Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho. It's off to the Grand Floridian We Go! June 2014 (Update: Video)

[AAshleySEG]

Your last day there was our first! After reading almost all of your trip so far, it seemed like we both had a great time in June! I really like the Vera bags, but have not brought myself to indulge in one as of yet. I still can't decide between those or the D&B ones...I can't make any quick decisions

We have not eaten at the Mexico Pavilion yet except for at the Food & Wine Festival, Epcot has too many places to eat! Eventually we are going to have to try them all!

Did you get to look inside Victoria & Albert's or were the doors still locked at that time of day? Jeremy and I have never been to Citricos but it looks like it would be nice too!! This is the first time I have actually really looked at it! So yay for the photo! We take a glance at it usually when we are sitting in the waiting area right outside of it! Maybe one day we will go there instead of V&A

Ok, in addition to the cupcakes on the list...I may now have to get that Strawberry Shortcake as well...Good thing our next trip is about food!

 

[annegirl]

Looks like a really great day at Epcot!
I realized after our last trip that we completely missed the ride in Mexico! We are definitely going to spend more time in Mexico this time.
That looks like a nice break to relax in the building watching the world cup for awhile.
The Grand Floridian really is so pretty!

 

[ElenaJane]

Just found your TR! I am actually glad I am late to join. I just got to curl up with my laptop and read about basically your whole trip! What a great time! I think the highlight for me so far is Pickle's big day! She got to live out my Princess fantasy! Thanks so much for taking the time to write it all up. And thanks to your kids for putting up with all the pictures!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

that strawberry shortcake is definitely on my list of "to dos" (er, "to eats"?) next trip

I love when kids come up with games that have ridiculously complicated rules but they totally understand

Crazy how quickly it goes from counting down things at home until your Disney trip to counting down the last of things before your trip ends

 

[SkubaDis]

What an amazing trip!

 

[disney meema]

Love your pictures of the Grand so beautiful ... Exactly 80 days to go until will be there so your pictures really made my evening!

 

[MarbleBob]

Your last day there was our first! After reading almost all of your trip so far, it seemed like we both had a great time in June! I really like the Vera bags, but have not brought myself to indulge in one as of yet. I still can't decide between those or the D&B ones...I can't make any quick decisions

We have not eaten at the Mexico Pavilion yet except for at the Food & Wine Festival, Epcot has too many places to eat! Eventually we are going to have to try them all!

Did you get to look inside Victoria & Albert's or were the doors still locked at that time of day? Jeremy and I have never been to Citricos but it looks like it would be nice too!! This is the first time I have actually really looked at it! So yay for the photo! We take a glance at it usually when we are sitting in the waiting area right outside of it! Maybe one day we will go there instead of V&A

Ok, in addition to the cupcakes on the list...I may now have to get that Strawberry Shortcake as well...Good thing our next trip is about food!

I'm sure Stephanie can relate to tough decisions about Disney bag. She had her eye on the Disneyland print D&B bags for about a year and a half, and finally pulled the trigger when were were they last fall. I think it's my favorite of all her bags. I love the retro vibe on it

I walked into V&A, but just barely inside... I didn't want to annoy any of the cast members. I hope to be back some day, especially after reading about your awesome experience there in your TR.

Looks like a really great day at Epcot!
I realized after our last trip that we completely missed the ride in Mexico! We are definitely going to spend more time in Mexico this time.
That looks like a nice break to relax in the building watching the world cup for awhile.
The Grand Floridian really is so pretty!

It funny about the things that you miss and "can't miss" at WDW. There's just so much to do!!!! And there's always a next time!!!!!!!!!

Just found your TR! I am actually glad I am late to join. I just got to curl up with my laptop and read about basically your whole trip! What a great time! I think the highlight for me so far is Pickle's big day! She got to live out my Princess fantasy! Thanks so much for taking the time to write it all up. And thanks to your kids for putting up with all the pictures!

Cool! Thanks for joining in! Yeah, Pickle's big day was pretty much the highlight for me too, that and the train tour with Buddy.

that strawberry shortcake is definitely on my list of "to dos" (er, "to eats"?) next trip

I love when kids come up with games that have ridiculously complicated rules but they totally understand

Crazy how quickly it goes from counting down things at home until your Disney trip to counting down the last of things before your trip ends

True, but if we play our cards correctly... we can start counting down the next trip soon after we finish counting down the last one. (And I still chuckle about how your started your current PTR... A well thought out list of points about how it would be foolish and irresponsible to not go to WDW again, and you didn't even have to get through the first point or two before Judi agreed. LOL. )

What an amazing trip!

Thanks SkubaDis!

