Olivia's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza! DDxP,BBB and PP!Oh my! Our 12/10 TR! **Finished**

[Tnkrbelle565]

The Mickey Mouse was so good! It was light and a really nice change from the cupcakes that she was getting at every single meal! That stinks that you got outvoted for GG! I think Livy and I should come up and the 3 of us can go while Ash and Randy do something else!

I have lost count how many times we have stayed at POP, but this stay was our 5th of the year and we had never explored anywhere!

Oh you have to come up!!! We'll be there for 10 days, I'm sure you can squeeze us in Olivia would have a blast with Aisling. She is really good with younger children

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I WOULD LOVE A YEARLY TR!!!!!! It would be like a constant TR/PTR all the time! Kind of like what I've been doing since Aug haha. Sadly though with my surgery in April, I can kiss my May trip bye bye but hope for one in June or July that involves job hunting too!

 

[eecteacher82]

Oh you have to come up!!! We'll be there for 10 days, I'm sure you can squeeze us in Olivia would have a blast with Aisling. She is really good with younger children

Ok, Ok, you don't have to twist my arm! I was just looking at your dates, and you might get super lucky! That is usually the time frame for the MMC Illuminations party! That would be great! Looking at dates, I'm thinking of popping up on Tuesday and staying the night so Livy and I could have 2 days! Then if the MMC party is that Sunday before, the 3 of us would come up just for the day. I'm excited now! Livy loves being around older kids! Her favorite cousin is 12, she is the youngest in her ballet class, and the youngest on her soccer team, so she does much better with older kids as opposed to ones her own age!

 

[eecteacher82]

I WOULD LOVE A YEARLY TR!!!!!! It would be like a constant TR/PTR all the time! Kind of like what I've been doing since Aug haha. Sadly though with my surgery in April, I can kiss my May trip bye bye but hope for one in June or July that involves job hunting too!

Ok, a year long TR it is! I think that way I will have an easier time counting exactly how many days we go and how much a Disney year will really cost, since last year I really only paid attention to our December trip with regards to the cost and keeping track.

That stinks that your May trip is a no go, but better that you get yourself healthy so that doesn't happen any more! Where are you looking at moving down here? Closer to the Orlando area? Or perhaps a bit south...

 

[exwdwcm]

yum, love that butterfinger cupcake! i can't wait to eat one again. isn't is decadent?

great review of GG- you don't hear a lot about this one and i want to try it sometime. looks really tasty!

 

[Tinkermom76]

I had the grapefruit cake at Starring Roles last trip so I will have to try the butterfinger cupcake in Sept.

Garden Grill sounds yummy... I will have to remember that

 

[eecteacher82]

I had the grapefruit cake at Starring Roles last trip so I will have to try the butterfinger cupcake in Sept.

Garden Grill sounds yummy... I will have to remember that

Ooooh! The grapefruit cake is yummy too! We had it on a previous trip when we ate at Brown Derby. I have to say the cupcake tops it though! GG was super yummy! I bet your ladies would love the characters!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

I am so sorry I have been MIA for so long. I have so much to catch up on! Going back now!

 

[eecteacher82]

SORRY guys! I know I have been MIA for a while! First things were crazy, then we all got sick, and now we are back to just crazy! I'm working on some updates for you now!

 

[eecteacher82]

When I last left off we had just had a great meal at Garden Grill and were heading out for some evening fun!

We headed out of the Land Pavilion at about 6:15 and since it was dark out, I grabbed Olivia's light up necklace that we got on her first trip. When I went to turn it on, it stayed unlit. Uh oh. Batteries dead. I was hoping to find some new batteries for the necklace rather than buying a whole new one. I stopped at the little cart outside of the Canada pavilion (since we were on our way to the International Gateway) and asked if they knew where I could get batteries. The very nice CM's said that they had no idea, but they could do sometime better. They just gave us a new necklace! Woo Hoo! I tried to tell them it wasn't a big deal, but they insisted. I made sure that Olivia thanked them profusely!

With our new, glowing necklace around Olivia's neck, we made our way to the IG and hopped on a boat bound for DHS and the Osbourne Lights!

We arrived at DHS around 7:05 and made a quick RR stop before heading back to the lights. Soon enough we rounded the corner and we were in awe! It was the coolest thing ever! I think Olivia's jaw hit the ground! All I heard her say was "Wow! This is beautiful mommy!" Toby was pretty darn impressed too! We ended up waiting in 2 pretty decent lines for PP pics, but I am glad we did! Here you go, no more chatter, just pics!

A quick video:



Photopass pics

I really wish we would have had a bit more time to spend looking at the lights, but it was getting late, it was a long day and it was COLD! Oh well, there is always this Christmas!

