Get a little Give a little, Pixie Dust that is - Completed

[KathyM2]

Sounds like a pretty good day so far....I have never actually heard bad things about Chef Mickey's for breakfast...It's pretty hard to mess that up. We went for dinner once and it wasn't stellar, but it was more about the characters for us anyway there. Glad you had a good experience though. They definitely should have listened to you on the whole walking to MK thing...I guess the monorail makes sense on the way back but not on the way there to MK...I LOVE the HM too...I think you could probably say my favourite ride.

 

[skier_pete]

Would agree walk to MK, monorail back! It's the way back that the feet need the relief. (though even the way back I suspect walking is faster!)

Hall of presidents for the first "Ride"? What's wrong with you people?

 

[NJlauren]

Sounds like a pretty good day so far....I have never actually heard bad things about Chef Mickey's for breakfast...It's pretty hard to mess that up. We went for dinner once and it wasn't stellar, but it was more about the characters for us anyway there. Glad you had a good experience though. They definitely should have listened to you on the whole walking to MK thing...I guess the monorail makes sense on the way back but not on the way there to MK...I LOVE the HM too...I think you could probably say my favourite ride.

I was so worried about that meal, between bad reviews here and just general dislike for buffets by some in our group I was so worried. Total relief when it went well!! We ended up walking after that and it was much better!

Would agree walk to MK, monorail back! It's the way back that the feet need the relief. (though even the way back I suspect walking is faster!)

Hall of presidents for the first "Ride"? What's wrong with you people?

We ended up walking back too every time!!

I know Hall of Presidents first as our first attraction/ride we are crazy! Also all my planning and analyzing was out the window before we hit the first ride!!! Oh well goes to show you, you can still be spontaneous at Disney, because that definitely wasn't my plan!

 

[Glittercat]

The night before we had agreed to meet at Chef Mickey at 7:20 for our reservation!

What a nice picture of all of you!

Everyone else had similar items, but my MIL kept saying how good the frittata was, she talked about it quite often during the trip.

My husband is half Basque and makes a mean frittata. lol. Mickey waffles look so cute though.

I think my sister needs a lesson in photography

Finally DD is happy to see Pluto!

Such an adorable photo!

After this I told my DH going forward when I want to do something I am saying this is what we are doing and everyone else can do what they want to do.

good plan!

I do think it’s rather silly that the MK is so close to the contemporary and you need to do the whole loop… down side 1 to the contemporary for me. We ended up walking the rest of the trip which worked out great.

Wow, I had no idea that the monorail ran in such an inefficient loop.

We arrived at the MK around 9:15 we had purchased the memory maker so I told everyone to please try to stop for as many photo pass photographers as they could.

You've certainly made me consider getting Memory Maker now.

I love the Haunted mansion!

Such a fun and well themed ride!

Hall of presidents for the first "Ride"? What's wrong with you people?

When my daughter was 10 she just had to see Hall of Presidents as her 1st attraction. I thought she was nuts but took her anyway. My husband and son flat out refused. Have to admit the animatronics were pretty neat though.

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

Day 1 Part 3 - Dinner

Pixie Dust Received 3 (Theme Park View, Check in compensation, Sharpie!)

​

Wow what a nightmare check in! I think you deserved all your pixie dust for that!

Your sister and I share photography skills! But at least she got your DD in the photos if no one else!

I agree about how far MK is by Monorail but I do love that it is the first stop when leaving MK. GF gets there first in the morning but CR gets home quicker at night! And the Poly...is closest to TTC! Woohooo TTC....said no one ever!

 

[NJlauren]

My husband is half Basque and makes a mean frittata. lol. Mickey waffles look so cute though

You have to try a Mickey Waffle, they rock!! I love them as did DD!

Wow, I had no idea that the monorail ran in such an inefficient loop.

It only goes one way, and the way it goes wasn't to my benefit... next time....

You've certainly made me consider getting Memory Maker now

I loved it, we were only there for 3 park days and had 238 pictures (including the stock pictures) I would absolutely do it again, especially if you make an effort to get your pictures taken. I also like that I can add boarders, and the signatures (like the Mickey signature on the Chef Mickey Photo).

 

[NJlauren]

Wow what a nightmare check in! I think you deserved all your pixie dust for that!

