chutes-and-ladders

Saturday, November 22, 2008


Disney recap -- Monday, Day 3:

On Monday we got up, again had breakfast at the hotel and then went to Hollywood Studios for the day. The sun was shinning and it was warm out which was a nice change from the day before.

The first thing we did was go and ride "Toy Story Midway Mania!", which is advertised as a 4-D midway-style game-playing adventure. The queue for the ride has a lot of toys and things to see which helped to make the wait more bearable. The ride itself was very fun and everyone enjoyed it.

Later in the day we rode "Tower of Terror". We didn't tell the girls much about it before we went on and M was terrified. She said she's never, ever, ever going on that ride again. G and I liked it and J while scared, would have gone on it again if we would've wanted her to.

We saw the "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" show in front of the wizards hat and M was in heaven. She loves all the singing and dancing. It's right up her alley.
Through-out the day between rides and shows we saw a few characters and gathered more autographs for the girls collections including Buzz Lightyear, Handy Many, Quincy and June from Little Einstiens and Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater from Cars.

We also made sure we were camped out on Hollywood Boulevard for the parade. Disney knows how to put on a parade. The music and dancing and theatrics of it were very up-beat and fun. The girls even got to go and dance with the dancers and they got a couple squeeze balls that they got to bring home as souvenirs.

After the parade we went back to the hotel for a break and swim before going back to Hollywood Studios for dinner at The Brown Derby. The kids were soo excited to be able to go swimming. I was fighting a sore throat and cough, so G took them in and they were thrilled.

Favorites from today:
M -- the parade
J -- Seeing the "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" show with Ariel
G & B -- the "Toy Story Midway Mania!" ride

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Disney recap -- Sunday, Day 2:

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then went back to Epcot for the day. We spent the day riding rides and touring the world showcase. The first ride we rode was "Soarin" -- it's this hang-glider like ride that G and I thought was fun. The line was kind-of long for it and the girls were a little scared but I think they had fun. We didn't get to ride Test Track because it was broken. That was kind-of a bummer. For our trek around the world showcase I got the girls passports to get stamped and signed at each country. They also have this "Kidcot" activity going on where, at the first country the kids get a mask on a stick and at each country the kids got a new tag to go on the mask and can color on it with markers. This made the trip around a little more interesting for the kids. The only issue I had with it was that it is sponsored by Sharpie, so they are using permanent markers and I didn't really need that added stress.

We also saw a few characters and got some autographs along the way. We saw Mushu @ China, Aladdin, Genie and Jasmine in Morocco, Aurora in France and Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore in the UK.

Other than the on and off drizzle we had a good time. We were watching some street actors in the UK, which J loved, but it started to really rain so they had to stop -- that was a bummer.

Favorites from today:
M -- seeing Aurora
J -- seeing Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore
G -- Soarin' (and seeing Jasmine, because she's hot!)
B -- Touring the World Showcase (except for the rain)

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Disney recap -- Saturday, Day 1:

We took an extremely early flight to FL the Sat morning after Halloween. G had taken the girls trick-or-treating the night before, while I finished packing, and we got up and left the house at 5:45am for the airport. When we got to the parking garage, J was very excited to ride the shuttle bus to the terminal. She doesn't get to ride the bus yet, although she goes along to the bus stop to put M on, so riding the bus was super fun. Once at the airport we checked our luggage and headed through security. Security with young kids and tie shoes is kind-of a pain, but it was early and the lines weren't too bad so we didn't really have big issues.

This was the girls first flight so that was super exciting. M was a wonderful big sis and let J sit by the window. Once we got to the hotel we checked in and ate lunch. J managed to spill pizza sauce all over her cloths. Our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so we went to the gift shop for a Mickey T and made a quick switch before heading off to Epcot for the afternoon and evening.

The first thing we did at the park, after getting a stroller, was head to the character spot to see Mickey and the gang. Then we rode some rides before dinner with Mickey and friends at the Garden Grill. Dinner was fun. The restaurant revolved around the top of the "Living with the Land" ride, which was a little unexpected. While we sat and ate Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale came by the table to greet us. The girls also got to decorate their own cupcakes for dessert. It was a fun way to start our trip.

Side notes:
* I didn't think the girls would be as excited by Chip and Dale (I didn't think they would know who they were) but they were thrilled.
* On the way out of the park, there is a spot where there are fiber-optic lights in the concrete. M told me that Tinkerbell made the ground light up -- soo cute!

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