After An Entire Year Of Planning We Winged It! May '10 with 1477 pics 3/26/11 update

[CaelumFelis]

This thread is awesome! Your kids are absolutely adorable! I can't wait to read more!

 

[tracisup]

I'm glad you guys made it!!! Phew that was really awesome they let you in. I'm sure that stuff happens all the time!!

I think it happens a lot too. I noticed when were were on time for our reservations, we got right in BUT if we were even a few minutes late, the wait could get really long. Maybe that is because they are making space for people that are in the same sort of situation we were in that first day?

This thread is awesome! Your kids are absolutely adorable! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks! Im glad you like it.

 

[TokyoDina]

I think so...I'm not sure 100% but that sounds about right. I'm one of those people that is chronicly early for everything. Haha it's horrible. But I see your situation that it would have been impossbile to be early. I would have had a little freak out because of how long the bus took. I mean our bus took an hour to get to our hotel too. For some reason we were the last ones to get there. Blegh!

 

[Melknor]

Great start to your TR. Can't wait read more!

 

[MHTeacher]

I followed your PTR, so I'm excited to see how the trip actually turned out! So far, so good---looks as if you got some pixie dust sprinkled your way in regards to your CP reservation!

 

[CdnCarrie]

I love reading the TR's of first timers - hearing about the first impressions is always so cool.


ETA - we try to never make a ADR to close to our arrival time in case the plane is delayed or whatever. Maybe next time skip the lunch ADR and just make one for supper so it's not such a tight squeeze.

 

[adamsup]

enjoying your trip report! Y'all attitude towards not rushing your kids is inspiring! For being first timers that is a "biggie" which i didn't heed first time around. Wondering if you ever just walked over to mk instead of doing the monorail?

After Wishes one night I walked back to the Contemporary. The night was cooler - still warm but a nice breeze, plus it was a zoo because of the end-of-wishes stampede so I decided to try the walk instead. It was nice - the walk took 6 or 7 minutes.

adam and traci,
i am loving your trip report!! The girls look so excited. You have a gorgeous family
loved your description of trying to find the monorail. I was actually feeling some panic while reading...lol

hehe I definitely had some panic feelings because I hate to inconvenience other people, probably more concerned with that than I should be. I'm sure most people don't notice it like I think they do.

great pictures and a lovely family! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! Will be posting lots more pics!

i'm in...i can't wait to read more about your trip...it looks like it will be exciting!!!

It was so exciting - we had a blast!

this thread is awesome! Your kids are absolutely adorable! I can't wait to read more!

Glad you're enjoying it as much as we are reliving it!

i think so...i'm not sure 100% but that sounds about right. I'm one of those people that is chronicly early for everything. Haha it's horrible. But i see your situation that it would have been impossbile to be early. I would have had a little freak out because of how long the bus took. I mean our bus took an hour to get to our hotel too. for some reason we were the last ones to get there. Blegh!

Oh we are just like that - can't stand being late. We were out of our element for the first few days because we didn't know how long it takes to get to places or sometimes how to even get to them. Very little margin for error when you have 3 ADR's a day in a strange place and you're trying to visit parks and swim too!

great start to your tr. Can't wait read more!

welcome

i followed your ptr, so i'm excited to see how the trip actually turned out! So far, so good---looks as if you got some pixie dust sprinkled your way in regards to your cp reservation!

Hello again! Yes we definitely had some pixie dust that first day. Glad to say we got a lot more as the week progressed! We love pixie dust

i love reading the tr's of first timers - hearing about the first impressions is always so cool.


Eta - we try to never make a adr to close to our arrival time in case the plane is delayed or whatever. Maybe next time skip the lunch adr and just make one for supper so it's not such a tight squeeze.

We did consider that we were cutting it very fine and leaving no room for a delay of any kind. Guess we were living dangerously!

 

[adamsup]

After our name got called we stepped into Crystal Palace. The air conditioning brought a welcome chill - it was extremely humid outside so the change in climate was refreshing. The hostess showed us to our table - it was round and seated 6 - what a perfect way to start our ADR experience!

A pet peeve of ours is when we get placed at a table for 4 with the intention of putting Max on the end as an after-thought. We have 5 people in our family so we need 5 proper spaces, not 4 and an add-on! I guess some people don't realize that toddlers grab anything they can, so placing them on the end of a table for 4 doesn't work at all! They need space away from plates, knives, forks, cups etc.

Sorry, back to the trip report. Traci went up to the buffet to fix the kids plates while I stayed back and gave the CM our drinks orders. Traci soon realized that fixing a kid's plate was an easy way to miss a character greet so she kept one eye on our table as she was getting everyone's food, ready to make a mad dash back to our table if Winnie or Piglet showed up.

One thing we really liked about Crystal Palace was the theme. There were these really nice, freshly made flower arrangements

which matched the Disney characters that came around

and even matched the desserts!

We thought that was really cool to have everything matching.

We knew that we would be seeing Piglet, Eeyore, Winnie Poohie (as Paris calls him) and Tigger so Traci had the neat idea of putting iron-on Piglets onto simple pink dresses. It worked out really well.