Your sister and I share photography skills! But at least she got your DD in the photos if no one else!

I agree about how far MK is by Monorail but I do love that it is the first stop when leaving MK. GF gets there first in the morning but CR gets home quicker at night! And the Poly...is closest to TTC! Woohooo TTC....said no one ever!

The check in was a nightmare, but it all worked out in the end, with Pixie Dust!

DD was the one that mattered in the end! Sorry everyone else!

The Monorail thing just annoyed me, but we ended up only walking to and from the MK after this...

<---- TTC and Poly, but I will say that is kinda the best of both worlds, 2nd stop to MK and walk to TTC so you can get to and from EPCOT quicker...

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Welcome to my first Trip Report!

I always budget us to leave 15 minutes early.

Smart

We used the yellow MDE Tags! For those who followed my PTR I was a little worried my in laws may not use theirs, or I would forget to pack something in my carry on, but all worked out!

GLad to hear!

Checked in flew through security they gave us TSA precheck (score!)

Awesome!

My check in guy, Bob, was really nice we got a theme park view room (UPGRADE SCORE!)

and connecting rooms with my in-laws, I am not sure how this happened, or why they did this but I wasn't exactly excited about it

I believe that when they know the two groups are families they try to group them together to be helpful. But I totally get not wanting a connecting room with a MIL

I wanted to know why I couldn’t just get the temporary room, it’s in the garden wing and you paid for tower, I didn’t really want to down grade, but I didn’t want to wait till after dinner either. So I then explained that this is really unacceptable, and check in is at 3pm, and your telling me my room SHOULD be ready by 9pm! I purposely booked The Wave so I could have a place to go if DD got fussy during dinner since it was the first night. The lady at the front desk said I could go to the room in the garden wing till my room was ready. Just what I wanted, to be in a room for a few hours with DD on the first night and moving later, I don’t think so. She asked if I would like to speak to a manger, you bet I did!

What a mess!

Anthony explained that the hotel is 40 years old (44 I should have told him) and that 10 rooms a day are being selected to be deep cleaned, and checked with an engineer for any issues so the hotel can be around another 40 years. So usually this is completed by 7-8pm every night but sometimes earlier, sometimes later, and our rooms were selected.

So they decided to do this on someone's check in day?

just 4 doors down but we wouldn’t have connecting rooms, well that would be wonderful! Connecting room issue solved and we got our room before dinner.

My in-laws would still need to wait as another room was not ready yet. He also then told us he would like to comp us each 1 night in the hotel, dinner that night, and 3 additional FP+ each for the next day (the four guest in these two rooms that was 12 FP for the MK the next day!!)! We were told the FP were good for everything except parade and Wishes viewing. As far as I was concerned this was a win-win for everyone.

Sounds like the decent thing to do.

Unfortunately changing my room and getting our magic bands reprogramed took another 15-20 minutes.

So I am really sorry but I didn’t take pictures of any food all trip, nada, nothing, so you will just need to take my word for it.

I didn't do much better than you did!

She said she would check, and she came back with a thin tip sharpie (it turned out to be perfect!). However it was the stores! Not even for sale, and she gave it to us!

I now know or now remember that when you call down it doesn’t go to the front desk, is that true for future reference?

I said lets walk, my dad said let’s take the monorail, we will be walking enough today; I said I would rather walk because the monorail ride to the MK is so long. No one really acknowledged what I was saying, the monorail pulled up and they said 25 min to the MK… UGH!

My DH could see my annoyance and was like let’s just walk, so we now left the monorail and walked. This was the 1st of my 2 big mistakes on day 1, I knew I wanted to walk from the beginning but I should have been stronger about it, and insisted on walking from the beginning as we would have been at the MK 15 minutes earlier.

Good DH!

fter this I told my DH going forward when I want to do something I am saying this is what we are doing and everyone else can do what they want to do.

The best way to deal with large groups really.

I do think it’s rather silly that the MK is so close to the contemporary and you need to do the whole loop… down side 1 to the contemporary for me. We ended up walking the rest of the trip which worked out great.

The walk really isn't that bad. We ended up taking a few taxis there. (Long stories I'll reveal more in my TR)

 

[LashesandDashes]

Following along!

 

[NJlauren]

I believe that when they know the two groups are families they try to group them together to be helpful. But I totally get not wanting a connecting room with a MIL

I think most people can identify with this... I love her and all but no thanks!

