Mommy & Me Girly Fun Bday 10/31 Last Day & AT home

[mcbj]

Enjoying your report! What are SOTMK cards?

 

[Marshay]

It looks like you had fun with all of the things around the resort landscaping. Yes, it was neat to just take the time to look around the resorts.

Yay Rachel!! What a big girl she is to conquer her fears! We should all be so brave. It sounds like you guys managed to do a lot while you were there at the lagoon. I was very proud of Rachel. I knew she would like it and could do it ... and we had practiced specifically for it. So was very disappointed when she freaked. However, she just needed some more time to get ready.

Rachel is a real go go girl isn't she? She is a going to be a real park stormer when she gets older isn't she? yes, she is! This Disney Mama is so proud!

How funny having to sign promising not to hurt any pirates. I love it!! Rachel was really enjoying it a lot wasn't she? That Merida dress is pretty.

I love the way they did her eyes. If I have a reason for a costume I think I may try that. What vibrant colors they used, I love the pretty bright look.

Yes, the colors were really pretty!

The tea does look relaxing and what a great way to be cool too. I am so not shocked that Rachel picked the swan. It looks young lady friendly! Oh how nice!! Roses for the birthday ladies. The tea is just such a nice time.

I love the picture of Rachel with the sugar cube. y favorite too!It's so fun! That is so cute for the kids. The boys make up is cute. I am glad to see they started doing that for the boys.

The Casey Junior theming is so cute! I really hope they do so rehabbing in Disneyland's Fantasyland. It hasn't been that long but it looks so old compared to all of the WDW photos I am seeing.

That looked like a rather large kids meal. I can imagine you guys were tired!! What a great bunch of updates!! I have really enjoyed it!!

That's why Rachel and I decided just to split the kids meal -- it was more than enough for the two of us.

Glad you are enjoying the TR. This was such a fun trip and I'm happy to relive it on here.

 

[Marshay]

Loving your report!
In 2010 I took my oldest, my daughter on a mother/daughter cruise; it was a special time and a trip I treasure. She was 9 and enjoyed the one on one time with me (she has a 6 year younger brother). I enjoyed sharing time with her - she is now 11 and family time with her is forced, she would rather be in her room or on her own :-(.
We've been looking at the auto train - thanks for sharing your opinions! We have the options of BWI/IAD/DCA but find ourselves doing a drive to florida for week long trips to WDW.
Looking forward to sharing in your story

Glad you are here! Yes, your mom/daughter trip at 9yo sounds great! WE are going on our first family cruise (DREAM) in January and I can't wait!

Ugh, so it starts as soon as 11yo? I am dreading the time when she doesn't want me around. But I totally understand it -- I did the same to my own mom!

We love the Autotrain, but it's not for everyone. I'm not really into the long drives...can never seem to get comfortable and hate being the referee and entertainer for the kids when all I want to do is rest/read. I actually like it when I'm driving but the two times we drove, my DH was like "I'll do all the driving!"...like he was saving me the "agony" of driving.

So taking the train just works best for everyone and since we would get a hotel anyway when we drive, it's the same number of days to drive or take the train ... but we are all happier on the train (in a Family Room).

 

[Marshay]

So glad you are updating your report! And it sounds like Rachel tours just like you want to!

I had no idea that Casey's Circus was an indoor playground. That's what it looked like from your picture. Edward will be thrilled when we go in February.

We are also doing Pirates League but I have to tell you, one of your pictures of the inside showed a lot of bored people waiting around for something. Was it the pictures in the back room or was it they were still waiting for their turn? Rachel made an adorable mermaid and the story about the hiss at the CM is priceless!

Yeah, sorry about the delay. But I'm back now.

Rachel is definitely "a little me" when it comes to touring. She surprised me many times with her 'let's go' attitude and didn't complain when we got stuck in the massive crowds exiting the parks.

Well, Casey's Circus is an outdoor splash zone ... but Dumbo's playground is an indoor play area. With benches for mom and dad ... and air conditioning ... so great to have this feature!

