Our FEB break Photo Trip Report updt 10/6 with last 3 updates!!!

[kathleen27]

Is that always set up (although, I guess if it was it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?) or was it something special because the Photopass camera was broken?

We were in the wrong place for the BBB photo session. Still not sure where we were supposed to be.
I think the surprise was "who" you would meet.
Also the CM was really into it!

I had never heard of a character meet here, but earlier this week I found this in an old old thread of tips. So, could have changed since then. BBB in MK just opened (last fall??? I think), so the photo area for that would be fairly new.

Not sure if it's a "secret" or not but one of my favorite lesser-known attractions is the Expo Hall of Main Street. There's a small theater that shows old Disney cartoons (like the old Main Street Cinema but in color and with seats!), a couple exhinits, some nice photo opportunities, and usually in the late morning I've seen a variety of Disney Princesses there (Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, Mary Poppins). Definatly a fun hideaway.

Haha, this was true for me too! My family spent a lot of time in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland so this was THE restaurant because it was indoors and there was air conditioning! I thought all the restaurants would be the same. Only when I started reading DIS did I learn there were tasty restaurants elsewhere ... oOooo!

I am seeing a lot of similarities in my Disney trips growing up and in yours.
Now that I have kids, I am "mostly" in charge of the plans. My Dad has some say in restauraunts though.
If he were planning we'd go to a park every other day. Its hard to find a balance between how much I want to do, and how much "rest" time he would like.
We never arrived for rope drop or stayed late at night when I was young.

I'm late but wanted to join in! Sounds like a really great trip. My dh isn't a Disney fan so didn't join us on our last trip. I'm hoping to drag him along this time.

Welcome!!! Glad you are here!
Good luck getting your dh to go!
I am hoping mine will go back at some point. He will need to be dragged.

 

[racefanof88]

Ok I am a late joiner..........lol. Thanks for coming to my report because it helped me find yours..............

Your kids look so adorable. I can remember when my two oldest were their age. They are now 19 and 20 . Time flies by so fast. I can still be a kid with my 9 yo though .

 

[kathleen27]

Ok I am a late joiner..........lol. Thanks for coming to my report because it helped me find yours..............

Your kids look so adorable. I can remember when my two oldest were their age. They are now 19 and 20 . Time flies by so fast. I can still be a kid with my 9 yo though .

Thanks! and Welcome!

I found your tr when you posted on tinknme's that you had updated yours.

I hope they will continue to join me even as they get older.

 

[kathleen27]

After meeting Cinderella we called the guys to meet back up with them and ride some rides!!!!

The guys had rode Buzz lightyear, gotten something to eat, and fastpassed Jungle cruise for us. That was it.

We met up at the Haunted Mansion, and Jacob and I rode while my Dad waited with Hannah. We had a wait of about 2 min to get into the stretch room, then maybe a 5 min wait after that. Jacob was really excited to ride, but the ride stalled in the first room. It took a few minutes to get going again. This was one of several rides that had been rehabed since our last trip. I wasn't really familiar enough with the ride, to tell specific changes.

Jacob loves reading all the gravestones. He likes to make his own at Halloween.

After the ride, we find my Dad and Hannah. My Dad is on a business call and Hannah is “hot and bored”. This was the warmest day of the trip. I grew up in Miami, so I love the heat and cannot deal with the cold. Hannah does not like to be hot. Just like her Dad.

To cool her off I suggested it’s a small world. Air conditioned, fast loading, not scary, and close by. We headed over and had a few minutes wait. We ended up at the front of the line, waiting for the next set of boats, and the CM chatted with us for a bit. She complimented Hannah’s hair, and said her mom was visiting her and getting her hair done at the BBB. I think this is what gave Hannah the idea that I should get my hair done too next time. We ended up sitting in the front row of the boat, which has less room than the other rows. But Hannah was happy she had now been on a ride.

We stopped for ice cream, then headed over to the Jungle Cruise. Hannah really likes this ride. I always fast pass JC because I spent enough time in that line as a kid, and I don’t ever want to stand in that line again. Our CM was OK. Not as good as last time.

