I'm Not Really Harry Potter, But I AM the Rebel Spy! Oct 2016 TR *COMPLETE + New TR Link 8/6

[MeghanEmily]

We are back from another AMAZING trip to Disneyland, and I can't wait to share it with you!! I am cracking the whip on DH to finish up editing our October photos so that he can start working on the photos from our most recent trip. Once I get it started, I'll post the link here.

Ooh yay! Can't wait to hear about it! I'm finding myself really enjoying reading people's DL TRs even though I've never been because we'd really like to go someday. It's just much less convenient living on the East Coast. I'm about to start a 3-year degree in September, and we're thinking (I'm thinking, anyway!) that a DL trip would make an awesome grad present in 2020...

They slept in until about 8:20 am, which would have been so much more appreciated had we been in bed before 1 am. Lol But we will take whatever sleeping in we can get!

I was never much for sleeping in as a kid. (My mom had to set rules about what time the clock said before I was allowed to wake anyone else up.) So my parents would have felt the same way if I slept till 8:20! I'm sure now that I'm an adult and highly value my sleep that if I ever have kids they'll be getting me up at the crack of dawn as karma...

In the spirit of taking our time and not rushing from one thing to another, we also stopped to watch the Mobile Muppet Lab, which DS really loved and still talks about.

We've still never run across this and it looks so neat!

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Such a beautiful view

DD was being a ham with the camera once we sat down.

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How precious is she!?

We headed to the front of the park to use our last FP+ for Spaceship Earth.

Excellent SE pictures! I'm always incredibly impressed by people who have the skill/knowledge and the proper equipment to take good dark ride photos. Mine always come out like dark blobs and I've never invested the time or money to improve them.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a really nice Epcot day! I always love how happy DS looks on rides, and DD looks so cute at lunch!

DH got some great pics on Soarin!

I love that last photo of you with the kids

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Always nice to have a day or two to sleep in (at least a bit) and just not rush in the morning. Seems like you still got a lot don at EPCOT though!

I always love how happy your DS looks on Test Track

The seas pavilion is definitely a great one for the kids to wander around and be a bit less structured.

 

[amazingact21]

I can't wait to hear about your Disneyland trip. Your pictures on facebook were making me wish I could head out to CA!

Isn't it hilarious that sleeping in for parents is 8 o'clock? But I'm sure you took whatever you could get after such a late night.

Love DS's pictures on Test Track.

Ahhh, a Via Napoli lunch. The best place to eat in Epcot...(although I don't envy your DH having to hoof it back to Test Track and then halfway around WS in the October heat.)

You guys probably needed that early night back at your resort.

 

[afwdwfan]

In the spirit of taking our time and not rushing from one thing to another, we also stopped to watch the Mobile Muppet Lab, which DS really loved and still talks about.

I love seeing Muppets in the parks!

81 capability, 78 power, 11 efficiency... my kind of vehicle! Just work on getting that power up a few ticks next time.

All 3 pizzas looked great... but I want this one!

I have in my notes that since DD had fallen asleep, I stayed with her while DH and DS went on Test Track again, but I’m not sure how that happened since we had now used our FP and our rider swap. But there is indeed another ride photo, so I guess they did somehow?!

Short standby?

After the ride, we spent a little bit of time checking out the aquariums. I think the kids could do this forever if we let them.

There was a Photopass photographer out by the Nemo statue, so we stopped for a picture. I will just warn you, DS was COMPLETELY THRILLED by this, so brace yourselves for the enthusiasm to jump off the screen at you!!

We've all been there...

We did a little shopping in Mouse Gears because DS had some spending money from my parents, and he ended up buying a book on how to draw Disney characters. After a quick dinner at Electric Umbrella, we decided to call it an evening and head out of Epcot.

Not a bad day for a few laid back hours in EPCOT!

 

[Dugette]

Looks like a fun Epcot day!

I'm super excited to hear about your Disneyland trip! I JUST started writing about ours and I have some Disneyland-fever going on, so maybe another report will help with that - living vicariously and all.

 

[cstorm65]

Sounds like a great day at Epcot! We LOVED Via Napoli on our last trip, especially DS!

Glad you enjoyed the new Soarin'. We haven't been since they changed to the new version, so I'm super excited about seeing it in a few weeks! I also know just want you are talking about in the Nemo aquarium. DS5 loves it! He would just walk around there all day!

Nothing wrong with an early evening to get rested up for another Disney day!!

