Fairy Godmother + Princess = Magical Trip

[Piper]

Okay! I'm ready to start. I left a link to this thread on my PTR....hope everyone can find it!

Cast:
Fairy Godmother= me--Piper
Princess=Giuliana age 5
Queen Mom=Isabel, Giuliana's mother

I won't go over all the planning as that's in the pre-trippie. I will say that all the planning really paid off and a sprinkling of Disney Magic helped, too. We had several unique and special experiences including a Dream!

I'm still doing the last of the unpacking, so this is really going to be short--just a recap of the first day--travel day.

If you just look at the first day of the trip, you would think the whole thing was a nightmare----wrong! We just got most of the bad stuff out of the way at the beginning.

Rewind to 4:30 a.m. on June 24th.

I am up and dressed and the lift equipped shuttle that is taking me to the airport is right on time! But the driver refuses to help with my luggage. So I am driving my ECV one-handed, towing a check-in suitcase, with my carry-on on the floor of the ECV and a bag of goodies for Giuli and one for Isabel and my baggalini overflowing the basket. No fun--believe me (not counting the number it was doing on my elbows--which have decided lately that they need to get arthritis in them--I guess they didn't want the other joints to have something they didn't!) I get loaded on the van and we're off to the airport.

I do curb side check-in of my bag (again with no help) and I'm off to go through security! That is always an adventure. I have a plate and 8 screws in my neck and my braces have some metal screws in the plastic--so I always have to be hand searched. They went over the ecv and me and I just talked pleasantly to them and cooperated as much as I could. We got through it in good order. On to the gate!

I get to the gate and tell the attendant that I am gate checking the ECV. No problems. I keep waiting for Giuli and Isabel. Just as I am getting ready to board, I get a text message that they are not going to make the plane--they'll catch the next one. Now, this isn't a really big surprise as being on time isn't Isabel's strong point. I have decided before the trip that I will just go with the flow. This is my 8th trip to WDW and I am not frantic.

My only concern is that we must use Mears because we are staying at the Dolphin and I need a lift. When we arrive I go to the Mears counter and arrange for them to split the prepaid ticket into mine/theirs. I call Isabel & I get her voice mail and give her instructions. She calls back and says now she is getting on the second flight after mine (she actually ended up on the one that left at 4:xx)

I check in at the Dolphin and get a HC room and the adjoining one for The Princess and her QM. They have a view of Magic Kingdom. As a matter of fact, I can lay in bed and see Wishes! I arrange the goodie bags on their beds. I have included lanyards and pins to trade on each one. There is a letter to Giuli from Mickey welcoming her to WDW. There is one telling her of her BBB reservation and another inviting her to lunch in the castle.

Then I ordered a Reuben sandwich from room service. MMMMM good....It was so big I couldn't eat it all (and I was very hungry.)

That is when I got the call saying that they wouldn't be in until late. So I decided to go to MGM and get my GAP for staying in the shade where possible. It only took about a hour and a half to get there, get the GAP and get back.

I took a bath and then a nice nap. The beds at the Dolphin are wonderful. When I woke up, I just rested and read....I knew that the coming days would be tiring and I wanted a full tank of energy.

Finally, I got the call that they were leaving the airport. I waited a bit and then went down to the lobby to wait. Soon, they came through the door and the Princess started running to me. I hadn't seen her since the last day of school. We went to the rooms and they settled in. Then we paid a visit to Picabu for some food. We took it back to the room, ate and then turned in.

Not a very exciting day....mostly just hanging around waiting--first for my ride, then the plane, then the rest of my party. But it gave me a chance to rest and unwind. It also confirmed my determination to just go with the flow and adopt a que sera sera attitude!!

Next: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26038140#post26038140

 

[DisneyFun08]

Wow! I'm glad you got all of the unpleasantness out of the way first. Now, let the party begin!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe the driver wouldn't lift a finger to help you with your bags. No tip for him/her!


The link from your pre-trip report doesn't work! Neither does the one in you signature.

 

[Piper]

The Link is fixed now!

 

[Donald is #1]

Wow, they wouldn't help you with your luggage???? Is that normal? The airport limo services that I have used (though not a lift equiped shuttle) have always taken the luggage from me as soon as I get it out the door.

 

[Piper]

Wow, they wouldn't help you with your luggage???? Is that normal? The airport limo services that I have used (though not a lift equiped shuttle) have always taken the luggage from me as soon as I get it out the door.

