May 2011: The Year of Surprises! [TR]

[lovethattink]

This was our first year going to DTD and now I couldn't see a trip withour going there. We got there about 6:30 and it definatly was PACKED!!! I loved the WoD store but there was so many people there. So much so that I was following my DS who wanted to show me something and all of a sudden he was gone. It took me almost 10 min to find him.

Liam loved the Lego store and had so much fun playing with everything. He brought box after box to see the pictures appear and played games on the computers. All the lego creations were great!!!!

Oh how your heart must have skipped a beat! I'm glad he loved the store.

I was actually okay with going long enough for our WGP dinner, but Tink drew me in with her pics of the Lego store. And it was a good thing we did go, because DS loved it!

I think shopping during the day would be best for WoD. When we first arrived, there was hardly anyone at DTD, but after dinner, it was a struggle to walk through the streets.

I'm sorry that you had a scare with Liam. I lost DD once, but found her very quickly. I couldn't imagine searching for several minutes!!!!

I didn't see any computers to play games on! Wow, so I still missed stuff!



I agree completely! It's a great place to go as an alternative to the parks. They have sooo many stores, so there's lots of different things you can find there, but not in the parks!

I can't wait to hear about your adventures at DTD now!

Glad my pics influenced your decision to check it out, and that you liked it! Just wait til next year, it's LEGOLAND!! It won't be too far of a drive from Disney to Legoland in Winter Haven! It's where Cypress Gardens use to be.

Sorry you lost your dd for a minute. There are so many distractions there for us and the kids at DTD!

 

[lbuzz52]

We've not been to Coral Reef. We originally booked an ADR for our Thursday at Reef, but we cancelled it for Biergarten. Reef is definitely on my to-do list though!

DH loved the hat. He was upset he forgot to pack one, but he fell in love with it. He's a huge Indy fan, so it was a no brainer for him. He even wears it to work.

I've heard the same line "Aren't you going to take a picture of this?" And he'd give me the evil eye when I'd tell him to hang on a second so I could snap a picture of his food, or dessert, or whatever. He started ignoring my pleas, so you'll see where he's started to dig in by the time I get to his plate.



Yes, it was PACKED that night! We arrived before 4pm, so we saw the Lego store without too many bodies around. The crowds came in while we were having dinner. DH thought we were just going to keep walking past the store, but I wanted to go in and look around - and so did DS. He was in heaven! He loved looking at all the mini displays inside (no pics of them) and then playing with one of the monitors. If you hold an appropriate Lego box up to the monitor, it displays the Legos all setup and animated (cars will drive through streets, people will walk, etc). So the kids had a blast playing with that.

I had originally planned to break each down down to two posts (first half and second half). But with Lego pictures, it put me over the 25 pic limit, so I couldn't include food and shopping. So I thought I'd just break the 2nd half of the day into two posts. I have a ton of MK pictures as well ... so trying to decide the best way to do it. Thanks for letting me know it wasn't confusing. I didn't want the first post to go unnoticed. Especially since most of the time I click to go to the first newest post, and its not always the first new post for ME.

It'll be funny if we find ourselves in each others pictures. So close, yet so far away.

Okay, so what's the real deal with the "go to newest post". It NEVER goes to the newest post for me. It just always goes to the last post. I've been on other boards where it goes to the last post I read. I thought maybe it was because sometimes I read on the computer, sometimes on te phone. What's it really supposed to do?

 

[Lidian]

Oh how your heart must have skipped a beat! I'm glad he loved the store.

Glad my pics influenced your decision to check it out, and that you liked it! Just wait til next year, it's LEGOLAND!! It won't be too far of a drive from Disney to Legoland in Winter Haven! It's where Cypress Gardens use to be.

Sorry you lost your dd for a minute. There are so many distractions there for us and the kids at DTD!

I'm just grateful that you posted them! I had already planned to not spend much time at DTD, but the Lego pics really influenced me to give it a full evening!

I haven't heard about Legoland! But if we have to drive, it will probably be a no-go. If everything works out the way I plan, we won't have a vehicle next year.

And yes, there are a ton of distractions. My issue was I told DD to "lead on", but some people are rude and couldn't wait for BOTH of us to pass before they walked in front of me and stood.

