Magical Grand Gathering Trip with Pics. Completed

[tmkinney]

Great update! I'm glad Kaylee wore the Alice dress, the pics are soooo cute!!! Love the pics of her holding the dress. Can't wait to read about MNSSHP.

 

[kaysmommie]

Thanks for this, it really helps . When we decided to go back we planned to stop in Knoxville for a while since we are so close but when I looked in to it I couldn't really find anything to do (other than the zoo), so wasn't sure. I did put a post on the community board asking for things to do in Nashville and Knoxville and whilst I got lots of ideas for Nashville no-one could give any on Knoxville. So if you say theres not much I think we will give it a miss and have more time for Nashville, which looks fun. Is there anything you would recommend in Nashville?

As for the college football we would love to see a game. When we were in Atlanta last year there was a game going on between Al and Georgia (something like cubs, tigers, dogs ) and there was so much atmosphere everywhere it was so cool. And it was so much fun to be a part of it even though we didn't go to the game. College football is so big over there, its pretty amazing.

I am like you and have moved from somewhere I loved with loads to do to somewhere I find quite boring. Where I originally come from is right near the seaside with lots of lovely beaches nearby as well as gorgeous countryside and lovely moors. We have nice countryside here, infact we are right in the middle of it which is nice when we get deers in the garden etc, but I miss everything else . So I understand what its like for you. I hope you get to move back soon

We love downtown nashville for the nightlife. So many fun clubs, bars and restaurants. Otherwise you can visit Grand Ole opry and country Music Hall of Fame if your into Country music, I'm not but my mom loves it. Opryland hotel is nice too especially during Christmas. We love going there during the Christmas season because my kids love that Gaylord Opryland "Ice" they have slides and eveything made of ice. It's really nice. they also have the christmas Spectuclar in Nashville. Opry Mills mall is really nice to visit year round for shopping. They have Rainforest Cafe and also and Aquaruim Restaurant. The Aquarium one has better food IMO. Pancake Pantry is a good place to eat breakfast or early lunch.

If you decide to see a College football game that University of TN is definately the one to see. That is in Downtown Knoxville. Not sure what season you are visiting in?

Yes it's hard leaving a place you lived for 30 years and then just picking up and moving. At least we have family here but we would like to live somewhere we love. = Not sure if we want to go back up north or not though, maybe try some place new if we move again. We would definately need a few long visits to make sure though. BTW I love the pictures of your sister in her Alice dress. I showed them to Kaylee when I read your trip report and that helped convince her to be Alice . I wish she were more like your sister, she is not really inot the dressing up anymore and wants to be all grown up .

Great updates Nichole! I am finally caught up here - I've had a really busy few weeks that got in the way of my DISing!

I'm so impressed with Tommy and his surprise for you at Coral Reef! That was super sweet - I love the menu he had printed.

And how nice of the CM's at CBR to give the kids those gifts. Like you said, it is things like this that keep us coming back to Disney year after year.

Love the Disney on Ice pictures too - that looks like a great show! I thought about going to that show but we decided against it - now I wish we would have!

Love the pictures of Alice and Kaylee together. Kaylee looks adorable in her Alice dress even though it was a fight to get it on her!

Looking forward to MNSSHP!

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for all your nice compliments. I can't believe she had an attitude about wearing the dress. She likes to push my buttons alot lately . I would rather go to Disney more often than DIsney on Ice but I knew we would need a Disney fix in the meantime.
I have been crazy busy so I can hardly find time to DIS lately either. You will be getting ready for a trip next week . Have you started packing yet?

I totally missed your last update again! Love Kaylee in her cute Alice dress! Can't wait to hear about MNSSHP! Wonder what happens...

Sara

Thanks Sara , well you know what happens already since you were rained out in Epcot. Guess Magic Kingdom doesn't handle flooding as well . Hope you have started your packing for next week.

Kaylee looks so cute in her Alice dress. Glad Thomas was feeling better. Can't wait to hear about your time at MNSSHP!

