Mommy-Daughter PRINCESS Trip (BBB, CRT, Tea Party) Photos & VIDEO RECAP/HIGHLIGHTS

[twob4him]

That's so funny about the cherry and whipped cream....well, it's funny now...but I am sure at the time you were mortified as you said. So besides that, how was your meal? What did you get to eat?? I didnt realize there were "non-children" type restaurants at Disney. I can understand Victoria and Alberts, but how did you know this wasn't a children's restaurant???...I thought they all were children friendly...I usually just go by the menu and reviews to pick restaurants. Sorry to see the trippie is coming to an end....can't wait to hear about Illuminations!

 

[cdotla]

Dinner was excellent. I had escargot to start (excellent) and the salmon, although I probably would have ordered something else in retrospect. I had table envy looking at my neighbour's plates that seemed much more enticing. Creme brule for dessert was divine.

I don't think there is anything to prevent you from coming with kids to Chefs de France. I would return. However, it is more of an adult restaurant that's for sure.

My impression of Bistro de Paris, even though they do not ban children like V&A's has now done, is that children would be less welcome here.

That's so funny about the cherry and whipped cream....well, it's funny now...but I am sure at the time you were mortified as you said. So besides that, how was your meal? What did you get to eat?? I didnt realize there were "non-children" type restaurants at Disney. I can understand Victoria and Alberts, but how did you know this wasn't a children's restaurant???...I thought they all were children friendly...I usually just go by the menu and reviews to pick restaurants. Sorry to see the trippie is coming to an end....can't wait to hear about Illuminations!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I caught up!!

I wasn't too far behind, you must be very busy!!!

I have to scroll back through to see who your DD's FGIT was. I started in the BBB today working on a few "princesses" here and there. I have also taken ill I have the whole package: runny nose, stuffy nose, sore throat, minor cough, and I'm sure a fever Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow and can rest bc I'm working 6 days in a row next wk bc we are under staffed

I loved the dessert part!!! The tea party looked very cute as well!!! Did you regret not taking DD in her princess dress? I'm sure she enjoyed just being in normal cute disney clothes!!

Take care, can't wait to hear more

 

[cdotla]

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well...hopefully you pick up before your big week.

With regard to the Princess Tea, no, we did not regret not taking DD this time in her dress. Bear in mind, we had "been there, done that" before. She wore her princess dress to this event just 4 months earlier. Plus, she had worn princesses dresses to a number of other events at WDW, including the Halloween Party.

We thought we would be a little different this time and wear our Cinderella Custom pants outift. To be honest, out of all of DD's outfits, this one garnered the most attention, overshadowing even her princess dresses.

So obviously no regrets about wearing it!

As for the TR, I hope to finish it tonite or tomorrow.

I caught up!!

I wasn't too far behind, you must be very busy!!!

I have to scroll back through to see who your DD's FGIT was. I started in the BBB today working on a few "princesses" here and there. I have also taken ill I have the whole package: runny nose, stuffy nose, sore throat, minor cough, and I'm sure a fever Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow and can rest bc I'm working 6 days in a row next wk bc we are under staffed

I loved the dessert part!!! The tea party looked very cute as well!!! Did you regret not taking DD in her princess dress? I'm sure she enjoyed just being in normal cute disney clothes!!

Take care, can't wait to hear more

 

[cdotla]

DAY 4: FOOD & WINE AT EPCOT
ILLUMINATIONS

After leaving Chefs de France, we ventured out into the Food & Wine Festival in World Showcase.

This was the first weekend of Food & Wine and the crowds were thick and heavy, but in a good way. People were eating and drinking and having a grand time. There was a fantastic atmosphere and energy in the air and everyone seemed to be cutting loose and having a great time.

A teeny part of me wished that I was there in the company of adults as opposed to a 4 year old so that I could partake in more of the leisurely drinking that was going on and to watch some of the bands and musical performances, but I still had a great time with DD.

We caught a couple shows (briefly) and did a little "crowd dancing". I didn't bother to order any food from any of the many countries that were hosting food pavillions that evening, partly because we were so full from dinner, but also because it would have been too hard to keep DD entertained while I ate.

We gradually walked around from France, ending up in Mexico, taking in many of the sites and music along the way.

In Mexico I broke down and ordered a margarita while we enjoyed more outside exhibits and displays.

