Who Invited My Mother In Law? A Moderately Deluxe TR All New X 3 & PTR Link 2/3 !!

[shan23877]

Sweet Maddie just gets more darling!! She looks so adorable at breakfast! What a nice morning!! Too bad you had to wait so long for your table though.

Thank you so much! It was a nice morning. The wait wasn't too fun, but luckily the good food made us forget about it.

CBR is really beautiful. It is one of the few resorts I haven't been to. We really need to take the boys to stay in a pirate room one time! I think they would really enjoy that!!

CBR is so pretty. I'll bet that they'd love the pirate rooms! One of my girlfriends stayed in a pirate room with her sons (8 and 2), and the boys went crazy for it!

What a great update! Looking forward to more updates and more Maddie fashion shows!!

Thank you! I'll have more soon, and Maddie will certainly be showing off her wardrobe.

Love your CBR photos. It reminds me of how beautiful the resort is. Do you ever sing the Beach Boys song when you think about it? Hopefully, that is not just me.

I totally sing that song. DH did the whole time we were there. Cocktail was one of my favorite movies growing up.

The draw something app Maddie is playing with was so much fun when it first came out. Then, people kept telling me I was a horrible artist. Now, I make them wait a few months for each move. They are not kidding by the way. I am a horrible artist. Glad you made it on time despite the monorail stall. Those darn monorails. The wait for 1900 Park Fare was long for us but at an hour, Mama Melrose’s was the worst. You really did a great job making Maddie’s skirt. Bacon is a must for me too.

There are 3 people that I still play draw something with consistently. DH is one of them, and he's not a good artist. I can usually figure them out though.

The monorail was just not our friend this trip. I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to wait for any of the other ADRs.

Thanks! She loved that skirt, and it was pretty inexpensive to make.

I was soooo happy to have good bacon at Disney for once!

The photos of Maddie with Alice are awesome. They both look like they had a great time with each other.

Alice was so great! Maddie still talks about her tickling her during the pictures.

The characters seem like they were great for that breakfast. I'm not sure any of those great interactions can be any more important than good bacon though.

They were great character interactions, but really the bacon trumped everything for me. I was so happy!

I have a similar issue. My husband invited his mother to come to our 1st wedding anniversary vacation to Disney. We do not have children however, and it will be us, mil, and my married friend. Why she wants to come as the 5th wheel I do not know. I hope I have the same patience you do!

As someone who's mother in law invited herself on my honeymoon, I feel for you. My best advice is to keep you expectations for her realistic, and don't be afraid to suggest that the group splits up sometimes. I didn't do a good job of that and I regret it. Good luck!

Thanks for the heads up about the game today. My boss is out of the office for the summer so I'll go turn his TV on and see if I can spot you guys and the pink baseball mitt!

We had a lot of fun at the game, but were bummed they lost. Lots of Cardinal fans there!

Great update. Your pictures of CBR with the sunrise are beautiful.

We've never done 1900 Park Fare. I have been warned to never do dinner, but I'd really like to do breakfast one of these times. The problem is convincing my DH who does NOT like the GF at all and won't even stop in to shop.

Thanks! 1900 is not the best for dinner, but we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the breakfast. The bacon really made the meal for me though.
Would you believe that I never made it to Basin with 2 GF visits, and one to DTD? So bummed.

Love the character interaction with Maddie.

We had such great character meets this trip. Mads is still talking about Alice.

Great updates with awesome pictures! I can't wait to hear how you spent the rest of the day!

Thanks! The rest of the day was less relaxing than I'd anticipated...

CBR is beautiful in the morning! (I'm sure it's beautiful all day haha, I've just never seen it in person to verify this. )

It was really pretty! I'm glad that I took the time to sit and enjoy it.

Her skirt is perfect! Great job!

Thanks!

WHAT? Real bacon??? I'm shocked! Hooray for 1900 Park Fare!

It had to be somewhere right? They couldn't serve terrible bacon everywhere. I'm just so glad that I found it!