Nope, No help. They put it in the van, but wouldn't help me get it from my apartment to the van. They had a sign that said "Passengers are responsible for their own luggage." They don't tell you that when you book--I'm just glad I managed. If I hadn't been able to, you would have seen a very messy, disheveled person riding around WDW.

The company is SuperShuttle and I won't be using them again!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I found you!
I'm sure all the work and preparation you put into the trip felt worth it when Giuliana ran into you arms at arrival.

I wish I was Giuliana and had found that package on my bed at check in. You are a special lady Piper!

 

[Piper]

I found you!
I'm sure all the work and preparation you put into the trip felt worth it when Giuliana ran into you arms at arrival.

I wish I was Giuliana and had found that package on my bed at check in. You are a special lady Piper!

Thank you. It was worth it. One of the things I love about Pre-K is the unconditional love you get from the kids. My class is a very "huggy" environment. I hug the kids and they hug each other.

My supervising principal was in my room on a Friday last year when 2 boys came to me to "tattle" on each other. They had been working together really well all week, but had just started to get on each other's nerves! So I told them that it looked to me like they were tired of playing together and asked if they would like to work by themselves for a while. They both said "no." So I told them to go talk about what they would need to do to finish the day together and come back and let me know what they had decided. They came back with their arms around each other and said they were going to share better. So I told them to go back to their workstation.

Mary wrote on her observation sheet that "redirections were handled as teaching opportunities and modeled respect. The classroom is a warm, nurturing environment where the students enthusiasm for songs, stories, reading, workstations, and learning was so strong it could almost be felt." That really made me feel good because my philosophy about teaching is that my main job is to help children want to learn. Otherwise, I'm just spinning my wheels.

I've been uploading pictures and am almost ready to post about our first park day. Hopefully, later this afternoon!

 

[DisneyFun08]

Can't wait to read about the first day and see yur pictures!!!!

 

[Piper]

We managed to get up and get out to the bus stop by 7:45. Since they only take 2 ECVs on a bus, we needed to make sure we were there early. Also, people resent the ECVs being loaded first (they don't think that we are the last off!) so we wanted to be there before a big crowd. A bus came a few minutes later and the driver was very surprised at my parallel parking talents!!!! I told him that is how I store my ECV at home--parallel park it between a plant and an armoire.

A CM was going around giving Mickey stickers and pixie dust to the kids. Giuliana was so excited. (Instead of throwing her pixie dust, she stored it in the pouch on her lanyard.) We got to see the opening show and then went in---straight to Dumbo. After a 10 minute wait for that it was off to Peter Pan (this turned out to be Giuliana's favorite ride in the MK) we got a fast pass for her to do it later. Then we snapped a picture of her at the back of the castle.

We rode Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Philharmagic, Small World and the Carousel with minimal waits (5-10 minutes.)

Then it was off to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. Here is what she looked like when the FGIT took her hair out of the ponytail.

She had two really good and entertaining FGITS. They worked their magic on her. She made really good choices about what she wanted--they don't let parents choose, only the girls.

Then it was over and this was the result. The look on her face when she saw herself for the first time was priceless--that one is on the photopass pictures and I'll get it in a few weeks.

We brought her own dress--it was her Halloween costume last year.

We were finished just in time to check in for our lunch reservation at CRT. The food was really good and of course the character interaction was great! Giuli curtsied to each Princess as they came up. I'll only post the picture with Aurora as she is Giuli's favorite princess!

After we finished eating, we went down main street to the photoshoot from the BBB package. Just outside the entrance, we saw:

I don't have the pictures from the shoot yet. As you can tell, all my pictures cienter around Giuli!

We went back to the hotel and got ready for a rest. By this time it was 2:30! Here is a pic of Giuliana and her mom sitting by the fountain at the Dolphin.

We love how the reflection of the flash make Isabel look like she has "magic shoes!"

Now, I had given both Isabel and Giuli lanyards with 14 pins each to trade and they really got into it! Since it was their first time there, I wasn't sure if they would like it, but, WOW, they did (sigh of relief!)

We rested a little longer than we had planned I even slept and that is a rare thing (but not at WDW it seems!) We didn't get back until around 7. We went straight to Peter Pan and used the fast pass, but we still got trapped in the traffic for Spectromagic. They had closed off a lot of paths around the castle for the fireworks, so we couldn't get from "here to there"--we even ran into an area where there were a bunch of abandoned strollers blocking the path and no way to go! But we did get to see Spectro--just not from where I had planned! I had brought a bunch of glow necklaces and we gave them out to kids who were caught in the crush of humanity . I ws surprised that only one said thank you! Giuli's hair survived her nap very well.

