1st Trip (of many!) as Mr. & Mrs.--the TR-- UPDATE 9/9: Life Update--We're Moving!!

[blabbermouth]

Sounds neat... even made DH interested in the tour.

Love the presidents' wives' dresses... I'm a fashion kinda girl though.

How was your lunch? It looked kinda mediocre? Although I do hear good things about CHH.

 

[cdotla]

Sounds like a great Tour, and another great day!

Can't wait to hear about your favourite drink!

As for the video, I believe you can break it up into 10 minute intervals on youtube fairly easily. If you are able to do it, I would love to see your video!

Looking forward to the next update!

 

[CS3SONS]

Wow great report
We're staying at AKL in February, loved seeing all the resort photos

 

[khertz]

Great post! DH and I absolutely LOVED the KTTK tour too! It will probably be a nice long post in my TR. Our guide was married to the janitorial manager so she was kinda obsessed with showing us their trash system? But it was still a great tour. And I enjoyed it even though I knew a lot of what she told us. There was still quite a few things that were new to me! Glad you enjoyed it too.

 

[LilAnn]

I've been wanting to do the KTTK tour for a while now and your post definitely cements that. I think it'll be a while before we can do that tour since our munchkin is so young. You guys didn't look tired at all. Can't wait for more! Happy new year by the way!

 

[tinkgurl]

Wow, the tour sounds so neat!

 

[stacikristine]

Oh I'm so glad you loved the KTTK tour!! It was the best part of my January solo trip! I had one of the most amazing tour guides and I learned so much and I would gladly go again!! Loved your pictures and I'm glad you and Michael had such a great time!!!

It was so, so good! And thanks for talking about how great it was--your TR was one of the main things that sold us on it! We've decided that we'd like to do some kind of tour every time we go to Disney World--the All About the Mouse (or something like that) sounds really neat for a whole family! Thanks Jen!! It was a wonderful time!

Joe and I really have to do this tour the next time we are in Disney! Probably not the trip in Feb because it's so close but definitely the next time. I think it would be something we would both really enjoy, especially Joe. Did you see any characters without their heads in the underground tunnels??

YES! You would both love it--I'm sure! Not in the tunnels....but *maybe* somewhere else!

As usual, great post.

The tour sounds amazing and I would love to be able to do it someday but I guess it will have to wait. Can't really do it with a two year old, can I?

And by the way, you guys did not look tired at all. I guess the adrenaline just kept you going. There is just too much to see and to do at WDW ... sleeping is simply not a priority.



Q

Hi Q! Thanks so much! Oh goodness--it was wonderful! I'm sure you'd love it. Haha--nope! I guess it'll be a while before you can do it Thanks! You're sweet--we both felt like we looked SUPER tired But you're right--you can sleep when you get home!

The KTTK tour sounds so cool! You did an amazing job of conveying how awesome it was without giving away any secrets!

It was so, so neat! I'm sure you and your DH would love it! Thanks--I was trying hard to not give anything away...

Sounds neat... even made DH interested in the tour.

Love the presidents' wives' dresses... I'm a fashion kinda girl though.

How was your lunch? It looked kinda mediocre? Although I do hear good things about CHH.

It's a really, really neat tour! It takes a long time (5 hours) but it was WELL worth it! The lunch was really just so-so. Neither of us even finished our meal... Some people love it though. We really liked going over to the Contempo Cafe in the Contemporary more.

Sounds like a great Tour, and another great day!

Can't wait to hear about your favourite drink!

As for the video, I believe you can break it up into 10 minute intervals on youtube fairly easily. If you are able to do it, I would love to see your video!

Looking forward to the next update!

It was a wonderful tour!! We loved every minute of it! I'll give you a hint: It's not alcoholic (as you probably guessed after my Kona drink...) Hm...that's a good idea! I'll see what I can do about the video! I'll at least try to post a little bit of it. I'll have the next update in the next few days.

Wow great report
We're staying at AKL in February, loved seeing all the resort photos

Thank you so much!! Oh my goodness--You are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE AKL!!!

Great post! DH and I absolutely LOVED the KTTK tour too! It will probably be a nice long post in my TR. Our guide was married to the janitorial manager so she was kinda obsessed with showing us their trash system? But it was still a great tour. And I enjoyed it even though I knew a lot of what she told us. There was still quite a few things that were new to me! Glad you enjoyed it too.

