A Smile in my Heart–Magical Week of Friends,Fun & Freezing-10/28-COMPLETE!

[vamassey1]

Some of the pictures the girls took are pretty good. Love the shopping photos.

Your evening at the resort sound so relaxing. Danielle has been wanting to get her picture drawn since Michelle had it done in 2006. I need to slow down and do this. It really is something you have to do on an off night. Your kids really came out great. It captured their individual personality.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I love that they call him ALOHA MAN! Too funny!

The girls' pictures are funny....those cameras take horrible pictures, don't they? We gave one to each of the boys for our first WDW trip and they were such poor quality we just decided to forget it for the next trips.

I know what you mean about "wandering aimlessly." It's definitely more tiring than having a purpose to your wandering! A day of shopping does sound good, though!

 

[mom2mek]

Some of the pictures the girls took are pretty good. Love the shopping photos.

Your evening at the resort sound so relaxing. Danielle has been wanting to get her picture drawn since Michelle had it done in 2006. I need to slow down and do this. It really is something you have to do on an off night. Your kids really came out great. It captured their individual personality.

Yes, definitely on a night that you don't have anything else planned. It did take a while for all 3 of mine to get their's done. I think the guy did a great job - they really did look like them!! I'm amazed at anyone with that kind of talent - I can hardly draw a stick figure!

I love that they call him ALOHA MAN! Too funny!

The girls' pictures are funny....those cameras take horrible pictures, don't they? We gave one to each of the boys for our first WDW trip and they were such poor quality we just decided to forget it for the next trips.

I know what you mean about "wandering aimlessly." It's definitely more tiring than having a purpose to your wandering! A day of shopping does sound good, though!

It's funny about those pictures and the quality and it's no wonder why we would only take like 1 or 2 rolls of film for a whole vacation "back in the day"! It's darn expensive to get that regular film developed! Plus you have no idea what you are taking or how it looks until you get it developed - no delete button on those suckers! The girls are very used to the digital world so those cameras were very strange to them! They didn't even know what I was talking about when I told them I had to get the pictures "developed"!

Sara

 

[mermaid764]

It sounds like a perfect way to end your day and I love the kids cariactures...they obviously had a very talented artist.

Looking forward to hearing about Liberty Tree Tavern

 

[mom2mek]

It sounds like a perfect way to end your day and I love the kids cariactures...they obviously had a very talented artist.

Looking forward to hearing about Liberty Tree Tavern

Thanks!! Yeah, I think we really lucked out with such a good caricature artist. Shawn and I had one done last May of the two of us and it didn't quite capture us the way these did with the kids!

Hopefully should have Liberty Tree update up soon! Can you believe I still don't have all my photos uploaded to photobucket? I know - the trip was 6 months ago!! I'm terrible.

Sara

 

[stinkerbell007]

The title of ALOHA man reminds me of a previous trip I took with my sister when we stayed at the Poly. We were seated somewhere enjoying a nice beverage (or something similar), when a CM walked past and said, "Aloha, ladies."

After he passed by, my sister leaned toward me and asked, "Did he just say 'hello hot ladies'?"

bwahahahahahaha!!

She is so funny!

Another time, at the restaurant in Epcot's Italy, the waiter brought something to the table and I said, "grazi". He replied, "prego, miss" (which sounded more like, "prego, mees"). Again, after he walked away, my sister leaned across the table and asked, "Did he just say 'bag a meats'?"

She just cracks me up!!! (And no, she is not hard of hearing. She just has a wonderful sense of humor when the two of us are together and finds funniness all around. Funniness. Is that a word?!?)

I have to remember to share these with the readers if and when I actually get around to doing a trip report. . . . . maybe, just maybe for our trip in September-October, as I will be with the same hilarious sister.

Linda

 

[mom2mek]

The title of ALOHA man reminds me of a previous trip I took with my sister when we stayed at the Poly. We were seated somewhere enjoying a nice beverage (or something similar), when a CM walked past and said, "Aloha, ladies."

After he passed by, my sister leaned toward me and asked, "Did he just say 'hello hot ladies'?"

bwahahahahahaha!!

She is so funny!

Another time, at the restaurant in Epcot's Italy, the waiter brought something to the table and I said, "grazi". He replied, "prego, miss" (which sounded more like, "prego, mees"). Again, after he walked away, my sister leaned across the table and asked, "Did he just say 'bag a meats'?"

