Boo To You and The Castle Suite Too! – A September 2013 TR

[littlenellbell]

My bad, Kathy Werling who posts a safetymom on the boards and is a podcaster on the DIS podcast (the people who on the board)

Well, if Kathy has a daughter named Katie who is a tour guide/castle attendant it could possibly be her.

What a cool experience at HM and so glad that you got to see the parade. It's my favorite parade ever! I love the gravediggers!

Jill in CO

We really loved this parade! I agree, it is the best parade ever!! The gravediggers were so cool. The CM next to us said they may not make sparks with the wet pavement, but they did!

I love the updates.

How cute that Carson was Peter Pan and Alexa was Tinkerbell. So cute that their costumes went together and the pictures with Terrance and Tinkerbell are great.

Awesome VIP experience throughout your night. The being alone in the stretch room, the reserved spot at the parade and the lovely table where you would watch Hallowishes. So magical.

You can NEVER bore me with pictures of the inside of the suite, so seeing your kids dancing around in there and having you take and share a million pictures is totally fine by me.

Bummer about the rain but glad nothing was cancelled and you were still able to do everything you wanted.

Thanks! I thought the kids costumes ended up turning out great together. The Tinkerbell pics are my favorite. The VIP experience was so magical, rain and all, we had a blast! I'm glad I'm not boring you with my pictures of the suite. I'll have much more to come, especially of the awesome bathroom!

Wouldn't it be great to have a Katie every visit

Your experiences are just getting better and better

We loved our guides!! Not only was it so awesome to get to the front of the lines and everything, but they were just so nice and fun to be with. Later in the trip while getting on BTMRR, Alexa asked if we could call Katie to see if she wanted to ride with us, because she missed her.

So amazing! This truly will be an experience that is never forgotten!

You're right about that!

I wish this was an experience you could pay for...but it would have to be super expensive because everyone would want it.

Well technically you can pay for a VIP tour guide,which gets you to the front of the line and I think includes VIP parade/fireworks spots. I don't remember the cost exactly, but it's super expensive. I remember adding it up to be more than our last full week trip to Disney at the Moderate Level.
I think it would be impossible to put a price on the Castle Suite and the chances of regular people staying there would become impossible. At least there is a slim chance you could win a night. Take it from me, it does happen! I just wish they would give away more nights. It's a shame that it sits empty most nights. They need to bring back the year of a million dreams promotion!

What a magical experience!!!!

Thank you! It sure was!

I'm so loving your trip report. Thank you for taking time to tell us this amazing and magical story!!

I'm glad you are enjoying it. I'm enjoying writing it. Things are getting busy with the holidays, but I'm going to try to get another update soon.

You had the stretching room AND a Haunted Mansion ghost all to yourselves, how cool is that!?!

I'm so glad that the Boo to You parade didn't get rained out! It is definitely Disney's best parade!! And then to have a private viewing area and all of those characters' attention.... so SO awesome. It must have been such an amazing night!!



Yes, yes, yes! I can totally relate! That was me too. I had done all (I mean ALL) of the research for our trip... so everyone always looked to me to make the decisions. Oh it must have been SO nice not to have to worry about all of that stuff!! What a huge weight lifted off of your shoulders.

I know, can you believe the Haunted Mansion experience! Again, I so wish we had a picture with that ghost!!!!! The parade experience was over the top! I'm so glad the rain didn't ruin it for us. I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have asked Katie if we could see the 2nd parade! LOL
I'm glad you can relate! Don't get me wrong...I love planning trips and researching and once I'm there I'm so glad for everything I learned so we can make the best out of our vacation. But, it was so nice to just let go for the night and have a blast with the family.

 

[littlenellbell]

Continuing our magical night at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party......

Next up Tomorrowland! First we headed to Buzz Lightyear. I took these next pictures with my phone because I was having issues with my camera so they are a little blurry.







Buzz was fun! I don’t remember our scores, but I know that Katie and Ava killed us! In our defense, I think they may have played it a few more times than us . Plus they didn't have a little fairy in their car who thought it was more fun to spin than shoot. LOL

It was raining again when we came out, so we decided on the People Mover. I know what you’re thinking….you have 2 VIP guides and can go to the front of the lines and you picked the People Mover!?!? We love the People Mover and ride it several times during our trips. We needed a little break and it was nice to see MK from this ride all decked out for the Halloween Party. It's so pretty at night! Plus it gave me a chance to delete unwanted pictures from my camera to make some space.







