Four Families, One World: A Mome Rath Meets Beverly! May 29-June 5, 2011

[kwitcherkicken99]

The pool was fantastic! It was massive. There were sections for all abilities of swimmers and ages, including a zero entry section complete with water cannons and splashy things. They had 2 water slides and an additional area with fountains for people to run through.

Around 3:00p, we got a call saying that our room was ready. We gathered everyone up and went to get our room keys. I don’t think ANY of us were quite expecting what was behind room number 6135. We walked through the door to this:

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To the left:

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To the further left:

.

Outside of that room:

I don’t know if you can see it, but there IS a little grill out there. There was also a full bath and a bedroom down that hallway. It contained a great little seating area for reading and two full beds. Back to the right, you passed my room (king bed), second full bath, washer/dryer, and this:

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The master suite. It had its own balcony, sink, rain shower, Jacuzzi tub, and separate toilet area.

We corralled all of the kids out onto the balcony so I could take pictures of the “room” before we moved in. When all was said and done, we were tired. A few members took naps and we decided to dial the extension for Dominoes. Yes… we had a Dominos in the condo.

After dinner, we opted to head to DTD for a bit to pin trade. My kids didn’t trade – ever, but Grandma Norma decided to initiate them to the club. We stopped by the newly expanded Lego Store, saw all the new displays. DS bought a Star Wars Lego set and off we went towards the pin trading station. It was so very crowded that night, being the holiday weekend. I made a pit stop at Basin to pick up a couple of items for my December trip. DS helped me pick out some bath bombs and bath salts for my BFF E’s mom.

We finally made it to the pin trading station after the kids were introduced to pin trading by two very polite DVC hawkers. My family did more looking than buying, but Grandma Norma and Princess Leia went to town!

We fought the crowds that started to disperse rather quickly. A thunderstorm was rolling in and several people left the shopping area for cover. Getting off Disney property was way faster than getting on since it was getting late.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

The JOy of staying off-site SPACE!

Its like DVC with out having to pay for it!!

Though to be honest I don't know if I could ever bring myself to do it. At home i have to drive everywhere for everything thing. Part of the Disney experience for me is the transportation, though I'm not going to lie at a few times each trip I wish i had a vehicle, say for that late night Cali Grill ressie I mean having to go to DTD and then our hotel was a pain in the A*!, but for the most part it works out and I enjoy the whole bus experience

Wait a minute?? you describe the pool where are the picture of the pool?

and sure sure the update may have been right on schedule like she said but after her threatening me back I thought all deserved to see THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!























Thats right thats face face I made when I realized I had no incriminated pictures of Jenn just myself

 

[PrincessCharlie]

WOW, That apartment is fantastic

We're staying offsite in a apartment too and I can only hope it looks something like that.

 

[shocky5]

Definitely amazing!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

 

[creativeamanda]

That is just beautiful!

 

[mom2rtk]

Hey! That's the same room I had at the POP Century last December! Except we had a private pool and hot tub in the room........

 

[daisyyy]

wow.. very nice... Now I know the rooms and condos outside of Disney are nice, but I'm still all about staying on site.. even though the disney transportation can be a pain at times.. it's still part of the whole Disney adventure to me..... but .. seeing your pics... I would stay off site in a heart beat... anything to get me to Disney...

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

The JOy of staying off-site SPACE!

Its like DVC with out having to pay for it!!

Though to be honest I don't know if I could ever bring myself to do it. At home i have to drive everywhere for everything thing. Part of the Disney experience for me is the transportation, though I'm not going to lie at a few times each trip I wish i had a vehicle, say for that late night Cali Grill ressie I mean having to go to DTD and then our hotel was a pain in the A*!, but for the most part it works out and I enjoy the whole bus experience

I swore I'd never stay offsite. EVER. However, when one falls into a hotel with no strings attached... beggers cannot be choosers!!

