"Do Over!" Avalon and LizKitty Meet the Mouse! FINAL DAY POSTED: Update page 6

[Crazy4Disney72]

Wonderful trip report, can't wait to read more! I love to take trips with my kids one on one!

 

[mariezp]

What a fantastic trip report! Can't wait for more!

 

[bumbershoot]

I just noticed your TR! That line about your degree in medieval literature (history? something...I had it copied but then was looking for some homeschool stuff and copied that to paste into google, and, well, your sentence was lost from my "clipboard") was hilarious.

At the end of it, I was scooting along the parking lot in back of a strange high school on a toddler's wheeled scooting toy... and thinking, "It's 5:30, there's no way I can make it 80 miles to the airport by 6:15!"

I am not popular with my views on Beauty and The Beast either (Basically, if you love a grumpy man with a hot temper who is mean to everybody.. if you love him GOOD ENOUGH he will change.) Not so much.

Take that concept and change it a bit, and you can see why I despise "It's a Wonderful Life", aka, child and spousal abuse with an extra taste of alcoholism!


I have no place to talk about inappropriate books, though; I was reading Forever (Judy Blume) in 5th grade, Stephen King in high school and probably delved into Anne Rice's naughtiness before I went off to college. And I was one of the biggest prudes you ever met until I was 21!




OK so Gail, you're an inch taller than me, and Liz isn't THAT much taller than you (if she'd only stand straight! now I know why my mom was ALWAYS getting on me to stop slouching, LOL), and I really do NOT think it's fair that her legs look so LONG! And in case it helps her preteen being, you can tell her that the pants in the pictures so far fit the EXACT way me and my friends tried to look at that age. Especially the dark denim ones, they look just like the jeans we wanted (and those jeans were to us like Disneyland was to your family growing up...just unattainable) but more importantly, she fits them like we all wanted to. Long legs, perfectly fitting jeans, gadzooks! Next you'll be telling me she's kind to stray puppies and gets straight As!



I'm so glad you had such a good time! Now it's time for more more more!

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

I just started reading your trip report and I have to say, you're family is adorable!!

 

[staley7580]

Sounds like a great first day! How fun!! I was reading it thinking how much I would love to take my oldest.. Just the 2 of us.

 

[avalon451]

Take that concept and change it a bit, and you can see why I despise "It's a Wonderful Life", aka, child and spousal abuse with an extra taste of alcoholism!

Have you ever seen "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?"


I have no place to talk about inappropriate books, though; I was reading Forever (Judy Blume) in 5th grade, Stephen King in high school and probably delved into Anne Rice's naughtiness before I went off to college. And I was one of the biggest prudes you ever met until I was 21!

I, too, was reading inappropriately mature stuff at age 12 and up, and I believe I was none the worse for it. I'm pretty biased toward non-interference as far as books are concerned, because I'm just so dang happy they are reading. But I do talk, talk, talk about them. Content, concepts, what do you think the author is saying with this, how do you think this relates to reality, why do you like this book, etc. Just to make them conscious that not everything they read is accurate, true to life-- and there is a difference between fantasy and reality. I figure, as active as we are in our faith and in communicating our values to our kids, and in trying to be good examples of responsibility, tolerance and kindness toward everybody, I have to trust that the values we've taught them so far will guide their perceptions and decisions in life. So yeah, I let Liz read the third Twilight book "Eclipse" Right decision? Not sure. She really enjoyed it, though. Kept her busy on the airplane both to and from DL.



OK so Gail, you're an inch taller than me, and Liz isn't THAT much taller than you (if she'd only stand straight! now I know why my mom was ALWAYS getting on me to stop slouching, LOL), and I really do NOT think it's fair that her legs look so LONG! And in case it helps her preteen being, you can tell her that the pants in the pictures so far fit the EXACT way me and my friends tried to look at that age. Especially the dark denim ones, they look just like the jeans we wanted (and those jeans were to us like Disneyland was to your family growing up...just unattainable) but more importantly, she fits them like we all wanted to. Long legs, perfectly fitting jeans, gadzooks! Next you'll be telling me she's kind to stray puppies and gets straight As!

I know right??? I only WISHED I looked like that in junior high! Oh my gosh, she's got Daddy's legs, from here to there and happily back again. DH is one of those tall, sinewy, long-legged builds-- can eat whatever he wants (of course, he also runs daily). I, on the other hand, inherited short, stout, thunder thighs from my dad. But Liz is at that age when nothing can convince her that she's in any way attractive!