So they decided to do this on someone's check in day?

Your telling me! I think they sell all rooms (if they can) instead of not selling a room for a night to fix it, which would make sense... but its all about the bottom line

The walk really isn't that bad. We ended up taking a few taxis there. (Long stories I'll reveal more in my TR)

I am looking forward to your TR!

Following along!

Happy to have you!

 

[NJlauren]

Day 2 Part 2 – More Magic Kingdom

When we exited the Haunted Mansion DD was up so we found a place to park the stroller, and head to used our FP for Peter Pan, it was good from 10-11. DD seemed to like it but was very into the purple black lights. We exited and decided to hop on it’s a small world. DD LOVED It’s a small world… I was pretty much expecting this, she was ‘dancing’ and clapping and loving it. I don’t know why but I really wanted to ride the carousel with DD. So we took one of the ‘coaches’ and went on me, DD and my In-laws. We had FP for Winnie the Pooh from 11-12, so we did that next. After Winnie the Pooh I suggested that we try Mine Train with the extra FP’s, the FP line was really long so we went passed. We went back and got the stroller, by the time we circled back the FP line was short so we used 3 FP’s for Mine Train, DH and FIL said it was short but really smooth and they liked it, , my Dad was not impressed he gave it a sold C+.

While they were on Mine Train I gave DD a bottle and we realized we were all getting hungry. This is where mistake number 2 is. I had planned to head back to the hotel for a break around this part of the day, so we could get out of the heat and relax. Well DD was doing good and had just fallen back asleep so we pushed on. We headed to Cosmic Rays, I feel like this is a default place since it’s so big and at a good intersection. I think the food is just ok. Now while my family was getting food DD woke up, so we headed in. I had the grilled chicken sandwich it was fine. DD liked the fries. We headed to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor next. They said we would make the show they were currently loading… We didn’t, so we ended up waiting and now DD was getting fussy she wanted to be down and playing and wasn’t entertained because there was nothing going on as we waited.

We got in and then everyone started screaming and playing into the show and DD wasn’t happy. DH and I have taken the approach that when DD is disturbing other people when possible we should remove her from the situation. DH took her out, the rest of the show was really funny as always, I love this attraction, and I think it is underrated.
We put DD back in the Ergo and decided to ride another family favorite the people mover offtopic:OFF TOPIC I know I know it’s the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover, but I still think of it as the WEDwe people mover, to this day I also call the walk ways in airports that move people along, WEDwe Peoplemovers,). DD fell asleep on this ride, so we picked the stroller back up and just started to walk. One of my favorite things to do in the parks, wonder and take it all in, more PP Pictures!



Sleeping but we got the magic shot! (overall i loved the magic shots, but wish i asked for them more often)



Being Silly if you can't be silly in Disney, where can you??

We headed back towards Frontierland and we arrived in front of Country Bear Jamboree (another family favorite, are you getting the trend we love attractions that I think are underrated by others). DD slept through most of Country Bears, she woke up at the end and seemed to enjoy it.

We exited just as the FoF parade was starting. So we had a pretty good spot which was shady and watch the parade, I really enjoyed it, but it was funny everyone kept asking who is that who is that, I liked that I knew who almost everyone was. The only thing no one knew was where is the dragon from (the one that spits fire)? We weren’t sure, anyone know? (no parade pics either!)

After the parade was over we crossed back over to Adventure land got some Dole Whips and my husband proclaimed he needed a coffee, and I didn’t blame him . He headed to coffee; after we had Dole Whips we headed to meet up with Him and stumbled on the baby care center. So Grammie (MIL) and I took DD in to the baby care center for a diaper and outfit change. Then I let DD play in here for a little while, it really made a huge difference in her mood.


Loving the Baby Care Center!

When DH got to the baby care center with the coffee we all enjoyed it and regrouped. It was around 4 or 415 at this point and it was almost time for Anna & Elsa! We had two sets of FP+ the guys were going to Buzz and the girls are going to A&E, we had 3 different FP with over lapping times for A&E so we had to arrive between 4:30 and 5. We agreed to meet at the Flag for the Flag Retreat after these FP’s.