Guess what Jacob did on the Jungle Cruise.

Yep, took photos.

After the Jungle Cruise, we headed back through Adventureland. Hannah wanted to ride the Magic Carpets, but there was a line, so I suggested we wait till later. Jacob had been trying to convince Hannah to ride some of the rides that she had been scared of, or refused to ride in the past. He wanted her to ride POTC, he wanted us all to ride together. So he finally convinced her to give it a try. We told her it was a boat ride, but in the dark, with a small drop, and animatronic pirates. So what did we forget to warn her about???

The cannon fire. She hates cannon fire. Now Jacob rode pirates his first time at MK when he was 6 yrs old, and he loved it. So I thought Hannah would be OK with it, but she was nervous through the beginning tunnels, hanging on to my arm. Then we got to the ships, and when the cannons fired she covered her ears, put her head down and stayed that way for the rest of the ride.

We loved all the additions on the ride. It was fun to see Capt. Jack! Though I couldn't see the treasure room at the end that well, cause I was on the wrong side of the boat. ( I was on the right side, the room is on the left side. ) We were in the front of the boat on this ride too, and we were a bit squished in.

After the ride we hung out in the store for a long time. Jacob had brought a pirate bandana and an eyepatch from a past Halloween costume. (I refused to pack the hook hand or parrot.) I asked him again if he wanted a pirate shirt or anything else. He had said no to me at DTD, and he said no again, but asked for a sword. I said no because I didn’t want to carry it around all night.

When we finally left the gift shop it was about 4:20pm, so we decided to find wristbands for the pirate and princess party and go to our locker. We had left sweatshirts/longsleeves, and Jacob’s bandana/eyepatch, and our mini crowns there. I didn’t want to have to go back after dinner when there would be a lot of people leaving and a lot of people entering.

We found Suzy and Perla at the front of the park. Hannah was so excited to meet them!!! She asked Jacob to go up with her. He did a tiny eyeroll but agreed. We had to wait a bit, and the CM announced Suzy and Perla had to leave for a few minutes to help Cinderella with something, but they would be right back. We waited and they were back within two minutes.

We got our wristbands, visited our locker, and took some photos of the party entrance.

We headed over to the castle for some photos.

Then we headed over to check in for our reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I've never done Jungle Cruise so really enjoyed the photos! I hope you all had fun at the party.

 

[irky416]

Jacob is really a great photographer!

I can't wait to hear about your experience at the party and LTT!

 

[kathleen27]

I've never done Jungle Cruise so really enjoyed the photos! I hope you all had fun at the party.

Thanks! JC has anamantronic animals and very corny jokes. We had a guide two years ago who was great, we had a short wait to unload, and he had the whole boat laughing.

Jacob is really a great photographer!

I can't wait to hear about your experience at the party and LTT!

Thanks! LTT is coming up, then the party!

 

[kathleen27]

We had 5:15 ADRs at Liberty Tree Tavern. It was our first time here. This is a character meal (but only at dinner). It’s a colonial inn located in Liberty Square, and Minnie and Goofy are wearing colonial clothing.

We checked in very early and got our pager. It went off within 5 mins. We were seated in the area to the right of the entrance up a couple of steps. It was close to 5, so I think dinner seating was just starting. Our area filled right up.

We were seated back against the wall. We were pretty much squished into the wall. Not much room at all. We sat the kids on the outside, and the adults in the back to make character meeting & photo taking easier.

We have been to Chef Mickey’s and Crystal Palace (both Buffets). This was family style with everything brought to the table by a waitor, and it was nice not to have to worry about timing trips to the buffet with character arrivals.

The character timing was actually perfect! We met all the characters before the main course arrived! Before, during, or after our bread and salad. So we didn’t have to even worry about the food getting cold. As we were finishing dinner and having dessert the characters actually all came by a second time!

First up is Dale! Hannah had really wanted to meet Chip & Dale at DHS, but I was pretty sure they would be here so I hadn’t been too worried about it! She was real happy!

Next up is Chip!

