A Canadian's First Family Trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth

[Picabo]

My GOSH that pix of the girls are amazing. My fave, of course, is the one in front of the castle. You can't even tell they were sweltering hot and faking the smiles! What naturals in front of the camera!!!

Please DO tell us mroe about Expo Hall? I've been to Disney at least 25 times and never heard of it. (Although haven't been since 2000... )

ALSO....do you have to do the BBB in order to get those special posed photos that were in Expo Hall?? I won't be doing it on our trip b/c my youngest won't be 3 yet...and I don't want to have the older one do it and leave the younger one out. But just wondering if they will do it in regular clothes or if you have to be all dolled up.

Can't wait to read more! I'm loving every minute of it!

 

[Bev J]

I am soooo enjoying your report! Your girls are just adorable! Thanks so very much for putting the links to each installment, it makes the report so easy to read. I will sure be comming back to read the rest.

Bev

 

[shoppgirl]

.....Please explain Exposition Hall - haven't heard of that before. Your photopass pics came out terrific - Belle just looks so sweet.

......Please DO tell us mroe about Expo Hall? I've been to Disney at least 25 times and never heard of it. (Although haven't been since 2000... )

ALSO....do you have to do the BBB in order to get those special posed photos that were in Expo Hall?? I won't be doing it on our trip b/c my youngest won't be 3 yet...and I don't want to have the older one do it and leave the younger one out. But just wondering if they will do it in regular clothes or if you have to be all dolled up.

Can't wait to read more! I'm loving every minute of it!

In response to the Town Square Exposition Hall inquiries, it is located at the very front entrance to the Magic Kingdom, on your right. It's like a camera center and they sell all things associated with cameras/photography. There is also a portrait studio type of thing (it's really set up in a gazebo with a blue blackdrop and there is that lounge chair as a prop). A photopass photographer is stationed there at all times and is available to take photopass photos for you. There is no obligation to buy, but if you have prepurchased the photopass CD, it is well worth it to do for sure. Or you can buy separate sheets of photos (just like a studio).

No appointments are needed. I am almost positive anyone can come in and get a portrait session done, whether you have been to BBB or not. I saw a boy and girl sibling pair do the photoshoot...only the sister had done BBB, but the photographer had both of them posing together. You can always bring a little prop for your youngest (a wand, crown, etc) to hold/wear if she isn't doing BBB. Or bring a princess dress for her to put on for the pictures with her older sister.

I gave the photographer my photopass card and she took a lot of photos of the girls individually and together and then handed my card back to me. That was it! I came home, ordered my CD and got it in 3 business days!

Loving your trip report and your daughters are so cute. I love your magic kingdom dresses, I always buy homemade disney boutique dresses for our trips. It brings even more magic to the trip when people comment on her beautiful clothes. Last year at Epcot I had a lady following me begging me to tell me where I got my daughters Ariel dress, I told her I made it ( I didn't but she didn't need to know that, it was made by someone on ebay.)

Your pictures are very clear and sharp, what kind of camera do you use? I am in the market for a new one.

Can't wait to read more !!!

Thanks. I saw so many beautiful customs little girls were wearing on the trip reports I read, and I thought it would be great if I could my girls to wear some too. I just wish we had the huge selection of Disney prints up here...they are very limited. Anyways, we use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 camera (it's about 3 years old now). It works well for us. I love Panasonic digi cameras...we have owned a Fuji and Minolta prior to this one, and I am very pleased with the Panasonic.

 

[shoppgirl]

As soon as we got to our room, the girls ripped their (not literally of course!) princess costumes off. It was that HOT! I knew better than to ask them to nap (why waste time napping when you're at the most magical place on earth???). They threw their swim suits on, grabbed their little boats, and we walked down to the Beach Pool again for another play time in the cool water. I think this time we spent only an hour and a half. The girls are not swimmers, they are just splashers and frolickers in the pool at this point. So they never got their princess hair too wet!

We went back to the room after our pool time to change and relax in some cool surroundings. I was able to "save" Belle's hair and pin some of the loose strands back up. My 4 and 6 year old then proceeded to freshen up their makeup! I couldn't believe what I had to witness for the next 30 minutes!! I thought I still had some time before I had to deal with this:

Such concentration!!!!

After I was able to pry them away from that mirror and put their makeup back in their bags, I convinced them to go for a walk around the resort. We needed to pick up more autographs books since the first ones were already full and we still had the Wonderland Tea Party and Chef Mickey's to get to.

