Our First Full Week at the World, and we went during Spring Break?!? Conclusion 6/2

[scott2997]

The Duck is checking in! Where do you people get the time to do these elaborate trip reports

Some great shots . What kind of camera did you use?

Well hey there David! About time you got here.

My camera is a Nikon D90, with a Nikkor 18-200mm VR II lens. Most of the images I'm posting have no post processing, they are straight off the camera. I haven't had the time to process many of them yet.

Glad you're enjoying the pictures and hopefully the TR!

 

[Maestra99]

'Ohana was awesome. I hope you're able to get your reservation. Good Luck!

The Pineapple drink is called a "Lapu Lapu". It's a blend of citrus and rum. Quite yummy! It does cost a little more than the traditional drinks they have, and if I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't. I felt like I got less "drink" in it than the standard drinks in glasses. But it was fun drinking out of a big pineapple!

I did indeed get my 'Ohana reservation! Thanks for the tip on the drink. I will have to try a nice adult beverage with "Polynesian" flavors, you know, for cultural authenticity's sake.

 

[scott2997]

OK OK, It's been over a week and I'm just now giving you an update...so sorry for the delay.


Tuesday, April 3rd.

We have guests arriving....my DW's family had vacationed this week in nearby Daytona Beach and were coming to meet us for a quick one day'er....but where???

You guessed it, didn't ya?

I actually should name this update Character Palooza! We arrived quite early - around 7:15 or so during a morning EMH and had to wait until 8am or so before our guests could even get in. So we decided to take advantage of short waits for some Character Meet and Greets. This should also be called, "the many faces of Claire"....

He's got no strings to hold him down....

How did Donald manage to get her attention....

She's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!!

Who's the Fairest one of all???

So, in about 35 minutes, we managed to get pictures and signatures from all of these characters. But wait, there's more! The town hall meet and greet was getting ready to open. Why not go for some more??



Don't touch that Spindle lady!!

Claire says, "Where's the Beast??!"

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes....

After finishing the princess meet and greet - we met up with our guests....well at least part of them...

Turns out, they got in the other line for Mickey and Minnie. Eventually, we all made it together and made our way up Main St. We had a chat with some more friendly folks and put out the fires of woman's suffrage...

And the money shot....

After watching some street entertainment from the Main Street Trolley, we made our way over to Tomorrowland to check out the line for Buzz. It wasn't bad...so we hopped in line. After defeating Zorg, we headed next store to the Laugh Floor. Thankfully, I wasn't "that guy". But the guy that was "that guy" played along well.

I must've forgotten that I had a camera around my neck, I didn't get pictures of any of it.

It was getting close to time for a special surprise for Addison. We had secretly hidden a new dress for her in our luggage for a BBB appointment! She had no idea what was in store for her!

To be continued in the next post....

 

[scott2997]

Continued...

We had hidden the dress in our stroller, but it didn't take Addison long before she saw it. She had been asking to put it on all morning, but still had no clue that she was about to go through a Princess transformation. We left the rest of the group and made our way over to BBB at the castle. It didn't take long before it was our turn. Our Fairy Godmother in Training was Margarita!

Here she is picking our her hair-do...

She did an absolute amazing job with Addison and was always asking her "are you doing OK, my love?" Very cute!

And the big reveal...

One more shot with Margarita....

We had also brought along a new dress for Claire. Claire is so tiny that she doesn't even fit into Addison's old dresses quite yet, so it was time for her to have one that did. Now she's not always one to keep a dress on too long....but she's so darn cute in it!

The next big surprise was that we were eating at CRT for lunch. We had done this last year as well, but couldn't imagine not taking Addison there after going through BBB.

We had our pictures taken with Cinderella again and proceeded upstairs...

I won't post all of the pictures of yet more princess meets, but this one I love...

We proceeded to enjoy our meal, which wasn't that bad. I had the Beef short rib, which was very tender. My DW had a fish over pasta dish that she enjoyed as well.

With full bellies, we went back outside to fend off the masses. We decided to get a spot for the 3 o'clock parade. What time is that 3 o'clock parade???