Okay, so what's the real deal with the "go to newest post". It NEVER goes to the newest post for me. It just always goes to the last post. I've been on other boards where it goes to the last post I read. I thought maybe it was because sometimes I read on the computer, sometimes on te phone. What's it really supposed to do?

Well, honestly, I don't know. It seems to work differently about every day. When it works the way I like it best, it takes me to the first post that I haven't read. But I've had it skip multiple posts before when I click it. And what really gets me is when I scroll back up (I always scroll up or page back to make sure I'm caught up), half of the time, it indicates the post(s) above the one it took me to are new as well.

And I go from desktop to laptop to phone as well (all in one day sometimes), but it still doesn't affect it. I still have the same issues even if I just use my desktop all the time (for instance, still same issues and have only been here on desktop the past week).

So ... I dunno. But I hate that I can't trust clicking it, and have to scroll up or click previous page.

 

[Lidian]

We left off with arriving back to the room after a day of relaxation. Well, I wouldn't really call it relaxation ... but we got some pool time, and then walked another billion miles at DTD.

I set my alarm the night before, hoping to arrive to MK close to 9am.

My alarm goes off, and it felt like I had just went to sleep. Yes, another night of nightmares and no resting.

I open my eyes. One open ... wait a minute. UGH! Okay, so now my right eye is completely matted shut. It won't open at all. (Yes, gross, I know.) I hobble out of bed and grab a washcloth and soak it in hot water. Finally, my eye opens. It's still pretty red, and seriously has the same look as pink eye. (For the record, it is not pink eye. Just to be clear. )

I get ready, and then get everyone else ready. We arrive at the bus stop a bit after 9. After awhile, I started to feel like we did last year at CBR. Plenty of buses for other parks, just not the one we need. Since we were at the first pickup stop (bus stop #2), I was really unsure why we hadn't seen an MK bus. At CBR, it was because the buses were full before they got to our stop.

It was 9:29 when I posted to facebook:

is still waiting for a bus for Magic Kingdom. It's CBR deja vu! AK is the only park with buses today. lol We've seen 8 AK buses and none for EP, MK, or DHS. Craziness!

Well, technically I posted more, but that doesn't relate to the buses. And I did not actually count how many buses went past. 8 just seemed like a good number, but I do recall it was a crazy amount. Other guests were laughing everytime an AK bus would pull in. It became an inside joke.

Later, I posted back at 9:58:

Best. Driver. Ever!!!!!

Patty talked the whole way, gave loads of tips!!!

So it was around 10am before we even arrived at MK.

So let's backtrack. Yes, we waited a long time for an MK bus. I don't think it was much more than 20 minutes, perhaps it was 25 or so, but I know the timeframe was still "acceptable" for WDW standards, since they claim 20 minute waits for buses.

Once the MK bus arrived, our entire bus stop cheered (and surely woke up half the resort). We almost filled the bus ourselves, let alone, stopping at all the other stops. We did, and Patty (our bus driver) forced the bus full. She was an expert crammer, and crammed as many people as she could. Of course, some opted to wait for another bus, since it was SRO before we got to the next bus stop.

Patty didn't play the usual recordings. She talked. The whole way! She was from Jersey and she called the other drivers who run the recordings all day cranky.

She asked "Who here likes to walk?" Very few people chimed in. "You're on the wrong vacation!" "If you're having a good day, say YEA-YUH!" She was loaded with information. She said if you're ever late for an ADR, blame your bus driver. If they ask who it is, tell them you can't remember, or if you do, you'd only know their first name. She said there was 7 Patty's, so we could blame her. Most of the tips she gave, any good DISer already knew, but it was nice to hear someone spread them! She said she'd unload us as close to the gate as she possibly could without her getting into too much trouble. And then she said if anyone is going to ____(I forgot)____ for breakfast, to sit tight, it was her next stop. I've never heard a driver offer to take guests to the next stop with them. I think she said WCC, but I truly don't recall. She unloaded us soo close to the front, so we didn't have much of a walk to the gate.

Once inside, I grabbed our maps and guide and checked Lines for the estimated wait for Dumbo. Someone had just updated it and it was about 40 minutes. No way. (So much for Dumbo Dash - as I told DH I wanted to ride Dumbo this year!!!)

