A Mother-Daughter Trip! Now with BONUS BIRTHDAY Trip! (Final Thoughts Coming Soon!)

[RGirl]

1. An Introduction
Welcome to my first Trip Report! I have not posted a ton on the Dis, but I have definitely left my lurker status behind, and I have read a lot of amazing trip reports and dining reviews and owe my two great Disney World experiences largely to this board. And somehow I’ve been talked into writing a TR - I hope someone will read along!!!

I should start with an introduction, I guess. My name is Roni. I am 42 years old and have a 4-year-old daughter named Willow. Here we are:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/e738cedb-1.jpg

In order to understand what a great trip this was and how different it was from our first trip (which was also great, but different), I will give you a tiny bit of background on our 2010 trip to Disney World, which was our first trip! When we went last year, we were joined by my mother and a friend of mine from work. They both relied on me entirely to plan everything, which was fine with me, but I did end up feeling a bit stressed much of the time fearing that they may not be having fun or wished they were doing something else or something. Much of that was my own problem, and some of it was the fact that my mom never acted like she had any fun. (After the trip, she told other people how great it was, so I guess she had fun. :confused3)

Anyway, last year, because of our traveling companions, we didn’t really do any character meet-and-greets except for character dining experiences because I didn’t want to make everyone wait. We also didn’t experience attractions over and over because I knew that not everyone would enjoy that. Finally, we stayed off-site last year at a house with a private pool - it was ideal for that trip because everyone had her own space (four bedrooms with attached baths).

This year, it was just the two of us and we stayed on property (renting DVC points for a Boardwalk-view villa! :woohoo:) and we stood in pretty much every character line we saw! :rotfl:

Anyway, that’s the background on us. I can’t wait to get started on the actual trip! :cool1:

Oh, wait, I should probably mention something about photos. I took a lot of photos (even including some food porn) and will be posting a lot. However, I was traveling alone with a 4-year-old child. I think I got out my good camera exactly once. And pretty much every shot I took was on the run with a point-and-shoot, so the quality is not going to be stellar. I apologize for that, but we did get hundreds of PhotoPass pictures, and I will include those as well. I should have the PP CD by early next week!

Up Next: Appendicitis versus WDW

CHAPTERS
1. An Introduction
2. Appendicitis vs. WDW (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43168487&postcount=7)
3. Will We Be Able to Leave as Planned??? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43182184&postcount=13)
4. We Arrive!!!!! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43191963&postcount=14)
5. Our First Night on Property (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43201612&postcount=15)
6. An Early Morning of Princessification (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43219339&postcount=21)
7. Finally, the Princessification (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43235122&postcount=29)
8. The Surly Princess Has a Photoshoot (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43235225&postcount=30)
9. Will the Princess Ride??? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43256802&postcount=34)
10. A Royal Meeting (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43266485&postcount=40)
11. A Royal Luncheon (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43266859&postcount=41)
12. The Rest of Day 1 - Almost (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43290360&postcount=54)
13. The Rest of Day 1 - Finally (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43307951&postcount=58)
14. Will DD’s Insistence on Riding Dinosaur Pay Off for Her? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43316463&postcount=61)
15. The Characterpalooza Started with Pooh and Continued On and On and On (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43341193&postcount=72)
16. Every Day Should Include a Little Epcot (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43358624&postcount=76)
17. Will We Brave the DHS Rope Drop??? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43390531&postcount=81)
18. Tower of Fun or Tower of Doom???? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43416416&postcount=87)
19. A Fancy Lunch and Some Thrilling Rides (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43464377&postcount=100)
20. A Quiet Evening at Home (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43484350&postcount=108)
21. Surely We Must Need Another Princess Meal (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43541085&postcount=122)
22. We Give WS Another Chance (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43560839&postcount=132)
23. Soarin’, Veggies, a Meltdown, and Some “Solo” Touring (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43576683&postcount=141)
24. More Epcot! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43586686&postcount=150)
25. Pre-Party Fun (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43620643&postcount=158)
26. Some Pre-Party Meetings and a Near Drowning (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43632759&postcount=169)
27. Some Fantasyland and MNSSHP Fun (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43708494&postcount=185)
28. DD Falls in Love (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43740743&postcount=198)
29. A Lazy Epcot Lunch (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43840519&postcount=211)
30. Shopping Around the World (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43869067&postcount=222)
31. Are They Really Going to Epcot Again? Why, Yes, Yes, We Are! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43935310&postcount=234)
32. Who Would Have Thought We Would Be Spending Another Day at DHS? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43941227&postcount=245)
33. Just How Many Times Will We Ride ToT? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43964254&postcount=258)
34. A Delicious Dinner and a Bad Night (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43985532&postcount=262)
35. Will We Make It to Crystal Palace? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43995682&postcount=268)
36. A Lovely Last Day in the MK … Or Was It……… (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43995797&postcount=269)
37. We Do the Last Day DD’s Way (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44062058&postcount=275)
38. Our Last Few Hours of Disney Fun (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44076825&postcount=298)

BONUS SURPRISE BIRTHDAY TR
1. How This Trip Came to Be and THE BIG SURPRISE! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44077544&postcount=302)
2. Our Close Call with Cancellation (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44079646&postcount=307)
3. Will There Be Any Magic for Our First Night? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44080119&postcount=315)
4. DD’s Birthday-palooza Begins!!!! (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44088505&postcount=326)
5. DD’s Birthday-palooza Begins!!!! (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44088647&postcount=327)
6. DD’s Birthday-palooza Begins!!!! (Third Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44088668&postcount=328)
7. A Visit with a Mermaid (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44099673&postcount=337)
8. A Visit with a Mermaid (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44099728&postcount=338)
9. Mary and Bert and Mary (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44109724&postcount=346)
10. Fun at CA and a Birthday Lunch (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44129772&postcount=355)
11. Fun at CA and a Birthday Lunch (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44130575&postcount=358)
12. Fun at CA and a Birthday Lunch (Third Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44130795&postcount=364)
13. More Birthday Fun - It’s Good to Be FIVE! (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44138869&postcount=373)
14. More Birthday Fun - It’s Good to Be FIVE! (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44139995&postcount=378)
15. More Birthday Fun - It’s Good to Be FIVE! (Third Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44206662&postcount=389)
16. More Birthday Fun - It’s Good to Be FIVE! (Fourth Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44206854&postcount=393)
17. Some New Attractions and Some New Characters (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44215581&postcount=404)
18. Some New Attractions and Some New Characters (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44215788&postcount=405)
19. Some New Attractions and Some New Characters (Third Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44217033&postcount=406)
20. Some New Attractions and Some New Characters (Fourth Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44217041&postcount=407)
21. Will We See Mary and Bert Again? (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44277985&postcount=414)
22. Will We See Mary and Bert Again? (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44278417&postcount=415)
23. Tasty Treats, Princesses, Toon Town, and Wild Rides (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44279682&postcount=419)
24. Tasty Treats, Princesses, Toon Town, and Wild Rides (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44279708&postcount=420)
25. Tasty Treats, Princesses, Toon Town, and Wild Rides (Third Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44279947&postcount=427)
26. Tasty Treats, Princesses, Toon Town, and Wild Rides (Fourth Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44279968&postcount=428)
p=44287595&postcount=432"]27. A Rainy Last Morning at DL (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?[COLOR="Navy)
28. Our Last-Day CA Must-Do’s (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44344531&postcount=441)[/COLOR]
29. Our Last-Day CA Must-Do’s (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44344981&postcount=442)
30. Our Last-Day CA Must-Do’s (Third Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44353121&postcount=454)
31. Our Last-Day CA Must-Do’s (Fourth Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44353180&postcount=455)
32. A Quick Trip to DL and Some Last-Night Magic (First Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44357722&postcount=472)
33. A Quick Trip to DL and Some Last-Night Magic (Second Installment) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44358167&postcount=473)

[hstrickland]

:yay: You started one!!! Good for you! And I'm the first one to subscribe:dance3: I'll PM you and give you the directions for the link. Can't wait to see all the pics:thumbsup2

[RGirl]

:yay: You started one!!! Good for you! And I'm the first one to subscribe:dance3: I'll PM you and give you the directions for the link. Can't wait to see all the pics:thumbsup2

Hi Heather!!!
:rotfl: I think you may be the only one to subscribe! Thank you so much for all the help!!!! I'm so excited to relive our trip and share all our pics. :love:

But I won't be neglecting your TR either! :thumbsup2

[cgerdon02]

I'm in! Looking forward to hearing all about it :)

[JLCJMC]

I want to join in too! Can't wait to hear all about it:goodvibes

[RGirl]

I'm in! Looking forward to hearing all about it :)
Welcome!!!! I am excited that we will have dueling trip reports for trips at the same time! :laughing:

I want to join in too! Can't wait to hear all about it:goodvibes
Welcome!! Thanks so much for joining in!!!

[RGirl]

2. Appendicitis vs. WDW

Okay, I think it's time to get this TR started even if we won't quite get to WDW in this update! :laughing:

We were scheduled to leave our hometown for Seattle, WA on Wednesday, October 19. We would spend the night in Seattle and make our way to Orlando on Thursday, October 20. :yay:

And then seeming disaster struck. On Sunday, DD said her tummy hurt. I thought, “well, I guess we’ll stay home today.” She actually went to bed, which was weird, but I did manage to get some packing done in the guest room next to her bedroom. Later, she came downstairs with me and lay down on the couch. And that is when she started sobbing and sobbing because her stomach hurt so much. I knew that was not a good sign and called my dad (retired physician). He agreed that I needed to take her to the ER (remember - it’s Sunday, of course).

Long story short, many hours later, we had no idea whether she had appendicitis and would face surgery or whether she just had a virus. We were sent home, and I was instructed to keep an eye on her all night and bring her in immediately if anything got worse. That was scary - I was so worried all night that I would miss something and her appendix would rupture! :scared1: By morning, she obviously felt better, and (as instructed), we went back into the ER for follow-up blood work. The doctor was “very encouraged,” but he said that he could still not say with 100% certainty that it was not appendicitis. Essentially, if she was still doing well over the next 24 to 48 hours, I could be pretty sure that she was okay.

Yikes.

Tuesday morning, she was better and went to preschool. That afternoon, they called me to pick her up for some tummy issues, but nothing drastic. She was fine at home the rest of the day, and at that point, I was quite sure that she had hit the end of a virus of some sort. And we planned to leave the next day unless she took a turn for the worse. (I was quite confident that she was not contagious - no one else at school had it, I didn’t have it, it had been several days, etc.)

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but there wasn’t much that was picture-worthy in this update!

Next: Will We Be Able to Leave as Planned????

[JLCJMC]

YIKES!
Not knowing what is wrong with them is the worst. :scared1: I have horrible memories of sitting and waiting in ERs... I hope all turned out well. :flower3:

[RGirl]

YIKES!
Not knowing what is wrong with them is the worst. :scared1: I have horrible memories of sitting and waiting in ERs... I hope all turned out well. :flower3:

So true!!! I have been so lucky with DD's health. This was a very good reminder of that. Not knowing what is going on but knowing something is wrong with your child is just an awful feeling!

[BeckyM]

When we went last year, we were joined by my mother and a friend of mine from work. They both relied on me entirely to plan everything, which was fine with me, but I did end up feeling a bit stressed much of the time fearing that they may not be having fun or wished they were doing something else or something.

My family went to WDW 2 years ago and had the same problem. My mom set up pretty much everything, but I did the ADRs. I felt so bad if everyone didn't love the meal. Looking foward to our next trip which will be just my immediate family.


Oh, wait, I should probably mention something about photos. I took a lot of photos (even including some food porn) and will be posting a lot.

LOVE photos! Can't wait to see more! BTW- Your daughter is adorable!

Looking forward to reading more!

[BeckyM]

Sorry I did the quote thing wrong in my previous post. Still trying to figure out how to do things on here. :confused3

[RGirl]

My family went to WDW 2 years ago and had the same problem. My mom set up pretty much everything, but I did the ADRs. I felt so bad if everyone didn't love the meal. Looking foward to our next trip which will be just my immediate family.

LOVE photos! Can't wait to see more! BTW- Your daughter is adorable!

Looking forward to reading more!

Welcome Becky!!!! Yes, there is something freeing about not being responsible for too many different people's Disney happiness. ;):rotfl:

Thanks for joining in!!! :woohoo:

[RGirl]

3. Will We Be Able to Leave as Planned???

So Tuesday afternoon, it looked like DD was recovering pretty well from her illness, and we were tentatively planning to leave (as planned) the next afternoon. I was nervous! But Wednesday morning, DD seemed to be nearly 100%. And I knew that we would be making the first leg of our journey at least!

DD ripped off the last day on her countdown calendar and got her last trip gift.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/4e71a5b5.jpg

We loaded our own Beast, Oscar, into the car for the trip to the doggy hotel. He was pretty excited to be going to play with his doggy friends!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/f8ba0b5f.jpg

Not sure why Willow was looking so dour in that photo, so I tried to take another. Of course, I had lost Oscar’s interest by then....
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/f6e0f4cf.jpg

Oh well!

When we got back home, we finished packing. (We don’t travel light these days - a LOT of princess dresses make the trip with us.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/4aac3543.jpg

Eventually, my parents arrived to take us to the airport.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/ff2a6876.jpg

We were excited!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/489346c0.jpg

A friend of mine had recently told me about these sticker books - the stickers are different dresses and accessories and such that the kids can put on the princesses or fairies or whatever in the books. I pulled one of these out while we waited for the plane, and it was fantastic! We both had fun with it, and it was the perfect distraction on the trip for in the airport and on the plane prior to reaching the point where the movie player could come out.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/5ecb5e93.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/2ee61e93.jpg

We eventually got on the plane. This was a very short flight - maybe an hour. DD watched part of a movie.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/a9306b46.jpg

And then we were there. We had to collect all of our bags, and then we had to drag them into an elevator, across a sky bridge, into another elevator to go back down, across traffic, and finally arrive at the hotel shuttle island. Terrible set-up, SeaTac Airport!!! I am lucky that DD is a seasoned travel able to pull one of the bags thereby saving us money on those carts - more money for souvenirs! :rotfl:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/083a4698.jpg

Our hotel shuttle finally arrived, and we reached our temporary destination at the SeaTac Embassy Suites.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/6f4b7f38.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/7aae6f6c.jpg

We pulled out the few things we needed from our bags, DD practiced her gymnastics,
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/62355971.jpg

we enjoyed the Manager’s Reception,
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/68877d53.jpg

and then ordered room service before going to bed as early as we could make ourselves.

We were back up again at 6:00 the next morning in order to make our way back to the airport. We spotted this beautiful plane on the way to our gate. It was apparently going to Alaska....
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/ff0de12d.jpg

Next Up: We Arrive!!!!!

[RGirl]

Well, I think I'll just keep going here. :laughing:

4. We Arrive!!!!!
We had a very long flight to Orlando - about 6 hours. Ugh! But we made it! We went to baggage claim and found our bags right together waiting for us. (We chose not to have DME retrieve our bags since it can take several hours for them to get to the room, and I wanted to be able to unpack completely before going to bed.)

We hauled our bags over to DME and waited and waited and waited for a bus.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/b33013dc.jpg

Eventually, they started taking people from our line and putting them on other buses. Luckily, we were the second family in line, so we were able to fit on one of the waiting buses.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/e6198efb.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/5417ba4e.jpg

The bus ride was very pleasant - I enjoyed the little arrival video and especially enjoyed not having to drive! We made stops at Pop and CBR.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/6f7f5ef2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/88838fe5.jpg

Unfortunately, DD fell asleep on the bus, and she was NOT pleased when I woke her up upon our arrival at the Boardwalk.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/ad74a9a8.jpg

We checked into the hotel at about 6:30 p.m. I didn’t get any lobby pictures at this time, but I made up for that later. We were assigned a second-floor villa, and, at the advice of a DVC-member friend, I asked if there was any possibility of getting a villa on a higher floor. (The balconies on the lower villas at BWV are sometimes a bit obstructed compared to the higher floors.) The gal checking us in seemed completely baffled by this request and what to do with it. She got on the phone and said nothing for a very long time. Then she disappeared in back for a very long time.

Finally, she came back out and said there were no other villas available in our category. I said that was fine - it wasn’t a big deal. It really wasn’t, just wanted to check in case we could get a higher floor!

Up next: Our First Night On Property

[RGirl]

5. Our First Night On Property

Finally, we were done with check-in and headed to the Boardwalk Villas side of the resort to check out our villa! We were so excited to see where we would be staying, and we were not disappointed! (Sorry the pics came out a bit blurry for some reason. :confused:)
Living Room:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/15448298.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/245e3ba3.jpg

Kitchen:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/b21ca2f1.jpg

Bathroom:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/a8362cce.jpg

Towel Mickey:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/78a883ae.jpg

Bedroom:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/ae066bb0.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/72d3fada.jpg

Willow was especially happy to see the present from Minnie!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/8b403082.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/f9f35f9a.jpg

I was especially happy to see our view! (Sorry for the pic quality - again, I wasn’t using the best camera, and the light was fading fast.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/2d40d1df.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/46e1c5bc.jpg

Our luggage arrived very quickly. But I soon realized that our grocery order was not present despite that I had mentioned it when requesting our bags and despite that Garden Grocer had sent a text notifying me of delivery. So I called the bellhop desk (or whatever it is), and after much confusion, she said they would bring up the groceries. This was accomplished very quickly, but I then realized that our stroller wasn’t there! I asked the lovely gentleman who had brought our luggage and then our groceries about it, and he went to inquire further. Shortly thereafter, he appeared at our door for the third time with the stroller. I felt so bad for not realizing these things were missing more quickly! Needless to say, I ended up tipping him several times.

We proceeded to unpack, and Willow enjoyed a nice bath in the big jacuzzi tub. At that point, we couldn’t stand it - we had to leave the villa and at least spend a few minutes on the boardwalk. Plus, we were hungry. We made our way to the Boardwalk Bakery and got a sandwich to share. (Sorry - I wasn’t yet in the habit of taking food pics.) We ended up having dinner on our balcony while watching the performers and pedestrians on the boardwalk.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/d969c53b.jpg

Later, Willow enjoyed a treat from Minnie:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/33326271.jpg

And so did Mommy ;):
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Travel%20Day/43ab2180.jpg

That’s right - Minnie brought Halloween rice krispy treats. YUM! And we were right above the general store, which just happened to have wine. :woohoo:

We enjoyed our treats and the parts of IllumiNations that we could see over the hotel from our balcony. (Sorry again - I didn’t even attempt any fireworks pictures this night - we were just so excited to be there and seeing them! I did get some later - not that they are great.)

Next up: An Early Morning of Princessification

[shan23877]

Joining in! Your DD is adorable!

Your room looks great, I think BWV are the DVC rooms that look most my speed.

Can't wait to hear about the trip!

[hstrickland]

Hey there! Haven't been on the Boards in a week!:sad2: Things are crazy around here....fortunately we have the day off, so I can play catch-up:woohoo:

I must say that your view of the Boardwalk is too awesome!!!! Holy cow! Just wondering...did it ever get loud or noisy? I'm guessing the second floor was ok;) I've wanted to try the BWV, but DH isn't too interested....he doesn't like the pool area. That area looks like it would be lots of fun and tons of things to do.

Backing up a bit...I liked your idea of the countdown calendar. Think I'm going to have to steal that one for our trip in June. The kids would love it. I would also like to have a gift left for them like you did for Willow. Did she really think it was from Minnnie?....too cute!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!
Heather

[CandleontheWater]

Hey there!

I agree that traveling with family and friends can be stressful, especially if you feel responsible for their happiness! So glad you got to take a mother/daughter trip, that sounds like fun!

I LOVE the boardwalk! We've stayed there a few times, but I have never been lucky enough to get a boardwalk view, how cool!

[ZehnJahren]

Joining in! Your trip looks so good so far! That is a BIG DOG! :laughing:

I am so glad your little girl didn't have appendicitis - that is so scary. Appendicitis has always scared me because it's so sudden and could truly be ANYTHING! I know there are reports that state many times an appendectomy isn't even needed but is done out of caution! I'm glad Willow didn't have to go through that.

And look at her sitting so quietly on the plane! Would like to have her sit behind me on a plane - kids behind me always want to kick.

[RGirl]

Joining in! Your DD is adorable!

Your room looks great, I think BWV are the DVC rooms that look most my speed.

Can't wait to hear about the trip!
Welcome!!! So glad you are coming along for the ride. :woohoo: We LOVED our villa - it felt like home. :lovestruc

Hey there! Haven't been on the Boards in a week!:sad2: Things are crazy around here....fortunately we have the day off, so I can play catch-up:woohoo:

I must say that your view of the Boardwalk is too awesome!!!! Holy cow! Just wondering...did it ever get loud or noisy? I'm guessing the second floor was ok;) I've wanted to try the BWV, but DH isn't too interested....he doesn't like the pool area. That area looks like it would be lots of fun and tons of things to do.

Backing up a bit...I liked your idea of the countdown calendar. Think I'm going to have to steal that one for our trip in June. The kids would love it. I would also like to have a gift left for them like you did for Willow. Did she really think it was from Minnnie?....too cute!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!
Heather
Welcome back! I missed you. :laughing: We could definitely hear the goings-on on the boardwalk (the magicians et al. would perform right under our balcony) and the fireworks from Epcot. But we sleep with white noise, so once we turned that on, we didn't hear anything. I can't imagine staying anywhere else - we loved it! Hmm, well, maybe BCV or BLT or the Poly or :rotfl:

I did countdown calendars both years. They are really fun. I use post-its to cover up each day - counting down from 30. Then, when she rips off that day's number, there is either a sticker underneath or a piece of paper with a clue to finding a gift. Very fun! I'm pretty sure that she thought the pumpkin was from Minnie - she really believes that all those "characters" are her friends. :laughing:

We are off on a road trip in a few minutes - we are going to see Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: The Immortal Tour. Very excited. :woohoo: I will probably be updating from the hotel though since Willow goes to bed long before I do. ;) Have a great long weekend!!!!!

Hey there!

I agree that traveling with family and friends can be stressful, especially if you feel responsible for their happiness! So glad you got to take a mother/daughter trip, that sounds like fun!

I LOVE the boardwalk! We've stayed there a few times, but I have never been lucky enough to get a boardwalk view, how cool!
Welcome - so glad you are joining in! I am loving your adults-only trip report. ;)

Joining in! Your trip looks so good so far! That is a BIG DOG! :laughing:

I am so glad your little girl didn't have appendicitis - that is so scary. Appendicitis has always scared me because it's so sudden and could truly be ANYTHING! I know there are reports that state many times an appendectomy isn't even needed but is done out of caution! I'm glad Willow didn't have to go through that.

And look at her sitting so quietly on the plane! Would like to have her sit behind me on a plane - kids behind me always want to kick.
Welcome! I'm so enjoying your TR!

:laughing: Yeah, our beast is on the large side. But he is very gentle and sweet. :lovestruc

The appendicitis thing was so scary. I feel very lucky that we were able to avoid surgery.

Willow does do pretty well on planes - she has been traveling since she was a little baby. But she definitely has her moments. :scared1: :rotfl:

[RGirl]

6. An Early Morning of Princessification

Well, we tried to go to bed early the night before, but with the time change, it was a bit of a challenge. I think DD was up until about 10. Yikes - that is really late for her, especially after having been so sick just a few days before.

Needless to say, we were both regretting the later-than-wanted night the next morning! The alarm went off at 6:00. I showered and got halfway ready before waking up DD who was enjoying having her own room thanks to the sleeper sofa in the living room. Nonetheless, we were out of the villa by 6:45. DD was really getting a kick out of riding in a stroller - she hasn’t used one at home for quite some time. In fact, she really enjoyed it the whole trip, which surprised me. Last year, when she really needed a stroller, I had to fight her to get her in it. :rolleyes: Ahhh, to be 3 and 4 years old again..... ;)

Anyway, we were at the bus stop a little before 7:00 a.m.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/81ccf735.jpg

I tried to get a pic of the front of the Boardwalk since I had been carrying a semi-conscious child when I got off the DME bus. But it was DARK!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/8a56fd91.jpg

We didn’t have to wait long.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/3f1b0b0e.jpg

In fact, we were on the bus to the Magic Kingdom at 7:00 a.m. And you guessed it - we had an early-morning reservation. When I booked this reservation, the park was supposed to open at 9:00, so I was really excited about getting into the park early to get some pictures. As it turned out, they changed the opening to 8:00. Grrr - but they still let us in early. Phew!

Waiting with the other crazies in the cold (man, it was COLD):
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/92c98186.jpg

Soon, they let the early-morning people in, although stopped us before we could actually enter Main Street. (A CM came by and gave the kids some Mickey confetti, which certainly made my DD very happy.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/d171fcc2.jpg

Finally, they let us loose on Main Street at about 7:45, a whopping 15 minutes before everyone would be entering. I got a few pics as we made our way down.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/985573cf.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/e2452723.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/b90fb5e2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/86d3af62.jpg

We stopped for some PP pics too! (I really failed at PP last year - we got quite a few pics but nowhere near what we should have. This year, I preordered the CD, so I made much better use of the photographers.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/764c8d9e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/a051cb66.jpg

(Please note - I do usually do something with DD's hair. Given our first stop, I did not think that was necessary this morning. Consider these "before" pics. ;))
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/59755d3f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/2d0935d1.jpg

A nice CM offered to take our pic when we got closer to the castle. Unfortunately, a very tired and tiny-bit-grumpy DD refused to get out of her now-beloved stroller. We took the pic anyway!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/8f8f036d.jpg

As we got closer to the castle and made our way up to the castle “tunnel,” I snapped a few more pics. Our reservation was at 8:15, so I knew I had time.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/fd385b56.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/f78f374d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/e253f5ee.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/777fc795.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/4a584a9c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/807d182c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/76745d9b.jpg

And then we made our way to stand in line at the BBB!

[shan23877]

Beautiful photos! My DD4 had the same love affair with her stroller on this trip, can't wait to try to get her to not take one next trip!

I can't wait to hear about your BBB experience. We LOVED it, and hope to do it again. :thumbsup2

[hstrickland]

Ya know, the same thing happened to us with DHS...had a ressie to eat at 8am because the park opened at 9. Well....that was changed! We get there and tons of people are waiting!!!:scared1:

Don't you just love the MK in the early morning?!! And the weather was perfect, wasn't it!? As I was sitting here looking at those pictures, I got a little sad:sad2:....wishing I was there!!!

Ok Roni...you said BWV was your favorite:rolleyes1....ya have to try one of the monorail resorts:thumbsup2...wake up looking at the castle or Bay Lake!!....just saying;) Perhaps you better not take my advice...as you know I'm a little partial to the MK resorts:laughing: However, my goal is to stay at each WDW resort. I have a long way to go!!!

Looking forward to seeing your 'after' pictures of Willow!

[CandleontheWater]

I love empty main street pictures!

I can't wait to see how much Willow loves the BBB!

[archdandy]

I'm subbing! It looks like you guys had a really exhausting travel period to get to Disney. But it's always the best part when you first get there because you have the whole vacation ahead of you! I can't wait to see your DD's princessification! :lmao:

[cocofifi]

Awww! I love the mother daughter trip reports! My daughter and I were just talking about how much fun it would be for just the two of us to sneak off to Disney. Subscribing!

[RGirl]

Beautiful photos! My DD4 had the same love affair with her stroller on this trip, can't wait to try to get her to not take one next trip!

I can't wait to hear about your BBB experience. We LOVED it, and hope to do it again. :thumbsup2
:laughing: The stroller thing is funny, isn't it? We are going to DLR in January, and I think we will try it without a stroller since DLR is so much smaller than WDW. But I'm a little worried about it - we did without a stroller on our last day, and let's just say that I was wishing the rental company could have picked it up later!

This was DD's second year doing the BBB. She LOVES it. Hopefully, I will get the update done today, although I am soooooo tired from a long night in a hotel with a child who decided to wake me up every half hour or so. :scared1:

Ya know, the same thing happened to us with DHS...had a ressie to eat at 8am because the park opened at 9. Well....that was changed! We get there and tons of people are waiting!!!:scared1:

Don't you just love the MK in the early morning?!! And the weather was perfect, wasn't it!? As I was sitting here looking at those pictures, I got a little sad:sad2:....wishing I was there!!!

Ok Roni...you said BWV was your favorite:rolleyes1....ya have to try one of the monorail resorts:thumbsup2...wake up looking at the castle or Bay Lake!!....just saying;) Perhaps you better not take my advice...as you know I'm a little partial to the MK resorts:laughing: However, my goal is to stay at each WDW resort. I have a long way to go!!!

Looking forward to seeing your 'after' pictures of Willow!
We did have amazing weather. It was quite cold in the mornings the first two days, but it warmed up as the day got going. The middle days were all very warm. And we saw no rain until the last two days. No complaints from me!

I definitely want to stay at one of the monorail resorts. I don't think that we could do such a long trip if we were staying in a regular hotel room, so I would love to try BLT. MK is definitely my favorite park, so I know that I would love it. As you read on, however, you may discover that BWV is the perfect resort for the other member of my traveling party. ;) Regardless, I would love to try out some different resorts. I would love to buy DVC - if I ever manage to do it, I can imagine us using DVC points but spending the first night at one of the other resorts or something.

[RGirl]

I love empty main street pictures!

