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

[gracer9977]

Ahh Alexa is so cute with her Dumbo. I love that she wanted you to take pictures all around the area with her Dumbo. That is so totally something my son would ask me to do.

I am so sad we are going to miss out on Splash Mountain. It will be closed the whole time we are there. I just love that ride. Your ride photo is hilarious. I love that Brandon is must chillin out with one hand up,like he's not going down a huge hill and about to get drenched. Your hair looks really nice, even with it being wet. It's so curly and I don't see any of this frizz you are talking about.

Funny how you got in trouble with the CM that thought you had snuck in to the park. I would have totally forgotten that I hadn't come through the normal park entrance too. I mean it's not like you wake up in the castle in MK every day.

I am so looking forward to getting on Journey Under the Sea. I love Ariel too, she is one of my favorite princesses and I don't care what other people have said. It is pretty simple to entertain me. Just put me in the clam shell, show me scenes from the movie and play some songs and I am happy.

Great update. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[littlenellbell]

After Dumbo, our FP+ window for Barnstormer was open. Alexa was so nervous to ride this! I'm not sure why since she had just ridden Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain laughing the whole time with her arms up.
Here is the only picture I took in line.

She screamed the entire time and said it was so scary! Again...I have no idea why, but she still says she will never go on it again! That is fine with me. It cute, but it's such a sort ride, it's not worth the wait or use of a FP. If she's willing to go on BTMRR, I'd much rather do that.
The kids wanted to run through the Casey Jr Sprinkler area. I told them they could run through the mist, but I didn't want them soaked. We finally had a stretch of a couple hours without any rain and they wanted to get wet!




Next we took the back path from the Circus to Tomorrowland! Space Mountain was still closed so we hopped on the People Mover! We love this ride!




The lights were on again in Space Mountain, which made some little boy very happy. This time they were testing cars, which got him even more excited.



Little off topic, but here is a quick picture of the Space Mountain Knex set that Carson got for Christmas. It glows in the dark. Pretty awesome!


Anyway, back to the report. Next we decided to try the Carousel Of Progress. This was a first for our family. I had seen it as a child, but barely remembered it. We had always skipped it because I thought the kids might get a little bored. Surprisingly, they really enjoyed it. We all did. I didn't take any pictures here.

We rode Buzz the night prior so we decided to skip it. Carson was so anxious to go on........Stitch's Great Escape! This was a ride that he and Brandon had gone on without Alexa and I last trip. I had always heard bad reviews, but Carson said it was so AWESOME and was sure Alexa and I would just LOVE it. Right Dad? Brandon just kind of looked at me and rolled his eyes, so I knew we were in for a special treat.


Honestly.....it was terrible! But on the bright side there was no wait, Alexa didn't freak out and Carson was happy...so we were good!
Next we decided to attempt another new attraction.......Monsters Inc Laugh Floor! This was a first for all of us and after the stitch experience I had my fingers crossed it would be much better.




We weren't picked for anything, but it was hilarious! We had so much fun in this show. We all laughed so hard! Not sure why we hadn't been before, but it's a must do for next time.
After this we chatted about what we wanted to do next. There was one "must do" ride we hadn't done yet....Pirates! On our way out of Tomorrowland, we decided to stop at the rose garden and get our photopass taken in front of the castle. Remember, I had wanted a picture in front of the castle the night before, but we couldn't make it around to the front due to the show, so we just got one in the back. Then I had wanted to get up early and get one in front in front of the castle with no people, but it was pouring rain. So this picture was important! Unfortunately, it was not added on to our photopass! I called and emailed and they did their best to help us, but they are gone forever!
This was one of the few times I didn't also have them take a picture with my camera. Anyway, I did snap a few pictures of the castle (without my family in them).

Of course I had to get a picture of Alexa's favorite little guy!

 

[littlenellbell]

Next up.... Adventureland!

We headed straight to Pirates! Alexa likes to sit in the middle between Brandon and I holding both of our hands because it makes her a little nervous. As long as she feels safe between us, she enjoys it. We all do! We were stuck at the end for about 10 minutes. This was our view on one side.

