Disney - Day 5

After visiting each of the parks once, we decided that Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom were the two parks that we wanted to visit again before our vacation was over.  The crowd calendars showed that Magic Kingdom would be best on Friday and Kemper was always up for a little Buzz, Woody and Mr. Incredible time at Hollywood Studios!  

Mommy and the boys waiting for the park to open.

MeMe and Kemper...Pops was manning the stroller and making sure that Hudson didn't escape.

First up, Toy Story Mania!!!  Kemper always chose to ride with Pops.  This time around, Mommy ended up with the high score - yay!

Since we were right outside of the building where Buzz and Woody meet, we decided to hop in line.  We had about 30 minutes before their officially started their meet-n-greets but since the lines were so long on our previous visit we decided to knock this out before we moved on.  As luck would have it, we were first in line!

Kemper getting cozy on Andy's bed while we waited.

The cast member working the line was super friendly and chatted with us while we waited.  She led us to Andy's room and told Kemper he could play around the room while we waited.  

When the door opened and Buzz came out, he walked right over to Kemper for high fives and fist bumps and was so playful!  The cast member told us that Woody was running late (Bullseye was having some problems she said!) and that we were welcome to play with Buzz until Woody showed up.  Kemper thought that was hilarious!  

Buzz spent every minute of our extra time interacting with either Kemper or Hudson.  I was very impressed that we were rushed along and told just to come back later to see Woody.  Buzz kept gesturing to Kemper's ears and giving him the thumbs up.  He also liked Hudson's Buzz Lightyear shirt.  

He played rock, paper, scissors with Kemper and they went around and looked at all of the stuff in Andy's room.  This may be one of my favorite memories from our trip because Kemper was just in  Heaven!  

<3

Woody finally showed up after about 10 minutes.  The first thing Buzz did was point out Kemper's ears.  Woody hung his head and acted like he was going to leave.  Kemper called out his name and told him he liked him too!  We didn't get much time at all with Woody but Kemper's day was made and he told MeMe and Pops that he got to have a playdate with Buzz while we waited on Woody!

Next, we decided to go on the Studio Backlot Tour but Kemper thought it was going to be too scary and Hudson was fussing for a nap so we left MeMe and Pops in line and headed over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids! playarea to wait on them.  Kemper had a blast!!  Hudson was fighting a nap so we ended up strolling him around for a bit and he finally fell asleep.  After they got done with the backlot tour, Kemper wanted to play in the playarea again so Pops took him back in while MeMe and I sat with Hudson.  MeMe and I wanted to ride Tower of Terror but the wait was pretty long so she ran over to get us Fast Passes.  

We did make a quick stop in to see Mike and Sulley because when we visited earlier in the week, we missed Mike.  

Kemper and Pops having lunch.

It was about lunchtime and we were right outside of an outdoor restaurant so we grabbed a table and ordered.  MeMe went to get Pops and Kemper and it took quite awhile for Pops to find him in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area.  

Kemper being a goober.

After lunch, it was time to use our Fast Passes so we headed towards the Tower of Terror.  Kemper kept saying he wanted to ride but even though he met the height requirements, I knew it would not be pretty if he went with us so we convinced him to wait with Pops.  Tower of Terror was awesome!  Seems like such a short ride and it makes me feel so anxious just waiting for the floor to drop but it's really fun!

Group picture in front of the Sorcerer's Hat

After Tower of Terror, we stopped for some ice cream since we had lots of snack credits to use up and it's always nice to have an ice cream treat!  Kemper opted for another Mickey bar and Pops got a chocolate cone.  

Kemper and Stitch

We booked it over to Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and made it just in time for the start of the show.  We were lucky enough to get a spot in the shade and Kemper was completely enthralled with the cars and stunts!

Hudson and Pops checking out the stunt show.

Kemper thought the coolest part was when the real Lightening McQueen came out!  He had been saying over and over that the Lightening McQueen at our resort wasn't the real one but this one won him over!

After the stunt show, it was back to scope out a spot for the Pixar Pals Parade.  (Funny story - while we were waiting for the parade to start, Pops and Kemper were sitting in the window sill of one of the buildings when all of a sudden, they both started sputtering and jumped up!  The air was very fragrant around them at that point so we can only guess that maybe there was an air freshener that sprays out of the buildings occasionally that got them...we never did find where it sprayed from but it was hilarious to see them jump up!)