I'm so glad you had such a good time! Now it's time for more more more!

Thanks, we had such a good time, but my pictures are all out of order, so it's taking me a while to get my thoughts and notes organized! Right now I gotta go watch DD6's soccer game!

 

[avalon451]

Monday morning, our first full day, dawned bright and early. I lay there in my comfy bed and enjoyed the soft light coming in through the skylight. I can see how it would be too bright, too early in midsummer, but at 7 a.m. in October, it was a really nice way to wake up. I even took a picture the next morning, but it didn’t turn out the way it really looked:

Now, I’d checked out the park hours since the first day they were posted on the DL website. I knew that for Columbus Day, the Disney powers-that-be had decreed nearly full holiday hours of 8-11, with fireworks scheduled. Therefore I wanted to be at the gates by 7:30. I woke up Liz (“Hey, sweetie… we’re going to DISNELAAAAAAANNNNNDDD…..” ) and we got ready and scarfed some muffins, milk, juice and fruit. We were still a little late getting out of the hotel, so we got to the security tables at about 7:45. I saw fleetingly, as we waited briefly to get our bags checked, that the sign in front said the hours were 9-11. I thought confidently, “That’s wrong, it’s 8. They must have put up the wrong sign.” But I was surprised to get to the gates and there were only about 6-8 people in each line. Nope, I was wrong, I’m fairly sure they must have changed the hours since the last time I checked, since all my notes show posted hours as 8-11, but I hadn’t double checked it in the last few weeks. Sooooo, we were over an hour early. We didn’t tumble to it until it was 8:05 and there was STILL no sign of much CM activity on the other side of the gate. Finally I realized that I had the time wrong.

Ah, well… we stood around patiently, enjoying the early morning sunshine…

More CMS were showing up, they picked a “family of the day” to help open the park, a couple of lines down from us, and prepared to open the gates at 8:30 so we could shop, take pictures with Mickey, and wait for rope drop at 9 a.m. at the top of Main Street. So Liz and I were at the front of the rope.

Here’s how the park looks when you’re one of the first ones under the tunnels:

First thing we saw was Mickey and Pluto. About 6 families immediately detoured straight for Mickey, but Pluto was all alone, so we ran to give him a hug and take a picture:

Liz plopped right down next to the rope, dug out her ipod, and contentedly zoned out to her favorite tunes:

Here’s DL across the rope, before the hordes are released:

Well, soon enough 9 a.m. rolled around, and of course we headed for Liz’s favorite ride—Space Mountain! We grabbed a FP and then walked right onto it. Then we took the back path around BTMRR (never know when the Dream Team might appear) and rode BTMRR, a new experience for Liz. She loved it! Then we did PotC, my favorite. We stopped by the Court of Angels, in NOS, one of my favorite little hideaways. They had just decked it out for Christmas, and it was very pretty. They had several shelves of Christmas decorations for sale in there, but it wasn’t obnoxious.

We stopped into Le Bat en Rouge, where Liz had seen a Jack Skellington bandana, and we bought it. Then she proceeded to wear it the entire remainder of our time there!

Then Splash. We didn’t get too wet on Splash, and we both enjoyed it very much. Next we stopped by the Hunny Pot to look at all the goodies. Oh, MY. I got an apple pie caramel apple, and Liz had a huge chunk of cookies and cream fudge. Warning: more food porn:

Apple Pie caramel apple, which they kindly cut up for us:

It was quite good, but I wouldn’t say it was fabulous. The caramel was very very chewy, and tended to peel away from the apple when you bit it.

Liz enjoying her fudge:

Liz had forgotten to put on sunscreen, and it was starting to get quite bright. So I shelled out big bucks for a small bottle of sunscreen there in the Pooh’s Corner store, and made Liz apply it to her unprotected face. Then, guess what? I put it down somewhere and forgot the bottle. That was the single most expensive application of sunscreen ever. Oh, well. We walked over to Hungry Bear to sit at the tables downstairs, by the river, and look for Disney kitties. Unfortunately we didn’t see any. Liz’s screen name is Lizkitty (both here and elsewhere) for a good reason: she’s a big cat fan. She loves cats and we call her the “kitty whisperer” because she can frequently coax even the shyest kitties to come say hello to her. We just lost our family cat August 1st—Caleb, our first baby, who was 16 years old when we had to have him put down. It was really hard on Liz, and on all of us. So we are all kitty deprived lately, but Liz especially.

