"Practically Perfect In Every Way!" Grand Floridian-Oct 2008*New 12/23 Our Last Day:(

[ThePin Princess]

I love Abby's shirt and the pic of her and Prince Charming is so cute!

 

[mom2mek]

Hi Katie! Just joining in! Came over from Becky's report when I saw your trip dates - we were there right after you - we came in on the night of October 8th and left on the morning of the 14th! We had the same Prince Charming at our Park Fare dinner (my youngest daughter's 4th birthday dinner....her name is also Katie ).

Anyways, great start! Looking forward to reading more. You have a beautiful family!

Sara

 

[BippityBoo]

Oh wow!! 1900 Park Fare looks WONDERFUL!! We HAVE to do this on our next trip! We got to meet the stepsisters and stepmother in front of the Storytime With Belle area--they were HILARIOUS!! The Drizella we met is the same one from your pics! (you'll see on my TR in a few days) I hope your night at MK is magical!! Can't wait to hear!!

That Drizella was the best! She looks JUST like her, doesnt she? I am a little disapointed in my pics from the first night now that I am looking back. We were SO tired from the trip, I really dont think I had any energy to take them. Promise better pics to come! I will update tonight about Spectromagic and Wishes! Really anxious to get to our second day--EPCOT day!

 

[BippityBoo]

I love Abby's shirt and the pic of her and Prince Charming is so cute!

Thank you Grace Elizabeth (LOVE your name by the way) I am thinking of snapping some pics of their outfits and making it a post...you will love the ones to come! They came out so good I was really happy with them. Thanks for reading!!

 

[BippityBoo]

Hi Katie! Just joining in! Came over from Becky's report when I saw your trip dates - we were there right after you - we came in on the night of October 8th and left on the morning of the 14th! We had the same Prince Charming at our Park Fare dinner (my youngest daughter's 4th birthday dinner....her name is also Katie ).

Anyways, great start! Looking forward to reading more. You have a beautiful family!

Sara

Hey!! Thanks for reading! I am now subscribed to yours...you have so many to look at! My favorite pic so far is the one where all the kids are hugging Belle...priceless!! I am so jealous you get to go to Disney so much! Also, I see you and your DH are going on a solo trip, no kids! We would like to do that soon so we can visit Dowtown Dis/Pleasure Island and park hop riding all the "adult rides"! Can't wait to read more

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I wanted to do Park Faire but with all grandsons I knew that would not interest them in the least. It did look like fun tho. Abby looks much cuter than Cinderella. Must be that hair thing she has going. (Cindy's not Abby's)

Good reporting.

Ginny

 

[bballbabe]

Great report so far. I look forward to reading more.

 

[BippityBoo]

I wanted to do Park Faire but with all grandsons I knew that would not interest them in the least. It did look like fun tho. Abby looks much cuter than Cinderella. Must be that hair thing she has going. (Cindy's not Abby's)

Good reporting.

Ginny

Haha! I agree! Not the best Cindy I have seen However, the one we get to see in the castle is much better...I end up getting a pretty good pic (thank goodness!) I think you could take your grandsons. It is more of a show with the step sisters and mother. Not too princess-y (is that a word?) The biggest plus for a young boy would be the ice cream with all the toppings! There were lots to pick from!

 

[BippityBoo]

Great report so far. I look forward to reading more.

Thank you! Happy you are reading

 

[mom2mek]

Hey!! Thanks for reading! I am now subscribed to yours...you have so many to look at! My favorite pic so far is the one where all the kids are hugging Belle...priceless!! I am so jealous you get to go to Disney so much! Also, I see you and your DH are going on a solo trip, no kids! We would like to do that soon so we can visit Dowtown Dis/Pleasure Island and park hop riding all the "adult rides"! Can't wait to read more

That's funny about "going so much"! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be one of "those" people! We went in Jan of 2006 and all got a stomach flu thing that really put a damper on the trip, so we planned one for Thanksgiving 2007 (so almost 2 years later) which was a doozie of a trip, since it was 16 of us and I was the only planner! So, I wanted to take just my smaller group of family back down, which was the October trip (about a year after the T-giving one)! Since I bought an AP for the October trip to help with meals and stuff, my husband and I decided to hop down for a quick 3 1/2 day couples only trip in May! It was great! That's the report I'm working on now - I'm pathetically slow at writing it though.

