Heat, Humidity, and Our Favorite Disney Dog Was a Thug! LINK TO NEW PTR!!

[RGirl]

I have a love / hate relationship with Splash Mountain. I LOVE the ride. But it's hit or miss whether or not I get soaked, so I'm always hesitant.

I coult not agree more with your assessment.

Willow just looks so stinkin' cute in her Lilo outfit.

Thank you! That Shannon is amazing!

Okay, seriously you're KILLING me with the outfits! Then she changes into Periwinkle?! I want Willow's wardrobe.

And guess who gets to carry these costume changes around the park???

You are correct, the costume was not far off. Maybe Tink was just a little.......slow?

She was definitely having an off day or something!

I have officially seen Frozen three times. I'm just absolutely in love with it.

Isn't it wonderful???? I'm so jealous of your multiple viewings! I find it is so expensive anymore to go to the movies that we only do it a handful of times a year. I just can't justify going again no matter how much I want too.

Yeah, Stitch's Great Escape really has no description. It's there.

I don't even know what it's supposed to be! I mean, it's not a ride, it's not a show, it's just nothing but awful.

She has the cutest clothes and she is just a doll! Love the hidden Mickey I admit I had to look for it. And Willow looks like she really loved driving and I am sure she we do better when she gets a little taller......Ok don't want to creap you out, I promiss I am not stalking Willow, just think she is a cutie. But then I think both my granddaughters are just the cutest things also....lol

You aren't creeping me out! I'm glad you are reading along, and I think Willow's pretty cute too!

 

[queenbetsey]

love love love all the pics and the dresses are amazing. you are motivating me to pull out my machine and get it serviced and do some sewing for the granddaughter. I used sew all the time and you have to admit it is kind of cool when folks notice the stuff your kid wears.
btw what is your over all opinion of photo pass thinking we may order it for our Jan trip. Taking along the grand daughter oh and our daughter and son in law (or as we refer to them now that scarlett is here, thos people she lives with) and would like an opinion from someone who has used it the pic look amazing. So when you get the disc do you just take it to someplace and print out your pics? in all the times we have been there have never used it.
sorry about stitch we should have been good dissers and warned you lol.

 

[RGirl]

love love love all the pics and the dresses are amazing. you are motivating me to pull out my machine and get it serviced and do some sewing for the granddaughter. I used sew all the time and you have to admit it is kind of cool when folks notice the stuff your kid wears.
btw what is your over all opinion of photo pass thinking we may order it for our Jan trip. Taking along the grand daughter oh and our daughter and son in law (or as we refer to them now that scarlett is here, thos people she lives with) and would like an opinion from someone who has used it the pic look amazing. So when you get the disc do you just take it to someplace and print out your pics? in all the times we have been there have never used it.
sorry about stitch we should have been good dissers and warned you lol.

Hi Betsey! Thanks for posting!

I am a big fan of PP. We used it on our prior trips, and now that they offer PP+, I have gone to that. If you pre-purchase, it is not too expensive, and I find that knowing that I have already paid for it makes me more likely to take the time to stop for pictures. I had some glitches this year with it - some of the pics weren't great, and there were a few that didn't make it into my account - but it was still well worth it. With PP+, you also get all your ride photos and your character dining photos, which is great! You can pre-order on-line, and Disney will send you a paper with a code that you then take to a PP booth to turn in for a lanyard with a PP card. Every time you spot a PP photog, you can hand over the card, they scan it, and your pictures are all captured in your account. When you get home, you can edit the pics, add borders and stuff and then get the CD. I upload all my pictures onto my favorite photo site and then make albums for DD, order prints, etc. HUGE fan here.

 

[RGirl]

A Beastly Dining Experience

We were really excited for our dinner ADR tonight - we were going to be dining at Be Our Guest! We arrived at 7:15 and checked in. The check-in person asked if we were celebrating anything, so I mentioned our Family Day. I know we checked in a bit ahead of our ADR time, but I don’t remember for sure what time our ADR was. I know we waited quite a while past it, because it was almost 7:50 when we were finally seated. We waited on the draw bridge area with everyone else. It is so beautiful here.

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Finally, we were allowed to enter this beautiful place.

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We were just blown away by this place - as, I know, everyone else has been. It is incredible to look at! We were seated in the ballroom right near one of the windows with the snow falling.

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Unfortunately, this is where the magic ended for this experience. Our server was not good - she acted like I was deranged when I asked for sparkling water on the DxDDP (which EVERY other restaurant had provided). It wasn’t a big deal, but she was downright rude about it - as though I had offended her by even asking if it was available! She disappeared for incredibly long periods of time. And then the food wasn’t very good either. On top of that, Willow was being VERY grumpy throughout this meal as well. It was not at all the experience we had been looking forward to.

