Escape From Craziness to Pandora, Po Boys, and Oppressive Heat - Finished & New TR Link 12/28

[cstorm65]

Umm... because he is a bit kid, of course!

He is definitely way more independent than DS5 was at that age. He hates sitting still!

It kind of looks like he is peeing in the bushes...

Well...you never know with little boys!

Gross! but that is the adult in me... I am sure as a kid it was FANTASTIC to eat it that way.

I know. But as you say, he seemed to love it and didn't want any help at all!

But not DS1! Too cute sitting on top of the car.

DS1 (now DS2) is a complete ham. He has that smile that just makes your day better, but he also knows how to use it to get his way!

I think it will be amazing if you have small kids and just keep in mind that it's an area not a "LAND". I think, at least. Anything new in Disney is great and Hollywood Studios needs help fast!

Yes, it is definitely very needed in Hollywood Studios. I'm planning for this summer and we have a nice long trip planned, but I'm seriously trying to figure out if we need more than one day there. I have scheduled more than one because I'm secretly hoping they will have AP previews going in early June when we are there. Hopefully they will!

We loved the Cars area at AoA also, themed so nicely. The boys looked like they were having fun with all the cars!

Yes, it is a really great area. We could have spent a couple of hours just looking at all the stuff and the boys were loving it!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 6 Part 1 - “Where are you going sir?”...”Umm, the Magic Kingdom!”

I left you after we got the boys in bed early for the night and for good reason. Today we were up and at it by 6:30 as we needed to be at the bus stop by 7:05 as Magic Kingdom had an 8 AM EMH opening today. The boys did a great job getting going which was no doubt helped by the fact that we got to bed early last night. DS5 was ready for the day, except it looks like he may need to go to the bathroom!

The bus came at 7:15 and we were some of the few heading out that early. We arrived at the MK at 7:35. It was a great morning around the Seven Seas Lagoon.

There is nothing better than the feeling you get when you see this as you walk up to the park:

Then you get this view as you walk onto Main Street:

We were waiting at the turnstiles at 7:40, but they were just now opening them. Funny story happened as we were walking up. Since it was an Extra Magic Hour opening they were checking wrist bands to make sure you were a resort guest. We obviously knew this was going to happen, but we must have gotten a cast member who didn’t really know what she was checking or something. We were walking up to the turnstiles and she was going to check our bands. I just stuck mine out so she could check and she stopped me and said, “Where are you going sir?” You see I knew she needed to make sure I was a resort guest, but that was not the correct question she needed to ask I don’t think, again I think she was a little confused. Not really knowing what to say I just respond, “Umm...The Magic Kingdom?” She said, “Well, I need to check your band.” I was kind of in disbelief. She checked it and then let me go, but I’m not sure what she was asking with her question. DW and I chuckled about that for the rest of the trip.

Anyways, they let us onto Main STreet at 7:47 and by 7:53 they were holding us at the Tomorrowland entrance until 7:58. Here was the crowd waiting.

Once we were in we wanted to jump on Astro Orbiter first. If you can believe it we have never done this ride, but DS5 really wanted to do it. I know the line moves painstakingly slow later in the day so we thought this was a perfect time. We did wait about two minutes for a cast member to even show up to the elevator, but once they did they sent us up and we were riding by 8:05. There are some great pic opportunities from up there, but man that spinner goes pretty fast. DW was prepared for that!

They did let us ride twice and we could have gone more if we wanted, but we wanted to move in and DW was dizzy! By 8:24 we DS5 talked me into a quick ride here:

Before we headed over to take a ride on one of DS1’s favorites:

We spent a little extra time letting the boys play in the queue area with all of the games. They both played for a little bit then we finally went over to the honey wall and got in line as it was still not long at all at this point in the EMH.

This is another tough ride to get good pictures on, but DW got a decent one here.

Up Next: If I Hear This Song One More Time​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 6 Part 2 - If I Hear This Song One More Time

After we finished at Winnie the Pooh we continued our EMH touring by heading back to Under the Sea, which I managed to not get one picture of. After going to see Ariel and friends we headed back into the circus area and DS5 and I took a ride on Barnstormer.

