DON'T Read This TRIP REPORT If You're a Princess Hater!

[MickeyMouseCD524]

Ok so by accident I actually posted this on the wrong report and who ever reads it is going to think I'm nutty any way it was meant for you I said wow your costumes are beautiful I wish I had that kind of talent but I have ask when to the princes and princesses come out for photo ops? After the castle show? I can't wait to read the rest of the report thanks! = )

 

[mom2rtk]

Ok so by accident I actually posted this on the wrong report and who ever reads it is going to think I'm nutty any way it was meant for you I said wow your costumes are beautiful I wish I had that kind of talent but I have ask when to the princes and princesses come out for photo ops? After the castle show? I can't wait to read the rest of the report thanks! = )

LOL! Thanks for the nice comment!

Are you asking about the Cindy and Snow White photos in front of the castle earlier in my report? If so, then it was a complete lucky fluke. They were unable to do that show because of the cold weather. So in leiu of the show, they had some of the performers come out for photos. I would have loved to have seen Sleeping Beauty too, but we barely got through the 2 lines we did. Those lines formed really fast!

Thanks for reading along!

 

[basketkat]

Love the pictures of Cinderella comparing dresses and shoes!

Patiently waiting for your party update.

 

[fairestoneofall]

Drizella noticed Katie's skirt set. The skirt had something like 7 different appliques relating to the story of Cinderella..... but no Drizella......... a fact that didn't escape her attention!

that's our Driz! love her!

we've seen this parade coming from both Frontierland and Main Street.

 

[mom2rtk]

that's our Driz! love her!

we've seen this parade coming from both Frontierland and Main Street.

Yeah! That is so cool! I couldn't tell from the photo you posted. But we've seen her before too. She really is awesome in her role!

Love the pictures of Cinderella comparing dresses and shoes!

Patiently waiting for your party update.

Thank you! I really love that series of photos.

I'm working on the party photos right now!

 

[mom2rtk]

I had plotted and planned for months how to do the Christmas Party. My greatest concern had been potential crowd levels. Last year, every party during that last week had been a sell-out. One of the parties we attended in 08 was a sell-out, and that's not a pretty thing. We tend to visit Disney during low crowd times, and I really try to avoid anything with a huge crowd, so it was going to take some planning.

The problem with hard-ticketed parties at Disney is that the crowd is not dispersed throughout the park. Everyone there wants to see the parade, fireworks and special shows, which for the most part take place in one place...... Main Street.

One thing we do to fight the crowd issue is to attend 2 parties. That's not as hard to do when there are just 2 of us. But even when there were 4 of us along, we all did the party one night, and Katie and I went back the second night to do what we missed the first night. I just don't want to miss anything....and it really lets me slow down and enjoy a slower pace if I know there's a second night to do what we miss.

So I scoured the DISboards all year .............. I planned.............. I schemed............. I asked questions..................... I found out which characters would be there................... I found out what time they swapped out with other characters................ We talked it all out during dinner.............. So wanna know what I had? I knew we wanted to start with the Dwarfs. That's it. After ALL THAT PLANNING! I think a lot of it had to do with not having a feel for how busy it would be. The other issue looming in front of me was how the cold would affect the traffic and our ability to stay long enough to get anything done.

Katie changed into her Snow White costume before leaving the castle and we headed to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands for the party. We stopped for some photos before heading back to Fantasyland:

I was really glad I broke down and bought a blanket earlier in the day. So was Katie!

We started the Dwarf line shortly after 6. What a lovely view we had as we waited:

Another mother and daughter got in line right after us and we chatted the time away. It’s so fun chatting with other Disney lovers, and there’s no better way to spend the time in line. Several others joined us in line too. I wasn't sure of where the line typically began, but at around 6:30 a couple other groups started a second line a little farther down. Well, it was REALLY cold that night. Did I mention that? And we had all been standing there for some time already. So I wasn't excited about the thought of a second line. So I very nicely went over and mentioned to the other people starting the second line that if they were waiting for the dwarfs, the line had started around 6 and I pointed to where we all were. And oh my....... what an amazing display...... That person just went nuts asking who put me in charge etc etc and they ended up just stomping off.

I had just had a flashback to the reports I read here on the DIS at the start of the Halloween party in 09. I was scoping it all out because we were going later in the season. That first night 2 lines formed, and the ones there first ended up having to get in the back of the 2nd line when the CM's showed up. And after waiting in the cold, (did I mention it was cold????) I wasn't about to see that happen.

Anyhow........... the dwarfs showed up right on time, thankfully with one well-mannered group of fans waiting to see them:

I really only had one more goal that night........ to meet Snow White and her prince back in Toontown. I had done my research on the DISboards. I knew that Snow and her prince traded off with Belle and the Beast throughout the party. Even after asking person after person on the DIS what time they swapped off, I still had no idea what the schedule was. But honestly...... it was cold out........and the princess meet & greet was indoors. So we headed that way, and if we had to wait, at least we'd be warm. I also hoped to see the fireworks and 2nd parade that night, so there was lots of time. We didn't need to be out by the castle until around 9. How hard could it be????