Love your pictures of the Grand so beautiful ... Exactly 80 days to go until will be there so your pictures really made my evening!

Cool! 80 days?!?! You are getting close now!!





Oh, and another addendum to my last post. I had wanted to mention that during the week, we had been on the look out for a couple small "thank you" gifts for my parents. We ended up getting a t-shirt for my dad that morning, but we still needed something for my mom. She has several of the Olszewski light boxes, so we had that option in the back of our mind if we didn't find anything else. After browsing throughout the week, we really thought that a light box was the best option... So we stopped at the Art of Disney Gallery on the way out. We thought about Seven Dwarfs (because of the new ride) and Belle and the Beast (because of our meal at BOG), but ultimately settled on Mickey and Minnie riding in the tea cups. She loved it!

(If you are unfamiliar with these, they are basically boxes that are around five inches square or so, with a sculpture inside, and then they light up with glowing colors when you press a hidden button on the frame. They are too cool. Here's a link to a Google image search showing lots of different ones.)





.

 

[MarbleBob]

Day 11 - Friday the 13th - Part 3 - Magic Kingdom

We made our way onto the monorail for that last ride, and it went as smooth as you could have imagined. It seems like they got all the kinks worked out as we didn't really have any more issues during the second half of the trip. Just a little bad luck the first couple days, I guess. Anyway, on with a smile the Magic Kingdom...



We hadn't experienced the relatively new meet and greet with the talking Mickey, so we thought that would be fun. The line said 25 minutes, but after not moving more than a foot or two after about 10 minutes, the kids decided that this wasn't a good use of our time. So we hopped out of line and moved on.



We did decide to go spend a few more minutes doing the "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom " game again, so we headed over to the fire station real quick to get some new cards, and we stopped at a station or two on Main Street.



That was....until we passed by the ice cream parlor.

Yes, I had strawberry shortcake earlier, but I couldn't pass up some good ice cream!



Pickle got a root beer float. Princess got a chocolate and (maybe raspberry) sundae, and I got an ice cream cookie.







Buddy decided that he wanted something more substantial, so Stephanie took him across the street to get corn dog nuggets from Casey's. (Stephanie showed restraint and didn't get anything for herself.)





Pickle looking at her Sorcerer's cards



And doing her best impression of Frozone (from the Incredibles movie)



We decided to head towards Adventureland next. They had a construction wall put up in front of Crystal Palace (as they had started work on the new hub already), but it was peppered with cute characters here and there.

Hi Minnie!



Oh, and we saw the world's largest 9 year old girl walking in front of us. Or, maybe it was the oldest One Direction fan?!?!



(Sorry, I couldn't resist. I have no problems with anyone showing support for their favorite band in anyway they see fit. It just made me chuckle because it seemed out of place.)

And we made it!



I love this next photo of Pickle!







Oh, if you followed my pre-trip report, you'll remember that I found out where to order authentic Dole Whip mix that you can make at home. It was fun to see them bringing in the buckets ready to be turned into tasty treats! And interestingly, my mix came with exact same Dole bucket.

Here's a link to the post where I mixed up a batch on my PTR.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=51444464#post51444464

And a photo of the finished product



Anyway, we decided to walk through the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. This is one of my favorite Disney movies, and has always been one of my favorite attractions. Probably because it's so unique.







I love looking out into the Magic Kingdom from the tree top.



And another great photo opp!



Next up, it was getting close to time for our first FP+ of the evening (Splash Mountain), so we decided to head that way. Passing the Sunshine Tree Terrace along the way. We had enough treats today already, so we passed on the Dole Whips and Citrus Swirls, but it was fun to grab a photo of Orange Bird while we were at it.



Also, from the pre-trip report, you might recall that we made a big purchase of Adventureland merchandise from Disneystore.com a couple weeks earlier. The Orange Bird ceramic was one of my favortes




.

 

[Monykalyn]

Found this TR today while searching for "Star Wars Weekends". Been really great so far! such cutie pie kids (and a photogenic family!!). Glad to find it too to see how driving from MO would be (and with 3 kids!). We've not driven down since we had kids...but thinking next trip might be driving. Also aiming for a SWW so it was nice to read about it from a visitor (and not pro blogger
We did Tokyo Dining last trip and also watched Illuminations from Japan. Agree it is a pretty neat spot and nice to see it from a "country". Did College program in '91 and worked in the shops at edge of lagoon in FW so saw Illuminations more times than I care to remember from that side

Sooo-the St Louis ?: Are you from STL? and of course High School?

Awesome photography too-the panoramic shots are just especially beautiful. And if you haven't done V&A yet, definitely do on a future trip. There really aren't words superlative enough to describe the experience.

