Oh, Just A Few GALLONS of Pixie Dust! - A July/August 2012 TR

[emmysmommy]

Darn! So sorry about missing Merida. There's always next time - which is so soon!

You are so cute in your video clip singing along and having so much fun! Love the monorail ride to the CR... it is always our last monorail ride before we head home. Strange that I miss a monorail!

I am looking forward to hearing all about your plans for your upcoming trip.

 

[monica23535]

So sad that you had to leave and that you missed meeting Merida due to the bathroom situation!


I love both of the pins you bought, they are awesome.

Yes, you would make an excellent Jungle River Cruise skipper!

I'm gonna take a guess at your next resort and say AoA

 

[marDgreen88]

Ugh, that sucks about the bathroom and missing the meet and greet! That's cool that Merida was so engaging. I am definitely planning on meeting her on our trip and I hope she is still there for you when you go too! Though honestly I can't see why they would remove her so I think you'll be good.

Love that Contemporary pin! I like to get ones for the resorts I stay at too, so I will probably be picking that up for myself. haha! I think there is another one for Bay Lake Tower that comes in a DVC set. But who knows if I want to spend $25 for the whole set. We'll see.

Sad to see your TR ending but atleast now you are for sure going back! I want to know where you are staying...I'm going to guess the Boardwalk? Maybe. haha

I was so bummed! It's okay though, I will definitely meet her in May! (Or June haaha.) I originally wrote that I hoped she'd still be there on my next trip, but that was before my trip was definite! I honestly don't even know if I deleted that! I guess I didn't!

Isn't it so cute? I love all the resort pins! They're all so precious. I can't wait to get some on my next trip, too! Yeah, there is another one! I don't like it as much as the one I got though!

Thanks! Yeah, I was going to be SO BUMMED to end the TR if there was no trip in sight! I'm so glad there is one now! WOO! Thanks for guessing!

Darn! So sorry about missing Merida. There's always next time - which is so soon!

You are so cute in your video clip singing along and having so much fun! Love the monorail ride to the CR... it is always our last monorail ride before we head home. Strange that I miss a monorail!

I am looking forward to hearing all about your plans for your upcoming trip.

That's okay, I don't care as much now that I know I can meet her very soon! It's all very exciting!

Aww thank you! I'm a dork but I'm okay with that. I had to get that last monorail ride on video... did you notice that that portion of the video was basically the only one in which I was totally silent? Yeah. I was extremely sad. I definitely don't think it's strange that you miss the monorail. I miss it too!

Thanks! I'll be sharing soon! I don't know whether I should do the wrap-up first, or talk about PTR stuff. I'll figure it out though hahah.

So sad that you had to leave and that you missed meeting Merida due to the bathroom situation!

I love both of the pins you bought, they are awesome.

Yes, you would make an excellent Jungle River Cruise skipper!

I'm gonna take a guess at your next resort and say AoA

Ugh I know, it was a very annoying situation! Not fun, but it's okay!

Thank you! I love those pins too. It's so fun collecting pins that are special to you!

Awww, thanks! That's so sweet.

Yay yay yay thanks for guessing! So fun!

 

[beachmama3]

Spending my night reading trip reports and catching up on Once Upon a Time...I know you will appreciate that! haha

So sad to see your TR end...I hate when a Disney trip is over! But I am glad you will be back soon- Can't wait to read about your next adventure!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Too bad you weren't able to meet Merida!!!!

I'm sad to see your TR come to an end - but I'm looking forward to hearing about your next trip!!

 

[beachphotog]

Ugh, watching the video and the part where you're on the monorail for the last time broke my heart. It's one of the worst feelings ever!

But it's such a happy thought to realize that you'll be going back so soon! YAY!!!!!

 

[kgoodb00]

I am so sad to see this TR come to an end! But I am sooooo excited to hear what you have planned for your next trip!! I love reading your TR's because we are so much alike and you have given me some awesome insight for our trip in June!!

Random question: Do you use your digital camera or a camcorder for your videos?? I reallllly want to make a trip video when I get back for our kids to be able to watch, and I am not sure if I should just use my digital camera or buy a camcorder!

 

[Nermel9]

Hey look! We just ate there! How novel.

Ohhh, this just made me so sad that I can't go in May and hang out with you, I know we'd get along so well! Someday we'll be in Disney at the same time! Are you still planning to go in October?