I can't wait to see how much Willow loves the BBB!
I had never done the pre-opening walk down Main Street before. I LOVED it! The other families were racing along - I guess trying to be first in line for already-early reservations or something? - but I really tried to take it as slow as I could and enjoy the view and the pre-opening excitement in the air.

I'm subbing! It looks like you guys had a really exhausting travel period to get to Disney. But it's always the best part when you first get there because you have the whole vacation ahead of you! I can't wait to see your DD's princessification! :lmao:
Welcome! Thanks for joining in!! :woohoo: We DO have a really long trip to WDW, but it is so worth it! And you're right - just love that feeling of the whole trip being in front of us. :lovestruc

Awww! I love the mother daughter trip reports! My daughter and I were just talking about how much fun it would be for just the two of us to sneak off to Disney. Subscribing!
Welcome!!! You and your DD should do it - it is so fun! Of course, our whole life is pretty much a mother-daughter trip. :laughing:

[RGirl]

7. Finally, the Princessification
Okay, we are back from our little road trip, and I am ready to get this TR moving!! This update will be pretty short on commentary, because there are a LOT of pictures.

When I last left you, we had been enjoying a pretty empty MK and getting ready to check into the BBB for DD’s 8:15 appointment. While waiting in line, I snapped a couple of pics.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/ca5165d7.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/de78c4e1.jpg

Eventually, we were moved inside where we waited some more. DD spent some of that time making absolutely sure that she was choosing the correct gown (not much doubt of that since she had all the other ones).
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/9b4d59c4.jpg

I just love the themed cash registers here: We are going to take SO much of your money, but it won't feel like it because we look like book shelves! :woohoo:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/aa27c7ff.jpg

Finally, it was DD’s turn to get changed into her new gown and get princessified!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/8e401f65.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/98196f05.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/0fbff2f7.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/3d532610.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/b67babd7.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/27bd0aaf.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/4f9bf7e3.jpg

The Big Reveal:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/a61be829.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/30eca68a.jpg

Just as DD was finishing up, the Fairy Godmother happened into the BBB to see all the little princesses. It was very cool!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/79217a9e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/6f8898c9.jpg

Next up: The Surly Princess Has a Photoshoot

[RGirl]

And, as a special bonus, I'm going to go ahead and try to get the next update done as well since it is also really light on words and heavy on pics. ;)

8. The Surly Princess Has a Photoshoot

So, we finished up at the BBB. Now, most of you don’t know a whole heck of a lot about the months, weeks, and days leading up to this trip, so now is the time for me to fill you in a little. My DD is VERY small. She is 4, turning 5 in January. At the time we left our house, we were still not certain whether she would actually make the 40-inch cut-off for attractions like BTMRR, Splash, and ToT (which she had bizarrely determined would be her favorite ride based on my description - right.....). Add to that the following - my DD is a thrill-ride junkie in the making; she LOVES the fastest rides she can get on at the fair, WDW (barnstormer last year), etc. In fact, I can recall when she was about 2 driving down the street of our tiny hometown and hearing from the back seat, “faster, Mommy, faster!!”

So, DD was really, really looking forward to being able to do some of the “big” rides. She was fully prepared to be turned away. But she was dying to try - and she wanted to try as early as possible since I had made the mistake of telling her that she is taller in the morning.

Now many of you may also know that when you are sucker enough to buy the “castle package” or whatever it is called at the BBB, you are entitled to a “free” photo shoot next door. (For all I know, you are entitled to this with any package - somehow, I don’t seem to be able to get out of the BBB without buying that “castle package.” :rolleyes:) Last year, we skipped it (mostly due to my paranoia about my mom and friend being bored - they had already sat through the whole BBB experience). This year, we were going to do it no matter what.

DD was NOT thrilled. She was cold. She wanted to get the heck over to BTMRR. The first few photos tell the tale:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/ae11043b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/5b8f1444.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/9b599490.jpg

:rotfl2:

She eventually got her princess on, and we got some nice pics. (They print out three of them for you there, but you can download all of them to your PP account.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/6a489948.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/9e7dec99.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/3a3968a6.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/939b440e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/564bef06.jpg

She was losing her mind for BTMRR by the time she was done, so I picked the three least-snarling photos to print and got the heck out of there (knowing that I would have all the pics on my PP CD anyway).

Fantasyland might as well have not existed. We beat a fast path to BTMRR.

Next up: 9. Will the Princess Ride???

[shan23877]

:lmao:

Hilarious! I can't believe that she didn't want her photo taken! She looks beautiful though.

I sure hope that the princess gets on that ride. I wouldn't want to deal with a 4 year old who'd been told no. :rotfl2:

[JLCJMC]

First of all I must say that your daughter is just beautiful. Second -- the "surly" pictures as you called them are a hoot! I would have them framed! :lmao:

Thanks for sharing :goodvibes

[RGirl]

:lmao:

Hilarious! I can't believe that she didn't want her photo taken! She looks beautiful though.

I sure hope that the princess gets on that ride. I wouldn't want to deal with a 4 year old who'd been told no. :rotfl2:
Thanks! I think it was really my fault - I usually do a good job of letting her know the plan in advance and making sure she understands what we are doing. I think she felt like I was pulling a fast one with this photo shoot nonsense. :rotfl: I really had forgotten about it until we were at the BBB and no way was I passing it up this year!

First of all I must say that your daughter is just beautiful. Second -- the "surly" pictures as you called them are a hoot! I would have them framed! :lmao:

Thanks for sharing :goodvibes
Thanks! I loved her surly photos - although I was certainly glad to get some "regular" ones too! :laughing:

[RGirl]

9. Will the Princess Ride???
When I last left you, DD was dragging me away from the silly princess photo shoot to see if she was tall enough to ride BTMRR. This is where our trip took an unexpected course. Let me quickly do away with any concern that she missed the height cut-off. On this first day, she was not measured even once.

And so went the MK. Yes, we experienced much of the MK during this trip, but nothing like I had imagined. You will soon see. But let me warn you, our trip was soon about skipping any parade, any fireworks show, any MK classic ride in order to hit one more “big” ride one more time. What could I say? This trip was not about me. It was about DD. I just thought that we had a few years before she became so certain of her tastes. Nonetheless, we had a great trip - we enjoyed a lot of attractions (some more times than others) and saw a few shows.

And now back to our regularly scheduled TR. We headed from the photo shoot in Fantasyland over to BTMRR. DD was not measured on the way in, and there was no wait whatsoever.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/20b1e09d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/a7194d26.jpg

DD was not measured at the loading spot either. And soon she was next in line for the wildest ride in the wilderness! She was VERY excited!!!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/dd39df13.jpg

Actually, we were both excited. This is one of my absolute favorite WDW rides!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/e738cedb.jpg

DD loved the ride! She posed briefly out front prior to grabbing FPs for another ride.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/b5bc1ff4.jpg

From there, we went to check out the posted wait time for Splash Mountain.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/7aa2fcbf.jpg

Of course there was no wait - did I mention it was FREEZING this morning???? DD was just dying to try that big drop though, so (not remembering just how wet one can get on Splash) I agreed to do this. Bad move. We didn’t get soaked, but my butt was wet for the next couple of hours. Oh, and did I mention it was COLD out???? DD, of course, thought the drop was AWESOME (and, once again, was not measured). Luckily, she was not a fan of getting wet, so I was pretty sure we would not have to do this one again.

She did, however, want to ride BTMRR again, so we wandered over that way to see how long the stand-by wait was (our FPs were not up yet). The wait looked very short, so we started over towards the standy-by line, when a woman stopped us and asked if we wanted her FPs since her son was refusing to ride. We wouldn’t pass up such a great offer!!! The stand-by line was so short that I briefly considered just pocketing the FPs and riding stand-by, but somehow that seemed a little like looking a gift horse in the mouth, so we bopped on down the FP “line” and took our second ride on BTMRR that morning (again, without DD being measured). Still fun!

We had a very important lunch date at 12:15, so we decided to head towards FL and hit a few attractions first. On the way, we visited the Haunted Mansion. DD decided to skip the new queue, so I still haven’t seen it!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/0a969051.jpg

DD does not love the stretching room part of this attraction, but she enjoys the actual ride. And we both liked our hitchhiking ghost’s antics!

We grabbed some Peter Pan FPs on the way into FL. And DD’s first choice of a FL ride???
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/6a73adbb.jpg

Yep, the carousel! hahaha All of her thrill-ride love aside, DD can never be convinced to skip a carousel. :laughing:

Last year, it’s a small world was down for refurbishment, so we had to give it a try this year. The wait time was quite a bit longer than I had expected. The MK was actually starting to feel a bit crowded - it had been so nice earlier!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/c425291a.jpg

I think DD was a little confused by this ride. haha
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The teacups were also being refurbished last year, and DD really wanted to spin. It was getting close to our ADR time, but I checked the wait time app on my phone and figured that we probably had time to zip over to the cups and back and not be late. The posted wait was indeed quite short, so we got in line.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/08480719.jpg

While in line, we saw Pooh and Tigger out for a meet-and-greet nearby. We didn’t have time to do both though, and DD picked the cups.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/da733866.jpg

DD liked this one, although she spent the entire ride saying, “faster! faster!”

Up next: 10. A Royal Meeting

[shan23877]

Great update! What is it about little girls and carousels? They just can't pass 'em up! I have a feeling that you're headed to CRT, can't wait to hear about lunch there. :goodvibes

[mousetravel]

Subbing! Noticed the mom/daughter in your title and I knew I had to check it out. DD & I love taking our mom/daughter trips. We're currently planning our first Disney Christmas trip! My DD is 16, though. I never got to take her when she was little.

Your DD is so cute!!!!
I love all your pics, but wanted to point out that i especially like the one at the beginning with the doggie looking sad! That is too cute.
And the one with your DD on the carousel, is really good!

Can't wait to hear more!

[cocofifi]

Too cute!! She looks so happy on the rides.

[ZehnJahren]

Aw how wonderful that she could RIDE!!! BTMR is a classic, and for her first BIG ride, it can't be beat!!

And I love the IASW face she's making - just doesn't look 100% sure, does she? :laughing:

[RGirl]

Great update! What is it about little girls and carousels? They just can't pass 'em up! I have a feeling that you're headed to CRT, can't wait to hear about lunch there. :goodvibes
Is your DD like that with carousels too?? :laughing: Your guess just may be right. ;) I am going to try to get the first part at least up tonight. :thumbsup2

Subbing! Noticed the mom/daughter in your title and I knew I had to check it out. DD & I love taking our mom/daughter trips. We're currently planning our first Disney Christmas trip! My DD is 16, though. I never got to take her when she was little.

Your DD is so cute!!!!
I love all your pics, but wanted to point out that i especially like the one at the beginning with the doggie looking sad! That is too cute.
And the one with your DD on the carousel, is really good!

Can't wait to hear more!
Welcome!!! :hippie: I hope that DD and I are still making Disney trips together when she is a teen - I think about it a lot, how fun those trips must be, albeit in an entirely different way from how they are fun right now. I am going to have to check out your PTR!

Too cute!! She looks so happy on the rides.
Thanks!

Aw how wonderful that she could RIDE!!! BTMR is a classic, and for her first BIG ride, it can't be beat!!

And I love the IASW face she's making - just doesn't look 100% sure, does she? :laughing:
I was really happy that she got to ride - and BTMRR is such a great first big ride! IASW really didn't impress her all that much. :laughing:

[RGirl]

10. A Royal Meeting
When I last left off, we had just enjoyed a dizzying teacup ride. What better to do after that? Get lunch of course!

So we headed back towards the castle and checked in at Cinderella’s Royal Table. We were checked in very quickly and headed inside to wait for our turn to meet Cinderella. (We did this same lunch last year, and DD loved it so much that she could not live without it this trip as well. As with the BBB, I know that it will not be long before DD doesn’t care about princesses and dress-up anymore, so I am happy to do these things again since it is still so special to her.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/8b78295c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/5fa4ab24.jpg

Soon it was DD’s turn to meet Cinderella. They chatted for quite a while - I couldn’t make out what they were discussing except (1) DD was clearly showing off her nail polish (as she did last year) and (2) Cinderella did warn DD to watch her new shoes and not lose one at the castle.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/920207d0.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/df98e2bc.jpg

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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/869b6c51.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/78120bda.jpg

Also, this year, the pictures with Cinderella were available to add to PP. Last year, when I asked, I was told that they were not. I mentioned that to the gentleman who brought us our prints of the photos, and he said that he thought they were always available via PP. So I don’t know which is correct! I’m sad to think that I might have missed getting digital pics of last year’s meeting just for lack of information. :( Oh well! I certainly got this year’s!

That was a very short update - I will try to get on with the next one tonight as well.

Next up: A Royal Luncheon

[RGirl]

11. A Royal Luncheon
After Cinderella and DD had finished their little chat, we headed up the stairs to the dining room. Last year, we were at the “first table” - the one that the princesses visit first - and, therefore, were at the start of a dining rotation. This year, we had exactly the opposite experience - we were seated on the other side of the restaurant at the end of the dining rotation. Nothing wrong with that - just a difference from last year.

We had a lovely server who brought out our appetizer quite quickly, which was good as we were starving. Neither one of us had eaten any breakfast since we were still wavering between East and West Coast time. The entire menu has changed completely at CRT since last year, and unfortunately, allears hasn’t updated this menu since 2010. I’ll do my best to remember what we ate! The appetizer was a salad with mozzarella balls and hummus with little bread rounds. I think it had some prosciutto as well, but I believe DD snatched it off the top of the salad before I could even think about taking a pic.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/115017a1.jpg

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DD was perched on her knees through the whole meal trying to see where the princesses were. Some views of the dining room:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/fbc127b9.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/b1695d9b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/4e12d456.jpg

See that guy way in the back in the blue shirt? No? Here:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/b07f6b40.jpg

That guy’s job is to lurk around the outer edges of the room and mark off what tables what princess has visited. He came and visited with us for a while, explained the rotation, that we were near the end, but that he would make sure that we saw everyone. I said that I wasn’t worried - I would let him know if we missed someone! He was thrilled - he said that he wished everyone would speak up. I guess some people just sit around and pout about it. :rotfl:

Soon, our lunches arrived. DD ordered the chicken nuggets. (An aside: You are going to see a LOT of “vacation only” food on this report - for both of us. We ate a ton of junk. We normally eat very well at home, and I usually maintain a pretty low-carb diet, so we went a bit crazy on this trip. :laughing:) It was served with mashed potatoes (which she won’t eat), corn, and grapes and cheddar cheese (the latter two are supposed to be the kids’ appetizer, but for some reason, they just bring it out with the entree).
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/1d6077b4.jpg

I had the replacement for the Major Domo’s Pie (or whatever it was called) of last year. This was Major Domo’s Short Ribs or something along those lines. Boneless short ribs, mashed potatoes, and a lot of carrots. It wasn’t bad at all.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/954bf648.jpg

DD ate more than she usually does at a character meal - again, no breakfast for us this morning! But she was still mostly interested in when those princesses would be arriving.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/88c3ddf2.jpg

Finally, Snow White arrived! She was sweet - as always. DD asked her (as she did last year) why she ate that poison apple. Snow White said that she had thought it was a magic wishing apple but she has learned her lesson about opening the door to a stranger.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/be8778f2.jpg

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Next, they did the little wishing star/wand ceremony.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/b7567ba6.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/c57c869c.jpg

And then Ariel came to visit. She did not stay long at all.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/0d5679b8.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/cdf7faee.jpg

Too many pics - continued in next post!

[RGirl]

(cont.)

Aurora was next. In my experience, Aurora is always a little dull, but she was pretty funny this time. Just as Aurora arrived and started signing DD’s book, our server showed up with DD’s cupcake. The server hung around in the background not wanting to interrupt Aurora. But DD was totally distracted by that cupcake! Aurora asked her something, and DD just stared over her shoulder. Aurora figured out what was going on and made a few jokes about it.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/b407a42d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/bf99ffad.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/c24197fb.jpg

The infamous cupcake:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/072c9287.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/3afd438f.jpg

My dessert - an almond cheesecake. I tried a bite and it was not bad at all. I’m not a huge fan of restaurant desserts, and I was really full from lunch, so I left the rest.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/0a6cb881.jpg

Finally, Belle (in her blue dress) came by to visit us. I have to say this was a really unusual looking Belle. She was a lovely girl, but she just didn’t look like Belle at all nor did she look like any other Belle we’ve ever seen in the parks (and we met Belle MANY times on this trip!). She was very nice though. DD told me later that she asked her where The Beast was (DD was obsessed with meeting The Beast for months prior to this trip), and Belle told her that he had been eating chocolate and got it all over his fur, so he was taking a bath. I mentioned to Belle that DD’s greatest wish was to meet The Beast, and she told us that he likes to hang out in France. ;)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/cd220690.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/fb385b29.jpg

DD was finally free to enjoy that cupcake.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/cd707b12.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/607ad76e.jpg

Up next: The Rest of Day 1 - Almost

[shan23877]

Yes, my DD is a carousel-a-holic, but we only had to ride once this trip! BTMRR and character meets won out.

Love the update! I was told in August that the CRT pics couldn't be added to PP :confused3. Doesn't make any sense since you're getting the prints anyway... Nice to know that it can be done :thumbsup2

Great pictures with DD and the princesses! Isn't it so cute how excited they get? I don't blame you at all for doing the same meals and BBB again. I also intend to do it until DD isn't interested. The window is so short in which they really love that stuff, I want to take full advantage! :goodvibes

I do look forward to finding out if DD ever got to meet the Beast!!! I really hope so! (and have you seen that they sell the Barbie sized Beast doll now? My DD just got one from grandma and is obsessed with it!)

[JLCJMC]

Love the report and the pictures -- so nice to see her having a good timeprincess:

[RGirl]

Yes, my DD is a carousel-a-holic, but we only had to ride once this trip! BTMRR and character meets won out.
Yeah, meeting the height requirement meant a lot fewer turns around the carousel this year for us too. :laughing:

Love the update! I was told in August that the CRT pics couldn't be added to PP :confused3. Doesn't make any sense since you're getting the prints anyway... Nice to know that it can be done :thumbsup2
You know, I really think they just recently changed it. I know that it wasn't available on PP last year - either at CRT or Akershus. I'm glad they changed it - how silly not to be able to have a digital copy when you buy the PP CD!

Great pictures with DD and the princesses! Isn't it so cute how excited they get? I don't blame you at all for doing the same meals and BBB again. I also intend to do it until DD isn't interested. The window is so short in which they really love that stuff, I want to take full advantage! :goodvibes
Thanks! Exactly - it is a lot of money to spend more than once, but I know I will be sad when she no longer wants to do it. So I am choosing to enjoy it with her while I can!

I do look forward to finding out if DD ever got to meet the Beast!!! I really hope so! (and have you seen that they sell the Barbie sized Beast doll now? My DD just got one from grandma and is obsessed with it!)
I just looked it up! Is it the one that transforms into the prince? DD is not such a huge fan of Belle's prince - she much prefers The Beast. But I think she would like the doll - am thinking about getting it and the Belle doll for Christmas; they are both on sale Disney store on line. :thumbsup2

Love the report and the pictures -- so nice to see her having a good timeprincess:
Thanks! I'm glad that you are still reading along. :yay:

[RGirl]

A Present Day Update

Some of you may have noticed a ticker in my signature indicating that I am surprising DD with a trip to Disneyland for her 5th birthday. :banana:

I have been excited about it, but I will admit, I have also kind of been dreading it - not going to Disneyland but the fact that it is coming up so fast, that I haven't really planned anything, that I'm not sure how I will pull off the surprise, etc. Anyway, I had booked us at the Anaheim HoJo, which gets really good reviews. And I know that DLR is not at all like WDW (although I haven't been there since the 1980s) in that you can just walk to the parks from hotels like HoJo's. Anyway, for some reason today, I found myself just checking to see how much it would be to stay on-site instead. Well, it was only a few hundred dollars more. Still, that is a few hundred dollars we could use for something else. HOWEVER, this is really the only chance I have to do a surprise birthday trip because I do not see pulling DD out of school in January right after winter break at any point in her school career.

So what did I do? That's right, I booked us at the Disneyland Hotel. :woohoo: Suddenly, I feel more excited about the trip. I can picture how excited DD will be when our shuttle bus pulls up to an obviously Disney hotel, how much fun it will be to ride the monorail into the park, how we can do the early Toon Town entry one day, etc. Yay!!! :rotfl:

[shan23877]

:


I just looked it up! Is it the one that transforms into the prince? DD is not such a huge fan of Belle's prince - she much prefers The Beast. But I think she would like the doll - am thinking about getting it and the Belle doll for Christmas; they are both on sale Disney store on line. :thumbsup2


:

Yup! That's the one! I may have gone a little crazy with that 2 for $20 sale :rolleyes1 picked up the Beast, Charming, Eric, Pocahontas (the only gal she was lacking) and 2 sets of outfits. :guilty:

I also couldn't resist the Animators Collection (?) dolls. Got DD the Belle one for Christmas-they're the cutest dolls ever.

[shan23877]

A Present Day Update

Some of you may have noticed a ticker in my signature indicating that I am surprising DD with a trip to Disneyland for her 5th birthday. :banana:

I have been excited about it, but I will admit, I have also kind of been dreading it - not going to Disneyland but the fact that it is coming up so fast, that I haven't really planned anything, that I'm not sure how I will pull off the surprise, etc. Anyway, I had booked us at the Anaheim HoJo, which gets really good reviews. And I know that DLR is not at all like WDW (although I haven't been there since the 1980s) in that you can just walk to the parks from hotels like HoJo's. Anyway, for some reason today, I found myself just checking to see how much it would be to stay on-site instead. Well, it was only a few hundred dollars more. Still, that is a few hundred dollars we could use for something else. HOWEVER, this is really the only chance I have to do a surprise birthday trip because I do not see pulling DD out of school in January right after winter break at any point in her school career.

So what did I do? That's right, I booked us at the Disneyland Hotel. :woohoo: Suddenly, I feel more excited about the trip. I can picture how excited DD will be when our shuttle bus pulls up to an obviously Disney hotel, how much fun it will be to ride the monorail into the park, how we can do the early Toon Town entry one day, etc. Yay!!! :rotfl:

Sounds awesome!! You girls will have a ball!

[archdandy]

Great updates. Your DD looks adorable in her dress! She seems like such a brave kid too. My little brother was almost 7 when we went and we had a hard time even getting him on the dark rides :laughing:

[JLCJMC]

The Disneyland trip sounds great -- I totally would have gone with the on-site hotel too! :woohoo:

[RGirl]

Yup! That's the one! I may have gone a little crazy with that 2 for $20 sale :rolleyes1 picked up the Beast, Charming, Eric, Pocahontas (the only gal she was lacking) and 2 sets of outfits. :guilty:
I also couldn't resist the Animators Collection (?) dolls. Got DD the Belle one for Christmas-they're the cutest dolls ever.
I am trying soooo hard to rein myself in a bit this Christmas - went WAY overboard last year (took her 3 hours to unwrap everything - ridiculous). You are not helping! :rotfl2: Hmm, I don't know about these Animators Collection dolls. Gah - I will have to go check them out! :headache: :rotfl:

Sounds awesome!! You girls will have a ball!
I am definitely starting to get excited. I think DD will be really surprised.

Great updates. Your DD looks adorable in her dress! She seems like such a brave kid too. My little brother was almost 7 when we went and we had a hard time even getting him on the dark rides :laughing:
Thanks! And yes, she is really brave when it comes to ride - I think she's just a speed demon at heart. :laughing: She didn't end up loving every "big ride," but I will leave you hanging as far as which one(s) she disliked. ;)

The Disneyland trip sounds great -- I totally would have gone with the on-site hotel too! :woohoo:
I know on-site isn't at all important at DLR as compared to WDW, but somehow making that change has really improved my whole attitude about preparing for the trip. So I think it will make a difference for us. And I'm excited to see the newly refurbished Disneyland Hotel rooms!!! :thumbsup2

[hstrickland]

Hey Roni! Getting caught up :surfweb: after many days of no Dis-time...I was having withdrawals! I managed to snag about 5 minutes last night, but then we had guest for dinner...thought it might be rude to be on the computer;)

Nice updates!! Don't you just love BBB??!! I was so glad that we did it when DD was young...the magic was still there. They do an awesome job with making the experience so very real. Love the picture of Willow with no smile:laughing:....bless her heart...she was ready to get the heck out of there and ride something!

Ok...so there is no Major Domo Pie anymore???!!! Seriously?? That was soooooo delicious...or perhaps we're the only ones who thought so, and they took it off!:laughing: And you were so right....Belle didn't look quite right. Not that she was 'ugly'...just not 'Belleish'. Interesting!

As you know, we are On-site die-hards...so I think you made the right decision with the change:thumbsup2 You are going to have a blast!!! Wish my trip was much closer.

[RGirl]

Hey Roni! Getting caught up :surfweb: after many days of no Dis-time...I was having withdrawals! I managed to snag about 5 minutes last night, but then we had guest for dinner...thought it might be rude to be on the computer;)
:laughing: No worries! I totally understand how life gets in the way. It is so dang hard to keep up with everything.

Nice updates!! Don't you just love BBB??!! I was so glad that we did it when DD was young...the magic was still there. They do an awesome job with making the experience so very real. Love the picture of Willow with no smile:laughing:....bless her heart...she was ready to get the heck out of there and ride something!
We do just love the BBB - it is worth the ridiculous price. :laughing: I love the surly pics - they just crack me up. We will be able to enjoy those together when she's a teen. :rotfl:

Ok...so there is no Major Domo Pie anymore???!!! Seriously?? That was soooooo delicious...or perhaps we're the only ones who thought so, and they took it off!:laughing: And you were so right....Belle didn't look quite right. Not that she was 'ugly'...just not 'Belleish'. Interesting!
I was SHOCKED when I looked at the menu. I too loved that dish. Actually, I was just shocked to see that the whole menu had changed. I expect to know these things given how much time I spend haunting the DIS restaurant board. :laughing: I think the quality of the food was actually improved, but I did miss Major Domo's original dish. ;)

As you know, we are On-site die-hards...so I think you made the right decision with the change:thumbsup2 You are going to have a blast!!! Wish my trip was much closer.
When is your next trip??? I know that on-site isn't supposed to make any difference at DLR, but I think it will be so much nicer to just walk through DTD or ride the monorail back to our hotel at night rather than trek through the grimy streets of reality. :rotfl2: Also, there is something to be said for having those little Disney touches back at the hotel too. ;)

[RGirl]

12. The Rest of Day 1 - Almost
After our lovely time at CRT, we hopped over to Peter Pan to use our FPs. A great ride as always!
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Snapped this pretty pic as we made our way back over to the favorite ride of the trip (to date! - yes, that is foreshadowing of a sort) - BTMRR.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/f4a424e0.jpg

The stand-by line was posted at a 40-minute wait, and the FP line looked crazy-long, but we braved it. It actually moved very quickly, and we enjoyed another fun ride.
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When we left BRMRR, the park was starting to feel really crowded. DD wanted to check on Buzz, but when we got over there, the wait was far too long without a FP. (I may have mentioned this, but I am way too impatient for lines - if the wait is posted at more than 20 minutes, we are moving on, and 20 minutes is pushing it!)

We did spot Stitch out for a meet-and-greet nearby, so we decided to go see what he was up to. I think this is where DD’s new obsession with meeting characters and getting autographs was born. She has always really loved the characters, but she became a girl on a mission during this trip. She had a fun meet with Stitch. First, he bowed to her in her princess dress. Then, he took the autograph book and pen
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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/9b376ea3.jpg

But he kept throwing the pen cap and making DD get it. She would run off to get it, laughing hysterically, bring it back, and then the whole cycle would repeat. You can just see the top of DD’s bun at the bottom of this pic as she fetched that darn pen cap:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/94ecf5ad.jpg

More Stitch pics
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/30449f4d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/ee8ab78e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/f0a84fd2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/a3d8026e.jpg

When they had finished their exchange, Stitch gave me a hug, but he would NOT let go!! Finally, I was released, and Willow went to hug him and then ran off before he could get a hug. Stitch sat down on a bench and cried, but the handler kind of intervened and wouldn’t really let Willow go back to give him a hug. That was fine - I know that everybody wants a turn, and I already felt bad that Stitch had spent so much time on us!

By this point, the park was feeling really crowded. We were kind of over it and ready for a rest. Remember that we had gotten up at 3 a.m. our time! Snapped this pic on the way out:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/344edc7e.jpg

So we hopped on a bus back to the BWV.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/8834f8d2.jpg

I finally got a chance to take a few pics at the BW:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/d3b15b90.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/4f20be2d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/d67fa1b0.jpg

[JanetMom]

Loving your TR. Thanks for posting so many photos!

:thumbsup2

[shan23877]

Sounds like you guys had a great meet with Stitch! Love the Boardwalk, thanks for sharing some pics! :thumbsup2

[RGirl]

Loving your TR. Thanks for posting so many photos!