And the other....


We decided we had time to do one more thing before leaving MK. The kids wanted to ride the Magic Carpets, but we were on a mission to try new things that we had never done on this trip. The options were Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents and Country Bear Show. The kids picked Bears, but we had our stroller parked right next to the Tiki Room, so we ultimately decided to do that.




What did we think? Well it was okay. Not something we would see again, but now we know what it's like. It was cool to see an original attraction and we can mark it off our list.

As we walked towards the front I snapped this picture of the castle. Just about 24 hours earlier I took this same picture as we entered the Magic Kingdom with our guide Lisa at the start of our Magical Castle stay.


Then about half way down Main Street we spotted another photopass photographer. I convinced the family to stop again, even though we just had them done at the Rose Garden. I told them I just wanted to make sure that we had good pictures in front of the castle because we had stayed there it was important to me. So we stopped and did a bunch more, plus some of the kids alone with the Tinkerbell magic shot. Yep you guessed it...those were also missing!!! And yes, this was the other time I did not take any with my camera! Don't get me wrong, I took plenty of pictures during this trip. But, it was still disappointing to be missing both sets of castles pictures!

So, we continued on towards the exit.


We saw that the flag ceremony was about to start, so we stopped to watch.





Very cool ceremony! If you haven't seen it, they pick a Veteran or Current Military to honor each day. The whole family gets to be part of the ceremony.

I had read here on the Dis that they were starting to test "Talking Mickey" in the Town Square Theater. Because we were up that way, I stopped in quick to ask. I was told no, so we decided to wait until our last day to see Mickey.

We finally exited the Magic Kingdom!

We had been "inside" the Magic Kingdom for over 24 hours! It was so weird to be leaving the Magic Kingdom bubble. We had such an awesome time!! It was way better than we could have even imagined!

Coming up next...where would our dinner plans take us?

 

[tlseege]

What an amazing experience! It seems like you guys had an absolutely amazing time!

And how's this for ironic... I know one of the families on that registry for the castle suite! Crazy!

 

[freckles04]

So sorry your pictures were lost.

We're definitely going to have to give the Laugh Floor a try. & we also love Carousel of Progress!

We also hadn't done Country Bears, Tiki Room, or Hall of Presidents this past trip, and I vowed to cross them off our list, but we only did Hall of Presidents. DS was a bit bored but I liked it... very moving tribute!

Can't wait to hear what's next.

 

[littlenellbell]

Awesome update! Too funny re: ticket situation! SO glad the rain let up.

I'm also so glad the rain gave us a break and yes the ticket situation was too funny!

09/25/13- What a great day!! (that was the first day of our trip) I remember looking forward to that day for so long! Now I can't believe that it was over three months ago!

That's too funny about the tickets. Umm Sir, no we did not use these tickets to enter the park, we were ALREADY IN the park! haha

Glad you guys got on Big Thunder since it was down later in the day.

That Sebastian magic shot IS adorable!! We missed that one!

Looks like you guys had a great day in MK. You got a ton accomplished!

Isn't hard to believe 3 months have passed since then?
The fastpass/ticket situation was hilarious! I don't know what I was thinking at first when I told him we used those tickets to get in, then when I changed my mind he must of thought I was either crazy or trying to hide something. LOL You should have seen his face when I showed him those Castle Suite Keys.
Such a bummer you missed BTMRR that day. Isn't it funny how 2 people can have such a different experience on the same day. You got to see Talking Mickey and we didn't and we got to ride Big Thunder and you didn't?!? You just never know.
We did get so much done this day, with FP+ and the low September crowds we never had to wait all day.

Ahh Alexa is so cute with her Dumbo. I love that she wanted you to take pictures all around the area with her Dumbo. That is so totally something my son would ask me to do.

I am so sad we are going to miss out on Splash Mountain. It will be closed the whole time we are there. I just love that ride. Your ride photo is hilarious. I love that Brandon is must chillin out with one hand up,like he's not going down a huge hill and about to get drenched. Your hair looks really nice, even with it being wet. It's so curly and I don't see any of this frizz you are talking about.