Anyway, we finished our delicious snack and saved leftovers for later, and went to ride Winnie the Pooh. Liz said, “Cute, but cheesy.” Then we went on Jungle Cruise. We had each only been once before on our last trip, and not together, and we had a great skipper, so it was fun.

My favorite part the skipper did… absolutely perfect timing and expression:

*cheerfully* “Well, that’s something you don’t see every day!”

*pause—face sort of going thoughtful* “…I do…”

*looking pained* “…every seven and a half minutes.”

*look of quiet despair* “…. Stay in school, kids….”

After that we did the Tiki Room. We went in and Liz had a Dole whip (another new experience) and I had a Dole whip float while we waited in the courtyard. Yum. As Liz said, they are good, but not, like, the best thing ever—but we enjoyed them.

I just love embarrassing my daughter. “In the Tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room…” I started singing and swaying. She’s hissing, “Mom. Stop.” Then when it came to “Let’s all sing like the birdies sing, Tweet, tweet tweet, tweet tweet….” I put my arm around her, sang loudly and made her sway with me, and she was furiously pinching me and saying, “Mom! No! Stop. Mom! Mooooo-oooommmm!” till I was giggling so hard I couldn’t sing any more. By that time she was giggling, too.

Well, who would have believed it. It was already 12:30, and we were ready for a break. Out on the Esplanade, we took a couple of pictures by the California letters:

“L” is for Liz!

Then we headed back to the hotel and collapsed. We both read for awhile, and napped, and I got online very briefly to check e-mail.

We had PS’s for Ralph Brennan’s Jazz kitchen for 6 p.m. So we showered and freshened up, and headed over there about 5:30. Walking through DTD made Liz remember sharply all those times when she just couldn’t handle it any more the last trip, and was too sick to go on, and had to do the walk of shame back to the GCH to go back to bed and try to recover. She was appreciating how much better she felt this time. We were also remembering just how FAR down DTD that “convenient” private entrance to GCH is. It’s way the heck down there! You come out of the gates at night and look waayyyyy down there, and Sephora , where you come out, looks about a mile away. Of course, DLH is even farther.

Ralph Brennan’s looked very inviting in the dusk, with the wrought iron balconies, and the waiters just starting to set the outside tables. We were surprised to go to the podium and look around the apparently deserted restaurant, and be told that our table wasn’t quite ready. Hmmm? I don’t see anybody, inside or outside! A few minutes later, they led us upstairs, and into the PACKED inside dining room. I really couldn’t understand it. It was a lovely evening, perfect for sitting out on the verandah or the inside courtyard, and yet they were only seating in the stuffy inside dining room, decorated very formally, with heavy curtains at the windows, tables so close together you could hardly move… seemed stupid to me. Why in the world couldn’t they spread out their servers’ sections a bit more, or at least give you a choice for inside or outside dining? Oh, well. The service was pretty good, and the food was excellent.

Liz had the beef tournados:

Which were cooked to perfection, and she loved them.

I had the lobster ravioli, also delicious:

Liz was a little anxious at first. Although Al and I have always enjoyed fine dining and are comfortable in relatively formal restaurants, as a family we tend to do a lot more of the Red Robin type thing. But she behaved beautifully and eventually relaxed and enjoyed herself. I wanted to give her a little taste of adventurous dining, so I ordered the Bananas Foster for two. When she understood that our waiter was going to flambé bananas for us tableside, Liz was pretty amazed. Our waiter had just finished with a couple of big tables, and had the leisure to take his time and chat with us as he caramelized the bananas with rum. He told us he enjoys doing it when he’s not rushed, and he hadn’t had a chance to make it for awhile, so he was enjoying doing the dessert for us. The bananas flamed up impressively and were served with a flourish over vanilla bean ice cream. It was truly delicious, and Liz thought it was the coolest!

Full and happy, we wandered over to the monorail and got on within 5 minutes. We had a pleasant ride over to Tomorrowland, where we made good use of the Space FPs we’d picked up first thing that morning. Then we walked to the other side of the park and did Indy with a FP, and then HMH. It was pretty windy. We walked over to the hub about 9 p.m. and found a great spot, but we were both thinking that it was a pretty good bet the fireworks would be canceled. But I went over to the Plaza Inn anyway, and picked up a couple cups of hot chocolate to enjoy while we waited.

