Oh Florida! An East Meets West Girl's TR: 8/9 p56 & 8/17 p57

[Dugette]

So excited to have breakfast in the castle in May! Never been in there, but you guys are helping me know what to look forward to.

Bring in Gaston!

How awesome would THAT be?! Can you imagine how hard that ADR would be to get?

 

[MEK]

MEK -

Nice pics of the opening show.

Thanks! We got there in perfect timing to get a great viewing spot.

Now stop that, you look great next to the Princesses.

Awww thanks Scott. I just wasn't prepared for how tiny they were. It's crazy.

That Crepe looks good.

Believe me, it was super yummy!

I do have to say I have no desire to eat there and I like Princesses and Queens.

Cynthia -

Nice to see you kept with traditions. LOL.

Love the pic with Cindy.

Me too! That was fun!

Nice pics.

I agree. The PP pics turned out really fun.

Fantastic to read the two different 'voices' of the same moments. Love the princess shots.

Thanks. It is fun to have two points of view. Plus Cynthia is good at correcting me when I make stuff up that I can't remember.

Haha, if I look closer I do see the coffee and the laptop on the porch, but mostly I see Mickey Heads. I think I might have a problem.

You and everyone else on the DIS boards! Just sayin!

I just love the welcome show. No disrespect to Smokey the Fire Cheif, but seeing Mayor Weaver do the open just makes me smile. Plus I want his job.

Who wouldn't want his job? Seriously! That's a great job!!!!!

As I mentioned In Mary Ellen's update, I will have no problem handing in my Man Card to eat in the castle just once. Especially at a table with a view like that.

I fully accept because Ariel is my favourite.

She is so super cute, isn't she?

Did I miss something Mary Ellen? I thought you were staying at VWL in December? Did you switch to VGF? I read something on another TR that's making me question my memory.

Oh crap - Did I write somewhere that I was staying there in December. I meant February. I only WISH I was staying there in December. I am staying at the VWL. Which I am happy about because ever since I bought that contract I have been wanting to stay at Christmas time. My bad.

And thanks to you ladies I booked CRT for my October trip, I'm taking a friend that hasn't been to WDW in 22 years. Dinner at the castle will be a nice experience for her. I hope.

Oh - it's going to be wonderful. She is like a newbie. You totally HAVE to eat in the castle. And you're going for food & wine? NICE!!!!

 

[MEK]

Finally catching up.

Yay!

I now want to go eat in the castle for breakfast....right now! Looks really good.

That always happens to me. I see food on someone's TR and I immediately want to go to that restaurant. It's a disease I'm telling you!

Glad you finally got to get in there Mary Ellen. My BIL actually loves it and requests to go each time they go...of course he usually chimes in last minute so it's not always doable.

I am too. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we went.

Too funny about your BIL. He must think you have some magic up your sleeve to get an ADR there last minute.

So excited to have breakfast in the castle in May! Never been in there, but you guys are helping me know what to look forward to.

I hope you get the exact same table. I know you are going to love it. Can't wait to hear what you think.

How awesome would THAT be?! Can you imagine how hard that ADR would be to get?

That would be seriously awesome. I would totally go back for that!

 

[MEK]

ATTENTION - IF YOU HAVEN'T READ CYNTHIA'S LATEST UPDATE ITS ON PAGE 27. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK IT OUT!!!!!

In my last update Cynthia and I had just finished an amazing breakfast at Cindy’s place. But what’s next on the agenda.

Well, let’s see.

We made a brief stop to view the festivities









I was hoping for a DIS meet today. I knew amazingact21 (Alicia) and her family were going to be in the park and they had an ADR at Crystal Palace. I texted her (or she texted me) since we were all done with breakfast. She had Landon at the baby care center outside CP. So we headed over to meet them.

And here’s proof -



Now you can pretty much tell that Landon was not long for his mother’s arm and before long he was set free with Alex chasing him around. SOOOOOOO cute!

It was so great to meet Alicia, Alex, and Landon. And how great that I got to meet them again in February!

