She's Five at Riverside - A September 2014 Trip Report (Completed 2/27)

[ach222]

Since I'm thinking we'll be back at POR in the future, a walk over for beignets is definitely in my future plans - maybe I can get DH to hand deliver them as well!

Love her face seeing Elsa, for sure nice to have that fast pass!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Love all your details: "We got to the bus stop at 9:45 and just missed a full MK bus. A second bus came at 9:53 though, and didn't wind up being super full. We arrived at MK at 10:08, and were off the bus by 10:10." Did you put this in your phone at the time?

The level of service you provide, Paul, makes me think that Melissa doesn't ever really need to stay CL - everyday is CL

Those photos of Allie wearing her cute glasses talking to the princesses are precious. She always has something very important to discuss with those characters and pretty homemade outfits to show-off.

Face painting? What will Allie choose?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Finally caught up! Sounds like a great trip.
We are going this September and celebrating ODS's 7th birthday on the 23rd so this is great inspiration for what sounds like a fun trip.

Cool, congratulations on your upcoming trip. Your ADR date will be here before you know it, and that last 180 days is pretty exciting.

Your dinner at Boatwright's sounded great - especially the fabulous CM's! I love Allie's birthday button!

I have a similar picture of myself holding a giant Stitch. I love that guy.

Oh, the dreaded Magical Depress envelope. It's always such a bummer to receive that on your door! It sounds like your morning got off to a nice start anyway - I'd love breakfast being delivered!

Two prime attractions to kick off the morning! I'm glad Allie enjoyed her M&G with Anna and Elsa - and I love her shirt!

"Magical Depress" I like it. I'm glad I'm not the only one bummed out by the presence of that envelope.

Melissa has always been a Stitch fan, and her dog is named Stitch, which fits her well. We really should have found a way to get that one home...

The two prime Fastpass + were this morning because it was late in our trip and the only time that we could get those two, because we were on vacation in July and called a day late. Fortunately the trip was long enough we were able to get them in on our last park day.

Since I'm thinking we'll be back at POR in the future, a walk over for beignets is definitely in my future plans - maybe I can get DH to hand deliver them as well!

Love her face seeing Elsa, for sure nice to have that fast pass!

The walk over to POFQ is an easy way to gain some points, especially if your significant other likes to sleep in. Otherwise it is a fun morning stroll, then you could catch a bus from there to whatever park you want to start the day.

Love all your details: "We got to the bus stop at 9:45 and just missed a full MK bus. A second bus came at 9:53 though, and didn't wind up being super full. We arrived at MK at 10:08, and were off the bus by 10:10." Did you put this in your phone at the time?

The level of service you provide, Paul, makes me think that Melissa doesn't ever really need to stay CL - everyday is CL

Those photos of Allie wearing her cute glasses talking to the princesses are precious. She always has something very important to discuss with those characters and pretty homemade outfits to show-off.

Face painting? What will Allie choose?

Yes, I did take notes on my phone this trip. I started it by marking down bus times last year to get WL travel times, but this year I took more complete notes and it has really helped while writing the TR. I also found that "writing" notes in the phone was a great way to pass time on the buses.

I like your thinking, CL via Paul. Perhaps that's how we'll justify WL on a potential future trip. By staying there I could offer a higher level of service at a Standard view room price. You might be on to something...

Yeah, Allie always looks like she is having a serious discussion with the princesses. She had important things to say.

She had so much fun with face painting the first time that she really wanted to do it again, so that was next on the agenda.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

After meeting Anna and Elsa (and doing a little shopping in their Frozen shop) Allie was on a mission to get her face painted. A quick web search showed there was a place in tomorrowland, so that's where we headed. Allie was super excited to find they had a snow queen pattern, and her decision was made.


She opeted not to have glitter this time because she said it made her itch last time, she never had complained though. It didnt take long for her little makeover. It's amazing how much enjoyment kids get from getting their faces painted.


Since we were in tomorrowland, we decided to ride the peoplemover one more time. I wonder how many people ride the peoplemover twice in a trip, but don't ride anything else in tomorrowland. Oh well, it works for us.


After that we decided to head out from the MK. It was a bit of a bummer since we knew it was our last time leaving MK for the trip, but we knew we still had more fun stuff to do. We hopped on the resort monorail and headed for the Contemporary.


I was looking forward to lunch and a cupcake at the Contemporary.

We got off the monorail and readed right for the Contempo Cafe.


