"I Wanna See My Castle!" October 2013 TR *COMPLETE* **NEW TR LINK!!** 7/3

[RachelNinja]

Ooo, I hope you're having a good time at your new job during your first week!

Haha, the "Happy birthday, Stroller!" thing was absolutely adorable! How cute is that?! I love when CMs come up with random things like that and that DS was ready to respond!

 

[khertz]

Sooo cute about Paxton playing along with the stroller birthday joke! He is a ham! Love the dug & russel pics, and sounds like lunch was great too! What a nice morning!

I hate having to spend precious vacation time packing to go home...boo!! hehe

Definitely a ham! That was a totally unexpected response, I think all 3 of us were surprised that he played right into it.

Besides actually leaving, packing to go home is the worst!

Happy birthday stroller!!! Awww!!

I'm glad you were able to get in more time at AK and to fill up that autograph book some more

It was honestly SO funny! I still laugh when I think about it.

Thanks! I was so glad too, because we all love AK, but we just had too many things we wanted to do at the other parks. We were all glad to have more time there.

Awww, I love the stroller story. Too cute!! Yay for meeting both Dug and Russell! We met Russell when we went in March but didn't get Dug.

Packing is the worst....I start getting Disney withdraw at that point.

It was just so funny, it had to be shared! Boo for only getting to meet one...That annoys me when we are counting on getting both characters and only see one!

I know just what you mean. I hate the day it is time to start packing!

All the best in your new job!!!

Haha, trust me, the stroller story absolutely translates. OMG that is too cute.

Aww Dug and Russel are still on my must meet list. I always just keep missing them. They look so adorable.

Thanks! Opening day was complete insanity, but the rest of the week was MUCH better, and I am really loving what we do!

I'm glad everyone saw as much humor in it as we did. We were cracking up! I still laugh when I think about that moment. It was so unexpected!

We got lucky they didn't have a huge line like they had on our first AK day. They are pretty popular, so you have to get them at just the right time! Hopefully you get to meet them next time. They are so cute.

Well, either way, good luck with the new job!

The story translates well. I think it is funny.

Actually, that was very receptive of him to pick up on what the CM said and respond like that. He has very good comedic timing. This could be trouble in a few years.

I guess somebody has to be worried about it.

I'm glad you filled the spaces.

Thanks so much! I have the first week under my belt, ready to move on to the next.

I'm so glad it did, because it was seriously one of the most funny things Paxton has ever said, and he's said some pretty funny things! My dad is the same way with ALWAYS having a wisecrack, so I'm sure Paxton gets it from my side.

Well, considering I was the one that spent so much time downloading photos, making the book, and stalking Shutterfly for a deal before ordering, it had to be me!! I'm glad we got a bunch of those spaces filled.

 

[khertz]

I love that your stroller had a birthday! Too cute!

Working Monday through Friday does have it challenges are far as free time, but once you get used to it you'll find yourself little pockets of time in the evening where you can retreat to the DIS. I hope you love your new job.

I love pizzafari - not for the food, but for how cool it looks inside.

Boo to packing.

Can I tell you how many times we have taken a wrong turn and ended up leaving property? A LOT!

It was seriously SO funny!

So far, despite the craziness, I really am loving it. My day goes by so much faster now that I am getting in a little later & leaving sooner! Right now, we just have a LOT of kinks to work through, so the evenings have been a little hectic, but I'm hoping that will settle down in the coming weeks.

The food at Pizzafari is absolutely nothing special, but the decor in there is amazing!

I think that was a first for us, but I'm sure it won't be the last!!!

I'm glad to see you were able to meet Dug and Russell! Especially since that had been high on your priority list earlier in the trip.
I remember how awesome your autorgraph book was, so I'd probably be upset, too, if there were so many empty spaces. And you never know, down the road, Paxton might have been asking you, "Mom, why didn't we go meet So and So? What did we do instead?"


Pizzafari does have the coolest theme to it! Love all the bright colors.

I always love finding new characters for Paxton to meet, so Dug & Russell were a priority. I was so happy we were able to meet them the second go-round!

YES, that is exactly what bothered me!!! I knew going in there was a chance of that happening since I was putting in specific characters instead of just blank spaces, but I didn't want there to be SO many blank spaces!

The decor in there is so pretty, the colors are pretty fantastic!

I'm so far behind on replies, I'm so sorry!

