Emmysdaddy Accompanies the Damsels & Yes, He Posed with Princesses 2/2 Completed

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I shouldn't be reading this site right now, but I can't help it.

It actually started pouring again when you went down the Splash Mountain flume? I'm not going on that ride with you anymore. (although I could make an exception for the Disneyland version, if the opportunity ever came up )

Even if I don't get to post as often (this is quite possibly my busiest semester yet), please know that I'm still here and love reading your updates when I get the chance!

 

[emmysmommy]

Wow. Wow wow wow. I cannot get over your Brown Derby experience!!! That sounds really awful - we actually were considering adding that to our ADR lineup for our honeymoon trip - not anymore!!!!

Yay for your CP breakfast! We love it there!! That's too funny about you triggering the rain on Splash Mountain! I guess you're going to get wet anyways, so it isn't a big deal!!

I feel bad for anyone who changes their plans due to my HBD review. I really think it was the exception... we loved it the two other times we've been before and I honestly will return. (If we have another lousy experience it may change my mind!)

And I LOVE CP breakfast for so many reasons... puffed french toast, piglet, early park open!

Wow what a long update!! Do you take notes on your trips or journal? It looks like you guys had so much fun! I love all your character meets, you have great pictures from them. Tigger is one of my favorite characters to meet in Disney we always have such great interactions with him.

Hi Sarah! Yeah, I was trying to get as many updates as I could since I've been so busy with work - argh!

I definitely take some notes and I rely a lot on my photos... I take photos of some lame things to remind myself of what we did and when... like I take photos of my phone for marking the time.

We, or rather I had a lot of fun with the characters. Tigger is just a bundle of fun!!

Great updates!! Well, actually I just read all of them since early Dec. I had fallen behind on the Dis. I finally got around to starting my DR & TR just this past week.

I had completely forgotton about the HBD experience!! I cant imagine why you didnt want to wait 100 min for TSM

Looks like you guys encountered lots of rain those last few days, but you got some cute purchases out of the deal

Hi Debra! I will have to get caught up with your reviews as well. I've been a bad Diser lately with infrequent updates and not a lot of time between work and life outside the Dis.

Ahhhh yes, not going to wait over 1.5 hrs. for TSMM... it's a great ride but not THAT great.

I'm still reading along!

Can't wait to hear about the BLT pool! I think it might be warm enough during our trip for a little dip at least on one day....

I think you officially leave in what, llike 24 hrs?? How exciting!!! I looked at the temps and it looks like low to mid 70's for the next 10 days. I think it may just be warm enough for you to take a dip in the pool! Enjoy your trip!

Great updates! That's really nice that your DH and DD are so willing to meet characters. That's always an issue with my DH, he won't wait more than 5 minutes.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Ha! My DH was reluctant for some characters but he did better than I thought. At least I had him as our personal photographer when he didn't feel like posing with us and characters.

Brenda you are spoiling us with so many great updates!

Firstly I am delighted to get the credit for leading you to the dark side that is the Nutella waffle sandwich

Love the photos of you and Em at DHS .... Such fun !!

The ride photo from Splash Mountain is a classic

Yes Linda - you were the inspiration for the nutella waffle sandwich. Oh so good!

I should have explained the SM photo ... Michael was wearing his Captain America shirt so he felt that he needed to be saving the damsels! He just couldn't save us from being drenched. Em did the "I'm scared" look and I went for the cutsie pose. Yep, we're odd!

I shouldn't be reading this site right now, but I can't help it.

It actually started pouring again when you went down the Splash Mountain flume? I'm not going on that ride with you anymore. (although I could make an exception for the Disneyland version, if the opportunity ever came up )

Even if I don't get to post as often (this is quite possibly my busiest semester yet), please know that I'm still here and love reading your updates when I get the chance!

Awww, I'm glad you are still around. I know you are having a heck of a semester but at least you were able to squeeze in a WDW trip in December!!! Loved the live updates on Jabead's thread!

I agree, anyone who goes on SM with us needs to be forewarned about getting more than a little wet... we must have some bad juju for the weather and that ride!

