I had a BLT for Thanksgiving with a little Holiday & Birthday Cheer:NEW END & new PTR

[mousescrapper]

What a fun birthday! The girls look so cute in their dresses. Love Naomi-Ruth's shoes!

thanks...the shoes actually were Rachel's at one time

I know what you mean about meeting Mary Poppins. We saw her at Akershus and I felt the same way as you!

we posted on the same day about the same character

That gingerbread house is so awesome! I wish we'd had time to go over there to see it. Oh well. We'll just have to go back during the holidays!

it was very cool! and always a reason to go back...I wanted to see the chocolate carosuel at Beach club and missed that


Most definitely started seeing a change in the crowds about this time. We were in MK that day too but didn't arrive until much later. Ya'll may have been gone by the time we got about 11:30. Crowded!!!! But we managed to muddle through.

yes I agree...if you knew what you were doing it was fine...but we encountered alot of frazzled guests

Ok, the pic of the CM "mooning" you all in front of the gingerbread house at GF just made me crack up laughing!!

nice huh?

Rachel looks adorable in her Alice dress! I love all the pics from 1900 Park Fare...you all look so happy! Even Nathan seemed to like the characters there!

yes he did he had a good time and since it was early not very crowded it was getting packed when we left

Rachel in front of the tea cups and with the White Rabbit are just wonderful pictures.

I agree completely it is so fun to dress up your kids and find the appropriate spot to match them in

Wow -- you went to MK 6 times!! Woo Hoo!! I'm hoping to get BLT for our trip next year (Jan 2012) if it's available...then I want to really spend a lot of time at MK.

the perks of staying right in MK's front yard....now one of those times was just Matt but it does count

So Bert is not one of the characters at 1900? Just MP?

no no Bert..though I think it would be fun if he was there

Sounds like a wonderful breakfast. It has been a LONG time since we've done breakfast there. Wonder if I should try and add it for our June trip....

yes it is a nice character breakfast well wrounded group of characters to appeal to lots of people...boy I sound like a tour guide or Disney sales person

Coincidence? Or did you plan to post about 1900 PF one week before you'll be eating there again?

hahaha know that wasn't a coincidence...





But did you notice the guy bent over watering the plants in front of the gingerbread house?

Matt took this shot while he was waiting on me in the washroom w/ NR and was hoping the giy would move but no luck and didn't realize how "bad" it looked till afterwards...Matt says it's like to country wooden cutouts of the people bedning over you see in front of elderly people's homes

What a great way to spend a birthday!! 1900 Park Fare breakfast looks awesome!! I have a ressie there in a couple of weeks!! I really think it would be fun to meet those characters and I love breakfast food!!

Your pictures are just lovely!!!

Thanks jen....you know the Spectrum Mom's are going there too

What a great way to start Rachel's birthday morning -- breakfast with Alice! The pictures from 1900 Park Fare turned out fabulous! Love the group shot of all of you in the lobby, the one with Naomi-Ruth and Pooh, and the one of Alice and Rachel! So cute!

yes there are some wonderful pictures from this meal...god times for sure!

1900 Park Fare is such a great place for a birthday.
It's one of our favorite character meals.
Rachel is adorable in her Alice dress. And Naomi Ruth is just too cute in her little Mary Poppins outfit.

thanks, can't wait for her to wear it again come summer here

Have you tried 1900 Park Fare for dinner? It's great! We celebrated my parents 35th anniversary there in 2008 and it was wonderful.

yep in 08 we did dinner there and i will be again in just 6 days

I've always wanted to try the holiday sandwhich! It sounds fabulous!

I love the trend store. There are so many fun things in there.

What a great start to a birthday celebration!

hello and to my TR...thanks for saying hi

the sandwich was beyond YUMMY!, trenD was very cool I know my daughters would love it in there we are having a really good trip...hope you'll stay tuned for more

 

[MaryAz]

Great update!!! Very cute Alicce and Mary Poppins outfits.

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

I love your GF pictures! I've never visited there, but hope to for 1900 PF in October (definitely a breakfast!). Rachel looked to be in all her glory, what a fantastic start to her birthday! I love Bekah's question to the Mad Hatter, what was his reply?

By the way, aren't you leaving, like, IN A COUPLE OF DAYS for WDW again with the Spectrum Moms?? I hope you ladies have some wonderful mom time!!