Ugh, sorry you had to miss meeting Merida, that's so annoying how people just do what they want and shove their way through! I have no tolerance for that, and it seems to be getting worse and worse in Disney! Merida is so cute, I love the bears behind her, although, they're gone now aren't they?

Sorry you guys had to leave. At least you got in some park time on your last day! Doesn't it seem like there is always turbulence on the flight home? Just to make it a little more miserable leaving Disney!

I loved the video, although I almost had to stop watching, because the Splash Mountain footage made me SO sad! And the monorail!

I did a lot of crying in this response, I'm sorry! I've just been missing Disney SO bad lately!

 

[flyergrad09]

That really stinks about not meeting Merida! But, as I remind myself at the end of all of my trips, it's not like I'm never going back again. I'm going to be a 90 year old woman in a power scooter and I will still be going back to Disney!

I do like it when the weather is gross when you're leaving Disney because it makes leaving just ever so slightly less sad. Unless the weather at home is worse, haha.

Airports need to have a zone where there are no TVs tuned to CNN or the local news or whatever. It's so jarring to go back to reality after such a pleasant vacation! There's a Japanese grocery store near my house that also has a little cafe and the TV in the cafe is always tuned to some Japanese station that only plays videos of baby animals. That's what airports *should* be playing, not that gross news stuff!

 

[marDgreen88]

Spending my night reading trip reports and catching up on Once Upon a Time...I know you will appreciate that! haha

So sad to see your TR end...I hate when a Disney trip is over! But I am glad you will be back soon- Can't wait to read about your next adventure!

Yes! Yes, I do appreciate that!

Aww, thanks! I know, the end of Disney trips are the worst. YES, I'm so stinking excited to be back in a couple months! AHHHH YAY. And I still have to post the wrap-up on here!

Too bad you weren't able to meet Merida!!!!

I'm sad to see your TR come to an end - but I'm looking forward to hearing about your next trip!!

Yeah, I was bummed! I'm just glad I didn't miss my chance completely!

Thank you! I still have the wrap-up to post before the TR updates are completely over, but then after that, lots of pre-trip fun will happen!

Ugh, watching the video and the part where you're on the monorail for the last time broke my heart. It's one of the worst feelings ever!

But it's such a happy thought to realize that you'll be going back so soon! YAY!!!!!

Awww! I know! Did you notice that it was the one part of the video where I was silent? Yeah. That's why. Hahahaha.

I know!!!!! AHHHH YAY!

I am so sad to see this TR come to an end! But I am sooooo excited to hear what you have planned for your next trip!! I love reading your TR's because we are so much alike and you have given me some awesome insight for our trip in June!!

Random question: Do you use your digital camera or a camcorder for your videos?? I reallllly want to make a trip video when I get back for our kids to be able to watch, and I am not sure if I should just use my digital camera or buy a camcorder!

Aww thanks! Well, I still have to do the wrap-up, so it's not officially over just yet! I'm so glad my TR is helping you out! Woo!

Well, for the majority of the video clips that I posted on here, I did use a camcorder. However, for all the Magic Kingdom stuff that I posted yesterday, I just used my camera. It was my last day and I didn't feel like messing with the camcorder hahaha. If you don't feel like spending the money, the video setting on your digital camera will work just fine... especially if it's a nicer camera. Mine is just a point and shoot, so the quality is not as good. The camcorder was a great investment though and I definitely plan to use it a lot on my upcoming trip!

Ohhh, this just made me so sad that I can't go in May and hang out with you, I know we'd get along so well! Someday we'll be in Disney at the same time! Are you still planning to go in October?

Ugh, sorry you had to miss meeting Merida, that's so annoying how people just do what they want and shove their way through! I have no tolerance for that, and it seems to be getting worse and worse in Disney! Merida is so cute, I love the bears behind her, although, they're gone now aren't they?

Sorry you guys had to leave. At least you got in some park time on your last day! Doesn't it seem like there is always turbulence on the flight home? Just to make it a little more miserable leaving Disney!

I loved the video, although I almost had to stop watching, because the Splash Mountain footage made me SO sad! And the monorail!

I did a lot of crying in this response, I'm sorry! I've just been missing Disney SO bad lately!

Aww! I wish you could come! I totally get why you can't though. Yes, we will DEFINITELY meet someday! It's a necessity! You know, I honestly have no idea if October is happening or not! We haven't really talked about it in a while! Good question! Hahah!

