Bibbidi-Bobbidi-DEUX our own kind of marathon ~ A Nov '14 TR ~ Updated 11/2 ~ THE END

[khertz]

The Frozen meet looks like so much fun! I'm hopeful we can get FP+ for that, as I'm not willing to brave the standby line. That's for the birds! All of the pictures are great, but I really love that Elsa held back Jorie for some special photos. How sweet!

Okay, the shoe dilemma made me giggle a bit. I can't imagine how much that got on your nerves, after all of the outfit planning that I can guess goes into your trip planning! And then that lady in line had to go and say something... Bad form, lady!!! I will say, in the pictures you can't even really tell. I wouldn't have known if it wasn't pointed out! Adorable pictures from that meet as well!

Popcorn is a perfectly acceptable Disney dinner.

Ugh, the gridlock between parade and Wishes...Been there, done that. It's miserable. But thank goodness you had those double strollers! The picture of all 4 kids passed out is priceless!!

 

[merbobear]

I don't think it's selfish to let the kids sleep in the stroller while you still enjoy the park! Not one bit! One of my favorite nights in MK, Adison (my dd..she was 5 at the time) fell asleep while we were grabbing a late QS dinner, so we put her in her stroller. We walked around the park for a couple of hours, just looking around and taking pictures, had a dole whip float, caught the late showing of MSEP. She slept through it all! Afterward I realized that we had been in mk for the entire night and hadn't gone on a single ride, because we just spent the night pushing her around in the stroller and enjoying the atmosphere.

 

[familyabgar]

I finally got back on here and am all caught up! So much fun! So you next trip is in February 2016? Will you be using DVC points?!

 

[Hawkeyegirls]

I hope your still going to continue doing this trip report! This is my favorite one to read

 

[TruLovesKiss]

I hope your still going to continue doing this trip report! This is my favorite one to read

Thanks for checking in! Oh my gosh I can't believe that I haven't updated since JUNE!!!! I'm SO sorry guys!!!! Don't worry, I haven't abandoned this trip report....I have all intentions of finishing it up, I just need to find the time. Donovan, Jorie & Isla started back at school yesterday so hopefully things will calm down a little around here and I can get back writing. I promise that an update will be coming soon.

 

[Grace W]

Enjoying your trip report! Still only in the beginning!

 

[Grace W]

When I last left off, we had just finished up our lunch at Be Our Guest restaurant and had headed to the lockers to switch our outfits.

There were some special sisters that we were hoping to meet…. so we made our way to Arendelle, err Princess Fairytale Hall.





The stand-by wait wasn’t too bad…only 110 minutes so we decided to get in line. J/K!!! I had totally scored us fastpasses within seconds of our FP+ window opening back at our 60 days. Yeah you should have seen that happy dance!! It was a little of this



…and a lot of that



(and then I laid awake in bed too excited to sleep! Lol)

Anyway……so we scanned our Magic Bands and literally walked right into the meet & greet, whoo hoo!!!

Anna was first and look at her reaction. Priceless!!!






For the life of me I can't remember the conversation that was going on here. (I really should have taken some trip notes, right?!)



Before the group photo, Anna said that she had to fix Jorie’s cape…. and ya know, she's really good at that because she always has to fix Elsa’s cape.







I’m bummed that my camera’s pics all turned out blurry and the kids aren’t all looking in the Photopass pics, grrrr!







And then it was time to meet the Snow Queen herself….



The kids were just a little excited!

Love this! We scored fast passes too! I think I am the most excited in my group and I am 20.. ha.

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Enjoying your trip report! Still only in the beginning!

So glad you're here!

Love this! We scored fast passes too! I think I am the most excited in my group and I am 20.. ha.

Anna & Elsa fast passes are definitely something to be excited about!!!

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Now that Summer is winding down and I have 3 kiddos back in school, it’s time to get movin’ along with this trip report. Now where were we?

Day 7 - November 12, 2014

You may remember that we scheduled a Disney Vacation Club information session for early this morning. I’ll skip all of the details here... long story short….a van picked us up outside the Contemporary and we headed over to Saratoga Springs resort. Donovan, Jorie and Isla hung out in the kids club, which they LOVED and still talk about all the time! while Joe and I (with Bronwyn in tow) learned all of the details of DVC and had a tour of the villas at the Grand Floridian. So, SO beautiful! We instantly fell in love and ended up buying points!! Whoo hoo!!!

The proud new owners of Disney Vacation Club!



We celebrated with some ice cream compliments of DVC. Yum!







When we were finished our ice cream, a chauffeured van drove us over to Epcot. We had missed our morning Fastpasses, but no worries we were able to reschedule them and were also each given 3 extra FPs that we could use anytime during the rest of our trip.



Boy did it look empty without the Food & Wine festival signs that were there just a few days before.





First stop, Spaceship Earth!



While we were boarding, I was worrying about getting Bronwyn safely into the vehicle and situated and I guess I wasn’t paying much attention to Isla who was busy choosing our language. Yup we listened to the whole ride in German, lol!