This gave us the chance for more mug refills (which was our 7th different resort of the trip), a yummy cupcake, and an Italian sub that we shared. It was really good.

We enjoyed our break in the middle of what was becoming a warm day.

After we ate we shopped in the CR gift shops. There's just something special about them, we always enjoy looking around there. We looked out the window and could see that the marina was quite busy. A lot of boats were out enjoying Bay Lake.


Allie wanted a new charm for her necklace ( you can see this clip in the trip video).

I think that's about the time that the sugar from the cupcake really kicked in. Then we headed downstairs and took some pictures by the metal Mickey. A nice CM on her way to work at the boat dock offered to take this for us.


It was all Allie's idea and I'm glad she played along for some cute pictures. I tell ya this kid doesn't always cooperate like that.




Then we headed back uopstairs and hopped on the monorail. We got to the TTC at 2:35, but stayed on and rode it to the Poly where we arrived at 2:36. After all the time we spent at the Poly last year we had to stop by at least once. We also wanted to check out the construction.


There were a lot of walls and scrims up but we made our way to Captain Cooks for mug refills.


This was our record setting eigth resort for mug refills. We do like our Diet Coke, especially when we get to enjoy it at a variety of nice Disney resorts. The we walked through the Poly back to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot.


We arrived at the TTC at 3:05, then got on a monorail and were at Epcot in 10 min.


I like the Epcot monorail, it is a nice way to get to that park and see some sights of the surrounding area from above.


We had a little time to kill before our early dinner reservations at Garden Grill so we spent a little time at The Seas.

We rode the Nemo ride, then Allie and I waited for a long time to take a picture in the Shark's mouth.


People were driving me a little crazy when I was trying to get this picture. It is the ONLY time during the trip that I recall being annoyed by rude people. The rest I was able to ignore and go on my merry way. It was all worth the annoyance for this shot though, I mean look at Paul...

Yeah, we were having fun. We stopped for a penny press on the way out of The Seas.


Then we went and met back up with Grandma. She had spent the morning relaxing and doing a little resort touring herself, visiting the Grand Floridian and then taking the monorails to Epcot.


Then we entered the Land just a little early for our 4:00 dinner reservation. I got a picture of the sign, and an enthusiastic CM.


I wasn't sure what to expect from this ADR but I was excited to try it and who can turn down characters in a revolving dining room?

This was another new location for us, but we thought it would be a good opportunity for another character meal and we love The Land anyway, so it worked out to be really nice. I felt that both the food and character interaction were great. There was quite a bit of variety in the dinner plate, although Grandpa didn't find anything he really enjoyed until dessert. I really enjoyed it, and Allie really got into the pictures.










I thought the food was great. It was light and tasty and a nice departure from the heavy comfort food we'd been eating for 9 days. I particularly enjoyed the fish and salad. The only negative thing I can say about this restaurant was the table they sat us at felt small for a party our size. Finding space on the table to put food was difficult.

I liked being on the lower level to have a view of the rotating scenery, and great access to the characters. I probably ate too much, but it was all good.

Up next: There's still daylight and we're at Epcot. An evening of food, fun, and our favorite park. Read more in the next update.

 

[ElsasMom]

We LOVE Garden Grill, we went the first time we took the kids to WDW. The video of DD meeting Mickey still makes me cry. DH and I still talk about the amazing food. Great place.

I'm sad that your trip is winding down Excellent TR, thanks for sharing.

 

[kastoney]

Those are some great pictures you got of Allie this day. And the face paint is fabulous. Gonna have to track that down next trip. We are right with you on the people mover (or the pooper as my daughter calls if for no apparent reason). It's a must for us each and every trip, and usually multiple times. Another thing to add to my bucket list is the monorail to Epcot. Your trip reminded me it's probably been since I was in high school since I did that, and that was a long, long, long time ago. Your meal at garden grill looks good. What do they gave besides fish? With all the character meal craziness, I haven't heard too much about garden grill

 

[Wood Nymph]

My granddaughter wanted her face painted and after reading how much Allie enjoyed having her face painted, I said yes to my granddaughter. She wanted a Unicorn and it just happened to match what she was wearing.

We also had a great time with the BBB makeover. Samantha was dressed as Snow White and she looked cute. That evening I let her put her makeup and nail polish on me. I still have one foot with blue nail polish and one with pink. When Disney says that they help families make memories, this is what they mean.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We LOVE Garden Grill, we went the first time we took the kids to WDW. The video of DD meeting Mickey still makes me cry. DH and I still talk about the amazing food. Great place.

