It's Pam's Fault . . . Updated 7/10 Chapter 7: DDs Princess Day!

[KangaFan]

It didn't occur to me until I read your post, but she does look like an ad for Disney, hat, shirt, shoes, Pal Mickey . . . LOL!

Thanks for reading.

 

[KangaFan]

I forgot to add the one sad sight DS and I saw when we were up at 5 am--the guests of POFQ who were heading to check out with their luggage--quite the dejected lot. I was so thankful that it was only day 2 for us!

 

[tinkgurl]

I forgot to add the one sad sight DS and I saw when we were up at 5 am--the guests of POFQ who were heading to check out with their luggage--quite the dejected lot. I was so thankful that it was only day 2 for us!

Oh how I hate the sight of that! But it does make me feel good when we're still well into the first part of our trip! But......I dread that check-out day every day that gets closer to it! Heck, I'm dreading it now and I still have awhile until July!

 

[KangaFan]

I dreaded it, but by the end of the week, I was sad to leave, but ready for my own bed and more rooms than family members!

 

[Tinkergurl20]

Suscribing! I've loved your TR...I have memories of walking around the resort very early just my grandma and I...so that part of it brought back many memories. I can't wait to read more!!!

 

[KangaFan]

Suscribing! I've loved your TR...I have memories of walking around the resort very early just my grandma and I...so that part of it brought back many memories. I can't wait to read more!!!

I bet your gram loved it too. I am not usually an early riser, but we had a great time just the two of us!

 

[amytheobald]

Any of you take any teasing on your itinerary and/or binder??? Well, I am getting it on all fronts. DH, being the worst tells everyone that I'm allowing him to pee between 10:15 & 10:18 am on Saturday. Well, yesterday, he took the teasing to a new level and actually WEIGHED my binder and said, "Well looks like we can only put 47 more pounds in that suitcase." I tried not to laugh, didn't want to encourage his teasing, but I had to admit it was funny. However, he committed a major sin when he asked, "Do we REALLY need all this stuff???" But of course.

I did realize that we don't need to have all of it with us at all times, however. Some things are just for reference in case I have to change the game plan because of rain, etc. So, borrowing an idea from a gal on the TGM board, I created 4 little mini guides using 4x6 photo albums and printed the essentials (itinerary, DDP restaurant/snack station lists & January show times) and put them in the books. Here are a few pics:

I stayed up waaay too late last night and spent most of the time I was supposed to use for laundry, etc today doing this, but I think they will come in handy.

OMG___I love these books...I m going to make me some...awesome idea!!

 

[DisneyJo]

Great TR so far keep it coming! Your DD looks so cute in her crocs and hat.

 

[KangaFan]

OMG___I love these books...I m going to make me some...awesome idea!!

Thanks, I can't take full credit because I got the idea from the TGM board, but they were invaluable in the park. My husband starting relying on them and asking for tips out of my magic little book. They were so much easier to carry, the even fit into my husband's back pocket (depending on the brand of jeans he was wearing that day.) Enjoy! And thanks for reading!

 

[KangaFan]

Great TR so far keep it coming! Your DD looks so cute in her crocs and hat.

Thanks! I think she's pretty cute, but then I'm her Mom.

It has been so busy since we got back. I thought I would be halfway into my trip by now, I have a busy weekend, but I'm hoping to get day 3 up sometime before Monday. Thanks for reading!

 

[deide71]

Well keep them coming Kanga, coz your doin' a great job .

 

[KangaFan]

Well keep them coming Kanga, coz your doin' a great job .

Thanks for the encouragement, it's great to have a cheering section!

 

[pooksma]

Kanga,

I read your pretrip and just picked up on this part! Sounds like a great time so far. Looking forward to more.

 

[princess@heart]

How much longer until the next installment?

LOL! I finally got started on my TR...

BTW, how's the weather there? It's gotten pretty cold here, but it is supposed to do a little warm up soon. Maybe to the upper 40's or low 50's? Past few days it's been in the low 30's.... brrrrrr. Wish I had some of the 70's we had in Disney.