Rachel wasn't interested in riding Dumbo -- she just wanted to play on the playground.

yep -- while waiting your turn to get a chair for your transformation and then the 20-30 minutes it takes to do the make-up, etc, can be really boring!

I enjoyed watching it all and looking around but it did take a while. Now, our CM Nina really took her time...there were other kids who were both pirates and mermaids that started AFTER us and were finished BEFORE us. So maybe yours will go quicker.

Rachel loved being a Mermaid! And she still talks about her "Mermaid Hiss"

 

[Marshay]

Sounds like you had a great day at TL. Glad Rachel congquered her fear Me Too!

Of course, Rachel would want to go to park and not back to room, She is definitely a Park commando like yourself Yep, no doubt where she gets that from!!

Dumbo is awesome at night. Much better than during the day for sure like you said yep...I won't even bother doing it during the day now...except maybe to see into the FLE...but I definitely want to do it at night. Also the Dumbo playground at night, at least when we went was empty!

Rachel makes a beautiful mermaid. That is hilarious story about her hissing the CM and her making the CM jump It was great!

That is a riot she thought she be in the 3 o clock parade I know! It never even dawned on me that she would think that. Just goes to show her 'theatrical' self.

Sounds like a great night swimming

Looking forward to more

I know you guys have always like Pop and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice Pop is. I would definitely stay there again when we want to save our DVC points and/or money. So much nicer than the All Stars...but alas, not as nice as AoA. I hope to try our the Little Mermaid rooms sometime, since she is my favorite princess!

 

[Marshay]

What a great photo! Thanks! When I saw her looking in the mirror and admiring herself, I knew I had to get that on film!

Loved your updates. Loved reading about TL. I've never been to the water parks but I think I will when I take my DD in May. I was just reminded again how much Disney does it right! I love the tropical theming and there was a lot that my DD could do. I'm so glad they let her wear the life vest -- we visited our local Six Flags Water Park and they would not allow her to wear a life vest .... so she just wouldn't do the slides at all.

I love the GF tea but my youngest is the worlds pickiest eater. What was the chocolate dessert you had with the Mickey? I don't recall ever seeing that there. For kids, they do have the option to do chocolate milk instead of tea. The kids meal is a mixture of 3 sandwiches with the crust cut off -- pnut/jelly, tuna and turkey (I think). You could always ask for whichever your DD likes. I know the couple next to us was requesting a special type of food to eat.

My meal that I chose came with 2 deserts already pre-made so I could only choose one from the tray for my birthday surprise. Sorry, I can't remember what the Mickey was exactly...I want to say some kind of nutty mousse thing. I remember I liked it but it didn't floor me, if you know what I mean.

Dumbo at night looks stunning! I meant to try it on my last trip but we just didn't get to it. Did you get new sorcerer cards everyday? My DD was very into to them. I have a feeling we will spend more time at MK than we would have otherwise just to try to complete the set.
Your DD sure is a trooper. Sounds like you really had some fun filled days.

Yes, you should really try Dumbo at night, at least once!

I totally forgot to write that earlier!! One of the main reasons RAchel wanted to keep going back to MK was to get more SOTMK cards. I totally forgot all about that! We actually only played the game one time this trip, and only for like two windows. but we loved collecting the cards.

 

[Marshay]

Enjoying your report! What are SOTMK cards?

Welcome!!

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards are playing/trading cards that you can collect (like Pokemon or Baseball cards) and you can also play a game inside the Magic Kingdom with them.

You can go to the Firehouse on Main Street and show your ticket to get a pack of cards and a map. Then you follow the map to portals (special windows or mirrors throughout MK) to activate them. You'll watch a short video explaining the problem (a villain is trying to take over) and you'll have to hold up your SOTMK cards to the window to initiate a spell to help defeat the villain. You'll do this about 5 times in 5 different places in one land (Frontierland, Main Street, etc) and then you can move on to another land to defeat more villains. If you do that to all the lands, you can become a Master at the game.

Some people just enjoy collecting the cards, as they are free ... however, you can also purchase packs of cards which will have a special rare, hard to find card in them.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Yes, you should really try Dumbo at night, at least once!