Thanks

Great update! I'm glad Kaylee wore the Alice dress, the pics are soooo cute!!! Love the pics of her holding the dress. Can't wait to read about MNSSHP.

Thank you

 

[kaysmommie]

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!! I Have been crazy busy lately and will definately update on Friday morning if not tonight. I have to bake pies for dinner at mom's with the family tomorrow. We also want to fit in going to Fantasy of Tress in Knoxville in the next day or two. We started some decorating today for the holidays. So that should be almost done by next week. ​

 

[29apr00]

We are doing breakfast at 1900 Park Fare next year too. I didn't know Pooh and Tigger were there though! Even better as I am sure Joey won't be interested in Alice or Mary Poppins!!

Cute Alice Dress!!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Hey! Have you ordered K's AG stuff yet? I see that some of the Mia is selling out now. PJ's are gone so we missed those. The skate dress is already on backorder. Get it before it's gone! The MIL bought the Mia starter set when she was here. When we ordered it still came with the accessories and all. Those have since sold out. I sent her to my house. After I ordered she said, "You sent it here"? Well....my mom was here too and she gave her $135 for the Mia bedroom collection. Why should I send my moms stuff to Charleston? I hope it gets here soon. I have that $10 off code if ya need it. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[hlrababy]

Awww, cute update!! I really want to do 1900 Park Fare in February!! Kaylee looks so cute in her costume!!! I am glad Thomas was feeling a little better!

 

[ariel2007]

We love downtown nashville for the nightlife. So many fun clubs, bars and restaurants. Otherwise you can visit Grand Ole opry and country Music Hall of Fame if your into Country music, I'm not but my mom loves it. Opryland hotel is nice too especially during Christmas. We love going there during the Christmas season because my kids love that Gaylord Opryland "Ice" they have slides and eveything made of ice. It's really nice. they also have the christmas Spectuclar in Nashville. Opry Mills mall is really nice to visit year round for shopping. They have Rainforest Cafe and also and Aquaruim Restaurant. The Aquarium one has better food IMO. Pancake Pantry is a good place to eat breakfast or early lunch.

If you decide to see a College football game that University of TN is definately the one to see. That is in Downtown Knoxville. Not sure what season you are visiting in?

Yes it's hard leaving a place you lived for 30 years and then just picking up and moving. At least we have family here but we would like to live somewhere we love. = Not sure if we want to go back up north or not though, maybe try some place new if we move again. We would definately need a few long visits to make sure though. BTW I love the pictures of your sister in her Alice dress. I showed them to Kaylee when I read your trip report and that helped convince her to be Alice . I wish she were more like your sister, she is not really inot the dressing up anymore and wants to be all grown up .

Thanks for all the information. Hopefully we will be staying in the Gaylord Opryland. That was the first thing I saw when researching Nashville and knew we just had to stay there. I have heard a lot about the Grand Old Opry but TBH I don't really understand what it is. Is it a theatre, a show I have heard that the Wild Horse Saloon is a good place to visit, have you ever been there?

We are planning on coming over at the end of August - beginning of September, will there be any football on then? And how do we go about finding what games will be on and getting tickets?

I would love to move to the US and my first thought was Florida as we love it and I love being near the coast. However I don't know if I could cope with the bugs and the hurricanes. Since we went to the Smokies last year we all really want to live there, its just so beautiful and I love proper seasons

We are very lucky with Sophie. She is now 12 and still have no inclination to grow up. She still loves dressing up, she has progressed a bit now and not only dresses up in her Disney dresses but she dresses up as ballroom/latin dancers too. Every Saturday when Strictly Come Dancing is on (our version of Dancing With the Star's), she puts on a sparkly dress or one of Mum's long skirts and dances ballroom and latin around the living room with my Grandad. Its so funny to watch

 

[kaysmommie]