 

[KangaFan]

Hi Pooksma & Amber! Sorry it has been so long, but DH is gone to be with DMIL while she has her surgery and my kiddies have been out of school for 3 days in a row! Half day on Monday, early dismissal on Tues and then 3 snow days followed by President's weekend. Anyway, I've been trying to keep them busy and have not had a moment to write. I will try to get something up by the end of the weekend.

We were close to zero with the wind chill yesterday morning and only in the twenties by the afternoon, but I took the kids into DC anyway because we needed to get out of the house!

Thanks for all your encouragement!

 

[KangaFan]

Day 3—Monday, January 22nd

Do you dream when you’re at Disney? I did not have a single dream—at least not that I remembered—the whole week. Maybe it was due to the early mornings or the physical exertion of walking everywhere. Maybe because of this I just slept much more deeply, but the little girl in me likes to think that its because there is nothing better to dream about when you’re at the Happiest Place on Earth.

I thought for sure that after carrying my daughter to Dumbo and traversing the many, many paths of Magic Kingdom that I would be able to “sleep in” until at least 6:30 on this fine morning, but alas my eyes popped open somewhere around 4:45 and I could not get back to sleep. Around 5, I gave up trying and quietly gathered my things to hop in the shower. By the time I got out, DH was up and went to the food court to grab a cup of coffee and some beignets for the family. You get six for one snack credit and that was plenty. In fact, the kids didn’t care for them, so we shared them with my Mom. They were good—a little bit chewier than a doughnut—but one was enough, I would rather save the rest of my junk food allotment for the Mickey ice cream bars.

We emptied out the backpacks from yesterday and repacked with today’s supplies. The smartest thing I did before I left home was to create mini packing lists for each day based on what I thought we would be doing and what we would need. I didn’t mention these to DH ahead of time because I didn’t want to give him any more teasing ammo. I did it, however because I know my family and when we are all getting ready to go somewhere, we’re one step shy of complete chaos and thinking straight, at least for me, is next to impossible. Having a preset list meant I didn’t have to think. It worked great and we only forgot a couple of minor things all week!

Packed & ready to go, we head down to the bus stop & hop the bus to Epcot. My Mom & Dan (her DBF) were joining us later, but my sister was ready to go so she joined us. I had made the kiddies go potty before we left for Epcot, but I guess I should also have checked with the adults, because as soon as we got off the bus, my sister wanted to make a pit stop. The lines at the turnstiles were already growing, so I told her to go ahead and to join us in line. I’m not sure if she misunderstood me or if she felt bad going in front of other people, but she just lined up at the end of the line and by the time we figured out what had happened, we were heading through the turnstiles. I gave DH our tickets to go get fastpasses with and waited for DSis with the kids. Unfortunately, DSis has our family affliction, whatever line we go in, be it supermarket, bank, or at the Happiest Place on Earth, will have problems. The people in front of her couldn’t get their tickets to work. I really wish Disney would spring for cards for any and all multiday tickets. I was shocked when my aunt showed me her annual pass was paper! Anyway, DSis finally gets through and I realize that without her ticket, DH can’t get fastpasses for all of us and we couldn’t very well ride without her, so I run up to the front to give him her ticket and we follow behind the mob to Soarin’. We caught up with DH who had our first set of FPs and we road Soarin’ standby—1st class—front and center. It was spectacular. Since it was our second time, I was amazed how good it still was and that DD still giggled & shrieked with joy—I definitely think this was her favorite ride.

Next we went to get in line for TT with Crush. While waiting in line, I was looking at my mini-guide to see what to do next and another gal waiting in line approached me to ask if I was a TGMer. It was Joy from the TGM board and she had recognized my mini guide. It was obvious she was enjoying her Mom-break/solo trip and it was great talking with her. DS who was already obsessed with pin trading at this point noticed her lanyard right away and was trying to trade pins with her. I was explaining to him that most adults who collect pins only trade for certain ones when Joy reached over and gave him a special Magical Fireworks Voyage pin that she happened to have duplicates of. DS was thrilled and it was so sweet of her. We were able to sit with Joy once we moved inside. The show was great! We all enjoyed it and DH & I were amazed at the real time animation. One of the kids asked how Crush felt about sharks and Crush went and hid behind a rock and said, “Dude, this is what I do when a shark is around.”