The interactions with the face characters sound awesome! We were going to go there for our breakfast but my dad's only request was Crystal Palace so we switched it. But darn! One day I'll go, it sounds great!

They were such fun! You'll be happy at CP I'm sure, and it's in the MK Put it on your list for next trip.

And speaking of trips, have a great one!

 

[shan23877]

Yay for real bacon!!!!!!!!!! It had to be SOMEWHERE!! Sounds like a great breakfast!

I was so happy! That's where they're hiding the bacon! The rest of the food could have been terrible and I still would have been happy after finding the bacon.

I'm having a great time reading your trip report. I myself have a daughter who will be starting kindergarten in the fall (she'll be 5 next month) so I can really relate to your experiences with Maddie. Thank you so much for sharing. Your pictures are gorgeous - I'm going to have to put a DSLR on my pre-Disney shopping list .

Thank you! I love my DSLR, and I'm so glad that we got it. WDW is the best place to use it!

I am not prepared for Kindergarten. DD on the other hand is beyond excited.

Oh, those CBR morning photos have me SOOOO excited to get back there! I am hoping that we have time to enjoy a sunrise. So very beautiful and peaceful!

I'm so jealous that you'll be there so soon! It was such a beautiful resort. I really can't decide where we should stay next time.

I'm going to have to try Park Fare, I think. It would most likely mean giving up a beloved CP ADR, but maybe next year the family will be up for more change than they were this year! I've never met the Mad Hatter and really want to. I've only heard good things about interactions with him!

It was a really fun meal. You should try it out sometime. I think the girls would really enjoy the characters for breakfast or dinner. Mad Hatter was really funny. And, Maddie was so excited to have time to chat with Mary and Alice.

Maddie's skirt looks amazing! I wish I had an ounce of your talent!

You are too sweet. I wish we lived near one another, I'd teach you to sew. It's really not that hard.

What a fun breakfast!!! I am adding this place to my mental list of "maybe next time's." Alice was just awesome! And we have never met the Mad Hatter. How fun.

It was so much fun! I bet that Willow would love it. We had LOTS of time to chat with Mary and Alice. The Mad Hatter was the reason I booked though. He was great.

HOWEVER,

This:



was my favorite part of the update!

I wish that I was exaggerating. I really do eat bacon several times a week (and I don't eat breakfast!) Good bacon is the only thing that my WDW vacations are usually lacking.

You know, I have several vegetarian friends who say the only thing they miss about their meat eating days is bacon.

wow!!! love, love the CBR pictures!! It was our first resort ever, with the boys back in 94? (nebo will correct me).

I loved CBR! I really think that it should become our "usual" resort, but Maddie and DH want to try other mods.

we had POR for early dec. with a bounceback, but when free dining came out, we had to switch to CBR. and now I'm happy we did!!!!

maddie looked so happy to hug all those characters, and she looks like a delightful little girl!!!

Thank you so much! She's great most of the time...

LOVE LOVE LOVE the early morning pics at CBR That time of day is my very favorite at WDW...so peaceful, quiet....no people....GREAT! I didn't realize how big CBR was, or maybe it just looks big from your pictures. Did yall have a long walk to the bus stops?

Thank you so much! I'm so glad that I took some time to enjoy the peace and quiet out there that morning.

CBR is pretty big. Our bus stop was quite a walk from the room, so we always used the OPR stop. We were usually filling our mugs or grabbing a snack anyway, so it worked out great.

1900 Park Fare is great, isn't it? We did breakfast, too, and thought the characters were wonderful....especially the Mad Hatter! He's too funny.

That was our first breakfast there, and we really enjoyed it! Mad Hatter and playful Alice were such a nice change of pace from our usual sedate princess meals. We loved it!

 

[RGirl]

I wish that I was exaggerating. I really do eat bacon several times a week (and I don't eat breakfast!) Good bacon is the only thing that my WDW vacations are usually lacking.

You know, I have several vegetarian friends who say the only thing they miss about their meat eating days is bacon.

