YES, touring Cinderella’s Dream Suite was Amazing!+14 Other Magical Days* Dismeet & Wrap

[tallen429]

Brenda, you're famous!

LOL!!
I'm still happily reading along and getting excited for our trip in just 28 more days!!
I'm more excited than usual because this holiday themed trip with little DD is going to be soooo special! (and yes, I bought waaaay too many custom themed outfits for her as usual )
The only downer is that she is now starting a pretty intense round of orthodontia so she will have to skip a whole lot of the DisYummie!
Not even allowed to have this! >>
I'm planning to make up for that with lots of cupcakes!!!!
(well, and the MVMCP, staying at GF CL, and Pirates League Mermaid package, and getting picked up from the airport in a limo....naaahhh.....I'm not spoiling her at ALL! )

If I could ever actually keep up with writing a TR, I would...
Oh, and guess what?? I made it to Round 2 of the Disney Parks Moms Panel search!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I suppose if your staying at the Lodge, heading to Animal Kingdom just makes sense. Nice short drive there.

Haha, Em definitely doesn't look like she's into those early PP photos. But clearly much happier during your meet.

And Aww yet another great DisMeet for you. And with gifts... you just can't beat that!

Not to mention the characters in their safari gear!

 

[wigeboo]

What a great trip report.
Thanks

 

[teekathepony]

Oh that lodge, so gorgeous! (23 sleeps until I see it myself!!)
Hehehe early morning photos can be hard to smile for, that's for sure, but you two always look fantastic any time of the day!
What a wonderful Dismeet! And adorable gifts too. I've never done Tusker house for breakfast, I'll have to some day. I love the dinner there!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[micandminforever]

I am loving your pictures of AKL. I can't make up my mind if I should stay at WL again and be close to the MK or try something new. The AKL would be my something new.

The breakfast buffet looked wonderful. On our last trip we tried the lunch buffet and loved all the different offering. I fell in love with the soups, of course part of that may have been the rainy cold temp. outside. The character interaction was also fun at lunch. There was a wonderful laid back atmosphere.

The Dis meet pictures were fun. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to pictures of your next meet with KatMark. It is great when you get to meet friends from the Dis.

Congratulations for being #2 DisBoards thread for Sept. and thanks for the shout out. Your trip report adds a little Disney magic to my days until I go again. I love the reports on Disneyland also.

 

[jedimeg16]

Tusker House was one of our favorite breakfasts too!

 

[courtneybelle]

That is SUCH a nice view to wake up to in the morning.

The cinnamon rolls and muffins look pretty heavenly right now, not going to lie. One day I'll get to club level!

I love the Chicago Disney gifts! Such thoughtful gifts!

 

[DMGeurts]

What a great update!

TH is one of our must dos - we just love breakfast there!

And so cool that you were able to meet KatMark too!!! I was lucky enough to get to meet both of them - and let me tell you - I was so excited! They are just as sweet as can be!

All of your character photos are great! And I love all of your new gifts!

D~

 

[natebenma]

I am caught up on all of your awesome posts!!!

Once again, thank you to Chad for his service and to his entire family for your sacrifices. And thank you for sharing the heartwarming pictures with us!

Congratulations on not your first but your SECOND thread of the month thread!!! So well deserved. And what a nice thank you and shoutouts to everyone. So obvious that you know and care about your readers.



The food is the CL lounge looked good. I can't believe all of the selections available.

Your AK dress is so cute!!!

I'm glad you finally made it to Tusker House and that you had a nice meet-up with Kathy and Mark. It does not surprise me that you found them sweet and funny and thoughtful.

Great pictures of the food from the buffet. There are some really unusual and interesting selections. Lemon Basmatii Rice. Cardamom Sweet Potatoes. Coconut Sweet Potatoes. All those wonderful pastries. Yes, please!!!

We had breakfast (and lunch on the same day) at Tusker House back in 2008. We enjoyed the meals, but we haven't been back.

Loved your story about the survey. Your answers were hilarious. Unfortunately, it appears no good deed goes unpunished as evidenced by the skies opening up on you.

I'm glad you had a nice meet and meal at Captain's Grille. We had dinner and lunch here (different days) on our last trip and the meals were great. Teena dined with us for dinner and she got the roasted chicken.

