A Winter Escape to the Enchanted Forest-Jan'13 TR:**5/21 Parting Thoughts/New PTR!

[DaveinFallsChurch]

What a lovely little family get-away/stay-close-to-home trip. I've never seen a cherry blossom, in or out of bloom, so I wouldn't know that the photos you took were not at the peak give that they were still so lovely.

Funny how perspective allows an over-priced burger to be enjoyed and even savored because of the special/unique circumstances. Been there!

You and your DW can join my club of fellow April birthday celebrants! I also have one of my kids celebrating in April. Happy early b-day!

Happy early b-day to you too!!

DW gave me the green light to head out for a sunrise tour of the Tidal Basin on my way to work this Thursday since it's her day off and she can drop both kids off at their schools on her own. This should be 1-2 days after peak bloom (when >70% of the trees are blooming) and I'll try to get some good pictures to share with you. It looks pretty even when it's not peak bloom time, but when it does peak the entire Basin is absolutely gorgeous to look at.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wow, what a great weekend. It looks like it was definitely worthwhile to book a hotel room to enjoy the fireworks and cherry blossoms. Very good customer service from them too!

The weekend turned out to be such a pleasure for everyone in the family that I have zero regrets about booking the hotel room. I may look into trying this again for next year! There's one hotel I saw while walking that's right on the marina with room balconies facing the river and have a perfect view of the fireworks. I'll have to put my travel research skills to use and find out if those rooms can be booked.

The customer service at the hotel we stayed at was absolutely Disney-like.

I love your fireworks pictures!

Thanks!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

We had an absolutely gorgeous spring day in the DC area today! I picked up DD after work and let her loose in the front yard to enjoy the last hour of sunlight of the day. I was sitting in the front porch finishing up some paperwork from the office on my laptop without noticing what DD was up to until I looked up and saw this:


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I asked her what she was doing and she said that she was building a "tree fort" like the one in Magic Kingdom. It took me a couple of seconds then I realized she was talking about the Swiss Robinson Family Tree House and she was trying to replicate the water buckets! She went on to set up a picnic table underneath and a clothes line with clothes hanging off of it which I forgot to take a picture of. Thought my DIS friends would appreciate this as it sure gave me a chuckle.

 

[afwdwfan]

I love the tree fort. Great imagination!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I love the tree fort. Great imagination!

It was funny how I later found out the mess she left behind getting those buckets ready which had been sitting in their covered sandbox in the backyard all winter. She decided to wash the dirt and leaves on the buckets off using one of our bathroom sinks. Needless to say, I had to do a lot of unclogging of the drain afterwards.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Monday, January 28th - 1:30pm

I next moved on to New Fantasyland to admire the scenery.


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Went over to check out Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour! Village Gifts. Spent some time staring at the Gaston fountain.


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Poor Lefou. He gets a drink named after him but still gets no respect.

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I went by Under the Sea again to take a closer look at the façade of Prince Eric’s castle, the shipwreck, and other goodies that lined the exterior portions of the attractions.


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I tried starting up a conversation with the CM that was manning the entrance to Ariel's Grotto but he didn't seem all that interested. I also tried asking him what the wait times were like during the first 30 minutes of park opening but he didn't seem to understand my question and instead gave me a completely unrelated answer that a lot of guests confuse this with the Under the Sea. So I gave up and moved on.

On my way out, took a closer look at the new castle walls outlining the boundaries of New Fantasyland. Gotta love the details.


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Overall I agreed with DW that Disney did a marvelous job creating and replicating this world from the movies. It was a little difficult to truly appreciate the magic though due to the crowds. The crowd noises were so loud that the background special effect sounds and music were barely audible. Hopefully, for our next trip, things will have calmed down a bit.

I walked down Liberty Square and Frontierland along the water edge while appreciating the sights and sounds of Tom Sawyer’s Island. I didn't get a chance to ride Liberty Belle this time .


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I bought a Mickey Bar, leaned up against the rope railings, and finished the bar while looking across the river at Harper’s Mill wishing we had more time during this trip to let the kids loose on the island and its forts. It was such a relaxing way to enjoy one of my favorite snacks!


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As I continued walking along the waters edge, I saw Huck Finn's raft! I don't think I ever noticed this before. How did I miss this not so subtle theming??


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Love the attention to details - that address is Twain's boyhood home.

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I then cut across into Adventureland to go on Pirates of the Caribbean since I wasn’t sure if the kids would be up for this ride. DD has been avoiding this one like the plague. I just love it though. A lot of nostalgia behind it. I still vividly remember my parents pointing out the pirate drunk while hugging the pigs from when I was about 8 years old.


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After the ride, I caught Captain Jack Sparrow giving his tutorial across the way. For our next trip, I’m definitely going to sign DS up for the Pirate’s League and then get him seated up front for Sparrow's tutorial to see if he can picked as a volunteer. He’s starting to get more and more into the whole pirate thing and would love to get him immersed into this.

Next Up: a parade!

 

[emmysmommy]

Great update Dave! I don't think I've noticed the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn details. Was that a raft that goes over to Tom Sawyer Island? I've never been on the island at MK. I'll have to add that to the list. Oh, and another thing to add to the list.... I've never been on the Liberty Belle. Maybe next trip.

PotC such an awesome classic ride. Of course you were able to get photos in there!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Great update Dave! I don't think I've noticed the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn details. Was that a raft that goes over to Tom Sawyer Island? I've never been on the island at MK. I'll have to add that to the list. Oh, and another thing to add to the list.... I've never been on the Liberty Belle. Maybe next trip.

