"I Don't Wanna Meet Mickey In a Frumpin' Poncho!" An August 2011 TR! COMPLETE 11/30

[emma212010]

Yay Christmas in Disney!!!!

Your plans look great! I can't wait to see your pictures and hear about your trip!! I will definitely be following your travels on Instagram!!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Chapter 54- I AM THE REBEL SPY.​

August 28th, 2011​

**Don't forget to read the PTR post on the previous page! I didn't put the link in the Table of Contents or link it in the "Continued in Next Post" links, so just look on the bottom of page 44!

This morning dawned our last full Disney day! Before the fun, though, we had to go to Church!

We went to Mary, Queen of the Universe Church again. It is so beautiful. I love it.

After Mass, we stopped at Panera to grab some bagels to go. We got back to Jambo House and ate them at the outside tables at The Mara. When we were done, we headed up to the room to grab our parks bags and headed to the bus stop!

A bus pulled up after a minute or so and we were off to DHS! We got there at about 9:30 A.M.! We went to the EARLY Mass!

We headed straight for TSM, of course!!

We used our freebie DVC Fastpasses to get some immediate TSM FP's!!

The periwinkle crayon is the best, as I am sure you all are aware.

The ride was so much fun! I was really glad that I got to ride it again! I got Best in Vehicle, of course. I get more practice than they do, so it's not really their fault. I just have Jess to keep up with, ya know.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what happens next was COMPLETELY OUT OF MY HANDS.

I feel like such a scum even admitting to it.

We...

We...

We went to the...

Narnia show.

-dies-

I AM SO SORRY!! Scott really likes Narnia, and they were letting the next show in, so we didn't have to wait, and...

GAHH so many excuses!! But none can justify!!!!

I am so very sorry. -hangs head in shame-

The good news is that it wasn't very long and it's closed now, so YAYY!!!

After this blasphemic act of treason, we headed off to Star Tours!

Scott loves that ride.

I actually love it too.

The queue is so cool!

We basically walked right on the ride, and we sat in the back row. I wasn't paying attention, and all of a sudden, Sarah goes "LOOK!"

And there I was.

My face was similar to this and it was extremely embarrassing.

But I was the Rebel Spy so who the heck cares!!!

It was awesome.

We all decided that we were pretty hungry at that point, so we hopped on a bus over to EPCOT!

Sarah and Mom wanted France again, and that sounded good to me, so we headed over to Boulangerie. Scott wanted Morocco, so he headed to Tangierine Cafe, got his food, and brought it to France to eat with us.

He had the Falafel Platter to eat, and some elusive (non-pictured) Baklava for dessert. He loved every bite of it! It's one of his favorite meals in Disney.

Mom, Sarah and I basically had the same things as they had the other day. Quiches, Croissants, and Baguette Sandwiches.

For dessert, Sarah had her beloved cheesecake:

I can't remember what Mom had, but I had a very delicious Strawberry Tart!

After lunch, it was pretty hot out, so we decided to spend some time cooling off in Innoventions!

It was about a 15-minute wait for Sum of All Thrills, so we hopped in line! Sarah and Scott went on together, and I went by myself. I love that thing! It's a real hidden gem. It feels like you're really on a coaster!

Next we went to what is now the Vision House, but what was then called the House of Innovations. Call me a dork, but I love it! I loved seeing all of the cool household gadgets and new technology!

Some fancy modern kitchen:

A FLOATING BED:

I WANT THAT.

It would be awesome.

Speaking awesome, Sarah's favorite innovation was this toilet:

This toilet not only has an automatic warmer, but also plays music.

Yeah. I know. Your mind is blown.

It's pretty fabulous.

The last thing we did in Innoventions was StormStruck. I remembered doing this when I was younget, and it is definitely way more cheesy to me now, but I still enjoyed it!

Speaking of cheesy (wow I'm good at these segways today), we decided to head over to the Universe of Energy next!

Here's Mom leading the way:

Can you see me in the mirror mosaic tiles?

I hadn't done UoE in YEARS, so I was really excited for some "Stupid Judy, stupid energy" coming up.