I totally forgot to write that earlier!! One of the main reasons RAchel wanted to keep going back to MK was to get more SOTMK cards. I totally forgot all about that! We actually only played the game one time this trip, and only for like two windows. but we loved collecting the cards.

My DD & I got cards 3 times so we got 30 cards. We were able to trade all duplicates when we were there. We tried to trade with one nice girl who I think was short just 1 card to complete her set but we didn't have it. She gave my DD 2 cards. Then I had 2 friends who were there when we but we weren't traveling together. One day they each got us cards. And after our trip one of my coworkers went with her 2 adult DDs and she brought me home 3 packs. So we have 41 unique cards of the 60 the give out. But we need 14 of 22 rare cards. We need 4 less rare cards and just 1 common card. I found most folks were great to trade with. Even the hard core players. Only 1 person tried to get us to trade a rare card for a common card. I'm going to WDW with a girlfriend next month so hoping to get a few more cards. Then I go back with DD in May but I still don't think we will complete our set. From what I've read they have been selling out of the cards you buy as soon as they get more in stock and the price keeps going up. The cards really are beautiful aren't they? And my DD really did have fun playing the game too. Some of the spells you cast are really funny.

My DD is so picky. She doesn't eat PB or jelly or tuna. She might eat a scone but I would be better off going there without her. I should go there with my DS. He loves tea, will try anything and likes just about everything and would get a huge kick out of the whole atmosphere.

I am so going to make my friend ride Dumbo in the dark with me next month. We went to WDW last Nov too and even though she's a fanatic going multiple times per year like me I took her on Test Track in the dark for the first time. We work together. Things have been very stressful lately so I thing Dumbo definitely needs to be on our must do list.

 

[Marshay]

My DD & I got cards 3 times so we got 30 cards. We were able to trade all duplicates when we were there. We tried to trade with one nice girl who I think was short just 1 card to complete her set but we didn't have it. She gave my DD 2 cards. Then I had 2 friends who were there when we but we weren't traveling together. One day they each got us cards. And after our trip one of my coworkers went with her 2 adult DDs and she brought me home 3 packs. So we have 41 unique cards of the 60 the give out. But we need 14 of 22 rare cards. We need 4 less rare cards and just 1 common card. I found most folks were great to trade with. Even the hard core players. Only 1 person tried to get us to trade a rare card for a common card. I'm going to WDW with a girlfriend next month so hoping to get a few more cards. Then I go back with DD in May but I still don't think we will complete our set. From what I've read they have been selling out of the cards you buy as soon as they get more in stock and the price keeps going up. The cards really are beautiful aren't they? And my DD really did have fun playing the game too. Some of the spells you cast are really funny.

My DD is so picky. She doesn't eat PB or jelly or tuna. She might eat a scone but I would be better off going there without her. I should go there with my DS. He loves tea, will try anything and likes just about everything and would get a huge kick out of the whole atmosphere.

I am so going to make my friend ride Dumbo in the dark with me next month. We went to WDW last Nov too and even though she's a fanatic going multiple times per year like me I took her on Test Track in the dark for the first time. We work together. Things have been very stressful lately so I thing Dumbo definitely needs to be on our must do list.

We haven't traded any cards yet. Maybe we will on our next trip, if we find we aren't getting new ones. I have us going to MK a lot and since there are 4 of us, we'll end up getting a large number of cards.

You should take your DS if he loves tea. It is definitely focused more on the feminine but we've seen many boys and men there too. It's kind of funny seeing the boys drinking from fine china!

Yes, definitely do Dumbo at night!!

 

[Marshay]

Today is Friday, July 27th and we check out of Pop Century and go over to Port Orleans Riverside Royal Guest Rooms.

Well, I forgot to look at a Disney map and just figured I'd follow my GPS on my phone. Turns out that was a bad move because to go from PC to POR, it took me OFF Property.

So we got to see this lovely sign again.

but soon we were at

The CM at POR Entrance sang Happy Birthday to us and gave Rachel a little hand puppet.

Immediately Rachel tells me, "Mom, this is a better hotel already!"

