Celebrating my big 4-0 with the Big Cheese - Update 11/13, page 19

[MeMom]

Day 2 – Wednesday, June 8

From here on, I will plan every vacation possible to start with a day 1 like this trip – hanging out, relaxing, dinner and early bed. This I think helped make a great first full day at Disney!! I awoke bright and early (OK, in all honesty, it was so early, it wasn’t actually bright yet!) Of course the rest of the family was still asleep but I was geared up and decided to get out and explore POP century a bit.


I think I forgot to mention that we got our EXACT room request! I had asked for 50’s or 60’s, lake view, top floor. Other than being way down on the end of the wing, I was thrilled, and in all honesty, the wings aren’t so long it mattered that much. The boys were hoping for a pool view room but I secretly requested that lake view and everyone agreed by the end of the trip that it was the better choice, nice and quiet!

The pop jets were down our entire stay…sad!

I turned back toward the main hall

That's what we did the first evening, too. We went DTD for a little while and ate with Earl. Then the girls had some kiddie pool time and we were off to bed. It made for a nice first full day the next day.

Good for getting your room request. We had a lake view, too. It is nice and quiet back there.

Goofy Jets are still down.

That outside the food court picture makes me feel like I am walking up to it right now. The air thick with heat, Pop workers hosing down the pool area, landscapers clearing brush.... I can be there in my mind so easily when I see Pop pictures.

Have fun with your trip planning. Maybe you can still sneak in a short girl trip to WDW among those other trips. Your boys will enjoy the other trips, no doubt, but how long will you survive without a little taste of Disney? And girl trips are pretty fun.

 

[lmillercrew]

Ahhh... What a relaxing morning.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

So glad you got that lake view you wanted! Looks like a great way to start the morning. Can't wait to see what the day holds.

 

[kschafer]

Hmmmm....Narcoossees sounds so delicious. I don't know if I will go in January though, it's so expensive and I'd hate to use two dining credits for one meal. I dunno. That cheesecake calls to me.

Personally, I wasn't wowed by the entrees at Narcoossees. I would return just for appetizers and dessert through! The cheese plate and crab cakes were both good and I believe I have already expressed my feelings toward the cheesecake

What a lovely morning walk. I like looking at the new construction over the bridge, it's neat.

It will be fun to see them finished. I wonder if they plan to share busing with POP when finished. I kind of hope not because that one stop busses is one of the major benefits of POP in my opinion!

Somehow I got "unsubscribed", but I'm back now. Glad you had a safe flight. The boys look like they are having a blast at the pool. Sorry WCC did not live up to your expectations (as you know, we didn't care for it at all and won't be going back). I like your pics that you took the morning as everyone else was sleeping. I do this at the CSR every trip; while Mark showers, I walk around the resort and take pictures when it is as quiet as a mouse.

Glad to have you back It was probably no accident I was up so early, I had that walk in mind the whole time! I did the same thing on my first day at CSR last year and really enjoyed the feeling of solitude

I have to agree with you Katie, I had the pleasure of that very fine cheesecake at Narcoossee's and it was absolutely sinful in an amazingly good way!!! SO YUMMY!!!!!

Great morning walk pictures!! POP is so colorful and full of life!! Of course I loved the Magnolia trees!

There ya go LL, 2 votes for Narcoossees

I was woried that the colorfulness of POP would be overwhelming to me but it turned out to be a non-issue for me

I always mean to do those early morning walks but I never make it....I'll have to face the facts and accept that it will never happen! I'm simply not a morning person! Thanks for taking me along on your walk! It looks so peaceful!

I managed to get in a second morning walk later in the trip but only 2 in 15 days

What a lovely early morning stroll

My favorite part of those morning walks was seeing the army of workers out keeping things in top condition and each with a smile and "good morning" as you pass. It's that Disney difference!

I am trying to remember if I actually went on that pat of the tour that year. I think that there is either a paddle to make waves or a huge tank and pump system that makes the waves. I think since it is such a big wave and they can regulate it, it must be the tank and pump. The tank fills under the "mountain" and when it fills to the desired level the pump pushed the water out to create the wave.

That may be what I heard on the tour or I just made it up.

I hope I am able to combat your blues with my TR.

The pump was our guess for the big waves. Could they have both since they alternate with bobbing waves?

The TR did help...thanks

Wonderful Pop pictures - I love early morning when things are quiet and the sun is coming up!

Me too, up before the sun (and heat and crowds)

Your trip is getting close!

