We got up and went down to the marketplace to grab a quick breakfast - Bob got a croissant sandwich w. ham and egg on it (that ended up making him feel ill later) and the boys and I all got the french toast sticks. They are too big to share these meals anymore, so breakfast cost us about $22 - we only did that once!! Bob also got his reusable mug, now up to $14.99 I believe... We only ever buy 1 because we bring our own drinks and our old mugs to get ice and water in. There was a coffee maker in the deluxe resort that you don't get in a value but a cup of regular and a cup of decaf would not be enough for him each day lol... I don't let my kids have a ton of soda - even on vacation and if we bought 4 mugs every year, we would need a room just for them!! We did see people with very old mugs filling them but nothing is said to them so who am I to judge?? Never got the chance to check out the bar code deal at Sports either (not that I'm complaining lol). I don't even know if they are still testing the idea???
We headed out to the boat launch and luckily enough it was coming our way, we probably looked like fools running to get there - rest assured that boat takes a long time to come across the lake and dock - you don't have to run lol!! The boat had to stop at the Swan & Dolphin and then it was on it's way to Disney's Hollywood Studios!! We got through bag check pretty quickly and on to the line to get into the park. It was only about 8:30 and the park didn't open until 9. Much to our surprise though, they let us in about 20 minutes early and did not stop us on Hollywood Blvd for the opening show. We booked it right to Toy Story Mania to grab fastpasses and then ride, since it was a 5 minute wait. Our fastpass return time was already 10:15, so remember fastpasses go quickly here. You can't miss this one - the 3D affects make me jump every time - they are so real and the games are so much fun. I am really bad at the section where you have to toss the rings so I never win but always have a blast!! The boys wanted to ride first and fastpass after and I told them no - when we came out of the ride, the wait was up to 20 minutes and the fastpass return time already past noon. I got to have one of those I told you so moments with them ;)
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| Our Andy loves seeing his name everywhere in this queue |
Buzz & Woody were about to come out and that is one of our must dos. Matthew was a Toy Story fan but Austin was a Toy Story nut!! Plus we have an Andy!!! I can recite every line - that is how many times that movie was played in our house and car... We have more Toy Story memorabilia that you can imagine too. Sweet treasures that I hope their kids will play with some day. The queue while you wait is so fun (see photos) and I'm sure I annoyed the people around me trying to get them in each "scene". Our wait was not long after they came out so I was glad we did it first thing. I have seen the wait there listed at over an hour later in the day!!
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The new Star Tours opened since we were there last year and the boys were extremely anxious to check it out. We were NOT disappointed!! It is the coolest! Each ride is completely random - you will visit 2 places and have a Jedi "beem" themselves on board. C3PO is your pilot and R2D2 is on board too. When we got over there, the wait posted was 20 minutes but we were in our vehicle in under 10. The walk from outside to where you board is long and entertaining - lots to look at for the times when the waits are long - Disney is very good at making the queues interesting. I love the pre-boarding show - the driods are so funny so be sure and watch it when you're there! We got the whole low down on the 3D glasses and boarded our Starspeeder 1000 and got ready for our "tour" I won't give away all the details but our tour included Kashyyyk and Naboo and Yoda. The 3D effects are very real and I had to close my eyes a couple times bc I felt a bit woozy. I am not a huge 3D fan but can usually handle it for the short time at Disney - the time on Kashyyyk did me in the most of all of them!! The boys wanted to ride again but I wasn't quite ready for that.
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| The pre-ride show |
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| Aussie in 3D |
Our tickets were available for fastpasses again, so we grabbed them for later and headed to MuppetVision 3D - much less intense lol. I adored the Muppets as a child and I am so glad they are back because my kids love them now too!! Statler and Waldorf never disappoint and the Swedish Chef shooting canon balls from the back of the theater should not be missed (be sure and turn around so you can see it)!!
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| One of my favorite things in the Muppetvision queue |
We knew that Phineas and Ferb were at the exit of Muppetvision so we made sure to go all the way across our row and get right out of there ahead of the crowd to see them. That plan worked well - there was a small line but not too bad. I think I love this show more than my kids do. We have the soundtrack and play it a lot!! So I was loving all the songs playing while we waited. The queue is very neat and I will post more about it later in my reports. It was finally our turn and we weren't doing autographs so they played with the boys a little and had fun, then we did our pictures and said goodbye. All they need to do is add Perry!!
At this point, Bob was ready for more coffee and a snack so we headed over to Starring Rolls and grabbed a couple of the big Chocolate Chip cookies (we always get 2 and split them). We were lucky enough to get a table, if you can say that - there was a bird nest above our heads and dozens of little birds! We were all paranoid that something would fall on us lol so we ate quickly and got out of there. Austin loves to draw and wants to be an Imagineer some day so we headed to Animation. Bob didn't want to draw and you can't bring coffee in anyway, so he sat out in the warm Florida sunshine while the boys and I went in. We entered through the gift shop and they had a trader box - so of course, they had to do a trade. Andy got Aladdin on his trade and Austin chose not to make the trade - he was really good at picking out the troll and big baby so he passed a lot. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the next drawing class so the boys played with the spinning thing that has Cap't Hook, Timon, and Jane on it. They think it's hysterical to put Hook's head on Jane's body lol. The waiting area started to fill up so I called them over - they have a counter and stop letting people in when they know the class is full - I didn't want to wait another 30 minutes so I made them come sit. We got inside and went through lots of choices of who to draw - we got the guy that lets you vote - we were hoping for Grumpy but got Tigger. I was pleased with how mine turned out, Andrew wanted to throw his away but I bring them home and use them for our art class - I can show him what he did wrong and hopefully he will learn from it. Austin has a natural talent for drawing but it is a bit rushed in that class...
