It all started with a PIN . A first time TR - 3-5 Update

[FosterA]

Beautiful photos of course!
I bet your son would have loved EE, maybe next time though! I just LOVE AK and looking at your photos makes me miss it soooo much.

That drink looks great. Maybe not a manly football-watching drink but that's ok! I've seen my husband sipping wine in little pink antique wine glasses while he rebuilds the engine to his car

Can't wait for the next update!

 

[B&WMickey]

Day 4 – Part 1 - POR/DTD - Morning

Today was Tuesday and the biggest thing we had planned today was MVMCP that night. We knew this was going to be an especially long day so we decided to take it relatively easy in the morning.

We started by sleeping in a bit and lounging around in our room, I went over to Riverside Mill to eat, while DW and the kids ate in the room and got dressed.

One of my favorite things to do while staying at POR is to visit DTD. Typically we take the boat down the Sassagoula River from POR. I love riding on the boat between POR and DTD and I have told DW that when I retire one day I want to come to WDW to work as a boat captain.

We tend to visit DTD in the evening after spending the day in the parks but with this trip we decided that since the only park we were going to today was the MK for MVMCP we’d visit DTD in the daytime today.

The weather was definitely warm today. One of the warmest days yet. It felt great.

The shops at the Marketplace open by 9AM but the boats from POR to DTD don’t start running until 10AM. We were ready to go before then and didn’t want to wait around any longer so we decided to hop a bus instead.

I don’t remember specifically what time we got to DTD but it was before 10 AM.

When we come to WDW there are certain things that have become tradition for DW and I to get. Pins, Ornaments and a picture frame.

For years now DW and I make sure to buy ornaments from wherever we go on vacation. We’ve been travelling together for about 15 years now and our Christmas tree is covered with ornaments from all of the places we’ve been together. Of course WDW is no exception and considering that we’ve now gone to WDW together a total of 7 times we have more than our fair share of WDW ornaments.

After checking out the Art of Disney store we headed to the Disney's Days of Christmas shop. (Note: If I was more on top of things I would have had this post up about a month ago when it still was the Christmas season but here are the ornaments that we got on this trip.)

(I have a little venting I have to do here.

1. The last two years we’ve been to WDW we’ve picked up ornaments that have a few of the characters hanging onto to a glitter covered year number.

We’ve got one for 2009 and 2010. All over WDW I kept finding the same style of ornament but with the year 2012 on it. Nowhere did we go did we see a 2011 ornament of this style. I’m sorry but I’m not visiting WDW in 2012 on this trip.

To make do DW did find this and converted it into an ornament. It’s originally some kind of note card/recipe holder but it’ll work.

2. For several visits in a row we’d buy the little circular ornaments that had the resort name, picture and date on them. We had gotten one for the GF in 2000, BC in 2002 and POR in 2007.

Sadly they no longer sell these either. For the life of me I can’t understand why WDW can’t keep making these. I know it’s all about saving costs and that homogenizing all souvenirs for mass production does this but for many of us we love the WDW resorts we stay at. I loved being able to buy an ornament with the name and year of the resort we stayed at. I considered my collection of resort ornaments like badges of honor. I’m essentially missing POR 2009, WL 2010 and POR 2011. To kind of fill the void from when we stayed at WL last year I found a key chain that said Wilderness Lodge. It may sound tacky to some but a key chain converts into an ornament pretty easy. Oh well Disney left me no choice.)

After the Christmas store it was onto Once Upon a Toy to do some browsing.

DS still really hadn't gotten anything yet on this trip so we were kind of shopping for him. DS enjoyed the build your own light saber station but I didn’t feel like dropping the $$$$$ on one since I didn’t really think he’d play much with it when we got home.

As we were walking along though we found a Stitch Pillow Pet. Both DS and DD love their pillow pets that they have. As soon as he saw it we knew it’s what he was looking for. DS is one of those kids who will agonize over a purchase (kind of like me). If he knows he can only get one souvenir he has a hard time choosing for fear of finding something later that he’d like better. But when he does see something that he wants you just know it and you make sure you get it for him.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Love all your WDW ornaments !! So cute.

 

[FosterA]

I think all your ornaments look great! I wish I bought one from our trip, dang it! Maybe I'll look on Ebay

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[meggiebeth]

Great update! I love those decorations. The ones with the resort name and year on are great- I love stuff like that. I wish they'd bring them back

 

[B&WMickey]

Day 4 – Part 2 – DTD – Pins

Now it was on to Pin Traders.

