A Winter Escape to the Enchanted Forest-Jan'13 TR:**5/21 Parting Thoughts/New PTR!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Disney Picture #1

I'm starting to make some progress of going through the pictures I took and thought I'd start posting a few of my more favorite ones.

I took this one on our last day at Disney. DD and I were sitting on a curb outside the Emporium waiting for Celebrate a Dream Come True to begin. Then we were headed to the airport. It was a slightly windy day with occasional blusters sweeping through Main Street and I saw this CM making her way down Main Street while pulling her balloons which were being blown back. I loved the way the balloons were being swept back by the wind and the way she was holding them that I had to take a snap.


IMG_7635 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

 

[khertz]

Aw, sorry your character meet fell apart like that, especially after such a long wait! That really stinks, but I guess I can see DD's point. They look big to me at my size, so I can only imagine how huge and imposing they seem to kids! At least the Monsters Inc. meet went a little better though.

That pic of the CM with the balloons is so cool! I have seen them holding them like that before when it's windy but never thought to take a picture.

 

[emma212010]

I love your pictures!!

I've never met the characters over there... that might have to be a must do next time!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Aw, sorry your character meet fell apart like that, especially after such a long wait! That really stinks, but I guess I can see DD's point. They look big to me at my size, so I can only imagine how huge and imposing they seem to kids! At least the Monsters Inc. meet went a little better though.

That pic of the CM with the balloons is so cool! I have seen them holding them like that before when it's windy but never thought to take a picture.

Thanks. I think by our next trip, the kids will be fine with all of the meet and greets. I've made a note to self that we should test the waters again then with a character meal first. I have another picture of the CM that came out a bit unfocused taken from the front and the balloons resembled a parachute!

I love your pictures!!

I've never met the characters over there... that might have to be a must do next time!!

I think the characters available at DHS are one of its strengths. They're so Pixar-centric and a lot of characters you can't see in other parks. In addition to the ones I mentioned, you can also meet the Incredibles. You should definitely check it out in June!

 

[emilyindisney]

Subbing in! I'm interested to hear your take on January crowds, and AoA.

Love the balloon picture! I always see those online and think they're terrific! I keep a Disney bucket list and 'take an artsy balloon shot' is definitely on there for next time

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Subbing in! I'm interested to hear your take on January crowds, and AoA.

Love the balloon picture! I always see those online and think they're terrific! I keep a Disney bucket list and 'take an artsy balloon shot' is definitely on there for next time

Welcome!! Happy to have you onboard!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I've been having a very relaxing Disney and DIS Friday evening. And thinking about our 2014 trip. Yup, I've been putting together a day to day itinerary for a trip that's a year away!

My current big dilemma? Whether we should try Jiko or Sanaa. Both of which would be a first time. Leaning towards Jiko as long as the kids can keep things together for the length of the meal.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Friday January 25th - 11:30am

Once we exited through the gates of DHS it was already 11:30am. Our Akershus ADR was for 12:10pm. Had a dilemma. Do I take the minivan over to Epcot? Or should I take the boat over to Epcot? Decided that the boat might be the better option since it may require less walking and time as opposed to trying to park at Epcot. I turned towards the Friendship boats and saw one docked. I tried to get DD to hustle with me but we didn’t make it in time and the boat left. Another one came in 10 minutes and we were off. The boat ride itself took 25 minutes from the time we left DHS and arrived at International Gateway. It was a pleasant ride with a nice breeze accompanying us. It was 12:08 when we arrived at International Gateway. We scurried halfway around the World (Showcase) and checked in at 12:17. DS took that 10 minute opportunity to start his nap. They let us in with the stroller so that DS could continue to sleep and parked him at our table and out of everyone’s way.

Belle first greeted us at the door and DD was in heaven. She goes into her “princess mode” at these type of events or attractions where a serene smile stays on her face and she glides when she’s walking. DD was wearing her new t-shirt I bought her which had 8 princesses’ faces drawn on it. We sat down and ordered our entrees. Fortunately, our table was not too far from the buffet tables where the appetizers and salads were located so I made a quick trip to get some food for DD while keeping one eye on the kids at the table. When I got back, they were starting the Princess Procession where kids can line up behind a princess and participate in a small parade around the restaurant. DD eyes lit up when she heard the announcement. She jumped off her chair and was the first to line up behind Aurora.