Space Mountain was under refurbishment for a few days and Carson was so so so so disappointed. But, when we went through the lights were on!!!! This was a huge highlight for Carson.







These are bad pictures...but look how excited he was! He said he was glad it was down because otherwise he never would have seen it this way!





We told the kids we would do a few more rides, but then we wanted to head back up to the Castle. So we decided on the Tea Cups! Brandon and Katie said they don’t really like spinning rides like this so they sat this one out. Ava said she needed to get back to the Castle and check to see if the Mice and Birds were getting everything ready for us. So it was just the kids and I. Carson wanted to go really fast so he rode by himself, which was fine by me!



A nice CM though it would be funny to give Alexa mouse ears for the picture.







Tea Cups were fun, but the castle was calling my name! We let the kids pick one more thing….they picked Winnie the Pooh. Katie could have taken us right on, but they wanted to play for a few minutes. This ride has the cutest queue!







After Winnie the Pooh we walked past the 7 Dwarfs. Katie said she couldn't get us up to the front for this one, which we totally understood. The line only looked to be about 20 minutes, which really isn't too bad for the Dwarfs and we probably should have waited because I did want a picture with them…..but that darn Castle was on my mind. Brandon didn't care one way or the other, and the kids said they were okay with going back… so we passed.

It was around this time that I realized that we had gotten zero photopass pictures due to the rain. I wanted a couple out in front of the castle to commemorate our night before we went back up. We started to walk around the backside of the castle when we realized that a show (or maybe it was the 2nd parade?) was going on and it would be a pain to get around to the front. But Katie worked her magic again and went to find a photopass photographer and they just took a couple of us with a side view of the castle. The castle was a little dark, but overall I was happy with these pictures because you can see the windows to the Suite from this view. I told Katie we would like to get up early and have some photos taken of our family prior to park opening the next day anyway.











This ended our first MNNSHP experience. It was more wonderful than we could have ever hoped!!! It was only 10:30pm and with the help of the guides “our human fastpass” we could have ridden every ride if we stayed until midnight. But, we were wet, tired and VERY anxious to get back to our dream suite.

 

[littlenellbell]

We headed back towards the castle to call it a night. I hate to brag, but it was so nice and convenient to be staying inside the Magic Kingdom! We didn't have to go with the herd towards the exit, we didn't have to wait in a long queue for a bus, fumbling with the stroller to get everything folded up, we didn't have to stand in the crowded bus for the 20 minute trip back to the resort, then make the trek from the bus stop to the room with sleepy kids, etc. We were already HOME. And what a beautiful home it was!

First Katie had to check behind the wall and get the all clear for us to get to the castle suite door.



Then we headed up to our dream suite! Ava had told us that the “birds and mice” had worked extra hard to turn down our room for the night and make it extra magical. We were so excited to get back up there and check it out! Before we entered the room I wanted to get a picture with Katie and Ava. They were so awesome!!



Then we entered the room! WOW! It was almost as magical as the first time we entered. I may have even gotten a little teary again. Most of the light switches in the suite have 3 different buttons, one turned them on, on turned them off and then one button was for “show lighting”. The show lighting was on, the lights were dim and the ambiance of the room was awesome. The lighting made the floor so sparkly. The fireplace was on and crackling away and they had the movie Cinderella playing on the TV!!! The first thing the kids spotted was the chocolate carriage and horses filled with chocolate covered strawberries.





Alexa spotted this rose and more chocolates, next to the guest book. The guest book had an insert with about 4 pages of names. By the dates, it appeared to have started earlier this year. I wish we could have seen the full book.



Spot anyone famous on this page??



The next thing that caught my eye was a glass slipper sitting on the desk arranged with a bunch of rose petals. It says “Cinderella’s Castle Suite” and has the date engraved on the back. Ava said we could take this home as a souvenir. WOW, I couldn't believe this generous gift!?! Thank you Disney! What a special memento for this very special night!



The beds were turned down and they had the kids stuffed animals arranged. We also had a special message from Cinderella on one bed and the Mice on the other.







Next on to the bathroom….there were rose petals everywhere! The show lighting was on and the stars were twinkling above the tub. We also found a towel animal designed to look light a glass slipper! How creative!












We really enjoyed all the fresh flower arrangements!


Here are just a few more random pictures I took.





The kids were starting to get tired so they got into bed to finish watching Cinderella. I don’t think they made it 5 minutes and they were out. What an exciting day for them!





