Lightsabers, Mouse Kisses and a Man in a Lucky Shirt! A January 2010 TR

[Northern Disney Girl]

CHAPTER 8, PART 2


I checked us in for our ADR and I was told we would be called shortly! We maybe waited 5 minutes before hearing our names being called! We followed our hostess to a table near the stairs at the back and were told that our server would be with us right away!

She did arrive in a minute and proceeded to take out drink orders! She also said that the characters were just finishing up their breakfast and would be out shortly! The girls and I needed to use the washroom so we headed up the stairs to do so and when we returned there was food arriving at the table!

Since the breakfast was a replacement for Crystal Palace while it was under refurb we were some of the priviledged few who were able to taste its yumminess! There is no link to a menu for this breakfast so you will just have to trust me when I tell you that it was SO GOOD!!!

First brought out was a basket of rolls, croissants and danishes. The chocolate croissants were so delish! Next to be brought out was a bowl of fresh fruit which was just so nice and sweet! The hot food came next and was simply divine! There was a big bowl of scrambled eggs, a huge stuffed french toast thing and a very large plate of meat (bacon, ham and sausage) and potatoes. Everything was sooooo yummy!

The characters arrived one at a time while we were eating and they were all in a playful mood! Chip and Dale joked around, Pluto was being very silly and Minnie was just so sweet in her Colonial outfit! We took lots of pictures but these are the best, sorry if they are a bit fuzzy.

​

Just as we were finishing up and thought we couldn't possibly eat another bite, the servers came around and sang Happy Birthday to Emily and presented her with a cupcake! She was so full she couldn't eat more than a couple bites so she asked one of the servers if she could have it put into a paper cup and take it to go! The were very happy to do that for her and even gave her some paper napkins as well!

As we were heading out of the restaurant we were told that because it was not yet 9am and the park had not officially opened yet that we were not actually allowed to leave the vicinity of the restaurant! We were asked to either stay inside LTT or just on the front porch until we were told it was okay to go! While were waiting to go, Natalie took the opportunity to draw a picture! Here it is!

At exactly 9am, the fanfare and music began as people were let into the park! We took off in search of adventure and magic to start our day!

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

I am slightly kicking myself now that I didn't make a reservation at LTT. It looks so, so good.

 

[Dancegrl624]

What a wonderful breakfast! I love the colonial outfits. Too cute! I really like "family style" meals. You don't have to worry about missing any of the characters while you're at the buffet. Don't you just LOVE empty park pictures?! I can't wait to add more to my collection this Sept (8:15am ressie at CP!).

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great update Kim - I love the empty park pictures!

I've never eaten at LTT before. That french toast thing looked really yummy!

 

[heaven2dc]

What a great way to end one day and start another! DTD shopping can be so much fun - it's hard to know what to buy sometimes. I didn't know that LTT served breakfast - what a great way to serve breakfast plus you don't miss the characters like you might at a buffet.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

I am slightly kicking myself now that I didn't make a reservation at LTT. It looks so, so good.

What a wonderful breakfast! I love the colonial outfits. Too cute! I really like "family style" meals. You don't have to worry about missing any of the characters while you're at the buffet. Don't you just LOVE empty park pictures?! I can't wait to add more to my collection this Sept (8:15am ressie at CP!).

Great update Kim - I love the empty park pictures!

I've never eaten at LTT before. That french toast thing looked really yummy!

What a great way to end one day and start another! DTD shopping can be so much fun - it's hard to know what to buy sometimes. I didn't know that LTT served breakfast - what a great way to serve breakfast plus you don't miss the characters like you might at a buffet.

When we told the girls we were going back to WDW and asked them where they wanted to eat, their first choice was Crystal Palace! They were so sad when I told them that CP would be closed for refurb during our stay. A few days later we found out that LTT would be serving a Family Style breakfast during CPs refurb!

