9 Days of Princess Hair - a June 2010 trip report - update 9/24 the drive home

[ksl5f123]

OK, I have to apologize for going AWOL again. I was afraid this might happen if I didn't finish before school started. We are now all back to the grind.

DD6 is in 2nd grade and it is tougher than I remember 2nd grade being. In her first week, the spelling words included "searched", "weighed", and "different". She is doing well though. She is also back in gymnastics and started soccer last week. This week she starts choir, but we have 2 more weeks until chess starts.

DD4 is in 4yo preschool. She also has gymnastics and tap and ballet. Somehow this week, I lost DS's diaper bag which contained her brand new dance shoes. So I now have to replace $35 worth of shoes. Ugh!

DS2 also started gymnastics. He loves it and we have to drag him out of the gym.

DH and I are back in class too. We are really lucky that we can schedule our classes so that one of us is home and DS doesn't need daycare. It does make for a very busy week however.

I will get back on track soon and finish though. Please stick with me.

 

[ksl5f123]

The first year we used PP I had hundreds but this trip DH kept rolling his eyes when I wanted to stop for a picture so we did nto have half as many, but I love the PP pictures!! Especially the added elements!

I love them too. We got lots of pictures of the kids with characters, but just forgot to get the family shots. It is something I will have to work on in the future!

The girls with Daisy are so cute! I can relate to being confused about what to do with Tinkerbell! When that technology first came out, we were at Dollywood and I was supposed to "hold" a flower. They didn't tell me what I was doing just to hold my hand a certain way. It wasn't until later when I saw the picture that I fully grasped what had happened....and then I felt real smart!! I was an adult though so I couldn't use littel girl cuteness for an excuse!!!

Thanks! Daisy was great. The girls were so confused about the Tinkerbell shot. I think it came out pretty well though. They also asked them to do one where they "looked surprised". That one is ridiculously bad. My kids are not very good actors.

I had forgotten until I read this post, but I had initially tried to talk DH into doing GAD and add 1 extra day. He was determined we were spending no extra time at Disney World so I decided not to do GAD at all and let others have the vouchers. After reading this, I realized we could have used that day. I had totally forgotten about all of that....you bet I brought that back up to DH!!

You wound up with a great last day anyway, but it would have been great to have the GAD vouchers. Especially since your kids are old enough that you all could have had one.

 

[ksl5f123]

SO glad you decided on the extra day!

I am glad too because it really was a GREAT day.

I can't believe that you almost forgot to get a family photopass picture! You would have been upset if you realized that when you got home. See, first thing, and the extra day is already worth it!

I know. I get so focused on getting great pictures of the kids that I forget about getting family pictures. I would have been really upset when I realized it later.

They should really carry a copy of those "special" pictures to show the kids, so they know what the heck they're doing. I've never seen one where the kids didn't look confused!

That is a good idea! I wonder who we should submit it to so they could do that.

Peter Pan always has a crazy wait. And I don't know why. Fastpasses are a must for that one!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day!

It wasn't too bad on Saturday morning. We did choose to get fastpasses for it so that we could ride other things that didn't have fastpass. On Thursday, it was crazy!

 

[ksl5f123]

After Fantasyland, we made our way to Adventureland and DH helped me park the strollers before he and DD6 left for Frontierland. They used the GAD fastpasses to ride BTMRR and had a GREAT time. Meanwhile, I rode Aladdin twice (it was a walk-on) with DD4 and DS1. It was a good day to aim for the spray from the camel!

From there, we went to find Tiana. I am really glad that I knew to look behind the Christmas store in Liberty Square because otherwise we would NEVER have found her. You can't actually see her from the main walkway through Liberty Square. When we arrived, Tiana and Naveen were “checking on their gumbo” (don't you love the stories for the character's breaks? Earlier, Daisy needed to “refresh her make-up”). There were about 5 families in line so we joined them in a nice shady spot. All week, I had brought our own water bottles that we had cooled in the the refridgerator overnight. We had done fine with just those. However, on this day, they were all empty by this time and it was only 10:30 AM!! While we waited in line, DH went and bought us 3 bottles of water. I usually consider buying water a waste of money, but on this day it was a health need! The CMs working the line let us all spread out in the shade while we were waiting. The line magically re-formed when Tiana and Naveen appeared.

