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

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Would you believe I picked to go on stage at that show last Setember and don't have any pictures of me on stage?! I knwo right my BF does not do cameras and well I had to take mine with me and of course all I have in a small point and shoot, which as we all know are great for action shots . But hey at least I got that "you participated in a WDW special memory" certificate and Oh WAIT... can't forget the great once in a life time photo up on stage right? You ready for it...






















THATS RIGHT!!! I almost got hit in the face. I FELT the wings brush my hair. I was . and dang it to all H-E-Double L- Hockey sticks stupid frick in frackin' slow shutter response camera (little voice in my head sounds just like Jenn "... and thats why I don't bring just a P&S camera in WDW" in fact had I known you then I think I might have heard your voice.. er I mean visualized your text on a screen I guess ). Anywho even though I got a really crappy shot along with another really crappy shot it was fun and memorble



and just incase you still don't believe me here is the proof



Oh by the by... that photo of Katie and her new friend is ABSOLULTY adorable. LOVE IT. You should frame it up and put in in the living room


P.S. sorry my pics are weird I shrink them in photobucket and they look small 320-230? but when I place them here they are still the giant size I can't figure out what I am doing wrong

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Great parade pics! I have to agree though that it is not my favorite. And I said the EXACT same thing as you about it looked just like the regular parade with a little decorations thrown on. I don't think we will see it again, but who knows.

Love the pic of Katie with her Yeti! Very cute!

 

[mom2rtk]

Would you believe I picked to go on stage at that show last Setember and don't have any pictures of me on stage?! I knwo right my BF does not do cameras and well I had to take mine with me and of course all I have in a small point and shoot, which as we all know are great for action shots . But hey at least I got that "you participated in a WDW special memory" certificate and Oh WAIT... can't forget the great once in a life time photo up on stage right? You ready for it...






















THATS RIGHT!!! I almost got hit in the face. I FELT the wings brush my hair. I was . and dang it to all H-E-Double L- Hockey sticks stupid frick in frackin' slow shutter response camera (little voice in my head sounds just like Jenn "... and thats why I don't bring just a P&S camera in WDW" in fact had I known you then I think I might have heard your voice.. er I mean visualized your text on a screen I guess ). Anywho even though I got a really crappy shot along with another really crappy shot it was fun and memorble



and just incase you still don't believe me here is the proof



Oh by the by... that photo of Katie and her new friend is ABSOLULTY adorable. LOVE IT. You should frame it up and put in in the living room


P.S. sorry my pics are weird I shrink them in photobucket and they look small 320-230? but when I place them here they are still the giant size I can't figure out what I am doing wrong

LOL! You have that first shot framed in YOUR living room, right?

How fun though that you got a magical moment! We were both really delighted with that show. I can't believe we didn't see it on a prior trip. It was a really nice surprise to find something we didn't walk in with high expectations about....... and find a real gem.

Thanks for the nice comment on Katie's photo. She really fell in love with that adorable Yeti! LOL! Who knew a Yeti could be so cute? I'd frame it for the wall, but don't have much wall space left any more! I'm really tempted to take down everything on all my walls and just start over. But then I'd miss all those photos of baby Robbie and Timmy!

Great parade pics! I have to agree though that it is not my favorite. And I said the EXACT same thing as you about it looked just like the regular parade with a little decorations thrown on. I don't think we will see it again, but who knows.

Love the pic of Katie with her Yeti! Very cute!

Thanks RTT! I'm glad I'm not the only one under-loving the Jingle Jungle parade.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I was . and dang it to all H-E-Double L- Hockey sticks stupid frick in frackin' slow shutter response camera (little voice in my head sounds just like Jenn "... and thats why I don't bring just a P&S camera in WDW"

The argument is over.

BWAHAHAHA!

So what if I don't mind doubling as a pack mule on vacation? My fast shutter speed trumps weight ANY DAY!



We're going to FoW with my camera, right?





P.S. - Janet, I love the owls! I tell you, if I could have one, I would... they are such beautiful creatures!