Eeyore was our first Disney guest to arrive at our table. The girls didn't know that they were supposed to go over and hug him and get some pictures taken but they soon got the hang of it.

We have read trip reports where the younger kids were terrified of the Disney characters. We also have a friend who's son refused to go anywhere near them! As you can see, Max had no problems getting all buddy buddy with Eeyore

The next one to arrive was Piglet. Paris loves Piglet so she was especially excited by his arrival. I love the way she is looking at his trotters in this one

We also love how Piglet holds Brooklyn's entire face in his trotters in this one

That's one thing we noticed from watching YouTube Disney videos - how the characters are not afraid to get right in the kids face and kiss them and give them big hugs.

After Piglet left, we had a few minutes to scarf down some food. We noticed with the character meals how little time there is between characters as they make their rounds. A couple of mouthfuls and quick - grab the camera, smile kids!

Our next guest was Tigger

who got a little too friendly with Traci

Easy tiger

He was kind enough to save a big kiss for Maxwell too though

For the food junkies, here are a few pics. We took better food pictures at the non-buffet restaurants as you'll see later.

This pork was delicious

Here's a selection of desserts - carrot cake, a chocolate chip cookie and this fruity lemon tart. I didn't realize that the lemon tart was lemon - I thought it was going to be some kind of yellow custard so you can imagine the surprise when I took a big bite!

This cake was really good - it had some kind of honey topping

Here's what we would have paid if we weren't on the DXDP

All in all this was a great success. The kids loved the characters and the whole place had a really good atmosphere. Definitely a must-do for our next trip

Up next... back to our hotel room (yes it was difficult not to want to stay all day in MK!)

We knew we would have a better experience if we could get our room in order though, so back we went.

 

[lledman]

A pet peeve of ours is when we get placed at a table for 4 with the intention of putting Max on the end as an after-thought. We have 5 people in our family so we need 5 proper spaces, not 4 and an add-on! I guess some people don't realize that toddlers grab anything they can, so placing them on the end of a table for 4 doesn't work at all! They need space away from plates, knives, forks, cups etc.

I hate that too

We knew that we would be seeing Piglet, Eeyore, Winnie Poohie (as Paris calls him) and Tigger so Traci had the neat idea of putting iron-on Piglets onto simple pink dresses. It worked out really well.

Awesome idea - I liked the girls matching dresses but assumed you purchased them "pre-Disney-fied"

 

[aries07]

You have such lovely children

 

[tracisup]

A pet peeve of ours is when we get placed at a table for 4 with the intention of putting Max on the end as an after-thought. We have 5 people in our family so we need 5 proper spaces, not 4 and an add-on! I guess some people don't realize that toddlers grab anything they can, so placing them on the end of a table for 4 doesn't work at all! They need space away from plates, knives, forks, cups etc.

Sometimes, even when we sit at a larger tabe, Maxwell STILL FINDS A WAY to bother things!

Ad, I notice you didnt post this one of Max! LOL

 

[tracisup]

Great start to your TR. Can't wait read more!

Thanks! Glad you like it.

I followed your PTR, so I'm excited to see how the trip actually turned out! So far, so good---looks as if you got some pixie dust sprinkled your way in regards to your CP reservation!

We have more pixie dust to share later!

I love reading the TR's of first timers - hearing about the first impressions is always so cool.


ETA - we try to never make a ADR to close to our arrival time in case the plane is delayed or whatever. Maybe next time skip the lunch ADR and just make one for supper so it's not such a tight squeeze.

Thanks! Im sure as we get further on in this report people will spot more newby mistakes and or actions!

 

[RachelNinja]

Joining in! I like how you guys decided to just take it easy and let the kids check in. My dad was always very concerned about getting from ride to ride that we always missed the little things that are actually sometimes more important to the kids! Now that I'm a DISer, I know about all the smaller things, and I make sure my brother (11) gets a chance to try or see them. He said that this past trip was the BEST trip ever, and I like to think it's because I had it planned and knew where to go and what to show him! Haha, and I bought him the Hidden Mickey book so he could have something to do while waiting on lines.

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to more!

 

[tracisup]

Joining in! I like how you guys decided to just take it easy and let the kids check in. My dad was always very concerned about getting from ride to ride that we always missed the little things that are actually sometimes more important to the kids! Now that I'm a DISer, I know about all the smaller things, and I make sure my brother (11) gets a chance to try or see them. He said that this past trip was the BEST trip ever, and I like to think it's because I had it planned and knew where to go and what to show him! Haha, and I bought him the Hidden Mickey book so he could have something to do while waiting on lines.

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to more!

Good for you Rachel. Im sure you did play a huge part in him having his best trip ever. My girls find hidden Mickeys at home all the time but I dont think we even looked for them while we were in Disney World.

Thanks for joining our trip report!

 

[Queenofallthings]

I love Crystal Palace and next trip I really want to try it for breakfast!