I LOVE the pictures of Paxton and Pluto! That birthday cupcake looks so much better than those yellow ones they normally bring out. Only in Disney World do you not blink an eye at having dessert for breakfast, LOL.
That's funny, we ended up doing the same thing on our last day in May. Other than lunch plans, we left our morning open to go to the park we felt like we needed more time in and that happened to be Epcot.
Beautiful Epcot pictures! I love all the detail in the Nemo pictures.
That's pretty good to be heading to a second park by 10am, even after having a character breakfast!

Oh Camp Minnie Mickey, I miss you already! Great character pictures. So glad you got to see Chip & Dale after all. I love the pumpkins in the background with Pocahontas. We've never been in the fall so I live vicariously through your October TRs, lol. I'm glad you were able to squeeze so many characters in so quickly. Paxton has the best autograph books!

Oh pizzafari. We haven't eaten there in so long. Yak & Yeti CS seems to be our go to in AK. I can't believe it's your last day already. Definitely looking forward to your next TR though.

You're totally right, there are very few other times in life that dessert for breakfast is not even a blip on the radar.

We are pretty lucky that we are usually there long enough to have a day towards the end left open for whatever we want more time for.

AK doesn't decorate much for the holidays, but they always had a lot going on at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Yet another reason I will miss that part of the park a lot! I wasn't too upset when they took down Toontown at MK because I knew what they were replacing it with was going to be so much better. I can't say I feel the same way about Avatar though.

Thanks! Making the autograph book has become one of my favorite parts of planning our trips, though I haven't figured out how I'm going to top these last two yet.

I hope the new job is going well!

Thanks! This week was pretty hectic, but despite the craziness, I am really enjoying it more than my previous job.

Congrats on the new clinic!

Oh my gosh, I LOVE the happy birthday stroller story!! Your DS is the cutest.

Bahaha it looks like Dug is eating him!

Packing already?!

Thanks, Courtney!

It was one of my favorite moments!! Thanks, I think so too.

It DOES look like Dug is eating him! That big tongue is just all over the place.

I always feel exactly like that...It can't already be time to pack, can it?!

Ooo, I hope you're having a good time at your new job during your first week!

Haha, the "Happy birthday, Stroller!" thing was absolutely adorable! How cute is that?! I love when CMs come up with random things like that and that DS was ready to respond!

Thanks, Rachel! It was pretty nuts opening day, but we are starting to get into a groove, I think. I'm definitely happier than I was at my old job!

The whole thing caught us all off guard, and that made it even more hilarious! Paxton was ready with that quick wit!

 

[khertz]

Day 8 Continued: Tuesday October 29th

We got up from our naps a little early and headed to our third park of the day, DHS! You can maybe guess why we wanted to get there earlier than we usually get to our evening park... Yep, we wanted to hit our second Characterpalooza of the trip! Seriously, it's one of our most favorite things to do in Disney World. So when presented with the opportunity to visit for a second time, we were all over that. That explains why there are absolutely 0 photos from the time we left AK until we arrived at Streets of America and the characters started coming out at 3 pm.

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Please observe who is coming up in the back with the group of characters, and you can probably imagine what I was mentally screaming and who I shoved my kid toward first...

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BOLT!!!​

I actually went back to look at my post from our first Characterpalooza experience when I was mildly unimpressed at the character selection: "I had been hoping for other characters like Bolt and Meeko, but overall I was pretty impressed that we had been able to get pictures with every character except Chip & Dale in that little 20 minute set. I'm really excited to give it a try again in October and see what different characters we can get."

Now, in one trip, I had seen BOTH of those rare characters I had been hoping for that first time! I don't think we met Meeko again today, but we had met him a few days prior, and now we were getting to see Bolt! DS was not nearly as excited as I was to see him out, but he humored his mother anyway and got in for pictures and autographs.

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Okay, I'll just say right here up front, this was the BEST. CHARACTERPALOOZA. EVER!!! We had so many awesome characters to choose from, we just didn't know where to go first! Jesse was there, but DS didn't seem interested in meeting her, and she's one of those characters that gets swarmed quickly, so we just took a picture from afar.

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We saw Pinocchio all by himself, so I tried to get DS to go over and he refused. Well then I felt even worse for poor Pinocchio, so I went over for this awkward hug.

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Bonus Minnie!