However, it was awesome to see the Beast stroll through his castle.

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A Beastly Dining Experience Cont.

 

[RGirl]

A Beastly Dining Experience Cont.​

After we finished our meals (kind of), we visited the other rooms.

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Loved the paintings in here:

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And Willow got to meet her beloved Beast. He was wonderful - danced with her just as she had dreamed he would.

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I wish the PP photog had gotten at least one decent shot of them dancing, but you can’t have everything!

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Sadly, our MK evening went very downhill from here. As we wandered by ETwB, the wait time was only 20 minutes, and Willow wanted to do it, so we got in the queue. When we reached the spot where we had to stop and wait, Willow lost her little mind and got so wildly snotty, I hardly knew what to make of it. “I TOLD you there would be a long wait!!!!” And on and on and on. So I knelt down to talk to her about what was going on, and she started acting like I was killing her and fake crying. Everyone behind us went on inside, and she finally worked herself into real crying. It was crazy! Clearly, she was way too tired. So I took her hand and started walking her out, planning to get back to the resort. Yep - that was me. The woman dragging a screaming child out of MK. It was AWFUL! She was acting like I was breaking her arm by holding her hand. And the fireworks crowds had assembled, so I was having to work us through them. I’ll admit it - it was really embarrassing! I was so glad when a woman who was trying to get out along with us said several times to DD, “Honey, you need to hold her hand, you could get lost,” etc. I was just so glad that someone knew I wasn’t trying to kill her or something - that she was just way out of control at that point.

It wasn’t a good end to the evening by any means. But that’s life, isn’t it?

Earlier, Willow had taken a few pics:

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Up Next: “My Little Legs Are Too Tired”

 

[jedijill]

Oh no, not a good ending to the day!

Jill in CO

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Im so sorry your day ended badly....thank goodness for the woman who was so understanding. I always to try to give moms in that situation a smile because, heaven knows, I've been there myself! I can't stand it when people give you snooty looks. I always want to ask if they have kids and if so, are they good 100% of the time? Because if they are, those people need to share their parenting secrets! and its always awful when your kid acts like you're killing them in public. They're such good actors, aren't they? We call our girls the Greek tragedies when they get like that!

Anyway--love the pictures of BOG. We have a dinner ADR there in a few weeks. I can't decide where I hope we get seated. I'd love to see the snow, but we just got actual snow here, so maybe that's not such a big deal.... I love that huge music box (clock?) and the girls are excited to see the beast! Can't wait!

And, of course, how adorably perfect is the picture of willow in her belle dress standing in front of the stained glass window? She looks like she totally belonged in that castle!

 

[shan23877]

Well, crap.

I don't even know what to say about this! I can't believe your server was so very rude. (I know this is blurring the lines between DR and TR, sorry!) How dare she act like you were asking for things she shouldn't provide? Very,very disappointing.

On the bright side I too loved those paintings.

Oh boy. Miss Willow must have been exhausted. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. You know you did the right thing, no matter how painful it must have been at the time. I'm glad that woman backed you up instead of being all judge-y.

Will the next update be happier?

 

[chattadisser]

I had to laugh about the Stitch ride. Stitch is my oldest DD favorite character and she LOVES this ride (yes, she may be the only person in America). I think it is incredibly BORING but then, all I think is it’s exactly like the alien encounter that used to be there. Regardless, we have to go on it almost every time we are there.

As far as the driving, both of mine are the same on the Stinky Cars so if that is a sign of things to come, then we will defiantly be getting a driving school.

Sorry BoG wasn’t too good. I have heard everyone say how beautiful it is but the downfall seems to be the food and the service. Both of which, you would think, could be average easily if they were halfway trying. How good that the Beast made up for it somewhat with the dancing. I love the picture of Willow from behind staring at the window! Beautiful shot!

Sorry about the break down at the end of the day. We have all been there, dragging them out of someplace screaming. I’m always fearful that someone is going to think that I am kidnapping them or something (of course, I might hand them over if someone came to me at that point). I wish there was some sort of “code” that you could give other parent at that point to say “I’m not staring and judging you at this moment, I’m staring and thinking – I’ve been there before and it is not fun”.

I read you mention that you always do PP+ and we do to but now they are switching to Memory Manager? Do you know what it is? Is it the same as PP+? I’ve tried to read information about it but it seems to be a bit confusing right now.

Christine

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry about BoG not being up to scratch! I could not agree with you more, but the server can really spoil your meal.

Oh, and about Willow's meltdown ...... that was exactly how I felt a few times during our trip - tired and hot, not such a good combination. Lucky kid, who can LET it out - poor mom who has to suffer through it.

