Emmysdaddy Accompanies the Damsels & Yes, He Posed with Princesses 2/2 Completed

[emmysmommy]

Monday August 27, 2012 – Day 10​

We awoke this day to a very dark, gloomy, rainy day due to effects of Hurricane Isaac. I LOVE rain, but this was a little to much!

While Michael and Em slept I watched the weather on TV and started to doubt that we would make it to AK that day.

See, it is wet out!

It was inevitable that we were not going to be seeing AK this day. I cancelled our Boma breakfast ADR and watched the morning news. We decided to go downstairs to Contempo Café for breakfast around 10am. Read my dining review here. And just to let you know.... a Mickey waffle makes an appearance, however brief, on my plate!!! .

Following breakfast we went back to the room to get our act together to go to MK for the day. But first, I got sucked into watching I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show – I love that Disney has TV Land on their cable channels. We didn’t leave the room to walk over to MK until after 1pm. Lazy bums!

Credit for my hairstyle this day goes to Em who helped me avoid the flat hair look by doing this lovely french braid. (My hair knows no humidity frizz - it only knows, flat and lifeless! Errrr.. I so wish I had hair that was full of bounce and body! ) Ok, enough about my hair... on with the day!

We took our obligatory entrance photopass photos as well as some with Goofy outside the Town Square Theater.

Walking down Main Street we already had our smiles warmed up so we posed for more Photopass photos near the castle.

We had no plan and were not in a hurry to get anywhere so we spent the first 45minutes strolling through the park at a slow pace. By the time we decided to go on a ride we were in Tomorrowland so hopped in line for Space Mtn which was followed by a leisurely drive through the Tomorrowland Speedway. At least for me it was leisurely drive, I only had to tell Michael how to drive!!! Apparently he didn't think it was ok that I not only told him how to drive but I also told him how to use the camera when I took over the driving! Men! Allow me to explain...I was video taping our drive while Michael was trying to avoid the traffic hazards. At one point I was actually telling him how to drive and he announced that I couldn’t operate the video camera AND tell him how to drive. Well then, hand over the wheel! Ha! Actually, I ended up telling him how to video tape so I suppose the control freak in me didn’t take a vacation!

Why yes, we did buy the photo! Actually, this was added to our photopass+

Following our spin around the track at the speedway, we decided to share a light lunch at Cosmic Rays. We had eaten here on the 2nd night of our trip during a Dismeet with DonaldDoleWhip but they were not serving the rotisserie chicken at the time so we wanted to go back and enjoy one of my favorite counter service restaurants at MK. The chicken did not disappoint. You can read my dining review for Cosmic Rays here.

Next Up: Meeting a little Scottish lass and a Disboard snack favorite makes an appearance!

 

[SAT887]

Another great update! I really like the picture of Em at the Speedway. Sorry you missed your AK plans - but there is something to be said about being lazy on vacation!

 

[natebenma]

Good call on changing up your park plans. MK is a much better place to be in a tropical storm than AK, which is so spread out.

I appreciated all of the pictures and info about the Contemporary Cafe. As much as I love my little Beach Club, breakfast is the one place where the monorail resorts kick her butt. More morning counter service options would vastly improve the resort.

During my first stay in July 2009, there was a trial run of a counter serve breakfast at Beaches & Cream, but that only lasted a month or two. Shame.

The Mickey waffle looked awesome, and I love that it was kicked up a notch with the banana caramel sauce! YUM!

How was the weather once you got to MK? It didn't look terrible and I didn't see a sea of ponchos in the pictures you posted.

Very cute picture of Em in the Tomorrowland torture car. Was that your picture or one taken under your direction? Either way, nicely done!

 

[MEK]

[/CENTER]

What a cute picture!

I love your braid. It turned out perfect.

Boo to all that rain, but your afternoon weather looked pretty decent. How great to have a long enough trip that you can adjust plans so easily and laze around in your room for the morning. I'd probably be out there in my poncho (with my frizzy hair) trying to stick to my schedule.

 

[KatMark]

Sorry you didn't get to the AK because of the rain. But taking it easy and getting to MK when you felt like it sounds good too (LOVE I Love Lucy and the Andy Griffith shows).

Great photopass pics as always.

Brenda, I think we all have a little "control freak" in us and it never stops.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

That waffle looks delicious!

Although it was too bad your plans had to change, strolling around MK without a "destination" sounds rather nice!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Too bad that your AK plans got rained out, but it seems like MK was a good choice for your day! Your breakfast waffle looks awesome!