Funny how you got in trouble with the CM that thought you had snuck in to the park. I would have totally forgotten that I hadn't come through the normal park entrance too. I mean it's not like you wake up in the castle in MK every day.

I am so looking forward to getting on Journey Under the Sea. I love Ariel too, she is one of my favorite princesses and I don't care what other people have said. It is pretty simple to entertain me. Just put me in the clam shell, show me scenes from the movie and play some songs and I am happy.

Great update. Looking forward to the next one.

Alexa sure loves that Dumbo! I took tons of pictures of him. LOL
That stinks that you are going to miss Splash. We were sooo disappointed prior to our trip in February when it was down, but there ended up being so many other things to do that we didn't miss it too much once we were there having fun. It will just make it more special when you finally do get to go on it during a future trip. I hadn't noticed Brandon's one hand up until you said. I can just hear Alexa "put your arms up Daddy....no hang on to me Daddy" So he probably compromised. But it does look he's chillin!
That CM did have a very suspicious look for me! Especially after I changed my mind regarding how I got into the park that day. Who knows what I was thinking! We had to keep reminding ourselves that we had really stayed in the castle overnight. I still have to remind myself it happened!
I think if you love the Little Mermaid movie, you will love the ride! I bet you are getting so excited!

What an amazing experience! It seems like you guys had an absolutely amazing time!

And how's this for ironic... I know one of the families on that registry for the castle suite! Crazy!

The Castle Suite was so amazing! The whole trip was actually!
That's awesome you recognized a family on the registry! I'm curious, did they also win a sweepstakes? I'm sure they enjoyed it just as much as we did!
Thanks for reading along!

 

[littlenellbell]

So sorry your pictures were lost.

We're definitely going to have to give the Laugh Floor a try. & we also love Carousel of Progress!

We also hadn't done Country Bears, Tiki Room, or Hall of Presidents this past trip, and I vowed to cross them off our list, but we only did Hall of Presidents. DS was a bit bored but I liked it... very moving tribute!

Can't wait to hear what's next.

I know, I was so sad about those pictures! It was the first week they were scanning Magic Bands to instead of giving cards. Not sure if that is why they were lost or what?
I bet you will love Laugh Floor!
I thought the kids would be bored in Hall of Presidents, but later in the trip they really liked the American Adventure at Epcot, so I think they would of liked Presidents...I wish we would have done that instead of Tiki Room. Maybe next time.

 

[littlenellbell]

When I last left off we were leaving the Magic Kingdom and headed somewhere for dinner. We originally had reservations at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge. I was looking for a fun "family" dinner and I always wanted to see the Wilderness Lodge. But after talking to Brandon we didn't really feel like taking the boat back and forth from MK then taking the bus back to the Yacht Club. Plus, after our whirlwind of a night/day we were wanting something a little more low key than the upbeat fun family atmosphere at the WC. I got online and found a reservation at San Angel Inn. I was a little worried that the kids wouldn't like it, but it sounded good to us and we love to be at Epcot at night. So we hopped on the monorail and headed towards Epcot. We had done the resort loop on the monorail, but had never taken it to Epcot, so it was something fun and new for us.
Some monorail pictures:




A great way to see Epcot!







Alexa fell asleep on the monorail.



Arriving at Epcot.




We pre-warned Carson that we weren't going to have time go to on a lot of rides, we were tired and wanted to have a relaxing night with a nice dinner then back to the resort to bed early. However, we were a bit hypocritical because we couldn't resist a ride on Spaceship Earth as we passed by. I rode with Alexa and this was our picture at the end. She was awake for the ride, but must have closed her eyes for the picture.



I took Alexa to the restroom while the boys played in the exit area of Spaceship Earth. Then we met up by the fountain. Alexa had to pose while we waited for the boys.


We finally made it to Mexico!


We checked in about a half hour early and they weren't ready for us, so we decided to ride the Grand Fiesta Ride, which was another walk on.