We stroll down Main Street, and I point out to the kids and DH where we will be eating dinner. We decide to go grab FPs for Jungle Cruise first. It's more important to us to do family rides than just things for me and DD (which are the mountains). DH suggested we watch the Tiki Room show. I asked him if he ever listens to me when I talk about the parks. (Apparently not, since I told him several times what rides would be closed.) We grab our FPs and hop in line for the magic carpets. DH and DD sat in the front, DS and I sat in the back. Do the controls in the back not work? (What do they do?) I kept playing with it, but nothing ever happened. I thought it was supposed to tilt or something, but we only went up and down - and DD was in charge of that.

After the carpets, we hopped over to PotC. There was no wait, and it allowed me to scope out the area for the surprise to come later. After PotC, we decided to go hit Tomorrowland for Buzz FPs and to hit up some attractions. We walked through Fantasyland, and DH asked to go on IASW. I stopped, asked him to repeat, then asked if he was serious.

Who is this man and can I keep him?

So we rode IASW. One of DH's favorite shows at MK is Mickey's PhilharMagic. So we saw it (again, because we watched it Sunday night). The waits on the other attractions were 40+ minutes, so we kept walking and made our way to Buzz. FPs in hand, we watched Monsters Inc, Laugh Floor (again). Hiliarious as always! By this time, we were starting to get a bit hungry, so we walked over to Cosmic Rays for lunch.

We split the kids up, DD came with me and DS went with DH. Since we were done first (we were leaving the topping bar when DH came over), I said I'd grab a table. It was just a little after 11 when we got there and it was already pretty crowded. (I took my food pic at 11:27, to give you an indication of time.) There weren't many tables available, but I did score one so the kids could watch the show.

I had the Cheesesteak Sandwich

It was ... the most disgusting thing I have eaten at WDW. I added lettuce, mushrooms, and onions to it at the bar. (That is how I'd typically request it at home.) Bleh. I ate all my fries and tried to eat some of it, but it was just yuck, and no one wants to eat yucky food.

DH had some kind of burger ... it had guacamole on it. Apparently it had a TON of guac, because he had it everywhere.

He enjoyed his burger. I don't remember what we got for dessert. I think ... I got chocolate cake and he got carrot cake? Oh, that's right, he got carrot cake and said the icing had the consistency of wet sand. I do recall eating mine, but it obviously wasn't anything to write home about. DD got chicken nuggets, and DS got a PB&J. No pictures since we had several of the nuggets, and the PB&J was the Uncrustables from Smuckers.

So after lunch, I told DH we should run over to get our Space Mtn FPs as we made our way back towards the other side of the park. We'd also grab our BTMRR FPs as well.

So that's what we did. DD and I made our way over to Space while DH and DS played outside of Cosmic Rays (less walking for them). Once the FPs were in hand, we all made our way over to BTMRR for FPs.

I checked my watch ... just in time for another surprise for the kids! What will it be?

I'll leave you with pics of the kids while we wait for our names to be called.

Stay tuned for the next installment: A pirate made my DS cry!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like a great bus driver!

Waiting as other buses pass by is exactly why I drive everywhere. I don't have the patience to wait.

 

[lovethattink]

Too bad your nights were so restless! We had MK bus trouble at CSR too. But ours was like your CBR ones. Full bus that drove by. Patty the bus driver sounds fun!

The contols on the back of the carpet make the carpet tilt.

Lol, sounds like your dh was looking for long attractions in the air conditioning! Tiki room, IASM, Philharmagic, yep, long and air conditioning!

I know the surprise!! It's me!! And the kids were looking so forward to seeing me. Since they know me so well...

Ok, so it's not me, and they had no clue who I was...but I know the surprise this time!!!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Your DH wanted to ride IASW?!?!?


Wow.


I am speechless (that doesn't happen very often!) and impressed!





How much did you him right then???

 

[Lidian]

Sounds like a great bus driver!

Waiting as other buses pass by is exactly why I drive everywhere. I don't have the patience to wait.