 

[Linda67]

10 out of 10 for Em's hair styling skills

 

[emmysmommy]

Another great update! I really like the picture of Em at the Speedway. Sorry you missed your AK plans - but there is something to be said about being lazy on vacation!

Thanks SAT! Agreed! I love those days where we can go on a whim.

Good call on changing up your park plans. MK is a much better place to be in a tropical storm than AK, which is so spread out.

I appreciated all of the pictures and info about the Contemporary Cafe. As much as I love my little Beach Club, breakfast is the one place where the monorail resorts kick her butt. More morning counter service options would vastly improve the resort.

During my first stay in July 2009, there was a trial run of a counter serve breakfast at Beaches & Cream, but that only lasted a month or two. Shame.

The Mickey waffle looked awesome, and I love that it was kicked up a notch with the banana caramel sauce! YUM!

How was the weather once you got to MK? It didn't look terrible and I didn't see a sea of ponchos in the pictures you posted.

I think we sat our most of the rain at the hotel so the rest of the day was just cloudy.

Very cute picture of Em in the Tomorrowland torture car. Was that your picture or one taken under your direction? Either way, nicely done!

Dee I would love to see Beaches & Cream offer breakfast - not sure why it wasn't a go?? The restaurant is small so even if they offered a to-go option that would be great.

Ha ha!! The photo fo Em was likely taken by me while I held the steering wheel in one hand and the camera in the other!

What a cute picture!

I love your braid. It turned out perfect.

Boo to all that rain, but your afternoon weather looked pretty decent. How great to have a long enough trip that you can adjust plans so easily and laze around in your room for the morning. I'd probably be out there in my poncho (with my frizzy hair) trying to stick to my schedule.

Hi MK! Thanks! Yeah, gotta admit that when we travel with my husband plans do tend to change a little... he's not a planner and sometimes I just can't make him stick to a schedule!! In this case I think everyone agreed that sitting out the storm was better since we melt in the rain!

Sorry you didn't get to the AK because of the rain. But taking it easy and getting to MK when you felt like it sounds good too (LOVE I Love Lucy and the Andy Griffith shows).

Great photopass pics as always.

Brenda, I think we all have a little "control freak" in us and it never stops.

ha ha!! You sound like you understand Kathy... even after being married so long you would think I would learn!

That waffle looks delicious!

Although it was too bad your plans had to change, strolling around MK without a "destination" sounds rather nice!

Hi there SimplyGoofy!!! Thanks for reading!!

Oh my, the waffle was good - especially with the topping.

Too bad that your AK plans got rained out, but it seems like MK was a good choice for your day! Your breakfast waffle looks awesome!

Hi Sarah! I wasn't too unhappy that our 2nd AK day got rained out except for giving up Boma. I remember your bus rouletter and letting the AK bus pass you by... I think we are of the same opinon.

10 out of 10 for Em's hair styling skills

Why thank you. Em is taking a bow!

 

[emmysmommy]

Monday August 27, 2012 - Day 10, Part 2​

Since Cosmic Rays was near where the Merida character meet & greet was located (where Rapunzel and Flynn Rider used to hang out) and this is currently one of the top 3 characters for Em we decided to hop in line to see her and her “brothers.” It was about a 20 minute wait and it was threatening rain the entire time but it held off for the time being.

The Cast Member who was the Merida character did a fantastic job. She was animated and funny and had amazing interaction with all the guests. She spent a few minutes with just Em introducing her to her brothers and talking about her adventures. Here's some video. It was precious. We posed for a few photos together and then moved on.

In Fantasyland we decided to do some rides that we had not managed to squeeze it yet. Winnie the Pooh and the new interactive queue was at the top of our list. It was a very short wait so we lingered to “play” and to see what was hidden in the honey wall.

I was excited to see that Pooh and Tigger were accepting guest at the character spot near the ride entrance. The line was about 20 minutes but it was worth the wait for those two!! The photopass gal announced that there were some “pretty ones” to see them! Tigger being the character that he is tried to pose in front of me but I wasn’t having any of that. I put him in his place behind me and we proceeded to circle each other vying for prime photo spots. Then when he tried to kiss me I turned his snout the other way. Hey, my husband is watching!! What a rascal! After bouncing, posing, and hugging, I was convinced more now than ever that if I were a single lady, I would want Tigger to be my man!

