A fun Meet, an Island, and time with friends.

[techskip]

So... as usual Tech & Company have these wonderful grand plans that include us arriving at the park prior to opening, and then showing up at the Meet when the time arrives. Somewhere around 1145 we swerved into the Mickey & Friends parking space with tires squealing... tossed the kids in the stroller, and ran down the walking path (completely avoided the tram due to stroller). We arrived just in time to realize that we could have walked, because people were still arriving. Small Meet, but lots of fun. After a nice chat about various topics we headed over to Riverbelle, had a bite. At that point several MC's went their respective ways. Dan and DisneyIPresume asked what our plans were. Today we had one goal. We had not seen the Pirates Lair. I have fond memories of Tom Sawyers Island as a kid... I was secretly hoping that the changes were not drastic, but I didn't know what to expect. So for us it would be the island, and in typical MC family style fashion everyone else wanted to join in! The raft heading over was a bit crowded but I managed to snap these.

*Edit* I said "I" but I should have said "We", it was a collaborative effort of both my wife and I. I am not sure who took what so I will simply say... "We did it"... sorry for the confusion*

[techskip]

Once on the Island, I asked for a tour guide (no clue where any of these pirate changes were). First order of business... cave exploring





Now if you have never been in the cave it is quite a treat. I managed to snap these before my 4 year old COMPLETELY freaked out and required me to carry her. It is pretty dark in there... also the pop-up AA in the cursed treasure scene got her pretty bad! So instead of nice shots, I was rewarded with a bruised knee while trying to get a 4 year old out.

[techskip]

With everyone through ok, we had a brief R&R on the other side.




All of this was great until my son decided to make his own trail

[aashee]

LOL...Oh the joys of scared children. I sure don't miss those days. You are a trip report star TS, keep them coming!

[techskip]

After the rest we headed out to see the other changes to the back half of the island. I have to be honest, If these changes had been there when I was a kid I would have LOVED them. I have not known the island to be that interactive in YEARS... the fact that people are on the island, kids are enjoying the island, means a lot. Who knew manual labor could be so fun

Pumping Water




Pulling up treasure




And exploring a creaky old bridge


Obviously these are just my snapshots... but there were a lot of fun photos and poses from all the MC's there. We had a blast, as odd as it sounds without even being on an attraction, we all had fun.

[techskip]

At the end of the island we ran into Captain Jack. As luck turned out we were the last party to take photos with him, which allowed us some extra time. My youngest really, really liked him


She has never seen the movies, but to her this is a real Pirate


So while one ran distraction the rest raided the treasure





And in all the excitement the baby fell asleep

[techskip]

After the island, we all went our seperate ways. I wish to say thank you to all the MC's who accompanied us on that little adventure. 3 little ones greatly appreciated seeing the island, and 2 parents were very thankful for the help chasing them through the caves!

I know I may take a backlash for this but I actually like the new island. The majority of it is fairly subtle, and aside from the song and dance at the front of the island... it hasn't really changed drastically! I LOVE the new additions to the cave, and the new interactive areas. I hope that Disney will continue to maintain these areas. Most of all I am THRILLED that after years of neglect, the island is full of happy, climbing, playing kids.

I say everyone parted ways but this is not entirely true. My good friend Bruce, and his father joined us for the remainder of our journey. Due to the heat we all decided Tiki Room was a must. We arrived just in time, enjoyed the show, then went back to the Lani to purchase Dole Whips. While they waited I snapped these

[techskip]

Dole Whips in hand we headed over to DCA to see what TSMM looked like from the outside. As we approached we noticed a large crowd and secretly hoped it was actually allowing Guests. Sadly it was CM Preview only... but it looked nice. So... plan B, we took the kids on King Triton's. The only problem is one of the little ones fell asleep... so Bruce thankfully stepped in to help with my son


All of us seated we were ready to ride.

[techskip]

And off we go




After a fun little trip we headed over to Turtle Talk and caught the tail end of the Pixar Play Parade. Turtle Talk was fun... but one question... when did they change it? I specifically remember scenes in the show that were not there, and watched scenes that I had never seen before... and no I am not talking about the commentary from Crush!

Again many thanks to everyone for a wonderful mini-trip. We didn't do a lot, but we had a lot of fun where we went.

[Tea]

Great report! Your kids are adorable!!

[Bubbadunne]

Good report.

Which changes are you specifically referring to?

I thought the show changed each time?

[Kritter]

Great TR!!!!

Why are your children so adorable?!

[DisneyIPresume]

It was a great time with you and the kids. Your oldest was getting a little nervous in Dead Man's Grotto. That's why I told him it was all concrete. So sorry to maybe ruin the "magic" for him. But that's what I was told and I turned out just fine.

Hmm. Thinking about that, I deeply apologize!

[Dan - Tasmic!]

Thanks for sharin, Skip!!

[WheresMickey]

Nice report! Lucky all you got was a bruise from the island. Some tall people has come off the island with a new bump on their head too!