Once we finished that one we met up with DW and DS1 and all took a spin on Dumbo. DS1 loved this one!

We headed towards Gaston’s after we finished with Dumbo.

DS5 wanted us to take a picture of him by the statue.

We went in Gaston’s but didn’t buy anything. I’m sure we just stopped in and got some of the water they always have sitting out in there by the door. We love stopping in because you can fill all our water bottles with cold water in one place without having to wait in line for cups of water.

After we got all hydrated we headed over to it’s a small world. I’m sure you can tell how this went for me from the title of this post.

It was a good ride and we all were enjoying it until we got to the Hawaiian/South Pacific room and the boats were backed up all the way from there to where you get off the boat. And then the song started to wear on me. We finally made it in the final room, but again it was a stand still, bumper to bumper traffic. I was ready to jump off the boat if the song played one more time and finally after getting on the boat at 9:28, we got off the boat at 9:47. Keep in mind this ride is listed as 10 minutes and 30 seconds. That is 8 minutes and 30 seconds extra of that song. Need I say more?

After we finished we headed over to use our first FP of the day at Seven Dwarfs. I can’t find the photopass pic of this ride, but it was DS5 and I.

After we rode I got a pic with DS5 in front of the castle, then DS5 wanted to take a picture of me and DW. He did a really good job!

It was 10:00 by this point and after two full hours of touring we were ready for a little rest and luckily we had an invitation (reservation) to a special Friendship Day Celebrashun! We were ready!!

Up Next: A Friendship Day Celebrashun​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

DS5 wanted us to take a picture of him by the statue.

What, no muscles?!?

Sounded like a nice morning!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

My husband would feel the exact same way as you did if he got stuck on Small World! Our girls adore this ride, so we visit it multiple times each trip and that’s enough for him! Haha!

Yay for Crystal Palace! Such a fun meal.. and a nice break from the summer heat!

Random question.. what brand was your wife’s pink tank? I love it and need to stock on tanks for our trip in August!

 

[cstorm65]

What, no muscles?!?

I know, I thought the same thing when I was posting this!

Sounded like a nice morning!

Definitely a great morning!

My husband would feel the exact same way as you did if he got stuck on Small World! Our girls adore this ride, so we visit it multiple times each trip and that’s enough for him! Haha!

It's definitely a once a trip kind of ride for me! I mean, I can handle it ok...as long as the boats don't get backed up!!!

Yay for Crystal Palace! Such a fun meal.. and a nice break from the summer heat!

We love this place, update getting posted.

Random question.. what brand was your wife’s pink tank? I love it and need to stock on tanks for our trip in August!

Well...she's asleep, but I'll try to come back and post! ha

 

[cstorm65]

I'm back you guys! Not sure if you've seen this on the news, but teachers in Oklahoma have now walked out for the past five days as our state has cut education funding of the past 10 years and we are one of the worst in the nation in funding per child. Needless to say DW and I have been kind of busy this week trying to figure out childcare so we can support the walkout. Hopefully it comes to an end next week, but I finally got an update posted here on this trip. I've got to hurry as we've got less than two months to our next trip. In other news we are about to get snow here tonight, in April, in Oklahoma. I mean Oklahoma weather can be crazy, but I don't know if I've ever seen snow in April! Anyways...on to the update:

Day 6 Part 3 - A Friendship Day Celebrashun

By 10:05 we were all checked in and waiting for one of the favorite breakfasts we have on our trip here:

We got called inside at about 10:20 and we had just sat down at our table when we had our first friend show up and it was a great meet. DS1 actually hugged characters during this meal!

We still didn’t get to leave and get any food because another friend was coming!!

Tigger was fun as well, but as you see DS1 stole the show as he still thought smiling meant to stick his tongue out!