We hung out in the other room for a bit and watched out the window. I couldn't get a good picture in the dark, but it was cool to see all the lights and smoke effects from up above the party. All the people wandering around and clutching their trick or treat bags.

I know we also relaxed in the Jacuzzi tub, where I almost fell asleep. It was so relaxing after a long day.






We finally called it a night! The beds were like heaven….so comfortable. But I have to admit, I had a hard time sleeping. While the rest of the family snoozed away, I kept waking up thinking “I’m actually inside the castle” then I’d get curious and have to get back up to look outside the window. LOL I know at one point I could see a few vans parked out there? Otherwise it was pretty empty when I looked out. It was kind of an eerie feeling. I remember contemplating if I should call downstairs to see if they minded me coming down to take a few pictures of the castle. I don’t know why, but I felt a little anxious, like I wanted to see what was going on out there! But I really didn't want to leave my family and I knew I needed sleep. So I tried my best.

Next up, waking up inside the castle and breakfast with Cinderella and her friends!

 

[deedee2177]

Awesome updates!!! I love the guest book. We saw NPH and David when we were last year...wonder if that is when they stayed at the castle.

I can only imagine how this trip was as a Mom watching your kids experience this magical trip!!!! I got teary eyed for them and they aren't even my kids!

Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

 

[Marsheliz]

Great update.. I agree about the Halloween party being the best...
We want to go at Christmas next time but Halloween will be hard to beat...

Love the guestbook and slipper!! How beautiful and that tub. I don't even know how you slept a wink. AHHH. Maybe I should start entering promos.

 

[Amberleefuta]

Wow! Such a magical experience!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Thanks for filling us all in on your magical evening. I have loved hearing all about it. I think I would be like you and want to leave in the middle of the night to go outside. I've always wanted to be inside the park "after dark".

 

[littlenellbell]

Awesome updates!!! I love the guest book. We saw NPH and David when we were last year...wonder if that is when they stayed at the castle.

I can only imagine how this trip was as a Mom watching your kids experience this magical trip!!!! I got teary eyed for them and they aren't even my kids!

Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

The guest book had an insert and the names were appeared to be from 2013, so it probably wasn't the time you saw them if it was last year. Although they could have stayed in the castle last year as well? The CM at the Yacht Club delivered us our bags when we returned from the castle told us that NPH and David come to Disney frequently and usually stay at the Yacht Club.
Yes, it was so special as a mom seeing my kids immersed in so much magic! They were the perfect age to remember this, yet still young enough to really believe in it all.
thank you so much for reading along!

Great update.. I agree about the Halloween party being the best...
We want to go at Christmas next time but Halloween will be hard to beat...

Love the guestbook and slipper!! How beautiful and that tub. I don't even know how you slept a wink. AHHH. Maybe I should start entering promos.

I've never been to the Christmas party, so I don't have anything to compare it to. But I just think the Halloween party is so unique and fun! Of course the VIP tour may have magnified our experience. But, even without that we would of had a blast. I'm so glad our dates lined up during the Halloween season and during the party. Otherwise I don't think we would have gone during this time on our own. However, the low crowds and fun party may convince us to go in September again.

You should start entering promos!! It's a slim chance but someone has to win and it will not be you if you don't enter. I had never won anything in my life before this. Still so unbelievable to me!

Wow! Such a magical experience!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Thank you! It was so awesome!

Thanks for filling us all in on your magical evening. I have loved hearing all about it. I think I would be like you and want to leave in the middle of the night to go outside. I've always wanted to be inside the park "after dark".

I'm glad you are enjoying the report. I know, I just felt anxious and curious to know what's going on out there. I wish the suite had windows to the front of the park or even better a balcony! If the park would have closed earlier, we would have gone out after closing. But that night it closed at midnight and the kids were already passed out. I kind of wish now I would have just called to see if I could have went down by myself.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Just amazing! I don't know what else to say!

 

[geckodani]

Just - wow. Private stretching room. Private ghost. Human fastpasses. Sleeping in the castle. I'm so glad your family got to have this amazing experience!

And I sort of love NPH more because he stayed in the castle, LOL!

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow the suite was "turned down" so beautifully and I'm so pleased you got the chocolate carriage

The Slipper is just gorgeous, what a wonderful keepsake and something to remember your night by

 

[JKSWonder]

Just beautiful!

 

[PolkaDotLuggage]

Maybe it's b/c a cold front is about to hit (it's not but I'm using that as an excuse ) but I cried the last 5 updates! I can't even imagine how wonderful of an experience this was for you as a Mom and for the family!