Next up is Goofy! I loved his outfit here. You can not see the pants but they were colonial knickers. Very cute. I wanted to get a full length shot of Goofy but I was really stuck behind the table.

We met Minnie, she had a pretty colonial dress on.

Pluto!

The princess is getting hungry!!!

Later, after our meal ---
Back Again!!!
Dale

Goofy thought Jacob’s hat needed some adjusting.

The Food:
No pictures, didn’t know I was supposed to take them yet!
I have learned a lot since this trip!

We started off with "Mixed Greens with Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing" and rolls. The kids and my Dad didn’t like the salad or dressing but I really did. The rolls were fantastic and the butter was really good too. We all loved them. Jacob still mentions the rolls and butter!

Dinner was served “family style” which means they bring platters and bowls to the table and you fill your own plate, I believe they will refill anything you want more of, but we did not ask. The main course is a platter with “roasted turkey breast, carved beef, and smoked pork loin”. I love turkey, so I started out with that, It was better than what I expected, but not as good as roasting a turkey in the oven at home. I put some pork on my plate, but ended up not trying it. I really like roast pork, but this was more pink than white, and it looked more like ham than pork to me, and I don’t like ham so I ended up not trying it. Jacob had the beef and loved it. I think my Dad had some beef and some turkey. There was no beef left at the end of the meal, and no one ended up trying the pork. I’m not sure that Hannah tried any of the three.

We also had mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, “herb bread stuffing, and Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese”. I thought the mashed potatos were good, the green beans were fantastic, the stuffing was just ok and I did not try the mac & cheese. I liked the gravy, and I tend to "drown" my food in gravy.
Jacob said the mac & cheese was great.
Hannah loves mashed potatos, so I think she mainly had mashed potatos & mac & cheese for her meal.
I made both kids eat some green beans (just like at home). I told the kids they will only bring us desert if we finished all the green beans. They were worried. We did not finish them all though.

For desert we had hot apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Really good! I was pretty full, but I found room for desert, and seconds of desert.
(I have seen menus that say the desert is cherry cobbler though).

Would we go back???
Jacob and I have ADRs for Sept, he loved it here and we want to see the characters in their Halloween costumes. I can do a better Turkey dinner myself, but it was good enough. It was a bit pricy at 28.99 each, though, I have had lunch & dinner at Crystal Palace and really liked it. But we all left very full.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh no!!! That is a bummer that Hannah didn't enjoy Pirates. Do you think she'll try it again sometime?? Great updates!

 

[irky416]

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner.

I'm thinking about trying LTT this trip, but I can't decide if it's worth the money. You didn't seem overly thrilled by it, so maybe I will end up skipping it. (I knew reading all these TR's would come in handy sooner or later! )

That picture of Hannah is so cute! It's nice that you got to see some of the characters twice! And the ones that Hannah really wanted to see.

 

[kathleen27]

Oh no!!! That is a bummer that Hannah didn't enjoy Pirates. Do you think she'll try it again sometime?? Great updates!

I hope she will try again. There are a lot of rides she didn't even try that I hope she will next time. She did a lot better this trip than 2 years ago though. I think she would have been OK if not for the canon fire.

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner.

I'm thinking about trying LTT this trip, but I can't decide if it's worth the money. You didn't seem overly thrilled by it, so maybe I will end up skipping it. (I knew reading all these TR's would come in handy sooner or later! )

That picture of Hannah is so cute! It's nice that you got to see some of the characters twice! And the ones that Hannah really wanted to see.

Thanks! That's one of my favorite photos.
I think because of the early time, we had great character interaction.

The food was good, but not outstanding. My oven has a roast setting, so makes an amazing turkey, So twice a year I do roast turkey with homemade stuffing & all sorts of other stuff. Jacob loved the beef but I did not get around to trying it. Next time I will.

Its so tough to decide which TS meals to do. Its tough for me to give up park time, but our trips always seem too short & we are offsite. The kids love the character meals. The main reason we are going back is to see the characters in their costumes. The price does include sodas and the dessert. Other drinks or other desserts are extra. I checked and CP is only $1 less. I guess with the dining plan it doesn't matter. I am doing the math for Sept and with our choices it is very close, DDP will only be guaranteed less with a discount. I also realized LTT has a completely different menu for lunch (but no characters).

