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

[jenseib]

That great that Carson took care of you! What a sweetheart! Claire would've kicked me to the curb!

you have an awesome room location.l I didn't realize how close you were to the main stuff. Awesome. I had one of the furthest rooms when i stayed there, but it was still great.

How did Figment enjoy his ride with Alexa?

 

[loveshak22]

Awesome TR! I especially love reading that you won through the Delta Vacation sweepstakes and hearing about all the details in the Castle Suite. I've become a little obsessed with travel sweeps lately (a lot are Disney) and it's great to see that people actually win them!!

 

[khertz]

I love that Carson was taking care of you on ToT. I remember going on it for the first time as a kid and not realizing that there was so much more to the ride than just the drop. One of, if not THE, best themed attractions overall in all of WDW.

I love going to the Disney Jr. shows and hearing more parents singing than kids. Those songs are such earworms!! I think I know all of them, even for the shows DS doesn't watch too much. Alexa looks like she was just having a blast. DS always goes nuts in there too!

The Photopass photos with you & Alexa with the frame came out so good! And the one of her looking sassy in front of the Monsters U topiary is fabulous.

We are not big "hang by the pool" people, but I could totally convert if I had SAB to play around in!! The kids look like they are having the best time.

 

[huggiebear23]

 

[TruLovesKiss]

I loved reading about the rest of your HS day and your night in Epcot. (Yup, the opposite of what we did that day)

Your little Carson is so sweet for being concerned about you on TOT.

Disney Junior Live on Stage looks like such a cute show! I hadn't thought about adding that to our list of must-dos for next trip... but I think I might have to!

I agree- with all of the snow that we've had here in the past week, Oh how I would LOVE to be at Storm Along Bay right now!! Great pics!

 

[littlenellbell]

I love how sweet Carson was! That was so nice of him to be so supportive! I feel like HS is so hard to do everything, all those shows take up so much time! The front row of Sorin' is awesome! I am glad you got the chance to enjoy it!

Carson can be so sweet sometimes! HS can be frustrating to tour with all the shows. But we did get to do most of the attractions we wanted between this day and the day we visited earlier in the week. Yes....front row Soarin was awesome! I love going up to the top and not having feet hanging in front of you!

That great that Carson took care of you! What a sweetheart! Claire would've kicked me to the curb!

you have an awesome room location.l I didn't realize how close you were to the main stuff. Awesome. I had one of the furthest rooms when i stayed there, but it was still great.

How did Figment enjoy his ride with Alexa?

Carson did take great care of me....I think he liked that he knew about the ride and I didn't, so he wanted to show off.
We loved our room location! Too bad you had the furthest room. I know we still would have liked the Yacht Club, but being close sure enhances your stay.
Figment loved the ride. Alexa narrated it for him in case he got confused!
The kids both really love this ride. I mean it's cute, but I don't think it's that great. We did it twice this trip and once was enough for me. lol But, it was fun to see them enjoying it. Alexa got a Figment ornament for Christmas and it was the BEST ornament ever!

Awesome TR! I especially love reading that you won through the Delta Vacation sweepstakes and hearing about all the details in the Castle Suite. I've become a little obsessed with travel sweeps lately (a lot are Disney) and it's great to see that people actually win them!!

Thank you! Real people actually win! Keep entering because you never know. I never in a million years thought I would win! Watch for Delta Vacations to put up this sweepstakes again this year. I think it's something they do each spring. If you like their facebook page they will announce it.

I love that Carson was taking care of you on ToT. I remember going on it for the first time as a kid and not realizing that there was so much more to the ride than just the drop. One of, if not THE, best themed attractions overall in all of WDW.

I love going to the Disney Jr. shows and hearing more parents singing than kids. Those songs are such earworms!! I think I know all of them, even for the shows DS doesn't watch too much. Alexa looks like she was just having a blast. DS always goes nuts in there too!

The Photopass photos with you & Alexa with the frame came out so good! And the one of her looking sassy in front of the Monsters U topiary is fabulous.

We are not big "hang by the pool" people, but I could totally convert if I had SAB to play around in!! The kids look like they are having the best time.

Agree! TOT does have the best theme in WDW. It's worth the butterflies in your tummy to experience it.
Those darn Disney Jr songs just have a way of sticking in your head! Alexa did have so much fun....I know in a few years she will be outgrowing that stage (Carson already has) so I wanted to enjoy it with her while we can.
Alexa and her sassy poses! It's cute now, but hopefully it won't last into her teen years!
SAB is fabulous! We had the best time there. I'd love to be there now!!

Thanks huggiebear!