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That's a little better​

All of these were out on the main street: Jessie, Stitch, Pocahontas, Meeko, Minnie, Pinocchio, Max, Bolt, Jasmine and Mulan. Then, we went to the back part and kitty corner from the Singing In the Rain Umbrella we found this practically perfect nanny with no one around!

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There were some Green Army Men out so we got a photo with one.

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And then we tried out the Evil Queen. She had her sneer down to a science!

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And she begrudgingly signed his autograph book too...​

About that time, we noticed the Green Army Men having a push-up contest with a couple of kids and thought that was pretty funny to see.

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Back up the street to meet up with Max Goof.

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 8 Continued: Tuesday October 29th

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Sure, we've already seen Minnie, but why not go say hello again?

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At that point, Characterpalooza was coming to a close, and we figured we had met all of the characters we wanted to see, so we started off. We decided to split up at that point, and I took DS over to the Animation Courtyard to get in line for Sofia the First while DH went over to ride Tower of Terror. Here's the pictures he took of his mini-adventure on his own. He also grabbed me a FP while he was there.

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Meanwhile, DS and I were waiting in a pretty hot line to meet Sofia. We waited about 20 minutes until we got up to meet her, which definitely could have been worse from the looks of her line earlier in the week when we had checked it out.

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I took that photo just as it was to be DS's turn, and I was realizing I didn't have a PhotoPass card on me. By that point, we had racked up I don't even know how many cards because we kept forgetting them in the stroller. Just as I was about to tell the photographer I needed yet another card, DH came running up with his camera AND a card in his pocket!

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A few Photopass photos.

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When we had finished up with Sofia, we headed back towards Streets of America to check on the 4 pm Characterpalooza set, but it was all the same characters so we didn't stop. Instead, we took a restroom break, then headed into the theater for the 4:30 pm Lights, Motors, Action show!

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I am kind of over this show, having seen it a few times in the past. It has never been a priority, but this trip, we figured since we ended up with an extra afternoon in DHS and we actually could go see it, we would take DS. I think he would have liked it just fine before, but now that Lightning McQueen is added, I knew he would LOVE it!

We sat kind of high up so DS would be able to see everything, and so we would be pretty close to the exit when it came time to leave. That was mostly because my FP window for ToT didn't give me a lot of time to get across the park before it expired!

Speaking of ToT, there it is while we waited for the show to begin.

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Continued in Next Post...

 

[khertz]

Day 8 Continued: Tuesday October 29th

The show started, and just as predicted, DS was having the best time watching the cars zoom all around in front of him.

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Also as predicted, he absolutely lost his mind when Lightning McQueen came rolling out!

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He did enjoy the rest of the show, but after that, he kept asking where Lightning McQueen went and when was he coming back. lol

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As soon as the show ended, I took off. It was already 5:05 pm and my FP window was only until 5:10 pm! DH and DS detoured over to Great Movie Ride while I was doing that. But first, I had to hustle completely across the park to Tower of Terror. I handed the CM my FP at 5:16 and she let me through without even saying anything about the return window.

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As I figured out when I went through the queue, it was probably because there was not a single person to be seen in the standby line! I walked right into the library with only a handful of other people, and when we proceeded into the boiler room, there were hardly any people in there either. I still got to jump a little ahead though when they called for a single rider and I was the first to volunteer! I had a great drop sequence, and I put in my notes that we kept getting pulled to the top and then shot back down without pausing at the top! I love those random ride sequences!!

Since my wait had been so short, and GMR is a long attraction, I hoped I had time for a spin on Rock'n'Roller coaster, also know as my absolute favorite rollercoaster in WDW!

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The standby line was 40 minutes, so I took a chance on Single Rider, and luckily only ended up waiting 10 minutes! I have gotten stuck in the SR line there before when it just isn't moving, so it really is a gamble and lucky for me that today it paid off! Nothing beats that launch sequence, except maybe the launch at the Hulk. SO FUN!

When I exited in the gift shop, I snapped this picture while singing along with Jaded that was playing over the speakers. I think I would love to work in that store and listen to Aerosmith all day!

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Meanwhile, this is what DH and DS were doing.

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When I came off of my ride, they were just finishing up with theirs, so I waited for them at the Studio Catering Co. so we could meet up and have some dinner before going in for Fantasmic. DH and I usually skip this show when we're on our own, but we thought DS might enjoy all of the characters and water projections. We grabbed some food from Rosie's. I got a burger and DH and DS had nuggets, but DH hardly ate anything because he was not feeling well.

