Double the Family, Double the Fun! - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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It's amazing what you can get done without taking a mid-day break, but boy was I wiped out by bed time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
I love the muppet pre show area as well!
Minnie's Holiday Dinner sounds like lots of fun! I love the characters in their Christmas finery!
The nachos and pizza looked yummy!
Thank you! The main reason we booked H&V was to see all of the characters in their Christmas outfits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I love the holding area for Muppet VIsion 3D, too. I seem to notice something different in there every time. Minnie's holiday meal at H&V looked so neat with the characters all in Christmasy apparel. Never hurts to have an early evening back at the resort especially after being at the park all day.
I love mid-day breaks, but sometimes it is nice to get a lot done during the day and then have an early evening at the resort to relax.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great day at the Studios with some great eats!! Love the pictures!
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Great day at Studios with a good dinner and time at H&V with lots of character interaction! Nice photos from the fireworks show which looks like a good one.
Thank you! The fireworks show was good, my favorite part (aside from the actual fireworks) was the projections. They are so cool!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Dinner and Fireworks, a great way to end your day at DHS. Sounds like you had a nice relaxing evening at the resort.
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Looks like a fun evening at H&V with some fun character interaction! I loved their outfits too. The Christmas show looked pretty but nothing will even come close to The Osborne Lights that used to be at DHS. I'm with you on not swimming at night when the temps start to drop but young kids don't seem to mind!
It was a lot of fun! I miss the Osborne Lights, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
What a wonderful fun day at DHS and a full one at that!!
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by samg0627
Can't wait to hear more!! We will be at CS around the same time!! Waiting on FD!!
Thank you! I have heard the FD rumors starting to float around, so hopefully it is announced soon!
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Today we would be splitting up from my sister and her family and doing our own thing. I think I mentioned in my PTR that my sister and her family like to take a day off from the parks mid way through their vacation. We do not, so it was the perfect day to split up and have some family "alone" time. Not that we don't love hanging out with my sister's family, but sometimes its nice not to worry about other people, if you know what I mean.
During the planning process my sister decided to surprise Nathan and Ashley with MVMCP tonight and I forgot to mention this in my last update, but Justin almost ruined her surprise.
During lunch yesterday one of my sister's kids asked about their plans for the next day and Justin opened his big mouth and said something about the party. Luckily he was sitting at the opposite end of the table from them and they weren't paying attention to him.
With that avoided, it was still a successful surprise! Angie's mother-in-law (Twila) and her husband have a timeshare in Daytona, so they drove down to spend the day with them. Angie, Ashley and Twila went to the Disney outlets that morning and got some great deals on souvenirs. My sister picked up a few items for me. I got some Christmas ornaments, an Epcot fleece blanket, and a Mickey Christmas tote bag. She also picked up a few Christmas gifts for Lexi including some Tinkerbell gel pens and a Halloween version of a Star Wars Droid, which she loved and added to her collection. Ashley found the cutest Olaf pillowpet for super cheap. My sister found a ton of stuff for herself and she picked up some Christmas gifts for her family as well. She said that it was worth the drive over there and if you are able to visit, you won't be disappointed.
While they were shopping, we were headed to Magic Kingdom! We made it to MK just as the opening show was beginning.
The family of the day.
After the opening ceremony and countdown we were let into the park a little before 9:00.
Crowds!
No crowds!
We headed for 7DMT and made it to the line at 8:50. The line was outside the queue, but it moved quickly and we waited no more than 10 minutes to ride.
Excited to join the line!
Checking out some of the interactive games to keep you occupied while waiting in line.
The water was COLD!
We finally made it to the front and we will be in the last car!
Our 7DMT ride photos. Lexi and I are in the very back and Justin is in the row in front of us.
Once 7DMT was over, we made our way to the Teacups which was a walk on.
As we were exiting our teacup a little girl dressed as Alice (she seriously had the best Alice costume I have ever seen) was escorted in to ride with Alice herself! I wasn't in a good spot to get a picture of Alice, but that little girl was over the moon. It was so cute.