Thanks Brenda!

Huck Finn's raft was a decorative one as best as I could tell and was not being used to transport guests over to TSI. It's been awhile since we made it over to the island but I used to enjoy heading there in the afternoon and remove myself from the hustle and bustle of MK.

 

[afwdwfan]

I think that Gaston's fountain might be one of my favorite things in the new Fantasyland. They really did an awesome job on it, not just from a detail perspective, but how it really sums up Gaston's personality from the plaque to the fact that he's basically standing on LeFou.

Your solo afternoon is off to a fantastic start. A little stroll through FL, a Mickey bar and a boat ride with some pirates sounds like a great time.

 

[khertz]

LOVE DD's tree fort!! How absolutely precious. It's so funny how kids can remember the smallest things to either replicate or talk about at home. Too bad about the bathroom sink though!

What a fantastic way to spend a solo afternoon in MK...taking it all in with a Mickey bar. We still have never done anything in or around Tom Sawyer Island. Now that DS is a little bit older, it might be something we have to check out.

I love PoTC! That was one of the attractions I did while solo both in MK and out in Disneyland.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Your solo afternoon is off to a fantastic start. A little stroll through FL, a Mickey bar and a boat ride with some pirates sounds like a great time.

I love my solo tour times because it's such a relaxed pace especially since I'm not trying to get too many rides in.

When it was my turn to step on to a boat, they put me on the last row all by myself! I was sliding along the bench seat from one side to another trying to take pictures.

What a fantastic way to spend a solo afternoon in MK...taking it all in with a Mickey bar. We still have never done anything in or around Tom Sawyer Island. Now that DS is a little bit older, it might be something we have to check out.

I love PoTC! That was one of the attractions I did while solo both in MK and out in Disneyland.

I really liked the PotC at Disneyland. Everything felt a lot closer.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

All caught up!! I know I say this all the time, but your pics are AWESOME!! It really makes me want to make a special trip to see the cherry blossoms!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I promise, this will be the last side trip from my Disney TR but I wanted to share some (ok, a LOT of) pictures of the peak blooms of the Cherry Blossoms.

Yesterday morning, I decided to stop at the Tidal Basin for the sunrise and the peak blooms of Cherry Blossoms before heading into the hospital. DW thought I was "crazy" for getting up at 5:00am and heading out the door at 5:30am but was fine with dropping both kids off at their schools on her way to work later in the morning.

I arrived at the Tidal Basin area at 5:50am and was not too surprised to find that a lot of other people had the same idea as all of the street parking nearby were completely taken. Fortunately, I had done some research online and found out about a couple of free public parking lots tucked away under one of the bridges and was able to park there but even those were nearly full. I walked over to find a decent spot looking straight at the Jefferson Memorial and the Capitol building across the Basin.


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There were so many other folks there most with tripods and camera gears set up.

Here's what it looked to my right:

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And to my left:

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I didn't have my tripod with me. I stood right at the edge of the sidewalk to get out of the way for folks who were walking or jogging through. I tell ya, that had to be quite the obstacle course for the joggers. Not sure if I agree with setting up your tripods in the middle of the walking path.

Soon, the beautiful colors began to make its way through the sky.


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And as the golden light began shining through, the colors on the Cherry Blossoms began to glow as well.


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And by the time the sun rose, I was on the move walking down the path and circling the Tidal Basin looking at all of the Cherry Blossoms.


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[DaveinFallsChurch]

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Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! I had never been to the Tidal Basin for peak bloom before and now I can understand what the hype was all about. Absolutely worth it!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

All caught up!! I know I say this all the time, but your pics are AWESOME!! It really makes me want to make a special trip to see the cherry blossoms!!

Thank you so much! I just posted some more Cherry Blossom pictures in peak bloom (while you were posting ). I definitely recommend coming to DC for a visit during the Cherry Blossom Festival. It's very crowded but I think it's worth it.

 

[emmysmommy]

Wow!! Just so stunningly beautiful! The photos with the sunrise and the Jefferson Memorial are spectacular.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wow!! Just so stunningly beautiful! The photos with the sunrise and the Jefferson Memorial are spectacular.

Thanks! I'm kind of sad that it's already over. A rain storm came through last night and today so I'm pretty sure majority of the blooms have fallen off the trees. I will try to do this again next year and maybe DD will be up for coming out early in the morning with me!

 

[afwdwfan]

Beautiful pictures! Well worth an early wake up. I'm glad your DW was good with helping let this happen.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Beautiful pictures! Well worth an early wake up. I'm glad your DW was good with helping let this happen.

DW thinks I'm a little nuts on my new hobby but she does humor me - she picked out some favorite shots and wants to print them to hang on an empty wall in our home.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Monday, January 28th - 3pm

It was about 3pm so I went back to Frontierland to find a spot to watch the afternoon parade. Just the sheer number of characters that make appearances in this parade is awesome. And I’m still amazed at the energy that the dancing CMs bring each and every time. Here’s another thing I’ve been noticing and appreciating lately ever since I started lugging my conspicuous DSLR and making more efforts to take good pictures – the CMs and characters notice my camera aimed at them and they actually make efforts to position themselves during their dances and movements to help out with the photography! In some cases, they would stop right in front of me and hold a pose for me like one of the mice from Cinderella did. She came up, waved, and held this pose for a good few seconds until I lowered my camera and I thanked her by giving a thumbs-up and a wink!

I took a LOT of pictures for this one, so enjoy!!


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