Love hearing about the Grand Floridian - it's such a gorgeous place!!



Sara

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Haha! I agree! Not the best Cindy I have seen However, the one we get to see in the castle is much better...I end up getting a pretty good pic (thank goodness!) I think you could take your grandsons. It is more of a show with the step sisters and mother. Not too princess-y (is that a word?) The biggest plus for a young boy would be the ice cream with all the toppings! There were lots to pick from!

Those boys could eat their weight in ice cream for sure. Especially Alex. As long as it is chocolate or chocolate topping and sprinkles. He and Andrew averaged eight chocolate cones a day on the last cruise.

 

[ThePin Princess]

Thank you Grace Elizabeth (LOVE your name by the way) I am thinking of snapping some pics of their outfits and making it a post...you will love the ones to come! They came out so good I was really happy with them. Thanks for reading!!

Thanks my dad picked out my name. I would love to see more pictures of their outfits. Did you make them?

 

[ladybugmom]

That Drizella was the best! She looks JUST like her, doesnt she? I am a little disapointed in my pics from the first night now that I am looking back. We were SO tired from the trip, I really dont think I had any energy to take them. Promise better pics to come! I will update tonight about Spectromagic and Wishes! Really anxious to get to our second day--EPCOT day!

She was an AWESOME Drizella--such a hoot!! She DOES look just like her! Girl--I know what you mean! My first day I had the least amount of pics, too!! Everything is just so overwhelming--it's exhausting! Can't wait to hear about Spectro and Wishes! And Epcot, too!!

 

[BippityBoo]

Hey Katie!!!

I am here for your wonderful trip!! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Awesome! Thanks for reading

 

[BippityBoo]

Thanks my dad picked out my name. I would love to see more pictures of their outfits. Did you make them?

No way! I would love to learn but really have no time right now!! I get them made from a lady who lives close by. I will try to post the outfits soon. Glad you want to see them

 

[BippityBoo]

Great report so far. I look forward to reading more.

Thank you so much for reading! I am trying to find the energy to post more tonight

 

[BippityBoo]

**If you have been following my TR, I added a few pics to post #1...check them out!

Alright so, last I was debating on speaking out about going to the MK with the kids. My in-laws were very anxious to show Abby so, I went along with it, even though it was late. Just a side note: I have "those kids" and yes we are "those parents" who basically insist that everyone needs to be quiet after 8:30pm because our kids are sleeping...no matter where we are! So, I turned off that voice in my head and decided I would be "fun mom" for the night!

We had so much fun riding the monorail! I put on my sweetest smile to get the kids to sit up front like I read on DIS, but the monorail was pretty full b/c Spectro and Wishes were about to begin. The guy just kind of ushered us into a car.

So don't forget, we are coming from the GF. I really laugh hard about this now that I am WAY more educated on WDW but here we go...we were so busy chatting with travelers and admiring the breathtaking view that we failed to realize the ENTIRE monorail cleared out at one stop. I shortly did realize, though, that we were pulling off from...the Magic Kingdom!!?? We missed our stopI did not think we would come upon it so quickly! Here I am with my thick binder of laminated maps, guide books and sticky notes. So EMBARRASING! Not to worry though, we had plenty of time and got to see all the other MK Resorts during our little ride and so all was well

Pretty soon we were seeing this

My heart began to beat faster knowing this memory would be in our minds forever. I looked down at Abby and she looked excited, but nervous. It was dark and all of the lights and people...I just don't think it was what she was expecting it to look like. Then I heard it. The music to Spectromagic! The good news is that we were just in time...the bad news is that (of course) EVERYONE knows you must secure your spot at least 30 minutes before (except my in-laws, I guess) We made our way to the street corner. The CM politely told us we could not sit there and block any walk way. I was getting nervous that Abby would miss it. Then, out of the blue, a man was watching our situation and offered to move over and make room for at least 2 people to watch. Guys...this was a PRIME Spectro site. One you may possibly have to pitch a tent to get! SO, Mr. Incredible! If you were in MK on the night of October 1, 2008 and gave up a space for my little girl THANK YOU! Your the best


My in-laws and I stood in the back, which was ok with me considering it was not as loud there and Aiden's little ears would be safe. Chris and I took turns switching to be with Abby. When we watch the DVD, I still get goosebumps when I hear the music! I loved the parade! Here are a few shots of Spectromagic (as if you have not seen 10,000 of them by now)

During the parade, Aiden managed to fall asleep. Another side note: Aiden pretty much slept through the entire trip...which was ok with us because it made our lives a lot easierHe was awake for all the important moments but seemed to sleep for the ones that may be hard with a baby (like Wishes!) We made our way down the street and got a spot right in front of Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. Here was a view of the crowd and our first glimpse of the Castle!