After Tigger left we were able to head over and get some food. Here is my first plate:

The sausage and bacon were both really good as they normally are at the Disney breakfast restaurants. DS5 really loved the bacon during this meal. He kept asking for more and I’m not gonna lie, I was a little proud!I also had some potato casserole that was really good and the signature breakfast lasagna. That lasagna was the only item during this meal that was just not great. I don’t know what the deal was, but it wasn’t as good as normal and I normally love the stuff. It just seemed to be missing something.

As you can see I got another plate and of course had to add some puffed french toast. I mean this stuff is as good as a funnel cake! At some point I also got a new dish they had on the buffet which was red potatoes and southwest sausage and it was great! It was a breakfast type sausage and skillet type potatoes, and it was really great.

As we were eating we had some more friends come by. Eyore was killing me having to hold that book so high to sign it!

We had finished out food at this point, but had to kill a little time waiting for Piglet.

I found a picture of the sausage and potatoes! I didn't think I had one, but they were so good!

Finally, Piglet came by and DS1 loved him!

We were finished with our breakfast by about 11:15 and stopped to get some pics at the front of the restaurant.

And, we saw some little friends outside as we were loading the stroller.

Overall, we had another great breakfast at Crystal Palace! It has been a great spot for us for several trips now!

Up Next: The Best Toppings Bar Ever​

 

[disneyAndi14]

You can’t beat RD for getting many things done! Your sons both look so happy with CP breakfast and the fun meet and greets there. I have been just once and really loved the breakfast! Piglet is so cute.

 

[cstorm65]

You can’t beat RD for getting many things done! Your sons both look so happy with CP breakfast and the fun meet and greets there. I have been just once and really loved the breakfast! Piglet is so cute.

Rope drops are the best, especially when our boys are early risers. The Crystal Palace meets were really great! They all got to our table in a timely manner. We have done later breakfast reservations the last two times instead of 8:00 AM pre-rope drop and it seems much less hectic in their and the character get around quicker and spend more time with the kids. We really like that time.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 6 Part 4 - The Best Toppings Bar Ever

We finished up our breakfast at The Crystal Palace and we just were planning on running into Tomorrowland for a few minutes as I had a FP left for Space Mountain.

I think DW and the kids rode TTA while I was on Space, then we rode TTA all together. I think all of these pics are from the ride on TTA that all four of us were on. This is still a great ride to just do a little relaxing!

After we finished our ride on the TTA we were walking out, but we saw Buzz Lightyear was meeting people over by the Buzz ride. DS5 really wanted to meet him so he and DW went to jump in what was a pretty short line. Unfortunately, Buzz had to go take a break as soon as they got in line and it was going to be 5-10 minutes. DS1 was getting really tired so he and I started walking to the bus stop and DW and DS5 could come along after the meet. DS5 had a great meet!

DS1 and I walked to the bus stop and we got there by 12:30 and there was a bus waiting. I got a shot of the train station on the way out.

It turned out DW and DS5 got to the bus stop only about 10 minutes after us and had to wait 10 minutes or so for a bus. DS5 somehow talked DW into getting him this on their way out!

I had DS1 down for a nap by 1:00 and DS5 and I went to swim once they got back from the park. DS5 fell asleep after swimming and we let them both sleep until 3:45 or so. As they woke themselves up DW and I packed up all our stuff as we were moving resorts the next day. After packing we were headed back to the Magic Kingdom tonight and wanted to be at the bus stop by 4:45. DS5 was excited to finally get to eat his lollypop.

So bus service wasn’t great at Pop on this trip, certainly not as good as we’ve had on past trips. This time we got to the bus stop at 4:45 and the board read that a bus wasn’t coming until 5:04. A bus actually came at 5:09. 24 minutes isn’t terrible, but we’ve always had better than that at Pop.

We got to the Magic Kingdom by 5:25 and were in the park by 5:35 and headed to have some dinner. First, the castle:

And through Adventureland:

Then around into Frontierland:

Finally we arrived at our dinner destination.