I also note all the differences between a value resort and a moderate -- and we only went to the parking lot and lobby. More CM. More attention. More details. Larger space.

We get to our room and I'm so excited to see the Royal Guest Room. Here are the photos we took. And we took a lot but I really wanted you all to see all the incredible detail they put into this room.

Wall decorations

The bed with the backboard that glowed.

Lots of pictures of the princesses

Depending on the angle, you can see the eyes open and close

And notice that Sleeping Beauty's dress changes colors from pink to blue -- just like in the movie!!

I like how they recreated scenes from POR with the princesses -- like they were really at POR.

One of my favorites

My absolute favorite -- I'd love this for my house

We loved seeing the princesses in various dresses -- not just the ball gowns

The bathroom divider

The shower curtain has princess details

The shower with "gold" shower head and handles

 

[kaoden39]

What a great room!! I love it!!

 

[Marshay]

The wallpaper border at the top of the ceiling in the bathroom had all sorts of characters on it -- taking a bath!

This was my favorite -- Pascal and the frying pan! What humor the designer have!

and the border in the bedroom had additional characters from the movies

All the princesses from the main movies (ie. not Pocahontas or Mulan) were represented.

The flat screen tv and chest of drawers

The gold overlays on the top

The "magic carpet" on the carpet.

Even the coat rack gets the royal treatment.

Beautiful and thick draperies

The welcoming letter from Tiana embedded in the table. When I first saw this, I went to pick it up!

And even the Mouse gets his say in the royal room

the bedspread has all the princess crowns represented. Can you figure them all out?

 

[Marshay]

What a great room!! I love it!!

It gets even better -- see the other pictures I just posted!

Now you do pay more for this room but Rachel and I just loved it!! All of the little details just added together to make us feel like princesses, too!

 

[lovesdumbo]

We haven't traded any cards yet. Maybe we will on our next trip, if we find we aren't getting new ones. I have us going to MK a lot and since there are 4 of us, we'll end up getting a large number of cards.

You should take your DS if he loves tea. It is definitely focused more on the feminine but we've seen many boys and men there too. It's kind of funny seeing the boys drinking from fine china!

Yes, definitely do Dumbo at night!!

You might find this thread interesting about the fewest number of packs you would need to complete a set.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2937488



Love all the attention to detail in te Royal room.

 

[Marshay]

After we took photos and unpacked, we decided to go to the Food Court and split another kid's meal. It is fun eating in their food court with the big old water wheel. I didn't get any pictures inside but the hall is just all wood. Very neat.

Here is the outside wheel

Oh, here are photos from outside our room. Just lovely!!

One thing I realized on this trip, is that if you do slow things down, you can really enjoy your surroundings more. It's funny to say that, but I remember when Jerry and I stayed a POR when it was Dixie Landings and I just remember how big it all was and not how beautiful.

This trip, it was still a big resort, but I was able to appreciate it more with Rachel.

Then we decided to go swimming.

However, once we got there, we realized something was wrong since NO ONE was in the pool.

Turns out there was an "accident" and no one could go back in the pool until the chemicals were able to "overcome" (Winnie the) Pooh.

So we took photos

and Rachel played on the playground

and went in the kiddie pool

and I lounged on a lounge chair in the sun and relaxed.

The pool still wasn't ready so we walked back over to the arcade and got some more photos along the way.

Then the pool games started up and Rachel played them. They had a trivia contest and I am proud to say that we won 2nd place! Rachel got this inflatable octopus for the prize. She named her Octy!

Finally the pool opened up again and we swam around and Rachel played more pool games.

Then it was time to go to DHS.

 

[Marshay]

You might find this thread interesting about the fewest number of packs you would need to complete a set.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2937488



Love all the attention to detail in te Royal room.

Interesting thread!

We have about 1/2 to 3/4 of the cards in one set and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cards for a 2nd set (for Elizabeth).

Yes, the detail was really cool in the rooms!! Definitely made Pop Century seem dull in comparison with just that one poster and bedspread.

 

[Marshay]

We decided to take super-quick showers and then headed over to DHS for their afternoon parade.