 

[kschafer]

That's what we did the first evening, too. We went DTD for a little while and ate with Earl. Then the girls had some kiddie pool time and we were off to bed. It made for a nice first full day the next day.

Good for getting your room request. We had a lake view, too. It is nice and quiet back there.

Goofy Jets are still down.

That outside the food court picture makes me feel like I am walking up to it right now. The air thick with heat, Pop workers hosing down the pool area, landscapers clearing brush.... I can be there in my mind so easily when I see Pop pictures.

Have fun with your trip planning. Maybe you can still sneak in a short girl trip to WDW among those other trips. Your boys will enjoy the other trips, no doubt, but how long will you survive without a little taste of Disney? And girl trips are pretty fun.

Given how noisy the pools are in the middle of the day (and well into the evening) I think we will always request a lake view. Sad the Goofy jets aren't up and working yet!

Oh, I secretly hope to sneak away for another Mom trip, maybe fall 2012. I'm not going to push now, we have some other priorities we need to focus on first

Ahhh... What a relaxing morning.

It really was

So glad you got that lake view you wanted! Looks like a great way to start the morning. Can't wait to see what the day holds.

Coming right up!!

 

[kschafer]

So I guess we were all a bit anxious this morning because we were up and out of the room at an awesome time! Sadly, this was the only morning I can say this. Check out our arrival time

Yep, nice and early for our first Magic Kingdom day! We staked our spot front and center for the rope drop show. As much as I would love to be the first on a ride someday, I am a sucker for that show so I am resigned to being behind the pack by the time we get to the rides. Totally worth is though in my opinion!

I must confess to not being a fan of the current décor but how cute is this boy!

Soon the mayor came out to greet us

In 3 trips, I have had the fortune to see 3 different residents of main street welcome us. I wonder how many of them take turns. How fun of a job these people have, starting each day with song and dance

Of course the characters came to join the fun

And as always, Mickey had one lucky family open the park

Then we were on our way down Main Street on our way to that amazing castle. I chose to keep the camera away for this moment though and really just soaked it in. It had been 3 years since the boys had seen it and I just wanted to enjoy it with them.

So where to for our first ride on the first day? We made our way through the castle where we saw these crazy ladies greeting their court

Then off to our destination

We had skipped Dumbo in 2008 to avoid lines and convinced the kids the other hub and spoke rides were the same. I regretted this later so it was priority #1 today!

My new camera has a cool feature where it will take a picture every ½ second so I enjoyed playing as we circled (if you are curious, these are actually every 3rd picture so 1.5 seconds between shots)

Lots of activity on the other side of that fence. Greg got a decent shot of some of it

I’ll be anxious for our return when this will surely be done

We saw a much awaited character with no line so we had to stop and say hi. Patrick was in the play at our local playhouse last year so this was an exciting moment

Now I know you are going to think I am crazy when I tell you that this is all we did before leaving MK this morning! But we had big plans and needed to head off to them…

 

[kschafer]

During the PTR, I mentioned the possibility of this next plan but didn’t know for sure until a couple days earlier and was still uncertain if it was going to work but I was determined to give it a try! We made our way back down Main Street and hopped the monorail for breakfast at

Another diser passed her ADR # to me but I was nervous at using someone else’s and also because her ressie was for 6 people and I was worried it would be a problem but it turned out to be no problem at all!! We were quickly seated and with no characters in sight, made our way through the food line.

I only have one food porn pic to share but boy what a pic!

It may not look like much at first glance…just a croissant, some grapes, a piece of bacon, your typical Mickey waffle (OK, I guess you have to appreciate that little beauty!) but it’s the spoonful of amazing deliciousness at the bottom that deserves all the glory!!! Those are cheesy bacon hash browns and they were AMAZING!!!! I had 2 more servings of them before breakfast was over.

Eventually, the characters started to arrive beginning with the main mouse

You might recall me having concerns about how Daniel would react to the characters. He wanted nothing to do with them in 2008 and will shy away from any characters in parades and such. We had talked about them quite a bit leading up to this trip but I wasn’t sure if he would want to see them or not. It didn’t go running to them but didn’t hide either!

Next it was time to twirl.

Daniel wasn’t sure about this (and Greg just looks silly!)

But Patrick loved it

It was convenient that the person with the original ADR was also celebrating a b-day because it was noted on the ressie and I got this little treat.

Not a great pic but it was the standard cupcake with chocolate Mickey head, we enjoyed it. Next up, Donald!

