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

[mom2rtk]

Katie looks beautiful in her green Tianna dress. I can why she wanted to wear it. How special to be greeted by the FG.

Thanks Vanessa! Just like the other Tiana gown, I think she felt really grown up wearing it.

 

[clearskies]

Amazing work on the Tiana dress but I have come to expect no less from you

Great picture. You caught the morning light beautifully

PARK DAY 3: 12/14/10 Magic Kingdom:

Katie looks so happy in the mirror after her makeover. I really like that picture as well.

Those Mary Poppins pictures are also great! I have never seen Bert in the Parks. That is a special photo of Katie with both of them.

Too bad on the confusion with Tiana's location. at least you got to take pictures in a warmer venue and you could also capture her with the strapless dress without Katie turning into a popsicle. Awesome picture sequence with Tiana and Naveen!

 

[dabecs]

I have spent a lazy afternoon reading this TR - loving it

We are planning our first trip to WDW for December 2012 (I know that is a long time away but I live in Australia so it is a big trip!) - and I have two princesses so I love all of the photos of your daughter in those gorgeous costumes.

 

[mom2rtk]

Amazing work on the Tiana dress but I have come to expect no less from you

Great picture. You caught the morning light beautifully


Katie looks so happy in the mirror after her makeover. I really like that picture as well.

Those Mary Poppins pictures are also great! I have never seen Bert in the Parks. That is a special photo of Katie with both of them.

Too bad on the confusion with Tiana's location. at least you got to take pictures in a warmer venue and you could also capture her with the strapless dress without Katie turning into a popsicle. Awesome picture sequence with Tiana and Naveen!

Thank you for the kind comments! Tiana is probably one of the most complex costumes I've done. It was a lot of fun watching Katie enjoy it so much.

That view of the Grand Floridian was gorgeous. So even though Katie hurried me along (because of the cold), I had to stop and take one quick shot.

I was glad Katie still enjoyed the Boutique. She might still want to go again on our next trip (whenever that is......) The choice will he hers. I enjoy watching her go through the makeover, so as long as it's fun, we'll do it. And maybe next time our early park entry will be warmer and more enjoyable.

As for Tiana..... I'm just glad we knew to ask where to find her. I wondered if it was because of the cold, but honestly it wasn't any worse than the day before and she had been out then. But I knew that CM's with access to a phone can always call and get accurate character info. As you might expect, there wasn't another soul around when we met Tiana since no one knew she was there. I think that's the location they are using now for the regular Princess meet & greet since Toontown closed. I will say though that the lighting in there is TERRIBLE. The room is done in browns and reds and has very little light. But it was a great meeting and we left happy.

I have spent a lazy afternoon reading this TR - loving it

We are planning our first trip to WDW for December 2012 (I know that is a long time away but I live in Australia so it is a big trip!) - and I have two princesses so I love all of the photos of your daughter in those gorgeous costumes.

First........... here's your official

Don't let our experience scare you off. This was record cold. We went in 08 and it was GORGEOUS. Shorts and T's during the day, maybe a sweatshirt at night.

Thanks for the nice comments on the costumes.

I hope you have an awesome time in the World with your own princesses!

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

::sigh:: you truely have a gift, what more can be said of your dresses but . They are as beautiful as ever. Though I have to say my favorite so far has to be her as Mary Poppins in her coat, how adorable

 

[Caretames1]

Your Tiana dress is awesome,and your daughter looks so happy to be dressed up and made-over. I'm debating BBB for Kadence in Sept, all the TR's I'm reading have me swaying towards do it!

We were first in line for Tiana in Jan, (we skipped the parade, as we seen it) but I was kinda dissapointed. Naveen was out of character, saying something about the music not playing. He seem very distracted. Tiana was great and chatted Kadence up! They were outside behind the Christmas shoppe.

Carey

 

[stephielela]

Katie looks beautiful as usual!! I wish they let adults do BBB!! I will just have to live vicariously through you and Katie since I only have a DS!

 

[mom2rtk]

::sigh:: you truely have a gift, what more can be said of your dresses but . They are as beautiful as ever. Though I have to say my favorite so far has to be her as Mary Poppins in her coat, how adorable

Many thanks! I had fun putting that Mary together. We were with friends that trip and her daughter was in the Jolly Holiday Mary. They made quite a pair!

Your Tiana dress is awesome,and your daughter looks so happy to be dressed up and made-over. I'm debating BBB for Kadence in Sept, all the TR's I'm reading have me swaying towards do it!

We were first in line for Tiana in Jan, (we skipped the parade, as we seen it) but I was kinda dissapointed. Naveen was out of character, saying something about the music not playing. He seem very distracted. Tiana was great and chatted Kadence up! They were outside behind the Christmas shoppe.