That's a shame that the Illuminations cruise was cancelled, but great thinking on your feet and coming up with a Plan A&C (Ale & Compass)


And going back to a previous update- when you encountered Kathy and Mark at the Yachtsman, is that considered a DIS-"meat"?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow, I've fallen so far behind... so let's get to this:

First and foremost, so glad that your son made it home safely for his leave and that you got to spend some quality family time together!

Second, bug congratulations for your recognition as thread of the month, non-Frump category. Defintey says something that trip reports hold the top two spots. As much as people love random tips and debating the merits/downfall-of-society that is magic bands, there is nothing Disney fans love more than sharing their Disney experiences

Next, very glad you got your room situation taken care of: AK rooms - now available in standard dry or Kali River wet!

Great Photopass pictures throughout AK. Glad you enjoyed the Tusker House breakfast - we just ate there for the first time and lived it! Of the park character breakfasts we felt that one had the best food - not to mention the most chooses .... oh and having actual Crispy Cream donuts is not impacting my opinion at all. No, not one bit

 

[eandesmom]

Hi Cynthia! You slipped in there ninja style!

more like the accidental ninja...the rare chance to actually post while on my laptop versus reading threads on the phone and not being able to truly post!

Ahhh yes, our reward for taking the survey was perfect timing with the rain. What can you do? And yes, Plan B with the Dis pals was wonderful.

Speaking of which, I believe you have a special Dismeet today!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

I did and it was so very very lovely!!!!

Honestly most kids are completely fine left on their own in WDW and probably makes it better since they want to do different rides than the parents. I have no problem with that. It just MY kid! I've apparently overcome that hurdle. I look forward to seeing how that plays out with your trip with all of the cousins.

Thank you for your kind comments about our son.

It all makes me nervous. I had so much more freedom at the same age that it's scary to think about! Jeff even more so!

Monday August 19, 2013: Day 4, Part 1​

We were up and off to AK park for the second day in a room – unprecedented for us!! This was an exciting morning since we were not only eating at Tusker House (new to us since we bailed on the last 3 ADRs there) but we had a Dismeet planned with Kathy (KatMark)!! ​

three???? that's pretty funny

Oh my gosh! Instantaneous Diser Admiration for this sweet lady!! Mark was just as funny as I imagined! What a pair these two make. If you are privileged enough to meet them you are in for a treat!

I could not agree more! The 90 minutes Kathy and I had together, FLEW by. I really hope we can meet again.

We all posed with Donald since I really wanted a character photo with all four of us.

Exhibit A:

Kathy and Mark took some time to accompany us to our table since she came bearing gifts. We posed for a couple more photos at our table and then we were presented with some fabulous Disney swag that was Chicago themed. Em was given a Chicago vinylmation and I am the proud owner of a Mickey keychain. It was very thoughtful and generous of her! We agreed that we’d try to meet up again during the course of the week and with that we hugged good-bye and parted ways.

​

Cute photo and I love your AK dress too

Last but not least, CONGRATS on your thread...I am not at all surprised and it is very well deserved!

 

[MaryAz]

Joining in. You have done some really fun things so far. We had the privledge of doing the Sunrise Safari last Oct. Loved seeing all your pics-what an amazing experience. I often travel to Disney with just my young DD's so your report gives me a look into the future Look forward to reading more. Loved the last update-those are some of my favorite people!!

 

[annie170]

Congrats on your thread's popularity!

How nice that you were able to meet Kathy and Mark. I'm originally from Chicago (now living in northwest Indiana), and I can tell you there's nothing like Midwesterners!

We love Tusker House. I generally make our reservations for 10:30-10:45, so we get the tail end of breakfast and the beginning of the lunch buffet. If you think breakfast has many choices, you should see the lunch options. I'm not a big fan of AK, but Tusker House is my favorite character meal in all of WDW.

 

[khaleesi]

Oh wow! I had no idea such a list existed! Congratulations!!! And I wholeheartedly agree with this:

It also goes to show that a lot of people were interested in "good happy stuff" last month.

I hang out HERE because it's happy!!!!!

 

[SAT887]

So I had a ton of catching up to do.... So here it goes!

I love the sunrise safari- so awesome! That is really interesting about how they do not feed the crocs in the winter frequently - I never knew that! The sunrise safari seems like a really awesome perk of staying CL - maybe one of these days there will be availability for us to do that with points We ended up skipping the entire Dino area this last trip, maybe next time- I don't think my daughter could handle dinosaur and well... Primeval whirl is not really on my list!!