I loved reading about the rest of your HS day and your night in Epcot. (Yup, the opposite of what we did that day)

Your little Carson is so sweet for being concerned about you on TOT.

Disney Junior Live on Stage looks like such a cute show! I hadn't thought about adding that to our list of must-dos for next trip... but I think I might have to!

I agree- with all of the snow that we've had here in the past week, Oh how I would LOVE to be at Storm Along Bay right now!! Great pics!

Isn't funny that we did the exact opposite touring? Yes, Carson can be such a sweetheart!
I think with the ages of your kids you should definitely put Disney Jr on your must-dos. It's fun to watch all the little ones dance around to their favorite shows. Plus there are bubbles and confetti......a preschoolers dream! Plus, I'd love to see what Disney Jr outfits you could come up with! Doc and Sofia are now doing the character meal at Hollywood and Vine, you could make it a Disney Jr morning
Oh how I would love to be at SAB right now. We are under a snow emergency and stuck inside for the weekend!

 

[littlenellbell]

We had a little wait for our FP+ on Test Track to become open so we decided to check out the aquarium!


First up was the Seas with Nemo and Friends.







Then we played for a little bit and checked out exhibits.







We could have stayed longer but I reminded everyone this was our last night and we didn't have a lot of time, so we moved on. We found this little guy hanging out on our stroller. The kids got a kick out of him....and wanted me to take a picture. Alexa had to introduce him to Figment. lol



By this time our Test Track FP+ was open. I didn't take a bunch of pictures, since we had already been on this earlier in the week, but Brandon snapped a few with his phone. Carson really enjoys the design process.




Here is our ride picture!



By this time it was almost 8pm and the park was closing at 9pm. Brandon and I were ready to get over to World Showcase and wander around, and get something to eat. We just really enjoy being there at night! We also had a FP+ for Malstrom from 8-9. Carson had other ideas. He really wanted to ride Mission Space. We told him we just ran out of time and he was a little upset about that! It's tough to fit everything in during a short trip. We tried to explain that to him and reminded him that we had done a lot of rides and the adults wanted to do things they like to do as well. He understood, but said he was sad that it was the last night of our trip. Me too buddy!

We made our way over to Norway and used our FP+ for Malstrom. This cheered him up and we all enjoyed the ride. I took this picture afterwards. Alexa wasn't too sure about this guy!



We wandered around World Showcase taking in the sights and trying to figure out what we wanted to eat. It was the Thursday before Food and Wine (which was starting that Saturday), so they were having a soft opening with some of the booths open. We checked a few of them out but unfortunately they were closing them up a little early. Carson said he was in the mood for pizza and we all agreed! I suggested we just get a little snack to hold us over then get pizza at the Boardwalk after Epcot closed. So the kids got a big cookie and Brandon and I got a few drinks.
I pretty much put my camera away during this time, but here are the few pictures I have.





Then we came up to the America pavilion. We saw the American Adventure and everyone wanted to check it out.


The CM told us there was another show starting right in about 10 minutes at 9:00 (closing time). We were trying to figure out if we wanted to see it or not. Carson said he really wanted to see it! The CM said it was a half hour long and we would miss the fireworks. Surprisingly Carson and Alexa both said they would rather see it than the fireworks. So in we went. The lobby area is so beautiful. I'd love to come back during the day and watch Voices of Liberty. Beside one other couple we were the only ones in the show!




Alexa fell asleep about half way through, but Carson was on the edge of his seat the entire time! I think we may have a little history buff. He asked tons of questions during and after. He was really into it. In fact, since we've been home he's watched it on YouTube and I downloaded the song "Golden Dreams" for him. We were impressed he liked it so much.

As we were walking out Illuminations was still going on. We slowly walked towards the exit and stopped a few times to watch. It was such a beautiful night and the crowd level was so low.





Pizza time! What a great way to end our last night at WDW. We loved the atmosphere of the Boardwalk and took our time eating pizza and taking in the gorgeous views of the Boardwalk/Yacht and Beach Club. I know I've said it before, but I just LOVE this whole area!!! I feel so lucky we had this experience!







Coming up, we have a super fun morning before leaving to go home!

 

[littlenellbell]

Friday, 9/27/13 - Check out day!

Our original plan was go to Animal Kingdom this morning. But we ended up going to the Animal Kingdom on Tuesday instead when the rain kept us away from the pool. So we had the morning open and decided to go to the Magic Kingdom one more time before we left! Plus, Space Mountain had been closed during the week and was supposed to reopen today. Carson was dying to go on it.

We set the alarm for early this day because we had to check out, get to the MK by opening and get in some pool time all before the Magical Express came at 3:30pm.