I started collecting pins about 10 years ago. I have spent more money on pins over the years then I care to admit.

Here is my collection so far…

I try to limit myself to just a few each trip but I seemed to have gone a bit overboard this year.

When it comes to pins I love WDW pins that revolve around some sort of anniversary, whether WDW as a whole or individual parks. I’m also a big fan of resort pins. I have at least one for all 5 of the WDW resorts I’ve stayed at. I love pins for special events like F&W, MVMCP, etc. There are a number of shows, movies and characters I like and will buy pins involving these as well.

On this trip I had some definite goals of what I wanted to get.

1. 2011 is the 40th Anniversary of WDW so pins somehow related to that theme were high on my list

2. Perry the Platypus - I’d prefer Perry over Agent P but beggars can’t be choosers. I love Phineas and Ferb. Last year I was able to pick up a P&F pin so now I was looking at picking up some of my favorite characters.

3. Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz... Another P&F character. Dr. Doofenshmirtz rocks.

4. MVMCP – Before we left I saw pictures of MVMCP merchandise that someone had posted online. There was a pin of Chip and Dale building little chipmunk snowmen. I had to have it...

5. F&W – Since we went to F&W – I wanted a 2011 F&W pin.

6. Osborne Lights – Same reason as F&W

7. Pins with the year 2011 on it.

Here is how I did at DTD ... and elsewhere.


I loved this one. Dumbo plus 40th Anniversary.

Another 40th

2011

Up! - I was looking for this one the year we went after Up! had come out but couldn't find it, so I was thrilled to get it this time.

Agent P - Actually picked it up at AK the day before. (Unfortunately no Doofenshmirtz)

This was a must have... It's an old WDW ticket book from the 1970s. But wait, there's more......

It opens and look at all of the little A through E tickets. Takes me back to 1978.

Osborne Lights

F&W

The MVMCP pin I wanted -

Found this one in the POR gift shop one morning. Awesome

(Fateful Decision No. 2 – I had already gone through the mini-dilemma we faced on Monday about whether or not to go to Chef Mickey’s on Monday or wait until Friday. Well, we chose to wait until Friday. While pin shopping at DTD I came across a Chef Mickey’s pin. This type of pin is right up my alley. Resort based, something trip specific, etc. However, I kept debating whether or not I should buy this pin since we technically hadn’t gone there yet. I convinced myself that of course we were going so what’s the big deal, let’s just buy the pin now in advance while at DTD.

What could go wrong?)

 

[Soarin4Disney]

Love all of the pins. We started collecting pins on our 2010 trip and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't stare at those pins.

We usually get a pin from each park we visit and it has to be agreed upon by the whole family. It serves as a great reminder of our trips. After selecting the special pin, the kids will usually pick out one for themselves.

Question: is that cardboard that you stick your pins too? I've been trying to find a good way to display the special pins we collect.

I love Disney pins!!!

 

[B&WMickey]

Day 4 – Part 3 – DTD

We still had the rest of DTD Marketplace to cover. From the Pin Store we headed over to the big World of Disney store.

Since our trip in 2000 we’ve purchased a picture frame for each trip. In that frame we put a picture of us from our trip with one of the characters. The frames are all of a similar style. They basically have mini character figurines attached to the outside of the frame and it has the year of our trip on it. Thankfully unlike the resort ornaments we have been able to find something similar in style in regards to picture frames.

Here are some of our past frames.

Of course we took our sweet time looking through the store. We split up and then met back by the frames. Here is what we decided on.

The pic in it is the one of us with Chip and Dale that I have posted at the front of this TR.

After buying the frame we made our way over to Legoland. It’s always fun to browse and look at the lego sculptures outside and inside.

It was already pushing noon so by this time we figured it was time to head back to POR. After all we were getting hungry and were ready to grab a bite to eat. Plus we also wanted some down time before heading over to MVMCP. We also wanted to get the kids some pool time.

Since the boats between DTD and POR were running we decided to take a boat back to POR. We’ve made this trip between DTD and POR a number of times but not once during broad day light. Here are some of the pics along the way. It is a great chance to view a part of WDW you don’t get to see very often, especially going by the Treehouses at SSR.

I love watching birds. Not sure what types of birds these attract?

