Make-A-Wish, GKTW, Disney...Catherine's wish...5/17/10-5/23/10**UPDATED 8/2/10 pg. 6!

[wishin' on a star]

Off to the World Showcase. We stopped to try on hats along the way.

We had 6:00 dinner reservations at Restaurant Marrakesh, and the kids were excited to see the belly dancer. As we walked over past England, Alice was just coming out! There were already a couple of kids in line, but it wasn't long so we just hopped in the line. When the CM saw us in line, he pulled us out immediately and told us not to wait in any more character lines! My kids have never seen Alice in Wonderland and don't really know the story, but she was so engaging! (Since coming home, we have read the story!) John had no desire to meet any "girls"!

The CM took us up to the bridge to see Mary Poppins next!

And as we headed past France, we saw Marie!

For some reason, the photos from these three characters didn't make our Photopass...thankfully I took some of my own!

Up ahead I noticed Belle by the water! The girls were so excited to see her!

I turned around as we were walking away, and saw Beast joining her. We were on our way to dinner, so we didn't go back

We got to Morocco and found the restaurant. It was pretty crowded, but we got seated in about 5 minutes. We had a nice table right by the dance floor where the belly dancer performs. She did two shows while we were there, and my kids even did a little dancing with her!

The dinner? It was okay. Kind of expensive, but worth the experience for us.

After dinner, we headed outside and walked the showcase a bit. We rode Maelstrom. Played the drums in Africa...

And then decided we should find a spot for Illuminations. George and I saved our spot, and Dave and everyone else headed out to find some dessert. I think they had gelati.

Once Illuminations ended, everyone was pretty wiped out. Carmella and Catherine took the seats in the stroller and we headed back towards the front of the park. By the time we got to the stroller return...

It was a great first day at Disney! We headed back to GKTW, and found some surprises on our table:

Everyone was exhausted. Big day ahead...Magic Kingdom!!

 

[luckylady]

Yea an update. I remember end of year and how busy they are. Wonderful pictures.

 

[jessica52877]

Enjoyed the update. Looks like you hit it big with characters! Tons and tons of them! The girls outfits are so cute! I love that they kind of matched but not exactly! Sounds like a fun time at Epcot!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Looks like a great day at Epcot! I love how they got up and danced with the belly dancer!

 

[rcq925]

Looks like a wonderful day at Epcot! Loved the pics with Minnie!! Can't wait to hear about Magic Kingdom!!

 

[Kelly in NY]

woo hoo....another great update. sorry to hear everyones been under the weather. hope you have a great trip to rochester. GKTW looks amazing. looking forward to the next update.
BTW, the pic of catherine sleeping in the stroller says it all! that's priceless!! LOL

Kelly

 

[lumpy08]

The photos with the characters are so cute. The kids look like they are having a ball. For the photos that weren't on your photopass you may want to contact them. The contact info is wdw.photo.imaging@disneyworld.com or by phone at 407-560-4300 (from 9 am - 1 pm EST, voicemail other times). You may want to give them the date and approx time you were with those characters and they may be able to find your photos. I had it happen and they were able to find one of mine...

 

[yinyanggirls]

Loving the updates!!! The belly dancer looked fun. My fave is the sleeping in the stroller pic. Those long days were exhausting!

 

[wishin' on a star]

Yea an update. I remember end of year and how busy they are. Wonderful pictures.

I don't want to abandon my TR...it's probably more important to me to get the memories down than anyone else here! It's just so hard with the kids home!

The GKTW looks soooo beautiful!!!!

It is!!

Yay, I am so glad you are back to posting! I love seeing the kids in all fo their customs. I sure hope everyone is feeling better and no more sickness! And welcome to Rochester this weekend... I sure hope we have good weather for you!

Ellen

Hi Ellen! I'm glad too...sorry it took me so long to get back to it! The kids loved wearing their customs! Catherine especially, still loves to wear them every day. As a matter of fact, I just washed and hung up a certain pink and purple Minnie dress last night.

We too are hoping for good weather in NY this weekend. It has been SO hot down here in DC, so we're hoping for a little respite. So far, the forecast looks beautiful. The kids are really looking forward to seeing their cousins again. We may even take a day trip up to Niagara Falls or go to Darien Lake. When you leave GKTW, they give you this Passport that gets your whole family free admission to amusement parks all over the country, so we thought we should take advantage of that!

Enjoyed the update. Looks like you hit it big with characters! Tons and tons of them! The girls outfits are so cute! I love that they kind of matched but not exactly! Sounds like a fun time at Epcot!

