Dream Big, Live Grand - 4th of July at the Grand Floridian!

[LittleMissMagic]

Thank you! Thank you! for finally getting me some pictures!! 2 points - tell mom I want one of those bags!! I am going in January and will need it by then. 2nd - I better be a guest of honor at your disney wedding - I KNOW you are going to have one!!
Waiting for more.....

Ellen

Mom says what colors, and what print would you like the lining?

And you're right, I will be having a Disney wedding! I already have my Disney wedding savings fund.... I'm afraid no one from my family will want to come (can you believe that my some of my cousins have never been to Disney???), so I'll need some extra people there that will appreciate the setting!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

There was EMH at MK until 2am, so we headed to Big Thunder Mountain after the parade. Hardly a wait!

We then hit up Splash Mountain and lucked out with the back two rows, again.

Then we went to it's a small world, my mother's favorite attraction.

No, guys... it's not Iceland!

We then headed over to Space Mountain. We actually had some FPs that Dad grabbed before we left the park that afternoon... once again, long overdue!

I think my Dad has a picture of the ride photo on his cell phone. I noticed him "secretly" taking pictures of the ride photo with his phone after every single ride. No, Dad... it's not completely obvious when you're standing right at the picture window with your phone down by your chest, looking left and right to make sure no one is watching........ I bet you have really good pics with your "3.2 megapixel camera."

Anywho, our ride photo was absolutely hilarious... the camera is at a terrible spot... nothing that induces a surprised or scared reaction, just flashing lights. So, we decided to pose for it. Rachel did a "crazy eyes" face where she opened her eyes really big. She said that the flash had blinded her and she was still having trouble seeing, especially after all of that racing around in the dark! It was so funny looking! I wanted to buy it, but she wouldn't let me. If my dad has the photo on his phone, I'll be sure to post it.

Well, after Space Mountain, we were whooped, so we hopped on the monorail and headed home.

Rachel was exhausted....

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

Looks like you are having a blast!! Tell mom I would like the khaki too - so it will go with everything! and just surprise me with the inside print. Of course any of those "future modifications" she wants to try will be just dandy with me! I know she comes up with great, creative ideas so I will be her guinea pig.
Loving the report - I don't ride "splash" so I really love seeing those photos!
Keep it coming...

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Hi Great trip report so far! You've taken some great pictures of the Grand Floridian!
I love the pictures of you and your sister in front of the castle. It looks like you guys are really close
I also absolutely LOVE the bags your Mom made - she would absolutely have a market for those if she wanted to open her own etsy shop!
Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I woke the family up bright and early the next morning for EMH at DHS. And yes, there were gripes (guess from who!) "Whyyy soooo earlyyyyy???"

Not surprisingly, it was a good thing we went early. We missed rope drop by 15 minutes or so, and by the time we got to Toy Story Mania, the initial madness had calmed, but the FP line was as long as the stand-by line! So, we decided to get in stand-by and skip the FPs.

The line for TSM moved pretty quickly, and it's very entertaining with all of the cutesy toys inside. I surprisingly didn't take any pictures. I always think to myself when going to Disney, "I always have so many pictures of everything, why do I need more?" But I always eventually give in and pull out the camera.

Rachel and went head-to-head. She always beats me in this game. I always beat her in Buzz (which is surprising because I don't think either of us know what the heck we're doing on Buzz... just pulling the trigger and moving the gun around, hoping we shoot something in the process). She was beating me until the ring-the-alien round when I shot to the lead. I was hoping she wouldn't notice, but she did, and stepped up her game. The final round, when you have to pull the ball as fast as you can, we're always exhausted and screaming in pain... my hand cramps so bad on this game! It's a workout!!!! Well, she beat me...

After TSM, we headed over to RnRC. Dad got FPs, and the wait time was only ten minutes (if that!). The great thing about the TSM madness is that it keeps people away from RnRC and ToT in the morning.

Rachel and I got to ride in the front row in Rockin' Rollercoaster. It was a first for her. Dad wanted to, actually. It's funny that the guy who shoves his petite daughters to the front of every fireworks show and parade route was then trying to take the front of the rollercoaster. I almost gave into his cute little pout, but then mom shot him a look that read "you better let your daughters have the front row," so I won out in the end. The front was great! But apparently my cell phone fell out of my pocket during the ride and hit Rachel in the leg. "It hurt! I thought it was one of those [darn] water bottles!" said Rachel. Well, luckily she caught it with her foot and saved it!!!

Next up was Tower of Terror. In the meantime, Dad could FP again, and we were telling him just to chill out... we didn't need to FP anything right now - we had breakfast reservations soon.

I did break out my camera for this...

After ToT, we went back to RnRC to use our FPs.

It was then time for our breakfast reservation, so we headed out...

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

Rachel and Jennifer sound so much alike - most every morning her comment last June was "But we are on vacation - it's too early to be up!" But she always got up and going - she didn't want to be left behind.
Loving the details, waiting for more.....

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Our dining reservation was for Cape May Cafe, which is at the Beach Club. I had mentioned this several times before to my family.

Well, we got on the boat and it stopped at the Swan/Dolphin. We waited. Then when it stopped at the Beach Club, Rachel and I hopped up and started getting off the boat when Dad called us back. "No, girls - we're going to the Boardwalk!" "No, Dad - we're going to the Beach Club!" "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure, I made the reservation!" Dad was still skeptical, but he followed us off the boat.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

What's different about Cape May is that there are only three characters. So, you could be sitting in one corner of the dining room and not even see any characters. It's actually pretty cool... it's really laid-back in comparison to other character restaurants.

