Pixie Dust, or Pixie MOUNTAIN? A Grand (Roy) Disney TR *NEW TR LINK 8/11!*

[amalone1013]

I'm pretty sure I mean the LAST time, unless we win the lottery or one of the boys get rich and decides to spend it on us instead of using it to put us in an expensive nursing home:

Zack's mom worked at a really bad nursing home years ago, so that's the threat that always comes out

We put our luggage out in the hallway and took one last, slow walk around the suite; made sure I'd taken every last toiletry and pair of GF slippers around, and shut the door.

And nothing left in the hamper!

We still had something to look forward to besides lunch and that came in the form of a DISMeet! I was finally going to meet Alyssa @amalone1013 and her DH Zack, who had a lunch reservation at the Plaza just like we did. They were done and we were going to begin, so we met up outside the restaurant. We chatted about our upgrade, their trip so far, their plans for the rest of the trip. It was super nice meeting them as we all melted in the intense heat; looking good or not we had to get a picture or #itdidn'thappen:

Now I'm #famous
I'm so glad we got to catch you guys! It was great to meet! Hopefully our paths will cross again sometime soon

 

[SweetSerenity]

Cool! Yes, Kari @kastoney will be there too along with quite a few other DIS friends. I'm leaving early on the 6th but I think Kari will be there a little longer that day; are you going to be in a park on the 5th? Where are you staying?

Our flight comes in around 8:35 a.m. on the 5th so we should be on property by 10ish. We are staying the first two nights at Saratoga Springs and the last 3 at The Polynesian. Super excited about that. Yes, we will be in the MK mid morning until---? We have no major plans for the evening. Maybe a stop at DS since it's so close to the resort.

 

[Steppesister]

I knew I'd read you were going with the kids!

A nice long trip with them. ADR Day is Monday.

Definitely, I don't think I'd ever get tired of the WL but I like to mix it up once in awhile And it's absolutely a great location for NYE!

I"m kinda that way with POFQ and The Boardwalkk. Both hold a special place in my heart.

We are lucky that our granddaughter is around the corner! Our grandson will be about 30 minutes away to start but they're hoping to move closer early next year. Eric's mom and his gf's mom are both close to us so it would be easier and more convenient.

Nice!! I'll bet you get all kinds of wonderful snuggles!

 

[buzzrelly]

I guess it helps that today we changed our New Years Eve stay from the WL to the Poly

Woot! That's awesome!

In other homefront news, my stepson Eric's girlfriend asked if I'd babysit our grandson (due in July!) when she goes back to work!!

How fun!

After leaving that GRAND Roy Disney suite for the last time,

Our next FP was up and it was for BTMRR speak of the wild west, so we made our way there only to find out the ride.was.down. You know that feeling right? You're heading toward your ride, anticipation building, and then you see a crowd milling around doing nothing. CM's standing in two's looking serious. And if it's an outdoor ride, NO cars moving. Such a let down!!

We still had something to look forward to besides lunch and that came in the form of a DISMeet! I was finally going to meet Alyssa @amalone1013 and her DH Zack, who had a lunch reservation at the Plaza just like we did. They were done and we were going to begin, so we met up outside the restaurant. We chatted about our upgrade, their trip so far, their plans for the rest of the trip. It was super nice meeting them as we all melted in the intense heat; looking good or not we had to get a picture or #itdidn'thappen:

Great photo!

With that, we had to go back to the GF to catch the Magical Express home. Was it hard hanging in the lobby instead of going back up in the classy elevator to our suite? Yes. Were we grateful as anything for the time we did have in the suite? More than you know.

There it is guys, our trip full of Pixie Dust

So sad to see this one come to an end but this trip will live on in infamy, I have no doubt about that!

 

[DLHNYC]

Great TR! Loved living vicariously through your experience. Sorry your trip and this TR had to end!

 

[ariane37]

Let's hope for Pixie Dust in May just so we all have a nice suite to crash in...in our group of 30, SOMEONE has to get a nice upgrade, right?

Right, one would think! Then we'll have to set up a schedule of who gets to sleep in the pixie dust room each night

My sister is due in mid-June... which would be the perfect time for me to head to Disney sooner than August...

lol! But it's exciting! Is she having a girl or boy?

And nothing left in the hamper!

Now I'm thinking we should have left something in the hamper as an excuse to go back in

I'm so glad we got to catch you guys! It was great to meet! Hopefully our paths will cross again sometime soon

I'm so glad too And I'm sure we'll meet up again!

Our flight comes in around 8:35 a.m. on the 5th so we should be on property by 10ish. We are staying the first two nights at Saratoga Springs and the last 3 at The Polynesian. Super excited about that. Yes, we will be in the MK mid morning until---? We have no major plans for the evening. Maybe a stop at DS since it's so close to the resort.

Hmm.... we have a huge group brunch at Cali Grill around 10:30 I think and then I have FP's at HS. They end mid afternoon and we'll end up in another park for a bit, my guess is either Epcot for more F&G or MK. Then we have dinner at Flying Fish with @Jenny Sanders but there's definitely time for our afternoon plans to change based on how our adults only trips usually go lol!

