A Canadian's First Family Trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth

[shoppgirl]

Hello everyone! This is my first attempt at a Disney World trip report. I have written many for previous cruises and Las Vegas getaways. There are some amazing trip reports on the Disboards, and I spent countless hours reading some of them. I hope to be able to enlighten some of you with my family's first trip together to the most magical place on earth!

A little background:

My husband and I have been to WDW twice before. I was able to go for my very first trip when I was 11. DH's favourite saying of the week was "I had to wait until I was 23 to go to WDW" to our girls. We then went together on a road trip down after graduation from our graduate programs during our dating years about 14 years ago.

DD6 whom I will refer to as Belle loves everything Princess. She is my shy, reserved, quiet older child. DD4 whom I will refer to as Tink is the complete opposite! She can be loud, demanding, and outspoken at times. But she is full of love and craves the same love from the people closest to her.

I had been waiting ever since the birth of my oldest to take my family to Disney. DH and I struggled with the decision as to when we should take the girls to Disney. Not while the younger one is still in diapers, not while the younger one is still napping, wait until they're older to appreciate and remember it...the conditions go on and on. Finally in January of this year, the girls had just turned 6 and 4, I really felt that they were old enough and mature enough to handle going on a vacation. And what better place than to the most magical place on earth?????

We went from not going until at least 2009, to going in August 2008 in a matter of 3 days. I started bugging DH that we should seriously consider going one Saturday morning. By Monday afternoon, I had our airplane tickets booked!!!!!

We live in Toronto, but flying out of YYZ is SO EXPENSIVE. We had flown out of Buffalo once before and it was pretty painless and CHEAP. So I check the Jet Blue website, and bang! Flights for the 4 of us was at least $1700 CHEAPER!! Cha Ching! Book it now! I was shaking for hours after booking these tickets as I couldn't believe we were actually doing it!

Now to where do we stay? I thought that since we were saving tons on the airfare, let's splurge on the resort. With 2 young ones that have never travelled anywhere in their lives before, we wanted something convenient and easy for getting around. What better place than a monorail resort??? And what better monorail resort than the GRAND FLORIDIAN?????? I had heard about how beautiful this resort is and couldn't give up the opportunity to stay here. At the time of booking, the only room we could get was a Garden View (oh boo hoo!). I grabbed that room right away.

We did not book a vacation package, but room only. My plan was to buy our theme park tickets at the local Disney Store in Canadian dollars, at par. We had to wait until July, a few weeks prior to our trip before we could get those tickets!

So, thanks to the Dis Boards, I was able to plan a magical trip for my 2 little princesses and hubby. He actually thanked me for all the planning I did after our trip, even though he made it a point to make fun of me for reading the boards and trip reports every night for the last 8 months! So here goes the trip report....I hope you enjoy it as much as I will enjoy re-living every special moment.

Here are the quick links to my installments:

Day 1 Let's Go to Walt Disney World!!! (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26856952&postcount=4)

Day 1 A Dream Come True (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26870522&postcount=12)

Day 1 A Magical Moment (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26880184&postcount=16)

Day 2 Magic Kingdom Part 1 (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26904152&postcount=32)

Day 2 Magic Kingdom Part 2 (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26925695&postcount=46)

Day 2 Magic Kingdom Part3 Final (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26927379&postcount=50)

Day 3 Magic Kingdom Part 1 (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26948744&postcount=61)

Day 3 Magic Kingdom Part 2 (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26967991&postcount=69)

Day 3 Magic Kingdom Part 3 (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27009614&postcount=74)

Day 3 Magic Kingdom Part 4 Final (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27030889&postcount=84)

Day 4 Epcot Morning (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27054860&postcount=94)

Day 4 GF Wonderland Tea Party (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27055364&postcount=96)

Random pics of the Grand Floridian (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27059740&postcount=97)

Day 4 Shopping at Downtown Disney and a Night on the Beach (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27077327&postcount=105)

Day 5 Chef Mickey's Breakfast! (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27097170&postcount=117)

Day 5 Animal Kingdom (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27132677&postcount=132)

Day 5 An Evening at the GF (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27177474&postcount=136)

Day 6 Our Last Day (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27178606&postcount=137)

Day 6 Our Journey home and Final Thoughts (www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27179072&postcount=139)

[LLWDW]

:surfweb: I'm in. Can't wait for more. I like to hear a Canadian perspective. Especially on a summer trip because I'll never be able to do that.

[BlueSkies]

Shopgirl looking foward to the rest of your trip report and cant wait to see the pictures..... the next best thing to being at the GF is reading abouts other folks trips and enjoying their pictures:)
glad you had such a great time:thumbsup2

[shoppgirl]

Monday August 4th, 2008

Today is THE DAY!!!! We're finally going to WDW, the place where the Princesses live, where Fairies fly, where Magic happens! Our flight on Jet Blue out of Buffalo was scheduled to depart at noon. We filled the back of the SUV with 3 large suitcases, 2 strollers and 4 carryons. The girls bounced out of bed at 6:45 and we were all ready to go in the car by 7:30!!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1030679.jpg

The plan was to drive to Buffalo via the Peace Bridge. We normally cross at the Queenston Lewiston Bridge, but it is always SO BUSY. What a great tip I read on the Disboards to use this new border crossing! I highly recommend it for those fellow Canadian cross border travellers. We reached the border by 9:00 am, about 1 hour 10 minutes from our home. We made it through customs in less than 10 minutes!!! Even easier than at Pearson Airport. From here to Buffalo International Airport was only an additional 15 minutes.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1030683.jpg

That's Belle on the left and Tink on the right. So happy to finally be at the airport for their first ever airplane ride. We parked at Preferred Long Term Parking Lot A. We could have technically walked to the terminal from our parking spot, but a shuttle bus spotted us as we parked and came right up to the car to offer us a ride to the terminal.

We quickly checked in at the Jet Blue counter. I did on line check in the day before so all we needed to do was check our bags in. Security was painless and the girls did well for their first time. There were no questions asked when I told them they had to take their shoes off, and no reluctance to walk through the metal detectors. You would have thought they were seasoned travellers instead of novices.

Now that we were settled in at our gate, we were ready to go. But wait.....I looked at the board, and I saw those dreaded words: DELAYED. WHAT???!?!? What does that mean? DELAYED???? We can't be delayed. I have ADRs!!!! Turns out our airplane was grounded somewhere because of mechanical problems and they had to find another plane! They even went as far as saying they may have to cancel the flight altogether and maybe even offer to fly us to JFK to see if we can catch a connecting to MCO. DH said there is no way we're doing that! Luckily, they were able to find a plane from Boston to come in and then take us to MCO. We were THREE AND A HALF HOURS DELAYED!!!!! My poor girls were waiting forever. We were so proud of them for how they handled the wait though...very minimal complaining. Luckily, the airport had a small children's play area:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1030688.jpg

I was devasted by the delay because we had 5:50 ressies at 1900 Park Fare. Our original time of arrival was 2:17, plenty of time to make it to the hotel for dinner. Now we weren't scheduled to land until 5:45. DH tried calling the hotel to explain our dilemma and hope that they would be able to reschedule, but of course they couldn't do anything and the dining/ADR line was useless too, other than to tell us they were completely booked for the evening. I kept saying to myself that I had read on the Disboards to never book an ADR on the day of arrival!!!!! Now I know why!!!! I was just thankful it wasn't something like CRT where it was prepaid and I would have not only lost an opportunity to dine there, but lost the money I already prepaid!

JetBlue compensated us immediately for the 3.5 hour delay by giving us free inflight movies! Yippee! (Can you hear that sarcasm???) We did get $50 vouchures though for future flights. The pilot got us to MCO rather quickly though and it was a smooth flight in.

My girls' first flight:

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The flight attendants were so nice to the girls too. They got their first flight wings too!

Coming up: Do we make it to 1900 Park Fare?????

[mickeynut1]

I'm on board as I can't wait to hear about your entire trip as well as see all the pics :goodvibes. We are booked for our first GF stay in July 2009 and I can't wait :cool1: :cool1:. Reading about it being your girls' first plane ride took me back 7 years. Our 2 DSs were 8 & 6 when they had their first plane ride (they're now 15 & 13 :scared1:). When we were boarding the plane in Chicago, the pilot told them to hold tight when we landed at MCO and wait for everyone to get off the plane so they can look inside the cockpit (they were trying to peek in there as we were walking by). After landing at MCO, we patiently waited for everyone to exit the plane and the boys got a real treat....they actually got to SIT INSIDE the cockpit :dance3:. My oldest sat in the pilot's seat and my youngest sat in the co-pilot's seat and they turned their heads back, looking at us, so I could take the picture.........talk about a GREAT way to start our vacation :woohoo: :woohoo:. But sadly, that's something we'll never see again :sad2:. But seeing your girls on the plane (who are adorable, by the way :goodvibes), brought back memories of that first plane ride. Looking forward to reading all about your adventures and seeing lots of pictures from your magical trip to the World and the Grand Floridian :wizard:.

[kaysmommie]

Love your trippie so far. Looking forward to hear how your DD's liked Disney and GF. Hoping you made it to 1099 Park fare. It's such a great dinner. please post lots of GF pics :goodvibes

[phabric]

I will be interested in reading more.

[heaven2dc]

I'm definitely on board! Your girls are so darling and so patient - 3 1/2 hour delay :eek: I booked an ADR planned at Teppan Edo for 2 p.m. lunch on my last trip in January and my DBFF decided she didn't want to arrive as early as I originally wanted to (around 11 a.m.) and booked our flights to arrive at 1:30. so needless to say I had to scramble the night before cancelling my ADR and we did end up eating at 7:30 which was perfect. After dinner, we walked out onto the balcony and watched Illuminations - it was fantastic! so needless to say I got upset for nothing :confused3

Can't wait to read more!

[angela3676]

:surfweb:

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Your Girls are so Beautiful :)
Isn't it wonderful to be able to fly Jet blue out of the states? We Fly out of Syracuse Jet blue it saves so much money!! The snacks are great too!!
The delay is really unfortunate though!! :( Can't wait to see if you made your ADR!!

[shoppgirl]

THANK YOU so much everyone for your kind words! I am so glad that you are enjoying my report so far. I have plenty more to say and show, so please stick around!

[shoppgirl]

I love Jet Blue...apart from the delay. I enjoyed the free satellite TVs, and on this flight, free movies (Tink watched Kung Fu Panda!), and we loved all the snacks we could eat and free drinks. This does not exist on Air Canada!!!

We finally land at MCO by 5:40ish. What a relief to finally be here. My girls handled the descent really well, as I was worried about the ears. The little boy behind me was having trouble and told everyone "My ears don't work". After potty breaks, we wound our way through MCO to the Magical Express.

Let me say I LOVE the Magical Express!!!! I loved checking our luggage in BUF and never having to worry about them again until they got delivered to our room. Check in at ME was quick (waited in line for 15 seconds!). Unfortunately our wait in line for the buses took a little longer. Our bus took guests from GF, Wilderness Lodge, and Polynesian(I think). We waited about 10 minutes for the bus to come so that we could load. We then had to wait another 20 minutes on the bus to fill before leaving MCO!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1030694.jpg

The CM was kind enough to let us (we were the only ones in the GF line) to go first to the bus, so I got the girls front row seats on the ME! Tink has NEVER been on a bus before, so she loved sitting right up front and seeing everything, including the WELCOME TO DISNEY sign!

The drive to the Grand Floridian seemed to take forever, but that was only because we had been travelling for almost 11 hours by now. We were the last group to be dropped off. When we exited the bus, we were greated by a CM from the resort, Katina. She immediately informed us that as part of the Year of a Million Dreams, we WON A DREAM!!!!!! :banana: :banana: :cool1: :cool1:

What is that dream you may be asking????? We were UPGRADED to SUGAR LOAF CLUB LEVEL AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :banana: :banana:

Can I say OMG!!!??? I always thought that the only way we could ever stay club level at the GF was in my dreams! But now I am LIVING IT! Katina walked us in through the resort, giving a quick tour on the way to our room. She pointed out 1900 Park Fare to us and I told her our awful story about missing the ADR due to travel delays. She said not to worry, she will try to work something out for us!!!!!:woohoo:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040205.jpg

Here is the Sugar Loaf building at GF!! (this photo was taken on our 3rd day, and you have a preview of our BBB experience now!)

We walked past the concierge desk inside SL and Katina mentioned our missed ADR at 1900 PF. The lady at the desk said she would look into it and give us a call in our room. It was also at this time that I asked for 1st Visit buttons for the girls. Katina brought us up to our room on the second floor. We have a great view of the Marina. We completed our check in right in our room. She asked if there was anything else I needed and I requested a microwave for the room. After that, she left and the girls went wild in the room! They loved the beds, they loved the balcony and I had to stop them dead in their tracks because I wanted to take photos of the room before they destroyed it! :rotfl2:

Our wonderful view:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030699.jpg

Love the balcony:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030700.jpg

Amazing beds! So comfy. Already received turndown service and it was only 7:15.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030701.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030703.jpg

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Nice sized bath with separate toilet/tub area.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030706.jpg

We received a phone call from concierge saying that they can GET US IN AT 1900 Park Fare at 8:00!!!! :cool1: :cool1: WOW!!! I couldn't believe it. I was so happy for my girls that they could dine with Cindy and Prince Charming on our first night.

Next installment: Another dream come true at 1900 Park Fare

[MainStMandy]

WOW!! What a great report!! I actually got teary eyed...your girls are just too adorable!

[TimNDansMom]

I'm loving your trip report and can't wait for the next installment. I'm so glad you were able to go to PF after all! Your daughters are adorable!!

[SuAnne]

Wow what a great start to your first trip!:yay: Your girls are so adorable. Can't wait to read more!

[shoppgirl]

It was now 7:45 and we had 15 minutes to get to 1900 Park Fare. I still needed to buy the girls their autograph books! We headed down to the main building and made our way over. We passed by Sandy Cove and went in to look for the books. They had pink Princess photo/autograph books, and red Mickey ones. I think they were about $11 each. There were also the smaller all blank page books for signatures only. I was also looking for the Pressed Penny books, but they only carried them in the main shop, M. Mouse Mercantile, on the 2nd floor.

When we got to 1900 Park Fare, we were asked if we had a reservation. We said technically no, but concierge had called down for us and we were told to come by at 8:00. The 2 CMs at the desk had no clue as to what we were talking about. After a few tense seconds, one gentleman said, no worries, we'll work it out for you.

As an aside note, I just wanted to say that due to some fabulous reading on the trip reports (and I'm sorry I can't remember who to give credit to for this), I knew about that dreaded hallway of a dining room in Park Fare!!!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040197.jpg

I thought to myself that I came all the way here to have dinner WITH Cindy, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine and the Step Sisters, I don't want to be hiding (I mean, I don't want my girls to be hiding! :rotfl: ) in this narrow dining room away from ALL the action! So I specifically told the CM PLEASE do not seat us in here! I pointed to his seating chart. He totally understood me, and said it will be just a few moments. So he gave us a pager and we went out to the lobby to wait. We were only waiting for a few minutes when the pager went off and we went back to the check in desk. He was about to tell us our table was ready when he must have done a double check and realized that our table was IN THE DREADED HALLWAY!!! So he said to wait a few more minutes while he ran in to try and find us something else!

A few more minutes pass and he comes out and says "Your table is ready!". Yippee! Another CM brings us into the dining room, we keep walking until we reach this table:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040282.jpg

I thought what a cute little table in its own corner!!!! PERFECT! Right beside the buffet, and in the main dining room!!! We can see everything!!! I was happy! Another happy moment for me (I mean the girls!)

We decided to hit the buffet right away since the characters were not doing their rounds in our section yet. Although the girls hadn't had a good meal all day, they were too excited to eat. They literally spent the whole night doing this:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030746.jpg:rotfl2:

Our first visitor was Lady Tremaine:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030711.jpg

The girls were overwhelmed by this whole experience, I think they forgot how to talk! Thus the character interaction was minimal, kept at a greeting, a signature and a pose for a picture. That's OK though. That was enough for my girls this time around. Lady Tremaine did thank me for knowing who she was and getting her name right when I told the girls to say thankyou to Lady Tremaine!

Our next visitor was Anastasia:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030714.jpg

She was really nice to the girls (in a mean step sister kind of way!) and told them to stand up on their chairs to take a picture with her. They liked that idea! She gave some great facial expressions for all my shots (I think I took about 6 of them, every one different!)

Now comes Prince Charming:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030727.jpg

He really tried to talk to the girls (I can't remember what he said), but all the girls could do was smile at him!

It was at this time that they announced the arrival of Cinderella. Prince Charming had to excuse himself to go greet her.

So finally Cinderella comes to meet the girls!!! What an exciting moment for them. All they could do was smile and be awestricken by the presence of this beautiful princess!!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030735.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030731.jpg

She struck up yet another one sided conversation, but it was wonderful anyways!

Our next magical moment happened soon after. It was time for the dance. Cinderella had a dance with Prince Charming. Then they had their dances with the children in the room. Cinderella personally pointed to the girls to go and DANCE WITH HER!!!!! I was so happy for them! They were having a little magical moment of their own now:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030764.jpg

This is why I did not want to sit in the hallway!!!!!

After this special moment, it was time for dessert. We were still waiting for Drizella!! The girls were able to sit now and eat a little dessert, and I certainly was ready for mine!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030741.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030744.jpg

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Totally delicious!!! Every one of them!!:rotfl:

The really nice CM (I forgot to make note of his name) came by to see how we were doing. We asked about seeing Wishes from the resort and where the best spot was to view them. He highly recommended that we find a seat under Narcoossee's covered patio, so that we could also hear the accompanying music. What a great recommendation as you will later see.

Finally, our last visitor to come was Drizella!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030751.jpg

She was quite funny, although it took me a few seconds to get her humour! She asked the girls where we're from, and they said Canada. So from there on, she kept saying:

So you're from Canada eh?

Can I sign your book, eh?

Do you want to take a picture, eh?

It must have been a long day for me, because it wasn't until she said it a few times did I get what she was talking about, eh?:rotfl2:

Now that we had met everyone, sampled a little food, ate a little dessert, it was time to go.

Although it was getting late, and the girls had been up since 6:45 in the morning with no naps all day long, we wanted to end this wonderful day with a viewing of Wishes. We got to Narcoossee's and found a bench to sit on. (We did not block any diners sitting at the window table!) Wishes started promptly at 10:00 pm (most of the diners came out to watch it from the patio)

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030776.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030784.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030783.jpg

I wish I knew how to use my camera better for these night time shots of fireworks!!!

Anyways, what a great ending to a great day...delays and all. The Grand Floridian really came through for us today. Everyone we met today at the Grand was wonderful and really helped to start our trip on such a magical note.

Next: Touring Plan? What Touring Plan?

[AGPrincess]

Great trip report!! I love all the photos, and it is SO cool that you had pixie dust waiting for you as soon as you stepped off the bus! Can't wait for more!

[mickeynut1]

I am loving your report and can't wait to read more :goodvibes. Congratulations on the awesome upgrade :banana: :banana:. I'm glad everything worked out for you at 1900 Park Fare and that the girls got to dance to Cinderella :dance3:.

[shoppgirl]

I am loving your report and can't wait to read more :goodvibes. Congratulations on the awesome upgrade :banana: :banana:. I'm glad everything worked out for you at 1900 Park Fare and that the girls got to dance to Cinderella :dance3:.

Thank you! You will LOVE the Grand next summer! I was SO TEMPTED to book the bounce back offer (30% off deluxes) but DH said we should try a different vacation next year! :scared1:

I am sure the next 11 months can't come fast enough for you. I will be posting plenty more pictures of this fabulous resort later on!