Looking forward to the wrap up! And 7DMT is really neat at night!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Bummer about the line for Mickey not moving - definitely think more treats were in order after that ordeal ... and that ice cream cookie you got looks huge!

And quite the Frozone pose!

I agree how unique the Swiss Family Treehouse is ... just wonder how many kids have any idea what it is connected to - it does give some great views of the park though!

And we love the orange bird - even made this shirt for Peter for our last trip:

 

[KelleyK75]

The strawberry shortcake looks wonderful! And great pictures from the GF!

Too bad you couldn't meet talking Mickey. We met him in March and it's really a fun experience. He talked to my nephews about spinning on the tea cups and had them spin with him. It was a lot of fun.

Your ice creams look really yummy!

Great picture of Pickle in Adventureland. The tree house is really fun.

Love the orange bird.

 

[disnemimi]

Boo Hoo, last day in the parks. This trip went by so fast (don't they all???) Thank you so much for deciding to buy one of the Olszewski light boxes for us. If you remember, you gave us the Disney Dream one too.... I love the Mickey and Minnie spinning in the teacups (well, not really spinning, but you can imagine!!) I told Papa we have room on the fireplace mantle for two more!!!! I am such a collector!!! Sure have enjoyed your trip report you and Stephanie wrote. Such great memories for everyone. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SusieBea]

Good for Stephanie and her Vera bag! I just got a "Where's Mickey? Hipster." I have a couple of "another brand" that I love but are beginning to show wear. Up here in Fort Wayne where Vera began, these bags are requirements. Ha

 

[MarbleBob]

Found this TR today while searching for "Star Wars Weekends". Been really great so far! such cutie pie kids (and a photogenic family!!). Glad to find it too to see how driving from MO would be (and with 3 kids!). We've not driven down since we had kids...but thinking next trip might be driving. Also aiming for a SWW so it was nice to read about it from a visitor (and not pro blogger
We did Tokyo Dining last trip and also watched Illuminations from Japan. Agree it is a pretty neat spot and nice to see it from a "country". Did College program in '91 and worked in the shops at edge of lagoon in FW so saw Illuminations more times than I care to remember from that side

Sooo-the St Louis ?: Are you from STL? and of course High School?

Awesome photography too-the panoramic shots are just especially beautiful. And if you haven't done V&A yet, definitely do on a future trip. There really aren't words superlative enough to describe the experience.

Looking forward to the wrap up! And 7DMT is really neat at night!

Hi Monykalyn. Nice to have you joining along, even if we are nearing the end of the trip That's cool that you did the college program. Princess is just in the 9th grade, but we are already encouraging her to participate in the program when she's a bit older

Yeah, the obligatory St. Louis high school question. We moved from Chicago to West County just before my senior year. I only had one year, but I graduated from Lafayette

Thanks for the nice comments

Bummer about the line for Mickey not moving - definitely think more treats were in order after that ordeal ... and that ice cream cookie you got looks huge!

And quite the Frozone pose!

I agree how unique the Swiss Family Treehouse is ... just wonder how many kids have any idea what it is connected to - it does give some great views of the park though!

And we love the orange bird - even made this shirt for Peter for our last trip:

Phil, you are my DISBoards hero. That shirt that you made for Peter is awesome!! (Really looking forward to your trip report. It's getting close now!!!)

The strawberry shortcake looks wonderful! And great pictures from the GF!

Too bad you couldn't meet talking Mickey. We met him in March and it's really a fun experience. He talked to my nephews about spinning on the tea cups and had them spin with him. It was a lot of fun.

Your ice creams look really yummy!

Great picture of Pickle in Adventureland. The tree house is really fun.

Love the orange bird.

Your interactions with the talking Mickey sound really cool. Now I wish we had waited. Oh well, maybe next time!

Boo Hoo, last day in the parks. This trip went by so fast (don't they all???) Thank you so much for deciding to buy one of the Olszewski light boxes for us. If you remember, you gave us the Disney Dream one too.... I love the Mickey and Minnie spinning in the teacups (well, not really spinning, but you can imagine!!) I told Papa we have room on the fireplace mantle for two more!!!! I am such a collector!!! Sure have enjoyed your trip report you and Stephanie wrote. Such great memories for everyone. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, it went by so quickly! Too quickly! But we loved every fleeting minute of it! I'm glad that you started collecting those light boxes a few years back. They are awesome and I have fun looking at them when we visit

Good for Stephanie and her Vera bag! I just got a "Where's Mickey? Hipster." I have a couple of "another brand" that I love but are beginning to show wear. Up here in Fort Wayne where Vera began, these bags are requirements. Ha

Yeah, there seems to be a sub culture of ladies and their Disney bags. I'm glad that I'm not a woman, or I'd struggle with how many is too many. Some of those retro Dooney & Burke bags are really cool, and then all those Mary Blair bags that Disney did with LeSportsac? Too cool. Add the Vera Bradley and those Harvey's seatbelt bags to the mix, and I don't know how I'd make up my mind. LOL!