Glad to see that you found Em's PDR that she started! I'm glad she is taking over that since I've not got a lot free time these days.

Take care!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I just found your daughters PDR and of course am following along!

I totally understand about not having much time for the Dis.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Yikes! I thought we had a bad time at Brown Derby... you win.

We would be willing to eat there again as the food was GREAT, but our server was just a big grump. It definately put a damper on the whole experience.

I'm glad your next meal was the fantastic Crystal Palace breakfast - Pooh and Tigger always make everything better.

 

[emmysmommy]

I just found your daughters PDR and of course am following along!

I totally understand about not having much time for the Dis.

Hi Debra! I'm so glad that you are following along for her PDR!

Yeah.... I mean't to do an update tonight but I'm pooped so I think I'll put it off for another day.

Yikes! I thought we had a bad time at Brown Derby... you win.

We would be willing to eat there again as the food was GREAT, but our server was just a big grump. It definately put a damper on the whole experience.

I'm glad your next meal was the fantastic Crystal Palace breakfast - Pooh and Tigger always make everything better.

Hi Jenny! I just read your Feb. 2012 report and couldn't stop reading! (I wanted to see what was up with your HBD meal but I'll have to stay tuned for that it looks like!)

Definitely CP was a wonderful dining experience for me.... DH and Em are not quite the fan that I am.

 

[emmysmommy]

Tuesday August 28, 2012: Day 11, Part 2​

We walked back to BLT and while Em chilled in the room Michael and I went to the pool to cool off. As many times as we have been to BLT we have never made it to the pool so I was pretty proud of myself that I finally got in a bathing suit this trip.

There were plenty of empty lounger chairs and pool towels were available near the lockers. There is a snack bar with a limited menu and you can order cocktails.

Pool towels

One item on my list of 18 from Jabead was to be spit out of the clowns mouth at the BWI pool. Unfortunately, I didnt make it to the pool at the Boardwalk but I was going to try and redeem my task by completing it here. There were a lot of kids using the slide but there were also adults mixed in so we figured we would fall in line behind some 7 year olds!

There is a red-light/green-light signal to let you know when you are clear to proceed down the slide safely. Michael video-taped my completion of this task here. (You'll have to patiently await my descent at the 28 second mark!) We both went down the slide a few times it was a lot of fun!

Back in the room we were beat so a nap was welcome! We had an 8:50pm ADR at WL for dinner at Artist Point and by the time we napped, showered and were ready to head out it was very near our ADR so we took a taxi over to WL instead of the boat launch. Here's the link to my AP dinner review.

Not wanting to leave the beautiful hotel quickly we wandered around the lobby and took more photos. We also availed ourselves of the rocking chairs by the windows to enjoy the rustic beauty of the lodge.

When we finally moved on to go to the dock to get the boat back to CR/BLT Michael spotted some type of wild cat type creature crossing the bridge in the wooded area. He described it as an ocelot type critter. Im not sure what it would be but I was a little curious as to what was lurking in the dark.

What lurks out here?

The boat didnt take long to arrive and after a stop at Ft. Wilderness we headed over to CR. It was a beautiful clear evening with the rain having stopped earlier in the evening. The boat skipper told us that all of the watercraft are stored north of BLT thats why I saw them on Bay Lake early in the mornings heading south and towards Seven Seas Lagoon. I had wondered where they housed the boats at night so now I knew!

Back in the room we watched some TV before calling it a night around midnight.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi Jenny! I just read your Feb. 2012 report and couldn't stop reading! (I wanted to see what was up with your HBD meal but I'll have to stay tuned for that it looks like!)

It's not nearly as exciting (horrible?) as your evening, but it was still rather frustrating. Don't worry - it will be coming up!


Congratulations to you for getting to your resort pool! I'm never good at getting to the pool at Disney World, so I'm going to aim to do that more on our upcoming trip. I'd also like to zoom down the CSR pool slide!

 

[emmysmommy]

Wednesday August 29, 2012: Day 12, Part 1​

This was a pretty exciting day because I had a Dismeet planned after lunch. Throughout the day it morphed into a far more exciting event but I’m getting ahead of myself with that. First there is breakfast to be eaten and parks to be toured.