Sure enough, after several warning announcements and delays, the fireworks were canceled at 9:35 p.m. We weren’t terribly disappointed; we’d seen them the night before.

We decided to go on the Storybookland Canal boats, which we’d missed last time. We got on pretty quickly, maybe a 10 minute wait. Our captain was very funny and nice. “When you were a little girl, did you want to live in a pretty pink castle like that, with a handsome prince?.... Me neither. I just wanted the pretty pink castle.” It was cute. 10:15, we were tired… we headed back to the hotel.

Another great day.

 

[mommaU4]

Hi there!! I'm back and caught up on your TR. I love your pics! They came out great. Love the food porn too. LOL

We took at pic on the stairway of NOS too and it was so funny because my kids all had on Halloween tees with Christmas decorations! Truly a Nightmare Before Christmas scene.

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[travelmel]

Great update!

Sorry you showed up too early and also that the fireworks were canceled. Both days we were there there was no rope drop. We were just let in at the gates.

More snacking... love the snacking. I am a BIG pineapple fan so the dole whip is yummy for me. Pineapple is my favorite ingredient in Cake, Burgers, and Alcoholic drinks: I love pineapple upsidown cake, teriaki hamburgers with grilled pineapple, and pina colada's! So dole whip was a natural addition.

Love the Tiki embarrassment. sometimes you just gotta enjoy yourself.

Thanks for taking the time to post and share

 

[Tasscrapper]

It sounds like you guys had a blast. What an awsome opportunity for you and your daughter. I have a 13 year old too and it has been great to see all the pics of your dd just being happy. Sometimes that is just so hard at that age.

 

[mariezp]

I would love to do just a mother-daughter trip to DL. Oh well, we spend the majority of our time split from DH and DS when were are there anyway so they can ride the "big rides" while we ride everything else. Close enough for now!

Anyway, I have really been enjoying your report. Looks like your error getting to the gate early wasn't too bad. You got to beat the crowd to Pluto and ended up with a great picture of your DD. Tell dear Liz she is beautiful. She just needs to smile more often! (Why do teens think they don't look good smiling? I go through that with my DS-17. I think he prefers the tough look rather than looking like a happy child. He is getting better.) She also looks really cute in the Pirate bandana. Not everyone can pull that off!

I can't believe you would embarrass her like that in the Tiki Room! Good for you! Even mom's ought to get to have fun! Sounds like something I would do.
Maybe someday she can do that to her own daughter.

OMG! You are killing me with the food pics! And here I am trying to diet before we hit the park in 3 weeks. That Bananas Foster looks so YUMMY! Of course, I would like the dessert best! Just what is beef tournados? It looks good too.

Looks like ya'll had a great time and came up with lots of nice photos. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for more.

 

[pixleyyy]

I'm loving your trip report. Lots of wonderful pictures and I love reading about your adventures.

 

[Hound 109]

....... but I'm not that parent that shames their kids into riding stuff. Whatever makes them happy, yanno?

HEY...IF SHAMING WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR US....THEN IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR OUR KIDS.


......However, LizKitty tells me we must ride the teacups. Puuhhhleeze! "But, Mom, they're like, a classic!"

"But, Liz, I promise you I will barf!"

"But, Mom, you liked Screamin, and it goes upside down!"

"But, Liz, that's one loop, compared to a spinny, whirly death trap!"

So we made a deal. She will try Screamin', if I will do the teacups. She made me pinky swear.

I just better do it before a planned break, and have NOTHING in my stomach before hand. Also I told her that if she so much as touches that center wheel, let alone tries to spin us faster, I will personally aim at her lap when my stomach rebels.

Should have held out for 2 rides on Screamin.... for 1 Tea Cup ride.

& she has to keep one hand behind her back for the first 30 seconds of that evil tea cup ride.


Love the report & the pics, Avalon....especially the B&W pic of DD. Still on page 1, but i'm gonna catch up.

 

[disney-inspired]

When I saw this I thought "finally, a smile!"

I'm aboard and waiting for your next update.

 

[avalon451]

Anyway, I have really been enjoying your report. Looks like your error getting to the gate early wasn't too bad. You got to beat the crowd to Pluto and ended up with a great picture of your DD. Tell dear Liz she is beautiful. She just needs to smile more often! (Why do teens think they don't look good smiling? I go through that with my DS-17. I think he prefers the tough look rather than looking like a happy child. He is getting better.) She also looks really cute in the Pirate bandana. Not everyone can pull that off!