Wasn't it just so wonderful?!?! I'm so glad yall liked it! That is SO funny about the trash cans! We learned about them, but it wasn't a huge deal... We loved it!

I've been wanting to do the KTTK tour for a while now and your post definitely cements that. I think it'll be a while before we can do that tour since our munchkin is so young. You guys didn't look tired at all. Can't wait for more! Happy new year by the way!

Yay!! You will LOVE it. It's just such an awesome addition to the Disney experience. Yeah, you'll either have to wait, or take grandparents along Aw--thanks. We felt like we looked SUPER tired! Happy New Year to you too!

Wow, the tour sounds so neat!

It was SOO great! You and your FIANCE should look into going on it when your whole family is in WDW in the summer....

 

[AGPrincess]

Hi Staci!! I've missed reading your TR for the past few weeks...hope you had a great holiday. Your Polynesian/MK update totally made my afternoon. Sigh...we just love that place.

Your pics are so gorgeous! -- I love that self-portrait black and white one of you and Michael on the dock, and that one of the carousel and the castle all lit up in the dark. You seem to have had really good luck with photopass too. Was the one from AKL just a freestanding photographer? It wasn't where you have to pay to book a session and go all over the resort? They looked great!

Can't wait for more!

 

[princess_momma]

Wow!! The tour looks great!! Your made it even more intriguing! I can't wait to go on it one day!

Anyway, did you know Kristen's birthday is 7:13? (The time you set your alarm that day!) I always recognize numbers for other people's birthdays too!! Oh and did you also know that you and Stephanie have the same birthday?! I'm really a freak with people's birthdays.

Snow White's voice annoys me too!! I really just can't stand it at all. I love everything else about the movie!! I wouldn't be able to stand to talk to her in real life. Luckily none of her "friends" have voices that high!

Tell Michael how much Landon and I were intrigued by the piano guy outside of Casey's too!! That guy is so talented!! I couldn't believe it. I would've been impressed if he had been playing like that while reading the music!!

 

[stacikristine]

Hi Staci!! I've missed reading your TR for the past few weeks...hope you had a great holiday. Your Polynesian/MK update totally made my afternoon. Sigh...we just love that place.

Your pics are so gorgeous! -- I love that self-portrait black and white one of you and Michael on the dock, and that one of the carousel and the castle all lit up in the dark. You seem to have had really good luck with photopass too. Was the one from AKL just a freestanding photographer? It wasn't where you have to pay to book a session and go all over the resort? They looked great!

Can't wait for more!

Hi Emma! We had a wonderful holiday--Christmas was with Michael's family, and New Year's was with mine. I hope yours was wonderful as well! I know it must have been so, so good to see your family! And I can't wait to read all about it in your TR! Yay! I'm so glad you liked my Poly/MK update! I thought you would. Aw. Thank you so much! I love taking pictures. We did have really good luck with Photopass! I had to re-touch some of them in Photoshop, but for the most part, they were pretty good. The one in AKL was set up each night starting at 4:30 or 5:00. He said that they're set up in a lot of the resorts. No, it wasn't a paid session--he just had his equipment in front of a rock. Thanks so much!

Wow!! The tour looks great!! Your made it even more intriguing! I can't wait to go on it one day!

Anyway, did you know Kristen's birthday is 7:13? (The time you set your alarm that day!) I always recognize numbers for other people's birthdays too!! Oh and did you also know that you and Stephanie have the same birthday?! I'm really a freak with people's birthdays.

Snow White's voice annoys me too!! I really just can't stand it at all. I love everything else about the movie!! I wouldn't be able to stand to talk to her in real life. Luckily none of her "friends" have voices that high!

Tell Michael how much Landon and I were intrigued by the piano guy outside of Casey's too!! That guy is so talented!! I couldn't believe it. I would've been impressed if he had been playing like that while reading the music!!

Hey Kimmy! You would absolutely love the tour!! It's so great! Haha--nope. I didn't know that! But that's pretty fun. And yay for having the same birthday as Stephanie! Even though I've never met her, you'll have to tell her I said Happy Birthday when it gets closer. Michael and I bought it since it was Walt's first and everything, but neither of us like her voice. Haha--so true!! I also noticed that she sings a TON lower during the Castle show! That guy is so, so talented. What an incredible job! Just making people's days brighter by using your incredible gift....