Addison and her cousin Prince Kaleb...

Some of us braved the hot sun on the corner of Liberty Square and Frontierland and enjoyed the parade, while others (myself included) hung out in the glorious shade of the tree next to the Christmas shop!

Shortly after the parade was finished, I noticed my Camera was having issues. It wouldn't take a picture! I was worried that the rest of the weeks memories would be lost. So I decided to leave the group and head back to BLT to see about fixing it.

Thankfully, I was able to recover my pictures from the morning and format the card. After formatting it, it worked like a charm!

I met back up with everyone else in Adventureland. They had just finished up CBJ and some were in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpets while some were hanging out in the shade of the Tiki Room Exit. A great spot I must add, for some exit door A/C!

We made our way back to POTC. The wait was only 20 minutes. So we hopped in line. The line slowed a bit and stopped. The ride had a "temporary malfunction". This was just enough time for Addison to decide that she wasn't riding. So I took her off to wait at the exit for everyone else. Thankfully, the ride resumed quickly and we were re-united with the others.

We decided to head back toward Fantasyland and stopped in the Kitchen shop on the way. We picked up a few things (cookbook, coasters, bottle opener and some clips) and had them sent back to the resort.

We got in line for IASW....

Nice shirts huh? Yeah, we had many compliments from people throughout the day. There's just something about matching shirts that grabs attention from other guests, but more importantly, CM's!

After what seemed like a never-ending boat ride of IASW happiness, we made our way over to Mickey's Philharmagic.

We love this show! It's a great break from the afternoon sun and an enjoyment for all ages. The effects are great for it's age.

At this point, we started to get hungry again and made our way over to Cosmic Rays for a quick burger/sandwich/chicken/salad.

It was getting late and we wanted to try to get a good spot for MSEP. Unfortunately, we were too late to get a spot near main street and ended up back in Frontierland. Well at least some of us did. We got split up in all the crazy amounts of people.

We had a great spot in Frontierland right near the barrels at the entrance to the wooden walkway to Splash...

Addison enjoying herself....

We made our way through the crowds back to main street to catch the MMandY show and Wishes from the street....Hidden Mickey anyone....

At this point, our girls were DONE. I mean, crabby beyond all imagination! So we decided to leave the rest of the family and head back to BLT.

We had an appointment with a Chef in the morning....

 

[twokids0204]

OK OK, It's been over a week and I'm just now giving you an update...so sorry for the delay.


Tuesday, April 3rd.

We have guests arriving....my DW's family had vacationed this week in nearby Daytona Beach and were coming to meet us for a quick one day'er....but where???

You guessed it, didn't ya?

I actually should name this update Character Palooza! We arrived quite early - around 7:15 or so during a morning EMH and had to wait until 8am or so before our guests could even get in. So we decided to take advantage of short waits for some Character Meet and Greets. This should also be called, "the many faces of Claire"....

He's got no strings to hold him down....

How did Donald manage to get her attention....

She's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!!

Who's the Fairest one of all???

So, in about 35 minutes, we managed to get pictures and signatures from all of these characters. But wait, there's more! The town hall meet and greet was getting ready to open. Why not go for some more??



Don't touch that Spindle lady!!

Claire says, "Where's the Beast??!"

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes....

After finishing the princess meet and greet - we met up with our guests....well at least part of them...

Turns out, they got in the other line for Mickey and Minnie. Eventually, we all made it together and made our way up Main St. We had a chat with some more friendly folks and put out the fires of woman's suffrage...

And the money shot....

After watching some street entertainment from the Main Street Trolley, we made our way over to Tomorrowland to check out the line for Buzz. It wasn't bad...so we hopped in line. After defeating Zorg, we headed next store to the Laugh Floor. Thankfully, I wasn't "that guy". But the guy that was "that guy" played along well.

I must've forgotten that I had a camera around my neck, I didn't get pictures of any of it.

It was getting close to time for a special surprise for Addison. We had secretly hidden a new dress for her in our luggage for a BBB appointment! She had no idea what was in store for her!