I was pleasantly surprised with where we were. MK was literally 4 miles away. EP was closer. If we took the "other" way, AK was about 5 miles away. It was sick how close we were.

E - you know my navigation skills and I didn't get lost. At all. THAT should tell you how close we were...

Wait a minute?? you describe the pool where are the picture of the pool?

Be patient grasshopper.

and sure sure the update may have been right on schedule like she said but after her threatening me back I thought all deserved to see THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!























Thats right thats face face I made when I realized I had no incriminated pictures of Jenn just myself

WOW, That apartment is fantastic

We're staying offsite in a apartment too and I can only hope it looks something like that.

This happened to be a Presidential suite on this particular property. They usually stay in the 2-bedroom condos there. As Norma put it, "This cost me a year's worth of points, but I wanted to do it at least once!"

Definitely amazing!

That is just beautiful!

I called DH after I packed my gear away and I told him to have bail money ready... I was willing to go to jail for trespass.

Count me in!!

Hey howdy there partner.

Hey! That's the same room I had at the POP Century last December! Except we had a private pool and hot tub in the room........

What was the room number... I want to request it next time!

wow.. very nice... Now I know the rooms and condos outside of Disney are nice, but I'm still all about staying on site.. even though the disney transportation can be a pain at times.. it's still part of the whole Disney adventure to me..... but .. seeing your pics... I would stay off site in a heart beat... anything to get me to Disney...

Again, this room was the top this property had to offer, but from what I hear, the 2 bedrooms are really great as well.

This trip did solidify my preference for having a car. I love coming and going as I please!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

DISCLAIMER: You will hear about a lot of character hunting today. We only did one ride. DD wasn’t 40” yet, so we were limited on what we could do.

I had made the decision to spend all of our available days in Disney. The rest of the group decided to spend a day at Sea World. I didn’t feel right going somewhere that my DH hadn’t been, plus, we had a lot of ground to cover!

We arrived at EP about 15 minutes after official park opening and were greeted with one of the best sights of the day… the bag check was vacant!

We got through bag check in no time and set off into the park. Despite my kids pleading and begging to stop and ride Spaceship Earth, I had no intention of stopping anywhere in FW. It was the only section of the park open and the attraction lines were ridiculous plus I wanted to head over to the I-Gateway to see if Rapunzel was doing a pop up meet and greet.

I’m glad I made that call. Just after we passed the fountain, we saw the Queen of Hearts! We stopped at the end of the line and were the last family allowed in. DD didn’t want to meet her personally, but asked me to get her an autograph. I made sure to curtsey and ask politely (“YESSS! Your Majesty!) for an additional autograph. The QoH was the first character to comment on our absurdly large pens.

After meeting her, we set off for I-Gateway, but we had to make a pit stop to see a couple of old friends.

There were no pop up meet and greets today, and the nearby CMs were keeping tight lipped – they had no idea what I was talking about… yeah… uh-huh… right…

Since the bridge to France was blocked off we had to walk all the way back around the World Showcase lagoon to visit one of our two elusive princesses. We got just past Norway to find another road block. It was about 10 minutes to 11:00a so we stopped for drinks and some cereal. The CM holding the line was super sweet to chat with. A minute before 11, she dropped the rope and there was a mad dash for China. The CM at the rope said that Mulan met either right on the main drag or near the theater, so I took the kids up to the beautiful koi pond to enjoy the scenery until we saw her. A couple minutes later, Mulan breezed right by us wishing us a good morning as she passed. We followed her to her spot and took our place in line.

Both kids love Mulan’s story and she spent a good amount of time with the kids. Our day was off to a great start!

We decided to go find Snow White next. As we worked our way around WS, we had to make a quick stop and make some noise!