Hey! Have you ordered K's AG stuff yet? I see that some of the Mia is selling out now. PJ's are gone so we missed those. The skate dress is already on backorder. Get it before it's gone! The MIL bought the Mia starter set when she was here. When we ordered it still came with the accessories and all. Those have since sold out. I sent her to my house. After I ordered she said, "You sent it here"? Well....my mom was here too and she gave her $135 for the Mia bedroom collection. Why should I send my moms stuff to Charleston? I hope it gets here soon. I have that $10 off code if ya need it. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for asking Tammy .I bought the Mia Doll with her accesories in January when she came out. She had money from my FIL for Christmas and that is what she wanted to buy. With the $10 off code I bought for this Christmas everything we still needed from the Mia Collection,this was before the free shipping came out . I already have put away in my closet Mia's new skate outfits the green & the silver. Mia's PJ's for doll and a matching set for Kaylee with the slippers. ALso I bought Kaylee Mia's meet outfit for girls. With freee shiping last week I ordered Molly's school desk since Kaylee loves to play school. SHe has so much AG stuff I just hope she continues to play with it for a while. I was looking at Marisol on ebay and there is a new doll coming out for 2009 that she might like. So maybe for her Birthday. Did you watch the Kit movie yet? Be sure to have tissues handy when you do, my DF and I shed some tears when we saw at the movies. Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[kaysmommie]

We are doing breakfast at 1900 Park Fare next year too. I didn't know Pooh and Tigger were there though! Even better as I am sure Joey won't be interested in Alice or Mary Poppins!!

Cute Alice Dress!!

Thanks

Awww, cute update!! I really want to do 1900 Park Fare in February!! Kaylee looks so cute in her costume!!! I am glad Thomas was feeling a little better!

Thanks Heather

Thanks for all the information. Hopefully we will be staying in the Gaylord Opryland. That was the first thing I saw when researching Nashville and knew we just had to stay there. I have heard a lot about the Grand Old Opry but TBH I don't really understand what it is. Is it a theatre, a show I have heard that the Wild Horse Saloon is a good place to visit, have you ever been there?

We are planning on coming over at the end of August - beginning of September, will there be any football on then? And how do we go about finding what games will be on and getting tickets?

I would love to move to the US and my first thought was Florida as we love it and I love being near the coast. However I don't know if I could cope with the bugs and the hurricanes. Since we went to the Smokies last year we all really want to live there, its just so beautiful and I love proper seasons

We are very lucky with Sophie. She is now 12 and still have no inclination to grow up. She still loves dressing up, she has progressed a bit now and not only dresses up in her Disney dresses but she dresses up as ballroom/latin dancers too. Every Saturday when Strictly Come Dancing is on (our version of Dancing With the Star's), she puts on a sparkly dress or one of Mum's long skirts and dances ballroom and latin around the living room with my Grandad. Its so funny to watch

I have no idea where you can get tickets because we get them from people who buy season tickets. Probably just have to get them at the Stadium or from a ticket scalper. I would love to move to FL too but am a little worried about hurricanes and the crime rate. San Diego California is beautiful but then there are earthquakes and that scares me to death. I don't know if I would want to live in Gatlinburg but West Knoxville is close enough and a good area. We live in a small town 5 mintues from Knoxville, PM me if you want to know. But we don't love it here moslty because it's too far from the beach.

We have only been to Nashville twice without kids once to see a Bon Jovi concert and last week to see the NY Jets play the Titans . We did go to House of Blues and Hard Rock cafe before but haven't been to Wild horse saloon yet. It might be fun though. Grand old opry is and auditorium where they have live country shows and they also do a tour. If your not into country it's not a must do.

That is so cool that Sophie is 12 and still dresses up! The dance costumes and dancing with your grandad is very cute.

 

[kaysmommie]

Finally!! MNSSHP!! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our's was Great.

We arrived at MK around 5:30 and stopped to take a few pics in front of the castle. Thomas didn't want to get out of the stroller and I didn't try to force him either. Kaylee was happy to pose though.

