From 8 to 80!Seeing the Magic through a new set of eyes-Updated7/15-NEW TR LINK pg 28

[emmysmommy]

Oh my gosh! I'm glad that I'm not the only one that secretly wants to see it rain on the parade. I would love to see how that works. What happens to their make up? Do they start quick stepping it down the parade route? Just so many questions!

That little gal with the sword battling the pirates - awesome!! She was fearless. Now that's entertainment.

We've seen that Cinderella before and yeah, not so impressed. However, your Aurora interaction was awesome! I love when they are so cute and chatty and you really feel like they want to spend time with you.

That's awesome that you had Pascal with you so he could make an appearance with Rapunzel.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm ridiculously far behind and you had a WHOLE Disney trip in between.

The rooms at POFQ look gorgeous! I always thought CBR would be the first moderate I'd want to try but POR/POFQ are winning me over.

I've deemed the Grand Floridian my wedding resort too!

You guys look so cute in the Chef Mickey's picture!

YES Disney noms! Yum!

Boo for not so great characters. But I'm glad to hear a positive review of the food. Totally on my list for next time.

Ah no what a ticket mess. I hope it doesn't cause a problem later! Love the pixie dust moment for Anne!

I wasn't impressed with photopass this time either. So many problems and missing photos and I have at least 4 other people's pictures. Ugh.

Wow. That Peter Pan meet is literally amazing! Yay! I love that he had your mom crow with him!

I'm glad you had a great trip and got to bring a new friend with you! I'm not sure if we can be friends anymore though-- I'm officially BEYOND jealous that you're going back again in December. Just kidding but seriously, I've been scheming to try to sneak in a weekend trip in December but it's just not happening.

Omg Chris is totally obsessed with seeing what happens to the parade when it starts storming in the middle. Apparently he's seen a lot of youtube videos of it.. Who knew

We met the same room of princess friends! We've met that Cindy before too and never were too impressed. We loved Aurora too! She was the best I think that we've met!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Awwww, that little princess looks so stinking cute next to Jack Sparrow! And she does have some fighting skills!

That Wendy looks a lot like Ginnifer Goodwin!

Yeah, you are absolutely right. A likely story that you were "waiting in the wrong line". Nope, she just tried to get the CM to let her in. Denied!

Hahaha! That's a great CM selfie.

 

[katt789]

Very cute pics!

Thank you!!

That Pirate tutorial is can be so entertaining. I love it when the kids are really aggressive, it's so funny. That little girl was so cute is her princess gear... and sword.

Bahaha, for the first time EVER, someone WANTING it to rain. But I do get your point. Once you've seen the parade it would be interesting to see what happens when it downpours mid-parade.

Well... you may or may not know it, but Bert WILL be out for the Xmas parties this year.

Oy, so awkward to be around whiny rude guests. Glad you got to get away from that.

That photographer at the princess meet and greet = AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know right!? It was super adorable! I'm glad we got to witness it!

Ahahaha, Yeah, I've seen pictures of Naveen attempting to cover Tiana with his cape during the parade in a DOWNPOUR and since then I've just really wanted to see what happens

I WAS SERIOUSLY TALKING ABOUT HOW BADLY I WANTED TO MEET HIM THE OTHER DAY AND THEN I READ THAT HE WOULD BE OUT AND I DIED OF HAPPINESS

He was great!!

Great time at MK! How cute the little girl is fighting the pirates!

And the parade pics were great as well - we never seem to stop for parades.

What a fun time with the princesses, even if Cinderella was not that exciting. We actually usually have pretty good interactions with her - maybe she's better with the little kids. Aurora and the CM were a lot of fun though!

It was awesome!!

Lol, thanks!!

Lol, I've had some good interactions with Cindy, sometimes she can be great, but I feel like some of her friends are all "eck, Cindy's boring, I want to hang with Ariel or Rapunzel today" and they feel like, stuck with Cindy, but she's actually pretty spunky herself...

 

[katt789]

Oh my gosh! I'm glad that I'm not the only one that secretly wants to see it rain on the parade. I would love to see how that works. What happens to their make up? Do they start quick stepping it down the parade route? Just so many questions!

That little gal with the sword battling the pirates - awesome!! She was fearless. Now that's entertainment.