 

[mousescrapper]

Great update!!! Very cute Alicce and Mary Poppins outfits.

thanks Mary, it was alot of fun to come up w/ some special themed outfits for our character meals this trip

I love your GF pictures! I've never visited there, but hope to for 1900 PF in October (definitely a breakfast!). Rachel looked to be in all her glory, what a fantastic start to her birthday! I love Bekah's question to the Mad Hatter, what was his reply?

thanks, oh yes Rachel was having a grand time! it is a very nice place to eat/celebrate at breakfast or dinner actually!

so I don't remember how he actually phrased how his "mad" meant crazy but he did tell her his not a htter because he likes hats but because he makes them...she was like oh, cuase I like hats...so I thought I could be a hatter too

By the way, aren't you leaving, like, IN A COUPLE OF DAYS for WDW again with the Spectrum Moms?? I hope you ladies have some wonderful mom time!!

yes we are in 2 days actually (My ticker is off by one) on Thursday morning! can't wait

 

[Gabrielsbigtrip]

Wow that gingerbread house is awesome!

I am so excited/jealous about your upcoming trip

 

[mousescrapper]

Wow that gingerbread house is awesome!

I am so excited/jealous about your upcoming trip

Thanks ..and now it's over...but no worries, have to start planning my Oct trip w/ hubby and I'm feeling more confident the jan 2012 trip for our next fam trip is going to happen...at least I have the green light to book DVC for it next month

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

Welcome Back Julie!! I hope you had a great time on your girls trip! Will you all be writing a TR?

 

[mousescrapper]

Welcome Back Julie!! I hope you had a great time on your girls trip! Will you all be writing a TR?

thanks...we had a BLAST! yes just click on the PTR link below...we moved it to the TR boards we have just started w/ our travel stories.

 

[mousescrapper]

Time to get back to this TR so I can start planning and telling of my next trip…plus I have another TR in the works too from my Spectrum Mom trip.

When I last left off I said I’d share a photo montage and some stories all about our experiences at the Magic Kingdom during our stay…

We made it to the MK 6 times over the course of those 10 days…cool huh?

DH (Matt) had his MK experience by himself one night mid way through our trip on Wed (11-24). As I had posted long ago, he wanted to hop over to MK and go on one ride…just because he could. Well he did more than just that…

He got away after our EPCOT evening and made it into the park just after 11 am and caught the end of the MSEP going down Main Street, he was able to make his way toward Tommorowland where he went on Buzz (one of his favorites), then worked his way over into Fantasyland and took a spin on SWSA…

I sadly told him yesterday (made sure he was sitting down) that they are removing the Snow White ride as part of the expansion and adding in a dwarves mine mini coaster…you should have seen his face…not too happy…

He also did some plundering w/ the Pirates of the Caribbean, got a yummy Dole Whip, picked up some mouse ears and strolled back down a nearly empty Main Street…sounds like a great night, huh?

The other times we went to Mk including both of the little girls’ birthdays on Day 2 (11-20) and Day 5 (11-23) plus an EMH night Sun (11-21) this was the night Bekah and I stayed out till 2:30 am and Fri (11-26)…highlights including riding Dumbo and me completely forgetting to peer over the construction walls and get a glimpse of the new expansion cause I was trying to get this shot of Rachel and Naomi-Ruth on the ground:

Good thing one Dumbo is grounded…he comes in handy for those who don’t want to fly…

Taking a spin on the newly named regal carrousel, we didn’t see the horse w/ the golden sash, but I got this amazing picture of Rachel all dolled up as a Princess:

Riding Buzz is always a highlight, we love pairing up and shooting at those targets, Matt is always the best..I don’t know how he does it. Naomi-Ruth had fun this trip being tall enough to sit by her own gun and she actually did quite well.

I think I may have achieved my highest score to date on this trip:

And Nathan had fun riding w/ his Grammie, she got a big kick out of it.

At the end of the ride we always stop to see Zurg and have Nathan get his trip picture here:

NR got in the act too…

more in next post...

 

[mousescrapper]

One of the best things about the MK is all the details…although the crowds were thick at times I still had time to notice things I normally don’t take time to appreciate….

NR really liked her 1st time at Mickey’s Philharmagic and laughed at Donald all stuck up in the ceiling in the gift shop:

The Christmas décor was everywhere including in the store displays:

And I just love this wall of Mickey plush in the Emporuim:

Matt snapped this shot along Main Street:

Bekah knocking on a door in Liberty Square…

The new queue was open for the WTP ride, although we didn’t get a chance to check it out, I just love how they kept Piglet’s house and moved over here…

I also love the giant story book pages….