 

[mom2rtk]

I think it's fairly obvious by now that we love to character hunt at Disney. So one of the things they do sometimes that drives me absolutely nuts is swapping the characters in and out so you never know who you will see. It's a good thing I didn't care all that much about one fairy or another or I would have lost my mind trying to see all of them! I like to know who's back there, then make a decision whether to get in line and spend the time to see them. Regardless, I had an idea of what to expect at the party. Cindy and Aurora should be there all night with their princes. Snow White and Belle would be with their princes, but swapping out for the 3rd spot in the princess room. All we wanted to do was see Snow White........... that should be easy, right?????

I asked the CM at the start of the line who was back there. She gave me the cagey "you'll know when you get back there" line, which I really don't like. I said we were hoping to find Snow White that night and she told me my odds were 50/50. Yeah.... I sort of figured........ I asked the CM at the front of the line who was back there, and even THAT one couldn't say. And we were going in next. I guess those CM's probably don't even know. They let us back, and we quickly saw that it was Belle with the Beast. Drats! But I knew that was a chance. I asked when Snow White would be back and they said she wouldn’t be there at all that night. I asked if they were sure, and they said yes. So when we got back out to the shop, I asked one of the CM’s to check on that for me. She called the character hotline and confirmed no Snow White that night.

I remembered we had Katie’s Cinderella costume in the bag from earlier in the day, so we decided to change and get pictures with Cinderella before heading on out. So we waited through the line again, got back to the room and…….. guess who's there? Yep. Snow White. Not 20 minutes after I had been told by more than one person she wouldn't be there at all that night.

My response to the CM was “Now I’m mad.” OK…. Not very Disney-like of me. But honestly, what a runaround! We saw Cinderella and Katie said she’d swap back to Snow White. I asked the attendant how long Snow would be there and they said only 20 minutes more. We got some quick photos and decided to give it a go:

The line had been moving pretty fast all night, so we gave it a go. Once she changed, we got in line………. And didn’t move for more than 20 minutes. Not one inch. Not one person. Katie stayed in line and I wiggled my way to the front just to talk to the attendant, who couldn't say why the line wasn’t moving. They had a manager Corey come talk to me who said Snow was gone now but would be back for a bit at 9:00. I honestly was ready to just move on and go see the fireworks. Heck, we had been inside long enough I even forgot how cold it was outside! So I let Katie decide. She wanted to wait, so we did.

The CM's working in the shop there were so wonderful. They had some games set up for the kids and Katie had a ball. The interesting thing is that we never would have stopped and just played if this all hadn't happened. We would have been in a hurry to get to the next thing to do. But she really just enjoyed hanging out and playing.

We usually rush out of that shop in an effort to avoid the temptation of buying anything. That night, Katie enjoyed having a chance to check out some of the toys. Here's outlaw Katie:

I let Katie fill a tube of candy, and when we went to pay for it, the CM wouldn't even take our money. That wasn't a huge deal, but Katie still lists it as one of her favorite moments on the trip! I guess you have to think like a kid....... FREE CANDY!!!!!!!

Right at 9 Corey came back to bring us in the back door. I expected to find Snow White, but I never expected what we found. They opened the door and all 3 princesses with their princes were there for a private meet & greet! My jaw just dropped to the ground, and I was honestly as close to speechless as I get.......... It turned out to be one of my favorite Disney character shots ever!

And yes...... we got a photo with Snow White before leaving.

So if anyone knows Corey who worked in the princess tent on December 14th, tell him thank you from a couple of huge princess fans.

 

[mom2rtk]

We floated on out into the park, smiling from ear to ear. We were still hoping to still catch the fireworks. We managed to find a spot in the hub. That never would have been possible if the weather had not been so cold. I think it really thinned the crowds that night. Anyone tired of fireworks shots yet????? I doubt I ever will be so here goes.......

After the fireworks traffic cleared a bit and we found a spot right opposite the castle on the curb for the parade. Not a bad spot for a little more castle gazing either.........

I thought we had a great spot, but the way the people leaned out around us made it really hard to get a decent photo. Right at the last minute and mother and son came up right behind us and asked if they could squeeze in. We room room for the boy to sit by Katie (he was probably 11 or 12, not a little guy....) the the kid wouldn't stay put. He kept moving out into the street. CM after CM kept making him move back, but he kept going right back into the street. The people on our other side were just as .... shall we say.... enthusiastic........ so poor Katie kept getting completely squeezed from both sides.

