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

Subbing! I am really enjoying your TR! My daughter also got her 1st hair cut at Disney when we went on the 21st!

:welcome: and thanks! I really like the barbershop. It is just so quaint and cute. Hopefully your DD did better than my DS!
 
:welcome: and thanks! I really like the barbershop. It is just so quaint and cute. Hopefully your DD did better than my DS!

I like it too! She did great, but she had to sit on my lap. My DS7 loved it more since he got to get his mohawk colored & have pixie dust on it!:lmao:
 
As soon as we were done at the barber shop, we jumped on the monorail and went to Epcot.
Waiting on the monorail wearing his ears “his way” (no chin strap and slightly crooked) :laughing:
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We arrived there at 2:30 PM. At that time, the guys were in the Seas pavilion and weren't getting cell service. We found a little entertainment for DS while we waited.
Thinking about it:
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Trying it out:
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Having a great time!
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The touring plan I had for this day had us arriving at Epcot at 3 PM (remember we weren't supposed to get to POR until noon), getting fastpasses for Maelstrom, and riding the boats in the Mexico pavilion. MIL and I decided to just follow this plan and try to catch the guys when we could. We got our Maelstrom fp at 3 PM with a 4:30 return time and started to walk back toward Mexico when the guys finally called us. We found a shady spot near Mexico and waited for them to join us. By the time they walked over, got their Maelstrom fastpasses, and the nephews got snacks it was 3:20 PM. We then went into the Mexico pavilion only to discover that DD4 needed a potty stop. Due to the renovation in Mexico, we couldn't find a restroom there and had to walk all the way back over to Norway. :headache: So, after MANY delays, I finally got on my very first ride of the trip at 3:30 PM!! :yay: We hadn't seen it since the addition of Donald and it was cute. It was also a good 1st ride for DS1. :goodvibes

Next, we went over to the China pavilion and saw the movie there. The girls were feeling a little tired and spent most of it sitting on the floor with MIL. Everyone enjoyed getting out of the heat. After the movie, we quickly circled back around and re-entered the lobby just in time for the Dragon Legend Acrobats to begin! They are awesome. We were standing in the back, so I didn't get very good photos, but we enjoyed the show very much.

It was now about 4:40 PM which means our fastpass window for Maelstrom was open. My kids were a little nervous at the troll part, but in general liked the ride (although DD4 had no interest in doing it again). After the ride, we watched the movie. I know lots of DISers skip this and it is a little cheesy, but we really like it. :thumbsup2 Now, let me show you what was almost the title of this TR:
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They are the chairs in the Norway movie. Why a title about these? Because while we were waiting for the movie to start, DD4 whispered “Mommy, the chairs look like french fries!” Creative little girl, isn't she? :rotfl:

We finished in Norway just in time to walk to Italy for our 5:20 ADR at Tutto Italia. We were seated immediately. I ordered the Petto di pollo with a Diet Coke and the gianduja chocolate torta for dessert:
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DH ordered the Cannelloni al Forno and the Piatto Delizie (chocolate cake, a cannoli, and tiramisu in the little cup) for dessert
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DD4 had the Mozzarella sticks, penne alla panna, raspberry sorbetti, and apple juice. DD6 was VERY disappointed that an Italian restaurant did not have ravioli (at least not on the kids menu), but made do with Mozzarella sticks, Spaghetti, Sprite, and a gelato sundae. This is a picture of the kid's gelato sundae which to say DD6 loved would be a serious understatement!:
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Everything here was WONDERFUL! :woohoo: The food was great. The service was great. It wasn't too noisy. I know lots of folks find this place overpriced, but we just LOVE it! I don't think there was a single bite of food left uneaten at our entire table! :laughing:

It was starting to rain a we came out after supper, so we walked quickly to the bus stop and were back to POR and in bed by 8 PM.

TS credits used: 4
Price for this meal if paying oop = $132.60
Total paid for dining plan (8 days) = $975.68
Total cost of meals if paying oop = $173.52

Up next, our first full day – at Animal Kingdom!
 

The chairs DO look like french fries!!!! That would have been a great TR title!!!!

I'm glad you see it too. DD4 has a creative eye that I completely lack! She is the little artist in the family and just looks at things differently.
 
I'm glad you see it too. DD4 has a creative eye that I completely lack! She is the little artist in the family and just looks at things differently.

I would have never thought of it, but now that you posted it, I totally see it! I could see one of my boys saying it too!
 