:thumbsup2
Thanks! I keep worrying that I am posting way too many pictures. :confused3

Sounds like you guys had a great meet with Stitch! Love the Boardwalk, thanks for sharing some pics! :thumbsup2
We did have a fun time with Stitch. LOVED the Boardwalk! :laughing:

[RGirl]

The Rest of Day 1 - Finally

After we returned to our villa, DD passed out. It was about 4:30.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/ce4aa2ba.jpg

I rested for a bit but then got a little antsy. I cooked up some food for us to enjoy the next couple of days. I spent some time on the iPad. I took some pics from our balcony.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/3ad60f76.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/f9dfd81e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/ae0b6db4.jpg

And I waited and waited for DD to get up so we could spend a little time at Epcot that night for dinner and an attraction or two. Finally, at 6:30, DD woke up! We checked out the pool area briefly.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/317cc31a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/014d2906.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/3cfc9bbe.jpg

And then hit the boardwalk where DD’s love affair with the stroller continued:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/180d4ffb.jpg

How much did I love this short walk over to Epcot??? SOOOO much!!! How much did I love the HUGE crowd of people in World Showcase??? NOT so much!!! I think I forgot it was a Friday night. Oops! We headed to Future World in hope of a little crowd relief. But there was little relief to be found.

We did ride Finding Nemo with no wait. Is there EVER a wait for that one???? There were two young girls in front of us “in line,” and I kept wondering where their parents were. Finally we made our way through the long empty queuing area to board our clam. The CM at the loading area asked them what I had been wondering. They said their parents were waiting outside. The CM told them they couldn’t ride without their parents. Luckily for DD, I had decided to ride with her. ;) She loves this ride. :laughing:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/984b5197.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/295df3b7.jpg

I had wanted to enjoy some treats from the F&W kiosks for dinner, but the crowds were scary, so I thought we’d check out Sunshine Seasons. For some reason, nothing appealed to me. You know when you are so hungry that you can’t make up your mind? That was me. So I decided to brave the WS again and try a CS place since the kiosks were mobbed. Unfortunately, it was so crowded that I could barely navigate with the stroller. I couldn’t take it and decided we would just find something on the boardwalk. (Aside: The ONE thing that this resort desperately needs is a CS choice!!! I loved everything else about staying here, but the lack of a true CS spot was really annoying.)

Anyway, by this time, we were both starving and just decided to get some chicken nuggets and a hotdog at the little stand on the boardwalk. Sounds less than appetizing but easy, right? Hmm, not so much. I think we waited longer for this food than we did at any TS restaurant!!! We did eventually get our food and even found a place to sit with some effort. We had a great time enjoying the view over the water and giggling with each other about all the fun we were having.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/e4b7bbbc.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/f735d774.jpg

I know this pic is blurry, but beware of this stand. It should be renamed The Eternal Hotdog to more accurately reflect its wait time.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/9e9bb1bf.jpg

We stopped at the candy store for a peanut butter cup to share.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/d2b5b6b5.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/8dfe5ebf.jpg

And then headed back to our villa to have our treat on the balcony while watching the goings-on and the fireworks.

DD was feeling pretty happy:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/41ca12d0.jpg

Some poor pics of the view from our balcony:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/ab2aee66.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/68454629.jpg

And some even worse pics of fireworks:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/7c13d080.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/96ac8b73.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/65482dbf.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%201/9fc85cba.jpg

[ZehnJahren]

Aw what a great end to day 1. Your daughter looks so sweet and innocent sleeping in her little Princess bun. :laughing: I think they all look like that until they wake up.

It looks like you had a great time on the Boardwalk too - too bad about that Eternal Hotdog though!! We walked on the Boardwalk when we went in 2010 and I wasn't that impressed with the food options either.

[RGirl]

Aw what a great end to day 1. Your daughter looks so sweet and innocent sleeping in her little Princess bun. :laughing: I think they all look like that until they wake up.

It looks like you had a great time on the Boardwalk too - too bad about that Eternal Hotdog though!! We walked on the Boardwalk when we went in 2010 and I wasn't that impressed with the food options either.

:laughing: I love that pic of DD - I know she must have been really tired because she is usually a very light sleeper. No way could I pull off a pic like that in our usual life.

We really did love the boardwalk so much. But the CS options are terrible - I mean, there really aren't any. If it weren't for the F&W Festival, we could have just walked to Epcot for a bite on any given evening, I guess, but sometimes you would like to have something a little closer to "home"!

[RGirl]

14. Will DD’s Insistence on Riding Dinosaur Pay Off for Her?

Today was our AK day! (I planned our first several days to ensure that we would devote the majority of one day to each park, but I did not try to decide ahead of time whether we would re-visit any given park since I didn’t know for sure what would most appeal to us this year. Except MK - I knew we would go there more than once!)

I was up at 7 this morning and got DD up soon thereafter. I made her some bacon and eggs for breakfast.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/63b1dbd5.jpg

And she got dressed in her Jasmine costume.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/66e80f8d.jpg

Isn't that a cute costume???? Unfortunately, that was the last time I would see it because she insisted on wearing a hoody over it all day.

Anyway, we left the villa by about 8:00, and an AK bus pulled up to the bus stop about 1 minute after we arrived. We were at AK before 8:30.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/95c5dfaf.jpg

Still loving that stroller...
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/f067ce26.jpg

There weren’t too many people there at this hour!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/0165320e.jpg

We were first in line at one of the turnstiles.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/05286a54.jpg

And equally close to the rope once they let us in.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/215439a4.jpg

We enjoyed the cute opening show.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/9407aa2f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/25e08c01.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/9bfe89e1.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/0a78f862.jpg

We stopped for a PP pic on the way in while everyone else rushed off somewhere. It was so peaceful and pretty at this time of the day. Sadly, DD would not get out of the stroller. Again. Oh well, still a nice pic, I think.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/17238116.jpg

The PP photographer tried to get DD to roar and put her hands up like paws. DD was not exactly ready for this so early in the morning after being up so late. She was cracking me up though!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/427cad08.jpg

We began walking towards Africa and the Safari next!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/dd32307e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/1ee470c1.jpg

A little aside: When I graduated from high school (approximately 1 billion years ago), my parents took me and my brother to Kenya on safari with a group from my father’s alma mater. Last year, when we visited AK and did the safari and later when we visited AKL, my mom and I could not stop commenting on how much it reminded us of our Kenya trip - obviously, a Disney-fied version of it, but still we really got that same feeling. So cool! Little did I know that our Safari experience this year would be even more “authentic” as far as reminding me of our trip to the real Africa.

We walked along the queue - I don’t think we had to stop once - and onto our ride vehicle.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/56b46a8a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/c27ec1ee.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/40a6b6af.jpg

We had a really great ride last year, but this was definitely a better experience. The animals were very active, and our driver stopped many times just so that we could get better pics. Sadly, despite her efforts, my pics were still terrible!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/bddf8c06.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/ff796881.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/8e5c08e4.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/77bda4be.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/6e03e28d.jpg

We had a very close call with a giraffe who was very interested in our vehicle.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/e3ed4f78.jpg

(cont. next post)

[RGirl]

14. Will DD’s Insistence on Riding Dinosaur Pay Off for Her? (cont.)

Got some more less than stellar pics, including some of a baboon family with a little baby.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/f7334b39.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/590943d9.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/1515ef70.jpg

And then we reached the usually sleepy lions. Only they weren’t sleeping! Wait - what were they doing?? Oh dear, very amorous lions!!!! (When we visited Kenya back in the 1980s, we had this same experience only with wild lions out on the savannah!!!! I guess I have this effect on lions?) Anyway, this is a family-friendly web site, and I am a family-friendly person, so I didn’t take any overly risque pictures, but these two are clearly in love. ;)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/94827c79.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/ad21ffea.jpg

So after that very interesting safari, we decided to walk the Pangani Forest Trail.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/0c87d42e.jpg

I had these wonderful visions before the trip of really doing AK this year - we had only had a half day here last year. I thought we would walk the trails, go out to Rafiki’s Planet, see FotLK and Nemo. It would be great! As we started on the Pangani Forest Trail, I started to realize that my plans were going to be changed by the much smaller member of my party. She wanted to see the gorillas on this trail - but NOTHING else. And then she wanted to ride Dinosaur. I did manage to snap a pic of this weird rock:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/93f1d730.jpg

And we did see the gorillas - very briefly.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/531626f8.jpg

After that, it was all about Dinosaur. Why did DD want to ride this one so much? I think because she could - she was tall enough for the “big rides,” so she was bound and determined to do them. (She was VERY disappointed when she saw EE and was told she was nowhere near tall enough.) I tried to tell her what Dinosaur was like, but she didn’t care. So we started the long walk over there - passing any number of things that I thought we would be enjoying this morning.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/f2b3de01.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/b385d24d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/c8f42a27.jpg

(cont. next post)

[RGirl]

14. Will DD’s Insistence on Riding Dinosaur Pay Off for Her? (cont.)

Until I spotted a sign touting a Pooh and Friends meet-and-greet. DD was willing to make a quick detour for that. We started down the (apparently abandoned - NO ONE was there) trail and suddenly saw Pooh making his way back up the other side. Apparently, it was break time. Eeyore soon followed.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/44ffd10b.jpg

Having never stood in character lines before, I had no idea how brief these breaks actually are. So we hopped under the bar and started heading back out the other side. And who should we see coming back towards us? That’s right, Pooh. So we turned around again. We got down to the very lovely meet-and-greet area, and there was only one family down there. Very soon, DD was meeting Pooh.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/5c450b45.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f7827e5c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/e62e6138.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/93d050d8.jpg

Then Eeyore.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/73779443.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/c38cdfca.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/83d928b5.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/7f851ddc.jpg

And finally Tigger who obliged her by bouncing with her.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/a6249763.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/36535a98.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/58e38461.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/c68224a1.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/ce1ecbf9.jpg

Well, that was lovely, but DD was more than ready for Dinosaur now.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/08f4da8b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%202/b73e815d.jpg

We rode it. She informed me that she did NOT want to ride that again. I had no problem with that as I am not a huge fan of this ride either - it is just jerky and loud and nothing else to me.

Next up: 15. The Characterpalooza Started with Pooh and Continued On and On and On

[shan23877]

LOVE LOVE LOVE that Jasmine costume. Too cute! Great photos with Pooh and friends too!

I love the Boardwalk, but never noticed the lack of CS. That's disappointing.

Sorry your morning didn't go as planned, but at least you don't have to ride Dinosaur again for a while! :lmao:

[mousetravel]

Such cute pics of DD with Pooh and friends!
Great pics at AK!

I am so jealous of your Kenya trip. That is my dream destination!! I would love to go there and spend 1/2 the time doing mission work, then 1/2 time doing safari tours. I love safari animals. The closest thing I have ever had to that is with our Peru trip last year. I loved going there to help the people, and I love visiting other countries! Didn't encounter any "safari" animals there, but did meet (up close) some monkeys and sloths! :rotfl:

[DisneyDaze928]

I am fairly new to DIS but I am loving reading TR's. They get me so excited for my trips. Our next one if Dec 18-23, 2011...w DS6 and DD1.5...

Your daughter is adorable and you too loo like you are having so much fun...I think I might seek off th my son early a few mornings to try to experience a less crowded park....we shall se..MK was gorgeous in the early morning light and so was AK.

As for food around the boardwalk...the options could definitely be better. We stayed at The BC on our last trip and finding late night food was problematic...

[hstrickland]

Good Morning! I'm off for a few days, so I thought I would catch up:)

Believe it or not, I'm really starting to like the look of the BWV!! :thumbsup2 The view is what's selling it! I'm a big 'people watcher' so that balcony would be perfect! The only thing I'm not crazy about it the pool area...even though the waterslide looks fun, the clown is weird. Being that close to EP would certainly be nice and a huge benefit.

When you made the comment about waiting in lines, I laughed. We're the same way. More than 30 minutes....forget it. Since we're frequent flyers, you kinda learn what to ride first and what to ride last. Getting to the parks at rope drop is the key for us.

AK looked fairly empty! Nice!! That park can feel really crowded. And we don't like Dinosaurs either:eek: My oldest son rode it years ago and that was enough for him. Like you said....way too jerky.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Heather

[RGirl]

LOVE LOVE LOVE that Jasmine costume. Too cute! Great photos with Pooh and friends too!

I love the Boardwalk, but never noticed the lack of CS. That's disappointing.

Sorry your morning didn't go as planned, but at least you don't have to ride Dinosaur again for a while! :lmao:
:rotfl: Yes, getting to skip Dinosaur is a huge plus! :thumbsup2 Really, we had a lot of fun - it's just so funny how you picture things compared to how they actually turn out. :laughing:

Such cute pics of DD with Pooh and friends!
Great pics at AK!

I am so jealous of your Kenya trip. That is my dream destination!! I would love to go there and spend 1/2 the time doing mission work, then 1/2 time doing safari tours. I love safari animals. The closest thing I have ever had to that is with our Peru trip last year. I loved going there to help the people, and I love visiting other countries! Didn't encounter any "safari" animals there, but did meet (up close) some monkeys and sloths! :rotfl:
Thanks!

The trip to Kenya was amazing - definitely one of the best experiences I have had. Would love to visit Peru - that sounds incredible.

I am fairly new to DIS but I am loving reading TR's. They get me so excited for my trips. Our next one if Dec 18-23, 2011...w DS6 and DD1.5...

Your daughter is adorable and you too loo like you are having so much fun...I think I might seek off th my son early a few mornings to try to experience a less crowded park....we shall se..MK was gorgeous in the early morning light and so was AK.

As for food around the boardwalk...the options could definitely be better. We stayed at The BC on our last trip and finding late night food was problematic...
Welcome!!! Your trip is coming up fast! :woohoo: How exciting to be there for all the Christmas decorations.

We love getting to the parks early and missing the big crowds. But it does take a toll (especially with the time change) after the first 4 or 5 days. As you will see, we slowed it down a little about half way through.

[RGirl]

Good Morning! I'm off for a few days, so I thought I would catch up:)

Believe it or not, I'm really starting to like the look of the BWV!! :thumbsup2 The view is what's selling it! I'm a big 'people watcher' so that balcony would be perfect! The only thing I'm not crazy about it the pool area...even though the waterslide looks fun, the clown is weird. Being that close to EP would certainly be nice and a huge benefit.
Hello! Ha! Now you will have yet another resort to conquer. :laughing: I thought the pool area looked creepy in photos, but I actually kind of liked it in person. I'm sure you all have checked it out in person before though. As you will see, we actually ended up swimming at the quiet pool anyway.

When you made the comment about waiting in lines, I laughed. We're the same way. More than 30 minutes....forget it. Since we're frequent flyers, you kinda learn what to ride first and what to ride last. Getting to the parks at rope drop is the key for us.
I probably would not have even enjoyed WDW had I not spent so much time on the DIS learning about it before our first trip. I'm so glad that I knew to get there early - it makes a huge difference for us. I am NOT a patient person! :laughing:

AK looked fairly empty! Nice!! That park can feel really crowded. And we don't like Dinosaurs either:eek: My oldest son rode it years ago and that was enough for him. Like you said....way too jerky.
I don't think it did get too terribly crowded - the parks always feel kind of crowded to me at midday. :laughing: Since we spent the vast majority of our time in character lines, I guess I wouldn't know for sure! :rotfl2:

Happy Thanksgiving!
Heather
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving! Are you hosting or traveling? We will be going over to my parents' house for a very small Thanksgiving. I miss the years of big Thanksgivings, but our family is just so small now. Oh well - we're going to start decorating for Christmas the next day! :woohoo:

[hstrickland]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Hope everyone has a blessed day!


http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss44/hstrick72/RC%20Thread/thanksgiving.jpg


Heather

[RGirl]

Hello! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We have been having a lovely 4-day weekend. We had a good T-Day dinner with my parents, and today we went to see Puss In Boots. I wanted to see The Muppets, but I left it to DD to decide. ;)

And I even made homemade laundry detergent! It is sooo cheap and works so much better than regular detergent. :woohoo: Can't believe I've been wasting my money all these years. :scared1: :laughing:

Okay, I'm going to try to get this TR rolling again! :thumbsup2

[RGirl]

15. The Characterpalooza Started with Pooh and Continued On and On and On

Next, for some reason, we decided to see It’s Tough to Be a Bug.
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We hadn’t seen this before and liked it pretty well. I did have a great time watching DD experiencing the 3D effect and trying to reach out and touch the butterfly.

When we exited the show, we saw Flik out for a meet-and-greet. So, of course, we got in line.
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I could see where this day was going, so we headed for Camp Mickey-Minnie (is that what it’s called???).

First up were Pocahontas and Meeko.
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Then Chip and Dale - I love these guys!
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Minnie in safari gear.
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And Thumper and Miss Bunny.
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(I had to crop out Thumper's tail on this one because the little girl from the family who went before us kept running back and getting in all of our pictures. Her dad got mad at me when I finally asked him if maybe he could get her out of our pictures. I did feel bad having to ask that, but they had had their turn and gotten their pictures; I just wanted to get a few pictures of my kid with the rabbits without some kid I didn't know. :confused3)

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After all that, even DD was ready to take a break from characters for a bit. What did she want to do? She wanted to ride the water ride - KRR. So we talked about what we were going to do before heading out of the park - it was getting really hot, and we were both getting a tiny bit cranky. We decided that we would walk all the way back to KRR and do that (WITH ponchos), get some lunch, treat ourselves to Mickey bars and then head out. There just wasn’t anything else that DD really wanted to do, and I could not stomach the thought of forcing her to wait around for FotLK or Nemo when she wasn’t really in the mood.

So we (meaning I since DD was riding) trekked back over to KRR and got ready to ride.
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This was fun - we hadn’t done it before. It is over really quickly though. I was very glad we had ponchos!!!

I was hoping to do something a little more interesting for lunch, but DD had turned into the Chicken Nugget Monster. She does not eat chicken nuggets at home except on the rare occasion when we might eat out at a chain restaurant or something. So I guess she thinks vacations are for chicken nuggets. I couldn’t see the point in paying for an adult and child CS meal since we would never eat it all. So we went over to Restaurantasaurus and ordered one order of chicken nuggets. This was a HUGE serving - there were 8 nuggets and a ridiculous amount of fries. (One of the nuggets was disgusting, so it was really 7, but that was still plenty.) It wasn’t bad - it is what it is. We couldn’t finish it all.
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We were, of course, saving room for something much better!
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And then we headed out of the park.
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We had a little wait for a bus - not bad. Of course, then it had to stop at BB, the Swan, the Dolphin, YC, and BC before reaching the BW. I had been thinking that we would head back to the villa and rest for a bit, but we talked about it on the bus and ended up deciding that we would get cleaned up, head over to Epcot for a couple of hours, and then hop a bus to make our dinner ADR.

Up next: 16. Every Day Should Include a Little Epcot

[shan23877]

Great character pics! Love the ones with DD's sunglasses on. Too cute.

I can't believe that a parent wouldn't tell their own child to get out of someone's photos. People kill me.

[cocofifi]

Love the trip installment. Your daughter is beautiful and I love the fact that she seems like a girl that knows what she wants! Love the pics with Pocahontas.

[RGirl]

Great character pics! Love the ones with DD's sunglasses on. Too cute.

I can't believe that a parent wouldn't tell their own child to get out of someone's photos. People kill me.
Thanks for continuing to read along! Yeah, the situation with the family at the Thumper meet was so awkward! I mean, I totally get that little kids want to keep going back for hugs. I really do. But the characters were totally ignoring the kid because she just kept coming back, and they had moved on to the next family (us). And the parents were just standing there thinking that it was soooo cute. I guess it was from their perspective, but having a stranger's kid in all of our pictures was not my idea of a great character meet-and-greet! :rotfl2: Hmm - I don't sound very nice, do I??? :scared1:

Love the trip installment. Your daughter is beautiful and I love the fact that she seems like a girl that knows what she wants! Love the pics with Pocahontas.
Thanks!!! You have DD nailed - she definitely knows what she wants. All the time! :rotfl2: Pocahontas was so sweet - she left one of those big princess kiss marks on DD's cheek. :lovestruc

[RGirl]

16. Every Day Should Include a Little Epcot

When I last left off, DD and I were heading back to our resort from AK.
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We spent some time cooling off and getting cleaned up. DD decided to wear her Snow White dress after her bath in hopes of meeting SW in Epcot. I took a peek at the times guide and warned DD that it was not that likely that we would be able to get to Germany in time to see Snow White, but DD was quite certain we would. :rolleyes:
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We headed out to walk over to Epcot. (How much did I love that we could do that????) Remember, it’s a Saturday, late afternoon, and the F&W Festival is going on. Yeah, it was crowded. REALLY crowded. Crowded with a lot of people who had already had quite a lot to drink and also crowded with a lot of people wandering around smoking. Not ideal, but we were on a mission.

We did take a quick detour from our mission when we spotted Marie in France.
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I had hoped that I just might be able to score one of those delicious Cosmo slushies at the France F&W kiosk, but it was just so crowded. No way was I going to attempt it. Instead, we plowed ahead through the countries until we reached Germany. And there was Snow White!!! And there was a HUGE line! Did we wait? Of course we waited! DD was on a mission, remember? Did it matter that we had met Snow White yesterday? Of course not! Did it matter that we would meet Snow White at another character meal in a couple of days? Of course not! Did it matter that we would almost certainly meet Snow White at MNSSHP later in the week? Of course not! This was a mission!!!

(Continued in next post - too many pictures)

[RGirl]

(Continued from previous post)

So we waited in the long, long line. We waited while several groups of quite drunk 20-somethings met Snow White and insisted on getting a photo of each of them separately with Snow White, all of them together with Snow White, and different groupings of them with Snow White. But it didn’t matter - DD was going to meet SW while wearing a SW dress! And the folks in line with us made it very bearable - I love how happy almost everyone is at WDW. One CM who was wheeling something from behind a fence over to a F&W kiosk stopped and asked DD, “Wait a minute. Am I supposed to get your autograph or hers [pointing at SW]?” It was very cute.

Finally, it was DD’s turn.
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It was worth the wait. DD had a blast; I had a blast; the crowd that had gathered to watch SW meet SW seemed to have a blast too. :laughing:

As soon as DD was done with SW, she blurted out what soon became her non-character-based mantra of the trip, “Can we ride another ride now?” So we headed toward FW since we still had a little time before we needed to catch a bus. On the way, I noticed that the wait time for Gran Fiesta Tour was quite reasonable, and thinking that this may be the only attraction with a reasonable wait at this point, I suggested we ride. I had not been in the Mexico pavilion before. It is beautiful, not that you can really tell from my picture.
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We rode and enjoyed.
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“Can we ride another ride now?” Hmm, I figured we could probably fit in SE before we had to leave, so we headed over there.
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We had never done this one before, and we both had a lot of fun - especially during the end part. I let DD answer all the questions, and we enjoyed a very nice future.
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After that, we needed to catch a bus to AKL. We had an ADR at Boma! :woohoo: I am not a big fan of buffets, but I LOVE this one. So many yummy choices. Plus, I love an excuse to look around AKL.
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We checked into Boma about 20 minutes early. We grabbed our buzzer and headed outside in hopes of seeing some animals or enjoying some views. But the buzzer went off as soon as we stepped outside. So back in we went to eat! I am not a huge fan of buffet food pics, but I took some anyway. haha The soups here are amazing; I like to have a few bites of two or three different ones. One of these is obviously seafood, and the other was a chicken gumbo-type dish.
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DD, as usual, ate almost nothing. She liked the mealie bread muffins and maybe the fruit. Apparently, vacation = Carb City.
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My plate. From 12:00: two different green salads, which were really good; a couscous salad, which was disappointingly flavorless, the salmon - my favorite; and peanut rice, which was yummy.
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I also tried the paneer cheese and some of the crisp breads, which were very good. Our service here, however, was disappointing. Dirty plates sat on our table for far too long. It took so long to get the wine menu that I ended up not getting my glass of wine until dessert. My water glass sat empty so long that I finally had to flag down our server and ask for some. She said that she would “get someone to do it.” Nope. Finally, I flagged down another worker who quickly brought me some water. Kind of disappointing, but everyone has a bad night now and then.

DD thought the desserts were fabulous. I’m not a huge dessert fan, and for some reason, almost all restaurant desserts taste the same to me - they taste like sweet. :laughing:
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Stuffed, we hopped a bus back to Epcot and began the dreaded walk through the crowds to the International Gateway. We made it back to the Boardwalk, however,
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and DD was asleep within 5 minutes of entering the villa.


Up next: Will We Brave the DHS Rope Drop???

[JLCJMC]

Great pictures! So awesome to see her having such a lovely time with Snow White! Space Ship Earth is one of my favorites and I absolutely love Boma :goodvibes So much fun to see my favorites!

[DisneyDaze928]

I loved Boma. I didn't see any Zebra Dome on that dessert plate...they are awesome. Sorry that the service wasn't magical....at least the food was good...

And the Snw White pics are adorable.

[RGirl]

Great pictures! So awesome to see her having such a lovely time with Snow White! Space Ship Earth is one of my favorites and I absolutely love Boma :goodvibes So much fun to see my favorites!
Thanks!!! We were surprised how much fun we had on SSE. Boma is a favorite from last year - everything is just so yummy!!!

I loved Boma. I didn't see any Zebra Dome on that dessert plate...they are awesome. Sorry that the service wasn't magical....at least the food was good...

And the Snw White pics are adorable.
Thanks!

Actually, there is a zebra dome in the lower left! It was the first time I tried one - I liked it okay, I don't know what my problem with restaurant desserts is. :rotfl:

I will get a new update (or several) up at some point before the end of the weekend! :hippie:

[RGirl]

17. Will We Brave the DHS Rope Drop???
We will!!! Now, last year, DHS was our least favorite park. There were a couple of reasons - (1) The only day available to do it was the day after MNSSHP, so we got a very late start (this was intentional - I had figured that this would be the park with the least for us to do, so it got relegated to this position), and (2) There really isn’t a lot to do there for a child under 40 inches.

So this year I figured there would be more to do, and I wanted to give it a fair second chance. However, I still felt that this park does not have a lot for families with small children, so I expected that we would be leaving the park about half-way through the day for a break.

The other bit of background info that you need for today is that I had a plan to try Tower of Terror for my first time on this trip. I had skipped it last year, and I thought DD would be tall enough. I did not think she would really like it, but I wanted us to try it once. So I had told DD about it several times before the trip - that it is pretend scary, that you go up up up and then down really fast, etc. At some point on our journey from Washington State to Orlando, DD had informed me that ToT was going to be her favorite ride. I figured this was far-fetched, but I was glad that she was going to give it a try!

Now on with the day! We were up at 7:30 and somehow out the door at about 8:00. (How in the world did we do that? I’m not sure, but that’s what my notes say!) Well, part of that was that both of us pretty much skipped breakfast - I think the time change really got to us with meals; DD is usually a big breakfast eater (well, compared to other meals anyway), but neither one of us was ever hungry for breakfast on this trip. Anyway, we set out on what turned out to be an absolutely beautiful and peaceful walk to DHS. (I loved this walk - no matter how much my feet hurt, I loved making this walk; it seems like almost no one else uses this path, and it is just beautiful.)
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At least we knew we were on the right path!
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Soon we were seeing DHS in the distance.
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And we did get there for rope drop, but we were too far back in the crazy crowd to see the show.
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Our "view":
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We did have a good view of several dads leaving their families and slowly sneaking their way through the crowd, edging past this group and then the next, etc. I guess they thought that it would make some kind of life-or-death difference if they arrived at TSMM two or three minutes earlier. :rotfl:

(Too Many Pics - cont. in next post)

[RGirl]

(cont. from previous post)


Anyway, the rope eventually dropped (or so I gathered by the fact that the crowd surged forward), and we started heading towards TSMM. (We did not get to do this last trip because, although we got to the park in time to get FPs, our return time was later than we ended up staying at DHS.) I really wanted DD to get a chance to ride, which is why we did the whole rope drop thing this day. However, I was 100% not willing to mow down people in our way and fight to be the first people on the ride. Nonetheless, before long, we had made it to Pixar Place. We parked the stroller and took note of the INSANE lines for FPs. We passed right on by that craziness and got in the TSMM line. It was long, but it never slowed down except to let the many people who had grabbed FPs join their parties in line :rolleyes: :laughing:, so I don’t think we “waited” more than 10 minutes.
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I just love these guys:
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With 3D glasses:
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And without:
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And we had a lot of fun on the ride. We are not high-scorers, obviously!
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Now, this ride is fun. But it is not THAT fun. I can’t believe people wait over two hours in line for this thing. That is crazy! We can play the same game on the Wii at home. :rotfl2: Anyway, after we finished our ride, the FP lines had disappeared and we easily grabbed a set of FPs for later.
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After that, DD was bound and determined to get our butts over to ToT. I was starting to get a little worried that she was going to be too scared - I mean, she had really disliked Dinosaur the day before. So I asked her several times if she was sure, told her it might be scary, etc. Nope - she was convinced that this would be her favorite ride. So we headed off towards ToT.
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Up next: 18. Tower of Fun or Tower of Doom????

[heaven2dc]

Love your TR! and your daughter is sooo cute! and love that you stayed at BWV (only resort we've ever stayed at :rotfl:). On our Dec 2008 visit, we were in a 1-bedroom villa in the room above yours - loved that view:love:

Your daughter cracks me up (in a cute way)! She is SO brave for 4 years old hitting all the big rides -I can't wait to take my DGS next year when he is 5 (he was 14 mos old on that Dec 2008 trip).

[RGirl]

Love your TR! and your daughter is sooo cute! and love that you stayed at BWV (only resort we've ever stayed at :rotfl:). On our Dec 2008 visit, we were in a 1-bedroom villa in the room above yours - loved that view:love:

Your daughter cracks me up (in a cute way)! She is SO brave for 4 years old hitting all the big rides -I can't wait to take my DGS next year when he is 5 (he was 14 mos old on that Dec 2008 trip).

