March 2012: The Year I Almost Survived Spring Break

[kittylady1972]

Well you will be finishing up your report pretty soon I guess...and one of these days I'll get back to mine! I could not wait to hear where you ate for lunch on March 8th, since that is the day we were at EPCOT as well...and snagged a walk-in for Coral Reef Restaurant! It was a great park day and there's a good chance we crossed paths at some point. Too funny!

According to my phone photos, I took a photo of myself walking through the gates of EPCOT around 12:28pm. We had lunch soon after that and then wandered around the park for a few more hours. I'll have to read more to see if there was a chance we were even remotely in the same place in the park at the same time!

 

[Lidian]

Well you will be finishing up your report pretty soon I guess...and one of these days I'll get back to mine! I could not wait to hear where you ate for lunch on March 8th, since that is the day we were at EPCOT as well...and snagged a walk-in for Coral Reef Restaurant! It was a great park day and there's a good chance we crossed paths at some point. Too funny!

According to my phone photos, I took a photo of myself walking through the gates of EPCOT around 12:28pm. We had lunch soon after that and then wandered around the park for a few more hours. I'll have to read more to see if there was a chance we were even remotely in the same place in the park at the same time!

Be on the lookout for any familiar faces in the background of pictures. Odds are, we passed each other at some point and didn't notice! How crazy is that! Let me know if you were nearby from here out!

Grats for scoring a walk-up at lunch for Coral Reef!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Hey Liddy! I am here. We were out of town for the weekend, since I got back to work I have been to overwhelmed with work stuff to make a good appearance on the Disboards. I have been reading and keeping up, just not commenting.

 

[Lidian]

Hey Liddy! I am here. We were out of town for the weekend, since I got back to work I have been to overwhelmed with work stuff to make a good appearance on the Disboards. I have been reading and keeping up, just not commenting.

Glad you're still around Oopsi! Hope you had lots of fun over the weekend! Don't let work take too much of your time away from us.

 

[Lidian]

After lunch with D and her girls, and Corrine, plus my whole crew of 6 ... we wandered over to the shops in the Japan pavilion. Why not? It was RIGHT THERE. So what do we do first? Well, it was Pick-A-Pearl! I want to say all the girls did the P-A-P, but I could be mistaken (maybe D and Corrine will chime in and confirm or expand). DD wanted to do this, so I snapped a few pictures.

Here she is seeking out an oyster.

I told her to pick the one she wanted to, but I did show her the one I would pick. She picked from a different tank, so she didn't heed my advice.

Here is the one she picked:

Then the CM taught her how to count in Japanese. She used explanations to help her understand the pronunciation better!

Mina is practicing counting with DD before they open the clam:

Once the clam was open, she pulled out DD's pearl.

It was a 6 ¾ mm yellow-ish pearl. She chose to put it in a small bottle of blue sand (it looks really pretty! I need to take a picture of that now that I think about it.).

After she was done, it was my turn. I had been trying to find DH so he could take my picture ... but he wasn't around. Just as I was walking over, he showed up. I handed him the camera and asked for a picture. I'd show it, but it's terrible, and it doesn't even look like I'm the one doing the P-A-P. I asked for pictures. Plural. He took one. Some little girl wandered over in front of me, so it looked like her oyster.

Afterwards, D and Corrine both mentioned I could have asked them to take the pictures. D'oh! I didn't even think about that! DH shouldn't have wandered off though, so it shouldn't have been an issue. But anyway ... The boys stocked up on candy. Plus, my crew all got Ramunes! YUM! (It's a Japanese soda. Check for it in your ethnic foods aisle at your supermarkets! It's kinda pricey, but it's yummy! Our Kroger's carries two flavors and it's around $2.50 per bottle, which is MUCH cheaper than WDW, where it's about $5 maybe?) DH got some kind of gummy candy. It looked like a pack of gum, individually wrapped I think. It was amazing! He offered the girls a piece (and when I say "the girls", I mean D, her daughters A and V, and Corrine -- it's just easier to say "the girls" than list them all lol). Akki had stocked up on Pocky! I think he bought 3 or 4 boxes at this point. He shared the Pocky and offered a piece to anyone who wanted a bite. If you haven't had Pocky, it's really good, too. It's like a thin breadstick (slightly sweet, but just barely) coated in chocolate (or strawberry, if you got Strawberry Pocky). I've found this in local stores in the ethnic aisle and candy aisle.