We wanted to stop somewhere quick for dinner before the party started. I had my mind set on CHH. We got there right at 5:40 and got on line to order. But they closed the registers just as we going to order . There were plenty of people eating in there. Guess they wqanted to close down early. So we went to Pinocchio Village Haus instead. While Tom was getting on line to order Thomas has a fit that he doesn't want to eat and is not hungry. He is still not his happy self and you can tell in the pics that he still doesn't look quite right, though his fever was gone. I guess he just caught something viral in Disney. He is usually well behaved but a few days of this trip not so much. He decides he wants to ride Peter Pan now and is crying. May be bad parenting but I told him if I took him on Peter Pan real quick he has to come back and eat right after. He agrees of course. Tom and Kaylee went ahead and ordered for all of us. I wanted everyone to be able to eat in peace. PP had a 10 minute wait. After the ride we go back to PVH and Thomas of course sayd he doesn't want to eat and is crying and being very bratty. By this point I'm a little disgusted with him but we try to ignore him acting up. After 5 mintues he does finally eat a piece of his pizza and finished his drink. Sorry no food pics here.


After dinner and everyone in a better mood, we went to adventureland to ride POC. On our way out we stopped to see Captain Hook and Mr Smee.

Then we saw the Abu and Genie who we have never met before on any of our trips. Genie always leaves before we get to the front of the line. Thomas who has asked for the last 7 months about meeting Abu decides he doesn't want to see him and that Abu is ugly . Well I made him stay in line with us but told he didn't have to meet him if he doesn't want to. We got the front of the line and he changes his mind and wants Abu to sign his book and a picture with him. He stayed a few steps back from Genie though. After he told me how cute Abu is and that he loves him , see I told you he is not acting like himself. He can't even make up his mind.



Kaylee looking in a costume again ...

Genie trying to be funny.

While we were on line it started to rain a little. When we were done with the characters it was downpouring. We stopped in a shop to put on Poncho's and I called my DF on my cell and they are just paying at CP. We decide to meet up in a few minutes in Toontown. I was really hoping this would be a quick shower. We could not even see while we were walking it was raining so hard and very windy. By time we reached Toon Town we were soaked.


Kaylee immediately sees her BFF in the play area. Everyone is trying to stay out of the rain. The kids all wanted to go ahead and try to do the trick or treat path anyway. I have no pics since you could hardly see where you were going at this point. It took us 40 minutes to do the path between the crowds and the rain. The rain was far from letting up but we rain over toward SM to get out of the rain. the big kids and da's wanted to ride it. Kaylee wanted to ride it too since her BF was going, she decided to be brave. The mom's and rest of the kids waited under and awning to try and not be rained on. It wasn't working though since it was so windy. The line for SM must have been long because they didn't come back for quite a while. I think all the ride lines were long since everyone was trying to stay inside. Thomas was in his stroller with his poncho and not saying a word. He looked very sad though. At this point we are trying to come up with a plan and decide if we should even stay. DF and I agree this is not the best scenrio with a kid that is recovering from being sick. My DF tells me it's no refunds though.


By time the rest of the group was done riding it was 8 PM. We asked a CM about the parade but it looked like they might cancel or start very late at this point. All the kids wanted to ride Buzz. On the way over we walked into the area where those outdoor shops are and it was so flooded like maybe a foot of water. Guess it wasn't draining properly. Kaylee is soaked up to her knees but not complaining at all. The big kids were running around in the rain and we were all completely soaked, well except the my DF baby DS. He had a cover on his stroller and a poncho on and was sleeping happily. Tom and I decided to g oto guest services and see if we could come back another night .Either way we were out of there. We just didn't want Thomas out in the rain anymore. It was almost 2 hours of straight rain and not looking like it would improve. We were just soaked and miserable and not having fun at all, well except Kaylee.


Kaylee was crying because she wanted to stay with her friends. Thomas wanted to ride Buzz but he was more than happy to go back to CBR by this point. I told DF I would call her on her cell after I went to guest services. They were going to stay most likley because they had plans for the next night in Epcot and couldn't cancel those. She really had no idea what she missing at MNSSHP anyway since all thier kids wanted to do was trick and treat and get loads of candy. I really wanted to see the Parade and the dance parties and of course Hallowishes. I did miss the Boo to You Parade the year before and was so determined to see it. this year. So we said our goodnights to our friends.