 

[WDW2012]

Absolutely amazing!! Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to see you took advantage of that glorious tub and I'm with you, I don't think I'd be able to sleep much at all if I were there!

 

[littlenellbell]

Just amazing! I don't know what else to say!

Sigh....yes it was!

Just - wow. Private stretching room. Private ghost. Human fastpasses. Sleeping in the castle. I'm so glad your family got to have this amazing experience!

And I sort of love NPH more because he stayed in the castle, LOL!

Thank you! It was an amazing night in the MK and all those extra special moments took it over the top! It was kind of fun to think we slept in the same bed as all those celebrities.

Wow the suite was "turned down" so beautifully and I'm so pleased you got the chocolate carriage

The Slipper is just gorgeous, what a wonderful keepsake and something to remember your night by

The turn down was my favorite part of the castle stay. My pictures just don't do it justice. As you know, it's so much more beautiful in person!
I couldn't believe the generous gift of the slipper. It is beautiful and now sits in my china cabinet along with the Cinderella good night card!

Just beautiful!

Yes, it is!

Maybe it's b/c a cold front is about to hit (it's not but I'm using that as an excuse ) but I cried the last 5 updates! I can't even imagine how wonderful of an experience this was for you as a Mom and for the family!

Good excuse! LOL That is sweet of you, we enjoyed this experience so much! It was such a fairy tale for my kids, which made it even more special for me. They grow up so fast and how perfect they got to experience it at this age! DH (who enjoys Disney vacations, but is not a mega fan) was even sucked in to the magic!

Absolutely amazing!! Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to see you took advantage of that glorious tub and I'm with you, I don't think I'd be able to sleep much at all if I were there!

It was so awesome! I'm glad I decided to write this report because I'm loving reliving this!! I'd LOVE to be back in that moment in time right now!

 

[khertz]

I really slacked off, but I just got caught up on all of your updates and all I can really say is WOW!! What an amazing experience, not only to be staying in the Castle Suite, but also having the guides to help you through the MNSSHP. All of the touches in the suite look just fantastic. What a magical experience for your family! I will try to stay better on top of your updates from now on.

Oh, and one thing that stuck out was when you said you came across a CM with the same name and spelling as yours, and I had to laugh, because mine is spelled the same as yours too! People NEVER spell it right, so it's always fun to come across someone with the same spelling. From Pre-K through 8th grade at the same school, I was the ONLY Kristy in the whole school, and found my first "name twin" when I went to high school.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I found your trip report and it has taken a few days, but I'm caught up now! I'm amazed that you won such a fantastic trip and I loved being able to see inside the castle suite! Thank you for sharing that! I think Yacht Club was a great choice. No need to be near Magic Kingdom when you're already spending a night inside it! I think it's great that your stay fell on a MNSSHP night. I love your kids costumes!

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Seeing Space Mountain with the lights on must have been pretty neat! Carson looked so excited!

WOW, the castle suite looked even more amazing after being "turned down." So magical!

 

[littlenellbell]

I really slacked off, but I just got caught up on all of your updates and all I can really say is WOW!! What an amazing experience, not only to be staying in the Castle Suite, but also having the guides to help you through the MNSSHP. All of the touches in the suite look just fantastic. What a magical experience for your family! I will try to stay better on top of your updates from now on.

Oh, and one thing that stuck out was when you said you came across a CM with the same name and spelling as yours, and I had to laugh, because mine is spelled the same as yours too! People NEVER spell it right, so it's always fun to come across someone with the same spelling. From Pre-K through 8th grade at the same school, I was the ONLY Kristy in the whole school, and found my first "name twin" when I went to high school.

Hi Kristy Thank you for your kind comments...no need to apologize. I'm glad you are here!

Actually my given name is Kristen, however my parents decided they would call me Kristy (and spell it that way) even before I was born. Why they didn't just name me Kristy, I don't know!? Anyway, my official Disney documents said Kristen and the CM was named Kristen and I'm glad because I think our friendly conversation about that is what lead to offer changing our room to be a little closer to the elevator/lobby with a better view.

I did follow the link over to your trip report. Your little guy is adorable! I need to go back over and finish reading DH and DS really want to do Universal as part of our trip next time, so I loved seeing your pictures.

I found your trip report and it has taken a few days, but I'm caught up now! I'm amazed that you won such a fantastic trip and I loved being able to see inside the castle suite! Thank you for sharing that! I think Yacht Club was a great choice. No need to be near Magic Kingdom when you're already spending a night inside it! I think it's great that your stay fell on a MNSSHP night. I love your kids costumes!