Tiana and Prince Naveen were AWESOME! You can see in the pictures that they both got down on the girls' level. Prince Naveen asked them lots of questions and they had a great chat. I wanted to ask him if Maldonia got as hot as it was there, but the girls did let me get a word in! DS1 enjoyed running around them while they were signing our autograph cards, but had no interest in chatting. In these pictures, DD6 looks like she is going to melt.

DS hiding from Tiana. She tried really hard to get him to interact with her.

From the moment we got in line until we were saying good-bye to the princess was a total of 25 minutes – not too bad – I have heard horror stories about the wait time for Tiana.

 

[dixonsontour]

Lovely pics of the tiana meet..i've been reading along from the start..can't believe your DD kept her hair in style all that time.

 

[ksl5f123]

Lovely pics of the tiana meet..i've been reading along from the start..can't believe your DD kept her hair in style all that time.

Thanks for saying "HI"! She was really loving the hair.

 

[ksl5f123]

Next, we went over to Tomorrowland and got in line to meet Buzz. We were only in line a minute when he had to “go recharge his jet pack”. I imagine all the characters needed extra breaks because of the heat. He was back quickly and we were only in line about 10 minutes.

Buzz stamping our autograph cards. This one shows how long the line got behind us.

DS1 liked Buzz better than Tiana

The Photopass pictures

A high 5 for Buzz

A happy little guy

Then we went over to ride Buzz with our GAD fastpasses. This is where I really understood that the park was more crowded than on Saturday. I don't think the wait for Buzz Lightyear got longer than 10 minutes on Saturday and on this Thursday at 11:15 AM it was 40 minutes! I love this ride, but I can't imagine standing in line for 40 minutes for it! Anyway, we rode quickly and DD6 asked to “do it again” so she and I rode again.

At this point, we were all really hot and hungry so we headed to the closest food – Cosmic Rays. Unfortunately, it was pretty much right at noon and this place was a madhouse – although DH did a really good job finding us a table. DH had a veggie burger and a cup of tap water. I had a chicken sandwich and a Diet Coke. I don't exactly remember what the kids had, but I think I got the 8 piece chicken nuggets meal for all 3 of them to share. I didn't think the food here was either fabulous or horrible. The toppings bar made it work for us.

Feeling refreshed, we decided to ride Pooh with our GAD fastpasses. It think the standby wait here was also about 40-50 minutes. We then went into Castle Couture to by DD4 a plush baby Tinkerbell. On Monday night, DD6 had convinced MIL to buy her a plush Aurora. DD4 had been with me at the time, so she didn't get anything. I guess I have a complex about equality, so I insisted that we get something for DD4. By 1:30, we were on our way out of the park. We quickly made our way to a monorail and then on to the tram. We just missed a tram and so had a small wait there, but we were still in our car by about 2:30. From there, we had about a 2 hour drive to MIL and FIL's condo near Vero Beach. When we arrived, she had supper cooking. We ate and that night we finally washed out the princess hair.

Up next, cost analysis!

 

[TinksThree]

Tiana and Prince Naveen are the two characters I wished I had made time for! I just adore that movie!! The pictures with them and Buzz were great!! It is so sad that the TRs are almost all over!! But they were almost as much fun as the trips!!

 

[pinkxray]

The meet and greet with Tiana looks so cute. We skipped it for some reason? Most likely a long line. I hope she sticks around for a bit so we can see her next trip.

The Buzz pictures are great too. I don't remember seeing the Toy Story borders on photopass. I love the first one with Jessie.

The girls look like they are so hot

 

[ksl5f123]

Money spent on our SeaWorld day = $12 for parking, $187.75 for park admission (purchased in advance), $47.85 for a plush Shamu and 2 plush dolphins, $105.75 to stay at the Radison with elevators that didn't bounce!

Money spent on our bonus day = $7.50 for water, $14 for parking, $21.25 for a plush Tinkerbell, $31.69 for lunch at Cosmic Rays, and $4.80 in tolls driving to Vero Beach

Money available after 10 days = -$26.59 Yep, this is where we went over budget.

Usually, I wouldn't tell you about our time at the in-laws, but they live in Vero Beach and I know a lot of DISers visit the Disney resort there, so I am at least going to tell you about our favorite places to eat.

So, up next, Vero Beach!

 

[Stasieki]

Wow - I am actually impressed. I have a hard time staying in budget at Disney and am usually more like a few hundred over budget

Do you think the Dining Plan is worth it?