 

[heaven2dc]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your report so far! Your son has a keen eye for photography and did a fantastic job shooting pictures (as well as you and your Dad). Think I could convince you to tag along on my trip in December?(my DBFF & I are going back - we were there the first 3 days in Feb this year and she didn't seem too happy with me wanting to stop & take pics of buildings and animals lol. So needless to say, I don't have alot of pics!)

Your daughter is so beautiful in her hairdo - I think it would be great if you both do that next trip. Speaking of next trips, how exciting just you and your son are going by yourselves and how lucky he is to have a sister who doesn't mind!!

 

[anbouk]

Nice trippie...I've been kinda lurking along. Pics you guys took are outstanding. So nice to know you will be going back in a short time. Does your daughter not want to go again, I'm shocked. Can't wait for more!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm thrilled to read about LTT! It's on our list for next time. Not so much for the food but we love character meals! (You are right, Crystal Palace is also really good!) Do you remember how long you took in LTT? I hate wasting a lot of park time too but we'll be on the dining plan. Thanks!!!

 

[kathleen27]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your report so far! Your son has a keen eye for photography and did a fantastic job shooting pictures (as well as you and your Dad). Think I could convince you to tag along on my trip in December?(my DBFF & I are going back - we were there the first 3 days in Feb this year and she didn't seem too happy with me wanting to stop & take pics of buildings and animals lol. So needless to say, I don't have alot of pics!)

Your daughter is so beautiful in her hairdo - I think it would be great if you both do that next trip. Speaking of next trips, how exciting just you and your son are going by yourselves and how lucky he is to have a sister who doesn't mind!!

Thanks and Welcome!

Jacob and I could easily be convinced into any vacation. We love to travel!!!
My husband has gotten "impatient" with me for taking photos of flowers outside of museums. OK, everyone gets impatient when I start on the flower photos.

If she still wants us to get our hair done next time I will get mine done too, but I will go with the princess one.

Hannah doesn't mind, so long as we bring her something. She chose a different trip.

Nice trippie...I've been kinda lurking along. Pics you guys took are outstanding. So nice to know you will be going back in a short time. Does your daughter not want to go again, I'm shocked. Can't wait for more!

Thanks, Welcome, and glad you posted!!!

I was shocked too. What kid turns down a trip to Disney.
I will probably go into the "long" version of the answer later, but here is the short version.
She wants to take some different trips instead. I suggested we go back next Feb, her birthday is a couple of days before vacation week. I even offered going the day before her bday. She would rather go to NYC, and have tea at American Girl Place with maybe my MIL and SILs joining us. We also have a trip to visit my Dad next year. So we came up with Jacob and I going for a long weekend in Sept. Maybe in Feb we will go to World of Disney store in NYC & I would love to see Little Mermaid on Broadway.

I'm thrilled to read about LTT! It's on our list for next time. Not so much for the food but we love character meals! (You are right, Crystal Palace is also really good!) Do you remember how long you took in LTT? I hate wasting a lot of park time too but we'll be on the dining plan. Thanks!!!

We had great character interactions. I would say we were there very close to an hour. My computer stores the time my photos were taken. And that corresponds, First character photo 5:06, last photo 5:59. The next photo after LTT says 6:09pm. I think it helped that we were there so early. We tried to make a 6 or 6:30 ADR for Sept and could not get one. We are at 5:15 again.

 

[kathleen27]

We headed out of Liberty Tree Tavern into Liberty Square.
The kids started to misbehave so we locked them up in the stockades.

The kids had fun with this! They love making faces. Especially Hannah.

I know this is the world's shortest update, but I wanted to do something. Its been a long week. Lots of activities at the end of the school year! Concerts, field trips, etc...

 

[Lovemy3babes]

LOL! My kiddos loved the stockades too!

 

[kathleen27]

LOL! My kiddos loved the stockades too!

I'd like to do more of this type stuff in the future. Its a fun break, and makes for good photos for the kids to remember the trip by later.