To be continued in the next post....

Claire's faces in some of those pics are priceless...

I know... not very nemsesisy right... I'll try better as I read the next update.

 

[twokids0204]

Continued...

We had hidden the dress in our stroller, but it didn't take Addison long before she saw it. She had been asking to put it on all morning, but still had no clue that she was about to go through a Princess transformation. We left the rest of the group and made our way over to BBB at the castle. It didn't take long before it was our turn. Our Fairy Godmother in Training was Margarita!

Here she is picking our her hair-do...

She did an absolute amazing job with Addison and was always asking her "are you doing OK, my love?" Very cute!

And the big reveal...

One more shot with Margarita....

We had also brought along a new dress for Claire. Claire is so tiny that she doesn't even fit into Addison's old dresses quite yet, so it was time for her to have one that did. Now she's not always one to keep a dress on too long....but she's so darn cute in it!

The next big surprise was that we were eating at CRT for lunch. We had done this last year as well, but couldn't imagine not taking Addison there after going through BBB.

We had our pictures taken with Cinderella again and proceeded upstairs...

I won't post all of the pictures of yet more princess meets, but this one I love...

We proceeded to enjoy our meal, which wasn't that bad. I had the Beef short rib, which was very tender. My DW had a fish over pasta dish that she enjoyed as well.

With full bellies, we went back outside to fend off the masses. We decided to get a spot for the 3 o'clock parade. What time is that 3 o'clock parade???

Addison and her cousin Prince Kaleb...

Some of us braved the hot sun on the corner of Liberty Square and Frontierland and enjoyed the parade, while others (myself included) hung out in the glorious shade of the tree next to the Christmas shop!

Shortly after the parade was finished, I noticed my Camera was having issues. It wouldn't take a picture! I was worried that the rest of the weeks memories would be lost. So I decided to leave the group and head back to BLT to see about fixing it.

Thankfully, I was able to recover my pictures from the morning and format the card. After formatting it, it worked like a charm!

I met back up with everyone else in Adventureland. They had just finished up CBJ and some were in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpets while some were hanging out in the shade of the Tiki Room Exit. A great spot I must add, for some exit door A/C!

We made our way back to POTC. The wait was only 20 minutes. So we hopped in line. The line slowed a bit and stopped. The ride had a "temporary malfunction". This was just enough time for Addison to decide that she wasn't riding. So I took her off to wait at the exit for everyone else. Thankfully, the ride resumed quickly and we were re-united with the others.

We decided to head back toward Fantasyland and stopped in the Kitchen shop on the way. We picked up a few things (cookbook, coasters, bottle opener and some clips) and had them sent back to the resort.

We got in line for IASW....

Nice shirts huh? Yeah, we had many compliments from people throughout the day. There's just something about matching shirts that grabs attention from other guests, but more importantly, CM's!

After what seemed like a never-ending boat ride of IASW happiness, we made our way over to Mickey's Philharmagic.

We love this show! It's a great break from the afternoon sun and an enjoyment for all ages. The effects are great for it's age.

At this point, we started to get hungry again and made our way over to Cosmic Rays for a quick burger/sandwich/chicken/salad.

It was getting late and we wanted to try to get a good spot for MSEP. Unfortunately, we were too late to get a spot near main street and ended up back in Frontierland. Well at least some of us did. We got split up in all the crazy amounts of people.

We had a great spot in Frontierland right near the barrels at the entrance to the wooden walkway to Splash...

Addison enjoying herself....

We made our way through the crowds back to main street to catch the MMandY show and Wishes from the street....Hidden Mickey anyone....

At this point, our girls were DONE. I mean, crabby beyond all imagination! So we decided to leave the rest of the family and head back to BLT.

We had an appointment with a Chef in the morning....

Dang, you really do make it hard to be a nemesis... I was reading through and rooting so loud the neighbors were comlaining... rooting for what you ask? RThat your camera was broken for good...

But then those pics from the MSEP and WISHES were awesome... so deep down I was kinda glad it didn't break.

Man... this hating is hard!