The kids had one more breakfast out on our awesome balcony! We were really going to miss this view!



We gathered up our things, said goodbye to our room, and checked our bags with bell services then headed to the bus stop. It had taken a little longer than I thought to get everything together so we were running a little late. I had hoped we wouldn't have a long wait at the bus stop, so we could get to the MK to see the opening show.



Within minutes a Magic Kingdom bus pulled up! We had the best luck with buses at the Yacht Club. Once we almost got to the MK, we got stuck in some kind of traffic jam or something which held us up for about 15 minutes. So we wouldn't see the opening show after all but we pretty much walked in at rope drop.



We took in the sights of Main Street and met Mr. Mayor!





So where did we go first? Well Carson really wanted to get to Space Mountain right away, but we had a FP+ for later, so we decided to go check out the other mountains.

Along the way, we saw Chip and Dale and decided to stop for a visit. The visit was going so great with lot of hugs and lots of laughs! If you remember at the beginning of my trip report Carson wasn't even sure he really wanted to meet any characters. By now, he was really enjoying it!









It was time to say goodbye and give the characters one more hug when "it" happened! The moment my 8 year old found out one of Disney's biggest secrets!



Yep! He had seen the person inside the costume. He must have been just at the right height! I knew what happened when I saw him looking closely then turning to look at me in shock! I said OH NO to Brandon who was totally oblivious to what was going on, then Carson came running over to us excitedly yelling MOM MOM GUESS WHAT!?!? I told Carson I knew what he was going to say and to just stop talking because there were little kids around. Poor Brandon was so confused...he kept saying what is going on?? I took Carson aside and tried to explain things to him the best I could. I think I told him something about how the people inside are helpers that make the characters come to life and bring magic to people who meet them. I asked him to never tell Alexa or any other kids because I didn't want him to ruin it for them. He was okay with my explanation and seemed proud to be "in the know".

We continued our way toward Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with Brandon still asking what just happened. LOL BTMRR was a walk-on! The kids decided to both ride with Brandon since they had ridden with me earlier in the week. I sat in front of them and took this picture.



I told Brandon to look a little more excited and got this.



We had a FP+ for Splash Mountain, but it wasn't ready yet. When we saw that Splash was also a walk-on we decided to just go on it. We even got our own log.







As you can see by our ride photo, we enjoyed this ride!!!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Aren't early mornings in the MK the best? You can get so much done!!

Sorry I'd fallen behind, but I'm all caught up again. Sad that it is your last day. Have loved reading along with your adventure.

 

[littlenellbell]

Aren't early mornings in the MK the best? You can get so much done!!

Sorry I'd fallen behind, but I'm all caught up again. Sad that it is your last day. Have loved reading along with your adventure.

Yes, I love MK in the morning! I'm so glad we decided to go there for our last day! I'm so glad you are enjoying my report!

 

[littlenellbell]

Next we headed to Space Mountain. Even though Alexa had braved the other mountains, she said she wasn't ready for Space Mountain and I agree that the dark would have been too much for her. So I only got the FP+ for the boys, and Alexa and I had one for the new Princess Fairytale Hall. We all walked to Space Mountain so we could get a rider swap. That way I could ride with him later.
After leaving the boys at Space Mountain, Alexa and I went to the Priness Fairytale Hall, which had just opened that month.



You had the option of Cinderella and a friend or Rapunzel and a friend. We picked Rapunzel because she was not at CRT and we already had a photo with Cinderella. I have to admit, I was excited to see the inside of this hall because the pictures looked gorgeous. However, with FP+ you miss most of it. We got a quick glimpse of Cinderella's slipper before being ushered into the room.


The first princess to meet was Rapunzel. She had a lot of compliments for Alexa's purple dress. She was very sweet!







Next up was Snow White. I couldn't really hear what they were talking about but she got right down to Alexa's level and there were lots of hugs and smiles!













On our way back to meet up with the boys we walked by the Tea Cups. Alexa really loves this ride and wanted to go on. There was no wait so we did!



We found the boys who had a lot of fun riding Space Mountain and Astro Orbiters. Carson was very excited to get to go on it with me again. Brandon said he would take Alexa on the People Mover while we had our ride.




Space Mountain was a blast! We had one more FP+ to use to meet Mickey Mouse. I set it up the time so that would happen right around the time we were leaving. We reluctantly decided we should start to head towards the exit. When we got to the hub the Castle Show was going on, so we stopped to watch it. I just love this show!

 

[AprilRenee]

Oh man! And on your last morning too!!! You almost made it out of there!
At least he seems to have taken it well. No tears or freak out. I think you handled it really well!

