Dreams Do Come True (and we are not even there yet)!-Trip 4 Started-6/28

[Lady Lallie]

Keep up the good work with your workouts.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

A Thankful Time at Disney-Day 5 continued


After spending the morning in Future World, we started our walk around the World Showcase.

Our first stop was Mexico. We enjoyed the boat ride and spent some time browsing in the shop. I bought Jeremy a set of maraca's. My parents got me a set the last time we were there so I wanted to make sure he had a pair to continue the tradition. I also bought one of the hand-carvings (as seen on Samantha Brown's Christmas special). It is a purple duck-very pretty! For some reason, I have no pictures of Mexico.

Our next stop was Maelstrom in Norway. Jeremy did not like this ride for some reason and still does not like it. I think the trolls creep him out!

We had to get a picture with this guy in the gift shop!

Our next stop was China. Jeremy really got into the mask project around the world showcase. I think we hit every country so he could get their stamp and cutout.

I enjoyed the Chinese pavilion. It is very pretty and I love browsing their store. On our way out, we found this lovely pair. Jeremy got into the act with them.

Our next stop was Germany. I had hoped to spend some time this day seeing/hearing the different Santa Claus' throughout the World Showcase. However, it seemed that every performance time was totally opposite from where we were. Oh well, there is always next time.

Jeremy and the Nutcracker

Jeremy loved the train display at Germany. He could have stayed there all day watching the trains.

At this point it was late afternoon and we had an early dinner reservation at the Garden Grill. We took the boat back to Future World and headed to the Land building to meet Farmer Mickey!

Continued in next post.......

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Dinner/late lunch this evening was at the Garden Grill. We were all starving as we had really not eaten anything since our Chef Mickey's Breafast. I know our dinner seating was for when the restaurant opened (3:30 I think!) and we were on the CP package.

We got there and was soon seated. I noticed when they took us to our table that it appeared we were the first ones to be seated. Our waiter soon brought the salad and a special appetizer. Huh, I wondered why he was giving us this appetizer as I knew it was not on the menu? He set it down and explained that we were the Garden Grill Family of the Day! However, the characters were not ready to open the restaurant so the chef made this appetizer for us and would be around to talk with us. We were excited! We got a certificate and the chef did spend some time at our table. It was very nice.

The characters started coming pretty quickly.

Pluto kept giving Tom a hard time! The gentleman in the backgroud was the chef.

Farmer Mickey!-isn't he adorable!

Continued in next post....

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Jeremy and Dale

There is great character interaction at the Garden Grill---has been every time we have been there. Each character spends a lot of time with each family and will often come back to your table.

Farmer Mickey came back when Jeremy and Tom were at the restroom so he sat down with me for a while. You should have seen the look on Jeremy's face when he came back and found this! (Note: please overlook the hair! The heat had done a number on it that day!)

I wish I had taken a picture of him. He thought it was sooooo funny that Mickey was sitting with Mommy.

Now, I usually don't take food porn on my trips. Not that I haven't wanted to but I always forget to before we start eating. I plan on doing better in July. However, on this day I did take a picture of Jeremy and his dessert.

After our delicious dinner was over, we made our way back to the World Showcase so we could get in line for the Candlelight Processional.

Here are some photos along the way:

I like this photo even though Jeremy is not looking at me.

Along the way, we met up with some very pretty princesses and a ghastly Beast!

Jeremy and Sleeping Beauty

Belle and the Beast-We were excited as this was our first time meeting the Beast!

The nice thing about having the CP package is that you are guaranteed a seat for your show time and you do not have to wait in line very long. I think we got in line about 30 minutes early and had a great seat when we got in the theather. The narrator this evening was John O'Hurley. He did a nice job. This program is so moving and is a must see. I definitely want to go back in the future.

Once the program was over, Jeremy had one more character (I guess you could say) that he wanted to meet before the evening was over. This was a must do in his mind as his Christmas wishes hinged on it! Here he is waiting in line.....we were at the front!

Did you guess who it was?


Why


Santa and Mrs. Claus of course! Jeremy just knew that if he saw Santa at Disney World he would surely bring him the monorail set on Christmas morning! (And of course, he did in fact do that!)

At this point we were starting to feel the effects of a full, non-break day at Disney so we started making our way out of the park. I really wanted to see the holiday version of Illuminations but it would have to wait until another trip.

Here are some pictures of the Epcot holiday decorations I took on our way to the bus stop.

Up Next:
Our Last Full Day at Disney:

A Royal Breakfast
Downtown Disney
Will the rain ever stop?
My First Dis Meet

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Keep up the good work with your workouts.

Thanks! You do the same!

 

[MommyMcQueen]

Hi Erika!