When my ADR window opened that was the 2nd ressie that I made! I knew that because it was only to be there for a short time and that the breakfast was a character meal it would be VERY popular! I was right! I checked later to see what, if any, time slots were left for the months of January and Feb and there were maybe 3 for both months!

The french toast thingy was very good! It was stuffed with peaches and had this oh so yummy sauce that went with it! mmmmmmmm! The eggs were the only thing that I didn't care for. They were really tasty, just a bit runny for my liking. I like my eggs done! Ken and the girls enjoyed them very much!

It was almost eery being in the park like that before it opened! There was NOBODY in there! I am trying to remember if there was even music playing yet! I don't think there was! It was so quiet and peaceful!

 

[Monny2AE]

Wow what a quiet park!

The pics in front of the castle turned out wonderful!

And I loved that your little padawan Emily made her lightsaber JUST like Luke's! She's a true blue Star Wars fan!!!! (P.S. You'll be proud to know I've now seen all 3 of the original SW movies with Andrew! )

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I wish they'd return the characters to LTT. You're lucky you got to experience it.

 

[Firestarter]

CHAPTER 7: An evening Downtown!!

We arrived back at POFQ, tired and quite a bit hungry! Our day however was not over yet!!! This was our one and only evening to visit Downtown Disney!!! We quickly changed our clothes and walked down to the boat dock to catch the boat to Downtown Disney!!

I prefer to take non-automotive transportation whenever possible. Part of it is to be different, and part of it is the cool factor.

What a fabulous ride!!! So peaceful and serene!! I enjoyed it VERY much! The boat driver was kind, polite and friendly and told us little factoids about the Sassagoula River and the area around Saratoga Springs and the Treehouses!! A very enjoyable ride indeed!The only thing I would say was a little unpleasant was that I found it to be a bit cool in the evening! An afternoon ride would have been absolutely PERFECT!!!

I on the other hand took advantage of the darkness and convinced the children to keep a watch out for gators.

We disembarked and quickly found our way to Wolfgang Puck Express (Marketplace) !!! We were extremely hungry!! We placed our orders and then Ken and Emily went to find some seats while Nat and I got the drinks! I very much enjoyed the food here! It was hot, plentiful and OH SO YUMMY!!!

In line I “encouraged” Emily to try something other than cheese pizza. By encouraged I mean I established an ultimatum. She was reluctant until Kim described what a cheese Quesadilla was. My explanation of “an armadillo shell stuffed with cheese and baked until hot” was not appreciated.

Ken had the BBQ Pizza, I had the four cheese macaroni with a side salad, Em had a quesadilla and Nat had WPE's famous Chicken Tenders!!! She let me taste a bite and they were DELISH!!! For dessert, we had an assortment of things, some cookies, a brownie and I believe Ken had the Creme Brulee! He grudgingly shared a bite with me! It too was very yummy!

”Shared” in Kim's dictionary reads: (V) To seize through force or coercion.

When we finished filling our faces we decided to check out Once Upon a Toy! Every Child's paradise! Here Miss Emily decided that she needed to make herself a NEW lightsaber! She spent a lot of time making it just PERFECT!!! In fact, when she went to the till to pay for it, the CM said to her”you haven't got all the parts!” Em says back to her”I know! I want it that way! It is exactly like Luke Skywalker's!” The CM's jaw fell open and she said” WOW!!! That is the coolest thing I have seen ALL DAY!!!”

Of course a REALLY cool kid would have made Obi Wan's sabre. I found it neat that Em was so determined to get Luke's sabre just right. More attention to detail than most of her schoolwork.

It's like a gravity well of geekdom. Can't...Resist....

The CM then proceeded to play some trivia games with the girls and kept their attention for quite a while with all her fun games and trivia questions! She had them in stitches!!!

Natalie, of course could not be left out from a new toy, so she decided to try her hand at filling a box with My Little Pony Stuff!! She and I went around the circle so many times just to make sure that she had EVERY SINGLE PIECE!!! We now have about 24 pony princess shoes!!! One set from each princess! I was having a difficult time getting all the stuff to fit into the box so a CM came over to help us out! She was Great too!