[shoppgirl]

Great trip report!! I love all the photos, and it is SO cool that you had pixie dust waiting for you as soon as you stepped off the bus! Can't wait for more!


Thank you AGPrincess. It was really special to be welcomed at the Grand with an amazing dream!

[tinkerbell*Xo]

What a wonderful first day!! Im glad you could get into 1700 park fare!! The girls Dancing with Cinderella is priceless!! :banana:
Excited to hear what will come next!! :)

[Lives4Disney]

SHopgirl, I love your report so far!!!! What a GREAT bit of magic at check in!!!!:goodvibes

Your daughters are darling & I am enjoying your pics & reviews!!!!

Hope there is more to come.:wizard:

Lives4Disney :)

[missj1975]

Love your trip report. Your pictures are great!!!

[mickeynut1]

Thank you! You will LOVE the Grand next summer! I was SO TEMPTED to book the bounce back offer (30% off deluxes) but DH said we should try a different vacation next year! :scared1:

I am sure the next 11 months can't come fast enough for you. I will be posting plenty more pictures of this fabulous resort later on!

I am so looking forward to it as it is a beautiful resort with so much to offer :). And you're right.....the next 11 months won't get here too soon :laughing:. Keep up the great report....I can't wait to see what comes next :yay:.

[angela3676]

I have really enjoyed reading your report so far. Your girls are beautiful and it looked like they were having a great time. So many magical moments.:thumbsup2

[Picabo]

popcorn::

I'm jumping in too! First, I have to say your girls are precious and I'm looking forward to taking MY 2 girls next year. That is awsome about your upgrade! Absolutely wonderful! And even more wonderful that they were able to get you into the 1900 Park Fare that same evening! Your girls look like they're having the time of their lives and that is just the first day! Can't wait to continue reading about your trip!!!

PS can someone tell me about this dreaded hallway at 1900 Park Fare? Now I need to know the scoop so I can be sure to ask NOT to sit there too! I want my girls to be able to dance with Cinderella and Prince Charming also!

Melanie

[sammi]

WOW I'm really loving your trip report!!! And your little princesses' are soooo sweet!:love:

I want to take our 4 yr old granddaughter next year and I'm living vicariously through your trip report for now!!!!:thumbsup2

Can't wait to read more..........:banana:

[shoppgirl]

popcorn::

I'm jumping in too! First, I have to say your girls are precious and I'm looking forward to taking MY 2 girls next year. That is awsome about your upgrade! Absolutely wonderful! And even more wonderful that they were able to get you into the 1900 Park Fare that same evening! Your girls look like they're having the time of their lives and that is just the first day! Can't wait to continue reading about your trip!!!

PS can someone tell me about this dreaded hallway at 1900 Park Fare? Now I need to know the scoop so I can be sure to ask NOT to sit there too! I want my girls to be able to dance with Cinderella and Prince Charming also!

Melanie

Thank you Melanie...If you go back to that post 3 and look carefully at my first picture, you will see the dining area (I call it the "hallway") off the main dining room in 1900 Park Fare. It's a long rectangular room with tables of 6 on each side. They open the shutter doors into a lobby like area where people are walking in and out of the main building, to the GF Cafe etc and people always tend to peep in to see what's going on (and where I took my photo from!). The other end of the room opens into the main dining room. The characters of course all come in to greet the people dining here...but they do the dance, and they get the kids to follow Drizella to literally run around in the main dining room.

Thanks to everyone else again for your kind words and I will definitely be posting again tonight the start of our second day at Magic Kingdom!

[Picabo]

OK so they key thing at 1900PF is to ask to be in the MAIN seating area, right? Great info!! THANKS!!! The pix of them dancing with Cinderella are priceless!!!

[nrod]

Just joining in, Shopgirl. When I saw your screename, all I could think was "Don't cry Shopgirl, don't cry." :) Is your name from "You've Got Mail"? Or are you really a Shopgirl??

Anyway, what a great start! You all must have been so excited with your "Dream". That must have erased the delays, eh?? Too funny that you didn't get Drizella's joke right away. You MUST have been tired. Hope the rest of the trip went as well. Can't wait for more...

[Disneyvirg]

Great start to your TR. A couple TRs I've been reading are finishing up and I was looking for another good one to follow...looks like yours may fit the bill. ;) Your girls are close in age to what mine will be when they go next year.

Your girls are beautiful. I'm impressed by how well they seem to have held up after such a long travel day.

Can't wait for more. :)

[shoppgirl]

Tuesday August 5th Day 2

The family had a great first night's sleep in the comfy GF beds. Except me. Maybe because of the excitement of being on vacation in Disney. Maybe because I had to listen to 3 people snore. Maybe because I had to listen to the loud hum of the fridge in the room. I loved having that fridge, but boy, was it ever loud!

I was happy to bounce out of bed promptly at 7:00 when DH whipped open the curtains. We were greated by beautiful sunny clear skies. It was morning Extra Magic Hour at MK today. I read in my Unofficial Guide to WDW to avoid parks that have EMH because crowd levels are supposedly higher on these days....but I didn't have much of choice. Today had to be a MK day because we had dinner ressies at Crystal Palace and we didn't have park hoppers.

I also spent a lot of time at home prior to our trip writing up a touring plan for us. I had everything mapped out, times to go, times to eat, places to eat, rides to ride, fast passes to grab etc. I had these grandiose ideas about all the exciting things I wanted to do with the girls. As soon as our plane was delayed on our first day, and we almost missed our 1900 PF, I should have known to throw out that touring plan.

I wanted to be at MK for 8:00 opening.

We were still eating breakfast in the lounge at 8:00.

If it were just DH and I, we could have just grabbed some breakfast for the road, but it just wasn't possible with 2 young children. So we took our time eating, and I bit my tongue the whole time and tried not to look at my watch. Needless to say, I kept the touring plan in my backpack and left it there.

We finally made it to the monorail and hopped on to the MK! It was 8:30 by now, and the crowd levels were already quite high in my opinion. I had also read about the horrendous lines at Dumbo...our first ride of the day. I was getting nervous about the line. I didn't want to waste our entire morning waiting to ride Dumbo! Luckily, we only waited 20 minutes. The line actually moves fast because the entire ride itself lasts no more than 2 minutes! The girls loved the ride, so that's all that mattered.

They don't look it, but they really were excited to be going on their first ride!:rotfl:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030787.jpg

I wanted the girls to sit together so that I could get a good shot of them from the Dumbo in front! Did you know that regardless of height, one of the riders in Dumbo has to be at least 7????? :confused3

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030795.jpg

After this ride the girls spotted the beautiful carousel and we walked right on to it!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030797.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030798.jpg
We looked across from the Carousel and saw Mickey's Philharmagic. I read about how amazing this show was and how it was a must do. So I figured the girls would probably enjoy it. It was a 20 min wait only because we had just missed getting in to the previous show by a minute! I should have taken this a cue to skip the show. Tink was already showing reservations about going in. Since we were at the front of the line to get in, we were also "forced" to go all the way to the end of the row, even though 2/3 of the theater was empty. As soon as the lights went dark......I could sense Tink getting stressed. By the time the water misted all over us...forget it! She was a crying wreck!!! Belle was quietly freaking out sitting on DH's lap covering her ears and shutting her eyes. I had Tink on my lap and I was trying to hug her tight, while she just let it all out and could not stop crying, loudly! Thankfully as soon as it was over, she stopped and was fine. We couldn't get out of the theater fast enough.

We needed a happy ride now. We made a bee line for It's A Small World. We lucked out and got a front row in the boat which made for great viewing. The girls LOVED this ride. It was so exciting to see them getting so much enjoyment out of it. Tink kept saying "Look mommy!" "Look at that mommy!". She must have said it a hundred times during the ride. So cute.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030809.jpg

Sorry, no good photos of the girls ON the ride!

We then walked by Peter Pan. For fun, we grabbed Fast Passes to use later. We wanted to try the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh first. Who could be afraid of Pooh??? Well, I should have known better. I knew that it was a dark ride. What I didn't know was that we were going to go through a crazy dream sequence!!!! Again, Tink cried and screamed throughout the whole ride!! But once we got off the ride, she was quite right back to normal.

At this point we needed something fun, in daylight, and happy. It was 10:15. Let's go to Mickey's Toontown Fair. There isn't anything scary in there is there??? I had read about the Toontown Hall of Fame. I wanted the girls to meet the Princesses and have the Photopass people take some nice photos of the girls with them. I had prepurchased the CD and wanted to make the most of the photos. We didn't bring out our autograph books because we would see them at our character meals to sign. At 10:15, the line up to see the Princesses was 30 minutes. The line went by really quickly actually. The girls were so excited to see their 3 favourites: Cinderella, Aurora and Belle in her beautiful yellow gown. I told the Photopass people to be sure to snap a bunch of photos since I had already prepurchased and they were happy to oblige.

Here are some of the photos from my photopass CD:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20meets/image025.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20meets/image040.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20meets/image006.jpg


Of course, once you finish visiting the Princesses, you end up in a huge gift shop! I had to pick up a couple of treats and souvenirs here. I tried to limit them with the promise of a big shopping trip to Downtown Disney in a couple of days. It was here that we found our first pressed penny machine at MK!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030821-1.jpg

Next we headed to Minnie's House. It was absolutely colourful, and whimsical in here. Belle loved standing by all the objects in the house to pose for a photo. I think Tink was still recovering from the 2 dark attractions and was in a bit of a mood. But seeing her sister do it, she finally obliged.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030822.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030823.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030828.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030829.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030835.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030836.jpg

Well, now it was time for our Peter Pan fastpasses. You are probably wondering why on earth I would subject my 4 year old on yet another dark ride when I should have gotten it in my head by now that dark rides and Tink do not mix! I THOUGHT that since Tinkerbell is Tink's favourite Disney character, she would get a kick out of looking for her in the Peter Pan ride! Now, it has been 14 years since I went on this ride, and so my memory of the ride is quite clouded. So surprise, surprise......this is just one more dark ride that continues to freak out my Tink....(you should know that both of my girls do not like the dark, and still sleep with a night light). I had no idea that it got completely dark in portions of the ride...we're talking PITCH BLACK!!!

Well, we just about had it with the dark rides and the not so happy experiences thus far! We didn't want to ruin the rest of the trip, and took this as a cue to leave the park and head back to the GF for a snack and a rest. We just picked up some fries from Gasparilla Grill and enjoyed some of the offerings in the lounge. Not a full lunch, but we weren't hungry and knew we had a big early dinner that night at Crystal Palace.

Next: Do the girls nap or swim???

[shoppgirl]

Just joining in, Shopgirl. When I saw your screename, all I could think was "Don't cry Shopgirl, don't cry." :) Is your name from "You've Got Mail"? Or are you really a Shopgirl??

Anyway, what a great start! You all must have been so excited with your "Dream". That must have erased the delays, eh?? Too funny that you didn't get Drizella's joke right away. You MUST have been tired. Hope the rest of the trip went as well. Can't wait for more...

Thanks! Shoppgirl refers to the shopping fiend in me! We are actually going on a quick getaway this weekend to shop in NY! That's all I do! :rotfl2: This Disney trip was the first trip I've taken where I DID NOT shop for myself that is. Just some souvenirs for the girls. It was a strange feeling.....

[shoppgirl]

Great start to your TR. A couple TRs I've been reading are finishing up and I was looking for another good one to follow...looks like yours may fit the bill. ;) Your girls are close in age to what mine will be when they go next year.

Your girls are beautiful. I'm impressed by how well they seem to have held up after such a long travel day.

Can't wait for more. :)

Thanks for joining in. I hope this TR lives up to the others you have been reading. I know there are some really good ones out there!

[coteau_chick]

I just found your trip report and I am really enjoying it. I am happy to subscribe. I can't wait to read more. :thumbsup2

[basketlover]

nice report

[sherreis]

Just found your TR and it's great. Thanks for the pictures - makes a world of difference. Your girls are adorable and I love the dresses they wore on their MK day. Staying at the GR is my dream - and, I couldn't believe you got your dream. Your flight delay was meant to be - it may have gone to someone else. Who knows?

Looking forward to hearing about the rest.

From reading your TR, I think I'm getting up the nerve to post one as well. I've been keeping a journal as we get ready.

I'm looking forward to more pics of GF!

[biggroofy]

Very cool report. I'm glad that you had a wonderful time in GF.

How was Sugar Loaf building in general? Did you hear any noise from monorail?

[shoppgirl]

Just found your TR and it's great. Thanks for the pictures - makes a world of difference. Your girls are adorable and I love the dresses they wore on their MK day. Staying at the GR is my dream - and, I couldn't believe you got your dream. Your flight delay was meant to be - it may have gone to someone else. Who knows?

Looking forward to hearing about the rest.

From reading your TR, I think I'm getting up the nerve to post one as well. I've been keeping a journal as we get ready.

I'm looking forward to more pics of GF!

Thank you! I am extremely lucky to have a mother who knows how to sew! I can't sew for the life of me...even with 2 years of Home Economics classes in middle school! :rotfl2:

[shoppgirl]

Very cool report. I'm glad that you had a wonderful time in GF.

How was Sugar Loaf building in general? Did you hear any noise from monorail?

Thanks. Sugar Loaf was incredible! I loved the small building feel, with all the comforts of the lounge. We are far from the monorail and did not hear it at all. The monorail does pass by right in front of the main building (RPC) but it is so quiet to begin with, I don't think you can hear it at all. We were right across from the main pool, and a short walk to the beach pool where we spent most of our time.

[EMI]

Shopgirl, where did you get those cute dresses for your girls??

I live in TO and am planning a SURPRISE trip for my 2 girls in September. We are actually flying out of Columbus, Ohio (really cheap flight with Southwest). We have family there so we can leave the car at their place and get a ride to the airport. I have all the reservations made and have already started to buy things (trying to hide those things is really hard) for the trip. Any tips of suggestions on buying things here in TO as opposed to WDW??

Thanks for the great story and pictures, hopefully my girls will have a great time. :goodvibes

[Northern Disney Girl]

Hey ShopGirl! Nice to have another TR to read from a fellow Canadian! Just found and loving it so far! Your girls are TOO sweet! Love it! Keep it coming! :cool1:

[Picabo]

Thank you! I am extremely lucky to have a mother who knows how to sew! I can't sew for the life of me...even with 2 years of Home Economics classes in middle school! :rotfl2:

Hmmmm, if your mom wants to make some extra cash....I'd love to have a few of those dresses for my girls!! Any chance she'd take orders??

Melanie

[blabbermouth]

Cuuuuuutest dresses (and kids!) ever! Nice to read a report from a fellow Canadian!

Maybe try some glow-in-the-dark necklaces/bracelets for the girls for the dark rides??

[shoppgirl]

Shopgirl, where did you get those cute dresses for your girls??

I live in TO and am planning a SURPRISE trip for my 2 girls in September. We are actually flying out of Columbus, Ohio (really cheap flight with Southwest). We have family there so we can leave the car at their place and get a ride to the airport. I have all the reservations made and have already started to buy things (trying to hide those things is really hard) for the trip. Any tips of suggestions on buying things here in TO as opposed to WDW??

Thanks for the great story and pictures, hopefully my girls will have a great time. :goodvibes

Thank you. My mom made them for the girls. I will be sure to let her know of the compliments I have received on them! What a great surprise for your girls! There is no doubt that your girls will have a great time. As far as pre purchasing stuff for WDW, we bought the requisite mister fans at wal mart, thermos for keeping our water cold, and the Disney Stores were having amazing sales for little things. But I didn't bother purchasing those. I found that when the girls saw all the cool Disney WORLD items, they wanted THOSE! So I bought them special items you could only get at WDW (ie the Minnie ears, and other cool things you'll see in my trip report later on!). There is also something about getting a souvenir from the shops in WDW, rather than getting little gifts picked up from home....

Hey ShopGirl! Nice to have another TR to read from a fellow Canadian! Just found and loving it so far! Your girls are TOO sweet! Love it! Keep it coming! :cool1:


Thank you...plenty more to come! Keep reading!

Hmmmm, if your mom wants to make some extra cash....I'd love to have a few of those dresses for my girls!! Any chance she'd take orders??

Melanie

I don't know...I mentioned she could earn some money making customs! ::yes:: I'll have to ask her!

Cuuuuuutest dresses (and kids!) ever! Nice to read a report from a fellow Canadian!

Maybe try some glow-in-the-dark necklaces/bracelets for the girls for the dark rides??

That might have been an interesting idea! I'll have to keep that in mind if they ever let me take them on a dark ride again! :lmao:

[shoppgirl]

It was now 1:00 and we were back in our room. I desperately wanted the girls to NAP!! I knew they were still tired after the long travel day with no naps, and then only getting 9 hours of sleep. However, that was a pipe dream! They were too excited still and all they could think of was SWIMMING! Still I said if you're not going to nap, then I must insist you have some "quiet time". So we relaxed in the room, watched the ending of Nemo, and I managed to get a much needed 10 min cat nap!

At 2:00, we donned our swim suits, grabbed our blow up floaty toys (I purchased these inflatable "boats" for the girls to float on from the dollar store with the intention of leaving them behind after the trip) and headed down to the GF's Beach Pool. We loved the Beach Pool because it is a zero-depth entry (good for non swimmers like my girls) with a cool waterfalls and slide (which we never used).

Here are some photos of the GF beach and pool:

You can see the main building of the Grand at the back of this photo
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030848.jpg

Part of the waterfalls, and you can see a little bit of the slide as it enters the pool
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030849.jpg

The left side of the waterfalls, stairs to climb up to the slide, partial beach view
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030850.jpg

The nice cabanas available for rental (at quite reasonable prices compared to the ones I'm used to seeing in Vegas!)
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030851.jpg

Tink and her blue boat...we asked the lifeguards if it would be OK to have pool toys and they said it was fine as long as they weren't huge.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030853.jpg

Belle with her pink boat
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030856.jpg

View of the beach with Big Pine Key in the background
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030858-1.jpg

View of the beach with Polynesian in the background
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030859.jpg

We spent about an hour and a half here. It was HARD to get the girls out of the pool, they were having so much fun. I honestly think this was the best part of the day for them. We had 4:50 ressies at Crystal Palace, so I needed to get the girls out and changed to head back to MK.

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Sounds like you have all of us Canadians Hooked :)
I love the picture of your girls on dumbo!! It looks like something that could be on an add! :) So cute!

[mickeynut1]

Great pics of the GF :goodvibes. Your girls look like they're having so much fun :cutie:.

[froglover2]

Another Canadian!!! Loving your TR!!!

[shoppgirl]

We headed back out around 4:10. We walked back to the main building, up to the second floor and headed to the monorail. But before hopping on, I passed by the Photopass desk (located beside the M. Mouse Mercantile and scheduled a Grand Floridian Photospass portrait session. I had prepurchased my CD and brought along my receipt (VERY IMPORTANT you have proof of purchase to take advantage of the 50% discount for the sitting fee) and so wanted to have some photos of us taken at the hotel. We got onto the monorail, and one stop over was the Magic Kingdom! I love this monorail resort!!!!