I was a little worried when they changed the Pecos Bills menu, but we really enjoy the new menu, especially the best toppings bar anywhere! I mean when you can pile guacamole up like you can there, what could be better! We also got to see a couple of groups of people doing the big nacho platter challenge. They roll it out on a cart and it needs the entire cart for this huge platter of nachos. I think it costs about $90-$100. Anyways, Both DS1 and DS5 got the mini corn dogs and ate them all. Of course DS1 had to dip them in ranch!

I ended up going with the nachos which are always good, especially with all of the great stuff on the toppings bar. I mean there aren’t many restaurants that give you a toppings bar with all that stuff on it!

Finally, DW was drinking a protein shake for this meal. She was trying to do it once each day while we were here and this meal was the meal for today.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner at Pecos Bills as we normally do. After we were all full we were ready for some fun touring around the Magic Kingdom!

Up Next: “Jon, There’s a Tornado Warning”...”But I Need a Citrus Swirl”​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Not sure if you've seen this on the news, but teachers in Oklahoma have now walked out for the past five days as our state has cut education funding of the past 10 years and we are one of the worst in the nation in funding per child.

I hope you guys get some additional funding. I had heard about the strike. I am a big supporter of giving teachers and our kid what they need to learn! Being from Jersey we have high taxes but a lot of it goes to the schools.

I mean Oklahoma weather can be crazy, but I don't know if I've ever seen snow in April!

The winter has been crazy!!!! We were to get snow this weekend too, but at the last minute they changed there mind. I am ready for summer!!!!

Look at DH1's face!!!! Pure Joy!!!!

As we were eating we had some more friends come by. Eyore was killing me having to hold that book so high to sign it!

He He.

So, so so sweet! Sounded like a great breakfast! The food her always sound really good.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Looks like a great breakfast at Crystal Palace! I still have yet to try the puffed French toast, so that’s a must in August!

Rides on the TTA are so much fun with the whole family! My kids always act scared when we go through the dark parts.

DS5 is too cute meeting Buzz! Look at that smile! Don’t you love how they can talk you into treats?

 

[Aurora1972]

Your pics made me hungry for Crystal Palace breakfast! I love that meal. We are doing lunch this time on out last day. We haven't done the people mover since our first trip in 2012. I'm going to make the crew do it again this year.

I'm so tired of the teacher walkout! I know its necessary but we are 3 1/2 hoursfrom OKC. My husband is getting up most days at 5:30 to drive a bus up there and back. He is out local OEA president and is inundated with calls and texts and groupme's. He's also meeting with admin regularly. He is also beginning campaign for House Dist 3. Our Rep has voted against everything and was going to be unopposed for re-election so he decided to run against him. My 3 teenagers are at home all day making messes LOL. All the people saying this is our 2nd Spring Break are full of crap! This is much harder than a regular work week!

 

[Stasieki]

Great updates! I just read that the guac is now an extra charge and not on the topping bar anymore

 

[cstorm65]

I hope you guys get some additional funding. I had heard about the strike. I am a big supporter of giving teachers and our kid what they need to learn! Being from Jersey we have high taxes but a lot of it goes to the schools.

We are back in school tomorrow and it looks as though we won't have to cancel our trip this summer to make up days, but I'm not too optimistic about what our legislature did. They made some gestures in the form of a teacher pay raise, but not a lot of excess funding to handle things like having 35 kids in a class or not getting new textbooks in over 12 years. So, we shall see!

The winter has been crazy!!!! We were to get snow this weekend too, but at the last minute they changed there mind. I am ready for summer!!!!

I'm ready for summer too!

Look at DH1's face!!!! Pure Joy!!!!

I know. It's one of those "this is why we got o Disney" pictures!

So, so so sweet! Sounded like a great breakfast! The food her always sound really good.

We always love it. For some reason I didn't schedule it this summer though. We are trying to get to some new places!

Looks like a great breakfast at Crystal Palace! I still have yet to try the puffed French toast, so that’s a must in August!

Oh my, it is so good! I mean it is like having a funnel cake for breakfast! What could be better?

Rides on the TTA are so much fun with the whole family! My kids always act scared when we go through the dark parts.