Although we had already done the Nemo ride and it wasn’t something I would normally repeat, DSis hadn’t seen it, so we did that next. My Mom called to see what we were doing. We made plans to meet up near the Garden Grill since DH, the kids and I had a lunch reservation there. DH went to get FPs for Test Track while DSis, the kids and I went to meet up with Mom. Mom & Dan were not hungry since they had a late breakfast, so I asked if we could add DSis to our reservation when I checked in and they said no problem. They offered to seat us right away, but the kids were coloring at the Kidcot Stop, so I asked if they could wait. Once the kids finished, they took us right up to our table and the server informed us that we were the Family of the Day! Our waiter brought our drinks, with glow cubes!

The kids table manners went down hill from here, however since they felt the need to open up their cups and fish out the cubes to see how they worked. Next, the Chef came out to tell us about the special appetizers that he had created for us, BBQ ribs and black bean soup. The soup came in these little tiny cups with a mini-carrot in the top. You can see the soup in our group picture down below. I have to say, none of us usually eat ribs, but we didn’t want to be rude, so we tried them and they were good, as was the soup. The leftovers you see are the kids and DSis who eats like a kid.

Next the character handler came with ALL of the characters, Chip, Dale, Mickey & Pluto and we got a group picture. (I think this was a Family of the Day perk because it didn’t happen at any of our other meals and they didn’t seem to be visiting all the other tables as a group.) Then we got to see the characters each individually a couple of times.

The kids were really into scratching pluto's back. We have this picture at every Pluto meet & greet.

They even stopped and played with the kids. As I mentioned, all glow cubes had been fished out by this time, so to my daughter’s delight, Chip & Dale balanced them on their noses.

On top of the wonderful character interaction, the food was good, the desert was completely yummy and the service was outstanding. I don’t know if it was because of all the excitement or what, but DD spilled her milk and then for her second course, spilled her water. I was a little embarrassed by the second spill, so I grabbed some napkins and started wiping it up and one of the servers came over and started apologizing for my having to wipe it up. “Uh, sir, this is my daughter’s second spill of the day, no apologies needed.” Both the chef and the manager also checked in with us again to make sure everything was okay—this part may be due to our “Family of the Day” status but was nice nevertheless and at the end, the manager brought us a certificate with our name on it good for priority entrance into any one attraction. This whole experience was incredible and I have to say even minus the “Family of the Day” perks, it was our favorite character meal. In fact, it spoiled us for our other character meals later in the week. The others just seemed so much more hectic because of the buffet style verses the family style service at Garden Grill and the sheer number of people. I think that GG is an untapped gem!

The certificate worked out GREAT since DH had actually gotten FPs for Mission Space instead of Test Track. I think he had MS on the brain becauseDS had been talking about it ALL morning and had even complained (before seeing it) about going to Turtle Talk because he felt that it was a “waste of [his] time.” So now we could use this pass for Test Track AND then he and DS could do Mission Space.

Mom & Dan had gotten FPs for TT as well, so we all rode together. Here’s a group pic before

And during (we had to split into 2 cars since there were 7 of us.)

I have to say, this was okay, but not a favorite or must do for us.

After TT, DS made his own license which he proudly showed to anyone who was interested. Then DH, DS, DSis and DM headed over to do Mission Space while DD & I stopped at the Test Track Kidcot stop. Dan was going to head back to the hotel with DD & I after this, but DD was taking her time coloring, so he went on ahead. She really enjoyed the Kidcot stops. I think they were mini bits of downtime for her. She also liked all the sound effects buttons behind this stop as well. Here’s a picture of the little badge thingy that she collected her dangles on at 3 of the 4 different spots in Future World:

When she was finally done, 30 minutes later, we headed out to the bus stop. DD fell asleep on the bus so when we got back, I laid her out on the bed and had some quiet time myself. Once we were all reunited at POFQ, Mom, Dan & the kids were pretty tired, so we called to cancel their reservation at Cape May Café and they just grabbed something at the POFQ food court. DH & I were tempted to do the same, but I had read so many great things about Le Cellier and since this was to be our anniversary celebration night, we decided to go, sit & eat and then decide if we wanted to do anything beyond that.