It was hot and crowded at this time. The heat and the active "swim" finally took its toll on little Tink, she passed out in her stroller by the time we reached Crystal Palace by 4:35. We parked the stroller and DH stayed with the girls while I went to check in. When I told them my name, SHE COULDN'T FIND MY RESERVATION!!!!!!! :scared1: I was in panic mode and stressed beyond belief! I had all my ADR confirmation #s and times printed out, but I had left it in an envelope that was now sitting in the safe back in our room! (This is now the second time this has happened to me, as you may recall our 1900 PF experience!). After a few stressful seconds (but seemed like minutes to me!), she found my name. It had already been checked in for some reason...they didn't explain. She just gave me a buzzer and told me to stick around close as I would be called soon. I had actually hoped it would be a while as I wanted Tink to nap a little longer. Turns out that my pager wasn't working and they were screaming my name for a while (we were waiting by the stroller parking area for CP, so not too close to the check in window). Finally a CM comes up to me and asks me if I am who I am, and then tells me my table is ready! I had to wake Tink up unfortunately, and that is never a good thing!

We got a table close to the buffet once again in a corner. Great location for seeing everything and still close to the food! I had Tink on my lap being grouchy because I woke her. She wasn't impressed by the characters just yet and said she wouldn't take her photos with them.

However, Piglet came, and who can resist Piglet? Not even a grouchy Tink. She got right up to give him a hug and a smile for the photos!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030862.jpg

Up next was Pooh himself!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030867-1.jpg

I think Tink was coming around now, and being more of her happy self. She was eating, drinking and getting excited by all the soft "furry" characters!

Next came my personal favourite, Eeyore:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030875.jpg

I think the girls absolutely loved how soft and cuddly he was.

I am finally going to post a photo of me now!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030882.jpg

This is DH with Belle:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030884.jpg

As you can see, we're just sitting around now, waiting for Tigger. Waiting, and waiting.......

DH got up to ask the handler when Tigger was coming out. DH relayed to the girls that Tigger was hungry and had to go have something to eat before coming back out again. We waited some more. We paid for our bill and our server said she would personally go back to find Tigger for us if he isn't out soon. But luckily for us, he came out!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/Copy2ofP1030887.jpg

The girls loved the topiaries in the lobby area of Crystal Palace and wanted their photo taken with them:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030890.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030892.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1030889.jpg

With our bellies full it was time to head out and explore a little more Magic Kingdom. We turned towards Adventure Land. The first thing we saw was the Swiss Family Treehouse. We toured this and although I hear so many people say how completely boring this is, the girls enjoyed the climb and all the little displays. Growing up, I used to love watching the TV series, Swiss Family Robinson, so I really enjoyed exploring this tree house. Of course the girls have absolutely NO CLUE who the Swiss Family is.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030901.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030902.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030903.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030908.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030909.jpg

Close to the Treehouse was the Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. Fabulous! A fun ride, outdoors, no need to be scared on this one. That's 2 for 2 now! You can squeeze 4 on a carpet...the front of the carpet controls the height of the carpet, and the rear seat controls the tilt (front/back). The girls had heard about the spitting camels, and I was worried that they may get "spit" on and then proceed to freak. I lied and told the girls that the spit from the camels was actually this little one:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030916.jpg

and that there was not way they would get wet on this ride! :rotfl2:

There was this one camel higher up that did occasionally spit at the guests, but if your magic carpet is high enough, he misses. Belle made sure our carpet stayed at the maximum height!

DH had grabbed fastpasses for us to use on the Jungle Cruise prior to going on the Magic Carpets. So now we had some time to kill (about an hour). We walked back to Fantasy Land to ride the carousel. But when we got there, it was out of order:sad2: We decided to let the girls run around Pooh's Playful Spot (even though it is meant for children 5 and under). Belle thought she was too old in there so she didn't do too much.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030925.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030918.jpg

It was time to head back to Adventure Land to use our FP to the Jungle Cruise. We were 5 minutes early for our FP return time, and they made us WAIT! We went to the nearby pressed penny machine to pass the time. FP are amazing! You feel special walking by all the people who chose to wait in the standby line! :lmao: Now, remember, I haven't been on this ride in 14 years. All I remember about this ride was that I enjoyed the little boat cruise to see all the displays/animals along the shore. Did I know there was a DARK TUNNEL on this ride????????

We started off pretty good on the ride. However it also didn't help that we could hear thunder in the distance! It started getting darker, and darker. And then we saw the CAVE! Are we going IN THERE?!??!?! Do I need to tell you what happened when we did?

Of course, once we got out of the cave, all was well. But now the skies were getting dark, and the thunder and lightning were getting stronger, louder. We headed straight down Main back to the monorail. But to relieve any guilt I felt for making my poor babies go on that miserable ride, I promised to buy them their most desired Minnie wedding ears. Does anybody else have 4 and 6 year old girls who are obsessed with weddings???????? I found them on a gift cart right by the exit. We paid for them and then ran to the monorail. Avoiding all those coming from the monorail and into the park. Not an easy task. We made it in good time and were safely inside a train when the rain started.

I wanted to take a photo (we were in the Main Building just inside from the monorail station) of the girls in their wedding ears (hopefully I won't be seeing the real thing for MANY, MANY years to come! :rotfl2:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030938.jpg

We walked back to Sugar Loaf just in time for their dessert offerings. YUM-O! We were actually back in the room by 8:10 now. A nice early end to our day. I was happy that the girls were able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour tonight and both were passed out by 9:30. I fell asleep too at the same time, but only to be woken by the kaboom of Wishes!

Next up: Will we frighten our poor girls on any more dark rides, or did we learn our lesson yet??

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love your report!

Don't you just hate how much it costs to fly out of Canada?! :headache: We do the same as you and fly out of the States but from Syracuse.

How wonderful to win a dream and get upgraded to concierge! The rooms at the GF are so lovely. :cloud9:

Glad you were able to get into 1900 Park Fare for dinner. I loved eating there, did you try the strawberry soup?

How sweet that the girls got to dance with Cinderella. :goodvibes

That is too bad about the girls not liking the dark rides. :guilty:

[sherreis]

Love your update and your girls are so photogenic. And, I still love the dresses! I have boys so I can't sew cute things for them :sad2: Hopefully, in a few years we'll be able to take our granddaughter to land of magic. I will sew up a storm for her and I can't wait.

Looking forward to hearing about your next day and I hope you don't run into any dark rides.

[Rlbren]

You have the cutest little girls.:) I love their dresses. I'm so happy that you got a magical moment and was upgraded to conceige level. What a wonderful memory for your daughters 1st trip. :goodvibes Keep the report coming.

[Picabo]

I am TOTALLY loving your TR. It's one of my fave I've ever read! I admit, however, that alot has to do with the fact that your girls remind me of my own girls...close in age, etc. They are just so adorable! Love the wedding ear picture. TOOOO adorable!

Tell me about the sitting fee for Photo Pass? Is this something separate you do at the hotels? What is the sitting fee for? I thought with the pass it allows you to have any photographer take your picture? I sure hope you will share your photopass pix with us at some point!!! (-:

Do you think CP or 1900PF was better for dinner? PLEASE tell me if you did the Norway storybook princess meal? I'm in suspense waiting to read more!

Thanks for sharing!

[MainStMandy]

OMG I love that the girls love Weddings! They are just too cute. AND I love those cabanas at GF...do you know much they were?

[SuAnne]

Oh...reading your report is getting me so excited about our trip. We leave a week from today! I just loved taking my daughter to Disney when she was the ages your daughters are. She is 15 now and still loves going though:lovestruc

[pl'smama]

What a great TR Shopgirl!! I am loving it! You have a beautiful family and the dresses your mom made are just lovely. I am so happy that you made Park Faire on your first day. My DD was almost five when she to was chosen to share Cinderella's first dance. It was the highlight of my trip and the photos of it make me vaklemp every time!

The photo of your girls in their wedding ears is priceless! My five year old is some what obsessed about all things dealing with love and marriage. It is a bit scary, but hopefully harmless!

I can't wait to see and read the rest of your TR!

Suz

[Picabo]

SO it seems like you get a lot done even with coming back to the hotel in the day AND getting back to the hotel early at night, right? That gives me some hope! I'll be staying at Poly and plan to do pretty much what you've done but wondered how much we'd really be able to see in the evenings if I try to get them back to the hotel by 8-830p. I dont' want too many "late" nights b/c of course then you pay for it the next day! haha You covered a lot of ground after your CP dinner and still made it back to the GF at a decent time! BRAVO!

[shoppgirl]

I love your report!

Don't you just hate how much it costs to fly out of Canada?! :headache: We do the same as you and fly out of the States but from Syracuse.

How wonderful to win a dream and get upgraded to concierge! The rooms at the GF are so lovely. :cloud9:

Glad you were able to get into 1900 Park Fare for dinner. I loved eating there, did you try the strawberry soup?

How sweet that the girls got to dance with Cinderella. :goodvibes

That is too bad about the girls not liking the dark rides. :guilty:


Thanks! I heard so much about this strawberry soup and made a mental note to try it! However, I was pretty much caught up in the moment of what was going on in the dining room and making sure my girls were eating, that I neglected to look for this soup for myself and just grabbed whatever was closest to me at the time! Oh well, I guess this just means I HAVE to go back! :goodvibes

Love your update and your girls are so photogenic. And, I still love the dresses! I have boys so I can't sew cute things for them :sad2: Hopefully, in a few years we'll be able to take our granddaughter to land of magic. I will sew up a storm for her and I can't wait.

Looking forward to hearing about your next day and I hope you don't run into any dark rides.

Thank you! It is wonderful that you are talented at sewing! I wish I could say the same...my mom has tried to teach me, but I guess I am just not a good student!:lmao:

You have the cutest little girls.:) I love their dresses. I'm so happy that you got a magical moment and was upgraded to conceige level. What a wonderful memory for your daughters 1st trip. :goodvibes Keep the report coming.

Thanks, I still have 4 more days to report so please keep reading!

OMG I love that the girls love Weddings! They are just too cute. AND I love those cabanas at GF...do you know much they were?

I am not a GF expert and I'm sure the ladies over on the GF resort thread would have the exact details as to the cost of the rentals. But I THINK the cost of reserving them is $60 for a half day, $100 for a full day. I thought it would be nice to have one too, but as it turns out we could only have at most 1-1.5 hours outside each afternoon. Plus my girls aren't strong swimmers, so we had to be in the pool WITH them, and that would have been a waste of a cabana for us! :goodvibes

Oh...reading your report is getting me so excited about our trip. We leave a week from today! I just loved taking my daughter to Disney when she was the ages your daughters are. She is 15 now and still loves going though:lovestruc

Lucky you to be going so soon! Have a great trip! I hope my girls will still love WDW at that age too....my 6 year old said she wanted to go back "next week" at the end of our trip! :rotfl:

What a great TR Shopgirl!! I am loving it! You have a beautiful family and the dresses your mom made are just lovely. I am so happy that you made Park Faire on your first day. My DD was almost five when she to was chosen to share Cinderella's first dance. It was the highlight of my trip and the photos of it make me vaklemp every time!

The photo of your girls in their wedding ears is priceless! My five year old is some what obsessed about all things dealing with love and marriage. It is a bit scary, but hopefully harmless!

I can't wait to see and read the rest of your TR!

Suz

Thanks! I am sure the dance was also one of the highlights for the girls. I caught some video of it on my camera. I was so happy for them for the experience.

[shoppgirl]

I am TOTALLY loving your TR. It's one of my fave I've ever read! I admit, however, that alot has to do with the fact that your girls remind me of my own girls...close in age, etc. They are just so adorable! Love the wedding ear picture. TOOOO adorable!

Tell me about the sitting fee for Photo Pass? Is this something separate you do at the hotels? What is the sitting fee for? I thought with the pass it allows you to have any photographer take your picture? I sure hope you will share your photopass pix with us at some point!!! (-:

Do you think CP or 1900PF was better for dinner? PLEASE tell me if you did the Norway storybook princess meal? I'm in suspense waiting to read more!

Thanks for sharing!

That is so kind of you to say. I am really glad that people find my report entertaining. It certainly is fun to re-live every special moment.

As for the Grand Floridian Photopass shoot...there are some hotels that offer this (as far as I know, GF does and I think even the Polynesian too!) and they have a photopass photographer take you around the hotel and take lots of pictures of you. Thus they charge you a sitting fee, which is regularly $50. Any photos she/he takes goes onto a photopass account (the same one you use while in the parks). If you prepurchased the CD and bring proof, they will only charge you $25 for the sitting fee. Our photographer only took 39 pictures of us, all outside on the GF grounds. It had just rained big time over night, so the grounds and the beach were still wet/damp, and my daughter was being difficult about the dampness from the sand and grass. We couldn't get any nice "sitting on the grass" photos done :mad: DD4 just about had enough of all the smiling too, so we had to cut it short. I had 39 from this shoot, and with all the cropping and borders added to it, I doubled the number of pictures to over 80 from the GF alone! I just ordered the CD and hopefully I will get it soon and then I'll update this trip report with my added photopass pics, so be sure to check back!

In terms of the PF or CP dinner buffets, I enjoyed the food much more at 1900! Plus it was Cinderella. Although I love Pooh and friends, I didn't find the food and desserts quite as good as PF. If I could only do one of those, I would choose PF. But if I could do both, then for sure, go for it! I will have to leave you in suspense as to where else we dined! :lmao:

SO it seems like you get a lot done even with coming back to the hotel in the day AND getting back to the hotel early at night, right? That gives me some hope! I'll be staying at Poly and plan to do pretty much what you've done but wondered how much we'd really be able to see in the evenings if I try to get them back to the hotel by 8-830p. I dont' want too many "late" nights b/c of course then you pay for it the next day! haha You covered a lot of ground after your CP dinner and still made it back to the GF at a decent time! BRAVO!

That's why we chose the GF or more importantly, a monorail resort. We came back to the hotel every day mid day. We also called it a night really early every night. We missed all Spectromagics, Illuminations, Wishes. The crowds that lined up for Spectro scared me quite honestly. We were stuck at the MK on day 3 until 8:45 and it was hard weaving our way down Main to get to the monorail! I couldn't imagine what it's like AFTER!! I will wait until my girls are OLDER before we do the late night parades and shows. Remember our CP dinner was at 4:50, so we were done dinner by 6:15 and we had 2 hours still at the park. Another plus for the monorail resorts is that it took us only 10 min MAX to get to and from the parks.

[shoppgirl]

We had the alarm set for 7:00 because today was our Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (BBB) day!! I packed the girls' costumes that I had purchased from the Disney Store at home. Belle had chosen to purchase the Belle dress from their Spring line at full price :scared1: I NEVER buy these things at full price, but I had to let it go this time to ensure that she got the dress she wanted for this trip (larger sizes seem harder to find at the local stores). I was SO LUCKY to find Tink's Tinkerbell costume from the same store in the clearance rack for $7!!!!! Unfortunately I could not find Tinkerbell shoes for her, and I was not willing to pay full price for them to only be worn for a few short hours. I did buy her lime green fake crocs to wear if she wanted but she refused to and kept to her pink mary jane crocs.

DH went down to the lounge and brought up a tray with our breakfast to tie us over until our Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast at 10:00. The girls got dressed into their outfits. I thought it would be easiest if they arrived at the BBB already dressed. This was a great idea in hindsight because we got great pictures of the girls in their costumes inside the park by photopass people while the park still appeared empty!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030942.jpg

We left for MK by 8:00. When we got to the monorail station at the GF I thought we could try to sit in the front with the driver. Being so early in the morning, I thought our chances might be good today! And sure enough, it was empty so we asked if we could sit up front. The only unfortunate thing about this morning's ride was that there was something wrong with the climate control settings in the front...the only options were freezing cold A/C or boiling hot heat. Guess which one the driver chose?!? Because it was SO COLD inside the car, the entire front glass was covered in condensation and we couldn't see a thing! I commented on it to the driver, and he said he didn't need to see where he was going! :scared1:

We entered the Magic Kingdom and this is what we saw:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030943.jpg

We found some photopass photographers hanging out on Main St so we stopped them for some photos all along the way. My Photopass CD is in transit with UPS as I type (last time I checked, it was in Kentucky!). I will most defintely be adding the photopass pictures once I get them, so please feel free to review some of the posts once I do! But here are some from my camera:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030945.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030948.jpg

I did manage to get this shot of the girls as they walked up to the castle:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030949.jpg

I screamed out "hold hands" after I told them to run up towards the castle:lmao:

Our BBB apointment was for 8:30. When we got there, we were promptly checked in and the girls were given personal invitations which were basically pamphlets with the 3 different hairstyles they could choose from. We waited 5 minutes and then they were ready for us. They could both go in at the same time, and I was really hoping they would have a chair side by side. Luckily they did! DH and I were able to sit on the bench and just watch and enjoy both of their transformations at the same time. As a side note, normally my girls hate to have their hair done. Tink tolerates it, and Belle internally loathes it, but knows better than to complain to me about it. They refuse to go to a salon to have a professional cut their hair. So I was extremely surprised they were willing to have a "stranger"/Fairy Godmother in Training do their hair. But I guess they were willing to go through anything to look like a princess!

Here are some photos from the experience:

Time to gel up the hair!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030961.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030966.jpg

Choosing the eyeshadow
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030974.jpg

Crowning Princess Belle
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030980.jpg

Here comes the Fairy Dust
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030983.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030989.jpg

The Princess transformations are done!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030991.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/P1030986.jpg

Once again, the photopass photographer was all over the girls and took tons of pics. I told her we had preordered, so I welcomed a lot of pictures. She also gave me a brochure with the information for the portrait session at Exposition Hall, which I had definitely planned to do later on.

The girls were given little gift bags at the end with the left over make up (6 eyeshadows, 6 lipglosses and a blush), the leftover face jewels, and 2 bottles of nailpolish. They also got stickers. We were done by 9:15.

We took our little Princesses to FantasyLand to go on some rides as we had about an hour before our Cinderella's Round Table (CRT) breakfast at 10:00. We walked right on to the Carousel again.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030996.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030998.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030999.jpg

Our next ride, and a favourite, It's A Small World. We walked right onto this ride again and we were also the ONLY ONES in our boat. There was nobody behind us, and some people way ahead of us, so I snapped away with my camera without worrying my flash would irritate other passengers. Once again, I heard "Look Mommy"..."Look at that Mommy!" a hundred times, but that's OK!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040012.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040013.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040018.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040024.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040030.jpg

After this ride, we walked on over to the Mad Tea Party's spinning cups!! We practically walked onto this ride too! DH and I are NOT fans of spinning rides, but of course the girls get a kick out of this ride. So of course, being the wonderful, self sacrificing parents that we are, we endure.

By now, it was almost 10:00 so we walked towards the castle in great anticipation of our Princess breakfast in the Magic Kingdom Castle!!!!

Up next: Cinderella's Round Table

[sherreis]

What a great morning! And, another time that I wish I had girls. They looked like they were concentrating on what was being done and they look like princesses. Glad you got such a good deal on Tink's dress - great job. I guess that's why you're "shopgirl."

[Northern Disney Girl]

What a great TR! :thumbsup2 Thanks so much shopgirl! I am on pins and needles waiting for your review of Cinderella's Royal Table! :yay: We are having breakfast there in January! I am very excited to see my 2 little princesses with their fave - Cinderella! :)

[Rlbren]

WOW! I miss having a little girl to do stuff for. My "princess" is 18 now. It makes me tear up:sad1: to think back on our wonderful disney vacations. Once more your little "princesses" are beautiful.:flower3: princess: Enjoy every minute as it goes by in a blink of an eye.

[coteau_chick]

Your pictures are just beautiful. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the one of the girls running to the castle holding hands.

[photolover]

I am from Toronto, ON and love readding your report. We're leaving in 10 days!!! :cool1: Your two dds are too cute!!! I love the dresses your mom made for them. I have 2 dds (5 and 7) and I am having trouble finding comfortable Disney-themed dresses for them locally (any ideas where I can find some???) All I have are princess costumes!!! Talking about costume, I am wondering which Disney store you got your Tink costume for $7 because I just paid the full-price tag $40 for 2 of them two weeks ago at the Disney store @ Square One (it was from the Clearance rack but no red tag on it!) :mad: :mad: :mad: I am going to see if I can have some price adjustment tomorrow.