Thanks!! So glad that you are joining in! :woohoo:

And another BWV lover! :thumbsup2 That view was just amazing, wasn't it? I could LIVE there! :rotfl:

DD is a crazy speed demon. :laughing: I can see her wanting to do huge thrill rides when she is older. And I don't think I will be up to that! :scared1:

How fun it will be for you to take your DGS! He is at such a great age to enjoy so much of what WDW has to offer!

[ZehnJahren]

Aw, I can't wait for the next update!!! I want to know how the ToT ride went!

Your little girl is so adorable - those TSMM pictures where she has the 3d glasses and then no 3d glasses are very cute.

[RGirl]

Aw, I can't wait for the next update!!! I want to know how the ToT ride went!

Your little girl is so adorable - those TSMM pictures where she has the 3d glasses and then no 3d glasses are very cute.

Thanks for continuing to read along! I am going to post about ToT in a minute! :woohoo: :laughing:

[RGirl]

18. Tower of Fun or Tower of Doom????

When I last left off, we were headed to ToT, which DD was sure would be her favorite ride. I was getting nervous that she would be really scared after her reaction to Dinosaur. But we got in line - DD was clearly excited.
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And the verdict? She LOVED it! When the ride ended, she turned to me and said, “Can we do it again????” We couldn’t get another FP yet, so what better way to kill the time than to ride again? The line was still very short (why is the line here so often so short? It is a fun ride!), so we got back in it. And this is when Willow started getting measured for the day - that child was measured at every ride thereafter, over and over and over - at the start of the queue and at the end of it. Luckily, she was clearly tall enough - she never got turned away. My advice? Put a bun on your kids head. With that BBB bun, she was only measured once over the course of two days! :rotfl:

After our second ToT experience, we decided to head over to the last potentially-too-long-of-a-wait attraction before it got any later in the morning. Star Tours! DD has not seen the Star Wars movies yet (although I am going to get her the old ones (from my childhood) for Christmas this year), but she loved this. It was so cute to see her holding her hands up in the air like she was on a roller coaster.
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One of my hopes for this trip was that we would see some of the shows. As you know, we had failed pretty hugely at AK, so I was going to push it at DHS - or so I thought. Anyway, I was still feeling pretty spunky at this early time of day, so I did push it and “forced” DD to see MuppetVision 3D. We both enjoyed it - once again, DD was totally taken in by the 3D effects and was reaching out to grab things.
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Up next: 19. A Fancy Lunch and Some Thrilling Rides

[mousetravel]

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Love this pic! That is just too cute!!!!!

[shan23877]

She is too darn cute! I'm glad she liked ToT!

[hstrickland]

Almost caught up...but not quite. Had to stop with RD...time to get ready for work:laughing:

I didn't know that Thumper was at AK....we have never seen them anywhere!!! And by the way, you shouldn't have felt bad for asking that kid to move. Honestly...you shouldn't have had to ask at all! I mean, really?!!

The Snow White pics are really very cute!!! Where did you find Willow's dress? It looks a little different than the dress we got at BBB....I like it better because her collar was standing up. Bet Snow White loved having her picture made with a bunch of drunks, too:laughing: Good grief!

We ate breakfast at Boma years ago...really liked it. In all the WDW books, Boma is listed as one of the top buffets. We're kinda like you...not big buffet people, but apparently it's one of the better ones. Too bad your service was less than good...sounds like our service at Ohana:rolleyes: So are you thinking AKL is a place you might visit?? Definitely on our list!

[pas130]

Checking in at Heather's advice. Very nice to see pics of Princess Willow :love: I remember when she was sick before your trip....I LOVE the photoshoot, the transformation from frown to "glow" ;) Now to check out you BW pics :woohoo:

[hstrickland]

Checking in at Heather's advice. Very nice to see pics of Princess Willow :love: I remember when she was sick before your trip....I LOVE the photoshoot, the transformation from frown to "glow" ;) Now to check out you BW pics :woohoo:

Pas....now your ticker says GF and Poly??!!! What happened to BWI??? Not that I don't love both of those resorts....just wondering why the change? Although I'm not shocked:rotfl:


Hi Roni!...nice pictures! Not surprised that Willow liked ToT:laughing: Aren't you glad she did?! It is a pretty cool ride.

Now...about Toy Story....we're gonna have to agree to disagree:laughing: We LOVE it! Yes, as you know (since you read my TR) I'm the crazy parent who runs through the crowd to get FPs :rolleyes1

Question...how long did it take y'all to walk from BWV to DHS?? It looked like a long way....maybe not. However....looks super convenient!

[CandleontheWater]

Gosh- I got terribly behind!

So awesome that Willow loved ToT! How much fun to have a little thrill seeker companion for your trips! I also loved the new Star Tours, glad you guys had fun on it too!

[RGirl]

Love this pic! That is just too cute!!!!!
Thanks!

She is too darn cute! I'm glad she liked ToT!
Thanks! I was glad she enjoyed it so much - it was really fun!

Almost caught up...but not quite. Had to stop with RD...time to get ready for work:laughing:

I didn't know that Thumper was at AK....we have never seen them anywhere!!! And by the way, you shouldn't have felt bad for asking that kid to move. Honestly...you shouldn't have had to ask at all! I mean, really?!!

The Snow White pics are really very cute!!! Where did you find Willow's dress? It looks a little different than the dress we got at BBB....I like it better because her collar was standing up. Bet Snow White loved having her picture made with a bunch of drunks, too:laughing: Good grief!

We ate breakfast at Boma years ago...really liked it. In all the WDW books, Boma is listed as one of the top buffets. We're kinda like you...not big buffet people, but apparently it's one of the better ones. Too bad your service was less than good...sounds like our service at Ohana:rolleyes: So are you thinking AKL is a place you might visit?? Definitely on our list!
We loved that Camp Mickey-Minnie place - so easy to meet so many great characters. And you're right - it was ridiculous that I had to say something to those parents. :confused3

You know, I can't remember where I got the Snow White costume. I got it last year on-line somewhere. I was just glad that it still fit reasonably well. :laughing:

I have always (since long before I ever made it to WDW) thought I would love to stay at AKL. I have been a little put off by the amount of busing that is required, but I have been reading lately that it is not really that bad. We certainly had no trouble at all getting a bus to and from Epcot. :confused3

Checking in at Heather's advice. Very nice to see pics of Princess Willow :love: I remember when she was sick before your trip....I LOVE the photoshoot, the transformation from frown to "glow" ;) Now to check out you BW pics :woohoo:
Welcome! So glad that you popped in!

Pas
Hi Roni!...nice pictures! Not surprised that Willow liked ToT:laughing: Aren't you glad she did?! It is a pretty cool ride.

Now...about Toy Story....we're gonna have to agree to disagree:laughing: We LOVE it! Yes, as you know (since you read my TR) I'm the crazy parent who runs through the crowd to get FPs :rolleyes1

Question...how long did it take y'all to walk from BWV to DHS?? It looked like a long way....maybe not. However....looks super convenient!
You will not believe how many times we ended up riding ToT. :eek:

Don't get me wrong on TSMM - we both think it is super-fun, and if we had someone in our party who would go ahead and get FPs, we would be thrilled to use them. But navigating a stroller through that crazy crowd with people pushing and shoving is just not fun - it worked a lot better for us to just walk at a regular pace; at least at that time of year, it worked out very well since we were able to ride with a reasonable wait and then the FP line was literally GONE when we got off, so we were able to get FPs with no wait for them. It was worth doing, but I don't think I'd do that whole scene more than once in a trip. ;)

Hmm, the walk from our villa to DHS was probably 10 minutes or so - I can't say for sure because I completely lose all sense of time at WDW. It was a fantastic walk - quiet, peaceful, flat. I actually preferred it to the shorter Epcot walk with that darn hill! :laughing: Honestly, the walks between DHS and BWV were some of my favorite moments at WDW!

Gosh- I got terribly behind!

So awesome that Willow loved ToT! How much fun to have a little thrill seeker companion for your trips! I also loved the new Star Tours, glad you guys had fun on it too!
Hi! I'm glad you made it back. I wish your trip had been better. :sad2:



Everyone - I am really hoping to get an update done soon. We had a very bad week with some terrible stuff at DD's daycare/preschool. I pulled her out and have been scrambling for child care. But all worked out well as the director of the best preschool in town felt so sorry for me that she rearranged schedules and went out of her way to find a spot for Willow. I can't tell you how thankful and relieved I am. It was truly one of the worst weeks of my life. :sad2: But I think it is all going to be okay now. :hippie:

[pas130]

Everyone - I am really hoping to get an update done soon. We had a very bad week with some terrible stuff at DD's daycare/preschool. I pulled her out and have been scrambling for child care. But all worked out well as the director of the best preschool in town felt so sorry for me that she rearranged schedules and went out of her way to find a spot for Willow. I can't tell you how thankful and relieved I am. It was truly one of the worst weeks of my life. :sad2: But I think it is all going to be okay now. :hippie:

[/COLOR]

SO sorry. Here's to a better week, and a better preschool for Willow :hug:

[amandaw]

Hi! I'm hopping on over from Heather's TR to join in on your fun!

Your DD is too cute!!! I love all of her princess outfits, but I think my favorite is her as Jasmine. Precious! :goodvibes And I love what a little dare-devil she is. My DH & I love thrill rides but I'm afraid our DS (3) will be a bit of a chicken. :rotfl: It'll be interesting on our Dec. 2012 trip (he's just now 40") to see if he will ride any thrill rides & if he'll like them. I'm already trying to pump him up for them.

It seems like you really enjoyed staying at BWV. BW is one of my dream resorts. I'm hoping that for our next trip we'll be able to trade into DVC. My 1st choice is BWV or BLT. But, I'll try any of them.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of y'alls trip!

[RGirl]

SO sorry. Here's to a better week, and a better preschool for Willow :hug:
Thanks! I am pretty sure that DD is okay - I guess I may never know everything for sure, but I think she is okay. And the new preschool is amazing! She had her first day there today, and she had so many fun things to tell me. It helps, of course, that her best friend goes there too. :thumbsup2

Hi! I'm hopping on over from Heather's TR to join in on your fun!

Your DD is too cute!!! I love all of her princess outfits, but I think my favorite is her as Jasmine. Precious! :goodvibes And I love what a little dare-devil she is. My DH & I love thrill rides but I'm afraid our DS (3) will be a bit of a chicken. :rotfl: It'll be interesting on our Dec. 2012 trip (he's just now 40") to see if he will ride any thrill rides & if he'll like them. I'm already trying to pump him up for them.

It seems like you really enjoyed staying at BWV. BW is one of my dream resorts. I'm hoping that for our next trip we'll be able to trade into DVC. My 1st choice is BWV or BLT. But, I'll try any of them.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of y'alls trip!
Thanks for joining in, Amanda! I promise to update soon - life has gotten crazy, but I hope to see it calming down again over the next few days.

Maybe your DS will surprise you! I have to say that I am actually really glad that DD is such a thrill-ride junky, because I would really miss doing some of those rides. :laughing:

I can't even tell you how much we loved the BWV! A lot of it was that we lucked out with the Boardwalk view - not sure it would be quite the same without that, but it would still be great. The location was just insanely convenient - I loved, loved, loved being able to walk to two parks. And if we wanted to get to another resort, we could just walk through Epcot and catch a bus. So nice!

[pas130]

Thanks! I am pretty sure that DD is okay - I guess I may never know everything for sure, but I think she is okay. And the new preschool is amazing! She had her first day there today, and she had so many fun things to tell me. It helps, of course, that her best friend goes there too. :thumbsup2


All good news!!! Glad things are better at the new preschool :hug:

[RGirl]

All good news!!! Glad things are better at the new preschool :hug:

Thanks pas! :hug: Another good day today. Phew!

And now to get an update done finally!!!

[RGirl]

19. A Fancy Lunch and Some Thrilling Rides
The one thing about DHS that we did really love last year was the Hollywood Brown Derby. No way were we going to miss that this year!!! I love that it feels like this quiet, clean, sophisticated oasis in the middle of what is a pretty gritty, city-feel park. It is just perfect!

So after the Muppet show, we had just a little time to kill before our HBD ADR. We did a little shopping so that DD could pick out presents for her three closest friends - she chose necklaces for everyone. After that, we had just enough time to speed-walk (ride in DD’s case) over to ToT for a set of FPs before lunch!

Finally, it was time for what I had been looking forward to for a year. HBD!
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Before I talk about this lunch, you should know that DD eats very little. She is tiny, so it makes sense. Anyway, buying meals for her is absolutely a huge waste of money most of the time. And Disney meals are HUGE. So I had planned that we would share this meal.

This is the BROWN DERBY. How do you now order the Cobb Salad??? Of course, that is what I had been dreaming about for a year, and that is what we were going to have for lunch. DD generally really likes salad, so I figured this would be fine. Also, I do not like hard-boiled eggs, but DD does, so I ordered the salad with the eggs on the side for her to have separately. And I ordered the amazing Champagne flight. Yum!
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And DD ordered her favorite thing - chocolate milk.
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The salad was delicious - just like last year.
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DD disagreed. GAH!!! But she did eat some of the egg. And then went with her now-well-established vacation eating plan - CARBS! Yep, bread. Oh well. Last year, she really liked the kid’s appetizer salad with blue cheese dressing, so I asked our waiter to bring one of those. When another person finally brought it, I had already finished eating and DD had filled up on bread. I told him to just take it back, we were done. It was ridiculous. Really, it was kind of sad because, last year, we had our best service of the trip at this restaurant. Today’s waiter was not terrible, but he certainly wasn’t great either. Anyway, we had been waiting so long that we decided to skip dessert despite the fact that we had been planning to split the grapefruit cake for months. No matter - there are all kinds of treats to be had at DHS!

During our lunch, I had been texting back and forth with a woman I had known on-line for years through our adoption agency’s message board. We had had almost identical timelines for our adoptions, and now she and her family had recently moved to Orlando, so we were going to meet up! We had enough time before they got into the park to run over to Star Tours for another set of FPs and then hit up ToT for one more ride! So we did.
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This was probably one of the only ride photos where DD does not have her arms up, so of course it’s the one I actually took a picture of to post. haha
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After that, it was time to meet up with our friends at Starring Rolls.
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When we went to get our treats, the CM at the cash register made fast friends with DD by giving her a high five with a Mickey glove and then adding a bonus giant Mickey-head sugar cookie dipped in chocolate to our tray. Love those unexpected Disney special moments. Willow had chosen a chocolate-peanut butter cupcake to share with me. I was disappointed because I really wanted the red velvet, but I knew she was going to be eating a lot more of it than I would. It was WAY too chocolate-y.
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We had a great meet with our friends. It was incredible to meet in person after all these years.

After the treats, our friends were heading over to Epcot, and we were heading back to, you guessed it, ToT for ANOTHER set of FPs. And then it was on to Pixar Place with a set of FPs from early that morning burning a hole in our pockets. I parked the stroller, and eagle-eyed Character Seeker spotted the Green Army Man. Of course, her autograph book would not be complete without his signature.
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We took a spin on TSMM.
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I think our scores improved a little. A little. ;)
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When we exited, I somehow got suckered into buying a big Lotso Huggin’ Bear. DD had been asking for a Lotso for months; as of the time of the trip, it was the only thing on her Christmas list, and I had not been able to find one anywhere. So I couldn’t say no! I have no idea why she wanted one so badly - I mean, he is sooooo evil.

From there, we headed back to Star Tours AGAIN and enjoyed another great (and different) adventure.
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If you can’t guess where we went next, you haven’t been reading along.

Hmm, I guess I got another ride pic without hands in air - strange. :laughing:
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Up next: 20. A Quiet Evening at Home

[amandaw]

Your DD is too cute - you can just look at her big smile & tell she was having the time of her life! :goodvibes That salad at HBD looks really, really good!

[pas130]

My DD4 is the same way with eating...she is even smaller than her younger brother ...but good things come in small packages. I am changing the date for our Fantasmic package, so it's nice to hear your review of the Brown Derby!!! IDK if I should book MM or HBD....the kids like Chicken Parm so that might be the safer bet for us. Willow is so ADORABLE in those pics....

YAY for a great update :thumbsup2

and Hi Amanda!!!

[amandaw]

and Hi Amanda!!!

Hi! :wave2:

I've been lurking enough on the RC thread to see that you are still making Resort changes for the next trip. You are still the Queen of Resort Changers! :laughing: I want to hear about Vero Beach when y'all get back!

[pas130]

:hug:Hi! :wave2:

I've been lurking enough on the RC thread to see that you are still making Resort changes for the next trip. You are still the Queen of Resort Changers! :laughing: I want to hear about Vero Beach when y'all get back!

But of course :goodvibes

[bbnursie]

Loved your Stitch story! He did the same thing to my son this past May lol. I didn't think he would ever let go.
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[RGirl]

Your DD is too cute - you can just look at her big smile & tell she was having the time of her life! :goodvibes That salad at HBD looks really, really good!
Thanks! We were definitely having a great time - and it was somewhat unexpected given how little we found to do at DHS last year. :laughing: I love that salad so much - I wish I could have one right now. :sad1:

My DD4 is the same way with eating...she is even smaller than her younger brother ...but good things come in small packages. I am changing the date for our Fantasmic package, so it's nice to hear your review of the Brown Derby!!! IDK if I should book MM or HBD....the kids like Chicken Parm so that might be the safer bet for us. Willow is so ADORABLE in those pics....

YAY for a great update :thumbsup2

and Hi Amanda!!!
Good things definitely come in small packages - I have always said little babies/kids are the best; it's so much easier to carry them around. :rotfl:

Hmm, if you know the kids will eat at MM, that is probably the safer bet. But I do LOVE HBD. :laughing: I think there are a lot of people who don't love it though. :confused3 I will say that our service this time was just really not great, and part of the reason I love it so much is because we got such amazing service there last year. Also, I have never tried anything other than the cobb salad, so my review is pretty limited! :rotfl2:

[RGirl]

Loved your Stitch story! He did the same thing to my son this past May lol. I didn't think he would ever let go.
http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i426/bbnursie/DSCF2754.jpg

Welcome! What an adorable pic of your DS with that crazy Stitch!

[RGirl]

20. A Quiet Evening at Home
At this point, we had been in this “half day park” for over 8 hours!!!! We were ready to go. I figured after all those rides on ToT, I deserved a treat, and of course, if Mommy’s getting a treat, so is DD. She was THRILLED to get some Cheetohs (which I think she may have only ever had at WDW - her first Cheetoh was at WDW last year!). You can also see DD's ToT souvenir in the stroller tray. :laughing:
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And I picked up a frozen margarita for the walk home.
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Snapped one more pic of DD’s beloved ToT.
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Almost the minute we exited the park, DD and Lotso were happily snoozing in the stroller. And I was enjoying the beautiful walk back to the BW.
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I took the walk as an opportunity to give my mom a quick call and see how things were at home. My dad’s best friend had been hospitalized shortly after we got to WDW, and he was now clearly dying. Very sad for his family and for my father. :(

When we got back to our villa, we found that Mousekeeping had carefully set out all of DD’s little blankies.
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DD enjoyed another soak in the whirlpool tub. She then practiced her handstands with Lotso.
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And then Minnie and Moosie the Reindeer (yes, you read that right) wanted to join in.
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(BTW - DD can now do headstands with no support. So cool!)

At this point, we both just wanted to stay in for the night. We canceled our Tutto Italia reservation - sadly, we canceled a LOT of ADRs on this trip; we just didn’t have it in us to go out for big meals after such long and crazy days.

DD just wanted to watch PotC. (We had plenty of food in the kitchen that I had cooked up the other day, so there was really no need to go out.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/45704c92.jpg

I took the opportunity to take a few pictures.

Another of the view from our balcony.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/4489e9cc.jpg

The bonus cookie from the nice CM at Starring Rolls:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/cc12f90a.jpg

Some of the goodies that were in the pumpkin surprise DD received when we arrived:
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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/8dbdd308.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/ad049b3b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/d740cb43.jpg

Hidden Mickey carpet in our villa:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/558fed91.jpg

The world’s most evil stuffy!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%203/bb69b3f4.jpg

Later, I took some pretty bad pics from my bedroom balcony.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f901c29d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/12e774d4.jpg

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Up next: 21. Surely We Must Need Another Princess Meal

[amandaw]

What a great ending to the day! I love how DD was practicing her headstands with her fuzzy friends....too cute! You really had a great view from your balcony.

[bbnursie]

The headstand pictures crack me up! That was me when I was a kid. Every where you turn, I would be standing on my head lol.

[pas130]

Good things definitely come in small packages - I have always said little babies/kids are the best; it's so much easier to carry them around. :rotfl:

Hmm, if you know the kids will eat at MM, that is probably the safer bet. But I do LOVE HBD. :laughing: I think there are a lot of people who don't love it though. :confused3 I will say that our service this time was just really not great, and part of the reason I love it so much is because we got such amazing service there last year. Also, I have never tried anything other than the cobb salad, so my review is pretty limited! :rotfl2:

I did end up keeping MM after comparing the menus. And I am so glad we can walk back after F! since we are at BC now.

LOVE the new pics! We saw the fireworks from our YC suite last month..:worship: Just such a cool experience :yay:

[shan23877]

All caught up! LOVE the headstand pics. Those are too cute. Sounds like a full and fun day at DHS. Can't wait to hear about the next princess meal! (I think we did them all :lmao:)

Glad everything worked out with Willow's preschool. I'm sure it was incredibly stressfull.
And, Merry Chirstmas to you and Willow. I hope Santa is very good to her!

[RGirl]

What a great ending to the day! I love how DD was practicing her headstands with her fuzzy friends....too cute! You really had a great view from your balcony.
It was a really fun day, and ending each day with that view was always great! :woohoo:

The headstand pictures crack me up! That was me when I was a kid. Every where you turn, I would be standing on my head lol.
:rotfl: Too funny!!! I am really so proud of her - she decided one day that she really wanted to stand on her head and got quite upset that she couldn't. I explained to her that no one could stand on her head without practicing it a lot. From that day on, she has been practicing, and now she can do it! :thumbsup2

I did end up keeping MM after comparing the menus. And I am so glad we can walk back after F! since we are at BC now.

LOVE the new pics! We saw the fireworks from our YC suite last month..:worship: Just such a cool experience :yay:
LOVE that walk back from DHS! :cool1:

I hope you enjoy MM and the BC!!!!

All caught up! LOVE the headstand pics. Those are too cute. Sounds like a full and fun day at DHS. Can't wait to hear about the next princess meal! (I think we did them all :lmao:)

Glad everything worked out with Willow's preschool. I'm sure it was incredibly stressfull.
And, Merry Chirstmas to you and Willow. I hope Santa is very good to her!
You can never have too many princess meals!!! :rotfl:

Thanks. :hug: I am still a little stressed and anxious about the whole mess, but I know she's safe, and that is what is most important. I am meeting with the director of the organization that oversees her prior daycare/preschool tomorrow. I hope that she takes some action to ensure the safety of the children who are still there. If not, I will take it up with the state.

Merry Christmas to you too!!! I hope you and your family have a wonderful day. I'm sure Santa will be good to my kid and yours. ;) :laughing:

[hstrickland]

Hi Roni!:wave2:

Sorry to hear the service was less than great at the Brown Derby...and no dessert! Unfortunately, service can be hit and miss at WDW, as you know. We did the Fantasmic Package a couple of years ago and had a great experience (in my opinion) The reason I say "IMO" is because DH said it wasn't his favorite...who knows :confused3 I've heard wonderful things about the Cobb Salad, but we didn't try it, nor did we try the Grape Fruit Cake. At least you fulfilled your sweet tooth with a cupcake:thumbsup2

Again...I'm loving your view from BWI! Don't blame you one bit for staying in and taking a break! My dad and I are total people watchers, so sitting on the balcony while on vacation is part of our experience. Nice way to end the evening....fireworks!! And if you like fireworks from the balcony, you must try the Poly, GF or CR:thumbsup2 Put those resorts on your list:laughing:

Heather

[pas130]

LOVE that walk back from DHS! :cool1:

I hope you enjoy MM and the BC!!!!

I am sure it will be a FANTABULOUS trip. My DD4 wass looking at a pic of BC and said it's the perfect place, and DS3 said he needs the kiddie pool :goodvibes

Merry Christmas to you and your Princess Willow :santa:

[RGirl]

Hi Roni!:wave2:

Sorry to hear the service was less than great at the Brown Derby...and no dessert! Unfortunately, service can be hit and miss at WDW, as you know. We did the Fantasmic Package a couple of years ago and had a great experience (in my opinion) The reason I say "IMO" is because DH said it wasn't his favorite...who knows :confused3 I've heard wonderful things about the Cobb Salad, but we didn't try it, nor did we try the Grape Fruit Cake. At least you fulfilled your sweet tooth with a cupcake:thumbsup2

Again...I'm loving your view from BWI! Don't blame you one bit for staying in and taking a break! My dad and I are total people watchers, so sitting on the balcony while on vacation is part of our experience. Nice way to end the evening....fireworks!! And if you like fireworks from the balcony, you must try the Poly, GF or CR:thumbsup2 Put those resorts on your list:laughing:

Heather
We will definitely go back to HBD - it is still one of my favorite WDW restaurants. Service at our first visit was unbelievably great, and the food was still good this second time. Most importantly, I just love the feel of the place - it seems like such an oasis in the middle of a very hot and urban park; to me, it is the perfect break in the middle of (what will apparently from now on be) a very long park day. ;)

Oh, man, there is no better people watching than at the BWV! :laughing: But I would love for us to experience all of the resorts you named - I am totally sold on WDW resorts! :woohoo:

I am sure it will be a FANTABULOUS trip. My DD4 wass looking at a pic of BC and said it's the perfect place, and DS3 said he needs the kiddie pool :goodvibes

Merry Christmas to you and your Princess Willow :santa:
Merry Christmas, pas!!! :hug: I am excited for your next trip - even before our first trip, BC was a dream destination for me, so I can't wait for your TR!

[RGirl]

:wave: I hope you all will stick with me. I know that I have been pretty lame in getting updates done recently. The last few weeks with everything that went down at DD's daycare have really had me down, and it has been hard to channel that Disney spirit. I am working really hard to make real life better for DD right now, and I know that I will be ready to relive our amazing trip again very soon - hopefully, during our wonderful week and a half of stay-cation! Please bear with me, and I will get this thing moving again soon!

And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I hope you all have a wonderful time with family and friends over the next few days. I am getting ready to host Christmas Eve dinner here tomorrow night and breakfast on Christmas morning. DD is super-excited to see what Santa brings (unfortunately, she did not come up with anything to tell him until, um, today!, so needless to say, he is not bringing what she is now requesting - hopefully, I can plant the seed for what he is actually bringing in the nest day... :laughing:). This is my niece's first Christmas, and I am excited to include her in some of my traditions with DD. I always get DD a new pair of jammies and a tree ornament for Christmas Eve, so I have done the same for my baby niece. Can't wait to get pictures of the two cousins in their matching Christmas jammies!!

If you have the time, share some of your Christmas traditions! I always love to hear about everyone else's Christmas celebrations. :love:

[partyof2]

Joining the party a little late!

Merry Christmas to you and Willow, Roni. I hope you have a wonderful day.

[pas130]

Merry Christmas, pas!!! :hug: I am excited for your next trip - even before our first trip, BC was a dream destination for me, so I can't wait for your TR!

Except we are at WL...for now :rotfl:

Hope you had a magical Christmas.......can't wait to hear the NYE "Leap Year Disney surprise announcement"

[S'sMom]

I have enjoyed your TR with your beautiful daughter. I am seriously considering a trip for my dd(9) in May for the RunDisney Event. Only thing is that she will probably leave me in the dust :rotfl:

Great job

[RGirl]

Joining the party a little late!

Merry Christmas to you and Willow, Roni. I hope you have a wonderful day.
Welcome! Not late at all - I am just going to start on Day 4 (it's taking me forever!)! :rotfl:

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was very good to DD. ;)

Except we are at WL...for now :rotfl:

Hope you had a magical Christmas.......can't wait to hear the NYE "Leap Year Disney surprise announcement"
:rotfl2: I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that you had changed again!! What happened??? :rotfl:

I hope you had a great Christmas! We had a lot of fun. I didn't know an announcement was coming. Any rumors????

I have enjoyed your TR with your beautiful daughter. I am seriously considering a trip for my dd(9) in May for the RunDisney Event. Only thing is that she will probably leave me in the dust :rotfl:

Great job
Thanks! I am really enjoying writing it. I hope you get to do a mother-daughter trip - it is so fun! :love:

Merry Christmas!

[RGirl]

21. Surely We Must Need Another Princess Meal


It was Epcot day!!! We left our villa at about 7:30 to walk to Epcot because we had an 8:20 ADR at Akershus. The boardwalk was pretty darn deserted.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/2651defc.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/8d2c3509.jpg

As was the International Gateway.
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We were allowed into the park at a little after 7:30. It was cool and foggy, but the empty World Showcase looked beautiful.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/1b370ce9.jpg

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Soon we arrived in Norway and checked in at Akershus.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/22058265.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/fdf9e27e.jpg

This nice fellow came out to announce our royal family. ;)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/1a679a71.jpg

And soon we were waiting inside to meet Belle.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/0c2b0b85.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/b9ef762a.jpg

DD had a lovely time with Belle. She asked her (again) where the Beast was. This time, Belle told her that he was still sleeping. She also let DD know that she would see her later in France.
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Soon we were seated at a table just across an aisle from our table last year. :laughing: We picked up some food from the cold buffet.
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And then Aurora came to visit.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/e85be4bd.jpg

Our server brought out the hot food. (Sorry I didn’t get a pic until after we had served up some of the food.)
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The food here is pretty good, but as usual for us on this trip, we just weren’t very hungry for breakfast. Last year, the potato casserole here was so good that I made it for Christmas breakfast at home. This year, it was good, but it wasn’t quite as good as last year.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/fcf5cdcc.jpg


[Going to have too many pics here - cont. in next post!]

