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

[JulieODC]

What a great morning! Gorgeous sky, yummy pancakes, Mickey, and some classic MK rides!! Doesn't get much better!

 

[Lisann]

What a great morning! Gorgeous sky, yummy pancakes, Mickey, and some classic MK rides!! Doesn't get much better!

I couldn't agree more.

 

[JessM]

What a fun morning!

I need to get over to the Kona Cafe for that amazing breakfast everyone is always talking about!

Mickey is so adorable in his classic outfit, so cute!

Ahhh the Haunted Mansion, you got so many awesome pics! I swear every time I go on that ride I get more and more obsessed with it.

 

[livsmom04]

Love the updates! We have done F&G twice now and love it. I'm a little sad we aren't going this spring but I'm excited we are going to the F&W this year. And do you know that we have never been to the Backstage Theater there near Tony's Town Square?!!! Guess this year we will have to change that this year. Also we have never eaten at Kona before and we are actually eating there on our next trip.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jordansmama]

Brenda, I just found your TR and am now all caught up! I'm enjoying reading all about your great mother/daughter trip. Congratulations to Em and Jordan on their engagement!!

 

[Linda67]

Great MK morning Brenda - probably made all the better with breakfast fuel from Kona
Too funny, your comments about the multiple TRs you have lined up !!

 

[momabbate]

For some reason when you made the comment about the sunrise pictures, I started thinking of the time difference. It is amazing you get up that early every morning. (I get up early too. I just don't have that big of a time change.) I hope to get out of the room for some sunrise pictures. I just have to knock Chris out first. He gets upset at home if I get up to get coffee to early.
With all the pictures of those pancakes we might have to do a Kona breakfast. I think I will have them hold the nuts, but that butter with pineapples sounds amazing.
Love your MK pictures. Your HM pictures look great. I am glad I am not the only one that watches other kids.
Can't believe you have you still have another trip to write about. Wish I had that problem.

 

[klacey1]

Great update! I love the color of your top/shorts-- looks great on you!
Soooo funny to see the rider control panel! Disney is using good at hiding that stuff!

 

[emmysmommy]

You night pictures are just gorgeous. If you were going to pick only one meal at Kona, which would you choose, breakfast or dinner? I probably know the answer, but thought I'd throw it out. I'm also trying to decide which character breakfast (with characters from Mickey and Friends) I'd want: Tusker, Cape May, or Chef Mickeys. If you have an opinion, feel free to weigh in.

If we do go next Feb, it will be during President's Day week. I'm a teacher in MA, so our trips have to be planned around my vacations. I know to expect crowds. The one concerning thing is the FP+. We stay offsite in my parents' timeshare. If I'm understanding correctly, we can't book ahead other than day of, and the lines to the kiosks are very long. I wish they would do the same as ADRs, and do 190 days for onsite guests and 180 for offsite. Not that I want to plan my rides like that way anyway, but if that's how it is, then I wish I could do it ahead of time rather than waiting in a line to do it.

I don't think you will be shocked to see my preference would be BREAKFAST at Kona. From your choice of character buffets Tusker House would be my choice. (Then again, I've not tried Chef Mickey's) I prefer the safari characters at TH versus the beachy characters at Cape May. And the buffet is HUGE at TH. So many choices.

You never know, Disney may start allowing off site guests to book FP+ for a price. They will sell a MB fro $12.95. Since crowd levels would be high President's Week it would be nice to have more options. The weather is very nice in February at least.

Happy planning for next February!

What a great morning! Gorgeous sky, yummy pancakes, Mickey, and some classic MK rides!! Doesn't get much better!

Hi Julie! Nice summary.

I couldn't agree more.

Me too!

What a fun morning!

I need to get over to the Kona Cafe for that amazing breakfast everyone is always talking about!

Mickey is so adorable in his classic outfit, so cute!

Ahhh the Haunted Mansion, you got so many awesome pics! I swear every time I go on that ride I get more and more obsessed with it.