Yeah, it was pretty annoying that she didn't even let me answer. I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt either way, but I mean... don't just assume I'm going to say yes! Ick. Hahah oh well. I'm definitely meeting Merida next time! What?! The bears are gone?! BOO! They were so cute!!!

It was definitely so much better to be able to go to a park on the last day than just having to get up and leave. It eased the pain a little bit. I think you're right though, the flights home are always the worst!

Aww! I'm sorry hahha. It's a little bit easier for me now that I know I'm going back, but for a while there I felt the exact same way! I just couldn't take it! But the good news is, we always know there will be another trip.

That really stinks about not meeting Merida! But, as I remind myself at the end of all of my trips, it's not like I'm never going back again. I'm going to be a 90 year old woman in a power scooter and I will still be going back to Disney!

I do like it when the weather is gross when you're leaving Disney because it makes leaving just ever so slightly less sad. Unless the weather at home is worse, haha.

Airports need to have a zone where there are no TVs tuned to CNN or the local news or whatever. It's so jarring to go back to reality after such a pleasant vacation! There's a Japanese grocery store near my house that also has a little cafe and the TV in the cafe is always tuned to some Japanese station that only plays videos of baby animals. That's what airports *should* be playing, not that gross news stuff!

I know! Yeah, that's the best thing about it... you always know there will be another trip. You may not know WHEN, but you just know there will be. Hahah yes!!! We can be 90 year old scooter ladies at Disney together.

Yeah, I wasn't mad that the weather decided to turn bad when we were leaving. Hahha the weather at home is basically exactly the same as Orlando, so not too different! We didn't go home to any storms or anything though, so that was good.

I KNOW! What is that about? It's like they think people actually WANT to know what's going on in the world... I mean what's that about? I really like your cute animal video clips idea though... that would be very ideal.

 

[marDgreen88]

The One Where I Wrap It Up
Part 1!

July/August 2012

The time has come for me to end my second trip report!

Just as I did on my last trip report, I'm going to do a little review wrap-up with some of the highlights of each day and aspect of the trip. I think it serves as a nice reminder, especially since some of the updates happened eight months ago! Goodness.

To end on a good note, I like to start with the negative. To be honest, there was VERY LITTLE of that on this trip. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the whole Merida/bathroom debacle. Since I just talked about that on my last update, there's really no need to go any further! I was annoyed with myself, but it wasn't nearly enough to put a damper on the trip. That's it! WOO!

Let's talk about some TRIP HIGHLIGHTS!

Day 1

Arriving at Disney is always a trip highlight! Nothing beats the feeling of knowing you have your entire trip right in front of you. It's magical. Add to that the feeling of getting the BEST ROOM UPGRADE EVER, and my emotions just went into overdrive!

I was so excited to finally be setting foot inside the Contemporary Resort! Before this trip, I'd only been through on the monorail!

Not only did we get a room upgrade, but we got some surprise fastpasses from a very sweet guest while we were eating lunch! The best part was that we were already heading to Magic Kingdom anyway!

I've started off trips at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, but my favorite way to start is by visiting the Magic Kingdom! Walking down Main Street and seeing the castle for the first time gives me such an indescribable feeling of happiness!

We had a great, although brief time at the Magic Kingdom, complete with the Main Street Philharmonic, SPLASH MOUNTAIN WITH NO WAIT thanks to those free fastpasses, Celebrate A Dream Come True, and the Dapper Dans!!!

Our first meal of the trip was Chef Mickey's! It was also our first (of several) character meal of the trip, as well as our first time eating there! We had some great interactions, but Donald Duck was BY FAR the best!

After a great meal and a bonus visit to the Grand Floridian so I could reenact an entire episode of Full House, Anna and I headed back to Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours!

Day 2

Our park of the day was Hollywood Studios, where we traveled through several movie scenes, saw a bunch of awesome car stunts, and of course, had our first ride of this magical attraction:

We took a ride on the friendship boats through that beautiful Epcot resort area, and had a lovely lunch at Le Cellier, another first for us!

Later that day, I ate the best cupcake in the entire world.

My mom and I had a nice evening enjoying the resort, and while the rest of the family went to see Fantasmic, we got to watch the Magic, the Memories, and You, and WISHES from our balcony for the first time! That was one of the best feelings ever, which is why I had to continue to do it almost every night after that!

Day 3

The next morning, my mom and I took Jacob back to Hollywood Studios! We spent some quality time with my favorite toys...