So where to next?

(I’m telling you I am just letting the pictures tell the tale)

I guess I took this picture because I wanted to show the lovely wall blocking the view.



Hmmmmmm - what a view!





There, that’s better.

Not!



There was some serious destruction going on here





Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh



Looks like we made a stop at Space Mountain



Sorry Cynthia - You are blurry!



After Space it appears that we went to check out the Mine Train



We knew our dates were dangerously close to the possibility of soft openings. Unfortunately, no soft openings for us. That wouldn’t be so bad except for THIS….

There ARE people on that train!



Who ARE those people?



Why Cast Members Of Course!

And they look like they are having an awesome time!



Can you say JELLY?????? Ouch. That hurt!



But no time to dwell on our misfortune or poor timing or whatever you want to call it. We had an errand to run. A former DISer (I’ll call her former because she doesn’t post on the DIS boards anymore) had just lost her grandmother. It was sudden and completely unexpected and coincided with a solo trip she had planned to the world.

So in true DIS fashion another former DISer started an on line collection. Our DISer decided she would still carry on with her trip, after initially canceling it. She would be arriving the next day (I think?). Cynthia offered to take the money and buy her a Disney gift card. But not just any Disney gift card. We were on the search for one with a specific theme.

Here’s a hint



You see our DISer has a fascination with pirates. So Cynthia purchased this cute little ornament and a pirate themed gift card.



I wish I had a picture of the gift card because it was super cute. You’ll just have to trust me on that!

The more I get into these pictures, the more I am pretty sure I didn’t edit them. Oops. I’ve got a photobomber head in this one.









CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[MEK]

I don’t have any pictures of the inside of Pirates. Is it possible we skipped it? Was it down? I have NO clue!

But my next picture is here!



Or was it here!



Holy picture out of ordeness!

Suffice it is to say - we rode BOTH. But in which order I do not know. Does it matter?

Let’s take a ride on Big Thunder, shall we?













OMG! I just LOVE this ride!





Can you imagine how expensive it would be to build this ride now?























Did I mention how much I love this ride?????

Up Next - More Magic Kingdom and Lunch with the Beast!

 

[Tracy161]

Yay for your meet up with Alicia, Alex, and Landon. My gosh is Landon adorable!!! Wow! You saw them again in February?!

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love that this guy is chilling by himself and walking around sporting his ears. GO DUDE! That's exactly what's supposed to happen at Disney.

Wow. This lantern shot is absolutely beautiful!!! I just love everything about it. Good work, Mary Ellen!

I love all the Big Thunder shots you took! This was my favorite ride as a kid and is still near the top of my list (darn getting older and not appreciating being jostled around quite as much as when I was a kid... not to mention my motion sickness problem ). But I still do it and still love it!!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I love not only that you stopped for the Main Street show, but it looks like many others did as well. Yay!

Awww YAY DISMeet with Alicia and Landon and Alex!!!

Why Cast Members Of Course!

And yet another reason why I want to be a Cast Member.

I so love what you all did for that former DISer!! What a sweet story and what a lovely and seemingly perfect gift.

The yarn. Wow. I swear I actually took the same photo. But there was a very important reason. But what a coincidence.

 

[Dugette]

It was so great to meet Alicia, Alex, and Landon. And how great that I got to meet them again in February!

How awesome that you've gotten to meet up with them a couple times!

We knew our dates were dangerously close to the possibility of soft openings. Unfortunately, no soft openings for us. That wouldn’t be so bad except for THIS….

There ARE people on that train!

Aw, SO close, yet so far.

Suffice it is to say - we rode BOTH. But in which order I do not know. Does it matter?

Well, riding Splash after Thunder does help you dry out...

Ouch, riding three across in there has to be uncomfortable!

 

[MEK]

Yay for your meet up with Alicia, Alex, and Landon. My gosh is Landon adorable!!! Wow! You saw them again in February?!

Yes - Our trips overlapped twice. It was really cool to see them twice. And Landon is just the cutest. I would be exhausted chasing him around all day.