RUN over there! You don't want to have life pass you by without trying breakfast at Kona one day.

Mickey and his tux tails and little yellow bow-tie is very dapper!

HM definitely holds my attention with all the details. Plus the fact that I'm always looking for differences between MK and DL.

Love the updates! We have done F&G twice now and love it. I'm a little sad we aren't going this spring but I'm excited we are going to the F&W this year. And do you know that we have never been to the Backstage Theater there near Tony's Town Square?!!! Guess this year we will have to change that this year. Also we have never eaten at Kona before and we are actually eating there on our next trip.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Hi Charlotte! Thanks, I'm looking forward to F&G again... this time with food booths.

I would say going to WDW during F&W is a great consolation for not going during F&G.

No Backstage Magic Mickey yet? You must try it.. talking Mickey adds a whole new dynamic to that meet and greet. If you end up with Mickey wanting to do a card trick for you just shout out Ace of Spades and see what he does.

PLEASE expand your horizon's and dine at Kona! You'll thank me!

Brenda, I just found your TR and am now all caught up! I'm enjoying reading all about your great mother/daughter trip. Congratulations to Em and Jordan on their engagement!!

Hi there jordansmama! Welcome and thank you for joining!! I'm so glad that you are here and reading along.

Thank you for the congrats! I see the name Jordan is familiar to you.

Great MK morning Brenda - probably made all the better with breakfast fuel from Kona
Too funny, your comments about the multiple TRs you have lined up !!

Hi Linda! Any day that's started with Kona is sure to be good!

Well, I mention those TRs but you don't see any new threads started yet! It's all wishful thinking until I actually do something.

For some reason when you made the comment about the sunrise pictures, I started thinking of the time difference. It is amazing you get up that early every morning. (I get up early too. I just don't have that big of a time change.) I hope to get out of the room for some sunrise pictures. I just have to knock Chris out first. He gets upset at home if I get up to get coffee to early.
With all the pictures of those pancakes we might have to do a Kona breakfast. I think I will have them hold the nuts, but that butter with pineapples sounds amazing.
Love your MK pictures. Your HM pictures look great. I am glad I am not the only one that watches other kids.
Can't believe you have you still have another trip to write about. Wish I had that problem.

Hi Sandy! I know, I never sleep in Disney huh? It is usually around 3:30 my time when I awake. However, I will say that I typically acclimate quickly in WDW. It doesn't mean I'm not tired most days by 8pm! I just keep going and drag myself around for those last few hours.

yeah... traveling with my hubby will be far different than Em. He's not an early riser - especially on vacation.

I'm happy to offer a PSA for Kona Café with promoting those pancakes. I hope Disney thanks me! Your preference is actually how I've been ordering those pancakes for awhile. I just get the regular pancakes with the toppings for the pineapple topping and macadamia nut butter. All put together - AMAZING!

Yeah... I probably wouldn't have another TR in the queue if I would move faster with this one.

I'm so glad to see you still sticking around and hanging in there with this one.

Great update! I love the color of your top/shorts-- looks great on you!
Soooo funny to see the rider control panel! Disney is using good at hiding that stuff!

Thanks Kylie! Check out Forever21 and you'll likely see that top!

No matter how much Disney tries to hid their secret control panels - when you have a nosey guest they don't stand a chance of staying hidden!

 

[emmysmommy]

Monday August 26, 2013: Day 11, Part 3​

Next up was something that will be marked off of my Must Do list. Remember way back in post #3! I'm still tracking those Must Do's that are waiting to be crossed off my list! Right up there at number one on the list – ‘sail on the Liberty Belle at MK.’ Yes, we were finally going to take that 17 minute journey and sail around the Rivers of America. It happened to be docked and boarding so the timing couldn’t have been better.

