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[tubbsy]

Thank you
Talking about photos-even though this photo isn't very clear, I love it as its of Steph watching Dreams.

[BlackPearl]

Thanks for this wonderful continuation of your report.  
And this last picture of Steph really captures the atmosphere
of watching Dreams.

[tubbsy]

Thank you
I think it really does prove that Disney isn't just for kids. And it also proves to me that if we go to Disney in the coming years whilst Steph is at uni, I think she may just come with us!

[tubbsy]

So after a very late night, we really struggled to get up on Wednesday morning. The rain had come during the night and we opened our curtains to heavy skies. Breakfast was in Plaza Gardens this morning, so we needed to get up and get going.

The weather forecast was rain all day, so Mark ad Steph headed off to the car and grabbed our raincoats, whilst I attempted to get Rob going. NOT an easy task!

Hoods up, we trundled through the rain to the parka nd made our way to Plaza Gardens for a 9:15 slot. Now I had heard reports about there being no food out at this time in the morning, but, I am glad to say, there was lots of food Everyone tucked in, one person slower than the rest-I think Rob was still asleep!

Breakfast eaten we headed off to Buzz-Mark asking how we managed to get better scores than normal.
I should point out that my usual score is around 30000, so me getting over 100000 is a good score! Of course, we had NO idea what he was talking about  :-"  :^o
We decided to head round to Peter Pan, but met someone on the way

Then it was time to make our way to Studios. It was a good day for doing all the indoor shows!

So, first visit was Animagique.

And this is my moan for the WHOLE week.
Rob had been doing brilliantly, queueing for everything-we had the disability pass, but hadnt really used it.
But as he was very tired and not really with us, but still wanting to do stuff, we thoguht that the pass needed to be used today-for Robs sake, our sake and the sake of other guests.
We showed Robs pass and the CM on the gate said that was fine and he had a seat and ushered us into the waiting area.
It was a nightmare! There were lots of people in there and we were packed in tight. The CMS were telling people to move forward, but we couldnt move in any closer. Rob was squashed in tight and began to panic! Then the doors opened and everyone started pushing towards the door, but the door had a fence in the middle of it, dividing it into two! Poor Rob was really upset-He clung to Mark and I shouted to Mark "Just go to the disabled area, w'll meet you there!"
We got through the crush, Mark calmed Rob down and we took our seats.
We did go to Studios guest services and reported what happened and they said that we should have waited outside the gate. We explained that the CM had ushered us in, but apparently we should have said "No." Hmmmmmm!  :evil:
But it wasnt just Rob I was concerned for, it was little kids too. Robs a big 10 year old, but there were tiny people in there. It must have been just as scary for them too
We then went on to see Stitch, again using Robs pass. We met up with another family and had a good old chat. When we were called through, we stood near the main doors-the other family had a wheel chair.
When everyone else were called through and the doors opened to the main part, people were physically pushing past us and one woman jumped over the wheel chair to get in! Its not like we can sit anywhere else! We have to sit in the disabled area!  :evil:
The little girl was transferred from her wheel chair onto the bench with us and Mum popped her wheel chair to one side.
Then the lady came and sat on the bench with us ...  The CM tried to move her, explaining there were seats just two rows behind, but she said "I am sitting here!" and folded her arms!
Well, when the show was about to start, the CM got the wheel chair and parked it in front of the stroppy woman! She wasnt impressed!  :lol: Me thinks the CM had seen exactly what had been going on!

Right! Sour note over! Lets move on!
Stitch was as brilliant as ever
We managed to find a dry spot and have some lunch.
Then it was onto Cinemagique-Same system Animagique but the CM said "It can be a crush, you have seats, just wait here."  =D> Well done that CM!

On 5 visits with Studios open, we have never managed to see Cinemagique-and I dont know why. It was brilliant!
Then onto Art of Animation (Doing well dodging showers here!) We loved looking at the drawings in the queue line here, it kept Rob occupied ( And we made sure he had plenty of space, so didnt feel crowded by people )


The rain had stopped so we decided to try Moteurs Action ..... I had warned the family that there had been a lot of cuts from it ....
OK, it wasnt as bad as we thought it was going to be. Shame they have taken bits out, but we still enjoyed it.
(somone had said that the man on the bike didnt slide through the flames when they saw it, I am thinking we were lucky, as he did when we were watching.)

I think the Lightning McQueen sketch could do with a bit more .... OOOMPH though.
But Rob loved it.

[tubbsy]

Mark and Steph wanted to Armageddon, so Rob and I decided to find a pitch for Stars in their Cars and watch that instead.
Rob BOOOED! the villains car and Cruella blew him a raspberry back!



Then we went to meet up with Mark and Steph, who had timed it perfectly and had seen Stars n Cars go by as they came out of Armageddon

We decided to go back to the hotel for a swim after this as, even though it had rained all morning, it was still very warm and the sun was now coming out.

I was really pleased it had been a bit of a rainy day as it meant we got to see some parts of Studios I dont think we would have seen otherwise.

Swim had, we got ready for Inventions!  /
We were in the small room, straight as you walk in - the view was lovely

A Princess in Inventions!!!

Rob got attacked by Gideon!

Tigger picked on Steph and Rob!

And Mickey, having waltzed with all the little girls in the room, decided to pose the kids!  :lol:

We also had Pinnochio and Goofy visit the table

[tubbsy]

I forgot to say, I think Rob ate his weight in fresh prawns! the meal vouchers certainly came into their own!

Then Mark surprised me with a visit to Cafe Fantasia! I was so chuffed!
Now, I had read about glowtinis, but we really dont drink a lot and I thought I wouldnt be able to drink it. So we opted for the Virgins. And they were really tasty.
Rob is a big music fan-he plays violin and piano, so he was completely in his element here.
What a beautiful setting. Yes, the drinks were shockingly priced, but we will do it again


We were completely full and absolutely shattered!
So we decided to call it a night and head back to the room. But first a couple of pics on the stairs of the hotel ...