A nice long trip with them. ADR Day is Monday.

How did it go

So sad to see this one come to an end but this trip will live on in infamy, I have no doubt about that!

It is truly a trip we'll never forget. And the one we'd most like to re-create

Great TR! Loved living vicariously through your experience. Sorry your trip and this TR had to end!

so much for following along! I'm so glad you enjoyed it Believe me this was a hard trip to leave for sure!

 

[Tracy161]

lol! But it's exciting! Is she having a girl or boy?

It is! Few things in my life are more important than Disney... and family is at the top of that list. It might be the only thing on that list, come to think of it She's having a girl! So I'll have one nephew and two nieces... and it's my mission to turn them all into Disney fanatics. I've already converted my nephew

 

[Steppesister]

How did it go

LOL!! I was off by a week. IT'S TOMORROW!!

 

[ariane37]

I'm back for a little wrap up and some bonus pictures I wanted to say how incredibly lucky I know we were to have been upgraded to the Roy Disney Suite. This wasn't your run of the mill upgrade to a water view room, or a preferred room, or the lucky people who get upgraded to club level. This was like the mother of upgrades or at least almost the mother of upgrades. Lots of people asked me why I think we got it: was it because I didn't do online check in? Because we were celebrating something? Because I'm a TA? My answer is truly, I don't know. I don't think it's any of those, I think it's partly luck and mostly what you read here often; a combination of available rooms/type of rooms booked, the length of our stay, size of our party. I believe that for shorter stays you're more likely to get upgraded and if you have a standard room booked you're also more likely to get upgraded, because there are more of them and they're the rooms that are most often booked. Definitely not because I'm a TA; lots of TA's go to WDW all the time using their discount (which is visible on our reservation) and don't get upgraded. We weren't celebrating anything and I never do online check in but I also have never heard that it's a factor in getting upgraded. My final thought on the upgrade is that it's certainly something we'll never forget

I was also extremely happy to do MNSSHP again after missing it for 4 years! It was definitely the most crowded Halloween party we've ever been to which kind of sucked but I'll still be back again. This year in Oct to be exact

Finally, this was our first Sept. visit and while spring break is so far the only time I've sworn I'll never go back to Disney, Sept. is a quick 2nd. I swear it was hotter than any of our numerous Aug. visits! I knew that going in but expected it to be just like August.

And that's really, really it!! Before I sign off for good I'm going to post some pictures from our long lost Thanksgiving 2018 family trip which I originally planned on doing a TR for but never got around to. So in no particular order with no rhyme or reason, here are just a few snapshots of that trip:

We made our first visit to the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Trail which we'd missed on 2 previous visits. My favorite tree was the new HM tree and I loved some of the neat signs along the trail:



​

We also went to Universal for a day at Ricky's request. It wasn't our best day but we all managed to smile in the Grinch's sled:



And I smiled eating a good half of this donut myself:



I did let everyone have some of the yummy macaroons I get from Toothsome Chocolate Emporium every time I find myself near Citywalk though! Lots of you know how I feel about these lovelies:



For the first time in forever (sorry wrong princess but I had to) I saw Belle in her winter costume in Epcot. So pretty! Her line of course was insane:



My kids did let me take some pictures of them in the gorgeous holiday decorated WL lobby, where we were for the latter part of our stay:



On Thanksgiving we visited Art of Animation to do the drawing class and saw this cute tree in the lobby:



And then did the drawing class! It's cute and I appreciated it since I really miss it at HS and loved being able to do it during the Festival of the Arts but it's in a corner of the lobby and since the instructor CM didn't show up the directions were just projected on a screen so the boys didn't like it. We all did it though:



A few more in the next post
​

 

[ariane37]

Ricky did well with the drawing since he's the better artist in the family but wouldn't let me take a pic of the finished product. Here he is hard at work:



And Mr. Cool Chris one night on the People Mover:



Ever changing, Living with the Land had a number of holiday touches going on including this:



I was lucky enough to have three DISmeets last November too! First was a 2nd DISmeet with Tammy @wdwnut61 and her wonderful daughter Kathy whom I can't seem to find my picture of We first met in 2016 on another Thanksgiving trip and we were both excited to find out that not only would we be there at the same time again, but both staying at the WL! And while we were definitely going to try and meet up, we actually "accidentally" bumped in to each other when I was walking in the hallway by Roaring Fork and recognized them walking on from the ferry! Later we all met down at Geyser Point and had a drink, and here's some proof lol:



We had a great time talking, Tammy is lovely and her daughter Kathy is a smart and strong young woman I'm honored to have met. @wdwnut61 I hope you're currently enjoying Disney and give Kathy a big hello from us!

On Thanksgiving day I got to finally meet another DIS friend who has been in the World at the same time as us before but we never could manage to cross paths, Dina @kittylady1972!



Unbeknownst to each other until we posted in our TR's we both had made ADR's at Boma for Thanksgiving dinner that overlapped. We were there first so I kept an eye on the door for her and her huge party to walk in as she was traveling with extended family. I saw them and they were sat almost directly across from us. I let them play musical chairs for awhile and order drinks and then I pounced lol. We only got to chat for a few minutes because my boys are impatient and we were done and I didn't want to keep Dina from dinner, but it was great to finally meet and as much as we both visit I'm sure we'll meet up in Disney again!