Eeek! Those pesky Florida down pours! The rooms at AK are gorgeous - love the details in the furniture and decor Also, dry carpet? BONUS!!

Sounds like a fabulous dismeet (well dismeets! Considering breakfast and DL too!) And, I know I'm going to be that parent too - Zoey is 4 and still can't wrap my head around getting a babysitter that I haven't known for my entire life for her and Olive!

Also how wonderful your son is home! ANNNNNND your so sweet in your appreciation for your readers I can't wait for your next update or probably updates knowing me....

 

[Queenofallthings]

Ak, Tusker House for breakfast AND a Dismeet....sounds like an perfect day to me!

We have only done TH once for breakfast and I can't wait to get back and do it again....loved it!

 

[KatMark]

Monday August 19, 2013: Day 4, Part 1​

The morning started off well since we walked up to the bus stop just when an AK bus arrived. Arriving at the front of the park, Em decided she wasn't as excited about seeing this sign as me. How many places tell you to have a wild time and not charge you extra?

Great picture.

But she did jump in on this one.. not thinking she's into this photo thing this early. You would think that I'd take a hint like, "no mom, really, you can take a photo without me!"

That is certainly not the beautiful smile I saw on Em every time I saw her; she must have needed some food.

We get up to the entry and then…. our Magic Bands failed! We had to pull out our APs so that they could be scanned for admission. This didn’t take long so it wasn’t really a problem. However, we had to book it to Africa for our 10:15am breakfast reservation.

I've read about a lot of "failing" Magic Bands lately.

Not so fast.... there's a photopass photographer waiting with no one in line:

And with my camera:

Em still needs her breakfast I see.

Since Kathy is ahead of me in her TR (see here) and I've already posted my Tusker House dining review, some may have already read about it and seen our photos… but from my perspective….I have to share that it was a complete pleasure and honor to meet her and her husband Mark.

It was our pleasure and honor to meet you and Em.

We planned to meet between our breakfast reservations at Tusker House so we would catch them after they were done eating and before we were seated. While standing in line to get our photo with Safari Donald I had missed Kathy’s text. Just when I was pulling my phone out to check for a text she and Mark walked up. Oh my gosh! Instantaneous Diser Admiration for this sweet lady!! Mark was just as funny as I imagined! What a pair these two make. If you are privileged enough to meet them you are in for a treat!

Thank you, Brenda. Mark and I felt the same way. You cracked me up when you told Mark you were a hugger; trust me, he is too. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and Em...you are both delightful and beautiful.

We all posed with Donald since I really wanted a character photo with all four of us.

Exhibit A:

Love this picture (of which mine was lost on my Photopass CD!).

Kathy and Mark took some time to accompany us to our table since she came bearing gifts. We posed for a couple more photos at our table and then we were presented with some fabulous Disney swag that was Chicago themed. Em was given a Chicago vinylmation and I am the proud owner of a Mickey keychain. It was very thoughtful and generous of her! We agreed that we’d try to meet up again during the course of the week and with that we hugged good-bye and parted ways.

Kathy and Mark - together they are KatMark!

I forgot you took this.

Why do I look like the Jolly Green Giant in this picture?

Chicago themed Disney swag!

I'm glad you girls enjoyed your little gifts.

You can read my dining review here and part 2 here but I have to ask, does Disney have a bigger breakfast buffet anywhere in WDW than Tusker House – Donald’s Safari Breakfast ??

And another Safari Mickey round:

I'm glad that we finally kept an ADR for this place!

Continued Next Post
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Great pictures with all of the characters (including us ). Can't wait to see where you headed to next.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Great update! It's like deja vu. I kept thinking I'd already read this, but then knew I hadn't because of the date. Then I realized it was because I'd read about it on Kathy's TR.

I adore AKL. I could look at photos from that lodge all day long. I could sit in that lodge all day long! And I can't wait to move along with my TR as well since part of the girls' trip was spent at that lodge.

 

[dvc4life]

What a great DisMeet! Both you and Kathy are celebs here on the boards! Love reading both your TR's and DR's.

 

[Tracy161]

Joining! Better late than never, right?!