I couldn't wait to read the rest of your trip report, hopefully before I leave so I can learn a few tips from yours since our girls are similar in age. Thanks!

[shoppgirl]

What a great morning! And, another time that I wish I had girls. They looked like they were concentrating on what was being done and they look like princesses. Glad you got such a good deal on Tink's dress - great job. I guess that's why you're "shopgirl."

You guessed it right. I do love to shop, but only for a GREAT bargain! My MIL always tells me how great a shopper I am because I can find really nice stuff cheap!:rotfl:

What a great TR! :thumbsup2 Thanks so much shopgirl! I am on pins and needles waiting for your review of Cinderella's Royal Table! :yay: We are having breakfast there in January! I am very excited to see my 2 little princesses with their fave - Cinderella! :)

That's great you are going in Jan. You will definitely love it...the atmosphere, the princesses and even the food were all great. My review of CRT will come tonight!

WOW! I miss having a little girl to do stuff for. My "princess" is 18 now. It makes me tear up:sad1: to think back on our wonderful disney vacations. Once more your little "princesses" are beautiful.:flower3: princess: Enjoy every minute as it goes by in a blink of an eye.

Thank you! I tell myself that every day. I really do miss my babies, but I love seeing them grow and mature into young ladies every day.

Your pictures are just beautiful. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the one of the girls running to the castle holding hands.

Yes, that is a favourite photo of mine...reminds me of some of the photos I see in the WDW commercials/brochures! :goodvibes

I am from Toronto, ON and love readding your report. We're leaving in 10 days!!! :cool1: Your two dds are too cute!!! I love the dresses your mom made for them. I have 2 dds (5 and 7) and I am having trouble finding comfortable Disney-themed dresses for them locally (any ideas where I can find some???) All I have are princess costumes!!! Talking about costume, I am wondering which Disney store you got your Tink costume for $7 because I just paid the full-price tag $40 for 2 of them two weeks ago at the Disney store @ Square One (it was from the Clearance rack but no red tag on it!) :mad: :mad: :mad: I am going to see if I can have some price adjustment tomorrow.

I couldn't wait to read the rest of your trip report, hopefully before I leave so I can learn a few tips from yours since our girls are similar in age. Thanks!

That is really cool you're leaving in 10 days (and enjoying FREE DINING!?!?) Have you tried eBay for customs??? I bought the fabric and pattern from Walmart (they are the only stores I know that carry Disney prints locally) and got my mom (or you could find a local seamstress) to make it for me.

I shop at the Sq One Disney store too. I found the Tinkerbell costume on a clearance rounder at the store during Easter.

Thanks for reading...I will be posting CRT tonight!

[nrod]

Shopgirl, I can totally relate to the shopping vacation. I'm always up for that! Unfortunately, my husband finds it a total waste of time! :rotfl2: Have a great time in NYC!!

Your girls look like they were having so much fun. And the princess day was priceless - before BBB and after. Having 2 boys I only get to experience these things through TRs (my guys insist they "hate the princesses"). The girls looked beautiful.

Regarding the wedding thing...my husband & I dated for almost 8 years. His neice was the one who put the most pressure on us about getting married. She was about 18 months old when we started dating. I think she was about 3 when she turned to her mother and said "I guess some people NEVER get married. " She was all about our wedding. When we finally did get married, we HAD to have her in our wedding - she was a flower girl, even though she was getting a bit old. But she had waited SO long! :) So it's not just your little ones!

Can't wait for your next update!

[shoppgirl]

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040045.jpg

It's time for our breakfast with the Princesses! We walked back to the castle to check in for our 10:00 ADR for Cinderella's Royal Table. After a minute of waiting outside, we were led inside the castle to line up for our meeting with Cinderella herself! This is a photo looking up at the castle and the dining room windows.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040044.jpg

Here we are walking into the castle to line up:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040046.jpg

I was only able to convince Belle to pose with the Knight's suit of armour:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040047.jpg

We waited for about 15 minutes or so while the line filled in behind us. We were about the 4th group in line already. Finally, it was Cinderella herself who appeared! She posed for photographs with each of the groups. With the CRT dining, you get a souvenir photo of the castle and the photo taken with Cinderella in 8X10 formats, and then you get 4 additional 4X6s. She was prepared to sign autographs too, but we already had her sign our books on the first night. As soon as we had our photo taken, we were called to go upstairs!

On our way up the winding staircase to the dining room, I took a photo of what it looks like at the Cinderella greeting spot:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040048.jpg

We were the second group to be seated. It appears as though they have blocks of diners as 3/4 of the restaurant was empty, waiting for the next "wave" of diners to come in. All the window tables were empty. I was thinking to myself how wonderful it would be if we got seated at one of these coveted window tables!!!!

The spray of Pixie Dust continues to follow us as we were seated right next to the window!!! Yippee!! We weren't right in the centre, but that's OK...we still had a nice view out the window into Fantasyland and the carousel:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040090.jpg

Photo of inside the castle's dining room:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040057.jpg

We had a very attentive server and he immediately introduced himself with some coffee. We already had a carafe of orange juice on the table. He then brought out the fruit plate and a basket of danishes/breads.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040064.jpg

For our meals, I believe (I forgot to take a picture!) the girls had a set entree plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast. Here is a photo of the adult entree:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040070.jpg

The food was enjoyable. Unfortunately the sausages are spicy! Belle loves sausage, but she couldn't enjoy any of the ones served at WDW as they were all spicy!

We were visited by a wave of princesses. They all came out pretty quickly. Once again, the interaction was limited because the girls were still shy about conversing with them, but they certainly loved getting their books signed and photos taken. All the princesses commented on how lovely the girls outfits were. Especially Belle's dress. Most of them said that Belle must have been in Princess Belle's closet that morning borrowing her gown! And Jasmine commented that Tink didn't need to use Jasmine's magic carpet to get to MK since she had her own wings.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040074.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040079.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040085.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040096.jpg

After the princesses made their rounds at the table, they did a special "Make a Wish" (or something like that!) ceremony. The children were encouraged to wave their wands/swords in the air and there were flashing lights everywhere. For a keepsake the girls got wands and a plastic star that says "Make a Wish" (I think! I have to go double check that!).

We had an enjoyable breakfast and it was a real treat for the girls to meet the rest of their favourite princesses. It was time to head back out and make our way down to Exposition Hall for our photography session.

Be sure to check back next week for my Photopass pics! The CD will be delivered on the 18th according to UPS! :banana:

Next: It's too HOT!!!

[Northern Disney Girl]

Wow! What awesome pictures! I am now more excited than ever for our Breakfast with the Princesses! My girls are going to love it! :) The food looks quite yummy! :yay:

[pl'smama]

Great update Shopgirl! Your DD's are so sweet and they looked wonderful in their costumes. I can't wait to see your photopass pics!

Suz:lovestruc

[Grace and Mickey]

HI I just had to read your TR when I saw the title " a trip to the happiest place on earth" that how I feel about WDW too!!! I love reading about mothers taking their children to WDW for the first time. It brings tears to my eyes and happiness to my heart, when I read about the excitment of the children annd enjoyment of the parents as they experiece the joy of making memories with their children.

I was not able to take my 2 daughters to WDW when they where little, it was always a dream of mine but it just was not able to happen.
But in 2006 I was able to take them They where 29 and 25 and it was the most magiicial time of our lives. My husband and #1 daughter husband and #2 daughter Boyfriend went too. I think about that trip every day. We also eat at CRT for dinner, Daughter #2 got proposed to during dinner. And we have Minnie bridial ears too.

Your girls are so beautiful in the princess dress, I like their matching travel dresses too. I looking forward to reading more of your TR. Thanks for sharing it. It put lots of happiness in my heart.

[shoppgirl]

Shopgirl, I can totally relate to the shopping vacation. I'm always up for that! Unfortunately, my husband finds it a total waste of time! :rotfl2: Have a great time in NYC!!

Your girls look like they were having so much fun. And the princess day was priceless - before BBB and after. Having 2 boys I only get to experience these things through TRs (my guys insist they "hate the princesses"). The girls looked beautiful.

Regarding the wedding thing...my husband & I dated for almost 8 years. His neice was the one who put the most pressure on us about getting married. She was about 18 months old when we started dating. I think she was about 3 when she turned to her mother and said "I guess some people NEVER get married. " She was all about our wedding. When we finally did get married, we HAD to have her in our wedding - she was a flower girl, even though she was getting a bit old. But she had waited SO long! :) So it's not just your little ones!

Can't wait for your next update!

Just got back from a power shopping trip to Central Valley (hit the Woodbury Common Outlets!) Got some great stuff too!

That's too funny about your husband's niece! My girls would love to be flower girls too one day and wear those beautiful dresses!

Wow! What awesome pictures! I am now more excited than ever for our Breakfast with the Princesses! My girls are going to love it! :) The food looks quite yummy! :yay:

You have every reason to be excited for your breakfast! The food was most definitely yummy. There is no doubt your girls will have a magical time with all the Princesses!

Great update Shopgirl! Your DD's are so sweet and they looked wonderful in their costumes. I can't wait to see your photopass pics!

Suz:lovestruc

Thanks! I will be downloading my photopass pics as I just got them today.

HI I just had to read your TR when I saw the title " a trip to the happiest place on earth" that how I feel about WDW too!!! I love reading about mothers taking their children to WDW for the first time. It brings tears to my eyes and happiness to my heart, when I read about the excitment of the children annd enjoyment of the parents as they experiece the joy of making memories with their children.

I was not able to take my 2 daughters to WDW when they where little, it was always a dream of mine but it just was not able to happen.
But in 2006 I was able to take them They where 29 and 25 and it was the most magiicial time of our lives. My husband and #1 daughter husband and #2 daughter Boyfriend went too. I think about that trip every day. We also eat at CRT for dinner, Daughter #2 got proposed to during dinner. And we have Minnie bridial ears too.

Your girls are so beautiful in the princess dress, I like their matching travel dresses too. I looking forward to reading more of your TR. Thanks for sharing it. It put lots of happiness in my heart.

Thank you for your kind words. It was most definitely a dream come true for me to bring my little girls to this magical place. It's never too late to visit Disney and I am sure your first family trip was equally as magical as mine was. I would think even moreso since your DD#2 got engaged at the castle!!! How wonderful is that?!

[shoppgirl]

We finished our lovely breakfast and decided to head out down Main St towards Exposition Hall. It was about 11:30 or so now and thus it was majorly HOT and crowded in the parks. As we walked down we passed a Photopass photographer who could take photos with the castle in the background. I really wanted a picture of the family and just the girls all dressed up with the castle. I am most positive the girls were in absolutely no mood for posing and smiling, especially with the sun high in the sky and shining in their faces. But they were little troopers and agreed to it, forced smiles and all!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/image223.jpg

Poor Belle's dress had a huge skirt and it was making her incredibly hot, so we walked as quickly as we could down Main towards Expo Hall. We ducked into some stores along the way to cool off. There were masses of people arriving at the park walking in the opposite direction, so that made it a little tricky walking down!

We finally made it to Exposition Hall, and a CM who saw the girls all dressed up from the BBB, directed us to the back of the store where they were taking the photos. When we arrived there was a group taking photos, and another group already in line, so we were now 3rd in line. It was good the girls got to see the little ones ahead of us so they knew what to expect. We probably waited all of 10-15 minutes before it was our turn. Here are a few photos from the session:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/image227.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/image251.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/image290.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/image258.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/image300.jpg
We all agreed that we should go one one more ride before heading back to the resort. The Walt Disney Railroad station was right beside the Expo Hall so we waited for a train to come. We actually just missed the train so rather than wait at the ride we went for a short walk up Main St to stop for some ice cream at the ice cream shop.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040116.jpg

After an ice cream treat, we went back to line up for the railroad. We timed it well because as soon as we got there, the train pulled in!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040123.jpg

It was a fun ride (no dark parts!!:lmao: ) When the train returned to the Main St station, we got off and heard that the Family Day parade was about to start. So we pulled up some chairs for a great view from the station platform overlooking Main Street.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040126.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040137.jpg

This was the ONLY parade we saw our entire trip!!!! :lmao:

Now it was really getting hot and we promised our girls we would head back to the resort. Even though I had paid tons of money for their princess up-do, they wanted to go in the pool!!! :scared1:

We decided to take the boat back to the resort. It was a pleasant ride and the girls enjoyed their first boat ride ever.

Up Next: An afternoon at the GF

[sherreis]

You accomplished so much this day. I love that when you were planning to leave, it was "let's do 1 more thing." The girls were princesses for a day and it was all so worth it. Please explain Exposition Hall - haven't heard of that before. Your photopass pics came out terrific - Belle just looks so sweet.

[mickeynut1]

I love the photopass pics.....your girls are just darling :cutie:.

[sammi]

Your pictures are just priceless!!!:lovestruc

What lovely memories you've made for your whole family!:thumbsup2

[pl'smama]

The BBB photos of your little girls are just beautiful! They look so happy and relaxed and the princess hair do suits them both so well.

Can't wait for more...

Suz

[tinkerbell*Xo]

I love those photo pass pictures! They take those on main st? Ive never seen that!! they are absolutly beautiful!!! :)

Can't wait to hear more!

[disneymomof1]

Loving your trip report and your daughters are so cute. I love your magic kingdom dresses, I always buy homemade disney boutique dresses for our trips. It brings even more magic to the trip when people comment on her beautiful clothes. Last year at Epcot I had a lady following me begging me to tell me where I got my daughters Ariel dress, I told her I made it ( I didn't but she didn't need to know that, it was made by someone on ebay.) :)

Your pictures are very clear and sharp, what kind of camera do you use? I am in the market for a new one.

Can't wait to read more !!!

[Picabo]

My GOSH that pix of the girls are amazing. My fave, of course, is the one in front of the castle. You can't even tell they were sweltering hot and faking the smiles! What naturals in front of the camera!!!

Please DO tell us mroe about Expo Hall? I've been to Disney at least 25 times and never heard of it. (Although haven't been since 2000... :confused3 )

ALSO....do you have to do the BBB in order to get those special posed photos that were in Expo Hall?? I won't be doing it on our trip b/c my youngest won't be 3 yet...and I don't want to have the older one do it and leave the younger one out. But just wondering if they will do it in regular clothes or if you have to be all dolled up.

Can't wait to read more! I'm loving every minute of it! :love:

[Bev J]

I am soooo enjoying your report! Your girls are just adorable! Thanks so very much for putting the links to each installment, it makes the report so easy to read. I will sure be comming back to read the rest.

Bev

[shoppgirl]

.....Please explain Exposition Hall - haven't heard of that before. Your photopass pics came out terrific - Belle just looks so sweet.

......Please DO tell us mroe about Expo Hall? I've been to Disney at least 25 times and never heard of it. (Although haven't been since 2000... :confused3 )

ALSO....do you have to do the BBB in order to get those special posed photos that were in Expo Hall?? I won't be doing it on our trip b/c my youngest won't be 3 yet...and I don't want to have the older one do it and leave the younger one out. But just wondering if they will do it in regular clothes or if you have to be all dolled up.

Can't wait to read more! I'm loving every minute of it! :love:

In response to the Town Square Exposition Hall inquiries, it is located at the very front entrance to the Magic Kingdom, on your right. It's like a camera center and they sell all things associated with cameras/photography. There is also a portrait studio type of thing (it's really set up in a gazebo with a blue blackdrop and there is that lounge chair as a prop). A photopass photographer is stationed there at all times and is available to take photopass photos for you. There is no obligation to buy, but if you have prepurchased the photopass CD, it is well worth it to do for sure. Or you can buy separate sheets of photos (just like a studio).

No appointments are needed. I am almost positive anyone can come in and get a portrait session done, whether you have been to BBB or not. I saw a boy and girl sibling pair do the photoshoot...only the sister had done BBB, but the photographer had both of them posing together. You can always bring a little prop for your youngest (a wand, crown, etc) to hold/wear if she isn't doing BBB. Or bring a princess dress for her to put on for the pictures with her older sister.

I gave the photographer my photopass card and she took a lot of photos of the girls individually and together and then handed my card back to me. That was it! I came home, ordered my CD and got it in 3 business days!


Loving your trip report and your daughters are so cute. I love your magic kingdom dresses, I always buy homemade disney boutique dresses for our trips. It brings even more magic to the trip when people comment on her beautiful clothes. Last year at Epcot I had a lady following me begging me to tell me where I got my daughters Ariel dress, I told her I made it ( I didn't but she didn't need to know that, it was made by someone on ebay.) :)

Your pictures are very clear and sharp, what kind of camera do you use? I am in the market for a new one.

Can't wait to read more !!!

Thanks. I saw so many beautiful customs little girls were wearing on the trip reports I read, and I thought it would be great if I could my girls to wear some too. I just wish we had the huge selection of Disney prints up here...they are very limited. Anyways, we use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 camera (it's about 3 years old now). It works well for us. I love Panasonic digi cameras...we have owned a Fuji and Minolta prior to this one, and I am very pleased with the Panasonic.

[shoppgirl]

As soon as we got to our room, the girls ripped their (not literally of course!) princess costumes off. It was that HOT! I knew better than to ask them to nap (why waste time napping when you're at the most magical place on earth???). They threw their swim suits on, grabbed their little boats, and we walked down to the Beach Pool again for another play time in the cool water. I think this time we spent only an hour and a half. The girls are not swimmers, they are just splashers and frolickers in the pool at this point. So they never got their princess hair too wet!

We went back to the room after our pool time to change and relax in some cool surroundings. I was able to "save" Belle's hair and pin some of the loose strands back up. My 4 and 6 year old then proceeded to freshen up their makeup! I couldn't believe what I had to witness for the next 30 minutes!! I thought I still had some time before I had to deal with this:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040141.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040142.jpg

Such concentration!!!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040144.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040148.jpg


:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :lmao: :lmao:

After I was able to pry them away from that mirror and put their makeup back in their bags, I convinced them to go for a walk around the resort. We needed to pick up more autographs books since the first ones were already full and we still had the Wonderland Tea Party and Chef Mickey's to get to.

I took some photos of the Grand Floridian on our walk:

Let's grab a drink first!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040149.jpg

View outside Sugar Loaf of the Courtyard Pool

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040201.jpg

Inside the Main building just outside the Grand Floridian Cafe:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040198.jpg

An interesting bird cage:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040196.jpg

For those of you interested in doing the Perfectly Princess Tea Party at GF:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040195.jpg

The pianist was performing at this time:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040190.jpg

Enjoying the lovely piano music at the Grand Floridian:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040187.jpg

It was time to have a bite to eat so we just grabbed some food and ate in the comfort of our room.

It was still early, so we decided to end our day back at Magic Kingdom. We hopped onto the monorail around 6:40. We hadn't explored Tomorrowland yet, so we decided to head over there. On the way, we got the girls some yummy Mickey head ice cream sandwiches! We grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear (I know, another dark ride!). I really thought they would get a kick out of the interactive ride. It doesn't get pitch black in there does it???? While waiting, we saw the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (back in my day, I believe we called this the People Mover!). That LOOKED like another harmless ride.....for those of you who know this ride, you're probably thinking by now that I'm a horrible mother for doing it yet again to my girls!!!! But again, I have to say, it has been FOURTEEN years since I went on this ride!!!!!!!! I had no clue what it was about. You see, we started off pretty happy:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040209.jpg

Well....half of this ride took place IN THE DARK!!!!!! When we travelled through Space Mountain...forget it! Tink was a crying, sobbing, mess. I was never happier when this ride was finally over.