We then rode the Mexican boat ride and then travelled to Norway where we did the Maelstrom. Surprisingly both were walk-ons. I guess the crowds that were there that evening had other things on their mind - like eating and drinking, and not necessarily in that order! LOL!

After riding the Maelstrom, we did some shopping in Norway. I actually bought a Helly Hansen jacket for back home. This was the first and only purchase for me the entire trip!

By then it was getting close to 9pm and time for Illuminations to start. I was very excited as neither of us had ever seen it before.

We started up toward Italy, making a brief pit stop at the Kringla Bakery in Norway for some pastries and coffee. I picked up a wonderful latte as well as a cloudberry horn. I cannot say enough about this!!! This pastry is my equivalent of a Dole Whip. I can't wait to get back to Epcot to have it again!!!

We found a great bench in the garden area between Italy and German to enjoy the show. Although it was back a bit from the water, it actually had a decent view. The real bonus was a seat.

We were having such a good time and wished our family back home could have been there to enjoy it with us. I actually then decided to place a quick call back home with 5 minutes to go before the show. It was the type of bittersweet call that I would have hated to receive if I was on the other end; hearing what a fantastic time your family members were having and knowing that you were home missing it all!

We got off the phone just as Illuminations was about to start.

Unfortunately, although the Epcot map does not indicate this, the area where we had chosen to sit was in a designated smoking area. I hadn't noticed this when we sat down. Just as the show was starting we had some smokers come over near us so we left and went to stand in front of the first German building right beside the gardens. Although I had to stand, I propped DD up on a window ledge and she had a great view.

Illuminations was of course worth waiting for and we both enjoyed it. It was great!

After it was over, the mass exodus out of the Parks began as the Park was now closing. The crowds were crazy!

As this was our last night, I was not in any particular hurry. We made our way out of World Showcase and went to the Photo Store at near Spaceship Earth. We had a voucher for a free 5X7 picture so we wanted to pick that up before we left. Not surprisingly, DD chose her Photopass picture with Ariel, her favourite Princess!

By then it was almost 9:30pm and we made our way out of the Park and to the bus stop for the ride home to CBR. I tried not to think about the fact that we would be leaving the next day.

All in all, we had another terrific day! Our whole Trip so far had been fantastic! I already knew at that point that the decision to return for this September Trip was one of the best experiences I would ever share with DD and would result in memories for each of us that would last a lifetime.

UP NEXT:
OUR LAST DAY AT CBR
GRAND FLORIDIAN PHOTO SESSION
OUR TRIP HOME & BIG DRAMA AT THE AIRPORT!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Just read your entire TR. Great Job! My comments:

So sorry about your camera. It too lost my dig cam a few years ago. I also left it in our rental van-under the seat. I realized it when I got home but by then 1/2 day had passed (FL to CA) and when I called the rental co. they said nothing had been turned in (BIG SURPRISE) and the van was already gone for 10 days. I had to wait on pins and needles to see if it would be turned in by the next family but NOPE, nothing found. I too only cared about the memory card. The good news was that luckily I had brought 2 cams. (dig. and SLR) on that trip and really only used dig for non-people shots. Also, more good news, I bought a better digital camera which I love and now it is the only one I take (along with extra cards as well as having pictures burned to CDs while there). I guess the employees who clean out rental vehicles end up with alot of cameras, huh.

Wow, you sure packed in a lot of things in 4 days. Kudoos to you.

I totally understand taking a break while DD was asleep in the stroller. I too am guilty of that. My DD is now 8 but we've been taking her since she was 2 3/4. Even on her first trip we didn't schedule nap time. With the 3 hr. difference, etc. who knew when she would want to sleep. Most of the time we just let her sleep in the stroller. There was one time when on the first ride of the a.m. at AK I looked over and told my niece, whose lap she was on "catch her, she's falling asleep" This was about 9 a.m. on Kilimanjaro Safari!

I laughed out loud when I read about the cherry-too funny!

Trip reports are alot of work. Congrats on doing such a great job! I STILL haven't gotten around to doing mine.

We were there also in Sept. and attended the first MNSSHP-we got the biggest downpour that night that I have ever experienced in FL. And this was 5th time there in Sept. I'm glad the rain held off for you on that night. I too love the fireworks. Unfortunately, on our night, they were late, went off unannounced, and were shortened and it was raining while they went off. Also the 1st parade was cancelled. We did see the end of the 2nd one but missed headless.