My 3rd DISmeet was another first but since then we've had our 2nd and in May we get to have our 3rd. After Illuminations on Black Friday, the illusive and always beautiful @pepperandchips and I managed to meet in Norway!



You'll notice that 1. she gifted me with her hand-made and famous ears and 2. the lighting sucked even though we moved all over the pavilion to try and rectify this lol. Steve was there for the meet also as was Mr. pepperandchips but it's sometimes hard to get the non DIS relatives in on the pics, ya know?

Before I leave I'll throw in one more of my Ricky since even my current dining report is for an adults only trip:



And finally, a favorite of mine from my favorite decorated park:



Once again thank you to everyone for being here! I'll be back after our EPIC Girl's TRIP in May but in the meantime feel free to follow my dining report if you want, the link is in my signature!!!​

 

[ariane37]

LOL!! I was off by a week. IT'S TOMORROW!!

I have done this before!!

So......NOW how did it go

 

[amalone1013]

Love the bonus pics! I didn't know they put Belle in her winter outfit. I see lots of reasons I need to go back at Christmas time. And I keep telling Zack that we should not renew our APs in September and take a year off and go to Disneyland Paris while we're in Europe instead...

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ahh, last days always come don’t they! What a wonderful stay at GF, in real style!

I love all your Thanksgiving pictures!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Love, love. love all the pics!!!!

 

[ariane37]

Ahh, last days always come don’t they! What a wonderful stay at GF, in real style!

Yes they do and some hurt more than others lol! I definitely want to stay at the GF again someday even though I know it'll have to be in a room like the "regular" folk stay in

I love all your Thanksgiving pictures!

Thanks! I really wanted to share the whole trip but time wasn't on my side when we got back or even once the new year started. Now I've forgotten so many little details it would be all pictures and a word here or there so I was better off doing the trips since then

Love, love. love all the pics!!!!

Thank you I had to at least share some!

 

[wdwnut61]

We made our first visit to the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Trail which we'd missed on 2 previous visits. My favorite tree was the new HM tree and I loved some of the neat signs along the trail:

I can't believe we still haven't made it to the Christmas Tree Trail in DS maybe this November lol

We also went to Universal for a day at Ricky's request. It wasn't our best day but we all managed to smile in the Grinch's sled:

After 2 years in a row of adding Universal to our November trips I'm happy this coming November will be spent entirely at Disney

My kids did let me take some pictures of them in the gorgeous holiday decorated WL lobby, where we were for the latter part of our stay:

I loved all the WL decorations especially with the bears

I was lucky enough to have three DISmeets last November too! First was a 2nd DISmeet with Tammy @wdwnut61 and her wonderful daughter Kathy whom I can't seem to find my picture of We first met in 2016 on another Thanksgiving trip and we were both excited to find out that not only would we be there at the same time again, but both staying at the WL! And while we were definitely going to try and meet up, we actually "accidentally" bumped in to each other when I was walking in the hallway by Roaring Fork and recognized them walking on from the ferry! Later we all met down at Geyser Point and had a drink, and here's some proof lol:

I'm so glad we were able to meet again and spend time talking and

We had a great time talking, Tammy is lovely and her daughter Kathy is a smart and strong young woman I'm honored to have met. @wdwnut61 I hope you're currently enjoying Disney and give Kathy a big hello from us!

We had a great trip and are looking forward to May
It meant a lot to Kathy and she says HI and hopes we meet up with you and Steve again

Love both of these pics!
Now I need to head over to your dining report

 

[ariane37]

can't believe we still haven't made it to the Christmas Tree Trail in DS maybe this November lol

I feel like it's hard to fit in! With so much to do in the parks and resorts around the holidays it's kind of out of the way?

After 2 years in a row of adding Universal to our November trips I'm happy this coming November will be spent entirely at Disney

I did love the parade but won't go out of my way to go to Universal again (at all) unless one of the boys requests it. I'm strictly a Disney girl

I'm so glad we were able to meet again and spend time talking and

Same for me and Steve! I know our paths will cross again xoxo

It meant a lot to Kathy and she says HI and hopes we meet up with you and Steve again

Tell her the same and it was our pleasure getting to talk with her! When does she leave for....Bermuda? If I have the destination wrong I blame it on my age lol

Now I need to head over to your dining report

Yes!!!

 

[wdwnut61]

Tell her the same and it was our pleasure getting to talk with her! When does she leave for....Bermuda? If I have the destination wrong I blame it on my age lol


Yes!!!

You got it right she leaves June 17. We went to a Dive shop in Orlando when we were in Disney last month. Got her wet suit and all her gear she’s so excited.

 

[ariane37]

You got it right she leaves June 17. We went to a Dive shop in Orlando when we were in Disney last month. Got her wet suit and all her gear she’s so excited.

I'm putting it on my calendar so I remember to text you before she goes

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I'm late to your party, but I wanted to read about a Mountain of Pixie Dust!!