 

[khertz]

Ooh yay! Can't wait to hear about it! I'm finding myself really enjoying reading people's DL TRs even though I've never been because we'd really like to go someday. It's just much less convenient living on the East Coast. I'm about to start a 3-year degree in September, and we're thinking (I'm thinking, anyway!) that a DL trip would make an awesome grad present in 2020...

It would definitely be a great grad present!! We absolutely love DL, but it's definitely more difficult to get to than WDW for us as well from Louisiana, so we only get there once every few years.

I was never much for sleeping in as a kid. (My mom had to set rules about what time the clock said before I was allowed to wake anyone else up.) So my parents would have felt the same way if I slept till 8:20! I'm sure now that I'm an adult and highly value my sleep that if I ever have kids they'll be getting me up at the crack of dawn as karma...

My DS has a clock that's a stop light so it stays red and he can't get up until it turns green, which we usually set a little later on the weekends. lol He's usually the very first one to get up in the morning. He's actually been with my inlaws since we got back from vacation and DD slept until 8:30!

We've still never run across this and it looks so neat!

It's really cute, and DS has a newfound love of the Muppets, so he really enjoyed it too.

Such a beautiful view

It really is. I have come to appreciate Epcot and it's beauty more and more as I've gotten older.

How precious is she!?

Thank you! She's a total ham.

Excellent SE pictures! I'm always incredibly impressed by people who have the skill/knowledge and the proper equipment to take good dark ride photos. Mine always come out like dark blobs and I've never invested the time or money to improve them.

DH thinks of it as a challenge and always tries to improve his own skills every trip. I think this is one of his favorites to photograph.

Sounds like a really nice Epcot day! I always love how happy DS looks on rides, and DD looks so cute at lunch!

DH got some great pics on Soarin!

I love that last photo of you with the kids

It was a great day! I find we have more and more of them at Epcot as the kids get older. It used to be my least favorite park, but I have come to appreciate it more and more as the kids enjoy it.

Always nice to have a day or two to sleep in (at least a bit) and just not rush in the morning. Seems like you still got a lot don at EPCOT though!

I always love how happy your DS looks on Test Track

The seas pavilion is definitely a great one for the kids to wander around and be a bit less structured.

It's so easy on a Disney vacation to run yourself ragged trying to fit everything in, so I think being able to go so many times in 1 year with our APs made it a lot easier to justify those later mornings.

I do too! It's so fun watching him enjoy that ride.

It's a good place to let them run off some steam and enjoy some a/c while we're at it!

 

[khertz]

I can't wait to hear about your Disneyland trip. Your pictures on facebook were making me wish I could head out to CA!

Isn't it hilarious that sleeping in for parents is 8 o'clock? But I'm sure you took whatever you could get after such a late night.

Love DS's pictures on Test Track.

Ahhh, a Via Napoli lunch. The best place to eat in Epcot...(although I don't envy your DH having to hoof it back to Test Track and then halfway around WS in the October heat.)

You guys probably needed that early night back at your resort.

It was such a fun trip! I hate that every time we leave, we have no idea when we will be back.

Absolutely!! 8 am is like ridiculously late with 2 kids lol

I felt bad for DH having to make that run back too. I'm sure it was not the slightest bit fun! Via Napoli is always a must-do for us though, of course.

I love seeing Muppets in the parks!

I love it too that they have given them more of a presence in the parks!

81 capability, 78 power, 11 efficiency... my kind of vehicle! Just work on getting that power up a few ticks next time.

Haha I don't think there is much rhyme or reason to how he designs his cars.

All 3 pizzas looked great... but I want this one!

Short standby?

I guess that's the most likely, but it hardly seems possible with that ride!! It must have been something out of the ordinary.

We've all been there...

Absolutely!!!

Not a bad day for a few laid back hours in EPCOT!

Not bad at all! I was impressed with how much we got accomplished.

Looks like a fun Epcot day!

I'm super excited to hear about your Disneyland trip! I JUST started writing about ours and I have some Disneyland-fever going on, so maybe another report will help with that - living vicariously and all.

It really was! Epcot is usually our go-to park when we can't get there for rope drop for whatever reason.

I've gotten behind on reading, but I'll have to head over to yours so I can preserve the DL magic a little longer lol

Sounds like a great day at Epcot! We LOVED Via Napoli on our last trip, especially DS!