We got to Germany and roamed around. I had never stopped for characters other than Belle in WS, so I had no idea where the actual meets took place. I stopped by the crystal shop in Germany and after I witnessed the two CMs having a personal conversation and ignoring me… they pointed me towards Snow White’s wishing well around the corner. There we found a very lonely CM. Evidently Snow was MIA that morning. The CM told us she hoped that she would be around later in the afternoon – like 3ish. We told the kids the Dwarves threw a big party and Snow had to supervise Dopey cleaning up the mess and that it would probably take a REALLY LONG TIME to clean since he is, well, dopey.

It worked like a charm.

We then decided to head over to see Jasmine, but again, had to make a stop at one of our favorite places - the trains!

Remember me asking you all about potential titles and Uncle Murphy won out??? Well, here’s visit #2 from good ole Muph in a matter of minutes…

Jasmine had been called away on royal duties for the day and since Alladin didn’t have his partner, he decided to take carpet out for a spin. Neither would be in that day.

Working our way around WS still, we decided to cool off in the American Experience. This was an attraction I had never done so I was pretty jazzed when the kids wanted to go. I was pleasantly surprised at how the presentation is put together. DS kept asking me to take pictures of all of the animatronics when they popped up.

We pressed on to another character that I knew would be there. Off to France to see Belle. The kids were so excited. They love Belle. And Beast. I asked if they wanted to wait to see both, but they insisted that we stop for Belle. She was super sweet with the kids, too.

 

[mom2rtk]

What was the room number... I want to request it next time!

You know, I think our December trips might overlap. So I'm afraid I can't divulge that information......

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

You know, I think our December trips might overlap. So I'm afraid I can't divulge that information......

But... but... BUT!!!!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

But... but... BUT!!!!!!

Ah heck, the room's really too big for just us. Wanna share? Invite some friends too. Katie and I just kept getting lost in there by ourselves......

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I have a terrible sense of direction though...

Does it come with a room map as well as a property map???

[psst.... you missed an update!]

I'm on a roll!

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

2 updates in one day! My threat must have done the trick.

Loving the story so far, though I have to say it still is crazy that you have not essentially done anything except walk I'm jealous you got to see the topiaries maybe they will be a permanent resident? or were the others one still in the front as well? If so then I REALLY will be jealous. We really need to work on Lucy's photo etiquette, she like never looks at a the camera

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

2 updates in one day! My threat must have done the trick.

Loving the story so far, though I have to say it still is crazy that you have not essentially done anything except walk I'm jealous you got to see the topiaries maybe they will be a permanent resident? or were the others one still in the front as well? If so then I REALLY will be jealous. We really need to work on Lucy's photo etiquette, she like never looks at a the camera

It was nearly today...

Well, consider our EP options... the kids wanted rides so that leaves TT, Soarin', Maelstrom, and Gran Fiesta (I do not count Ellen's as a ride...). The only ones Lucy can do are Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta. I had to save Figment for the rest of the group.

All the kids wanted to do was find characters... and HEY! I lost 10 lbs on vacation!

As for her actually looking at the camera, remember, she's 2 and on her own schedule. She'll look at some, but not others. I'm still working on it.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Where is everyone? Am I boring you???

Am I moving too quickly?

Do I need better links?

HELP! This is my first TR!

 

[shocky5]

Where is everyone? Am I boring you???

Am I moving too quickly?

Do I need better links?

HELP! This is my first TR!

I'm here!!!

Great TR! Love everything about it - the pics are great!

How did you manage to be in what seems to be an empty EP?

 

[Caretames1]

I like your Queen of Hearts Photo. We still haven't run into her. We were told she was going to be in one place, but no luck. I think that Disney should leave the nice Cars shrubs, such a nice photo!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

We got there at 9. NO one was there in the morning (at least where we headed).

By starting in the back first, we had lots of elbow room.

Plus it was the recommended day according to Touring Plans.

ITA... they should leave the topiaries up. All the others were down after the Flower & Garden festival, but the Cars topiary was put out WAY late. So they left it up a little longer.


And this completely OT but semi-curly hair + humidity = PITA!