I'm sad that your trip is winding down Excellent TR, thanks for sharing.

We really enjoyed it too, and we will be back. It is nice to get such great food with a character meal, and to get one that's not a buffet.

We're a little sad too. We won't have a PTR to start anytime soon, but we will be following the other threads.

Those are some great pictures you got of Allie this day. And the face paint is fabulous. Gonna have to track that down next trip. We are right with you on the people mover (or the pooper as my daughter calls if for no apparent reason). It's a must for us each and every trip, and usually multiple times. Another thing to add to my bucket list is the monorail to Epcot. Your trip reminded me it's probably been since I was in high school since I did that, and that was a long, long, long time ago. Your meal at garden grill looks good. What do they gave besides fish? With all the character meal craziness, I haven't heard too much about garden grill

The people mover (or pooper) is great. The monorails are fun, and it always impresses us with the distance they cover at WDW. Here at Disneyland it is usually as quick to walk.

Garden Grill serves the food family style. They bring beef fillet, turkey, and fish, along with mashed potatoes, veggies, and rolls with orange blossom honey butter. For dessert there was a berry cobbler with ice cream that we all loved.

My granddaughter wanted her face painted and after reading how much Allie enjoyed having her face painted, I said yes to my granddaughter. She wanted a Unicorn and it just happened to match what she was wearing.

We also had a great time with the BBB makeover. Samantha was dressed as Snow White and she looked cute. That evening I let her put her makeup and nail polish on me. I still have one foot with blue nail polish and one with pink. When Disney says that they help families make memories, this is what they mean.

That is so great! We had never done face painting either but she enjoyed it so much that it was totally worth it. Your granddaughter was so cute with her matching face paint.

We're glad to hear BBB worked out so well. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. With her painting your nails it sounds like you got in on the fun too, and you have a nice reminder of it. Disney really makes some amazing memories. We're glad you had a good trip and are looking forward to the next one.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I bet the "Snow Queen" has become a popular face painting option - Allie looks very pretty all made up and I love all her poses for pictures by the metal Mickey at the Contemporary

We've never gotten the refillable mugs (we don't drink soda so don't think we would get the value from them) but that is a cool idea to see how many resorts you can get a refill at and I think 8 is pretty darn good

I too love how with the EPCOT monorail it goes through Future World before you get off as like a sneak peak of what is to come. If you time it right you can also get a free view of Illuminations without needing to go into the park

Bummer about the rude people (I mean, clearly their vacation is more important than everyone else's as they are special snowflakes) but you did get a great shark mouth photo in the end!

We ate at Garden Grill last trip for many of the same reasons - we love Living with the Land, figured the kids would get a kick out of the restaurant revolving - plus Farmer Mickey is pretty darn cute. I was pleasantly surprised how good all the food was - was very easy to over eat there. We also found the sangria to be quite good

EPCOT is also our favorite park - actually, one of the issues there is that there are too many good places to eat! That is why as much as we liked Garden Grill we aren't sure how often we will eat there.

 

[WDWKOOK]

You can't do the PM too much, I say. Besides, you've got to ride it both backwards and forwards

I think Allie picked the best face paint and they did a good job, too. Funny how she never mentioned the glitter, but she remembered she didn't like it.

The photo in the shark's mouth is a real keeper! And, I love how the CM posed for your GG sign photo. Those WDW CMs are the BEST! You got a great seat at GG and I recall many years ago that the characters came by many times and spent a long time at each table. It's a really unique dining venue.

I wonder what the record is for the number of drink refills at different locations? I'm nominating the Kastle Family - CHEERS!

 

[ach222]

Great pictures of Allie at the Contemporary! I think we will definitely try GG on a future trip, such a fun location, looks like a great meal. I'm impressed you managed to remember your mugs enough to get them filled at 8 resorts, perhaps because no matter how hard I tried, they never made it into our backpack haha!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Ah, the Peoplemover! I do ride nearly everything else in Tomorrowland as well (except for Stitch, of course), but I do love the Peoplemover!

What great pictures of Allie at your Contemporary photo session!