Carey

Thank you! I was happy to see Katie enjoy the experience again. If Kadence has never done it, then yes you definitely need to try it at least once. It's so fun to see the look on their face when they turn them around to see how they look in the mirror. (They keep them faced away from the mirror until it's all done). Can you do the makeup and hair yourself a lot cheaper? Sure. But you can't do it IN the castle. It's just not the same.

How odd to find Naveen out of character like that. Disney is pretty strict on that sort of thing. That spot behind the Christmas shop is their usual spot. Isn't is SO pretty with the Gazebo there? I wish we had gotten to see the Riverboat show they did earlier in the year.

We also brought that costume to Disneyland last summer, so it has been to both coasts now! (There are photos in the other trip report linked in my signature.) Naveen is gone at DL, but Tiana does a really cute little song and dance show in New Orleans Square. We really enjoyed that.

Katie looks beautiful as usual!! I wish they let adults do BBB!! I will just have to live vicariously through you and Katie since I only have a DS!

I've actually read some reports here on the DIS of adults who have done the BBB. But they don't vary the hairstyles at all. So take your pick........ princess bun, diva.... or rock star! Oh, the choices........

I'm glad you're along living vicariously through. Heck, even I'M living vicariously through us now. But I guess that's why I started this trip report!

 

[jenseib]

Awesome dress! I feel cold reading along with you though. I am debating on taking our Mary Poppins outfit to Epcot. We are eating at 1900 PF one morning, so we can see Mary there, but I am kind of thinking of bringing it along and perhaps get some better shots with Mary on Epcot day too. I'll guess I'll see if Claire spills food on it or not.

I know I have asked you this already, but I can't remember your answer. Do you shoot in raw or jpeg. I am thinking raw, but I could be wrong. I have been studying my photoshop book and I think I might try doing some of my jpeg editing in camera raw. It seems to have a lot more fleixibility with colors. I don't think I'm ready for raw shooting though. Too much work then.

 

[dvc4life]

Your dresses just keep getting better and better. I'm really surprised Disney is not contacting you to come work for them in their clothing department. Your skills are just awesome!

Great job!

 

[mom2rtk]

Awesome dress! I feel cold reading along with you though. I am debating on taking our Mary Poppins outfit to Epcot. We are eating at 1900 PF one morning, so we can see Mary there, but I am kind of thinking of bringing it along and perhaps get some better shots with Mary on Epcot day too. I'll guess I'll see if Claire spills food on it or not.

Thanks Jen! It's funny, but I felt cold writing about it yesterday! Of course, now I know why since we woke up to snow this morning.... yuck. We've had a Mary Poppins costume along on 4 trips now I think......and I have yet to get photos in Epcot. And what a shame too. What a gorgeous area for photos! My first Mary goal was to get Mary with Bert. Trip before last we stalked Mary's Penguins. We did have a Mary costume along this time for one more Mary shot on the list. Any guesses?

I vote for mushing it into a bag and bringing it along. It won't fit forever, so get your photos now!

And as for spilling food....... Our Sept 09 trip was the trip of a thousand stains. It was a running joke with us. I never fret though. I can always photoshop out the stains later, and my goal is to keep it fun, so no stress.

Let's see.... she dropped strawberries on her Mary Poppins at 1900 Park Fare, something on her Lady T at 1900 PF dinner....... berries on her Cinderella at CRT..... and our worst stain experience ever? Our first day at DHS that trip. Katie was in yellow Belle. We were first in line, and she leaned on the gate. It had rained and when she leaned back? The yellow satin bodice and the gloves were covered in rust. YIKES!!! We hadn't even stepped foot in a park yet! I grabbed the Tide to Go........ but nothing. Didn't budge. I swallowed hard and on we went. I did call my husband who was meeting us at Disney in 2 days and had him smuggle my rust stain treater into his carry-on. And it was worth it. It all came out. I love my Carbona stain treaters!

Soooooooo........ what's a little food?

I know I have asked you this already, but I can't remember your answer. Do you shoot in raw or jpeg. I am thinking raw, but I could be wrong. I have been studying my photoshop book and I think I might try doing some of my jpeg editing in camera raw. It seems to have a lot more fleixibility with colors. I don't think I'm ready for raw shooting though. Too much work then.

