If time and transportation were sports we'd never make the playoffs; 2018 spr. break TR *new TR!*

Did I mention how I love having a rental car? ;)
Most people who have cars down there say the same thing!

Splitsville is my list of things to try for a longer trip in the future also. Unfortunately I think for our July trip, we may try to focus on more waterpark time since those will be FREE to us this time around with our passes. We have done miniature golf, several tours, boating and fishing as well. I enjoy the non-park stuff too sometimes.
I love the tours we've done and I really want to rent SeaRaycers!

I'm guessing you are heading to a show this time perhaps?
Perhaps........:D

I'm all caught up! At least on one TR now :laughing:
:laughing: Yesterday I went through and caught up on all TR's, PTR's, and dining reports so I should be good for at least a week.

Know that I'm sending you all plenty of these :hug::hug::hug:
Thank you, it means a lot to know we're being thought of :grouphug:

How heartbreaking for Ricky. :sad1: It's good that he's able to keep it in perspective, but this is still such a huge loss of something he loves.
It's life-altering for a 16 year old and yes as his mom, it kills me inside. It also makes me extremely proud to see him dealing with it so well, as much as I rather he not have to deal with all this.

I would have loved to get the chance to see you guys again this summer, and I know you had some fun Dismeets and other things in the works.
I was SO looking forward to seeing you and N again and so was Steve! I know our paths will cross again, what with you being there every other month nowadays lol

I wasn't going to buy myself any more for a while...but as I'll share when I get to our recent May trip...I may have felt an insurmountable urge to buy myself the new Pixar-themed wallet. Oops. :confused3
It is a DISEASE I tell you :scared1:

Ooooohh man! Another one of Steve's brilliant transportation-related decisions! :headache:
I love him. He has many, many strengths. Directions and memory are not two of them.

Nathan and I have gotten into our share of spats over things like this on our trips...and I usually do my best to make the TR version as family-friendly as possible.
:rotfl2: It's funny, in my first TR or two I tried sugar coating the moments of our vacations I wasn't going to cherish. Then I decided what the heck, it's real life! I don't drag my kids through the park by their arms or curse out loud at my husband while boarding It's a Small World, so whatever I write here, I'm good :thumbsup2

Haha oh poor Chris. How does he manage? :laughing:
He has absolutely no idea how hard life will get :sad2: He better hope they develop many jobs where you can lay in bed all day in only your shorts and still make $$

Oooh pretty! This came out beautifully!
:thanks:
 
I was SO looking forward to seeing you and N again and so was Steve! I know our paths will cross again, what with you being there every other month nowadays lol

It will happen! :)

I love him. He has many, many strengths. Directions and memory are not two of them.

:laughing:

:rotfl2: It's funny, in my first TR or two I tried sugar coating the moments of our vacations I wasn't going to cherish. Then I decided what the heck, it's real life! I don't drag my kids through the park by their arms or curse out loud at my husband while boarding It's a Small World, so whatever I write here, I'm good :thumbsup2

Real life always makes for a better story anyway. We're not perfect, but I always see so much crazy going on in the parks that I'm like "well...at least I'm not THAT lady."

He has absolutely no idea how hard life will get :sad2: He better hope they develop many jobs where you can lay in bed all day in only your shorts and still make $$

:laughing: If such a job exists, clever Chris will find it!!
 
Love that Harambe pic! Beautiful. I'm more like your hubby...waiting for the bus irks me! LOL

Thank you! It's probably the only good picture I'll take this year lol.

I don't particularly enjoy waiting for buses but my patience level is just longer than his :)
 


DAY 4 PART 2:
SIZE DOES MATTER
I last left off with us moving over to AK from Splitsville, where I went right to (Mo'ara) Margaritaville. Wait times were crappy and we still had lots of time before our first FP so as we walked out of Pandora the back way, I talked the kids into doing something Ricky vaguely remembered and we realized Chris had never ever done. One of you guessed it and I'm sorry if I've had you all on edge with excitement waiting to hear what we did:

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We took the crazy train out to Rafiki's Planet Watch!!!! That's right, we went nuts!!