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love that this guy is chilling by himself and walking around sporting his ears. GO DUDE! That's exactly what's supposed to happen at Disney.

I totally agree. There is such a freedom there to be and let one's inner child come out. I do love that!

Wow. This lantern shot is absolutely beautiful!!! I just love everything about it. Good work, Mary Ellen!

Thanks!

I love all the Big Thunder shots you took! This was my favorite ride as a kid and is still near the top of my list (darn getting older and not appreciating being jostled around quite as much as when I was a kid... not to mention my motion sickness problem ). But I still do it and still love it!!!

I love Big Thunder. It's the best. It's so well themed and it really rocks at night. Ugh to the motion sickness. Glad you still love it despite that.

I love not only that you stopped for the Main Street show, but it looks like many others did as well. Yay!

Well OF course they did. There is something so irresistible about all the street performers in the parks.

Awww YAY DISMeet with Alicia and Landon and Alex!!!

It was so much fun to meet them and see Landon in person. If you think he's cute in his pictures he is even cuter in person.

And yet another reason why I want to be a Cast Member.

I hear ya!

I so love what you all did for that former DISer!! What a sweet story and what a lovely and seemingly perfect gift.

It was Cynthia who generously agreed to take on the shopping expedition. I just tagged along, but it was great that we could do that for her.

The yarn. Wow. I swear I actually took the same photo. But there was a very important reason. But what a coincidence.

I know I have taken that exact picture before. I just love the colors and it makes a fun picture.

How awesome that you've gotten to meet up with them a couple times!

It really is. Landon is such a cutie! He is even cuter in real life than in his pictures!

Aw, SO close, yet so far.

Tell me about it!

Well, riding Splash after Thunder does help you dry out...

Goog point.

Ouch, riding three across in there has to be uncomfortable!

I was actually thinking the same thing.

 

[PrincessInOz]

More great DisMeets! What a cute boy Landon is.

Fantastic rides on the Mountains. What a shame the Mine Train wasn't opened to the public. It looks like a lot of fun.

What a great thing you did for that former Dis-ser.

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh crap - Did I write somewhere that I was staying there in December. I meant February. I only WISH I was staying there in December. I am staying at the VWL. Which I am happy about because ever since I bought that contract I have been wanting to stay at Christmas time. My bad.

Over on Alicia's TR. Hopefully I didn't misread it and am messing things up. But YEAH for February!!!! VWL is so gorgeous at Christmas time. I know we already talked about that but it really is.

Oh - it's going to be wonderful. She is like a newbie. You totally HAVE to eat in the castle. And you're going for food & wine? NICE!!!!

It's going to be a whirlwind of a trip. She also HAS to do Universal for Harry Potter. So we're doing two days at Universal and three days at WDW. I'd like it to be longer but she can't take off any more time from work or her kitties.



Great new update Loving all these pictures. The street performer's outfits are so cute!!!

And that was so nice of you guys to pick up a giftcard for that lady. I'm sure she really appreciated that.

I forgot to comment about the train tour you asked about on the last update. I haven't done the train tour specifically but I thoroughly enjoyed the tours we have done. We did the Backstage Tour and the Wild Africa Trek. I'm sure you'd get a very cool history of Walt and the trains and get to see them up close. I've thought about the train tour several times. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

now really, you didn't think I was just out taking pictures did you?

Perish the thought!

I've only seen the opening show a few times but it certainly never gets old!

Agreed! The train really makes the show.

Once seated...Oh the VIEW!

It was seriously the best table in the house. We felt so lucky but you know, in thinking about it, I bet there aren't a lot of parties of two that go there and that may have upped our odds.

the leaded glass though made it a little hard to take pictures that did the view justice

That looks like a fantastic spot!

I was hoping for a DIS meet today. I knew amazingact21 (Alicia) and her family were going to be in the park and they had an ADR at Crystal Palace. I texted her (or she texted me) since we were all done with breakfast. She had Landon at the baby care center outside CP. So we headed over to meet them.