 

[joy13]

We saw Flights of Wonder in 2005 when we went, but I haven't seen it since. Now that I see they have a barn owl (my newest internet obsession [for the last year] ) I will definately have to go to it next time we go - LOL! I love the bird flying pictures! 2005 is also the last time we saw the parade at AK - it wasn't the Christmas one though since it was October. It was cute.

 

[jenseib]

I did know you had a friend TA Janet...so I can live with that.

Loving the pictures.
I've not seen the Jingly jungle parade, but the regular parade there is one of my favorites (I think only Spectro tops it for me). But what I have read is bascially the jingle one is the same with a few decorations thrown on and maybe a bit of change in the music. I think I would be disappointed with that too.
Can you beleive I am at 30 days till I leave. I now KNOW I won't be finishing my TR before I go. I still have 2 /12 days to write about and I just can't seem to get it done.
I'm gonna try and work on it today and get 1 or 2 more updates up.

 

[jenseib]

I forgot to add that I bought a cheap remote shuuter release the other day and it came yesterday. I played iwth it a bit and it seems really fun. Can't wait to give it a try with fireworks.

 

[ChrystalUnicorn]

Omg!! If you don't receive the mother of the year award no one will!! The dresses are lovely, your dd should apply to be a princess herself at Disney when she grows up she is such a beautiful girl.

Loving the trip report!

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Omg!! If you don't receive the mother of the year award no one will!! The dresses are lovely, your dd should apply to be a princess herself at Disney when she grows up she is such a beautiful girl.

Loving the trip report!

I agree about the mom of the year award, Janet! You are my inspiration!

 

[scrapbookersdis]

My little guy just got glasses. Can I ask how you invariably avoid flash reflection in Katie's lenses? If you are cloning, it sure doesn't show!

I love your cheerful willingness to tote your lenses, etc. in the parks. I've gotten away from that in an effort to streamline and de-stress. But what I've done, by leaving lenses and speedlite at home, is take a lot of the fun out of Disney. We're going next week -- so the heat is going to limit what I can physically do. However, I'm going to bring more "stuff" this time -- thanks to you!

Sharla

 

[mom2rtk]

Hi guys! Sorry to leave you all hanging. I sort of ran out of steam with the trip. Maybe it's all this steamy weather....... or having all 3 kids home on summer break.

I promise I'll get some more posted in just a bit. There's not that much left......just the rest of the AK day, dinner at Chef Mickey and then a morning in the MK before heading home......... Maybe I was just putting off the inevitable. But as life lunges forward and I get closer to the next trip, it gets easier to let the last one go I guess!

The argument is over.

BWAHAHAHA!

So what if I don't mind doubling as a pack mule on vacation? My fast shutter speed trumps weight ANY DAY!



We're going to FoW with my camera, right?





P.S. - Janet, I love the owls! I tell you, if I could have one, I would... they are such beautiful creatures!

We loved the owl too. The entire show was so charming though. I hope we get to see it again in December!

We saw Flights of Wonder in 2005 when we went, but I haven't seen it since. Now that I see they have a barn owl (my newest internet obsession [for the last year] ) I will definately have to go to it next time we go - LOL! I love the bird flying pictures! 2005 is also the last time we saw the parade at AK - it wasn't the Christmas one though since it was October. It was cute.

Well, at least I'm not the only one who appears to be giving AK the short straw all the time! And as I plan out this next trip, I'm toying with shortchanging it yet again! More on that later.......

I did know you had a friend TA Janet...so I can live with that.

Loving the pictures.
I've not seen the Jingly jungle parade, but the regular parade there is one of my favorites (I think only Spectro tops it for me). But what I have read is bascially the jingle one is the same with a few decorations thrown on and maybe a bit of change in the music. I think I would be disappointed with that too.
Can you beleive I am at 30 days till I leave. I now KNOW I won't be finishing my TR before I go. I still have 2 /12 days to write about and I just can't seem to get it done.
I'm gonna try and work on it today and get 1 or 2 more updates up.

Jen, I can't believe how close you are to going again! Maybe I need to count down your bananas again!

I like the AK parade, but can leave without it. I think we'll make it to AK again in December, but it might be a short day, so the parade will definitely be out.

