13 Days of Disney - Everything We Never Knew We Always Wanted - June 2016 TR Update 1/30

[Jfsag123]

Great update! Cora is so beautiful in her gown and Alex, so handsome! I am sorry the stepsisters were no shows. And I understand waiting to the last day. That's what we did with Jedi Training and we missed it. Of course, I have DHS last again for June 2017, so I obviously don't learn from my mistakes...lol. Great meets in the Storybook Circus area. I had that on the list for last trip but alas, another thing we missed. We will try again next trip.

Thank you! Sadly, as I start to put our plans together for next year I'm realizing I may not have learned some lessons yet as well.

Yay for Crystal Palace! We love it and do it almost every trip. We have always gotten really good character interaction here and the breakfast is good. I'm so glad Alex got his Piglet time! And thumbs up on the birthday card surprise. DH and I got married in June, so we will be celebrating for our trip!

That's great! Get your buttons. Our anniversary is in May and we celebrated when we went in May of 2013. It was nice.

And wahoo on dining booking coming up! Our day is Dec 5th and I am taking the morning off to make sure I get it all done without having to rush and get ready for work at the same time. Are you ready to share your ADR list??? Crious minds want to know! Just sitting over here waiting for hours to be released......

Ugh, I'm checking for the hours every day! I'm so annoyed with my dining right now. I haven't figured out when we'll be where which makes it hard to figure out reservations. That's why I need to finish this thing up - I need to start my PTR so I can get help! lol

The expression on Alex's face is priceless waiting for Piglet. That's what it's all about.

I know I've mentioned it before but it's worth saying again. The costumes your MIL make for the kids are just the best!

I so agree - truly what it's about! When people ask why we keep going back I wish I could just show them the kids' faces while we're there and make them understand. And I will pass your kind words onto my MIL!

 

[1Grumpy9]

I am just catching up on your report from when I was at WDW. That must have been a crazy line for Tiana and Naveen!!!

I am glad Stitch was closed when we got there...I didn't like Alien Encounter, so there was no need to go to Stitch.

My parents, friend and I did Crystal Palace on Christmas Morning in 2013 and we loved it. I would do it again because the breakfast was good and for the price it wasn't bad.

 

[Jfsag123]

I am just catching up on your report from when I was at WDW. That must have been a crazy line for Tiana and Naveen!!!

I am glad Stitch was closed when we got there...I didn't like Alien Encounter, so there was no need to go to Stitch.

My parents, friend and I did Crystal Palace on Christmas Morning in 2013 and we loved it. I would do it again because the breakfast was good and for the price it wasn't bad.

How was your trip??

Yes, the Tiana and Naveen line was nuts, but it actually wasn't that the line was super long, it was that they were spending soooo much time with each group. Also multiple groups of teenagers who were quite obnoxious about moving on even when Tiana and Naveen were obviously attempting to end the interaction. Several people in line started to get frustrated with other guests. We tried to be polite and balance having a decent meet with the characters but also moving along in a reasonable amount of time to be polite to the people behind us still waiting.

 

[1Grumpy9]

How was your trip??

The trip was fun!! Although the crowds got CRAZY the 2nd week. It was Jersey week, so the crowds were insane...I haven't seen it that bad since I was there for Christmas 2013. I am hoping to get a trip report started soon. I have to get the pictures off my camera first and work on my photopass pictures. My feet are still feeling it from the "miles" we walked during the whole time we were there...even on the "down" days we walked about 3 miles.

 

[Jfsag123]

The trip was fun!! Although the crowds got CRAZY the 2nd week. It was Jersey week, so the crowds were insane...I haven't seen it that bad since I was there for Christmas 2013. I am hoping to get a trip report started soon. I have to get the pictures off my camera first and work on my photopass pictures. My feet are still feeling it from the "miles" we walked during the whole time we were there...even on the "down" days we walked about 3 miles.