Seriously, in thinking about it we realized that Chris had most likely never been. On the kids first trip back in 2006, my mom was with us and stayed back at the resort one day with Chris, who was 11 months, while Steve and I spent the day at AK with Ricky. We do have pictures of the 3 of us out here from that trip, but absolutely none on any other trip. I'm not sure why we never went back when they were younger except that there was always enough for us to do in AK, and even during Thanksgiving crowds never kept us from doing other attractions.

THAT WAS CHANGING NOW.

So really with wait times off the charts this was a great time to do something new that didn't have a wait, and it wasn't that busy out here. I love the animals up top as you walk in!

Inside there's all sorts of stuff going on, but the first thing I noticed was this big guy so I wanted a picture which Chris asked to take. Hence the topsy turvy artsy look:

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We continued looking around and noticed a CM wheeling out a cart and asking everyone to back up, and line up over ........here. Hmmmm...

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Now that's a snake! A Green Tree Python to be exact. You were able to get in line to touch it if you wanted to and as a surprise to me, both boys did. The line was long in front of us but moved quick. I was ready to get a picture of at least one of them touching this guy because neither have been the type to touch reptiles. Unfortunately, the family in front of us weren't very respectful of others and the dad had the mom and son stand there for like 10 pictures, so while Ricky and Chris touched the snake I would have had that family in the pictures. And then the CM finally asked them to move on and my boys moved also as they were done. Ugh!

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Here's the kid with the rude parents and Ricky waiting his turn. Oh well, still cool. And while we were on line we got to see where Doc McStuffins meets:

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Hi! I heard her show is being cancelled? If that's the case I wonder how long afterwards they'll keep her meeting?

Moving on we started making the rounds of all the little exhibits around the room. No animals were visiting the vet which I was hoping for but there were neat displays about what all the different animals at AK and AKL eat, how they reproduce, and of course, how they poop:

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And before we left, one more snake:

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As much as snakes make me :scared1: I thought this guy looked cool the way he's wrapped around the branch but still looking over at us.

We did venture outside quick to take a look around the petting zoo area but the kids declined actually petting the animals which was fine with me, so we walked back to the train. It's cute out there! Not something we have to do each trip but definitely somewhere I'd recommend to people with small children and as a time filler for people going during busy times, whether they have kids or not.

Once back from Rafiki's we felt the need for food. My plan all along had been to eat at Nomad Lounge. I've been to Tiffins 3x and each time I've been in the Lounge before eating, and each time I've looked longingly at other guests' apps. My review will eventually be up in my dining report but we grabbed a nice table outside and enjoyed some food and drinks until it was eventually time for our FP's.

First up, EE for the two of us!

AKMarch27.jpg

I'd gotten FP's for all four of us but Chris doesn't ride. Steve wasn't feeling it either so Ricky and I rode twice. Believe me we look just as thrilled in our other picture lol! After our two rides it was time for our 2nd FP, which was our first ride of the trip on FOP. Ricky fell in love with FOP back in August and requested as many rides as possible this go 'round, so we had FP's for it on 3 different days. What I don't get is why the FP line never moves fast???? This time it took us 25 minutes from entering until we were in the first pre-show room. Still great though, and worth it.

Now we had some time before our 3rd FP which was for Dinosaur. However I'd been trying and trying to switch that to the safari at the request of both kids. I did have safari FPs for two other days but neither were interested in Dinosaur. Unfortunately not one safari FP was to be had so I kept Dinosaur for now. It was about 5:45 after FOP and our Dinosaur was for 7; the kids weren't interested in doing anything else but Steve and I wanted to catch the acrobats in Africa.

Around this time we noticed Ricky limping a bit, which he hadn't been doing regularly for a few months. He admitted his knee was bothering him but he didn't want to go back to the room so he took some Aleve and powered on. Chris was beginning to complain that a rash on his arms/hands was itching, and sure enough there were red bumps on there. It looked like heat rash and the sun had been strong that day but had now been down for an hour or so. After like 30 minutes it was redder and bumpier and we wondered if any of the spices in the food from Nomad Lounge were the cause?