Patty was the BEST driver we've EVER had. I mean, I always say "hi / good morning / good afternoon / good evening" as I'm boarding, and "thanks for the ride" as I'm exiting; and sometimes they're nice enough to not snarl. So to have a driver so friendly and enthusiastic about her job? I was in heaven!

We drive 9+ hours to get to WDW, so we really try to park the car and leave it as much as possible. Plus, it saves us money (since we aren't having to put even more gas into the tank). And then we don't have to remember where we parked. If I get turned around at Walmart, I'd be lost at WDW.

Too bad your nights were so restless! We had MK bus trouble at CSR too. But ours was like your CBR ones. Full bus that drove by. Patty the bus driver sounds fun!

The contols on the back of the carpet make the carpet tilt.

Lol, sounds like your dh was looking for long attractions in the air conditioning! Tiki room, IASM, Philharmagic, yep, long and air conditioning!

I know the surprise!! It's me!! And the kids were looking so forward to seeing me. Since they know me so well...

Ok, so it's not me, and they had no clue who I was...but I know the surprise this time!!!

We hopped a bus VERY quickly on Sunday. Actually, I think we waited less than 2 minutes. And it was our only bus complaint all week, so I'm cool with it. I wish they could clone Patty for all the bus drivers.

Our carpet didn't tilt, so it must have been broken. I kept playing with the controls, but nothing ever happened.

I think you're right about DH. He kept tossing up attractions, I was all "Who are you and can I keep you?", but it was really his hidden agenda to stay out of the heat. I knew it was too good to be true!

Yep, the kids were super excited about their BIG MK surprise to meet lovethattink and Anakin! Seriously though, they enjoyed meet you two, but we'll get to that soon. And how could you even begin to figure out the surprise? It's not like you saw it.

 

[pinkxray]

Awesome bus driver. Why can't they all be like that?

A surprise where you need to wait for your names to be called? Tough since I caught your pre trip report at the end. I would guess an adr but you just ate. Pirate's League? Okay, I have no idea.

 

[Lidian]

Your DH wanted to ride IASW?!?!?


Wow.


I am speechless (that doesn't happen very often!) and impressed!





How much did you him right then???

Well ... I think Tink is right. It's indoors. It was where he wanted to be indoors. Indoors and off his feet.

I was seriously stunned. I went into shock and actually stopped walking. (I'm sure I was being cursed as people were walking around me. )

And yes, I totally my DH. As much as he dislikes WDW, and he takes us? He's alright in my book. (Even if he has hidden motives for the rides. )

 

[KatMark]

Great update. Sorry about the bus situation (this is the main reason we drive everywhere!).

Don't you love when our men don't pay attention to what we are saying. I told Mark before we went last year that IASW was closed for refurb. The first question when we walk into the Magic Kingdom is, "we are doing IASW, aren't we?" He knows I don't care for it, but I do it for him. And I say, "no dear, it's closed...remember?" And he looks at me and says "you didn't tell me that." They only hear what they want to hear.

Sorry you didn't like your sandwich at Cosmic Rays. Mark had one there about three years ago and raved about it for days.

Sounds like you've had a productive day thus far.

 

[Lidian]

Awesome bus driver. Why can't they all be like that?

A surprise where you need to wait for your names to be called? Tough since I caught your pre trip report at the end. I would guess an adr but you just ate. Pirate's League? Okay, I have no idea.

Okay, so the DISboards is creeping me out. I post, refresh, nothing new and then later posts show up inbetween my posts.

Anyway, I agree. They all should be like that!

And you're absolutely correct! We booked ADRs for Pirate's League for the kids! Post about it coming up soon (I hope!). So awesome guess!

Great update. Sorry about the bus situation (this is the main reason we drive everywhere!).

Don't you love when our men don't pay attention to what we are saying. I told Mark before we went last year that IASW was closed for refurb. The first question when we walk into the Magic Kingdom is, "we are doing IASW, aren't we?" He knows I don't care for it, but I do it for him. And I say, "no dear, it's closed...remember?" And he looks at me and says "you didn't tell me that." They only hear what they want to hear.

Sorry you didn't like your sandwich at Cosmic Rays. Mark had one there about three years ago and raved about it for days.

Sounds like you've had a productive day thus far.