DS1 gets kind of spooked too. He is a clingy one who always wants mom or dad holding him, but it's kind of nice on one hand.

DS5 is too cute meeting Buzz! Look at that smile! Don’t you love how they can talk you into treats?

He loved Buzz and it was one of those spur of the moment, unplanned things that turned out really great. And yes, he is good at talking us into stuff!

Your pics made me hungry for Crystal Palace breakfast! I love that meal. We are doing lunch this time on out last day. We haven't done the people mover since our first trip in 2012. I'm going to make the crew do it again this year.

It was a great meal and yes, you have to make them all do the TTA. It is so much fun to pile the whole family on it and ride!

I'm so tired of the teacher walkout! I know its necessary but we are 3 1/2 hoursfrom OKC. My husband is getting up most days at 5:30 to drive a bus up there and back. He is out local OEA president and is inundated with calls and texts and groupme's. He's also meeting with admin regularly. He is also beginning campaign for House Dist 3. Our Rep has voted against everything and was going to be unopposed for re-election so he decided to run against him. My 3 teenagers are at home all day making messes LOL. All the people saying this is our 2nd Spring Break are full of crap! This is much harder than a regular work week!

It was so stressful! And I'm not even sure how much good it did. I think the best thing that came of it is that we have a bunch of people who love education, like your husband, that are now running for office. That is the only way things are truly going to change and our state can get to where we are successful in education. We have so many great educators that it is sad we don't have the tools necessary to do the job effectively!

Great updates! I just read that the guac is now an extra charge and not on the topping bar anymore

Oh no! I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me. I can see as crowded as that place gets how it could get abused!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 6 Part 5 - “Jon, There’s a Tornado Warning”...”But I Need a Citrus Swirl”

After we finished our dinner at Pecos Bills we headed over towards Fantasyland to use a FP. On the way I snapped a picture of Liberty Square. This is such an underrated place I feel like!

We arrived at Peter Pan for our FP at 6:25 and before long we were seeing this.

Again, that’s another ride we don’t ever have very good selfie luck in, but we had a great ride! DS1 loved Peter Pan, especially when the crocodile appeared! After Pan we headed through Fantasyland and DS1 started pointing to ride this:

The Carrousel is a great evening ride as the line is usually short and it is so nice to look at when the sun is almost down. After the Carrousel we went on around into Tomorrowland as I had a FP to use for this:

After riding Space I found the boys doing what they love to do at night in Tomorrowland, the dance party!

After finishing here we headed up the secret path and boarded the WDW Railroad to head around to Frontierland. DW and DS5 had their final FP of the day at Big Thunder.

DS5 was super excited to see the monorail from the train!

DW wasn’t able to ride roller coasters at this point still, so I used her FP to take DS5 on the ride.

As you can tell he loved it!

You can get some great pics on Big Thunder in the evening, unfortunately for us those clouds were looking an awful lot like thunderstorm clouds.

As we were getting on Big Thunder I was able to snag a 4th FP for today over at Pirates that started about 10 minutes later, so we’d hit that before we finished for the night. Once we finished we found DW and DS1 and headed over towards Pirates and used the FP at 8:05.

We were out around 8:30 and started walking through Adventureland and I was going to grab a Citrus Swirl before we left and as we were passing Magic Carpets everyone’s cell phone in the vicinity started sounding an alarm, including ours! Here were the clouds at that current time:

So what was that alarm you ask? Well, it was a tornado warning!! DW started freaking out. You see we are from Oklahoma and in the spring time we have a lot of tornado watches, but we are trained to know that when we see a tornado warning we go to the storm shelter! A warning is dangerous stuff. Now, I had been watching the radar and I knew the storm was sitting somewhere in the neighborhood of I-4, on the far side of Disney property, so I wasn’t too alarmed. I’ve been in enough severe weather situations in my life in Oklahoma that I don’t get to worked up anymore. I assured DW that the storm was about 10 miles away from us and not really moving our direction and that we should move towards the bus quickly. I’m not sure she completely trusted me, but we went with that plan. Of course I wasn’t giving up one of these:

Yes, we were in a tornado warning and I stopped for a Citrus Swirl! I love those so much!