We headed to A&E! I asked the person manning the FP line if my MIL and I could give one of our extra FP to a mother and daughter in the stand by line. She was not impressed, well that was an utter fail (but I tried!). We went in to meet Anna and Elsa and I thought this interaction was really good. We met Anna first and she was bubbly and funny, we then met Elsa and she was really nice, made a few comments about how we were dressed for summer and she thought Olaf would really like DD. I know others have said this interaction seemed rushed and maybe it was because we were only doing pictures and for obvious reason DD wasn’t overly interested but I didn’t feel rushed at all. My Sister and I really enjoyed this, my MIL well she didn’t get it, she thought we should have gone on a ride and then met them.


Even on the ground with us! Talking about Olaf!


A little worried she was going to turn us to ice at first but then we warmed up!


3 of 12 Bonus FP’s used

Day 2 Part 3 – Magic Kingdom, BOG and we get to give out Pixie Dust!​

 

[NJlauren]

Day 2 Part 3 – Magic Kingdom, BOG and we get to give out Pixie Dust!

We headed back to the Flag retreat to meet the guys, we stopped for a balloon and some more MM pictures.


Not the best Photographer we had, but to show the range of quality

Love this one!!

My husband loved the Flag Retreat, he loves America and thought this was really nice, I made sure to make a point of catching this on our MK day. DD seemed to enjoy this while playing with her Balloon. We then decided to walk back up Main Street by going through the shops. We picked up some gifts and some items for DD of course. DH and Poppy (his Dad) wanted to ride Space Mountain so we decided to us an extra FP for them on this. We got to Space Mountain and the INCREDIBLES Super Dance Party was going on. Well DD LOVED this. DH and Poppy went on Space Mountain, My dad, Sister and her BF went on Carousel of Progress, I really wanted to take DD on it, but she was loving the dance party clapping, kicking, and laughing so I decided to stay with her and my MIL at the dance party.

After the dance party it was time to head to BOG for Dinner!! However I was trying to rush everyone as it was about 6:10 already and we had a 6:25 reservation… Well we didn’t get to BOG till 6:20 and the line to check in was a good 15 minutes long, annoying! But we finally got our buzzer and were waiting to be seated. We got seated in the rose gallery which actually made everyone pretty happy, it wasn’t as loud as the ballroom, even if I was hoping for the west wing. I was rather annoyed that half of the rose gallery was empty. I understand that if the restaurant isn’t booking up they staff less people so there are empty tables. However considering how hard it is to get a reservation at BOG I think they should staff it better and open more reservations. Someone else pointed out maybe the kitchen can’t handle all the people, well that is just ridiculous! So I did find that rather annoying, but overall was happy with this meal.


Us playing around with DD, but you can see all the empty tables....

The food over all was really good, my DH didn’t love his, but everyone else loved what they got, a few shrimp and scallop dishes, braised pork and salmon, (DH had the steak). I had the grey stuff for desert but I was rather disappointed, but am looking forward to trying the cupcake at lunch on a future trip. We ended up not waiting for the Beast, when we got to the room for the picture he had just left and there was a line. DD had a long day and was ready to go. We left dinner and DD was a sleep before we left Fantasyland.

As we were walking passed A&E I decided to ask the person manning the FP line about giving a family some of our extra FPs as we still had 7 left! I went up to the CM and explained that I had some extra FP for some issues at my hotel, and I would really like to give them to a family waiting in the stand by line (I think a 60 minute wait was posted). The CM said he didn’t know how to transfer FP’s. So I said I was here earlier today and since there is no 2nd FP check point could I just pull someone from the line and use our bands to get them in. He said sure!!! I was so excited!

I headed to the stand by line and went on line I wanted to be sure to pick a family a 4, as I wasn’t sure I would be able to scan one band more than once. I spotted a mom carrying her DD (maybe 3?), with another DD and a Dad. I asked them how many they were and they said 4! I explained the situation and told them I wasn’t 100% sure it would work but I would like to try. I think they thought they might be on a hidden camera show, or I was just messing with them. The little girl had one of the cards to time the line, so we had to give that back which was a little awkward…. We got back to the CM at the FP line I grabbed all the Magic Bands that had extra FP’s on them and scanned them all and they got in line. The Mother and Little girl hugged me and thanked me. I thanked the CM and he said no problem, I live for stuff like that, which really made me feel good. It made me feel like there are still CM’s out there who want to give guests Pixie Dust and in this case I helped that CM do that. Well and I felt pretty good about it too.