I wasn't going to lose sleep over the bus situation. It was still better than DH driving and complaining the whole time.

I always keep DH up to date on what's closed and what's new, so I don't throw any surprises his way. (He'd have a meltdown. ) He even asked about specific attractions as well as what was under refurb in the car, on the drive down! I had already told him EVERYTHING, and then repeated it all in the car: What was closed, what I couldn't bear to miss, what was new, etc.

And yes, when he suggested Tiki Room, I got the same "you never told me about it". Three different times, I told him Tiki room had caught fire and was under refurb. "No you didn't." (I even read him the article from FB about it.) Yay for selective hearing! He's worse than the kids.

I want to say that either DH or I had the sandwich last year and it was really good. Maybe mine was just the "lemon" of the bunch? I won't dare try it again, but I'm sure DH would. I remember thinking good things about it as I ordered it. I'll have to check my notes from last year....

We had a great start for our MK day.

Oh wow! It's a Mickey short on the Disney channel! DS just saw it and is now bouncing: MICKEY! MOM IT'S MICKEY!

 

[dtr_angel]

I cannot believe your DH wanted to ride IASW!

I cannot wait to hear about your surprise, I have no idea so I am really intrigued!

 

[Lidian]

We last left off rushing around for FPs to head to a surprise ADR. The Pirate's League. I've lost count of what surprise this is for the kids, but it's not the last.

And looking at how many photos are uploaded in photobucket for this, I'll have to break it down into 2 posts. I have 52 pictures, so I'll just leave 2 out. lol

We arrive at TPL to check-in. The kids still don't understand what is going on. The pirate at the counter comments, "Well NOW you show up." He sounded rude, but not sure if he was just putting on a show or if he was actually a jerk. We were about 15 minutes early for our ADR. So I dunno.

Anyway, he pulls out the face designs and offers Emporess or Mermaid to DD (I guess girls aren't allowed to get the "manly" or "skeleton" designs?) He goes over the sheet for DS. Immediately, DD picked Mermaid. It was a no brainer for her. She's a huge PotC fan, and she's upset because I haven't screened the newest movie and then taken her to it yet. lol

DS picked Multi-eyed Jack. The Pirate asks if he can keep his eyes closed and be still long enough for them to paint his eyelids. He states he doesn't want paint on his eyes. (At this point, he's a bit confused.) The Pirate says that he'll have to choose another design. DS didn't want any other designs, he wanted the Multi-eyed Jack. So I tell the Pirate we'll do the MEJ look, but without the paint on his eyes. I was then informed that we'd HAVE to take another look if he wasn't going to allow them to paint his eyelids. Seriously? So DS burst into tears. He didn't want paint on his eyes and he didn't want any of the other looks. I told the Pirate to put him down for Captain Hook instead.

I take a crying DS over to the side (at this point, the Pirate CMs are looking at me like I'm an evil mother for bringing my son there). I try to explain to him that its just face paint, like at the school carnival. It won't hurt at all and they won't paint his eyes. Nothing is calming him down. Then I remember that he loves Captain Hook, so I point out that when he's done, we'd go buy him a hook to go along with his new face! He immediately turned the waterworks off and grinned, ear to ear. So that worked.

So we sat and waited. And waited. And waited. I was a little miffed when a boy who had an appointment after us got called before we did.

I posted pictures of the kids waiting in the previous post.

The kids names are finally called. Pirate Lonnie takes them inside and starts to talk to DS5. He explains that he needed a new name. A pirate name! He assists DS into picking out his new pirate name. DS is totally in love with Lonnie. (Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the naming process.)

My DS has now been renamed to Johnny Bilgerat.

DD is excited, because she's next and it looked like fun to spin the wheel and then check the book! Pirate Lonnie explains to her that her name is THE perfect mermaid name and sits her down. He then proceeds to tell her a story. I couldn't hear any of it, as he was focused on her, and acting like it was a secret. They were whispering. (Sure, I could have moved closer and could have heard, but I was too busy watching the kids to think about things like moving, and my camera.)

She's pleased, and both kids are happy. Pirate Lonnie escorts us further into TPL and finds a spot for us to sit while we wait for another Pirate.