It was also during this meal that I got a text from a friend back home that we always Trick or Treat with on Halloween night that the city had moved Trick or Treating to the night of the 30th because the weather was supposed to be so bad Halloween night. I was really disappointed about this because with our later flight, there was no way we'd make it home in time. We always planned our fall trips so that we were still home Halloween night to Trick or Treat in our neighborhood with friends because it's so fun! Now I was just glad we had spent as much time Trick or Treating at the party because we wouldn't have been able to otherwise!

So all during this time that we are eating and waiting to enter the theater for Fantasmic, DH is saying he doesn't feel well. I asked him over and over if he was sure he wanted to stay for the show and he kept saying he'd be fine. I told him I wouldn't mind missing it if he wanted to head back to the room early, but he kept reassuring me he'd be fine. I'm sure you can tell that's not how the night would end up! We get inside, park the stroller, and hike down to the far left of the ampitheater to find a seat. As we are sitting there waiting for the show, DH says he doesn't think he can sit in there, but he will wait for us outside. So I was kind of annoyed at that point but told him that was fine. Apparently, he took these photos in that time while DS and I were sitting.

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After a couple of minutes, DS realizes DH is gone and hasn't come back, so he starts freaking out and screaming he wants his daddy. At that point the show was about 5 minutes from starting, so I was hoping we could just hold on until it started and he would be okay. Nope, not happening. So I took him out, marched over to get the stroller and stormed down to find DH. At that point I was so furious, not because we were missing the show, but because I had asked him so many times if he wanted to just go back to the room, and he didn't listen when I told him it would be fine. Now I was carrying a screaming child out through the theater, having to find his stroller and then find DH. I'm sure steam was coming out of my ears as we walked out to the car!

What a sucky way to end our last full day. Hoping our very last day would be better, we got to bed early! By then, I was over it, but I did tell DH that in the future if he is not feeling well and I am repeatedly telling him it would be find to skip whatever it is we are doing, to please just take me up on it!!!

As you can see today was a LOT of character meetings! I remember reading a TR where it was a woman and a girl she nannies and all they did most of the time was meet characters. I thought to myself, "But when are they going to ride something?" Now that I have a child, it seems like we do half character meets & half rides because it's just so fun to watch him interact with the different characters and get so excited when we are seeing one he really loves!

FIRSTS FOR TODAY
*New Test Track
*Meeting Pocahontas
*Meeting Dug & Russell
*Meeting Bolt & Mary Poppins
*Meeting Sofia the First
*Taking Paxton to see Lights Motors Action
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UP NEXT: Our Last Disney Day!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Yeah, you really can't beat the Characterpalooza lineup you got. Max and Bolt in the same setting! So awesome!

Love the full body lunge hug that your DS provided to Sofia in the first picture!

We have yet to have seen Lights Motor Action. I watched the youtube video of the show and I really couldn't get too excited for it. I think DS would love seeing some of the stunts so if it's still up and running next year we may give it a go.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK... this is an EPIC Characterpalooza!!!!! OMG!!!!

I am seriously LOVING Bolt!!

Plus the long photos where you just see this huge group of characters. This is something I really miss and wish Disney had more of.

I have totally met that Queen. She was great.

Again, unreal Characterpalooza.

Awww that first Sofia and Pax photo is adorable. But are you sure she's not sucking out his soul??? I think I know why she creeps me out so much... She reminds me of a Small World doll.

Wow, hubby got some awesome LMA photos, especially the finale.

Double Wow, reading your "Firsts" for the day really illustrates how much you accomplished. Amazing!

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Oh my gosh you got to meet Max Goof! He's one of my favourites!

It looks like you had a great Characterpalooza experience! Sad that you had to miss your hometown Trick-or-Treating though. I remember here our weather was pretty bad as well so I ended up dumping half of our candy bowls into stray trick-or-treater's bags. Well, Paxton at least got his candy fix!

 

[amazingact21]

I'm right there with you as far as characters go. Alex and I had never, not one single time, stopped for a character meet and greet when it was just the two of us. But since having Landon, I've created a Character Bucket List for us!
It's funny how traveling to Disney with kids can change your park plans completely.