 

[Lisa29]

I am so pleased you are going to write about Vero Beach as we are going there for 2 nights during our trip this year.

I am not sure if I have posted before, so if not, your kids are gorgeous! The girls are so cute and your son looks like a really little version of your husband - I couldn't believe how alike they look in the pictures with Buzz! I can't wait til my DD is their age so she can have Princess Hair too!

I can't believe all the activities your kids do - I'd love to get my DD into dancing, etc but my work hours of 8.30 - 4 make it difficult as all classes for younger kids tend to be during the day.

Well done on the budget - when I first started reading I thought 'no chance' with the amount of money you had. I am hoping to keep track of exactly what we spend this year as we will be buying birthday and Christmas presents too, so I want a figure in mind for each gift beforehand!

Anyway, can't wait for your next instalment!

 

[TinksThree]

I loved how you showed your budget. I may have mentioned in the beginning that I ran a similar tracking. Every night I added everything up to see where we were! We were over a few hundred but that was due to us choosing to forfeit free hotel rooms in St Augustine and paying for CSR for two nights. Congrats on being over by less than $30!!

I too am glad you are going to write about Vero Beach...I had contemplated that area when we were first planning our trip.

I noticed that a few posts back I double posted! My internet sometimes acts crazy and I go to submit and it freezes! And then I can't remember what I said! It was funny reading my two back to back!

 

[lexmas]

What a great bonus day, despite the heat! Those pictures of your girls hugging Tiana...oh they just melt my heart! How sweet are they?

So glad your little guy liked meeting Buzz. He's already all boy, huh? No princesses for him!

Great job on the budget, that is staying REALLY close to your goal! Not bad at all!

I'm glad you're going to tell us about Vero Beach, I was so sad that it was over!

 

[ksl5f123]

Tiana and Prince Naveen are the two characters I wished I had made time for! I just adore that movie!! The pictures with them and Buzz were great!! It is so sad that the TRs are almost all over!! But they were almost as much fun as the trips!!

Tiana and Naveen were SO good. I think it really helps when 2 characters meet together. They seem to play off of each other and it makes for a better experience. We love the movie too!

To me, the rides that day were really superfluous. We went back to meet Tiana and Buzz!

 

[ksl5f123]

The meet and greet with Tiana looks so cute. We skipped it for some reason? Most likely a long line. I hope she sticks around for a bit so we can see her next trip.

I bet either the line was long or it just slipped your mind since you can't see them from anywhere. You have to walk completely behind the buildings to find them. I really wanted to meet them this trip because WDW seems to be rotating new characters through pretty quick and I was concerned they wouldn't be there next time.

The Buzz pictures are great too. I don't remember seeing the Toy Story borders on photopass. I love the first one with Jessie.

The girls look like they are so hot

The Toy Story borders were only available for my pictures with Buzz. My kids like Toy Story but absolutely LOVE Buzz Lightyear: Star Command. They watch it at least once a week. I couldn't believe we missed Buzz all week.

The girls were really about to melt, but they actually never once complained about the heat (I think I did though).

 

[ksl5f123]

Wow - I am actually impressed. I have a hard time staying in budget at Disney and am usually more like a few hundred over budget

Do you think the Dining Plan is worth it?

Thanks! We spent some more money getting home, but in general did really well.

This was our first time on the dining plan. I think if it had just been DH and I it would not have been worth it. For adults, it is just too much food (especially too many desserts). However, it was great for the kids. They really make the cost work out in our favor. So, I would say "no" if adults only, but "yes" if kids are involved.

 

[ksl5f123]

On Friday, we did some relaxing at the pool at the condo and then had lunch at one of our favorite Vero restaraunts. It is called Oriente and is inside the Costa d'Este hotel. This hotel was nearly destroyed by a hurricane back in 2004. After the damage, it was purchased by Gloria Estefan and is now really upscale and beautiful. The food here is modern Cuban food and absolutely fabulous. I love the Traditional Black Bean soup appetizer and get it every time we go. So yummy! On this trip, I just had the Salmon BLT as my main course and it was very good. I think DH had the Ahi Tuna loin which he loved. Here is the description from the menu “Cumin Dusted, Seared Rare with Cilantro Arroz and Coconut Foam”.