Lexi's next request was Tomorrowland Speedway. She wanted to drive, so I was nice enough to let Justin ride with Lexi and I would take one for the team and ride alone.
The wait time was listed at 20 minutes and it took every bit of that. While waiting a lady asked where I got my shirt from. It has Tinkerbell's silhouette on it and says "The Original Top Knot". Now this is the perfect shirt for me as I often wear my hair in a messy high bun or "top knot". I found this shirt at a store called Torrid before our trip, so she was bummed she wouldn't be able to find it in the parks. I think you will see my shirt in some photopass pictures later on in the day.
I loaded the ride after Justin and Lexi and I tried to get some good pictures of them, but it ended up as just the back of their car.
It was now time for our FP+ for Pirates of the Caribbean, so we ventured over to Adventureland, but got side tracked by a lonely Photopass photographer along the way.
And a magic shot for Lexi!
I got this cute picture of Lexi along the way.
With our FP we zoomed right through the line and had a great adventure with my favorite pirate....oh, Johnny.
After Pirate's, Justin needed to use the restroom, so Lexi and I browsed the gift shop.
Once we were reunited with Justin we had just enough time to jaunt off to Crystal Palace for our breakfast reservations. Lexi was so excited to see her Pooh Bear!
My sister made these Winnie the Pooh themed ears for Lexi.
Just as we were seated the characters left our section, so our server let us know we had plenty of time to make it up to the buffet. I did not note what we ate and I did not get any pictures either.
I think we all made it up to the buffet twice before we saw a single character.
Finally Piglet was first to arrive.
And then pretty quickly came Tigger and Eeyore.
And then came the loooooooonnnnnnggggg wait for Pooh. One of the handlers came around to our table several times asking if we had seen all of the characters yet, and each time we told her we were waiting for Pooh, but she never did anything about it. We waited so long that they closed down one side of the buffet and got it set up for lunch. When they opened it up Justin went up and had a little sampling of the lunch offerings.
Finally after we had settled the bill with our server a handler came by and told us Pooh would be in our section soon and starting at our table. He was worth the wait though, he's so cute. When he arrived he noticed Lexi's ears right away and then he was happy to see he was also on Lexi's shirt.
Here is a video if you click on the thumbnail.
I always have to get a picture of these topiaries when we eat at Crystal Palace.
Since our breakfast turned brunch took so long, we had to book it to make our BTMRR FP+. Good thing we were already on the right side of the park. We made it just a few minutes after our FP time, but it still lit up green when we scanned our bands and we had a hoot of a time on one of Lexi's favorite rides.
Our next FP+ for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was now ripe, so we were able to head straight over there next. This is another one of Lexi's favorites. When asked how many before loading they asked if we wanted to ride 3 in a row or 2 and 1 in a car. We chose 2 and 1 in car because Lexi wanted to ride "alone". They asked us how old she was and when we said 9, she was good to go.
After our fun ride Lexi wanted to browse the gift shop. I thought for sure she would add to her Pooh collection, but she surprised me when she found a very floppy and cute Eeyore to take home. I don't blame her, he is pretty comfy to cuddle. I think he will show up in a picture or two later in the day.
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great time in the MK with plenty of attractions and a good meal and character filled time at the Crystal Palace!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Awww..,sounds like you enjoyed your breakfast at Crystal Palace and had some great character interaction even with the wait time. I love getting a lot of rides done in the morning before the real crowds converge!
What a great start to your day!! I totally would have waited for Pooh as well. What a cute video!!
Thank you! Pooh was worth the wait. He is so cute.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Awesome start to your "family alone" time! Love the special made ears!
Thank you! My sister made several pairs for the trip. She also made the Christmas ones Lexi wore to H&V the night before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
great time in the MK with plenty of attractions and a good meal and character filled time at the Crystal Palace!
Thank you! It was a great time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Awww..,sounds like you enjoyed your breakfast at Crystal Palace and had some great character interaction even with the wait time. I love getting a lot of rides done in the morning before the real crowds converge!
