ball and then played with him. These moments at Disney is what really gives it the magic. I took lots of pictures at the Japan pavilion and it was exciting being there. My brother is currently in the Marine Corps and stationed in Japan so it was like we had a piece of him there with us.







We walked through the rest of the countries stopping to take pictures along the way. We split yummy treats like crepes and the cronut.






That is supposed to be France in the background

 

[ashw100]

While we were trying to find a spot to view Illuminations and my brother called! We so rarely get to talk to him so it was really special to speak with him while on our magical vacation. We chose the showcase plaza to view Illuminations. I couldn't believe we found such a good spot to view the show. Unfortunately, I think this is where they have the dessert party now. We waited about 45 minutes for the show and the boys had fun playing with their light up toys.


Dad talking to my brother






I had forgotten how good this show is. I love the music and the fireworks.


The pictures I got were pretty bad so I will just post this one.


The park closed after Illumintions so headed for the exit. On the way out, I
wanted to get our free picture printed from the Chase m&g. I also noticed that our Tigger m&g from the day before was not showing up so we had to fix that as well. It was very easy to get our missing picture added and we were soon on our way.


James crashed out

 

[ashw100]

I think this is the day I was most excited about. I could slowly see Joe turning over the dark side and becoming a Disney Parks fan and I was so excited that he would get to spend his birthday here.
We were once again up bright and early to be at the front of the line for our controlled walk to TSMM.





We ate our breakfast in the room and enjoyed some old school Mickey cartoons. The boys absolutely loved watching these and I did too as they brought me back to my childhood.

Soon we were at DHS waiting to be let in.





As soon as we were let in, you know where we were headed.





My party had a problem keeping up with me all trip and this was no more apparent than the rope drop dash to the first attraction. I always ended up there first and had to wait so, it defeated the purpose anyway. This morning I at least had my family of four so, I said see ya and headed on the ride without them. We met up after they had ridden.









I love the theming of this queue and could have spent some more time just taking pictures but, I really needed to try out this ride. I should tell you that before I rode this I did not understand all the hype about this ride. I mean to me wasn’t it the same as the Buzz ride in MK? Now that I have ridden it I get why people love it so much but not enough to justify the insane wait times. This was the only ride that I got to ride all day and it made me wish that they had more family-friendly rides here.





We got Woody, yay my favorite.

Next, we jumped in line to meet the heroes of Toy Story and the line was long already. The in-laws stayed with me while my parents and Joe went to ride Rock N rollercoaster.













It was finally our turn and not a moment too soon because the line was cut after us for their break. This was one of my favorite character interactions of the trip. Woody was happy that Connor had his doll and began playing with it. Buzz seemed a bit miffed that there wasn’t a Buzz doll so he took to James and had him press all his buttons. The funny part about this is that Connor actually prefers Buzz and now that James is older he loves Woody.

 

[ashw100]

After our Toy Story meet and greet, we headed towards Star Tours to meet up with everyone else. I had to get a picture wit the Singing in the Rain umbrella. My grandparents had their first date to this movie and it holds a very dear place in my heart especially since my grandpa is no longer here.



Since Lightening McQueen was covered by walls at AOA we took the opportunity to say hello here.







Connor insisted on a pressed penny and picture with the snowman because, we didn’t have snow to go home to or anything.

We met up with everyone and they headed to Star Tours. James and I had nothing to really to do so, we wandered over to where our first fastpass of the day would be. Taking pictures along the way.







It was getting really hot so we sat outside the Little mermaid show and had a snack waiting for everyone.


They were doing this.

Once we met up, we headed toward our first fastpass, Disney Junior Live on Stage.



This was a very cute show and I am glad we did it with the fastpass because it was crazy popular. Next we walked over to ToT and got a photopass picture.



I guess Connor had told my dad that he wanted to ride ToT to which I said no. I did get everyone a FP but I just knew this would scare the bejeezes out of him. Connor is fearless when it comes to rides and wants to do absolutely everything. The problem with ToT is the theming. Connor is scared of everything “scary” basically ghosts, dinosaurs, dark, anything to do with Halloween really, and the list goes on and on. I kept telling him over and over that this was a scary ride with lightening and ghosts but he insisted he do it. I figured at least I wouldn’t have to deal with it if he started freaking out and, if they were willing to they could. Now, I would also like to point out that this (up until I rode Forbidden Journey last month) is my favorite ride of all time and I was really sad to have to sit this one out. So while they took Connor on ToT my in-laws and I wandered off to find something to kill time. I got a yummy lemonade slush near RNR then we headed toward One Man’s Dream.





James fell asleep on the way over which I was grateful for. Now I could enjoy One Man’s Dream without having to worry about him getting bored. My parents had taken the boys and I to the Walt Disney exhibit at the Science and Industry Museum in Chicago in December. I absolutely loved it but, the boys were bored to tears. I was all ready to go see Walt and immediately stopped by the CM outside, no strollers. I was sad but we moved on.







With nowhere to go we made our way back to ToT. For those of you keeping track I had now made 2 laps around DHS. Connor ended up really enjoying ToT and telling me about how scary it was.



I wish they had started the videos on this ride because I would have paid good money to see it. My mom’s favorite ride in RNR so she and Joe decided to go ride again since it had a small wait. We headed back to the opposite side of the park to play at the Honey I shrunk the kids play area. James was still sleeping so my dad took Connor alone.