Since I was in a snacking mood, our next stop completely satisfied not only my curiosity but a craving for a delicious treat at MK. Ever since I had seen Linda67’s dining review here that featured the Nutella and fruit waffle at Sleepy Hollow it was on my must have list! Em tried the funnel cake with strawberries and whip cream and I had the waffle – both were amazing! You can read my snack review that has accompanying video here.

Following our delightful snacks at MK, we headed back to the resort since we were in a rather lazy mood… being a grey and gloomy day didn’t leave us motivated to do too much.

We lazed around and watched TV in the room before showering and getting ready for our 8:30pm dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby. We left our room at 7:15 for an 8:30ADR – which gave us plenty of time to hop on the monorail to the TTC and then bus to DHS.

We arrived at DHS with plenty of time to get some photos on Hollywood Blvd. Em suggested we go to the Animation Building and see what characters were present (did my kid just suggest this??) so we headed over there but no one was around so we headed back to Hollywood Blvd.

Bo was waiting for me to say hello!​

Ok, I'll share Bo with Em!

It was about 20 minutes before our dining reservation but we decided to go ahead and check in early. I am inserting the link to my HBD dining review which ended up being the most drama filled and surreal of any trip we have encountered. This is likely the world’s longest Hollywood Brown Derby dining review!

HBD Part 1
HBD Part 2

Next up: Some post dinner fun despite the dinner drama!!

 

[emmysmommy]

Monday August 27, 2012 - Day 10, Part 3​

Following that horrifying experience, we had excited energy that needed to be released so we had some light hearted moments for our video camera which included a humorous perspective of what we had just experienced.

We ended up over at Pixar Place to check out the TSM ride stand-by wait….uh 100 minute at 10:45pm, no thank you!

Moving on to Streets of America….I love the faux San Francisco and New York city-scape that is so well replicated! We had some fun on the city streets!

Fun in the rain:

Hanging on the steps:

Downtown:

Crossing the police line:

We had a ton of fun clowning around and laughing! This was probably the most fun that we had as a family the entire trip – despite the complete fail at dinner.

We were passing by Star Tours and noticed that the line was relatively short (10 min wait) so that was our only ride for the evening.

The park was closing soon and Beverly Sunset Sweet Spells caught my eye which instantly resulted in a craving for something sweet. After passing on my beloved Carrot Cake cookie since I had already had one this trip, I opted for a macadamia nut white chocolate chunk cookie. This thing was HUGE. I ate about a third of it and had to save the rest for another time which never came since the poor thing was laid to rest in the trash can by the end of our trip.

Yummy options....

My Choice: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie

Michael bought a piece of toffee and enjoyed the delicious toffee-ness.
We exited the park at 11:55pm – we left 5 minutes in the park on the table – darn us! The bus that we took back to CR/BLT was standing room only. That was fine since we would rather stand and get back to the resort rather than wait another 20 minutes. The driver for this bus really liked his brake pedal – or rather he hated it since he kept stomping on it! Standing up and hanging on to the strap thingie made for some interesting balancing acts since I didn’t want to fall into the lap of the people seated next to us. Thankfully, I didn’t fall on anyone.

Once back in our room, Em and I watched some TV while Michael decided to call it a night. Too much excitement this evening for him I suppose! By 1am I was ready to follow.

 

[emmysmommy]

Tuesday August 28, 2012: Day 11 - Part 1​

Seeing as how we had an 8:15am ADR at Crystal Palace and needed to take the short walk to MK, we had to get up and going fairly early. This was one of those mornings that we certainly could have used more sleep but we chose to obey the “master plan”… you know how you make your dining reservations and block times for certain parks months in advance of your vacation and if you deviate from the plan it could make the entire universe implode. Ok, I exaggerate but we did have a schedule to keep!

Yes, there IS a "master plan"

We left our room a little before 8am and followed the walk-way over to MK.

Before we even made it through the entrance we could see that the park had magically been transformed into Halloweentime with the fall decorations. I was excited to see this!

The park opened at 9am so we were admitted through the Event Entrance turnstiles to the left. We have never had to show a reservation at any of the restaurants for admittance but I am always prepared should they ask. At Epcot we use the Character Breakfast entrance and they have our names on a list. Just an observation of the differences!

We HAD to take photos on Main Street since the crowds were very light in this pre-park open time. We started with the Roy Disney bench and then moved down Main Street. I just love that time before park open that makes you feel as if you are part of something special to be walking the streets before they open the gates.

