Going from Friday the 13th to Enchanted- Day 9: 'Round Midnight update 7/19/11

[KatMark]

Sorry I'm behind on updates (computer issues and trying to update my PTR with changes made).

We ate at WCC for dinner and absolutely hated it, but your breakfast looks really good (my DH would really like that french toast).

Glad you liked TOT -- it is my all time favorite!

We had Donald Duck in our animation class last year as well.

Love the pictures of Katie and the Eveil Stemother and sisters -- very nice.

 

[pinkxray]

Wow, at about 10:55 I am am looking at the trip report page and finally find your trip report and click on it. I am about to start reading when DH comes upstairs and kicks me off the computer. I run downstairs, skim through your trip report and then see that you have just posted on mine.

I need to go back and actually catch up.

I can't believe you started this 5 days ago. I have been looking at your pre-trip report and it has the lost post as 5-18. No link to your trip report?

 

[Moira222]

(Note: some of these photos I borrowed from the internet as in our morning rush I didn’t think to take photos. hmm this trip reporting really take a lot of thought!)
Sunday morning was definitely an alarm day – we were going to our favorite character meal – Breakfast with the Princesses at Akershus Hall!

We get dressed and ready for a full day at Epcot – yes, we are a little crazy planning a full day no breaks! We headed out for the bus and waited. and waited. and waited. ( are we seeing a theme here?)

After about 40 minutes (there goes my plan for a leisurely walk to Norway to take in all the Flower & Garden scenes unhurried) we as a group (and there are a lot of us now) ask the driver of the fourth DHS bus that came through what the deal is?

Apparently some marathon or something (Iron man perhaps???) has traffic all messed up. GRRR. Joe Katie and I high tail it to the docks along with one or two other families where happily a blue ferry is waiting that is going right to the Contemporary

Three minutes later we arrive at the Contemporary, hop the monorail to the TTC, then change over to the Epcot monorail. So now its 9 am and we are pulling into Epcot. drat. we have a 9:15 reservation so now we have to hustle.

Of course Katie wants to stop and trade pins with someone. Joe won’t stop – when the man has a destination and an appointment in mind, don’t mess around! So no dawdling. no photos, no getting KimPossible or Soarin! FastPasses, we power walk through to Norway.

We check in pretty much at 9:15 and by the time Katie and I finish washing our hands Joe is already in line for her to see Belle and not so nicely tells me that he’s already let 4 families ahead of him. sheesh. what’s the big deal?

Its our turn and Katie gets her hug and photo with Belle. Such a big difference from our past photos - instead of a princess dress, Katie has chosen to wear a Nightmare before Christmas tank top and Mickey Mouse antennae. So funny!

We are seated right next to the buffet and promptly dig in.
Katie came back with some fruit and a lot of pastries (big surprise), Joe came back with yogurt, fruit, and some cheese. This is my favorite buffet actually and I had yogurt with almonds and granola in it, lots of cheese (I LOVE cheese and had to cut way back on it once I realized all the fat and calories. Luckily all food is “free” at DisneyWorld, right?) and fresh fruit. I think I passed on the sweet breads. Our server was very sweet – Joe and Katie wanted cranberry juice, but our server thought it was a bit strong so she mixed theirs probably with a bit of sprite, and the two of them loved it. I had OJ & and Joe and I both had coffee. leaded. a must!

Before long our hot breakfast was also served: scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and cheesy breakfast potatoes. MMMMM I LOVE the cheesy potatoes here. I mostly ate potatoes and sausage (another food I indulged in after almost a year of skipping it) and a bit of scrambled eggs. I went back to the cold buffet for more yogurt and cheese, too. It was bad to be so close to the buffet because Katie kept popping over for cinnamon rolls for herself and Joe. ;-) he enjoyed himself too with all the “free” foods!

The princesses parade around the restaurants now (I don’t remember this from past visits) and when they announced the parade, Katie looked hesitant.