While we were waiting, they were doing a flash mob scene on Hollywood Boulevard.  We were a bit farther down from the actual action but the cast member that had been blowing bubbles for Kemper and Hudson started doing the dance in the street so Kemper jumped up and joined her.  He had a blast!  He was always one beat behind but he was oblivious to the fact and just had so much fun!  

Kemper dancing in the streets!

After the parade, we hopped on a bus and headed for Epcot.  Our dinner reservations were in Japan at Teppan Edo.  We really had to book it to get there on time (and Kemper, yet again in Epcot, decided that his legs were just too tired to walk any farther so I had to carry him on my shoulders for part of the way...there is just something about Epcot that my children do not like).  

Hudson really enjoyed the show!  He feasted on rice and goldfish, chicken and zucchini!  

Dad and I at dinner.

Kemper with Phineas and Ferb

After a delicious dinner, we decided why not try to make it back to the Magic Kingdom for the Electrical Light Parade.  We knew that because of our dinner reservations the next night that we wouldn't be able to see it then so this was our only chance!  We took the boat from World Showcase to Future World and raced to the monorail.  Kemper was excited to ride the two-headed train.   

We got into the park with about 2 minutes to spare and just happened upon an amazing place to view this parade from.  We had barely made it passed the train station and found a spot right at the edge of a walkway in the circle.  We had a clear view of all of the floats and the guy in front of us let Kemper in front of him to have a front row view!  Kemper caught a glimpse of a street vendor selling the light sabres and asked for one.  I had forgotten to bring his Buzz with us that morning and told him that we already had a light up toy that I had forgotten.  Surprisingly, he didn't throw a fit or pout.  You could tell he was disappointed but he didn't cause a scene.  MeMe found out how much they were and, being the (using her own words here) sucker she is, she took him to get one.  :) He loves his lightsaber and plays with it pretty often!

We stuck around after the parade for Wishes and the fireworks.  The Magic Kingdom really knows how to put on a fireworks show and Kemper was very impressed with how the movies were shown on the castle! :)  Hudson had fallen asleep before the parade started and managed to sleep through the parade, Wishes and the fireworks.  He slept all of the way back to the resort and barely woke up when I changed him into his pajamas.  We all got to bed in anticipation of our last day that would be spent at the Magic Kingdom!

Disney - Day 4

Day 4 we were off to Animal Kingdom.  This was my view as we were getting ready to leave the room...I wasn't sure the day was going to go very well!

Kemper showing off his new Bolt, his Buzz Ears and his light up-spinning Buzz.  Nope, not spoiled at all. 

I wanted a picture of both boys in their ears...this was as good as it got.  After we got everyone ready and out the door, we jumped on a bus headed to Animal Kingdom.  As usual, Kemper struck up a conversation with the people sitting near us and talked their ear off the entire way. :)  He can make friends wherever we go which I pray serves him well as we move around with the Army!

First up, Kilimanjaro Safari!!  Kemper was excited to see the elephants.  Hudson was out of sorts and ready for his nap.  MeMe manned the camera so I could attempt to get Hudson to sleep.  Luckily, he gave it up about 5 minutes into the safari.  I couldn't even begin to name the many animals that we saw along the way but it was really cool and I'm glad we had taken the advice of our travel agent as well as a few bloggers I had been following and did this first thing in the morning.  Not only did we basically walk right onto the ride, but the animals were all up and moving about!

The elephant that Kemper was super excited to see!  Funny story - as usual, Kemper ended up chatting with the couple in front of us on the ride and she was pointing animals out to him along the way.  Towards the end, as she pointed something out to him, I noticed a VERY familiar looking ring.  I looked at Mom and she seemed to have noticed it at the same time.  I asked if that happened to be a Meredith College ring to which she grinned and said yes!  What a small world!  I wish I could remember what year she said (pretty sure it was even - boo! hiss!) but how funny that another Angel ended up on the safari ride with us!  

Rhinos 

The lions were even out and about and moving around!  After we went passed them, we heard roaring.  To me, it sounded very real - to Pops, he said it was fake.  I'm pretty gullible and easily fooled so who knows!

After the safari, I was miraculously able to put a sleeping Hudson into his stroller without waking him up.  From there, we headed on to Expedition Everest!  

MeMe had gotten us Fast Passes before we did the safari so we walked right on.  This was a GREAT coaster!  At one point, we were going backwards!  So much fun and so glad that we were able to ride this one.  Kemper was pretty bummed that he had to sit this one out but after the ride, I knew that he would have been traumatized if we had allowed him to ride!