I've been seeing people talk about how crowded it was. Must have been nuts. We've only dealt with big crowds once in a spring break trip, but it wasn't Easter time and really wasn't that bad. I can't imagine. Let me know when you get your TR started! And I totally hear you on the walking. I think we actually did the most walking on our Disney Springs afternoon. That new bus drop off place is quite a hike from the Marketplace!

 

[disny_luvr]

Boo for the last full park day.

That's disappointing that you guys didn't get to meet the stepsisters. Maybe next trip?

We love Crystal Palace! We haven't been for a few trips now, but DH and I both agreed that we want to eat there again on our next trip.

 

[Jfsag123]

Boo for the last full park day.

That's disappointing that you guys didn't get to meet the stepsisters. Maybe next trip?

We love Crystal Palace! We haven't been for a few trips now, but DH and I both agreed that we want to eat there again on our next trip.

Yes, we will have to try again next trip. I'm tempted to do 1900 PF for dinner again to guarantee it, but I'm not thrilled with their menu change. We will definitely be back to Crystal Palace again some time in the future, though probably not on our next trip.

Last full park days are simultaneously the best and the worst.

 

[dmea10]

Yes, I'm picturing myself sobbing over that Woody hat years from now after my kiddos are all grown up.

The hat story reminded me of my son who was 6 years old on our first trip. He was a big Lion King fan and bought a Rafiki stuffed animal on that trip with velcro hands. He is 25 years old now and on his 2nd deployment to the Middle East. Rafiki is also on his 2nd deployment and has travelled everywhere with him! When he is home he is hanging off of the steering wheel of his truck, and in Iraq it is hanging on his bedside lamp. Rafiki has travelled more than I have lol

 

[disny_luvr]

I know I'm a day early but I wanted to pop in and wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Jfsag123]

The hat story reminded me of my son who was 6 years old on our first trip. He was a big Lion King fan and bought a Rafiki stuffed animal on that trip with velcro hands. He is 25 years old now and on his 2nd deployment to the Middle East. Rafiki is also on his 2nd deployment and has travelled everywhere with him! When he is home he is hanging off of the steering wheel of his truck, and in Iraq it is hanging on his bedside lamp. Rafiki has travelled more than I have lol

This makes me so happy! I love that your son still keeps Rafiki close. I hope that my kids carry some of our Disney traditions with them into adulthood. Thanks to your son for his service!

I know I'm a day early but I wanted to pop in and wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you too! We saw Moana (LOVED IT!) this morning and I just popped my pumpkin cheesecake into the oven. Baking two more pies before the night is through. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!

 

[Jfsag123]

WARNING: Yet another character-centric post

Day 12 – June 17: Magic Kingdom, Part 2

We came out of Crystal Palace to find it pouring rain. We’d been spoiled by the past few days of clear weather and were unprepared for this. I got completely soaked. We were ready to take our break at this point, but had one more stop to make on the way out of the park. We needed to meet the Big Cheese himself (again)! Unfortunately, Mickey was “saving his voice” this day, so no talking for us. However, Mickey made up for it by being super animated and fun.

In the above pic you can see that Cora and I are wearing matching shirts, also made by my MIL. Unfortunately, I have no good pics of us together.

Next we took our break. Rees and the kids went to the pool (of course) while I got us pretty much fully packed up, with the exception of the few things we would need for the next 24 hours.

Break completed, we headed back to the MK in costume again, this time as Belle and Beast. We had a Beauty and the Beast night planned and wanted to dress for the occasion. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: BatB is one of my absolute favorite Disney movies and the BatB area of New Fantasyland is one of my absolute favorite places in WDW.

We didn’t want to bother with a Beast headpiece because of how hot we knew it would be – the long sleeves were enough! And no, Alex never got too hot. Didn’t even break a sweat.

First up after the break was a FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle. We love this attraction. The first time we did it, Alex and Cora were picked to be Chip and Mrs. Potts. The second time we did it, they were Maurice and Mrs. Potts (again). This time, Cora was a dish and Alex got to be Beast. Oh, he was so thrilled.

He was also thrilled to get another princess kiss.

Belle nicely posed for a pic with both kids because they were dressed up.