.

 

[MarbleBob]

Day 11 - Friday the 13th - Part 4 - Frontierland

When we entered Frontierland, the hoedown was just getting started. Great timing!!! Apparently, this happens a couple times a day, but it's spontaneous and they don't publish it in the times guide.



Funny, we stumbled upon it when Princess was about three years old, but Stephanie can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've seen it since.

Regardless, there was a lot of energy in the air and Pickle didn't hesitate to get in on the action!





They did the Hokey Pokey and then she switched partners and did the line dance with Horace Horsecollar



She had a blast dancing with her new friends, and we all had fun watching her from the sidelines!



After the hoedown, we continued on our way over to Splash Mountain.





Splash Mountain is Stephanie's favorite ride. It's such a cheery and fun experience. And once you get those tunes in your head, they are they for the rest of the day. "What goes up is sure to come down. A penny lost is a penny found. How do you do? And you howdy back. A little bit of this and a little bit of that."





We had a blast! We all got a little wet (I put my cast in a plastic bag from the gift shop), but luckily we didn't get soaked!

After Splash Mountain, out next FP+ was for Space Mountain, but not for another hour or two, so we decided to make our way to Pirates of the Caribbean. As we exited Frontierland, some of the characters made their way out to meet guests.





"Everybody's got a laughing place!"



When we made it to Pirates, unfortunately is was down. Bummer! I'm really glad that we rode it earlier in the week.

So we continued through Adventureland. What next?!?! Hmm... the Jungle Cruise or the Enchanted Tiki Room? The kids chose the Tiki Room...





I love the Tiki Room. Especially the singing masks. So cool! And I love that they made it more like the original. I always felt like the "Under New Management" version with that obnoxious Lago bird was a travesty.





Next up, we were ready to head towards Tomorrowland. I couldn't resist a couple snap shots on the way!





Oh, and a Photo Pass photographer!



And entering Tomorrowland...





We still had a little while before our Space Mountain FP+ window started, so we stopped at Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.



It had been a few years since we've done the Laugh Floor, so we figured... why not?



Hmm... Sinew Chews. Want some? Uh, no thanks. I'm more of a "Sugar, Salt, and Fat" kind of a guy.



So yeah, it had been a couple of years. We last experienced the Laugh Floor when it was new... It was a lot funnier this time. Some really clever jokes and great interactions with the audience. I won't take this attraction for granted on our next visit.



.

 

[MidnightParade]

Golly, Pickle looks so adorable as Minnie Mouse!!

I love that Orange Bird ceramic! Ever since your PTR its been on my radar and I know I will be bringing one home with me now from our trip. Its going to go on the kitchen windowsill!

Yay ice cream parlor! nomnonom

I love that Splash Mountain pic! Parents having a hoot and kids a little less so!! lol

 

[ElenaJane]

And now I have the Splash Mountain song in my head. Which is actually an awesome way to start the workday!

Pickle looks so happy dancing! I've been to Disney many many times, and I have never seen that! I love that there are always new things to discover!

 

[annie170]

We were lucky enough to catch the hoedown once. Those photos of Pickle dancing are just precious! I love seeing the joy on kids' faces!

 

[KelleyK75]

I've never seen the hoedown but it looks like something to try to find in the future. It looks like Pickle had a lot of fun!

You all look like you are having so much fun on Splash!

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is really cute. We just always hope we don't get picked on. haha!

 

[Mia Kylie and Co]

Hi MarbleBob,

I'm new to Disboards and love reading Trip Reports. Of course I came across your current TR and just loved it. My family is going to WDW in December, but my extended family is planing a big family trip in 2015. I was wondering if you could tell me how the process worked for you to get get reservations for your large family meals (ie. Ohana, Be Our Guest) I've never had to make an ADR for more than 4 people. (2 of which are under 5years). In 2015 we will have 12 family members and would love to get a few family dinners all together. I wasn't even able to get a Be Our Guest ADR this trip for the 4 of us at 180 days. And the only Ohana times were way to late for our 2 year old. Any tips on how the process worked to getting your large family meals planned would be great. For instance, did each family make their immediate family reservations for the same time as each family and then link the reservation online? Or did one family make the large ADR online through linking accounts? I want to be prepared for 2015's trip. Thanks in advance! Sorry for the lengthy post. I'm sure I'm totally messing up your thread with this. I tried to private message you, but it wouldn't let me. Sorry!