I shot this trip entirely in RAW only. I used to be afraid of RAW and thought it was only for the pros. Eventually someone explained to me that it's a great way to go for us.......shall we say.... NON pros. It allows you to make lots more adjustments after the fact. The white balance for example can be completely changed after the fact. So a couple trips ago I shot RAW + JPEG so I had one of each. I could access the JPEG immediately if I wanted, but have the RAW file if I wanted to spend time editing more. This trip I didn't have a computer along to empty my cards for reuse, so I went straight RAW. I am very happy with it, but that's part of the reason my updates take a while. I am editing every photo before converting to JPEG. Good thing I don't have anything else to do!

Your dresses just keep getting better and better. I'm really surprised Disney is not contacting you to come work for them in their clothing department. Your skills are just awesome!

Great job!

Many thanks! I can't decide if my dream job would be working in costuming or playing the fairy godmother. But given my intense hate of the heat........ and knowing personally how warm those fairy godmother costumes are........ I better go for costuming......... They probably know what they are doing in not contacting me though. I'd be the only one coming to work in the FL heat in a trenchcoat every day. Why, you ask??? Well, to hide the bolts of fabric I couldn't live without!

 

[jenseib]

One of my fears with the raw is the whole editing thing, but also the amount of memory it will use on my card. I have 3 cards and I think I might fill them with jpeg, can't imagine what I would do in raw! LOL! I might get a little braver in the future.

 

[mom2rtk]

One of my fears with the raw is the whole editing thing, but also the amount of memory it will use on my card. I have 3 cards and I think I might fill them with jpeg, can't imagine what I would do in raw! LOL! I might get a little braver in the future.

I felt the same way. But once I saw what I could do in Lightroom 3 with the exposure, I was sold.

And yes, you would definitely need more cards. Unless you bring a laptop to download your cards every day. I was shocked at how much memory it takes. I currently have an 8gb card in my camera. (It is an 18mp camera) It can fit 865 photos in large JPEG format. Or 250 RAW format. Or 195 RAW plus JPEG. You just have to watch for deals on memory cards and start a collection! or bring a laptop.

I was right were you are now less than 2 years ago. Come on over to the dark side Jen...... you know you want to.........

 

[serendipity]

Amazing update. Thank you for bringing us along on this journey!

PS - can you design my wardrobe?

 

[jenseib]

I felt the same way. But once I saw what I could do in Lightroom 3 with the exposure, I was sold.

And yes, you would definitely need more cards. Unless you bring a laptop to download your cards every day. I was shocked at how much memory it takes. I currently have an 8gb card in my camera. (It is an 18mp camera) It can fit 865 photos in large JPEG format. Or 250 RAW format. Or 195 RAW plus JPEG. You just have to watch for deals on memory cards and start a collection! or bring a laptop.

I was right were you are now less than 2 years ago. Come on over to the dark side Jen...... you know you want to.........

 

[mom2rtk]

Our next stop was Cosmic Rays for an early lunch. It was nice to get in out of the cold for a bit too! We had the Cinderella gown along that day to wear to dinner, but since our fairy godmother wouldn’t be out that late, Katie agreed to put it on for a bit.

If nothing else, that cold weather seemed to make for some stunning blue skies that day!

Our Fairy Godmother always ends all our meetings with "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo...... 3 magical wishes for you!"

After that, Katie was ready to change into comfy clothes. This set was a combination effort between Shannon (revrob) who did the applique for the top and Gretchen (scraps-of-heaven) who did the skirt.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Even your regular outfits our amazing! What little girl, or me for that fact, wouldn't want adorable little Gus-gus on their skirt

 

[mom2rtk]

We headed for the castle steps for another chance at seeing Dream Along with Mickey. We were happy to find they didn't have trouble with the cold on this day and the show did indeed go on:

 

[mom2rtk]

Shockingly, I did take some photos of non-princesses during the show too! Just not as many. I like them and all..... their costumes just aren't as pretty.

Our plan was to watch the 3:00 parade. Since we had early dinner reservations, we made our run to the locker before the parade. On the way back, we ran into the Dapper Dans all decked out for Christmas:

We worked our way back down in front of the castle and set up camp for the parade. Fortunately the CM's were happy to help the kids pass the time while waiting:

 

[mom2rtk]

Amazing update. Thank you for bringing us along on this journey!

PS - can you design my wardrobe?

Sure. Just don't ask me to do anything without a hoop skirt!

And thanks for coming along!

Even your regular outfits our amazing! What little girl, or me for that fact, wouldn't want adorable little Gus-gus on their skirt

Thanks! I had a lot of fun putting the skirt sets together (along with the help of my applique-ing friends..... I'll give them code names of Suzy and Perla for the remainder of this thread..... ). This set had a winter Cinderella on the bodice, and the skirt had all sorts of appliques. Jacques, Gus-gus, the castle, Cindy's Carriage, and of course the Fairy Godmother. There were a couple more too.