I initially woke up far too early at 5:15am. I took a few photos of the beautiful morning from our balcony. I eventually fell back asleep on the living room couch until about 7am. We had an 8:35am ADR at ‘Ohana for breakfast so we had to get moving to the monorail.

The Avengers monorail train was shuttling mere mortals:

We had a great character breakfast at ‘Ohana that you can read here.

After adding the photopass picture to our account at the Poly we took the monorail to MK for a few hours. I wanted to get more photos with characters! But first, we shopped on Main Street, we needed to make final purchases since this was the last full day of our trip.

Eventually, we made it to Adventureland and joined the line to see Ariel and Eric. It was about a 20 minute wait before they were brought out to greet the guests. We’ve had mediocre interaction with Ariel in the past but today it was priceless! I noted her adorable shoes and was glad that she had feet so she could dance with her prince. She went on to compare our feet! So cute!

We've all got feet!

Snakes!!!

After that we headed to see Jasmine and Aladdin. Their line was pretty long and slow moving and didn’t have a lot of shade. We were roasting!! Poor Michael, he wasn’t thrilled to pose with any characters at this point let alone a princess that was showing her navel!! He hung in there and he even posed in one of our photos but he definitely wished that he was somewhere else for that 30 minutes! I may have told Aladdin that Eric had made fun of his little hat. Aladdin assured me that he would be taking a little carpet ride over to pay Eric a visit! I’m such trouble!

It was so blazing hot and Michael had been such a good sport that we decided to go back to the room and relax before heading to Epcot for lunch and later our Dismeet.

Next Up: Lunch and a Dismeet!!!!

 

[emmysmommy]

It's not nearly as exciting (horrible?) as your evening, but it was still rather frustrating. Don't worry - it will be coming up!


Congratulations to you for getting to your resort pool! I'm never good at getting to the pool at Disney World, so I'm going to aim to do that more on our upcoming trip. I'd also like to zoom down the CSR pool slide!

Hi Jenny! Ok, I will hang in there so we can compare notes. There were some positives there and honestly I really, really liked it both times before this dinner so I will go back. Em perhaps not so fast as me.

It was really nice to enjoy the pool and yes, even the slide! I wasn't going to do the slide but so many adults were and I figured, what the heck! It was my substitute task for Jabead's List of 18 things to complete.

Take care!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

AP really is such a gorgeous restaurant! I cannot WAIT to go back there! Love that Berry Cobbler dessert!

Interesting fact about where the boats go at night - I had wondered that as well!

Those giant rice krispies are awesome - I wonder if people really buy the ones that size though!

 

[SAT887]

Artist point is on our short list for DH and my getaway in October. BLTs pool looks great! We never spend enough time in the pool on our trips. Can't wait to read more!

 

[natebenma]

Trying to get caught up, but so far I have only made it to the end of your Brown Derby review. Oh, my!!!

Your character pictures with Merida (wow, her area is amazing) and Tigger/Pooh are awesome. How do the character meet and greets compare with DL?

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the menu and your snacks from Sleepy Hollow. I can't believe that the funnel cake is a snack credit! Well, without the strawberries, anyway.

I want to get a you an "I survived my meal at HBD" Unreal! Talk about meeting everyone in the establishment! Bartender, Chef, Manager. At least you didn't have an up close and personal meet & greet with Remy!

Back to reading.

 

[natebenma]

Loved, loved, loved your evening at HS/Crystal Palace Update.

Very cute pictures of all of you horsing around the Streets of America- antics obviously not fueled by all of the alcohol you DIDN'T consume at dinner.

What a pretty master plan you have! It is smart to be prepared to show your confirmation numbers if necessary. The one time I didn't have them with me was at Sci Fi and they couldn't find my reservation!

I love Halloween! I love the fall decorations at Disney, particularly at MK. But August? Seriously?

Someday I want to do the early breakfast/empty park thing.