Followed by Miss Minnie

Who Daniel was NOT interested in but she got a kiss in anyway

Then Pluto

At this point we were ready to head out but were going to wait for the last character. The boys were up and getting their stuff when Goofy came by. He must have been tired because he had a seat when he joined us

So what was the verdict on Chef Mickey's? We loved it! The food was excellent, lots of variety, nice and fresh. The character interaction was fun and we all had a great time! Definitely on our do again list

And with that, we made our way out of the contemporary

And went back for more Magic Kingdom fun!

 

[KatMark]

What an awesome update, Katie. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad you guys went on Dumbo first! That is always our first destination our first morning at the MK!

And I am thrilled you ended up being able to go to Chef Mickey's. Those cheesey bacon hash browns look so good; I may have to get back there soon just for those hash browns!

Daniel looks like he did pretty darn good with the characters!

 

[Happy Elf]

Sounds like a great start to your day! Loved the pictures from Dumbo, what a neat feature on your camera! Chef Mickey's looked yummy! We had dinner there and enjoyed it too. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm so glad you were able to ride Dumbo first thing! I adore Dumbo, it just makes me feel like a kid again.

The constructions pictures make me sooooo excited for when the Fantasyland expansion will be done!

I am seriously considering an OOP meal at Narcoosseeses.....

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Thanks for sharing pictures of rope drop as that is not an event I am ever likely to catch at Disney. very cool camera feature and great shots capturing the Fantasyland construction.

I'm so glad Chef Mickey's worked out and was a hit. Cheesy hashbrowns sound great.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Those cheesy hashbrowns sound yummy! I'm not a big fan of Chef Mickey's myself, it always feels so chaotic. Not to mention we've eaten there twice and never met Mickey! I know it's a big favorite with a lot of people though, maybe we need to give it another chance....

 

[MeMom]

Your oldest is about to get as tall as you, Mom.

We enjoy Chef Mickey's, too. It is loud and crazy at times, but it is a classic, especially if someone is only going to WDW once in a kid's life. You get the Fab Five for pictures with no lines.

Looking forward to seeing Magic Kingdom fun Part 2 for the day.

 

[DisneyDoc5]

Love the pictures - so glad you did Dumbo, Chef Mickey's, it's so worth it not to miss the short line on Dumbo! So cute that Goofy sat down with you! Looking forward to more!

 

[sunny_stace]

I love the shots of the construction from Dumbo! That is a pretty cool setting on your camera! I'll have to look for something like that (I want a new one before the next trip). That's nice that you guys got to meet Pinochhio with no line!

I am so glad you guys got to check out Chef Mickey's!! Oh I love it there! I've never been for breakfast (I can't pass up the parmesan mashed potatoes they have at dinner!) I love Greg's face while he's twirling his napkin! That is priceless! Looks like the boys had a blast too! And mum of course too!

 

[kschafer]

Hi all, not ignoring you I swear! Big storm came through and knocked out power to 90% of the town. We have ours back but it's still out in lots of places.waiting for our cable/internet/phone to come back. Will be back on soon I hope!

 

[DisneyDoc5]

We had a terrible storm hit here in Holland MI too yesterday, tons of big old trees down~ we only lost power for an hour, but the rest of town was out most of the day. A father of 6 was killed when his garage collapsed. I hope you and your community are ok.

 

[goofy's_gurl]

I loved Chef Mickeys when I went in '09!

 

[sunny_stace]

Hi all, not ignoring you I swear! Big storm came through and knocked out power to 90% of the town. We have ours back but it's still out in lots of places.waiting for our cable/internet/phone to come back. Will be back on soon I hope!

Oh dear! I'm glad you are all ok and have your power back!
Those storms were headed toward us too, but being in the middle of the great lakes helped us and they blew right over us and into Quebec!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hi all, not ignoring you I swear! Big storm came through and knocked out power to 90% of the town. We have ours back but it's still out in lots of places.waiting for our cable/internet/phone to come back. Will be back on soon I hope!

Oh no! We are in your neck of the woods right now - got here yesterday. We had a little rain as we were coming in but no bad storms. And let me just tell you we were loving the cooler temps last night! It's been over 100 degrees everyday for what seems like forever at home and last night we were all sitting outside enjoying temps in the 60s, it was awesome!

I need to send you a text - how far away are you from Des Moines? We are pretty booked up today, but should be done with games by about 4:00 both tomorrow and Friday, I'd love to see you again!