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We went to find Daddy and headed back towards Star Tours - Chip & Dale just came out in their Hollywood attire and there was no line, so we stopped for a quick picture. We went to use our fastpasses for Star Tours and this time we went to Hoth (which I loved!!) and back to Naboo again. Princess Leia was our Jedi.
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It was getting to be lunch time and we wanted to eat at Pizza Planet, it is one of our must dos every year. So we went over to beat the crowd. We bought a pizza for everyone but decided that we wouldn't do that anymore - it was more than we needed. 2 pieces were plenty for me and the boys could live with 3 so from then on, the 3 of us shared 2 pizzas. We never bought drinks in the parks either. If you ask, you will get free ice water in the largest size cup usually. There are a few places that it doesn't taste good but for the most part, it comes out of the fountain machine and is very refreshing. If you want to save on the high costs of food, this is one way to save a lot. If we all bought drinks every time, it would have been an extra $10 per meal, at least! (bottled water is $3.50). I am not saying our way is the right way, just sharing how you can save money, if you want to.
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| Andy LOVES Pizza Planet pizza! |
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We took a leisurely stroll back to Pixar Place to use our Toy Story Midway Mania fastpasses. Along the way we took pictures and traded more pins.. We decided to head back to the resort for a bit, taking more pictures on the way out. The boat was just leaving so we had a bit of a wait, making us wish that we had driven over. If you do have a car, it can save a lot of time - the transportation is nice but if you just miss it, you can wait a while. If I had known it would have been just as quick to walk back, we would have. Well, I should mention that I bought brand new sneakers before we left - I found out the hard way why they say not to break in new shoes on a trip like this. I suffered for a couple days but I was at Disney World so I pushed through the pain lol...
We got bracelets as we passed the pool and decided we would swim. It's not usually warm enough for me to swim when we're there. The pools are always heated but you still have to get out in the chilly air at some point!! We were so blessed with warm weather for our entire trip. I am not a huge water person for other reasons besides the cold but the boys really wanted us all to go in and I wanted to try out the sand bottom pool. The waterslide here - there are no words to describe...I recall them saying it's 150 feet long - you have to leave the pool area and walk out to the lake and climb a broken ship to get to the top of it. I didn't do the waterslide today but chose to walk around the pool feeling the sand between my toes. At one point, I thought I saw something run across the water and then did a double take - a little Gecko or lizard or whatever you want to call them, was running across the water. It was very close to my big strong husband and when I told him it was running toward him, he screamed like a girl and tried to run away LOLOLOL!! It started to sink at that point and I told him he had to save it. He caught it and brought it back to land saying it would be the only chance he ever had to catch one. He will not admit that he screamed but he did and I will never forget it :)
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| People Mover |
After some time in the hot tub and back in the pool, we got ready to go to Magic Kingdom - they had extra magic hours that night for resort guests. We started out in Tomorrowland on the people mover - I know the real name for it, but for me - it will always be the Wedway People Mover :) Also had to hit The Carosel of Progress. Buzz was down and the grown ups weren't up for being tossed around tonight in Space Mountain so we did a few pin and vinylmation trades in the Tomorrowland shops and then grabbed dinner at Cosmic Rays. When the boys were really little, we took them to NYC a few times. On the first trip, Andy was about 3 and he was holding my hand while we walked - he looked up at all the buildings and said, "It's amazing in the You Nork City, Mommy!!" So we always have to hear Sonny sing You Nork, You Nork :)
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| a few shots of Carousel of Progress |
After dinner, we strolled through Fantasyland without riding anything. We decided to hit the Haunted Mansion since there was no line. I remember being absolutely terrified of this when I was a kid but it is so funny - especially when you pick up the hitch hiking ghost at the end - it's updated and your heads disappear or in my case, our ghost took off his beard and attached it to me - sooo funny!! After the ride, it was time for Wishes (how did it get to be 8 pm already??) So we watched the fireworks from Liberty Square and headed to the Country Bears. I will never get tired of that show!! Such fun memories!! We were going to do Splash Mountain but it had cooled off just enough since the sun went down, that we didn't want to be wet, well all of us but Austin didn't want to be wet.. So we did more pin trading and vinylmation trading in the Fronteirland shops and headed back toward Liberty Square. I wanted to walk through the Christmas Shoppe and there were lots of CM's in there with not much to do. They got to chatting with the boys and asked them if they signed up to be Sorcerers yet - we knew nothing about it.. So they brought them outside to a podium and got them signed up. I will do a separate report on Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom but I will say that my boys were completely hooked on this!! It was in a soft opening while we were there - so still in the testing stage, not officially open. This will become a huge part of our week....
At this point, my new blisters were screaming at me to stop so we had to head out. We walked through all the Main St. shops of course - more pin and vinylmation trading. Their vinylmation box is clear so they love that they can see them - the mystery is a lot of pressure lol... I would also like to point out that if you ever see something that you really want while in the parks - don't count on it being someplace else to purchase. I love the picture of Walt & Mickey on Main Street where Mickey is the only part in color. They had one of those new plastic cups with the straw, that you see all over the place now, with this design, in the Emporium. I was dumb to assume it would be Downtown but on our way out, when we stopped and I asked about it, a CM told me it was exclusive to the Magic Kingdom. I wish there was a sign on it that told me that... Oh well, I didn't NEED that cup - it was just a want but I want others to be forewarned.
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| Still trying to figure out how to use my new camera here.... |
Another nice thing about deluxe resorts is very close bus stops to the front gate - we had to wait for quite a while for one to get there and again, were wishing we had driven but driving to MK isn't as easy as other parks since you park at the ticket and transportation center.. I was happy to get back to the room and not have shoes on anymore :) It takes the boys no time at all to fall asleep, dreaming of what we'll do tomorrow!!
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