Adorable family Scott... not sure what you did to deserve them all.

 

[Maestra99]

Love all the cute faces Claire makes in the photos! And the matching shirts are great. Great surprise for Addison - she is one beautiful princess! All around it looks like a very magical day!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Awe...fabulous update!

 

[scott2997]

Claire's faces in some of those pics are priceless...

I know... not very nemsesisy right... I'll try better as I read the next update.

I don't really know if Claire knows how to smile. The picture with Snow white, she has this cheek full of crackers...looks like she's got some chaw in there.

Dang, you really do make it hard to be a nemesis... I was reading through and rooting so loud the neighbors were comlaining... rooting for what you ask? RThat your camera was broken for good...

But then those pics from the MSEP and WISHES were awesome... so deep down I was kinda glad it didn't break.

Man... this hating is hard!

Adorable family Scott... not sure what you did to deserve them all.

Thanks Brian - I had a lot of fun taking those pics. All of these are untouched - unprocessed - straight from the camera. The color just pops on those MSEP shots.

Love all the cute faces Claire makes in the photos! And the matching shirts are great. Great surprise for Addison - she is one beautiful princess! All around it looks like a very magical day!

Claire is the girl with many faces....we never knew which one we'd get! Addison loved her surprise and really strutted her stuff the rest of the day. Only until about half way through MSEP did she start complaining about her hair hurting. So we took it all out for her. I think she was a little more sensitive to it since she had not napped at all that day.

Thanks for following along!

Awe...fabulous update!

Thanks! Hopefully the next one comes quicker than a week!

 

[Britard]

I love the princess photos! Looks like they had a great time in their new dresses.

Funny, my youngest daughter couldn't fit in any dresses other than snow white either (I think they make that one smaller than the others)

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Looks like a great day at MK! Even if you did get on IASW voluntarily.

Your daughters are adorable! Looks like it was a wonderful time for them.

 

[scott2997]

Looks like a great day at MK! Even if you did get on IASW voluntarily.

Your daughters are adorable! Looks like it was a wonderful time for them.

Yes, I did get on IASW voluntarily. It was a first for baby Kate - so I took one for the team.

And thanks, we think we got lucky with our kids being so darn cute - I mean, they have me for a father, we needed luck!

 

[twokids0204]

Yes, I did get on IASW voluntarily. It was a first for baby Kate - so I took one for the team.

And thanks, we think we got lucky with our kids being so darn cute - I mean, they have me for a father, we needed luck!

Scott - I agree 100%

 

[Emma's Dad]

Nice updates!! How in the world could THOSE cute little girls ever give you a hard time??
Yeah... I would have started freaking out about the camera, too. Glad you were able to recover without any losses!! Whew!

 

[scott2997]

Nice updates!! How in the world could THOSE cute little girls ever give you a hard time??
Yeah... I would have started freaking out about the camera, too. Glad you were able to recover without any losses!! Whew!

Oh - they have their moments...Drama.

I was really worried that I had lost all the pictures I had taken that morning and some I had taken the night before. It's a brand new memory card too.

I was so happy to find that my PC was able to read the card and a handy quick-format saved the day.

 

[scott2997]

Wednesday, April 4th

After a looooonnggg Tuesday with no naps, today would be a little less go go go.

We started the day off right with a good breakfast with our pals...

And, of course, Claire had to investigate Mickey's nose...

Hugs for Mickey....

Hugs for Pluto...

Great food at Chef Mickey's, even for standard breakfast buffet style foods. Make sure you try their breakfast pizza!

I have to say - the BEST thing about staying at BLT was being able to walk to MK! Such a time saver, especially at night after the crowds raided the monorail, or the buses to leave. It was almost like having a "pathway to freedom" after being surrounded by hoards of people during the day.

So we made our walk to....

By the time we got into the park, it was late morning so we just took our time up main street and enjoyed the street car performances. We knew it was almost time for the first Move It Shake It Celebrate It parade, and We LOVE to dance (we meaning everyone but Me )

Addison's already got her hips going...

Hey there's our pal...