I think you can probably guess by now that we never made to Buzz Lightyear! :lmao:

We left Tomorrowland and headed to happier places: Toontown Fair. We walked through Mickey's House this time:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040213.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040219.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040215.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040226.jpg

We wanted to leave Magic Kingdom with a happy experience, so we headed back to Fantasy Land for our faves: Tea Cups and Carousel.

It was getting dark now, and close to the 9:00 Spectromagic parade. We were not going to stay for it, but needed to head back to the resort. It was 8:45 and already the crowds lining Main St was unbelieveable. Luckily, we could still navigate our way on the street, as the sidewalks were jammed pack, 4 or 5 deep.

We took the boat ride back to the resort. On our way back, I saw the Water parade floats go by to start the Electrical Water Pageant. I asked the driver of our boat about the parade and thought we could catch it the next evening. We needed to get the girls back to the room to shower and wash out their hair...they refused to sleep in it and couldn't wait to get it all out and loose again! Oh well, at least they kept it for the whole day! :rotfl:

Up Next: Epcot morning...PLEASE no more dark rides Mommy!

[sherreis]

Thanks for the info on Expo. Hall. I have to start thinking about what they can wear on our MK days. We can get these instead of school pics for this year - they'll probably come out much better.

when you started talking about TTA, I started to cringe and was like "no, not again." It's been a long time since I was on it but I remember it going through Space Mountain - that's as close as you'll ever get me to that thing. Looking forward to hearing about Epcot. And, I was thinking about asking you about your camera as well - we're hopefully buying a new one in the next week or 2 and the Panasonic Lumix TZ5 is on my list, but, DH for some reason, doesn't want Panasonic. :confused3

[sammi]

shoppgirl I am sooo loving your tr!:hug:

Can you please explain more about the prepaid photopass that you talk about.....cost how many pics etc?:)

[Picabo]

I'm having SO much fun reading about this trip! Your girls are just PRECIOUS!

So have you been at teh park (MK) now 2 days? I'm a bit confused as to how much time has gone by. Or was that just day 1?

Can't wait to see EPCOT~!

[shoppgirl]

shoppgirl I am sooo loving your tr!:hug:

Can you please explain more about the prepaid photopass that you talk about.....cost how many pics etc?:)

You can pre order your Photopass CD. The cost is $99 and that includes shipping. Otherwise, if you wait until you get home to order your CD, it will cost you $124 plus shipping. You will get a CD with ALL the photos you take in the parks. There are so many photographers standing around waiting to take your pictures. They have them at all the character spots too.

When you get home, you go to the photopass website, (you have to register first before you can pre order or order), log in, and then enter your photopass ID number that is shown on your card that you carry around to hand to the photographers. Once you do that, ALL your photos show up. Now for the fun part. You can edit (crop, zoom in etc) all photos, so from one photo, you can get hundreds more from all the editing and borders you can add!! All these changes are saved to your account. Once you finish editing all your photos, you order the CD. Now if you have pre ordered the CD, you type in a CODE that they sent you when you pre ordered and that eliminates the price and shipping of the CD.

I was worried I wouldn't get my $100 worth of pictures. But since I had planned for BBB, the Expo Hall shoot, the Grand Floridian shoot, and all the character meets, I knew I could get a lot of photos done. I actually had about 250 or more shots taken, and I have just over 500 pictures on my two CDs they just sent me. Now I am in the process of getting them printed out at Costco!

I'm having SO much fun reading about this trip! Your girls are just PRECIOUS!

So have you been at teh park (MK) now 2 days? I'm a bit confused as to how much time has gone by. Or was that just day 1?

Can't wait to see EPCOT~!

We spent our first full 2 days at Magic Kingdom! Day 1 was a travelling day. Days 2 and 3 are MK. Day 4 will be Epcot!

[Picabo]

I just can't tell you how FUN this is for me to read! I feel like I'm there WITH all of you!

RE: PhotoPass...thanks for all that info! Question, do you pay extra to edit and add the borders, etc? Or you can do whatever you want with them once you pay the $99 fee? Is it a flat $99 or are you charged extra for shipping? ALSO, when you order from Costco - you are given the "rights" to print them, correct? So Costco can't hassle you about printing professional photos??

THANKS!

[sammi]

Thanks sooo much for your great explanation! I love the idea of unlimited pics and the price is really good too!:thumbsup2

Do you order the CD online before you leave for your trip or can you purchase it anywhere in WDW before you head to the parks?:)

[tinkerbell*Xo]

They should have warnings on the park map (ride is in the dark)!! :)
Love the pictures of the girls doing their make up, So cute!! But I bet you weren't expecting that for quite a few years! lol!! :)
:bride:

[shoppgirl]

I just can't tell you how FUN this is for me to read! I feel like I'm there WITH all of you!

RE: PhotoPass...thanks for all that info! Question, do you pay extra to edit and add the borders, etc? Or you can do whatever you want with them once you pay the $99 fee? Is it a flat $99 or are you charged extra for shipping? ALSO, when you order from Costco - you are given the "rights" to print them, correct? So Costco can't hassle you about printing professional photos??

THANKS!

$99 preordered price includes shipping (even international shipping)! You do not pay extra to edit or add borders! That's why this is such a great deal! They also give you a copyright that states you own these pictures and are free to print out should any photodeveloping place give you hassles!

Thanks sooo much for your great explanation! I love the idea of unlimited pics and the price is really good too!:thumbsup2

Do you order the CD online before you leave for your trip or can you purchase it anywhere in WDW before you head to the parks?:)

I am not sure about preordering at the parks...I would think not. I ordered mine online 4 days before we left. You may want to double check that either with Photopass or with some other Photopass expert on the Dis!

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/


They should have warnings on the park map (ride is in the dark)!! :)
Love the pictures of the girls doing their make up, So cute!! But I bet you weren't expecting that for quite a few years! lol!! :)
:bride:

Thanks....I would have appreciated the dark warning! And I definitely was not prepared for the make-up primping session! But I thought it was absolutely hilarious and all in fun. As you can see from the photos we took afterwards around the GF, little Tink kept all that blush on!:lmao: It's all a part of the magic I say. I'm glad they haven't touched their make up since we got home though!

[Disneyvirg]

I was worried I wouldn't get my $100 worth of pictures. But since I had planned for BBB, the Expo Hall shoot, the Grand Floridian shoot, and all the character meets, I knew I could get a lot of photos done. I actually had about 250 or more shots taken, and I have just over 500 pictures on my two CDs they just sent me. Now I am in the process of getting them printed out at Costco!

I LOVE your trip report! Your pictures and writing are lovely!

Did you have to pay extra for the Expo Hall shoot? How does that all work? Do you have to have reservations for that?

Can't wait for Epcot! :)

[shoppgirl]

As you may recall, I had typed up a touring plan prior to our stay. I slated Day 4 morning to be at Disney Hollywood Studios. Reasons for this were:1) I really wanted to try out the new Toy Story Mania ride - note the I, and 2) I thought it was a park we could cover and be done with in the morning. Well, given that we didn't even make it to Buzz Lightyear, there was no reason to go to DHS anymore. If we went, it would be just for the shows. We decided that we would take in Animal Kingdom this trip (all kids like animals right?) but since we would need a longer time there, we would go on Friday, and just do a quick run through at Epcot Thurs morning. Get it?

So I thought I would be generous this morning and let everyone sleep in. I still got up at 7 AM, but DH slept til 7:30, and I didn't make the girls get up until 8:00! Once again, DH brough breakfast up from the lounge so we could eat and get ready at the same time. We left for Epcot at 9:00. Since it was still relatively early, when we got to the Monorail station at GF, we asked if we could sit up front again. This time the driver was a little more talkative to us, and actually handed out those monorail co-pilot license cards to all of us. It was a longer ride to the TTC to switch over to the Epcot line. We arrived at Epcot by 9:30.

The first thing we ran into was the Epcot Character Spot. We decided to line up to meet some of our faves. It was about a 30 min wait this early in the morning already. I wonder how bad it gets later on in the day!? We just got photopass photos done. I didn't think to bring our autograph books in as I thought we'd just be meeting everyone again at Chef Mickeys. However, we were pleasantly surprised with Chip and Dale, unfortunately, we don't have their autographs!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/image334.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/image352.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/image342.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/image366.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/image376.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/image378.jpg


After our meet with the characters, we walked out of the meeting spot and into a corridor on our way out. All of a sudden, for some strange reason, I turned my head to look left down a curving hallway and I spotted BELLE!!!! She was just standing there greeting whoever happened to walk down that way. So I took the girls over and asked if Belle was greeting people and she spoke to the girls and posed for photos!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/P1040236.jpg

We said good bye to Belle and headed out. We walked to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. This ride is featured on the Epcot park brochure. I read so many reviews about his ride and how cute it was. It's Nemo....the girls enjoyed watching Nemo....it's not scary right????? Are you starting to cringe again???? Are you thinking..."NO!!!!!!". :scared1:

I should have!!!!!! This ride is new to me! I had NO IDEA what it was about!!!!! Do I need to say more???? The worst part was the ride was stopped for about 2 minutes because they had to fix something. I am glad to report that we were stuck in our clamobile at the end, in the light. But there were riders who were in the DARK!!!!!! I am also glad to report that THIS IS THE LAST DARK RIDE we ever rode on this trip!!:lmao: For the record, Disney rates this ride as "Fun for Little Ones". I guess they forgot about those kids who are still afraid of the dark! :rotfl:

Once again, when we got off, all was back to normal. We walked around the
Pavillion, looking at the huge aquarium. Afterwards, we made it over to Innoventions at Future World. This is a great hands on place for kids. There are free activities in here too. One was a little activity booth sponserd by Velcro. They had frog shape cut outs from velcro and then velcro cut outs of accessories you could stick to the frog to dress them up (crowns, skirts, shirts etc). The girls enjoyed finding things to stick to their frog. Further exploring here led us to a Kidcot station. The girls sat down to do a little food pyramid colouring activity:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/P1040239.jpg

It was now 11:30, we wanted to grab some lunch early enough so that we could head back to the GF because the girls had a date with the Mad Hatter and Alice at 1:30. We walked over to the The Land and ate at Sunshine Seasons. The girls and I grabbed a table while DH grabbed some yummy sandwiches for us and side orders of fried noodles for the girls. Here we are waiting for Daddy to bring us lunch!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/BBB/Epcot/P1040240-1.jpg

It was now noon, and we had to leave Epcot. We barely touched the surface at Epcot. I'm really sorry about this too. There was SO MUCH more to explore, especially all the Pavillions!!!! But the girls had their Wonderland Tea Party and then we had promised them an afternoon of shopping at Downtown Disney. They had been waiting for days now to get their most prized souvenirs! I figure Epcot will be there the next time we go, and we can explore more then.

[shoppgirl]

I LOVE your trip report! Your pictures and writing are lovely!

Did you have to pay extra for the Expo Hall shoot? How does that all work? Do you have to have reservations for that?

Can't wait for Epcot! :)

Thanks! You do not have to pay extra for the Exposition Hall shoot, but you do for the resort sessions (as a sitting fee, just like at any portrait studio). No reservations are necessary, just walk in and be prepared to wait. Or you may luck out and not have to wait at all!

[shoppgirl]

A little background: I had known about the GF's Wonderland Tea Party for a while. In fact, I showed Belle photos of the Tea Party from the Disboards. She was afraid of the Mad Hatter - she thought his nose was scary and wasn't sure if it was real or not!:rotfl2: So I didn't give it any thought. And it is a child only event and I didn't know if the girls would be comfortable being left in a strange place without their mom and dad. A couple of weeks before our trip, a friend who is also heading out to WDW (thanks K! :goodvibes ) lent me the video for Alice in Wonderland. I brought the video home and showed it to Belle. She fell in love with it. So now that she knows who Alice and Mad Hatter are , she was more than excited to go and meet them in Disney!! That night I made a call to WDW DINE and was able to get 2 seats at the Tea Party! :cool1:

We went to the monorail line and we were able to sit up front again from TTC to GF! We reached the GF by 12:45. We had time to get the girls up to the room and changed for their tea party.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040243.jpg

We checked in at 1:15 and waited until 1:30 for the group to be called in. I am guessing that there was a maximum number of tea party guests of 14. The CMs announced that we could walk the kids in and help them get seated, but to save the head table chairs empty for them to sit in. From all the reading I did on the Dis, I knew that these head table chairs were actually reserved for the Mad Hatter and Alice! So I gently guided the girls in and suggested they sit right next to one of the head chairs! :rolleyes1 All the guests were little girls, with the exception of one boy, who probably went to keep his younger sister company. But I heard later on, he was a great joker and kept good company with the Mad Hatter anyways, so I'm sure he didn't mind being the only boy! Here are some photos of the tea party table:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040254.jpg

Each child is set with a bowl of grapes, a tea pot filled with apple juice, a tea cup, and a plate with a cupcake which the kids decorate with icing and sprinkles to eat. There were also plates of sandwiches (and I think chicken nuggets too!)

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040257.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040261.jpg

After the kids were settled into their chairs, they waved good bye to the adults and we were asked to leave the tea party. DH and I had an hour to ourselves! What to do in an hour? Not long enough to go to a park...not long enough to go swimming...not long enough to go for a manicure! So we walked back to the Sugar Loaf lounge for a little tea break ourselves. I took this opportunity to take more pics of the GF:

Sugar Loaf Lounge:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040267.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040268.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040270.jpg

The lounge was pretty empty all week, but by Thurs night, a huge wave of people checked in and from that point on, the lounge was always busy!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040271.jpg

Some shots inside the main building lobby area:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040273.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040275.jpg

We went back to pick them up at 2:30. We were called in at 2:35 and walked in to this:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040277.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040279.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040280.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040281.jpg

As you can see each child gets their photo taken with the Mad Hatter and Alice in a keepsake folder. Plus each child gets a bouquet of flowers to give to their parent/guardian.

I have tried to ask what went on during the party, but the girls didn't give me too much information. They just kept saying how funny the Mad Hatter was. He put his napkin on his head and then tried to catch grapes with it, and they got to sit next to Alice. They had to use their fingers to decorate the cupcakes and only got a bite or so, because when they returned to the table after leaving it for photos, the cupcakes were gone! The girls said they really enjoyed the Tea Party. I am so glad I was able to get them in.

Next: A shopping excursion to Downtown Disney!

[shoppgirl]

No report, just some random shots around the Grand Floridian!

From the second floor looking down at the main atrium, sorry it's blurry!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040161.jpg

Second floor looking down the hall towards M. Mouse Mercantile
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040159.jpg

The fabulous band that performs every day from the second floor
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040157.jpg

Second floor sitting area
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040158.jpg

First floor atrium looking towards the Grand Floridian Tea Room
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040156.jpg

Large bird cage
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040153.jpg

View outside a 2nd floor walkout at the GF Beach:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040163.jpg

Beach towards Polynesian
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040164.jpg

Beach pool pics
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040165.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040166.jpg

Lagoon View
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040168.jpg

Stairs from first floor to second floor
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040170.jpg

Inside pics again
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030771.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030773.jpg

Trying on head gear!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030774.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1030775.jpg

Posing by the grand Steinway!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040152.jpg

[Katy Belle]

Loving your report! Your daughters are cutie pies! I have only boys, so the princesses have never been too big with us. Its fun to see the joy on your daughters' faces!

Lucky you getting upgraded to Club Level!!! You had a magical trip, despite all of the "dark" you found!

Looking forward to the rest!

Katy

[Picabo]

The resort looks FANTASTIC! I have to as this - people tend to say that those who stay at GF are snobby. Guess it's the "assumption" that due to the prices, only rich people stay there. Now I KNOW that's not true b/c Poly's prices are darn near close to GF and we are FAR from rich...just saving for 18mos to be able to go there. Anyhow, did you find many of the guests to be snooty types or were they all just regular-joe type of vacationers?

Do you think it's worth it to pay extra for the club level? I keep debating on my end (for Poly). It'd be So nice to have bkfst right there in the same bldg and the unlimited drinks, evening snacks, etc. But not sure if I want to pay $100 extra per night for that convenience. What do you think....was it worth it? (Bear in mind I want to do 2 character bkfst while we're there...Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace)

Well can't wait to see MORE MORE MORE! Did the girls enjoy the Kitcot stations??? Were they fun? The pix with the characters are totally adorable. Is that only specific times of the day or all day long?!

Melanie

[pl'smama]

Great post and wonderful photos Shopgirl!! You really have lovely daughters. They looked like they really enjoyed the Tea Party!

It is so hard to really get all of Epcot in just during one visit. Our first time time two years ago we did not even get to Epcot. Our DD was 3.5 and we thought we could wait on it. Our trip this January I really wanted to make time for it so we went on two different days. Part of one day was spent at the Akershus Princess lunch and another we had ADRs at Le Cellier. I never did get to see more than Mexico, Norway and the Canada "lands" and that really sucked! I think next time we go I will do the lands by myself so I can really enjoy them and spend some quality time in the shops!!

I have a question for you. Were the drinks in the Sugar Loaf lounge complimentary? I know this was a free upgrade for your family, but did it include anything else?

Thanks for the great TR!!

Suz

[sherreis]

Great update and thank you for the tour of GF. It's my dream to stay there some day. If I win the lottery or something. I've never seen that many pics of the inside before and it is truly beautiful.

Oh - DH had a question. How much does BBB cost? We're already starting to think ahead for when we take our DGD to WDW in several years. Having boys right now we don't get to do that kind of cute stuff.

[shoppgirl]

Loving your report! Your daughters are cutie pies! I have only boys, so the princesses have never been too big with us. Its fun to see the joy on your daughters' faces!

Lucky you getting upgraded to Club Level!!! You had a magical trip, despite all of the "dark" you found!

Looking forward to the rest!

Katy

Thanks. We did manage to go on quite a few dark rides didn't we? I am glad to report though that they are not permanently scarred! :lmao:

The resort looks FANTASTIC! I have to as this - people tend to say that those who stay at GF are snobby. Guess it's the "assumption" that due to the prices, only rich people stay there. Now I KNOW that's not true b/c Poly's prices are darn near close to GF and we are FAR from rich...just saving for 18mos to be able to go there. Anyhow, did you find many of the guests to be snooty types or were they all just regular-joe type of vacationers?

Do you think it's worth it to pay extra for the club level? I keep debating on my end (for Poly). It'd be So nice to have bkfst right there in the same bldg and the unlimited drinks, evening snacks, etc. But not sure if I want to pay $100 extra per night for that convenience. What do you think....was it worth it? (Bear in mind I want to do 2 character bkfst while we're there...Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace)

Well can't wait to see MORE MORE MORE! Did the girls enjoy the Kitcot stations??? Were they fun? The pix with the characters are totally adorable. Is that only specific times of the day or all day long?!

Melanie

Hi. We are far from rich, but we do well enough that with savings, we can enjoy good things in life, including an amazing trip to Disney with a stay at the Grand. We did not find snooty people there at all! Quite the opposite. Everyone is so friendly there, it was a joy to experience. We were all regular vacationers, and I'm sure the majority of us saved for this special splurge. Like I said at the beginning, with smart shopping and a willingness to drive a little further, we found cheap airfare. With the savings we had, we applied that to our resort bill. If we had to pay the astronomical fares for flying out of Toronto, we would not have stayed at GF. It was well worth it to drive an hour to the airport vs 20 minutes. However, my DH always says just because we saved $100 here doesn't mean we should spend that $100 there!