We don't wait too long before Pirate Jenn calls for Johnny Bilgerat! That's MY pirate!

So DS hops up into the chair. She confirms his new pirate image.

Then they call for the mermaid. (They announced it as "Mermaid -DD's name-".)

Pirate Sara sets DD up in a chair. The chairs were next to each other, but there was a big door leading out into a gift shop. So while they were nearby, they weren't directly next to each other. It made it easy instead of having to walk across the room, I could see both kids from DS's chair easily.

The first thing Pirate Sara did was take DD's hair out of the clip. Then she proceeded to pull DD's hair back.

I look over and DS has gotten a tattoo! ACK!

I asked him why he didn't get permission from me for a tattoo. Pirate Jenn chimed in that he's a pirate now and doesn't need his mommy's permission. lol DS loved it!

Then Pirate Jenn tried to explain exactly what she was going to do to DS. He was nervous, so I helped explain as well. She talked about her soft pencil, how it was softer than a crayon. I reinforced that she had NOTHING at her station that would hurt him, and she was a real Pirate, and they look out for their own kind.

After he's okay with her marking up his face, I turn to check on DD.

Her hair looks beautiful! She couldnt see it, but I raved on and on about it, and let Pirate Sara know she did an amazing job!

Here's the back. You can see the clips they used (she got to keep them, and I will definitely borrow them!).

I realize that DH was with us. (Yes, I was so entranced with the kids, I forgot about DH.) He was just hanging out.

Pirate Sara painted DD's nails with Mermaid Tears. (That is the actual name of the color, made by OPI. And she got to keep the full sized bottle of it.)

Pirate Jenn had just finished the outlines for DS's face and moved on to the paint. The paintbrush tickled, so I helped remind him to be still so she didn't "scribble-scrabble" on his face. (It's what the PK teacher referred to as coloring poorly and/or outside of the lines.)

I turn to check on DD. She's having her eyeshadow applied. She was so quiet, and so still. I was amazed!

DS's face was done, but he still wasn't finished.

Pirate Jenn brought him a bandana. He got to pick which side to wear: all black or red/black. He went with red/black.

I turned back to check on DD and thought I'd snap a picture. You can see how far her chair was. Not close, but not far, and people were in/out the door between the chairs. Doesn't she look like she's at the spa or something? lol

DS was then awarded with what every good pirate needs - an eyepatch and an earring! He didn't want his ear pierced, but he agreed to let her put it on his eyepatch. lol

And now it's time to check on DD. I call DD "Sister" and "Sissy" a lot. The first time I called her that, Pirate Sara grinned and said that her mom calls her the same thing. DD really loved having something in common with Pirate Sara.

Isn't it stunning?? I asked her how they applied the scales, and DD said that Pirate Sara had a little tool and used a cotton ball over top of the tool. (I'm guessing stencil was applied and a cotton ball with eyeshadow was run across the stencil.)

Next, eyeliner was applied.

Pirate Sara explained that mermaid always had tears - either diamonds or pearls. So she gave DD some diamond tears.

- continued in next post -​

 

[Becc1]

I LOVE this update. The Pirates League looks like so much fun, I'm a bit bummed I didn't get my boys into this year. I can't wait to show my DD the pics of your DD, she'll love it and maybe I can convince her to do that on our next trip instead of BBB again!

 

[Lidian]

- continued from previous post -​

Once DS had his eyepatch, earring, and bandana, Pirate Jenn tried to give him new teeth. She put them into a black pouch, but immediately DS started to proclaim he didn't want them! (He thought she was going to force him to wear them.) I mentioned that they were in the pouch, in case he changed his mind later and to think of it as his first piece of loot! So he calmed down.

But he wasn't a real pirate yet. He had to take the oath. Let me just say ... watching the other Pirate CMs do the oath and watching Pirate Jenn .... two completely different worlds. Most of the other Pirates just got down level with the child and held up their hand to be sworn in. I'm sure the words were cute and all, but it was boring to watch. Pirate Jenn was different. She was VERY animated. Which got DS animated. You'll have to see for yourself.