Before we left the girls played around with the Mr. Potato Head Dress Up computers.

Sometimes I try to get these candid action shots of the kids or Kim. Normally I have a split second and I don't even get the lens cap off in time. Here I had about 5 minutes, Nat hardly moved.

When the girls had spent enough $$$ we decided to do a bit of window shopping in a couple other stores. We went to the Kitchen Store and Ken and I drooled over all the cool Disney Kitchen gadgets! We didn't buy anything but very much enjoyed looking!
Yes, I'm not into Nascar or Football or Hockey or Baseball. I just want a decent heavy bowl for double boiling.

The girls were begging to go to The World of Disney and the Lego Store so we spent a bit of time in each place. I believe Emily bought her teacher a present in WoD!!
The pirate displays at World of Disney were spectacular. Very neat. The store had so much to choose from that I came away with nothing.

Next up was Goofy's Candy Co. This must be Ken's favourite Store in all of Downtown Disney!!! My sweetie has a REALLY big sweet tooth! Me, I just get so overwhelmed in there by the oodles and oodles of choices that I leave empty handed every time!! I just can't make a decision in that place!! Too much stuff!! Emily got a bag of jelly beans, Nat got a bag of Salt Water Taffy and Ken chose a very large Oreo brownie!

My word, it's full of win! And Chocolate!

After that it was getting close to 9pm and we were all tired from such a long busy day that we decided to head back to POFQ!!!! Another GREAT day at Walt Disney World!!!!


up next: Breakfast in a Tavern??

Liquid breakfast????

 

[Firestarter]

Chapter 8: Back to the Kingdom of Magic we go.....

This morning we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed at quite an early hour as we had an early Breakfast ADR @ Liberty Tree Tavern.
I am bright eyed when I finish my dang coffee and my tail being bushy had best not refer to my lightly gelled coiffed mane.
Our ressie was for 8:10am so we were on the bus by about 715 I think! I think this the one morning that we actually had to wait for a few minutes!

Pick out the one who is “Bright eyed and bushy tailed” here? That's right, the photographer. And Natalaie.

The bus ride really is quite quick to Magic Kingdom from POFQ, maybe 10 minutes! We were there very soon, disembarked the bus and made our way to the main entrance gates. Ken and Emily went through bag check and Nat and I met them on the other side. As you can see from the clocks in the following pictures we were inside the park before 7:45am!

I love the morning lighting in the parks, and the fact there is no one there helps too.
​

Since we had a few minutes to spare before we needed to check for our ADR we found a Photopass photographer and had a few shots taken! We were her first group of the morning and she had not even turned on her camera yet! She took LOTS of pics but these are the best ones!

You have NO idea how hard it is to refrain from saying “she's not just leaving pixie dust in your hand”.
​

Once we were finished there we made our way from Main St USA into Liberty Square and over to the place where we would be having our breakfast! It was so cool to see the streets that empty and to see and hear the CMs preparing for the park opening! We even managed to take some shots of a very empty park! Soon enough we arrived at Liberty Tree Tavern for our yummy breakfast!

Quote “That picture isn't good enough honey, we need a bigger, better one for the boards.”

I did not climb a tree for this shot, there was thankfully a sign at ground level.
​

continued in next post!

Yay

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Hey Readers (& Lurkers)

We have had a bunch of sickness run through our house in the last week and a half and then our dryer wasn't working so I have not had much time to get to the next chapter!

I am working on it now and will hopefully be able to post it before tonite! Thanks for being patient!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'll wait.
I still haven't wrapped up mine or started the PTR, so I can't complain. I don't even have a sick family!

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

CHAPTER 9: A day of fun and magic!

After breakfast the girls were divided on what they wanted to do. Emily was near desperate to ride Big Thunder and Natalie had yet to ride Dumbo. So, we decided that Ken and I would each take a girl and go our seperate ways. Emily and I would head to Frontierland for a ride on BTMR and Ken and Natalie would go have a ride on a flying elephant!