I remember asking DH if it would be worth it to pay $100 and change (I can't remember the price difference...100-150??) PER DAY for the benefits of the lounge. He said $100 (or more) is A LOT of drinks and snacks! You can eat and drink well for that price quite honestly, expecially if you have 2 young ones that barely eat when on vacation! It was convenient...you wouldn't be paying for the amount you consume, but for the convenience. Thus we did not upgrade to Club level. We were just lucky enough to be upgraded free. I did love being able to walk in to my building and grabbing a cold soda out of the fridge before heading up to the room, or grabbing some lovely desserts to munch on after a day at the park. But I don't think we would have paid for it! We certainly did not drink and eat $100+ worth of food from the lounge every day!

You will have a fridge in your room I assume...my original plan was to bring a suitcase of food and drinks since we had a fridge and a microwave!! Ha ha ha. Anything to save a little here, just more money for other stuff don't you think?

They loved the Kidcot station....it was my intention to seek them all out at Epcot! They love anything crafty! Unfortunately, we only made it to ONE! :lmao: Oh well....next time! And I believe the characters at all those character spots are around during scheduled times of the day. I remember wanting to go to the one at Animal Kingdom, but they were "closed" at the time we were in the area. The Epcot one just happened to be "opened" when we walked by.

Come back tonight when I finish my day at Downtown Disney!


Great post and wonderful photos Shopgirl!! You really have lovely daughters. They looked like they really enjoyed the Tea Party!

It is so hard to really get all of Epcot in just during one visit. Our first time time two years ago we did not even get to Epcot. Our DD was 3.5 and we thought we could wait on it. Our trip this January I really wanted to make time for it so we went on two different days. Part of one day was spent at the Akershus Princess lunch and another we had ADRs at Le Cellier. I never did get to see more than Mexico, Norway and the Canada "lands" and that really sucked! I think next time we go I will do the lands by myself so I can really enjoy them and spend some quality time in the shops!!

I have a question for you. Were the drinks in the Sugar Loaf lounge complimentary? I know this was a free upgrade for your family, but did it include anything else?

Thanks for the great TR!!

Suz

Yes, all drinks at SL are free. That includes coffee (specialty too!), tea, milk, lemonades, cranberry, iced tea, perrier, evian, soda, and in the evenings, liquors (including some nice cognac!) and beer! In addition to the drinks, there was food served at specific times of the day including a continental breakfast, dips, breads, chips at lunch, afternoon snacks, hot appetizers at dinner time, and evening desserts which were absolutely YUMMY!

Great update and thank you for the tour of GF. It's my dream to stay there some day. If I win the lottery or something. I've never seen that many pics of the inside before and it is truly beautiful.

Oh - DH had a question. How much does BBB cost? We're already starting to think ahead for when we take our DGD to WDW in several years. Having boys right now we don't get to do that kind of cute stuff.

Thank you. I hope that your dream comes true one day too! BBB prices seem to be rising. At the time we booked, the middle package (crown) which is hair, makeup and nails (press on or polish) was $50. The lower package did not include the nails, but was only $5 cheaper. The big jump comes with the highest package, the Castle, and that includes everything in the middle (Crown) plus a photo package, princess gown of choice, wand and shoes. I think this was average $200 depending on the type of gown you choose. My girls were quite happy bringing their own dresses from home. Both purchased at the Disney Store. Your granddaughter will love it I'm sure. There are excellent BBB threads on the Disboards that have a wealth of info and great photos too!

[Picabo]

You will have a fridge in your room I assume...my original plan was to bring a suitcase of food and drinks since we had a fridge and a microwave!! Ha ha ha. Anything to save a little here, just more money for other stuff don't you think?


Yes we'll have a fridge in our room. And in regards to saving...I'm ALL with you on that. I plan to ship a box from home or have garden grocer deliver things like juice boxes for the girls, bkfst things to have in the room, etc.

Did you do the Princess Storybook meal at Norway in EPCOT? I cannot decide to do that or 1900 Park Fare (dinner, with Cindy). Such decisions!!

[shoppgirl]

Did you do the Princess Storybook meal at Norway in EPCOT? I cannot decide to do that or 1900 Park Fare (dinner, with Cindy). Such decisions!!

No we did not do that Princess meal. We had the CRT ressies, so it was not necessary so see them all again in Norway. However, we did miss Mulan! And she appears in Norway. I loved the 1900 PF, partly because it is at the Grand Floridian (nice ambiance!) and the food was good. Plus it's all about Cindy (no other princesses). So it depends on who your dd's favourites are if it has to be one or the other!

[shoppgirl]

It was now about 2:45 and we headed back to our room to change into casual clothes. We rested for about 10 minutes and then headed back down to the bus stop. This was our first time experiencing the Disney buses.

As soon as we made it over to the bus stop, guess which bus pulls up right away!??!? We didn't even have to wait, and just walked right on to the bus. It was great! What's even better is that Downtown Disney is the next stop after Grand Floridian!!!:banana: Tink passed out on the bus, as usual. Something about a warm, moving vehicle! DH had to carry her off the bus and we had to put an end to the nap because it was so hot, and DH was not in a mood to carry a sleeping 38 pounder around!

Tink was pretty good at waking up as soon as told her in her half sleep that we were going to look for her prized Simba! She had been dying to buy a plush baby Simba since day 2. It's funny that she should become so attached to Simba since she has NEVER seen the movie Lion King!

The first store we walked into was Once Upon a Toy. We immediately went to the plush toy section and the girls found their stuffed pets. Belle went for Dumbo (I had just shown her the movie prior to coming to WDW and she fell in love with Dumbo too!) and Tink found her Baby Simba with a leaf blanket.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040292.jpg

I had shown the girls some Dis photos of the My Little Pony Disney set where you get a box and you fill it as much as you can for a set price. They were so excited to get that toy. So that was our next stop:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040288.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040285.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040286.jpg

Here we went around to all the bins and took one of everything! The girls picked out one pony and then we took all the accessories, which included Disney Princess outfits, furniture, Minnie outfit etc. Then after we got what we believed was one of everything, we sat on the floor and watched Daddy do his magic and fill the box efficiently to squeeze every last thing in!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040293.jpg

:rotfl2: It's an art I think, to be able to pack a box efficiently, full to the brim! You had to be able to close the box too I think, and he just made it! :rotfl2:

After the boxes were packed, we walked around to look at all the other cool things. Here are some photos of the store:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040294.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040295.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040299.jpg

For those of you who think you may need to or want to buy the strollers that are sold in the Disney parks, here is a photo for you!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040300.jpg

Plush heaven:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040301.jpg

Belle changed her mind and wanted a Baby Dumbo with a blanket now:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040302.jpg

This was all we bought at this store. Next we headed out and I saw Ghirardellis off in the distance. I LOVE San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square. And whenever I am travelling somewhere with a Ghirardelli, I try to make a point of sampling something there! So we decided it was time for an ice cream break! We ordered this:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040305.jpg

After our nice treat, we walked over to World of Disney. Largest Disney store I have ever seen. It just kept going on and on and on it seemed. Here the girls spotted the Make a Wand station, and I was feeling generous :rolleyes1 and decided to let the girls go at it!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040309.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040310.jpg


I believe this was the fill your own Princess jewellery box station:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040308.jpg

Some more random pics of the store:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040311.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040312.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040306.jpg


After walking through here, we went outside and posed by our favourite princesses:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040316.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040318.jpg

For those of you who plan on taking little princesses to the BBB, if you can't get in at the Magic Kingdom location, there is a BBB at World of Disney, the original location for BBB.

We walked by Legoland, and I got Belle to pose with the Lego Family:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040319.jpg

You could play with tiny bits of Lego right outside the store and try to build something with the tiny bits of Lego....needless to say, we just kept right on walking....

It was getting hot now and the girls were getting tired (we didn't bring strollers and made the girls walk, which resulted in some whinning!). We had everything they wanted, so we made our way back to the bus. Luck was on our side again, and a bus approached as soon as we made it to the bus stop. Unfortunately, when you are the first one to be dropped off going, you will be the last one dropped off coming "home". We we did the milk run, and went for a ride to Pleasure Island, Typhoon Lagoon, Wilderness Lodge, and then finally GF!!!!!

We went up to our room so that we could rest and the girls could enjoy their toys. Once again we grabbed some food and ate in the comfort of our room. I had originally wanted to make it back out to Epcot and walk around some more. But we were feeling lazy now, and the girls weren't in the mood for going back out. All they wanted to do was enjoy their toys. However, Belle decided she wanted to go for a dip in the pool. Tink did not. So I stayed in the room with Tink, while DH took Belle to the Courtyard Pool for a splash. By the time I was able to convince Tink to leave the room and at least go for a walk to watch her sister swim, Belle decided she had had enough and was on her way back to the room! So we just went for a walk around the resort and picked up even more souvenirs at M. Mouse Mercantile for some friends back home.

One of the nicest things we ever did this trip came up next. We had wanted to catch the Water Pageant and made our way down to the Beach around 9:15. I guess we were a little late, because we saw the last minute of it as it was sailing by the Poly! I thought it started at the Poly and then passed the GF....I don't know, and we didn't ask. DH and I just sat on the swinging bench on the beach, while the girls had an amazing time playing together in the sand. They were making up their own games and just having fun. The weather was so nice, and the sand was so soft and cool to the feet as they ran around. There was a lightning storm off in the distance with a little thunder, but I was glad to see that it didn't deter the girls from continuing their play. They loved it and hoped that we could come back again the next night. The girls could never play in the sand on the beach in the afternoons because it was just too hot, but the evening temperatures were amazing! We could have stayed out there for hours, but it was time for Wishes to start and we wanted to catch one more viewing of it. This time we found a seat on the steps outside Gasparilla Grill. There were quite a few people sitting out here, including kids running around. Made for a more chaotic kind of viewing, compared to the quiet calm viewing in front of Narccoosee's. Plus we couldn't hear the music, which really does make a big difference to the whole experience. So, if anyone is going to ask me where the best place to view Wishes at the GF is, you must go to the boat dock or better yet Narcoossee's so that you can hear what's going on.


Up Next: Chef Mickeys

[sherreis]

Thank you. I hope that your dream comes true one day too! BBB prices seem to be rising. At the time we booked, the middle package (crown) which is hair, makeup and nails (press on or polish) was $50. The lower package did not include the nails, but was only $5 cheaper. The big jump comes with the highest package, the Castle, and that includes everything in the middle (Crown) plus a photo package, princess gown of choice, wand and shoes. I think this was average $200 depending on the type of gown you choose. My girls were quite happy bringing their own dresses from home. Both purchased at the Disney Store. Your granddaughter will love it I'm sure. There are excellent BBB threads on the Disboards that have a wealth of info and great photos too!

Thanks. I thought it would cost more. As for dresses, luckily, for DGD, "MiMi (me) knows how to sew" and can't wait to sew that kind of stuff for her just like I did for her mother.

[pl'smama]

What a sweet way to end the day Shopgirl! On our trip in January we had ADRs for Park Fair and then had enough time to watch the Water Parade. I had planned this night to a tee so that we would not miss the WP. We were travelling with my sister in law, bro in law and their two girls and all the planning was left to me. We made it to the beach on time, but were told by a CM that we had a good half hour to wait. I ran in to the Mercantile to see what I could find. ( We stayed at the POFQ, not GF). Well, I was paying for my purchases about 15 minutes later and happened to see out the window that the WP was going by! I ran as fast as I could and caught the last float. The rest of my family saw it, but man, I was peeved! Ah well, a reason to return, right?

The best part was just hanging out on the beach for a bit and letting the kids enjoy the sand. Like you I remember it being cool and soft......... Someday I am going to stay there to. I just love that place.

Great job on the souvies for your girls. THe wand thing looks awesome!

Suz

[DisneyTiger]

All caught up and ready for more! Your girls are precious. Looks like they had a blast!!!

[Picabo]

OK so I can see right now that I'm going to have to save lots and lots of $$ for souvies!!! Approx how much are the plush toys? And how about the Build a Wand? And the fill a box of princess jewelery is GOING to be a must, I can tell....remember how much that was? I couldn't tell on the pix for some reason even though I know the price was on there. I can see I better save a few extra $100's for souviners! Oiy Vey!

I loved all the pix of your DTD day. How cool of you to take photos even in there! Makes reading teh TR so much more enjoyable when it has so many pix! THANKS!!! Can't wait to see AK pix!

[pl'smama]

OK so I can see right now that I'm going to have to save lots and lots of $$ for souvies!!! Approx how much are the plush toys? And how about the Build a Wand? And the fill a box of princess jewelery is GOING to be a must, I can tell....remember how much that was? I couldn't tell on the pix for some reason even though I know the price was on there. I can see I better save a few extra $100's for souviners! Oiy Vey!

I loved all the pix of your DTD day. How cool of you to take photos even in there! Makes reading teh TR so much more enjoyable when it has so many pix! THANKS!!! Can't wait to see AK pix!



I can help with a bit of this as we were there this past January. My DD ( and I) love stuffies. The ones wrapped in the baby blanket were about $17.00, I think. The range seems to be $14.00 and up. Of course, the bigger they are the more they cost, but the "baby blanket" ones were reasonable. I am a Minnie Mouse fan and I got the one where she is dressed as Tinkerbelle. It was $14 or $15 bucks.

The build your wand, jewllery box etc.. things were either $16 or $18.00, which is not too bad. YOu can fit a lot in with some creativity, just like Shopgirl's DH did with the pony stuff!

Suz

[Picabo]

I can help with a bit of this as we were there this past January. My DD ( and I) love stuffies. The ones wrapped in the baby blanket were about $17.00, I think. The range seems to be $14.00 and up. Of course, the bigger they are the more they cost, but the "baby blanket" ones were reasonable. I am a Minnie Mouse fan and I got the one where she is dressed as Tinkerbelle. It was $14 or $15 bucks.

The build your wand, jewllery box etc.. things were either $16 or $18.00, which is not too bad. YOu can fit a lot in with some creativity, just like Shopgirl's DH did with the pony stuff!

Suz

THANK YOU! :stitch: :tigger: :goofy: Ohh I'm so excited!!! I think it's ME who wants all these things, but I get to use the girls as a good excuse! I think mind will be a bit too young for My Little Pony stuff but hopefully the jewely won't be something the 2 yr old would choke on! :yay:

[shoppgirl]

Well, it looks like in a matter of 8 months, the prices have gone up already!! We paid $19.95 for each of the baby plushes. The wands were $11.95, and the jewellery boxes were $16.00. My girls were spoiled and given a lot in gift money by their grandparents on both side since this was their very first vacation, so I was prepared to bring back a lot in souvenirs. Although the girls have not touched those wands since we got them, it was still a fun experience for them (all 60 seconds it took to put it together!). I thought it was cool myself, that's why I said they could build one. I could have said no, and they would have been OK about it. The only gift that has been well used are their plushes. The others have worn out in novelty....oh well, isn't that what a souvenir is for?:rotfl:

Here is a pic of all the stuff DH got into the 2 boxes...one for each girl:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/DTD/P1040514.jpg

[vdarrell]

Your girls are adorable.
Reading your TR has been very pleasurable, I am so glad your family had a nice first visit.
Loved the pics of the girls in their costumes and the outfits your mother made are so cute.
I have two grown boys so never got to experience the girlie things hoping to do that in the future with granddaughters.

[Picabo]

Your DH did a great job packing the boxes! Woo hoo! Looks like FUN stuff to play with! haha :banana:

[PopArtGal]

Loving the TR so far!

I'm a canadian too ;) Although I live 1 hour away from Montreal, and not near Toronto ;) Although I'm close to the Ontario border.

I can't wait for more ;)

[shoppgirl]

Great job on the souvies for your girls. THe wand thing looks awesome!

Suz

Yeah! I thought it was neat to build your own wand too, and the girls were pretty excited too when they saw it. I am sad to see that they have NOT touched them once since we got home though....at least they didn't ask me for the build your own crown, fill your own treasure boxes.....so many tempting things! It was crazy!

All caught up and ready for more! Your girls are precious. Looks like they had a blast!!!

Thanks for reading! They did have a blast and are ready (surprisingly!) to go back, just as long as we don't do any dark rides! :lmao:

Your girls are adorable.
Reading your TR has been very pleasurable, I am so glad your family had a nice first visit.
Loved the pics of the girls in their costumes and the outfits your mother made are so cute.
I have two grown boys so never got to experience the girlie things hoping to do that in the future with granddaughters.

Thank you for reading! We most definitely had a very nice first visit.

Your DH did a great job packing the boxes! Woo hoo! Looks like FUN stuff to play with! haha :banana:

I had put a lot of thought into the My little Pony set, and was wondering how I was going to be able to pack the box efficiently! So the night before we went, while lying in bed with a million things flying through my head, I asked my husband as he was half asleep "are you good at packing boxes?" He just mumbled "What?.....yeah." and then passed right out again. The next day at the store, he finally figured out what I was getting at! :lmao: :lmao: At least he heard me!

It's too bad the girls haven't touch that toy too much either since we got back. It was a big hit that first night!

Loving the TR so far!

I'm a canadian too ;) Although I live 1 hour away from Montreal, and not near Toronto ;) Although I'm close to the Ontario border.

I can't wait for more ;)

Hello fellow Canadian! Thanks for reading.

[shoppgirl]

I forgot to add this picture on our DTD day. The reason why I could not get the girls out again to Epcot, or even to get Tink back out to swim was because they spent practically the whole evening doing this:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/grand%20floridian/P1040324.jpg

They were most happy here, and I had to remember that this trip was about them, and what they wanted to do.

Anyways, on to Day 5 Friday August 8:

I woke up first again at 7:00. It's really strange how you can wake up so quickly and alert while on vacation, but these last few days at home, I can barely crawl out of bed at 7:20!! The rest of the family woke up by 7:35. We didn't have to eat at the lounge this morning because we had 8:30 ressies for Chef Mickey's! We were able to head out by 8:00. This morning's wait for the monorail was the longest...I was starting to get paranoid we were going to be late!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1040326.jpg

The camera was still "cold" and the wave of hot humid air fogged up my lens!!

We actually got to sit in the front again and got another set of co pilot licenses!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1040329.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1040330.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1040331.jpg

We made it to the Contemporary Resort by 8:20. When we went to check in, there was a lady in front of us who walked up and said she did not have a reservation, but was staying at the resort and wanted to get a table for 2!!!! And of course they said no problem! I wonder how many people were turned away on the ADR line because Chef Mickeys was full that morning?????? We posed for the family photo in front of the plate and then went into the waiting area next to the buffet to wait. I took a photo of the menu:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040335.jpg

Here we are waiting (my mom helped me make the t shirts..I found the dotted ribbon at Walmart, but could not find the dotted material for skirts anywhere!!!! So I bought little red skirts instead from the Osh Kosh outlet)

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040333.jpg


We only waited about 10 minutes before we were paged and then shown to our table. It was in the main dining room, I noticed 2 other smaller eating areas and was happy to be seated in the larger room.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040340.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040338.jpg

Service was great, food was OK...nothing special. Characters were fun!! Not a lot of interaction, but the girls still loved seeing them, getting their books signed, and then taking photos with them.

Here are the photos from the breakfast:

Mickey was first!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040357.jpg

The girls saw Minnie coming and they were amused by her little high heeled yellow shoes and wanted me to take a pic:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040361.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040367.jpg

I love these photos of Pluto with Tink:
His ear was in her line of vision:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040384.jpg

So I told her to move it aside::rotfl2:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040385.jpg

Next up was Goofy:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040343.jpg

And last but not least was Donald:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040393.jpg

I think it's quite cute how they sign books...I wonder how they see?

