New Disney Ornaments

I had these ornaments personalized.  My husband thinks I am nuts but what else is new.  I think they turned out great.  Heath and Cale wouldn't admit it but I think they like them too!

Hidden Mickey's Crane Style

I love decorating our Christmas tree with the Disney ornaments I have acquired over the years.  See if you can find the "Hidden Mickey's".

Vinylmation

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Toy Soldier

I didn't think there was much to the Vinylmation craze.  We bought one on our last trip to Disney and I have to say that I think I might turn into a collector of these little Disney creatures.
Take a look at our new edition:-)

    Here is a link to the site.  Take a look.  Vinylmation

Day 3 and Day 4 - Magic Kingdom

Day 3
We started out early again!  Breakfast at the Crystal Palace.  You can get some great pictures early in the morning before the park opens.  Breakfast was wonderful and fun as usual.  We started out getting a fast pass for what else Space Mountain.  After that we toured Fantasy Land and then headed over to Frontierland.  A trip to Magic Kingdom wouldn't be complete without a turkey leg or two.  We rode all the rides in the park without waits.  The day passed really quickly and the park closed at 7:00 for another Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  We decided on the spur of the moment to buy tickets and attend the party again!  We had a blast!! Front row seats for the parade and low crowds made for a fun filled night.

Day 4
This was our last day.  We actually slept in until around 9 and made our way to the park by 10:00.  It was very crowded our last day.  The cast members we talked to were surprised by the crowds.  Maybe it was the Veteran's Day weekend.  When it is crowded make sure you have a fast pass plan in place.  Heath is great about always making sure we have fastpasses at all times.  Even though there were a ton of people with the fastpasses we never had a wait.  We ate lunch at Tony's Town Square which has pretty good Italian food for a theme park.  We rode Space Mountain two more times and got soaked on Splash Mountain.  We usually don't get wet b/c we sit in rows three and four but this time we did!  We left headed for home around 6:00.  What a great trip!!  I can't wait to return!

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom - MVMCP

Day two started out at the Tusker House for breakfast at 8:00.  We love eating at a restaurant in the park before it opens.  The food here is great and the characters are entertaining.  Make sure you try the Jamba juice if you go.  We love going to the Animal Kingdom for the day.  We went on the safari first which is really good in the morning.  Once we left there we rode Expedition Everest.  Even Heath rode it which was surprising since roller coasters aren't his thing.  Cale on the other hand rode that ride four times that day.  He loves it!! Cale was able to ride Primeval Whirl for the first time.  Heath had never rode it either.  Last year I rode it by myself and really enjoyed it.  We rode this ride back to back and I laughed and laughed at Heath who is not a fan of heights.  After this it was on to the Dinosaur ride.  Get ready for your teeth to vibrate out of your mouth!  It is a rough ride but a lot of fun.  We had to hit the gift shop on the way out of this ride and Cale spent some of his alloted money on a large dinosaur.  We had it sent back to our resort so we didn't have to carry it the rest of the day.  Lunch was calling us so we had a pizza at Pizzafari and then it was back to the rides.  We went over to Asia to ride Kali River Rapids.  You could easily spot us because we were the family in the ponchos.  You can get SOAKED on this ride and we have so ponchos are a must for us.  We finished the day by going to It's Tough to be a Bug.  We love that show.  It was about 3:00 and Cale was getting tired. We went back to the resort to take a nap and get ready for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party that began at 7:00.  We needed our rest if we were going to last until midnight.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
We love this party!!  We spent most of the party in TomorrowLand.  Cale was so addicted to riding Space Mountain over and over that we could hardly get him to go anywhere else.  One thing that was really neat was that Cale and I were on the Astro Orbiter while the Christmas fireworks were going off.  What a cool and memorable experience!  While we were in TomorrowLand Cale and I danced with Chip and Dale and Goofy and Pluto at one of the Christmas dances.  We had a blast!  Did I mention everything we rode was walk on??  Oh what a night!!!