That being said, not gonna lie, I was a little green with envy over your characterpalooza update! I love the photo with the Evil Queen, and how ironic that the two characters you wanted to see and didn't last time were both there! So awesome...



LMA really is a one time show, but I can only imagine how a 3 year old boy would feel about it! If it's still there when my DS is older, I'm sure I'll have to suffer through it, as well!


Yikes, sorry your night ended in a less than magical way. Everyone has those moments on their trips, and Paxton couldn't let you think the whole time would be a walk in the park. He had to remind you that he was still a kid, and kid's are nothing if not unpredictable.

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm so far behind but I'm now caught up.

Going waaaaay back in my comments.

What an awesome dinner with Dave at BoG. I like the strawberry cream cheese cupcake too. Cute "roaring" photo with the Beast.

For your Wishes update I loved the text of the soundtrack that you included with the awesome photos. I've been in the upstream effort post Wishes and it's like a stampede going the opposite way for the first minute followed by a sea of people for 15 minutes after. Great escape route ducking into Starbucks.

At 'Ohana Paxton had a very original idea to make a breakfast sandwich. I may borrow that idea next time. I loved his smile in the Pluto photos at breakfast.

Russell and Dug looks like a great M/G! They are at the top of my character meet list. Happy birthday stroller - how adorable.

What a whirlwind 3 park day! You got a lot accomplished. I haven't seen Characterpalooza since they moved to Streets of America. And... I've NEVER seen Bolt! Awesome! I have the Evil Queen on my list to see as well so now I know where I should head in the afternoon at DHS. Paxton's Evil Queen pose was adorable.

Oh no....sorry Fantasmic didn't work out. Poor Paxton wanted daddy.

And finally, I hope the new job is going well.

 

[leshunlenese]

you were right! best characterpalooza ever!!!! Bolt, max, the evil queen, and more! Loved it.
I'm over LMA as well but I am going to let Dev see it since he has never been

 

[MEK]

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I love Paxton's attempt at a salute! Way to go P! I just love the way he mimicked all the characters. And, wow, what a character palooza that was! Paxton is just so good with all the pictures!

I haven't seen LMA is a very long time. It's such a great show, but it does come pretty predictable after you have seen it once or twice. Too bad there isn't an A and B version. That would be fun. Paxton seems to love it!

Great pictures from ToT. Heck, all the pictures are great!

Sorry you had such a frustrating end to your day. Sometimes I think its hard to gauge exactly when you or your companion has hit a wall. It can slowly sneak up on you for awhile and the *BAM* it smacks you right in the face and you're DONE!

Wonderful update!

 

[courtneybelle]

We haven't seen Characterpalooza in SO LONG. I hope we make it over this trip!

BOLT!!! I would be freaking out too! He's so adorable.

The Green Army Man is my favorite, great salute picture!

I love how DS is crossing his arms like the Evil Queen!

Max Goof is one that I love but haven't met in years. Maybe this trip!

I'm not a fan of LMA, but I agree that if you have a big Cars fan in your party you should definitely see it once.

Wowowowow the picture of the car jumping with the flames behind it is really cool.

I would LOVE to work at RnRC. Steven Tyler lives a few towns away from me, I've never seen him but I know a few people who have so that's pretty cool!

Oh man, that's a tough ending to the last full day and then you have to leave Disney! Nooooo!

 

[dramadrew]

I am enjoying the TR so far! I love hearing about people's characterpalooza experiences and seeing their photos.

 

[KelleyK75]

Yay for the awesome characterpalooza! My nephews love meeting the characters and we totally missed out on this last trip, mainly because I forgot it was happening and we had other stuff planned. We did do the LMA show this past trip, and the nephews loved it. I could take it or leave it as well, but it's cool to see especially with the kids loving it so much.

I'm sorry you had a bad end to your last night.

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow you really did get an awesome set of Characterpalooza characters! I'm glad Bolt was out for you

DS looks so happy during LMA!

It's always great when you get a fun ToT sequence. And yay for a bonus ride on RnR!

Ah I'm sorry your last night ended not so good I hope DH ended up feeling better!

 

[afwdwfan]

And then we tried out the Evil Queen. She had her sneer down to a science!

Ok, that's the one that I'd be excited about. I always like seeing the occasional classic Disney villain out and about.

Back up the street to meet up with Max Goof.

This would be a winner too... I always loved watching the Goof Troop.