We left DHS and were back at POP by 8:30. I had Toby take Olivia to search for our little bunny friend that we saw every night while I went to package pick-up to get Olivia's castle and stash it in the car. Once I had the precious cargo stored in the trunk I went back to fill up our mugs and grab some breadsticks before heading back to the room.

Once I got back in the room I somehow convinced Toby to give Olivia a shower. Normally I don't mind tossing her in the shower with me, but this night I really didn't want to....she still had her BBB hair! I did take out the rubber bands and pins, but I left him to do the dirty work! It took 3 good scrubbing plus conditioner to get her hair back to normal! The funny thing is that after all that, there was still pixie dust in her hair!

While Toby was in hair hell, I was packing up for the next day and cleaning up the room a bit. I made sure to plug in everything electronic that we had brought so it would be nice and charged by the morning.

By the time Olivia was in her jammies and ready for bed it was just about 9:30 which meant Epcot fireworks! We really had an amazing view from our window! This was one of my favorite things about this trip. Even if we called it an early night, we could still catch fireworks. Once the show ended, I tucked Olivia into bed, took a quick shower and was asleep by 11:30.

Up next: Day 3 recap!

 

[blessedby3]

Oh my goodness...it just looks SO COLD!!! The last time we went to WDW in Dec., we wore shorts the whole time, day and night. It was so warm (that was in 2006). Anyway, I loved the pics of the lights. We missed them on that Dec trip. Someone had told me that you could still walk through them after Fantasmic, but that was not so. We watched Fantasmic and were hearded out the gates. I asked a CM and he said no I was told wrong. I hated that we missed them.
On a side note...I have that same Tink coat as you, except mine is in white
That was very nice of the CM to give Olivia a new necklace On our last trip our Olivia left her just purchased water sprayer bottle on the Disney bus. When we entered DHS, we went to see if they could call the bus driver to have him look. They just sent a CM over to a stand and grabbed Olivia a new one and gave it to her. She was so happy as she had spent her own money on it. Disney CM's are so great

 

[eecteacher82]

Meals
Lunch at Hollywood & Vine:
Bill $61.75 + $12.00 tip = $73.75

Dinner at Garden Grill:
Bill $ 74.53 + $14.00 tip = $88.53

Snacks:
Butterfinger cupcake and Strawberry parfait: $7.19 (used snack credits)
2 Orders of bread sticks $4.24 (used snack credits)
Total: $11.43

Total for the day (including tips):
$173.71

Total for the day (not including tips):
$147.71

Deluxe Dining Plan cost for the day:
$164.00

$164 + $26.00 tips = $190.00

So, we spent about $190.00 out of pocket and the cost would have been $173.71. Not such a great deal today, but we only ate 2 meals and bought cheap snacks.

Souvenirs:
We didn't buy anything today!

Plans:
What we wanted to do (what we actually did is in GREEN)
Playhouse Disney Live
Little Mermaid
Characters in the Animation building
Lights! Motors! Action!
Indiana Jones
Toy Story Mania
Backlot Tour
Beauty and the Beast
Obsboure Lights

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

great updates!!! How nice about the necklace You will forever have Pixie Dust! I still find small specks in my car and it's been almost 2 years since I last worked at BBB!!

 

[merbobear]

I'm new to your TR and just caught up - love the updates so far! Thanks for including the cost break down for each day, it's so helpful to see how others made use of their DDP!

 

[exwdwcm]

great update. It was darn cold!!!! I couldn't believe how cold it was.

lol at Toby washing her hair. We took Will to get the 'cool dude' at BBB the year before last and they did a mickey head on the back of his head with red and blue paint. I swear it was still there 6 months later, i couldn't get it out!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Its so nice to know I am not alone... I have only recently gotten back to writing my PTR. There has just been so much going on. But I am getting back to mine too...

That is great news about the necklace. What wonderful customer service.

My favorite thing to do at the end of the night when we were in DHS is catch the lights. With it being so cold, I had to wonder if the snow was real or not!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Ok, Ok, you don't have to twist my arm! I was just looking at your dates, and you might get super lucky! That is usually the time frame for the MMC Illuminations party! That would be great! Looking at dates, I'm thinking of popping up on Tuesday and staying the night so Livy and I could have 2 days! Then if the MMC party is that Sunday before, the 3 of us would come up just for the day. I'm excited now! Livy loves being around older kids! Her favorite cousin is 12, she is the youngest in her ballet class, and the youngest on her soccer team, so she does much better with older kids as opposed to ones her own age!

Wait...what? The MMC party is usually around then???? How did I not know this (perhaps because I never pay attention to the invites because I can't go anyway). Oh I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it's during my dates. And I really hope you can make it up (over)

So impressed that you convinced Toby to do Olivia's royal shampoo. Can't even imagine what Aisling would look like if I had Randy shampoo her hair after BBB.