We've seen that Cinderella before and yeah, not so impressed. However, your Aurora interaction was awesome! I love when they are so cute and chatty and you really feel like they want to spend time with you.

That's awesome that you had Pascal with you so he could make an appearance with Rapunzel.

Ahaha yeah, Like, I get that the characters are stuck where they are, but what happens with the dancers?!

So cute!!

Yeah, she's not great, Aurora was perfect though! Since meeting one over in DLR that was AMAZING, I've had a soft spot with Aurora, she's one of the ones that I want to hang with the most!

I'm ridiculously far behind and you had a WHOLE Disney trip in between.

The rooms at POFQ look gorgeous! I always thought CBR would be the first moderate I'd want to try but POR/POFQ are winning me over.

I've deemed the Grand Floridian my wedding resort too!

You guys look so cute in the Chef Mickey's picture!

YES Disney noms! Yum!

Boo for not so great characters. But I'm glad to hear a positive review of the food. Totally on my list for next time.

Ah no what a ticket mess. I hope it doesn't cause a problem later! Love the pixie dust moment for Anne!

I wasn't impressed with photopass this time either. So many problems and missing photos and I have at least 4 other people's pictures. Ugh.

Wow. That Peter Pan meet is literally amazing! Yay! I love that he had your mom crow with him!

I'm glad you had a great trip and got to bring a new friend with you! I'm not sure if we can be friends anymore though-- I'm officially BEYOND jealous that you're going back again in December. Just kidding but seriously, I've been scheming to try to sneak in a weekend trip in December but it's just not happening.

Omg Chris is totally obsessed with seeing what happens to the parade when it starts storming in the middle. Apparently he's seen a lot of youtube videos of it.. Who knew

We met the same room of princess friends! We've met that Cindy before too and never were too impressed. We loved Aurora too! She was the best I think that we've met!

Ahahaha, I luck out in having time at work to type up the updates and then all I have to do is post them! Lol

Oh my gosh Port was the GREATEST!! I was watching princess and the frog last night and all I wanted to was to be back there lol. I want to do a princess royal room at riverside next!

Peter was a blast, I was super glad that the ladies got into the character greets, and that the characters got into it too!

Photopass was such a bust, I think we'll pre pay for the original next month, BUT, I will not depend on it!

Ahahaa, at least I keep the instagram active! I don't know how I do it, but hey it's great! Lol. I should look up some videos on youtube!

YAY! those princesses were great, well, almost lol!

Awwww, that little princess looks so stinking cute next to Jack Sparrow! And she does have some fighting skills!

That Wendy looks a lot like Ginnifer Goodwin!

Yeah, you are absolutely right. A likely story that you were "waiting in the wrong line". Nope, she just tried to get the CM to let her in. Denied!

Hahaha! That's a great CM selfie.

She was adorable!

Ah Ginnifer Goodwin, the best disney princess! Lol

 

[Pluto0809]

Jim and I watched that Pirates Tutorial last month. I had never seen it from start to finish before. He really wanted to participate but Captain Jack didn't pick him. The little princess fighting with his assistant was so cute!

Great shots of the parade! I think it's going to be closed in February when we are there but I wouldn't be watching it anyway. My family is just not into parades.

Awesome interation and pictures with the princesses!

 

[RatherBeInAK]

I'm following along!

I'm glad you were able to get the ticket situation sorted out. Whew. That would have caused me no small amount of panic. I'm glad to know it can be resolved so easily.
I love that Peter got your mom to crow with him. That must have been awesome.
That's too bad Cinderella was so boring, but at least you had some other great interactions that day! We also had great experiences with Chip and Dale and Aurora on recent trip. Love them!
I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

 

[katt789]

Jim and I watched that Pirates Tutorial last month. I had never seen it from start to finish before. He really wanted to participate but Captain Jack didn't pick him. The little princess fighting with his assistant was so cute!

Great shots of the parade! I think it's going to be closed in February when we are there but I wouldn't be watching it anyway. My family is just not into parades.

Awesome interation and pictures with the princesses!

Hahaha, awe, too bad for Jim! I'm pretty sure the kids are all pre picked like Jedi academy, but I might be completely wrong??

Thanks!! It'll be done by then yeah, I luck out in being able to see it one last time, but the new parade sounds amazing!

Thanks!

I'm following along!

I'm glad you were able to get the ticket situation sorted out. Whew. That would have caused me no small amount of panic. I'm glad to know it can be resolved so easily.
I love that Peter got your mom to crow with him. That must have been awesome.
That's too bad Cinderella was so boring, but at least you had some other great interactions that day! We also had great experiences with Chip and Dale and Aurora on recent trip. Love them!
I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

Glad you're here! And welcome! Lovely user name too!

Haha, it was sorted out for now, lol. Peter was amazing!
Cindy hasn't been great the past few trips, but there's always someone else to make up for it!a

 

[katt789]

It was nearing 4:15pm when our group exited the Town Square Theater with our royal meet and greets behind us, and there were some rumblings in our tummies! I’m sure I’d already eaten my grapes while we’d been in some line somewhere, and since Mom and Anne had their leftovers from Cosmic Rays, we found a table outside Casey’s to chow down on those for a bit. And if you’re wondering, yes, I of course I picked up some Corn Dog Nuggets from Casey’s that I paid out of pocket for.

The nice change with this trip was actually sitting down and taking it slow. Paige and I actually talked about that when we talked about our trips, when her and Chris went, they took breaks, went swimming, etc, where as when her and I are there, it’s such a jam packed week full of adventures and RUNNING to make it to MiSi on time and such, it gets a little crazy. So, despite my “no sleeping in Disney” and other such rules, it really was nice to slow down and smell the roses every so often, and the best really was yet to come.

Anyways, we spent some time watching the ducks and other such birds that some dumb people were feeding and just taking in all of Main Street for a while. Mom and Anne had managed to get chairs that were shaded from the umbrella, but I managed to get stuck in the sun and I do remember standing a bit away from them in the shade, but it was still a nice break!

With some air conditioning on our minds, and the hunger aside, we headed back into Fantasyland for one of my favorites, Phillharmagic!! Like, I can’t stress enough how amazing this attraction is, I love the four D aspect of all of it, and it’s like, all the best songs/movies OF MY LIFE, I’m also REALLY glad they’ve left it the way it is, because if they had included Tangled in it, I’d be mad. Like, love the movie, but the music is nowhere near as grand as Little Mermaid/Lion King, so I appreciate that!

When we got out it was raining a bit, or had been, but nonetheless we headed back over to Main Street where we got some pictures taken FINALLY!








Look at how cute we all are. I also had decided to take the big braid out of my hair after seeing Punzie, it was just to bleh for me, I don’t do braids lol! According to the time stamp on those photos we somehow killed time for half an hour until it was time for MY BELOVED, MY ONE, MY FAVORITE, MY EVERYTHING, THE ULTIMATE DANCE PARTY OF MY LIIIIIIFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEE. Also, Mom had the time of her life dancing with Timon last year, so it was very clear that we would not be missing it this year....

If you guessed Move It Shake It CELEBRAAAAAATTTTEEEEEE IIIITTTTTT

You are right…congratulations….

We were around near the pathway by Merida’s meet and greet originally as we watched the parade come around the hub. I was a little saddened to notice that because of rain, they were doing a modified version, where the characters were already on top of the presents. Also I noticed a girl clearly not in the proper costume, and then realized that she was one of the stilts performers….all the stilts performers were on the ground because it had been too wet for stilts…



Then I saw a very familiar face…. IT WAS OUR STILTS FRIEND!!!! (The one we oh-so-wittingly nicknamed “Stiltskin”) I proceeded to inner fangirl as I hadn’t actually seen him since February with Paige when he’d been flirting with us as we watched MiSi daily and *cough* somehow always ended up dancing near him. I pointed him out to Mom and Anne and after they stopped rotating around the hub, I said I was going over to where his section was and they should follow.



LET THE DANCE PARTY BEGIN! I promptly dragged Mom and Anne out into the streets to dance along, even without Timon, I was determined they would, lol. We all had a blast, at Stilts friend caught my eye at one point and before I could even get “I don’t know if you remember me…” out, he had cut me off and “Oh yeah, I do…”

….not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but we’ll say it was…leaving an impression…my job… He commented that he hadn’t seen me in a while, where had I been hiding? My reply “Canada” which caused him to burst out laughing, and then pull me into a hug. Yup. Got a hug. WINNING. I told him I’d be around all week so I was sure to see him again, and he said that was definitely a good thing. Since Move It Shake It was cut down due to rain, they didn’t do the conga line or anything after that and moved us all back to the sidewalks while they finished off their performances while we waved good bye.









Bye friend!! Obviously, I immediately jumped on facebook and messaged Paige telling her what happened. I did think it was impressive that he remembered me, like, I’d hope that he would if it had been Paige and I, but since I was with someone different, I didn’t expect it. But it was like, instant “oh I remember you…” hilarity at its best. Katt, making best friends with Disney performers daily!

After a quick water/bathroom break we ended up in Frontierland somehow, and since we had time to kill, I suggested Country Bears, even though Mom seemed to not be too in to it, a show was starting right away so we went right on in!



I can’t lie, I love these guys, especially the moose, I mean, he is our president, right? Like, he’s great, also, Brother Bear, the moose are just hilarious! Also, why aren’t BB characters out in Canada in Epcot? #disneythoughts



Also, look at that little thing, it’s so freaking cute. It’s like, the little cousin that got dragged along to the family jam time even though all he wanted to do was cuddle with his teddy bear and he really has NO IDEA what’s going on because his family is insane. Oh wait, you mean my life??







I of course had to get a picture of this big guy for Rob!



There he is, in all of his glory, singing Blood on the Saddle, even when he’s not supposed to be. Clearly he’s either the weird drunk Uncle, OR he’s the senile grandpa that doesn’t know what’s going on either…. I also just really liked that this guys hat turned out to actually be a raccoon…





Okay, so maybe my narration of the Country Bears is a little off, but I think it’s pretty accurate. Also, who’s seen that movie? Should I bother attempting to watch it? Like, why does it even exist…Mom claimed to think it was lame but her and Anne were killing themselves laughing through the entire show, they’ll deny it if you ask them, but I think it was something that they actually enjoyed. Like, it’s ridiculous, but it’s so ridiculous it’s hilarious…


…guys…I apologize if this update is super freaking weird…I had to clean the drains at work with chlorine/bleach and have been typing this up while sitting right beside the drain…makes for interesting updates…right?

We laughed our way out of the Jamboree and slowly made our way back to the Fantasyland expansion. Here is one of those times that I hate ADRs, we were bored and kinda done and just ready to eat now, but had to still wait a little bit. Lucky for us, when we walked into Belle’s little town, I spotted a familiar face, it was Courtney (Ivcourtney on here, go check out her trip report here: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3179454 ) and her boyfriend Chris!!

I skipped on over, and introduced Anne and Mom and we chatted f or a bit about how the day had been and all, and the stuff we had planned, they were in MK for the evening, and we would all be at Epcot, and MNSSHP at the same time later in the week, so we had tons of time to hang out! We said see ya soon, and took some time to browse through the shops again, and I found an awesome painting!



I really wish Disney paintings weren’t so expensive, I’d buy ALL OF IT otherwise…one day, one day it will be all mine! I also found an awesome little tea set that was Mrs Potts and Chip and his siblings!! I pulled it off the shelf and the conversations went something like this;

Katt: “I want iiiitttttttt. I could have so many tea parties! ”

Mom: “You have a legit porcelain tea set at my house you know, you used that when you where a kid”

Katt: “Yeah….so….it wasn’t Mrs Potts….”

And I’m really not quite sure why I didn’t buy it because it would have been majestic to have parties with …perhaps it was because it was DINNER TIIIIMMME

OM NOM NOM.

 

[RGirl]

Great updates!

I loved the Country Bears pics - I haven't seen that thing since Disneyland when I was a kid, so DECADES ago!

I wonder where y'all are going to eat….

 

[Pluto0809]

Stilts guy!!!!! Awesome that he remembered you and you got a hug!

Country Bears is one of my all time favorites at Disney, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I love the picture you got of Big Al, he's my favorite of all the bears. I had a doll of him when I was a kid. No idea what happened to it. I wish they still make merchandise for the show, I'd buy another one.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

While I firmly support the "No Sleeping" rule, there is no such rule against slowing down. In fact, I suggest there should be a rule FOR slowing down sometimes.

Oh that is so great you got to meet your "stilts" friend again AND he remembered you. Then again, you are there more often than most of the performers .

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BIG ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! OMG, THANK YOU KATT!!!!!!!!!!!! That just made my day. And he's gonna be out meeting at Mickey's Not So Scary Christmas Party (See what I did there)

Country Bear Jamboree is awesome. The End.

Yay Dismeet, but... hmmm... no photo proof? You know the rule, No Photo, Didn't happen

 

[katt789]

Great updates!

I loved the Country Bears pics - I haven't seen that thing since Disneyland when I was a kid, so DECADES ago!

I wonder where y'all are going to eat….

Thanks!!

Country bears is a good time, it's something nice to do to get out of the heat for a bit lol

Hahha!! It's a nice and easy guess lol

Stilts guy!!!!! Awesome that he remembered you and you got a hug!

Country Bears is one of my all time favorites at Disney, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I love the picture you got of Big Al, he's my favorite of all the bears. I had a doll of him when I was a kid. No idea what happened to it. I wish they still make merchandise for the show, I'd buy another one.

It was great! Lol.

So cute! Lol, if only they had merch, that'd be great, oh well, I guess not a lot of people really like the show...but it's cute!

While I firmly support the "No Sleeping" rule, there is no such rule against slowing down. In fact, I suggest there should be a rule FOR slowing down sometimes.

Oh that is so great you got to meet your "stilts" friend again AND he remembered you. Then again, you are there more often than most of the performers .

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BIG ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! OMG, THANK YOU KATT!!!!!!!!!!!! That just made my day. And he's gonna be out meeting at Mickey's Not So Scary Christmas Party (See what I did there)

Country Bear Jamboree is awesome. The End.

Yay Dismeet, but... hmmm... no photo proof? You know the rule, No Photo, Didn't happen

YES! There should always be a rule for sloowing down, especially in the morning in AK while walking up to EE, it's SO AMAZING!

Bahaha, yeah, it was awesome to get to see him again, and this wasn't the last time! lol

Ahahahaha JUST FOR YOU... seriously, amazing! I didn't know theyd be out for MVMCP, I'm still freaking out over Bert so that's clearly my destination of the night! Lol.

Aahahaha, yeah, I did a lot of dismeeting with no pictures this trip, but we did eventually get one with Courtney, thanks to mom's thinking!!

 

[MistDis]

So glad your recent trip was so great!! Slowing down is something my family has MADE me start doing and although it was a weird feeling at first, I've realized sometimes it's not all that bad lol. Move it Shake it is my favorite!! Hearing that music makes me even more excited and happy to be there in that moment. But, I'm so bummed that Celebrate a Dream Come True parade won't be going on when I'm there but anxious for the new one! Oh and so funny that Peter made your mom crow!!

 

[katt789]

So glad your recent trip was so great!! Slowing down is something my family has MADE me start doing and although it was a weird feeling at first, I've realized sometimes it's not all that bad lol. Move it Shake it is my favorite!! Hearing that music makes me even more excited and happy to be there in that moment. But, I'm so bummed that Celebrate a Dream Come True parade won't be going on when I'm there but anxious for the new one! Oh and so funny that Peter made your mom crow!!

Thanks!! it was a great trip!!

Move it Shake it has such an amazing soundtrack its all so high energy and is amazing! Lol.

The new parade will be SO AWESOME! I'm actually super excited for it!

 

[katt789]

I made my way up to the podium and Be Our Guest to check us in for dinner, I’m sure we were right around the right time to be there, and check in was seamless and nice and easy. I requested to be put in to Shelly’s section, and the cast member said that she would do what she could, but there were no guarantees. Oh well…. I also noticed the cast member beside her was definitely one of the ones from the “Disney Family Video 3” one of the “bosox” one’s we should all know because they’re amazing. When they’re going through asking the CM’s what the best part of working there is and then there’s one that says “I like makin magic” and then it goes off into a “making magic” part, yeah, totally saw her, and mentioned it to her. Turns out that she has had people creepily come up behind her and whisper in her ear “I like makin magic…” #creepy….