When the show ended, Belle turned to Cora and Alex as she exited and said “I’ll see you in a minute!” I thought it was because one or both of them had told her we were eating at Be Our Guest that night. I was wrong. One of the CM’s came over and quietly asked us to please stay behind as everyone else left. Once the room was emptied except for us and the CM’s, Belle came back in. She said she had asked to spend extra time with the kids because she loved their outfits so much. These kiddos have no idea how lucky they are! So we stayed and chatted with Belle for a while after the show and then they posed for more pictures. They still talk about this as one of the top moments of the entire trip because they felt so special.

They were about to feel special again. We headed on our way to Be Our Guest, as we had dinner reservations for right after Enchanted Tales. Just before we got there, we were stopped. Gaston was on his way backstage from his last meet of the day when he spotted Cora and Alex. He stopped, called out to them, and wanted to talk to them. We went over to him but other people kept coming up and trying to talk to him. Gaston is super popular and can draw a crowd pretty easily, as you all I’m sure know. He brushed everyone else off and told them he was “talking to these people right now!” He then suggested to the kids that they walk somewhere out of the way to get away from all of the other folks. He walked the kids back into the start of the queue of Enchanted Tales with Belle, along with his photopass photographer and they chatted and took more pictures. The kids were about to pass out at this point. I think my face was about to crack I was smiling so hard, as you can kind of see in the background of one of the pics. You can also see some of the people staring as we walked away. Most of them look like they’re smiling, so maybe they didn’t hate us too much?

None of us cared that we had met Gaston the previous day, as this was awesome and I will always take extra time with that character, as he’s hilarious. By this time we were actually a couple of minutes late to our dinner reservation because of the extra character time, but we didn’t care about that either. We were definitely feeling the Disney magic on our last full Disney day.


To be continued. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

What an amazing magical experience with Belle and Gaston!! I couldn't help smiling the whole time reading about it!

 

[Jfsag123]

What an amazing magical experience with Belle and Gaston!! I couldn't help smiling the whole time reading about it!

I couldn't help smiling the whole time writing about it! Feel very fortunate to have had such great experiences on our last day.

 

[ArielSRL]

I need your MIL's phone number...lol! Seriously though, how awesome! And even more so bc your kids really love the character time! I mean, it seems the characters are really the main draw for you guys so it's perfect that they get those extra special encounters! Absolutely love it!

Btw, how was the wait for Mickey at that time? I had planned it for rope drop for us and, of course, we missed that. But we did it on the way out for a break, as well. Everything said a 15-20min wait (MDE and the Lines app), but we definitely waited much longer. So I'm putting it back on for RD next year but I'm wondering about that...kind of like the "don't do Spaceship Earth right when you get in the park bc everyone else does" advice. Does it apply here? Hmmmm.

 

[Jfsag123]

I need your MIL's phone number...lol! Seriously though, how awesome! And even more so bc your kids really love the character time! I mean, it seems the characters are really the main draw for you guys so it's perfect that they get those extra special encounters! Absolutely love it!

Ha! They are the biggest part of it for the kids, but I love the rides! I tried to front-load this trip with rides so I'd be more ok with taking it slowly and spending time meeting characters during the last part. It definitely ended up being quite special.

Btw, how was the wait for Mickey at that time? I had planned it for rope drop for us and, of course, we missed that. But we did it on the way out for a break, as well. Everything said a 15-20min wait (MDE and the Lines app), but we definitely waited much longer. So I'm putting it back on for RD next year but I'm wondering about that...kind of like the "don't do Spaceship Earth right when you get in the park bc everyone else does" advice. Does it apply here? Hmmmm.

We've only ever met Town Square Mickey with a FP so I have no idea what the actual waits would be like. Sorry I'm no help! The wait with a FP+ has been almost non-existent each time, which is probably why the standby line moves so slowly. I doubt the Spaceship Earth rule applies here, though. I, of course, don't know for sure, but it seems like pretty much everyone runs straight for Fantasyland (specifically the Mine Train) at rope drop, with a few peeling off for Tomorrowland. We don't RD the Mine Train and have never had a line for a single thing at a MK RD, though Peter Pan built one pretty quickly.