 

[kathleen27]

We headed over to Fantasyland because the kids were dying to ride some rides!
It was about 6:20pm so the park was fairly crowded. I thought the lines might be shorter after the park “closed” at 7pm, so I suggested we see philharmagic first.

We had to wait for the next show to start, and the theater was half empty.
I love philharmagic its such a great show.
Hannah did not like the 3D two years ago. She kept taking her glasses off.
Luckily she didn’t remember this at all.
This time she loved it. Yeah.
Jacob said it was better than he remembered.
My Dad loves this show too!

When we left the theater it was still not 7pm, but the crowd had thinned quite a bit.
Hannah was dying to ride Dumbo so we headed over. When she was little Dumbo was one of her favorite movies. This was the shortest line I’ve ever waited in for Dumbo. I was so glad. The kids and I rode, my Dad never rides these type rides.

After Dumbo, Hannah wanted to ride the carousel. We only had to wait for the current ride to stop, and it was our turn. As we waited we looked for Cinderella’s horse with the golden ribbon through her tail. I didn’t see it. Hannah was deciding what horse to ride on. It was now 7pm, so they were checking for bracelets. We were let into the Carousel, and Hannah took off running. She knew exactly what horse she wanted to ride.

Jacob and I caught up and just rode the horses next to her. My Dad skipped this one too.

She loves horses.

We took a vote Characters or rides until the parade. They voted rides, except that Hannah wanted to have her picture taken at Cinderella’s coach. Probably our longest line of the night, but worth it for Hannah. While we waited we called my husband to say our daily hello. He told us about all the snow at home. I love when it snows while I’m on vacation, I feel like a picked the right time to travel!

We got to the front of the line and chatted with the CM, she was from Brasil, and my brother travels, and lives in Brasil about half the year.

Then it was our turn to take a picture at the Cinderella Topiary.

The look she is giving him is too funny.

After this there were only two groups ahead of us!!!

We were told we could take photos first, then the photopass photographer would take two. We were instructed to stand completely still, because it was so dark. The family in front of us had a little girl of about 4. She walked up to the spot she was told to stand on, turned to the camera and did the perfect princess pose. Then she started to rock from side to side. Didn’t quite get the completely still part.

Cinderella’s carriage.

Hannah’s turn:

One of the photopass shots. I think this is my favorite photo from the trip.

We crossed over to Peter Pan, and had a short wait. The people behind us were discussing what to do next. They had little kids and the husband pointed across to small world. How about that one? The wife asked is it a ride or a show? Husband had no idea. My Dad turned around and told them what it was. I was too stunned to speak.

We rode Peter Pan and I really enjoyed it. We visited London last summer and just loved it there. So flying over London was wonderful, we pointed out some familiar landmarks. Jacob wanted to know why the London Eye was missing. He also said Big Ben wasn't so big.
We also watched a lot of movies about Peter Pan before the London trip -Peter Pan, Return to Neverland, Hook, and Finding Neverland- I knew nothing about Finding Neverland before I watched it, but it was fantastic, it’s the story of JM Barrie (played by Johnny Depp) writing the play Peter Pan. We visited the park that Barrie spent time in, saw the Peter Pan statue, and visited a playground with a Peter Pan theme. I enjoyed this ride more than I ever have because of all that.

We just walked through Fantasyland riding everything with no wait, Snow White’s scary adventure (yeah! Hannah did not get scared she loved it). The many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (even this scared her two years ago, but not this time).

Next was one of my favorites:
The teacups.
I know a lot of people don’t enjoy this (my Dad, stepmom & husband included), but I love them. Luckily so do my kids. The three of us rode together, and we took turns spinning as fast as we could. Something about this ride makes me laugh so hard I can’t stop.
When we entered the ride Hannah went racing for an empty pink cup.

Pirates don't ride in pink teacups!

I love that photo, and the pink teacup is one of the reasons.

After teacups we headed over to the Indy Speedway, but we there was a short line, so we decided to catch the parade in Frontierland and try the Speedway later.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I love the pictures in front of the coach! How pretty!