We made it to the bus stop before it even started raining and there was one of the big double length busses waiting. We were back at the resort by 8:50 and we finished packing up a few odds and ends for the resort move tomorrow and had the boys in bed by 9:30. I ran to get DW and I a snack of homemade chips and cookies before we turned in for the night as well.

Up Next: If We Drive Through This Intersection Again I Will Scream!​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

They made some gestures in the form of a teacher pay raise, but not a lot of excess funding to handle things like having 35 kids in a class or not getting new textbooks in over 12 years. So, we shall see!

My fingers are crossed for you all! 35 kids in one classroom should NOT be acceptable! That is way too many kids!

DS1's face, Pure Joy! As with many other pictures, it is why we all go to Disney! Love it.

Yes, we were in a tornado warning and I stopped for a Citrus Swirl! I love those so much!

Crazy folks from Oklahoma!!!! Us Jersey folks would have been in all kinds of panic!

Up Next: If We Drive Through This Intersection Again I Will Scream!

Sounds like a "Look kids Big Ben!" Moment.

 

[HumblePie]

Really enjoying your report - you have a beautiful family!

 

[cstorm65]

My fingers are crossed for you all! 35 kids in one classroom should NOT be acceptable! That is way too many kids!

We shall see. It is definitely a challenge! Hopefully a compromise can be found!

DS1's face, Pure Joy! As with many other pictures, it is why we all go to Disney! Love it.

I know! He was so happy he was not even acknowledging we were taking a picture!

Crazy folks from Oklahoma!!!! Us Jersey folks would have been in all kinds of panic!

Well, my wife was! Me, not so much!

Sounds like a "Look kids Big Ben!" Moment.

Posting now!!

Really enjoying your report - you have a beautiful family!

Thanks and thanks for reading along!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 7 Part 1 - If We Drive Through This Intersection Again I Will Scream!

We were up by 7:00 this morning as we had all gotten in bed at a decent hour the night before and because we had to get everything sent off with bell services today as we were changing resort. By 7:30 we had everything ready to go and bell services came to get our bags.

DS1 really loved climbing in the stroller and as you can see he was ready to go!

DS5 wanted to show off his BB8 shirt today. Guess where that means we are headed?

After getting everything sent off we headed here for a little breakfast:

We weren’t going to spend long, but wanted to give the boys a chance to eat a little something. DS5 was in awe of all of the pastry and sweet options!

He ended up deciding on one of his favorites:

After eating we headed to the bus stop at 8:20. DS5 was ready!

This would be our last bus ride from Pop and that made me happy for this trip. The bus service wasn’t terrible, but it seems like every ride out of here has to go through the intersection of Osceola and Victory Way and this area is under heavy, heavy construction. Because of this the stop lights take forever to turn green. I mean 3-4 minutes for a complete cycle and that can be a little long when you’re standing. Anyway, I told DW on this ride to the parks I hope we never come through this intersection again or I might just scream. Despite a four minute wait for the light to turn we were still at Hollywood Studios relatively quickly, by 8:40. We got inside the gates and got our view of Hollywood Boulevard.

Then we noticed Donald was in the courtyard area and there way no one in line! I mean, how cool is it to do this meet and greet before the park even opens.

Once the park opened we headed here:

It was a great ride and only about a five minute wait once we got in the building. After coming out the boys wanted a picture by the dino.

Then we found someone else for DS5 to pose with!

After finishing up in this area we headed over for what would be our final ride ever on the Great Movie Ride.

I’m pretty excited for the new Mickey & Minnie ride that is coming to this space, but there was just something slightly nostalgic about the Great Movie Ride that I’ll miss. I mean I’m not losing sleep over this ride, but it’s been a pretty iconic Hollywood Studios attraction so it will be interesting without it.

Next up we headed over to Sunset Boulevard for me to use a FP I was looking forward to here:

Up Next: The Longest FP Line Ever​