I agree about the strollers. It's espeically hard if you are trying to carry a sleeping child for any distance. Even though my DD is now 8, she's still petite enough to ride in a stroller and this has saved my back many times. We took her stroller in Sept. but I'm not sure if were bringing it this Sept. Usually it's just me and my DM and neither one of us can carry her for any distance. Plus I really like having a way to transport my stuff-I just can't get used to a backpack-I'm not part of the backpack generation.

When we were there in Sept. I didn't book Park Fare since it was closed for remodeling. Our tradition last meal this time was at 'Ohana for breakfast but I would have liked to go to PF. After eating we traveled around on the monorail and stopped off at the resorts to take some pix and grab some food for the plane ride home. I noticed that PF was open and the CM said it had opened that day (Sept. 16th), earlier than expected. Darn it, I wish I had known. We love PF.

Can't wait to read the rest. Keep 'em coming.

Oh, and one last thing, after reading our report I really, really, really, want to go back to WDW-NOW!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

So sad that you just posted your last full day! I've really enjoyed your report and hate for it to end.

 

[scottny]

great update. I cannot wait to see Illuminations and I am sure the kids will love it.

 

[dddisrunner]

LOVE your report! I am so sorry that you lost your camera What a wonderful trip full of memories you will have now from your mommy & daughter trip! Your daughter is precious and I have to tell you I spit my coffee all over my computer screen when I read about her and the cherry dessert at Chefs! That is priceless! Your daughter is very lucky to have a mom like you! Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us!

 

[Tink561]

I caught up!!

I wasn't too far behind, you must be very busy!!!

I have to scroll back through to see who your DD's FGIT was. I started in the BBB today working on a few "princesses" here and there. I have also taken ill I have the whole package: runny nose, stuffy nose, sore throat, minor cough, and I'm sure a fever Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow and can rest bc I'm working 6 days in a row next wk bc we are under staffed

I loved the dessert part!!! The tea party looked very cute as well!!! Did you regret not taking DD in her princess dress? I'm sure she enjoyed just being in normal cute disney clothes!!

Take care, can't wait to hear more

We're going in March and I'm having an Aurora custom outfit made for my daughter to wear. I think it will be great to be different. She has custom sets for each day. I can't wait to see the tea party outfit when it is finished.

 

[cdotla]

DAY 5 - OUR FINAL DAY

When we booked our return flight home, we almost scheduled an early morning flight. In retrospect I was glad that we didn't as we at least had some final moments at WDW before leaving.

Departure days are always bittersweet, but I think it helped that our Trip had gone off without a hitch (at least thus far!) and we had made so many good memories. We had done more in our 4 days than I had thought possible and had a fantastic time in the process!

I stayed up until about 2am the night before packing and rearranging our suitcases until I was able to get everything in our luggage. In addition to buying quite a bit in the parks I had also sent a fair number of online shopping orders to CBR in advance of our arrival.

We woke up early as usual and got ready for the day. We had a 8am appointment for the Grand Floridian Photo Session. This was the first and only day we would not be relying on Disney Transportation. I decided that we would grab a quick breakfast at the Food Court and then take a cab to the Grand Floridian for the photos.

We left the room shortly after 7am. Before leaving, I made sure that everything was packed and ready for our Magical Express pick-up at 9am.

We had always been informed by all of the CMs we had dealt with that the departure time for the airport was 3 hours before our scheduled flight - in our case 11:10am for our 2:10pm flight. It wasn't until after we arrived back at our room at CBR close to 10:30pm the night before that we received the note on our door advising that our departure time was actually 10:00am!!!

After calling Magical Express, I was advised for the first time that because we were an international departure, we had to be picked up 4 hours before our flight, not the standard 3 hours!

Now, I had thought that the 3 hour departure time was ridiculous enough itself. But 4 hours beforehand seemed absolutely outrageous! As a fairly seasoned and experienced air traveller, I admit that I frequently press the limits on arrival times. However, even adding into the mix every conceivable delay possible, I did not see how leaving 4 hours before departure time could be justified.

As we were packing up the room and heading over to the Food Court I kept debating whether I would shell out for a taxi to the airport which would mean an extra 2 hours at the Resort. I quickly determined that yes, I was going to just pay for the taxi and leave the "Magical" Express behind.