Sleeping Beauty's Princess Procession - with a perfected princess wave!

She followed Aurora once the parade started and disappeared from my view but a couple of minutes later I saw her procession making their way towards our table. She had a big smile on and was doing the princess wave!

Once the parade was over, we saw Aurora making her way across the room getting closer to us. DD suddenly looked at me with panic. “Dad! There’s no Aurora on my shirt! She’ll be so upset!” I hadn’t paid attention to who was on her shirt and who wasn’t. I thought everyone was on there. I reassured her that Aurora would not be upset and that she would be just as happy to see all of her princess friends on her shirt. Aurora came and called DS a “Sleeping Prince!” I joked by saying “It may take a kiss from a princess to wake him up” to which she replied “Yes, a very special princess” and I said “He would be a very grumpy prince if he woke up now”.

Snow White came and we talked about what the dwarves were up to. She said they were busy in the mines looking for some special jewels. Ariel came next and DD told her that she couldn’t wait to try her new ride in the Magic Kingdom. Ariel replied by saying “Make sure to say hi to Scuttle for me. He’ll give you a great tour”.

Finally Cinderella came and she made DD promise to visit her at her castle.

I loved how expressive Cinderella was with DD

The food was decent. I had the Salmon cakes – a slight twist to the usual crabcakes and they were good. Of course, DS woke up right when the dessert plate in family servings showed up. He had no interest in the cheese pizza I had ordered for him. But the two kids devoured the chocolate cake. So let me recap what DS had eaten all day to this point: Some yogurt and muffin in the morning, some chocolates for a morning snack, and a chocolate cake for lunch. I’m such a responsible father.

On our way out of the restaurant, we took our restroom breaks. (You all are probably loving all these detailed restroom reports!) I told DD to go into the women’s room and I took DS to the mens room. A couple of minutes later, I heard my daughter poking her head through the door and yelling for everyone in the restroom to hear: “Daaaaaaaady! The line in the women’s room is toooooooo looooooong and I don’t think I can hoooooold it!!!”. There was one other dad with his son in the restroom and he started laughing. He said it was fine and that he’s been there and done that. I told DD to come in since she practically announced her entrance. As we left Norway, I asked the kids if there’s anything they would like to see in the World Showcase and got a blank stare. All DD wanted at this point was to go back to our resort so that she could buy her pencil case. Did I mention she had been asking me about that case all day?

We took the boat back to DHS to get back into our car. On our way, the skippers of the boat handed some stickers to DD and DS. DS decided to put one of those stickers over his mouth which drew some chuckles from the captains. I joked with them that I don’t mind him doing that at all and getting a break from him! We found our car and went back to AoA. I hadn’t received a text yet about our room so I checked with the front desk and they told me that the room was ready and wasn’t sure why the text had not gone through. So we went back to our car, grabbed our bags, and went to building 4, one of the Finding Nemo Suites buildings. When we got to our room, I flashed our key cars against the lockpad but nothing happened. I tried all five key cards and still nothing happened. In the meantime, DD was now declaring another restroom emergency. I didn’t have the strength to drag all of our luggage back to the main building again with the kids in tow. I saw a manager for janitorial services come out into the hallway so I went up to her to explain what was going on and that I wanted to call the front desk to see if I have the right room. She saw DD doing her “I can’t hold it much longer” dance so she opened the door to our presumed room and I used the phone to call the front desk. I did indeed have the right room number and the receptionist said there must be something wrong with our key cards. They would send someone up to our room with a new set of KTTW cards so I waited in the room and surveyed the suite while the kids decided it was pool time, found their swim suits from the suitcases and started changing.

I really loved the layout of the suite, especially the fact that there were two full bathrooms. Bathrooms were designed in the theme of the submarine that Bruce and company reside in complete with the phrase “fish are friends” scribed along the edge of the mirror.

How often do you get a room tour that starts with the bathrooms? Here is the Master Bath

Which had a shower stall

No more blue shampoos? And shampoo and conditioner all in one? Love those Mickey ears!

Some towel animals that greeted us! You can see the "fish are friends" etched in the side of the mirror

The bathroom off the living room

Bruuuuuuuuuuuce! And ummmm, the other sharks whose name I can never remember!!