The Tree Houses – We have friends staying there this spring, I’ll be anxiously awaiting their review.

Since we are so close to POFQ I always tell the kids we'll make it over there to do the serpant slide.... Not this year again.

Back to POR

Once back at POR we decided to pick up lunch at Riverside Mill and take it back to the room. I remember getting a turkey sandwich. (Once again I can’t remember what everyone else got nor did I take any food pics, sorry).

After eating and lounging around the room for awhile we decided to get some swimming in. Swimming today felt great since this was one of the warmer days of the trip so far.

After the pool we got back to the room and took it easy for awhile before getting ready to head over to the MK for MVMCP.

 

[B&WMickey]

Sorry for the delay in responding. It’s been busy on my end lately.

Beautiful photos of course!
I bet your son would have loved EE, maybe next time though! I just LOVE AK and looking at your photos makes me miss it soooo much.

That drink looks great. Maybe not a manly football-watching drink but that's ok! I've seen my husband sipping wine in little pink antique wine glasses while he rebuilds the engine to his car

Can't wait for the next update!

Thanks – It’s all about being comfortable with one’s own masculinity is the way I look at it.

Love all your WDW ornaments !! So cute.

Thanks, we’re quite amazed every year when we bring them all out with how many we have. It’s hard to get all of our ornaments on our tree.

I think all your ornaments look great! I wish I bought one from our trip, dang it! Maybe I'll look on Ebay

Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks. It’s one of those things we’re glad we’ve done and stuck with it. Every year when we decorate the tree we can reminisce about the places we’ve been. I have to admit I’ve checked on ebay for things like the “missing” resort ornaments that I can’t find any more in stores. No luck there either.

Great update! I love those decorations. The ones with the resort name and year on are great- I love stuff like that. I wish they'd bring them back

Every year I go down I search all over for them but haven’t found one since 2007. Maybe one day.

Love all of the pins. We started collecting pins on our 2010 trip and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't stare at those pins.

We usually get a pin from each park we visit and it has to be agreed upon by the whole family. It serves as a great reminder of our trips. After selecting the special pin, the kids will usually pick out one for themselves.

Question: is that cardboard that you stick your pins too? I've been trying to find a good way to display the special pins we collect.

I love Disney pins!!!

Thanks – It is a white piece of cardboard DW found. We’ve got a small sized display box that I slip the cardboard into and set that on a shelf in the house. Every time we go I tell myself only to buy one or two pins but before you know it I come home with almost a dozen.

 

[Jake & Crew]

Love the picture frame idea! Kicking myself that we did not do this but think we will start with this years trip! Thank you for sharing!

 

[FosterA]

I also really love the picture frame idea. I wish we had done that for everywhere cool we've been.

I for sure want to stay at Port Orleans when we go again after seeing your pics. The boat ride to DTD would be super fun!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I just found your trip report. I've only read the introduction but really enjoy reading reports from Dad's. I think because I secretly want my DH to enjoy Disney as much you. I'm off to catch up but wanted to stop by and say hi.

 

[B&WMickey]

Day 4 – Part 4 – MVMCP - 1

It was a wonderful evening weather wise. No rain in the forecast and the weather was very warm. I decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt and didn’t come to regret it at all, not even long after the sun went down.

Thanks to some research on the DIS I had learned that with our MVMCP tickets we could get into the MK as early as 4 PM, even though the party didn’t officially start until 7 PM. Since we were counting today as one of our only 2 times this trip we were going to the MK we wanted to take full advantage of the 4 PM entry time.

We got to the bus stop by 3 PM. We did have to wait for awhile before a bus to the MK showed up. We got to the MK probably about 10 minutes to 4 PM.

By the time we walked from the bus stop to the gates we were able to walk right into the MK using our MVMCP tickets. They were admitting people with MVMCP tickets on the turnstiles to the far right. Actually it was probably a few minutes before 4 PM. Bonus time!!!!!!!

The crowds were definitely on the light side. It was just great to be in the MK again and to see it all decked out for Christmas.

My thoughts were to hit a couple of the rides that weren’t going to be open during MVMCP. Jungle Cruise was one of them so off to Adventureland we went.

There was essentially no line. We pretty much walked right onto a boat. Of course the jokes were lame but I still laughed at all of them. I’ve loved this ride ever since I was 7 and my kids seem to like it too. I only wish they could use real cap pistols again.