...and then got to draw (terribly) and MEET Sorcerer Mickey!

Back at the resort, we enjoyed some really fun time in the Contemporary's pool before we headed to the Polynesian for our first ever meal at 'Ohana... my favorite meal of the trip!

After a FANTASTIC dinner, just the girls went over to Epcot so we could see IllumiNations and have some fun during Extra Magic Hours! We got stuck on Spaceship Earth, got a great spot for IllumiNations at the (almost) last minute, lived with the land, and soared over California!

Continued in Next Update​

 

[marDgreen88]

The One Where I Wrap It Up
Part 2!

July/August 2012

Day 4

The next day took us to Animal Kingdom, where I took average pictures of animals...

...and made friends with a gorilla named Bart. (He's heard it through the grapevine that I'll be back in 66 days to visit him, and he's very excited about it.)

No trip to Animal Kingdom is complete without visiting your favorite attractions, and for me, those attractions are...

FESTIVAL OF THE LION KING...

it's tough to be a bug...

and Expedition Everest!

Those three things right there are my ABSOLUTE must dos on any given day at Animal Kingdom. I'm so in love with all of them!

I'm also a HUGE fan of the Jammin' Jungle Parade! It includes some rarely seen characters and has some of the best music of any parade!

That was the day we got our second dose of pixie dust when we found out we were given extra dining credits! Not only that, but we were able to snag an EXTREMELY last minute ADR!

That evening was one of my favorite memories of the trip. Between my dad falling asleep on a bench in Future World (and I repeat: NO SHAME) and a free meal at the Garden Grill, it was a night to remember!

That night I watched The Magic, the Memories, and You and Wishes in my pajamas with a towel on my head. SO SPOILED! It seriously doesn't get any better than that!

Day 5

The next morning, Anna and I made a pit-stop in Hollywood while everyone else went to the Magic Kingdom for a little while. We got our thrill on!

Afterwards we hightailed it on over to Epcot for a lunch with royalty (and a ROYALLY ATTRACTIVE WAITER) and a trip around the world!

We were able to catch a lot of the great attractions and movies around the World Showcase. It was a perfect day!

I had a bit of a spelling blunder with Mary Poppins! I swear to you, I can type supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with my eyes closed (in fact, I just did) but spelling it out loud WITH Mary? Nope. Couldn't do it. Messed up. Messed up real bad.

HOWEVER!!! Since then, I went to the Mary Poppins Musical in my city (a Christmas present from Anna, which FYI was AAAAAAAMAZING) and because of their version of the song, I now can spell it out loud without a bit of hesitation! HOORAY. I'LL SHOW HER NEXT TIME! Hahahaha.

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Epcot after that. Boo.

That evening was spent swimming at BLT, shopping, packing, and enjoying one last balcony view of MMY and Wishes.

Day 6

On our last day, we went back to the Magic Kingdom to enjoy our last hours of park time before having to head home.

It started with an empty Main Street and a delicious breakfast with some furry friends!

The rest of the day was spent getting in some last minute attractions, including SPLASH!!!!!

We also had some sibling bonding time in Fantasyland, complete with almost every attraction they have to offer (as of August 2012, HAHA).

It was great to get to see the new Dumbo in person for the first time!

My dad became a celebrity at Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor!

Some of the family even got to meet Merida!

After six days of MAGIC, we had to say goodbye to Bay Lake Tower and Walt Disney World and head back to Virginia.

Continued in Next Update​

 

[marDgreen88]

The One Where I Wrap It Up
Part 3!

July/August 2012

Staying at Bay Lake Tower

I'm going to be completely honest. I had wanted to stay at Bay Lake Tower since they built it, but on this trip, it wasn't my first choice.

What?!

I know. It's true.

There were a couple other resorts I wanted to stay at a little bit more. However, since my dad needed the most convincing to let us go back to Disney, I sat him down at the computer, pulled up the WDW website, and told him to look at his resort options and pick the one he liked the best.

He picked Bay Lake Tower.

It was already a splurge, so lake view was the best we could do. I was excited to stay there, and grew even more excited every day until we left, but at the same time I was a little nervous that he wouldn't like it as much as he thought he would, because he was most excited about seeing the fireworks. With a lake view, you don't see the fireworks from your room.
(HA. HA HA HA. Little did I know... )

Needless to say, Bay Lake Tower completely blew all of us out of the water.

The decor, the location, the smell, the views, the walk to Magic Kingdom, Wishes, the monorail...