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Subscribing - looking forward to reading all about your trip x

 

[stacikristine]

Subscribing - looking forward to reading all about your trip x

Hi! Thank you so much for reading! I'll have another update in a few minutes...

 

[tinkgurl]

Haha, we should!

 

[stacikristine]

When we finished our last re-cap of the trip, Michael and I were just finishing the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. We literally could not get over how much we enjoyed this! It was absolutely perfect for us. We loved everything about it.




After the tour was over (at 1:30), we decided that there were a few things we wanted to do in the Magic Kingdom before we headed over to Epcot to tour the World Showcase. Since we just had a few things on our list, we were certain that we would be able to finish it up and still spend some good, quality time at EWS.



Before we went to any ride, though, we had to grab a few more Photopass Pictures:

Next on our list: The Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor! If you remember, we tried to do this on our full MK day, but it was already closed for the night. This time, we knew we’d get in!

There was no wait for the show. So we walked right into the “holding room”. The pre-show stuff was really cute!

When it came time to text our jokes, I knew just the one!

We loved this show! It was really cute, and the audience participation was really good. Our favorite was this lady who had to scratch her head and scrunch up her face. The monster kept saying, “I can SEE you. I know you’re not doing it. No really, I can SEE you!” It was hilarious!

When it came time to share some audience jokes, mine was chosen!!! So what was this joke? I chose one that two of my best friends always told:


“How do you catch a unique rabbit?”












“You ‘neak up on it!”



It was so fun to see “Staci from Oklahoma” up there… It made the show that much more fun!


When we got out, I had to take a picture under the sign with my phone—proof that my joke was picked!

On our way out of Tomorrowland, we saw PUSH! Michael was really impressed, and he even found PUSH’s “friend” and caught him on video.

Our next stop was Mickey’s Toontown Fair:

Our first stop was Minnie’s House! I was excited to show Michael everything inside. When I had come with my mom, aunt, and everyone in October 2006, it was empty. We were able to take tons of pictures and just have fun exploring.

Since this was an EMH day, I knew it would be at least a little more crowded, but I wasn’t expecting this:

Um. No Way! We were outta there! There is no way we were going to fight through those crowds just to hear some popcorn popping!



Next up: Mickey’s House and hopefully the Judge’s Tent.

Continued

 

[stacikristine]

Continued from previous




What happened next is one of our very favorite memories of the trip. True Disney Magic!


I decided to ask the CM outside Mickey’s House what the wait in the Judge’s Tent was. He said it was about 25 minutes. This is normally a great wait time, I know, but it just wasn’t top priority for us that day. We still wanted to do a few things in the MK and then make it over to the World Showcase. I thanked him for telling us, and then said we’d just come back next year (at this time, we were tossing around the idea of a December 2010 big family vacation—but those are no longer the plans).

Wait. He reminded me that it was going to be gone next year. That’s right—they were tearing down Toontown for the new Fantasyland expansion! Oh well, we really couldn’t spend that kind of time in line. We’d just pass it up.

He then said, “What if you didn’t have to wait?” To which Michael replied, “Yeah, like that could ever happen…”

The CM laughed and asked if “this guy” was always sarcastic. To which I replied, “We would LOVE it if there was no wait!”

Michael still didn’t get it. So I explained that we were about to see Mickey—with NO WAIT!!!



He finally got it, and we were SO excited! Our CM friend took us back through the side door at the Judge’s tent. He had to go in and explain that we’d be the next allowed in, and then we were allowed back!


Goodness, this guy was GREAT! He completely made our day (and we didn’t think it could get better after our tour…

When we entered the actual area with Mickey, we realized that Minnie was there too—and we were second in line!


We handed the CM our camera so that she could video for us. I love this:




I think the pictures really show how excited we were!

We were on Cloud 9! Things like this are what make Disney World so special. I hesitate to include this next video, because I sound like a crazy person, but it really shows what this meant to us! Just keep in mind that my voice gets higher the more excited I am.





What a wonderful memory!



After our special meeting with Mickey and Minnie, we decided that it was time to take in our favorite thing at the Magic Kingdom: Mickey’s PhilharMagic!

Once again, this show did not disappoint! We also made it a point to watch for when the curtains slowly begin to open and close. Goodness—Disney just does an amazing job with every single part of this attraction!


Michael thought the “sea of strollers” was really funny!