Just what is beef tournados? It looks good too.

Thanks, Marie! I LOVE Liz's smile, but since she hit that adolescence thing, it's like you said-- you can't convince her that it looks good in pictures. She even commented a few times after I took a picture, "I was scowling again, wasn't I?" She doesn't really scowl, but she doesn't let loose with that 1,000 watt smile she used to flash around so much when she was littler.

The beef tournados are medallions of steak, they are cuts of filet mignon. Soooo tender and good, if you do that carnivore thing!

Should have held out for 2 rides on Screamin.... for 1 Tea Cup ride.

& she has to keep one hand behind her back for the first 30 seconds of that evil tea cup ride.

Just hold on for days 3 and 4... she outdid all my expectations for thrill rides!


Love the report & the pics, Avalon....especially the B&W pic of DD. Still on page 1, but i'm gonna catch up.

Thanks, Hound! I took that picture at the ocean in July and DH put it into black and white. It's now a framed 8x10 on the desk here.

I know, right??!! She has a pretty smile, but she is 13 and there is nothing you can say that will convince her! She smiled and laughed plenty while we were there, but get a camera out, and she gets that teenaged bored look going on.

Glad so many of you are on board and enjoying! I'm working on day 3.

 

[IDreamfDisney]

Loving your TR - great details, great pix! About the food porn: Oy- looks so delicious, I figure if I look at it enough I can enjoy all that yummy food without all the calories! Looking forward to more TR. You're right, Liz has a great smile!

 

[Hound 109]

Micky, Minnie, Pluto and the band came out just in time to welcome us! It was like a good omen.



NOW THAT IS VERY COOL!



......We had great service. We ordered and had our food by 6:20. I decided I had to try the Monte Cristo (Crisco), and Liz wanted to try it too. So we shared that plus a basket of the delicious Pommes Frites (fries with garlic, parmesan and herbs on them):

(WARNING: THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF FOOD PORN ON THIS THREAD-- IF YOU ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO DROOLING, BEST SKIP IT!)

THAT SEEMS LIKE A GOOD ITEM TO "SPLIT". (I HATE GETTING STUFFED IN THE PARK). SO NO PROBLEMS WITH ORDERING JUST ONE ITEM?



So, my take on the Monte Crisco? I liked it, and so did Liz. However, we got it while it was still quite hot and fresh, and we both dug in immediately. Hot, with the cheese melting slightly, it was really good and tasty. As has been noted before though, it is very rich. Liz ate one triangle, I ate most of two, and that was enough. My philosophy is you should only eat enough to enjoy it, not to stuff yourselves because you don't want to "waste" it. I can see, however, that it would not be very good if it was not very hot and fresh. It kind of congeals......I LOVE THAT WORD.

...after awhile, and while it still tasted good, I had had enough. The fries were delicious, too! And we enjoyed the sweet red grapes that came with the sandwich.


....Afterward, we saw that Pirates was basically walk-on. That is my favorite ride, so it was great that it was our first one, not counting the DLRR. It was wonderful!

A GREAT RIDE TO START WITH.

What a fun first day......great report Avalon.

 

[curiouser]

Ohmigosh, she smiled!!

I love your TR! It's so great that you got to do a "do over trip". Liz definitely has the "too cool" thing going on -- she even looks like the girl on Camp Rock that sings that "Too Cool" song

I can't wait to read more!

 

[bumbershoot]

Very fun!

Along with the teen can't smile around parents thing that is normal and perhaps timeless, I blame the "my space avatar pic" thing on the camera-scowl. When the camera is only an arm away you're going to be distorted, so a smile can look funny, and that stony face works well for it. Well, not for me, b/c my neutral face looks angry, and my stony face looks like Medusa!



So who was taking all the pictures of you two?

 

[disney-inspired]

Very fun!

Along with the teen can't smile around parents thing that is normal and perhaps timeless, I blame the "my space avatar pic" thing on the camera-scowl. When the camera is only an arm away you're going to be distorted, so a smile can look funny, and that stony face works well for it. Well, not for me, b/c my neutral face looks angry, and my stony face looks like Medusa!



So who was taking all the pictures of you two?

So that's why Eamon is so well-behaved jk!