We did spend a little more time in AK but I'm going to leave you with those two cliffhangers for now :D I'll also leave you with one more picture. Today was my baby's lasts elementary school Field Day as next year he moves on up to junior high. Each grade had a certain color to wear and they gave 6th grade VIOLET. The teachers polled all the 6th graders to see how many kids had a violet shirt; since hardly any of them did they all tye dyed shirts on Monday for today. This is Chris with his buddies:

fieldday.jpg

So many of my pictures end up big, why is this one so small! Well Chris is the grinning one in the middle with the ##@&% headband on. No matter where I hide that damn headband it just won't go away. He's been in school with all those guys since kindergarten; I know things change once you hit jr. high but I'm hoping they manage to stay friends through those rough years :)

Enjoy your weekend! Oh, Victoria came up tonight from Florida to spend another 3 blissful days with Eric :love: and to meet his mom, my kids and my other stepson and DIL. I believe we're going to see her sometime tomorrow and Eric will be going to meet her dad at some point who lives about 30 minutes away :)











 
SIZE DOES MATTER

:rolleyes1

Hi! I heard her show is being cancelled? If that's the case I wonder how long afterwards they'll keep her meeting?

We got a request from somebody for Nathan to paint a Doc McStuffin's painting the other day. He said no. :laughing:

My plan all along had been to eat at Nomad Lounge.

Yum!! I hope you enjoyed it!

We did spend a little more time in AK but I'm going to leave you with those two cliffhangers for now :D

:scared1: What happened with Ricky's knee!? What happened with Chris's rash!?


k1jTjUq.gif


Tune in next time on Woody's Roundup!

He's been in school with all those guys since kindergarten; I know things change once you hit jr. high but I'm hoping they manage to stay friends through those rough years :)

That's so nice for him to have such a solid group of friends! My friend group changed some when I went to junior high (or "Middle School" as we call it up here,) but my very best friend and I have been best friends since the first day of pre-school when we were three. So it's definitely possible!
 
So sorry about Ricky's knee, I can't imagine how frustrating that is. Sending good thoughts!

(And your comments about Chris and his headband and violet shirt cracked me up! When I was in college one of my friends had the ugliest pair of pants, we all made fun of them and couldn't believe he wore them, so one day I stole them....for his own good, it had to be done. :rolleyes1)
 


We returned from our quick May trip on 5/8 and shortly after got bad news; that night Ricky re-tore his ACL.

Omg, NO! The poor kid cannot catch a break! I'm so sorry :hug:

This means another painful surgery, another long recovery, and worst of all no more school ball.

Oh brother, just what he needs. This is just terrible news :sad1:

So to end this real life and sad life part of my update, we've scheduled his surgery for July 20th.

Ugh, poor kid…and poor mama. I know this hurts you almost as much as him :sad1:

On a brighter note, we've rescheduled for Thanksgiving again. We do love going for the holiday and this will also mean we'll be away when basketball season starts at school.

Something to look forward to :-)

Steve and I made a pit stop in the gift shop where I finally bought a WL sweatshirt. Sorry about the blurry one!
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Very cute.

I did the shopping I wanted to do which included picking up this baby:

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:love:

Folks, I was very kind here in my description of how this played out, the facial expressions that we shot at each other and the words that were exchanged were not all G-rated! Anyway, I count this as both a #timeandtransportationfail.

:rotfl: I can only imagine!

We told Chris no, we would not bring him food back to the room, so he somehow managed to climb out of bed and join us by the water for a lovely dinner.

:rotfl2: He's a character! Wait till he gets married…his poor wife! (I say that about my Nicholas, too!)

And since this update is like 90% words and 10% pictures, here's another purchase I made earlier this month on our trip:

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Awesome! Love it!

Steve and I were a little thrown off by the finger placement? I know they can't point with one finger. Moving on......................

Throwing gang signs…Disney style?

Except that 10:19 actually meant 10:58.

Unacceptable :scared1:

I'll be honest here, I didn't plan out this trip well and the boys let me know that's how the felt a couple times. They told me I spent too much time planning my clients' trips and not enough time focusing on OUR trip and I felt pretty guilty, so for our next trip I'm going to make it a point to really plan better.

I'm sure that's one of the risks associated with your job.