EVERYTHING is perfect. It is a perfectly Disney resort with a modern twist that I'm in love with to an extent that I can't even explain. The rooms were clean, spacious, airy, and light. The place honestly felt like home.

It BECAME my home. Sitting out on the balcony at night, watching the castle change colors, hearing the Tomorrowland area music and the train whistle, waiting for and watching Wishes, and hanging out with my family... there is nothing better. I couldn't even ASK for anything better.

Our GALLONS of Pixie Dust

That upgrade from 1-bedroom lake view to 2-bedroom MK view...

Need I say more?

Seriously though.

That upgrade absolutely made our trip. I'm positive that we would have loved BLT either way, but getting that upgrade made our experience that much more enjoyable.

As a family of five adults, space is a beautiful thing. Disney basically gave us the 1-bedroom that we payed for, and then stuck a deluxe resort room on top of that for free. The room that Anna and I stayed in literally could have been its own room. If I didn't know any better, I would expect the door to lead to a resort hallway. It had two queen beds, its own balcony, TV, dresser, bathroom, and closet, so it basically WAS a hotel room in and of itself.

I don't even have any more words for our view.

PERFECTION. That's all I can say.

When our room keys didn't work on our second day (because of the new system, not something they did wrong), Disney could have just fixed them, apologized, and moved on. Instead, they basically restarted our dining plan, giving us back all the credits we'd already used.

It just shows me that while Disney is a HUGE corporation that makes billions, they still care about their guests and go above and beyond to serve them. We weren't even slightly bothered by the room key troubles, but they still went out of their way to fix it for us. Customer service is so important to them, and as a guest it's important to me. I can't tell you how many times I go to a store and feel like I'm just a bother to the people who work there. I never feel that way at Disney and I know I'm not just another guest.

We had pixie dust throughout the entire trip, from the nice woman who randomly gave us ANY ATTRACTION fastpasses for Magic Kingdom, to the fact that we never had to wait longer than 25 minutes for any given attraction, to all of our amazing character greetings, all the delicious food we ate, and the times we shared together as a family, this trip was more than I could have ever asked for. It was my favorite family vacation of all time and I'm not expecting anything to top it.

Disney is the best.

You know what? I think that's it! Did I really just finish my first second report! Crazy! I had so much fun reliving this trip and sharing it with all of you!

I'm so glad that you ALL decided to join in! I don't think I say it enough, but yall are just AWESOME. I appreciate you reading and commenting so much!

Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this thing. I know it took me a long time! Some of your comments were the sweetest things I've ever read. You truly make trip reporting worth my time! I really hope you all enjoyed reading along. I'm so glad to call you all my DIS Friends!

So... now what? Well, my next trip is in 65 DAYS!!!

Stick around, because the Trip Report is over, but the Mini PRE-Trip Report is just about to get started... right on this thread!

THE END OF THE TRIP UPDATES​

 

[mermaid764]

I'm sooo sad to see your TR come to an end, but I think you ended it perfectly with your recap

I agree with everything you said about Disney's customer service always going above and beyond. I remember on one of our trips to Disneyland they had an issue at guest services with printing our tickets and in actuality it only took about an additional ten minutes but for the trouble they gave us two front of the lines passes valid for our entire group. They always go the extra mile to keep their guests happy.

I'm so excited that you get to go back and soon, and I can't wait for your mini PTR to start!

 

[dtr_angel]

I am so sad to see the TR end. It was definitely the best one I have ever read. I actually felt like I was there for most of your stories, I love your attention to detail! I am however SUPER antsy to hear about your plans and this mini PTR...

 

[jedijill]

Fantastic report...so sad it has to come to an end. Can't wait to read the next one!

Jill in CO

 

[wdwgirl03]

Sad your TR is ending but I do love how you kind of did a recap of how much you loved Bay Lake Tower. I will definitely be thinking of you when we are there (NEXT WEEK!!!!!).

Can't wait to hear about your next trip!

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Yay! Thanks for the great trip report, I stuck with ya all the way through, all though I didn't post much. I'm looking forward to the next PTR

 

[hobbs6799]

Getting excited for the PTR!!!!!

 

[shan23877]

Love the wrap up Marissa. I can't think of anyone nicer to be the recipient of all that pixie dust. You've convinced me to put the CR/BLT back on my dream list too (though it's going behind the Poly and BC )

Can't wait to hear what you've got planned for the next trip!