All of the little girls around us were all dressed in fancy princess clothes – Katie wasn’t sure at this point if she was a “big girl” or a “little girl” but with a little enjoyment she happily joined in the Princess Parade. Twice actually as they did it again when we were enjoying our last cup of coffee.

I love seeing the princesses here, and this time we even got to see Cinderella, whom we’ve never seen at Akershus (this is our must do every trip). This trip we saw Belle (of course!), Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. I missed seeing Jasmine and Mulan, but I guess Disney has to “mix it up” and change the line up, right?

Breakfast finished and bellies full, we headed back toward Future World - World Showcase didn’t open for another hour and half of so. We stopped to get a Kim Possible mission but it didn’t start till 11:15 and we never got back there to start it. drat one more trip where we have not achieved spydom!

I did manage to bring the pace down a bit and take a few photos as we wandered down.

and some time for cooling off for Katie

and a few flower and garden pictures (can you tell that I just snap pictures as I am walking? its the only way I can keep up with Joe!

continued next post

 

[pinkxray]

All caught up.

The ironman competition that took place that Sunday morning is a 1.2 mile swim in Bay lake, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.2 mile run. Why do I know this? DH made me googe it and find out. He is convinced he will do it one day I don't know how someone can make it through that, but hey if he wants to do it I get to go to Disney again. I think he just wants to do it b/c I told him you aren't allowed to swim in the lakes and he wants to prove me wrong.


Sorry about the room situation in the beginning. How nice of them to upgrade you to a courtyard view. Oh wait, you paid for a courtyard view.


I loved the food at Akershus. I didn't realize it would to so long to get to Norway from the International gateway and didn't get to enjoy the nice stroll through an empty WS.


Caitlin was sad she didn't get to meet Katie. We only spent 3 nights at WL and since it was a bit chilly we didn't get much pool time in. There was one night we were in the pool and a little girl came up to us just as Caitlin left to go on the slide and asked if she could play with Caitlin. DH told her Caitlin had just left for the slide but she could when she was done but I guess she did want to wait. Don't think that was Katie but I would feel pretty awful if we missed the chance to meet you. I did keep an eye out since I thought I would recognize Katie if I saw her. We saw the little girl later and she did find a few other kids to play with.


WCC look pretty good for breakfast. It's so cute that Katie still wanted to do the pony races and the princess parade. It funny how Disney brings back the little girls in them. Caitlin never joins the parades at character meals. I think she is just too shy though.

 

[Moira222]

There was a high school band performing and doing a great job, so we sort of watched them as we made our way over, and what do you think we saw? A crazy fairy come flying out from behind the bushes and right up to the band!

Vidia was talking very animatedly to the band leader –

and then Rosetta came flitting out to get her back in!

Katie was sitting over in the shade as I got into the line, and she had a great view of everything. Rosetta stood right in front of her trying to call Vidia back in. Naturally Vidia ignored her till Rosetta had to run up to the band and pull Vidia in by the arm. what a fun display of fairy silliness.

Just as we got into the line, the cast member let us know that the line for Tinkerbell was closed. ;( but the line for Vidia and Rosetta was just opening (they’d be out in 45 minutes) so we got in – second place. It was a long wait but happily I packed bubbles in my quickly falling apart back pack so Katie blew bubbles and the little girl in front of us caught them. Between the bubbles and the fan/water mister, they were happy. and silly.

Even though we were not in Tink’s line, I did get to zoom in and snap a photo and then when they finished their line, they came over and visited with us in Vidia’s line.

Finally we had our turn to see Vidia and Rosetta. Yippee! Vidia really is Katie’s favorite fairy. Her spunk and ‘tude, and her lovely purple outfit, all work for my little diva. well, ok, me too but Tink if my fav. Vidia admired Katie’s bad girl tank with purple and glitter, and Katie admired her outfit.

Both fairies LOVED Katie’s antennae … “Are you a bug?” LOL then Rosetta took Katie’s bobbly head band off of her and put it on Vidia.