As a matter of fact, it survived the night too (and probably would have lasted for several days--but we thought 2 days was enough.)

After Spectro, we moved down to Main Street and secured a place by the ice cream shop to watch Wishes. It really wasn't too terribly crowded and we had a good view of Tinkerbell flying! We really liked it. We moved through the stores to get out after the show and made our way to our bus stop. We had a very short wait and then off to the Dolphin and bed.

Next: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26104161#post26104161

 

[diva122094]

I am going to read along with this.It is really good so far!!!

 

[DisneyFun08]

Wow! You got a lot accomplished on your day at Magic Kingdom, even with a longer rest time than planned. They did a great job on your princess. She is adorable!

 

[Piper]

Wow! You got a lot accomplished on your day at Magic Kingdom, even with a longer rest time than planned. They did a great job on your princess. She is adorable!

Thank you. I subscribed to Tour Guide Mike and planned around what a 5 year old girl would like to do. She absolutely loved every ride!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

The classroom is a warm, nurturing environment where the students enthusiasm for songs, stories, reading, workstations, and learning was so strong it could almost be felt." That really made me feel good because my philosophy about teaching is that my main job is to help children want to learn. Otherwise, I'm just spinning my wheels.

Wow! What a great evaluation. I'd be making that one into a plaque.

Had a bit of a funny imagining you spinning your wheels on your ECV in class. You were all decked out in your disney finest, the fantasmic music was playing and the classroom was filled with smoke and colored lights.

Sounds like you had a busy first day and packed in alot of stuff before most people even entered the park. The TGM sure does know what he talking about. I have to really push my crew to make it to rope drop but it is so worth it.

 

[Piper]

Just two pictures today. Isabel didn't upload all the DHS pictures--so I don't have access to them!

Our second full day was spent at DHS. We made rope drop and headed straight to TSM. We got a fast pass to use later. We were directed to the fast pass line and it was a very short wait. Super ride! We stopped into One Man’s Dream and ran smack dab into the Dream team. They were handing out Dream Ears!

Then a CM came up to us and asked if we wanted to see Prince Caspian ride in to open Narnia. We did! So he took us out through the entrance and we had a great view. Hansom guy! It was time for the Little Mermaid and again, we walked right in. Giuliana really enjoyed the show. She has a tape of Princess songs and she knows many of the songs from all the Disney shows!

Our next stop was the Magic of Disney Animation. We all enjoyed it a lot and when we got out we saw Mickey and the Incredibles!

(Note the Princess hair is still in place!) Then we did the drawing (Dopey) and went out into a drizzly world! It would stay that way for the rest of the day. Next up was Playhouse Disney.

When we got out, we were feeling a little hungry so we went into Starring Rolls. They had very good sandwiches. We got them to go and headed over to BATB. We timed it perfectly and were asked if we wanted to sit up front. We said, “of course!” We had just enough time to eat before the show. A lot of other people had the same idea!

This is where I started having ECV trouble. I had gone to a battery place a couple of weeks before we left to get new batteries for my ECV (they are 3 years old) and was told that I didn’t need new ones! As a matter of fact, they told me they would pay for them if I had to replace them on my trip. Well, I didn’t replace them, but I had to stop to recharge them a lot! When the batteries get old, they do not recharge fully. That and the heat and hills, caused havoc!

I went into One Man’s Dream and recharged for an hour. I enjoyed people watching and listening to the comments about the exhibit. During that time, Isabel and Giuli did Muppet Vision, Sounds Dangerous, and Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Using TGM was really paying off!

When they returned, we did TSM one more time. The ride broke down just after we viewed our scores. Then it was off to the Great Movie Ride. We got the version with the gangsters. Off to HSM2. We got a great viewing spot. Giuli took oodles of pictures, but I don’t have any of them with me to post!

Then off to dinner at the Brown Derby. Yummmm! You may have noticed that a lot of time had passed. We had decided to just stay at the studios for the whole day. Now it was 6:00 and we decided to just go back to the hotel and skip Fantasmic. It was a difficult decision, but we were very wet and tired. It rained almost the whole day! That combined with TGM’s green day had let us experience a lot.