We spent Saturday again hanging out at the pool and beach. That night, DH and I went out. We went to Mass at Holy Cross parish in Vero Beach. This Mass was so sad because the priest was obviously ill and we were in and out in under 30 minutes. After Mass, we left the kids with MIL and FIL and went out to eat at our favorite date night spot in Vero. It is called Maison Martinique and it is CRAZY expensive, but completely worth it. It is located on a little side street near the beach inside the Caribbean Court hotel. Supper for just the 2 of us that night was $127. From the outside, it looks like a small old hotel and it is pretty small inside, but the food is amazing! For the first time, we went upstairs to the piano bar before dinner and each had a glass of wine. It was an intimate spot although I found it a little dark. When it was time for our reservation, they carried the wine downstairs for us and we were seated immediately. DH started with this salad: La Salade d'Épinards aux Champignons (Baby Spinach, Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms, Candied Pecans, Gorgonzola Cheese Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette drizzled with a Red Zinfandel Reduction = $12) while I had the classic Caesar salad ($10). I know that sounds expensive for salads, but they are really unlike salads anywhere else – really fresh and creative and beautiful. We each had fish entrees. I think I had this, “Filet de Mérou aux Oignons
(Onion Crusted Grouper with a Caramelized Onion & Bacon Confit $29) and DH had this, “L'Escalope de Saumon aux Airelles (Pan Seared Salmon with Cranberry and Ginger $28). I am pretty sure by dessert we were pretty full and decided to share. We had this, “Assortment of Sorbets served in a Cookie Shell with Berries and a Raspberry Coulis $10). I really can't say enough good things about this place. It is REALLY good!

Sunday morning, was Father's day so we wanted to go out for brunch with Gabe's dad before we started driving home. We ate at the Cobalt restaurant inside the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa. DH had the Buttermilk Waffle with seasonal fruit compote and pure maple syrup $12 and I had The American Breakfast: two farm fresh eggs, breakfast potatoes, apple wood bacon, sausage or country ham, choice of toast $12. It was nice, but one of those places where I don't feel like people were thrilled that we brought the kids. They weren't mean to them, just kind of cold. The food was fine, although I find it a little hard to have a bad breakfast. The view is really the selling point of this place. It is right on the beach with a beautiful ocean view that isn't obstructed by anything else around.

Up next, we go home.

 

[ksl5f123]

I am so pleased you are going to write about Vero Beach as we are going there for 2 nights during our trip this year.

Oh good. I am glad that someone is interested!

I am not sure if I have posted before, so if not, your kids are gorgeous! The girls are so cute and your son looks like a really little version of your husband - I couldn't believe how alike they look in the pictures with Buzz! I can't wait til my DD is their age so she can have Princess Hair too!

Thank you! We usually say that DD6 is mine, DS1 is his, and DD4 is the mix. Princess Hair is great! It really makes the little girls feel special.

I can't believe all the activities your kids do - I'd love to get my DD into dancing, etc but my work hours of 8.30 - 4 make it difficult as all classes for younger kids tend to be during the day.

My oldest is the Energizer bunny! If she doesn't have somewhere to go or something to do, she is reeking havoc! So, we keep her busy. DD4's dance class is a combo where they do ballet for 20 minutes, tap for 20 minutes, and gymnastics for 20 minutes. So, it is only one trip for me.

Well done on the budget - when I first started reading I thought 'no chance' with the amount of money you had. I am hoping to keep track of exactly what we spend this year as we will be buying birthday and Christmas presents too, so I want a figure in mind for each gift beforehand!

Anyway, can't wait for your next instalment!

Thanks, I tend to be rather cheap, um..er.. I mean frugal and it is tough for me to spend money. We did pretty well on this trip.

 

[ksl5f123]

I loved how you showed your budget. I may have mentioned in the beginning that I ran a similar tracking. Every night I added everything up to see where we were! We were over a few hundred but that was due to us choosing to forfeit free hotel rooms in St Augustine and paying for CSR for two nights. Congrats on being over by less than $30!!

I love numbers. Anything that I can quantify makes me happy!

I too am glad you are going to write about Vero Beach...I had contemplated that area when we were first planning our trip.

I like Vero. It is clearly a Beach town, but not as "touristy" as Myrtle Beach or something like that. It is pretty upscale.

I noticed that a few posts back I double posted! My internet sometimes acts crazy and I go to submit and it freezes! And then I can't remember what I said! It was funny reading my two back to back!

My internet does strange things sometimes too. I never thought anything of it!