[RGirl]

[cont. from previous post]

But the food didn't really matter much as soon Cinderella was by for a visit with DD.
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And then Snow White. Why is it that Snow White is always the most interactive and sweetest princess?
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Finally, Ariel - who basically did a drive-by - she was out of there so fast, I barely got pictures.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/6804d27c.jpg

As we were leaving, we passed Belle on her way through the restaurant to take a break. She remembered DD and reminded her that she would be seeing her again in France later with the Beast.

But it was only 9:00 at this point, so we had some FW to conquer!!! As we made our way from Akershus toward The Land, we met up with the Soarin’ mobs. We took it easy, parked the stroller, etc., and still made it to Soarin’ in plenty of time for a nice ride without a terrible wait.
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DD enjoyed her first ride on Soarin’ very much. I enjoyed it too (did it last year), but man - can they clean the film or something??? There were huge dust specks in several of the scenes - the experience was still good, but they were a bit distracting. On the way out, we picked up a set of FPs.

From Soarin’, we zipped across FW to Test Track because DD really wanted to try it out, and we wanted to do it now before the crowds got too heavy. The posted wait time was already 25 minutes, although I really don’t think we waited that long. DD loved this ride - it was definitely her favorite Epcot ride. This was my first time on TT as well, and it was fun!
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Given DD’s love for TT, we were definitely going to need FPs for later, but of course, our FP retrieval window was not open yet. We headed to SE and had a great ride!
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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/b4a86d68.jpg

While in line, DD was studying the park map. Man, Disney really is educational! DD really got so that she totally understood the concept of the maps, and she could find her way on them. So cool.
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After our ride, we had just a few minutes until we could get our second set of FPs, so we decided to do a little shopping. DD helped me pick out a shirt, and I think we found something for my niece - DD finally has a cousin! While we were shopping, this elderly woman came up to DD and said, “Oh, honey, I am taking pictures of all the little princesses. Can I take your picture?” I thought this was a little odd - I mean, why does a stranger want pictures of my child. I was trying to figure out whether to ask her to move on when DD quite nicely told the woman she did not want her to take her picture - I think DD was annoyed that she was being distracted from her shopping! :laughing: Later, she did permit ME to take a pic.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/cc405763.jpg

When we were done shopping, we grabbed a set of TT FPs.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/7861ff0f.jpg

And then we headed into WS.

Up next: 22. We Give WS Another Chance

[bbnursie]

I understand exactly how you feel about a stranger taking a picture of your DD. When we were in Disney while DS was getting his first haircut there were 3-4 people outside the window taking pictures of him through the glass. I never knew he was famous to want to take a picture :lmao:. At least the lady asked before hand and even better that your DD told her no. What was the lady's response to that by the way?! BTW your DD is so stinking cute!

[amandaw]

Sounds like it was a good start to the day. Love all of the pictures with DD & the princesses. My favorite is the one of her & Belle hugging....so cute! :goodvibes

[Grumpy's Wife]

I'm now all caught up on your trip report. Great job!

Your DD is adorable and I love all of her princess costumes. Smart little girl you have for not wanting a stranger to take her picture.

[JanetMom]

Thanks for keeping up with your postings! Love seeing your pics and hearing about Disney as seen through your daughter's eyes.

Only 11 weeks until we arrive at the YC, so your trip report is helping me pass the time and helping me get excited about staying at an Epcot resort.

[Cin]

I just love the smiles on your daughter's face! All your pics are so beautiful, WDW is certainly a scenic place every where you look. I'll bet you can't wait to go back. :thumbsup2

[hstrickland]

Glad y'all had a wonderful Christmas!! We always have our extended family over for Christmas Eve, then on Christmas morning it's just us and the grandparents. My sister and her family usually fly in from CT on Christmas Day...busy, busy, busy!! But fun!!

I can't believe how empty EP looked and the Boardwalk!! The morning times at WDW are so peaceful....just love it! Looks like EP wasn't too crowded either. Glad y'all had a nice breakfast. And I'm almost certain that your Cinderella was the same one we had at CRT. I'm going to go back and look at our pictures. Sorry that Ariel was less than charming...she didn't look overly friendly:laughing:

By the way...Willow looks sooooooo happy in all your pictures!! She was having an awesome time, wasn't she?!

[pas130]

YAY new pics. Loved Askerhus BF, and all the Princesses. We are doing CRT this trip, DD4s request. This will be our first time.


Now I want to move back to BC, miss that walk to Epcot :rolleyes1

Willow is beautiful and amazing as always :love:

[RGirl]

I understand exactly how you feel about a stranger taking a picture of your DD. When we were in Disney while DS was getting his first haircut there were 3-4 people outside the window taking pictures of him through the glass. I never knew he was famous to want to take a picture :lmao:. At least the lady asked before hand and even better that your DD told her no. What was the lady's response to that by the way?! BTW your DD is so stinking cute!
Yeah, that was very weird! I don't know what people want with pics of other people's kids - it makes me uncomfortable. I can't really remember the woman's reaction - I think she was kind of surprised, but she was pretty nice about it; I kind of laughed and steered DD in another direction. And thanks! I think she's pretty cute myself. ;):laughing:

Sounds like it was a good start to the day. Love all of the pictures with DD & the princesses. My favorite is the one of her & Belle hugging....so cute! :goodvibes
That pic with Belle is one of my absolute favorite pics from the entire trip. :love:

I'm now all caught up on your trip report. Great job!

Your DD is adorable and I love all of her princess costumes. Smart little girl you have for not wanting a stranger to take her picture.
Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying the report! Yes, sometimes, I'm really glad that DD always speaks her mind. ;)

Thanks for keeping up with your postings! Love seeing your pics and hearing about Disney as seen through your daughter's eyes.

Only 11 weeks until we arrive at the YC, so your trip report is helping me pass the time and helping me get excited about staying at an Epcot resort.
Oh, only 11 weeks! I'm so jealous!!! I have not been in the YC before, but it sure looks gorgeous from the outside and the pics I've seen. Have you stayed at an Epcot resort before? It's so awesome! :woohoo:

I just love the smiles on your daughter's face! All your pics are so beautiful, WDW is certainly a scenic place every where you look. I'll bet you can't wait to go back. :thumbsup2
We definitely can't wait to go back. Kind of sad that we won't be back until 2013 at the earliest. :sad1: But we have Disneyland to look forward to in just a few weeks and then our first Disney cruise this summer! :woohoo:

Glad y'all had a wonderful Christmas!! We always have our extended family over for Christmas Eve, then on Christmas morning it's just us and the grandparents. My sister and her family usually fly in from CT on Christmas Day...busy, busy, busy!! But fun!!

I can't believe how empty EP looked and the Boardwalk!! The morning times at WDW are so peaceful....just love it! Looks like EP wasn't too crowded either. Glad y'all had a nice breakfast. And I'm almost certain that your Cinderella was the same one we had at CRT. I'm going to go back and look at our pictures. Sorry that Ariel was less than charming...she didn't look overly friendly:laughing:

By the way...Willow looks sooooooo happy in all your pictures!! She was having an awesome time, wasn't she?!
Your Christmas sounds great! It's so fun to be surrounded by family for the holidays.

It was a really wonderful morning at Epcot - so quiet and peaceful that early. I can't imagine not getting to the parks early! Yeah, both Ariels we met this trip were not exactly stellar ambassadors of the Mer-World! :rotfl:

She really did have a great time. She still talks about it every day. :lovestruc

YAY new pics. Loved Askerhus BF, and all the Princesses. We are doing CRT this trip, DD4s request. This will be our first time.


Now I want to move back to BC, miss that walk to Epcot :rolleyes1

Willow is beautiful and amazing as always :love:
Is this your first time at CRT or your first time for breakfast there? We love it! But we have only ever done lunch. I know your DD is going to have a GREAT time! :woohoo:

:rotfl2: I'm guessing your next update will have you back at the BC. ;)

[RGirl]

22. We Give WS Another Chance
And into WS we went! We stopped first at Norway to ride Maelstrom, a first for both of us. Now, usually, when I say “no wait,” I mean that we walked right through the queue and got on. For this ride, there was literally no wait - I mean, we didn’t even wait for the person in front of us to board the boat, because there was no one in front of us! This attraction was EMPTY. But we had fun.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/21dc88a2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/afce821b.jpg

DD spotted this fabulous photo op.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/5287254c.jpg

As you know, one of my Epcot goals was actually to try a few of the F&W eats and other well-regarded DIS favorites. We mostly failed miserably, but we did try. Here in Norway, we took some time out to share a cloudberry horn. (Neither one of us had eaten much during the princess breakfast, so we were a little hungry.) This was yummy.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/b2f77d5a.jpg

We headed to China and stopped at a F&W kiosk if you can believe that. :scared1: :laughing: I ordered the Black Pepper Shrimp with Sichuan Noodles ($4.50) here. It was pretty yummy. And it was a very good-sized portion. By the time I had nearly finished it, I finally talked DD into trying it, and even she thought it was pretty good!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/64ed4e05.jpg

We checked out China after this - poked around the shops, etc. And then we saw that Mulan was out (one of the main reasons that we were hanging out in China)! We were the last family permitted to join the line. Phew! Because we were at the end of the line, we ended up chatting with the CM there who was letting people know that the line was closed. He was so sweet - Brandon - he had done the college program and then returned to Michigan, but he got bored there “and there was no castle,” so he came back! He said that he and the other CMs are the only people he knows who go to work to get happy after a bad day.

Anyway, DD had a great meet with Mulan.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/5e6f9fb9.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/fac00486.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/3fe2311e.jpg

We wandered on after that, stopping for a little refreshment. ;)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/0141ba5f.jpg

DD got a frozen lemonade to enjoy, although I did not take a pic of that one! It was a beautiful day!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/b5198776.jpg

Eventually, we had reached France for the most important meeting of the trip. For months, DD has talked nonstop about wanting to meet the Beast. So we got in line - there were quite a few people in line already, and there were still at least 20 minutes before he was supposed to appear. But everyone in line was so nice - the people in front and behind us even watched the stroller for us and saved our spot when I had to run DD to the potty. (This is the worst thing about traveling without another adult, but luckily, we were surrounded by such wonderful people most of the time.) Eventually, Belle appeared, and she took pictures with those families content to meet just Belle. Pfft - we were NOT one of those families! (Of course, we had already met Belle twice this trip! :laughing:) Then Belle made her way down the entire meet-and-greet line and signed everyone’s autograph books for herself and the Beast. (DD was actually pretty upset that the Beast was not going to sign for himself. Belle explained that he was still working on writing. ;))

And then, about 10 minutes after the posted time, we finally saw the Beast approaching! We were all so excited! (No one more so than the hilarious lady in line in front of us - she asked me if I thought Belle would be insulted if she asked her to step out of the pic. :rotfl: And then, during her meeting with Belle and the Beast, she did ask her to step out, and Belle said, “You know, he IS married!” :rotfl2:) Eventually, it was our turn, and DD - for all her dreams of meeting the Beast - became pretty intimidated by his size and big claws. She stuck pretty close to Belle during this meeting.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/e1e72c34.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/ba7ca41c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f3339c4d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/2f04b947.jpg

After the Beast, we had one more Very Important Meeting to attend to before we could do anything else. So we headed on over to the UK and found ourselves second in line to meet DD’s beloved friend Mary Poppins. About 10 minutes after we arrived, Mary appeared. DD was very excited to show Mary that she had learned how to snap her fingers by copying Mary. Mary was lovely, but SO proper! :laughing:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/f25a68ba.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/c271cba4.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/d2a27750.jpg

Up next: 23. Soarin’, Veggies, a Meltdown, and Some “Solo” Touring

[ZehnJahren]

Aw, great updates! You do have an adorable daughter.

I think that's awesome that your daughter feels empowered enough to say "no" to a stranger; I think many kids would feel like they couldn't or shouldn't say no to an adult talking to their parents. Very cool that she could speak up and say she doesn't want her picture taken.

Looks like you guys are having a GREAT trip!

[JanetMom]

Oh, only 11 weeks! I'm so jealous!!! I have not been in the YC before, but it sure looks gorgeous from the outside and the pics I've seen. Have you stayed at an Epcot resort before? It's so awesome! :woohoo:


We haven't stayed at an Epcot resort yet, which is why I'm loving your trip report. It is making me so excited to be there.

We have stayed at WL twice, CR once and I did a solo trip to CSR. Our last family trip was when we stayed at CR. We had an amazing CL room overlooking MK, but when we were visiting the Boardwalk area for a restaurant meal we know that our next stay would be at one of the Epcot resorts. As soon as we set foot on the boardwalk we all looked at each other and said "Next time we are staying here!" The next time was supposed to be in 2013, but we couldn't wait that long, so we had to book for 2012. We booked this trip back on April 9, so it has been a loonnng wait. I can't believe we are down to 10.5 weeks now.

I love the following three pictures. The pic with Mulan is gorgeous, the pic of the drink is something I can't wait to experience for myself, and Mary is my most favourite Disney character. I think I actually sighed out loud when I saw her on our last trip.

You have such a cute daughter, it is great that you captured so many great photos of her and your trip.



http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/fac00486.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/0141ba5f.jpg[/CENTER]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/c271cba4.jpg

[amandaw]

OMG! Your DD is too cute with her sunglasses on in the picture with Mulan! Looks like y'all had some character meets! :thumbsup2

[pas130]

Is this your first time at CRT or your first time for breakfast there? We love it! But we have only ever done lunch. I know your DD is going to have a GREAT time! :woohoo:

:rotfl2: I'm guessing your next update will have you back at the BC. ;)

:rotfl: It's our first CRT ever!!! And you've figured my changing out ;) You did well at WS :goodvibes I can't get the kids to want to go, BUT we are doing more Epcot time for F&G SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :yay:

I am in love with Willow :worship: such a Princess

[RGirl]

Aw, great updates! You do have an adorable daughter.

I think that's awesome that your daughter feels empowered enough to say "no" to a stranger; I think many kids would feel like they couldn't or shouldn't say no to an adult talking to their parents. Very cool that she could speak up and say she doesn't want her picture taken.

Looks like you guys are having a GREAT trip!
Thanks! You know, it's a fine line you walk as a parent trying to teach your kid to respect adults and at the same time speak up when an adult wants to do something that doesn't seem right. I am definitely glad that DD felt that she could opt out of having a stranger take her picture! :thumbsup2

We haven't stayed at an Epcot resort yet, which is why I'm loving your trip report. It is making me so excited to be there.

We have stayed at WL twice, CR once and I did a solo trip to CSR. Our last family trip was when we stayed at CR. We had an amazing CL room overlooking MK, but when we were visiting the Boardwalk area for a restaurant meal we know that our next stay would be at one of the Epcot resorts. As soon as we set foot on the boardwalk we all looked at each other and said "Next time we are staying here!" The next time was supposed to be in 2013, but we couldn't wait that long, so we had to book for 2012. We booked this trip back on April 9, so it has been a loonnng wait. I can't believe we are down to 10.5 weeks now.

I love the following three pictures. The pic with Mulan is gorgeous, the pic of the drink is something I can't wait to experience for myself, and Mary is my most favourite Disney character. I think I actually sighed out loud when I saw her on our last trip.

You have such a cute daughter, it is great that you captured so many great photos of her and your trip.
I'm so excited for your trip! You've been lucky to stay at some amazing resorts, but I am sure that you will love being at an Epcot resort! Do that walk to DHS at least once - it is so quiet and relaxing.

I thought Mulan was so beautiful. And that drink was awesome. :laughing: DD is a fiend for Mary Poppins! :laughing: She was so excited to meet her. A friend is currently sewing a custom Jolly Holiday dress for DD for her surprise birthday trip to Disneyland - I can't wait for her to see it!!! :woohoo:

OMG! Your DD is too cute with her sunglasses on in the picture with Mulan! Looks like y'all had some character meets! :thumbsup2
Thanks! We met every character we saw! :rotfl:

:rotfl: It's our first CRT ever!!! And you've figured my changing out ;) You did well at WS :goodvibes I can't get the kids to want to go, BUT we are doing more Epcot time for F&G SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :yay:

I am in love with Willow :worship: such a Princess
Oh, wow! Your DD is going to be in heaven at CRT!!!!

Hmm, so where are you staying now? ;) :laughing:

Willow really loves Epcot. She loves the rides, but she enjoys the rest as well. Of course, she LOVES to shop, so there is that...... :rotfl2:

[hstrickland]

Roni...you grabbed some awesome pictures with characters!!! We've never seen Mulan, nor the Beast:sad2: And don't ya just love Mary Poppins?! We saw her at 1900 Park Fare...she was great! The weather you had was incredible, too!!!

Pas...CRT is a very magical experience. We've done breakfast and lunch and love both:thumbsup2 Although it is pricey, it's always been worth it to us. Even Stephen, our 10 year old likes it.

[pas130]

Pas...CRT is a very magical experience. We've done breakfast and lunch and love both:thumbsup2 Although it is pricey, it's always been worth it to us. Even Stephen, our 10 year old likes it.

My DS10 wanted to be sure he'd get a sword too :laughing:

[RGirl]

Roni...you grabbed some awesome pictures with characters!!! We've never seen Mulan, nor the Beast:sad2: And don't ya just love Mary Poppins?! We saw her at 1900 Park Fare...she was great! The weather you had was incredible, too!!!

Pas...CRT is a very magical experience. We've done breakfast and lunch and love both:thumbsup2 Although it is pricey, it's always been worth it to us. Even Stephen, our 10 year old likes it.
The Beast and Mary Poppins were two of Willow's absolute must-do's for this trip, so this was a very successful day! :laughing:

My DS10 wanted to be sure he'd get a sword too :laughing:
I'm sure he will get one! I even got my own wand this last time. :thumbsup2 :laughing:

[RGirl]

23. Soarin’, Veggies, a Meltdown, and Some “Solo” Touring
After our jolly holiday with Mary, we headed back to The Land to use our Soarin’ FPs!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/cfa9f6b8.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/32181416.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/a405926b.jpg


We decided to do Living with The Land after that - we both love this one. I have no idea why! :laughing:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/1712259f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/deb9b7b2.jpg


Hidden Mickeys:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/921152da.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/5f694686.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/414e2ac6.jpg


Unfortunately, on the way out of The Land, DD had a world-class meltdown. Obviously, she was overtired. I was going to take her back to the BWV, but instead, I told her to take a nap in the stroller. And she did!!! (This was really a new thing - DD has NEVER in her life napped in strollers, airplanes, cars, etc. So this was a treat. :laughing:) With DD snoozing away, I decided to enjoy a little “solo” WDW time!

First up on my “solo” travels? I hoofed it back over to TT to get another set of FPs since it was DD’s favorite Epcot ride. Okay, after that, I was going to enjoy myself! So I headed into the WS. And was soon met with this:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/f7213a2e.jpg


Yep, the bridge was up. So we all just stood there waiting for it to go back down - don’t know why I didn’t think to turn around and get something to eat or drink or shop a little. Oh well! Finally, the bridge came back down, and I made a stop in the Africa Outpost to pick up a present for a friend of mine who is waiting and waiting to adopt from Burundi.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/41b0abc7.jpg


I loved this!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/88d62499.jpg


So I got her a bracelet there.

From there, I just meandered along through the WS. I will admit that I might have stopped at the France F&W kiosk for a Cosmo slushy and the coq au vin. Don't judge! :laughing: Both were yummy!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/bb6da87f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/f75bca40.jpg


DD was still out, so I decided to head through the International Gateway and back to BWV for a rest before our evening in Epcot.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/940df24e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/0ff9aa3b.jpg


Up next: 24. More Epcot!

[pas130]

YAY an update. I LOVE slushies, no judgement here. And now I want a wand at CRT too :goodvibes

Don't you wish you could sleep and get pushed around too :laughing:

[amandaw]

Yay! for a stroller nap! :woohoo:

I must admit that we never go back to the room with our son for nap time. He gave up naps around 18 months & was never a good napper anyway. When he's exhausted at Disney, he crashes in his stroller (which isn't often). It makes it sooo much easier when they just nap in their stroller.

That was cool seeing the bridge up - I don't think I've ever seen it up in person.

[RGirl]

YAY an update. I LOVE slushies, no judgement here. And now I want a wand at CRT too :goodvibes

Don't you wish you could sleep and get pushed around too :laughing:
Ooh, you must get a wand! :laughing:

DD did offer to push me in the stroller a few times, but I didn't want to break a rental! ;) :rotfl2:

Yay! for a stroller nap! :woohoo:

I must admit that we never go back to the room with our son for nap time. He gave up naps around 18 months & was never a good napper anyway. When he's exhausted at Disney, he crashes in his stroller (which isn't often). It makes it sooo much easier when they just nap in their stroller.

That was cool seeing the bridge up - I don't think I've ever seen it up in person.
You know, DD took fairly regular naps until sometime around 4 years old. She doesn't nap at all anymore, but that first day at WDW, she was just beat from being so sick and the time change. I was SHOCKED when she napped in the stroller a few times. I would have loved that back when she was a real napper, but honestly, until this trip, she has only fallen asleep in a stroller or car or plane maybe once or twice in her entire life! And that includes the plane rides from Guatemala City to Walla Walla, WA when she was only 6 months old! :scared1: :laughing: This was a rare treat for me to have a child who would nap in a stroller - I really felt like I had a little solo touring time, and I must say, someday when I'm a little old lady and my kid is grown and wants nothing to do with traveling with me, I am so taking a solo WDW trip! :thumbsup2 :rotfl:

We really like returning to the room midday anyway because I hate crowds so much!!! :laughing: It's going to be interesting to adjust to the years to come when we will have to travel by the school calendar and get used to the crowds. :sad1:

[amandaw]

You know, DD took fairly regular naps until sometime around 4 years old. She doesn't nap at all anymore, but that first day at WDW, she was just beat from being so sick and the time change. I was SHOCKED when she napped in the stroller a few times. I would have loved that back when she was a real napper, but honestly, until this trip, she has only fallen asleep in a stroller or car or plane maybe once or twice in her entire life! And that includes the plane rides from Guatemala City to Walla Walla, WA when she was only 6 months old! :scared1: :laughing: This was a rare treat for me to have a child who would nap in a stroller - I really felt like I had a little solo touring time, and I must say, someday when I'm a little old lady and my kid is grown and wants nothing to do with traveling with me, I am so taking a solo WDW trip! :thumbsup2 :rotfl:

We really like returning to the room midday anyway because I hate crowds so much!!! :laughing: It's going to be interesting to adjust to the years to come when we will have to travel by the school calendar and get used to the crowds. :sad1:

I can't believe she doesn't even sleep in the car! That's the one place I can (usually) count on my son to fall asleep. He's just never been one for sleep, much to my delight. :rolleyes: But, it's a good thing he knows when he needs to crash in the stroller since we don't go back to the room.

I don't even want to think about what it'll be like when we have to start scheduling our Disney trips around school. :eek: Thankfully, he doesn't start kindergarten until 2013. And even then, I think he'll be pulled out of school for a Disney week. I mean, I seriously doubt missing 1 week of kindergarten is going to keep him from getting into college. :laughing: But, after that, I'll have start working around that darn pesky school schedule. Of course, if I were to home school him, we could still go to Disney whenever we wanted! :idea: :lmao:

[RGirl]

YAY an update. I LOVE slushies, no judgement here. And now I want a wand at CRT too :goodvibes

Don't you wish you could sleep and get pushed around too :laughing:
Ooh, you must get a wand! :laughing:

DD did offer to push me in the stroller a few times, but I didn't want to break a rental! ;) :rotfl2:

Yay! for a stroller nap! :woohoo:

I must admit that we never go back to the room with our son for nap time. He gave up naps around 18 months & was never a good napper anyway. When he's exhausted at Disney, he crashes in his stroller (which isn't often). It makes it sooo much easier when they just nap in their stroller.

That was cool seeing the bridge up - I don't think I've ever seen it up in person.
You know, DD took fairly regular naps until sometime around 4 years old. She doesn't nap at all anymore, but that first day at WDW, she was just beat from being so sick and the time change. I was SHOCKED when she napped in the stroller a few times. I would have loved that back when she was a real napper, but honestly, until this trip, she has only fallen asleep in a stroller or car or plane maybe once or twice in her entire life! And that includes the plane rides from Guatemala City to Walla Walla, WA when she was only 6 months old! :scared1: :laughing: This was a rare treat for me to have a child who would nap in a stroller - I really felt like I had a little solo touring time, and I must say, someday when I'm a little old lady and my kid is grown and wants nothing to do with traveling with me, I am so taking a solo WDW trip! :thumbsup2 :rotfl:

We really like returning to the room midday anyway because I hate crowds so much!!! :laughing: It's going to be interesting to adjust to the years to come when we will have to travel by the school calendar and get used to the crowds. :sad1:

[hstrickland]

Good Morning!


I've never seen that bridge up...guess they were moving stuff, huh? And like Pas...I give the slushie a :thumbsup2


Our family loves Livin' with the Land, too. I think we've been on that ride 100 times:laughing: and still love it! Good job on the Hidden Mickeys!!


Hope you have a great New Year!!!

[pas130]

DD did offer to push me in the stroller a few times, but I didn't want to break a rental! ;) :rotfl2:


We really like returning to the room midday anyway because I hate crowds so much!!! :laughing: It's going to be interesting to adjust to the years to come when we will have to travel by the school calendar and get used to the crowds. :sad1:

I feel bad taking my kids out of school, but I can't spend all that money and deal with the crowds too.....:scared1:

[RGirl]

I can't believe she doesn't even sleep in the car! That's the one place I can (usually) count on my son to fall asleep. He's just never been one for sleep, much to my delight. :rolleyes: But, it's a good thing he knows when he needs to crash in the stroller since we don't go back to the room.

I don't even want to think about what it'll be like when we have to start scheduling our Disney trips around school. :eek: Thankfully, he doesn't start kindergarten until 2013. And even then, I think he'll be pulled out of school for a Disney week. I mean, I seriously doubt missing 1 week of kindergarten is going to keep him from getting into college. :laughing: But, after that, I'll have start working around that darn pesky school schedule. Of course, if I were to home school him, we could still go to Disney whenever we wanted! :idea: :lmao:
I am so dreading the school calendar. :laughing: I am all for taking kids out of school - my parents did that up through high school, I think, or at least middle school. The problem I have is that, since we have to travel all the way across the country, I really like to have more than one week, and I can't see taking her out for longer than a week. :sad2: We will just have to suck it up. I am thinking we will go at the very end of summer right before school starts back up - I am guessing most people go more towards the middle of their summer breaks. :confused:

Good Morning!


I've never seen that bridge up...guess they were moving stuff, huh? And like Pas...I give the slushie a :thumbsup2


Our family loves Livin' with the Land, too. I think we've been on that ride 100 times:laughing: and still love it! Good job on the Hidden Mickeys!!


Hope you have a great New Year!!!
I think they were moving the globe for IllumiNations. It actually would have been kind of cool if not for the facts that (1) I was really itching to enjoy whatever limited "solo" touring time I had :laughing: and (2) there were a lot of drunk people standing there with me. :rotfl2:

I feel bad taking my kids out of school, but I can't spend all that money and deal with the crowds too.....:scared1:
I wouldn't feel bad at all! If I get could away with taking her out for more than a week, I would totally travel during off season every year! :thumbsup2

[RGirl]

24. More Epcot!

When I last left off, we were heading back to the villa for a little rest.......