You might remember that when we had finished eating we were held at the restaurant until the park actually opened. Emily and slowly inched our way over to the far end of the terrace so that when we were released we could be some of the first few to enter Frontierland!

When the Cms told us we could go we took off at a slow trot towards BTMR! Just over near the bridge we were stopped by a CM and told that Big Thunder was down for the time being and that they weren't sure when it would be back up! We were welcome, however, to go get FP's. We decided to pass on the passes and head over to Fantasyland to catch up with Ken and Natalie instead!

We spotted them just as they were about to get on Dumbo! Our origianl plan called for us to meet back at Winnie the Pooh AFTER they had procured FP's for Peter Pan. Ken had all our tickets so I couldn't even get the FP's while we were waiting for them! We decided to make use of our time and find a washroom!

Ken had the camera with him during this time and thoroghly enjoyed snapping some interesting photos of their time on Dumbo! I will let him tell you about these!!!

It was about 920 when we finally found each other and rode Winnie the Pooh! I will NEVER get tired of this ride! It is just so wonderfully made and so charming! So clever and fun! Definitely one that I would ride even if my children were not with me!

Next, Emily wanted a spin on the tea Cups. Natalie actually decided that she wanted to brave the cups as well so that meant that I HAD TO RIDE TOO!!! I said that I would go on but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER was she allowed to turn that wheel! She agreed and I survived! It really wasn't that bad!


As we were planning this trip the girls somehow found out about the hidden paint brushes on Tom Sawyer's Island! The both agreed that they wanted to be on the first raft over to TSI for a chance to find one of the aforementioned brushes! So at precisely 940am we found ourselves at the front of the line for the first raft over to TSI!!! Man, we were having such luck at the front of the line thing on this trip!!!

The raft ride over was a bit pack as many other families seemed to have the same idea as we did! The girls were very excited to go hunting for paint brushes and made fast friends with a couple of other little girls who were also on the lookout for a paint brush! We cautioned the girls that there were only a couple of brushes to be found and that even if they didn't find one that we wanted them to have fun and enjoys themselves.

When the raft landed on the island side about 6 big boys pushed ahead of all the little girls. We told our girls to stay where we could see them and we tried our best to keep up with them as they took off to hunt for a paint brush! Well, I wish I could tell you that they were successful. They tried VERY hard – looked just about everywhere imaginable! We kept encouraging them to keep looking, but also to make sure that they had some fun too!

Well, we never did find a paint brush but they sure did have a good time! I think that we must have spent about 45 minutes over there! We went back to the dock and waited for the raft to return and take us back to the mainland!

When we disembarked the raft we headed straight over BTMR to see if it was running yet! It wasn't! We grabbed some Fast Passes and then decided to go and take a spin on Aladdin's Flying Carpets! Iremember when the spitting camels were a part of the Aladdin parade at MGM-Studios! Natalie considers it her personal goal to make me sick to my stomach when we ride this together! She likes to do the tilt and keeps it at a bucking bronco pace!

Done with the carpets, we decided to try for the Jungle Cruise! We had a fabulous skipper last year (I believe her name was Sarah) and hoped that we would be so lucky again this year! We headed down to see how long the line was. It looked pretty long but it actually moved quite quickly!

I think it was about 11 oclock when we got in line and were getting on to our Cruise ship at about 11:15. Not bad considering the line was half way across the lower plaza when we jumped in line! We weren't quite so lucky in the skipper department though! Can't remember the dudes name but he just did not seem to really enjoy his job much! He seemed bored and slightly bothered that he had to “entertain” us at all!

He did do a couple of the classics though and managed to get a few laughs! The girls did enjoy themselves and Emily in particular seemed to enjoy hearing some of the puns! In fact, it was on this ride through the jungle that Ken took one of my absolute favourite pictures of the whole trip! This is Emily “getting” one of the puns!