It was nice to see the Christmas parade from a spot near the castle, but I probably (and sadly) won't do that again. The crowd levels overall weren't bad, but right up there near the castle......... it really took away from our enjoyment. I knew I’d need to see it again our second night.

And my favorite parade shot? Is anyone surprised?????

 

[mom2rtk]

I think every person in the park decided to leave after the second parade right along with us......

And in spite of being in the park for almost 16 hours that day....... I loved the look on this balloon CM's face so much, I had to stop and take his photo!

It was an awesome day, but boy it was going to feel great to fall into a warm bed. Katie was a trooper. I love that she enjoys watching the parades, shows and fireworks as much as I do.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Again your photos are just as amazing as always, it kinda makes me want to carry my DSLR to WDW (Don't tell Jenn I said that), but then my brain goes its two heavy! For one my DSLR is a D2X, much larger than hers or yours and all of my lens are 2.8 . When I wen to Africa in 2008, my photo bag weighed 38lbs I will not do that again, only for animals, plus since my photo business bombed from the economy I have decided to start enjoying my vacations. So my last vacation have consisted with me using a Canon SD1200, which worked really great except one thing missed my Polarizer filter, so this year I upgraded to the Canon G12 and bought the filter adaptor for it, I haven't had a chance to use it in the field yet since it is winter and BLAH here, but soon very soon. I think Jenn will not succumb to my demands and is going to bring her DSLR camera, which I guess if I don't' have to carry it great for me I'll have loads of fun pictures taken by her then, though if it is anything like our last trip LOL she will forget to take pictures of everything and we will stil depend on my story telling skills for our scrapbooks

As per your Chip and Dale identity crisis I learned a tip a few weeks ago I thought I would share , since I to was part of the group of people who had no idea which was which. The man said think Dhip...chocolate chip (dark nose). I thought it was brilliant!

 

[mom2rtk]

Again your photos are just as amazing as always, it kinda makes me want to carry my DSLR to WDW (Don't tell Jenn I said that), but then my brain goes its two heavy! For one my DSLR is a D2X, much larger than hers or yours and all of my lens are 2.8 . When I wen to Africa in 2008, my photo bag weighed 38lbs I will not do that again, only for animals, plus since my photo business bombed from the economy I have decided to start enjoying my vacations. So my last vacation have consisted with me using a Canon SD1200, which worked really great except one thing missed my Polarizer filter, so this year I upgraded to the Canon G12 and bought the filter adaptor for it, I haven't had a chance to use it in the field yet since it is winter and BLAH here, but soon very soon. I think Jenn will not succumb to my demands and is going to bring her DSLR camera, which I guess if I don't' have to carry it great for me I'll have loads of fun pictures taken by her then, though if it is anything like our last trip LOL she will forget to take pictures of everything and we will stil depend on my story telling skills for our scrapbooks

As per your Chip and Dale identity crisis I learned a tip a few weeks ago I thought I would share , since I to was part of the group of people who had no idea which was which. The man said think Dhip...chocolate chip (dark nose). I thought it was brilliant!

Thanks for the kind comments, and for staying with me. That was a lot to get through!

I can't believe you weighed your camera bag! If I had to weigh mine to get on the plane, I'd probably want someone else to do it so I didn't have to look! But what an awesome opportunity to go to Africa. What a dream that would be!

I could just take an all-in-one lens and have a much lighter bag, but it drives me NUTS to be in such a gorgeous and visual place and NOT have all the tools with me to capture it. And honestly, day to day life is just too hectic most of the time for me to get to practice my photography. Disney is pretty much it.

I do totally get though that if your business was photography, then maybe you wouldn't want the DSLR along on vacation. It might feel too much like "work".

I just hope ONE of you guys remembers to take photos so I can see them in your trip report!

And thanks for the tip on Chip & Dale. Maybe I'll wow them with my expertise on our next trip!

 

[Caretames1]

I know this is going to sound like too much gushing, but....I LOVE your Christmas party photots. Everyone of them! The parade looks amazing! And what luck to get a princess meet n greet like that Again, the memories will last forever. I can't wait for MNSSHP this fall. I'm hoping that we'll be able to do the MVMCP in 2012. Kadence has her B-day mid Nov, so we could tie both things in together.

 

[stephielela]

Those fireworks shots are awesome!!! I am so glad the CM made the effort to make the whole Snow White situation right for you! That is what makes Disney different from other companies!

P.S. How are you liking this crazy weather???

 

[MyPeanut&Bug]

Just subbed with lots of reading to do! I skimmed just a few pages and your pics are just great - I am in awe of your costume skills!!

I just had to subscribe b/c of your first post, of doing a TR to relive major Disney withdrawl with no new trip in the works - we've only been back a week and this is exactly why I stared my TR.