OK, I am totally . I did not eat red meat or pork (and very rarely ate fish or poultry) from 13 years old until 30. Do you know the first meat I ate upon deciding to stop the "vegetarianism"??

Of course you do!!! BACON, baby, BACON!!!

 

[shan23877]

Your pictures from your bench took me right back to Florida...my favourite time of day is early morning and I think it's best when spent in Florida

I am so not a morning person, except at Disney. I really loved sitting outside for a few minutes each morning. There was no one around, and the view was gorgeous.

Great job on the skirt...love it! The pictures with all the characters are so great! Love that Alice was playing with Maddie....those are little things she will never forget!

Thank you so much! She had such a great time, and she's still talking about Alice tickling her.

YAY! I am so happy we have an ADR at 1900 PF! I think it's gonna be great. We haven't seen Mary since Jan 2009, and never the Mad Hatter. And then double that with he Wonderland Tea, Kadence is going have a good time!

She is going to have a great time! And you'll get good bacon! The tea looks like lots of fun, we'll have to book it one of these days.

Love Maddie's shirt, and skirt! She must be a lot like Kadence, showing off her dance moves. I think it's great that the kids can be so happy they dance.

Nice dance pics there Daddy!

Thank you! Is that what you had in mind for Kadence's skirt? Maddie loves to show off her moves!

I don't think that Daddy knows I shared those pictures yet...


What a wonderful way to start the morning I wish I could just be sitting there right now.

Me too!

Phew! I think I'm caught up! I must have been behind about six pages.

Welcome back!

Love the wishes pics, love the CBR pics, and that's amazing that you were on the bridge for wishes even for a minute. Wow!!

It was crazy fun! Bryan and I just stood there in disbelief! Wishes was lots of fun that night, we'll likely remember that for a long time. Well, I will. DH has a terrible memory.

I really liked 1900 PF breakfast, too. The food was pretty good and the character interaction was one of the better experiences on our trip. The Mad Hatter was hysterical!

I hope the rest of your day is nice and relaxing--can't wait to read more!

I liked the breakfast too. The characters were lots of fun, I think that's what 1900 PF does best for breakfast or dinner.

The rest of the day didn't go exactly as I'd planned...

Wait- Stop the presses!!!!

There is REAL bacon at 1900 PF? I'm am now officially thrilled I have a breakfast ADR there.

THEY HAVE REAL BACON!!!! I am so glad that you have and ADR there! Take pictures of your bacon for me please!

It looks like you guys had a great morning, nice and laid back, but not too laid back. I could never spend a day lazing around the hotel room, that would make my head explode, so I'm glad to see that you have the same idea of "laid back" as I do.

Yup, I have exactly the same idea of relaxing as you. For our "laid back" day I scheduled us an 8:30 ADR, and had us doing DTD before some scheduled pool time and a dinner ADR

Apparently Maddie doesn't do relaxing at WDW either...More to come

Ok, but I do have a question for you guys about 1900 PF. I usually avoid face characters, because I'm afraid I'll look/sound like an idiot talking to them. I will have Everett for 'cover' but he's not the best conversationalist, if you know what I mean. Do you think it will be weird and awkward with me, my mom and Everett?

I think you guys will be fine. Most characters seem to love trying to coax some love out of the shy little ones. And, if not you and your mom will probably really enjoy Mary, Alice, and Hatter. Mary and Bryan chatted for quite a while before we got back from the ladies' room, and Hatter's humor is really more adult oriented anyway.

I really do think you'll enjoy it. They were way more entertaining for me and Bryan than the princesses.

I have been following your TR (I'm just not a big poster) and just finished your Always Let Your Preschooler Be Your Guide. I love seeing Maddie's reactions. I hope my little Bug is even half as excited when she finally gets to go.

Thank you for reading along! Don't be a stranger!

Thanks for the kind words, I think that your little one will love it. It's so special taking them for the first time!

 

[laura74]

We woke up the next morning at 6:30. My first thought that morning was that it was the 4th day of our trip which meant we’d turned the corner to the last half of the vacation. I was already dreading the end of the trip.

Wait. We're only on day 4??? LOL

This was our day to take it easy and relax, and I adopted that attitude right from the beginning.

Sounds great.

We got to the bus stop at 7:40. The first MK bus arrived at 7:55,

I thought this was your day to take it easy and relax.

If you read the last TR, you know that I couldn't find a skirt that matched that shirt. She's wearing the one that I made. I think it turned out pretty well!

So cute!

We were seated in the main dining room only a few tables away from the buffet. Our server greeted us quickly and filled our drink orders in just a few minutes. I again had hot tea—this morning was much warmer than the previous 3, but by then I was sort of fascinated with seeing how each individual place served their tea so I continued to order it.

Tea drinkers...

Cue the Hallelujah Chourus*** THE BACON WAS DELICIOUS!!! ***
It was crispy and meaty, and it tasted like real bacon!!!!

Wow! Real bacon at Disney.

The character interaction was great and Maddie keeps getting cuter!

Great update Shannon! Love all the photos.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Ohhhh, I am loving the CBR pictures! I soooo wish I were there right now instead of sitting behind this darn desk.

I'll forgive you for not taking food pictures because the character pictures more than made up for the lack of food pictures. Maddie's dancing and twirling always makes me smile!

 

[megan511]

Love the updates!

I love the pics of CBR. Oh how I wish I could wake up to that...

I laughed at your relaxing day having an 830am ADR! That sounds just like me!

Maddie looks adorable. I love her outfit!

1900 Park Fare sounds great! Those pics with Alice are precious.

Can't wait for more!

 

[katt789]

I missed 2 updates and seriously DON'T know how that happened! Haha! See, great minds think alike, take a nice peaceful walk around CBR before anyone else is up (although you beat me by like an hour!) I'm glad you guys had a day to take everything slow & relax.

I have to say, 1900 PF is bad at waiting, Sylvia & I ate there in Dec and it was definitely the longest wait I've had for a character meal. It was a bit ridiculous! I will also agree that the food is just better at the GF, the nighttime buffet was among some of the greatest food I've ever had!! Definitely a top ranker with me!

I'm so glad Maddie had a good time with the characters, I'm glad Mary didn't just skip the table too, nice to see that sometimes they'll wait around and talk to grown ups too. That Alice is perfect! Ah the Hatter is always such a hoot!! I love meeting him!!

 

[TinksThree]

Do you know what I find so sad about this latest update? That as wonderful as Disney is you had REAL bacon and then how many people comment "REAL BACON AT DISNEY!!!" I honestly didn't know Disney knew that there was such a thing! Now I know where to go for my bacon fix!!

The pictures with Alice were adorable! Alice and Mary Poppins are two of my faves!!

And I loved your early morning pictures! I love getting up while everything is still sleepy and quiet!

 

[PirateKate]

All the character pictures really don't get old, Maddie looks so cute and happy in all of them!

That front row view of Wishes looks so amazing! I'm tempted to book CRT, just in hopes of getting a good view of Wishes at the end of the meal.

 

[shan23877]

Ohhhh, I am loving the CBR pictures! I soooo wish I were there right now instead of sitting behind this darn desk.

I'll forgive you for not taking food pictures because the character pictures more than made up for the lack of food pictures. Maddie's dancing and twirling always makes me smile!

Me too! I love it so much at CBR, it will be my first choice for mods from now on. I think that Maddie and Bryan are both leaning toward POFQ though.

Thank you so much!

Love the updates!

I love the pics of CBR. Oh how I wish I could wake up to that...

I laughed at your relaxing day having an 830am ADR! That sounds just like me!

Maddie looks adorable. I love her outfit!

1900 Park Fare sounds great! Those pics with Alice are precious.

Can't wait for more!

Thank you so much!

yup, I actually changed the ADR from 8:00 when Bryan questioned how relaxing that would be.

It was a fun breakfast, Maddie had a blast.

I missed 2 updates and seriously DON'T know how that happened! Haha! See, great minds think alike, take a nice peaceful walk around CBR before anyone else is up (although you beat me by like an hour!) I'm glad you guys had a day to take everything slow & relax.

I have to say, 1900 PF is bad at waiting, Sylvia & I ate there in Dec and it was definitely the longest wait I've had for a character meal. It was a bit ridiculous! I will also agree that the food is just better at the GF, the nighttime buffet was among some of the greatest food I've ever had!! Definitely a top ranker with me!

I'm so glad Maddie had a good time with the characters, I'm glad Mary didn't just skip the table too, nice to see that sometimes they'll wait around and talk to grown ups too. That Alice is perfect! Ah the Hatter is always such a hoot!! I love meeting him!!

There's an update coming, the day didn't turn out exactly as we'd planned...

We didn't have to wait at 1900PF for dinner, but the wait for breakfast was pretty annoying. The restaurant was pretty empty when we got in too.

The characters were so much fun! Maddie really loved meeting Mary and Alice. I was so glad that Mary waited for her.

Do you know what I find so sad about this latest update? That as wonderful as Disney is you had REAL bacon and then how many people comment "REAL BACON AT DISNEY!!!" I honestly didn't know Disney knew that there was such a thing! Now I know where to go for my bacon fix!!

The pictures with Alice were adorable! Alice and Mary Poppins are two of my faves!!

And I loved your early morning pictures! I love getting up while everything is still sleepy and quiet!

Isn't that funny? Of all of the things that Disney is exceptional at, the bacon has to be terrible. I work in restaurants, it's not hard to make bacon good!

Thank you so much! The characters were a lot of fun.

Mornings at CBR were so beautiful. I enjoyed my mornings at POFQ too, but there's something about looking out at a beach that really makes me happy.

 

[shan23877]

OK, I am totally . I did not eat red meat or pork (and very rarely ate fish or poultry) from 13 years old until 30. Do you know the first meat I ate upon deciding to stop the "vegetarianism"??

Of course you do!!! BACON, baby, BACON!!!

That's awesome! I have a friend who's like a level 2 vegan (or something like that) now, and she told me that she actually dreams about eating bacon sometimes!

Wait. We're only on day 4??? LOL

Trying to beat Nebo for slowest TR ever.


I thought this was your day to take it easy and relax.

8:30 ADRs at a resort far away from your resort is not relaxing to you?


Tea drinkers...

If it helps, I'm ashamed of myself.

Wow! Real bacon at Disney.

A revelation! It was amazing.

The character interaction was great and Maddie keeps getting cuter!

Great update Shannon! Love all the photos.

Thanks Laura! Photos I've got.

 

[shan23877]

Our plan for the “relaxing day” was to bus to DTD from the Grand Floridan, do some shopping, and then hit the pool at CBR for a while before we left for the Luau that evening. That’s not exactly how it turned out.

We left breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and walked outside to catch a bus. We usually seem to have terrible luck with DTD buses, but on this day one pulled up within 5 minutes of our arrival.

​

Once at DTD, our first stop was the Christmas Store. It took me no time to find about 37 ornaments that I’d like to have, but I restrained myself and only bought two. I got a concentric Mickey head ornament with 2012 engraved on it, and Maddie got a Princess Jasmine ornament as a memento of this year’s transformation.

These are not them.

After the Christmas store, we popped into Design a Tee where it became apparent that Bryan wasn’t going to be very patient with Maddie and I idly browsing. This was going to have to be more of a “pick and purchase” type shopping trip. Not surprising, because he really does hate shopping with us, but I had hoped that Disney Magic might take over. In the photo store next door I found a picture frame that I thought might be perfect for Maddie’s room (the lyrics to “A Whole New World” are printed all around it), but wasn’t ready to commit.

I love Mr. Potato Head

​

We moved on to Once Upon a Toy where Maddie planned to spend the rest of her money, and Bryan and I intended to make good on the promise of a new Mr. Potato Head. Her old one was missing 95% of his parts so I’d thrown it away when we packed for the move. Bryan and I had a lot of fun choosing the Potato Head parts-they have some really cool ones. We got Tink hair, wings, and shoes, a half eaten Mickey bar, Mickey sun glasses, a Minnie bow and shoes, and a Jessie hat among other things. Bryan made fun of me the whole time for trying to cram as much into the box as possible. I thought we should get our money’s worth!