Glad you enjoyed the new Soarin'. We haven't been since they changed to the new version, so I'm super excited about seeing it in a few weeks! I also know just want you are talking about in the Nemo aquarium. DS5 loves it! He would just walk around there all day!

Nothing wrong with an early evening to get rested up for another Disney day!!

It's my favorite place to eat in WDW!

DS says he prefers the old version because he misses the smell of the orange groves. But I like the newer version of around the world. DS and DD would both hang out in the Seas all day if I let them. lol

Exactly! It was good to know our limits and not push everyone too much so we could enjoy the rest of our time.

 

[khertz]

Day 6: Thursday October 13th

All of a sudden, it was our last Disney day! And it was an early one. We had a pre-park opening breakfast at Magic Kingdom (which, I’ll just add here, I am so sad that the new opening procedure at MK has pretty much made the benefit of booking these nonexistent), so we were up at 5:45 to leave at 7 for the drive over to the TTC.

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The express monorail wasn’t operating yet, so we took the resort monorail. It kept stopping and starting, so it took longer than it should have, but we made it to the MK gates before they let reservation guests into the park at 7:45 am.

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We stopped for a Photopass on Main Street, which came out cute because DS had worn his Mickey gloves that morning.

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We walked up closer to the Castle and there were 2 Photopass photographers there, so we picked one of their lines and waited. We quickly realized we had picked the slower line, but then we realized the photographer was doing a lot more fun and interesting poses with the families, so we decided to stick it out in her line. She was awesome! The other photographer was taking the same generic photos most of the other photographers do, but this lady was awesome.

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It was definitely worth waiting in her line! We still had a few minutes before we needed to check in for breakfast, so we walked up even closer and DH got a few photos of the kids.

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I love this one so much. We used it on our Christmas card this past year!


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After our multiple photoshoots, we went over so I could check us in for breakfast at Crystal Palace. Apparently while I was checking in, Minnie stopped by.

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We didn’t have a very long wait before we were called to be seated, but DH managed to sneak in a few photos in that time anyway.

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Then it was time for us to join the Friendship Day Celebrashun with Winnie the Pooh & friends from the Hundred Acre Wood!

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DD was ready to eat!!

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Some sibling love​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 6 Continued: Thursday October 13th

First up to visit us was Eeyore.

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DD was not really interested in Eeyore enough to stop eating, either.

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Up next was Winnie the Pooh.

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Playing peek-a-boo with Pooh

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That got some smiles!

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But not for long!

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A bit later, the characters had their parade around the restaurant. DS is usually not too keen to join in, but this time we convinced him.

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After the parade, Piglet came to visit.

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A couple at the next table offered to take a photo so DH could be in with us.

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DS was making some silly faces while we waited for Tigger.

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We were finished up eating but we still had to wait on Tigger, but he came soon enough.

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Overall, it was another wonderful breakfast at Crystal Palace! We had great character interaction, and of course I stuffed myself silly on the puffed French toast. DD ate like a champ too, even our server commented how much she was eating! I think it softens the blow of having to pay so much for DS when he only eats a few bites, like she is eating the rest of his portion. Lol But that will change once we have to pay for her too!

It was about 9:15 by the time we finished breakfast and were ready to head into the park for some MK fun on our last Disney Day!

UP NEXT: Take Us Back to the Day Belle and the Beast Fell in Love

 

[cstorm65]

Great meal at Crystal Palace! We LOVE that restaurant for breakfast. I think we've had it for our last three trips. The puffed french toast...ahhh! Now I can't wait until our trip when we get to do it again!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Gorgeous!

I LOVE this one! DS's smile here is fantastic.

And this one, too!

First up to visit us was Eeyore.

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Eeyore is my favourite <3

 

[missangelalexis]

You got some awesome early morning pics between photopass and DH, love them all!

Great pics at Crystal Palace! I love looking at DD's face in some of the pics, she's such a cutie! Looks like she liked Tigger the most!

 

[afwdwfan]

I love the glare from the background...

Overall, it was another wonderful breakfast at Crystal Palace! We had great character interaction, and of course I stuffed myself silly on the puffed French toast. DD ate like a champ too, even our server commented how much she was eating! I think it softens the blow of having to pay so much for DS when he only eats a few bites, like she is eating the rest of his portion. Lol But that will change once we have to pay for her too!

You got it... buffets are the best when they're under 3, but once they hit that magic number it gets really expensive really fast. Especially because once they hit that age they care way more about the characters than eating. I'm glad that she was able to step up and help eat some of that pricey food.