Our first full day was Tuesday June 8. We woke up at 7 AM and got dressed quickly. We had baked two loaves of banana bread before we left home and we ate ½ of one of these for breakfast. :banana: To my great surprise, MIL, FIL and the nephews were ready to go by about 7:50 AM. I hadn't planned to leave quite that early, but I didn't want to spoil their enthusiasm so I didn't say anything. ;)

We drove to the park this morning and since we had booked with our AAA agent we had the diamond parking pass. We were the first 2 cars in the diamond lot and had about a 5 minute walk up to the turnstiles. We arrived at about 8:15 AM. While we were waiting for the park to open, it became clear why everyone had been so motivated to leave. MIL's watch was off by an hour (not sure how this happened – she lives in Florida!) and she thought we were going to be late, but she figured if I wasn't panicking she wouldn't say anything! :rotfl:

We were the first family at our turnstile.
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Once we were inside, we were first up to the rope for a great view of the opening show. We had never seen this before and it was really cute! :)
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When the rope dropped, we split up and went 3 different ways: MIL took DS1 to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest. She must have done OK because the return time was 10 AM. :thumbsup2 I took DD6 and DD4 to Triceratop Spin. We were the 2nd family in line on the 1st cycle. We rode for 3 cycles before I told the girls to get off for a break! :woohoo: DH, FIL, and the nephews were 1st in line for Dinosaur, BUT it was broken and they didn't actually get on until 9:20. :confused: By that time, MIL and DS1 had met back up with us and we rode Triceratop Spin a 4th time.
The guys finally joined us at about 9:35. They enjoyed Dinosaur, but found it a little intense and DH said he was glad the girls had skipped it.
Next, we went over to the Pangani trail. DD6 really enjoyed the part of the trail where you see the birds. She was our guide:
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DS1 REALLY liked the fish. :yay:
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We did stop to watch this guy for a few minutes.
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After leaving Pangani and thanks to MIL's good job getting our first fastpasses, our window was open to get our Safari fastpass. We then checked in at exactly 10:15 for our ADR at Tusker house. However, they were running behind and we didn't get seated until 10:40 which caused a few crankies as MIL, FIL, and the nephews had skipped breakfast to make our early departure. :mad:
When we arrived, the characters were only a few tables away. So, I sent DH to get food for the kids while I stayed with them to meet the characters. Mickey, Daisy and Goofy were there and they came pretty much one right after the other. Then there was the little parade/dance with Mickey. I took DS to do that, but he wasn't so sure about it although he did like the shaker. Between all of the character interaction, I am not actually sure when I went to get my own food! :confused3 I remember that I grabbed some scrambled eggs and a chocolate croissant with intentions to go back later for more food, but that never happened.:sad1:
DD4 was thrilled to have Safari Daisy sign her new Daisy.
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A few pictures with characters:
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At one point, I had taken DD4 up to get some more food leaving her plush Daisy on her chair. When we returned, Daisy wasn't there! I was just starting to panic thinking that someone had stolen my DD's new toy...in Disneyworld...on our first day! :scared1: At that moment, up came a CM with DD's Daisy who now had on a bib and was carrying a cup that had been autographed by Daisy! pixiedust: It was so cute, but the pictures didn't come out. :sad1: Our conclusion on this restaurant was mixed. I wasn't thrilled with the food, but DH said that was because I basically didn't get to eat anything. :upsidedow He thinks that we should give it another try but get an 8 AM ADR so we won't have the long wait to get seated and they won't be hurrying us out because breakfast was ending.

Up next, more at the Animal Kingdom!
 
We left Tusker house at 11:35 AM and headed straight for the Lion King show. We got into the line just as they opened the doors. We sat in about the 4th row in the Warthog section. The show was fabulous!! :lovestruc This was our 1st time seeing it and DD4 and I were particularly fascinated. DS1, however, found it a good place to fall asleep. After the show we put him in his stroller and FIL agreed to stay with him while everyone else rode the Safari (I told you he was GREAT like that!)