 

[disny_luvr]

Another great character meet! I think if I went to Disney with your family I'd never have to ride a ride; I'd be content meeting characters all day. Seriously, what great memories you're making while having so much fun!

We met Town Square Mickey two trips ago and had a fun meet. He did a magic trick with my boys. To answer a question another poster had - We had no FP+ and waited about 25-30 minutes. This was 4th of July week.

 

[Jfsag123]

Another great character meet! I think if I went to Disney with your family I'd never have to ride a ride; I'd be content meeting characters all day. Seriously, what great memories you're making while having so much fun!

We met Town Square Mickey two trips ago and had a fun meet. He did a magic trick with my boys. To answer a question another poster had - We had no FP+ and waited about 25-30 minutes. This was 4th of July week.

I struggle with the balance of ride time vs character time, but I am always reminding myself that my days of having character-loving kids are numbered whereas the rides will always be there. This is definitely where a lot of our memories get made!

Town Square Mickey always seems to be a fun meet, though we've never had the pleasure of magic tricks! Last year he did sing happy birthday to Cora which was awesome. That wait time in standby during the 4th of July week doesn't seem bad at all. Thanks for the info!

 

[ArielSRL]

Ha! They are the biggest part of it for the kids, but I love the rides! I tried to front-load this trip with rides so I'd be more ok with taking it slowly and spending time meeting characters during the last part. It definitely ended up being quite special.

Good momma! And smart, too, on the front loading the rides!

We've only ever met Town Square Mickey with a FP so I have no idea what the actual waits would be like. Sorry I'm no help! The wait with a FP+ has been almost non-existent each time, which is probably why the standby line moves so slowly. I doubt the Spaceship Earth rule applies here, though. I, of course, don't know for sure, but it seems like pretty much everyone runs straight for Fantasyland (specifically the Mine Train) at rope drop, with a few peeling off for Tomorrowland. We don't RD the Mine Train and have never had a line for a single thing at a MK RD, though Peter Pan built one pretty quickly.

Good to know about the FP. I need to keep watch and see if getting it as an additional FP might work. But we will definitely try the RD I think. And we'll do it on our Frontierland/Adventureland RD day, as opposed to our Tomorrowland or our FL RD day. I think FrontierLand/AL is more forgiving than the other lands if one doesn't run straight there at RD. We plan to do PP on our FL RD day. I so want to see that standby queue!

 

[Jfsag123]

Good to know about the FP. I need to keep watch and see if getting it as an additional FP might work. But we will definitely try the RD I think. And we'll do it on our Frontierland/Adventureland RD day, as opposed to our Tomorrowland or our FL RD day. I think FrontierLand/AL is more forgiving than the other lands if one doesn't run straight there at RD. We plan to do PP on our FL RD day. I so want to see that standby queue!

We got it as an additional FP last year on our March trip. We used our last pre-booked one around 12:30 and were able to get one for meeting Mickey for about 4:30, which we planned to use after our break. But yeah, I would be you'd be fine doing it on an Adventureland RD day, as those rides take a lot longer to build lines. I think it would be nice to start out a day with meeting the Big Cheese himself.

And yes, the PP standy queue is gorgeous, which is why we started RDing PP rather than exclusively fastpassing it. Very worth seeing, but not worth an hour line to see.

 

[ArielSRL]

We got it as an additional FP last year on our March trip. We used our last pre-booked one around 12:30 and were able to get one for meeting Mickey for about 4:30, which we planned to use after our break. But yeah, I would be you'd be fine doing it on an Adventureland RD day, as those rides take a lot longer to build lines. I think it would be nice to start out a day with meeting the Big Cheese himself.

And yes, the PP standy queue is gorgeous, which is why we started RDing PP rather than exclusively fastpassing it. Very worth seeing, but not worth an hour line to see.

Yeh, we tend to schedule late FP (after our break) so I'm thinking RD will work.

Can't wait for the PP standby!