Oh It's A Jolly Holiday With Katie! - Beach Club / Grand Floridian

[TheLittleKatie]

Aussie Wendy - Ah that's such a long trip for you! Totally worth it though, right?! I guess the Asian parks are your 'locals'? I would love to visit those some day, and the California Disneyland even more so
The weather was wonderful for the whole fortnight, but when we visited in September 2012 it was really overcast for the whole trip - so I guess we got lucky! You just can't beat how quiet it is

401Disney - CONGRATULATIONS!!! Ahh a Disney-moon, how perfect!! Thank you, and I hope you have an amazing trip

DisneyKid4Life - STACEY IS THE QUEEN. They should give her a float and add her into the Electrical Parade !!
Hahaha, to be honest Rob I am just so excited to be recounting my trip, so I just write what's in my head, which is perfect, since it reflects the excitement of the actual day itself.. If that makes sense? I wanted to do a trip report for myself and to savour my own memories just as much as I wanted to share it with you wonderful people And it just makes it sooo much better that you're actually enjoying it!

ThePin Princess - Hello and !!! Yay I love the Beach Club too! I have only stayed at 3 WDW resorts (POR, BC, GF) but you just can't beat the Beach Club's location! Thank you for your kind words and I hope you keep enjoying!

TexasBelle - Thanks so much! and woohoooo, 15 days now I believe!! Have an amazing time, and I hope you'll be doing a trip report

 

[TheLittleKatie]

jamieann - I'm so glad you're planning on catching the MK Welcome show ! It's just an overload of magic that a girl like me cannot handle!! I have no doubt that you will enjoy it

Clarf - Thank you!! we had a great, quiet trip! As I hope you did too, since you were there at the same time?! I would recommend a September trip to everyone!!

Grumpy's Wife, PadmeNaberie, Joyciemc, awalker1015 - Hi and !! Thank you and I hope you all enjoy!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Joining in, Katie!

What a fun beginning to your trip report - I look forward to more!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

SimplyGoofy - Thanks Jenny!! Like I said on yours, I'm loving your TR too! Welcome aboard!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 2
(September 3rd 2014)
This is gonna be the best day of my liiiife!
My li-i-i-i-i-iiiife!
(Ooo, oooo, oo, oo ooo.)
Part 2 - My, oh my, what a wonderful day!

Ok everybody, it’s time to introduce you to my bag of choice for Florida 2014.

That is my wooly Eeyore backpack.

And by the way, EVERYONE LOVED IT.

I got at least 2 compliments on this bag every day!

And people were asking me if I got it here in the parks somewhere.

HE WAS £2 ON EBAY !!!!!!

(That’s about $3.20)

And he could fit everything I needed in him perfectly.

What a great find!

But enough about that. Back to our wonderful day.

We headed over to Frontierland to do my FAVOURITE ride in the entire world.

This has been my favourite ride since I was first tall enough to board that infamous log and hit the briar patch.

Sorry, my inner Stacey often escapes me.

Splash Mountain!!

An empty Frontierland! I LOVE SEPTEMBER!

Needless to say, I sung my heart out.

Back in the day, Jamie made up his own version that he would sing at home because he didn’'t know the real words..
And now that he knows the real words, he still prefers to sing his own rendition.

It goes like this..

(To the tune of
‘How do you do? Mighty pleasant greeting,
Pretty good, sure as you’re born.')

“How do you liiike, your eggs in the morning?
Marmaduke, show me your bone.”

Make of that what you will.

I really think I could ride this round and round all day and never get sick of it.

Of course, this happened to Jamie.

This seemed to happen a lot.

We then headed next door to the neighboring mountain of Big Thunderousness.

And I saw my favourite little steam train coming down the track!

My favourite part of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is when you come speeding into the unloading area and the train SLAMS its brakes on, and your head almost smashes into the front of your carriage.

Good times.

We then decided to head round to New Fantasyland!

We last visited in September 2012, and they had a soft opening of New Fantasyland literally a couple of weeks after we left.

So I was really eager to see it for the first time!

I love the Liberty Belle Riverboat, it’s so pretty.

Plus, it’'s just like the riverboat from The Princess and the Frog.
And I’m a HUGE Princess and the Frog fan.

​

Now, through to the most well-themed bathrooms I have ever visited..!

(Is anyone else concerned about that lone stroller.. it made me think about a child wishing upon a star that they could wake up at the Magic Kingdom.. then *POOF* !)

“Ulf is into mime..”

“I’'d rather be called deadly
for my killer show-tune medley!”

“And Vladimir collects ceramic unicorrrns!”

“I’'ve got a dream! I'’ve got a dream! I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam!”

I didn’'t want to appear too weird taking photos INSIDE the bathroom, but I managed to get one of some of Rapunzel’'s paint supplies.

I was excited to spot Pascal in the flower bed outside this window, but it was only when I got home that I learnt there were a few more hiding around this place! Doh!

Next stop: Belle’'s Village.