Breakfast at CP looked awesome. I am so excited that you met Pinkgirl! I know her from the BC/YC FAQ board. What a nice, funny person she is! She shared some of her wedding photos with us and posted one of my favorite pictures of all time on the board.

The Noodles Get Married, August 22, 2012
Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Pinkgirl wanted to take them back to the UK, but, surprisingly, the noodles were inflexible. They wanted to stay at Stormalong Bay. Can't say I blame them!

I'm glad you had a fun Peter Pan, but from your pictures, it looks like he DID grow up! Usually the one I see looks much younger.

What a great picture of BTM! Where is that taken from?

Bummer about getting soaked on Splash from the ride and Mother Nature!

Plaza meal looked yummy!

 

[Macavity72]

We had a great character breakfast at ‘Ohana that you can read here.

Just wanted you to know this linky no worky.

Loving your TR so far!

 

[emmysmommy]

AP really is such a gorgeous restaurant! I cannot WAIT to go back there! Love that Berry Cobbler dessert!

Interesting fact about where the boats go at night - I had wondered that as well!

Those giant rice krispies are awesome - I wonder if people really buy the ones that size though!

We're fellow AP cobbler lovers!!

Yeah the boats... I always ask the probing questions like, is the HM really an elevator at the beginning? Is Splash Mtn. really a mountain? And of course, why is there no tea served at the Mad Tea Party?

Artist point is on our short list for DH and my getaway in October. BLTs pool looks great! We never spend enough time in the pool on our trips. Can't wait to read more!

AP will be a great choice for the two of you! Thanks for continuing to read Sarah!

Trying to get caught up, but so far I have only made it to the end of your Brown Derby review. Oh, my!!!

Your character pictures with Merida (wow, her area is amazing) and Tigger/Pooh are awesome. How do the character meet and greets compare with DL?

I'm glad you asked Dee. Recently we heard Jessie speaking to her handler. It was so un-magical. There were no kids around but still... she was trying to guesture something to the guy with her and he didn't understand what she was "saying" so she "whispered" to him but you could totally hear her.

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the menu and your snacks from Sleepy Hollow. I can't believe that the funnel cake is a snack credit! Well, without the strawberries, anyway.

I want to get a you an "I survived my meal at HBD" Unreal! Talk about meeting everyone in the establishment! Bartender, Chef, Manager. At least you didn't have an up close and personal meet & greet with Remy!

Back to reading.

Ha! Remy was loose that night! Love the T-shirt idea.

Loved, loved, loved your evening at HS/Crystal Palace Update.

Very cute pictures of all of you horsing around the Streets of America- antics obviously not fueled by all of the alcohol you DIDN'T consume at dinner.

Ha ha! Yeah, fail on the attempt to get my drink on!

What a pretty master plan you have! It is smart to be prepared to show your confirmation numbers if necessary. The one time I didn't have them with me was at Sci Fi and they couldn't find my reservation!

I love Halloween! I love the fall decorations at Disney, particularly at MK. But August? Seriously?

Someday I want to do the early breakfast/empty park thing.

Breakfast at CP looked awesome. I am so excited that you met Pinkgirl! I know her from the BC/YC FAQ board. What a nice, funny person she is! She shared some of her wedding photos with us and posted one of my favorite pictures of all time on the board.

The Noodles Get Married, August 22, 2012
Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Pinkgirl wanted to take them back to the UK, but, surprisingly, the noodles were inflexible. They wanted to stay at Stormalong Bay. Can't say I blame them!

OMG!! That is a great photo!! It was great to say hi to her and her family on her Disneymoon. I didn't know her beforehand but she recognized Em at first. She is very sweet!


I'm glad you had a fun Peter Pan, but from your pictures, it looks like he DID grow up! Usually the one I see looks much younger.

What a great picture of BTM! Where is that taken from?

One of the bends in the inside queue..

Bummer about getting soaked on Splash from the ride and Mother Nature!

Plaza meal looked yummy!

I have to make my way over to the Resorts board - specifically the BC/YC thread since it's been a couple years since we've stayed there so I need to get caught up. I know I'll be in the right place to ask questions with you over there!

Just wanted you to know this linky no worky.