Yes...it was a character jackpot! They LOVED the character greetings and doing the whole autograph thing. Being able to bypass the lines made it so easy to stop and see every character we came across!

Looks like a great day at Epcot! I love how they got up and danced with the belly dancer!

Catherine looked on with awe the first time she danced, and the second time she couldn't wait to be chosen to go up and dance with her!

Looks like a wonderful day at Epcot! Loved the pics with Minnie!! Can't wait to hear about Magic Kingdom!!

The character reactions to the customs were great. I loved how Alice had them hold their skirts out like her. Since the fab 5 were our first character interactions, it was the perfect start to the week!

woo hoo....another great update. sorry to hear everyones been under the weather. hope you have a great trip to rochester. GKTW looks amazing. looking forward to the next update.
BTW, the pic of catherine sleeping in the stroller says it all! that's priceless!! LOL

Kelly

Thanks Kelly! We had a lot of marathon days...and Catherine was almost always crashing hard by the end. But the kids were such troopers! They wanted to do everything, and they knew that meant long days!

The photos with the characters are so cute. The kids look like they are having a ball. For the photos that weren't on your photopass you may want to contact them. The contact info is wdw.photo.imaging@disneyworld.com or by phone at 407-560-4300 (from 9 am - 1 pm EST, voicemail other times). You may want to give them the date and approx time you were with those characters and they may be able to find your photos. I had it happen and they were able to find one of mine...

Thank you...so far, no luck finding them. Thankfully, I took some that came out pretty good. It's just Alice, Mary, and Marie that we are missing.

Loving the updates!!! The belly dancer looked fun. My fave is the sleeping in the stroller pic. Those long days were exhausting!

Yes...the long days were exhausting! I kept wondering when we might get to change our plans and go home early! They just wanted to go-go-go every day!

 

[__disneygirl]

Hi!! Well i'm a little late to your TR but I am lovin it! GKTW is just such an incredible organization. Thank God for people like them!! I love all your pictures... it looks like such a fun place!!

Your kids are just so adorable! I love the girls' comparing their outfits with Minnie! I seriously love Carmella's dress... why can't they make this stuff in my size? LOL.

Also i'm jealous of all the characters you met around WS! I met barely any on our trip in April, I really need to work on that next time!

Can't wait for more!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Looks like you guys had a wonderful first day at Disney! You guys got to see characters eat with belly dancers Illumanations!! Even a surprise when you went back to your villa. Cant wait to hear about your Magic Kingdom day.

 

[princesskelz]

Another Maryland DISer here! Were from Harford County!
I love reading GKTW trip reports! They always bring me joy and I hope I can one day volunteer there! You have a beautiful family!

 

[ellenbenny]

[
Hi Ellen! I'm glad too...sorry it took me so long to get back to it! The kids loved wearing their customs! Catherine especially, still loves to wear them every day. As a matter of fact, I just washed and hung up a certain pink and purple Minnie dress last night.

We too are hoping for good weather in NY this weekend. It has been SO hot down here in DC, so we're hoping for a little respite. So far, the forecast looks beautiful. The kids are really looking forward to seeing their cousins again. We may even take a day trip up to Niagara Falls or go to Darien Lake. When you leave GKTW, they give you this Passport that gets your whole family free admission to amusement parks all over the country, so we thought we should take advantage of that!

If your pass covers museums you should check out the Strong National Museum of Play if you haven't already done so. I hear it is WONDERFUL, although I have to admit we haven't been. (Don't have kids at home anymore) Darien Lake and Niagara Falls are both fun too of course!

 

[xanphylus]

Hurray you're back again!!! Hope the kids had a great last week of school. Mine did and she is off to her mommy's house for the summer. I will show her all your TR when she gets home again in Aug. It will be fun for her to see it all at once! Have a great trip this week- we are off for the fourth too! Here I come beach!! Wahoo!

 

[J'sMum]

I just wanted to say I have been enjoying your pre trip / trip report so far and thank you so much for sharing ! what a beautiful family you all are

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Hi, I just wanted to tell you I am really enjoying your report, and I can not wait for the next installment.
Lisa

 

[mrsnj91]

 

[cajunfan]

Great update! Thanks for sharing!


Lynn

 

[wishin' on a star]

Sorry...not another trip post, but just wanted to let you all know that I am still here. We are on our way to the Outer Banks in NC tomorrow. We are headed to Corolla for our annual beach trip with my parents and my siblings/kids, etc. We've been doing this for 35 years, first my parents watched us grow up on the beach, and now we watch our familes grow and enjoy this vacation every year. I will try to get some major trip reporting done when we get back!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Have a great trip!