I'm glad you found my report! Welcome! I did keep questioning our Yacht Club choice vs a monorail resort, but in the end I couldn't of been happier with the Yacht Club! MNSSHP was so fun! We were so lucky it fell on that night. Otherwise I doubt tickets to the party would have been included.

Seeing Space Mountain with the lights on must have been pretty neat! Carson looked so excited!

WOW, the castle suite looked even more amazing after being "turned down." So magical!

Carson was over the top excited about seeing Space with the lights on. It's his dream to ride it or RNRC with the lights on! Someone will be pretty happy on Christmas morning when Santa brings him this:



Seeing the castle turned down was my favorite part of our stay. It was beautiful and my pictures just don't do it justice!

 

[littlenellbell]

As I said in my last update, I had a little trouble sleeping so I decided to get up pretty early and get in the shower before I had to get the rest of the family up. My plan all along was to get some great family pictures in front of the castle before the park opened. The first thing I did when I woke up was look out the window. Pouring rain!!!! I guess we wouldn't be getting pictures after all. Oh well; I was waking up in Cinderella’s Castle. If a little rain was all we had to worry about…then things were pretty good.
The shower was awesome! How often do you get to shower with a view of a beautiful stained glass window?!?

Also, they had an abundance of H2O products! Not just the standard shampoo, conditioner and shower gel….black sand body scrub, peppermint foot cream, hand cream, soaps (with Grand Floridian logo), lotion etc.. And they were decent size too. I’m still using some of the lotions. My daughter will tell me I smell like the castle when I use them. ha ha!

When I got out of the shower, the rest of the family was starting to wake up. We didn't have breakfast until 9:00am and because we were no longer going out early for pictures we had time to relax, which was nice. The kids took a long bath under the twinkling stars. They had fun with the lights! The lights would change the water from blue to pink to green over and over. The jets also had different settings that they had fun playing with.

Then we did a little window watching. We could see them testing splash mountain and the empty logs going down the hill. Here are some empty, rainy park pictures I took.















Alexa got her dress on for her breakfast with the Princesses. Of course you need to dress as Cinderella if you are staying in her castle! And check out that hair! Still perfect from the night before! We joked that Tinkerbell must have come by in the night and sprinkled her with magical sleeping pixie dust to make her sleep so sound. What's funny is, I think she believed us! Trust me, her hair normally doesn't look so good in the morning. She even slept in that crown and everything and never complained once. As soon as she got her dress on, she started dancing around and wanted me to take pictures of her posing around the suite.









The kids also watched a little Disney Jr on the magic TV. Jake is so much better if the TV is magic!





Here are some other random pictures I took. Sorry if some of them are repeats of what I already have shown. It was honestly such a great morning, so nice to have this time to relax and explore the suite.











Soon it was becoming close to 9:00am. I called downstairs and was told someone was on their way to pick us up for breakfast. I was under the impression either from the guides the night before or the CM who helped me plan this trip that we would be returning to the suite right after breakfast to collect our belongings. So I was a little thrown off when the new guide showed up and asked if we had all of our luggage ready to go and told us we would not be returning! Luckily, we did have it mostly ready but we had to do some scrambling to separate what we needed to stay with us in the park and what was going back to the Yacht Club, so I was a little flustered. I later realized left behind some Cinderella Castle Suite Stationary and post card in the desk that I had wanted as a keepsake. I also wanted to ask to see if we could box up the chocolate carriage to have delivered to the Yacht Club to enjoy the rest of the week and forgot about it. I just didn't get the time to do those final checks around the room because I felt rushed. Thank goodness I thought to ask her to take a picture of our family together in the suite.





She told us to just keep our luggage going back to the Yacht Club in the room and she would get everything out, but to put what we wanted to keep with us in the lobby.

Here is the last picture I took of the suite right before the elevators closed. Isn't it sad?! Goodbye beautiful suite! Thank you for providing our family with memories that will last a lifetime!!!



So I may have shed a tear or two going down the elevator for the last time. Carson asked what’s wrong and I told him just a flurry of emotions for being sad to leave but mostly so EXTREMELY grateful to have the opportunity we did! Then he started to get a little tearful. But we quickly pulled ourselves together, the magic was not over! We were off to meet Cinderella for breakfast. My little girl was super excited to see all her favorite friends and tell them all about her night in the castle.