Of course, as soon as we arrived back at the villa (about 4:20), DD woke up. :laughing: We ended up heading back out to Epcot at about 5:30.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/27cfd64a.jpg

We headed straight to TT. Do you see it in the distance?
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/c71c56ec.jpg

Because we had these babies to use!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/4a04c537.jpg

We zipped through the queue. Hidden Mickey:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/27c6f665.jpg

Excited girl:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/da934af0.jpg

We had a great ride, but there was a little time before our next set of FPs was useable. So we decided to get something to eat. We headed over to La Cantina de San Angel. I ordered the kid’s empanada meal to share, figuring that we would snack on F&W stuff later.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/51bfdb29.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/900c6a1c.jpg

It doesn’t look it in the picture, but it was actually a pretty decent size. There was only one empanada, but it was big, and there were tons of chips and a bag of grapes. It was fine for a CS kid’s meal. The thing that sucked was that every table in the place was taken. There were tons of 4-person tables with just one or two people sitting at them eating. DD and I wandered around balancing the tray and pushing the stroller hoping to find something with no luck. Finally, we just backed into a corner at the front, balanced the tray on the stroller and ate that way. It was crazy uncomfortable, but what are you going to do? :confused3 I was mildly surprised that no one had offered a seat at their table to us or the other stroller-balancing family that soon joined us. I know I would have - I mean, why not?? Oh well! We headed back to TT and were soon feeling very happy again.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/91529551.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/2d5ceb56.jpg

After our speedy ride, we were going to head back into WS, making our way along until we eventually found a decent fireworks-viewing spot. But first, we stopped at the bathrooms there sort of between WS and FW. We found two stalls together, and each entered one. Now most of what followed I just heard rather than saw since I was in a stall, but apparently, this woman and her daughter came in along with a little boy. I am not sure how old this child was - he was very big compared to my DD, but I don’t know how much older than her he was. Anyway, both the mother and the sister went to use the restrooms, and this boy just proceeded to run wild through the women’s room. He was banging on stall doors - he managed to knock my DD’s open! He was unrolling paper towels. Etc. Etc. It was really awful. I could not figure out why no one was supervising him! My DD was really upset that he had bashed open her stall door, but she handled it very well - I heard her yell at him, “someone is IN HERE!” Later, when we were getting everything situated in the stroller again back outside, I heard the sister telling her mother that he had been just awful, opening stalls on little girls, etc. The mother was completely clueless that it was going on and didn’t seem to care at all when she found out. :confused3

Anyway, next stop was a Mickey Premium Bar, so things improved immensely.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/e22fe552.jpg

I, however, really needed some real food. I stopped at the South Africa booth and got the bunny chow - a vegetable curry in a little bread bowl. The curry flavor was nice, but some of the veggies were under cooked (which I usually like, but these appeared to be potatoes, and undercooked potatoes are not good :laughing:). The bread bowl just seemed totally unnecessary.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/6c68164a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/0ab0751b.jpg

I stopped at the Poland kiosk and ordered the kielbasa and pierogi because DD had said that she would eat some sausage. She didn’t. This dish was pretty forgettable.

We made a quick bathroom stop in Morocco and then grabbed a creme brulee at the France kiosk. We enjoyed that sitting on the ground on the bridge between France and the UK where we had decided to watch the fireworks. DD and I chatted with the dad in the family next to us. She was studying the park map and telling him all about it. He was an English teacher and kept telling me how amazingly articulate DD was and how smart. I am her mom, so of course, I think she’s amazing, but it was neat to hear something like that from this nice dad. :love: DD was getting a little kooky.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/b4b8cdda.jpg

And finally, IllumiNations started.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/6d593ddb.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/3159fb19.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%204/c34e2977.jpg

Now our view was a tiny bit obstructed by a tree, but this was a great spot for us. We could see well enough, and when it was over, we just darted over to the International Gateway and were “home” by 9:45, totally bypassing all the exit crowds!!!

As we were going to bed, I realized just how tired we both were. We had a late-ish breakfast reservation the next day at Cape May with Minnie and friends. I asked DD if she still wanted to do it, and she was quite clear that she wanted me to cancel the reservation, that she would meet all the characters we hadn’t already met elsewhere. So I called to cancel - yes, that is ANOTHER canceled ADR! Starting to wonder why I’m on the phone at 6:00 a.m. 180 days out for these darn ADRs! :laughing:

Up next: 25. Pre-Party Fun

[RGirl]

Holy cow!!! I just saw my own ticker! :scared1: I cannot believe that there are only 2 and 1/2 weeks until DD's surprise birthday trip to Disneyland. I am SO not ready!!!! I guess we will be winging it! :rotfl2:

[hstrickland]

Happy New Year, Roni!!!!

:rotfl: had to laugh about your restroom story.... Nothing surprises me anymore....especially at Disney! Some parents have no control. I'm quite sure that people have observed my 4 year old and thought...."absolutely no control!":laughing:

I'll have to agree with you about the food...didn't look too appetizing. However, the creme brule sounds delicious!!!! It's my all time favorite by far!!! In fact, I had it last night at our New Year's Eve party.

Ok...I'm very jealous that you'll be leaving in a couple of weeks for DL! Did you ever decide about the surprise for Willow???

[pas130]

Holy cow!!! I just saw my own ticker! :scared1: I cannot believe that there are only 2 and 1/2 weeks until DD's surprise birthday trip to Disneyland. I am SO not ready!!!! I guess we will be winging it! :rotfl2:

Yay, your trip IS close!!!!:goodvibes

BTW the pic of Willow when Iluminations started is one of my favorites so far, she is so excited :lovestruc

[amandaw]

Sounds like y'all were having a nice night. Hearing about the food from F&W kiosks makes me feel good that we changed our 2012 trip from October to December. I don't think my DH & I would be much into the food served up at the kiosks.

And I love how feisty your DD is! Good for her telling that boy that someone is in the stall. She's just too cute! :goodvibes

[RGirl]

Happy New Year, Roni!!!!

:rotfl: had to laugh about your restroom story.... Nothing surprises me anymore....especially at Disney! Some parents have no control. I'm quite sure that people have observed my 4 year old and thought...."absolutely no control!":laughing:

I'll have to agree with you about the food...didn't look too appetizing. However, the creme brule sounds delicious!!!! It's my all time favorite by far!!! In fact, I had it last night at our New Year's Eve party.

Ok...I'm very jealous that you'll be leaving in a couple of weeks for DL! Did you ever decide about the surprise for Willow???
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
:laughing: I totally agree - my DD and I were not an impressive sight when I was carrying her kicking and screaming out of The Land! :laughing: However, you can bet your butt that if she was running around a restroom slamming stall doors open on people and strewing paper towels around the floor, I would have a bigger reaction than this ---> :confused3. :rotfl2:

You know, some of the F&W food was really good - actually that coq au vin, despite looking utterly disgusting, was very good. But sadly, this was the one night that I had a chance to try more than one thing, and I was not very impressed. :sad2:

As for DLR, I think I am just going to wake her up that morning and say, "Get up!!! We're going to Disneyland!!!!!" Hmm, I really need to ask my dad if he will take the dog to the kennel for us - there is no way that we would have time to do it that morning before our early flight. Yikes - need to do that!

Yay, your trip IS close!!!!:goodvibes

BTW the pic of Willow when Iluminations started is one of my favorites so far, she is so excited :lovestruc
The trip is TOO close! I'm so not prepared for it!!! :rotfl2:

Awww - thanks. I love that one too.

Sounds like y'all were having a nice night. Hearing about the food from F&W kiosks makes me feel good that we changed our 2012 trip from October to December. I don't think my DH & I would be much into the food served up at the kiosks.

And I love how feisty your DD is! Good for her telling that boy that someone is in the stall. She's just too cute! :goodvibes
Don't let me turn you off of F&W - I think there was some great food; I really didn't get to try much of it. I will say, however, that the Festival does tend to make WS just insanely crowded. :scared1:

I think a December trip would be so great though - to see all the Christmas decorations! :cloud9:

[librarymouse]

I have enjoyed reading your TR and just wanted to say "Hi!" Love all the adorable pictures of your DD and all her favorite characters. :goodvibes

[RGirl]

I have enjoyed reading your TR and just wanted to say "Hi!" Love all the adorable pictures of your DD and all her favorite characters. :goodvibes
Thanks for reading along!!!

I see you have a trip in 2 and 1/2 weeks! :banana: How exciting!!!

[RGirl]

25. Pre-Party Fun
So, with our breakfast ADR canceled, we slept in!!! I don’t think we got up until about 9:30. It felt great. We decided to walk down to the Boardwalk Bakery for some breakfast treats to bring back to the villa. DD chose a chocolate-chip muffin:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/296b5213.jpg

And I had to try the cheese danish:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/5d7ba8d9.jpg

Coffee for me and chocolate milk for DD (who apparently can never get enough chocolate):
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/702b3b1d.jpg

We had a lovely breakfast together out on the balcony:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/55c2063e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/13cda743.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/452ed55a.jpg

We were going to enjoy a very lazy morning as we had big plans for this evening. So we went for a little walk to check out the BW pool areas. Main pool area:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/9f2ba1b0.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/a7fb6a9c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/6d408a0b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/b2a49595.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/0a9cf3d2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/a894f60c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/5beeeb0d.jpg

Quiet pool:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/94f9b068.jpg

Well, today actually was quite a bit warmer than some of our prior mornings, so it was perfect that we had planned a little pool time today! We headed back to the villa and got ready to swim. During our tour, we had decided to use the quiet pool - it just seemed more our speed this morning. And we did have a lovely swim (did not take camera with us). The other family using the quiet pool told us that the heater had not been working in the big pool, which convinced DD not to move over there to try the slide when she started thinking that might be a great idea. On our way back to the villa, we grabbed some cold drinks and Cheetos:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/656951c7.jpg

We enjoyed our snack back at the villa where DD had a great time in the whirlpool bath. I tried to make us rest after that since I knew we would be up late, but neither one of us was horribly tired. It was good to have some down time though.

Finally, at about 3:30, we got ready and headed out to the bus stop.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/df2d9789.jpg

Up next: 26. Some Pre-Party Meetings and a Near Drowning

[librarymouse]

Oh my gosh, that cheese danish looks AMAZING!! And yes, we are super excited to be going in 2.5 weeks...I started my very first (pre)Trip Report here: World Showcase or Bust! (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2853333)

You have a trip coming soon too- Disneyland is on my bucket list...would love to see where the Magic began!

[shan23877]

Sounds like a lovely day!

I don't like the sound of a near drowning though! :eek:

[pas130]

I don't like the sound of a near drowning though! :eek:

Me either.....:sad2:

[amandaw]

Sounds like a lovely afternoon!

Can't wait to hear about the party. But, the near drowning has me anxious!

[RGirl]

Yikes - replies later, but wanted to assure everyone that it only FELT like a near drowning. No one was in any danger except of being really annoyed haha And I was the "victim." I hope I didn't scare anyone!

[amandaw]

Yikes - replies later, but wanted to assure everyone that it only FELT like a near drowning. No one was in any danger except of being really annoyed haha And I was the "victim." I hope I didn't scare anyone!

Thank goodness it wasn't a real near drowning! I can rest easier until the next update now. :goodvibes

[pas130]

Yikes - replies later, but wanted to assure everyone that it only FELT like a near drowning. No one was in any danger except of being really annoyed haha And I was the "victim." I hope I didn't scare anyone!

Phew :hug: OK then...thanks for that :goodvibes BTW I am almost changed back to BC :rotfl:

[CandleontheWater]

What a lovely relaxing morning! It must have felt so good to sleep in!

Oh, and I'm with Willow, Chocolate milk is my go-to breakfast beverage at WDW! :thumbsup2

[ScotsMinnie]

Just read through your whole report and really enjoying hearing about your trip. Your daughter is adorable and it sounds like such a special trip to share with each other. Can't wait to read more!

[RGirl]

Okay, first, I am so sorry to anyone I managed to freak out with my next update's title! :scared1: I kind of figured no one really reads the title of the next update. OOPS!!! Anyway, again, don't worry - it is actually a funny, albeit horribly annoying, story. :laughing:

Oh my gosh, that cheese danish looks AMAZING!! And yes, we are super excited to be going in 2.5 weeks...I started my very first (pre)Trip Report here: World Showcase or Bust! (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2853333)

You have a trip coming soon too- Disneyland is on my bucket list...would love to see where the Magic began!
Mmmm - the danish was delish!

I can't believe you have a trip so soon - jealous!!! I will try to pop over to check out your PTR. :woohoo:

Sounds like a lovely day!

I don't like the sound of a near drowning though! :eek:
It was a great and relaxing way to spend the day. So sorry about the update title! :laughing:

Thank goodness it wasn't a real near drowning! I can rest easier until the next update now. :goodvibes
:thumbsup2 :laughing:

Phew :hug: OK then...thanks for that :goodvibes BTW I am almost changed back to BC :rotfl:
No, you aren't!!!!!! :rotfl2: I am dying. And I think I am lost again. Last I heard you were at WL. But I thought I just say a Poly ticker in your signature. Am I crazy???? Shall I just stop checking your ticker until you are actually ON the trip?? :rotfl2:

What a lovely relaxing morning! It must have felt so good to sleep in!

Oh, and I'm with Willow, Chocolate milk is my go-to breakfast beverage at WDW! :thumbsup2
Sleeping in felt amazing after all those early days! It also set us up nicely to survive a very late night. ;)

Just read through your whole report and really enjoying hearing about your trip. Your daughter is adorable and it sounds like such a special trip to share with each other. Can't wait to read more!
Thanks for joining in! We really did have a wonderful time together - there is something about being in WDW that takes away all the normal stressors of life and lets us just enjoy being together. :love: Hope to have a new update done very soon - hopefully tonight.

[RGirl]

26. Some Pre-Party Meetings and a Near Drowning

When I last left off, we were waiting for the bus to the MK! And we didn’t have to wait long.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/1d1f1925.jpg

We got to the MK a little before 4:00. We got our MNSSHP wrist bands and headed in! Now, this was our fifth day, and we hadn’t met Mickey yet! So we made a detour to the new Town Square Theater meet-and-greet spot where the posted wait time to see Mickey and Minnie was a whopping 5 minutes. It was deserted in there.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/1acf267e.jpg

Soon we were meeting The Mouse and Minnie. This was a wonderful meet-and-greet. The characters really spent some quality time with us. Minnie danced with DD, and Mickey gave me a kiss. Really a fun time!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f86e7974.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/059f27e0.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/5e3663b7.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/c37ebe8e.jpg

[cont. in next post for my picture overload]

[RGirl]

[cont. from previous post]

When we left our Mouse Meeting, we noticed that the posted wait time for the princesses was only 10 minutes. DD just HAD to meet them. Again. I told her that it would be princesses she had already met and that we would come back during the party when the princes would be there, but she had not yet had enough Princess Time apparently because we got in the short line. DD was super-excited!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/0776c7b0.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/4de043f4.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/989b2ce6.jpg

She met Princess Aurora again.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f2344729.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/b0a15659.jpg

And Belle again.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f4744903.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/d1775490.jpg

And Cinderella again.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f7d3ca1a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/e347db85.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/2c59c885.jpg

All of the princesses were very sweet as usual. A CM mentioned that Cinderella and Prince Charming, Snow White and Prince No Name, and Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder would all be there during the party, so obviously, we would be back!

As we were leaving the princess meet-and-greet, we of course entered a shop. :laughing: We were looking at DD’s autograph book and noticed that she only had two or three pages left! :scared1: So we decided that we had better get a second autograph book. DD picked one out and we went up to pay. The CM at the register heard us talking together about how she had already filled one book, and he looked at her and said, “Wow! That is amazing. This one’s on the Mouse!” SO cool!

It was a beautiful afternoon!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/37f1daf7.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/db5d6b85.jpg

Next we stopped at Le Chapeau for new 2011 ears for DD. She chose some really cute ones - they have a little pillow on top with a glass slipper sitting on it.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/82cfe585.jpg

At this point, DD was more than ready for a little BTMRR! So we headed down Main Street.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/7bfb98a2.jpg

We were able to ride twice in a row with virtually no wait.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/0b569dae.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/9b21e4cb.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/629881cb.jpg

And then DD gave me a shock. She said she wanted to ride Splash Mountain. I told her no because I had gotten really wet last time and didn’t want to be wet for the party; she had been quite clear before that she did not want to do that ride again, so I hadn’t bothered to lug the ponchos with me. She kept begging and begging, and finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore and gave in - great parenting there. :rolleyes: But I kept thinking of all the TRs I’ve read where people posted pics after riding Splash, and no one was wet. I figured we had just been unlucky last time. So we got in line.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/1c77812a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/92df59a0.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/e5867304.jpg

And then it happened - I saw the CM directing us to the log, I saw that it was the front row, and I was struck dumb. Why didn’t I say, “no, we’ll wait for another log”? Why didn’t I run far, far away??? I don’t know. But for some reason, we got in that log. And soon after, I nearly drowned. I was DRENCHED. I don’t mean a little wet, I don’t mean my hair got ruined, I don’t mean that my mascara ran a little. I mean I was completely soaked - head to toe. I would not have been any more wet had I jumped into a lake. I was so wet that, had I been able to find a store selling a complete outfit right then and there, I would have purchased it along with a blow dryer and make-up. This was NOT a good way to be spending the party. (I ended up being totally wet through most of the evening - not pleasant, but after my initial melt-down, I didn’t let it ruin the party for me or for DD - I am rather proud of myself for that because I SO could have let it ruin my night. :laughing:)

Up next: 27. Some Fantasyland and MNSSHP Fun

[amandaw]

Great update!

Seems like y'all got some great time Mickey & Minnie. I can't believe the low wait time for them & the princesses.

That's so sweet that the CM gave her the autograph book. Gotta love that Disney magic! :goodvibes

I love, love, love her new ears!!! Those are adorable. I don't think I had seen those before. Of course, I'm always looking at the boy ears.

That was awesome getting to ride BTMRR 2x in a row. Not so awesome getting drenched on Splash Mtn. :sad2: I can only imagine how miserable you were. Good for you for being a trooper & just continuing right along to enjoy the evening! :thumbsup2

[librarymouse]

I love your DD's Tiana dress- so pretty! I have heard lots of good things about the new Mouse meet and greet area- I hope I can get the hubby to agree, he is not always crazy about meeting the characters but I love the pictures and they are always so much fun! If the line is short like that I can probably convince him! :-)

I was just looking at "ears" online last night and I fell in love with the same glass slipper ones your DD picked out! They are so princess-y! princess:

Sorry you got soaked on SM!

[shan23877]

I am so sorry that you got soaked! I would have been miserable!

Excited to find out if you met all the princes too, my DD would be over the moon!

[RGirl]

Great update!

Seems like y'all got some great time Mickey & Minnie. I can't believe the low wait time for them & the princesses.

That's so sweet that the CM gave her the autograph book. Gotta love that Disney magic! :goodvibes

I love, love, love her new ears!!! Those are adorable. I don't think I had seen those before. Of course, I'm always looking at the boy ears.

That was awesome getting to ride BTMRR 2x in a row. Not so awesome getting drenched on Splash Mtn. :sad2: I can only imagine how miserable you were. Good for you for being a trooper & just continuing right along to enjoy the evening! :thumbsup2
Yes, we loved the new meet-and-greet! I don't think anyone realizes it's there! :laughing:

The autograph book was one of my favorite moments of the trip. It was just so unexpected and sweet. :cloud9:

The ears are way cute! At the end of the TR, I will post some close-up pictures of them and maybe some of the other souvenirs we bought. ;)

I love your DD's Tiana dress- so pretty! I have heard lots of good things about the new Mouse meet and greet area- I hope I can get the hubby to agree, he is not always crazy about meeting the characters but I love the pictures and they are always so much fun! If the line is short like that I can probably convince him! :-)

I was just looking at "ears" online last night and I fell in love with the same glass slipper ones your DD picked out! They are so princess-y! princess:

Sorry you got soaked on SM!
Good luck with the meet-and-greet! I hope you have lines as short as ours - there's no way your DH can pass that up!!! :thumbsup2

I hope to see some TR pics of you with your new ears! ;) :laughing:

I am so sorry that you got soaked! I would have been miserable!

Excited to find out if you met all the princes too, my DD would be over the moon!
I'm guessing you have a pretty good idea whether we made it to that meet-and-greet. ;) :laughing:

[pas130]

No, you aren't!!!!!! :rotfl2: I am dying. And I think I am lost again. Last I heard you were at WL. But I thought I just say a Poly ticker in your signature. Am I crazy???? Shall I just stop checking your ticker until you are actually ON the trip?? :rotfl2:


Yes just watch the ticker :rotfl: Poly/BC split right now :goodvibes Glad you were able to get through the party....but sorry SM got you soaked :hug: I had to buy my now DD5 (think she was 3) a new outfit ait the SM gift shop thanks to a meltdown after that ride...her one and only SM ride. I did have a change of clothes for her...but the meltdown was estinguished with shopping. LOVE the pixie dust with the book for Willow :lovestruc

[RGirl]

Yes just watch the ticker :rotfl: Poly/BC split right now :goodvibes Glad you were able to get through the party....but sorry SM got you soaked :hug: I had to buy my now DD5 (think she was 3) a new outfit ait the SM gift shop thanks to a meltdown after that ride...her one and only SM ride. I did have a change of clothes for her...but the meltdown was estinguished with shopping. LOVE the pixie dust with the book for Willow :lovestruc

:rotfl2: It is awesome that your pre-trip planning is so entertaining! :rotfl2: Have you done a split stay before? I am always curious when I read about those. It sounds just awful to me to have to pack everything up halfway through and then unpack again and then repack again. :laughing: But maybe it's worth it to try out more resorts? That side of it is very tempting..... Hmmmmmmmm

I'm with your DD - I don't think anyone will get me on Splash again. :sad2: :laughing:

The autograph book moment was just so cool!

[RGirl]

Okay, so a few Disney planning ramblings. I know you will all understand. ;)

First, something I'm really excited about! I called this week and ordered "Mickey's Birthday Wish" for DD. When we get to the Disneyland Hotel and make our way to our room, we will find a big "surprise" banner on our door. When we go in, Mickey's yellow footprints will be on the floor, there will be a balloon bouquet, a Happy Birthday banner, and a box of presents (autograph book, pen, candy, Hidden Mickey book, etc.). I think DD is going to LOVE it!!! :woohoo:

Second, something that is making me a little :sad1:. As you know, we are going on the Disney Alaska cruise this summer. I am NOT sad about that! :laughing: I have to pay for that by April. No problem, but with all the turmoil with DD's school, I lost an entire month's child care cost (they only refunded 1/6 of the month that she spent 2 days there) and the new school is WAY more expensive. Totally worth it. But I'm starting to think that we probably aren't going to be able to do a Disney trip in 2013. :sad1: Obviously, things could easily change between now and then, but at the very least, I can't enjoy the :woohoo: of spending the next 12+ months planning a trip. Boo. I know there are worse things - much worse things - but man, I love having a trip pending! :laughing:

I guess I will just have to talk someone else into taking a trip so that I can plan it for them. :idea: I'm thinking my boss is a good candidate - I planned her 2010 trip, and she is totally hooked.

And that is all my musings for tonight. :dance3:

[amandaw]

Your DD is going to be surprised with all of those birthday goodies! :goodvibes That is just awesome!

As for no trip in 2013....I know how hard it is not to have that pending trip. And if you can't find someone to plan a trip for, at least you always have everyone here to come & talk to about Disney. But, like you said, you never know what'll happen between now & then. This past October, we already had our Dec. 2012 trip booked to stay at Contemporary in the tower. Then, unexpectedly, my DH lost his job. Thankfully, he found something else quickly. But, we were thinking we had to downgrade & did so to POFQ. Well, much ado later, we've been able to switch back to CR. So, you never know....all it takes is faith, trust & pixie dust! pixiedust:

[pas130]

:rotfl2: It is awesome that your pre-trip planning is so entertaining! :rotfl2: Have you done a split stay before? I am always curious when I read about those. It sounds just awful to me to have to pack everything up halfway through and then unpack again and then repack again. :laughing: But maybe it's worth it to try out more resorts? That side of it is very tempting..... Hmmmmmmmm

I'm with your DD - I don't think anyone will get me on Splash again. :sad2: :laughing:

The autograph book moment was just so cool! We did a few split stays, only one at WDW and it was easy...bell services took care of the luggage, and I checked in at the new resort, went to the parks..and all was good! And I might even have more fun planning than the trip itself :rotfl:

Okay, so a few Disney planning ramblings. I know you will all understand. ;)

First, something I'm really excited about! I called this week and ordered "Mickey's Birthday Wish" for DD. When we get to the Disneyland Hotel and make our way to our room, we will find a big "surprise" banner on our door. When we go in, Mickey's yellow footprints will be on the floor, there will be a balloon bouquet, a Happy Birthday banner, and a box of presents (autograph book, pen, candy, Hidden Mickey book, etc.). I think DD is going to LOVE it!!! :woohoo:

Second, something that is making me a little :sad1:. As you know, we are going on the Disney Alaska cruise this summer. I am NOT sad about that! :laughing: I have to pay for that by April. No problem, but with all the turmoil with DD's school, I lost an entire month's child care cost (they only refunded 1/6 of the month that she spent 2 days there) and the new school is WAY more expensive. Totally worth it. But I'm starting to think that we probably aren't going to be able to do a Disney trip in 2013. :sad1: Obviously, things could easily change between now and then, but at the very least, I can't enjoy the :woohoo: of spending the next 12+ months planning a trip. Boo. I know there are worse things - much worse things - but man, I love having a trip pending! :laughing:

I guess I will just have to talk someone else into taking a trip so that I can plan it for them. :idea: I'm thinking my boss is a good candidate - I planned her 2010 trip, and she is totally hooked.

And that is all my musings for tonight. :dance3:You sound like me...I have to have SOMETHING to plan :lmao: DL has such great Birthday stuff...it's why I really wanted to take DD7 in Sept but DH has no interest in DL...gotta keep working on him

[CindyV]

i have enjoyed reading your trip report. We are going around that time this year, so it was a great read on how things went for you. Your daughter is adorable and she looked so cute like a princess. Have fun on your next trip

[rpcvpanama]

Had to join in. Your Splash story cracked me up!! I was just at WDW last week and really really wanted to ride but the thought of getting wet turned me away, because you just never know.

[RGirl]

Hey all! I popped in to post some replies. I really will get an update done soon. We are adjusting to being back on a busy schedule, and work has been INSANE - I am so tired at the end of the day that I just can't seem to get anything else done. But I will get an update posted in the next day or two! :thumbsup2

Your DD is going to be surprised with all of those birthday goodies! :goodvibes That is just awesome!

As for no trip in 2013....I know how hard it is not to have that pending trip. And if you can't find someone to plan a trip for, at least you always have everyone here to come & talk to about Disney. But, like you said, you never know what'll happen between now & then. This past October, we already had our Dec. 2012 trip booked to stay at Contemporary in the tower. Then, unexpectedly, my DH lost his job. Thankfully, he found something else quickly. But, we were thinking we had to downgrade & did so to POFQ. Well, much ado later, we've been able to switch back to CR. So, you never know....all it takes is faith, trust & pixie dust! pixiedust:
Oh, that is so scary to lose a job - I know, I have been there too. So glad that he was able to find another so quickly. And especially glad that you still get to take your trip!!! :woohoo:

And, of course, you are right - you just never really know what life will bring. I would think that we could at least hit up Disneyland again if WDW is not possible - it is a lot cheaper to do DL, and you don't really need to spend 7-10 days there. :laughing: Well, I don't think so - I will let you know in a couple of weeks! :yay:

We did a few split stays, only one at WDW and it was easy...bell services took care of the luggage, and I checked in at the new resort, went to the parks..and all was good! And I might even have more fun planning than the trip itself :rotfl:

You sound like me...I have to have SOMETHING to plan :lmao: DL has such great Birthday stuff...it's why I really wanted to take DD7 in Sept but DH has no interest in DL...gotta keep working on him
Hmm, interesting. You didn't get aggravated beyond belief having to pack everything up an extra time? That is the part that really turns me off. :laughing: The idea of getting to fit in another resort, however, makes me very interested.... :laughing:

Well, I will report back on DL. I am expecting to have a lot of fun. Maybe your DH will be persuaded. :thumbsup2 :rotfl2:

i have enjoyed reading your trip report. We are going around that time this year, so it was a great read on how things went for you. Your daughter is adorable and she looked so cute like a princess. Have fun on your next trip
Thanks - I'm glad you are reading along! It is SUCH a great time to go - weather is beautiful, crowds are low, the Halloween decorations are so great, and MNSSHP is just too fun! :woohoo:

Had to join in. Your Splash story cracked me up!! I was just at WDW last week and really really wanted to ride but the thought of getting wet turned me away, because you just never know.
So glad you joined in! :woohoo: Oh, that Splash Mountain! :scared1: It will take some serious convincing or $$$ for anyone to get me to ride that thing again. :rolleyes: :rotfl2:

[pas130]

Hmm, interesting. You didn't get aggravated beyond belief having to pack everything up an extra time? That is the part that really turns me off. :laughing: The idea of getting to fit in another resort, however, makes me very interested.... :laughing:


No more split stay...I know SHOCKING a change :laughing: All Poly...I kinda thought about the idea of moving and packing..what if we like one more than the other....all good..

Enjoy DL, I can't wait to hear all about it!!!!!

[RGirl]

No more split stay...I know SHOCKING a change :laughing: All Poly...I kinda thought about the idea of moving and packing..what if we like one more than the other....all good..

Enjoy DL, I can't wait to hear all about it!!!!!

:rotfl2: I love it!

I have GOT to check out the Poly again. We were there on our first trip for dinner at 'Ohana, which I did not particularly enjoy. But everyone was a little grumpy, so we didn't really look around the resort. Gotta fix that! :thumbsup2

[RGirl]

Finally, an update!!!! :woohoo: :laughing:


27. Some Fantasyland and MNSSHP Fun

When I last left you, I had survived a near drowning and made a valiant attempt not to let the fact that I looked like a drowned rat and felt even worse ruin the party for us. ;)

Always up for a character meeting (regardless of how sopping wet we might be), DD and I got in line immediately upon exiting Splash Mountain. DD was going to meet Jessie and Woody!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f4a9845d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/6f8d31a7.jpg

We stopped briefly at this weird little play area right by Splash Mountain. I’m always amazed that kids want to play here when they have all of DISNEY WORLD around them. :laughing:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/2dca76c3.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/dffb2e3b.jpg

At this point, it seemed like it would be a good idea to get some dinner since we hadn’t had much to eat today, and we didn’t want to spend precious party time eating. We stopped at one of my favorites - Pecos Bill Cafe.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/e517b901.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/77a68764.jpg

I had a burger with LOTS of fixin’s. It was goooood!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/d28d20cb.jpg

DD had the uncrustable thing - I don’t think she knew what she was ordering, she just heard PB&J. She has only ever had these at WDW (once on our first trip and once on this one), and she has never eaten more than a bite or two. She also had fries, and the child has an obsession with cheddar cheese.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/975f7eec.jpg

Now it was time to do a little Fantasyland! On our way through FL, I snapped a quick shot of the goings-on at the Beast’s castle. We are so excited for this to be open!!!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/8640e8f2.jpg

We hit up the carousel.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/a3f4ea6d.jpg

And then Snow White.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/3fbc16e2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/046e9b7e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/28609da7.jpg

[Cont. in next post for picture overload.]