While we were in line for our Winnie the Pooh fast passes I hopped on to the app and found a FP for Dumbo. We had 30 minutes before the FP was ready, so we decided to head to Storybrook Circus and meet some characters! Goofy and Donald had a 10 minute wait, so we hopped in line. Goofy was in rare form and lots of fun! He tried to find his picture on Lexi's shirt, and was a bit bummed he wasn't on there. He did find his best pal, Mickey, though.
Donald came over and grabbed Lexi from Goofy and we had some fun with Donald, too.
I will note here that our Goofy photos didn't show up on our Memory Maker account, so when we got home I filled out the lost photos form on the photopass website and a few hours later I had an email that my photos were found and added to my account. It was a very easy process.
We headed into Big Top Souvenirs and had a look around, but no purchases were made. We still had about 10 minutes before our FP was ripe, so we checked out the wait time for Daisy and Minnie. I think it was a 15 minute wait, so we got in line. I loved the theme of the meet and greet area. This is the first time we took the time to stop here and I'm glad we did, we had some great character interactions.
First up was Daisy. She had a look at Lexi's shirt, too, and was happy to see her man Donald.
Next up was Minnie.
I had to get a picture with Minnie, too.
Now that we got our character fix, it was time to head to Dumbo! We lost Justin for a minute and I looked back and found him moping along with his friend, Eeyore.
There was no FP line for Dumbo, so we were sent right in to the waiting bay to wait for the next ride. The stand by was listed at a 20 minute wait. As we were waiting for the ride before us to finish I got on the Disney app to check for FP for Epcot later in the evening. We planned to head there after our dinner at Disney Springs and I was able to snag a Test Track fast pass.
After our ride on Dumbo, we decided to head out of MK and go for a swim at the main pool at CSR before we headed to our dinner reservations at Disney Springs.
As we were walking out of Storybrook Circus, Main Street Philharmonic came by, so we stopped to have a listen.
As we passed through the hub we decided to stop for some photopass pictures with the partners statue.
Then we made our way down Main Street towards the exit. Lexi saw Daisy in a window display and wanted her picture taken.
Okay! No more picture pit stops, we made our way to the bus stop and headed back to CSR. Here is a picture of our building as we headed to our room from the bus stop.
Once we were up on our floor I got a shot of how close the bus stop is to our building. I circled the bus stop in red. This picture was taken right outside the door opposite our rooms.
And zoomed in.
We really did have a great location for paying for a standard room. Put in those room requests, they pay off!
We all three changed into our swimsuits and grabbed our refillable mugs and headed off to the Dig Site. CSR really is gorgeous, my pictures don't do it justice.
The pool was busy, but not so crowded we couldn't find chairs. About a month before our vacation, I received a letter that CSR would have some construction going on while we were there and the pool was the only time we saw any construction and it was just in a tiny little area where they were adding fencing around the pool.
Lexi jumped in the pool right away, Justin went and had our mugs filled at the pool bar and I had a rest on my lounger. The temperature was perfect.
Once people cleared out Lexi and I did a mini photo shoot.
We spent a good two hours at the pool before we had to head back to the room and freshen up for dinner. Lexi never wants to leave the pool, but she didn't put up too much of a fight before we left. This should have been a sign as I think she was starting to get a bit worn out, which will affect our dinner reservations later on tonight.
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Never hurts to have an early evening back at the resort especially after being at the park all day. 
The Christmas show looked pretty but nothing will even come close to The Osborne Lights that used to be at DHS.
I'm with you on not swimming at night when the temps start to drop but young kids don't seem to mind!
I wasn't in a good spot to get a picture of Alice, but that little girl was over the moon. It was so cute.
One of the handlers came around to our table several times asking if we had seen all of the characters yet, and each time we told her we were waiting for Pooh, but she never did anything about it. We waited so long that they closed down one side of the buffet and got it set up for lunch. When they opened it up Justin went up and had a little sampling of the lunch offerings. 
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