I took some photos of the Grand Floridian on our walk:

Let's grab a drink first!

View outside Sugar Loaf of the Courtyard Pool

Inside the Main building just outside the Grand Floridian Cafe:

An interesting bird cage:

For those of you interested in doing the Perfectly Princess Tea Party at GF:

The pianist was performing at this time:

Enjoying the lovely piano music at the Grand Floridian:

It was time to have a bite to eat so we just grabbed some food and ate in the comfort of our room.

It was still early, so we decided to end our day back at Magic Kingdom. We hopped onto the monorail around 6:40. We hadn't explored Tomorrowland yet, so we decided to head over there. On the way, we got the girls some yummy Mickey head ice cream sandwiches! We grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear (I know, another dark ride!). I really thought they would get a kick out of the interactive ride. It doesn't get pitch black in there does it???? While waiting, we saw the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (back in my day, I believe we called this the People Mover!). That LOOKED like another harmless ride.....for those of you who know this ride, you're probably thinking by now that I'm a horrible mother for doing it yet again to my girls!!!! But again, I have to say, it has been FOURTEEN years since I went on this ride!!!!!!!! I had no clue what it was about. You see, we started off pretty happy:

Well....half of this ride took place IN THE DARK!!!!!! When we travelled through Space Mountain...forget it! Tink was a crying, sobbing, mess. I was never happier when this ride was finally over.

I think you can probably guess by now that we never made to Buzz Lightyear!

We left Tomorrowland and headed to happier places: Toontown Fair. We walked through Mickey's House this time:

We wanted to leave Magic Kingdom with a happy experience, so we headed back to Fantasy Land for our faves: Tea Cups and Carousel.

It was getting dark now, and close to the 9:00 Spectromagic parade. We were not going to stay for it, but needed to head back to the resort. It was 8:45 and already the crowds lining Main St was unbelieveable. Luckily, we could still navigate our way on the street, as the sidewalks were jammed pack, 4 or 5 deep.

We took the boat ride back to the resort. On our way back, I saw the Water parade floats go by to start the Electrical Water Pageant. I asked the driver of our boat about the parade and thought we could catch it the next evening. We needed to get the girls back to the room to shower and wash out their hair...they refused to sleep in it and couldn't wait to get it all out and loose again! Oh well, at least they kept it for the whole day!

Up Next: Epcot morning...PLEASE no more dark rides Mommy!

 

[sherreis]

Thanks for the info on Expo. Hall. I have to start thinking about what they can wear on our MK days. We can get these instead of school pics for this year - they'll probably come out much better.

when you started talking about TTA, I started to cringe and was like "no, not again." It's been a long time since I was on it but I remember it going through Space Mountain - that's as close as you'll ever get me to that thing. Looking forward to hearing about Epcot. And, I was thinking about asking you about your camera as well - we're hopefully buying a new one in the next week or 2 and the Panasonic Lumix TZ5 is on my list, but, DH for some reason, doesn't want Panasonic.

 

[sammi]

shoppgirl I am sooo loving your tr!

Can you please explain more about the prepaid photopass that you talk about.....cost how many pics etc?

 

[Picabo]

I'm having SO much fun reading about this trip! Your girls are just PRECIOUS!

So have you been at teh park (MK) now 2 days? I'm a bit confused as to how much time has gone by. Or was that just day 1?

Can't wait to see EPCOT~!

 

[shoppgirl]

shoppgirl I am sooo loving your tr!

Can you please explain more about the prepaid photopass that you talk about.....cost how many pics etc?

You can pre order your Photopass CD. The cost is $99 and that includes shipping. Otherwise, if you wait until you get home to order your CD, it will cost you $124 plus shipping. You will get a CD with ALL the photos you take in the parks. There are so many photographers standing around waiting to take your pictures. They have them at all the character spots too.

When you get home, you go to the photopass website, (you have to register first before you can pre order or order), log in, and then enter your photopass ID number that is shown on your card that you carry around to hand to the photographers. Once you do that, ALL your photos show up. Now for the fun part. You can edit (crop, zoom in etc) all photos, so from one photo, you can get hundreds more from all the editing and borders you can add!! All these changes are saved to your account. Once you finish editing all your photos, you order the CD. Now if you have pre ordered the CD, you type in a CODE that they sent you when you pre ordered and that eliminates the price and shipping of the CD.

I was worried I wouldn't get my $100 worth of pictures. But since I had planned for BBB, the Expo Hall shoot, the Grand Floridian shoot, and all the character meets, I knew I could get a lot of photos done. I actually had about 250 or more shots taken, and I have just over 500 pictures on my two CDs they just sent me. Now I am in the process of getting them printed out at Costco!