In our future, Isla went to a board meeting…



and Donovan got to meet his doppleganger!



We spotted a restroom, so we made a quick stop and of course a change of clothes was in order. The kids protested because we hadn’t made it over to The Seas while we were all wearing our Nemo customs, haha I wonder who they take after?!



At this point we split up because we had separate Fastpasses. Jorie and I headed to Mission Space, while Joe took Donovan, Isla and Bronwyn on Journey into Imagination with Figment.



I let Jorie choose which line we entered. She asked the CM what the difference was between the two and he said “Intense” or “Real-ly Intense”.... and without hesitation she picked ORANGE! I usually don’t have a problem on rides but after passing about a dozen warning signs, I was actually a little apprehensive for this one!

Ready for our mission to Mars!! Or were we?....



At one point, Jorie had gotten upset when she couldn’t reach the button on the dashboard. (You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ridden this ride before) I reached over and pressed her button for her. Afterward she thanked me because “Mommy, we really could have crashed!”

So what did we think? We LOVED it! It was one of the most thrilling rides that I had been on in a loooong time! And Jorie said it was the “Coolest Ride Ever!” We both give it an A+


After our ride in space, we met the others at Club Cool.





The kids had fun trying the different soda flavors and then I had them try the Beverly!



They were clueless on this one and I couldn’t wait to see their reactions. [insert evil laugh here Mwahahahaha!]







Hahahaha Those faces are too funny!!


Joe tried it too….



What a goof!

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Next we headed over to the Mexican Pavilion.



We had a 2:30 “Linner” reservation, but first we got in line to meet Fiesta Donald.







Donald loved the outfits!



Fiesta!









So much fun! We then headed inside the Aztec pyramid and checked into San Angel Inn.



Such an amazing atmosphere.



We felt as if we were sitting under the stars. So cool!



We ordered our drinks. Joe had a Dos Equis.



I had asked about an Avocado Margarita even though it wasn’t on the menu. Our waitress was able to have them make it for me at their lounge, La Cava del Tequila.



Tequila, Midori melon liquor, and fresh avocado mixed with fresh lime juice and agave nectar syrup, served frozen with a hibiscus Himalayan salt rim. Creamy & refreshing. It was delicious!







I ordered the Arrachera con Chilaquiles (bad pic - it was so dark)


- New York strip with chilaquiles (layers of fried corn tortilla, green tomatillo sauce, topped with queso fresco, onions, and sour cream), served with black refried beans

and Joe had some kind of pork dish with mole sauce that he really liked and we ordered Kid's meals for the kids.

For dessert, we ordered the Crema Bavaria


- Creamy bavarian mousse served with mixed berries, cinnamon, orange liqueur and vanilla sauce

Pastel de Queso con Cajeta


- Cheesecake with caramel sauce "cajeta"

and Churros!



Yum!! We definitely left with full bellies. Mexican food is always a favorite in our house and everything that we had here was excellent.



Then we headed over to the Grand Fiesta Tour, there wasn’t a wait so we walked right onto a boat.



View of San Angel Inn from Grand Fiesta Tour:











I’m not sure why, but this ride makes me so happy! It’s just so adorable. I’m pretty much giddy the whole time I’m riding it.





The kids pressed some pennies and we did a little shopping in the pavilion before we headed out.

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Next, we headed toward Canada. From a Facebook message, I knew someone was in the park that day, so I kept my eye out for her and wouldn’t ya know I found her.

Look who…. Katt! (katt789)


My first ever “real” DISmeet!!! We only chatted for a few minutes since she was heading on break and I didn’t want to keep her long. It was pretty neat to finally get to meet a DISfriend in person.

We hung around Canada for a little and watched the Lumberjack show.




Meh… it wasn’t really holding our attention and we figured that our time would have been better spent elsewhere. So we moved on.




We made it to France and I knew that I wanted to check out the stores. We did a little shopping and then this caught my eye.




Oh my gosh, we had to go in!

We decided to customize a Croque Glace.

Fresh brioche...



Salted Caramel ice cream...



Chocolate sauce…



All pressed together to form one pretty amazing ice cream sandwich!



Are you drooling yet?



Oh my word, it was heavenly! And literally gone within seconds between the 6 of us sharing it (and believe me this thing was huge!)

Then we continued our stroll around the world. I had promised my girls a Pick-a-pearl in Japan on our last trip and we never did make it there. So they were thrilled when we entered...



We took a number for the pick-a-pearl and browsed around the store while we waited for our turn.

After about a half hour wait, our number was called and we headed up for our turn. Now when we arrived, there was a random little girl up at the counter front and center. Now wouldn’t you think that her parents would have her move out of the way so the family who was partaking in the said "Pick-a-Pearl" could actually pick their pearl? Nope…. she stayed there the WHOLE time barely leaving enough room for Jorie and Isla... and poor Bronwyn didn't even have enough room to squeeze in. Joe ended up having to pick her up so that she could see. I was beyond annoyed. What’s with people? Urg!! SMH
Anyway...

