How I Survived 11 Days at WDW with a Disney-Resistant Husband **2/20 THE END **

[kate_wdw]

Hooray for updates! I'm really looking forward to reading them!

 

[mickeyphile]

I know it is more stressful for you to have the party at home, but you have such a talent for this. I am really excited to read about all the details of this next party. I'm just glad that my kids are not on these boards as they would no longer be impressed about my party planning skills after reading about all the you do!!!

We had a pirate themed party for my son a few years ago. Since it was in the summer, it was great because we had it outdoors and had quite a few water based activities that the kids enjoy and also helps keep them cool. My favorite part was that when each child arrived, they received their bandana, eye patch, and tattoo to officially become a pirate (hey I had a pirate's league of my own before it started in WDW!!!!!!).

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[kimmylaj]

i love parties but there is just so much stress when you try to put a theme together, especially my kids who pick themes that do not exist in stores. ryan picked club penguin. i made invites that looked like club penguin news, created custom goody bag toppers since i could not afford any club penguin toppers. baked a cake and covered it in fondant complete with an igloo and drew rockhopper the penguin with a cutout hole for the kids heads, and a custom penguin shirt for the bday boy . just two weeks later was my dd's team umi zoomi party complete with a custom milli cake, homemade invitations, 21 beach pails with the charaters drawn on them in pink, blue and green color scheme with only coordinating pink blue and green items inside including bubbles with umi zoomi labels saying mias 4th bday and of course more cutouts of characters with room for kiddos heads. somedays i wish i was not type A
good luck with the party planning and i'll still be here if you wait to write till after then, i feel it is good preparation for my august trip with my disney hater

 

[cdotla]

Hey Trish! Good luck with the photography...not that you'll need it. I'm sure you'll do a FANTASTIC job.

And I take it all back....yes, it can definitely get much worse than your dinner at Chef Mickey's. Glad to hear that Katie was feeling better on Day 2.

Thanks!

Subscribing.......Great report

Thanks and Welcome!

Hooray for updates! I'm really looking forward to reading them!

Hopefully one by tomorrow!

I know it is more stressful for you to have the party at home, but you have such a talent for this. I am really excited to read about all the details of this next party. I'm just glad that my kids are not on these boards as they would no longer be impressed about my party planning skills after reading about all the you do!!!

We had a pirate themed party for my son a few years ago. Since it was in the summer, it was great because we had it outdoors and had quite a few water based activities that the kids enjoy and also helps keep them cool. My favorite part was that when each child arrived, they received their bandana, eye patch, and tattoo to officially become a pirate (hey I had a pirate's league of my own before it started in WDW!!!!!!).

Looking forward to reading more.

Actually, I was up late last night brainstorming and researching for the pirate party. So I am kinda glad the movie idea would not have worked anyway.

I actually had the theatre pre-booked for June 26 in the prime afternoon spot, but I notice Declan's friend's party is for the early evening spot - not ideal for 4 and 5 year olds. So I will have to ask her mom if she would prefer my mid-afternoon spot before I cancel it!

As for the Pirate League, I actually have plans to do that myself. I, of course, got the idea from Disney. But you were wayyyyy ahead!

BTW - for music I will obviously be playing the music from WDW's Pirates of the Caribbean - anyone know any other great pirate-themed music?

 

[cdotla]

i love parties but there is just so much stress when you try to put a theme together, especially my kids who pick themes that do not exist in stores. ryan picked club penguin. i made invites that looked like club penguin news, created custom goody bag toppers since i could not afford any club penguin toppers. baked a cake and covered it in fondant complete with an igloo and drew rockhopper the penguin with a cutout hole for the kids heads, and a custom penguin shirt for the bday boy . just two weeks later was my dd's team umi zoomi party complete with a custom milli cake, homemade invitations, 21 beach pails with the charaters drawn on them in pink, blue and green color scheme with only coordinating pink blue and green items inside including bubbles with umi zoomi labels saying mias 4th bday and of course more cutouts of characters with room for kiddos heads. somedays i wish i was not type A
good luck with the party planning and i'll still be here if you wait to write till after then, i feel it is good preparation for my august trip with my disney hater

Wow! That is really impressive!

One thing about me: I am not too creative. I know what I like, but I have to see it first. I pick up little bits and pieces here and there, and then throw what I think are the best elements together. And I buy quite a bit as well!

You are very brave venturing out on your own like that! And hosting 2 parties within 2 weeks??!! I thought I had it rough with my kids' parties spaced 2 months away!