I had lunch at the Garden Grill back in 2007 (when they still served lunch) and thought it was very nice. We haven't made it back there as there are so many fantastic options in Epcot, but I'm glad you a great time!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I bet the "Snow Queen" has become a popular face painting option - Allie looks very pretty all made up and I love all her poses for pictures by the metal Mickey at the Contemporary

We've never gotten the refillable mugs (we don't drink soda so don't think we would get the value from them) but that is a cool idea to see how many resorts you can get a refill at and I think 8 is pretty darn good

I too love how with the EPCOT monorail it goes through Future World before you get off as like a sneak peak of what is to come. If you time it right you can also get a free view of Illuminations without needing to go into the park

Bummer about the rude people (I mean, clearly their vacation is more important than everyone else's as they are special snowflakes) but you did get a great shark mouth photo in the end!

We ate at Garden Grill last trip for many of the same reasons - we love Living with the Land, figured the kids would get a kick out of the restaurant revolving - plus Farmer Mickey is pretty darn cute. I was pleasantly surprised how good all the food was - was very easy to over eat there. We also found the sangria to be quite good

EPCOT is also our favorite park - actually, one of the issues there is that there are too many good places to eat! That is why as much as we liked Garden Grill we aren't sure how often we will eat there.

Yeah, that face paint was just perfect, and we didn't see it at DTD earlier in the week. It led to some cute pics at CR.

We do enjoy our Diet Cokes, so we always have gotten the mugs. (It also helps that they are part of the dining plan, which we have been able to get free with our bounce-backs). I think we could beat our record, because there are lots of resorts that we've visited before that we didn't catch this time. It is a fun little thing to do while exploring.

We'd love to time it right to catch Illuminations from the monorail. That would be fun. The "special snowflakes" were a little annoying, but we finally got to get our pic. They were bound to get bored and move on eventually...

We do have a lot more places we want to try in Epcot, and we always wind up having lunch at Sunshine Seasons, but I bet we fit a dinner at GG in next time.

You can't do the PM too much, I say. Besides, you've got to ride it both backwards and forwards

I think Allie picked the best face paint and they did a good job, too. Funny how she never mentioned the glitter, but she remembered she didn't like it.

The photo in the shark's mouth is a real keeper! And, I love how the CM posed for your GG sign photo. Those WDW CMs are the BEST! You got a great seat at GG and I recall many years ago that the characters came by many times and spent a long time at each table. It's a really unique dining venue.

I wonder what the record is for the number of drink refills at different locations? I'm nominating the Kastle Family - CHEERS!

Yeah, Allie is happy to take as many "hands up" PM shots as we can. The face paint was just perfect for her outfit that day.

GG was fun, and the CMs and characters were all great. It is a very unique experience, and one of those awesome Disney meal adventures.

I'm sure our record can be beat, and hopefully we'll get the chance to beat it before long.

Great pictures of Allie at the Contemporary! I think we will definitely try GG on a future trip, such a fun location, looks like a great meal. I'm impressed you managed to remember your mugs enough to get them filled at 8 resorts, perhaps because no matter how hard I tried, they never made it into our backpack haha!

Thanks. Having the mugs with us is the hard part! We found that hanging them from the stroller worked well, and we often left the resort with them full in the morning. GG was fun, and had enough food variety for us. The character interaction was really great, as they all came by multiple times.

Ah, the Peoplemover! I do ride nearly everything else in Tomorrowland as well (except for Stitch, of course), but I do love the Peoplemover!

What great pictures of Allie at your Contemporary photo session!

I had lunch at the Garden Grill back in 2007 (when they still served lunch) and thought it was very nice. We haven't made it back there as there are so many fantastic options in Epcot, but I'm glad you a great time!

Yeah, we do like the other tomorrowland attractions, but we just didn't do them this time, not even the tomorrowland motor speedway. Oh well.

Yeah, it just came together for those CR photos. She was in a pretty wild mood too, but it just worked.

Garden Grill really was a nice addition. There are so many great options at Epcot, and come to think of it that might have something to do with it being our favorite...

 

[Indiana Scott]

I know how you felt seeing the DME card hanging from your door; I had the same feeling knowing your TR was coming to an end.
Yes, I enjoyed it that much! A detailed TR like this is a huge treat for folks like us who don't get to the parks very often.
Thanks so much for taking the time to post!

Scott

 

[Sisa]

Oh no, the trip is almost over. I'm not ready for it to be over yet and I'm sure you all really weren't ready.


I love your early morning walk photography, you have some amazing shots.


Breakfast delivered, seriously how could it get any better?!


Hooray for a crane free shot of the castle!


Awesome ride photos of SDMT, can't wait to ride it!