While I went up on the top deck to take photos, Em had no desire to stand in the blazing hot sun while the boat circled Tom Sawyer Island. She stayed down on the lower level to enjoy the shade while I ascended the steps to the top to enjoy the panoramic view – and endure the heat!

I stood under the steam stack for much of the circuit around the island. At first I was wondering why there were tiny sprinkles falling only on me. It took me a few seconds to figure out that it was the droplets from the puffs of steam. Ok, with that mystery solved, here’s some photos of our sailing:

A tower!

A castle!

A raft with people immigrating to Tom Sawyer Island!

Alligator Swamp!

Wilson's Cave Inn. I had no clue what this was so I googled it and found an informative Disney blog that had some information regarding the story behind this interesting set piece. Check it out here.

I was glad that we were able to mark that off our Must Do list since there are so many interesting sights and artifacts that you won't see around MK unless you sail on the Liberty Belle.

We went back over to Peter Pan’s Flight to use our FP and found that it was down so we were free to return any time later. Good to know.

We had a lunch ADR at 12:30 at Liberty Tree Tavern coming up but didn’t really have time to do anything that required a wait so we headed back to Liberty Square. The liberty bell was back! We missed it last time. Last trip report I gave a shout out to NY for the 13 original colonies. This time let’s congratulate Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts for joining the Union!

Bonus selfies in each!

It was a bit early for checking in so we browsed the Christmas shop next door. I was fascinated with the princess themed shoe ornaments. However, I was puzzled by Jack Skellington having his own ladies shoe.

We loved that the CM greeted everyone with a Merry Christmas year round! We struck up a conversation with a lovely CM named Kaylea who was doing the DCP (Disney College Program.) I believe that you can tell these enthusiastic young people without even looking at their name tag to know that they are DCP. Kaylea was a theater major aspiring to become a full-fledged CM working on-stage entertainment post program. We wished her the best and left the shop. However, when we stepped outside I realize that we had just had such a great interaction with this young lady that I wanted to add her photo to our trip diary. We often take photos with CMs for which we’ve had a great service or interaction. (Similar to Rob’s CM Around the World adventure!) She was more than glad to pose with us and even removed her bonnet and let down her hair.

We went back next door to check in for lunch at LTT. I’ll be darned! They didn’t ask where we were from like last time when I said Beverly Hills. Maybe they knew that I’d lie so they let that one go. To read about our dining experience that concluded with the same awesome dessert that I always order… read here.

Continued Next Post

​

 

[Wood Nymph]

Next up was something that will be marked off of my Must Do list. Remember way back in post #3! I'm still tracking those Must Do's that are waiting to be crossed off my list! Right up there at number one on the list – ‘sail on the Liberty Belle at MK.’ Yes, we were finally going to take that 17 minute journey and sail around the Rivers of America. It happened to be docked and boarding so the timing couldn’t have been better.

Wilson's Cave Inn. I had no clue what this was so I googled it and found an informative Disney blog that had some information regarding the story behind this interesting set piece. Check it out here.

I was glad that we were able to mark that off our Must Do list since there are so many interesting sights and artifacts that you won't see around MK unless you sail on the Liberty Belle. ​

We took a ride on the Liberty Belle on our January trip since it was just about to sail and we had time to kill before our HM fp. I was surprised to see how many interesting things you can see from the boat. The story about Wilson's Cave is very interesting. I remember seeing it in the movie "How the West was Won."

We loved that the CM greeted everyone with a Merry Christmas year round! We struck up a conversation with a lovely CM named Kaylea who was doing the DCP (Disney College Program.) I believe that you can tell these enthusiastic young people without even looking at their name tag to know that they are DCP.

​

I started up a conversation with a very enthusiastic CM at one of the stores. It was her last day and she had loved her DCP experience. Our son did this program and not everyone has as nice a job as she does. Some of the positions they give the interns are not very exciting. But it is a good experience, none the less.