The entire time she was doing the oath, the phrases to repeat were real short. Then she came into one stretch where she began to speak as quickly as she could for several minutes. DS just stared at her. So she said, "I'm sorry, did I say it too slow?" DS raised a brow at her and then responded. "Yes." She burst into laughter and finished the oath with him. I absolutely ADORED how well Pirate Jenn did with DS. After he was sworn in, she spun his chair around for all to see, yelled: "ARGH! YO HO! We have a new pirate! I now present Johnny Bilgerat!" Everyone cheered and DS felt adored.

She asked him to wait patiently, confirmed that I had plans to purchase the hook, and went to grab one out of the gift shop.

DD got some blush and lipstick. Pirate Sara also mentioned that mermaids need to look as if they just stepped out of the water, and also dusted her with glitter.

WOW! Is it not stunning?? She doesn't even look like my little princess! She looks soo grown up! DD has yet to see her face. She only knows what we've stated about her look.

Pirate Sara said that now it was time to Shatter her nails. (Again, the name of the topcoat she applied by OPI.) She said a mermaid's nails were made of coral, and Shatter was going to turn her color into a coral effect.

Okay, this is where it gets a bit weird. People spend money to keep their nails from looking smudged, chipped, cracked, and now there's a nail polish to give it that effect. Weird, right? Who comes up with these things? lol

DD was in love with her nails. (Remember, this is the only thing she's been able to see.) She claims it looked just like coral. I loved the color, but it looked like she had a nice manicure and then ruined it. lol

DD finally got to look in the mirror. She was soooo happy!!

Pirate Sara went over a couple things with DD. She told her that she would be getting a sash to wear and that it was magical. She said mermaids had to have water to survive, so the sash would replenish the water lost and keep her scales and fins from reappearing. It would keep her hydrated all day long. She also asked DD what color her scales and such were (I don't remember what all she asked and how DD answered), but it was so adorable! Once they were finished talking, Pirate Sara spun DD's chair around and yelled, "ARGH! YO HO! We have a new mermaid! I present to you Mermaid - DD's name -!"

Everyone cheered and DD felt adored! It was great, everytime a makeover was finished, the new pirate was announced. There was another mermaid being worked on as we were finishing. We missed her announcment.

After both kids were out of their chairs, they were escorted to another Pirate. She gave them each a sash, and DS a sword. I was instructed to put my camera away. She taught the kids the secret knock to open the Treasure room.

SPOILER ALERT!​

If you don't want to know about the Secret Treasure Room, please don't read any further.

SPOILER ALERT!​

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So the kids learned the Secret Knock and unlocked the door to the Secret Treasure Room. Inside was tons of goodies and knick knacks. Also, there was a Pirate Photopass photographer. I don't remember his name, but he was amazing with the kids! He talked to both kids and let them explore the room for a bit. Then he set them up for pictures! I didn't ask to do one of both together, but now I wish I did. Once they had their pictures taken, the Pirate said that Captain Jack had left DS something very special. Only, he couldn't remember where he put it. So he had both kids looking for this secret treasure that was just for DS. The kids were completely clueless. They looked for this treasure the same way they look for things at home. Stand there, scan the room, and then claim they couldn't find it. lol The Pirate finally remembered he thought it was near the bookcase. So after searching near the bookcase with the two clueless kids, he finally remembered it was "in this general area". DD noticed the books and that they weren't real. So the Pirate asked DS to pull on a book. The shelf came open and there was a treasure chest. The Pirate opened it for DS and said that Captain Jack wanted him to pick whichever medallion he liked best. So DS picked a "cursed medallion necklace". Once the treasure chest was back in place, he took the kids to the door.

There were "peep holes" in the door. They all took turns looking out the peep holes. The Pirate asked if they saw anyone out there. They spent a good 5 minutes playing with the peep holes. Finally, the Pirate said, on the count of three, let's jump out and yell "ARGH!" and scare these people! But we have to wait until they're not looking. So they watched the peep hole a few more minutes and then the Pirate counted them down. All three of them jumped out and yelled "ARGH!" The family (and Pirate CMs) had a great laugh and loved to see the makeovers.