 

[kschafer]

Man, what a bummer of a start to your trip. Sorry Katie wasn't well but I'm glad to hear it didn't last!!

sounds like you have a lot going on right now! Patrick had talked about a TS3 movie party which I was very excited about but he worried that his friends would think it was for "kids" (he's turning 9 and trying to figure out this growing up thing! he's actually very excited for the movie) He's decided on a pool party instead

I'm hoping for some pixie dust to catch up with you on your trip!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Yes...I will definitely be back again soon! Maybe sooner than you would think! I may soon have to change my title!

Ooh, like the sound of that!

Have a great weekend! I know you'll do great with the photography and the party planning too. Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[cdotla]

Man, what a bummer of a start to your trip. Sorry Katie wasn't well but I'm glad to hear it didn't last!!

sounds like you have a lot going on right now! Patrick had talked about a TS3 movie party which I was very excited about but he worried that his friends would think it was for "kids" (he's turning 9 and trying to figure out this growing up thing! he's actually very excited for the movie) He's decided on a pool party instead

I'm hoping for some pixie dust to catch up with you on your trip!

I am thinking just about every 9 yr old out there is gonna love TS3. Heck, I am even excited about it! However, you can't go wrong with a pool party! Good luck with the planning!

Ooh, like the sound of that!

Have a great weekend! I know you'll do great with the photography and the party planning too. Can't wait to hear all about it!

I will be sure to keep you posted on the party planning. I love talking birthday parties any day, any time!

 

[cdotla]

We're Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street, U.S.A.!!!

Not surprisingly, I was the first up and out of bed the next morning for our first full day at Disney.

Today we would be checking out of the Contemporary and into the Beach Club Villas. Or more accurate, Chris' mom would be checking into her studio unit for the week today and we would be joining her for one night until our 1 Bedroom unit became available the next day. Shhhhh!!!! Yes, we know you are not supposed to have 5 people to a room, but we did for one night. And that was about all I could have handled!

Our plan was to hit the Magic Kingdom first thing, leave by late morning, check out of the Contemporary, and head over to the Beach Club to spend the afternoon at Stormalong Bay. The only thing possibly holding us back was Katie, but fortunately she woke up feeling completely fine.

By 7am, everybody was up out of bed and standing on the balcony once again enjoying our wonderful view of the Magic Kingdom.

But enough with that - we had to get moving to make it to the Park!

Finally, by about 7:45am we were all ready to head out the door and over to the Magic Kingdom for our 8am reservations at Crystal Palace. Fortunately, this is DH's favourite breakfast spot in all of WDW, so there were no grumpy faces on the walk over.

I love the short walk from the front lobby of the Contemporary over to the Magic Kingdom. This is something completely unqiue to the Contemporoary. No where else on property can you head out the front doors of your Resort and walk to the Magic Kingdom.

By the time we arrived, it was exactly 8 o'clock and they had already started letting people with early breakfast reservations into the Park.

I love the way Main Street looks before Park Opening! And I was just so happy to once again be walking down Main Street with my family!

I was so happy to see that the Photopass photographers were out at 8am. In the past, I have been here at this hour and they weren't there. While DH was pretty eager to get to Crystal Palace, he did agree to stop and pose for one Photopass photographer. Unfortunately, even though I had pre-purchased the photopass CD, this would end up being the only time DH would agree to stop and pose for a photopass photographer in the parks during our entire trip. The CD is on its way, so I will post our photo once I receive it. In the meantime, this is all I've got:

Proof we were in the Parks at exactly 8am!

Charlie Ridgway's Window on Main Street:

Stopping to watch the ducks...

...and admire the Castle...

...as we made our way over to Crystal Palace:

(Continued next post)

 

[cdotla]

(Continued from last post)

Check-in was completely painless. Shockingly, there was absolutely no line-up to check-in. And after we were given our pager, was had barely sat down when they were calling us to our table.

We love the food here. While DH loaded up his plate with all of the healthy fare, the kids and I simply can't get enough of the cinnamon fried french toast. Yummmmm!!!!

My plate:

DH's plate:

In addition to the great food, this is one of the cutest character meals. I think Crystal Palace is an all-around good time for anyone with toddler or pre-school aged children.

As usual, I find the servers here to be top-notch. They know the drill, refill our drinks before we ask, and have our cheques waiting when they can see we are getting anxious to get out and make rope drop.

Unfortunately, by the time we had finished up and it was nearing 8am, we had seen all of the characters except Tigger who was about 15 tables back. As we knew that we would be back here again before the trip was over, we decided to venture out and make rope drop instead.


UP NEXT: Doing the Dumbo Dash...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Glad to see that the morning went relatively smoothly.

Crystal Palace is someplace I have never eaten at. After reading your TR and Keala's, I think that next time (if ever ) I'm at WDW, I'm going to have to book in for a breakfast there! MK looks gorgeous in the morning without the crowds. Shame about underusing the photopass...but I'm sure your pics are great!

