The Perpetual Disney Adventures with the D Family TR - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Weeks ago, Allen made a reservation for dinner at 1900 Park Fare for my birthday and only after the confirmation came to me without him realizing it was the surprised foiled . Truthfully, he's terrible with secrets anyway so I'm confident that he would have let it slip at some point, but since I was aware of the plan, I decided to go ahead and take the day off so that we could go to MK that day.
On Friday, August 2nd, Allen got a call about an interview for a position he was really hoping to hear back on. I told him to go ahead for the 5th and we would just meet over at MK when he was done. The owner of the company he was interviewing at got a good laugh when Allen paused on the phone to make sure I wasn't going to be mad about him scheduling the interview on Monday .
So Monday morning rolled around and Stella slept until about 8am so I got to sleep in a bit, which was a great way to start a birthday! Allen got up to get ready as his interview was at 10 just north of Orlando. After he left a bit after 9am, the kids and I started getting ready ourselves. We weren't in any hurry because I wanted to try and see Wishes! that night and with the heat right now, being at the parks from open to close makes for a grouchy toddler and if there is one thing we try to avoid, it's grouchy toddler Stella!
We made it out of the house around 10am or so and made a quick stop at Dunkin Doughnuts for an iced coffee (and Tyler had a hot chocolate- despite the temperature flirting with 90 degrees at that early hour .) With an iced coffee for me, hot chocolate for Tyler and juice for Stella, we headed over to the ever welcoming gates of WDW.
We live about 5 minutes from the onramp for the FL Turnpike right before the 429 exit so typically we jump on there and take 429 south about 13 miles to the WDW back entrance. I love this route because it's never busy and as you head south on 429, you can see WDW in the distance. The tolls cost us about $6 round trip to take this route with our Sun Pass but it's a price I'm willing to pay to avoid traffic and stoplights.
As we were driving, my mom called to serenade my for my birthday- which my children got to hear since we were in the car Tyler looked moderately embarrassed by his grandmother's inability to stay on key and I think he was significantly relieved that we weren't in a public place!
When we arrived at the bubble, I got a call from Allen that his interview was done and went well and he actually had received another call while in that interview for another position he applied for. The location was close to where he was so he was going to try and see if he could just stop by while he was dressed and in the area. I told him to take his time and we were just arriving to the parking lot at MK.
After a quick flash our our AP, we were waived through the gates to go in and park. As we rounded the corner of the Richard Petty driving experience, we slowed to a stop with all of the other cars trying to park. Touring Plans only had this day at MK projected at a 6.4 but by the looks of the parking lot, I felt pretty confident it was going to be quite a bit busier.
We were parked at the very end of the row in Peter Pan 51. Rather than ride the tram (especially being alone with the kids and a stroller), we found a nice little short cut to walk to the TTC by following the exit path right to the Aladdin parking lot.
When we reached the TTC, we could see the line snaking for the monorail so I looked at Tyler and said "looks like we are riding the ferry." He is impatient and so he would always opt for the monorail express so he wasn't excited about this news. But I quickly could see that the line for the ferry was no better than the monorail so we decided instead to just go with the monorail. The line moved pretty steadily but standing in the sun made me very aware of how hot the day was going to be.
When we made it to the monorail platform, we were in the very back so I knew we would be standing. I had brought my iced coffee from the car to finish but I knew I'd have to fold up the stroller given how many people were trying to get into each monorail car so holding on to the stroller, my iced coffee and Stella while standing on the moving monorail was no easy task Cursed iced coffee- never will I do that again!!
After arriving at MK and departing the monorail, I popped the stroller down quickly and Stella jumped in, making it far easy to maneuver the thick crowds. Somehow though we managed to get to bag check during a lull so we were quickly passing through and making our way to the gates.
Tyler and I are pros with the RFID cards now so once it was our turn, we quickly touched our passes, provided our finger prints and were given the green light to move through.
We entered on the right side so we walked by to see how long the waits for Mickey and the Princesses were- 60 and 90 minutes respectively
Yeah, it was busy!
Tyler, being very well conditioned for FP's took our APs and in no short order acquired both Mickey and Princess FP's for us, Mickey being good at 11:45am and Princesses at 12:05pm. We had about 25 minutes to wait so we decided to head over to the fire station and get some Sorcerer cards, and then head to the Emporium to browse and cool down in the wonderfully refreshing a/c.
I was dripping in sweat by this point so I got out some wipes from the back pack and attempted to blot my face and arms. Tyler's head is like a little heater so as hot as I was, he had to have been a good 15 degrees hotter- poor kid!
Once inside the Emporium, we took our time looking around and enjoying the very low crowds inside (because they were all in line for the Princesses an Mickey I think!) Tyler wanted to purchase a Monster's Vinylmation so we stopped to see if they had any, and sadly they didn't. But while we were stopped, Stella spotted the autograph books and she jumped out of the stroller to look at them.