I'm having SO much fun reading about this trip! Your girls are just PRECIOUS!

So have you been at teh park (MK) now 2 days? I'm a bit confused as to how much time has gone by. Or was that just day 1?

Can't wait to see EPCOT~!

We spent our first full 2 days at Magic Kingdom! Day 1 was a travelling day. Days 2 and 3 are MK. Day 4 will be Epcot!

 

[Picabo]

I just can't tell you how FUN this is for me to read! I feel like I'm there WITH all of you!

RE: PhotoPass...thanks for all that info! Question, do you pay extra to edit and add the borders, etc? Or you can do whatever you want with them once you pay the $99 fee? Is it a flat $99 or are you charged extra for shipping? ALSO, when you order from Costco - you are given the "rights" to print them, correct? So Costco can't hassle you about printing professional photos??

THANKS!

 

[sammi]

Thanks sooo much for your great explanation! I love the idea of unlimited pics and the price is really good too!

Do you order the CD online before you leave for your trip or can you purchase it anywhere in WDW before you head to the parks?

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

They should have warnings on the park map (ride is in the dark)!!
Love the pictures of the girls doing their make up, So cute!! But I bet you weren't expecting that for quite a few years! lol!!

 

[shoppgirl]

I just can't tell you how FUN this is for me to read! I feel like I'm there WITH all of you!

RE: PhotoPass...thanks for all that info! Question, do you pay extra to edit and add the borders, etc? Or you can do whatever you want with them once you pay the $99 fee? Is it a flat $99 or are you charged extra for shipping? ALSO, when you order from Costco - you are given the "rights" to print them, correct? So Costco can't hassle you about printing professional photos??

THANKS!

$99 preordered price includes shipping (even international shipping)! You do not pay extra to edit or add borders! That's why this is such a great deal! They also give you a copyright that states you own these pictures and are free to print out should any photodeveloping place give you hassles!

Thanks sooo much for your great explanation! I love the idea of unlimited pics and the price is really good too!

Do you order the CD online before you leave for your trip or can you purchase it anywhere in WDW before you head to the parks?

I am not sure about preordering at the parks...I would think not. I ordered mine online 4 days before we left. You may want to double check that either with Photopass or with some other Photopass expert on the Dis!

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/

They should have warnings on the park map (ride is in the dark)!!
Love the pictures of the girls doing their make up, So cute!! But I bet you weren't expecting that for quite a few years! lol!!

Thanks....I would have appreciated the dark warning! And I definitely was not prepared for the make-up primping session! But I thought it was absolutely hilarious and all in fun. As you can see from the photos we took afterwards around the GF, little Tink kept all that blush on! It's all a part of the magic I say. I'm glad they haven't touched their make up since we got home though!

 

[Disneyvirg]

I was worried I wouldn't get my $100 worth of pictures. But since I had planned for BBB, the Expo Hall shoot, the Grand Floridian shoot, and all the character meets, I knew I could get a lot of photos done. I actually had about 250 or more shots taken, and I have just over 500 pictures on my two CDs they just sent me. Now I am in the process of getting them printed out at Costco!

I LOVE your trip report! Your pictures and writing are lovely!

Did you have to pay extra for the Expo Hall shoot? How does that all work? Do you have to have reservations for that?

Can't wait for Epcot!

 

[shoppgirl]

As you may recall, I had typed up a touring plan prior to our stay. I slated Day 4 morning to be at Disney Hollywood Studios. Reasons for this were:1) I really wanted to try out the new Toy Story Mania ride - note the I, and 2) I thought it was a park we could cover and be done with in the morning. Well, given that we didn't even make it to Buzz Lightyear, there was no reason to go to DHS anymore. If we went, it would be just for the shows. We decided that we would take in Animal Kingdom this trip (all kids like animals right?) but since we would need a longer time there, we would go on Friday, and just do a quick run through at Epcot Thurs morning. Get it?

So I thought I would be generous this morning and let everyone sleep in. I still got up at 7 AM, but DH slept til 7:30, and I didn't make the girls get up until 8:00! Once again, DH brough breakfast up from the lounge so we could eat and get ready at the same time. We left for Epcot at 9:00. Since it was still relatively early, when we got to the Monorail station at GF, we asked if we could sit up front again. This time the driver was a little more talkative to us, and actually handed out those monorail co-pilot license cards to all of us. It was a longer ride to the TTC to switch over to the Epcot line. We arrived at Epcot by 9:30.