 

[eecteacher82]

great updates!!! How nice about the necklace You will forever have Pixie Dust! I still find small specks in my car and it's been almost 2 years since I last worked at BBB!!

It's the little things like that that make me happy! We still have pixie dust everywhere!!!! I find it in the most random places! I suppose it doesn't help that every single trip we make a pit stop just to get pixie dust.....

I'm new to your TR and just caught up - love the updates so far! Thanks for including the cost break down for each day, it's so helpful to see how others made use of their DDP!

It's always nice to have new readers! I'm glad you like the cost break down! I spent tons of time searching for cost break downs before our trip, so I figured I would help others out by doing the same!

great update. It was darn cold!!!! I couldn't believe how cold it was.

lol at Toby washing her hair. We took Will to get the 'cool dude' at BBB the year before last and they did a mickey head on the back of his head with red and blue paint. I swear it was still there 6 months later, i couldn't get it out!

I still can't believe how totally freezing it was that week!!!!

I guess all of the Disney hair products are meant to last!

Its so nice to know I am not alone... I have only recently gotten back to writing my PTR. There has just been so much going on. But I am getting back to mine too...

That is great news about the necklace. What wonderful customer service.

My favorite thing to do at the end of the night when we were in DHS is catch the lights. With it being so cold, I had to wonder if the snow was real or not!

I think we are bringing up the end of the group of TR's from those of us that went at the same time! At least there are two of us! Just as I got back into this a couple of weeks ago, Olivia got sick and we FINALLY got the all clear from her doctor yesterday!!! So, now I'm back to this poor, neglected TR.....again!

I had to question the snow as well!!! It was just brutally cold that week!

Wait...what? The MMC party is usually around then???? How did I not know this (perhaps because I never pay attention to the invites because I can't go anyway). Oh I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it's during my dates. And I really hope you can make it up (over)

So impressed that you convinced Toby to do Olivia's royal shampoo. Can't even imagine what Aisling would look like if I had Randy shampoo her hair after BBB.

I think your chances for the MMC party are pretty good....it has been that weekend for the past 3 years! We will definitely make it (up and over for the record )

I think Toby only agreed to the hair washing because he was super tired and didn't want to argue! I have to say, it wouldn't have been a pretty picture if it wasn't for conditioner!

 

[eecteacher82]

Welcome to Day 4: Wednesday December 8, 2010

It was another early wake up call today. I was up at 6:30 and I woke Toby and Olivia up at 6:45. We all got ready pretty quickly and once again bundled up for the cold temps. We were out the door by 7:05, grabbed some mug refills and headed to the buses with hopes of catching an early character bus so we wouldn't have to deal with going to DHS and then catching the boat to the Beach Club. We were one family of about 5 with the same plan. When the bus pulled him we all boarded and asked if he could take us to the BC for our breakfast. He said it was normally only the first bus of the day that did that,but since nobody was actually headed to DHS, he would break the rules and take us! Woo Hoo! More good luck!

It was a quick ride and we arrived at the Beach Club by 7:25. On the way off the bus, I managed to spill my FULL cup of Sprite Zero all. over. the. floor. I told the bus driver and profusely apologized as we got off.

On the way in, I snapped this pic of a car just to show how cold it was:

We walked in the lobby and just checked everything out for a while. Did I mention our ADR wasn't until 8:35? I was honestly ok with the time we had. I knew I wanted to check out the chocolate carousel, the hotel and just catch up on some Facebook and email as well. Our first stop was the gift shop to do some browsing and I wanted a refill since my mug just happened to be empty...

We had some fun while browsing...

(I love these pictures I have of Livy and the crazy faces!)

After our silliness, we made our way back to the lobby and the AMAZING chocolate carousel!!!

I figured checking in early was worth a shot, so at 7:45 I checked in and we were seated at 7:55!!!!

As usual, I went up and got Olivia and my plates, and Toby followed.

Pretty quickly the characters started coming to visit! First up in her finest beach attire was Minnie Mouse herself!

We got even more Pixie Dust while Minnie was visiting! Our waiter brought out a birthday cupcake and Minnie sang to Livy!!! She was in heaven!!!

Next up was Goofy

Followed by Donald

Once we were all done eating, Daddy and Olivia decided to have a spoon sword fight

With that, our breakfast was done and it was time to pay the bill. The total was $48.93 and we left a $9.00 tip. By now it was 8:45 (10 minutes after our original ADR time) and we were heading out to make our way to Epcot.

Up next: Our morning at Epcot!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hello!! Caught up again - thanks for taking that little break I'm a little behind on my own TR right now too. I LOVE Disney CMs and all the things they do to make our trips fantastic. Where else can you get that - nowhere!

Man, I know how cold it was and that car pic still made me shiver! Cute silly pics!