Click for Day 2, Part 3!​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 2
(September 3rd 2014)
This is gonna be the best day of my liiiife!
My li-i-i-i-i-iiiife!
Ooo, oooo, oo, oo ooo.
Part 3 - My, what a guy!

If my hometown could get one of these statues, I would be so happy.

I enjoy Gaston. Maybe a little too much.
Personally I think he's just a hopeless romantic in need of some anger management.



We were still adjusting to the heat and humidity, so we stopped to share one of these...

LeFou’'s Brew from Gaston's Tavern!

This is described as:

“Frozen apple Juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow and topped with all-natural passion fruit-mango foam.”

Delish!

It was super sweet though, sharing one was a good idea.

We went to finish our drink outside Bonjour! Village Gifts to see if we could spot the man himself, but he wasn'’t coming out for a while, so we strolled over to Journey of the Little Mermaid!

I loved the detail over there.

These animatronics were so realistic! I was very impressed. And we liked the part where you tilt back and go under water, then look up at Ariel above you! That was clever. The whole ride was super cute.

(Now we know what Eric really wanted Ariel for…..)

(Sorry, that was dark.)

We headed back over to Belle’'s Village to stalk Gaston, and sure enough, he was there!!

I was like a child on Christmas morning!

So we joined the queue!

Just as we got there, someone came up to us and asked Jamie if he had lost any money..
He checked his pockets and sure enough, $60 had gone!
But those wonderful people had seen him drop it and followed us to give it back!
I hope good karma comes their way!

Gaston was cracking everybody up in the queue, that guy is so funny.

The instrumental of the ‘Gaston’ song came on and he BELLOWED at everyone,
"“BE QUIET!!!....I love this song.”"

As I got to the front of the queue, the two young girls in front were chatting to Gaston, and he said to them,

"“I'’ll teach you how to love me for when you’re older..”"

He then pointed at me and said,

“"YOU.. Take note.”"

Swooooooooooon!!



The girls left and as I approached him and said hello,
(Jamie hung back to take some photos)
Gaston looked at me deadpan and said absolutely nothing to me….

I asked if everything was OK, and he took my left hand and just stared at it.

And proceeded to say,

“"So...… No ring.”"

JUST LOOK AT THE LOVE IN MY EYES.. Hahaha!!!!

He is so handsome. And such a flirt.

I said “"No, no ring, but that'’s my beast over there,"” and pointed towards Jamie.

He then said, “"Ah, I see, so you took off your ring to come and see me?"”

Jamie wasn'’t about to be mocked like this though! He shouted over,

“"You’'re looking a bit small, Gaston!"”

WELL.

This obviously hit a nerve with Gaston, as we all know, he takes great pride in being roughly the size of a barge.

And things got a little heated, as Gaston marched over to Jamie, stared him in the eyes and said loudly,

“"MY BICEP IS BIGGER THAN YOUR HEAD!”"

They proceeded to bond over a manly conversation about muscles and how many eggs they eat per day.

Thankfully the situation cooled down a bit, and Gaston said,

"“I will let you shake my hand.”"

He then came back to me and chatted a little more, then he said,

“"I will let you feel my bicep. You'’re welcome.”"

I thanked him and he said,

“"It was a pleasure you got to meet me.”"

And sadly, we parted ways.

Seriously though, if you want to meet some characters but don’t have much time, make sure you meet Gaston!

He’'s great with guys and girls of all ages, and even if there’s a long queue, just watching him with other guests is hilarious.

Next stop: Tomorrowland!

We had fastpasses for Space Mountain at 10:25 –- 11:25am. We got to Tomorrowland at around 10:20 and it was still really quiet, so we went to Buzz Lightyear'’s Space Ranger Spin!

I know some people think this is a poor attraction, but Jamie and I had a lot of fun and A LOT of competition on this throughout the trip!

I could remember a couple of ‘special’ areas to aim for, but not the exact targets.
(Don’t worry, we soon figured it out!)

However, at this point I refused to share my insider knowledge with Jamie, and it drove him CRAZY!

I still won, but not by much!!

Jamie looks petrified of Evil Emperor Zurg!!

We went over to Space Mountain to use our fastpasses, but the standby line was only 5 minutes! (It was actually a walk on!)
So we rode standby, and then a second time with our fastpasses.

What even is this picture.
Jamie says he was flying.. and I'm just.. I don't even know.

At about 11am we headed back over to the hub.

And we bumped into this little guy!

Click for Day 2, Part 4!​

​

 

[deedee2177]

Following Along! My Mum is a fellow Brit so as I'm reading your TR I imagine it being read in a lovely British Accent!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Gaston was never out when we were there. He definitely looks like so much fun. I hope to be able to see him in May.

You really lucked out with the low crowds. I'm noticing the background of your pictures and it looks like a very low crowd day.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Eeyore's a backpack??? OK that is pretty darn cool. I can totally see why people complimented. But I also understand their frustration when they see it and assume it can be gotten in the parks, lol.

I have to admit Katie, I was afraid you were going to say Big Thunder. Not that there's anything wrong with Big Thunder, but I am very relieved and delighted the favourite was Splash. And also, inner Stacey is Rob approved.