I forgot to add that I bought a cheap remote shuuter release the other day and it came yesterday. I played iwth it a bit and it seems really fun. Can't wait to give it a try with fireworks.

Well, yeah! Are you going to attempt some fireworks shots on your trip? Or do they keep you too booked for that?

Omg!! If you don't receive the mother of the year award no one will!! The dresses are lovely, your dd should apply to be a princess herself at Disney when she grows up she is such a beautiful girl.

Loving the trip report!

First off............. to my trip report!

And while you might nominate me for mother of the year, it's pretty clear I don't deserve trip reporter of the year!

Many thanks for the kind comments!

I agree about the mom of the year award, Janet! You are my inspiration!

Thanks so much Amy! Aren't you about ready to go?????

I'm so excited for you and can't wait to hear all about it!

My little guy just got glasses. Can I ask how you invariably avoid flash reflection in Katie's lenses? If you are cloning, it sure doesn't show!

I love your cheerful willingness to tote your lenses, etc. in the parks. I've gotten away from that in an effort to streamline and de-stress. But what I've done, by leaving lenses and speedlite at home, is take a lot of the fun out of Disney. We're going next week -- so the heat is going to limit what I can physically do. However, I'm going to bring more "stuff" this time -- thanks to you!

Sharla

Hi Sharla! I feel the same way as you. Disney is such a gorgeous visual place that it drives me nuts not to have the right equipment with me. When we were there in 09 for the big heat wave, I did find myself ditching as much stuff out of my bag as possible........ and there were a number of occasions I wished I had something that was back in the room.

I hope you survived the heat and hope you'll post back and let us all know how it went!

As for the glasses, I don't do anything special at all. I really just don't have issues with the glare about 90% of the time. I do some clone stamping, but never with the glasses.

 

[mom2rtk]

12/18/10: Continued

As soon as the parade ended, we scooted over into Asia to ride Expedition Everest with our fastpasses. We rode in the front again. While it wasn’t raining, it was sprinkling and that combined with the speed of the ride made it FEEL like it was still raining. It’s a great ride, and I hope to get back again soon to ride it some more.

From there, our intention was to take one of the Jungle Treks to see some of the animals. We were disappointed to find they were closed already for the day. I had no idea they closed that far ahead of park closing. So we’ll look forward to that for our next trip too. We decided to just finish the circle around the park and head back toward the exit. Somewhere near the front of the park, we saw Lilo and Stitch in their Christmas outfits. I had told my friend Kim by phone erlier that we had seen them but hadn’t had time to stop. We had just enough time for one last stop now……. and Lilo and Stitch were it. The line moved slowly because Stitch was so interactive and playful. It was a great way to end the day.

With that, we headed out the exit and took the bus to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey.






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[mom2rtk]

Before I move ahead with Chef Mickey....... it's time for a Chef Mickey FLASHBACK!

Here's Katie with the head cheese on our very first visit there in 2004:


chefmickey04 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


This is from 2008:


minnie2katiefl by mom2rtk, on Flickr

2009:


chefmickeydonald by mom2rtk, on Flickr

And this might not be Chef Mickey's....... but it's at his west coast operation..... Goofy's Kitchen. We had a BALL with this outfit!


Goofy's Meets His Sous-Chef! by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[mom2rtk]

12/18/2010: CONTINUED


Katie and I both LOVED the chef Mickey skirt outfit. It was a lot of fun to see her wear it too. The Photopass photographer was at the front desk, and asked if she had been Drizella earlier in the week. When Minnie came by our table, she got all excited about the outfit, and insisted I take a picture of their back sides to show the skirt ruffles. We were tired, but had a great time as always at Chef Mickey’s.

I was fully aware that was our last night at Disney. So when we got on the monorail we rode it around an extra time for a night view of the Magic Kingdom. We traded monorails at the TTC and headed for Epcot where we caught a bus back to the POP. It took a LONG time to get back. And there was still much work to do. We had to be completely packed and checked out in the morning before we could head off to the Magic Kingdom.



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[Caretames1]

Holy Moley Janet! When you come back, it's with a vengence!

