Celebrating w/D23 as they turn 1! March 10: TR finished! Relive the Magic! updt 11/18

[praisehisname]

By this time, it was my ADR for lunch at Tusker House!

I don't think I've ever heard a bad thing about the food there; glad you liked it, too!

Sounds like you had a fun time with your BFF and goddaughter. I've never made it to the conservation center, but want to!

 

[If U Had Wings]

It looks like you had a wonderful time seeing the show with your god daughter. Some of my favorite memories from my 2008 trip were of watching the Nemo show with my niece. Your goddaughter is adorable.

 

[MyMuse]

Glad you enjoyed your meal at Tusker House! Isn't the theming there great?! So many details to enjoy!

Also-thanks for the nice words on the Illuminations thread

Definitely going back there! My server there was laughing at me the entire time.

I hope your boat is full super-quick! I would take one with you.

Great pics of the Nemo show! I can never get good pictures of the show

Your goddaughter is adorable!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day!

My camera is fairly decent and it helps being close. 3rd row, I think?

Thank you for the kind words with my goddaughter. She is just too much.

I should be posting again soon!

I don't think I've ever heard a bad thing about the food there; glad you liked it, too!

Sounds like you had a fun time with your BFF and goddaughter. I've never made it to the conservation center, but want to!

Tusker is good. I was so full, I wanted to roll out. I don't go to the Conservation Station alot, but with my goddaughter, I thought she would enjoy along with train ride until park closing.

It looks like you had a wonderful time seeing the show with your god daughter. Some of my favorite memories from my 2008 trip were of watching the Nemo show with my niece. Your goddaughter is adorable.

Yes, I'm so glad she liked it! maybe next time, we'll see what she thinks of the Lion King.

for the almost-maybe Oct trip, I'll be watching it with my sis & 16-yr niece. My sis first time, my niece has seen it before but from the way back.

 

[MyMuse]

We finished checking out my goddaughter is fascination with insects, so we took awhile looking through all of them. I don’t know what that means!

area pic

Then you know it, we went on a massive HM hunt through their mural. It was an AWESOME time! My goddaughter found a few on her own ("Aunt Shell, pay attention!").

We spent a lot of time hanging out, looking at the animals, how they blend into each other and finding the wickedly hidden HMs. I have to start the kid early.


part of their mural

beady eyeballs...

...but look closer; it's a side profile mickey!

pretty pretty butterfly...

...got something on its wing....

come closer said the spider to the fly....

see it?....

one heck of a blending...see the goose-y thing?

it might have sometihng in its eye....

snakes are dangerous!

how bad can this one be with a HM on it?

this one was hard!

it's the teeny-tiniest HM....on the leaf...little blurry

this one GD was standing in front of it

..check out aother side profile HM!

and right next door, was this little guy....

...with a little something in his eye...

hey, who are you looking at?

it's barely there!

don't get toooo close

my goddaughter points it out to me!

and then my BFF points a really cool one out!

My BFF & goddaughter were finding them before I could even read the clues out! LOL!



another fairly difficult one...

there it is, on the side & fairly light...

and we go on!!!

 

[MyMuse]

..and we continue our HM hunt. I cannot tell you how fun this was. I think other people were following us around too & some did jump in. LOL!


Mr Owl...

has a little somethin somethin

Pretty...

...with a passenger! full face Mickey!

my goddaughter pointing out another one!

oohh, it's a hard one!

there it is!

can you? can you? my cutie-patootie helps out!

I know you could do it!

place is full of murals

there she goes again! lol

clearer pic

another mural

another HM on a butterfly wing!

We finished with the mural section and decided to swing around it near the sound booths....

in a corner

This is when Pocahontas decided to help us out since she had a bit of free time. This was great, since the goddaughter didn't want anytihng to do with her earlier.

She told us this was the smallest HM

whew! it was teeny weeny!

carved into the disney tree

..and another one!

see a big one in the corner! it was rough to take a pic! it was dark back there!

the accidental florist....

...has a deliberate HM!

Whew! was that a hunt, or was that a hunt! We do meet a special someone next.....

 

[praisehisname]

beady eyeballs...

Wow, they really look like they're popping off the wall! Cool HM hunt!

 

[MyMuse]

Wow, they really look like they're popping off the wall! Cool HM hunt!

Oh, the murals are just GORG.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I love the Hidden Mickey mural. So cool!

 

[jenseib]

Great updates! I got behind, I've been so busy. But I am all caught up now. It looks like you did so much that day. I am amazed how much you can fit in a day.

 

[MyMuse]

I love the Hidden Mickey mural. So cool!

It was a great time! Cool thing about it was even though we were at it for awhile, there's still more HMs that we didn't get to see! Next time.

Great updates! I got behind, I've been so busy. But I am all caught up now. It looks like you did so much that day. I am amazed how much you can fit in a day.

I'm glad you all caught up! busy is good, though.