After that we headed over to check out the Tiki Birds. This was another attraction that wouldn’t be open during MVMCP. Up until one of our more recent trips I had never seen the Tiki Bird show before. The one we had seen was the one Under New Management. With the latest rehab I’m glad that I was able to get a feel for what the attraction was like in its original format. We enjoyed it.

Our kids love the Magic Carpets of Alladin. Especially the spitting camel so after Tiki Birds that’s where we headed. Very minimal wait again.

We decided to grab Dole Whips at this point. Love these things. DS and I split one while the girls split another.

After that we headed to Fantasyland. The crowds were a little busier here but still not too bad. We did Peter Pan and Small World. After that it was after 5 PM.

We were a bit hungry so we decided to head over to Casey’s for a bite. We ordered a couple of hot dogs with fries and split it between the four of us.

Next up.... The Lighting of the Castle.

 

[B&WMickey]

Love the picture frame idea! Kicking myself that we did not do this but think we will start with this years trip! Thank you for sharing!

It is something that started by accident that has now turned into some kind of obsession. I’m glad we’ve done it though especially since we’ve got the collection we now do. I hope you have as much success and fun starting your own as we’ve had with ours.

I also really love the picture frame idea. I wish we had done that for everywhere cool we've been.

I for sure want to stay at Port Orleans when we go again after seeing your pics. The boat ride to DTD would be super fun!

The boat ride to DTD is probably one of my favorite things about staying at POR. I only wish we were able to do it more this trip than what we did.

I just found your trip report. I've only read the introduction but really enjoy reading reports from Dad's. I think because I secretly want my DH to enjoy Disney as much you. I'm off to catch up but wanted to stop by and say hi.

Glad you found it, welcome aboard. Hopefully I can post more frequently than I have been of late…. Slowly but surely though. There are a few of us dedicated DH’s out there. I’m just lucky that my DW enjoys WDW almost as much as I do and is understanding of my WDW obsession.

 

[B&WMickey]

Day 4 – Part 5 – MVMCP – 2

I have to start this out by saying the thing I was most excited about this entire trip was seeing the lighting of Cinderella’s Castle for Christmas. I have seen pictures of it for several years now and it always looks amazing.

I remember the first time I saw images of the Castle lit up; it was on TV several years ago during a Travel Channel special. I remember watching TV having not heard or seen anything about it and literally being left speechless when they showed it lighting up on TV. From that point on I’ve been dying to go and see it lit up in person.

As far as I was concerned this was the number one reason we were coming to WDW this year. I didn’t care if I didn’t get to go on any rides this trip, eat at any particular restaurants or see any parades, fireworks or shows but if we weren’t here to see the Castle lit up for Christmas I’d consider our trip a complete disappointment. I know, it’s a lot of expectations to put on doing one thing but I couldn’t help it.

We’ve been tantalizingly close before. Back in 2009 we were at WDW the week they transitioned over from Halloween to Christmas at the MK but they weren’t lighting the castle the week we were there. We’ve been there in the fall as well when they’ve been hanging the lights on the castle. But this year was going to be the year!!!!!!

Show time was at 6:15 PM. I insisted that we get a spot near the front of the castle in the hub area by about 5:45 PM. The crowds were starting to amass but there were plenty of areas for us to stand, we even found a bench that we shared with another group of people while waiting.

I kept checking the time every 10 seconds anxiously awaiting the lighting ceremony. I was also hoping to snap a few decent pictures with the new camera. During the minutes leading up to the lighting I was tinkering with a number of the settings on the camera. I didn’t have a tripod with me so I was working on setting the camera for a quick shutter speed and a high ISO number that would still take reasonably crisp pictures without objectionable blur.

Here are some of my test shots leading up to the lighting.

Slowly, slowly time ticked on but then before we knew it the show started. I’m glad we had a good view of the show. It’s a nice story that explains why the castle looks the way it does during the Christmas season.

Then it happened..... Piece by piece the castle started lighting up. I could literally hear the crowd around me gasping as it was lighting up. I know I was gasping too.

Here are some of the pictures I took of it. I was pleased with the way they turned out. Not exactly professional grade images but for the camera I had and for not using a tripod I think they turned out pretty decent.

(I’ll be posting more of my castle pics throughout my next couple of updates.)

Seeing the castle was everything I was hoping it would be. Well worth our visit.