14 years later, my return to WDW through the eyes of my daughter - Updated

[nejjie]

This was my 2nd trip to Disney, the last time I visited the World was back in 1997 – I can still remember what I wore that 1st day to Magic Kingdom, the “so-in style” tube socks, the tucked in Minnie shirt and red shorts. Oh yeah, don't forget the matching minnie fanny pack!

One day it just hit me, I was ready to take my daughter to Disney World. Emily aka Emmy is very much a princess. She is also my little Broadway star, there isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t hear this one singing her little heart out, her favorites are “Part of your World” and “Mama Mia” LOL.

My mother and I are big Mickey fans; it could be because our Alma Mater’s mascot is Mickey Mouse himself!

So here I am, 14 years later, so excited to be taking my mother and daughter (4) to Disney for the 1st time. This was a trip like none other; I had no idea what a roller-coaster ride I was in for. Planning for Disney is like conquering an island. Here I stood with flag in hand, ready to mark my territory. ADR’s complete, park planning done, money in my pocket and bellies ready to be filled with mickey ice cream bars

And it begins ... DECEMBER 10-18, 2010

We left for the airport around 11:30am, I was really REALLY nervous because this would be the 1st time I have ever flown. (That 1st trip I talked about, we drove.. yikes!) We went through security and waited to board. Emmy couldn't wait, the kid was all smiles. 3 hours later, we landed in Orlando at sunset, we hopped onto the magical express and headed to POP.

 

[disneymegs]

LOVE her headband!

 

[jessidoll]

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nejjie]

LOVE her headband!

Awe, thank you

Hootiebee on etsy made the headband, it is one of our favorites.

 

[disneymegs]

Was she made into a princess at BBB?

 

[TAKitty]

How cute! I can't wait to read about all the fun you had.

 

[nejjie]

Was she made into a princess at BBB?

Yes And watching her face was just priceless. She was over the moon, I can't wait to get to that part in my report

 

[disneymegs]

Yes And watching her face was just priceless. She was over the moon, I can't wait to get to that part in my report

Which location did you go to? I'm a FGIT at DTD and have worked at MK as well

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

YAY!!! Can't wait for more

 

[heaven2dc]

Can't wait to read all about your trip! Our first trip was in March 1997 - me and 11 members of our family. Were you there for the Castle dressed in pink birthday cake? I was SO disappointed cuz I was excited to finally see WDW's castle and it was all covered up!

 

[amandaw]

Joining in! This sounds like it's going to be a really sweet trip report...if it gets too sweet, I could shed tears! We were in WDW for some of the same time as you. We took our son, who was 2 at the time, for his first trip from Dec. 9th - Dec. 13th. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[nejjie]

When we arrived at Pop, we were all so excited. I previously did the online-check in 10 days before and it worked out great because I was able to get into a very short line. I was handed our key to the world cards and told we would be staying in the 80's section.

We pulled our carry-on's and headed to the Pop shop where my mother did some mad damage. (I'll let you all know what her excessive shopping did to me at the end of this trip report)

We had pizza for dinner, honestly.. that was about the only food I enjoyed that I ate out of the Pop food court our entire trip. And it seemed to be popular because the line for pizza was always long.

We headed outside towards the Rubik's cube and we had a corner room on the 3rd floor, it was the perfect location. It was a very short walk from the buses.

We unpacked and I waited until 11pm for our checked luggage to be delivered. I finally hit the sack because we had Magic Kingdom in the morning

 

[nejjie]

Can't wait to read all about your trip! Our first trip was in March 1997 - me and 11 members of our family. Were you there for the Castle dressed in pink birthday cake? I was SO disappointed cuz I was excited to finally see WDW's castle and it was all covered up!

Same here! lol.. I remember walking into MK and I couldn't wait to see that castle and all I saw was something straight out of a candy land game

 

[nejjie]

Which location did you go to? I'm a FGIT at DTD and have worked at MK as well

We did the castle I love the look of BBB in DTD but there is just something about getting made into a princess in an actual castle.