After this, it was time for one of my favorite attractions in all of Walt Disney World—but more for nostalgic purposes. What’s the ride? It’s a Small World! I thought I was going to have to drag Michael onto it, but he agreed for my sake. I think I shared this in my PTR, but in case I didn’t, or in case you didn’t read it, here’s the back story of why I love IASW so much.

We came to Disney World for the first time when I was two. I don’t remember if my mom made this before or after our trip, but she made me a clown lamp that played “It’s a Small World” when you pressed a button on his belly. I absolutely LOVED this lamp! And when we came to the World, I absolutely loved the ride. I don’t remember actually riding on IASW, but my parents have told me that it’s all I wanted to do. I do, however, remember being in our first house when I was two and pressing the clown’s tummy to hear “It’s a Small World”. One day, my uncle (who’s only 7 years older than me) and I were playing tag or something and we knocked the clown down and broke it. Even though I was two years old, I remember this so vividly, and I’ve always had such a soft spot in my heart for IASW.

Continued

 

[jenny105]

So cool that your joke was chosen! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[stacikristine]

Continued from previous




It said that there was a 10 minute wait, but we ended up waiting quite a bit longer than that. I started to go in one side of the line, but Michael thought the other line was shorter. It turns out it was not at all! The other one looked longer because the people were all spread out, while the one we were in was way longer because everyone was really close together. I didn’t make a big deal about it, but I couldn’t help but notice that we would have boarded twice as fast if we were in the other line. (I do the same thing at Wal-Mart.) At this point we were starting to get slightly grumpy—nothing horrible, but the line was irritating us.

It also didn’t help that there was a family in front of us with spray bottles! The girl would stand right in front of me and spray her fan—which would hit me in the face. Then the boy would spray his and hit me on the arm. Then the grandma would spray the little girl’s and it would hit my face, stomach, arms, and legs. I was about to lose it! I told Michael that if I got sprayed one more time, I was going to take the bottle away and bust it. (Not that I would really do this—I was just irritated!) Finally, the mom told them to stop spraying it so much. Thank goodness! I was starting to hope it wasn’t a mistake to ride this.



After what seemed like forever, we were finally ready to load our boat. Thankfully spray bottle family put their fans away for the ride!

Before long, I had forgotten all about the line and the spray bottles and I was just so happy to be on my childhood ride.

These reminded us of Mexico (even though I think it’s supposed to be Spain)—so I had to snap this for Michael!

I love this area!

Ah. Now this is Mexico!

I love all of the vibrant colors of the different sections, but then I love it when it’s all white too! It’s just amazing how making everything white and blue can show that all of the different countries and people are part of the same world.

These girls are my favorite!

Goodbye! Thank you for helping me forget about the line!

Continued

 

[stacikristine]

Continued from previous





Since we’d now completed all of the attractions we wanted to in the Magic Kingdom, we decided it was time to make one more stop, and then head over to Epcot. There was one problem, though. It was parade time.


We maneuvered our way around the crowds, and I even managed to snap two pictures of my favorite Disney Princesses:

When the parade moved past where we were, we were able to head on over to Adventureland to buy something I’d been waiting months to try:

A Dole Whip!!!

Michael isn’t big on pineapples, so he opted for a Root Beer Float. He loved it!

I, however, went pineapple all the way. Oh, my. I LOVE, love, LOVED this!! So yummy! I could drink one of these every day! It turned out to be my favorite drink at Walt Disney World!

With drinks in hand (sometimes with ice cream on hands), we headed towards the exit so we could make out way to Epcot World Showcase. It’d been a very long day so far, but it’d been a wonderful one. We’d gone on an incredible tour, my joke got picked, we had a special no-wait meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie, and we’d experienced two of my favorite attractions. AND I’d finally gotten a Dole Whip Float. We were definitely not as energetic as we were earlier in the week, but that wasn’t going to stop us from having a fantastic time in the World Showcase!




Up Next:

Saving a city (again)
Peace Signs
“You have ee-chee”
World Showcase on Speed

 

[tinkgurl]

How awesome your joke got picked! I always send mine in but it never gets picked! I'm going to keep trying though!

Wow girl, that was such a neat surprise!

I LOVE Mickey's PhilharMagic!

 

[jenny105]

The pictures of you guys with Minnie and Mickey are ADORABLE! Love it!

Mmmmm...Dole Whip float! So good! Joe and I always stop there at least once during our trips!