On our way I took one of my favorite pictures of the trip:

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Beautiful :lovestruc

Believe me we look just as thrilled in our other picture lol!

:laughing:

Chris is the grinning one in the middle with the ##@&% headband on. No matter where I hide that damn headband it just won't go away. He's been in school with all those guys since kindergarten; I know things change once you hit jr. high but I'm hoping they manage to stay friends through those rough years :)

Sweet!

Enjoy your weekend! Oh, Victoria came up tonight from Florida to spend another 3 blissful days with Eric :love: and to meet his mom, my kids and my other stepson and DIL. I believe we're going to see her sometime tomorrow and Eric will be going to meet her dad at some point who lives about 30 minutes away :)

Wow, still going strong! I'm glad he hasn't moved there yet!
 
We were trying Whispering Canyon Cafe where we'd eaten lunch and dinner but never breakfast and luckily this was before they were toning down the antics :rolleyes: which I think is ridiculous
Amen sista!

Steve and I were a little thrown off by the finger placement? I know they can't point with one finger. Moving on......................
:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

We arrived to the bus stop 10:16 and the sign said the bus was coming at 10:19. Perfect! Except that 10:19 actually meant 10:58.
I'm with Steve on getting highly agitated on this one. I like that they have added the times, but why they cannot get them correct is beyond me! Curious to see how we fair at BWI & BC in August since they both share busses.

We were able to play almost 3 games in the 90 minutes they give you - Chris won the first, Ricky the second and Chris the third. I was a distant fourth always because I can't bowl to save my life, but I try my best!
Wow, thats a lot of bowling to get in. I'm with you in the sucky bowlers club. If i break 50 its a great game, but one time only bowled a 7 for the entire game!

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My Mo'ara Margarita, ever so soothing on a crazy busy park day. I felt better immediately and therefore was not concerned with how anyone else felt.
Ah how a margarita can make everything better :drinking1

Since we were in the area with plenty of time before our first FP we opted to do something we hadn't done for years. I've mentioned it before as somewhere I'd like to get to again; can you figure it out?
Well I was gonna guess you saw the Lion King show but alas I would have been wrong.

Inside there's all sorts of stuff going on, but the first thing I noticed was this big guy so I wanted a picture which Chris asked to take. Hence the topsy turvy artsy look:

img_8370-jpg.328072
Ricky looks thrilled!

Hi! I heard her show is being cancelled? If that's the case I wonder how long afterwards they'll keep her meeting?
I hadn't heard this. Casey doesn't watch it anymore, but loved it when she was younger. My guess is even if they stop making new episodes they will continue to milk the reruns so she's likely staying. Heck they still have Handy Manny at Hollywood & Vine don't they? He was already cancelled when Casey was a toddler.

As much as snakes make me :scared1: I thought this guy looked cool the way he's wrapped around the branch but still looking over at us.
Thank for your beautiful photos and giving me nightmares for the next week :scared1: I have a massive phobia and won't even look at them on tv

After like 30 minutes it was redder and bumpier and we wondered if any of the spices in the food from Nomad Lounge were the cause?
Yikes! Wonder what did it?

Enjoy your weekend! Oh, Victoria came up tonight from Florida to spend another 3 blissful days with Eric :love: and to meet his mom, my kids and my other stepson and DIL. I believe we're going to see her sometime tomorrow and Eric will be going to meet her dad at some point who lives about 30 minutes away :)
Be sure not to invite her to move in. i hear Ariane's have a proclivity for that :P
 
We were there about 30 minutes longer than we expected so got to the bus stop later than we expected. I though we'd be to the bus stop by about 9:45 since non character breakfasts are usually quick but it was after 10 when we left. And then there was the whole "where the #@LL is the DS bus" question because this morning was a #timefail followed by #transportationfail4.
What is it with DS buses? They are the only ones I usually have issues with.

Much to Chris's dismay of course but he ended up pulling out the win. We were able to play almost 3 games in the 90 minutes they give you - Chris won the first, Ricky the second and Chris the third. I was a distant fourth always because I can't bowl to save my life, but I try my best!
I would love to visit here sometime. All the boys love to bowl so would be fun to check out.