[RGirl]

[Cont. from previous post]

Next we wandered over to Winnie the Pooh, which we had somehow missed last year. DD really enjoyed the queue.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/3577fa92.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/5635e88a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/31988348.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/3f4dfccd.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/621bc1b6.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/66432896.jpg

And the ride was fun too!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/90d3009d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/95519c37.jpg

When we left Pooh, the party was in full swing, and we immediately spotted Donald and Daisy greeting guests in their Halloween costumes. We got in line. Of course.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/020cdf2f.jpg

I just love the characters in costume. It is such a crazy concept to me. :laughing:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/1e6012fd.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/fb349c11.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/190f0fb6.jpg

Finally, we got our first Dumbo ride of the trip!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/bcd73e2e.jpg

We did a little trick-or-treating, and then we had somewhere we HAD to be!

Up next: 28. DD Falls in Love

[shan23877]

Fun update!

Of course you had to get in line for the characters! What else would you do? :lmao:

Can't wait to see who she fell in love with... Mine was in love with Prince Eric. ;)

[amandaw]

Pecos Bills is one of my favorite counter service places in MK....right after Cosmic Ray's.

Looks like y'all were having tons of fun! I am loving the characters in costume....Donald & Daisy are just too cute! :goodvibes Can't wait to see what other characters y'all met that night. And I can't wait to hear about DD's 1st love! :lovestruc

[pas130]

:rotfl2: I love it!

I have GOT to check out the Poly again. We were there on our first trip for dinner at 'Ohana, which I did not particularly enjoy. But everyone was a little grumpy, so we didn't really look around the resort. Gotta fix that! :thumbsup2

OK resort of the day is WL :rotfl: Saved a bunch!


Anyway....I LOVE the new Winnie the Pooh queue, the kids love it too. And Halloween is second only to Christmas in my family's favorite holiday. SO much fun! I haven't been to MNSSHP in years, but I absolutely LOVED it!!!! Great update...are you ready for DL???

[mindy5648]

alright so i have been sitting here for the past 3 hours reading your TR and you've stopped at DD falls in love!!! You're killing me...i want more!!! it has been so much fun reading your TR. My husband and I are going in 10 days and i already cant wait to try all the drinks you've taken pictures of :)

[MelMel11]

Cant wait to hear more!!

[RGirl]

Fun update!

Of course you had to get in line for the characters! What else would you do? :lmao:

Can't wait to see who she fell in love with... Mine was in love with Prince Eric. ;)
:laughing: DD never saw a character she didn't want to meet (at least once) this trip!

Prince Eric - Awww, so cute!

Pecos Bills is one of my favorite counter service places in MK....right after Cosmic Ray's.

Looks like y'all were having tons of fun! I am loving the characters in costume....Donald & Daisy are just too cute! :goodvibes Can't wait to see what other characters y'all met that night. And I can't wait to hear about DD's 1st love! :lovestruc
We still haven't tried Cosmic Ray's, because Pecos Bill was our first CS WDW meal, and we liked it so much that we just keep going back! :laughing:

I do love the characters in costume. So fun!

OK resort of the day is WL :rotfl: Saved a bunch!


Anyway....I LOVE the new Winnie the Pooh queue, the kids love it too. And Halloween is second only to Christmas in my family's favorite holiday. SO much fun! I haven't been to MNSSHP in years, but I absolutely LOVED it!!!! Great update...are you ready for DL???
No WAY!!!! Are you just messing with me now??????? :rotfl2:

Yep - we love Halloween at WDW. Of course, that is the only time of year we have been! :laughing: Last year was probably our last Fall trip to WDW in a long time, so I hope we enjoy other times of year just as much. ;)

We leave for DL in less than a week. I am totally not ready. Things have been CRAZY busy at work ever since I came back from the holidays. I am going to have to go in all day Saturday, I think, just to stand a slim chance of getting everything done before we are supposed to leave! :eek:

alright so i have been sitting here for the past 3 hours reading your TR and you've stopped at DD falls in love!!! You're killing me...i want more!!! it has been so much fun reading your TR. My husband and I are going in 10 days and i already cant wait to try all the drinks you've taken pictures of :)
:laughing: Thanks for reading!!! How exciting to be leaving in 10 days! :woohoo: Where will you be staying? How long will you be there? Enjoy those tasty beverages. ;)

Cant wait to hear more!!
Thanks for reading! :woohoo: More to come soon, I hope. Leaving for Disneyland in 5 days though........ :scared1:

[pas130]

I do love the characters in costume. So fun!


No WAY!!!! Are you just messing with me now??????? :rotfl2:

Yep - we love Halloween at WDW. Of course, that is the only time of year we have been! :laughing: Last year was probably our last Fall trip to WDW in a long time, so I hope we enjoy other times of year just as much. ;)

We leave for DL in less than a week. I am totally not ready. Things have been CRAZY busy at work ever since I came back from the holidays. I am going to have to go in all day Saturday, I think, just to stand a slim chance of getting everything done before we are supposed to leave! :eek:


Thanks for reading! :woohoo: More to come soon, I hope. Leaving for Disneyland in 5 days though........ :scared1: I hope you will get what you need done...done. Either way you'll be in DL soon :cheer2: HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLOW!!!!! :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

And no I'm not messing with you...WL :laughing:

[RGirl]

I hope you will get what you need done...done. Either way you'll be in DL soon :cheer2: HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLOW!!!!! :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

And no I'm not messing with you...WL :laughing:
All day today, I kept thinking, "Just power through - in a few days, you will be dining at Ariel's Grotto watching Willow enjoy her birthday cake." :laughing: Going to go into work tomorrow - the whole building should be empty, so I am going to crank the music and work as fast as I can to get as much done as possible. I am hoping that I can get myself in a good position to close things out on Tuesday and feel no anxiety about leaving for DL on Wednesday morning. :thumbsup2

When am I going to run those last-minute trip errands, you ask? When am I going to start packing secretly so that my ever-watchful child will not notice, you ask? I have no idea!!!! :scared1: :rotfl2:

Okay, is this WL trip the one that is 3 months away? I need to know so that I can do a little calculating to prepare myself for how many more resort changes there will be before you actually go. :rotfl2:

[RGirl]

Caught in a board maintenance shut-down - double post..... ;)

[hstrickland]

Hi Roni!!:wave2:

I'm days behind!!! But, finally caught up! Things have been busy, busy, busy! I'm still enjoying your TR and pictures...Willow is a doll, as you know;) ! How's the packing coming along??!! 4 short days!!!!!!! I'm jealous.

[RGirl]

Hi Roni!!:wave2:

I'm days behind!!! But, finally caught up! Things have been busy, busy, busy! I'm still enjoying your TR and pictures...Willow is a doll, as you know;) ! How's the packing coming along??!! 4 short days!!!!!!! I'm jealous.
Hi Heather! It's good to "see" you. :laughing:

I know what you mean about busy - holy cow, things have been crazy here too! :scared1::laughing:

No packing done yet - I can't quite figure out how to do it without Willow figuring out the surprise. :rolleyes: I am going to see if maybe my parents will take her for an hour or two on Monday (holiday) so that I can at least get a few things packed and get myself a little organized.

[RGirl]

28. DD Falls in Love

After enjoying some FL attractions, DD and I knew that we needed to get our little butts back to the Town Square Theater for the chance to meet not just princesses but princes!!! When we arrived, the posted wait time was 80 MINUTES!!! :scared1: I asked DD whether she was sure that she wanted to wait, making sure that she knew that it would mean less time to trick-or-treat and ride rides, etc. She was quite clear - we would definitely be waiting in this line. :laughing:

This place is somewhat deceptive. Even with an 80-minute wait time posted, it looked like an incredibly short line. But it definitely took a long time - I don’t think it was 80 minutes, but it was at least an hour. DD made friends with the little girl ahead of us in line, and they had a great time just playing and talking.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/c0c57869.jpg

Finally, we entered the princess area.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/656979d2.jpg

(I have to say that the princes were just wonderful - so much more personality than in the movies. And it was just so cool to see how much attention they gave the little girls, and how much they seemed to be really enjoying it.)

Cinderella and Prince Charming were first.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/088cb0b2.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/c982850d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/df3772f9.jpg

Then the big moment - Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder. DD fell madly in love with Flynn (or Eugene, as she prefers to call him). I was cracking up that in almost every pic, she is just staring at Flynn. :laughing:
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/a2c2954c.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/f01d8ab5.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/71a2866a.jpg

At one point, Flynn looked over at me with this funny look on his face and said, “Hey! She just called me ‘Eugene’!!!!!!” :laughing:

We did get some non-Flynn-staring pics as well. ;)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/1839c97f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/5401f9bd.jpg

Finally, DD met Snow White and her Prince. This fellow was lovely as well.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/47000225.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/19a7c10b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/6c9fe93d.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/17d432e9.jpg

(Cont. in next post again for picture overload!)

[RGirl]

(cont. from previous post)


Once we finished up with the princesses and princes, we headed over to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and meet Buzz. (We did some trick-or-treating around here too.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/a0440526.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/0d3bf645.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/3de28f24.jpg

DD really wanted to ride the Peoplemover next, so we did although it was getting really close to fireworks time.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/5fd3a99a.jpg

After the Peoplemover, I suggested that we find somewhere to stop and watch the fireworks, but DD really just had no interest in doing that. :( But there is no point in forcing a 4-year-old to sit still and watch something if she doesn’t want to - neither of us would enjoy that experience What DD really wanted to do was ride BTMRR again, so we started off in that direction. It was slow going through FL with all the people stopped in their tracks watching the fireworks. I did, however, learn that there is really no bad spot for MK fireworks. There was something really cool about watching them go off over our heads as we walked along. And we were able to ride BTMRR twice and do the trick-or-treat trail at Splash Mountain.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/67c86f11.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/91014620.jpg

After trick-or-treating at Splash, DD wanted to ride BTMRR one more time. It was getting really close to parade time, so I was a little hesitant, but I love that ride too! So we enjoyed one more ride.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/3a81201a.jpg

The parade was just getting underway when we left the ride, and I wasn’t sure whether we would really get to see any of it. I am not a huge parade fan, but I do love this one. We raced along until we got ahead of the parade. We managed to get a semi-decent spot to watch thanks to a nice family who let us in with them, including letting DD get up front with their boys so that she could see.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/b45145a8.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/c7a998ef.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/6de0c39a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/1f3b765f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/430a864a.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/4b7fbf37.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/05411232.jpg

This was the second parade of the night, so it was LATE after it ended. We headed towards the exit and managed to catch the end of the parade again at Town Square. We left the park at about 11:30.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/8145123f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%205/65a7aa6a.jpg

We had a pretty long wait for a bus because one left just as we arrived at the bus stop. But we got seats on the next bus, which was good because DD was totally exhausted (so was I!). We were back in our villa just after midnight.

Up Next: 29. A Lazy Epcot Lunch

[amandaw]

Looks like y'all had a lot of fun at MNSSHP! Reid is sitting on the couch next to me because he woke up from a scary dream. He thoroughly enjoyed looking at your pictures with me! He was halfway asleep until he realized there were pictures of Disney World on the computer. :rotfl:

It seems like the princesses and, especially, the princes were great with DD! I should've known it was Flynn that she fell in love with....he is such a charmer!

[cocofifi]

Another great installment! Love the pics with your daughter and Eugene - precious!

[pas130]

All day today, I kept thinking, "Just power through - in a few days, you will be dining at Ariel's Grotto watching Willow enjoy her birthday cake." :laughing: Going to go into work tomorrow - the whole building should be empty, so I am going to crank the music and work as fast as I can to get as much done as possible. I am hoping that I can get myself in a good position to close things out on Tuesday and feel no anxiety about leaving for DL on Wednesday morning. :thumbsup2

When am I going to run those last-minute trip errands, you ask? When am I going to start packing secretly so that my ever-watchful child will not notice, you ask? I have no idea!!!! :scared1: :rotfl2:

Okay, is this WL trip the one that is 3 months away? I need to know so that I can do a little calculating to prepare myself for how many more resort changes there will be before you actually go. :rotfl2:

Back to BWI....94 more days to go!

Best of luck secretly packing BTW :hug: can't wait to hear Willow's reaction :woohoo:

[librarymouse]

The prince & princess photos are priceless! I am glad she had a nice time meeting them after waiting in such a long line! Looks like you guys had lots of fun at MNSSHP and fit a lot in!

[hstrickland]

GREAT pics of the princesses and princes! Wish we had seen them...Faith would have loved it. Where did Willow get Eugene from??:laughing: How funny!

Glad you were able to see some of the parade. Our family really loved it! Every character imaginable was in it. I'm hoping next year that we can make it back to MNSSHP. I think we closed the park down...on the People Mover (my favorite ride) Before we could exit the park, this is what happened....


http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss44/hstrick72/RC%20Thread/DisneyOct2010441.jpg

Like you, we were exhausted! So glad y'all had a good experience!!

[RGirl]

Hello!!! I have not abandoned my trip report - I had to take a break to go to Disneyland!!!! :woohoo: We had an amazing time!!!! And I took a bazillion photos to share with you all. Think it would be okay if I just tacked on a DLR trip report at the end of this one? :confused3

I should be able to get an update done tomorrow and get this report rolling along again! :banana:

Looks like y'all had a lot of fun at MNSSHP! Reid is sitting on the couch next to me because he woke up from a scary dream. He thoroughly enjoyed looking at your pictures with me! He was halfway asleep until he realized there were pictures of Disney World on the computer. :rotfl:

It seems like the princesses and, especially, the princes were great with DD! I should've known it was Flynn that she fell in love with....he is such a charmer!
Aww - that is so cute about Reid!!! :love: We sure do love MNSSHP! :woohoo:

Another great installment! Love the pics with your daughter and Eugene - precious!
Thanks! We had so much fun!

Back to BWI....94 more days to go!

Best of luck secretly packing BTW :hug: can't wait to hear Willow's reaction :woohoo:
No way!!! :rotfl2: Oh no - you have probably changed it again 8 times since you posted this, right???? :rotfl2:

The prince & princess photos are priceless! I am glad she had a nice time meeting them after waiting in such a long line! Looks like you guys had lots of fun at MNSSHP and fit a lot in!
Thanks! We did have a wonderful time. That party is just such a blast!

GREAT pics of the princesses and princes! Wish we had seen them...Faith would have loved it. Where did Willow get Eugene from??:laughing: How funny!

Glad you were able to see some of the parade. Our family really loved it! Every character imaginable was in it. I'm hoping next year that we can make it back to MNSSHP. I think we closed the park down...on the People Mover (my favorite ride) Before we could exit the park, this is what happened....


http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss44/hstrick72/RC%20Thread/DisneyOct2010441.jpg

Like you, we were exhausted! So glad y'all had a good experience!!
Willow believes that Flynn should only be referred to by his real name. :laughing: I guess because Rapunzel gets to call him that? :confused3 :laughing:

Look at your sleepy kiddos! :laughing: So cute!

[amandaw]

Hello!!! I have not abandoned my trip report - I had to take a break to go to Disneyland!!!! :woohoo: We had an amazing time!!!! And I took a bazillion photos to share with you all. Think it would be okay if I just tacked on a DLR trip report at the end of this one? :confused3

I should be able to get an update done tomorrow and get this report rolling along again! :banana:


Welcome Back!!!

I definitely vote for you tacking on your DLR TR to this TR! I can't wait to hear all about it! Hope it was fun-filled!!! :goodvibes

[pas130]

Hello!!! I have not abandoned my trip report - I had to take a break to go to Disneyland!!!! :woohoo: We had an amazing time!!!! And I took a bazillion photos to share with you all. Think it would be okay if I just tacked on a DLR trip report at the end of this one? :confused3


No way!!! :rotfl2: Oh no - you have probably changed it again 8 times since you posted this, right???? :rotfl2:






So 1 change....BWI is now BC...then over to Poly :dance3:

Welcome home!!! Can't wait to hear about DL, and OF COURSE you can tack it on to this TR...JMHO :hug:

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Your DD is so cute

[All About The Mouse]

Great trip report! Looks like a fun time was had!

[RGirl]

Welcome Back!!!

I definitely vote for you tacking on your DLR TR to this TR! I can't wait to hear all about it! Hope it was fun-filled!!! :goodvibes
Yay! I think I will just go ahead and put the DLR TR in here; I can't imagine anyone would mind. :confused3

So 1 change....BWI is now BC...then over to Poly :dance3:

Welcome home!!! Can't wait to hear about DL, and OF COURSE you can tack it on to this TR...JMHO :hug:
:rotfl2: You are TOO MUCH! :rotfl2: I am going to have so much fun seeing where you actually stay when the time comes!

I am totally motivated to get this report going strong because I can't wait to tell all you WDW fans about DLR! It was a wonderful surprise!

Your DD is so cute
Thanks! :lovestruc

Great trip report! Looks like a fun time was had!
Thank you! We did have a blast! :woohoo:

[RGirl]

29. A Lazy Epcot Lunch

After our late party night, we slept in - I think until about 9:00 or 9:30. I know that when I got up, I discovered this.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/80847565.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/0300468d.jpg

She was examining all the candy from the night before. But she hadn’t eaten even one piece. So, being the wonderful parent that I am, I totally let her have Halloween candy for breakfast. :laughing:

And then we decided to wander over to Epcot.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/910b3d6f.jpg

We grabbed Soarin’ FPs and took a spin with Nemo.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/4f7f63e7.jpg

We were going to check out the aquariums (something we haven’t done before), but DD’s feet were hurting. She insisted on wearing these fancy Princess Tiana shoes - luckily, I had packed some real shoes in the stroller. ;) We made a quick shoe change and decided to try Figment, which we had not done before.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/0c819185.jpg

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This attraction was, hmm, odd. I have NO idea who Figment is though, so maybe it wouldn’t be odd if I did! :laughing:

After Figment, we ventured over to Canada where we checked out the store and bought some candy. (Canada has some amazingly good candy.)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/3941b9e1.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/1c7e7baf.jpg

The Canada area of Epcot is so beautiful!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/f2626d76.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/0d8d6d77.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/f73d0e73.jpg

Why were we spending so much time here? Oh, yes, lunch! We were going to give Le Cellier a try! This was a great place to cool off.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/43d40c4b.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/433112c3.jpg

The pretzel bread was indeed quite yummy as reported so often on here.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/c876d383.jpg

DD had some noodles.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/7b80e292.jpg

I ordered the poutine because I knew my friend from Canada would never forgive me if I didn’t, and I figured DD would eat some - I mean, it involves FRIES. This was NOT authentic (as verified by my Canadian friend :laughing:) and was actually pretty gross. We didn’t eat much of it.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/e1fd591e.jpg

I ordered the filet with the risotto and mushrooms. I don’t usually order filet, but I liked the idea of the mushrooms and risotto. This was quite tasty! (Even so, we ended up wasting most of the food - there is just so much!!!)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/64ac9f4d.jpg

DD’s meal came with the World’s Tiniest Sundae.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/1d4756a8.jpg

After lunch, we headed over to TT to grab some FPs and then started our WS shopping trip!

Up Next: 30. Shopping Around the World

[amandaw]

Candy for breakfast is most definitely allowed on vacation! :thumbsup2

Sounds like y'all were having a nice start to the day. Le Cellier is on my list to try one day. That filet with the mushrooms looks delicious! However, those fries (or whatever they were) look rather disgusting. :crazy2: What exactly is on them?

And who knew that Canada had great candy selections? :confused3

[RGirl]

Candy for breakfast is most definitely allowed on vacation! :thumbsup2

Sounds like y'all were having a nice start to the day. Le Cellier is on my list to try one day. That filet with the mushrooms looks delicious! However, those fries (or whatever they were) look rather disgusting. :crazy2: What exactly is on them?

And who knew that Canada had great candy selections? :confused3
Poutine is a Canadian concoction of fries, cheese curd, and gravy. This one clearly did not use cheese curd but some kind of gelatinous nasty cheese mess. It was NOT good, and I think real poutine is something that I would find very yummy. I guess I will just have to visit Canada sometime soon! ;)

Canada has AWESOME candy. No kidding - my friend used to send care packages from time to time, and they have tons of good stuff. I highly recommend stopping and picking up some samples. :yay:

[amandaw]

Poutine is a Canadian concoction of fries, cheese curd, and gravy. This one clearly did not use cheese curd but some kind of gelatinous nasty cheese mess. It was NOT good, and I think real poutine is something that I would find very yummy. I guess I will just have to visit Canada sometime soon! ;)

Sounds like a good enough excuse for a trip to Canada! :laughing: I still don't know about the whole cheese curd part....I'd need to see a picture of the "real" thing. Post a picture of the real deal if you get to Canada! :rotfl:



Canada has AWESOME candy. No kidding - my friend used to send care packages from time to time, and they have tons of good stuff. I highly recommend stopping and picking up some samples. :yay:

That really does surprise me - in a good way. I just wouldn't have thought of Canada having great Canada. I will most definitely be checking out Canada for some candy this December! :thumbsup2

[RGirl]

Sounds like a good enough excuse for a trip to Canada! :laughing: I still don't know about the whole cheese curd part....I'd need to see a picture of the "real" thing. Post a picture of the real deal if you get to Canada! :rotfl:




That really does surprise me - in a good way. I just wouldn't have thought of Canada having great Canada. I will most definitely be checking out Canada for some candy this December! :thumbsup2
:laughing: I totally promise a poutine picture posting when I finally get my hands on some!!

When is your next trip? I will get the names of my favorite Canadian treats and pass them on to you. ;)

[amandaw]

:laughing: I totally promise a poutine picture posting when I finally get my hands on some!!

When is your next trip? I will get the names of my favorite Canadian treats and pass them on to you. ;)

Ill be waiting for that poutine picture! popcorn::

You definitely have time to get the list to me - our next trip is in December. But, I really would like to hear what some of your favorites are! :goodvibes I love candy! :lovestruc

[shan23877]

I don't know how I missed the MNSSHP update!

Love, love, love that Willow called Flynn Eugene. Hilarious!! You got some great pictures.

I'd love to hear about DL, so I think it would be great if you added it on to this TR.

I would have totally let my DD eat candy for breakfast. It's vacation!!:lmao:

[pas130]

[B][COLOR="Navy"]
Yay! I think I will just go ahead and put the DLR TR in here; I can't imagine anyone would mind. :confused3


:rotfl2: You are TOO MUCH! :rotfl2: I am going to have so much fun seeing where you actually stay when the time comes!

I am totally motivated to get this report going strong because I can't wait to tell all you WDW fans about DLR! It was a wonderful surprise!

:laughing: So I TOTALLY want to hear all about DL :yay: And that canada candy :happytv:

Candy for breakfast is most definitely allowed on vacation! :thumbsup2
Absolutely....ESPECIALLY since she didn't eat a bite while Mommy slept. I LOVE WILLOW!!!!!:flower3:

[RGirl]

Ill be waiting for that poutine picture! popcorn::

You definitely have time to get the list to me - our next trip is in December. But, I really would like to hear what some of your favorites are! :goodvibes I love candy! :lovestruc
Okay, here are some of the yummy ones that I have tried (a number of them are equally available in the UK where they also have much better options than we have here IMHO :laughing:): Coffee Crisps (I think these are only in Canada, although not sure), Aero, all the Cadbury chocolate bars (they are way better than what they sell in the U.S. for some totally unknown reason), Flake (I love these - I think they are U.K. originals but also available in Canada), Wunderbar (definitely available in Epcot's Canada). That should probably keep everyone in Canadian goodies for a while! :rotfl2:

I don't know how I missed the MNSSHP update!

Love, love, love that Willow called Flynn Eugene. Hilarious!! You got some great pictures.

I'd love to hear about DL, so I think it would be great if you added it on to this TR.

I would have totally let my DD eat candy for breakfast. It's vacation!!:lmao:
Willow had SO much fun with Eugene. :laughing: ;) I will definitely add DL to this report. :thumbsup2 I want all you WDW vets to know that it is worth the trip to come out to Cali and visit DL!

:laughing: So I TOTALLY want to hear all about DL :yay: And that canada candy :happytv:

Absolutely....ESPECIALLY since she didn't eat a bite while Mommy slept. I LOVE WILLOW!!!!!:flower3:
See above for Canadian candy! :rotfl2:

:laughing: Willow is so funny. If she DOES do something she is not supposed to or thinks she's not supposed to, she just can't help but tell on herself. :rotfl2:

[amandaw]

Okay, here are some of the yummy ones that I have tried (a number of them are equally available in the UK where they also have much better options than we have here IMHO :laughing:): Coffee Crisps (I think these are only in Canada, although not sure), Aero, all the Cadbury chocolate bars (they are way better than what they sell in the U.S. for some totally unknown reason), Flake (I love these - I think they are U.K. originals but also available in Canada), Wunderbar (definitely available in Epcot's Canada). That should probably keep everyone in Canadian goodies for a while! :rotfl2:


Thank you! I made a list of all your suggestions! :thumbsup2


:laughing: Willow is so funny. If she DOES do something she is not supposed to or thinks she's not supposed to, she just can't help but tell on herself. :rotfl2:



Reid tells on himself, also! :laughing: It makes it harder for me to be mad at him. :lmao:

[RGirl]

Reid tells on himself, also! :laughing: It makes it harder for me to be mad at him. :lmao:
:laughing: So funny, aren't they? Of course, the things that Willow thinks she's not supposed to do I usually don't care about. But I love that she tells on herself. :rotfl2:

[RGirl]

30. Shopping Around the World
When we last left off, we were headed into the WS to do some shopping - one of DD's favorite things (much to the dismay of my wallet)!!!

We headed into Mexico first where DD found a necklace for one of her favorite former “teachers.”
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/b3a3874f.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/8d5b4993.jpg

Next stop was China where DD and I both found presents for friends at home. DD also somehow managed to pick up another present for herself.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/b15666e9.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/e9152936.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/d729ecb9.jpg

We stopped at the Africo Outpost for a strawberry slush for DD and a bracelet for me - I love the jewelry that is made in Uganda out of recycled Disney paper.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/89e321c5.jpg

We wandered around Italy for a bit but didn’t find anything we were particularly interested in.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/2850e0cc.jpg

But we had a great time in Japan!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/337c0875.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/546e6fa7.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/7c2b61b2.jpg

This was definitely our favorite shopping venue. And DD found her most treasured souvenir of the trip - a Hello Kitty “um-bree-ella.” She has since made great use of this to act out the entire Mary Poppins movie. ;)
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/00b90821.jpg

We made it to Morocco in time to get in line for Jasmine and Aladdin. DD was very excited. We got in line about 20 minutes before the characters were set to arrive, and there were already quite a few people in front of us. It was another great line though. There was this big dad behind us with his two little girls - he was so funny standing in this princess line while his wife and her friend were off enjoying the F&W offerings. :laughing:

Finally, we spotted Jasmine and Aladdin arriving! And just as they arrived, this woman comes out of nowhere with her DD all dressed up in a Jasmine costume and tries to get her picture done with the characters. A CM immediately explained to her that there was a line. Then the woman walked over to the front of the line and started talking to the family there. And suddenly, she was in line in front of them! I turned to the dad behind us and said, “Did she somehow just manage to cut the entire line?” He was staring mouth agape at this woman. Just then, Aladdin skipped over, grabbed the cast member by the arm, and skipped backstage with her. This big, gruff-looking dad suddenly belts out in glee, “Aladdin saw her!! Aladdin saw her!!!” I was rolling - it was so funny. Within a minute, the CM and Aladdin reemerged and the woman was told to go to the back of the line. Instead, she grabbed her DD and dragged her away. The poor child was crying and probably embarrassed. :(

After all the commotion, DD had a great time with Jasmine and Aladdin.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/dc7e2a7e.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/a906ff82.jpg

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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/3d8da063.jpg

After that meet, we were ready to head back to our resort for a little rest. On the way out, DD got a PP pic with her new umbrella.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/896edb20.jpg

Up next: 31. Are They Really Going to Epcot Again? Why, Yes, Yes, We Are!

[amandaw]

What a fun shopping trip! :goodvibes

The nerve of that woman just getting in front of the line. :headache: So glad that Aladdin was there to save the day! :laughing:

[RGirl]

What a fun shopping trip! :goodvibes

The nerve of that woman just getting in front of the line. :headache: So glad that Aladdin was there to save the day! :laughing:
Oh my goodness! That man behind us was so funny!!!! He was nice all along, but he had this very "guy" thing going on - trying to be a little tough while waiting in line with his "princesses," a little grumpy that his wife was off enjoying F&W. And then, he was just gleeful with his, "Aladdin saw her! Aladdin saw her!" I nearly peed myself!!! :rotfl2:

I have NO idea what the woman was thinking! I mean, I get the people who don't have a clue what is going on and run over excited to see a character, but this woman KNEW there was a line. She was just too important to wait, I guess? :confused3 I felt SO bad for her daughter! But also so glad that Aladdin laid down the law! :rotfl2:

[shan23877]

I think our DDs would get along great. Shopping for herself is one of Maddie's favorite things! :lmao:

So glad that they made the rude woman wait her turn, but her poor little girl! I really don't understand people sometimes...