After shopping, we decided it was time to head over to FW so we could use our Soarin' FPs. DD fell in love with D's girls so much, she BEGGED to go with them. They wanted to take the ferry, but I wanted to walk so we could snag TT FPs on the way. I trusted D and Corrine, with all my heart, so I knew DD would be in good hands. After mulling it over for a minute and the girls assuring me it was okay, I let DD go with D's girls. Hand in hand they walked.

As soon as D was out of earshot, DH was all ... Wha??!! I know, some of you may think it's crazy and agree with DH. But I trusted D. Plus, I knew she'd return her after a short time anyway. lol (Okay, so that was a joke.)

We walked back towards Mexico, cut over to TT, and then over to The Land. We arrived at Soarin and looked around. We kind of expected them to arrive before us, since we had to make a detour. I started checking my watch. Then I sent out a few text messages. Where could they be???? Our window was closing fast. And I mean, our late return window (the grace period). At this point, I wasn't sure if they were tied up, got lost, or were actually on the ride. Without knowing what they were actually doing, I couldn't make a decision. So we just stood there. I finally got a text that they were on their way down. Since we had such a large party, we decided to enter as one. All the FPs were handed to me, and I put ours on the bottom. Yes, we were late, but we were willing to chance it. If they didn't take ours, then we wouldn't make a scene or anything. We'd be sad, but we'd understand. We were really only a couple of minutes late (it was less than 10 minutes).

So I handed all the FPs to the CM. She went through every single one. She came to the first "late" one and said that it was expired. She was kind of ... well, I felt she was a bit cranky with us about it. She was a bit snarky. She pointed out that this was no good, it was now just a souvenir. However, she said that since the rules were still new, she'd be willing to let us go through. I was thankful and appreciated her allowing us to go through, but felt she could have been a bit nicer about it. So I didn't complain, as she did do us a favor.

We were all relieved to be in the line. The very, very, very, very, very, very, very long line. I want to estimate that we waited about 35 minutes in line. Sure, it was better than the standby line (which I didn't catch the time of) ... but I'm used to waiting less than 15 minutes in the FP line ... The new enforcement has really created LONG lines in the FP return ... and I was NOT happy about it. But no point in complaining, especially when you can snap some ADORABLE pictures!

DD's wearing A's ears.

We finally get to the end of the line and would have to be split up a bit. Most of them wanted the first row, but I was fine wherever. So DD sat with the girls on the first row and I sat with the boys on the second row. DS wanted to sit with them as well, but I wanted to make sure the girls had spots on the first row, and pulled him back to sit next to me. If D's girls were going to win the hearts of my kids, that was fine, but they had to at least leave me with a riding buddy. lol

After we all enjoyed the ride, we decided to split up. The girls wanted to ride LWL and then do stuff (I don't recall what). We had already rode LWL and was going in the opposite direction. DD begged and pleaded to be allowed to go with D's girls (and her girls begged and pleaded for us not to split up). I felt bad for having to take the newly formed siblings away, but we were sure we'd cross paths again in the day. DD was willing to ride the "boring" LWL ride "again" just to stay with D's girls. I know none of them wanted to split, but I was confident we'd meet up, so I stayed firm in my decision.

DD didn't speak to me for awhile. lol

After Soarin, we wandered over to Innoventions (don't ask if it was East or West, as I don't know). We wandered around for a moment, found a bench and hung out. At this point, I realized what I needed to do for one of my WoW officers. He works as a ... I don't know the correct job title for him ... but he does like wildlife control ... like if a wild animal (raccoon) is visiting your home and stuff. We call him "Beaver-Wrestler" as where he lives, MOST of his calls are for beavers. So I had just the pic-text to send to him. (Yes, you know where I'm going with this, and I feel the glares.)

I tell Kouga and Akki my plans (DH and the kids were playing video games). Akki said they were right outside. REALLY? How can I be this lucky? So I find DH and tell him my plans and he follows.

Mav, you aren't doing your job really well. They're HUGE at WDW!

They didn't pay very well, so I refused the job.

I wasn't aware that rodents had to pay.

No, WDW didn't pay.

After a few other texts back and forth, we let him know that we were hoping for an Exploration Ding later (for those who don't know what that means, it just means "level up from exploring areas"). We had the WSC to explore, and surely that would give us an exploration ding! Right?

We wandered over to Spaceship Earth. I think it was 2009 the last time we rode, so the kids were little(er). First I rode with DD and we searched for Hidden Mickeys. She has a great eye for them!

