updated 4/20/13
DHS @ NIGHT!
after our meal at HBD, we made a stop to a merchandise store. emme wanted the "not so cute" tinkerbell doll. i just couldn't fork over the money for the doll she didn't really want...and wanted for the sake of wanting the doll because she had a tinkerbell dress on. does that make any kind of sense??
the disney "babies" line is so adorable. she has a baby simba & a baby ariel. every trip, emme gets to pick 1 stuffed doll. on our last trip, she picked the outrageously expensive duffy doll. at this particular store, i didn't see baby tinkerbell. so with the "not so cute" tinkerbell doll, i begrudgingly went to the counter with the doll to check out.
the CM was super perky & nice so i asked if maybe they had a baby tinkerbell stashed away somewhere. she said she would check in the back. to my delight (and emme's), she had a baby tinkerbell in the back. YES!
baby tink!
we originally came to dhs to watch fantasmic. emme & i have seen this before & she really enjoyed it last time. we got a spot in line while rachel checked out this ride:
while we were standing in line, emme was very adamant about not wanting to watch the show because she was scared. that's her new word these days..."mommy, i'm scared." i stood & listened to her & she was pretty concerned about
NOT watching the show. i text rachel & let her know we'll be sitting at the table to wait for her.
rachel finishes her ride & meets up with us. we decide to check out
TOY STORY MANIA & was hoping there would be a minimal line. the only other time i've been able to ride this was april of last year. that was my first trip to disney with emme & we waited for over an hour.
as we walked over, we stopped in front of the sorcerers hat.
all the lights were so pretty.
we made our way over to
pixar place & much to my delight, there was almost no wait for TSM. i was so excited because emme could really enjoy the ride this time. she was older, a wee bit more coordinated & she's seen all three movies.
and then we ran into a friend:
the line was moving really quickly. we waited less than 5 minutes. i couldn't believe our luck. given, the park was closing in 15 minutes but i still anticipated a line. this thing is always packed.
emme & i got our glasses on & we were ready!
here are some pics from the platform:
and i really loved these lights.
emme & i had so much fun during this game.
i was trying to help her aim towards the middle. her gun was pointed up for the most part. but she still managed to score some points. GO EMME!
i guess i should hang my head in shame with my 44% accuracy. i think that would equate to a 5% if i were 3 years old like emme.
we exited the ride at about 2 minutes left until park closing. i looked across & there was no wait for the buzz & woody meet and greet. i thought they were closed but they allowed us in to take pictures. in december, we waited an hour for some crappy pictures as the photopass photographer didn't care at all. again...i was excited with the no wait & a chance at redemption for a decent picture.
unfortunately, my camera battery died.
*side note* emme accidentally kicked my camera with lens off the bed. my lens is severely messed up & i didn't realize this issue until we got to disney. *le sigh* i've bought a new lens since the trip but i missed out on so many photo opportunities. BOO!
the photopass guy was awesome! he took my phone and continuously shot photos while i was up there with emme. i was so grateful!
blowing kisses to woody.
i really wanted to yell, "here comes andy!" while i was up there. do the characters really have to drop and be still?? inquiring minds want to know.
after the ride, we were exiting the park to take the bus back to the resort. we stopped by guest relations so that rachel could upgrade to the annual pass. i also just renewed my pass & still had the paper pass. i wanted to get the new RFID pass.
there was no one in guest relations so we were helped pretty quickly.
this is my seasonal pass. you were allowed to pick from different characters. we both chose minnie mouse. she's so cute! my parents had these passes on our last trip as i purchased the 3 day florida resident pass for them.
the RFID cards are pretty cool. you scan your card on a round mickey and then put your index finger to get biometrically scanned. if everything goes well, the machine lights up green. i'm not quite sure if this will be any more quicker than the machines that sucked up the tickets as guests were having issues using the machine. who knows. but i liked it alot. the card is much easier to keep up with over the paper ticket.
happiness!
she wanted a picture too with the card.
even though we did not see fantasmic, for the 3.5 hours we were in the park, we got a lot done. dinner @ hollywood brown derby, toy story mania & pixar meet & greet. i really wanted to see sorcerer mickey. he is someone i have not had the pleasure to meet. next time, it's a priority.
we hopped onto our bus & had a relaxing ride back to our hotel. this was one of the few times we were actually sitting in a seat. god bless those buses. it sure beat walking to my car & driving.
our trip was off to a fantastic start!
up next,
grand floridian random pictures!