And God help the mommy who forgets the 'brella when it's raining. Our Tink one needs to be with us if there's even the chance of a drizzle.:rotfl:

[RGirl]

I think our DDs would get along great. Shopping for herself is one of Maddie's favorite things! :lmao:

So glad that they made the rude woman wait her turn, but her poor little girl! I really don't understand people sometimes...

And God help the mommy who forgets the 'brella when it's raining. Our Tink one needs to be with us if there's even the chance of a drizzle.:rotfl:

:laughing: Our girls would be fast friends - little shoppers!!!!

DD was THRILLED that it was raining on our last day at Disneyland this month - she got to take her um-bree-ella! :laughing:

[pas130]

Totally have to hit up that store !!! All my DDs are HUGE HK fans :goodvibes

[RGirl]

Hey there! Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I seem to have brought back a bug from California, so I'm kind of dragging right now. I need to get a few updates written so that I can get them up more quickly. I really want to share DL with all of you! :woohoo: It's so hard to write the last few WDW updates though because that means the trip will really be over. :sad1: I will get things moving along again very soon though! :thumbsup2

Totally have to hit up that store !!! All my DDs are HUGE HK fans :goodvibes
They had a TON of stuff!!!

[amandaw]

Hey there! Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I seem to have brought back a bug from California, so I'm kind of dragging right now. I need to get a few updates written so that I can get them up more quickly. I really want to share DL with all of you! :woohoo: It's so hard to write the last few WDW updates though because that means the trip will really be over. :sad1: I will get things moving along again very soon though! :thumbsup2


They had a TON of stuff!!!


No worries....will be here ready for your next update when you are! Hope you get to feeling better soon! :goodvibes

[pas130]

Hey there! Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I seem to have brought back a bug from California, so I'm kind of dragging right now. I need to get a few updates written so that I can get them up more quickly. I really want to share DL with all of you! :woohoo: It's so hard to write the last few WDW updates though because that means the trip will really be over. :sad1: I will get things moving along again very soon though! :thumbsup2


They had a TON of stuff!!!


I hope you are feeling better (and the birthday girl didn't get the bug too):hug:

[librarymouse]

Mitsukoshi is awesome! I went for the first time on our trip last week and I loved it...the Japanese candy, lucky cats and Hello Kitty stuff is all so cute! :cutie:

[RGirl]

No worries....will be here ready for your next update when you are! Hope you get to feeling better soon! :goodvibes
Thanks! :hug: Planning to get some updates done this weekend! (After the mini-birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, of course.... :roll eyes:)

I hope you are feeling better (and the birthday girl didn't get the bug too):hug:
Thanks!! :hug: DD seems to have avoided it. Very excited to continue celebrating the birthday that wouldn't quit... :laughing:

Mitsukoshi is awesome! I went for the first time on our trip last week and I loved it...the Japanese candy, lucky cats and Hello Kitty stuff is all so cute! :cutie:
Isn't it great! :woohoo: How was your trip????????

[pas130]

Thanks! :hug: Planning to get some updates done this weekend! (After the mini-birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, of course.... :roll eyes:)


Thanks!! :hug: DD seems to have avoided it. Very excited to continue celebrating the birthday that wouldn't quit... :laughing:


I can't wait for the update. Glad you are feeling better :hug:

[RGirl]

31. Are They Really Going to Epcot Again? Why, Yes, Yes, We Are!

After getting cleaned up and enjoying a little down time, we decided to head back to Epcot at about 6:00 - we had FPs to use!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/b4bdf7dc.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/03d13202.jpg

We enjoyed another ride on Soarin’.
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And then did Living with the Land at DD’s request - she loves this ride.
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And then we decided to try something new for us - the Epcot Character Spot. The wait time was 30 minutes, but we decided to get in line anyway. You see, we still hadn’t met one of our absolute favorite characters - Pluto - and one of the silliest characters - Goofy!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/6bba880c.jpg

DD was pretty tired, so she really enjoyed just watching the cartoons quietly while in line.
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Up first, was Mickey.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/efcdd364.jpg

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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/860c5a7a.jpg

Then our beloved Pluto! Who did not disappoint. He put the autograph book on his nose (as usual) and then started thumbing through to find the right page (although I think we had originally had it marked with the pen) - as you can imagine, that is not easy to do with paws. The handler tried to help him, but he waved her off. The PP guy tried to help, but he waved him off. One of them said, “tick, tock,” but he waved them off again. Finally, the handler said, “Pluto, are you looking at all the autographs????” Pluto nodded emphatically and then let the CM find the right page. He was great!
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http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/c5f6c685.jpg

[Cont. in next post because of picture overload.]

[RGirl]

[Continued from previous post....]

Minnie was lovely.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/2ea8e5ef.jpg

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Donald was hilarious. After DD’s turn, he had to take a quick break “to get some cheesecake.” When he returned, DD was meeting Goofy. Before meeting with the people waiting to see him next, Donald stuck his beak around the wall to look at Goofy and DD and then turned around and wiggled his butt at them.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/3edbff02.jpg

Goofy was a lot of fun too - he always is!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20PhotoPass/84da0753.jpg

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When we were leaving the Character Spot, we came around the corner and found Brer Bear! He was huge!!!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/38b9e53c.jpg

After the characters, we took another spin on TT, which was super-fun in the dark.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/f290a842.jpg

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And then hit up the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/LoveMyBullmastiff/Disney%202011%20-%20Day%206/641e8ffb.jpg

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At this point, we realized that it was getting late, and we decided to head out before the fireworks started as DD had made it clear that her choice for the next day was DHS, and she wanted to hit it hard! :laughing: We zipped on out of Epcot, grabbed hotdogs on the boardwalk to eat back at the villa, and called it a night!

[amandaw]

Sounds like an absolutely perfect night! :goodvibes

Fun rides & fun characters....it really just doesn't get any better than that!

The pictures with the characters are just absolutely adorable! :cutie:

[RGirl]

Sounds like an absolutely perfect night! :goodvibes

Fun rides & fun characters....it really just doesn't get any better than that!

The pictures with the characters are just absolutely adorable! :cutie:

Thanks Amanda! It was a lovely night. I wish we were there right now. *sigh* I am having one of those wish-I-had-a-trip-to-plan nights. :sad1:

[amandaw]

Thanks Amanda! It was a lovely night. I wish we were there right now. *sigh* I am having one of those wish-I-had-a-trip-to-plan nights. :sad1:

I've been there & know how that feels! I hate not having a trip planned. Our next trip is in December & I'm already trying to decide when our next trip after that will be! :laughing:

By the looks of your ticker....y'all are doing the Alaskan cruise soon, right? That should be really fun. Although, not as much "planning" to do, I know. Have y'all done a Disney cruise before?

[RGirl]

I've been there & know how that feels! I hate not having a trip planned. Our next trip is in December & I'm already trying to decide when our next trip after that will be! :laughing:

By the looks of your ticker....y'all are doing the Alaskan cruise soon, right? That should be really fun. Although, not as much "planning" to do, I know. Have y'all done a Disney cruise before?

Yep - we do have the cruise in July. But there is NO planning. I hate that! :laughing: I am starting to realize that I get at least as much fun from the planning as from the actual trip. It kind of keeps me going - I have something fun to work on every evening. I have GOT to get my boss to set a date for her second trip so that I can start planning it for her! :laughing:

Do you know where you are staying in December? It will be amazing to be there with the Christmas decorations! Have you done that before?

This is our first cruise - Disney or other. I am excited but also a little cautious - it will be so different from our usual Disney holiday that I am fearful we won't have as much fun. :confused3 I definitely want to do one of the Caribbean cruises in the future (providing that we enjoy this one), but I have always wanted to see Alaska, and the fact that we don't have to fly (we can just drive to Seattle the day before) and spend all that $$$ on airfare makes this very do-able for this year! :woohoo:

[amandaw]

Yep - we do have the cruise in July. But there is NO planning. I hate that! :laughing: I am starting to realize that I get at least as much fun from the planning as from the actual trip. It kind of keeps me going - I have something fun to work on every evening. I have GOT to get my boss to set a date for her second trip so that I can start planning it for her! :laughing:

Do you know where you are staying in December? It will be amazing to be there with the Christmas decorations! Have you done that before?

This is our first cruise - Disney or other. I am excited but also a little cautious - it will be so different from our usual Disney holiday that I am fearful we won't have as much fun. :confused3 I definitely want to do one of the Caribbean cruises in the future (providing that we enjoy this one), but I have always wanted to see Alaska, and the fact that we don't have to fly (we can just drive to Seattle the day before) and spend all that $$$ on airfare makes this very do-able for this year! :woohoo:

As of right now, we are staying at POP in December. We were going to stay in one of the deluxes but at the beginning of January, we put a purchase agreement on a house that's being built. So, I decided to save money & book POP because there's a lot of things we'll need & want for the new house. But, I'm hoping to change from POP into a DVC property. We own a timeshare with Hilton. And through RCI, we can trade our Hilton time into DVC. So, I'm really hoping that something in DVC will come available with our dates.

I have to agree - the planning of the trip is almost as much fun as the trip itself. I've been occupying myself by helping 3 friends plan their trips to Disney. My best friend from high school leaves in 2 weeks, 1 other leaves in April and the other is going in June. I don't know what I'll do once they're all back! :lmao: I have worked, re-worked & re-worked our possible itinerary & ADRs until I'm blue in the face. Although, I'm sure I'll be looking over them again before my ADR-making date in June.

I really think y'all are going to enjoy the cruise. We did our 1st Disney cruise this past May & loved it!!! My husband & I had only done 1 cruise before that & HATED it! He swore he would never step foot on a boat again. Well, all I can say is that our vacation we're planning for next year is a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy! There is so much to do on the boats & you still get the Disney magic through their wonderful service & of course all the characters on board. Reid absolutely loved the kids club & never wanted to leave! :laughing: My only complaint about the cruise is indeed the lack of planning you get to do for it! :rotfl2:

[RGirl]

As of right now, we are staying at POP in December. We were going to stay in one of the deluxes but at the beginning of January, we put a purchase agreement on a house that's being built. So, I decided to save money & book POP because there's a lot of things we'll need & want for the new house. But, I'm hoping to change from POP into a DVC property. We own a timeshare with Hilton. And through RCI, we can trade our Hilton time into DVC. So, I'm really hoping that something in DVC will come available with our dates.

I have to agree - the planning of the trip is almost as much fun as the trip itself. I've been occupying myself by helping 3 friends plan their trips to Disney. My best friend from high school leaves in 2 weeks, 1 other leaves in April and the other is going in June. I don't know what I'll do once they're all back! :lmao: I have worked, re-worked & re-worked our possible itinerary & ADRs until I'm blue in the face. Although, I'm sure I'll be looking over them again before my ADR-making date in June.

I really think y'all are going to enjoy the cruise. We did our 1st Disney cruise this past May & loved it!!! My husband & I had only done 1 cruise before that & HATED it! He swore he would never step foot on a boat again. Well, all I can say is that our vacation we're planning for next year is a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy! There is so much to do on the boats & you still get the Disney magic through their wonderful service & of course all the characters on board. Reid absolutely loved the kids club & never wanted to leave! :laughing: My only complaint about the cruise is indeed the lack of planning you get to do for it! :rotfl2:

Congrats on the house!!!! :cool1: Oh, I hope you will be able to get into a DVC resort! I made the mistake of renting points to stay DVC on our first on-site trip (as you know, since it is featured in this very TR :laughing:), and now I can't stand the thought of staying any other way. Well, I did learn that we can do a regular hotel room at Disney while at DL because DD is so tired after a day in the parks that she passes out even if I stay up reading or something. But when we go to WDW, it is such a long trip and WDW takes so long to do that I hate the thought of staying less than a week (even a week isn't really enough) - we cannot do a hotel room that long. Gotta have some space and a kitchen! :laughing:

Wow - I am jealous. Not only do you have your own trip to plan but others as well! So unfair! I am going to have to start pressuring my boss. I loved planning her first trip, but she did not decide enough in advance. I want to get her locked in on dates way in advance this time. I want to find her a great resort, book tons of ADRs, etc. I hope she can commit soon! :laughing:

I am so glad to hear about your cruise experience! I think I worry most about how laid-back it will be. :laughing: I think I could happily sit in a lounge chair and read for 7 days, but I don't think that would be DD's speed at all! She is excited to try the kids' club, and I am just hope-hope-hoping that she will love it. I can't imagine free time for me - I have never had that on vacation and, honestly, as an only parent, I haven't ever had it at home either! :laughing: We shall see. Man, the excursions are $$$ though. :scared1: I think I may only book one or two. :confused3 My mom and her friend decided to join us, and Disney recently upgraded us to a higher deck with adjoining state rooms, which should be really nice. I am hoping to get a Palo reservation for the three of us - and REALLY hoping that DD loves the kids' club so that I can actually go. I can't imagine - a leisurely dinner in a nice restaurant on a cruise ship with no kids? What in the world????? :rotfl2:

What was the character situation on your cruise? DD LOVES characters (you may have noticed that :roll eyes:) - are there very many on-ship? Are all the appearances planned and noted, or are there some surprises? I really don't know much about cruising at all.....

[pas130]

Yep - we do have the cruise in July. But there is NO planning. I hate that! :laughing: I am starting to realize that I get at least as much fun from the planning as from the actual trip.

This is SOOOOO true. My DH keeps saying what will you do when the trip is over???Ummm plan the next one duh? :laughing:

I love all the character shots, I have lots of plans to take advantages of character meets (I never do this) More wonderful Willow pics. And I have always liked the Living with the land ride:goodvibes

[amandaw]

Congrats on the house!!!! :cool1: Oh, I hope you will be able to get into a DVC resort! I made the mistake of renting points to stay DVC on our first on-site trip (as you know, since it is featured in this very TR :laughing:), and now I can't stand the thought of staying any other way. Well, I did learn that we can do a regular hotel room at Disney while at DL because DD is so tired after a day in the parks that she passes out even if I stay up reading or something. But when we go to WDW, it is such a long trip and WDW takes so long to do that I hate the thought of staying less than a week (even a week isn't really enough) - we cannot do a hotel room that long. Gotta have some space and a kitchen! :laughing:

Thank you! :goodvibes I am really hoping we can get into a DVC resort. We'll be there a Saturday to a Saturday, so more room would really be nice. And at night, I get Reid to bed but then I like to unpack & re-pack our park bag, upload my pictures to my computer & then journal about what all we did that day. So, if I had a den area to do this is, it would be so nice. Although Reid, like Willow, crashes so it doesn't really matter. Except that I normally have most of the lights off. So, it would be nice to see what I'm doing. :laughing:


Wow - I am jealous. Not only do you have your own trip to plan but others as well! So unfair! I am going to have to start pressuring my boss. I loved planning her first trip, but she did not decide enough in advance. I want to get her locked in on dates way in advance this time. I want to find her a great resort, book tons of ADRs, etc. I hope she can commit soon! :laughing:

Well, I started out just helping my best friend. Then, she referred 2 of her friends to me. I need to make business cards & start charging! One of her friends has titled me "The Disney Diva". :rotfl2: I hope your boss decides on those dates soon so you can do some planning! :thumbsup2


I am so glad to hear about your cruise experience! I think I worry most about how laid-back it will be. :laughing: I think I could happily sit in a lounge chair and read for 7 days, but I don't think that would be DD's speed at all! She is excited to try the kids' club, and I am just hope-hope-hoping that she will love it. I can't imagine free time for me - I have never had that on vacation and, honestly, as an only parent, I haven't ever had it at home either! :laughing: We shall see. Man, the excursions are $$$ though. :scared1: I think I may only book one or two. :confused3 My mom and her friend decided to join us, and Disney recently upgraded us to a higher deck with adjoining state rooms, which should be really nice. I am hoping to get a Palo reservation for the three of us - and REALLY hoping that DD loves the kids' club so that I can actually go. I can't imagine - a leisurely dinner in a nice restaurant on a cruise ship with no kids? What in the world????? :rotfl2:

In all honesty, what we found from our Disney cruise is that you can have as laid back of a vacation as you want or you can keep yourself busy on the ship the whole time. They really have lots of activities planned on the ship - for kids, adults & families.

I can only imagine being a single mom that you don't get much down time. I'm a stay at home mom so I'm with Reid 24/7 so I kind of understand - but I do get some relief. From what I've seen on your TR, Willow is outgoing & loves fun - so I think she'll do well in the kids club. I really hope you can get some down time & your Palo meal! And that'll be so much fun with your mom & her friend with y'all.

The excursions are expensive! I bet they're really expensive in Alaska. We didn't do any excursions on our last cruise, but it was only a 3 night cruise. We wanted to make sure we enjoyed it before we went too long since we hated our 1st cruise. The cruise only went to Nassau & Castaway Cay. We've been to Nassau before so we just stayed on the ship that day. Of course, we got off on Castaway Cay. Now, that place is just gorgeous. :cloud9: If you enjoy this cruise, definitely look into doing one of their cruises that go to Castaway Cay.


What was the character situation on your cruise? DD LOVES characters (you may have noticed that :roll eyes:) - are there very many on-ship? Are all the appearances planned and noted, or are there some surprises? I really don't know much about cruising at all.....

I found there to be a good many characters on the ship. The majority of them are planned & will be listed in your navigator that you will get every day in your stateroom. They even had some characters that we had trouble finding in the park - like peter Pan, Cpt. Hook & Mr. Smee. Reid was soooo excited to meet Peter Pan. We missed the meet & greet with Hook & Smee but did go to a dance party with them. Although we didn't do this we did see it while waiting for Peter - they have a princess meet & greet. You stood in 1 line & then hit up the princesses 1 by 1. They had: Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle & Aurora. Now, we were on the Dream. But, I'm sure it's at least very similar on all of the boats. Also, one night while we were eating in the Royal Palace, a couple of the princesses walked thru waiving at everyone but they didn't stop. And there were a few times that characters would show up in the kids club.

I really think y'all will have a great time! Let me know if you have any other questions!

[RGirl]

This is SOOOOO true. My DH keeps saying what will you do when the trip is over???Ummm plan the next one duh? :laughing:

I love all the character shots, I have lots of plans to take advantages of character meets (I never do this) More wonderful Willow pics. And I have always liked the Living with the land ride:goodvibes
Why are these trips so fun to plan??? :rotfl2:

We really enjoy character meals. We had a FABULOUS one at Disneyland last month. :woohoo:

Thank you! :goodvibes I am really hoping we can get into a DVC resort. We'll be there a Saturday to a Saturday, so more room would really be nice. And at night, I get Reid to bed but then I like to unpack & re-pack our park bag, upload my pictures to my computer & then journal about what all we did that day. So, if I had a den area to do this is, it would be so nice. Although Reid, like Willow, crashes so it doesn't really matter. Except that I normally have most of the lights off. So, it would be nice to see what I'm doing. :laughing:
I do the same in the evenings, and it was so nice to have the one-bedroom villa. DD would crash on the pull-out couch, and I could have the TV on in the bedroom, get on-line on the iPad, whatever. It was so nice!

Well, I started out just helping my best friend. Then, she referred 2 of her friends to me. I need to make business cards & start charging! One of her friends has titled me "The Disney Diva". :rotfl2: I hope your boss decides on those dates soon so you can do some planning! :thumbsup2
:laughing: My boss is always telling me I should start a second business. I can't imagine anyone paying for it - it's so fun to do yourself! :laughing:

In all honesty, what we found from our Disney cruise is that you can have as laid back of a vacation as you want or you can keep yourself busy on the ship the whole time. They really have lots of activities planned on the ship - for kids, adults & families.

I can only imagine being a single mom that you don't get much down time. I'm a stay at home mom so I'm with Reid 24/7 so I kind of understand - but I do get some relief. From what I've seen on your TR, Willow is outgoing & loves fun - so I think she'll do well in the kids club. I really hope you can get some down time & your Palo meal! And that'll be so much fun with your mom & her friend with y'all.

The excursions are expensive! I bet they're really expensive in Alaska. We didn't do any excursions on our last cruise, but it was only a 3 night cruise. We wanted to make sure we enjoyed it before we went too long since we hated our 1st cruise. The cruise only went to Nassau & Castaway Cay. We've been to Nassau before so we just stayed on the ship that day. Of course, we got off on Castaway Cay. Now, that place is just gorgeous. :cloud9: If you enjoy this cruise, definitely look into doing one of their cruises that go to Castaway Cay.

I found there to be a good many characters on the ship. The majority of them are planned & will be listed in your navigator that you will get every day in your stateroom. They even had some characters that we had trouble finding in the park - like peter Pan, Cpt. Hook & Mr. Smee. Reid was soooo excited to meet Peter Pan. We missed the meet & greet with Hook & Smee but did go to a dance party with them. Although we didn't do this we did see it while waiting for Peter - they have a princess meet & greet. You stood in 1 line & then hit up the princesses 1 by 1. They had: Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle & Aurora. Now, we were on the Dream. But, I'm sure it's at least very similar on all of the boats. Also, one night while we were eating in the Royal Palace, a couple of the princesses walked thru waiving at everyone but they didn't stop. And there were a few times that characters would show up in the kids club.

I really think y'all will have a great time! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks SO much for all the info! You are making me get a little excited about the cruise, which is a good thing. :woohoo: That is so cool that there are lots of character opportunities, and I like the fact that you can find plenty to do even without paying for lots of excursions. I think I will plan to do more on-ship than I had been thinking. That could be really fun!

DD is VERY outgoing, so I am guessing that she will love the Kids' Club. It is hard for me to understand because I was completely the opposite as a kid. I can't relate at all. :rotfl2:

[RGirl]

32. Who Would Have Thought We Would Be Spending Another Day at DHS?

I let DD decide what to do today, and the day before she had decided that we would be heading back to DHS! It still cracks me up to think about how little love we had for DHS last year and how I expected to spend part of one day there this trip - and it became DD’s favorite park! :laughing:

We left the villa a little before 9:00, enjoyed another lovely walk to DHS, and arrived there about 5 minutes after opening.
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We split off from the masses headed toward TSMM and took a right toward DD’s favorite ride.
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We grabbed FPs.
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And jumped in line. We rode three times in a row stand-by - walk-on every time.
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At that point, the line had started to form, so we grabbed another set of FPs, grabbed a slushy coffee thing for me and a mango slushy for DD and headed off to Star Tours. We hung out for a bit enjoying our nice cold drinks (and reading the map).
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Then we enjoyed our first ride of the day on Star Tours and were able to grab a set of FPs after we exited.
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[cont. in next post for picture overload. Again.]

[RGirl]

[Cont. from previous post]

It was getting close to time for a showing of the Beauty and the Beast stage show, so we headed back in that direction.
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What a great show! We both really enjoyed it. But DD was heartbroken when Gaston stabbed The Beast - she thought The Beast was dead and was not at all consoled by the idea that he had turned into a prince. I had to assure her that The Beast would still be in Epcot.
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Next, we made a stop at Sweet Spells and got DD her first-ever cotton candy! It was a big hit. ;)
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We wandered over to see when the next showing of VotLM was, but it was quite a ways off, and we had seen it last year, so we continued on.
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Up next: 33. Just How Many Times Will We Ride ToT?

[amandaw]

I am loving the picture of DD in line for ToT - she is just so excited & happy to be going on that ride! :goodvibes I don't think we'll even attempt to get Reid on that in December - he can be a bit of chicken. :sad2: I'll be happy if he just rides Haunted Mansion with me. :laughing:

That cotton candy looks really good - wish I had some now. Think they deliver? :lmao:

Too funny that DD didn't want Beast into the prince. I like him better as Beast, too! :thumbsup2


Thanks SO much for all the info! You are making me get a little excited about the cruise, which is a good thing. :woohoo: That is so cool that there are lots of character opportunities, and I like the fact that you can find plenty to do even without paying for lots of excursions. I think I will plan to do more on-ship than I had been thinking. That could be really fun!

DD is VERY outgoing, so I am guessing that she will love the Kids' Club. It is hard for me to understand because I was completely the opposite as a kid. I can't relate at all. :rotfl2:

You are very welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions! I might not have been on the same ship but I might be able to help you with some stuff.

If it makes you feel any better - I had total cruise booking remorse about 3 months prior to the cruise. I was afraid we would all hate it, especially my husband. I was afraid Reid would be bored. No need for any of those worries! Wait until you see the navigator each day: If it's anything like the Dream, there is never a time during the day with absolutely nothing going on. In fact, the cruise we're looking at for 2013 is the 7 night during Thanksgiving week & it's a Western Caribbean cruise. I was really hoping that it would be an Eastern Caribbean cruise for that week but oh well. The ports for the western cruise are grand cayman, cozumel, costa maya & castaway cay. And there are 2 at sea days - I think. We know for sure that we'll get off at Castaway Cay but other than that we may get off in Grand Cayman & that will be it. I've been to Mexico & don't need to go back (no offense to anyone who likes it). But, it doesn't bother us because now we look at the ship as the main destination for the vacation. That's just how much there is to do & not do!

[RGirl]

I am loving the picture of DD in line for ToT - she is just so excited & happy to be going on that ride! :goodvibes I don't think we'll even attempt to get Reid on that in December - he can be a bit of chicken. :sad2: I'll be happy if he just rides Haunted Mansion with me. :laughing:

That cotton candy looks really good - wish I had some now. Think they deliver? :lmao:

Too funny that DD didn't want Beast into the prince. I like him better as Beast, too! :thumbsup2
:laughing: DD really has a thing for the Beast. She has NO interest in him as the prince though. I guess she saves that for Flynn Rider. :rolleyes:

You are very welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions! I might not have been on the same ship but I might be able to help you with some stuff.

If it makes you feel any better - I had total cruise booking remorse about 3 months prior to the cruise. I was afraid we would all hate it, especially my husband. I was afraid Reid would be bored. No need for any of those worries! Wait until you see the navigator each day: If it's anything like the Dream, there is never a time during the day with absolutely nothing going on. In fact, the cruise we're looking at for 2013 is the 7 night during Thanksgiving week & it's a Western Caribbean cruise. I was really hoping that it would be an Eastern Caribbean cruise for that week but oh well. The ports for the western cruise are grand cayman, cozumel, costa maya & castaway cay. And there are 2 at sea days - I think. We know for sure that we'll get off at Castaway Cay but other than that we may get off in Grand Cayman & that will be it. I've been to Mexico & don't need to go back (no offense to anyone who likes it). But, it doesn't bother us because now we look at the ship as the main destination for the vacation. That's just how much there is to do & not do.
You are definitely making me feel better! I was starting to have a little buyer's remorse myself, especially now that the final payment date is looming. :scared1: I'm glad to hear that you all had so much fun, and it is really encouraging that you liked being on the ship so much. I definitely want to see some of Alaska, but I'm not feeling so tied to the idea of having to spend big $$$ for excursions. Surely we can just disembark and explore a little on our own.

What types of stuff did you enjoy on the ship? I am interested to hear what some of the offerings were!

[shan23877]

Can't get enough of the pics of Willow, she is just too cute.

I must have missed something, but a cruise? :cool1:

I just talked DH into waiting until Maddie is a little older to do DCL, eager to see how you like it! (so that means you'll be TRing for a while yet. :lmao:)

[amandaw]

You are definitely making me feel better! I was starting to have a little buyer's remorse myself, especially now that the final payment date is looming. :scared1: I'm glad to hear that you all had so much fun, and it is really encouraging that you liked being on the ship so much. I definitely want to see some of Alaska, but I'm not feeling so tied to the idea of having to spend big $$$ for excursions. Surely we can just disembark and explore a little on our own.

What types of stuff did you enjoy on the ship? I am interested to hear what some of the offerings were!

I'm glad I can help! We definitely enjoyed some pool time and Reid loved the kids club. Ed & I went to the production shows 2 out of the 3 nights & we really enjoyed them. They aren't the cheesy-style shows that you would normally associate with cruises. They are on par with Disney park shows (probably even better). There is also the movie theatre that I wish we would've had time to go see a movie there. And what's really great is that they will play Disney movies that are currently in the theatres....even the 3D ones! And of course....character meets!

I pulled our navigator from the day we're docked in Nassau just to give you an idea of soe of the things offered:

- Exercise classes (if that's your thing - I don't like to exercise at home so I'm definitely not about to do it on vacation :lmao: )

- Family Crafts

- Wine Tasting, Beer Tasting, Mixology, Martini Tasting, Whiskey Tasting, etc.

- Character Dance Party

- Animation Class

- Family Origami

- In the kids club, the kids can go in & just play whatever they want. But, they also have many organized games & activities all through the day & night for those that want to participate.

- Some of the character meets: princesses, peter pan, pinnochio, minnie, goofy, donald, aladdin, mickey, chip & dale, tinker bell, daisy, jack sparrow

- Live music (at night in different locations)

- Family Disco (night)

- Family karaoke (night)

- If DD goes to the club at night, you could go to the adult lounges!

That's just to name a few! :rotfl2: