Oh the places We Go, The People We see

[mom2rtk]

No cringing needed. I break my own party rules all the time!

You were very smart to do it that way. Once New Fantasyland opened for good, it was constantly packed. If you got a chance to see it with less people, it was time well spent.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

It may have been dark in the Beast's Castle, but you got some pretty awesome pictures! I liked how the details turned out to be highlighted, very good Jen!

The Dumbo's tent was really good, lots of color saturation.

I was thinking about the Halloween party, but the thoughts of hordes of people turned us off to the idea.

 

[jenseib]

No cringing needed. I break my own party rules all the time!

You were very smart to do it that way. Once New Fantasyland opened for good, it was constantly packed. If you got a chance to see it with less people, it was time well spent.

Yeah, the pro approves!

I am glad though, as I have heard of really long waits for things since it has officiall opened. I can't wait to go back and see the outside in daylight though.

It may have been dark in the Beast's Castle, but you got some pretty awesome pictures! I liked how the details turned out to be highlighted, very good Jen!

The Dumbo's tent was really good, lots of color saturation.

I was thinking about the Halloween party, but the thoughts of hordes of people turned us off to the idea.

They were all really grainy and I tried to lighten them up, but thatgave me more grain. LOL It's a really neat place though.

I would go back to the party for sure, but I would try a weekday one over a weekend. And mine was the last party, so that made it more in demand. I believe it was sold out.

 

[petals]

Luv the update... I need to explore Dumbo's Big top shop thingy!

 

[jenseib]

Luv the update... I need to explore Dumbo's Big top shop thingy!

Yes, you need to get and see all the new stuff!

 

[KatMark]

Love the pics with Goofy and Donald.

You got some great pictures at BOG. They told people they could put their name in when we had our dining reservation at BOG, but told them it could take up to 2 hours and no guarantee they'd get in.

We have never "planned" for a party...we just go and do what we feel at the moment.

 

[Poolrat]

All caught up and I love Halloween and all the decorations that go along with it.


Party plans tend to go out the window a bit don't they?

The draw of new fantasyland was too much. I got to spend some time in Oct exploring but when I went back for the "grand opening" it was a bust. Too much for media and "special folks" They just should have closed the park or opened it up later while they were doing all the media stuff.

Waiting for some parade pics - definately the best parade!!!

 

[Caretames1]

I'm so glad they had Fantasy Land open during the party. At that point I was not caring about party stuff, I wanted to see the new stuff!

Kadence thinks Claire was having fun while trying to pick the sword up. I got some pictures of that a few days later and Kadence kept goofing off , I gave up on a decent picture

 

[jenseib]

Love the pics with Goofy and Donald.

You got some great pictures at BOG. They told people they could put their name in when we had our dining reservation at BOG, but told them it could take up to 2 hours and no guarantee they'd get in.

We have never "planned" for a party...we just go and do what we feel at the moment.

There would be no way I would sit there and wait 2 hours. And those pagers they give out don't go very far. You can't even walk over to Gaston's and have them in range. I thought that was pretty dumb on their part.
I had a good time doing the party my own way. I would love to get back to another in the future though.

All caught up and I love Halloween and all the decorations that go along with it.


Party plans tend to go out the window a bit don't they?

The draw of new fantasyland was too much. I got to spend some time in Oct exploring but when I went back for the "grand opening" it was a bust. Too much for media and "special folks" They just should have closed the park or opened it up later while they were doing all the media stuff.

Waiting for some parade pics - definately the best parade!!!

Party plans totally got thrown out for new FL. It was pretty darn neat back there and I was happy to get the chance to get over there. I agree about the opening, from what I have read, it was kind of a mess. They should've had the media thing after hours.

I have a ton of parade pictures. Just got to get to editing them.

I'm so glad they had Fantasy Land open during the party. At that point I was not caring about party stuff, I wanted to see the new stuff!