As we got into the fastpass line for the Safari, they announced that there were animals in the path and there would be no loading until they passed. Of course, this is the moment that DD4 announced that she needed to go potty. MIL took her out of the line and she was able to go and return before the line really even moved (BTW, this is the only time the whole week we had to do this!) We had a wonderful safari and saw LOTS of animals.
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Pumba!
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We got off of the Safari at about 1:30 which was the time I wanted to be leaving the park. But, we were still holding 9 fastpasses for Everest which the nephews were determined to use. So, DH and the nephews took off with fastpasses in hand while FIL stayed with the sleeping DS1 in Africa (he found a nice spot to sit and refused to move) and MIL and I took DD6 and DD4 to listen to some drummers and then on into some shops. After about 30 minutes, I started calling and texting DH to find out what was going on. DH had gone on EE with the nephews, but came off feeling a little ill. So, the boys went on a 2nd time...and a 3rd time by themselves. By the time they had ridden 3 times in a row, they were sick too. So they stopped to recover and didn't meet up with us at the entrance until about 3 PM!!!!!!!!!!!! :headache: So much for my early departure. I was bored while waiting 90 minutes for them to ride Everest, so I amused myself by taking pictures of the light fixtures (they are really cool):
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I have to admit that at this point, I had the crankies because I did NOT want to be in the heat of Animal Kingdom this long and I thought DH should have pulled the plug on the EE riding sooner. I had planned on heading over to Blizzard Beach this afternoon and could no longer see any point in such a late arrival. Oh well. We made our way out to our cars and drove back to POR.

We then made our 2nd trip to Riverside Mill (this will become a pattern). I don't have any pictures this time, but I had the turkey from the carving station with mashed potatoes and corn which I shared with DD4 and DS1. It was plenty of food for all 3 of us. I got an apple juice for them to share and a tap water for myself. For dessert, DD4 picked a sugar cookie with purple Mickey sprinkles. DH had the Create-your-own pasta (another pattern) with cranberry juice and apple pie. DD6 had the kids chicken nuggets with fries, applesauce, and milk (yet another pattern).

After supper, we went swimming at Ol' Man Island (the POR pool). Unfortunately, the biting flies that frequent Central Florida were out in force that night and DH got lots of bites on his ankles which would annoy him for the rest of the week. :sad2:

After swimming, we went back and gave both girls baths and washed their hair in preparation for our BBB appointment the next morning. :cool1: As we were preparing for bathtime, DD6 noticed this
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She insisted that it was a Minnie bow which usually has 3 dots on each side! She is creative too. We were in bed by 8 PM.

4 TS credits used at Tusker House, 24 remaining
Price for this meal if paying oop = $65.94
3 CS credits used at Riverside Mill, 25 remaining
Price for this meal if paying oop = $36.77
Total paid for dining plan (8 days) = $975.68
Total cost of meals if paying oop = $276.23
Money spent this day = $25.26 for tip at Tusker house (MIL & FIL had paid our tip at Tutto Monday night and we paid theirs at Tusker) and $5 for mousekeeping tip
Money available after 4 days = $862

Up next, Princess Day!
 
She really sees things! That is awesome! And I have to agree with her again! It DOES look like a Minnie bow! She is GOOD! I love the pics on the safari! That is always one of my favorites!
 
She really sees things! That is awesome! And I have to agree with her again! It DOES look like a Minnie bow! She is GOOD! I love the pics on the safari! That is always one of my favorites!

I love how kids often notice things that I would overlook. I am usually too focused on whatever needs to get done to see the little stuff. I need kids to slow me down sometimes!

We love the Safari too. My DH always takes about 50 pictures on there, but he actually got some good ones this time. Usually they are mostly the backsides of animals. :)
 
Welcome back. Weren't you on a trip this weekend? Hope it was a good one (I know it was hot).

I really don't think any of the mansions are that far from the lobby. Glad you liked Acadian House.

I am so sorry you never got a towel creation. Obviously, you are not from Cuba (foreshadowing a future event)!

Wow! You did a lot of updating while I was gone! We were on a trip! We went to Arkansas for a few days and got back late Monday night. I am now trying to catch up on TRs and I need to get rolling with my own!! I had the last installment in Word which made a quick update easy!!

I love the pictures of the 1st haircut! Your DS is too cute! (your whole family is beautiful!!) And after seeing your post on Tutto Italia...that may be bumped up to a must-do on the next trip!! Those food pics look sooo good!!!
 
Wow! You did a lot of updating while I was gone! We were on a trip! We went to Arkansas for a few days and got back late Monday night. I am now trying to catch up on TRs and I need to get rolling with my own!! I had the last installment in Word which made a quick update easy!!

I love the pictures of the 1st haircut! Your DS is too cute! (your whole family is beautiful!!) And after seeing your post on Tutto Italia...that may be bumped up to a must-do on the next trip!! Those food pics look sooo good!!!