We didn't rush or anything, you just keep on going. It helps that my BFF and goddaughter got there right before Nemo, so it's not like they needed to stop & take a nap.

I should be able to continue on today!

 

[MyMuse]

After our epic & super fun hidden mickey hunt, my BFF spied her fav character of all time! Little Miranda-panda was in somewhat of a good mood, so she allowed her mom to introduce her to Jiminy Crickett.

We took the train back to campus and made our way out as it was now past the 5pm closing time.

my goddaughter & i found a bunch of hidden mickeys at rafiki's planet watch! gotta start them early!
5:16 PM Mar 4th


did you ever notice it says "eastern star railways"?

on the train

a bit blurry....europe also uses "way out" instead of "exit"

Since my BFF drove, I was able to be chauffeured back to POP, where they got to see the resort, visit the food court and rest for a minute in my room.

in the car

heading into POP

We stopped at the food court for a quick bite. I wsasn't hungry since I was still super full from Tusker House.


waiting for mom to come back w/food
6:20 PM Mar 4th

the great snack escape at pop century!
6:34 PM Mar 4th

I lied about food. I had a few of the grapes. LOL!


Since, I had the Arcade game card, and my visitors didn't want to leave , I figure this would be a good time to use the game card for my goddaughter. It was only at 100 points, but we got some magic when the CM gave us an extra 50 points! How cool was that?! He got one of my exclusive “CM thank yous”. My goddaughter was more excited about the Arcade than anything else; she could not make up her mind! It was adorable.


she settled with this game & a few others

While walking around a bit, I took these pics from Classic Hall

They did leave shortly thereafter, but I'll see them again very soon!



However, my night didn’t end! I caught a bus to....

 

[MyMuse]

I caught a bus to …. DTD! Have to visit, right?

I didn’t stay overlong, but I made my round of shops. I ended up purchasing from Art of Disney (dangerous store!) and Mickey’s Mart (aka under $10 store). I’m so disappointed the grab bags aren’t there anymore.

Sometimes, it’s also a little disappointing that the clothing is not available in my size; there were a few good things, I would not have minded. But then again, it might have been good, since I didn’t buy anything more!

My purchases:

Art of Disney

I thought this was great to remind me of my December trip

according to my receipt, I bought 2 more holiday vinylmations; snce I don't know which ones, here are all of them!

..and probably these too (or perhaps, they are from Dec trip??)

Mickey's Mart

aren't these adorable - me & Prozac!

..and I spied this! for $9.99!!

It was gift from purchase back in December!!! Cinderella Castle all in holiday lights!! and it matches my picture above. How cool!!

I have yet to actually unwrap it. So, here's a bigger pic of it, I found on the web:

All together, my purchasing total was $60.49. Not too bad.


I always get confused getting back on the bus from DTD to the resort. I eventually figured it out and made it back to POP. I want to say we had a longer ride since we had a couple of ECVs, but nothing that was out of the ordinary.

I know I spent quite some time at DTD walking around, going through stores, etc, etc, but surprisingly, I do not seem to have any pictures.

Iarrived back at POP, probably before midnight somewhere.


My phone must have died since I sent out no more tweets and unfortunately, this is where my journal stopped. So, the rest of my trip report is from memory, tweets, pictures and receipts. LOL!

Tomorrow is back to the Magic Kingdom, featuring the D23 1st Anniversary party!!

 

[dawnbu40]

I think my family packs a lot into our Disney Days but you have us BEAT! You must be exhausted by the time you get home

Love all the purchases I've thought of buying that Christmas prints many times, maybe in August I'll finally pick it up.

How fun that you got to enjoy Epcot and the arcade with you adorable goddaughter. Sounds like a great day!

 

[MyMuse]

I think my family packs a lot into our Disney Days but you have us BEAT! You must be exhausted by the time you get home

Love all the purchases I've thought of buying that Christmas prints many times, maybe in August I'll finally pick it up.

How fun that you got to enjoy Epcot and the arcade with you adorable goddaughter. Sounds like a great day!

I was doing ok. It didn't seem packed in. It was the night before with the 42 hours up that sorta did me in.

At home, I can sleep in. I feel I need to get in as much as possible in while on vaca.


The Christmas print is so pretty! and it was affordable at $20.

We went to AK that day and the Arcade was a HOOT! My little goddaughter is a trip and a half.

I update to updat again soon!

 

[praisehisname]

That was a great idea to share your arcade card with your goddaughter! I'm sure she had a blast playing!

I love the purchases you got at DTD, especially the throw! We got 2 when we were at the party, and they are soooo soft!

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi,
coming out of 'lurkdom' to say I'm loving your report!

 

[scottny]

great updates and pics.

The tour has me thinking. That was so nice that he gave you extra credits for the arcade.

I have yet to see Nemo but I will plan into this next trip.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I love all the purchases. The castle is so gorgeous all lit up like that.