Now that's a fun way to wait to be seated for dinner!
We also checked out the Mexican Pavilion.


Soon it was our turn to be seated!

I have no food pictures, but our meals were excellent! We both had the Carne Asada, which was a strip steak. Carson had chicken tacos and Alexa had cheese quesadillas. Our waiter was so nice explaining everything on the menu and making recommendations. Service was fast and we LOVED the atmosphere! I thought it would be a little too adult for the kids, but they enjoyed it so much more than I thought they would. We have been to Mexico a few times, but the kids never have, so Carson said he always wondered what it was like when we went to Mexico...now he knows! It was cute. He couldn't get over how much it felt like we outside when we really weren't. He said he wants to come back here next time for sure! Hmmm maybe he is outgrowing the character places?




We were not on the dinning plan, so we passed up dessert. However our waiter would not have the kids leaving without dessert! He added to complimentary birthday ice creams on our bill (even though we had no birthdays). I thought that was sweet of him.

After dinner we took our time strolling through World Showcase and out the back exit to the Yacht Club. I put my camera away and enjoyed the moment. It was finally a beautiful night with no rain!

By the time we got to the Yacht Club it was close to 8pm. It was so weird coming back there after being away since 3pm the day prior, but it felt like home walking in. We walked right by the baggage claim area on the way to our room so I decided to stop and see if they had delivered our bags from the Castle Suite. He couldn't find anything, so we figured it was already up in our room. He said to call if it wasn't. When we got to our room, there were no bags. I called back down and tried to explain about how we stayed in the suite and someone was bringing back our bags. A few minutes later a Manager called me back and asked me to explain it again. She was confused as to why we would have bags coming from the Magic Kingdom. I explained everything to her and how we were able to stay checked in to the Yacht Club but had 2 overnight bags for our Castle Suite stay. After she understood she admitted she had no clue who to even contact! I told her that I had our guide Katie's cell phone number from the night before, but I wasn't sure she was even working tonight. She took the number and said she would call around and see what she could find.

Meanwhile the kids were begging to go to the pool. We figured why not! We headed down to the pool and the Manager said she would call me and let me know about the luggage. She did end up calling later to tell me that she had finally located our luggage and it was on it's way. Not sure where it was and why it never made it back to the Yacht Club that morning, but we did eventually get it back.

Anyway, back at the pool we were having a great time.


It was so relaxing after a long day and we practically had the place to ourselves!
Then we got a special surprise and could see the Illuminations! I tried to take a few pictures on my phone, but they didn't turn out very well.









I can't even tell you how many times the kids went down that slide! Brandon and I enjoyed some cocktails by the pool. We stayed until closing. It was a perfect night!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Looks like you had a wonderful evening! I will admit the San Angel Inn never really appealed to me, but it looked great. I am thinking maybe it should go on our short list. The pool looked like lots of fun too. What a special trip.

 

[jenseib]

Another great day and this time with s bit of sun too!

I wonder why it took so long for your bags to come back....sounds like someone goofed. But you would think they would have that down to a science by now.
We have not eaten in Mexico, but it does look like a neat atmosphere to eat in.

 

[PrncessA]

I am really enjoying your TR! The ease of the walk from Epcot to the YC is what is inspiring us to book it for August. It looks like your family is really enjoying it.

 

[DisneyJo]

How funny that you had to show your Castle Suite keys to prove you hadn't snuck in

It sounds like you had an absolutely wonderful end to your day with a lovely meal and watching the fireworks from the pool

 

[littlenellbell]

Looks like you had a wonderful evening! I will admit the San Angel Inn never really appealed to me, but it looked great. I am thinking maybe it should go on our short list. The pool looked like lots of fun too. What a special trip.

You should give San Angel a 2nd consideration. Delicious food with a wonderful atmosphere! The pool was so awesome. Something about that whole area at night is so pretty.

Another great day and this time with s bit of sun too!

I wonder why it took so long for your bags to come back....sounds like someone goofed. But you would think they would have that down to a science by now.
We have not eaten in Mexico, but it does look like a neat atmosphere to eat in.