As we were leaving the Jungle Cruise we overheard that the next Pirate Tutorial would be starting in a few minutes. Ken and Natalie had expressed some interest in seeing this show so they went and found a place to watch and Emily and I went to take a tour of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse again! We also used the washrooms and did some window shopping at the POTC dump shop!

When the show was over, there was only a 5 minute wait for POTC so we hopped in line! I have probably said this before but I don't think I could ever get tired of this ride! As Jack Sparrow says “I Love this song!” There is just so much to look at! It is a different experience every time!

Leaving Adventureland behind we set ourselves in the direction of Liberty Square. It was time to visit some Happy Haunts! Emily is NOT a great fan of the Haunted Mansion . She gets a little spooked in the stretching room! She had saved her earplugs from AK the day before and had brought them along just for this exact purpose! We entered into the room and found a place to stand. As soon as her feet were settled, in went those earplugs! She does not like the “ghost host” AT ALL!!! When we sat down in our doom buggy she took them out and enjoyed the rest of the attraction! Funny Kid!

When we were leaving the ride I made sure to stop and have Ken get a GREAT shot of Mr. Toad in the Pet Cemetery! I think it is so sad that he is all the way at the back where nobody ever notices him! I was fortunate to have ridden his “Wild Ride” 2x in my life! It was a great one! I hope someday to visit Disneyland to be able to experience it again!

From there we moved into Fantasyland and used our FP's for Peter Pan which were by now, quite past the return time! No problem! We were ushered in and bypassed the sad and hot people who were waiting in the 55 minute long stand by line! I LOVE FASTPASS!!!

After our flight over London and Neverland, we decided to take a ride on the happiest cruise that ever sailed! YUP – we exposed our selves to the loveliness that is It's A Small World! I was concerned that Ken's head might start to spin on this ride but I do believe that he actually enjoyed it! I will let him share his thoughts with you on that one!

I tried to take a few pictures but absolutely none of them turned out! The are all blurry and fuzzy! Darn! Well, I enjoyed the ride anyway and made sure to look for some hidden Mickey's! Natalie and I found a couple new ones that we had never noticed before! I am not going to tell you where they are, you'll just have to find them for your self!

After our lovely little cruise, we decided to take in something completely new! To us anyway! When we were at WDW last year, Micky's Philharmagic was down for refurb so we weren't able to see it! Well, this show is now one of our FAVES in all of WDW!!! I LOVE IT!!! So cool! What an amazing little show! It is now a must see on every trip!

Next, we tried something else that we hadn't done last year. Snow White's Adventures was beckoning us! There was absolutely no line up and the girls had both declared themselves brave enough to handle the “Scary” parts! I had shown them pictures online of what to expect so they knew what they were in for! At the end of the ride, they both said “That's it?, That was NOT scary!” HA! I have me some brave girls!

Well, while she was still feeling brave we decided to try and see if we could coax Natalie into riding Big Thunder! At first she seemed okay with the idea, but as we got closer to the Mountain, she began to walk slower and slower and slower. We decided to give her a chance to watch it for a few minutes and see if she would warm up to the idea. NOPE!!! She was NOT going to ride it! NOT. AT. ALL. So Em and I had a ride. When were done our ide, Ken took Emily back on again with the other FP's and Nat and I went to find a spot for the 3pm parade!

We were lucky and gor a spot on Main St near where we had watched Spectro and Wishes on our firat night! When Ken and Emily joined us, I went to Casey's and paid OOP for some Corn Dog nuggets and then went over to the bakery and used a couple snack credits for a delicious cinnimon roll and a fruit bowl! A yummy afternoon treat for watching the parade! We each had about 6 nuggets and then shared the cinnamon roll and fruit! So yummy!

While we were waiting for the parade to start, there were some CM's on the street with skipping ropes and Hula hoops and they were inviting the kids to play! What a great little piece of Disney Magic! We were very happy that the girls chose to participate and not just sit and ask “When is it going to start?”