The kids loved the table that converted into a bed and immediately staked that one as theirs for the entire stay.

Just makes you want to cuddle up and take a nap, doesn't it?

The "kitchenette". Just occurred to me that we may have left behind some leftover pizza there.

The lighting fixtures were also very creative.

Bubbles, Bubbles! My Bubbles! There were the ceiling lighting for all of the rooms

Lighting in the Living Room

Jellyfish Lamps for the Bedroom Nightstands

Some Wall Decorations by those fish who do great impressions!

Master Bedroom

Living Room with a pull out sofa

As I was unpacking a little from the suitcases, the kids were playing “jump the jellyfish” by jumping from the green stools/tables/footrests to the couch laughing and giggling all along. Then a couple of minutes later I noticed they were both on the floor laying on their stomachs flailing their arms and legs. I asked them what in the world they were doing and they told me they were pretending to be swimming in the ocean. Made sense – the entire suite was designed and decorated as if we were under the sea. A CM finally arrived and gave us our new key cards. The kids now were ready to bolt out the door to head to the pool. The only problem? I forgot to pack my swim suit. When I wondered out loud whether we should hold off going to the pool until later in the trip, there was a very loud protest from the kids. So, the best I could do was change into my shorts and go out to the pool with my slipons shoes

Next Up: A Brief Visit to MK!

 

[emilyindisney]

Your Princess pictures look great! I really wanted to eat there so I could get the royal treatment, but my sister is a pretty plain eater so I couldn't sell the food to her. That's too funny that DD noticed Aurora wasn't on her shirt. Kids notice the tiniest things, don't they?!

That's a bummer that your room keys didn't work. However, that's awesome that they'd let you in anyways for the bathroom while they sorted it out. I've heard stories of Disney being a little finicky about letting people in if their keys don't work so its great to hear they were so understanding.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the suite! So awesome! I was really impressed with the AoA room decor. It's immersively Disney, but not so much that its in your face. It's fun, but not too over the top!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Your Princess pictures look great! I really wanted to eat there so I could get the royal treatment, but my sister is a pretty plain eater so I couldn't sell the food to her. That's too funny that DD noticed Aurora wasn't on her shirt. Kids notice the tiniest things, don't they?!

That's a bummer that your room keys didn't work. However, that's awesome that they'd let you in anyways for the bathroom while they sorted it out. I've heard stories of Disney being a little finicky about letting people in if their keys don't work so its great to hear they were so understanding.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the suite! So awesome! I was really impressed with the AoA room decor. It's immersively Disney, but not so much that its in your face. It's fun, but not too over the top!

Can't wait to hear more!

I really like Akershus. It's cheaper than Cinderella's Royal Table but you essentially have the same characters. The entry photo with Belle is included in your meal price just like CRT. I completely understand the non-adventurous eater in the group conundrum as I have a father and a few inlaws that are like that. In the past, we did Akershus breakfast to acommodate them - mostly standard Disney breakfast food. And with 8:05am ADRs, we got to enjoy a near empty Future World on our way in.

I think the housekeeping manager was willing to help out with letting us in the room because she saw me with all this luggage and two young children, and because I showed her the check-in packet where the front desk CM had written down the room number. She said, "Yup, this is your room according to this. And we did clean this room for a new check in this morning". I was just so grateful because of DD and her emergency. I swear, she really knows how to pick her moments!

Totally agree with how much the entire resort in and out of the room just glows with Disney atmosphere! DD wants to go back to AoA over and over again until we've stayed at all of the different sections!

 

[emma212010]

Wow, your princess pictures are great! They seemed to be good ones- sometimes you get characters that looks NOTHING like the character is supposed to!

That bathroom story is too funny! And adorable!!

I'm glad the CM let you into your room, and WOW that room is cool! I bet the kiddos LOVED it!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wow, your princess pictures are great! They seemed to be good ones- sometimes you get characters that looks NOTHING like the character is supposed to!

That bathroom story is too funny! And adorable!!

I'm glad the CM let you into your room, and WOW that room is cool! I bet the kiddos LOVED it!

I thought the same thing about the princesses we met at Akershus - how they all seemed to look and talk like the real deals. I think we tend to see more deviations with Belle than others.

The kids absolutely adored the room! They were so excited about this bed that pops out from the wall. Getting them in bed had never been easier!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

They're testing the Magic Bands!!