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040388.jpg

They did a napkin waving celebration thing too:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040375.jpg

While eating a CM came by with the photos that were taken. They were in a folder, an 8X10 and some smaller 4X6. She told me they were $31 and change....I looked at them, and then politely said "No thank you". There was no pressure to buy.

We were done by 9:40...the venue is actually quite small and the characters came by quickly, so that makes for a quick breakfast. Here is a photo of the Contemporary...unfortunately there is construction going on in here just outside Chef Mickeys

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20Dining/P1040334.jpg

With breakfast done, we wanted to hop on the monorail back to the GF to change into cooler park clothes and grab the strollers for Animal Kingdom.

Up Next: Animal Encounters

[PopArtGal]

Isn't Chef Mickey's fun?

I loved it. I am now counting the days until I can make my ressie for next year ;)

FYI.... if you are bored.. I am writing a TR from my July trip ;)

[Picabo]

Isn't Chef Mickey's fun?

FYI.... if you are bored.. I am writing a TR from my July trip ;)

Lord knows I'm not bored wtih 2 toddlers but I LOVE TR's so I'm heading to read yours as well! :goofy:

Shopgirl....Your girls just make me smile! I love the pic of Tink holding Pluto's ear out of the way....too cute for words!

[Lives4Disney]

Shopgirl, I am just checking in. :goodvibes I have been quietly following along. :)

YOu have a beautiful family - your girls are darling!!!princess: princess:

Lives4Disney :)

[Grace and Mickey]

Got caught up:banana: :banana: Again I love reading about your daughters excitment on their 1st trip to WDW. thanks for showing us the little pony box, hopping to do this (The mr. potato head one) with our grandson when we go in Sept 2009. Glad to hear you enjoyed the fireworks at Narcosses's , we are planning to have dinner here to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. I just love Chef's Mickey it was our 1st time to meet Mickey on our 1st trip looking forward to doing this again too!! Your daughter outfits for Chef's Mickey are adorable, I love it when sisters are dressed alike.

I not sure if you remember but I'm to who mention about my daughter's proposals at CRT and Yes you are right it was magicial. Her ring came in a glass slipper with their names engraved on it. We had a cinderalla themed wedding in July 2007
Looking forward to reading more. have a magicial day.

[FreFam5]

I just ignored my children for awhile and read your whole trip report (or what you've written so far!!!) I'm really enjoying this report - your girls are adorable and it looks like they had a great time - even with the dark rides!! LOL

I have been calling since we booked our trip to WDW to try and get Chef Mickey's ressies and have been told it is full - so it's frustrating to hear that that woman was seated. of course - I'm a family of 5 so walking up like that isn't really an option!!! My kids would FREAK if we were turned away!!!!

I can't wait to read your next report.

[Picabo]

thanks for showing us the little pony box, hopping to do this (The mr. potato head one) with our grandson when we go in Sept 2009. .

OMG there is a Mr Potato Head one, too?? Is it also around $16-18? OMG does it have DISNEY clothes to put on? Does anyone know if the "accessories" fit potato heads we already have at home? OMG OMG :goofy: :tigger: I'm beside myself with the idea of all the souvies I want to get the girls! WHAT other "load a box" things do they have that I need to prepare for??


I have been calling since we booked our trip to WDW to try and get Chef Mickey's ressies and have been told it is full - so it's frustrating to hear that that woman was seated.
.

:scared1: At what point did you book and try to get the ADR? If we call 180 days early....we shouldn't have a problem, right? YIKES didn't know it was so hard to get into! Now I need to decide on Bkfst or dinner. I'm leaning towards bkfst on the last day.

[PopArtGal]

OMG there is a Mr Potato Head one, too?? Is it also around $16-18? OMG does it have DISNEY clothes to put on? Does anyone know if the "accessories" fit potato heads we already have at home? OMG OMG :goofy: :tigger: I'm beside myself with the idea of all the souvies I want to get the girls! WHAT other "load a box" things do they have that I need to prepare for??



:scared1: At what point did you book and try to get the ADR? If we call 180 days early....we shouldn't have a problem, right? YIKES didn't know it was so hard to get into! Now I need to decide on Bkfst or dinner. I'm leaning towards bkfst on the last day.


I tried for 3 years to get Chef Mickey's. But we never reserved more than 2 months before. So I am sure with 180 days you will be fine. I can try it out this time :)

[Grace and Mickey]

OMG there is a Mr Potato Head one, too?? Is it also around $16-18? OMG does it have DISNEY clothes to put on? Does anyone know if the "accessories" fit potato heads we already have at home? OMG OMG :goofy: :tigger: I'm beside myself with the idea of all the souvies I want to get the girls! WHAT other "load a box" things do they have that I need to prepare for??



:scared1: At what point did you book and try to get the ADR? If we call 180 days early....we shouldn't have a problem, right? YIKES didn't know it was so hard to get into! Now I need to decide on Bkfst or dinner. I'm leaning towards bkfst on the last day.
As far as i know the "accessories" are disney potato pieces, I think i have seen threads about this topic, as to the price I don't know . when is your trip? Have a mickey day.

[FreFam5]

OMG there is a Mr Potato Head one, too?? Is it also around $16-18? OMG does it have DISNEY clothes to put on? Does anyone know if the "accessories" fit potato heads we already have at home? OMG OMG :goofy: :tigger: I'm beside myself with the idea of all the souvies I want to get the girls! WHAT other "load a box" things do they have that I need to prepare for??



:scared1: At what point did you book and try to get the ADR? If we call 180 days early....we shouldn't have a problem, right? YIKES didn't know it was so hard to get into! Now I need to decide on Bkfst or dinner. I'm leaning towards bkfst on the last day.

We only booked about 3 months before we are going so we missed out. But when we went 3 years ago we booked far in advance and were able to get Chef Mickey's for dinner - it was AWESOME!!!!

[shoppgirl]

Isn't Chef Mickey's fun?

I loved it. I am now counting the days until I can make my ressie for next year ;)

FYI.... if you are bored.. I am writing a TR from my July trip ;)

Thanks! I just started reading your trip too. I'm glad you finally got to go to Chef Mickey's after 3 years of trying! That's wonderful that you travel with your mom. Must make for a special trip.

[shoppgirl]

Shopgirl....Your girls just make me smile! I love the pic of Tink holding Pluto's ear out of the way....too cute for words!


Those two photos are Tink's favourites too...she always asks to see them in sequence! :rotfl:

[shoppgirl]

Shopgirl, I am just checking in. :goodvibes I have been quietly following along. :)

YOu have a beautiful family - your girls are darling!!!princess: princess:

Lives4Disney :)

Hi Lives4, thanks for reading! I really want to THANK YOU for all the wonderful information you provided over on the GF resort thread. I learned so much from you. It was your photos of the Wonderland Tea Party that inspired me to ask if my girls wanted to attend. I showed them all the pics you posted of your two darling daughters too at the resort! So thanks again....

[shoppgirl]

Your daughter outfits for Chef's Mickey are adorable, I love it when sisters are dressed alike.


I absolutely love having 2 little girls who are so close in age and dressing them alike! I figure this is the only time that I will be able to get away with it, and they actually enjoy dressing similiar sometimes! Today all three of us were in matching polos and capris (different colours, but same style!) :rotfl2:



I have been calling since we booked our trip to WDW to try and get Chef Mickey's ressies and have been told it is full - so it's frustrating to hear that that woman was seated. of course - I'm a family of 5 so walking up like that isn't really an option!!! My kids would FREAK if we were turned away!!!!

I can't wait to read your next report.

Yes, I was surprised myself that they accommodated the lady so quickly. It would not be a good thing to walk up only to be turned away. That is way worse than not getting in at all in advanced.

[shoppgirl]

OMG there is a Mr Potato Head one, too?? Is it also around $16-18? OMG does it have DISNEY clothes to put on? Does anyone know if the "accessories" fit potato heads we already have at home? OMG OMG :goofy: :tigger: I'm beside myself with the idea of all the souvies I want to get the girls! WHAT other "load a box" things do they have that I need to prepare for??



:scared1: At what point did you book and try to get the ADR? If we call 180 days early....we shouldn't have a problem, right? YIKES didn't know it was so hard to get into! Now I need to decide on Bkfst or dinner. I'm leaning towards bkfst on the last day.


I have a couple of pictures that show a little bit of the Mr Potato Head accessories. You can find this fill a box station at both Mickey's Toon Town Fair and Downtown Disney.


As you can see on the far right are Mickey and Minnie wedding accessories for the Potato Heads

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030818.jpg

You can see Mickey's wizard hat, and then I can't really make out what the two other accessories are here on the left.
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030819.jpg

I wouldn't worry about not getting your reservations! Call 180 days in advance, and you will have your pick of time even! I called right at 7:00 am when the phone lines opened (I set the alarm clock and was ready to go by 6:55!).

[shoppgirl]

Day 5 Animal Kingdom

We took the monorail back to the GF and were in our room by 9:40 to change and grab park gear. It took us a while to get ready and so we didn't make it out ot the bus stop until 10:30. I was getting a little worried that we would be arriving at Animal Kingdom too late, and therefore having long line ups to deal with. Not that we were doing any of the big rides of course, except for the Kilimanjaro Safari.

We had about a 5 minute wait for the bus. There were quite a few people at the GF getting on too and the bus was half full already from the previous 2 pickups, but we all got seats anyways. The bus took us to Blizzard Beach first before arriving at Animal Kingdom at 11:00.

Here we are, note that the weather was beautiful and sunny at this time:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040403.jpg

We walked straight to the back of the park to Africa. Our first ride planned for the day was Kilimanjaro Safaris. I thought for sure I was going to need to get fast passes, but the standby line said 20 min! So we decided to go in standby. We walked halfway through the line to the stroller parking area, gave the CMs our strollers and then continued walking to the front of the line. We practically WALKED ON this ride! There was NO WAIT!!! And this was at 11:15 on a Friday morning! We lucked out again and got the front row in the open air safari vehicle!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040404.jpg

By now, the sun had disappeared and the sky had become overcast. As we rode in the vehicle, we could hear thunder and see lightning!!:scared1: This of course set off little Tink, who is not only afraid of the dark, but also of being outside during lightning and thunder! It got worse when the rain started beating down on us in the OPEN AIR vehicle!! Although there was a cavas roof cover, there were no side covers so rain was coming in. I think this partly ruined the ride as the driver didn't seem as talkative during the ride. He had already warned us that he would not stop the vehicle for us to take photos, but would try to slow down at certain points...this did make for a lot of blurry pictures:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040407.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040412.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040415.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040416.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040417.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040420.jpg


You can really see the rain coming down hard in this photo:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040423.jpg

I was worried about what we were going to do once the ride was over as we had brought absolutely NO RAIN GEAR!!! I had kept the ponchos and rain covers for the strollers in the stroller at the beginning of the trip, but since the weather had been so great all week, we took them out and didn't think to carry them. When we finished the safari, we were told that we could not stand under the cover at the drop off point because other trucks would be unloading in the area so we had to move on. We walked slowly though to the stoller pick up area and found an inch of rain in the seat! We dried them off and by now the rain was starting to let up. We totally lucked out because it stopped raining by the time we were ready to head out.

We decided to hop onto the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. As we walked along the Habitat Habit outdoor discovery trail, we ran into a Kids Discovery Club station. I had the girls go through this one, they had to find the objects (bugs, animals, vegetation) printed on their cards in the display area. Once they find all their objects, they are given a card/passport thing with a stamp of that station. We continued our walk along the trail and ended up at the Conservation Station. Here we explored the live animal encouters (the girls touched a lizard like creature, and I can't remember what it was called), saw some displays, and ran into these characters!

It was such a pleasant surprise to find Pocahontas here!!! She was just standing there and there was NO LINE UP to meet her! :cool1: So she was so nice and chatted with the girls while DH ran back outside to grab our autograph books out of the strollers.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040426.jpg

Next to her was Rafiki himself! The girls have never seen Lion King, so they weren't familiar with him, but liked his furry chin. Again there was no line up to meet him.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040436.jpg

We walked over to the other side of the building and found Jiminy Cricket! The girls have never seen Pinnochio either (I did get them the movie after our trip though and they think he's great!).

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040441.jpg

We also took some photos standing by some cut outs of animals

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040445.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040425.jpg

After exploring inside here, we went out and ended up in the Affection Section. This is a petting yard that had sheep and goats out today. There are brushes available for the kids to use to brush the animals.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040464.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040461.jpg

Tink could have stayed here ALL DAY! She just loves petting yards and touching animals. But after a while, we really wanted to head out and see other things. There was a great hand washing station right outside the yard. We headed back down the Habitat Habit trail towards the Wildlife Express Tain and hopped back on to Africa. We were now headed for Camp Minnie-Mickey where the Lion King show was performing. We really wanted to catch a show and thought Tink would love this show because of her new found affection for her plush Simba. As we walked down, we ran into a photopass lady in front of the Tree of Life and she did the Simba photo with them:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/image400.jpg

The Tree of Life is pretty amazing:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040470.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040471.jpg

We made it to the Festival of the Lion King show at 1:45 for a 2:00 show. It was AMAZING!!! And most importantly, the girls loved it. It had a musical/dance/Cirque du Soleil feel to it, and it was wonderful. I didn't take any photos of the show, because I was too busy watching it!

Anyways, after the show, I wanted to head to DinoLand USA and take in a ride. When we got there, the rides were shut down because it looked like it was going to rain. So we hid in a gift shop for a little bit until the rain looked like it was not going to come, and the rides reopened. As soon as I saw that TriceraTop Spin was about to open, we went in quickly to walk right onto the ride!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040475.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Animal%20Kingdom/P1040474.jpg

There was nothing else that excited the girls here, so we decided it was time to head back to the GF. It was now 3:30, and we had to get back in time to have dinner and get changed for our GF photopass shoot at 7:00. On our way back, Belle said her hand hurt and upon close inspection, we discovered TWO deep splinters!!!!! I have no idea where she got these from. We thought we could just wait to go back to our room to try and get them out, but she was telling us they really hurt. I thought of the First Aid center and we went to look for one. When we got there, we told the nurse about the splinters and she let us into one of the exam rooms and gave us tweezers, antibacterial wipes and a numbing wipe plus a little lancet to help get them out. I am finding that in my increasing years, my ability to see small things up close is declining. Needless to say, it took a while to get them out. Thank goodness Belle was such a trouper she let me go at them! We were also given 2 little bandaids to put on. It was great! I would never have been able to get them out on my own if we went back to the room without all the supplies given to us at the First Aid Center.

We made it to the bus stop by 4:00 for a 30 minute bus ride back to the GF. Tink had a nice nap on the bus and then some afterwards in the stroller!

Up next: To rain or not to rain.....

[FreFam5]

Day 5 Animal Kingdom


There was nothing else that excited the girls here, so we decided it was time to head back to the GF. It was now 3:30, and we had to get back in time to have dinner and get changed for our GF photopass shoot at 7:00. On our way back, Belle said her hand hurt and upon close inspection, we discovered TWO deep splinters!!!!! I have no idea where she got these from. We thought we could just wait to go back to our room to try and get them out, but she was telling us they really hurt. I thought of the First Aid center and we went to look for one. When we got there, we told the nurse about the splinters and she let us into one of the exam rooms and gave us tweezers, antibacterial wipes and a numbing wipe plus a little lancet to help get them out. I am finding that in my increasing years, my ability to see small things up close is declining. Needless to say, it took a while to get them out. Thank goodness Belle was such a trouper she let me go at them! We were also given 2 little bandaids to put on. It was great! I would never have been able to get them out on my own if we went back to the room without all the supplies given to us at the First Aid Center.

We made it to the bus stop by 4:00 for a 30 minute bus ride back to the GF. Tink had a nice nap on the bus and then some afterwards in the stroller!

Up next: To rain or not to rain.....

I never would have thought to go to the first aid place. of course - if any of my kids had a splinter they would have screamed and cried if I went after them with tweezers!!! Your girls are brave! (well dark rides aside!! LOL)

So - Lion King was great? We are not a "show" type family - I don't anticipate seeing many when we are there - but the Lion King is definitely the one I want to see.

[MainStMandy]

I am loving your report. The girls are too cute, and btw I loved their minnie outfits!!


FreFam5- Festival of the Lion King is AMAZING!!! You have to see it at least once.

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Splinters! Poor Girl!! Did it come from the brushes at the animal kingdom petting zoo?
Love your TR!

[shoppgirl]

We had a Grand Floridian Resort photo session booked for 7:00 pm. When I asked the photographer at the time of booking, I asked when was the best time of day for photos so that the sun was out in full force, causing us to squint etc. He suggested the first session of the day, 8:30, or the last session of the day, 7:00. We took the Friday 7pm slot as I thought we would be relaxing for sure on our last night at the resort anyways. It had been mostly overcast all day, with rain here and there. I was secretly hoping that it would not rain at 7:00.

When I left off from my previous post, we were back at the GF by 4:30, and Tink was asleep in the stroller. We wheeled her into the room and parked it off to the side to let her sleep some more. I wanted her to be in a good and well rested mood for the photoshoot. We had to decide on where to eat for dinner. I did not have any ADRs for tonight and wanted to go out. DH called down to concierge to see if they could help us with ressies. I really wanted to try Kona Cafe at the Poly since it was so close, but they were booked until 9:20. So we inquired about the GF Cafe downstairs. They said they could squeeze us in at 5:20, but it would be for a table for 5, not 4. The CMs assured is it would not be a problem going down with just the 4 of us and that they will seat us.

We woke Tink up and got ready for dinner. When we got to the Cafe, it was pretty empty. DH gave our name and said there were only 4 of us. They sat us near the front of the restaurant at a table for 4 right away. The entire time we were there, there were tons of empty tables...I don't understand how theses reservations work! The food was OK...I didn't really enjoy my pasta, or maybe I just wasn't hungry. DH enjoyed his chicken, and the girls just nibbled on their pizza and pasta dinners.

We were done dinner and back to our room by 6:30 to get dressed. DH was busy doing something (I can't remember what it was), and told us to go ahead. So I walked over to the main building with the girls, listening to the thunder and watching the lightning. I thought there was no way we were going to go through with this....

DH got caught in the storm on his way to the building. He was soaked.

We postponed. :sad2:

I was really upset because this was our LAST night....when could we postpone to???? Luckily, there was an 8:30 opening the next day. We could still do the shoot, and then head to the park before we left for the airport.

We waited out the thundershower at the M. Mouse Mercantile. So did a lot of other people! The great thing about Florida showers, is that when it rains, it pours, but it never lasts too long. We were back in our room by 7:30. I decided to take the night to relax, pack, and watch the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. We went down to grab more yummy desserts in the lounge, as did a lot of other people! Tonight was the first night they ran out! They did not replenish everything either.

I was secretly feeling the sadness of the end of our amazing adventure with our girls. I don't think they grasped the idea that we were leaving the next morning, which was great. They were just living in the moment. They enjoyed watching the Olympics, eating dessert in bed, and just hanging with mom and dad.

Sorry this post has absolutely no pictures!! But I promise to make up for it in my next one with the GF photopass shoot and our last hours at the MK.

[shoppgirl]

We were all up again by 7:30. We got dressed and ate breakfast from the lounge offerings in our room. It was a nice sunny day, but the grounds were wet from the previous evening's showers.

We headed over and met our photographer for the photoshoot. She took us right away to the beach to grab those photos before the sun peaked out too much. The sand was damp so it stuck to your legs and clothes. She asked if we minded sitting on the damp sand, and I said no. The girls didn't mind too much either at the time. We took photos of DH and I, just the girls, and then some nice family shots. After the beach, we headed to the fountain by the courtyard pool. The sand on Tink's feet were bugging her and she wouldn't stop complaining about it. So the photographer took us to the pool showers to rinse off our feet. After that, she felt better and was a little more cooperative for the photos, but not 100%. We finished the shoot with a few photos at the front of the resort by a flower bed.