 

[MyMuse]

That was a great idea to share your arcade card with your goddaughter! I'm sure she had a blast playing!

I love the purchases you got at DTD, especially the throw! We got 2 when we were at the party, and they are soooo soft!

My goddaughter was going crazy in there! I'm happy she wanted to use it. I'm not a big Arcade person, so I was happy to watch her.

I haven't even opened the throw yet!! I saw it and thought, well, that's a sign and picked it up. Especially since I didn't have to carry it around a park.

Hi,
coming out of 'lurkdom' to say I'm loving your report!

I'm glad to have you here!! Feel free to join in anytime!

great updates and pics.

The tour has me thinking. That was so nice that he gave you extra credits for the arcade.

I have yet to see Nemo but I will plan into this next trip.

Thank you!

the tour?

oh, it was the best! My goddaughter kept on talking a mile a minute and the CM was just tickled! I was extremely nice of him.

Nemo is awesome! i love love love that show. I really wish it would come to Broadway!

I hear that you were almost going to come to our Disney meet on Saturday (of course, I hope I have the right Scott )

I love all the purchases. The castle is so gorgeous all lit up like that.

It's the best part of the holidays

 

[MyMuse]

March 5 – Magic Kingdom – D23 party day!

I got up early (probably around 6:30am) & BFF is coming to meet me at the Pop bus stop to join me in a Magic Kingdom morning before I need to head to D23 festivities.


my peoples! heading to magic kingdom for d23 parteeee! yea!
7:38 AM Mar 5th


Jennifer arrives with Miranda-panda and we are at the bus stop in short order. Those girls had to wake early! Miranda is still a bit sleepy and it is rather on the cold side. But I am happy to experience MK with my goddaughter!

We arrive, get through security and I go to the D23 Special Event check-in and they are not ready yet. It was too funny! There was one other person there waiting. As I walked up, I think it was Matt, who said “Hi! Remember me from Magic & Merriment?” and shook my hand. It was a very warm fuzzy feeling moment.

I told both Matt and Barry who was standing behind him, that I hope to attend again and that they have a lot to live up to. We still waited a bit and Barry went to take a pic of me & this other lady, so I decided to put my closed fists up to my head to imitate a mickey hat and he caught the photo. It was funny!

check-in for d23 ..they r not ready! lol
8:42 AM Mar 5th

During this time, I had BFF & goddaughter go ahead and go through the turnstiles so that they don’t miss the Rope Drop! I wanted them to see this grand ceremony.

Thankfully, I got checked in quickly and was able to see the rope drop, though I didn’t know where my little goddaughter was. We were able to call each other before rope drop and I was able to tell them exactly where to go when they went through the train tunnel.

The rope drop ceremony was great as always. I can’t believe I didn’t know about these rope drop things much earlier.

Good Morning from the Magic Kingdom!
8:58 AM Mar 5th

I have videos from previous TRs that you can check out as well.


Afterwards, we met, at another of our experiencing first-time things….the Magic Kingdom trolley! It was great! We snagged the first row (though it would have been better if someone didn’t jump in next to the driver…). We made our way up and we all had a ball. Miranda loved it! I don’t think there is a better way to travel up Main Street.


First Glimpse

From the Trolley:

these cool (err..cold) guys are on the Trolley with us, singin'

Also, did you notice….

..no, not a horse's behind, but what ON the horse!

After we got off the Trolley, we took a PP in front of the Castle, in which the goddaughter wasn’t as excited as I was. LOL!

Afterwards, we headed to Fantasyland. The goddaughter saw the carousel and we headed straight for it! I was then determined she should ride nothing short of the greatest horse there…Cinderella’s horse! Thankfully, I was able to find it! It was awesome to place my goddaughter on Cinderella’s horse and explain to her the meaning. She totally got it! I got a little misty.

Cinderella's horse!

Next up was “It’s A Small World” - her mom’s fav and not mine. But for Miranda, I’ll experience it again through her eyes. She thought it was great and we pointed out all the Chinese stuff to her especially the “good-bye” at the end. She was enthralled!

check out the gloves...

I didn’t really have a touring plan (shocker, I know) because I didn’t know what the mood would be with the goddaughter.

However, the goddaughter lit up when she saw Ariel’s Grotto, so in we went! This was a good thing considering it’s not there anymore. The waiting time was not bad at all & so I took advantage to catch up on tweets.

[response to a friend] i never had dinner last night - I was still so full from Tusker House, believe it or not....
9:57 AM Mar 5th

[response] i agree; nemo is WAY better than fotlk in my opinion. LOVE nemo musical! i posted some vids & pics
10:00 AM Mar 5th

took the horse trolley up Main Street in Magic Kingdom! it was great!
10:36 AM Mar 5th


Thankfully there was Photopass there! She had such a good convo with Ariel. I think her shirt was mentioned. And she even gave Ariel a hug!!

love love love this pic!

major intense hug!

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