 

[wiigirl]

Love you pics!

 

[dismagiclover]

Trust me all parent have been there with kids having meltdowns in public places. And I'd bet most people were probably empathizing with you. Disney is wonderful, but it really can just plum tucker us all out sometimes. On the bright side, I love the picture of Willow and the Beast dancing! So cute!

 

[RGirl]

Oh no, not a good ending to the day!

Yeah, I was mortified. Luckily, this was definitely our worst moment of the trip, and it's not even half over, so

Im so sorry your day ended badly....thank goodness for the woman who was so understanding. I always to try to give moms in that situation a smile because, heaven knows, I've been there myself! I can't stand it when people give you snooty looks. I always want to ask if they have kids and if so, are they good 100% of the time? Because if they are, those people need to share their parenting secrets! and its always awful when your kid acts like you're killing them in public. They're such good actors, aren't they? We call our girls the Greek tragedies when they get like that!

I was so grateful to that kind woman - I know that she could tell how embarrassed I was.

The Greek Tragedies!

And thank you - it certainly is reassuring to hear that others have experienced the same thing.

Anyway--love the pictures of BOG. We have a dinner ADR there in a few weeks. I can't decide where I hope we get seated. I'd love to see the snow, but we just got actual snow here, so maybe that's not such a big deal.... I love that huge music box (clock?) and the girls are excited to see the beast! Can't wait!

It is SUCH a beautiful place! I don't think you can go wrong with any room - they are all just amazing. Like walking into the movie.

And, of course, how adorably perfect is the picture of willow in her belle dress standing in front of the stained glass window? She looks like she totally belonged in that castle!

Awww - thank you!

 

[RGirl]

Well, crap.

I don't even know what to say about this! I can't believe your server was so very rude. (I know this is blurring the lines between DR and TR, sorry!) How dare she act like you were asking for things she shouldn't provide? Very,very disappointing.

It was so weird! I have no idea what I did to offend her.

On the bright side I too loved those paintings.

The irritating thing is that the place is so gorgeous (and the BEAST is there) that I know I will totally book it again despite everything!

Oh boy. Miss Willow must have been exhausted. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. You know you did the right thing, no matter how painful it must have been at the time. I'm glad that woman backed you up instead of being all judge-y.

I was so grateful for that kind woman. I was SO embarrassed!!!!

Will the next update be happier?

Definitely! This was the absolute low point of the trip, so it can only get better from here.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

All caught up again! You are moving right along.
I felt so bad for you. You guys were having such a good day. Funny how that can change on a dime with little ones. When they hit the wall, that is just it! Sometimes happens with us big ones as well.

It is hard to escape unnoticed when that happens, too. Bless you for handling it with as much grace and self control as you could muster. And hopefully, after some rest and cooling off, she was in a much better frame of mind.

 

[RGirl]

I had to laugh about the Stitch ride. Stitch is my oldest DD favorite character and she LOVES this ride (yes, she may be the only person in America). I think it is incredibly BORING but then, all I think is it’s exactly like the alien encounter that used to be there. Regardless, we have to go on it almost every time we are there.

Right there, you are a better parent than I. I am pretty sure that I could NOT make myself do that attraction every trip!

As far as the driving, both of mine are the same on the Stinky Cars so if that is a sign of things to come, then we will defiantly be getting a driving school.

I think we should both leave it to the professionals to solve!

Sorry BoG wasn’t too good. I have heard everyone say how beautiful it is but the downfall seems to be the food and the service. Both of which, you would think, could be average easily if they were halfway trying. How good that the Beast made up for it somewhat with the dancing. I love the picture of Willow from behind staring at the window! Beautiful shot!

It's frustrating - it's an incredible place; all they would have to do is have average service and food, and I would be praising it! It was wonderful that the Beast danced with Miss Willow - she has been waiting years for that. And it was nice that there wasn't a single other family in there. Very special.

Sorry about the break down at the end of the day. We have all been there, dragging them out of someplace screaming. I’m always fearful that someone is going to think that I am kidnapping them or something (of course, I might hand them over if someone came to me at that point). I wish there was some sort of “code” that you could give other parent at that point to say “I’m not staring and judging you at this moment, I’m staring and thinking – I’ve been there before and it is not fun”.

It's awful, isn't it?? I was so embarrassed and kind of afraid that someone was actually going to think that I was trying to kill her!

I read you mention that you always do PP+ and we do to but now they are switching to Memory Manager? Do you know what it is? Is it the same as PP+? I’ve tried to read information about it but it seems to be a bit confusing right now.

What??? They're already replacing PP+? But they just started it this last year, I thought. Wow! I need to do some research. I do have PP+ booked for DLR though!