Yum, that cinnamon roll looks really good! Does it have raisins? Do they serve it cold?


Awe, Allie looks so incredibly happy on her carousel horse.


Sounds like a great meet with Elsa & Anna! I especially like the pictures of Allie in her Elsa shirt meeting Elsa. What a special moment.


Perfect face painting choice by Allie, she looks stunning!


Adorable pictures of Allie and you all outside at the Contemporary and how nice of the CM to take a picture for you.


Such a fantastic shark photo!


Garden Grill looked like a fun time, although the table did look a little small. We are excited to try Dinner there too.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I know how you felt seeing the DME card hanging from your door; I had the same feeling knowing your TR was coming to an end.
Yes, I enjoyed it that much! A detailed TR like this is a huge treat for folks like us who don't get to the parks very often.
Thanks so much for taking the time to post!

Scott

Aww, thank you for your kind comment. We really enjoy reliving the trip, but it is neat to know that people enjoy following along too. We are a little sad that the report is winding down because we don't know when our next trip will be. We do know there will be another one someday though, and we will share it as well. Until then we'll be following trips here as well.

Oh no, the trip is almost over. I'm not ready for it to be over yet and I'm sure you all really weren't ready.


I love your early morning walk photography, you have some amazing shots.


Breakfast delivered, seriously how could it get any better?!


Hooray for a crane free shot of the castle!


Awesome ride photos of SDMT, can't wait to ride it!


Yum, that cinnamon roll looks really good! Does it have raisins? Do they serve it cold?


Awe, Allie looks so incredibly happy on her carousel horse.


Sounds like a great meet with Elsa & Anna! I especially like the pictures of Allie in her Elsa shirt meeting Elsa. What a special moment.


Perfect face painting choice by Allie, she looks stunning!


Adorable pictures of Allie and you all outside at the Contemporary and how nice of the CM to take a picture for you.


Such a fantastic shark photo!


Garden Grill looked like a fun time, although the table did look a little small. We are excited to try Dinner there too.

Thanks, I really enjoy walking around the resort in the mornings, and the photos give a good excuse to go out. Then while I'm out I might as well grab breakfast and of course mug refills.

The cinnamon roll didn't have raisins, and we don't remember it being warm but it wasn't cold either. The one we get at Disneyland is cold, and we don't think Gaston's was that cold.

We are glad we got so many great pictures, and we love sharing them here.

We hope you enjoy Garden Grill as much as we did, and we look forward to reading about it.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Love the pictures, as always, and I'm glad Allie was being a good sport about them this day.

The picture inside Bruce's mouth is too funny! Sorry there were some rude guests there.

GG looks so interesting to me; we've never been. I understand it is very good, and not just the food! Maybe we'll make it there when DD is a bit bigger.

The last night I'm sure it was a fun one!

 

[Sisa]

Aww, thank you for your kind comment. We really enjoy reliving the trip, but it is neat to know that people enjoy following along too. We are a little sad that the report is winding down because we don't know when our next trip will be. We do know there will be another one someday though, and we will share it as well. Until then we'll be following trips here as well.


Thanks, I really enjoy walking around the resort in the mornings, and the photos give a good excuse to go out. Then while I'm out I might as well grab breakfast and of course mug refills.

The cinnamon roll didn't have raisins, and we don't remember it being warm but it wasn't cold either. The one we get at Disneyland is cold, and we don't think Gaston's was that cold.

We are glad we got so many great pictures, and we love sharing them here.

We hope you enjoy Garden Grill as much as we did, and we look forward to reading about it.

Thank you for the feedback on the cinnamon rolls, I will definitely have to add it to our "must try" list.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Love the pictures, as always, and I'm glad Allie was being a good sport about them this day.

The picture inside Bruce's mouth is too funny! Sorry there were some rude guests there.

GG looks so interesting to me; we've never been. I understand it is very good, and not just the food! Maybe we'll make it there when DD is a bit bigger.

The last night I'm sure it was a fun one!

Thanks. We love taking pictures and we got some fun ones.

GG is a nice option for a character meal where the adults will enjoy the food as well. And the whole thing rotates, how cool is that.

We did have a fun night, and we'll be back to write about it soon.

Thank you for the feedback on the cinnamon rolls, I will definitely have to add it to our "must try" list.

You're welcome. You are going to have a wonderful trip. We are looking forward to reading about it.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Oops, duplicate post. The new interface didn't show the post went through.