We ended the photographer session with 39 pictures in half an hour. I think that if it hadn't rained and everything was nice and dry, we could have taken a lot more pictures, and Tink wouldn't have complained as much as she did. Oh well...I am still pleased with the photos taken:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image416.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image452.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image458.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image449.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image441.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image470.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image463.jpg


At the end of the shoot, we went back to the room to change and finish packing. DH called down to Bell Services and asked for someone to come by and help us take the luggage to the Resort Airline Check in desk by the front of the hotel. A CM came by within 10 minutes of calling and helped bring the luggage down. He put them on the small passenger cart and I told him Tink and Belle had been looking forward all week for a ride in this cart! His commented that "Dreams do come true" at Disney! :goodvibes We got a lift with all the luggage to the front of the resort right in front of the desk and proceeded to check in for our 4:30 flight.

I LOVE JET BLUE!!! Oh...have I said that before already? Well let me say it again! They are one of the airlines associated with the resort airline check in service. We checked in with the airline, got our boarding passes, and got rid of all the luggage! We wouldn't have to worry about them again until Buffalo. Flying domestically allowed us to enjoy an extra hour at the park and get picked up my the ME 3 hours prior to our flight versus 4 hours for an international flight. Another bonus!

We gave our carryons to the bell desk and then walked up to the monorail to head for our last morning at the Magic Kingdom. It was close to 10:00 now. We found some photopass people along the way too and grabbed some last shots:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image483.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image489.jpg

We went straight to Fantasyland for a final ride on our favourites. We headed right onto It's a Small World, and then waited a mere 10 minutes for Dumbo. Next was the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, and of course the carousel.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040496.jpg

The girls wanted last minute souvenirs and we went to Toon Town to find them, and I also picked up 2 WDW t-shirts for the girls.

I wanted to get lunch in before heading to the airport, so we stopped off at the Columbia Harbour House where I tried the yummy clam chowder soup, we got some chicken and fish sticks with fries, and the Anchors Aweigh Sandwich

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040488.jpg

After lunch we walked back down Main to head to the resort. We walked past the Haunted Mansion ride, and the stand by wait was a mere 5 minutes or so. This is my favourite ride. DH even encouraged me to go ahead and ride it while he watched the girls. I just couldn't do it. Next time hopefully.

By now, unfortunately the skies were getting dark, and the thunder began. We made it into a gift shop just in time to wait out the rain.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1040499.jpg

I thought it would never stop and we needed to be back at the GF by 1:25 for our pickup! It was now 12:40 or so. When the rain slowed down, I told DH we had to get going and we stepped out and walked briskly to the monorail. We made it to the Bell Desk by 1:20 to grab our carryons and the bus came exactly at 1:25. I hate cutting things so close.....

Next: Our journey home...

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You got some lovely photos during the photo shoot. Too bad that the rain the night before put a damper on things.

[shoppgirl]

We weren't so lucky on this bus ride and ended up at the very back of the bus. The ME had already been to WL and the Poly before coming to the GF. But at least we were going directly to MCO from here.

The ride seemed to take longer this time for some reason. I couldn't believe our time at the most magical place on earth was over. :sad: Once at the airport, we just walked in to hang out in the terminal for the next 2.5 hours. Luckily, this airport is full of shops and food services.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1040501.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Transportation/P1040503.jpg

Our flight was ON TIME. Tink was so tired that she passed out before we even finished our ascent! It was great to end the trip on a smooth and pleasant note, compared to the stressful and very long beginning.

Final thoughts: I really don't know how to put into words the feelings that transpired as my DH and I took our little girls on their very first vacation. We feel blessed that we were able to give them such a wonderful experience. And it was their experience. We did not do the typical ride scene, as most people who come to WDW do. But I feel we did accomplish a lot in other ways. Just seeing the expressions on their faces all week when they were truly happy was priceless and that made this trip every bit worthwhile. The key to this vacation was that we worked on their schedule, and we worked with their likes and dislikes. I keep saying to myself that WDW will always be there....there is always NEXT TIME.

Thank you for reading. This has been a tremendous pleasure for me to put together this photographic journal of our first family vacation. I look forward to writing many more family vacation trip reports!

[Rlbren]

It was a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing....:goodvibes

[Disneyvirg]

Awww...it's over? I've really enjoyed reading your trip report. Thanks for sharing.

PS - the GF photo shoot pics turned out so well. I love the one on the beach with the girls on your lap. I think Belle's expression is so darn cute!

[sherreis]

shopgirl- The photoshoot pics came out great! And, maybe, the rain the evening before worked out for the best cause everyone was fresh and rested. You had a great last day and a perfect way (minus the pouring rain) to end a trip to WDW. Don't put yourself down for going at your girls' pace - you had to do that or you would've had no pace at all - due to many meltdowns.

Thanks for allowing us to go along and live your trip through your family. I had a wonderful time. Have fun planning your next trip!

[MainStMandy]

Awww great TR!!! The girls look like the LOVED their first visit!

[sammi]

What a wonderful TR!!!!! I have enjoyed each and every word and especially all of the fantastic photos! What great memories you have made for your two very special little girls!:lovestruc :hug:

Thanks you for writing this TR......I will miss reading more!!! lol:sad1:

Now you had better start planning another trip soon!!!:banana:

[Lives4Disney]

Aw....I LOVED reading your trip report!!! :goodvibes THANKS so much for sharing and for all the lovely pictures!!

I hope your NEXT TIME comes around really quick!:wizard:

You have a beautiful family.

Lives4Disney :)

[Picabo]

WOW, I'm sad to see the TR over. It truely has been a PLEASURE to read about your wonderful trip and share the photos as well. Thank you for taking your time to write such a spectacular trip report!

I LOVE the photoshoot pix from GF! SOrry it had to wait till the next morning but thank GOODNESS they were able to get you in! My fave pix was the one of the 2 girls with tinkerbelle. One had her head on the other's shoulder. WAY tooooo cute!

Can I ask....how much time did you spend in MK on the last day before your left for the airport? I was contemplating doing the same thing on our trip next year...in HOPES that the girls may be tuckered out and sleep on the ride home! haha

Can you post more pix of your GF Photochoot??? PLEASE!

Melanie

[angela3676]

:) Great TR. I have really enjoyed reading it and looking at all of your beautiful pictures. You are a wonderful parent for doing the trip on your girls terms and not forcing them to do things they didn't want to do. :sad1: I'm sorry it over. Thanks for sharing.:wave2:

[Northern Disney Girl]

WHAT!? IT's over already? :confused3 You are a wonderful writer, Shopgirl! :thumbsup2 I very much enjoyed reading about your family's first trip to Walt Disney World! :goodvibes It was so great to have the perspective of another Canadian! I hope you and your family are able to go on another trip as soon as you want to! Thanks for writing this us to read! :)

[FreFam5]

Wonderful Trip report!!! I really enjoyed getting to go along in a way with your girls on their first trip to Disney. And I liked how you did it - for the girls. I hope that when we go in October we do the same thing - I sometimes tend to get a bit hyped up about things and I want to remember to slow down!!!!!!

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Sounds like you had such a wondeful vacation! :)
What a great trip report :)

[PopArtGal]

The GF pics are amazing!

Your daughters are beautiful!

You make me long for daughters of my own ;)

Thank you for sharing all these details with us!

[Susan2771]

Wow, thanks so much for sharing. I enjoyed every single post and reading about your family's magical trip. In 5 days my husband and I take our 2 little princesses to WDW and I can understand your feelings about how much you wanted to do for them and make it such a perfect trip which you certainly did for them.
I really hope when your Belle and Tink are older they can come back here and read all that you wrote and your beautiful pictures and relive all the memories and see all the love you put into this for them and your husband.

[shoppgirl]

WOW...Thank you so much everyone for the lovely words. It really made the experience of writing a report so worth it, to hear how much you enjoyed reading it. So thank you again.:goodvibes

[shoppgirl]

WOW, I'm sad to see the TR over. It truely has been a PLEASURE to read about your wonderful trip and share the photos as well. Thank you for taking your time to write such a spectacular trip report!

I LOVE the photoshoot pix from GF! SOrry it had to wait till the next morning but thank GOODNESS they were able to get you in! My fave pix was the one of the 2 girls with tinkerbelle. One had her head on the other's shoulder. WAY tooooo cute!

Can I ask....how much time did you spend in MK on the last day before your left for the airport? I was contemplating doing the same thing on our trip next year...in HOPES that the girls may be tuckered out and sleep on the ride home! haha

Can you post more pix of your GF Photochoot??? PLEASE!

Melanie


The picture of the two girls with Tink's head on Belle's shoulder is so sweet, I just love that one too.

We had to purchase 5 day park tickets because they only sold them in 2, 5 or 7 days at the Disney Store. I originally only wanted 4 days, and never even thought to try to go to a park on the very last day. I'm so glad we did. It was so nice to end on a high note too, riding our favourite rides one more time, walking around the Magic Kingdom, seeing the castle etc. We arrived at the park probably around 10:00 and finished at 12:45. Plenty of time to do everything we wanted. Tink slept 2 hours on the flight, and woke up for the last half hour. Perfect timing!

Since you requested it, I am more than happy to oblige, here are a few more shots from the GF photoshoot:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image474.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image429.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/GF%20Photoshoot/image409.jpg

[Disneyvirg]

I LOVE the picture of your family walking on the beach. So sweet!

[pl'smama]

:cheer2: :worship: :cheer2: :worship:

Wow, what a fantastic TR Shopgirl! It was a real pleasure to read about and view the wonderful vacation your family shared. Thank you for that.

The GF pictures are beautiful. Your DDs looked wonderful, as did you and your DH. I am so glad you got to enjoy the Magic Kingdom for one last morning.

Thanks again for sharing this with us. I am on board for the next TR your write!!

Suz

[karenwwu]

Tuesday August 5th Day 2

The family had a great first night's sleep in the comfy GF beds. Except me. Maybe because of the excitement of being on vacation in Disney. Maybe because I had to listen to 3 people snore. Maybe because I had to listen to the loud hum of the fridge in the room. I loved having that fridge, but boy, was it ever loud!

I was happy to bounce out of bed promptly at 7:00 when DH whipped open the curtains. We were greated by beautiful sunny clear skies. It was morning Extra Magic Hour at MK today. I read in my Unofficial Guide to WDW to avoid parks that have EMH because crowd levels are supposedly higher on these days....but I didn't have much of choice. Today had to be a MK day because we had dinner ressies at Crystal Palace and we didn't have park hoppers.

I also spent a lot of time at home prior to our trip writing up a touring plan for us. I had everything mapped out, times to go, times to eat, places to eat, rides to ride, fast passes to grab etc. I had these grandiose ideas about all the exciting things I wanted to do with the girls. As soon as our plane was delayed on our first day, and we almost missed our 1900 PF, I should have known to throw out that touring plan.

I wanted to be at MK for 8:00 opening.

We were still eating breakfast in the lounge at 8:00.

If it were just DH and I, we could have just grabbed some breakfast for the road, but it just wasn't possible with 2 young children. So we took our time eating, and I bit my tongue the whole time and tried not to look at my watch. Needless to say, I kept the touring plan in my backpack and left it there.

We finally made it to the monorail and hopped on to the MK! It was 8:30 by now, and the crowd levels were already quite high in my opinion. I had also read about the horrendous lines at Dumbo...our first ride of the day. I was getting nervous about the line. I didn't want to waste our entire morning waiting to ride Dumbo! Luckily, we only waited 20 minutes. The line actually moves fast because the entire ride itself lasts no more than 2 minutes! The girls loved the ride, so that's all that mattered.

They don't look it, but they really were excited to be going on their first ride!:rotfl:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030787.jpg

I wanted the girls to sit together so that I could get a good shot of them from the Dumbo in front! Did you know that regardless of height, one of the riders in Dumbo has to be at least 7????? :confused3

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030795.jpg

After this ride the girls spotted the beautiful carousel and we walked right on to it!!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030797.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030798.jpg
We looked across from the Carousel and saw Mickey's Philharmagic. I read about how amazing this show was and how it was a must do. So I figured the girls would probably enjoy it. It was a 20 min wait only because we had just missed getting in to the previous show by a minute! I should have taken this a cue to skip the show. Tink was already showing reservations about going in. Since we were at the front of the line to get in, we were also "forced" to go all the way to the end of the row, even though 2/3 of the theater was empty. As soon as the lights went dark......I could sense Tink getting stressed. By the time the water misted all over us...forget it! She was a crying wreck!!! Belle was quietly freaking out sitting on DH's lap covering her ears and shutting her eyes. I had Tink on my lap and I was trying to hug her tight, while she just let it all out and could not stop crying, loudly! Thankfully as soon as it was over, she stopped and was fine. We couldn't get out of the theater fast enough.

We needed a happy ride now. We made a bee line for It's A Small World. We lucked out and got a front row in the boat which made for great viewing. The girls LOVED this ride. It was so exciting to see them getting so much enjoyment out of it. Tink kept saying "Look mommy!" "Look at that mommy!". She must have said it a hundred times during the ride. So cute.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030809.jpg

Sorry, no good photos of the girls ON the ride!

We then walked by Peter Pan. For fun, we grabbed Fast Passes to use later. We wanted to try the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh first. Who could be afraid of Pooh??? Well, I should have known better. I knew that it was a dark ride. What I didn't know was that we were going to go through a crazy dream sequence!!!! Again, Tink cried and screamed throughout the whole ride!! But once we got off the ride, she was quite right back to normal.

At this point we needed something fun, in daylight, and happy. It was 10:15. Let's go to Mickey's Toontown Fair. There isn't anything scary in there is there??? I had read about the Toontown Hall of Fame. I wanted the girls to meet the Princesses and have the Photopass people take some nice photos of the girls with them. I had prepurchased the CD and wanted to make the most of the photos. We didn't bring out our autograph books because we would see them at our character meals to sign. At 10:15, the line up to see the Princesses was 30 minutes. The line went by really quickly actually. The girls were so excited to see their 3 favourites: Cinderella, Aurora and Belle in her beautiful yellow gown. I told the Photopass people to be sure to snap a bunch of photos since I had already prepurchased and they were happy to oblige.

Here are some of the photos from my photopass CD:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20meets/image025.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20meets/image040.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Character%20meets/image006.jpg


Of course, once you finish visiting the Princesses, you end up in a huge gift shop! I had to pick up a couple of treats and souvenirs here. I tried to limit them with the promise of a big shopping trip to Downtown Disney in a couple of days. It was here that we found our first pressed penny machine at MK!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030821-1.jpg

Next we headed to Minnie's House. It was absolutely colourful, and whimsical in here. Belle loved standing by all the objects in the house to pose for a photo. I think Tink was still recovering from the 2 dark attractions and was in a bit of a mood. But seeing her sister do it, she finally obliged.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030822.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030823.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030828.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030829.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030835.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/shopgirl37/Magic%20Kingdom/P1030836.jpg

Well, now it was time for our Peter Pan fastpasses. You are probably wondering why on earth I would subject my 4 year old on yet another dark ride when I should have gotten it in my head by now that dark rides and Tink do not mix! I THOUGHT that since Tinkerbell is Tink's favourite Disney character, she would get a kick out of looking for her in the Peter Pan ride! Now, it has been 14 years since I went on this ride, and so my memory of the ride is quite clouded. So surprise, surprise......this is just one more dark ride that continues to freak out my Tink....(you should know that both of my girls do not like the dark, and still sleep with a night light). I had no idea that it got completely dark in portions of the ride...we're talking PITCH BLACK!!!

Well, we just about had it with the dark rides and the not so happy experiences thus far! We didn't want to ruin the rest of the trip, and took this as a cue to leave the park and head back to the GF for a snack and a rest. We just picked up some fries from Gasparilla Grill and enjoyed some of the offerings in the lounge. Not a full lunch, but we weren't hungry and knew we had a big early dinner that night at Crystal Palace.

Next: Do the girls nap or swim???

Those dresses are adorable. :cheer2: Did you make them? If so, then you are quite the seamstress and maybe Walt should hire you! If not, then Canada has some nice fasions for youngsters! Thanks for a great TR:thumbsup2 , I'm loving the photos but was does the mom look like?:confused3

[shoppgirl]

Those dresses are adorable. :cheer2: Did you make them? If so, then you are quite the seamstress and maybe Walt should hire you! If not, then Canada has some nice fasions for youngsters! Thanks for a great TR:thumbsup2 , I'm loving the photos but was does the mom look like?:confused3

My mother made the dresses, and she is an amazing seamstress. I am very lucky. Keep reading the trip report and you will see what I look like! I do eventually post pictures :rotfl:

[disneymomof1]

I loved reading your trip report, and I loved all your pictures. I'm glad you and your family had such a great time. Makes me even more anxious for December to get here for our next trip !!!!!:santa:

[PrincessEM&Me]

Shopgirl,
I just finished reading your trip report. You have an enjoyable writing style. The pictures were great - your girls are so cute - you have a lovely family. You've given me some more ideas for our upcoming trip in Feb 2009 with our DD7. Thank you for sharing!

[Picabo]

:thumbsup2 My mother made the dresses, and she is an amazing seamstress. I am very lucky. Keep reading the trip report and you will see what I look like! I do eventually post pictures :rotfl:

I absolutely LOVE the girls dresses and outfits! Your mom is very talented! Can I ask...did she use patterns or did she just come up with the designs on her own? Im thinking of asking my husbands aunt to make some dresses for our girls...she's pretty handy at stuff like that! And how did she find the Disney fabric...is that fairly easy to find in fabric shops or did she have to special order? THANKS!

[marianas00]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip. You have a beautiful family!

[shoppgirl]

Thank you to everyone for your kind words again. It was a pleasure to write knowing that people are enjoying what they read. I'm glad that I was able to share ideas with you as you all plan your future trips!


:thumbsup2

I absolutely LOVE the girls dresses and outfits! Your mom is very talented! Can I ask...did she use patterns or did she just come up with the designs on her own? Im thinking of asking my husbands aunt to make some dresses for our girls...she's pretty handy at stuff like that! And how did she find the Disney fabric...is that fairly easy to find in fabric shops or did she have to special order? THANKS!

We found EVERYTHING for the dresses at the Walmart fabric dept. The pattern is a Walmart brand I believe, (as I have never seen it in a specialty fabric store), and it was just sitting in the display rounders by all the patterns. In Ontario, where I live, Walmart seems to be the only place that sells Disney fabric. I refuse to shop online with American shops as I pay so much for shipping/duty/brokerage fees etc! The specialty fabric stores do not carried licensed fabrics here.

If you know someone who can sew using patterns, it is quite simple (according to Mom of course!) to follow. I hope your husband's aunt can help you out! :goodvibes

[Picabo]

Thank you to everyone for your kind words again. It was a pleasure to write knowing that people are enjoying what they read. I'm glad that I was able to share ideas with you as you all plan your future trips!




We found EVERYTHING for the dresses at the Walmart fabric dept. The pattern is a Walmart brand I believe, (as I have never seen it in a specialty fabric store), and it was just sitting in the display rounders by all the patterns. In Ontario, where I live, Walmart seems to be the only place that sells Disney fabric. I refuse to shop online with American shops as I pay so much for shipping/duty/brokerage fees etc! The specialty fabric stores do not carried licensed fabrics here.

If you know someone who can sew using patterns, it is quite simple (according to Mom of course!) to follow. I hope your husband's aunt can help you out! :goodvibes


THANKS! I wil definately be checking out Walmart the next time I go! :banana: