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

[DisneyFreak06]

Oh and if you make it to the East Coast (think Rob in Halifax and me in PEI) this is what you can see:



Feel free to click on the picture and see some more pictures. Just make sure to come in the summer so you don't see this:



I purposefully made the pictures small since I didn't really want to hijack your TR!

 

[emmysmommy]

Congrats to Emmy! The ring is beautiful.

I love your trip reports.

I am from Canada (Vancouver, BC) and also struggle not to cry while Eva Avila sings.

I thought I saw somewhere that you have an April/May trip planned? I will be in WDW May 3-10th (not in the parks until the 4th). Am I actually going to be in WDW when the famous emmysmommy will be?

Hi there KittyKatty! Thank you for the kind comment!

Ahhh I've been to your neck of the Canadian woods! At least Victoria BC. We saw the famous Empress Hotel and the parliament (?yes?) building and the harbor. It was a great day there.

I want to download that song since it is so lovely and of course it reminds me of Epcot!

Yes, you read right. I'm in WDW from the end of April to the 8th. I'm traveling with my DH this time and no Emmy but I'll be there with another couple of Dis friends. You'll have to say hi if we run into each other or if you know you'll be in a certain park on a certain day let me know!

Thanks for joining in and reading!

So exciting and crazy that Emily is engaged! Her ring is gorgeous!!!! Congrats to her and you!

I know, right? Thanks Rachel. You are sweet.

I'm so behind in reading your trips reports but I knew I had to stop by and see what all the commotion was about. How exciting that Emily is getting married. Sounds like your family is very excited about it. I loved planning my wedding and it was a great time in my life. I hope it is extra special. And, I think you'd be the coolest Grandma to have in the world (not that I'm suggesting they have kids yet... they should wait until they are ready)... A Disney grandma would be like heaven.

Now, back to your reports... I need to catch up...

UGH... about the maid washing one cup in the dishwasher. Seriously, I know they have more rain in Florida but that is wasteful. Thank goodness we got some rain in Northern California TODAY (it is still dry but better than before). It looks like a really good one for the foothills. I did learn the other day Southern California gets their water from Colorado. I did not know that until I connected the dots with the Hoover Dam. LOL...

Thank you! We are thrilled to be able to plan a wedding...sometime next year maybe.

Ha ha! I could be a grandma from my other kids that have been married for a number of years but thanks!

We were supposed to get some rain mid week too but it didn't happen. I think you guys hogged it all! We do need it though. I think we get water from the Colorado river and the Sierra Nevada snow melts... I had to google that since I knew the CO river was a source. You made me curious and now I'm smarter than I was 3 minutes ago!

Hello!! I am still here!!

LOVE BLT...hopefully we will be staying there in the next few trips!

Congrats to Em on her engagement! I'm glad that you guys will still be taking your mother/daughter trips! They seem so special! I'm also curious to know if Jordan has been to WDW?!

Hi Kimmy! Glad to still see you here!

Seeing as how you are a new DVC owner I'd say you are pretty luck to be able to select a resort to stay and just pay points! BLT is a great option. One of my favorites.

Thank you! We are thrilled. Jordan has not been to WDW. He's a Disneyland regular since they have APs for the local parks.

Ok... just a tip if you DO decide to become an honorary Canadian: Not all of us eat poutine (I do, on very rare occasions!), not everyone can speak French (oops, I can do that too) and we measure in imperial sometimes too! EEEK!

Hahahaha

I am torn in the rain, if I have a poncho with me, I might wait it out for a bit, but a lot of times I head out too. So I totally understand!

Ha ha! Glad to know that poutine is not a requirement. I'd do much better now. I just may fit in after all if I brush up on my French.

I am rather a rainy weather wimp so if in doubt we just head in. Plus it gives a break in the day that we need since we usually have late dinners and some later park times. The older I get the more attractive naps sound!

Coming out of lurkdom...

First, congrats to your daughter! I was married at 21 to the man I met and began dating at 16. Everyone thought we were crazy and too young, but here we are 13 years later with a beautiful family, a great life, and I couldn't be happier. I wish nothing but the best for her!

Second, I just love your TR! We were at Disney and saw you in Epcot at La Cantina de San Angel. I wanted to say hello but never got up the nerve.

Hi TinyCheeks (Kelly)! I'm so very glad to see you joining. Thank you for letting me know that you are reading.

THANK YOU for sharing your story and those encouraging words. So sweet of you.

Oh my gosh!!! That was from our December trip. Awww you should have said hi, I would have loved that! Did you see me making faces from the churros and caramel sauce we had just tried? Oh man, if you saw us being goofy that is too funny. I loved eating inside that place.

Thanks again for joining in.

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh and if you make it to the East Coast (think Rob in Halifax and me in PEI) this is what you can see:



Feel free to click on the picture and see some more pictures. Just make sure to come in the summer so you don't see this:



I purposefully made the pictures small since I didn't really want to hijack your TR!

Ha ha! yeah, I don't think I would get much touring done in that much snow. Considering I am cold when it's 55 degrees (Fahrenheit) I'd not do so well.

I peeked at your Disneyland photos too. I remember you have fabulous photos of DL in your TR - really awesome! You must have been on a slow day with a 20 minute stand by for Peter Pan!

Thanks for sharing those great photos.

They have fall season cruises that go to Halifax. Now that I've seen more of the area I'm definitely interested.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Ha ha! yeah, I don't think I would get much touring done in that much snow. Considering I am cold when it's 55 degrees (Fahrenheit) I'd not do so well.

I peeked at your Disneyland photos too. I remember you have fabulous photos of DL in your TR - really awesome! You must have been on a slow day with a 20 minute stand by for Peter Pan!

Thanks for sharing those great photos.

They have fall season cruises that go to Halifax. Now that I've seen more of the area I'm definitely interested.

Halifax is a city, but if you could get a tour to somewhere outside of the city (nothing against Halifax, I like going there, but it's really a small city, similar to other cities... LOL) I would suggest Peggy's Cove, which should be about an hour or so (a little less) from Halifax. The regular Haligonians would have a better idea for tips for you.

You're always welcome up here though, I'm sure that there are many of us that read your TRs.

 

[emmysmommy]

Sunday August 25, 2013: Day 10, Part 3​

We didn't have far to go on the monorail as we got off at the second stop ...

Dinner at Kona Café was wonderful. I’m a fan of their bread, steak, rice, and broccolini. Yep, that’s everything that I ate there that night. Please go ahead and feel free to read about it here.

Waiting for dinner....

I have to say, even if Disney dining isn't your thing.... behold this lovely bread at Kona Café that is absolutely heavenly! Slather some of that macadamia nut butter on it and a little sigh of delight will escape your lips!

After dinner, we knew we were going to head to MK for EMH (until 1am) after dinner. However, we had to find the boat dock first so we could get there. On the way we split up and lost each other. I was taking photos of the resort and the pool area while Em kept walking. I didn’t have to report her as a lost child but we did go in circles trying to find each other. We couldn’t do the Marco Polo thing because we were by the pool and certainly someone would have responded and confused us. (Cell phones only work when someone is paying attention… just saying!) Seriously, it wasn’t a big deal to have her lost for that 2 minutes!!

When we finally made our way to the beach/pier Wishes was starting. Hey, this is on my Must Do list – see Wishes from the Poly beach. It was a very cool perspective to see it unobstructed that far away. However, soon after the fireworks began the boat showed up to take us to MK. I’m going to give credit for marking this off the Must Do list since I didn’t say that I had to see the entire fireworks show from the beach. My rules and all!

It takes great skills to capture this blurry photo from the Poly beach of Wishes!

Our boat skipper was great. He had the timing of the show down perfectly so stopped for the finale before we docked so that we could get some photos. Very nice.

Finale

It was a mass exodus of people from the park so it was difficult getting in and up Main Street. Even though we had perfect timing seeing the finale of Wishes from the boat, it was the opposite of perfect timing in trying to make it anywhere up Main Street.

Pardon me, excuse me

We made it by Plaza Restaurant and parked ourselves at the rail for the Celebrate the Magic projection show on the castle. Although I’m sad that they no longer have Walt’s famous park open speech from DLand (“To all that come to this happy place welcome”) the quote that it all started with a mouse is pretty awesome! The show is so beautifully done.

Cinderella on her castle

My favorite part... the lanterns from Tangled

Whoa, I was wrong. THIS is my favorite part....Remember that it all started with a mouse.

Continued Next Post
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[emmysmommy]

Sunday August 25, 2013: Day 10, Part 4​

Next...a spin on Peoplemover was in order. I was getting annoyed that it goes so fast that I couldn’t get any good photos but not fast enough that it would be considered a thrill ride! You people who are lucky enough to see Space Mountain lit up because it is down – I’m still envious. I’ve yet to see this for myself! Perhaps there is a conspiracy amongst the Diser community to make this stuff up and the joke is on me??

Lookest thou over there... madest thou look!

Speaking of Space Mtn, I went solo since Em wouldn’t go on it again after riding it the other day. I wanted to at least ride it once to cross that off my list. I have to agree with Em, this version of SM is very jerky. I had to hold on tightly to my bag the entire time since I didn’t feel it was secure enough.

Goofy ride photo

Next up, Tomorrowland Speedway where Em is always the driver, I video tape and we both joke and wise crack about everyone’s driving the entire time. There are usually a few Ricky Bobby Talladega Nights quotes as well

We were loving EMH since we were knocking out the rides with little to no wait. Winnie the Pooh was a 10 minute wait and that included trying to whack a gopher. The stand-by time was off by about 9 minutes!

A CM was clearly remiss in leaving this handy dandy "Pooh Merge" device laying around. It looks like they can call 100 Acre wood with that thing.

View of the Mine Train construction...

Side note: as of today, it looks like there is a Media event at the end of April so perhaps we will see a soft open while we are there during that time??

Continued Next Post​

 

[emmysmommy]

Sunday August 25, 2013: Day 10, Part 5​

Moving on to New Fantasyland. I believe this was our first visit to NFL at night. I love how it photographs at night with the back lighting.

We started with the Ariel ride. it's the same exact ride as at California Adventure with the huge difference of the fabulous queue in WDW. In DCA's defense, the building that they used for the attraction used to be a theater for Golden Dreams so I have to cut them some slack.

Poor Scuttle, he's such a loveable character!

Deep breath, we're going under!

I love the genius behind that perspective!

Happy turtle!

A fishy conga line

Ariel is now the same at DCA. When the attraction first opened she had "soft serve" hair. Due to fan criticism Disney replaced Ariel with the same version as MK that is more floaty hair. Here's a link to more from Inside the Magic.

On the whole I've been a saint...

Kiss the girl

Nice abs

We then went next door to say hi to Ariel with her fins at her grotto. Gotta love EMH for NFL when the crowds are light and the lines are practically non-existent. There were 3 groups in front of us so it was about a 5 minute wait. Ariel was adorable and so worth that wait!

Continued Next Post

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[emmysmommy]

Sunday August 25, 2013: Day 10, Part 6​

Since there was virtually no lines due to EMH, we may as well hit up all the attractions in NFL so we moved over to Belle’s cottage for EtwB.

Inside the cottage for the short wait...The CM was providing some interesting trivia regarding the theming of the room. He had some of the kids looking for objects in a quasi eye spy game.

They had the magic doorway already open. Is that new or did they just get lazy and not do the magical door opening? If we hadn't already seen the "magic" of the door I may have been disappointed.

Now that we’ve seen EtwB a few times I think I’m over it. I love Lumiere but honestly, I’m tired of making galloping horse sounds with my hands on my legs and of yelling “Surprise” for Belle. And I’m certainly not buying the fact that Belle walks around the Beast’s castle all the time in her ball gown. I know she has her little blue dress in her closet.

Behold our adorable Beast!

The park was now closed so we made our way to the exit and walked back to BLT. We were “home” by 1:30am.

Ahhh so pretty at night!

THE door! I had to take a photo in passing!

Bay Lake Tower lobby

Being completely exhausted we fell right to sleep with barely a good night to each other.

Continued Next Post

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[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wow! You got so much done during that EMH!

I have to agree with you about Space Mountain. I like the DL version a whole lot more just because it's such a smooth ride. I think MK's SM is more equivalent to DL's Matterhorn in terms of its jerkiness and likelihood to cause concussions

I'm predicting that the soft opening for the Mine Ride will begin in the next couple of weeks. Or at least I'm hoping! For New FL, they did the Media Day the day before the official opening date and after a month of soft opening activities. In any case, we can't wait to go on it in October!

 

[smile4stamps]

Hmmm.... I wonder who it was that wasn't using their cell phone?!? I tend to remember someone always having it in their bag and not paying much attention to it lol.

Do you think there is any way we can squeeze in seeing the Magic Memories and You show!?!? I have no idea where since we have so many dinners planned a bit on the later side...

I've never met Ariel in her fins! Always such a line when I've been there!

Awesome pictures of everything that night! Looks like you had a fabulous EMH! And being able to be "home" and sleeping that quickly is awesome!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Soooo, we were in EMH at the same time that night with you!! No sightings of us in your photos, however!

You got a lot done in your short time there that evening. We were in Tomorrowland to start our EMH and ended at Pooh and TTA! Just missed you!

I will live vicariously through the rest of your TR now that I have finished mine.

Loved your photos in Little Mermaid. We were in DL the year it first opened in DCA. We had early entry and were able to ride that without a line. Sooo glad we didn't have to wait in a line. I think I would have been disappointed. It's cute, but not a "wait in line" kind of cute.

Never have had dinner at Kona. That will be on the try it list in 2015. Hoping Poly is all done by then.

Can't wait to see where you head off to "tomorrow".

 

[natebenma]

Loved your review of Kona Café for dinner (and I skipped ahead to breakfast, too- you know I love it!)

I'm surprised to hear that you had such a wait to be seated. The restaurant is never very busy when we are there, but we are at off hours (11:30 breakfast, 5 pm dinner)

Nate orders the steak there and loves it.

I have to say that waiter did you a favor! We ordered the pineapple upside-down cake last time we were there and his description was right on!

Your nighttime pictures of the Poly are gorgeous. I love the one with the matrix-like lights.

When we finally made our way to the beach/pier Wishes was starting. Hey, this is on my Must Do list – see Wishes from the Poly beach. It was a very cool perspective to see it unobstructed that far away. However, soon after the fireworks began the boat showed up to take us to MK. I’m going to give credit for marking this off the Must Do list since I didn’t say that I had to see the entire fireworks show from the beach. My rules and all!

Our boat skipper was great. He had the timing of the show down perfectly so stopped for the finale before we docked so that we could get some photos. Very nice.

Sounds like what we have here is a redneck Wishes cruise! People pay big bucks for this experience!




Great view for Celebrate the Magic. I love that Peter Pan shot!

TTA/Space Mountain- not to rub it in or anything, but on one of my first trips to WDW, Space was undergoing renovations and I have pictures of the ride! Predigital, so I have no idea where those pictures are. The 8th grade class trip from our school often does the Y.E.S class where they ride Space with the lights on and off, but we didn't do it the year I went with Nate. We did Stitch instead!

So let me get this straight... You went on the WDW Speedway voluntarily??? I know, mother-daughter tradition and all... Actually sounds like you have fun. And it must be much better at night, with no line to get on. I can't get past the HOT queue line and the diesel smell.

Fantastic pictures of New Fantasyland at night!!!

In the picture of King Triton, his triton looks like a dinglehopper.

Wow, really cool picture of the train station through the castle!!! Bet you can only get that shot late at night when everyone else has gone "home"

 

[TheMaxRebo]

bummer about the wait for Kona but glad you enjoyed the eventual meal. The bread / butter there is heavenly. Oh, and the best dessert to get there is .... the bread pudding from 'Ohana (if you ask nicely they will get that for you)

I think that totally counts as watching Wishes from the Poly beach - and great "Finale" photo from the boat!

The "it all started with a mouse" seen from CTM always gets me - from that moment of brilliance on the train (plus Walt being talked out of calling him Mortimore) to what we have today and what Disney and the parks mean to so many people is pretty amazing

I don't think I have ever seen Space Mountain lit up while riding the people mover, but have watched on Youtube POV ridethroughs with it lit up. Actually is probably more scary with the lights on as all the tracks and supports are so crammed in there and on top of each other and totally looks like you will hit something

Even on non-EMH hours I feel like one can get a ton done in MK after Wishes! but EMH even enhances that

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

whew, you got a lot posted all at once.......yuuuuuuuum, breeeeeeaaaaad!!!! we aren't eating at Kona at all but we might have to go back, just for that! It looks delicious!