Earlier that morning, she had one of Tyler's old autograph books that has seen better days and she wanted to bring it along (she hasn't really been all that interested in autographs in the past, but she had gained interest in it over the last few weeks.) I told her that she could pick out an autograph book when we got to MK that day since Tyler's old book was literally falling apart. Well, sister didn't forget (I had!) and after touching every last option, she had a TinkerBell autograph book in her little hands to purchase. Not only did she have the book, but she also picked out a pen to go along with it - she's definitely my daughter!
We continued browsing, not finding any other purchases to make and so we got in line in the room where they have the year merchandise to pay. A lovely gentleman from Mt. Dora checked us out and with my AP, I saved about a dollar!
I hadn't heard from Allen and we were about 10 minutes from our Mickey FP window so we headed back to park the stroller and hang out inside for our FP to ripen.
As we waited Allen phoned to say that he was on the monorail between GF and MK but it was stopped so he would miss our Mickey FPs. Stella was getting really anxious and 11:45am couldn't come fast enough....
I don't think I've seen the stand by line that long for Mickey ever so I was pretty thankfully we had FP's. It took no time at all before we were heading in to see Mr. Mouse.
Mind you Stella sees Mickey pretty regularly but this child gets crazy excited each and every time she sees him- it's so awesome!!
And appropriately, Mickey was her first signature in her first autograph book.
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Because we made it through to see Mickey so fast, we had some time to wait for our Princess FP to ripen at 12:15pm. We decided to just wait in the Town Square Theatre lobby rather than in the blazing heat. I called Allen again and he was still on the monorail- or so he said.
We grabbed a seat and Stella marveled at Mickey's signature in her autograph book. All the sudden she said "Daddy" and there he was! His "stuck on the monorail" story was to buy some time for him to stop and grab me a birthday button
I realized as we were waiting that he didn't have a FP for the Princesses since he wasn't with us when we arrived to get them. He said he was ok to just wait outside for us but I didn't want him to be left out so we talked to a CM and she very sweetly allowed him to pass with us.
Again, the line for the Princesses was insane but our FP's gained us access rather quickly! for FP's!
First up was Rapunzel. By this point, Stella was a pro with the autograph book:
And then we met Aurora, who Stella had fun talking to:
Holy cow! Stella got big in a few, short days! I know, I know.... That was last years TR I was reading & this was more recent but holy smokes has she grown in a few months!
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sounds like a hectic start! lol but how cool that Allen got another job interview call during one he was already in! that he got the job he really wanted!!
Summers in Florida are BRUTAL! I try to avoid theme parks at all cost during the summer for two reasons: 1)the heat alone is enough of a reason for me haha and 2)crowds!
Holy cow! Stella got big in a few, short days! I know, I know.... That was last years TR I was reading & this was more recent but holy smokes has she grown in a few months!
LOL!!! Going from that TR to this one is a big difference! She is definitely bigger and far more sassy!
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Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
sounds like a hectic start! lol but how cool that Allen got another job interview call during one he was already in! that he got the job he really wanted!!
Summers in Florida are BRUTAL! I try to avoid theme parks at all cost during the summer for two reasons: 1)the heat alone is enough of a reason for me haha and 2)crowds!
can't wait to hear about Tyler's kiss
This week he has gotten a ton of calls- people must have been on vacation the last few weeks?!? Tomorrow he has 3 interviews and then another on Friday. We are very very thankful and any of these positions would be a good fit!
The pictures to go along with the kiss story are so funny!!!
What a great way to spend your birthday Sorry it was so hot and busy - my goodness, those waits for the characters were insane! Beautiful photos of Stella with the princesses.
What a great way to spend a birthday - at MK! Too bad it was so crowded and hot. Although with living so close you probably don't have to worry as much about fitting everything in. Can't wait to hear the "kiss" story.
I hope the interviews go well into a job! and I can't believe how much Stella has grown! Such a great way to spend your birthday at the MK.
Thanks for the pixies Cam! He got an offer today but still holding out hope for a position he interviewed for on Monday.
I realized that my last TR has been from the last year and how much she has grown since then!! She's definitely grown a lot since then
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Originally Posted by mushu22
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by chezp
What a great way to spend your birthday Sorry it was so hot and busy - my goodness, those waits for the characters were insane! Beautiful photos of Stella with the princesses.
By the time we went back to use our FP's, the waits had dropped down to like 60 minutes for Princesses and 35 for Mickey, so much more in line with busier times that we've waited but I couldn't believe what they were when we walked in! That takes a lot of commitment to wait that long!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by iwonathomas
Glad you got to spend your birthday at MK! Sorry for the heat but the day sounds great so far.
Congrats on all of calls for interviews he is getting.
It was definitely a fun way to spend the day, even in the heat but maybe next year we'll celebrate my 1/2 birthday since it falls in the cooler months
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start to your birthday! Love the pics!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by Jessie092408
Great start to your birthday! That whole "stuck on the monorail" thing sounds like something my DH would do.
I should have thought it was fishy- he does this kind of thing regularly!
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Originally Posted by stardust190
What a great way to spend a birthday - at MK! Too bad it was so crowded and hot. Although with living so close you probably don't have to worry as much about fitting everything in. Can't wait to hear the "kiss" story.
Yes, it's a great benefit of being so close- we don't have to feel like we have to "do" everything- especially on particularly hot and crowded days.
After departing the Princesses, we decided to head back to the Casey Jr. Splash 'n' Soak area. I finally remembered to bring a change of clothes for Stella and I have been dying to get some photos are her playing out there (water and a colorful setting...a photographer's dream- mine anyway!)
Once we made it back, we realized that many other people had the same idea as us and it was quite crowded (I don't know what I was thinking!) Because of how many other people were playing and running around, I was a little nervous to let Stella loose for fear that she may slip and fall or get knocked over so I quickly decided we needed a plan B. Of course, that wasn't too tough since we were right near Pete's Silly Sideshow and we can never meet the characters enough (well, Tyler can!) We will save Casey Jr. Splash 'n' Soak area for another day (maybe she and I can do a girls day for this purpose?)
When we got up to Pete's Silly Sideshow, Stella said she wanted to see "Goof" so we got in the line to the right. But as soon as she got a slight glimpse of Minnie, she had a change of heart and wanted to see Minnie and Daisy. So we backtracked and this time went to the left.
The line was semi-long (not totally unmanageable though) and we agreed that standing in the a/c was ok with us We stood in the same spot for a good while but then the line got moving and then it didn't take too long for our turn.
Stella excitedly handed her autograph book and pen to Daisy to capture another signature:
And then we got a photo (although Stella didn't want to take her eyes off on Minnie! )
We had several families in front of us to Minnie and for a moment I wondered if the excitement might get to Stella but she waited in line like a pro (I guess she kind of is though )
Of course we had to have Minnie's autograph...after all she is Minnie Mouse!
And she got a smooch too:
Naturally our next stop was "Goof", whose line was shorter than Minnie/Daisy. Goofy signed so fast that I didn't get a picture!
And then when our turn was over, Goofy gave Tyler a hug and Stella really wanted a high 5!
And then we got ready to see Donald. When the family in front of us was done, Donald was going to take a quick break but we didn't know so being the pro she is, Stella waited for the other family to walk away and then she took her cue to go see Donald. I think he was confused because she was coming at him fast with her autograph book and he was ready for a duck snacks
Donald was back in a flash (literally!) and then it was Stella and Tyler's turn. *disclaimer- these pictures are quite red and because of the way I shot them, I can't really recover it.*
I'm shuddering at the shadows on Stella's face
On a different note, Tyler wanted his own picture with Donald so after I took a picture of them both, he jumped out of the shot to let Stella have one alone but Stella didn't like that. So she was saying "Tyler come back" and we were telling her to say cheese!
After seeing Donald, we exited into the gift shop to find that it was packed...because it had been raining while we were inside meeting Goofy and Donald. We hadn't put the cover on the stroller so Allen went sprinting to try and recover the stroller hoping that it hadn't been raining for long.
We weaved through the guests waiting it out and I could see Allen waving me out at the doors because the rain had let up already.
I don't think it rained long but it must have rained hard because the stroller was S-O-A-K-E-D. Whoops! Allen got out Stella's poncho and created a barrier on the seat so she wouldn't get wet sitting and then we were off towards tomorrowland.
Allen was feeling hungry at this point but we only had about 2 1/2 hours to our ressie so we stopped at cosmic rays to share some fries. Allen loves it here because he can get cheese sauce to dip his fries in.
After a quick break and semi-filled tummies, we all made a bio break before continuing on to Tomorrowland. I forgot that Allen had grabbed us Buzz FP's on our way back to Casey Jr. Splash'n' Soak area and they were nearly ripe. We had some time so we decided to ride TTA around Tomorrowland.
And I took pictures....because what else would I be doing??
The CM was making bunny ears behind me as I was snapping this one, which Tyler thought was funny:
Stella's new favorite ride is the Tomorrowland Speedyway so Tyler was pointing them out as we rode by:
Last week we went over to MK one evening to watch wishes and I rode the tea cups with the kids...and Tyler proceeded to spin us as fast as possible, to which I said "I'm going to to throw up"...which is now Stella's new line. So on the very mild TTA, Stella declared "I frow up", complete with customary gesture:
Thankfully she has a stomach of steel so we departed TTA without incident.
