keswick1uk
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2004
- Messages
- 222
<b>Friday March 12th 2004</b>
<i>Weather: 77, beautiful all day. </i>
Today was the day Kate had asked about every morning as she woke since we arrived! Yes, today you are having breakfast with Cinderella. At last!
We woke early to be sure of making our time of 9 oclock. We were one of the first to park, and took the monorail to the park gates. We could see a CM letting people in at the far end even though the park wasnt opened, so we asked her if we could enter even though it was still only 8.15. That was fine so, in we went, and enjoyed a quiet Main Street taking a few pictures before the hoards arrived.
When we reached the castle the staff, dressed in medieval attire, took our name and from then on we were Lord and Lady, Prince and Princess. We were shown into the lobby and no one else was there. Kate spotted Gus and Jacques the mice and then in came the Fairy Godmother. She could see that Kate was shy and she was perfect with her. She talked to her about dreams, and princesses and how, if she sat with her on her chair, she could have a picture taken and all her school friends would then see that she really had been to Cinderellas Castle. I dont know how many Fairy Godmothers they have but she had the most beautiful and gentle personality. She spent a long time with her. At first that was because we were there on our own but, even when others came in, she didnt let Kate go until she had finished her story. I dont know exactly what was said but, from then on, Kate wanted to be in all the character meet lines!
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000002.jpg" />
The breakfast was lovely. We had freshly squeezed orange juice, and coffee. A basket of breads and pastries, and a bowl of fresh fruit to start. The children didnt want much cooked but wanted more fruit so we had a second bowl. Andy had the cooked and I had the granola and yoghurt. It was served in an enormous porcelain dish. I couldnt eat it all. There is only so much muesli a person can eat but it was delicious.
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000012.jpg" />
We met Belle (Kates favourite princess), Cinderella, Snow White, Mary Poppins and Sleeping Beauty.
Belle was superbly in character and spent a good while with Kate
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000006.jpg" />
Tom was funny, he would distance himself from them but you could tell he was interested really. He was happy to talk to Mary Poppins but when we got onto the subject of bedrooms, and she virtually quoted the part from the film about making every chore a game, his face was a picture! I think he thought she would really turn up at home one day and check him out <img border=0 src="http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif" />
Princess Aurora, the sleeping beauty. I actually think she had just woken up ;-) I felt a little sorry for her actually as two tables around us said Whos the girl in the pink?
After breakfast, and our return to being riff-raff, we headed off to Fantasyland riding all the favourites before the queues got too long. Dumbo, Small World (wait 0 minutes!), Winnie the Pooh, picked up FPs to Splash Mountain, went to Tom Sawyer Island, where Tom shot everyone as they flew around on BTMR .
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000008.jpg" />
We went on Splash mountain or the Brer Rabbit ride as I called it (hoping no one would worry too much!) We all had a ball. This ride is just Disney at its very best.
We decided to take the railroad around the park for a breather, and then picked up some lunch at Peco Bills (this is where FPs are needed!). I then collected a FP for Jungle Cruise while the children played in the Swiss family Robinson Tree house. It was at this point that I became confused with Fastpasses a bit. On each was a time you could pick another up and mostly they were an hour or two later. Well, on this one it was just 5 minutes; so I asked a CM why. He explained that on the not very popular FP attractions the wait to get another FP was quick .hence the 5 minutes. So, I now legged it across to Peter Pans Flight to get FPs for that ride too.
Once I had collected these passes I went back to the tree house to collect the mob to line up for the parade. It started with a pre-parade for the new film Home on the Range, and then followed the full Share a dream come true parade. As the Fairy Godmother passed she winked at Kate. We couldnt believe it, and Kate was so touched.
We rode Jungle Cruise straight after the parade and then, on our way for a break for frozen lemonades at the Enchanted Grove, caught a character meet at the Castle. Tom met his fave Pluto and Kate was now over the moon to meet Minnie (who she had been to shy to greet before). The frozen lemonades were delayed for this but were exactly what the doctor ordered once we got them!
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000001.jpg" />
Now it was time to ride Peter Pan and then we had to take a wander down to the barbers on Main Street to meet some friends from Looe who were coincidentally in Orlando at the same time. We met them all without a hitch and bought Matthew a birthday present from the night-time toy street vendor.
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000002.jpg" />
We spilt up so that Andy could ride some more in Frontier land and Sharon and I took the four youngest children back into Fantasyland where we rode the Carousel. Then we sat down for a natter while Tom and Matty played space crusaders with their night time swords, and Kate and Becky tried to change them for the better with princess wands. Unfortunately, even Disney does not have enough pixie dust to sort those two out.
Once everyone was congregated back together we found a spot on Main street to watch Wishes. The girls couldnt believe Tinkerbell would really fly from the castle.(Luckily it was too dark for them to see the cord at this point Kate soon spotted it the next time we returned though!)
Oh there goes Tink they cried and Wishes had started. A fabulous 11 minutes engrossed in story, music and fireworks. Amazing.
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000003.jpg" />
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000004.jpg" />
The crowds after were manic as usual so we bought Kate a hotdog at Caseys and some fries for Tom, met a few other people while they indulged in munchies, and then took off for the ferry back to the TTC after the crowd had thinned.