We waited only a few minutes to be assisted with check-out. They brought printed pictures of DD and DS. They were $14.95 each, but if I wanted to do one without the mat, it was just $9.95. I wanted both, with the mats. So we purchased both pictures. DD saw the Shattered nail polish on the counter and asked how much it was. $8.95. OUCH! But she wanted it with her own money, so I let her buy it. The Pirate at the counter said that Captain Jack had been feeling generous lately and left them extra gifts. They each got a movie poster, a pin to wear (not an official "trading" pin, but it was still a pin), and 2 more tattoos. They also told us about the Pirate Parade.

Total time spent at TPL? Arrived about 12:00, took a picture of the kids outside at 1:42.

We were immediately met by another Photopass Photographer.

While the kids were getting transformed, I received a text from lovethattink. She was all checked into Pop and would be heading out to MK after they were settled. But I'm saving all this for the next post. (Didn't want you to think I forgot about you Tink!)

I took pictures of all the loot the kids got from TPL once we got back to the room.

If you unfold the mat that held the picture, it had the pirate alphabet and an activity. You could write your pirate name in cypher, and then do a match game to learn some pirate terminology.

Here's the joined loot:

Here's DD's loot:

Her picture, sash, tattoos, poster, pin, Mermaid Tears polish, and she also received (included in cost) the mini set of colors. She purchased the Shatter. Another picture focused on the nail colors:

Here's DS's loot:

His picture, bandana, certificate of new pirate name, eyepatch, teeth, bag, earring, cursed medallion, pin, tattoos, poster, sash, sword, and hook (paid for separately).

The kids had an absolute BLAST with TPL. I know it took nearly 2 hours out of our day, but it was worth it for them. I'm afraid we'll have to make this a must-do each year, so long as they're still enjoying it. I know that we got lucky and had SUPER Pirate CMs, but I think next year, I'll do TPL. There wasn't any adults doing the experience while we were there, but the CMs said that adults come in all the time. Next year, I'll do it with the kids. Too bad the mermaid look is temporary. I think that would be a great experience! Plus nail polish? I love nail polish! lol

I wrote a review for it on the Official TPL thread. It's no where near being indepth as I went here. But just in case anyone wants to read it as well, here it is (my review is several posts down the page)

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2428848&page=37

Sorry that MK is dragging on forever ... but I really wanted to give TPL its own installment, but its so picture heavy, it really got two. I'll finish MK soon, I promise! lol

Stay tuned for the next installment: Thanks for the lack of Dole Whips!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow, sounds like a great experience and both of the kids look wonderful!

 

[Lidian]

I cannot believe your DH wanted to ride IASW!

I cannot wait to hear about your surprise, I have no idea so I am really intrigued!

He just wanted off his feet and in the AC. It wasn't for the actual ride itself. Oh well.

It was TPL, so can't wait for you to read/look at both posts! It was so much fun!

I LOVE this update. The Pirates League looks like so much fun, I'm a bit bummed I didn't get my boys into this year. I can't wait to show my DD the pics of your DD, she'll love it and maybe I can convince her to do that on our next trip instead of BBB again!

Well, you just loved the first part, sneaking in while I'm updating. Now go back and check out the 2nd post.

The mermaid look isn't permanent (granted, I do hope they change their minds), but they do have a pretty Emporess look for girls. I saw another girl get one done earlier in the day, and she looked very pretty! We've not done BBB, can't justify the cost. But we can totally justify the cost of this! I think next time, we'll get the kids some better clothes to wear - maybe not full pirate garb, but something more befitting of pirates anyway!

Since I can't compare the experiences, I can only state that my kids had a blast. Granted, DD is more into pirates than princesses anyway ... and they do fix the girl's hair in the Emporess look (same hair as the mermaid). I don't recall what extras you get with the Emporess look, but they have an official thread. It's actually run by one of the Pirate CMs and the first page has lots of useful info. I followed this thread long before we booked our ADR, so I was well informed. Totally show your DD the pics and check out the thread! (And let me know what she thinks!)

 

[Lidian]

Wow, sounds like a great experience and both of the kids look wonderful!

Thank you! It was such a great experience! And all day long, both kids kept saying "Thank you!" for getting to experience it!

 

[KatMark]

I've seen a couple of TR's with The Pirate League and EVERYONE has raved about it. The kids look great and what a fun experience. And what a great mom and dad!