I completely understand your frustration with the table seating. When we were on our 2007 trip, we went with my BF, her hubby and their daughter who was 19 at the time, myself and my 15 year old daugher. Every meal Eric had to sit at the end of the table....it drove me crazy, people would bump into him or ask him to move his chair in. I really wish they wouldn't do this.

Great update

 

[pinkxray]

Just joining in. Your kids are adorable!

I can't believe I didn't think of taking pictures of the receipts. It really annoyed me how they zero out the receipts when you do the dining plan. We also did the dxdp and I really wanted to get a correct total when we got home. I wrote the whole amount of top, but it would have been nice to have a copy of how everything was broken down. Great idea!

 

[tracisup]

I love Crystal Palace and next trip I really want to try it for breakfast!

I completely understand your frustration with the table seating. When we were on our 2007 trip, we went with my BF, her hubby and their daughter who was 19 at the time, myself and my 15 year old daugher. Every meal Eric had to sit at the end of the table....it drove me crazy, people would bump into him or ask him to move his chair in. I really wish they wouldn't do this.

Great update

We learned that if we asked they give us the larger table. Too bad we have to ask and they dont just do it as the norm though.

Just joining in. Your kids are adorable!

I can't believe I didn't think of taking pictures of the receipts. It really annoyed me how they zero out the receipts when you do the dining plan. We also did the dxdp and I really wanted to get a correct total when we got home. I wrote the whole amount of top, but it would have been nice to have a copy of how everything was broken down. Great idea!

We got a receipts for every meal and none of them zero. We kept them all so we can see if getting the ddxp was the right thing for us in the end.

I started reading your report!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

subbing, didn't know you had started the TR, I followed your ptr. saving my place and going back to read after I put the kids down tonight.

 

[tracisup]

subbing, didn't know you had started the TR, I followed your ptr. saving my place and going back to read after I put the kids down tonight.

 

[adamsup]

So we finished lunch at Crystal Palace and made our way back down Main Street towards the monorail station stopping on the way for a few Photo Pass pictures in front of the castle, of course! We made it out of Magic Kingdom and found our way to the monorail station without a hitch.

Next stop, Contemporary to take a proper look at our room, get somewhat organized and freshen up ready for a 7pm character dinner at 1900 Park Fare no less! 4:30pm lunch, dinner at 7pm! Gotta luv the DXDP! Traci tried to make later reservations but there was nothing available.

Oh we love the monorail. Seeing that sign just brings back so many fun memories..

We could see the Contemporary in the distance and it was an amazing sight.

I've always thought it's really cool when you see tall structures in the distance like mountains etc. Same thing when we saw the MK castle, Spaceship Earth in Epcot and the taller resorts.

We made it to our room, held our breath as we swiped the KTTW, the lock changed to green and we were in! The A/C was cranked down and the chill washed over us in an awesome wave.

Our luggage hadn't arrived yet, but no big deal because we had packed a change of clothes each in our carry-ons that we could use if we had to.

The bathroom

That picture always makes us laugh. It's one of our only ones of the bathroom so we have to share it - just ignore the little munchkin in the mirror

We loved the soaps!

The rest of our room...

We called down for a crib for Maxwell, unpacked our carry-ons and by that time the rest of our luggage arrived. We had a couple of hours until our reservation so Traci and I showered and while the kids were having a bath we made a start on the rest of our unpacking.

I found the safe, which I really liked. It was electronic with a heavy swinging door. Our laptops, money and other important stuff fit perfectly.

We got a lot accomplished, made possible because the girls and Max were having a great time in the bath. It was really deep and we had brought some bubble bath so that kept them occupied.

By 6:45pm we walked into the lobby of the Grand Floridian, 15 minutes early for a 7 o'clock ressie. We were fast becoming Disney pros and it was only Day 1!

As you can see, the girls were dress-appropriate for an evening to be spent with Cinderella.

Today was too much for Maxwell though, awww. We did get up early and he didn't have a nap like he usually does.

It was about 10 minutes after our reservation time that our buzzer went off and we were seated. Again, we lucked out with our table. It seated 6 comfortably, although actually we didn't need it this time because Max would proceed to sleep through the entire dinner!

The buffet was pretty good but we weren't that hungry because we had only eaten a few hours earlier. We did try the signature strawberry soup though, which was yummy.

We were really impressed by the characters at this meal. They really interacted with us and didn't rush through. The girls loved the mean old stepsisters and the way they smiled

And Brooklyn just loved Prince Charming...

... especially when he took her hand, kissed it and said "hello Princess". She said "can you believe this just happened". It was a really magical moment. This was one of those times I mentioned earlier about how you can easily miss moments because you're up at the buffet getting food. So glad Traci got to see it though.

Another mean stepsister

Brooklyn loves sweets, especially chocolate, like me so she had several of those delicious chocolate thingies

and it wasn't long before she wanted me to hold her because she was feeling sick. That plus all the excitement coupled with the fact everyone had been up for 18 hours was bound to catch up with you sooner or later.

Not long after, we paid the bill (well, kinda, luv that DXDP!) and headed for our hotel to our nice comfy beds.

Up next... not bed! Instead, an unexpected visit to The California Grille's Observation Deck to watch Wishes!