We walked down Main St and the Parade was not even going to happen at this point because it was still downpouring. We went to Guest services just to see if we had any options. The CM took one look at us and said they could give us a comp tickets for tomorrow night since we would still be in Disney or tickets for another day in MK. We really like MNSSHP so I took that option. I did have set plans for the next night and was sad about having to change my whole next day but really I had no choice. I called DF and let her guest services was really cool about it in case they changed there minds. They were going to try to stay and hopefully see the late parade. Then she said they are not complainers like us. Which I though was kind of rude. The weather was unbearable and my little boy had been so sick . Besides I'm not the one who saw a roach and got free adult drinks at Chef Mickey's and free Pirates Punch for my kids. IMO if you had seen a huge cockroach under your table why would you stay?? But I kept that to myself since I don't try to be mean like some people. She was the one saying she wanted to leave too. It just didn't work with her GG plans, maybe she was jealous because she had to stay in the rain. So I guess her and the other adults had fun talking about us. Maybe if my DH were drunk the entire trip like their's I would feel the need to be rude too . Now I was not sad about not getting to spend MNSSHP with them anymore.


We quickly made our way to the bus stop and got right on a bus. When we got back to the resort I got the kids in dry PJ's. I trip to the laundry room at least to dry the costumes and Tshirts was in order for tonight. The kids were sleeping by 9:30.

I made a call to Disney Dining to see if I could switch our WCC dinner to and earlier time. But had no luck. I was really looking forward to WCC too. I even tried to see if I could any ADR in MK or at any of the MK resorts and they had nothing available. I did cancel our 6:30 ADR though since we wouldn't make it. I tried to see if I could get a lunch in Epcot or HS with no luck either . I figued I would try again the next day and see if anything opened up. We didn't really want to have left over credits. If I hadn't paid for CRT already we could have used 4 TS there but I since I paid OOP months ago I didn't want to do that.

Tom and I were trying to decide if we were still going to Typhoon Lagoon the next day or not. My DF and I planned this months before and figured it would be fun day for our kids. We had missed so much park time though and I figured maybe it using another park day on our passes would be a good idea but since we had 9 water park visits left I really wanted to use those instead. I knew Kaylee would want to go to TL and spend the day with her friend. I was too tired tired to decide tonight and in need of a hot shower before bed. My first choice for a park the next day was Epcot though....



Up Next: We will make it to TL?? Kaylee tries a new ride and it turns out to be her new favorite!


MNSSHP - Take Two.....

 

[earthfaries]

I'm glad to hear you had a great Thanksgiving ~ we did too, it was perfect We did miss our mom and dad though. It was our first thanksgiving without them They left that day for their month long vacation...they are currently on a B2B on the Carnival Liberty that sailed out on Sat. , then they will head to Lauderdale for a sailing on the Miracle! Lucky them

Anyway, so sorry to hear about your wet, windy party That was NOT cool what your "friend" said I'm glad you got comp tickets and I sure hope it turned out to be a perfect party for you guys!
I wonder what you did that next day...can't wait to read all about it!

 

[mom2mek]

Well, that was not very nice of your friend to say that! WTH? Anyways, glad you left - I think I would have done the same as you! I can totally imagine how soaked you guys must have been! It was a drencher that night, wasn't it? So glad they were able to give you the comp tickets for the next night! Yay! Especially since that's when I got to briefly see/meet you!

Can't wait to hear all about your decision for the next day!

Sara

 

[Disneychix]

Oh Nichole you aren't a bad parent at all! I get so frustrated with my DS sometimes too. I just don't know where he comes up with some of the tricks he tries to pull.

I'm so glad the CM let you get tickets for the next night. You weren't trying to scam anyone. You didn't enjoy any of MNSSHP that night and letting you in the next night wouldn't cost them anything probably.

Can't wait to see where you end up tomorrow!