 

[amazingact21]

I hate that pre-park opening breakfasts are a moot point now, too.

Wow, those photopass pictures are great! You guys definitely made the right choice by waiting out the long line.

I agree with you on paying for the kid's meals. Sometimes, I feel like Evie eats more than Landon, and she's only 1! So I'm not going to feel too bad paying for Landon's meals when we're at Disney because Evie will eat his share. Must be something about second kids that give them bigger appetites.

 

[AV007]

Beautiful pictures!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

In the spirit of taking our time and not rushing from one thing to another, we also stopped to watch the Mobile Muppet Lab, which DS really loved and still talks about.

I would love to see the Mobile Muppet Lab! It wasn't there during my last trip. I hope they still have it once I go again. I enjoy anything Muppets, but how can you not like Beaker?!

We did a little shopping in Mouse Gears because DS had some spending money from my parents, and he ended up buying a book on how to draw Disney characters. After a quick dinner at Electric Umbrella, we decided to call it an evening and head out of Epcot.

I looked at that book a couple times on my last trip. I didn't buy it, and I regretted it ever since. I hope DS enjoys it! I will most likely pick it up on my next trip.

It was definitely worth waiting in her line! We still had a few minutes before we needed to check in for breakfast, so we walked up even closer and DH got a few photos of the kids.

Those are wonderful pictures. I've never come across an 'awesome' photographer, but some are definitely better than others.

 

[MickeyReeds]

AMAZING photos!

 

[khertz]

Great meal at Crystal Palace! We LOVE that restaurant for breakfast. I think we've had it for our last three trips. The puffed french toast...ahhh! Now I can't wait until our trip when we get to do it again!!

It's one of our favorites. We have been doing it pretty much every trip, with the exception of our couple of quick trips last year, since we started taking DS at a year old! Every time I write about it in a TR, I can't wait to eat that puffed French toast again. YUM!

Gorgeous!

I LOVE this one! DS's smile here is fantastic.

And this one, too!

Thanks!

Eeyore is my favourite <3

I love Eeyore too. He's such a sweetheart!

You got some awesome early morning pics between photopass and DH, love them all!

Great pics at Crystal Palace! I love looking at DD's face in some of the pics, she's such a cutie! Looks like she liked Tigger the most!

I hate that mornings like this will be a thing of the past for us! I love getting these photos so early in the morning with hardly anyone else around.

She definitely loved Tigger, which is funny to look back on now having seen her reaction to many of the characters in Disneyland! lol

I love the glare from the background...

She has some pretty intense facial expressions. lol

You got it... buffets are the best when they're under 3, but once they hit that magic number it gets really expensive really fast. Especially because once they hit that age they care way more about the characters than eating. I'm glad that she was able to step up and help eat some of that pricey food.

Oh man, I dread that first time after DD turns 3! She definitely made up for DS's lack of eating this time, but once we are paying for both, there's no way they are eating their share of the bill!

I hate that pre-park opening breakfasts are a moot point now, too.

Wow, those photopass pictures are great! You guys definitely made the right choice by waiting out the long line.

I agree with you on paying for the kid's meals. Sometimes, I feel like Evie eats more than Landon, and she's only 1! So I'm not going to feel too bad paying for Landon's meals when we're at Disney because Evie will eat his share. Must be something about second kids that give them bigger appetites.

It's really a bummer. It was one of our favorite things to do on our WDW trips.

We totally did! It can be frustrating to be the person waiting but it was great to get so many great shots of us instead of the same generic poses every photographer does.

It must be! DD has a better appetite than DS has ever had.

Beautiful pictures!

Thank you!

I would love to see the Mobile Muppet Lab! It wasn't there during my last trip. I hope they still have it once I go again. I enjoy anything Muppets, but how can you not like Beaker?!

I hope it stays around awhile. We love the Muppets, and YES I love Beaker! Almost as much as I love Bean Bunny!

I looked at that book a couple times on my last trip. I didn't buy it, and I regretted it ever since. I hope DS enjoys it! I will most likely pick it up on my next trip.

DS is super artistic, so he loves those kinds of drawing books. It was a great purchase for him, and I was just thankful it wasn't another toy vehicle or stuffed animal.

Those are wonderful pictures. I've never come across an 'awesome' photographer, but some are definitely better than others.

Thanks! She was worth the long wait.

AMAZING photos!

Thank you so much!