 

[kate_wdw]

[/SIZE]

What gorgeous pictures! They made me appreciate Main Street in a whole new way!

 

[taymacsmom]

Great pictures! I am glad Katie woke up feeling better. We did dinner at CP and didn't love it. But I would definitely consider breakfast just so we could walk down Main St. with no crowds! I agree that the characters there were awesome. Some of my best pictures from our last trip were from CP.

 

[dismagiclover]

This sounds like the perfect start to the day at Disney World! Walking from your hotel to a nearly empty Main Street and eating a yummy breakfast with the hundred acre wood gang! Just awesome! And at this meal the kids looks like they are having a great time

 

[LilAnn]

Wow, those are fantastic pics of Main Street! I am glad that you at least had a great breakfast and that Katie was feeling better. I am always surprised by how bright Piglet is! The buffet looks yummy!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

I agree that the walk from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom is the best! So calm and peaceful. Did you guys leave your bags in the room or with bell services?

Love all of your Main Street pictures!

We just ate at Crystal Palace for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Loved it!

 

[Native NYer]

Your first full day is off to a great start!
I the Crystal Palace.
Can't wait to hear about the BC.

 

[BippityBoo]

WOW! I have always heard the 8am breakfast at CP is the way to go. I see why now!! Your Main Street pictures are beautiful! So neat how everything is empty and so pretty. Your food looked awesome and, of course, the characters were adorable The kids looked like they were having a great time. Can't wait to read about the great Dumbo Dash

 

[cdotla]

Glad to see that the morning went relatively smoothly.

Crystal Palace is someplace I have never eaten at. After reading your TR and Keala's, I think that next time (if ever ) I'm at WDW, I'm going to have to book in for a breakfast there! MK looks gorgeous in the morning without the crowds. Shame about underusing the photopass...but I'm sure your pics are great!

That is the number one reason why I love the 8am ADRs...early entrance to Main Street.

What gorgeous pictures! They made me appreciate Main Street in a whole new way!

Yes, I love Main Street! It is the true essence of WDW!

Great pictures! I am glad Katie woke up feeling better. We did dinner at CP and didn't love it. But I would definitely consider breakfast just so we could walk down Main St. with no crowds! I agree that the characters there were awesome. Some of my best pictures from our last trip were from CP.

Taking pictures right in front of the Castle with no crowds is awesome! Unfortunately we didn't do it on this trip (which should be named the trip of no posed photos - LOL!) But on past solo trips with Katie, she and I have gotten tons of great shots of just the two of us with the Castle in the background. Love that!

This sounds like the perfect start to the day at Disney World! Walking from your hotel to a nearly empty Main Street and eating a yummy breakfast with the hundred acre wood gang! Just awesome! And at this meal the kids looks like they are having a great time

Yes, I was very happy that I booked CP to kick off the trip. When I am in WDW I am pretty much happy, thrilled to be there and ready to go 100% of the time. But DH's moods could vary widely. Having breakfast and kicking off the day at CP was the best insurance of a good day because it is something he enjoys.

Wow, those are fantastic pics of Main Street! I am glad that you at least had a great breakfast and that Katie was feeling better. I am always surprised by how bright Piglet is! The buffet looks yummy!

CP for breakfast, especially with young kids, is always a good choice in my books.

I agree that the walk from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom is the best! So calm and peaceful. Did you guys leave your bags in the room or with bell services?

Love all of your Main Street pictures!

We just ate at Crystal Palace for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Loved it!

We actually headed over to the MK before we checked out. All of our bags were still in the room. Check-out was 11am, but I pushed it until 11:50am.

Your first full day is off to a great start!
I the Crystal Palace.
Can't wait to hear about the BC.

Thanks! Beach Club check-in is coming up...but it doesn't look like I will have time to get to it this weekend.

 

[cdotla]

WOW! I have always heard the 8am breakfast at CP is the way to go. I see why now!! Your Main Street pictures are beautiful! So neat how everything is empty and so pretty. Your food looked awesome and, of course, the characters were adorable The kids looked like they were having a great time. Can't wait to read about the great Dumbo Dash

Wanna know a secret? I never go to the MK in the morning for touring without an 8am ADR. And I never go on EMH mornings, because the ADRs still only start at 8am when the Park opens to WDW guests, meaning there is no early entrance.

As a result, the only time I have ever seen the Morning Opening Show was on a solo trip I took for a conference. I had 1 hour to tour the MK before my conference started, so I rushed over, saw the Opening Show, took some pictures of Main Street, then rushed back to my room to put on a suit and head to the conference!

I had hoped to see the Opening Show one day during our trip. However...have I mentioned how much DH likes CP? And I certainly don't do sit down dining in any Park during prime touring time of 9am-12noon!