Kadence thinks Claire was having fun while trying to pick the sword up. I got some pictures of that a few days later and Kadence kept goofing off , I gave up on a decent picture

I was too. I was worried I wouldn't have a chance to see it at all too. It was a huge relief to get back there on our first day.
Claire had to stop there every time we walked by. I think after a while I stopped taking pictures.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad that you got to see New Fantasyland and got to tour Be Our Guest. Shame that they did not tell you about the walk up options, but a few friends of mine had dinner there during the soft openings in November and they said the service was terrible. I love Claire's costume.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

I am glad that you got to see New Fantasyland and got to tour Be Our Guest. Shame that they did not tell you about the walk up options, but a few friends of mine had dinner there during the soft openings in November and they said the service was terrible. I love Claire's costume.

Corinna

We end up getting in later in the trip and our service was pretty darn slow. But the food was good.

 

[jenseib]

I asked where the line was for Gaston and the CM said there are no lines for Gaston, he just picks who he wants to see next. I did not like this idea and Gaston was moving all over the place. Claire did NOT want to see him, but I told her she had too. I don’t usually force her to do many things, but sometimes you just know when they need that push. I told her I would be with her. So she reluctantly followed around as he kept walking and finally he chose her. This guy did the character well. He is so funny and arrogant.

Again, this area is so dark that pictures are awful and even the photopass are not good.

Mother knows best! Claire was so happy we did this meet. She was talking a mile a minute again about this and how special and lucky we are. As we left he said "so glad you could meet me" and she thought that was pretty funny.

We headed over to the new Ariel ride; this was a must for us.

Unfortunately they had some technical problems and the ride wasn’t up right now. They had some cute saying, but I forget what it was now.

So we headed over to the Ariel meet and greet next and again the line was not too bad. I really think not many people knew this area was even opened.

You went into a cave and it was pretty darn dark in there.

A view of the waterfall from the backside.

Stephanie had still been texting back and forth and she was now back in the new Fantasyland as well and she said she would just wait at the exit of the meet and greet for us.

Isn’t this little cave bug creature so cute?

Soon it was our turn to meet the Fish Princess.

I think I am getting eyed here, making sure I am taking pictures.

 

[jenseib]

Claire just LOVES Ariel, so this was another wonderful thing.

And you must hug before you leave.

And we exited and Stephanie and her son Jack were waiting for us. It was so nice to meet up with her finally. Jack was the complete opposite of Kadence. He NEVER stopped talking. He was just too cute. Claire kept talking about him too the rest of the trip and kept forgetting his name, so she would call him pirate boy, since he was dressed as a pirate for the party.

I got a couple of shots of the kids.

And then I let Claire take a picture of us. I was a bit nervous, as this was my good camera and made sure Claire had a good hold of it. Not too bad!

Jack also wanted to use my camera, but I passed on that offer. LOL

We headed over towards the Little Mermaid ride once again, but it was still not running. BUMMER!

At this point in time I was starving. I was to the point of getting a headache and I knew I would become grouchy if I didnt eat some real food soon, so we headed towards Gastons to see if we could scrounge up something there.

We all got in line and they seemed to be moving super slow. Stephanie was just going to get one of the brews for Jack.

Our line was moving very slow, so I went over to the next one. BIG mistake. Stephanie got served and others did too and I was still waiting behind the same people. They didn't understand the dining plan and also had some cash in the transaction and lots of money was going back and forth. I seriously was about to flip out. I think part of the problem was the cashier too, as she seemed to be a bit clueless when we finally had our turn.

Claire and I got the pork shank and a drink to share.

We found Stephanie and Jack and had a seat and we just totally dug into the food. Poor Stephanie probably thought we were savages. LOL

I didnt even think to take a picture till it was almost gone. Sorry for the devoured picture.

I had heard from others that had gotten to try it during sneak previews that this was very good and a big portion. It was very good, but we must've drawn the short straw as ours was really small. I think we could've easily eaten another, but for the price, and the long wait, I wasn't about to order more.

I tried to get a few pictures before we left, but people were in my way and the place isn't very big, so I only got a few.

There was a big chair that I wanted to take a picture of, but these teen kids kept switching and taking photos and I just decided my patience wouldnt last long enough to wait them out. Obviously they didnt see me standing there with my camera.

We left and I got this shot of the restroom area really quickly.

And one last try at the statue in the dark.