I wish I were on the other side so you could see Katie’s face with my photos but she was just cracking up and loving the attention. After a few more photos, mom got in on one (no photo pass yet! ) and then we gave someone else a turn.

Side story – my thoughtful hubby or how pathetic am I?

While we were waiting in line to see the Fairies, I texted Joe to let him know where we were and how long we’d be. So my hubby, being very thoughtful, came up and brought me one of the black Disney World backpacks to replace my falling apart bag

He thought it would be a good replacement since he’d seen me look at it several times the day before (I looked at bags in almost every store trying to find the right one).

I asked him how much it was - $38! Yikes.I said thanks and he headed off. (I think he rode Mission Space solo) Oh I hated that bag. felt really bad for feeling that way too but it has no pockets at all. That’s exactly why I had looked at it and not purchased it. I liked the design but not the functionality of it - no way to organize all of my park stuff. I did try – I put my falling apart bag with lots of pockets inside of the new bag, but that didn’t work and just made it more heavy to have two bags. ugh.

I held onto it till after we met with Vidia and Rosetta but then sat down on a bench and nearly cried. Isn’t that just pathetic? I am not a big purse and bag person – to me they are all about function never about design. I only change purses if there is a logistical reason (like needing a small bag for a park or going to a concert or something) – and I absolutely have to be able to organize my stuff. Quite frankly the idea of spending $38 on something I hated just killed me.

So I put on my big girl panties, found Joe and fessed up that I totally hated the bag, asked him for the receipt (which he had) and returned it to MouseGears. He only rolled his eyes a little lol

Katie played with my camera while I deliberated on the whole bag issue:

the newest member of the family:

While I went into MouseGears, Joe & Katie stopped in Pixie Hollow play area and Katie played for a little while.

We gave her a few more minutes of silliness when I returned, then it was on to TestTrack!!

FastPasses in hand we headed in, explaining the concept of safety dummies to Katie. We watch MythBusters a lot, so we explained that Buster, the test dummy on the show, is the same type of dummy the car industry uses….and that we were going to be the test dummies next. LOL she was a little nervous, even though we told her that except for the high speed, the ride on TestTrack is a lot like riding with daddy in the car, especially when he is crazy driving. She totally loved Test Track and even though she asked, we did not manage to get back to this ride for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness for fast passes!!! (man I hope my Photo pass disk comes soon!)

 

[Moira222]

All caught up.

The ironman competition that took place that Sunday morning is a 1.2 mile swim in Bay lake, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.2 mile run. Why do I know this? DH made me googe it and find out. He is convinced he will do it one day I don't know how someone can make it through that, but hey if he wants to do it I get to go to Disney again. I think he just wants to do it b/c I told him you aren't allowed to swim in the lakes and he wants to prove me wrong.

You snuck in between updates!
oh that sounds like someone I know....I married him

Sorry about the room situation in the beginning. How nice of them to upgrade you to a courtyard view. Oh wait, you paid for a courtyard view.

I loved the food at Akershus. I didn't realize it would to so long to get to Norway from the International gateway and didn't get to enjoy the nice stroll through an empty WS.

yeah, me neither unfortunately. Some day....

Caitlin was sad she didn't get to meet Katie. We only spent 3 nights at WL and since it was a bit chilly we didn't get much pool time in. There was one night we were in the pool and a little girl came up to us just as Caitlin left to go on the slide and asked if she could play with Caitlin. DH told her Caitlin had just left for the slide but she could when she was done but I guess she did want to wait. Don't think that was Katie but I would feel pretty awful if we missed the chance to meet you. I did keep an eye out since I thought I would recognize Katie if I saw her. We saw the little girl later and she did find a few other kids to play with.

I kept hoping that we'd run into you at the pool.... the first three days we didn't go in till late, and one night it was sort of cool. but later in the week we went mid day or late morning and there were lots of kids.

did you use the main pool or the quiet pool?

WCC look pretty good for breakfast. It's so cute that Katie still wanted to do the pony races and the princess parade. It funny how Disney brings back the little girls in them. Caitlin never joins the parades at character meals. I think she is just too shy though.