We made it over to Crystal Palace and were checked in at our ADR time. You can read about our character dining experience and another random Dismeet (with Pinkgirl) here!

Dismeet #5 with Pinkgirl:

I love the CP buffet with the great food options and Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, & Eeyore! Following breakfast, we found Peter Pan nearby so waited about a minute to see him. We enjoyed his silly antics and the fact that he was adorable didn’t hurt!

Next, our destination was Tinkerbell’s Magical Nook for a meet and greet with Tink and the fairies. It was about a 15 minute wait which was fine since it was inside an air conditioned building. There was only Terrence (?) and Tinkerbell receiving guests. Tink commented that I must drink a lot of water since I had a flower sprouting out of my head. Why yes, I did! Michael had given me a flower for my hair when we were waiting to see Peter.

With no specific touring plan in place we decided to simply find the rides and attractions with the shortest wait and jump in line. The first ride we did was BTMRR with a 10 minute stand by time. The queue is so much better than D-land – so frontiery! The ride itself appeared to be tamer than its West Coast counterpart.

Em and Michael wanted to do Splash Mtn next – I waited for them since I passed on getting wet so early in the day.

Since the day was warming up I changed my mind about the getting wet thing and we got Fast Passes to return starting at 11:40am. In the meantime, we did the Jessie and Woody character greet. Poor Michael was not happy at all about roasting in the hot sun to see these guys. As much fun as the interaction may be, it was a pretty brutal wait since the heat and humidity was overwhelming.

We had about a ½ hr before our fast passes were good so we took the train around MK for an entire circuit. It was nice to sit and relax for a good while before we were back where we started.

Back at Splash Mtn we proceeded through the FP line and were seated in our log quickly. Now here’s the thing… I believe that there is some strange connection between this ride and the weather deciding to unleash a downpour on us when we go down the flume. This was the second time that it started to POUR on us when we got to the drop. So much for dry clothes! At least Michael had packed the umbrella in his backpack – it was definitely useful.
We sought shelter for a short period of time by some shops. Eventually, we decided to don ponchos and tough it out.

We didn’t really do much before lunch – for which we had a 1:45ADR at Plaza Restaurant. Here’s my lunch review for Plaza Restaurant.

Our typical post lunch laziness didn’t kick in quite yet so we were able to do the Enchanted Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion (10 min. wait), and IASM (5 min. wait.) Finally by 4pm we were ready to move on and do something new and exciting!

Ok, now we were ready to walk back to the hotel since I wanted to take a dip in the BLT pool!

 

[emmysmommy]

Last Wednesday Em and I were able to spend a little time with Paula (Smile4Stamps) while she was at Disneyland for a few days. It was fun to spend a couple hours together on some rides and chatting.

 

[emmysmommy]

Ok, 3 updates plus a bonus Disneyland Dismeet... I think it's time to call it a night. Good thing tomorrow is a holiday!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Wow. Wow wow wow. I cannot get over your Brown Derby experience!!! That sounds really awful - we actually were considering adding that to our ADR lineup for our honeymoon trip - not anymore!!!!

Yay for your CP breakfast! We love it there!! That's too funny about you triggering the rain on Splash Mountain! I guess you're going to get wet anyways, so it isn't a big deal!!

 

[SAT887]

Wow what a long update!! Do you take notes on your trips or journal? It looks like you guys had so much fun! I love all your character meets, you have great pictures from them. Tigger is one of my favorite characters to meet in Disney we always have such great interactions with him.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Great updates!! Well, actually I just read all of them since early Dec. I had fallen behind on the Dis. I finally got around to starting my DR & TR just this past week.

I had completely forgotton about the HBD experience!! I cant imagine why you didnt want to wait 100 min for TSM

Looks like you guys encountered lots of rain those last few days, but you got some cute purchases out of the deal

 

[tallen429]

I'm still reading along!

Can't wait to hear about the BLT pool! I think it might be warm enough during our trip for a little dip at least on one day....

 

[jmm476]

Great updates! That's really nice that your DH and DD are so willing to meet characters. That's always an issue with my DH, he won't wait more than 5 minutes.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Linda67]

Brenda you are spoiling us with so many great updates!

Firstly I am delighted to get the credit for leading you to the dark side that is the Nutella waffle sandwich

Love the photos of you and Em at DHS .... Such fun !!

The ride photo from Splash Mountain is a classic