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/mymag...magicbands-to-begin-testing-in-parks-soon.htm

I'm really looking forward to finding out how all of the My Magic+ will fall into place and change the way we plan our trips starting with our next one for 2014!

 

[momtwoboys]

just read through the whole trip report! not sure now I missed this! We were there last april when you were there counting down till April 2013! Glad the Jan trip was great!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

just read through the whole trip report! not sure now I missed this! We were there last april when you were there counting down till April 2013! Glad the Jan trip was great!

So good to see you again! If I remember right, we almost had a spontaneous DIS-meet up on the second floor of Columbia Harbor?

Jealous of your April trip! Where are you all staying this time?

 

[momtwoboys]

Yes we were eating lunch upstairs at CHH! this year we are staying at POR hoping for a room on the AB side! after this snowstorm we are really counting down! The AOA suites look nice! we were going to stay there in a LM room but switched to POR with the discount

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Yes we were eating lunch upstairs at CHH! this year we are staying at POR hoping for a room on the AB side! after this snowstorm we are really counting down! The AOA suites look nice! we were going to stay there in a LM room but switched to POR with the discount

I remember that we both thought that we knew each other but wasn't a 100% sure and later found out on DIS. Hope you're faring okay from the storm. Let me know if I can give you any info on New FL since I've already done a scouting trip of sorts.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Caught up!!! Loving the AoA Nemo pics!! Looks like so much fun!! Now...you know I'm going to need some New FL planning help, right?? I so wish they would do some sort of official roll-out date so I'd know if the magic bands would be fully in place in March!

Your Akershus pics are great! I was at the story about DD and the bathroom! Several years ago, we went to MK and did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour (it was just DH and I and another couple). At the "potty break" time, one of the women's room stalls was locked and no one was in there. The line was long but no one would try to go in that one. I figured I work in a HS....I am exposed to much grosser stuff every day, so I did what had to be done and crawled under the door to unlock it. Another woman walked out to the group outside and announced that "SOME woman crawled under the bathroom door". DH said, "I bet that was my wife." tell DD we just do what has to be done!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Caught up!!! Loving the AoA Nemo pics!! Looks like so much fun!! Now...you know I'm going to need some New FL planning help, right?? I so wish they would do some sort of official roll-out date so I'd know if the magic bands would be fully in place in March!

Your Akershus pics are great! I was at the story about DD and the bathroom! Several years ago, we went to MK and did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour (it was just DH and I and another couple). At the "potty break" time, one of the women's room stalls was locked and no one was in there. The line was long but no one would try to go in that one. I figured I work in a HS....I am exposed to much grosser stuff every day, so I did what had to be done and crawled under the door to unlock it. Another woman walked out to the group outside and announced that "SOME woman crawled under the bathroom door". DH said, "I bet that was my wife." tell DD we just do what has to be done!

Wait till you see all of the pics from the rest of the AoA resort! And the Big Blue Pool is so much fun.

I think you'll be safe from the full implementation of the My Magic+ program for March. From what I've been reading, they are anticipating a roll out for the later in the year and sounds like for sure will impact our trip in 2014. In the mean time, if you need any info on New FL let me know! Not sure at this current pace of Trip Report posting that I'll get to our MK day before your trip comes up since it's getting so close!

Your restroom story is hilarious! As the saying goes, when you have to go you have to go!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Disney Picture #2

Nothing like working on an article for work at 2am on a Saturday night - serves me right for procrastinating! Before I head to bed, thought I'd post another picture from this trip.

I took this one on our way out of Epcot. The kids were getting tired and we didn't think they could make it through Illuminations so we decided to call it a night at 8pm and head back to our AoA. As we were walking out, it dawned on me that it had been a long time since I've seen Spaceship Earth all lit up at night. I think the last time must have been in 2001! Last year, we finished our Epcot day with an Illuminations Cruise so we left the park on our boat to the YC. I don't think I quite appreciated the multi-colored lighting shining on Earth before. Anyway, I've been staring at this picture for a few minutes now and it's starting to mess with my depth perception the same way those silly Magic Eye pictures do! Still, very plesant. And if you look very closely on the right lower quadrant of this beautifully oversized golfball, you can make out the reflections of the palm trees that are planted nearby. Ok, I'm off to bed!