She just cracks me up!!! (And no, she is not hard of hearing. She just has a wonderful sense of humor when the two of us are together and finds funniness all around. Funniness. Is that a word?!?)

I have to remember to share these with the readers if and when I actually get around to doing a trip report. . . . . maybe, just maybe for our trip in September-October, as I will be with the same hilarious sister.

Linda

I love funny sisters...I have one myself!

I really do hope you do a trip report - I would absolutely LOVE to read it!!!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Before I start our second to last day, I forgot to put in this picture of the night before. We were headed upstairs and saw a photopass guy setting up in the GCH so we got a quick shot of the kids.

I just love how Katie has her head down on Michael’s shoulder!

Now, on to the next day….


Day 6 – February 12, 2010
Magic Kingdom
Chapter 1

Rejuvenated from our “break” day, we awoke bright and early this morning to head to the Magic Kingdom! Today was especially chilly out because, as you will soon see from the pictures, the sun decided to take a vacation day somewhere other than Orlando, FL. Without that warm Florida sun shining (like the beautiful day before…ahem…), the record-breaking cold temperatures were going to seem even colder.

We bundled up and headed out to the GCH to meet up with Grandmommy and Pop Pop at the monorail. I packed the girls princess dresses in a big XL Ziploc bag for later and shoved them under the stroller as they would be going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique this afternoon before we returned to the Poly.

We agreed the night before to meet my parents upstairs by the doors around 7:30. We were hoping to get into the MK a little bit before our LTT breakfast at 8:00 so we could get our traditional pre-park opening castle shots with no one in them!!

The grandparents were there when we got there and we boarded the monorail right on time.

Excited girls!!!

We arrived to the MK around 7:45 and made our way up a cold and wet Main St. It wasn’t raining yet, but those clouds were looking very heavy and ominous. These were not the kind of clouds you typically find in FL in the spring and summer – the ones with quick, short bursts of rain that come and go quick as a flash – these looked like the kind that would linger all day long, and all of a sudden, visions of another wet day like the one at the Studios were coming into my head. Oh well….whatayagonnado, right? Just carry on and hope for the best!

(Don’t know what Pop Pop was doing already carrying a bag. Perhaps he had his new raincoat in there that Mom had bought for him the day before and didn’t bring something else to carry it in….I have no clue)

Right after arriving, I reached down for my “real” camera and oopsie – I realized that I had left it in the room! Ugh. So I used my cell phone camera all day long – sorry – the pics from me aren’t gonna be that great. Shawn still had his, so a good portion of the shots for today are decent! Thank goodness for Shawn and photopass!

Emily had her disposable camera with her and managed to snap this one shot of Main St.

(Kind of a cute perspective – a much shorter perspective - but very similar in style and quality as my cell phone pic - go figure)

(Ahhh…empty Magic Kingdom shots…)

(Hey guys, where are you going….straight ahead please!!!)

We managed to find a photopass photographer setting up at the hub and waited patiently to be his first pictures of the day.

The PP guy must not have had his coffee yet that morning because he didn’t even offer to do any magic shots or break us into smaller groups or anything. So we took it upon ourselves to get a few more shots as he continued to mess around with his camera. Maybe we annoyed him by asking him too early or something! LOL!

The kids, grandparents, and I started making our way towards Liberty Square slowly, but Shawn hung out a few extra minutes and got some pictures of the scenery!

(My favorite – it’s actually the cover of the photobook I did of this trip)

Back in February, the Crystal Palace was under renovation; consequently, Disney opened up the Liberty Tree Tavern for breakfast and also made it a character meal with Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Pluto. We love getting into the MK early so we hopped on that deal and snagged us an ADR for breakfast on the day we would be going to the MK with the grandparents. So, how was it???

Up next….boy, were we in for some hi-jinks!


Sara

 

[vamassey1]

Sara you're leaving us hanging.

Emily's picture reminds me of photos taken in the late 70s or early 80s.

Shawn's photos are excellent and I do like the dumbo shot.

Can't wait to hear about breakfast.

 

[mom2mek]

Sara you're leaving us hanging.

Emily's picture reminds me of photos taken in the late 70s or early 80s.

Shawn's photos are excellent and I do like the dumbo shot.

Can't wait to hear about breakfast.