We headed over to Dinosaur Land USA after conquering Everest :) so that Kemper could ride Triceratops Spin.  There was no wait so he rode twice in a row - once with me and once with MeMe.  I think that I am a jinx because on our ride, we couldn't move up and down just like when we rode Dumbo.  Luckily when he rode with MeMe, she figured out that you had to use the joystick in the back row of the car so they were able to ride high!  

On our walk back towards Tusker House, we happened upon DiVine!  Kemper asked why in the world someone would want to dress up like a tree.  She was very graceful and I'm glad we spotted her!

Quick photo op in front of The Tree of Life.

MeMe, Pops and the boys

Mommy with an armful of boys!

Our itinerary said that our dining reservations were at 10:30 but when we tried to check in, they showed us at 11:30 so we had some time to kill.  This guy was hungry so we got some fruit and had a little snack.  After his belly was satisfied, I saw that "It's Tough to Be A Bug" only had a 5 minute wait (thanks Neci and Touring Plans!) so we headed that way.  To say that it was not a hit would be putting it mildly.  The adults loved it.  Kemper HATED it.  MeMe said that he was shaking and she could feel his heart racing.  As we walked out, he said he did NOT want to do that ever again.

It was time for our lunch at Tusker House.  We had about a 10 minute wait once we checked in and had our picture taken with Donald (great picture of all 5 of us - too bad I don't have the digital file for it).  Finally it was our turn to be seated and from that point on, I felt like it was a rushed lunch experience.  

We had barely been seated when Donald came over.  My camera was acting up, Hudson was crying because he was at a table and there was no food and my temper was short.  Finally, I got my camera working, we got everyone some food and things kind of settled down.  Hudson was definitely out of sorts during this meal.  

The food was pretty good!  Definitely a bit different but I enjoyed trying a few random things I probably wouldn't have otherwise.  Hudson enjoyed the macaroni and cheese.  Kemper was just excited to see the characters.  I would 100% say that this character meal just didn't stack up compared to Hollywood & Vine but I'm glad we were able to get a little extra time with Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Goofy.  (I was getting food for Hudson while Minnie came around.)

Kemper and Mickey.

They gave all of the kids instruments and said Goofy was going to come in to dance with them.  Kemper jumped right up and joined in!  Thank goodness he's got his Daddy's outgoing personality and isn't painfully shy like his Mom!  

After lunch, we were able to make it over for a showing of The Lion King which was a HUGE hit! Kemper loved it!  Hudson was even pretty well entertained with all of the singing and dancing.  

We had seen just about everything we wanted to see and wanted to get naps in so we caught a bus back to our resort.  Hudson napped much better today and I think Kemper even took a little nap.  Our dinner reservations were at the Beach Club resort tonight so we either had to drive ourselves or make it over to a park or Downtown Disney to catch a bus.  We decided to drive to Downtown Disney and catch a bus from there after we walked around a bit.  Kemper thought the Buzz and Woody made of Legos was amazing!

I had a surprise up my sleeve for Kemper so we stopped in Once Upon a Toy before catching our bus to dinner.  I had packed Kemper's Mr. Potato Head body but no parts because I had heard about this store and all of the extra parts they have.  For $20 you can get as many parts as you can fit into the box.  Since I already had the body, we didn't have to worry about packing parts around the body and were able to stuff all sorts of fun parts into the box!  When we got to the counter, the amazing cast member dumped everything out to make sure we had all of the right matches (good thing because we had 2 right hands with light sabres!) and even made a bit of extra room for us to stuff more!  Kemper loves all of his potato head pieces!  

Dinner at Cape May was delicious.  Hudson was a total pill so my mood was rather fractious again but the food (seafood buffet) was delicious and Kemper was on his best behavior!  We made it back to the room where Hudson crashed and the rest of us followed suit shortly thereafter.  Kemper couldn't get to bed without trying out his some of his new potato head accessories, of course!  

Animal Kingdom was fun - a little more fun than I was expecting.  It was a cooler day which I was very glad for (there were some spots that smelled a little funky and I can't imagine what they smell like when it's hot out) but Hudson was just out of sorts most of this day.  At this point, we had been to every park and had 2 days left...we decided that Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom were the 2 parks we wanted revisit.  After consulting crowd calendars, we decided that we would save Magic Kingdom for our last day and hit Hollywood Studios next.