Wow you've been busy posting away!

All of your day plans look awesome! Hope Jeremy likes his cruise and you and Tom have some nice kid-free time!

And again more great pix from your Thanksgiving trip - I still love seeing all of the Xmas decor and characters! Love the pic of you and Mickey! Very cute!

Good luck on your workouts this week!
Karen

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Hi Erika!

Wow you've been busy posting away!

All of your day plans look awesome! Hope Jeremy likes his cruise and you and Tom have some nice kid-free time!

And again more great pix from your Thanksgiving trip - I still love seeing all of the Xmas decor and characters! Love the pic of you and Mickey! Very cute!

Good luck on your workouts this week!
Karen

Thanks! I had hoped for workout #2 last night but the ballgame went until after 9:00 p.m. and finally got rained out! I am so ready for ball season to be over!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Your pictures really really REALLY make me want to get down to Disney during the holiday season. Everything looks so pretty and festive!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Your pictures really really REALLY make me want to get down to Disney during the holiday season. Everything looks so pretty and festive!

Oh, you must go sometime! It is simply stunning. I want to go back reallllllly bad! We had originally planned to go this year over Thanksgiving but changed to the 4th of July. I am thinking about a trip next year as a Christmas surprise to DS the week after Christmas in 2011. I am thinking about staying at Port Orleans so I want to see lots of pictures!!! We love New Orleans and I think the theming of the resorts would be perfect for us!

Erika

 

[Lady Lallie]

Oh, you must go sometime! It is simply stunning. I want to go back reallllllly bad! We had originally planned to go this year over Thanksgiving but changed to the 4th of July. I am thinking about a trip next year as a Christmas surprise to DS the week after Christmas in 2011. I am thinking about staying at Port Orleans so I want to see lots of pictures!!! We love New Orleans and I think the theming of the resorts would be perfect for us!

Erika

I can't say enough good things about POFQ and I'm sure I will say the same about Riverside even though I haven't officially stayed there yet! POFQ is a great size resort, small and easy to navigate. I liked that a lot.

I will take lots and lots of pictures of both for you.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

I can't say enough good things about POFQ and I'm sure I will say the same about Riverside even though I haven't officially stayed there yet! POFQ is a great size resort, small and easy to navigate. I liked that a lot.

I will take lots and lots of pictures of both for you.

Thanks! I am going to try to sneak over there in July. I would love to have a beignet and get Tom in the mood for staying there!

 

[MeMom]

The nice thing about having the CP package is that you are guaranteed a seat for your show time and you do not have to wait in line very long. I think we got in line about 30 minutes early and had a great seat when we got in the theather. The narrator this evening was John O'Hurley. He did a nice job. This program is so moving and is a must see. I definitely want to go back in the future.

Up Next:
Our Last Full Day at Disney:

A Royal Breakfast
Downtown Disney
Will the rain ever stop?
My First Dis Meet

One thing I do not like about Disney trips - not being able to keep the hair looking decent. Mine is so fine, and I spend the whole morning fluffing it up for naught when I am down there, because by the time we get through baggage check, it's flat to the head.

We have heard John O'Hurley do the Candlelight Processional. I've seen it three times with different speakers, but I really love hearing Phylicia Rashad do it on the CD. I'd love to see Stephen Curtis Chapman do it.

Glad I will get to see the last Disney day before we leave on the next trip. I always love seeing DTD pictures.

Hope the DIS meet was great.
We look forward to having several good ones in July.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

One thing I do not like about Disney trips - not being able to keep the hair looking decent. Mine is so fine, and I spend the whole morning fluffing it up for naught when I am down there, because by the time we get through baggage check, it's flat to the head.

We have heard John O'Hurley do the Candlelight Processional. I've seen it three times with different speakers, but I really love hearing Phylicia Rashad do it on the CD. I'd love to see Stephen Curtis Chapman do it.

Glad I will get to see the last Disney day before we leave on the next trip. I always love seeing DTD pictures.

Hope the DIS meet was great.
We look forward to having several good ones in July.

Don't get me started about hair! I have thick hair and it drives me crazy in the heat. I have grown it a little longer for this trip so I can pull it up.

I will do the last day today if all works out and then I am going to share Trip 4 (which was our last trip) before we leave so you will get a bunch of Disney!!!

I look forward to meeting you all in July! Jeremy will be excited to meet Brooklyn. He is very good with children younger than him.

Erika

 

[Sooze]

Wow... you were a BUSY lady getting all of these updates done.

First, thank you for sharing your personal struggle with us. I know that's hard to do, but we are all so proud of you for taking the steps you are to be happy and healthy!!