This was the case years ago when we tried DisneyQuest (I despised spending hours on video games when I could be in a park!) and when we've played mini golf, and now both times we've been to Splitsville. I wouldn't do it on a short trip but when we're there a week I don't mind and the kids like having a break from the parks. I much rather take a break doing something like this than have them just sitting in the room on their electronics.
We love time outside the parks too and I am totally with you on having them do something tech free. Disney Quest was one of my boys' faves and I think the highlight of their 2015 trip was when we let let them go there on their own for 4 hours. We went and had a DS date complete with lunch at Raglan Road. It was awesome!

My Mo'ara Margarita, ever so soothing on a crazy busy park day
Mmmm, must try this in August!

We took the crazy train out to Rafiki's Planet Watch!!!! That's right, we went nuts!!
I did the same last summer. Will definitely visit there again this summer as my niece loves animals.

No animals were visiting the vet which I was hoping for but there were neat displays about what all the different animals at AK and AKL eat, how they reproduce, and of course, how they poop:
Back in 2010, the CMs were getting a huge kick out of how fascinated my boys, nephew and niece were with the poop from all the different animals. We ended up getting invited backstage for a special tour and were even given commemorative pins to remember it by. it was a perfect Disney magic day!

I'd gotten FP's for all four of us but Chris doesn't ride. Steve wasn't feeling it either so Ricky and I rode twice. Believe me we look just as thrilled in our other picture lol! After our two rides it was time for our 2nd FP, which was our first ride of the trip on FOP. Ricky fell in love with FOP back in August and requested as many rides as possible this go 'round, so we had FP's for it on 3 different days. What I don't get is why the FP line never moves fast???? This time it took us 25 minutes from entering until we were in the first pre-show room. Still great though, and worth it.
Love the picture, LOL! I agree with Ricky on the FoP love. There is really nothing like it!
 
OMG, I love cliffhangers, however with Andi’s peanut allergy, you are making me very nervous:scared:

I think I guessed Rafiki’s planet watch. I will give you my address so I get my gift:rotfl:

Those snakes make me nervous to!

Congratulations to Chris, moving up to Junior High!
 
Rafiki's is a must on our visits, at least for now. All 3 of my "boys" love the animals and it is usually a nice way to get away from the crowds.

So, what happened with the rash and the limping?;)
 
I wanted a picture which Chris asked to take. Hence the topsy turvy artsy look:

So funny, I get it...My daughter has been into the "artsy" pictures too!:flower:

Believe me we look just as thrilled in our other picture lol!

:rotfl2:

The teachers polled all the 6th graders to see how many kids had a violet shirt; since hardly any of them did they all tye dyed shirts on Monday for today.

I love the violet! The tye dyed probably look better than a bunch of random violet shirts would anyway. :thumbsup2

I know things change once you hit jr. high but I'm hoping they manage to stay friends through those rough years

I'm sure it's different with boys, but my daughter's friend group changed fairly drastically from 5th to 8th grade. The "good" ones stuck around though! :goodvibes
 
Cannot wait to explore Pandora in October! I am definitely getting me one of those slushy margaritas...Yum!!! But I will not be riding FOP. I can totally see myself throwing up all over the closest person seated by me and that would NOT be good...
Eric and Victoria seem to be getting along wonderfully! Can’t wait to hear all the deets from that visit...
 
Wow those snakes are huge
My girls loved the petting zoo when they were younger
FOP FP line was always slow but still better than standby
Love your ride photo on EE you guys look like you’re really concentrating on something :rotfl:
 
I also kinda agree with the whole doing things you can do at home while at Disney thing too. Hard to get out of the parks, but yes, on longer trips, it is good to let others get some time to do their thang and get away from the rush of the parks. Bowling is certainly a good option. And the food is great from what I hear.

Such a pretty photo of Harambe! Very tranquil on that path!

Mmm, margs!
 
Ah...I think it's been forever since we've been to Rafiki's as well. I do have a picture with that same tiger from when I was pregnant back in 1999! I'll have to dig it out...that was before cell phones and cell phone cameras! :) I am thinking when we go in November, this will be a stop with the little kids also. We have a lot of the AK park to explore yet with them.