Excellent DISmeet!

Hmmmmmm - what a view!

Um...yeah...

We knew our dates were dangerously close to the possibility of soft openings. Unfortunately, no soft openings for us. That wouldn’t be so bad except for THIS….

There ARE people on that train!

What the...? No fair!!

Holy picture out of ordeness!

Suffice it is to say - we rode BOTH. But in which order I do not know. Does it matter?

Probably not. We know the drill at this point.

Can you imagine how expensive it would be to build this ride now?

I don't even want to think about that. Admission might break the $200 mark!

 

[Leshaface]

Love the border on this!

I adore Olivia's. It is one of my family's favorite spots and had really been looking forward to it. My kids have gotten the grits twice. The first time Evan got them with something else and absolutely couldn't make a dent in it, they are so rich. Second time he learned and he and Eric split a salad, some onion rings and then the grits.

I've had bites of theirs but had never ordered my own before, always opting for crab cakes I think. Which, for those who know me is right up there with fish tacos as a go to item if it's on the menu. Generally I don't eat a lot of shrimp. I like it but there are just other things I like better. I do however, LOVE grits and the reality is I really ahdn't eaten all that much over the course of the day (for me anyway lol) and I was hungry!

I really want to get into grits, really I do, but I just can't get past the texture! I've always heard so much good things about them I decided to try them at a Cracker Barrel in PA one year, and they really did not taste good. Maybe it was their grits that didn't taste good and are better other places?? I don't know.

Every time I see the mayor, I always think of @emmysmommy and how hands on he is!

Looks like I was intrigued by this girl’s shirt. It looks like skin irritation just waiting to happen. Not to mention its rather see- through.

I have a few of these shirts and gotta set the record straight for this lady - you're either supposed to go bra-less or wear a decorative bandeau, usually it's that latter. Grossness alert: My back sweats the most of all places, , so these shirts are heaven for me. For reals! It's also less embarrassing because it doesn't show sweat spots

We were seated at a table for two with quite possibly the BEST VIEW EVER!

Uh, definitely the best view ever!

How cute, they did match!

Seriously - she was hysterical. I have no idea what she whispered to me, but clearly I found it very funny!

Aw love this photo of you laughing!

Seriously - I knew the princesses were super tiny, but I didn’t realize until I stood next to them how huge I was going to feel.

Please stop now. You're beautiful!

May I present Lobster and Crab Crepes - warm cheese-filled crepes topped with spinach, sauteed lobster, and blue crab meat with a poached egg perched on top and draped in Hollandaise sauce

Because it with my birthday (and because eating like this isn’t enough for breakfast), I was presented with the birthday cupcake.

YUM!

Cupcake for breakfast is the correct way to celebrate for sure!

Yeah - We Bad!

now really, you didn't think I was just out taking pictures did you?

Facebooking I see

Still. It WAS coffee, I WAS on the back patio/deck and I WAS in WDW on Vacation!!!!!!!!!! These are magical things.

We practiced our princess pose!

Cute!

Love this one!

This one is definitely my favorite of you two! You both look totally happy and in your element

I was hoping for a DIS meet today. I knew amazingact21 (Alicia) and her family were going to be in the park and they had an ADR at Crystal Palace. I texted her (or she texted me) since we were all done with breakfast. She had Landon at the baby care center outside CP. So we headed over to meet them.

And here’s proof -

Fun Dismeet!

Ick.

Why Cast Members Of Course!

And they look like they are having an awesome time!

They're so lucky!!!

Cool perspective. You always have the best photos.

Told you! Always have the best pics!

 

[franandaj]

When will you be there in December? I am going to be there from the 4th to the 8th.

We are on the Dream from the 7th to the 11th and then at WDW from the 11th to the 16th, so I'll just miss you.

Looks like a great morning full of DISmeets and coasters!

 

[afwdwfan]

So we headed over to meet them.

And here’s proof -

Great Dis-meet!

I guess I took this picture because I wanted to show the lovely wall blocking the view.