A few more Happy Birthdays from the parade characters

And this guy was just sweet looking!! Had to get a photo of him

Love the Toy Story Float

Rachel got LOTS of compliments on her skirt! Yes, this is the one I made for her. She was so proud to tell them that "my mom made it!" And I felt good too!

Then off to Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! dinner package. Although I have been to WDW over 30 times, there are still many new things for me. That's why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE WDW! This restaurant is one of them.

We had a WONDERFUL meal here (not good service though) but the food was delicious!! I would definitely eat here again.

I got the clams as an appetizer and Rachel ate 1/2 of them.

I got the fish (tuna) in this incredible rice and veggie sauce. Once again, Rachel helped me eat it. She has a sophisticated palate and liked my meal better than her kids meal (too bland).

We were stuffed and got our chocolate cannoli to go.

Then we decided FP Star Tours (we got the Ewok and Darth Vadar scene) and go to Animation Academy. We drew Carl Fredricksen at the drawing calls and then we found some characters.

They were bored -- no one was there, so they played hide and go seek with Rachel.

Pinocchio found Rachel

On our previous trips, we kept missing this playground, so this time we made a special effort to go here. Rachel loved it and we'll be back.

Rachel had not done the Backlot Tour, so off we went. Boy, this tour has a lot to be desired from when I did the tour as a working studio. Oh well. Rachel enjoyed it.

Then I wanted to make sure that Rachel got to learn more about Walt Disney -- the man. So we went through One Man's Dream.

I love the castles in here.

What history!

 

[Marshay]

And a window dedicated to the attractions no longer with us

Sadly, I remember all of these...

Love this photo of building Cinderella Castle

Inside OMD, was a model of New Fantasyland. Here is the model of the new Little Mermaid Ride

It's still not time for F! so we wander through the gifts shops and then head over to F!

This was Rachel's #1 request for our trip. She had never seen it before and she really loved Sorcerer Mickey (as you can see she even brought him into the park).

Well, unfortunately, there was thunder and the show kept getting delayed and finally canceled. They did do a shortened version of the show (water and lights only, no actors).

Rachel was NOT happy at all. She started crying but a friendly CM came over and tried to cheer her up and offered to take our picture. Rachel brightened up again.

Well, now we had to decide whether to wait for the next show or skip it. Rachel just wanted to go back to the room b/c she was tired and said we could see it tomorrow night.

However, I had booked a surprise for her tomorrow night and knew it was going to be tonight or never.

 

[Marshay]

Oh, here is the photo of Rachel prior to the 1st show

So we got back in line and was praying that the 2nd show would not be canceled. We ended up with better seats but ... while waiting for it to begin, Rachel falls asleep.

It takes me 4x to wake her up but finally she is awake and enjoys the show.

some pics from the show

After the show, we waited for the crowds to filter out. There was no one in front of me so I put up my legs to rest them while waiting for the crowds to leave.

All of a sudden all these Brazilian Tourist girls come over and literally lay down all around me. I couldn't believe that this girl really wanted to be that close to my stinky feet!

I had to snap a photo! Those are my pink crocs

Finally, it cleared out enough and we slowly walked back to our car and POR.

Tomorrow is our last full day at WDW -- Where does the time go??

Good night!

 

[kaoden39]

I love the wallpaper trim. So cute. I think the whole room is adorable, and I am sure it is more expensive but I understand why.


Too bad about the pool. I loved the sign and the story on it. That playground was cute. Congratulations on 2nd place!

I believe that is the same Pixar paraded that they had/have in DCA. I think it is so cute!

Rachel looks so cute! I love how how coordinated her hat is with her outfit. She reminds me of a tea party lady. You know what I mean?

What is it with the balnd kids meals? I don't get it, kids like food that tastes good too.

Pinochio and Rachel are so cute! I love that kind of interaction.

I love One Man's Dreams. For years his office was in the Lincoln Theater on Main Street. You could look at it while you waited. They have changed it quite a bit in some ways. Now there is bunch of memorabilia about the parks in there. Plus the Capital Building and the White House models.