The first thing we ran into was the Epcot Character Spot. We decided to line up to meet some of our faves. It was about a 30 min wait this early in the morning already. I wonder how bad it gets later on in the day!? We just got photopass photos done. I didn't think to bring our autograph books in as I thought we'd just be meeting everyone again at Chef Mickeys. However, we were pleasantly surprised with Chip and Dale, unfortunately, we don't have their autographs!

After our meet with the characters, we walked out of the meeting spot and into a corridor on our way out. All of a sudden, for some strange reason, I turned my head to look left down a curving hallway and I spotted BELLE!!!! She was just standing there greeting whoever happened to walk down that way. So I took the girls over and asked if Belle was greeting people and she spoke to the girls and posed for photos!

We said good bye to Belle and headed out. We walked to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. This ride is featured on the Epcot park brochure. I read so many reviews about his ride and how cute it was. It's Nemo....the girls enjoyed watching Nemo....it's not scary right????? Are you starting to cringe again???? Are you thinking..."NO!!!!!!".

I should have!!!!!! This ride is new to me! I had NO IDEA what it was about!!!!! Do I need to say more???? The worst part was the ride was stopped for about 2 minutes because they had to fix something. I am glad to report that we were stuck in our clamobile at the end, in the light. But there were riders who were in the DARK!!!!!! I am also glad to report that THIS IS THE LAST DARK RIDE we ever rode on this trip!! For the record, Disney rates this ride as "Fun for Little Ones". I guess they forgot about those kids who are still afraid of the dark!

Once again, when we got off, all was back to normal. We walked around the
Pavillion, looking at the huge aquarium. Afterwards, we made it over to Innoventions at Future World. This is a great hands on place for kids. There are free activities in here too. One was a little activity booth sponserd by Velcro. They had frog shape cut outs from velcro and then velcro cut outs of accessories you could stick to the frog to dress them up (crowns, skirts, shirts etc). The girls enjoyed finding things to stick to their frog. Further exploring here led us to a Kidcot station. The girls sat down to do a little food pyramid colouring activity:

It was now 11:30, we wanted to grab some lunch early enough so that we could head back to the GF because the girls had a date with the Mad Hatter and Alice at 1:30. We walked over to the The Land and ate at Sunshine Seasons. The girls and I grabbed a table while DH grabbed some yummy sandwiches for us and side orders of fried noodles for the girls. Here we are waiting for Daddy to bring us lunch!

It was now noon, and we had to leave Epcot. We barely touched the surface at Epcot. I'm really sorry about this too. There was SO MUCH more to explore, especially all the Pavillions!!!! But the girls had their Wonderland Tea Party and then we had promised them an afternoon of shopping at Downtown Disney. They had been waiting for days now to get their most prized souvenirs! I figure Epcot will be there the next time we go, and we can explore more then.

 

[shoppgirl]

I LOVE your trip report! Your pictures and writing are lovely!

Did you have to pay extra for the Expo Hall shoot? How does that all work? Do you have to have reservations for that?

Can't wait for Epcot!

Thanks! You do not have to pay extra for the Exposition Hall shoot, but you do for the resort sessions (as a sitting fee, just like at any portrait studio). No reservations are necessary, just walk in and be prepared to wait. Or you may luck out and not have to wait at all!

 

[shoppgirl]

A little background: I had known about the GF's Wonderland Tea Party for a while. In fact, I showed Belle photos of the Tea Party from the Disboards. She was afraid of the Mad Hatter - she thought his nose was scary and wasn't sure if it was real or not! So I didn't give it any thought. And it is a child only event and I didn't know if the girls would be comfortable being left in a strange place without their mom and dad. A couple of weeks before our trip, a friend who is also heading out to WDW (thanks K! ) lent me the video for Alice in Wonderland. I brought the video home and showed it to Belle. She fell in love with it. So now that she knows who Alice and Mad Hatter are , she was more than excited to go and meet them in Disney!! That night I made a call to WDW DINE and was able to get 2 seats at the Tea Party!

We went to the monorail line and we were able to sit up front again from TTC to GF! We reached the GF by 12:45. We had time to get the girls up to the room and changed for their tea party.