<i>Weather: 77, beautiful all day. </i>
Today was the day Kate had asked about every morning as she woke since we arrived! Yes, today you are having breakfast with Cinderella. At last!
We woke early to be sure of making our time of 9 oclock. We were one of the first to park, and took the monorail to the park gates. We could see a CM letting people in at the far end even though the park wasnt opened, so we asked her if we could enter even though it was still only 8.15. That was fine so, in we went, and enjoyed a quiet Main Street taking a few pictures before the hoards arrived.
When we reached the castle the staff, dressed in medieval attire, took our name and from then on we were Lord and Lady, Prince and Princess. We were shown into the lobby and no one else was there. Kate spotted Gus and Jacques the mice and then in came the Fairy Godmother. She could see that Kate was shy and she was perfect with her. She talked to her about dreams, and princesses and how, if she sat with her on her chair, she could have a picture taken and all her school friends would then see that she really had been to Cinderellas Castle. I dont know how many Fairy Godmothers they have but she had the most beautiful and gentle personality. She spent a long time with her. At first that was because we were there on our own but, even when others came in, she didnt let Kate go until she had finished her story. I dont know exactly what was said but, from then on, Kate wanted to be in all the character meet lines!
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000002.jpg" />
The breakfast was lovely. We had freshly squeezed orange juice, and coffee. A basket of breads and pastries, and a bowl of fresh fruit to start. The children didnt want much cooked but wanted more fruit so we had a second bowl. Andy had the cooked and I had the granola and yoghurt. It was served in an enormous porcelain dish. I couldnt eat it all. There is only so much muesli a person can eat but it was delicious.
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000012.jpg" />
We met Belle (Kates favourite princess), Cinderella, Snow White, Mary Poppins and Sleeping Beauty.
Belle was superbly in character and spent a good while with Kate
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000006.jpg" />
Tom was funny, he would distance himself from them but you could tell he was interested really. He was happy to talk to Mary Poppins but when we got onto the subject of bedrooms, and she virtually quoted the part from the film about making every chore a game, his face was a picture! I think he thought she would really turn up at home one day and check him out <img border=0 src="http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif" />
Princess Aurora, the sleeping beauty. I actually think she had just woken up ;-) I felt a little sorry for her actually as two tables around us said Whos the girl in the pink?
After breakfast, and our return to being riff-raff, we headed off to Fantasyland riding all the favourites before the queues got too long. Dumbo, Small World (wait 0 minutes!), Winnie the Pooh, picked up FPs to Splash Mountain, went to Tom Sawyer Island, where Tom shot everyone as they flew around on BTMR .
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424520f00000008.jpg" />
We went on Splash mountain or the Brer Rabbit ride as I called it (hoping no one would worry too much!) We all had a ball. This ride is just Disney at its very best.
We decided to take the railroad around the park for a breather, and then picked up some lunch at Peco Bills (this is where FPs are needed!). I then collected a FP for Jungle Cruise while the children played in the Swiss family Robinson Tree house. It was at this point that I became confused with Fastpasses a bit. On each was a time you could pick another up and mostly they were an hour or two later. Well, on this one it was just 5 minutes; so I asked a CM why. He explained that on the not very popular FP attractions the wait to get another FP was quick .hence the 5 minutes. So, I now legged it across to Peter Pans Flight to get FPs for that ride too.
Once I had collected these passes I went back to the tree house to collect the mob to line up for the parade. It started with a pre-parade for the new film Home on the Range, and then followed the full Share a dream come true parade. As the Fairy Godmother passed she winked at Kate. We couldnt believe it, and Kate was so touched.
We rode Jungle Cruise straight after the parade and then, on our way for a break for frozen lemonades at the Enchanted Grove, caught a character meet at the Castle. Tom met his fave Pluto and Kate was now over the moon to meet Minnie (who she had been to shy to greet before). The frozen lemonades were delayed for this but were exactly what the doctor ordered once we got them!
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000001.jpg" />
Now it was time to ride Peter Pan and then we had to take a wander down to the barbers on Main Street to meet some friends from Looe who were coincidentally in Orlando at the same time. We met them all without a hitch and bought Matthew a birthday present from the night-time toy street vendor.
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000002.jpg" />
We spilt up so that Andy could ride some more in Frontier land and Sharon and I took the four youngest children back into Fantasyland where we rode the Carousel. Then we sat down for a natter while Tom and Matty played space crusaders with their night time swords, and Kate and Becky tried to change them for the better with princess wands. Unfortunately, even Disney does not have enough pixie dust to sort those two out.
Once everyone was congregated back together we found a spot on Main street to watch Wishes. The girls couldnt believe Tinkerbell would really fly from the castle.(Luckily it was too dark for them to see the cord at this point Kate soon spotted it the next time we returned though!)
Oh there goes Tink they cried and Wishes had started. A fabulous 11 minutes engrossed in story, music and fireworks. Amazing.
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000003.jpg" />
<img border=0 src="http://photos.fotango.com/p/eba00424527f00000004.jpg" />
The crowds after were manic as usual so we bought Kate a hotdog at Caseys and some fries for Tom, met a few other people while they indulged in munchies, and then took off for the ferry back to the TTC after the crowd had thinned.