I called Magical Express in the taxi en route to the Grand Floridian after making arrangements with our taxi driver for him to pick us up at the Resort at 12pm. I told them that we would be making our own transportation arrangements to the airport and cancelled our luggage pick-up.

I figured this would give us about an hour or so at the Pool at CBR before we had to leave. Given that we had yet to swim in the Pool I thought this would be a nice way to end the Trip.

Here are a couple of shots of CBR that we took during our final walk from our Room over to the Food Court for Breakfast:

We arrived at the Grand Floridian for our Photo Session right on time. They were just setting up for the morning and we were the first appointment.

We got a very nice lady who took us all around the Resort snapping a ton of photos. Unfortunately DD was not in an overly cooperative mood so we didn't get any particularly great shots, but here are a couple that she took:

The benefit of the GF Photo Session is having someone go around the Resort with your Family, getting a lot of pictures with everyone in them in a short amount of time. The quality is no different than regular Photopass in my opinion, but it is nice having the pictures at a Resort as opposed to the Parks for a change of scenery.

After we were done we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom and the Bus back to CBR. (My extravagence in shelling out for the taxi that morning was short-lived!)

Although I kept telling DD how great it was going to be to hit the Pool once we got back to CBR, for some reason she did not appear all that keen to go swimming, which was not like her. (On the plane ride home she finally confessed that she was scared the chlorine was going to sting given the cut to her knee from her fall on Day 1).

Of course it was hot, and all of the posing and moving around outside at the GF during the Photo Session combined with the travel back to our Resort was making that pool very enticing!

Imagine my horror when we stepped into our room at CBR at about 10am and discovered all of our bags were missing!!! Of course I instantly realized that although I had called Magical Express at 7:45am to cancel our 9am Bag Pick-Up someone had fallen down on the job and the cancellation never got registered!

After waiting for 15-20 minutes for someone at ME to verify that they did in fact have our bags waiting at the CBR Custom House, by this point it was now 10:20am. There was no way now that we would have time to go swimming, the whole reason for taking a taxi in the first place, and I was none too pleased.

I advised ME in no uncertain terms that although we had already missed our bus to the Airport by about 1/2 hour, THEY would be finding alternative means for us to get to the airport.

The agent I was dealing with then advised me that the next ME bus to the airport scheduled for 11am was completely booked. Clearly she hadn't heard me!

After speaking with a supervisor to confirm that we were either getting on the 11am bus or Disney would be paying for our transportation to the airport, we headed over to the Food Court to cash in the last of our Food Credits before leaving.

We then ventured over to the Custom House, retrieved our bags and waited for the 11am ME bus. As it turned out, there was plenty of space on the Bus and we arrived at the Airport shortly after 11:30am.

After waiting less than 30 seconds in the line-up to check our luggage, we found ourselves in the Airport with nothing more to do until our flight was scheduled to leave in over 2 hours!!! Imagine if we had been on the 10am ME Bus - then we would have had to kill over 3 hours sitting around in the Airport!!!

Based on this alone, there is NO WAY I will ever be taking the "Magical" Express again.

Thank goodness there were a fair bit of shops for us to browse through while we were waiting. However, in my mind this was prime "Disney" time that could have been much better spent. Lesson learned!

Here are some photos we took in the Airport killing time before our flight:

Here's one at the Harley-Davidson store:

We also managed to find a gourmet chocolate store while we were killing time and I bought about $100 worth of chocolates in various molds (airplanes, golf balls and clubs, hairbrush and makeup kit, ect.). These made great Christmas presents for the family and were sooo good.

Finally it was about 45 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart so we gathered up our things and made our way through Security.

Remember that giftbasket that I bought at Basin in the Grand Floridian? The one that I paid a fortune for to give to my mom who was home taking care of DS? Well, I completely overlooked when I decided to carry that on the airplane so I wouldn't crush the giftwrapping that this would constitute a "liquid or gel" that was banned in the flight cabin.

The Security Guard gave me 2 choices: (1) forfeit the giftbasket, or (2) run as fast as I could back to the check-in gate to see if the airline could check it.

If I had been smart I would have forfeited it and simply picked up something for my mom at home. However, I was so loathe to give up the gift basket that I made a completely foolish decision. I gathered up DD and all of our things (no, Security would not let me leave any of our carry on that had already passed inspection) and ran back to the front airline check-in area.