After the ride, we wandered around the dump area for a few minutes before we planned our next move. WSC.

But first ... we had to hit Club Cool. We missed it last year, as by the time we made it over to it, it was closed.

I was hoping to get Kouga and/or Akki with the Beverly, but they were way ahead of me. They started talking about the Beverly and I had to shush them. Since I couldn't get them, a child would have to do. I know DS, he wouldn't drink it if he didn't pick it. And he wouldn't pick the Beverly, as it wasn't brightly colored.

So I poured two cups of Beverly. One for me and one for DD. I asked her to try it. It was amazing! So delicious! I took a sip to demonstrated and put on my best "yum" face. (It was a tiny sip, but I made it look like a big one.)

And there she goes! Does she like it?

No, I don't think so. She whined a bit (but hey, at least she was talking to me). And then she did the thing that shocked me the most.

She had seconds. lol I guess the first bad sip wasn't enough. I never expected her to drink more (and I didn't ask her to either).

I guess seconds was enough ...

She poured it out, telling me it was the nastiest stuff she's ever been "forced" to drink. I didn't force her. I just offered it, under false pretenses. ROFL

DS was filling up on "fruit punch". He tells me it was Germany (orange cola), but I think he was filling up on Costa Rica (Fanta) or Mexico (Aquas Frescas).

We did sample all the beverages, and I filled up on liquids. I loved China. I probably drank a gallon of the watermelon soda. lol

DH asked me to check our FP time for TT, since I just stuffed them in my lovely Witch wallet. I pulled them out ... and realization hit me. We couldn't make the return time. We were headed over to WSC, so we decided to stop by the TT entrance and ask a CM what our options were.

The entire window for TT was while we would be dining. I honestly expected the CM to say "tough luck" or something of that nature. I would have been okay with whatever he said, but I wanted to know what my options were before we gave up on getting to ride TT. I walked up to the FP CM and showed him our FPs and explained our dilemma. I asked him what our options were so I could get the ball rolling in hopes of riding it later in the evening. He stood there for a minute and then put the FP tickets into his pocket. He pulled out two Rider Swap FPs and said he'd be happy to let us ride right now if we went in as two groups of 3. WHAT??!! I almost cried. I didn't expect him to let us ride. I honestly thought he'd tell us we'd just have to try for a FP later, or mark our ticket that we could use it later or something. I had NO expectations of him being able to allow us to ride immediately, and honestly was shocked. I hugged him, thanked him a million times, and sent out a text message that we had been pixie dusted at TT.

We went in, waited in line for a good chunk of time. FINALLY, we were allowed to ride. This is when things got ... weird.

After the pre-show, we filed into the next line. I was in front with the kids, the boys were behind us. We get to the CM, I told him we had 6. He tells us to go to the last car (line). So we get there, and due to height, the kids and I claim the front. Then I notice, DH and the boys weren't with us. I look around and they're hanging out with some other family. HELLO? So I call to DH that he needs to join us. He refused and said the CM told him to stand there. What? No, the CM told him to get in the car with me. I insist. The CM hears us yelling back and forth (because it turned into an argument quickly). He has his buddy hold up the line and comes over and asks what was going on. I told him that DH and the boys were part of my group of 6. The CM turns to DH and says, that he needed to move over to where I was at and that I was absolutely correct. While I said group of 6 at the line, DH stopped and said group of 3. He was thinking the FP CM told him we had to stay split up. Ugh. Men. No, the CM just wanted us to go through the FP line as two groups of 3. Not the ACTUAL line-line. The FP CM had no issues with us riding together, we just had to break up to use the Rider Swap FPs since they were only good for a party of 5.

DH sulked in our line. He was NOT happy with me. He felt I was breaking the rules (and I think he was worried we'd get caught or something). But mostly, he felt embarrassed. We weren't yelling, by any stretch. But our voices were slightly raised because of all the noise. Neither of us were hateful, I was actually laughing during the whole thing. DH was just puzzled.

So our car arrives and we get in.

There's NO dancing allowed on TT.

After we rode, we snagged our TT picture onto our PP card (so you can view later). Then it was off to Mexico! (I did stop by and thank the CM one more time before heading out.)

Once at Mexico, what do we do? Ride the boat ride of course!

There's NO dancing allowed on the boat ride either.

(Thanks to DD for snapping the picture, since my camera wasn't cooperating.)