Katie is one of the most adorable girls! She's a brave one to do all those poses for you.

All of your past CM pictures are so nice, I love everyone of her outfits!

Again, all of your pictures are awesome, but those of EE are so "REAL", like you were in a different country.


I think my favorite shot is the one with Katie in your decorated window at POP.

Are you all set with your next trip then?

 

[mom2rtk]

Holy Moley Janet! When you come back, it's with a vengence!

Katie is one of the most adorable girls! She's a brave one to do all those poses for you.

All of your past CM pictures are so nice, I love everyone of her outfits!

Again, all of your pictures are awesome, but those of EE are so "REAL", like you were in a different country.


I think my favorite shot is the one with Katie in your decorated window at POP.

Are you all set with your next trip then?

Thanks Carey! I was getting so backlogged I finally decided if I don't just plow through the rest of this, it's not going to get done!

I was talking to Katie tonight about what to wear for this year's Chef Mickey visit. I'm sort of running low on ideas! But then it occurred to me.... she has to go as the head cheese himself! So I think I'll do a chef's coat and matching chef hat. She nixed the idea of wearing black pants like Mickey though, so she'll need a cute little skirt. And I'm guessing she'll wear those yellow Minnie shoes. She LOVES wearing those shoes because of the heels!

And the poses....... they're all HER ideas. I'm just along for the ride!

I do think we're pretty set on the same week in December. My dialing finger is in shape and ready to call in this week when the free dining will supposedly be announced. I just have to make the call on whether I can sacrifice a day for Universal, which will play into shortchanging AK yet again........

I've been keeping up with your trip report and can't WAIT to hear how the surprise goes over. I'm so excited for you guys!

 

[vamassey1]

Don't you just hate that last day/night? At least you went out with a bang with your visit to Chef Mickeys. Katie's outfit is just perfect and she is so pretty.

 

[AprilRenee]

I love Katie's outfit for Chef Mickey's!!! I mean, ALL of her outfits are awesome but this one is just enough "big girl" without being "I'm too grown up for this." It's a perfect mix of style and costume! The characters all look like they enjoyed it too! I love how many poses Goofy gave you guys!

I second Caretames1, the photos in the window are great!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Don't you just hate that last day/night? At least you went out with a bang with your visit to Chef Mickeys. Katie's outfit is just perfect and she is so pretty.

We were there 9 days, but even still I couldn't believe how fast it all went.

I used to think my trips were just too short and that's why all the angst the last day. Well, they WERE too short. But the angst is still there!

And thanks for the comment on Katie's outfit. She LOVED this one and any time I that happens, I'm happy!

I love Katie's outfit for Chef Mickey's!!! I mean, ALL of her outfits are awesome but this one is just enough "big girl" without being "I'm too grown up for this." It's a perfect mix of style and costume! The characters all look like they enjoyed it too! I love how many poses Goofy gave you guys!

I second Caretames1, the photos in the window are great!!

Thank you! Katie's at a tough age. Too big for the little kid stuff, too young for adult stuff. I've got the little kid stuff down, but continue to struggle with what's appropriate now. It was fun to find something we both agreed on.

The characters were very interactive that night, so it really was a great way to end our last full day.

We had a lot of fun planning Christmas decorations for our trip. In the end, we weren't in the room enough to care much about the Christmas tree. But it was great to walk up to our room each night and see the lights on in the window. We'll definitely be doing that again.

I'll try to get the pictures going pretty quick for that last day. I can't even imagine NOT going to a park on departure day. It keeps me sane throughout checkout and getting lost in the fun keeps me from dwelling on the inevitable soon to come..........

 

[tmfranlk]

That outfit is so cute! I love the uniqueness of it. I'm sure the Mickey version will be just as great.

I've already started working on how best to get Christmas decor into our limited luggage. I agree that it really makes the trip back to the hotel nice.

We've been doing 8-10 day trips the last several times and it is amazing how quickly it seems to go. Even with all of that time we always miss out on things and the last day angst sets in. I often wonder how long we'd need to go to avoid that. Wish I could test the theory and find out by making our trips longer and longer.