DD at this point was extremely tired from basically walking around the airport for 2 1/2 hours and was wandering away from me as I was trying to get the agents to wrap up my giftbasket and check it for me. Finally they said to hurry to the check-in gate as it was almost time for boarding. I quickly gathered up our things and made it back to Security.

Although the line up at Security was about the same length as it was before, due to the time crunch we were now in, it seemed to move at half the pace. I kept looking at my watch convinced that I had just made us miss our flight.

Finally, we once again got through Security and ran to our Gate. Fortunately they were still in the process of boarding. We made a quick dash to the washroom and then quickly got on the plane just as the last passengers were boarding. Whew!

We finally got our seats at the back of the plane and started arranging our carry-ons in the overhead bins. Then, it hit me:




I DID NOT HAVE MY CAMERA!!!!



Yes, the Canon Digital Rebel that I had paid a fortune for just days before our Trip.

Yes, the one I bought to replace the identical brand new one that I had left in our rental van during our May Trip 4 months earlier.

Yes, the one that had over 700 photographs of our Mommy-Daughter Disney Trip that we took solely to replace the photos we had lost during our May Trip.


My face went red and my whole body started to shake. I could not believe this was happening!!!



TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[dddisrunner]

 

[peacelovemickey]

YIKES! What a cliffhanger!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Oh on, don't leave us hanging! Did you get your camera back?

As to ME, on our trip in Sept. imagine our dismay (or need I say horror!) when we saw this sign at luggage services at POP

My DM and I had decided to grab a quick bite at the food court and happened to enter by the luggage services where they had a paper sign posted that the "Airline was Down" (the chalked one showed up later). When I asked the CM at LS what that meant he (laughingly) said that they would not be able to check in any luggage until the system was back up. And no, he had no idea when that would happen! His attitude was really annoying. We had a rental mini-van but my DNiece24 had joined our trip mid-way (as surprise for DD8) and she had used ME to arrive and we (4A and 1K) would need to use the airline check-in with baggage transport to get all our luggage to the airport. We decided to grab something in the food court and then checked at the front desk as to what we could do to get all of us, along with our luggage, to the airport. We knew we could all fit in the van, but not all of our luggage. Unfortunately, the BEST solution the management gave us was that they would transport our luggage in one of their vans, along with one of us, to the airport but we would have to leave at 2 p.m. (for our 5:30 p.m. flight). (This was after saying that ME could take our luggage to airport but we would have to follow along with them and then they would just leave our luggage at the curb, for us to check-in). Also, all members of our party would have to accompany our luggage so it could be checked in. Needless to say, this was very upsetting to us. We were going to waste our last day in the airport. As a side note, my DNiece had been throwing up all night and we weren't even sure if she was going to be able to make her flight home (luckily, she was! ).

Luckily, just before we (except for DNiece) left for 11 a.m. ADR at 'Ohana, we got a call that the airlines were back up! YEAH. Now all we had to do was return from 'Ohana, get luggage to airport check-in (along with fridge for swap) and be out of our rooms by 1 p.m. (the latest they would give us for late check out.) It all worked out fine, but it was a frustrating end to a wonderful trip. The worst part was the attitude of the CMs at LS who seemed to think it was all a lark, they actually were laughing when we asked if things would be back on track soon. I did let the manager know about their attitude and he did apologize, and he did come up with the van solution.

Other than my Niece taking ME to join our trip, we've never used ME, and probably won't since we rent a vehicle. I think leaving 3 hrs. before flight time is too early too. I understand why, I just don't like it. But, if I didn't rent a vehicle, I would use it to arrive and probably check my luggage at the resort and have the people take a taxi to the airport.

Again, I hope you found your camera......please let us know.

 

[J Lynn]

Oh my.....I would have had a major panic attack I just bought a Nikon D40 for Christmas and I hold on that thing better than my purse with all my credit cards

 

[scottny]

losing a camera is a terrible feeling.

 

[DisneyMom14]

OMG!!!!

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm coming out of lurkdom to compliment you on your cliff hanger. One of the best ever I'm fairly confident you retreived the camera because we've seen all the pictures, but I can't wait to hear how.

 

[Native NYer]

OMG I'm about to faint for you. I would hate to lose my camera. What a terrible feeling!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Sorry you had so much trouble on your last day! And the camera situation - I'm guessing you left in on the ME bus and they had to send it to you?

I like your pictures from the GF photo shoot - what a nice setting. And the picture of your DD on the Harley is great too!

Don't leave us hanging too long!