So we left and took our boat back to the Dolphin. By this time, it was around 7:30. We just took hot showers, hung out and went to bed early.

Tomorrow, we had 8:05 ressies at the Crystal Palace.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I love your trip report!!

I am so mad at that van driver . That is ridiculous, seriously. They should have told you when you made the reservations.

You are so much more laid back than I am. I would have been freaking out about them missing the flight and not getting there until way later. I need to start being more like you.

Giuliana is gorgeous!! I loved that you had all those surprises waiting in her room when she got there. How magical. I loved the BBB photos. Her smile just lights up everything. You got so much done, that is fantastic.

I am so sorry about your battery problems. They should have listened to you about your batteries. Congratulations on the dream ears, they are so pretty.

I love how you spread the pixie dust giving out the glow sticks. You are such a wonderful person.
I can't wait to read more.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I dream of running into the dream team. What luck!

You got alot accomplished again today. It seemed like it was worth the trade off to miss fantasmic.

I can't wait to try the new toy story ride at DS.

 

[Piper]

Another early morning--do you see a pattern here?

Off to the MK for breakfast at the CP. Very delicious!

After all the characters had been around, it was 9:00 and we went to Pirates Of the Caribbean and walked on. Yo, ho! Then over to the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan again and then over to wait in line for Ariel.

Since it was still early, the line was only a couple of other kiddos. Now this is where this day in the park comes to an end for me. I really wanted Giuliana and Isabel to have time to themselves. I figured MK was the best park since they had already been there on Wednesday and were somewhat familiar. They knew how to use fastpass to good advantage. So I took a slow exit from the park--stopping along the way to look at the goodies in the shops. I went back to the Dolphin, laid around and read a couple of books, ordered room service for lunch--a yummy Reuben sandwich and recharged both the ECV and me.

The girls were able to do a lot of things, Buzz, Stitch, HM, Barnstormer, go through Mickey and Minnie's houses, Swiss Family Tree House, and redo a few of Giuli's favorite things. They watched the afternoon parade and then left the park.

We went down to Picabu for dinner and then it was off to the pool for an evening swim.

EPCOT tomorrow

 

[Piper]

I dream of running into the dream team. What luck!

You got alot accomplished again today. It seemed like it was worth the trade off to miss fantasmic.

I can't wait to try the new toy story ride at DS.

You'll love toy story. We did that before the girls did Buzz and they didn't like Buzz nearly as well.

 

[Piper]

I love your trip report!!

I am so mad at that van driver . That is ridiculous, seriously. They should have told you when you made the reservations.

You are so much more laid back than I am. I would have been freaking out about them missing the flight and not getting there until way later. I need to start being more like you.

Giuliana is gorgeous!! I loved that you had all those surprises waiting in her room when she got there. How magical. I loved the BBB photos. Her smile just lights up everything. You got so much done, that is fantastic.

I am so sorry about your battery problems. They should have listened to you about your batteries. Congratulations on the dream ears, they are so pretty.

I love how you spread the pixie dust giving out the glow sticks. You are such a wonderful person.
I can't wait to read more.

My initial reaction to them not being at the airport was panic. Then I calmed down and realized that it wasn't something I could control. Then I told myself that the worst that could happen was they wouldn't show at all and I would have to tour solo--I've done that before and really enjoyed it. I had already invested the time and money in sewing outfits and buying stuff (from the dollar store) for Giuli. Giuli could still wear the outfits at home and I could give out the treats to other children. I had gotten a lot of pins for them both--and again, I could just give them out to other children. It really wasn't going to hurt me--it would be Giuliana that missed out if they didn't come. I would have been very sorry, but it just wasn't anything I could control. I could either worry myself sick or adopt a que sera sera attitude.

I've wasted a lot of time in my life worrying about things I couldn't control. I'm 63 and every day I'm alive is a gift. I am still going to plan and give my all to what I do, but I have decided not to waste any more time over things I can't change!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I am still going to plan and give my all to what I do, but I have decided not to waste any more time over things I can't change!

Easier said than done for me but I am working on this as well.

How nice of you to give them some time to themselves as well. I've yet to experience a hotel room to myself for more than an hour or so. The thought of ordering room service and reading a book all by myself sounds heavenly. Although I would have been tempted to ride at least one more ride by myself on my way out of the park. I'm a sucker for It's a small world and the carasol of progress.