Disney Part 2

Oooh, look at that, I never wrote part 2! I've been such a space cadet lately (lately?). OK here goes... Since we stayed at the movies resort at Disney, before we headed out to the parks we took a stroll through the grounds because I really wanted the boys to see the Toy Story section of the hotel since they (mostly Jordan) are currently obsessed with those movies. When Jordan laid eyes on the giant Buzz he held his Buzz doll up, looked at me, then looked at the giant Buzz, then looked at me again. It was adorable to watch. After our stroll we headed to Disney Studios. I didn't used to like that park before because I felt there wasn't enough to do there. This was of course, before I had kids. Now that we go mostly for the boys (at least that's what I tell myself), the park is all of a sudden more interesting. In fact, both times that we've gone recently, we haven't been able to do everything. I've yet to go on the Toy Story ride for example. There is always a crazy long line and I've tried with the fast pass and both times it's been too late (we've had to leave the park early both times because we were driving back that day). The skies were a little grey, but thankfully the weather was better than the day before. First we went on the backlot tour (since we missed that last time) and saw some pretty cool scenes and props. Christian loved the hall with all the costumes. He requested that I take his picture with a few key characters. I'm thinking he likes the villains. Wherever does he get this from? Next we went on the Great Movie Ride. Chris loves the part where the wicked witch comes out (see what I mean?) in the Wizard of Oz scene. After our ride, we stopped to eat lunch at the Sci-Fi diner. I really love this place because I'm such a sucker for gimmicky places. I had eaten there once before and I knew the boys would love it. They make it look like an drive-in movie lot. You sit and eat in a "car" while watching clips of old movies. So cute! After lunch we headed over to the Hollywood Tower of Terror (can you tell I like photographing trees?). Chris said he wanted to ride it (he liked it the last time he rode it). Unfortunately because he had just eaten, he didn't enjoy it as much this time. Oopsy. Fortunately the boy has a good stomach so there were no unfortunate incidents. We then headed over to the I shrunk the kids playground, but we took a detour because I wanted to show Chris the Star Wars ride set. Good thing we did because hidden in a little corner I found this guy. At first Chris was excited to take a picture with him (after all he took a picture with the costume), but then not so much when he realized that Darth isn't as friendly as Goofy. Side note: OMG chewie back pack! $54...um, no thanks. The kids loved the playground. I was wishing they were old enough to run around by themselves since Jordan kept ducking into holes where I could not fit. I kept freaking out because I never knew where those little caves led. Fortunately, they were OK and were not eaten by a giant insect. Ren however, found his long lost love. Since we had to drive back that day, we had to leave early, so we only had time to catch the parade right before heading out. It was a Pixar parade, so all our favorite characters came out to sing and dance and wave hello. Yes, even the Toy Story Gang! After that, we grabbed some cotton candy and boarded a bus back to the hotel. What a fun trip! Can't wait to do it again this week!

Disney Part 1

We went to Disney a couple of weekends ago as part of an extremely belated birthday present for Chris. He really enjoyed himself and I'm happy that he is now tall enough to ride all the mountains! Since I've been to the Magic Kingdom about 101 times already, we decided to do things differently this time. We went wherever the wind (and rain) blew us and visited the rides totally out of order. My inner OCD self was freaking out but I managed to keep her subdued long enough to enjoy the day.


Our first stop was the Haunted Mansion. Chris loved it, poor JJ was curled up in my lap saying "scary scary". I told him to close his eyes, but he didn't. He was scared, but he still wanted to see. I guess he's like those people that watch scary movies and cover their face with their hands, but still peek through the cracks. Ha ha. I remember Chris being OK with this ride when he was little. After that, we went on the Jungle Boat ride which they both really loved. Next up was the Pirates and then we stopped for lunch. We spotted Woody and Jessie signing autographs close by, but the line was soooo long, that we didn't get a chance to take a picture with them.


After lunch, it all became a blur (see, that's what happens when you ride things out of order!). I know we rode Splash mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We went to Fantasyland and rode the carousel. Such a cute ride, but one that I used to skip before I had kids. We rode Snow White and Peter Pan and I loved how Jordan's face lit up on Small World. I sing that song to him at night, so he was like, hey, I know this tune!

Next up was Tomorrowland where Christian rode Space Mountain for the very first time. At first, I was afraid he'd freak out. You can't really sit next to anyone, so it's not like I could hug him or anything. The best I could do was reach over and grab his shoulders. After the ride, I glanced over at him with much trepidation and asked "Did you like it?" He said "YEAH!" and now I know I have a coaster buddy. Woohoo!


Since we missed out on Woody, they took pictures with Buzz and then we headed back to Fantasyland to go on Pooh and Dumbo. Ever since we experienced it quite by mistake one year, my friend C and I love to watch the fireworks from behind the castle because that way you don't have to deal with all the crowds and they're literally going off right above you. She told me once though that it's even cooler to watch them while you're riding Dumbo. This of course requires good timing. I looked at the wait time for the ride (15 minutes) and I looked at how much longer until the Fireworks began (15 minutes), perfect; I got in line and crossed my fingers.



Lady luck was on our side. It was so beautiful. The crisp night breeze in our faces and the fireworks finale going off over our heads as we flew in the air. It was quite a Disney commercial moment. I couldn't have timed it better and it was definitely the highlight of our day.

Let's hope I don't watch a TV special on Australia next

Last week I was watching a travel channel type special about how Disney is celebrating the holidays this year. I love me some Mickey...and I love me some holidays...put them together and well...It's overwhelming.

They showed how the castle was lit up with a jillion lights this year and I just lost it. It was such a beautiful sight that my mouth was open and the tears were flowing from my eyes. I can't say I've ever had that reaction to a Disney TV special before, but there you have it. At that moment I decided that I needed to see that in person. I needed to see that!

So..um, guess where I went this past Thursday?

Here's a hint....and here's another...and there's several more on flickr, so check out the little badgie over on the right!