Afterwards, we let DS get a Duffy. We were kind of in a hurry, so we told him he could color Duffy at home. lol

A pic of the kids in front of Mexico:

Wearing Sombreros!

Apparently trying on hats looked like fun.

Yes, if you're going to hang with me, I have no hesitation to take your picture.

Akki was enjoying his Pocky.

Next stop ... NORWAY!

The time is roughly 3:50.

Since we KNEW we'd be back at Norway, we opted to not go in. We did check the wait for Maelstrom (30 minutes).

But I had to get a special shot ...

SO SWEET!!!!!!!

So ... what's next? Do we ever find "the girls" again? What's for dinner? What does DS do to embarrass us all? What do I do to embarrass us all?

Guess you'll just have to wait and see ....

 

[BridgetR3]

I want to do Pick a Pearl on our next trip!! Sorry I can't call it PAP.....that has bad meanings for me.

I think my boys will enjoy this as well. I know it's not a guy thing but it's kinda like looking for hidden treasure.

Ooooh I want to see a picture of the bottle with blue sand.

Sorry about your issue with the pictures. Sometimes guys just don't get it!!!

I think after spending all of the time together here you were perfectly fine with letting DD go with D~ and her girls. You hadn't just met them; you had just met them face to face for the first time. =)

Poor baby! I'm hoping to get someone with Beverly on this trip. We have never been in Club Cool before so it will be a first.

Uh-oh wonder what you guys do to embarrass everyone. It doesn't take much for me to embarrass my crew most days!

 

[DMGeurts]

LOL

I did snicker a little bit that DH freaked out that we took DD with us - I was a little shocked that you let us take her too - LOL... But then again, I felt like I knew you my whole life... Not only that, but you did have my address, cell phone #, my hotel information, email address, paypal info... Next time I take your dd - I'll be sure to also do a quick retina scan, and a cc deposit too. LOL Sorry, couldn't resist. But I totally understand your DH's hesitation - he didn't know me at all.

Loved the pics of your dd and ds holding hands, how sweet!

And not all the "girls" did p-a-p... I didn't participate.

Loved the update, can't wait to hear about the rest... Do we meet again? Do we not? The world may never know....


D~

 

[KatMark]

Pick-a-Pearl is the one thing I did not do on my girls' trip that I meant to do (guess I'll add it to the bucket list for September).

They have a cookie in Japan that we used to buy the boys when they were smaller. I'm nto sure what it is called at the Japan store, but they were called Koala Yummies at our local store. It's fun to see they still have them at Disney (even if under a different name).

What great pixie dust you got at Test Track (those are the kinds of CM's that make Disney what it is). I've had those little "battles" with my DH too. Please...us ladies know what we are talking about/doing, please just play along.

 

[Lidian]

I want to do Pick a Pearl on our next trip!! Sorry I can't call it PAP.....that has bad meanings for me.

It's why I use dashes.

I think my boys will enjoy this as well. I know it's not a guy thing but it's kinda like looking for hidden treasure.

Ooooh I want to see a picture of the bottle with blue sand.

My DS5 enjoyed it, and I think he would have been fine getting his own pearl! But he had other uses for his souv money ... so he was fresh out. I've seen many boys doing it in reports, videos, and in person. So it's not uncommon!

Here's a pic I took with my phone of her little bottle. It's ... hmm ... about two inches tall maybe? I thought I had a ruler, but I can't find it. It's shorter than the length of my thumb. Found a measuring tape, and it's not quite 2" tall.

Sorry about your issue with the pictures. Sometimes guys just don't get it!!!

I know.

I think after spending all of the time together here you were perfectly fine with letting DD go with D~ and her girls. You hadn't just met them; you had just met them face to face for the first time. =)

EXACTLY! I mean, I trusted her already! Thankfully DH trusted me, so he didn't push the subject. And it wasn't like it was going to be for an extended time. We were meeting up, just taking different routes. Granted, I wouldn't hesitate for D to watch my kids for an extended time if it was needed. D's one of the sisters I didn't have. So she's ... she's my 4th sister. (I have three sisters by blood, she's my 4th by spirit!)

Poor baby! I'm hoping to get someone with Beverly on this trip. We have never been in Club Cool before so it will be a first.

That's awesome! You have to try all the beverages! Even if they are icky! Just so you can say "Yep, I tasted that. UGH!". Fingers are crossed you'll get someone with the Beverly! Hoping for pics or video!!!

Uh-oh wonder what you guys do to embarrass everyone. It doesn't take much for me to embarrass my crew most days!