Loving your TR so far!

Thank you for pointing that out. Ooops! it is now fixed. (Usually I test these but it was so late last nite when I posted.....)

Thank you for reading along!

 

[emmysmommy]

Wednesday August 29, 2012: Day 12, Part 2​

When we got back to the room we encountered our Mousekeeper, Yvette. She was super friendly and complimented us on keeping a spotless room. I took all the credit for that!! (obsessive compulsive me!) We thanked her for making the adorable towel animals. Of course, I had to have a photo of us with her in keeping with my tradition of taking photos of memorable and genuinely friendly cast members.

After relaxing in the room for a short period of time, we had to get to Epcot for our 2pm ADR at Via Napoli so off we went!

Views from the monorail at Epcot:

Once at Epcot, we took the boat over to Germany and then walked the short distance to Italy.
Here’s my Via Napoli dining review which included dessert for the first time.

Ok, now the moment we had been waiting for ....An epic Dismeet!!

I copied this directly from my DR so if anyone has already read there, this will be a bit redundant.

Originally, I had planned to meet GoofysSonsMom (Vicki) and her family after our lunch at Via Napoli around 3:30pm. Then I saw a text from Jabead (Barb) that Tracerr00 (Tracy) was going to be in Epcot since she and her daughter were having lunch at Chefs de France. We planned to say hi to each other when we were going to be dining at CRT the next day but why not see if she could join our growing group for a Dismeet as well? I asked Barb to send Tracy my number so we could connect. (Barb is the original Dis Ambassador that made this Dining DiserMeet work out so well!!!)

Tracy and Eilee confirmed that they could meet up with us as well!! Then I received a text from Wilma-Bride (Joh) whom we had met several days earlier (along with her husband Gary and son Daniel) asking if we were going to be in Epcot. Not only were we but I wanted her to join our DisMeet as well. She was now confirmed for our 3:30 Dismeet as well! I was super excited that there would be 4 of us Disers getting together at once.

After finishing our Via Napoli lunch we were running a few minutes late since I had to make a pit stop in Morocco and then I stopped to take a photo of some of the lesser seen characters that were out and about for an Epcot version of Characterpalooza (Maxx, Hook, Smee, Piglet, Pooh, Pluto, and a lot of others that were lined up between Italy and America.)

The anticipation of meeting these ladies was rather like going on a blind date and anticipating a great evening yet wondering if you will have anything to talk about or have anything in common. However, the moment I saw the ladies with their grey goose slushies I had no doubts that we were going to have a wonderful time!

We were the last to arrive at the DisMeet and the ladies were already laughing and chatting away – a completely lovely sight!! Since formal introductions were not necessary, we simply went in for the hugs right away! (Yep, I’m a hugger – watch out if you are in my path!) Vicki introduced her son Andrew and husband Jay and Tracy had her beautiful DD, Eilee with her that we met. Joh had left her men behind to play on their own while she met up with us. I introduced Michael and Em to the group and with that we felt like one big party had just started!!

We launched into taking photos right away. Tracy dug out the traveling sausage (look for the back story on this here in her TR) while I remembered to text a photo to Barb for the dining board.

After chatting for a little while we realized we needed to get out of the heat and find a place to sit and chat. We moved our little party over to the pub at Rose & Crown. There were no seats right away but at least it was inside with A/C and cold drinks available.

Look who's on their phone!!

We shared stories of our Dis trip, where we ate, what we drank, life in general and had such a wonderful time. The guys and kids even seemed to tolerate and perhaps enjoy this gathering as well. Emily had a great conversation with Joh and was especially fond of meeting with her and listening to her charming British accent! I asked Michael later what he thought since he doesn’t Dis and didn’t get the whole randomness of meeting “strangers” on vacation before. He said these Dismeets were some of the highlights of the trip! Apparently, him not having to be stuck with me as the sole adult in our party is a positive! So now you know that Michael fully endorses Dismeets as well.