The food was good, and the restaurant got a good rating from the family! Nothing I like hearing more than, "Good choice, Victoria!"

A little blurry, but Donald liked my shirt...

 

[disneylovin24]

LOVING your TR!!!!

The pictures are amazing and I love how you took so many (its something I would do!). You and your sister are both very pretty and both of you look older then you are! I would have never guessed you were both still in your teens.

When I get a chance i cant want to go and read your previous TR, Im sure they're great too.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

LOVING your TR!!!!

The pictures are amazing and I love how you took so many (its something I would do!). You and your sister are both very pretty and both of you look older then you are! I would have never guessed you were both still in your teens.

When I get a chance i cant want to go and read your previous TR, Im sure they're great too.

I've never been told I look older before! I'm just five feet tall, and I am such the baby face! Most people guess me to be 14 years old!

I wrote my first TR when I was 16... it's crazy to look back and see how much we've changed!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

After Cape May, we walked to Epcot. The Beach Club and Yacht Club are nice resorts. I asked Rachel if she'd like to stay there sometime, but she said she prefers the monorail route. (That might change, since apparently Disney is no longer running the monorail after hours... http://www.wdwmagic.com/Transportat...-operate-during-Evening-Extra-Magic-Hours.htm)

I think I'd like to stay at the Beach Club sometime.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Dad went to get Soarin' FPs, and Rachel, Mom, and I went to the Living Seas and waited for Dad to meet up with us.

"I've got a dumb fin... don't mean I can't swim" (original rap by Rachel )

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Wow - I'm more popular than ever! My photobucket bandwidth has been exceeded.

I'm starting a Flickr account and am going to redo all of the pictures...... but I'm really annoyed about my past TRs that I used photobucket with. Does anyone know if I will ever be able to see my pictures again without upgrading to pro? Also, could I upgrade one time, then not upgrade again and go back to standard, as long as I don't exceed bandwidth, again???

 

[PoohGal05]

Your trip report is great! We have not stayed at the GF, but we have been there on a couple of occasions, 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and Afternoon Tea. Afternoon Tea was wonderful!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Can you guys see my pictures? I just upgraded my photobucket to pro, but I still can't see my photos. I'm very angry with the site, right now.

 

[jecskc]

Can you guys see my pictures? I just upgraded my photobucket to pro, but I still can't see my photos. I'm very angry with the site, right now.

The same thing happened to me a couple of days ago. I was pretty mad, too. Once I upgraded, all my pictures came back. I can the ones in your last post, so I am sure the other ones will come back online.

I am enjoying your trip report even if you are from Clemson Of course, we are Gamecock fans. I actually got accepted to the Architecture program at Clemson way back in the day, but at the time, my family didn't have the money to send me and I had not saved nearly enough, so I just stayed home and went to the local technical school.

Anyway, I love your photos of the Grand Floridian !! I so desperately want to stay there some day !!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I am enjoying your trip report even if you are from Clemson Of course, we are Gamecock fans.

oh.... you're one of those!

Thanks for reading along!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

So, one thing I've yet to mention is that during the Miss South Carolina pageant, Rachel was the backstage runner. And even though the girl was "born in high heels," her pumps were a running setback. So every night, she was running barefoot, which was not good for her low arch. She'd also developed "stone bruises" (never had these before). So, by the time we got to WDW, her feet were killing her! Of course, Rachel is not one to die quietly, so we heard all about it. "Owww.... my feet! My stones are hurting!!!!" We joked about getting her Mickey Mouse crocs.

Well, before heading back to the GF, Rachel and I wanted to go shopping in Mouse Gear. We were browsing through the cute clothes and handbags when we came shoes and came across these.....

Rachel - "Oh, look at these - these are precious!"

Me - "THEY'RE CROCS!!!!!!!"

Dad came over, and Rachel showed him her cute croc find. "How much are they? $20? Get two pair!" "No, Dad - $40." "$40 - let's get them! Victoria, do you want a pair?" Dear Dad was willing to pay whatever it took to get Rachel to shut up about her feet!!!

She showed them to Mom to make sure they were cute, and we weren't just lying to her because they were crocs. Mom goes, with her logical thinking, "Now, you're probably only going to wear these at Disney World... we do come here a lot, though." Me - "Dad wants her to have them - he's sick of hearing her whine about her feet."

I had never seen Dad agree to buy something so quickly!

 

[disneylovin24]

Those shoes are adorable!!!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

We hopped on the monorail and headed back to the GF. Rachel, Dad, and I went to the Beach Pool. There weren't any chairs available by the pool, so we got the red, canopy loungers on the beach. It was a little walk to the pool, but I'm assuming those cushioned chairs were more comfy than the pool loungers, so whatever!

Rachel and I were lounging when an entire bridal party showed up to take pictures (woke Rachel up! )! The bridal party was super happy - the Maid/Matron of Honor joked to Rachel and I that we should get in the picture (Rachel told her that if we were in their way, just to let us know - but they were taking photos with the lake in the background, so we weren't a problem)! Well when we were leaving the pool a bit later, we passed the bride, so I said, "Congratulations!" She looks away and mutters an odd, insincere, "Thank you." It was really odd... as soon as we walked away, Rachel burst out laughing. Maybe she was mad at Rachel and I for not leaving the beach when they came down to take pictures...