My embarrassment was purely accidental. DS's shocked us all. Let's just say ... the Princesses had a blast with us!

LOL

I did snicker a little bit that DH freaked out that we took DD with us - I was a little shocked that you let us take her too - LOL... But then again, I felt like I knew you my whole life... Not only that, but you did have my address, cell phone #, my hotel information, email address, paypal info... Next time I take your dd - I'll be sure to also do a quick retina scan, and a cc deposit too. LOL Sorry, couldn't resist. But I totally understand your DH's hesitation - he didn't know me at all.

I felt like I had known you my whole life, too! And yes, I did have all your info, just in case she turned up missing. Next time, you'll have to do the above, plus leave a cash deposit, blood sample, and a notarized copy of all future bags belong to ME if you don't return my DD.

Loved the pics of your dd and ds holding hands, how sweet!

It really was sweet!

And not all the "girls" did p-a-p... I didn't participate.

I could have swore you did ... My apologies! But now that I'm recalling it, you didn't.

Loved the update, can't wait to hear about the rest... Do we meet again? Do we not? The world may never know....


D~

You know, I don't remember if we ever meet up again or not.

 

[Lidian]

Pick-a-Pearl is the one thing I did not do on my girls' trip that I meant to do (guess I'll add it to the bucket list for September).

They have a cookie in Japan that we used to buy the boys when they were smaller. I'm nto sure what it is called at the Japan store, but they were called Koala Yummies at our local store. It's fun to see they still have them at Disney (even if under a different name).

What great pixie dust you got at Test Track (those are the kinds of CM's that make Disney what it is). I've had those little "battles" with my DH too. Please...us ladies know what we are talking about/doing, please just play along.

This was the first time I did P-A-P, myself. This was DD's 2nd time. She did it in 2010. I think I have it on video. Lemme know what kind of pearl you get and if you pick a setting! (I did not get a setting, but I did pick out some that I really liked!! DH tried to talk me into a setting, but I wasn't ready to commit.)

I think I know what cookie you're talking about. I found them just recently at a local store and bought a box. If it's the same one ... it was bite sized Koala bear cookies (shortbread, I think) with a chocolate center? I didn't get any candy/cookies at Japan ... but the boys stocked up.

I was so shocked the CM let us go! I honestly expected him to just say "Sorry, there's not much you can do. You can try for a FP during your next window or after dinner." I would have been okay with that. But you don't know what's possible unless you ask! I apologized to him for not checking the time, but it really didn't hit me until I was trying to work it into our ADRs, and couldn't.

When it comes to all things WDW, I'm the genius and he's the clueless one. He should know that by now. Yes, he may be a genius IRL, but at WDW, he's completely clueless.

 

[Lidian]

We left off touring around WSC in EPCOT before our dinner ADR.

We passed by China and looked at their topiaries:

I took a picture of the kids outside of China:

Then they tried on hats!

Coming out of China ... we ran into a familiar face.

It was D and her girls! There was a PP photographer, so D and I got a pic together! (Coming later!) We kind of piddled around and walked for a bit.

As we were crossing the "bridge", we found another PP Photographer. D asked for magic shots. So I jumped in and asked for one. The pose was ... well, the pose was awesome. It was hilariously awesome. Then the photographer said it was a new shot, and he couldn't do it on guys. That didn't stop Kouga! He hopped right up there and took a magic shot picture. The photographer asked if it was okay if it was shared in the breakroom, and we told him to PLEASE share it. We had NO CLUE what would be in the picture with us, but we were very anxious to see! In the meantime, I'll share Kouga's non-PP picture that I took while he was posing!

Doesn't he look fabulous?? We were all trying to guess what the magic shot would be (no spoilers, please) as we moved on around the WSC.

It was slightly after 4pm (our dinner ADR was for 4:55, so we didn't have a whole lot of time, but still time to tinker around).

We came upon Germany!

As we were standing there to take the picture, Snow White had passed by. Everyone was calling out to her (including me). She was so great, as she was pausing to wave and call back to the guests. And then ... the unthinkable happens. She saw my bag. She pointed and had this terrified expression. I don't recall exactly what she shouted out, but everyone turned and stared. So here I am, embarrassed. I reach down with both hands to cover the EQ applique on the bag ... and what happens next ... well ... I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it.

I call back to Snow White, "At least I didn't bring you an apple!"