 

[nejjie]

We woke up bright and early, unfortunately, Disney had decided to extend park hours. We had a Crystal Palace breakfast ressie at 8:05 but MK was now opening up at 8 instead of 9. I was torn on what to do but my mom insisted we just go to breakfast. We jumped on the bus and walked over to the turnstiles. We waited with a bunch of other happy families and then we hear the train coming. If only I could upload video because the footage I captured of seeing Emmy's face light up as she saw some of the characters roll by was just priceless! She was jumping up and down.. she was so excited. We were then allowed into the park and we made our way up Main St. and wow, seeing that castle brought tears to my eyes because even though I was in MK 14 years before, I did not see the castle. I saw the castle covered in blown up birthday cake

We headed for Crystal Palace, I checked us in and we were seated very shortly afterward. Our server was really nice and we went off to check out the buffet. And did they have a selection. I was in food heaven! The puffed french toast, the chocolate croissants and the strawberries with whipped cream were out of this world. Emmy had bacon and mickey waffles, she was all about those mickey waffles the entire trip. I don't blame her.. they were really cute. My mom kept saying how much she was really enjoying her food and the ambiance of the place. The characters were great and they came around many times, all except for Eeyore. He was just a slow-poke.. he just took too long to come over to our table. So we passed because we wanted to hit some rides in Fantasyland


Our family definitly rates Crystal Palace breakfast as #1 on our list so far!

 

[nejjie]

We headed towards the castle and we bump into the Fairy Godmother herself, Emmy was in shock. She kept telling me, "She is real Mommy, she is real!" I couldn't help but laugh.


Unfortunately, the lines in Fantasyland were crazy long. I was shocked that it was that packed after the park had only been open for a little over an hour.

So we headed over to the Tea Cups, Emmy just loves Alice in Wonderland. This little girl picks out her Halloween costumes in January LOL. It is her favorite holiday, she loves to dress up and the kid loves to eat chocolate.

We didn't see Alice but we did see the White Rabbit. Emmy ran right up to him! After this photo-op we were able to ride the tea cups and then headed over to Toontown to ride Goofy's Brainstormer and to check out Minnie's house.


After checking out Minnie's house, Emmy wanted to know why Minnie did not have a bedroom? Huh? She didn't have a bedroom?.. I was sure we just missed it so we walked through Minnie's house again. And we didn't see a bedroom, I was stumped.. I didn't know what to tell Emmy. There she was looking at me and I had no answer to give her. So what did I do? I bent down and whispered that she go ask Mommom LOL.

But then Emmy saw face-painting and that topic was so last minute ago lol.


We headed over to Tomorrowland and rode the speedway. Emmy had so much fun driving, that was such a fun experience! After this we headed back to our resort to rest. We barely did anything but we were already so exhausted.

 

[loveysbydesign]

lovin your tr!

 

[disneymegs]

We did the castle I love the look of BBB in DTD but there is just something about getting made into a princess in an actual castle.

Oh I know what you mean. It's very magical in there!

 

[nejjie]

We arrived back at Pop to take an afternoon break. We also decided to check out the resort area near our room since the day before it was just too dark to see anything.


After we freshened up, watched some tv and just relaxed.. we headed over to the food court for an early dinner. Emmy couldn't wait to get back to the park and I couldn't wait to see her reaction to the Main Street Electrical Parade. I remember seeing SpectroMagic as a kid, there aren't many things I remember from my 1st trip to MK but that parade is one of them


Here's Emmy with her new Minnie light up toy while waiting for the parade to start, this thing went everywhere with us for the remainder of our trip. She still uses it, we've taken it to Disney on Ice and had parents asking where we got it LOL.


And I don't have any pictures of the parade since I had to hold Emmy so she could see. The parade was fantastic and Emmy really enjoyed it. And then......... Emmy fell asleep. I carried her from the Hub to Crystal Palace so I could sit with her and watch the fireworks. It was a nice but hectic day.

Next is Animal Kingdom