I passed the time people watching and enjoying the beautiful weather! I think that day was about 78 degrees! Nice and sunny with only a few wispy clouds in the air for colour and daydreaming! A perfectly beautiful afternoon! Excellent weather for parade watching!

Well, since the Give a Day, Get a Day endeavor was in full swing there was a little pre parade happening before the Main Event! The muppets were involved and it was a cute distraction! It was nice to see the muppets have a bit more of a presence in the parks if only for a year!

Con't in next post.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

CHAPTER 9: Part 2

Once the little muppet parade was done there were still a few minutes before the Dreams Come True parade started so the girls happile skipped off to join in the skipping for a few more minutes! As crowded as Main St is for watching parades, you just can't beat the perks!

I just LOVE the little guy wearing the Peter Pan suit, don't you??​

Well once the parade started they came rushing back and we enjoyed watching this parade together VERY much! We didn't watch it last year on our trip and I hadn't seen it on my last trip as a teen so I had not watched an MK afternoon parade since 1991!! YIKES!!!

I got a wave and a kiss from my fave mouse!​

Emily was particularly very excited to see some of her fave characters! Mary and Bert from Mary Poppins, Alice from Wonderland and Cinderella and her Prince Charming! Cinderella saw Em's birthday button and called out “Happy Birthday Princess Emily!” and blew her a kiss! Mary Poppins waved right at her and Bert gave her a salute and Alice threw her a hug! What a magical day for my girl!

I must have been really tired that day because it took me about 2/3 of the parade before I figured out that the female dancers HAD to be wearing wigs! I mean, the highlights in their hair match EXACTLY the colour of their dresses which match EXACTLY with their male counterparts shirts! That, and they ALL had the same hairstyles! DUH – totally blonde that day! Oh well, it was a great parade and I am very gald we finally got to se it! Not a must do for every future trip but definitely a fun time!

When the parade ended we decided that we had done enough for the day and walked right down the middle of Main Street USA as we headed for the bus stop to take us back to our resort! Since it was such a lovely day, the girls wanted to go swimiing! That and we had a Supper ADR over at Riverside that evening!




Up next...an afternoon and evening at Port Orleans!

 

[Dancegrl624]

I love your parade pictures! I can't even remember the last time I saw an afternoon parade at the MK. I do think that they're wonderful, but we never stop to watch. 3pm is when we're usually heading out to a park for our evening touring (after our midday break).

BTMRR is one of our favorites. Every time we talk about WDW, Madison asks if we can ride it at all different times of day. I guess she really loved riding it at night back in June! A cinnamon roll from the Main Street Bakery is on the list of things to get on our Sept trip. They are SO delicious!!!

 

[doneybiz]

I love these posts!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

More great updates Kim!!
We had a not so wonderful CM on the Jungle Cruise last year. She talked so fast and the sound was so bad we missed half of what she was saying! That's a job where you really have to like the ride to be good as a CM.

Cool that the characters acknowledged Emily's birthday from a parade!

 

[Monny2AE]

Great updates!

Philharmagic- We loved it too and were so glad it wasn't down this time!

Jungle Cruise- I wonder if we had the same CM as you. The guy we had wasn't enthusiastic at all and sounded like he was just reading the script. I guess we all have our off days.

Tom Sawyer's Island- I've never heard about hidden paint brushes! Looks like I have some research to do before our next trip.

Snow White- I watched it on YouTube before our trip and decided we'd skip it for a little while. It seems just a little too intense for Em yet.

 

[praisehisname]

Love the updates and pics, especially the early-morning ones from your breakfast at LTT! That meal sounded so good!

 

[lledman]

Hey Readers (& Lurkers)

We have had a bunch of sickness run through our house in the last week and a half and then our dryer wasn't working so I have not had much time to get to the next chapter!

I am working on it now and will hopefully be able to post it before tonite! Thanks for being patient!

- lurker here - patiently waiting