If we do go next Feb, it will be during President's Day week. I'm a teacher in MA, so our trips have to be planned around my vacations. I know to expect crowds. The one concerning thing is the FP+. We stay offsite in my parents' timeshare. If I'm understanding correctly, we can't book ahead other than day of, and the lines to the kiosks are very long. I wish they would do the same as ADRs, and do 190 days for onsite guests and 180 for offsite. Not that I want to plan my rides like that way anyway, but if that's how it is, then I wish I could do it ahead of time rather than waiting in a line to do it.

Offsite guests can now book their fp+ experiences thirty days ahead of time. They just have to create an MDE account and link their tickets to it.

 

[MEK]

Wilson's Cave Inn. I had no clue what this was so I googled it and found an informative Disney blog that had some information regarding the story behind this interesting set piece. Check it out here.

​

This is cool. I don't think I ever noticed it before. I haven't been on the Liberty Belle for quite awhile but you can definitely get some great pictures from there. Love them all! Now I think I need to make a visit next month!

This time let’s congratulate Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts for joining the Union!


Bonus selfies in each!

These are very cool. I love the way you used them for such a creative photo-op. I may need to copy that!

Fun update! Always good to cross something off the bucket list!

 

[annie170]

I love the Liberty Belle, even though we've only ridden it a couple of times. It seems like it's one of those attractions you never have enough time to squeeze in.

Thanks for the info on Wilson's Cave Inn. Interesting.

Yummy looking lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. We prefer lunch to the gluttonfest dinner there.

 

[smile4stamps]

Hunter and I took a spin on the Liberty Belle on our second trip. He wasn't feeling so well so it was nice to relax. I just wish there was sitting on that boat!

One thing on my bucket list is to visit Tom Sawyer Island. I haven't done that on either coast!

 

[amazingact21]

Kudos to you for being able to cross off a Must-Do from your list. There's usually those few attractions and/or sights that you mean to try every trip and yet you never do.
I'll admit, I have never been on the Liberty Belle before (my baby has, though!) but it looks like there's a lot of interesting sights to be seen. When I saw some of your pictures, they really reminded me of some of Walt's original plans for the parks and what he wanted showcased.



That dessert...wow. It looks delicious.

 

[jordansmama]

I see the name Jordan is familiar to you.

Caught that huh?

Great pics from the Liberty Belle- Congrats on crossing another item off your must do list. I've never ridden it- it's on my list for this August (depending on how hot out it is)

 

[khertz]

It's been too long since we have enjoyed that relaxing ride on the Riverboat! Such a nice respite from the hustle & bustle of the park.

Bonus selfies in each!

I absolutely LOVE these pictures, Brenda!!

However, when we stepped outside I realize that we had just had such a great interaction with this young lady that I wanted to add her photo to our trip diary. We often take photos with CMs for which we’ve had a great service or interaction. (Similar to Rob’s CM Around the World adventure!) She was more than glad to pose with us and even removed her bonnet and let down her hair.

How sweet! I bet that made her so happy that y'all wanted photos with her.

Lovely update! I smiled the whole time I was scrolling through! ​

 

[LuvEeyore]

Great update Brenda!! I may have to put the RiverBoat on my to do list. I don't think Ive done it since 1976!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad you enjoyed the riverboat ride - definitely something that should be done at least once with the items you only get to see on that trip and the unique view of some other attractions

That's cool that they split your lunch into two bowls for you! And both your desserts looked great!

 

[foodrocksluver]

I am an awful person and have lagged behind so badly but am finally caught up. My wedding is in 2 weeks so my head has been elsewhere lately. Thank goodness the DisneyMoon is all planned or else I'd be having a complete meltdown at this point.

I am SO EXCITED for Em. She is going to make the most stunning bride!

I know we are getting close to the point in your trip when you get to visit our favorite dreamboat, I mean, Cast Member

P.S. We needed a reservation for dinner on Mother's Day and my mom chose Tony's. I already briefed Aaron about how I may end up fangirling big time that night