The girls each chose an oyster from the tank.









It was such a fun performance. The Cast Members were so enthusiastic and make the whole process very exciting with drumming and loud counting. The girls had a great time and were thrilled with their new pearls. We chose not to have them set in the store since I had bought Cinderella carriage necklaces on Ebay to put them in…. but my plan backfired when all three pearls were too large to fit in them.

 

[TruLovesKiss]

We had a Fastpass time coming up so we headed to The Land!

Once inside, we grabbed a Rider Switch pass and Donovan and Joe used their FP+ for Soarin’.



While they rode, the girls and I picked up some snacks at Sunshine Seasons to share. Some fruit & cheese and of course some sweet treats.

Because we hadn’t had enough sugar already…



And it would have been a crime to pass up trying their famous Strawberry Shortcake!



Yummy!!!

Then it was our turn to ride Soarin, while Donovan and Joe hung back with Bronwyn. (It will be so nice when we are all tall enough to ride together!)

Jorie, Isla and I still had our last FP+ to use…. but we still had a bit of time before our 8:00-9:00 window, so we headed over to The Seas.



We got in the queue for the Nemo ride and all of a sudden Jorie exclaims “OOOOOH Wait, we can’t ride this yet...we’re not in our Nemo clothes!” Oh boy. LOL!! I assured her that it would be just fine to ride wearing the clothes that we had on. hahahaha







We had just enough time to fit in a Turtle Talk show which was just as hilarious as the first time we saw it.





Then we headed across Future World to Test Track and grabbed a Rider Switch pass. But actually, Donovan wasn’t really interested in riding and I wasn’t really feeling it either. We had had a very FULL day, I was beat and the thought of two rounds of Test Track seemed like it would take an eternity. So I told Joe to use my Magic Band and take the girls on while I found something else for Donovan and Bronwyn to do.

The girls had fun designing a girly car that was “super fast!”





We decided to ride Spaceship Earth (this time in English), which was a walk-on and then found a spot to sit on the steps of Fountain View to wait for the others. I could hear some fireworks and knew that IllumiNations was starting but I was feeling exhausted and couldn’t find the energy to walk closer to watch it. Whomp, whomp.

Joe and the girls found us after their ride, and with the lights and sounds of IllumiNations behind us, we headed out of the park... and took the monorail back to our hotel.

On our walk through the Contemporary lobby, I noticed that they had made some progress on the Gingerbread display.


Lookin delish!

This is how it looked the night before.



I was excited to see the finished product and was hoping that it would be done sometime before we checked out. (a little bit of foreshadowing here, maybe? )

We got back to our room and all hit the hay. Feeling as tired as I did back in Epcot, I was really looking forward to finally getting to sleep in the next morning. Yay!!!!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Amazing! Love the atmosphere of San Angel. And your meal sounds delicious. Cute pics with Donald too. An awesome Epcot day all around

 

[missangelalexis]

Congrats on purchasing DVC points!

Love those Beverly faces!

So awesome that you got to meet Katt.

Sounds like a busy but fun day!

 

[Hawkeyegirls]

Yay an update! So since you all have been in Sept and November, which did you prefer? I went last November and loved the Christmas theming but thinking of trying late Sept for Halloween type events, but cant decide because the Christmas castle is the best!

 

[AllysonL]

Great update!! Your kids are adorable!!

 

[Rmurphy005]

Are you drooling yet?



Oh my word, it was heavenly! And literally gone within seconds between the 6 of us sharing it (and believe me this thing was huge!)

That looks incredible, i have never heard of this before.

 

[annegirl]

Looks like such a fun day!

 

[MrsJamesPSullivan]

I'm behind and trying desperately to catch up but I have to say you have become my favorite family by meeting my favorite character *and my favorite princess! It makes me sad that Sulley (and Mike) don't seem to be a priority any more and Merida I guess isn't fancy enough for a lot of the little girls.
On top of them you got to meet Peter! I'm officially jealous!
How cool that your girls got to be part of FotLK! Years ago mine were picked to be King and Queen of the Jungle and opened the old Tarzan show. My youngest is now a freshman in college and my son will be 22 in a few days and they both still talk about it.
Back to reading!

 

[khertz]

How awesome that you bought into DVC! DH and I are contemplating resale right now. We are using our upcoming stay at AKL as a test run to see how it goes and if it seems worth pursuing further.

Jorie is quite the little daredevil! DS definitely isn't, at least not now, so I can only hope DD will be when she gets bigger! Not gonna lie, I panicked the first time we went on the ride and it was just DH and I. I kept wondering what would happen since there weren't two other people to hit the buttons!! lol

The reactions to Beverly are just priceless!! That stuff is just so nasty!

Oh wow, that ice cream sandwich looks like heaven!!

I am so looking forward to when DD is old enough to do pick a pearl! I hope it's still there by then. What kind of settings can you do in the store?