What? Really? I really just said that? Oh wow, I am SO lame. I think everyone moved away from me and kept their distance for the remainder of the day. lol

We all went in to the shops to browse (and I mean "all" as in my gang and D with her girls!). Her DD A even photobombed one of my pictures. Awesome!

The kids had a blast trying on the hats!

And when I say "kids", I meant all of the kids.

This one went out as a text message: Ahhhhh! Attack of the Akki!

Kouga found a cow-bell. I honestly don't recall the significance of this, but it was hilarious at the time. Can you spot an A in the picture? "HI, GUYS!"

If it wasn't obvious, the kids loved D's girls, and they loved my kids! They were never far from each other while in this store. (You can see V hanging out with the kids above, and can spot her feet in some of the pics as well!)

Here you get a two-fer ... as DS was sneaking up behind his big sis.

This is where we parted ways with D and her girls. Will we ever see them again? They had plans, and we wanted to knock out another country or two before our dinner ADR. (It was Germany that we split, right?)

Up next was Italy:

We browsed the shops for a bit. We went into one and this lady sprayed me with perfume. Oh wow it smelled so nice! I loved it and was tempted to buy a bottle ... and then she pressed really hard with the sale. That was a turn off and I walked away. High-pressure sales will really cause me to walk away, even if it's something I wanted. With perfume, I wanted to wear it around the store for a minute to see if I still liked it ... but she didn't want me to walk away without making a purchase. And when I stated my ground, she got a bit forceful. I walked away and left the store. In the next store, a bit sad that I didn't get the perfume, I asked DH what he thought. He smelled it and then said something that made me feel good for walking away. He said it smelled like his grandmother's perfume. He kind of wrinkled his nose a bit. So thank you to that CM for being too pushy with the sale. lol

We decided we should head back to Norway for our dinner at Akershus. We arrived and they wouldn't check us in, yet. So we wandered over to the gift shop until the stated time we could be checked in (I don't remember exactly what the time was).

DS brought me a hat and told me to wear it. So DH took a picture. He proclaimed I looked completely dumb, but he loved me anyway. lol

Kouga and Akki got in on the pictures, too!

DS was a bit sad he spent all his money already. He really wanted to buy a sword, shield, and helm from Norway. But he was happy with his purchases, so the issue wasn't forced from him.

We made our way back over to the check-in booth. It wasn't too long before our names were called and we were in the presence of Princess Belle. The PP photographer said he wanted one of just the kids, then a group one of everyone (since we got two pictures as a party of 6). I took a pic of the kids with my camera:

It was roughly 4:50. We were sat at the exact same table we had back in 2009. It was near the "Princess entrance", so we were one of the first tables to meet each one. The kids sat at the end of the table (DS next to DH; DD next to me; and then Kouga and Akki against the wall).

It was nearly 30 minutes before the first Princess came. It gave us plenty of time to visit the "buffet" and enjoy food. (Sorry, no pics of food.) I remember everything I sampled from the buffet was delicious! We all agreed. I recall that I had the Seared Herb-dusted Beef Tips (they were OMGYUM!). When I ordered, the server said it was her favorite dish on the menu. It did NOT disappoint!!! I scraped my plate clean and the server was happy I enjoyed my meal. DH had the same meal. He said it wasn't memorable, but it was good. Trust me, I remember it. And I'd love it right now. DD had the Salmon (the Chef came out and took her order). One of the boys had the Traditional Kjottkake (meatballs). No one complained of the food, everyone enjoyed it!

Anyway, the Princesses came around while we were munching on our entrees! First up was Sleeping Beauty:

She was amazing, and the best Princess in the group. She signed the autograph books and asked both kids questions. She then asked DS a question:

Aurora: I was wondering if you could answer a question for me...

DS: No.

Aurora was a bit shocked and took a second to get back on track as she was trying not to laugh and show "surprise".

Aurora: DO you know how to wake up a sleeping Princess?

DS shrugged so DD answered that you give her a kiss!

Aurora to DD: That's absolutely correct!

Aurora to DS: Would you wake up a sleeping Princess?

DS: No. I wouldn't wake her up. I'd let her sleep.

I think Aurora was horrified. We were ALL laughing (DS had no clue why). Aurora told him that she feels like he'd be a great Prince and wake up a sleeping Princess. She then gave him a kiss on the head and walked off.

So now you know what DS does to embarrass us all.

Then came Cinderella. She was okay, but not very chatty.

Then I hear DH tell me to turn my purse over. Confused I ask why. DD is frantic and reaching for my purse. I turn my purse over so that the EQ was facing down onto the table. I look over my shoulder and Snow White had just came into the room. Yep. They were embarrassed. (Yes, my purse was sitting on the table.) They didn't want Snow White to see my applique.

Sorry for the blurry picture. One of the boys took it, as I had to get in with Snow White. I asked if I could wear my purse, and they all shouted "NO!" in unison. They were completely embarrassed and wouldn't let me show off my purse to Snow White. rofl!

Afterwards, Ariel came to our table. DD striked up a conversation with her. She loved her necklace so Ariel told her a store about how Prince Eric gathered all the components of it and made it for her (or something of that nature, it was really cute).

Then dessert came out! This, I did get a picture of. We had two plates of this (same thing on both plates).

It had a chocolate mousse (which I devoured one of); rice cream with strawberry sauce; and a flaky puff pastry with mascarpone mousse and fresh berries. One of the boys (Kouga or Akki) fell in love with the rice cream and ate both of them. DH picked at all the desserts. DD got a sherbet (I think raspberry?).

As we were finishing up, it was time for a Princess Parade! Since I had been in my purse for the KTTW cards, it was now faceup. DH flipped it back over "just in case Snow White came over this way". Really? He was THAT embarrassed about it! I kind of wanted Snow White to see it, it obviously makes for a great reaction ... if only I can play it cool back. (Yeah, right!)

Ariel makes her way over to us and grabs my kiddos and marches them around in the parade! I think Ariel was happy DD commented on her necklace! After the parade (I tried to get pictures, but they didn't turn out and half of them the kids moved by the time I pressed the button), Ariel returned my kids. We paid and left. For the record, dinner is $21.99 for kids and $39.99 for adults (it includes one picture package for up to 4 guests -- 2 packages for 5-8 guests, etc). Our total was $141.96 plus Tax and TIP. Since we were a group of 6, our tip was added to the bill automatically. We left a few extra dollars, since our server was AMAZING! She made a comment about each dish, checked on us regularly, talked to the kids -- she was probably the best server we had all week, and most of our servers were pretty good! She ended up with a really nice tip for it, too!

After dinner, we checked the wait for Maelstrom. It was 30 minutes with a line well outside the building. We decided to bypass it and continued our journey through the WSC.

 

[teetee830]

Just got all caught up with your TR again, we took another vaca camping at Mammoth Cave.

I wanted to do the pick a pearl but the line was really long and I didn't want to wait. It's on my list for next trip. We all loved Soarin so much, its my DS favorite at Epcot. My crazy DS loved the Beverly, he is nuts. LOL

I can't wait to see the magic shot, the pic is funny without the added magic. I love your bag and think you should totally have shown it to Snow. That would have been so funny!

 

[hcoker1]

Thanks for the updates! What great shots of your kids holding hands, that must make you very proud and happy.

Thanks for the pricing info about dinner, it's slightly better than I thought it would be. Now if I can only convince DH and DS to have dinner there....

 

[DMGeurts]

Great update Liddy! I'd forgotten about your "apple" comment... Leave it to you... ROFL.

Yah - the kids were all just great together... I think back on that day and I just get such a smile on my face, because it was so amazing how they all hit it off so quickly.

You know, my girls gave me so much crap about "meeting online people" at wdw, because I've drilled it into them for so long about how dangerous it is... And then they met you and your family... After that, all I ever heard about was "are we gonna meet any Disers today?" LOL. And, of course, how sad they were that you were going home. I thought about meeting up with you all this summer... we could meet half way and have a Dismeet... Maybe next summer we could plan something? Since we won't get to WDW together again for a while... Sigh...

D~

 

[Lidian]

Just got all caught up with your TR again, we took another vaca camping at Mammoth Cave.

I wanted to do the pick a pearl but the line was really long and I didn't want to wait. It's on my list for next trip. We all loved Soarin so much, its my DS favorite at Epcot. My crazy DS loved the Beverly, he is nuts. LOL

I can't wait to see the magic shot, the pic is funny without the added magic. I love your bag and think you should totally have shown it to Snow. That would have been so funny!

Huzzah for another vacay! I haven't been camping in probably 15 years!

Sorry the line for P-A-P was really long! Fingers crossed you can get to it next trip!!

Soarin' is great! Every year it worries my DS, but he ends up loving it! Your DS is silly for liking the Beverly! Even I can't take the Beverly.

I agree, the pic is hilarious!! It's why I had to take it, too! I'll do the PP pics at the end of the TR, so it will be one of the last ones. But it's worth it just seeing the un-magic shot! (The magic one is good, but un-magic is BETTER!)

I agree, I think the family should have let Snow see the bag! Then again, I probably would have said something dumb. So maybe it's good they made me hide it.

Thanks for the updates! What great shots of your kids holding hands, that must make you very proud and happy.

Thanks for the pricing info about dinner, it's slightly better than I thought it would be. Now if I can only convince DH and DS to have dinner there....

I love seeing my kids act like they know one another!

If it's any help, my DH and DS LOVE Akershus! I booked it for my DD, but the boys loved it just as much! Even Kouga and Akki enjoyed the food and atmosphere!

Great update Liddy! I'd forgotten about your "apple" comment... Leave it to you... ROFL.

Yah - the kids were all just great together... I think back on that day and I just get such a smile on my face, because it was so amazing how they all hit it off so quickly.

You know, my girls gave me so much crap about "meeting online people" at wdw, because I've drilled it into them for so long about how dangerous it is... And then they met you and your family... After that, all I ever heard about was "are we gonna meet any Disers today?" LOL. And, of course, how sad they were that you were going home. I thought about meeting up with you all this summer... we could meet half way and have a Dismeet... Maybe next summer we could plan something? Since we won't get to WDW together again for a while... Sigh...

D~

I wish I could recall what she said to me ... I just remember what I said back and thinking, "Wow, how lame am I?"

Our kids were just amazing together! It warms my heart thinking about how great they all were together!!

I've been meeting people online for years and years. There's a good way to go about it (and a bad way). A large public place like a WDW park makes for pretty safe meetings. I'm glad your girls relaxed a bit when they saw that you were having meetings in an appropriate manner!

I'm totally up for meeting in the summer! Not sure what we can do, but I'm game to figure something out!

Perhaps we can plan for a Fall 2014 or 2015 WDW trip? It will depend on my job if I could do a 2014 trip, but I'm game to try!

Hope you had a super awesome birthday!!!!!

 

[KatMark]

Great update!

Mark would be very impressed with the kids "hat trying on" expedition.

That is just too darn funny about your bag and Snow White.

We ate lunch at Akerhaus back in 2007 and wasn't impressed. I'm wondering if we should give it another try?

I can't wait to see the special photopass pictures.

 

[Lidian]

Great update!

Mark would be very impressed with the kids "hat trying on" expedition.

That is just too darn funny about your bag and Snow White.

We ate lunch at Akerhaus back in 2007 and wasn't impressed. I'm wondering if we should give it another try?

I can't wait to see the special photopass pictures.

We did the hats just for Mark.

I was so embarrassed.... and apparently, so was the family!

I didn't really enjoy the food back in 2009 ... well, my entree. It was okay, but just wasn't what I thought it was and didn't care for it. But I was glad I did try something new. Maybe give it another try, and have a different dish and see how you like it?

Just two more updates and it's over ... then it's all about the PP pictures, and then moving over to my next PTR. I'll start it once they release the actual packages to book. Sigh. C'mon Disney! I wanna book now! Please take my money!!

 

[MHTeacher]

Enjoyed reading about your day in Epcot.

We ate at Akershus in 2010, but it was for breakfast. For me, it was a very expensive meal (good thing we were on the DDP), for only average food. It looks like we sat in nearly the same spots!

 

[Lidian]

Enjoyed reading about your day in Epcot.

We ate at Akershus in 2010, but it was for breakfast. For me, it was a very expensive meal (good thing we were on the DDP), for only average food. It looks like we sat in nearly the same spots!

Welcome back home!

I've noticed that all the breakfast meals are pretty much the same fare. Try lunch one day! Yummy food PLUS the Princesses!

I'm beginning to think they only have one table ... and the others are just there as a fluke.

 

[lbuzz52]

I'm excited to see the magic shots !!

i agree with you, it is kind of hard to find the Monsters Inc area. But its good because that way the line is always reasonable!

I'm so excited to have James see Lightning at LMA! we skipped it last year, so the whole thing will be new for him. i doubt he remembers much of it as he was just 9 months last time he saw it.

that fairy area at the F&G was really cool! i remember seeing some fairy area off from the Meet & greet last year, but didn't pay much attention to it. i wish i had now!

i'm really not liking your comments about the new fastpass lines. seems to go against the point of being fast.