Sorry about BoG not being up to scratch! I could not agree with you more, but the server can really spoil your meal.

It was a real disappointment. I am guessing we will still try it again though because of the Beast and the beauty of the place. GAH - why can't they just add decent food and service? I really hope we just had bad luck; I know there are at least a handful of people who had great experiences there.

Oh, and about Willow's meltdown ...... that was exactly how I felt a few times during our trip - tired and hot, not such a good combination. Lucky kid, who can LET it out - poor mom who has to suffer through it.

You are right - at least she was able to express herself. Dang - was I embarrassed though!

 

[RGirl]

Love you pics!

Thank you!

Trust me all parent have been there with kids having meltdowns in public places. And I'd bet most people were probably empathizing with you. Disney is wonderful, but it really can just plum tucker us all out sometimes. On the bright side, I love the picture of Willow and the Beast dancing! So cute!

Whatever people were thinking, it was mortifying!

The dancing with the Beast was a highlight for sure - she has wanted to do that for years.

 

[RGirl]

All caught up again! You are moving right along.
I felt so bad for you. You guys were having such a good day. Funny how that can change on a dime with little ones. When they hit the wall, that is just it! Sometimes happens with us big ones as well.

Yeah, it was a shockingly bad end to what had been a good day. The nice thing about writing the TR is that I was reminded of what a nice day we did have. I kind of lost sight of that at the time - it just seemed like it had been an awful day. But it really wasn't. It was a good day with an awful moment.

It is hard to escape unnoticed when that happens, too. Bless you for handling it with as much grace and self control as you could muster. And hopefully, after some rest and cooling off, she was in a much better frame of mind.

I was definitely really embarrassed. And worried someone was going to think that I was actually trying to kill her! But, luckily, that was the worst moment of the trip - I'm so glad to have written this day and got it over with! I'm looking forward to much better updates.

Thank you for being so understanding!

 

[RGirl]

“My Little Legs Are Too Tired”​

After our not-so-great end of the evening the night before, I knew we needed to slow things down. So I just let Willow sleep until she woke on her own. When she did (a bit before 9:00, I think), I asked her what she wanted to do. The plan had been to go to DHS today (and we had a lunch ADR there), but I told her, if she would prefer, we could just go to DTD (for the first time ever!) and go shopping. I was pretty surprised when she said she wanted to go shopping instead of visiting her favorite park again. Then she told me why: “because my little legs are just too tired.”

As much as I have no desire to be that parent pushing a stroller with a giant child in it, I felt bad that she was so exhausted. So I just told her that we could get a stroller if she wanted to. Well, when she heard that, she jumped up and started yelling, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s not be late!!!” So we got dressed and were out the door at about 9:30.

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We headed down to the boardwalk, visited the bakery for coffee and lemonade and made our way to the boat dock.

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We didn’t have to wait long - we were on a boat at 9:38!

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We were at DHS at 10:00.

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Our plan for today was to just do whatever we could and not to try very hard. The hope was that this approach would permit us to get along a little better, relax a little more, and have a better time despite not being able to do everything we would have liked to do.

Our first order of business was to get a stroller. I think this may have been Willow’s favorite ride of the trip!

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We have never arrived at a park an hour past opening before. There were people everywhere!

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We, of course, headed towards ToT.

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We grabbed a set of FPs and then just went ahead and rode stand-by. We have never really stood in a real line for ToT before. I had never really noticed the full length of the queue before. And you are going to wish I had not been in this line so long after I subject you to all of these….

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It took us a half hour from entering the line to get to the preshow. But we had a fun ride!

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Up Next: “My Little Legs Are Too Tired” Cont.

 

[RGirl]

“My Little Legs Are Too Tired” Cont.​

When we exited the ride, our FPs were due, so we got right into the FP line.

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This wait was WAY more our style.

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The ride was all the better since it only took us 8 minutes from entering the queue to boarding an elevator.

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This time when we exited, we had a little time until our next set of FPs was ready. So Willow used a snack credit (what is that, SC #4 now? Yeah - tomorrow was our LAST DAY!!!! ) to get a giant lollipop, and we found a lovely quiet little area to relax for a bit.

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Unfortunately, our quiet bliss did not last long. A mom with two kids showed up soon after and sat down. One of the children talked in a scream. Literally - every word she uttered was at an ear-piercing screaming decibel. No offense to the family, but we just couldn’t take it. So we packed up and left the area. We took the opportunity to make a quick rest room stop, and then our FPs were ready. We enjoyed another fun ride prior to our ADR.

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Not sure what happened to our ride photo this time.

Willow took some pics during our ToT-filled morning too:

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Foot selfy!

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Up Next: Some Italian Dining