We decided to head out of the new Fantasyland for now and trick or treat. We were talking away and Jack was REALLY talking away. He was so funny and he just cracked me up. As we were walking out, guess who we ran into? ......Carey, John and Kadence! We all decided to trick or treat at a few places and then head to the dance party.
I think Stephanie decided to go on her own at this point. Jack wanted to change out of his costume. We told her the area we had planned to be at for the parade and told her she was welcome to join us then too. She never did make it though. I think they were about to leave when the parade was on and they just watched it near the front if I remember right.

If you are keeping track, meeting up with Stephanie was now meet number 4. Oh the People We See!

 

[dolphingirl47]

This is a strange way to handle a Meet and Greet and I can just imagine the ugly scenes when the park is full. I am glad that Claire came around to the idea. The Little Mermaid Ride seems to be as troublesome in the maintenance department as Test Track was. I have had three multi-day stays at Disneyland now and managed to do the ride twice. It is very cute though.

Corinna

 

[Wicket's Mom]

DH looked at the Ariel pictures, his comment? She doesn't look very Disney like, don't think his eyes ever got past her shells! LOL

 

[mom2rtk]

I am glad though, as I have heard of really long waits for things since it has officiall opened. I can't wait to go back and see the outside in daylight though.

I was there during the day many times on our trip. But it was alway so busy that I still don't feel like I have "seen" the area. I need another shot at it when it isn't packed to the gills. The closest we came was during the AM EMH. It wasn't empty then, but Gaston's Tavern pretty much was. I'm glad we "wasted" our early time this way. I only say "wasted" because on paper I would never tell anyone to use an EMH that way. But it's probably the only way to get a low crowd experience in there right now. And probably the only way to get nice photos in that chair!

LOVE you guys in your Mary Poppins costumes. You're adorable and I bet you'll talk about that night when Claire has kids of her own one day!

 

[jenseib]

This is a strange way to handle a Meet and Greet and I can just imagine the ugly scenes when the park is full. I am glad that Claire came around to the idea. The Little Mermaid Ride seems to be as troublesome in the maintenance department as Test Track was. I have had three multi-day stays at Disneyland now and managed to do the ride twice. It is very cute though.

Corinna

It is. Someone on another board has since told me that they now have a line for him. That seems to make much more sense to me.
Yes the Ariel ride seems to have a lot if issues. I thought it had actually been done for quite awhile too, so you would think it would have it's kinks worked out, especially after having DL's up and running for quite some time.

DH looked at the Ariel pictures, his comment? She doesn't look very Disney like, don't think his eyes ever got past her shells! LOL

Thats too funny!

I was there during the day many times on our trip. But it was alway so busy that I still don't feel like I have "seen" the area. I need another shot at it when it isn't packed to the gills. The closest we came was during the AM EMH. It wasn't empty then, but Gaston's Tavern pretty much was. I'm glad we "wasted" our early time this way. I only say "wasted" because on paper I would never tell anyone to use an EMH that way. But it's probably the only way to get a low crowd experience in there right now. And probably the only way to get nice photos in that chair!

LOVE you guys in your Mary Poppins costumes. You're adorable and I bet you'll talk about that night when Claire has kids of her own one day!

I have heard it's been packed for the most part. It will take a while before we get those nice empty shots I bet.
I totally understand wasting time there. You have to go when you can and not wait 3 hours for everything.

Claire loved our matching costumes. But she will never grow up, she's my baby, so I don't know what you mean by her having kids!

 

[mom2rtk]

Claire loved our matching costumes. But she will never grow up, she's my baby, so I don't know what you mean by her having kids!

So then Paige and Michael have agreed to provide you with enough grandkids?

I think I'm going to have to let Katie grow up. I'm not getting any younger. And I'm leaning toward believing Robbie and Timmy when they say they are never getting married and having kids. They are 17 and 19, and so far no girlfriends, no dates, no proms.

But after seeing what turmoil that has caused some of their friends, I'll take the alternative!

We've decided Katie will probably be the first one here to even GO on a date!

 

[that's nice]

You and Brook take the best (and most) pictures!

More meets huh? And you are on day what, 2 of your trip? I wonder how many people you meet ....

 

[kalel29]

Do to my busy life, it took me 3 days to finally catch up on your TR. I just realized that after 26 pages we are still on day 2 of your trip!! Can't wait to hear about the rest...