The Sun finally came out!
I still wonder what happened to our bags? It's not like the magic express that handles hundreds of bags. We were one family coming from the Castle to the Yacht Club? The guide acted like she was going to personally deliver them? Oh well, we got them, so that's all that matters.
San Angel was awesome! I was pleasantly surprised! You should give it a try.

I am really enjoying your TR! The ease of the walk from Epcot to the YC is what is inspiring us to book it for August. It looks like your family is really enjoying it.

I'm so glad you are enjoying my report . Nothing beats the convenience of walking to Epcot from the Yacht Club. We really fell in love with that whole area! You should definitely book there!! I hope we can afford to stay there again sometime.

How funny that you had to show your Castle Suite keys to prove you hadn't snuck in

It sounds like you had an absolutely wonderful end to your day with a lovely meal and watching the fireworks from the pool

That poor CM was just so confused on what I was trying to say and my key situation. Physically showing him the Castle Suite Keys was the only way we finally got on the same page. We both got a good laugh about that.
We did a have a wonderful end to a wonderful day! Swimming at night is so relaxing and fireworks at the pool made it extra special.

 

[littlenellbell]

Thursday 9/26/13, our last full day at WDW. We had been going full speed most of the week, plus stayed up late swimming the night before, so I knew the kids would be tired. I decided not to get them up early and rush to get to rope drop. We still got up at a decent time and were at the boat dock by 9:15 a.m. to head to Hollywood Studios! We just missed a boat, so we had some time to wait, but we didn't mind. It was a gorgeous morning and the forecast looked perfect! I was excited that maybe all the rain was behind us. We took some pictures while waited.










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We ended up getting into Hollywood Studios around 10am, and we headed right to Toy Story Mania. But we arrived a little too late. What a difference an hour makes when it comes to this ride. The line was already long and the Fastpass return times were for too late in the day. We had only planned on being at HS until after lunch. It wasn't a big deal since we had already been on it, but it would have been fun to ride again. So we came up with a new plan. Meeting Sofia The First was a priority for Alexa. She had her Sofia shirt on and it was all she could talk about. I decided to wait with Alexa to meet Sofia, while the boys went to get 4 fastpasses for Rock n Roller Coaster and ride Tower of Terror.

We were pretty shocked when we saw the line for Sofia. It was the longest line we waited in all week! While we were in line it started pouring!! Here is a picture I snapped of the Little Mermaid in line and you can see the rain.
[URL=http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/littlenellbell/media/Thursday%20Hollywood%20Studios/IMG_3082_zpsf24dcdce.jpg.html]
That rain came out of no where! I didn't even cover the stroller and poor Brandon and Carson were stuck in TOT line with no poncho or anything. At least we were undercover. Half of the Sofia line was not covered. I squeezed in a family who was standing out in the rain on the other side of the rope. They promised they would go back in their spot in line after the rain let up. That didn't go over well with the lady behind us. No matter how we tried to explain, she thought they were trying to cut in line.

Anyway, after about 45 minutes we were finally able to see Sofia! It was worth the wait. The pictures turned out adorable and Alexa LOVED meeting her!
Sofia was checking out Alexa's bow, that had her face on it.

Then Sofia was checking out her shirt.

Sofia taught her to do a cute pose.



Meanwhile, the boys had rode both RNRC and Tower of Terror. Brandon took this picture, but nothing else.

After Sofia, my plan was to meet up with the boys and hopefully the fastpass for Rock n Rollercoaster would be ready, but Brandon and I had a miscommunication over texting about the RNRC fastpass return time. Then we were going to go to Disney Jr Live On Stage but we just missed the show and there wouldn't be another one anytime soon! I got flustered told him to forget it and meet us by the Monster University area.

This was a cute meet and greet and there was no line. Alexa cracks me up how she's hugging Mike.