On the way into Epcot, we grabbed anniversary buttons because they were very cute, a free souvenir, and as silly as it sounds, somehow wearing a button made the night seem more festive. Here’s a scan I’m hoping to use in my scrapbook:

We walked straight toward Canada since it was just about time for our reservation and checked in. We were seated with ten minutes or so and ordered our drinks. I got the Blue Glowtini

and DH tried a Canadian beer.

We then ordered our appetizers. DH got the cheese soup which he thought was quite good and I had planned to get the tomato mushroom thing, but when looking at the menu I decided to order this seafood spread type thing that wasn’t on the DIS menu. I meant to write down the actually name, but forgot, so if anyone knows, please feel free to chime in. Here’s a pic:

It was delicious and even more so when I accidentally got some of the citrus-ish sauce drizzled on the side mixed in. I’m sure it was meant to be eaten that way, but I somehow always think of the drizzles as decoration. The citrus really brought out all the flavors and was great with the spread and the sesame crispy thing on top. (I apologize to any professional chefs who might be reading for flagrant disregard for the technical names of any of the above, but it has been quite a week and I just don’t have time to think/look them up.) For entrée, I got the mushroom filet and DH had the BBQ filet. They were both good, I preferred mine and DH like both. I got the chocolate whiskey cake and he had the crème brulee. The cake was okay. Not any better or worse than any other chocolate cake I ever had at a restaurant. DH really like his brulee.

Stuffed beyond belief, I wrapped up my blue glow cube (the ones we got at GG were red and I thought the kids would like a different one) and we made a quick potty stop before leaving Le Cellier. I can’t remember why since he is usually waiting for me, but I was waiting outside the restroom for DH, just hanging and people watching. There was an extended family with what looked to be a 7 or 8 month old dining right in front of where I was standing. The poor Mom who was also having the oh-so-delicious mushroom filet was trying to protect it from her baby who was doing her best to grab at it. She tried to amuse the litte tyke with a straw, but that lasted about 2 seconds. I was thinking how lucky we were to be dining alone. Not that I would have to defend my meal, but not having to cut the kids food up and wipe up spills, etc was such a luxury. I was also wishing that I had my usual bag of tricks that I use to entertain my kids when we’re out to offer when I remembered the glow cube. I knew my kids would enjoy it, but they had received so much in the last couple of days and would not know the difference, so I pulled it out of my purse and offered it to the family. The Mom looked so relieved and thanked me. It felt great to help out, remembering the times when my kiddies were that little and I found myself somewhere without toys. For all those other safety nuts like me, don't worry, I did tell them that it came from a drink and that they might want to wipe it off first.

We rolled out of Le Cellier and headed toward Japan because we had promised DS we would pick up a pack of Yu Gi Oh cards for him. On the way, we stopped and bought each of the kids an Epcot pin for their lanyards. While in Japan, we noticed that they had Epcot maps in Japanese. I looked in some of the other countries, but no luck. I thought these would have made really great souvenirs.

Anyway, after a quick stop in Germany for a German antennae topper for my friend Amy, we were getting tired, so we decided to kill some time and go watch a show. The American Adventure was just about to start, so we headed over there. I don’t know why, but I thought it would have live actors, music, etc. For a former history major, I thought it was a bit of a snoozer, so I wasn’t exactly re-energized when we exited. And it was raining.