I am just trying to work on it a little every day. There is just SO much I want to share! :goodvibes

Thanks for the compliments on the family. I think the little guy is cute too, but I am the momma so I am obligated. :laughing:

Some folks on the DIS compare Tutto to Olive Garden, but I find it much better and more authentic - of course the fact that the staff will speak to you in Italian helps with that! I say put it on your list!
 
Wednesday, June 9 was Princess Day!!! By far, it was the day we were most looking forward to of the entire trip. We had an 8:05 AM BBB reservation and a 10:15 CRT ressie. The original plan was to take a little break and then hop to Epcot to meet princesses in their “countries” and have supper at Akershus. However, I somehow messed up the Akershus ADR and ended up with one for 3:20 PM.

We woke up this morning at about 6:30 AM. The Fairy Godmother had left dresses for the girls (Aurora for DD6 and Snow White for DD4) on their beds overnight (purchased from ebay). They were SO excited to see their new dresses!!!! After getting dressed and eating some chocolate chip muffins from home, we rode the bus to MK and arrived about 10 minutes before they opened the breakfast turnstile (park opening this day was at 9 AM).

Once entering the park, we took the requisite pictures of Main Street and the castle. First, the whole family walking in (minus DH who had the camera)
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The kids with DN12 looking cool. :laughing:
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DS1 enjoying the trip down Main Street!
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First view of the castle!!!!
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It was SO wonderful to just walk in at whatever pace we wanted without many other people around.

That day, they were filming a commercial and asked us to be quiet as we approached the hub. We also stopped for a few more pictures.
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We then headed into the Castle for our BBB appointment. The Boutique had not yet opened and there were about 3 families in front of us waiting for the door to open. Here are the girls waiting in the castle
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Up next the BBB appointment!
 
After the doors opened to the Boutique we had to wait about 2 minutes for the families in front of us and then we were checked in and the girls were meeting their FGITs!! :cool1:

The girls were led over to chairs next to one another. The rest of us tried to cram ourselves onto the one seat in the middle of the boutique – it didn't really work and one of us needed to stand. :crowded: The FGITs showed the girls the pamphlet and asked them which hairstyle they wanted. DD4 knew immediately that she wanted “princess hair”. DD6 couldn't decide and the FGIT had to call me over. I reminded her that the last time we had talked about it she had also wanted the princess style, but I asked her if she wanted to change her mind (secretly hoping she would not). She didn't. She is just really shy with any stranger and didn't really want to talk to her FGIT. :guilty:

The nephews were awesome while the girls were getting their make-overs. They took pictures and kept telling the girls how pretty they looked. DS1 basically wanted to be passed back and forth amongst the 4 adults and DH did take him out to walk around for a little while.

The girls both had the coach package (hair and nails). For those of you who have never had this experience, this is how it works. First, they put the girls hair up in a ponytail at the top of their heads using a tremendous amount of styling product. Then they add hairbands about every inch and a half all the way down. Next, they form the ponytail into the little bun and hold it in place with several hairpins. Then, the girls get nailpolish, blush, eyeshadow, lipgloss and some little sparkly stickers for their cheek. DD6 picked the pink crown, pink nailpolish, and purple eyeshadow (because Aurora has purple eyes). DD4 picked the blue crown, nailpolish, and eyeshadow. Next, they sprinkle the girls with lots of glitter and attach their sash. When they are putting on the glitter or hairspray, they give the girls a clear plastic shield to cover their faces. You will see DD4 holding hers in several pictures. Finally, the girls get turned around for the big reveal. Lots of pictures will now follow! I usually resize my pictures, but these are way too much fun, so I left them big!
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Of course, the Photopass photographers got even better pictures. :love: I will make sure to post those when the CD arrives. Can you tell which DD was truly thrilled to be there and which one was doing it because she didn't want to be left out?
We were done with BBB by about 8:45.

Up next, a little Magic Kingdom touring before brunch!
 
OMG, you have me crying like a baby! I can NOT wait to do that with Shelby when she is 3!
 
The BBB pics are awesome!! They look like little princesses!! :cutie:

The pictures of the castle in an empty park are pretty cool too!!
 
WOW! I love all the BBB pics of your beautiful DD's. They definitely look like princesses. Thanks for explaining all the steps of the process. I can't wait to see the photopass pictures as well. I am also looking forward to hearing about how they liked the castle. Also, curious to know if you ever make it to Akershus. :)
 












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