Howdy Sheriff!

The princess room posed its own set of problems. You see, Maddie had only $15 dollars left, and there were two sets of ‘little princess’ dolls that she was trying to decide between. After about 15 minutes of going back and forth, her daddy offered to buy her the second set. She’s only 5 and already knows how to wear him down.

When we went to pay, an awesome CM insisted on repacking our Potato Head box. The way she did it we were able to shove 3 more pieces in! She was really serious about us getting as much in as we could, and it was my turn to make fun of Bryan a little bit.

Next was Team Mickey. Bryan got a new ESPN shirt, and I found two that I couldn’t decide between so Bryan told me to get both! (like mother like daughter huh?) I looked again for the Cubs Vinylmation that I'd been searching for, but came up empty.

Turns out, Maddie doesn’t have a great deal of patience for shopping some days either because at Team Mickey she began to whine and complain that she was ready to leave. Bryan and I assumed that she wanted to leave because I’d promised her a princess pillow for her new bedroom, and that I’d likely be persuaded to throw in a goodie or two. We were pretty frustrated with her, but trying to keep our moods up.

Next, we went to World of Disney. We’d gotten as far as the jewelry room before Maddie got her very first WDW time out. Ironically, she got a time out while I was looking for a pair of gold or silver earrings for her (hoping that fancy jewelry would help thwart her piercing problems) for acting like a spoiled brat. She wanted to leave, she wanted to look at princess toys, she wanted to have a snack. I wanted her to behave. We got some stares while she sat on the floor for 5 minutes, but I didn’t care. I was hoping that she’d learn a lesson. Luckily I didn’t find any earrings because I don’t think that would have been an appropriate reward for her behavior.

Sadly, she continued to be whiny in the princess room. I probably should have put the Rapunzel pillow back on the shelf, but I’d promised to get it and honestly didn’t feel like tracking it down elsewhere. I was so fed up with her that I took a time out for myself while Maddie and Bryan waited in line.

When they emerged, Maddie was apologetic. She tearfully admitted to us that she didn’t want to be at DTD at all. She really wanted to go to Disney World. (to her Magic Kingdom = Disney World) We had a little family meeting about trying to say what we’re feeling instead of getting upset, and then we hugged it out.

I told Maddie that we weren’t going to go back to the Magic Kingdom, but that we could go to DHS if she really wanted to go to a park. Maddie and I agreed that we’d head there after lunch at EoS. (Thank God I insisted on getting those 7 day park hoppers “just in case”.) Bryan was so happy that Maddie and I had made up that he declared that we were skipping EoS. He (correctly) assumed that the peace treaty between the two of us could be dissolved with a single bratty comment and decided that he’d rather skip EoS and get us to DHS ASAP.

Remember on the PTR when I said that EoS would be the single worst use of a deluxe dining credit ever? How wrong I was. We were about to out do ourselves.

 

[ShortStuff]

Awww, poor little sweetie!! When I get my grandsons in World of Disney, or any of the huge shops, they end up on overload. I think it is just too much stuff, too many choices and often a few too many 'no's', although they are pretty darn good at understanding 'pick one thing'.

It's hard though! I still remember on my first trip to Disneyland YEARS, no eons ago. We were on POTC, on the second day it was open. We had absolutely no idea what to expect. We went down the big 'hill', it was dark and my Mary Poppins hat flew off. I cried so much, that my parents bought me a replacement, which was totally out of character for them.

It was funny, because on Wonderful World of Disney, they showed the POTC on a special they had, commemorating the opening and other park changes. Guess what? It was my family in the boat and whoosh, there went my Mary Poppins hat.

 

[ShortStuff]

Oh almost forgot! Love the Christmas store! Since our first trip to WDW I have bought my daughter and grandsons each a dated ornament for that year. We are getting quite a wonderful collection!