Second, loved the one month updates... my vote for the last day is to squeeze in some more park time before you leave!! (But only if you are AP holders... I wouldn't pay for an extra day if you can only do a few hours) We always max out our days that we are there. If you are paying for a hotel to sleep in the night before, you might as well get some park time in, too, right?

Third, I'm also enjoying your backing-up TR! The Christmas pictures are beautiful!!

Enjoy the next few weeks of anticipating!!

Susie

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Wow... you were a BUSY lady getting all of these updates done.

First, thank you for sharing your personal struggle with us. I know that's hard to do, but we are all so proud of you for taking the steps you are to be happy and healthy!!

Second, loved the one month updates... my vote for the last day is to squeeze in some more park time before you leave!! (But only if you are AP holders... I wouldn't pay for an extra day if you can only do a few hours) We always max out our days that we are there. If you are paying for a hotel to sleep in the night before, you might as well get some park time in, too, right?

Third, I'm also enjoying your backing-up TR! The Christmas pictures are beautiful!!

Enjoy the next few weeks of anticipating!!

Susie

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I am enjoying reliving my trips. It is helping pass the next 17 days! We have such fond memories of Disney. Plus, I am determined to finish Trip 3 and Trip 4 before we leave!

Erika

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

A Thankful time at Disney World - Day 6: Our Last Full Day


We awoke this morning to sunny skies and a beautiful day to start our last day at Walt Disney World. We had several new things we were doing this day and couldn't wait to get started!

First up, we were having breakfast at Cinderella's castle. Oh, and it was before the park opened. We got a WL bus going to the MK and was quickly through the turnstile. It was nice being in the park before it opened.

I took just a few pictures this morning as I was super excited to be eating in the castle and wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

Jeremy and Cinderella

Making our way upstairs..

We were seated near a window that looked into Fantasy Land. It was a nice view however there was not a lot of room to maneuver in here, I thought. It seemed very tight.

Here is Jeremy with his Wishing Star they give every child.

Breakfast was really good here. I enjoyed the fresh fruit and warm plate of food very much. Tom was hesitant when I booked this. He was unsure about a boy being at a princess breakfast (Oh bother!). Plus, Jeremy is soo much taller than his age. I knew Jeremy and I just wanted to eat in the castle and the princess thing did not matter. He enjoyed seeing the Princesses but honestly enjoyed eating in the castle so much more!

This was our first time meeting Mary Poppins--so adorable!

Jeremy and Princess Aurora

Jeremy and Snow White

Jeremy and Belle

At the end of the meal, Jeremy was given a sword and I believe there was something they did with the children but I can't remember what it was.

We enjoyed eating in the castle. I would definitely do it again but my little boy has grown up and is getting like his father----no princesses for him in July!

Continued in next post.......

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

We made it to rope drop at Fantasy Land with a few minutes to spare. There was nothing special about this rope drop that I recall. We quickly walked along with everyone else to get in line for Dumbo. I think we were on about the third ride of the morning.

I know we rode a few other things this morning but can't remember all! It was the Fantasy Land rides I do know that.

We separated for a while as Tom went to Toon Town to get in line for (sit down for this one!) meeting the fairies! Can you believe it? The man has a fit about eating with princesses but will go stand in line for his son to meet the fairies! Go figure!

On the way, Jeremy and I met this mean old duck! Isn't he adorable!

We made it to Toon Town and there was not a long wait for the fairies so Jeremy hopped in line with his dad! Don't flame me--yes, I am one of those parents who chooses not to make their child wait in line all the time!

Jeremy and Iridessa-She was very sweet and was so nice to Jeremy.

Jeremy and Tinker Belle

Jeremy and Rosetta

I love Jeremy in this picture. He was soo amazed at Pixie Hollow and how everything looked so big around him. I thought the mini photo pass was extra cute and nice detail!

After Pixie Hollow, we spent some time in Toon Town.

Jeremy in Donald's Boat

At this point, we had done about all we wanted to and needed to do some shopping in DTD. We left MK and headed to DTD.

Up Next:

DTD
A Very Merry Party-or is it?
My First Dis Meet

 

[martinolichfamily]

Love the updates from past trips!
We had the same Iridessa last July!

I was happy to read good reviews about Garden Grill (love their Farmer Attire) and the Castle as we are trying them this trip!

I love shopping at DTD!!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Love the updates from past trips!
We had the same Iridessa last July!

I was happy to read good reviews about Garden Grill (love their Farmer Attire) and the Castle as we are trying them this trip!

I love shopping at DTD!!

Thanks! You will like the Garden Grill. It is one of my favorites!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I am really enjoying the flashbacks to your previous trips!

I want to eat in the Castle for breakfast, that sounds like so much fun. I'd love to meet all the different princesses!