 
We got a request from somebody for Nathan to paint a Doc McStuffin's painting the other day. He said no. :laughing:
lol I don't blame him, honestly he's too good for Doc!

Tune in next time on Woody's Roundup!
Perfect!

That's so nice for him to have such a solid group of friends! My friend group changed some when I went to junior high (or "Middle School" as we call it up here,) but my very best friend and I have been best friends since the first day of pre-school when we were three. So it's definitely possible!
So did mine, I think "junior high" or "middle school" (we do call it that here, too) is when this happens. It's that weird in-between stage; you're not a child anymore but not quite old enough to think on your own, your finding your way kind of.
Ricky has two friends he went to pre-school with but then they went to different elementary schools since we have 9 in our district. He continued hanging out with them until about 5th grade, they were back in school together by 7th, and while he does talk to one, he and the other still hang out quite often so now it's been 13 years and I love it. One of his other good friends is my good friends son and they've been hanging out since they were babies. Lisa and I always said, as they grew they may not have anything in common and may not want to hang out on their own, but they've continued their friendship outside of ours and it's awesome!

So sorry about Ricky's knee, I can't imagine how frustrating that is. Sending good thoughts!
Thank you, I honestly appreciate it. He's making the best of it for now, riding his bike with friends and getting out while he can. Over the weekend he went on a 10 mile ride one day and a 6 mile ride the next day, so he's getting his exercise!

(And your comments about Chris and his headband and violet shirt cracked me up! When I was in college one of my friends had the ugliest pair of pants, we all made fun of them and couldn't believe he wore them, so one day I stole them....for his own good, it had to be done. :rolleyes1)
:laughing: My sister and I did that with a couple of my dads t-shirt back in the day that he insisted on wearing in front of our friends even when they were just rags!

Omg, NO! The poor kid cannot catch a break! I'm so sorry :hug:
I know :guilty: I keep telling him his time is coming. I just hope it's sooner rather than later.

He's a character! Wait till he gets married…his poor wife! (I say that about my Nicholas, too!)
Um, I don't expect Chris to get married lol. I except he'll be living with us until he's in his 40's at least................

I'm sure that's one of the risks associated with your job.
It is. Even now, I have our next trips outlined and a couple ADR's done, but we're well within the dining window for both and nothing is set in stone. And I'll probably pick park days a day or two before FP day, but I'm going to try my best not to do that on the trip the kids are coming with us on!

Wow, still going strong! I'm glad he hasn't moved there yet!
Me too! Next month she comes here for a week which will be the longest they've spent together, so we'll see how that goes lol

Amen sista!
:worship:

I'm with Steve on getting highly agitated on this one. I like that they have added the times, but why they cannot get them correct is beyond me! Curious to see how we fair at BWI & BC in August since they both share busses.
As much as I love the signs, to sit there watching the time get later, and later, and later................SUCKS.

BW buses have been hit or miss for us; the one time we were at BC buses were good. Yacht was only one day and it was fine, in general I think MK buses from there aren't the greatest but AK is fine.

I'm with you in the sucky bowlers club. If i break 50 its a great game, but one time only bowled a 7 for the entire game!
:rotfl2:I think if we bowled together we might tie it up!

Be sure not to invite her to move in. i hear Ariane's have a proclivity for that :P
Gotta watch those Ariane's.................

What is it with DS buses? They are the only ones I usually have issues with.
For as far back as I can remember, DS and before it, DTD, buses have been horrible regardless of what resort you're at :sad2: I don't understand why!

Disney Quest was one of my boys' faves and I think the highlight of their 2015 trip was when we let let them go there on their own for 4 hours. We went and had a DS date complete with lunch at Raglan Road. It was awesome!
The boys were young when we hit DisneyQuest, Chris was 8 and Ricky was 11 so we didn't want to leave them alone. I wanted to leave the 3 of them alone and go shopping lol but that plan was squashed. If it was still there today, I guarantee we'd be leaving the boys and going to lunch or hitting Jock Lindsay's :drinking1

We ended up getting invited backstage for a special tour and were even given commemorative pins to remember it by. it was a perfect Disney magic day!
That's awesome, what a great experience and memory :goodvibes
 

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