Thanks for hanging in there. It's not much of a cliffhanger, but I figured I should do something to keep people reading....considering that I just did an update that only got us up Main St!

I thought the same thing about the disposable camera shots - they look about 20 years old! (Of course, my cell phone is not much better, LOL).

Hope to have breakfast at LTT done and posted soon!

Sara

 

[mermaid764]

The weather looks miserable, but hopefully the rain held off long enough for you guys to enjoy yourselves.

Can't wait to hear how LTT and BBB were

 

[mom2mek]

The weather looks miserable, but hopefully the rain held off long enough for you guys to enjoy yourselves.

Can't wait to hear how LTT and BBB were

Thanks for reading - sorry it was such a short update! I hope to have at least breakfast up later today/tonight. First thing - school supply shopping is on the to-do list today among other things! Ugh.

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

How did I miss this update?

Love the first picture of all three kids at the Poly. They all look good and I think their personalities seem to come through.

Looks like a nasty day for sure! I hope it got better as the day went on. Great photopass picture of all of you too. And the shot Shawn took of the Dumbo statue with the castle in the background is great!

Can't wait to hear about LTT. I wish they still had characters there.

 

[mom2mek]

How did I miss this update?

Love the first picture of all three kids at the Poly. They all look good and I think their personalities seem to come through.

Looks like a nasty day for sure! I hope it got better as the day went on. Great photopass picture of all of you too. And the shot Shawn took of the Dumbo statue with the castle in the background is great!

Can't wait to hear about LTT. I wish they still had characters there.

Tsk tsk...Michelle...you're slipping! You used to always be first to post! It's hard to keep up with all my fast updating, I know!

I was hoping to have breakfast update done tonight, but I just got home from picking the kids up at Mom's....probably not gonna happen!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 6 - February 12, 2010
Magic Kingdom
Chapter 2

As we approached Liberty Tree Tavern, everyone else went inside to get checked in and Pop Pop and I stayed outside to fix the stroller cover. We had a feeling that it might be raining when we came out from breakfast and I, unlike the other day at the Studios, remembered to bring the “REAL” rain cover for the stroller. You know, the heavy duty, stay-in-place, covers-the-whole-thing rain cover. And Shawn didn’t even have to remind me this time!

We weren’t really sure how to get it stay put so it took us a few minutes, and by then, Shawn had caught up with us from taking pictures and we joined everyone else inside. They immediately sat us around in the back of the restaurant at a giant round table. It was really quite quiet in there at this point and hardly anyone else was in there. This was our first time at Liberty Tree Tavern so we were excited to be trying somewhere new, especially since it’s not normally open for breakfast.

We had not been there long when our waitress came by, introduced herself, and started bringing around the coffee. She explained the menu and got our juice orders and the kids started coloring.

After our cold walk up Main St, the Liberty Tree Tavern was like walking into your warm and welcoming grandmother’s house just in time for a hearty breakfast. The restaurant itself is very cute and homey.

A few moments later , the waitress brought around the fruit bowl and the breads. It was so refreshing to have a fruit bowl that wasn’t filled with melon (not that I mind melon, it was just a nice change). This one was filled with strawberries, apple slices, and blueberries and it was very tasty.

The bread platter though – OH MY WORD!!! It was filled with biscuits, croissants, and hold the phone….what is this…..CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS!!! Then they had the nerve to put this delicious orange butter in there for us to spread all over these warm, delicious, flaky delights!! It was so melty and good. Seriously, I would have been just happy with chocolate croissant after chocolate croissant with a little yummy orange butter slathered on it. Flaky, warm, sweet, ahhh…making my mouth water right now thinking about it! I could have just had those and walked out of there perfectly happy!

Soon after that, she brought the rest of the food out which consisted of a big bowl of scrambled eggs, a meat platter with bacon and sausage, and some breakfast potatoes. Again, these eggs were really good. Dare I say, these eggs were even better than Ohana from the day before - they almost tasted like there was some cheese added – because they were moist but not at all runny. They did not taste like “fake” eggs at all! The bacon was good and crispy, just like we like it and the potatoes were delicious. It’s really sounding like I am easy to please, huh?

Lastly, she brought out their “specialty” as she called it. (Funny, cuz I don’t recall LTT having a breakfast “specialty” since they aren’t normally OPEN, but I didn’t argue! LOL). It was this Peach French Toast. That’s what she called it anyway. It was much more of a bread pudding type thing with like a carmelized peach topping. They served it with maple syrup on the side, but I did not need the syrup – this stuff was sweet! It was yummy and crispy on the outside, but ooey and gooey and moist on the inside. VERY good!