We waited on the bridge for under ten minutes, and then our buzzer was going off and we were headed into the beauty of a castle!



The greeter seating us asked if we had been there before, how the day was, you know, the usual, and then started to say “you will have the special experience of dining in….” and I knew what was coming, we were definitely being put in the West Wing….cool…but not my favorite. I dunno what it is, but I don’t really feel the magic as much in the WW, I mean, the ballroom is so gorgeous and wonderful and amazing that I much prefer to eat there. I hoped it was because Shelly would be serving us, and that it would all be okay, but who knew?



The cast member sat us and said “and your server Mark will be around in a moment for drink ordered” ….derp…that’s not exactly the same…. Oh well, we were still at BOG, and it was going to be a magical experience as per usual, right?! I also noticed the little Lumiere on the back of the menu’s!





Our table was one table away from the portrait, and we had a pretty clear shot of the enchanted rose from there too! I also was quick to explain to Mom and Anne to watch both of those things when it would start to “storm” in the Wing!





Mark was around quick enough to take drink orders for us, I got a glass of the Riesling, while Mom and Anne both got chardonnay, because hey, when you can have wine in the Magic Kingdom, you do! He started us off with some buns, and took our dinner orders within a few minutes.



It was somewhere in there that I noticed we were RIGHT beside Shelly’s section, and I mean, DIRECTLY beside our table was a table of hers…so close…clearly they had tried. By the time we actually noticed each other it was a little too late for her to transfer our table over to her, but since she had a trainee that night, she had a little more time to chat, which was super great! We caught up for a bit and then our food was coming out, so she left us to eat and said she’d pop by in a bit!

Mom had decided on the Layered Ratatouille, which I’ve always been interested in, so I knew I’d be trying a bite lol!



While Anne and I both opted for something that was brand new to the menu as of that day! They had added a “Herb Crusted Lamb Rack” and it was obvious that’s what I was getting. It came with veggies and celery root, so after getting Mark to explain what the heck that was, I asked if I could get the mac and cheese for a side instead.



Anne stuck with the original menu options, but I didn’t bother grabbing a picture of hers. So, what did we all think? Well, the lamb was absolutely incredible! It was amazingly tender, juicy, flavorful and just all around the perfect meal to end the day with! It came out with a gravy on the side, but it was so delicious and juicy that I didn’t need to add any of the gravy!

As for the ratatouille, it was great! Veggies were all cooked nicely, presentation was wonderfully done, and Mom even ended up eating the onions she said she was going to end up picking out! I tried a bite and liked it, I think I’ll probably get this next time, lol.

We finished up our entrees and after the plates were cleared it was time for the dessert cart to come around! I had heard that they had recently changed a few things, and that the Grey Stuff was now an official menu item, so I was torn, do I get that, or do I get a delicious cupcake?!?! When it came down to it, I decided on the Strawberry cupcake again;



While Anne got the Tropical Fruit Cream Puff:



And Mom ended up with the Grey Stuff;



Dessert was great as always, I was seriously noting a lack of sweet tooth on this trip, as the cupcake was almost too sweet a few bites in this time around! Clearly things are changing with my tastes lol! I tried a little bit of Anne’s cream puff and it was good, a definite interesting mix of flavours, but it was nice and light and yummy. The grey stuff was of course delicious, it came on a little oreo cookie like crust that was good.

Some point during dessert Shelly came over again to check up on us and made a comment to me “what? No grey stuff??” To which I explained that there were too many choices, and how was I supposed to pick a cupcake or the grey stuff, and I missed the days where it would’ve come out for Anne and Mom’s birthdays anyways so I would’ve gotten it anyways. Well, a few minutes later, Shelly came back with this:



My own little plate of Grey Stuff with MICKEY SPRINKLES! This girl’s the best, seriously, always the best. I thanked her profusely and we continued to catch up a bit. We had originally been planning on meeting up the day earlier at POFQ as I had brought her some Canadian treats, but she had gotten held up with a tour and some work stuff she’d been doing, so we had to make up for that! Mom and Anne talked a bit with her about the trip and Mom was more than certain to thank her for “taking me under her wing” so to speak, lol.