 

[mom2rtk]

I know this is going to sound like too much gushing, but....I LOVE your Christmas party photots. Everyone of them! The parade looks amazing! And what luck to get a princess meet n greet like that Again, the memories will last forever. I can't wait for MNSSHP this fall. I'm hoping that we'll be able to do the MVMCP in 2012. Kadence has her B-day mid Nov, so we could tie both things in together.

Awww.... thanks Carey! I'm glad you enjoyed a sneak peak at the Christmas Party. I hope you get to do it next year. Honestly, there isn't as much to do as MNSSHP, but it still has some pretty remarkable things. The parade is particular is absolutely awesome. The marching toy soldiers..... the dancing reindeer...... I just love it to pieces. I think the parade is every bit as good as the one at MSNNHP. It's just that the Halloween party has more stuff beyond the parade. And how fun would it be to do that near Kadence's birthday!

The princess meet & greet was absolutely amazing. I honestly didn't see it coming. I was seriously ready to just leave until Katie decided she wanted to stay. So it was a great photo op to be sure...... but the surprise was totally amazing!

Those fireworks shots are awesome!!! I am so glad the CM made the effort to make the whole Snow White situation right for you! That is what makes Disney different from other companies!

P.S. How are you liking this crazy weather???

Thanks Steph! I am absolutely in hog heaven taking fireworks photos. I love being in the moment like that, without a care in the world but waiting for the next burst and pushing that button at the right time. It's great fun!

And yes, our CM Corey did an amazing job of making the situation far more than right for us. After having a couple things not go smoothly on the trip, as that Snow White experience was unfolding that night, I was wondering if I had previously just imagined Disney being so good at customer service. They sure knew how to shut that thought right down in my head!

And I'm SO over this weather. Somebody told me last week that the Farmer's Almanac predicted our largest snowfall of the season for March 25th. YIKES! That might bother me if I believed in that sort of thing! But honestly...... if we had another snow day, I'd just have to throw in the towel!

Just subbed with lots of reading to do! I skimmed just a few pages and your pics are just great - I am in awe of your costume skills!!

I just had to subscribe b/c of your first post, of doing a TR to relive major Disney withdrawl with no new trip in the works - we've only been back a week and this is exactly why I stared my TR.

Hi MyPeanut&Bug! And

I highly recommend the trip report as therapy solution! It has done wonders for my post-Disney doldrums. I just saw the link in your signature, so I'll head over there now!

 

[mom2rtk]

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know I put an index on the first page. Maybe that will help anyone new joining in.

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Janet, I am in awe of you! You are an inspiration for me, as Evie's momma! My favorite photo from your night at the Christmas Party is the one with just Katie and Snow White and Prince Charming. I love the pictures with the seven dwarfs, too! Katie makes a beautiful Snow White. And looking at your parade pictures and fireworks pictures makes me feel so happy.

Thank you so much for this trip report! I am loving it!

 

[mom2rtk]

Janet, I am in awe of you! You are an inspiration for me, as Evie's momma! My favorite photo from your night at the Christmas Party is the one with just Katie and Snow White and Prince Charming. I love the pictures with the seven dwarfs, too! Katie makes a beautiful Snow White. And looking at your parade pictures and fireworks pictures makes me feel so happy.

Thank you so much for this trip report! I am loving it!

Aren't you just as sweet as can be! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. I really have enjoyed sifting through the photos to edit and share. It's ALMOST (and stress the "almost" part...........) as good as being back there.

I'm glad you liked the Snow White photo too. I was still so flummoxed after the group photo, I almost forgot to ask if we could still get the photo with just Snow White and her prince.

I used to worry that they all thought I was nuts and put my photo up in the CM break room with a note to avoid this person at all costs! But eventually I realized that most of the CM's love Disney as much as we do. I had one email me once and say they hoped to do the same thing with their own daughter one day. That note meant the world to me.

 

[canongirl]

WOW! I am just catching up on your trip report. I have enjoyed it so much! Your costumes are phenomenal!! And your photos are fantastic. I really have enjoyed reading all about your trip. You have just sold me on bringing my DSLR to Disney in August (really, what's another 28 lbs to carry when you already feel you're about to stroke out from the heat) I was sort of set on bringing my G10, but your pictures are just so incredible that I know I will be sorry if I don't bring the 40D or maybe the Mark II.

Did you use your external flash dialed back for all of your lowlight pictures. The quality is great and I was wondering if you didn't use a flash, if you ran them through noiseware.

Can't wait to see more. By the way, your daughter is absolutely stunning! A classic beauty. No wonder the fairy godmother remembered her.

 

[Sydnerella]

So enjoyed seeing the most recent day... All of the amazing holiday pixie dust!! Sharing in the photos, dresses and character meetings is so great - thanks for the nice break away from my DH and the NCAA tourney games... after 3 hours I had to retreat to my laptop and get caught up! And I love hoops, but clearly not more than WDW