[Sal]

I just love your trip report!    I can't wait till it will be our turn.

I have a question about the disability pass. My son was recently diagnosed with autism. Do you think he can get a disability pass? And which documents do I need to present if so? We've been before and just planned around he's difficulties, but now he's diagnosed I thought maybe he could have some better experiences if he had the pass.  

(I'm sorry english isn't my first language, so please forgive me if it's not correct   )

[tubbsy]

Hi Sal! Thank-you I am really enjoying writing the report. I hope you have as good a time as we had Your English is fantastic-I can barely get by in French!

Fingers crossed you should get a disability pass. We took Roberts letter from his Paediatrician that had his diagnosis on it. It was on our Health trust headed paper. Our Doctor also wrote a letter saying that queuing can cause Robert problems. (This may cost you-it does in the UK) the letter must be 90 days in date before your trip.
Go to City Hall and hand over your paperwork and they will give you a pass.
They will then decide how many people can be on the pass with your son. I have heard different things- It can depend, sometimes they just let 1 person. We had 3. So there was 4 in all.
If you look at the photo of Rob playing his DS with Steph. Can you see he has bands on his right arm? The top green band is one that City Hall put on him-we made sure it wasnt on too tight so he could slip it off each night.
Robert did very well this time and we didnt use his pass as much as on other visits, but on days when he was overwhelmed it was really good to have.

[norhel]

Sounds like you had a nice holliday! :-)

[Sal]

Thank you very much for your helpfull reply. I'll try to get our doctor to write a letter with his diagnosis and difficulties and hopefully this will be enough. (I'm sure it also costs in Denmark) Otherwise we'll just get by as we've done in the past. But we'll definitely give it a try, because like you I think it will be helpfull when he's having a hard time.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.    This time I think I'll also try to make a trip report.  

[tubbsy]

Just make sure that it has an official stamp or headed paper Sal It will be great to read your report.
Thank you norhel

[tubbsy]

Ok, now I am beginning to struggle to remember what happened when! I think I need to go back and repeat it all over again to help me remember!  :lol:
 
We had room service again... I remember that much! I also took a run down to the shop to get Mark a Grumpy thermos mug! He is well known at home for always having a cup of tea in his hand! And he was beginning to say he had a sore throat and wondered if it was from not drinking enough .... (Unfortunately it wasnt, it was the start of a miserable cold!)  Once the Grumpy mug was suitably filled we headed into the park for EMH! Once again we made it to Buzz and we confessed to Mark how we were getting better scores. He prompty thrashed us!
Then we headed off to do tea cups. My lot have worked out exactly how to get the teacup to spin one way .... then JUST at the right moment, get it to spin the other way!  :shock:  :roll: Star Tours was just opening by this time, so we thought we would try and get to Endor again. Rob managed to throw the CM off track by laughing really loudly at his "May the force be with you!" in a ToT manner. The CM ended up laughing with Rob and saying "You, young man, have made my day!"

By this time the rope had dropped at Adventure land and we wandered over to jump on Pirates. It was then a casual strole down to BTM.

With only a short time before heading to Steakhouse in the village for lunch. So we took a wander round the shops and started picking out things we wanted to buy for presents and for ourselves.

We had eaten in the Steakhouse about six years ago at lunch time. The food had been great, but our waiter, Patrick, had really made the meal. He was funny and kept everyone entertained, whilst being super efficient. Well, it was a HUGE surprise to find Patrick awaiting our arrival once again!  /
He was just as funny and just as brilliant! He even sat next to Rob, who was attempting to complete a puzzle on Professor Layton!

Once again we waddles out of the restaurant! This three course meal a day thing was really getting to us!  :lol: We decided to head back to the room to have a rest for a while!

But on our way to our room I spotted ....

But only to turn round when I heard Mark "Hook is a codfish!"
That was it! Hook grabbed Rob and was press ganging him onto The Jolly Roger!

[tubbsy]

So after we had rescued our children from the swashbluckling pirate, we made it to our room to rest and cool down.

After a small sleep on my behalf ... :lol: we headed back towards the park and into the Disney Hotel in time for Descent of the Stairs.



Then it was back into the park to see if we could get a ride in before finding a spot for the parade.
We ended up just wandering and soaking up the atmosphere


And then, as we walk around the corner into Discovery Land, we bumped into someone ....



How cool! It really made our day!
A quick ride to Endor again ...

Then it was off to find our pitch for the parade and have some tea-Not that we could eat much! That huge lunch was still making itself felt.




We then headed off to BTM as I have always wanted to ride it at dusk. I have no idea why! But it was fab Mark was not feeling great at all by this time, so we decided to head back to the room.
Even with an 'early' night it was still 10:30 before everyone was settled and in bed!
Mark even managed to see Dreams from our room... Unfortunately, not through choice. That cold was now really letting itself be known....

[polar vixen]

Tubbsy, ILOVE your report, it is giving me sooo many ideas, and extra ques!  Just how do you get higher scores on Buzz Lightyear?  And where + at what time of day did you see Chewbacca?  My sons are absolutely star Wars obsessed, and we didn't see any star wars characters last time, although we'd seen darth vader in the past, but Chewwie but be soooooooo fantastic1  Also, I noticed you mentioned wristband, is this the common practice now, instead of a pass card, are they expected to wear it the full holiday, and how do they go about saying how many extras are allowed on each pass?  Thanks so so much

[lindavdende]

Really love reading your trip report!! Using it for my next trip.
And just like Polar Fixen I world like to know about the score at buzz. World be fun to get high score, while my mum doesnt have a clue how im doing it