Katie hesitates till we tell her "go ahead, have fun, enjoy yourself" then she's into it! Happily we've encountered two "parades" at each place where there was one, so if she only caught the tail end of the first due to hesitation, she jumped full in for the second one. man I love that little girl!

 

[Moira222]

Sorry I'm behind on updates (computer issues and trying to update my PTR with changes made).

We ate at WCC for dinner and absolutely hated it, but your breakfast looks really good (my DH would really like that french toast).

Glad you liked TOT -- it is my all time favorite!

We had Donald Duck in our animation class last year as well.

Love the pictures of Katie and the Eveil Stemother and sisters -- very nice.

We were not impressed with WCC for dinner either but breakfast was good. that french toast was awesome.

hard to find time to read and update and then do things like, Oh I don't know, work, cook dinner, get to bed at a decent hour...

 

[rndmr2]

I just saw that you started your TR and I'm here for the fun! I started mine too, I need these TR's to keep me with my Disney fix until the next trip!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in!

I feel so bad that your check-in process was so awful. I hope that once your room situation was fixed that you enjoyed the rest of your stay at The Lodge, it really is a wonderful resort.

Even though you hated the bag it really was thoughtful of your DH to buy it for you.

 

[caitty13]

We were at Akershus that morning also, was supposed to have a 8:00 reservation and we never made it until 8:30 do to the Marathon. We drove from POP and had no idea the road was closed until we needed to turn. I was stressing big time but we ended up enjoying it. I really wanted to enjoy an empty Epcot but instead we ended up running though the park.

 

[Moira222]

I just saw that you started your TR and I'm here for the fun! I started mine too, I need these TR's to keep me with my Disney fix until the next trip!

I am already wanting to schedule another trip.Trying to get hubby to okay a 3 or 4 day trip for our 20th next June.

Joining in!

I feel so bad that your check-in process was so awful. I hope that once your room situation was fixed that you enjoyed the rest of your stay at The Lodge, it really is a wonderful resort.

Even though you hated the bag it really was thoughtful of your DH to buy it for you.

I love the Lodge....but I'm not the one with a true talent for holding a grudge On the positive side of it, he is a creature of habit and would have wanted to go to WLR EVERY time ...so now I will get to try more resorts!

DH was really sweet to buy it for me. That's why I was ready to cry - I felt so guilty for hating it...I was debating keeping it and being miserable with it because he was so nice but in the end decided that he really would understand. Luckily he did ....and will more than likely stick to buying me jewelry instead of bags. I never return jewelry

We were at Akershus that morning also, was supposed to have a 8:00 reservation and we never made it until 8:30 do to the Marathon. We drove from POP and had no idea the road was closed until we needed to turn. I was stressing big time but we ended up enjoying it. I really wanted to enjoy an empty Epcot but instead we ended up running though the park.

I saw a LOT of people running at Epcot that morning! I'm guessing that it was that park in particular that got cut off from traffic. Not sure what they could have done to let guests know of this but advance knowledge would have been nice. I saw so many other "events" posted about goings on at WDW that week but nothing about that. oh well, that's life, right?

 

[KatMark]

Great update, MaryEllen.

Is it just me or do none of the Snow White's look very good at Disney?

You can tell with Katie's smile that she is having a grand time with all of it -- the Princesses, the fairies, etc.

That was very sweet of Joe to buy you the bag. But I totally understand where you are coming from. My husband doesn't consdier "how I manage" things so I've just told him, very sweetly, NOT to buy me anything and I'll shop for myself and he can wrap it or to just do Disney gift cards.

 

[Moira222]

Great update, MaryEllen.

Is it just me or do none of the Snow White's look very good at Disney?

You can tell with Katie's smile that she is having a grand time with all of it -- the Princesses, the fairies, etc.