Day 1 - Part 2

Once we left Epcot we hopped on the monorail to our favorite park....Magic Kingdom.  I love walking on Main Street.  I could stay there for most of the day but with a 7 year old and a husband who is a fast pass task master that isn't really an option!  First stop Space Mountain!  This was the first year Cale was able to ride it.  Heath had also never ridden it so I was very excited for both of them.  We had a great time riding it.  You can see how we looked as we rode the ride if you look a couple entries down.  We hit the gift shop and I had to get Cale a souvenir t-shirt.  Heath got fast passes to ride Space Mountain again and then we were off to of all things the Stitch ride!  Cale loves this "ride" .  Heath and I tolerate it.  Then back to ride Space Mountain .Heath sat this one out.  After that I MADE them ride It's a Small World with me.  My seven year old called the ride lame.....this ride is nostalgic for me so if I have to endure Stitch then he is going on Small World!!  On to Frontierland with a pitstop first at the Haunted Mansion.  The lines for the rides were not bad at all.  We spent a little bit of time in Frontierland riding Thunder Mountain and then we hit Pirates.  At this point it was time for the Main Street Electrical Parade.  We watched this at the entrance to Frontierland.  Right as the parade was beginning I received the "call" that I wasn't chosen for the Moms Panel.  I was disappointed but once I saw Cale watch the parade I just felt extremely fortunate that I was with my two favorite boys.  We finished the night with dinner in the park at the Liberty Tavern.  We really enjoyed the family style traditional Thanksgiving  meal.  Once we were finished we walked along Main Street with only a few other people b/c the park had closed about 45 minutes earlier.  We were all wiped out and when we got back to the room Mousekeeping had left a cute mouse design towel display on the bunk beds.  We went to sleep b/c we would be at Animal Kingdom early the next morning...

Fun at Disney

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Arrival Day and Day One -Part 1

Arrival Day
We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge around 4:30 in the afternoon.  We had never stayed at this resort before so I didn't really have any preconceived notions about the resort.  When we arrived the cast members were very helpful and friendly.  It is true what everyone says.... when you walk in the lobby you immediately are amazed at how enormous the lobby really is.  We made it to our rooms and Cale immediately kicked back on his bunk bed.  The room had a queen bed and a bunk bed.  Once we rested a bit we went where else to the gift shop!!!  Although Cale was on a budget this time he still tried to maneuver extra stuff.  More on that later....
We then went out and explored the grounds.  The resorts grounds are wonderful!  We waited to see the geyser go off.  It goes off every hour.  Once we looked around a while it was time to eat at Whispering Canyon.  This is one of the restaurants inside the resort.  They serve bbq and steaks.  The atmosphere is loud and fun.  The servers play a part and can be loud and somewhat obnoxious.  Cale didn't know if they were serious our not.  If you don't want to draw attention to yourself then don't ask for ketchup!  Also if you are thirsty you will be in for a big surprise when they bring out the largest mason jar that I have ever seen.  All in all the food was good and the atmosphere was a lot of fun.  Bring on the first day!

Day One
We got up and hopped on the bus to Epcot.  Once we arrived we ate breakfast in the park at the food court next to the Soaring attraction.  Better yet we picked up a Soaring fast pass right away.  I love Soaring! What a great ride!  It was then over to grab a FP for Test Tracks.  Test Track is probably Heath's favorite ride.  We then hit Figment (Imagination) and then headed over to Test Track to use our FP.  Of course on the way out Heath got more FP's for Test Track.  I love that he is so FP minded when we are there.  It really helps us bypass long lines and we get to enjoy our time more.  We then headed over to the World Showcase.  We rode the viking ride in Norway.  We were all very disappointed. We thought it would be better than it was.  It was now time to go eat lunch at Coral Reef.  This trip I decided we would eat at restaurants that we hadn't eaten at before.  The Coral Reef is next to the Nemo ride.  We hit the the Nemo ride first and then we went to eat.  Lunch was good not great but good. The Coral Reef serves seafood(of course) and steaks, chicken, etc.  The restaurant has an aquarium with tons of fish, sharks, stingrays and if you are lucky you may even see a scuba diver or two.   It was about 2:15 and Cale still wanted to ride in the "giant golf ball" so we did that and then we were off to the Magic Kingdom.....

Crane Disney Vacation Update

Well.... First things first while at Disney I received the call that I wouldn't be a part of the 2011 Moms Panel.  The call came just as I was watching the Electric Parade with the fam!  I was bummed for a little bit but then I thought why am I bummed?  I am at the "Happiest Place on Earth" and most importantly with my two favorite boys!  Who could ask for anything more?  I am going to publish my trip reports to recap the Crane adventures.  Bottom line is that my "little boy" is now a rollercoaster monster and my husband is a FastPass robot... more to come later!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

This is a great event to attend if you are visiting WDW from Nov 8 -December 19 on select nights.  Visit the link for more information.  I love this time of year at WDW!

Information about Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

One Week From Today!

One week from today our family will be at the Happiest Place on Earth!  I look forward to this trip each and every year.  I hope that the weather will cooperate but if it doesn't we will just wear our ponchos and go about our business of having a wonderful time. I will be sure to post all of our adventures and pics at WDW once we return.