 

[amandaw]

Love, love, love the Christmas store! It's so hard to choose just 1 or 2 or 10 ornaments to buy!

I don't blame you one bit for wanting to get your money's worth on the Potato Head pieces. And isn't it scary how quickly kids learn which parent to turn to when they want certain things? When Reid wants to eat out, he always goes to Ed.

Good for you for putting Maddie in time out in the WoD store. I'm sure that was hard for her but for you, too!

And I hear ya on the talk about talking about why we're upset instead of being whiny, etc. I am going through this with Reid right now. No lie - we probably had this talk no less than 3x today. I keep trying to explain to him that if you just whine, scream or make ugly faces & walk away, I don't know what the problem is & I can't help you. I'm glad Maddie was apologetic & was able to verbalize why she was unhappy.

Can't wait to hear about the bad usage of DXDP credits at DHS!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

DTD is fun to walk around, but I definitely can see preferring to be in the parks over stores! Glad that it was resolved fairly quickly!

As someone who spends snack credits on bottles of water, I'm curious to see what an even worse use of the DDxP is!

 

[laura74]

Our plan for the “relaxing day” was to bus to DTD from the Grand Floridan, do some shopping, and then hit the pool at CBR for a while before we left for the Luau that evening. That’s not exactly how it turned out.

Let's see. You decided to visit two different parks and then catch a nighttime show and you get back to the room at midnight.

Once at DTD, our first stop was the Christmas Store. It took me no time to find about 37 ornaments that I’d like to have, but I restrained myself and only bought two. I got a concentric Mickey head ornament with 2012 engraved on it, and Maddie got a Princess Jasmine ornament as a memento of this year’s transformation.

I keep meaning to buy an ornament and then I think I'll wait until the end of the trip and I don't get one. Maybe next year.

When we went to pay, an awesome CM insisted on repacking our Potato Head box. The way she did it we were able to shove 3 more pieces in! She was really serious about us getting as much in as we could, and it was my turn to make fun of Bryan a little bit.

I love when they do things like that.

When they emerged, Maddie was apologetic. She tearfully admitted to us that she didn’t want to be at DTD at all. She really wanted to go to Disney World. (to her Magic Kingdom = Disney World) We had a little family meeting about trying to say what we’re feeling instead of getting upset, and then we hugged it out.

Aw. It's a good thing she let you know what she was upset about. I wonder how often they stew about imagined slights, etc. without saying anything.

I told Maddie that we weren’t going to go back to the Magic Kingdom, but that we could go to DHS if she really wanted to go to a park. Maddie and I agreed that we’d head there after lunch at EoS. (Thank God I insisted on getting those 7 day park hoppers “just in case”.) Bryan was so happy that Maddie and I had made up that he declared that we were skipping EoS. He (correctly) assumed that the peace treaty between the two of us could be dissolved with a single bratty comment and decided that he’d rather skip EoS and get us to DHS ASAP.

Yeah. There goes that "relaxing" day!

Remember on the PTR when I said that EoS would be the single worst use of a deluxe dining credit ever? How wrong I was. We were about to out do ourselves.

Turkey legs? Hot dogs?


Great update Shannon!

 

[megan511]

I love the Christmas store too! I am obsessed with ornaments. I am loving those ear hats ones they have online right now. I want every single princess one. I may have put them all in my online shopping cart just to see how much it would be...

I want to get Tessa a Potato head next time. She likes so few toys but has actually played with those at school so I need to let her get that.

I would put Anthony in time out anywhere! I totally understand.

I had a feeling you all may end up at a park!

I love tht picture of Maddie with the Lego dogs. So adorable!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm sorry DTD didn't go exactly as planned. In Maddie's defense, I tend to feel that way too whenever I'm there. Too much shopping for my tastes.

Remember on the PTR when I said that EoS would be the single worst use of a deluxe dining credit ever? How wrong I was. We were about to out do ourselves.

That shouldn't be a difficult accomplishment at DHS.