That was very sweet of Joe to buy you the bag. But I totally understand where you are coming from. My husband doesn't consdier "how I manage" things so I've just told him, very sweetly, NOT to buy me anything and I'll shop for myself and he can wrap it or to just do Disney gift cards.

I have to say the Snow White at Akershus did not amaze me this year. There was a good one on a float in the dreams parade but I have a terrible picture - only her face in the corner of the shot.

We just did not see a whole lot of characters this trip unless it was in passing or on a parade float. After Sunday we agreed that we wanted to spend more time on rides and less waiting in lines to see characters.

I love that you tell hubby just to give you a gift card.... saves a lot of aggravation! Joe tried, he totally got points for the effort, and more for not being offended when I returned it and he agreed to never try to buy a bag for me again

 

[pinkxray]

I am already wanting to schedule another trip.Trying to get hubby to okay a 3 or 4 day trip for our 20th next June.

I'm with you. June 2012 will be my 30th birthday and I told DH we should take a cruise. I have been looking into a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas on Disney Cruise line.

We are really hoping to get pregnant soon but I told DH if I am not pregnant he should just accept that we will be taking the cruise next June. He did say he wanted to go on a cruise next trip. I don't think he meant next year, but he'll have to suffer.

I also looked at Nov. 2011 b/c it will be our 10th anniversary but I don't he'll go for that.

 

[All7OfUs]

Lots of reading material here, Mary Ellen!! LOVE all your character photos, and BOO on having to run to get to Akershus! Disney could have done better at communicating the closures, eh?

I just LOVE the topiaries! Never can seem to get enough of those!

 

[rndmr2]

Just caught up on your updates, I had just been able to read the first couple posts last night(this morning?) when I posted so I read the rest just now. Sorry you ended up with issues checking in.

I have been hoping to go to 1900 PF for a while now, maybe next time. It just seems like such a fun place.

 

[lbuzz52]

we were there that week too! sorry that your trip started off rough. i hope the rest is a little less eventful. looking forward to more!

 

[jmendez24]

joining in. We were there that week as well. Great report so far!

 

[mmforme2009]

Jumping in! So glad some else appreciates/understands the difficulty in finding just the right bag

 

[Moira222]

I am already wanting to schedule another trip.Trying to get hubby to okay a 3 or 4 day trip for our 20th next June.

I'm with you. June 2012 will be my 30th birthday and I told DH we should take a cruise. I have been looking into a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas on Disney Cruise line.

We are really hoping to get pregnant soon but I told DH if I am not pregnant he should just accept that we will be taking the cruise next June. He did say he wanted to go on a cruise next trip. I don't think he meant next year, but he'll have to suffer.

I also looked at Nov. 2011 b/c it will be our 10th anniversary but I don't he'll go for that.

Joe actually mentioned a cruise for next June, but he would want to leave from NYC so that limits our choices. Not that I am complaining on a cruise although now I am dreaming of a short mid week stay at Poly...

Lots of reading material here, Mary Ellen!! LOVE all your character photos, and BOO on having to run to get to Akershus! Disney could have done better at communicating the closures, eh?

I just LOVE the topiaries! Never can seem to get enough of those!

The topiaries were awesome!
maybe disney should have a "traffic and travel" update on one of its in room tv channels? It probably doesn't happen often but it would have been nice to know that we needed to leave much earlier.

Just caught up on your updates, I had just been able to read the first couple posts last night(this morning?) when I posted so I read the rest just now. Sorry you ended up with issues checking in.

I have been hoping to go to 1900 PF for a while now, maybe next time. It just seems like such a fun place.

1900 PF was fun - the step sisters were just awesome! who knew?

we were there that week too! sorry that your trip started off rough. i hope the rest is a little less eventful. looking forward to more!

a rough day at Disney beats a good day anywhere else in the world!

joining in. We were there that week as well. Great report so far!

Welcome!

Jumping in! So glad some else appreciates/understands the difficulty in finding just the right bag

lol apparently I just have issues. I was so unhappy when the bag I ordered didn't come in on time. BUT, know that I did find the perfect bag... tune in