Not to brag or anything (ok maybe a little) but I was fortunate to be in MK for the very very first soft opening of NFL, October 12, 2012. Yeah, I kinda fangirled.

Trust me, you would not be the first to take photos in that bathroom.

Bahahahaha, ok way to reconcile Gaston faults there Katie. "He's really a good guy, he's just misunderstood. I know I can change him!!!"

Mmmmmm LeFou’s Brew. Mine will not be shared.

Haha, nice Gaston tribute with the chair. You just need to show off the guns (i.e. biceps) a bit more.

I actually watched an entire Gaston set (while enjoying my Brew). One of the most entertaining things in all of Disney.

 

[MrsHuffy09]

Just joining in! I absolutely love your writing style--it's right up my alley. I just learned an important lesson to never start reading a new TR while cooking, because I almost burned spaghetti.

We only live around 6 hours from WDW so we never get to ride Magical Express as we always drive. I'm way jealous of everyone's pictures and even the fake monorail.

And tragic, Splash Mountain will be closed when we're there in January!!

Can't wait to read more updates! Y'all are adorable!

 

[Avery&Todd]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your TR!!

you guys are fabulous!!

and I HAVE to meet Gaston when we go next June....

*sigh*

cant wait to hear about all 2 weeks - that's a DREAM vacation for me!!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

deedee2177 - Wooo *high five* to your mum for being British! And *high five* to you for joining my trip report!

Grumpy's Wife - Aw no way. He comes out a lot, maybe every hour. He's definitely worth waiting for! Hope you get to see him And yes, it was so quiet the whole time! When we were about to leave (15th & 16th September) it seemed to get REALLY busy for some reason. I guess that made it slightly easier to come home

DisneyKid4Life - The backpack is awesome, I have to admit though, it's not ideal having wool covering my back in the Florida heat..!! But other than that I loved it, and he was so cheap too

Haha, I always quote Stacey in the parks! "I'm gonna ride that puppy! Crocodile arrrr! Kinda looks like my Uncle Phil!"... ok I'll stop. But seriously, it happens a lot

And you were definitely right to fangirl over NFL when it opened!! I got home September 24th 2012 so yeah, just missed it! I'm glad we both got the full experience this year as 7DMT opened though

Hahaha "I know I can change him!!!" - Rob, you make me sound so pathetic !!!! I accept him for being a bit of a pig.. But the guy organised a SURPRISE WEDDING for Belle..!! You've got to admit, that's kind of sweet Ok yes, maybe I am pathetic

 

[TheLittleKatie]

MrsHuffy09 - and I'm glad you saved the spaghetti!
Living 6 hours from Disney World.. That makes me jealous! Aw no, that is a little tragic.. But HEY! YOU'LL STILL BE AT DISNEY!! Lucky you, I hope you have an amazing time!!!! Thank you for your kind words

Avery&Todd - Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying and YAY for your trip next June, only 8 months left!!

 

[desheag]

Joining in!! Couldn't stop reading your TR!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

desheag - and thank you!!!! I hope you enjoy

 

[STLMickeyMom]

i'm joining in! sounds like a great trip so far! i'm excited to read more!

 

[Leshaface]

Oh my gosh Katie, I'm SO IN! You're so cute and funny! Just read the intro and will be back to read the rest

 

[marcgiu]

Best trip report I have read - defo keen to hear more

 

[NJPluto]

I love your trip report! This time next week, my family will be there and your trip is feeding my Disney frenzy!!!! I'm also partial to your report because my 7 year old is also named Katie!

 

[Leshaface]

So i'm all caught up now!

Aw love that Phil Collins song!

I used to love travel day! But now with a kid, it's so much more hectic and stressed.. guess it just adds to the excitement!

Ooh the countryside looks gorgeous from your train ride.

Love that he bought extra underwear. Never know when you might need it!

I'm reading your TR with my DS in my lap and get to the part where your food arrives on the plane and he points and says the only word he pretty much knows..."Mmm-MMM!"

I always put bright colored scarves around the handles of our luggage (DH absolutely HATES it -too girly, but then loves me when we have to collect it on the conveyor belt!

Aw you should have told them about the mishap with the chips/fries situation, i'm sure they would have remedied that.

JAFFA CAKES!!!! My dad introduced those to me when he went to Europe in 1997 and brought some back and fell in love with them! A shop at the coast that we visit used to sell these, but closed down years ago, so it's been at least 6 years since i've had them. I miss them.

I just loved your pictures and videos at RD! Haven't done that in quite a while.

Gaston is such a hoot! He is definitely amazing with everyone.

Thought i'd mention an easier way to reply to everyone...at the bottom of everyones reply, you'll see a button with a quotation mark and a plus sign like this "+...you hit that on everyones reply and it will let you reply within one reply (that's a lot of "reply's" , sorry!) it's so much easier to do this than having to go back and copy and paste usernames, etc. I was doing the same thing as you a long time ago, until some told me how to do it!