 

[WDW Fan]

So sorry that the MNSSHP turned out to be a wash! Not sure why your friend said such a rude thing to you but I'm glad you were able to get the comp tickets for the next night! I hope you were able to find somewhere good to have a nice dinner beforehand. Can't wait for more.

 

[kaysmommie]

I'm glad to hear you had a great Thanksgiving ~ we did too, it was perfect We did miss our mom and dad though. It was our first thanksgiving without them They left that day for their month long vacation...they are currently on a B2B on the Carnival Liberty that sailed out on Sat. , then they will head to Lauderdale for a sailing on the Miracle! Lucky them

Anyway, so sorry to hear about your wet, windy party That was NOT cool what your "friend" said I'm glad you got comp tickets and I sure hope it turned out to be a perfect party for you guys!
I wonder what you did that next day...can't wait to read all about it!

Glad you had a good Thanksgiving. Sounds like your mom & dad are having fun though. DF can be quite inconsiderate sometimes. They are a very entitled KWIM. I sure hope she doesn't read this even though it is true. I did leave most of my opinions out of this trippie fot that reason. Yes the weather the next night was great!!!

Well, that was not very nice of your friend to say that! WTH? Anyways, glad you left - I think I would have done the same as you! I can totally imagine how soaked you guys must have been! It was a drencher that night, wasn't it? So glad they were able to give you the comp tickets for the next night! Yay! Especially since that's when I got to briefly see/meet you!

Can't wait to hear all about your decision for the next day!

Sara

You know I agree. She can be a big B sometimes. It sure was a drencher!! I would have stayed if it was lightly raining because I didn't want to switch my scehdule. It all worked out though in the end. Great that they comped us. There were quite a few people in there getting tickets and alot of people just leaving the party early without even trying to get comp tickets. I still wish I would have called before the Parade so we could have sat together at least. There was plenty of room where we were too.

Oh Nichole you aren't a bad parent at all! I get so frustrated with my DS sometimes too. I just don't know where he comes up with some of the tricks he tries to pull.

I'm so glad the CM let you get tickets for the next night. You weren't trying to scam anyone. You didn't enjoy any of MNSSHP that night and letting you in the next night wouldn't cost them anything probably.

Can't wait to see where you end up tomorrow!

Thanks for making me feel better. Thomas is always trying to pull stuff. he is so spoiled, but trust me we are working on it!! We had the worst time in the rain that night, it sucked! Friday night was just perfect though. I was happy they gave us comp tickets and it worked out.

 

[tmkinney]

I'm glad you were able to get comp tickets for the party. Sorry your friend was so rude! The kids looked cute in their costumes!

 

[hlrababy]

Aw, that stinks it rained!!!! We had the same problem..
Kaylee and Thomas look so cute in their costumes!

 

[29apr00]

Sorry it rained so much, but probably a good idea to go back and get some sleep, do MNSSHP at a later date. And what a friend!!?!?!! How rude was she!!! Gee, my vote is NOT to do TL with her tomorrow!!

 

[kaysmommie]

I'm glad you were able to get comp tickets for the party. Sorry your friend was so rude! The kids looked cute in their costumes!

Thanks so much!

Aw, that stinks it rained!!!! We had the same problem..
Kaylee and Thomas look so cute in their costumes!

I just read your update today. You rode TTA 6 times . I hope the rrain stopped for you though. Thanks so much .

Sorry it rained so much, but probably a good idea to go back and get some sleep, do MNSSHP at a later date. And what a friend!!?!?!! How rude was she!!! Gee, my vote is NOT to do TL with her tomorrow!!

Thanks . We try for MNSSHP again the next since there was no party on Saturday our last park day. Yes she likes to make her share of comments and I'll leave it that as I'm trying to not lower myself to her level .

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I think the rain is planned around these party dates! Every single one we've ever been to ~ RAIN! So I've decided to pass on the party this trip. Good news for those of you planning to go that week! Maybe if I skip it you'll get nice weather.

If you are ever in Disney and really want to eat somewhere go to the place and many times they will work you in. Rarely will a phone call do it but in person....the chances are good. We've never had a problem. We've done this quite a few times.