After we left the Monsters University area, it was about time for our lunch ADR at 50's Prime Time Café. We got a little turned around and lost trying to find it. This is when we hit our low point of the trip. I was regretting missing rope drop because we missed Toy Story and the timing wasn't working out with the long Sofia line. Brandon and Carson were soaked from the rain. Brandon and I were still bickering at each other trying to figure out how we missed the time on the fastpass for Rock N Rollercoaster, it was getting hot and we couldn't find 50s. Looking back it's funny, but it wasn't our best moment

We checked into 50s and sat down to wait.

We didn't have to wait long to be seated. Right away our waitress came over in FULL character yelling at Brandon for being on his phone. I had been to 50s before (although it had been years), but the rest of the family had no idea what to expect. This is exactly what we needed to lighten our mood. She had us rolling laughing so hard. I wish I would have gotten a picture with her. Here are the few pictures I did take.




She was really picking on Brandon and he was egging her on. Then she noticed how fast I drank my ice tea and was mad I didn't save some for my meal and dropped off 4 more glasses of tea. Carson wanted to borrow my phone just to see if he could get into trouble and of course he did. Then Alexa decided she wanted to drink one of my 4 teas and spilled it all over the table. Alexa got so nervous she was going to get in trouble she almost started to cry, but the waitress was very sweet. She was good at picking out who was able to be picked on and who wasn't. About 5 minutes later the little boy in the family next to us spilled his drink. She was really on a roll then about how all she does is clean up after us kids. It was hilarious. We had a wonderful time and the food was good. I got the fried chicken. I can't remember what everyone else got, but we had no complaints.

Now that our moods were lifted and our bellies were full, we were ready to go out and have some fun!

 

[Dizzy4DL]

How sweet of you to squeeze that family in out of the rain! As I get older I try not to let negative people (like the lady behind you) get to me. You did a nice thing.

Love the pictures with your daughter and Sofia, very cute!

 

[emmysmommy]

Catching up and enjoying every moment of your TR! Alexa is so photogenic. What some awesome memories you have!! I feel silly adding my Dream Suite tour to my TR since you actually LIVED this dream.

 

[DisneyJo]

Such cute photos of Alexa meeting Sofia, the long wait was definitely worth it

 

[Viva Las Disney]

Wow, what an incredible experience! A stay at the Yacht Club, a night in the castle, a private parade, and a VIP tour of MK with a walking FP... sounds like heaven.

Oh yeah, and it's free, even better!

50's PT is my favorite, sounds like you made the perfect ADR for a night when a little Disney exhaustion started to show.

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Little off topic, but here is a quick picture of the Space Mountain Knex set that Carson got for Christmas. It glows in the dark. Pretty awesome!

Oh wow, that set is really awesome!! I'll have to keep that in mind for Donovan's birthday in March.

That really stinks that you had your castle PP pics went missing - especially since those were the ones that meant so much to you! Our hitchhiking ghosts pics from MNSSHP were missing on our PP account. I had emailed them about it and was told that they looked for them but they were gone. I was SO disappointed. But then one day, right before I ordered the PP CD, there they were! -on my account! It was some kind of miracle! I have no idea how or when they found them... but they were there and I was literally jumping up and down. I'm so sorry that they never found yours.

Ahh, if you guys headed over to Wilderness Lodge we may have crossed paths at the MK boat dock, haha! But I totally understand changing plans to a more laid back reservation- especially after such a busy day. And I'm so glad that you did! San Angel looks fabulous! We got a peek of it when we were on the Grand Fiesta ride. I really think we are going to try it next trip.

Oh no! No bags! Thankfully they found them or that could have made for a terrible ending to your day!

Oh yes- I remember that rainstorm that morning. Luckily we were inside The Land building! Glad you and Alexa could take cover too! And yay for getting to meet Sofia! She is so adorable and you got some great pics! Looks like Alexa loved her so it was definitely worth the wait!

I think everyone has those "low" points of their trip... it's when the stress & exhaustion finally hit you. At least you had a great time at 50's and it brought everyone's mood back up!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I found my way over here from Brenda's trip report - what a phenomenal experience to get to stay in the castle! It's always fun to read trip reports of the folks who win a Disney vacation - it makes you think, "Wow, people actually do win!"

I look forward to reading more!