Swilley Family Finally Does Disney 'Right'!~Trip Report~**Updated 9/29** - Page 10 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I never know how many pictures to add: but, found these while preparing for my next post, and wanted to share them too! How fun are the teacups?!?! (you'd be amazed at how fast he could get that thing going all by himself)
And, on the aformentioned silly raft! So many beautiful things to capture on Tom Sawyer Island! Love those Disney details. We found the photopass people posing for this one on our way out of the park; thanks to you all, I knew exactly what they were doing and got in line! Sadly, the one of Micah didn't get added to our CD- and since he is the Captain Hook fan, we didn't tell him. Thankfully it's far enough away, and the outfits were matching that day, so I printed two and we tell him one's him!
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Read all about it in my TR, "Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!" Jill Phil. 4: 13
Last edited by I live with a 'Stitch'!; 09-04-2008 at 06:04 PM..
We headed back for a much needed swim , we were on the bus by 1:00 and needed to be back for an ADR @ CP to meet with Pooh and Friends by 5:20. The boys were dying to get in the pool, so I felt bad that they were on a time limit.....but, as I was on the commando schedule today (), I let them swim for an hour, so they could rest, too and stay up late to catch wishes and spectro! (Shannon was happy to stay in the AC with Leah while we swam ).
We got back in time to check in 20 min early for our ADR and watched through the CP windows for glimpses of the hundred acre woods crew! The kids squealed with delight every time the saw one of them! There was also the last castle show of the day going, so we were able to see the rest of that from there! I love that show... sometimes out of the blue I'll catch one of the kids wandering around the house chanting “dreams come true, dreams come true.” (remember that little ones).
We were seated about 10 min later; we had a good seat on the out side of the inner tables on the left side of the restaurant.
And, here are my feelings about character meals—this was our very first one and we did 4 throughout our trip, which were basically very similar. Although I did enjoy getting to meet several characters without waiting in line, I did find them, well, ,stressful! I decided I really don't enjoy buffets with children my kids ages. No matter how fast you try to get everyone's food, it still involves lots of trips and I feel like the bride at a wedding, you pay for everything and never really get to relax and eat! That ,coupled with the autograph books; trying to anticipate which character was coming next so that I could find pages and have ready all three books ready for them to sign was exhausting. (Next time, if I do my books homemade, I will not “pre-assign” certain pages to characters. I will let them sign whatever pages is next and decorate them when I get home! Would've made things a lot easier)!
.....Then you have Leah freaking out if she thought any of them were close enough to touch her, she did not enjoy the convenience of having characters wondering around her environment, and insisted on being held just in case one of them decided to attack! She did want to look, say 'hi', wave, and blow kisses; but, don't advance! That's why you won't see her in many pictures that involve big, lovable, fuzzy, fierce, scary characters. (She also loosens up- a little- by the end of the trip).
The food here was good, I know my favorite thing was the salmon. The kids had the typical 'kid stuff' like mac-n-cheese and chicken nuggets. Other than that, nothing was particularly memorable.
The boys thought it was great, which is why, despite all the hassle, I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Up next....the magic kingdom at night!
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Read all about it in my TR, "Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!" Jill Phil. 4: 13
I love , love,love your TR so far. You remind me of myself with all the emotional teary moments. and as everyone has said before me you make pretty babies.
Great update!
I know how you feel with constantly going back up to the buffets!
But buffets are usually a hit with my kids, so we continue to go.
When you mentioned you daughter being scared of the characters, I started wondering if I will have that problem with my two yr old in a few months, but then I thought if he's scared off the characters, maybe he'll actually stay in his seat rather than keep leaving the table like he normally does. lol
I have been trying for years to figure out what it is about character buffets that I don't like and you nailed it right on the head with the bride at a wedding comparison. They are fun though in their own way so like you, I'd do one again in a heartbeat. We have only done CP for breakfast and look forward to trying lunch or dinner sometime.
Love all the pictures! Your kids are adorable and have awesome smiles!
I know exactly what you mean about the character meals - - especially the buffets. It's like a madhouse trying to get every fed, pictures taken and autographs snagged. I'm always a little relieved when all of the characters have been seen and I can take a deep breath. I do tend to enjoy the ones that are "family style" dining a bit more.
And if Mary Devall reminds you of Isaiah, then Leah reminds me of Maddie with the characters. I could have written exactly what you did earlier this year although she has worked up to "petting" them now. The funny thing is that until she turned 1 and 1/2 she snuggled up to characters like puppy dogs.
And something funny hit me this afternoon after I had read both your ptr and tr - - I actually share the same name with both you and your husband. My entire name is Shannon Jill. How crazy is that?
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Just caught up on your TR! What cute kids you have! and some of the comments they said also brought tears to my eyes Very cute!
Looking forward to more updates
Loving your trip report and pictures. Your kids are very photogenic and I am glad to see that you are getting them to look at the camera. Mine will say cheese once and if I didn't catch it then that is my bad. No repeats.
Sorry that the meal was stressful for you but so glad that your kids enjoyed it. Which you can tell from the pictures.
Thanks for sharing with us and looking forward to more.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Great update Jill...glad you and the boys got to enjoy some pool time before heading back. I can totally understand your feelings about buffets. Even though this time it was easier as the little one was 7 I still felt like between going up to get her food, helping her with her plate, going to get more and then making sure we did not miss a character (which we definitely did at the CP) I never really stopped to eat...
As Jillybean mentioned I much rather do a family style (another reason I am so sad about the end of the character dinner at LTT).
The boys look so cute with their friends from the "woods" - glad they enjoyed thier meal there as well as you getting to see them so happy.
I agree with you about character meal and buffets. Even the sitdown ones can become stressful because you can't relax and enjoy your meal without wondering if a charater is going to stop by. I just the comment your son made out Splash Mountain. This is what Disney is all about.
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- and since he is the Captain Hook fan, we didn't tell him. Thankfully it's far enough away, and the outfits were matching that day, so I printed two and we tell him one's him!
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, we were on the bus by 1:00 and needed to be back for an ADR @ CP to meet with Pooh and Friends by 5:20. The boys were dying to get in the pool, so I felt bad that they were on a time limit.....but, as I was on the commando schedule today (
), I let them swim for an hour, so they could rest, too and stay up late to catch wishes and spectro! (Shannon was happy to stay in the AC with Leah while we swam 
). 
There was also the last castle show of the day going, so we were able to see the rest of that from there! I love that show... sometimes out of the blue I'll catch one of the kids wandering around the house chanting “dreams come true, dreams come true.” (remember that little ones). 
,stressful! I decided I really don't enjoy buffets with children my kids ages. No matter how fast you try to get everyone's food, it still involves lots of trips and I feel like the bride at a wedding, you pay for everything and never really get to relax and eat! 
That ,coupled with the autograph books; trying to anticipate which character was coming next so that I could find pages and have ready all three books ready for them to sign was exhausting. (Next time, if I do my books homemade, I will not “pre-assign” certain pages to characters. I will let them sign whatever pages is next and decorate them when I get home! Would've made things a lot easier)! 
She did want to look, say 'hi', wave, and blow kisses; but, don't advance! That's why you won't see her in many pictures that involve big, lovable, fuzzy, fierce, scary characters. 
More please 
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
to hear the meal was stressful, but the joy on your boys' faces certainly must have made it worthwhile. Looking forward to more
Very cute!
the comment your son made out Splash Mountain. This is what Disney is all about.
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