During our wonderful meal, (again I was loving the family style service…makes it so much easier to enjoy the food, the atmosphere, and the characters)…the first of the Colonial-clad characters made their way to the table. Chip and Dale were very frisky this morning and immediately started misbehaving. They came over to us to make sure that they had our attention, but then left to go to the next table (where no one was sitting) and switched around all the silverware and loosened up the salt shaker tops. Then they made the shhh motion with their finger to their mouth and pointed to their handler (who conveniently had his back turned). They had us all laughing right off the bat. Then one came over to the girls side and started signing their autograph book and at one point helped them color! The girls were loving it.

(Don’t eat Emily! )

At one point, Chip saw Michael and started making his way over to him. He kept trying to get Michael in on some trouble-making, by motioning for him to toss around a biscuit.

Michael was a good boy and didn’t do it, so then they just got a picture and he was on his way, (or so we thought)!

Pretty soon, Minnie Mouse was heading our way! How cute is her colonial dress?

No antics from her, but she was very sweet!

Of course, as is usual, Pop Pop loved the characters, and they loved him:

Pluto came by and was very playful as well. The kids loved how when they scratched his nose he started shaking his leg!

Soon after that, Chip returned and tried to get Michael in on the misbehaving. Michael tossed him a biscuit and Chip was very happy. Then when the handler "caught" on to his bad behavior, he reprimanded him and that's when Chip tried to escape the restaurant. He "asked" Pop Pop for his jacket and hat and put it all on (with the help of Mom) and then carefully tiptoed past his handler to try to escape. He was incognito! LOL! It was hilarious and went on for quite a while.

This was, by far, our best character interaction of the trip. Such a shame that this meal doesn't have characters anymore. And such a shame that they don't normally offer breakfast at Liberty Tree Tavern - it was so nice to have another choice in the Magic Kingdom!

At the end of the meal, our waitress brought Emily and Michael cupcakes with icing and Mickey sprinkles for their birthdays. They made such a big deal out of it at LTT....rang the bell, announced the birthdays, and did a little "hear ye....hear ye" type of thing! It was great!

With full bellies, we were ready to start our day in the Magic Kingdom.

How would this uncertainty with the weather affect our touring plans??

Sara

 

[MeMom]

We had dinner at Liberty Tree the day before Thanksgiving a couple of years ago - before they dropped the characters. Such a warm, cozy place! The colonial outfits were neat, and the food was good. Just simple, down-home fare, but good. The apple cobbler/ice cream dessert to end the meal was delicious!

Looks like you guys did have a wonderful time there, and you got some sweet pictures. It makes it worth the money when the characters have such good interactions with the guests.

 

[mom2mek]

We had dinner at Liberty Tree the day before Thanksgiving a couple of years ago - before they dropped the characters. Such a warm, cozy place! The colonial outfits were neat, and the food was good. Just simple, down-home fare, but good. The apple cobbler/ice cream dessert to end the meal was delicious!

Looks like you guys did have a wonderful time there, and you got some sweet pictures. It makes it worth the money when the characters have such good interactions with the guests.

I definitely want to try LTT for dinner! The day before Thanksgiving (or the day after) would be a great time for it! I love apple cobbler!! Yum!

You are absolutely right - when you have such great character interaction, it is money well spent!

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Oh man, I really want to try LTT for breakfast now. So sad that is not an option. I just love the characters in their colonial outfits, and Chip & Dale are always so much fun! I also love the family style meals.

We ate at LTT for the first time last October for dinner. It was a spur of the minute thing and we were able to walk right in. I did love the atmosphere in there. Dinner is the standard Thanksgiving food, which was good, but I'd love to try the lunch someday. I sure wish they'd bring back the characters!

 

[vamassey1]

Oh I loved this update. Chip and Dale are Danielle's favorite. They're so fun and such trouble makers. You really did have the best character interaction. Breakfast sounded great too. The kids look so happy. I love that Michael played along and your Mom and Pop Pop did too. I hope someone went back and fixed the salt shakers. That does make me a little nervous.

 

[taymacsmom]

That breakfast sounds terrific! I wish they still did it. We would love to do that one on our next visit!