At that point, Characterpalooza was coming to a close, and we figured we had met all of the characters we wanted to see, so we started off.

That was quite successful. Hopefully we can check out Characterpalooza next time.

When I exited in the gift shop, I snapped this picture while singing along with Jaded that was playing over the speakers. I think I would love to work in that store and listen to Aerosmith all day!

I wonder how long you'd have to work in that shop before you became tired of hearing Aerosmith? I'd imagine it would take quite a long time...

What a sucky way to end our last full day. Hoping our very last day would be better, we got to bed early! By then, I was over it, but I did tell DH that in the future if he is not feeling well and I am repeatedly telling him it would be find to skip whatever it is we are doing, to please just take me up on it!!!

I'm on his side with this one. It is like one of the first Man Laws. When your wife says something is fine, it isn't. Ever. He thought he was doing the right thing by letting you and Paxton see the show.

I'm sorry the evening had such a poor ending between the Fantasmic! ordeal and the news about trick or treating at home.

 

[khertz]

Yeah, you really can't beat the Characterpalooza lineup you got. Max and Bolt in the same setting! So awesome!

Love the full body lunge hug that your DS provided to Sofia in the first picture!

We have yet to have seen Lights Motor Action. I watched the youtube video of the show and I really couldn't get too excited for it. I think DS would love seeing some of the stunts so if it's still up and running next year we may give it a go.

We couldn't stop talking about how great the characters were that afternoon at Characterpalooza! It was rare characters all around. I was ecstatic when I saw Bolt...Love him!

It was kind of funny because she was waving goodbye to the guests leaving and DS was standing there waiting his turn, and when she turned around and saw him she was so surprised that she reached for him and he just kind of fell into her big skirt! So cute. He loves Sofia!

The show is decent enough the first time you see it and you don't know how they do all of the tricks. Once you know that, it's kind of boring. But we knew it was something DS would love, so when we had the time to do it, we just felt like we had to!

OK... this is an EPIC Characterpalooza!!!!! OMG!!!!

I am seriously LOVING Bolt!!

Plus the long photos where you just see this huge group of characters. This is something I really miss and wish Disney had more of.

I have totally met that Queen. She was great.

Again, unreal Characterpalooza.

Awww that first Sofia and Pax photo is adorable. But are you sure she's not sucking out his soul??? I think I know why she creeps me out so much... She reminds me of a Small World doll.

Wow, hubby got some awesome LMA photos, especially the finale.

Double Wow, reading your "Firsts" for the day really illustrates how much you accomplished. Amazing!

For character lovers, this Characterpalooza was a dream come true! If we hadn't have seen Meeko earlier in the week, I probably would have been hyperventilating to see both him & Bolt! It's so much more exciting to see them all come out in a group on Streets of America like than then watching them trickle through a door at the Animation Academy and trying to figure out where they're going to go!

I don't know, in person Sofia didn't freak me out as much as she did in the first photos I saw of her. And I'm 98% positive we left the meet with DS's soul still intact.

That's something I just LOVE about Disney...My 11th trip and we were still finding so many things that were NEW to us!!

Oh my gosh you got to meet Max Goof! He's one of my favourites!

It looks like you had a great Characterpalooza experience! Sad that you had to miss your hometown Trick-or-Treating though. I remember here our weather was pretty bad as well so I ended up dumping half of our candy bowls into stray trick-or-treater's bags. Well, Paxton at least got his candy fix!

I don't know if we are just amazingly lucky or what, but we have seen Max Goof at every Characterpalooza we have done! Which admittedly is only 3, but still. Seems like if you want to meet him, just go to a Characterpalooza and the odds are pretty good!

We definitely had PLENTY of candy, and it was good that they moved the date because Halloween night it poured buckets so we wouldn't have gone out anyway.

I'm right there with you as far as characters go. Alex and I had never, not one single time, stopped for a character meet and greet when it was just the two of us. But since having Landon, I've created a Character Bucket List for us!
It's funny how traveling to Disney with kids can change your park plans completely.

That being said, not gonna lie, I was a little green with envy over your characterpalooza update! I love the photo with the Evil Queen, and how ironic that the two characters you wanted to see and didn't last time were both there! So awesome...


LMA really is a one time show, but I can only imagine how a 3 year old boy would feel about it! If it's still there when my DS is older, I'm sure I'll have to suffer through it, as well!