It did not disappoint! I was laughin' with Ellen and Bill Nye, and although it is a little long, it's so entertaining and so classic EPCOT.

Next we used our other DVC freebie FP's to go on Test Track! It was fun as always, and my last time going on that version, although I didn't know it at the time. I just can't wait to go on the new one!!!!

We decided to head over to Mouse Gear next for some pre-dinner shopping!

While we were walking, we saw a girl in front of us with a really awesome shirt, so I did The Creep and sniped it!

It's fantastic.

Mouse Gear was breaking out it's Halloween displays!

I really have to get to WDW for Halloween at some point.

We looked around and traded at the giant pin board, which was out at the time. Then it was time to head to our last dinner ADR of the trip! Here's a hint:

Continued in Next Post​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Yay Christmas in Disney!!!!

Your plans look great! I can't wait to see your pictures and hear about your trip!! I will definitely be following your travels on Instagram!!

I can't wait!!!

Thanks! YAY please do!! ​

 

[clynngibson]

We will just miss you! We'll be there Dec 2-9th. You guys sound so fun and I would love to meet you!! Oh well....maybe it's in our Disney future! lol Have a great trip!!!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Chapter 55- "LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE!!!"​

August 28th, 2011​

Our dinner ADR for that night was at the Garden Grill!!!

I hadn't been there since the Bathrobe Princess trip in January, and I absolutely love it there! It's so fun!

We headed up the stairs in The Land and checked in with a VERY attractive CM. I took a picture of the current menu. The menu at Garden Grill changes a lot with the seasons. Here was the late summer menu:

A Cast Member named Freddy noticed our birthday buttons. Another CM whispered to him, "Do the birthday thing." He took Sarah and I over to the balcony overlooking all of The Land (literally) and SCREAMED, "HEY! EVERYBODY! IT'S KRISTEN AND SARAH'S BIRTHDAY!!! LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!" The ENTIRE population of The Land pavilion then proceeded to clap, cheer, and sing "Happy Birthday" to us, conducted by Freddy.

It was such an awesome experience and a great Disney memory that I'll cherish forever. It was a great kickoff to an awesome meal!

We thanked Freddy through our fits of laughter, and then Jen from Columbia took us to our second floor table and took our drink orders.

I had my favorite, Pomegranate Lemonade!

She also brought us the yummy oat bread with honey butter, and the delicious salad!

Mickey came by while we were munching on that, and he was so cute! I told him he looked swell. <3

Pluto came by next, and because Sarah hadn't met him yet on that trip, she told him that she was so excited to see him! He loved that and gave her a big hug.

Chip came by next- my favorite! I showed him my Jungle Cruise pin with him and Dale on it, and he jumped up and down. It was so cute! I told him to come back for the food, and he told me that he definitely would.

What? You don't speak Chippy...?

Awkward.

Pluto walked by again and waved his paw at us. Mickey walked by and I showed him my Haunted Mansion pin with him and Minnie on it and told him that they were the cutest couple ever. He put his hand on his heart and then gave me a hug. It was very precious.

Our food came and we chowed down! We were starving!

Sarah and I wanted the kids' food too, and Jen gladly brought that for us!

YUM!

Dale came around the corner while we were eating, and tied Pluto's tail in a knot when he wasn't looking. Then he came over and sat down with us. He took a sip of my water, and then he told me he was hungry, so I told him to help himself! He did, obviously. Here's our crew:

We decided to take a real picture:

Someone snuck in this one...

As soon as we were stuffed, Jen decided that it was dessert time! She even brought us cards signed by the characters for our birthdays!

YAY!

For our birthday dessert, Jen brought us the beloved MICKEY MOUSSE.

We blew out the candles and dug into that puppy. YUM!

For Mom and Scott, she brought the seasonal Peach Cobbler. I had some and it was SO good!

While we were having dessert, Chip stopped by and sat himself right down. He shared my Mickey Mousse. We are family. <3

We wrapped up our meal, said goodbye to all our friends, and headed off to Norway! We did some post-dinner Maelstrom-riding and ran away from the movie at the end.

We're rude. Whatever.

Next, it was time to pick up a very important snack for the car ride tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

We will just miss you! We'll be there Dec 2-9th. You guys sound so fun and I would love to meet you!! Oh well....maybe it's in our Disney future! lol Have a great trip!!!

Aw darn. Have a wonderful time though! I'm sure it's in the Disney future! I'll be down there for a while on my DCP in a couple years, so maybe then! Thank you, you too!!​

 

[Disneydude97]

Hey Kristen, I know I told you this before in some private messages, but the day you arrive at WDW is the last day of my vacation at WDW (which you'll learn more about in my upcoming TR "Home for the Holidays"). If only you didn't have those reservations, I would totally try to get a DISmeet with you. But oh, well. Life's like that. No one's mad.

 

[WEDWDW]

616,I am SO excited for your FIRST WDW Christmas trip!

There is NOTHING like it!

Literally HUNDREDS of Christmas Trees amd MILES of garland!

If you can catch the O-Lights being turned on that is awesome-"usually" happens at 6:00 PM and DON'T miss Cinderella's Holiday Wish(6:15 PM nightly)!

Besides all the "biggies",don't miss the "little things" like the display windows on Main Street USA,Hollywood Boulevard,etc.

Another fun thing is to take the Fort Wilderness boat from Magic Kingdom and check out all the displays the campers put up!

Also,be sure to check out the "Garland Around The World"-each Country in World Showcase has it's "own" garland.

For example,in Germany,some of the garland has miniature Cuckoo Clocks in it!

I go the first week of December every year and LOVE it!

I better get going(I have to be at the airport at 5:00 AM!).

You will NEVER forget your first WDW Christmas trip!There is no way to "hype" how good it is too much!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Chapter 56- There's No Sleeping In Disney, Except On It's a Small World​

August 28th, 2011​

I wanted a nice Disney snack for the sad car ride home, so what better thing to take along than some School Bread??

It was just about time for Illuminations so we headed around to Port of Entry and watched from near there.

EPCOT was closing after that, but MK was open for EMH! To the monorail station!

Everyone started to feel pretty sad at this point...

Scott tried to look sad...but he ended up looking smashed. Oops.

When we got to MK, we had a few snack credits left to burn, so Sarah had a Mickey bar, Mom got a Mickey rice krispie from the Confectionary, and I had some of this:

The ever-wonderful Main Street popcorn. Yummay.

While I was waiting in line, some guy came up to me and started talking to me. He said hello and asked how I was doing. I was very confused and was trying to figure out if I knew him or not. Thank God I was next in line so I had to order and stop talking to that rando.

Yes, I say rando when referring to someone random.

Problem?

Hehehee.

We decided to spend the rest of our EMH in Fantasyland, so that's where we headed!

We used the last of our DVC Fastpasses for Peter Pan's Flight! Then, we were all feeling pretty worn out, so we decided to round out the night with It's A Small World.

I love this ride, and I KNOW there's no sleeping in Disney, but I was just tuckered out at this point. I kept dozing off. I woke up in time to capture this oh-so-fitting sign at the end of the ride:

We all dragged ourselves to the bus stop after that, and said au revior to MK until next time. We waited about 10 minutes for a bus, and got back to AKL at about 12:30 in the morning. We all took showers and crashed. Tomorrow was our last morning in Disney! Stay tuned!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Hey Kristen, I know I told you this before in some private messages, but the day you arrive at WDW is the last day of my vacation at WDW (which you'll learn more about in my upcoming TR "Home for the Holidays"). If only you didn't have those reservations, I would totally try to get a DISmeet with you. But oh, well. Life's like that. No one's mad.

Hahaha way to use my term. Yeah we have those, and it's gonna be a pretty busy day what with check-in and everything. Sorry. :/ I hope you have a great trip though!​

616,I am SO excited for your FIRST WDW Christmas trip!

There is NOTHING like it!

Literally HUNDREDS of Christmas Trees amd MILES of garland!

If you can catch the O-Lights being turned on that is awesome-"usually" happens at 6:00 PM and DON'T miss Cinderella's Holiday Wish(6:15 PM nightly)!

Aww thanks! So am I! I can't wait!

It's all so beautiful in pictures, so I can only imagine what they're like in person!

Thanks for the tip! ​

Besides all the "biggies",don't miss the "little things" like the display windows on Main Street USA,Hollywood Boulevard,etc.

Another fun thing is to take the Fort Wilderness boat from Magic Kingdom and check out all the displays the campers put up!

Also,be sure to check out the "Garland Around The World"-each Country in World Showcase has it's "own" garland.

I sure won't! Thanks!

Oh I just might! What about taking the boat from Fort Wilderness TO MK? Do you still get to see the campsite decorations then??

Oh really? That's awesome! Thank you so much for all of your help!​

For example,in Germany,some of the garland has miniature Cuckoo Clocks in it!

I go the first week of December every year and LOVE it!

I better get going(I have to be at the airport at 5:00 AM!).

You will NEVER forget your first WDW Christmas trip!There is no way to "hype" how good it is too much!

That's so cute! I can't wait to see it!

How lucky you are!

Oh boy! Have fun! ​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Chapter 57- "MUSTARD!? Don't let's be silly!"​

August 29th, 2011​

This was it! Our last Disney day! We got up at 7, got ready, and headed to the MK bus stop. We got there a little before 8.

The fall decorations were all up, and we saw this sign for MNSSHP as we headed to the monorail station:

We headed up to the monorail and MONORAIL RED SHOWED UP!

For those of you who don't know, Monorail Red is pretty elusive, and it's also my favorite one, so I was really excited to be on it!

Here are some pictures from our tour on the Highway in the Sky:

For those of you who haven't already guessed, our breakfast on this morning was at the Grand Floridian! Oh how I love that place...

We hopped off the monorail and headed straight downstairs to check in at 1900 Park Fare!

I had been wanting to go to breakfast here for quite some time, as I had only been for dinner a couple times before. We only waited a few minutes, and then it was Awkward Family Photo time!

So fart shoes...

We were taken inside and seated by Deb from Illinois. She gave Sarah and I super cute place-mats for our birthdays!

Mine currently resides on the desk in my room. I love it!

She also brought us coffee, water, and FRUNCH JUICE. <3

We had a little time before the characters came around, so we headed right up to the buffet!

Sarah's first plate:

Scott's first plate: (healthy guy)

Mom's first plate:

Now I, being the type of person to ponder how best to maximize the amount of food I could get on my plate, decided to go for the Mickey plate. Hello??? Those two ears at the top = MORE SURFACE AREA.

Duh.

It's common sense people.

Here's my first plate!

YUM. Mickey waffles, lobster eggs benedict, pastries, fruit...ALL SO GOOD.

While we were eating, Pooh came by! He was so cute and he was hungry for some Mickey waffles!

Tigger stopped over right after Pooh! He dropped my pen while signing autographs, but I told him that it was okay because it was too early to function anyway. He laughed. So precious!

Pretty soon, Mary Poppins came by! She told us that she loved our "party dresses," and also that she hoped we had a "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" day! She was so sweet!

Alice came over right after Mary left, and she asked our names. I was really impressed because she knew that Sarah's name means "princess" in Hebrew, but Alice and I were both bummed that we didn't know what our names meant.

After Alice left, we had some time to get some more food before the last character. Scott got a plate of some more substantial things (no pic) and Sarah was full. Here's Mom's second plate:

And we each had a bowl of our FAVORITE thing from 1900 Park Fare:

Strawberry Soup!!! YUMMO.

We finished up eating just about when the Mad Hatter stopped by! He advised us to drink lots of tea and to watch out for rabbit holes. He was so funny! When we posed for a picture, he said, "Say 'mustard!'" And then "Don't let's be silly!" afterward. It was fabulous.

Once the Hatter left, Deb brought Sarah and I birthday cupcakes! These were SO good. I would say between here and Chef Mickey's, generic birthday cupcakes are SO far from ordinary. They were so good!

Please excuse my expression in that picture. I had just burnt my finger on the flame. Oops.

We finished up our breakfast dessert, paid OOP for our meal, and left the restaurant.

Continued in Next Post​

 

[WEDWDW]

616,you can't really see any of the decorations FROM the MK boat to FW(or FW to MK)-I just LOVE going to FW that way!

A lot of the best decorations are a short walk from the FW dock.

It is really pretty at night and the Wagon ride is a GREAT way to see everything.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

The Pre-Leaving Sadness Ensues​

August 29th, 2011​

After breakfast, we hung around the Grand Floridian's gorgeous lobby for a few minutes before heading upstairs to the monorail station.

So beautiful.

Monorail Yellow showed up, so we climbed aboard.

I was getting really sad at this point...

Pretty view:

We passed right by the Main Gates to MK (how I wish that weren't true) and watched our monorail glide away.

We headed to the AKL bus stop for the last time. ):

It was totally empty.

We had a lovely view across the water:

We waited about 15 minutes until this bus showed up:

We boarded, rode to AKL, and headed to our room to pack up.

I packed up really quickly, so I took some pictures around the room while we waited for the luggage cart/Scott loaded the car.

Some details on the bathroom wall:

Our balcony:

The beautiful Uzima Springs pool:

So sad...

Sarah and I also said goodbye to Stacey before we left.

We said goodbye to our room and headed downstairs.

Up next- we leave! ): Stay tuned!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Chapter 59- Goodbye Disney! ):​

August 29th, 2011​

We checked out and looked around Zawadi Marketplace one last time before we left.

Goodbye AKL!

Before I knew it, we were leaving Disney. It is so sad to see the other side of these gates:

Why am I driving away from thee??

Since I just showed that last picture, I'll share the big news. As you may or may not know, we DID end up joining DVC!!! We have two contracts (one we bought this summer) at Kidani Village. I love it! It is the best purchase we ever made and I am so happy with it!!

During the first leg of the trip, I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and looked through all of our DVC stuff. I educated myself even more than I already had!

I enjoyed my (slightly melted) School Bread while I read:

We stopped at Subway for lunch, and then I watched some Full House after that.

"I'm going for a walk, it's no big deal."

We stopped at an Applebee's in South Carolina for dinner.

Sarah and I shared the appetizer sampler, and she had some mac and cheese as well:

Mom and Scott both had a salad of some kind:

It was no Disney food, but it got the job done.

We got to our hotel in North Carolina (a Holiday Inn Express) and I was EXHAUSTED.

I woke up at 8 A.M. the next morning and took a shower. I went down to meet the fam for breakfast, but not before I took a pic of our lovely pool view:

Yeahhh...doesn't have the same affect as our pool view at AKL, does it?

We all ate breakfast, loaded up the car, and kept on driving. Many movies, hours of homework, and rest stops later, we were home.

I was exhausted and sad, but it felt good to be in my own bed again.

Here is Sarah's completed lanyard from the trip:

And here's my charm necklace and my lanyard:

And that concludes this very long and crazy trip report! Thank you to all of you who followed along, read and commented! I actually might try to get the July 2012 one up and running tonight so I don't just leave y'all hanging! Thank you SO much again. I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for all of you!

See ya real soon!

~ Kristen ~​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

616,you can't really see any of the decorations FROM the MK boat to FW(or FW to MK)-I just LOVE going to FW that way!

A lot of the best decorations are a short walk from the FW dock.

It is really pretty at night and the Wagon ride is a GREAT way to see everything.

Oh okay! I definitely want to check that out! Thank you! ​

 

[Disneydude97]

Amazing TR, Kristen! Can't wait for the next one!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Amazing TR, Kristen! Can't wait for the next one!

Thanks! It's up and running!​

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Okay, here it is y'all:

A Frump's TR: "Me Gusta Epic Mealtime! Stop Thinking My Thoughts: I'm Five."

Go! Read! Comment! Subscribe!!! ​

 

[jayyyloooo]

I just love your TRs! Your trips were the reason I started wanting to go with my friends a lot! We went last summer and we are going again this summer (it's our high school graduation trip too!)

And I go to Disney every December for a long weekend and this year its the 14-16, if I see you I'll make sure to say hi!

 

[emma212010]

Awesome TR! I really enjoy your trips! I can't wait to hear about your next one! Thanks for sharing!