Our original plan was to stay for Illuminations, but we were dragging, it was raining on and off, our dollar store ponchos really weren't covering much because they were blowing around and although it was 8 and we probably could have sat somewhere and made it through until 9, the thought of the mass exodus or waiting until after the mass exodus was enough to convince us to skip it. We headed back to the bus stop and heard the fireworks shortly after we got back to our room at POFQ—no regrets. DD was out and DS soon followed once Mom left and we turned the lights out. It wasn’t long before we joined them. After all, the next day was our 2nd at Magic Kingdom and we had Spectro to rest up for!

DO: --make mini packing lists if you are not a naturally organized person.
These were a big help for us each morning
--plan to ride Soarin’ twice. I really didn’t think we would want to
until we had ridden the first time & we were hooked!
--pack blister band-aids or pre-cut pieces of moleskin, we used them
for blisters and even for padding on my son's lanyard when it started
to irritate his neck
--TT w/ Crush—the technology is mind blowing—‘knuff said
--make time for the Kidcot stops if you have a child who likes to
color. They really were a nice break for my daughter and us too
--Go to the Garden Grill for lunch even if you are planning to do any
character meals—it was our favorite, hands down!
--Do Le Cellier
--the Blue Glowtini—delicious!

DON’T: --worry about saving room for desert at Le Cellier unless you like
Crème Brulee. The food was wonderful, but my cake was average.
--count on dollar store ponchos for rain. They are probably okay for
one run on a water ride, but that’s about it. We ended up buying the
Disney ones for the rainy days
--plan a night out after two park days with only an afternoon break.
Although we had fun, we would have enjoyed our Epcot evening
more after a down day

Up next: MK day 2, Tomorrowland practically to ourselves, Crystal Palace, meeting up with my in-laws and Spectro!

 

[Glendamax]

Kanga! So glad I spotted the link to this report in your siggie! I totally missed this thread!

Anyway . . . This has been alot of fun! LOVED the pics!

 

[DisneyJo]

Great day and to be chosen as family of the day, wow, we're eating at GG in August so I'm glad you loved it. I also just wanted to say what a good photo you take, such a lovely smile, I always end up looking all gummy or wrinkley.

 

[princess@heart]

While in Japan, we noticed that they had Epcot maps in Japanese. I looked in some of the other countries, but no luck. I thought these would have made really great souvenirs.

I hate to have to tell you this now, but you'll know for next time... there are park maps at the Epcot entrance in several different languages. It's a whole display of them. DH grabbed a few the first time we saw it. They were even in languages different than WS countries.

Too bad we had canceled our GG ADRs to go to Coral Reef intead. We did, however, get the royal treatment at Coral Reef for our anniversary.

Can't wait for day 4!

 

[KangaFan]

Kanga! So glad I spotted the link to this report in your siggie! I totally missed this thread!

Anyway . . . This has been alot of fun! LOVED the pics!

GMax!!! Welcome aboard! You know it is so easy to miss TRs right now. Seems like there's a lot going on the board. I have to look in my subscriptions to find mine or any others I'm looking for.

Great day and to be chosen as family of the day, wow, we're eating at GG in August so I'm glad you loved it. I also just wanted to say what a good photo you take, such a lovely smile, I always end up looking all gummy or wrinkley.

Okay, if you insist, I'll tell you my secret. You take a gazillion (like, say 800+) pictures and then you merely delete all the bad ones--you know gummy, wrinkly, look like you're going to sneeze, or my personal favorite, side view--yuck! Usually out of 800, I end up with 8 I like and maybe a few others I can crop out flabby parts, etc. For this last trip I even used some of the enhancements offered for my photopass pictures to hide unsightly parts.

I hate to have to tell you this now, but you'll know for next time... there are park maps at the Epcot entrance in several different languages. It's a whole display of them. DH grabbed a few the first time we saw it. They were even in languages different than WS countries.

Too bad we had canceled our GG ADRs to go to Coral Reef intead. We did, however, get the royal treatment at Coral Reef for our anniversary.

Can't wait for day 4!

Okay, you're timing is about as good as my Pal Mickey who told us as we walked to the bus at Epcot that there were no lines at Mission Space.

I'm glad to hear that you got the royal treatment-did it include glow cubes?