Our Buzz FP's were ripe and ready so we headed over to find that the line for FP's snaked outside That's a first for us! I can't imagine waiting stand-by when the line for FP's were as long as they were- those poor folks didn't move the whole time we were in line.
Stella rode with Allen and Tyler rode with me (but he wanted to ride with Stella so he wasn't happy about it ) and soon we were on our way to battling Zurg. Before we boarded our spaceships, I high 5'ved Stella and said "Good luck battling Zurg." She clearly took it to heart because she managed to shoot a target and score 200k before we even climbed that first little hill in the first room And trust me, she isn't trying! Naturally Allen decided at that point to team up with Stella since she had given them a good start and they managed to max out at 999,999 in the first room on Stella's laser gun.
Show off's.
I scored an embarrassing 24,000- it was pretty bad.
We decided at this point to start heading down Main Street because Stella hadn't had a nap and we thought taking a bit of a break before dinner was important. As we approached Main Street USA, we realized that a parade was going to be starting soon. Allen wasnted to stop at guest relations for something (which he wouldn't tell me what it was ) so I told him we were going to stop and watch the parade. We found a spot in front of the Emporium just as the Celebrate a Dream Come True was reaching us. Stella happily waved at all of her favorite friends. Allen ended up getting stuck and not being able to make it to Guest Relations and Stella seemed ready to move on after the first 2 floats so we continued down the path until we ran into Allen where he got stuck- which also was a prime viewing location (lucky Duck!) We quickly joined him so Stella could see the last few floats.
After watching the rest of the parade, and all but melting standing in the direct sun on the black top, we started heading towards the exit. Allen still wanted to stop at Guest Relations so I told him we'd meet him in the shade. Tyler and I found some shade and grabbed the wipes again from the backpack just to try and blot some of the sweat off
It was taking Allen a good while so I finally decided to push the stroller in so we could at least wait in the a/c. I found Allen talking with a CM but he wasn't quite done so we just stood off to the side. Tyler struck up a conversation with a CM standing at the braille map of the park and the CM was telling him about how it works. Soon Allen was done though so we were exiting the park. I asked him what that was about and he remained tight-lipped. He's such a schemer....
We decided to ride the boat to GF to wait out our dinner reservation. We didn't wait long and our boat wasn't very full. We soon were cruising right over to GF. The boat provided a much appreciated break from the heat- it was so pleasant!
We still a solid 45 minutes before checking is so we found an empty spot in the lobby and enjoyed the music being played on the piano. Stella had fun dancing and we had fun guessing the songs. I decided to do a quick diaper change on Stella and when we returned, the piano player was gone but there was a band now playing on the 2nd level. Stella was getting a bit antsy (still no sign of slowing down for even a small nap) so we decided to explore the shops. We ended up making our way upstairs to the M. Mouse Mercentile where Stella found no less than 5 items she would have happily taken home. Tyler looked over the pin selection was pretty excited when he found a mystery Sorcerer's of MK box containing 2 pins. He had been unsuccessful finding a Monsters University vinyalmation that day at MK and at this point in the day, I wasn't confident that we would make it back to the park so I advised him this may be his last shopping opportunity for the day. With that, he decided he definitely wanted the pins.
Allen made the purchase while Stella and I wandered around the 2nd level observing the views. We were within 10ish minutes of our ressie and decided to go ahead and check in.
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. Truthfully, he's terrible with secrets anyway so I'm confident that he would have let it slip at some point, but since I was aware of the plan, I decided to go ahead and take the day off so that we could go to MK that day. 
.
and if there is one thing we try to avoid, it's grouchy toddler Stella!
.) With an iced coffee for me, hot chocolate for Tyler and juice for Stella, we headed over to the ever welcoming gates of WDW. 
Tyler looked moderately embarrassed by his grandmother's inability to stay on key and I think he was significantly relieved that we weren't in a public place!
- she's definitely my daughter!
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that he got the job he really wanted!!
I can't believe how much Stella has grown! 
Such a great way to spend your birthday at the MK. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Beautiful photos of Stella with the princesses. 
Love the pics! 
We stood in the same spot for a good while but then the line got moving and then it didn't take too long for our turn.
So she was saying "Tyler come back" and we were telling her to say cheese!
Allen got out Stella's poncho and created a barrier on the seat so she wouldn't get wet sitting and then we were off towards tomorrowland.
) so I told him we were going to stop and watch the parade. We found a spot in front of the Emporium just as the Celebrate a Dream Come True was reaching us. Stella happily waved at all of her favorite friends. Allen ended up getting stuck and not being able to make it to Guest Relations and Stella seemed ready to move on after the first 2 floats so we continued down the path until we ran into Allen where he got stuck- which also was a prime viewing location (lucky Duck!) We quickly joined him so Stella could see the last few floats.
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