Just a little bit of backstory as I realized there are probably people who have no clue what I’m talking about, last September, Mom, Paige (the bff) and I dined at Tony’s, where we had Shelly as a server. The experience was amazing and we kind of made friends with her, and she told us she’d be moving to BOG when it opened finally. Come Feb, Paige and I are having dinner there and spot her, immediately pull her aside and somehow she remembers us and we catch up. We exchanged facebooks and numbers and now have been keeping in contact a whole lot, we’ve explored celebration together and she’s just always such an amazing human being and I’m insanely grateful to have met a friend like her!

Anyways, with dessert over, it was time to start really taking a look around, I mean, we were in the forbidden West Wing, there were so many things to explore!! But first:

Cost:
Riesling: $9.00
Chardonnay: $11.00 x2

Ratatouille: $ 17.49
Lamb Rack: $28.49 x2
Grey Stuff: $3.99
Cupcake/Puff: $4.19 x2

Total Meal Cost: $117.84
We Paid: $31.00 plus tip.

Food 5/5
-Everything was amazing, the buns were still warm and crispy, Ratatouille was cooked very well, Mom ate veggies she thought she wouldn’t, Lamb was perfection, the mac and cheese on the side had a couple of dry bits around the outside but was otherwise perfect. Desserts were great, and the menu had a ton of options/variety. The wine was great, the Riesling is a more sweet wine, but it went perfect with what I wanted and was delicious!

Ambiance4/5
I much prefer the ballroom to the West Wing, and when in the WW, you get the “thundering” and such so often that it does kind of get annoying, it’s a much more magical experience in the ballroom, but hey, we were close to Shelly so it was worth it

Service: 3/5
-Once ordered, our meals were super quick to come out, but everything else, including the drinks took a while. I’ve definitely had better service here, but that’s something that will change hourly, lol!

Would we go again; Of course!!

 

[katt789]

The first stop I made while Anne and Mom finished off their coffees was right up against the railing by the enchanted rose, if you turn to your left, you can see a little Hidden Mickey up in the curtains!



It came time to say goodbye to Shelly, and we made plans to meet up later in the week, possibly at MNSSHP, and I told her I’d be in contact with her for sure! She also said that if we had the chance, to watch Wishes from back in the expansion, it would be worth it. We thanked her for the tip, and then headed out into the ballroom.





I pointed out how it was “snowing” outside to Mom and Anne!







Yeah, I was certainly not ready to move on, this place is too pretty. I know a lot of people are all “I don’t get the hype” or “everyone said you HAVE to go here, and it wasn’t my favorite” but I really think it’s about the whole experience. Sure, the food may not be the greatest on property, or you might end up with a not great server, but the whole thing, from entering the castle, seeing the ballroom that you saw IN A MOVIE, and the West Wing, and everything is just so magical, the whole thing comes to life in front of your eyes, it’s awesome.

I noticed that the little study off to the other side was opened tonight, which was weird to me, I’d always seen it closed off at dinner, and thought that it would SUCK royally to be stuck in there at an ADR, like, that would just disappoint me completely to be in there for dinner!







We slowly made our way towards the exit, and I pointed out the Hidden Minnie up in the clouds that Shelly had pointed out to Paige and I!



And of course, the one last stop before we left had to be to see the master of the castle, the Beast himself!! Apparently I went in first, I think the others might have been putting down their bags or something, but it was super adorable cause the Beast just started dancing with me and it was magical and awesome and I loved it!



And of course Mom made some comment like “that’s it? You’re a competitive ballroom dancer?!” Oh Mom, there’s a time and a place….lol. Funny.





The Beast was glad to hear that our dinners and desserts were great and that we had had a lovely evening dining with him and hoped to see him again, and we made our way out.







I’m so incredibly glad that they decided to recreate that window for BOG, it’s so pretty!!

Night had made its way into the kingdom while we were eating, I will say, dinners always seem to take a while in there, but hey, it’s nice to get inside and take a little break for a bit, the one big thing I like about doing sit down meals. Main Street Electrical Parade was due to start relatively soon, so we made our way closer to the Frontierland end to attempt to find a spot, which proved to be difficult….we eventually ended up walking down the street, and then getting cut off, so we looped back THROUGH the shop by the hall of presidents, and behind and around Sleepy Hollow until we could sneak in to some spots right by where they paint the umbrellas!