Yikes, sorry your night ended in a less than magical way. Everyone has those moments on their trips, and Paxton couldn't let you think the whole time would be a walk in the park. He had to remind you that he was still a kid, and kid's are nothing if not unpredictable.

DH and I used to meet characters every now and then just the two of us (although only one face character...they freaked me out!), but absolutely nothing like we do now that Paxton is around. Before, if we happened upon a character with a short line and we were interested, we'd stop. Now I have a freaking checklist 30 characters long!!! It really is funny how things you never thought you'd do become priority with a little one.

We knew it was coming eventually, and although I would have liked to continue pretending it doesn't exist (seriously, he can't be upset about missing it if he doesn't know it's there!), we thought we'd do best to see it while Lightning McQueen is in it since who knows how long he will be around. Hopefully since our next trip is far away, he will have forgotten all about it!

So true! It was just one of those culmination of circumstances that did not lead to a good ending. If Paxton wouldn't have freaked out so much at DH leaving, I think we would have been just fine!

I'm so far behind but I'm now caught up.

Going waaaaay back in my comments.

What an awesome dinner with Dave at BoG. I like the strawberry cream cheese cupcake too. Cute "roaring" photo with the Beast.

For your Wishes update I loved the text of the soundtrack that you included with the awesome photos. I've been in the upstream effort post Wishes and it's like a stampede going the opposite way for the first minute followed by a sea of people for 15 minutes after. Great escape route ducking into Starbucks.

At 'Ohana Paxton had a very original idea to make a breakfast sandwich. I may borrow that idea next time. I loved his smile in the Pluto photos at breakfast.

Russell and Dug looks like a great M/G! They are at the top of my character meet list. Happy birthday stroller - how adorable.

What a whirlwind 3 park day! You got a lot accomplished. I haven't seen Characterpalooza since they moved to Streets of America. And... I've NEVER seen Bolt! Awesome! I have the Evil Queen on my list to see as well so now I know where I should head in the afternoon at DHS. Paxton's Evil Queen pose was adorable.

Oh no....sorry Fantasmic didn't work out. Poor Paxton wanted daddy.

And finally, I hope the new job is going well.

Dinner was so wonderful, and it's great to have good DIS friends to hook you up with a reservation!!

Glad you like that! I don't like posting just a string of pictures, so I thought that'd be a nice way to break it up. I mean, what else is there really to say about fireworks photos? As for swimming upstream, we learned we need to duck into that Starbucks just a little longer next time! It was just so crazy!!!

Characterpalooza on Streets of America is better than inside the Animation Building, I feel like because there is more room for the characters to move around and they are playful with each other (especially Stitch!). Evil Queen is another one we have seen 2 out of 3 times, so the odds seem pretty good that you can find her there if you venture over! It was so funny watching him pose along with the different characters.

Thanks, Brenda! We still have some kinks to work out, but it's going well for the most part, and I'm definitely enjoying it more than what I was doing before!

you were right! best characterpalooza ever!!!! Bolt, max, the evil queen, and more! Loved it.
I'm over LMA as well but I am going to let Dev see it since he has never been

It was seriously so amazing that I feel like none can compare from now on!! I don't even know how it could ever be topped!

That's kind of the point we were at. DH and I couldn't care less about seeing it, but we knew it was something Paxton would love. Hopefully the rumors of it going away are true so I won't have to sit through it every trip from now on!!

 

[khertz]

I love Paxton's attempt at a salute! Way to go P! I just love the way he mimicked all the characters. And, wow, what a character palooza that was! Paxton is just so good with all the pictures!

I haven't seen LMA is a very long time. It's such a great show, but it does come pretty predictable after you have seen it once or twice. Too bad there isn't an A and B version. That would be fun. Paxton seems to love it!

Great pictures from ToT. Heck, all the pictures are great!

Sorry you had such a frustrating end to your day. Sometimes I think its hard to gauge exactly when you or your companion has hit a wall. It can slowly sneak up on you for awhile and the *BAM* it smacks you right in the face and you're DONE!

Wonderful update!

It was so funny seeing him imitate their poses, even if he didn't really get why we were telling him to do whatever he was doing. I don't have a video or have it in my notes but I seem to remember the Queen trying to pose him a couple of times before he caught on!

The thing about LMA is that it's pretty great the first time you see it and don't know all the tricks. But it definitely doesn't lend itself to repeat viewings. An A & B version would be a great idea! Then at least there would be some element of surprise.