Standing in line is just part of the fun right? We like to pass the time by playing games in line, our favorite is listing characters using A-B-C as the order, we try not to duplicate in other lines and to make it harder we keep repeating the whole order…try it some time you can do lots of variations. Here are some “line” shots:

more to come, next post

 

[mousescrapper]

One of Nathan’s highlights from Magic Kingdom this year was going to the Pirates League…

This was his first visit and he was very excited about it, I wasn’t to sure what to expect and tried to do as much research as I could ahead of time between the Disney website, the Dis, and youtube too. He went to the secret Pirate Lair w/ his dad and Grandpa. First thing was any good pirate needs is a name:

Tobias Foulstench

While awaiting his turn, Matt took some pictures:

After getting his name, the transformation took place, he chose the “Hook” design

It looks like they wrapped him in a plastic bag…but it’s a very Piratey cover…

The CM he had was real kind and slow w/ him, I was worried he may not like all the make-up or feel uncomfortable…but he LOVED it!

ARGH! How do I look?

Now it was time to go in the really special secret part that ONLY Pirates can enter…luckily some Pirate photographers were back there.

A little extra loot was needed for this treasure. But our new Pirate got the head wrap, eye patch, earring, fake teeth, and a bag of other treasures. He definitely wants to do it again.

Probably the best moment after his Pirate transformation was as he was waiting on us…

This lady was sitting outside the hat shop by the checkers table and Nathan sat down by her and asked if she’d play w/ him…well she did. It was so sweet and very cool, a memory Nathan will always have.

While Nathan was becoming a Pirate, Bekah had her own destiny w/ a certain notorious Pirate we all swoon over….Captain Jack!

This was the 2nd time she has been chosen to be part of Jack’s crew, but first time she was up on stage w/ him.



More Piraty fun came of course on one of our favorite family rides POC…I just love hearing that music when you enter the attraction! This next pix is of Matt pretending to be one of the disguised pirates from the 3rd movie….

And a few more of my favotire pix from the trip outside the main sign:

more to come next post...

 

[mousescrapper]

Two of our other great family rides include IASW and the Peoplemover…we always go on these multiple times…sing w/ me now:

The new queue in/out through us at first…but we like it! One of the better stories from our multiple rides w/ our singing dolls, was at one point the standby was 20 min + yes doesn’t seem too long, but for Nathan it is a bit of a strenuous wait, so we used his GAC and as we waited the shorted 8 minutes or so, the CM seated us in an accessible boat w/ 3 seats on one side and 3 seats on the other…the kids got a big kick out of that.

Even after the name change to Tomorrowland Transit Authority and back to Peoplemover…we have always called it the We-Way People mover (yes I know original was WED….), the new audio is not as fun as before, but our kids love this and it’s a peaceful nice family ride we can all just sit back and rest…plus hardly ever a wait!

Can you tell someone is excited?

These two next pictures of our 6 are more of my favorite shots from the week:

Other fun moments we had included the first attraction we let the kids do by themselves….Bekah had been asking the whole trip to go up into the Swiss Family Treehouse, but it never seemed like the right time, but finally on our last visit to the MK on our 9th day, the park was pretty empty still early in the morning, so her, Nathan, and Rachel walked up all on their own…

They also went on Aladdin’s flying carpets by themselves too. The first ride was myself w/ all 4 kids but the 2nd ride was just Nathan and Bekah this was probably at just before midnight one evening, the CM said they didn’t even need to get out of the carpet when they asked if the could go again. My pix of trying to just get the twins didn’t come out, but here is one of Nathan and Rachel from our first flight:

When the twins got off they were full of smiles and laughter they had a blast and especially liked it when the camel “spit” got them wet.


Another first was deciding to eat at PVH and we got the coveted IASW tables, looking down on IASW!

NR had such fun waving at the guests below in the queue line and in the boats and loved when they’d wave back…Matt commented to bad we didn’t have a sign saying “take a picture of me and email it too….”

Here is B before heading in and asking the CM outside greeting us if she could try his puppet:

more to come in next post...

 

[mousescrapper]

Of course we needed to say “good-bye” to Toontown and Mickey’s house…as it will be no more the next time we all come, it was actually bittersweet.

We all walked through Mickey’s house and loved how it was all decorated for the Holidays too!

This picture was up in Mickey’s bedroom, matt thinks it is up yr round…but I don’t remember:

Here is a wonderful shot of the kids in front of his house…let me tell you this was no easy feet to accomplish even an hour after opening, Matt was getting a bit annoyed w/ the guests who just plain don’t pay attention. But I love it! And will cherish this photo w/ the other 2 we have of the kids in front of this special piece of soon to be Disney History…

Bekah and I went on the Barmstormer too for ‘ol times sake and I captured a few pix, even though this ride will remain in the new refurb, the theming will change. And we were lucky enough to get front car…we had a good time!

Here are a few more pix around Toontown, in Mickey and Minnie’s houses and the kids getting new Mr. Potato head parts.