We checked in at 1:15 and waited until 1:30 for the group to be called in. I am guessing that there was a maximum number of tea party guests of 14. The CMs announced that we could walk the kids in and help them get seated, but to save the head table chairs empty for them to sit in. From all the reading I did on the Dis, I knew that these head table chairs were actually reserved for the Mad Hatter and Alice! So I gently guided the girls in and suggested they sit right next to one of the head chairs! All the guests were little girls, with the exception of one boy, who probably went to keep his younger sister company. But I heard later on, he was a great joker and kept good company with the Mad Hatter anyways, so I'm sure he didn't mind being the only boy! Here are some photos of the tea party table:

Each child is set with a bowl of grapes, a tea pot filled with apple juice, a tea cup, and a plate with a cupcake which the kids decorate with icing and sprinkles to eat. There were also plates of sandwiches (and I think chicken nuggets too!)

After the kids were settled into their chairs, they waved good bye to the adults and we were asked to leave the tea party. DH and I had an hour to ourselves! What to do in an hour? Not long enough to go to a park...not long enough to go swimming...not long enough to go for a manicure! So we walked back to the Sugar Loaf lounge for a little tea break ourselves. I took this opportunity to take more pics of the GF:

Sugar Loaf Lounge:

The lounge was pretty empty all week, but by Thurs night, a huge wave of people checked in and from that point on, the lounge was always busy!

Some shots inside the main building lobby area:

We went back to pick them up at 2:30. We were called in at 2:35 and walked in to this:

As you can see each child gets their photo taken with the Mad Hatter and Alice in a keepsake folder. Plus each child gets a bouquet of flowers to give to their parent/guardian.

I have tried to ask what went on during the party, but the girls didn't give me too much information. They just kept saying how funny the Mad Hatter was. He put his napkin on his head and then tried to catch grapes with it, and they got to sit next to Alice. They had to use their fingers to decorate the cupcakes and only got a bite or so, because when they returned to the table after leaving it for photos, the cupcakes were gone! The girls said they really enjoyed the Tea Party. I am so glad I was able to get them in.

Next: A shopping excursion to Downtown Disney!

 

[shoppgirl]

No report, just some random shots around the Grand Floridian!

From the second floor looking down at the main atrium, sorry it's blurry!

Second floor looking down the hall towards M. Mouse Mercantile

The fabulous band that performs every day from the second floor

Second floor sitting area

First floor atrium looking towards the Grand Floridian Tea Room

Large bird cage

View outside a 2nd floor walkout at the GF Beach:

Beach towards Polynesian

Beach pool pics

Lagoon View

Stairs from first floor to second floor

Inside pics again

Trying on head gear!

Posing by the grand Steinway!

 

[Katy Belle]

Loving your report! Your daughters are cutie pies! I have only boys, so the princesses have never been too big with us. Its fun to see the joy on your daughters' faces!

Lucky you getting upgraded to Club Level!!! You had a magical trip, despite all of the "dark" you found!

Looking forward to the rest!

Katy

 

[Picabo]

The resort looks FANTASTIC! I have to as this - people tend to say that those who stay at GF are snobby. Guess it's the "assumption" that due to the prices, only rich people stay there. Now I KNOW that's not true b/c Poly's prices are darn near close to GF and we are FAR from rich...just saving for 18mos to be able to go there. Anyhow, did you find many of the guests to be snooty types or were they all just regular-joe type of vacationers?

Do you think it's worth it to pay extra for the club level? I keep debating on my end (for Poly). It'd be So nice to have bkfst right there in the same bldg and the unlimited drinks, evening snacks, etc. But not sure if I want to pay $100 extra per night for that convenience. What do you think....was it worth it? (Bear in mind I want to do 2 character bkfst while we're there...Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace)

Well can't wait to see MORE MORE MORE! Did the girls enjoy the Kitcot stations??? Were they fun? The pix with the characters are totally adorable. Is that only specific times of the day or all day long?!

Melanie

 

[pl'smama]

Great post and wonderful photos Shopgirl!! You really have lovely daughters. They looked like they really enjoyed the Tea Party!

It is so hard to really get all of Epcot in just during one visit. Our first time time two years ago we did not even get to Epcot. Our DD was 3.5 and we thought we could wait on it. Our trip this January I really wanted to make time for it so we went on two different days. Part of one day was spent at the Akershus Princess lunch and another we had ADRs at Le Cellier. I never did get to see more than Mexico, Norway and the Canada "lands" and that really sucked! I think next time we go I will do the lands by myself so I can really enjoy them and spend some quality time in the shops!!

I have a question for you. Were the drinks in the Sugar Loaf lounge complimentary? I know this was a free upgrade for your family, but did it include anything else?

Thanks for the great TR!!

Suz