Yay!! It was a fun parade as usual, I do wish that they could do something a little more exciting, but I’m not complaining, it’s fun, and the music keeps ya dancing! Thankfully, once it had passed, we were able to just walk across the bridge and find a place for Celebrate the Magic/Wishes easily!



There’s just something so magical and amazing about sitting in front of the castle in the evening, it’s still super warm out, and I’m just completely content and happy. The view’s incredible, the music is awesome, and it’s purely magical. I seriously don’t have a single picture from Celebrate th Magic as I was taking video and you know, trying not to cry lol, but of course it was amazing. I will never be able to get through it without crying, especially the Walt quote, it’s just too much!! Arrg! My feelings!





Speaking of my feelings and how they were being torn apart by magical and emotional Disney things…we come to Wishes. Everyone knows that Wishes is a love of every Disney nerd and even those who aren’t super big nerds. They’re classic, they’re lovely and they’re magical, it’s all about dreaming, wishing, making a wish, and then working for it to come true. Wishing and dreaming really can over come anything, and magical things can happen. While I was standing there watching Wishes, I knew that I had skipped an opportunity to go to an audition that very day, I knew that my wishes could be coming true, but it wasn’t something that I was concerned about, because I’d had the most magical and fun filled day with Mom and Anne and that was fantastic enough. There would be other opportunities to audition again, but you can’t recreate a magical day.

As the crowds dispersed, we slowly strarted to make out way out of the park, I did stop in to pick up my MNSSHP ticket for the next night that I’d put on “will call” Mom and Anne were just happy to find an empty bench in Guest Services! Lol. It did take a little bit, but it was the cast member’s first time doing it, so I wasn’t too worried, I thanked him, and we made our way out of the park at 10:53! All in all, a fantastic day!

Somewhere in the last half our of park touring, Mom had suddenly realized that she had lost her hat! She’d taken it off at Be Our Guest, and said it was under the table. I immediately texted Shelly to see if anything had turned up, and she said she hadn’t seen anything, but to check with MK lost and found at the TTC the next day to see if it had turned up!

Ups;
-Meeting Peter and Mom crowing with him
-Seeing my Stilts friend!
-The Winnie the Pooh ride!
-Main St Electrical Parade
-Aurora being so fantastic
-Shelly!

Downs:
-Sore feet!
-Feeling the heat during Dream Along

Food of the Day
-Lamb from Be Our Guest
-Mango Gelato from Cosmic Rays

At the end of every day I did try and ask Mom and Anne what their favorites/not so favorites were, including food, and it was then that Anne went “certainly not that turkey sandwich” bahhaa. We can’t win ‘em all!

Character’s we met today:
-Peter and Wendy
-Chip and Dale
-Goofy
-Donald
-Ariel
-Belle (kinda lol)
-Rapunzel
-Aurora
-Cinderella
-Beast

Dismeets of the Day!
-Monkey!
-Courtney and Chris!
Both completely unplanned! Yay!
-Shelly? Lol You could call it that, right?

 

[Pluto0809]

Sigh..... BOG, I just love that restaurant so much. Can't wait to eat there again in February. I hope I haven't built my family's expectations too high for eating there, I think it's all I talk about to them!

One thing that cracks me up ever time I see a picture of that window of Belle and the prince, did they have to make his pants flesh colored? It looks like he is not wearing any pants!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Love that I get my Disney fix thru all your trips...

And I just noticed your ticker that I'll be getting more Disney fixes!!

How did I miss the big announcement that you're going back in 2 weeks??? Who's traveling with you this time???

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK, so I got a FP lunch for BOG in December since I figure I have to try it at some point. Since it's quick service I imagine it's more of a find a seat that's available type of thing. But if given the choice you would pick the ballroom? It looks like that's the one with the snow. I plan to look in each obviously anyway, but the snow falling one sounds neat-o. Also... does Beast meet during lunch too????

Wishes is obviously perfect and flawless so nothing I can add there!! Except I can't wait to see it again in 2 weeks!!!!