 

[DisneyJo]

How cute that Carson looked after you on ToT the way he's checking you're OK in the photo is just priceless

It sounds as though you're having a great last morning and I love Alexa's face in the Splash photo

 

[littlenellbell]

After the Castle Show, we slowly made our way down Main Street to visit with Mickey Mouse. I was really hoping we would get to see "talking" Mickey. They were just starting to test him and when I checked earlier in the week he was "saving his voice". I had no idea how Carson would be after the Chip and Dale fiasco. As we entered the FP line, he was whispering to me asking if Mickey would be a person in a suit. Imagine our surprise when we entered the room and Mickey walked over and said "Thanks for coming to see me Pal!" Carson was stunned! We all were! I hadn't mentioned anything about this to my family in case it didn't happen.
Check out Carson's face!! He turned around and said to me...Mom, it's the real Mickey!!!!


He was star struck. The "REAL" Mickey!




Mickey told the kids a joke about Daisy. Then when the kids posed for the picture the kids had to say "Daisy".





Then the whole family got in for a picture.



Mickey said something else that had us all laughing.



It was such a magical moment! The timing was perfect after the Chip and Dale incident.

After we left the theater, it was sadly time to go!

I was sad about this and decided to drag it out a little bit longer by getting some photopass pictures taken with the Halloween décor.





Little did I know this would be the only picture of us in front of the castle. I'm so glad we stopped!

So we finally left MK and headed back to the Yacht Club. We were sad but looking forward to a little R&R at Storm Along Bay!

It was almost noon, so we would have almost 3 hrs to spend here. We quickly changed into our suits and headed to the pool. I didn't take very many pictures, but we had such an enjoyable afternoon. We ate lunch at the pool bar and the kids got their lunch in a sand bucket, which was so cute. We went down the slide and around the lazy river too many times to count. The pool was once again pretty empty despite the gorgeous weather.

As we were swimming through the area near the activities desk a CM called out and asked if we wanted to make some ice cream. Alexa and I decided to check it out. Alexa had fun making it. There was a small charge for it, maybe $4-5 however we told the CM that we were sad to be leaving so she said the ice cream was on Mickey. Of course I didn't have my camera since we were out swimming, but here are a few I took afterwards.





Soon it was time to get changed and ready for Magical Express pick-up. We got dressed pretty fast and actually caught a ME about 15 minutes early. We were the first one on the ME, so we took our front row seat again. This time it wasn't as exciting! We went to the Beach Club and Boardwalk before heading to the airport.

After we arrived at the airport we stopped to take this sad picture.


We were glad to be at the airport early because we had planned to go to Outback inside the airport to eat. However, we were shocked at the security line. It took us over an hour to get through!! As I was gathering our bags after they went through the scanner, I hear someone say "who has the bag with the glass slipper". Ummmm that would be me. He said because it's lead crystal the scanner can't see through it so they need to take it out and look. He was nice about it and wanted to know about the Castle Suite. Brandon had the kids and was wondering what was taking me so long. It's not everyday I try to take a glass slipper through security. LOL

It took so long to get through security that we didn't have time to sit down to eat. We had to order take out. The flight home was uneventful and we arrived back in Detroit on time, around 9pm.

So that is the end of our Magical Trip! I'll be back at some point this week to give my final thoughts on everything.

Thank you so much for everyone who has followed along!

 

[Tink0812]

Enjoying reading along! Sounds like a dream come true vacation especially for your children at that age! Congrats but I can't deny that I am a little bit jealous

 

[AprilRenee]

Awww I'm sad it's done! I've really enjoyed reading along.
And what a great ending with talking mickey and some swimming fun.

 

[jedijill]

What an incredible trip! Sorry its over but you certainly had a tale to tell!

Jill in CO

 

[Disneyvirg]

LOVING your trip report. Spent more time than I'd like to admit reading through most of your trip postings today. The stay in the castle was so magical - in so many ways. I'm glad a family that obviously appreciated all the magical-ness won!

Looks like you just posted the rest of your trip - I better catch up on that quick!

And your kiddos are super cute!

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

What a trip of a lifetime! Thanks for sharing your amazing trip report.

 

[khertz]

What a lovely last day!!

Alexa's face in the Splash Mountain picture is absolutely hilarious.

Oh my gosh, Carson getting a peek behind the scenes... It is kind of funny that you got a picture of the exact moment it was happening. That will be something to laugh about for years to come!

That's pretty funny about the glass slipper in the luggage too. At least the TSA agent was good about it and didn't give you a pat-down!

I absolutely LOVED this trip report!! So awesome to see that there are DIS'ers who win these awesome vacations. Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us!