We headed out of the MK and back to the Contemporary, we walked . We got back to the hotel, we bathed DD even thought she was asleep she needed a bath, she was gross from sweat and sunscreen, and then we got lucky she feel right back to sleep in the pack and play and we watched Wishes!


Also a picture of our view as I realized I haven't posted one and this update is short on pictures. (obviously taken in the morning not when we got home!)

Pixie Dust Given – 4 A&E FP’s

9 of 12 Bonus FP’s used (I know it’s like a sin we let 3 go to waste)

FitBit Steps - 15,164

Day 3 Part 1 - Animal Kingdom​

 

[Elevationist]

I'm here, I'm here!

WOW! I'm sorry to here about the hassle over the rooms, but it sounds like in the end the manager REALLY took very good care of ya'll! That's awesome! And the theme park view upgrade? Pixie Dust ABOUNDS!

I love all the magic shots from MK! So much fun!

Ha! The picture of your little one with the napkin on her head... TOO CUTE!!!!

 

[NJlauren]

I'm here, I'm here!

WOW! I'm sorry to here about the hassle over the rooms, but it sounds like in the end the manager REALLY took very good care of ya'll! That's awesome! And the theme park view upgrade? Pixie Dust ABOUNDS!

I love all the magic shots from MK! So much fun!

Ha! The picture of your little one with the napkin on her head... TOO CUTE!!!!

Thanks for joining in!!
I agree, the manager took really good care of us, and I feel very grateful with how it worked out! The view was nice, getting to watch Wishes from the room!

I love all the magic shots, I just wish I asked for more we got a LOT with Tink, not like that is bad, just would have liked more.

Thank you for the kind words about DD , honestly sometimes the littlest things entertain her, so easy to please, sometimes!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

The only thing no one knew was where is the dragon from (the one that spits fire)? We weren't sure, anyone know? (no parade pics either!)

It's Maleficent from SLeeping beauty

 

[skier_pete]

I was going to chime in saying the dragon was Maleficent, but someone beat me to it. Looks like you had a good day. Not sure why you called pushing through mistake #2? It didn't look like it lead to any breakdowns or anything. That was awesome that you were able to give away your bonus FPs. We used to give away extra FP all the time (or at least try to - often people wouldn't believe me!) but now we don't because generally you can't. We did BOG last trip (in 2013) and really liked it. We're trying lunch this time. Really just a cool setting.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think they have the resort monorail loop set up so only one stop on the way back when people are tired vs. walking over in morning when have nor energy. Same reason main street is a slight uphill towards castle and thus downhill on way out when you are tired.

Glad you enjoyed Chef Mickey's - we have never done it for same reason you were worried about - though have found that breakfasts are safest option for character buffets

Sounds like a good day even if you didn't get your break in and you got in a bunch of classic rides. We really enjoyed our meet with A&E - glad you did too

 

[irene_dsc]

Ooh, cool pixie dust! Glad it worked!

 

[cinderkelly]

Sounds like your DD did so well getting in lots of good nap time! I loved that you were able to give pixie dust to another family, it does make it much harder to do now that we have MB's.
I'd like to try BoG for dinner sometime, we did lunch there and really liked it, I just love the atmosphere, weird that they had so many empty tables
You castle view from your room is fantastic!
The MM magic shots are so cool, I really like the Princess and the Frog one, all we ever get is tinker bell.
I also love your Fitbit steps report, I have said every time we go that we need to track how many steps we make each day, it seems like we walk miles!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Eeep! I'm so behind!

Contemporary monorail - I had no idea it took that long! I kind of remember taking it to the TTC and transferring to the Epcot track and it didn't seem so long but it could have been that I was so distracted. But wow, 25 minutes to the MK?!!

I love all your photo pass magic shots! The one of your sister holding Tinkerbell while your DD is reaching out looks so perfect! It really looks like your DD sees Tink!

Your MK day looks like a success! I love that you were able to bless that family with those A&E passes. They must have felt so special! I bet you made their day!

Ummm... YOUR VIEW!! That is not something you could ever get tired of!! Holy cow, amazing. Wishes in pj's sounds like a pretty perfect way to end a night!