DH is terrible at letting on when he's not feeling good, so he probably felt bad for a lot longer than I realized. He always ends up getting sick on vacation, and I told him it is probably from him not cleaning his hands before he eats!! I have been trying to get him to be better about that, and it seems to have helped. The early mornings and late nights don't help either, but ya know, you gotta do what you can.

We haven't seen Characterpalooza in SO LONG. I hope we make it over this trip!

BOLT!!! I would be freaking out too! He's so adorable.

The Green Army Man is my favorite, great salute picture!

I love how DS is crossing his arms like the Evil Queen!

Max Goof is one that I love but haven't met in years. Maybe this trip!

I'm not a fan of LMA, but I agree that if you have a big Cars fan in your party you should definitely see it once.

Wowowowow the picture of the car jumping with the flames behind it is really cool.

I would LOVE to work at RnRC. Steven Tyler lives a few towns away from me, I've never seen him but I know a few people who have so that's pretty cool!

Oh man, that's a tough ending to the last full day and then you have to leave Disney! Nooooo!

I hope you get to go to a Characterpalooza, it's seriously one of the most fun things we have done on our trips, and it's become a must-do for us! We had great characters, great interactions, it just doesn't seem like it could get any better!

Without the addition of Lightning McQueen, I would have been content to never let DS know that show existed. But you start to feel a little guilty when you know how excited he will be when Lightning rolls out...and he definitely was excited!

I would go crazy grocery shopping looking for Steven Tyler around every corner. LOVE HIM!

Yeah, it wasn't the best way to end our last full day, but we made up for it on departure day.

I am enjoying the TR so far! I love hearing about people's characterpalooza experiences and seeing their photos.

Thanks for commenting & I'm so glad you're enjoying it! The DIS turned me on to Characterpalooza and now it's a must-do for all 3 of us. We try to do it as many times as we can!

Yay for the awesome characterpalooza! My nephews love meeting the characters and we totally missed out on this last trip, mainly because I forgot it was happening and we had other stuff planned. We did do the LMA show this past trip, and the nephews loved it. I could take it or leave it as well, but it's cool to see especially with the kids loving it so much.

I'm sorry you had a bad end to your last night.

It's so fun for character lovers to have a place to see some random ones and get to meet a lot at once. Hopefully you get to do it next time! We had it easy in October when they had so many sets every afternoon (I think it was 3) but we found it a lot more difficult to manage in May on such a short trip.

It was definitely more fun to watch LMA with Paxton getting so excited about everything! He was having the best time, which makes it a little easier for me to sit through.

Wow you really did get an awesome set of Characterpalooza characters! I'm glad Bolt was out for you

DS looks so happy during LMA!

It's always great when you get a fun ToT sequence. And yay for a bonus ride on RnR!

Ah I'm sorry your last night ended not so good I hope DH ended up feeling better!

I would have been fine to walk up to Characterpalooza and JUST see Bolt out there by himself, so every other character we got to see was a bonus!

It was the first time in a LONG time I got to hop right from ToT to RnRC, so it was a lot of fun to get to do that again this time!

He did feel better the next day, but it sure did make for a rotten night. He is always the one getting sick on vacation!

Ok, that's the one that I'd be excited about. I always like seeing the occasional classic Disney villain out and about.


This would be a winner too... I always loved watching the Goof Troop.


That was quite successful. Hopefully we can check out Characterpalooza next time.

There is SUCH a variety of characters out and about that it's hard not to find someone to be really excited about seeing! Hopefully you do get to work it into your plans because I'm sure the kids would love it!

I wonder how long you'd have to work in that shop before you became tired of hearing Aerosmith? I'd imagine it would take quite a long time...

For me, probably pretty long! As long as I like songs, I can listen to them over and over. The only way it could be better was if it was a store playing Hanson all day long, I'd be in heaven!!

I'm on his side with this one. It is like one of the first Man Laws. When your wife says something is fine, it isn't. Ever. He thought he was doing the right thing by letting you and Paxton see the show.

I'm sorry the evening had such a poor ending between the Fantasmic! ordeal and the news about trick or treating at home.

Ugh, MEN!!! I think there's the problem, you all assume we women are so complicated that you, in turn, make things even MORE complicated!!!

It was a crappy way to end our last night in Disney, but our last day made up for it!!