Um... it's big. And green. And, well, I'm glad that they've got it done. Can't wait to see it all!

We knew our dates were dangerously close to the possibility of soft openings. Unfortunately, no soft openings for us. That wouldn’t be so bad except for THIS….

There ARE people on that train!

That's no fair!!!!!!

The more I get into these pictures, the more I am pretty sure I didn’t edit them. Oops. I’ve got a photobomber head in this one.

That's alright. I don't think I've ever edited a single picture that I've uploaded for a TR.

Let’s take a ride on Big Thunder, shall we?

You don't have to twist my arm.

Did I mention how much I love this ride?????

Not as much as I do!

 

[MEK]

I'm at work tonight, so replies tomorrow when I can get back to my own computer.

 

[MEK]

More great DisMeets! What a cute boy Landon is.

Landon is adorable and he is even cuter in person, if you can believe it.

Fantastic rides on the Mountains. What a shame the Mine Train wasn't opened to the public. It looks like a lot of fun.

We weren't expecting it to be, but then again we weren't expecting to see it open for CMs only. THAT was rough!

What a great thing you did for that former Dis-ser.

Well, Cynthia took ownership and there was PLENTY of behind the scenes help with that. A lot of people from what was once referred to as "DIS town". I miss those days.

Over on Alicia's TR. Hopefully I didn't misread it and am messing things up. But YEAH for February!!!!

I'm sure you didn't misread it. I probably just had a brain block because I had originally tried for Christmas and didn't want to waitlist. February isn't going to be too much later so I am fine with that. The points are much higher than the fall, but its all good. Denny loved the place so how can we NOT go back?

VWL is so gorgeous at Christmas time. I know we already talked about that but it really is.

I really am excited to spend Christmas time there. All of my stays had been during other seasons. This is going to be very magical. Plus we haven't visited at Christmas since Nick was a junior in high school. It will be 4 years.

It's going to be a whirlwind of a trip. She also HAS to do Universal for Harry Potter. So we're doing two days at Universal and three days at WDW. I'd like it to be longer but she can't take off any more time from work or her kitties.

Wow - you are going to have to start training for getting up early. That sounds like so much fun. You know - sometimes the short trips are the best because you just power through and you really appreciate every moment. Very fun!

Great new update Loving all these pictures. The street performer's outfits are so cute!!!

Aren't they?

And that was so nice of you guys to pick up a giftcard for that lady. I'm sure she really appreciated that.

She was quite happy about the gift card and so were we. Getting a gift card in her #1 theme was definitely appreciated.

I forgot to comment about the train tour you asked about on the last update. I haven't done the train tour specifically but I thoroughly enjoyed the tours we have done. We did the Backstage Tour and the Wild Africa Trek. I'm sure you'd get a very cool history of Walt and the trains and get to see them up close. I've thought about the train tour several times. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

I've done KTTK and the Wild Africa Trek. I also did the segway tour in Epcot before it was canceled. They were all great. I guess my hesitancy is it IS August and even though it starts early in the morning, it could still get nasty hot. I know its not all outside so I'm sure I am just being a baby.

 

[glennbo123]

Caught up! So funny that I just read your dinner at Olivia's post when you had shrimp and grits, just after posting my lunch at Vic's.

Wow, that lobster crepe at Cindy's breakfast looks phenomenal!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Great updates ladies! Cynthia, I have to agree with you on the boring mug shot. I mean mug picture. It's just a bit plain compared to your usual mug pictures. But, as you said, at least it was a boring mug at Walt Disney World!

The pictures of you two at Cinderella's Royal Table are adorable! I love the different faces....smiling, perplexed, laughing out loud. Love that you two could have so much fun at what most don't typically think of as an adult place to dine.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, gals. Cynthia, I love your dress and you and MEK are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad.

I'm glad you got to meet Alicia, hubby and Landon.

It doesn't matter which order you rode them, you have pictures that proved you did ride them. I LOVE Big Thunder...it's a must do every trip.

I remember when you all got the Gift Card and pirate ornament for TarzensKat.