Looks like you guys had a great night with the EMH. I LOVE all your pics! it makes me so excited to go!!!!!

 

[Carable]

I just love your use of the EMH! I used them for the first time for a solo gig on Mother's Day last year and couldn't believe how much I could fit in. Hoping to maybe do something similar on our April trip, there is something magical about that time. You guys certainly got a ton done that evening. I share your feelings about ETWB, it isn't even on our plans this next trip.

I unfortunately couldn't swing a West Coast trip this spring break...but I'm hoping maybe next summer. I MUST get back to Disneyland and the beautiful SO CAL weather.

Looking forward to seeing what else you check off your must-do list!

I also haven't given my official congrats to Em, what an exciting time for you guys!

 

[khaleesi]

So Toronto is closer than Syracuse. I've been to Syracuse among other NY cities but never been as close to the border as Buffalo.

It was a very attractive cupcake....they didn't fail in making it look appetizing! Eat all that frosting and you will have a blue tongue my friend.

Speaking of girl trips... another one just booked. Details to come...

Distance-wise it's closer... 100 miles vs 150. Depending on the border crossing and where you're trying to get to in Toronto, it can take a LONG time to get there! We went to a Blue Jays game for my birthday last year and sat on the exit ramp for close to an hour and a half! It was brutal.

YAY for another trip!!!!!! So glad I can live vicariously though everyone!!

I love this picture!!!

That's awesome that the boat driver stopped so you could watch!! But swimming upstream with all those people looks... painful. A practically deserted park makes it all worthwhile though I would guess!!

It's very interesting to me that not only did people take the time to complain about Ariel's hair, but that they actually changed it because of the complaints!

 

[klacey1]

I'm so jealous of your EMH experience! Any time we try to do pm EMH in the MK, the lines are ridiculously long! You guys got so much done!
I love, love, love the queue at Under the Sea. The way it looks, smells, the extra touches, everything. I know a lot of people aren't a fan of the ride itself, but I think it's an adorable dark ride. Certainly better than Snow Whites Scary Adventure!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

"I was taking photos of the resort and the pool area while Em kept walking."

Nonetheless, the photos are simply gorgeous Brenda. Wow.

Poly Peach Wishes is still on my to do list, but as far as I'm concerned, you did that and plussed it. You had pretty much a Wishes cruise!

I'm with you. I so miss “To all that come to this happy place welcome” (brilliantly cut there since the next word was "Disneyland"). I often wonder how many people think he gave that speech at Magic Kingdom.

Oh yeah, Space Mountain in DLand is FAR superior in every way. Unless you're a fan of headaches, then WDW wins.

Yeah, it's sounding like a May opening of the Mine Train. I guarantee it'll be open for Memorial day weekend, so soft opening early May (if not sooner) are VERY likely you lucky duck.

Haha, I remember the soft serve hair backlash.

Oh I don't like that the doorway was open. That's kind of the best part.

I expect you will have a picture of "the door" each trip from now on. If not, you should.

OK... this is spooky. Like REALLY spooky. Here's a photo I took in December... Hello Twilight Zone.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We went to ETWB for the first time on our last trip. When you use a fp you miss that first room. Some day we'll have to go standby just so we can see it. We had a little girl in our show that was wearing the blue dress. She looked like a young Belle with her dark hair pulled back with a big blue bow. It was adorable and I think Belle needs to appear in her blue dress more often.

Fantasyland really empties out just before Wishes starts. We were able to walk on Barnstormer without a wait. There is no way I would wait in line for that 30 second ride.

I hope you get to ride the new mine train ride when you are there in late April. Maybe they will even have the fast pass system upgraded a little to give more fp's per day. there are rumors that Disney plans to make some changes once testing is over.

 

[micandminforever]

Once again I am loving the pictures. The Magic Kingdom at night is always filled with extra magic with the addition of the lights and your pictures really capture that magic.