Then it was time to "take it to the streets"...

We hadn't been back to see the new Storybook Circus area yet, so we made our way back there. What awesome theming! Just check out the foot prints and the peanut shells in the concrete when you're there.

The new dumbo...

The girls waiting to ride their elephant...

Ridin' with Mom...

After our spin on Dumbo - it was time to head back up to Main Street. We were on a mission....it was 11:15a and we had a coupon to use before Noon.

Emporium, here we come!

T-shirts, picture frames, accessories....all for 20% off!

We finished shopping around 12:30 or so (yeah, they still honored our coupon) and made our way down that wonderful path to our "home". We definitely needed to get some naps in today.

Continued in next post....

 

[scott2997]

We all had a little R & R, and maybe a few adult beverages on the balcony listening to the sounds of the boats, train, and the occasional show at MK when the wind blew just right. A great way to relax!

I think it was around 4pm or so by the time we made our walk back to MK. We had someone to see....

Well, really, we came to see....

We said good-bye to our Fairy friends and strolled along through Adventureland, back to Frontierland, and over to Liberty Square...we were hungry!

I had heard some good things about Columbia Harbor House, so we made our way over there. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures!

We all opted to try their new "Lobster Roll". Pretty tasty really. I've never had an authentic one from New England before so it's hard to judge if it's truly authentic. But it filled the void.

After dinner, we continued on our princess crusade, after all, she was right around the corner....

I have to say, Prince Naveen was a hoot. All week, my DW and SIL had been doing this thing with the girls called "Break the Pickle". You put your two index fingers together in front of you forming a "gate" per say. And you say, "Break the Pickle", and the other person slices between the fingers to break them. The person holding up their fingers then says, "tickle, tickle" and tickles the person doing the breaking.

Don't ask me where it came from! Well, my DW asked Addison if she's going to ask Prince Naveen to Break the Pickle. She's reluctant and is acting shy. Well Prince Naveen says, he's gotta know what this "Break the Pickle" is! He doesn't want us to leave before he knows about it.

Eventually, she, with the help of her Mom, works up the courage to explain it to Prince Naveen. The whole scene was quite cute and entertaining.

I'm sure my description didn't capture it, but it was very cool to interact with a character for so long. He definitely showed an interest in us and our cooky game. Looking back on it, I wish we could've got it all on video!

After Breaking the Pickle, we decided to go for some tea...

We definitely wanted to get in a ride on the WDW Railroad next. None of us had ever experienced it. So, we headed back to the new station in Storybook Circus.

We made our way around the perimeter of MK. It's really neat to see a different view of the park from the train.

We took the train all the way around and back to the Storybook Circus depot, grabbed our stroller, and made our way over to Dumbo to check it out at night...

I definitely recommend riding it at night....it's such a cool site to see all the different colors and the water feature below you. Great job Imagineers!

It was late, and we made our way back to Main Street to grab a spot for MSEP. We had decided to see MSEP and make our way back "home". We had another early start the next day...

Ah...home...

We had a two park day the next day....stay tuned...

 

[twokids0204]

Why is it the kids never want to ride with you.... wait that was a rhetorical question. I know why, it's because they are smart kids.

My kids "Break the pickle" too...

 

[Spoonful_Of_Sugar]

I am joining in late, I hope that's ok.
It sounds like you had great time and two very cute princesses.
what is up with twokids0204 being such a negative Nancy?

 

[scott2997]

Why is it the kids never want to ride with you.... wait that was a rhetorical question. I know why, it's because they are smart kids.

My kids "Break the pickle" too...

Hi Brian

I am joining in late, I hope that's ok.
It sounds like you had great time and two very cute princesses.
what is up with twokids0204 being such a negative Nancy?

Welcome - no such thing as joining late.

And thanks for the compliment on my girls....we've been truly blessed.

Oh and the deal with twokids0204 is that everything he says is Sarcastic. He's a fellow DisDad and makes a living being my "Nemesis". Basically that means he has to give me a hard time 24/7.

He doesn't mean anything by it - we're actually quite good buds. Cheers Brian!