But by far some of our favorite moments of the trip came when we met the Fairies….On Day 9 Fri 11-26 we made out way over to the Toontown RD a little before 10 am..it was already filling up, Matt smartly ditched out stroller over near WTP so we wouldn’t have to park it inside and we got ready for the Fairy Mad Dash. Guess who else was there w/ the same idea as us? Jillyb and her daughters too…I had first saw on e of her DD’s and was thinking her face looked so familiar, where do I know this girl…and then it dawned on me. It was a fun surprise extra Dismeet and we passed the time chatting about what else we had done on our trips.

Once the CM’s dropped the rope, we did a fast paced walk w/ almost everyone else to the Meet and Greet Area and got in line, we were the 2nd batch of guests to go in, so the wait wasn’t too bad. The girls were very inquisitive about if we really were shrinking. Nathan was a bit apprehensive to doing this, but as usual his first lack luster attitude toward the “girly” characters always changes…we saw Iridessa, Tink of course and Vidia. I was a bit bummed at first when it was her, but she was a hoot. Those “nasty” characters always are huh?

When it was our turn to be escorted in, Iridessa meets us first and says to Bekah “Oh my what big ears you have!” (She had her mouse ears on).

Here she is chatting away w/ Nathan…

Here is Tink admiring Bekah’s “Tink” bag…and wondering what does she collect in it?

And Vidia cracking up Nathan and telling him he should wear his hat backwards for better speed when flying.

here are more pix:

​

one more to come...

 

[mousescrapper]

Night time at MK is extra special for sure…and we had a lot of it. It felt odd at first touring the park in the dark, being so used to going when it would be dark only for the evening parade and fireworks, so it was fun to see the buildings all lit up and of course the decorations too. Some special night time memories include our impromptu decision to catch the 5 pm Move It Shake It Celebrate It parade just as the sun was setting. We managed a prime spot on the hub in front of the castle…Nathan was hungry and not too thrilled about this change in plan, but I was so proud of he handled this (and staying longer in the spot for the Castle lighting) he just found a spot on the ground along the fence and read a book. He did well!

Here are Bekah and Rachel getting into the fun:

One of the major highlights for me was seeing the castle lighting. Each night after dusk around 6 pm during the holiday season the icicle lights are turned on. It was so amazing! I actually got teary eyed. (it was also during this waiting for the little show to begin that a Diser-so sorry I forget her name- asked me if I was mouse scrapper and she was on a solo trip we chatted for a few minutes)

Matt did an amazing job getting each moment captured on film:

And here it is in all it’s wonderful glory…seriously!

Later this same night we saw the Main Street Electrical Parade for the first time EVER….we stayed for the 2nd parade of the night at 11 pm and got a great seat on Main Street, it was so fun to watch the parade coming up Main Street and keeping looking back toward the beautiful castle. While we awaited Matt went and got us all rootbeer floats from the Ice Cream Parlor another first for us, we even got NR a tofutti one.

I was trying to watch more than take pix’s so I don’t have that many great ones, but this is my favorite:

Naomi-Ruth just loved seeing the lights and characters and waving at them as they passed us by.

[COLOR]​

oops still one more...

 

[mousescrapper]

Wishes was also seen two times from inside the MK and both pretty close to Main Street. The first time was actually better, because the 2nd time and of course the night we squeezed into some spots right near the main hub in front of the castle some freak fog settled in and you could barely see the back fireworks…it was disappointing…I felt bad for any guests that this was their first Wishes. Here are some great shots once again from Matt:

Saying goodbye to MK is always hard, but we had some amazing fun over the course of our trip here. We had many firsts and lots of fun repeats. I leave you w/ a few more evening shots:

Catching the infamous water street painter:

My first Dole Whip (float):

At 12:30 am someone is tired and someone is still rearing to go:

And lastly Dumbo photo op:

Up NEXT: a little intermission w/ FOOD!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Wow - what a great update!!! I love seeing all of the MK stuff together. We love touring at night too - I'm excited to have extra time in the dark in February/March since it gets dark so much earlier than May.

So tell me about the Pirate League thing... I hadn't really considered it but after seeing how well Nathan did with it & how little make up they put on him (and he still looks like a pirate), I'm reconsidering... I'll have to show the boys pictures and see what they think. How much did it cost?

 

[jillyb]

Love the re-cap of all your MK days!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Love the mega MK update!!

 

[irish dancer]

Love the massive MK update! So fun to see it all together. The castle icicle lights are simply amazing!!

We might consider the Pirate League for Daniel too, the girls have had their turn with BBB so this will his turn.

Oooh, can't wait to hear about food!

 

[DisMomAmy]

One more pirate question... (by the way the boys are enjoying looing at Nathan's pictures.) Were the black pirate pants & red shirt his own that he wore there? They look so perfect with his look that I assumed it was part of the package, but after researching a bit I'm assuming you put that together for him.