All good things must come to an end and unfortunately, Tracy and Eilee had some coveted fast passes for Soarin’ so they had to leave. Joh left to meet back up with her family and we were going to call it a day since we still had to do laundry and pack but a couple tables opened up so Vicki and her family and my family stayed a while longer to sit and chat. About that time the Piano Lady started to perform. That was fortuitous since Jabead had included on my List of 18 catching a performance by this entertainer. It was the perfect back-drop to our Dismeet that I really enjoyed. And yes, there were a few songs for which we all sang along … doesn’t everyone have to join the chorus for Billy Joel’s Piano Man? That was a lot of fun and I can confirm that Jay knows all the words to that song!

I'm definitely getting points for this one!! Successfully completing task # 7!!

I enjoyed spending time speaking with Andrew as well since he is such an intelligent and centered young man. I was definitely impressed with him and his confidence and maturity. I did try to talk sports with him briefly but when I couldn’t even identify the team logo on his ball cap it was just better to move on to safer subjects like what’s for dinner?

After final hugs and photos we parted ways since we really did have to get some laundry and packing completed and get ready for our Citricos dinner.
It was absolutely amazing to meet all four of these ladies and their families and I am so glad that it worked out!!

 

[rachel09985]

I loved reading about the Dismeet again! I know what you mean about the blind date!

On a side note Patty(emmebear) asked me if I wanted to fly down again and spend the weekend with her and Emme in the upcoming months and I knew you were going the end of Feb so I was really looking at coming Feb 28th through the next Sunday but I don't think that will work out anymore.

That would have been fun to meet you and Em!

 

[emmysmommy]

I loved reading about the Dismeet again! I know what you mean about the blind date!

On a side note Patty(emmebear) asked me if I wanted to fly down again and spend the weekend with her and Emme in the upcoming months and I knew you were going the end of Feb so I was really looking at coming Feb 28th through the next Sunday but I don't think that will work out anymore.

That would have been fun to meet you and Em!

Oh that would have been so AWESOME if that had worked out.

 

[emmysmommy]

Wednesday August 29, 2012: Day 12, Part 3​

We had just left our final Dismeet. While walking towards the exit through WS we stopped briefly and listened to Off Kilter in Canada. They are always an entertaining band and people certainly appear to like them as they draw a crowd.

Once we got closer to the exit we found that Spaceship Earth had no line. We did one final attraction at Epcot before closing the door on that chapter of our trip.

Final Epcot Photo:

By the time we returned to our BLT room, we only had an hour before we had to leave to go to our Citricos dinner since I wanted to leave a little early and watch the fireworks from the GF beach area. However… I still wasn’t feeling well from the big lunch and so I laid down on the couch with a blanket with Em and rested. I did not want to get up but this was our last dinner of the trip and I knew that Michael and Em were looking forward to it so I dragged myself off the couch and got dressed for dinner.

None of us were moving very fast so our plans quickly changed and we nixed the idea and watching the fireworks before dinner so the only fireworks we saw were from the skybridge when we went to catch the monorail. It was interesting that no one was watching the fireworks from the bridge – usually there were several families/groups watching from that location.

Michael and Em had an amazing dinner at Citricos… me not so much since I wasn’t feeling 100%. Read about our Citricos dinner review here.

I noted taking the taxi back to the CR in my dining review but I failed to share our hilarious exchange with the taxi driver. This guy was hilarious! Once we had piled in the car Michael told him where we were headed and then said, “Let’s hit it!” in a funny way. The taxi driver responded “What bank?” That started the funniest exchange with this guy. He made sure we were going to give him a cut of the loot. It was a $8 taxi ride across the lake from GF to CR. That was a nice way to end our evening!

Back in the room we had to do laundry and our final packing – always the least favorite part of the trip! We finally wrapped everything up and fell into bed by 1am! Exhaustion worked in my favor since I slept so well!
Last night-time photo of Cinderella’s Castle!

Note: While video-taping the view from the balcony one last time at night, I noticed that they were doing a test run of the Halloween show on the castle. It included some test fireworks. It was pretty cool to be awake that late and see a preview of the show for the MNSSHP.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I'm sorry you weren't feeling well for your final night of the trip. Looks like you all had another wonderful vacation though.