Wishes started and it was great!! Aiden was sleeping on my shoulder so, just when I thought it was about to end (and get louder!) I rushed into the Parlor to get Abby some icecream in a last attempt to keep her up until we got back to the room. She loved it. Especially the chocolate mickey ears! It was getting late, so we headed back to the GF. It was no trouble at all to get to the monorail and we finally put our heads down in anticipation for tomorrow...EPCOT!!

All I kept thinking was "I can't believe I am in Disney World!!" followed quickly by "ZZZZ....Wahhh Wahhh..." Wait! What? Yep--Aiden was awake and NOT happy. I rushed him into the bathroom to try to keep Abby sleeping and let him cry for a while. He eventually calmed down and I was nervous to put him back into the crib that the GF had provided for us, so I let him sleep next to me for a while while I watched Stacy on TV (by the way, don't you think they should sell that as a DVD set?!) Despite some bumps in the road, it was a great first day and it only gets better from here!

**UP NEXT---EPCOT Will we make it to the Princess Breakfast by 8am after a long night?

 

[bballbabe]

Reading your report is making me anxious about going in Oct. I will be finally able to make ADRs for the 10 of us this Sunday. It can't get here fast enough. Can't wait to read more!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I am sure it was very hard to let go and be out like that. You had already had a long day. I know in the daytime everything will have a different perspective. It looks like Abby was enjoying herself anyway.

 

[BippityBoo]

It's EPCOT day! I know that these updates are coming fast, but the kids are away at the in-laws and we are leaving soon for our beach vacation so I wanted to get some more done. Do don't mind, right?

We woke up to another beautiful day in Disney! After a quick muffin at the counter service at GF, we jumped on the monorail on our way to EPCOT! We had an 8am ADR for the Princess Breakfast at Akershus and we were not late, but time was definately running out quick! Chris put Abby on his back and we were all run/walking at a very brisk pace. The princesses were waiting!



Of course, we just HAD to stop for one of my favorites (Mary Poppins!) Abby had just bought her autograph book, so Mary was her first signiture! It was so cute, after she left abby wrote "I like you" in the book next to her name...can you tell the girl journals/scrapbooks?!


When we arrived, they were ready for us! We were escorted into a small private room where Belle was waiting for pictures! We got a picture with the entire family, and then one of Abby solo. It was a great photo op! This pic is from my camera. The professional one was much better!


We ended up getting a large folder with so many prints in it! It is part of the price of the breakfast.

After that, we were seated immediately at our table. The waitress told us that there was a buffet with colder items and breads and that some warm food would be coming out to us. The waitress had a hard time communicating to us because her English was not very good. Overall, the service was just "ok" but it really was not a big deal considering you got most of the food yourself. The atmosphere was just beautiful! You felt like you were in an old castle...very cool Wish I would have gotten more pics of the restaurant itself.

Abby was fresh from her good night's sleep and she was so excited to meet the princesses (as you can tell!)


We were seated in the corner by the windows so it took a while for the princesses to reach our table. That's ok though because they really spent a good 2-5 minutes with each table talking with the kids. All of them were really nice and even took pics with the "little prince" Aiden!

I highly reccomend this breakfast. We had the Dining Plan and I know that if you are paying out of pocket it is sort of pricey. However, to have the chance to talk to almost all the princesses, get autographs and pics in one stop, it was heaven! I did not have to feel anxious about finding princesses at the park and the food was excellent, so that was an added bonus!

After we finished, we decided to make our way to the Character Spot. It was a ways to walk, but TOTALLY worth it. It's air conditioned and colorful! We got some great pics (Aiden was sleeping though---of course!) My personal favorites are the pics with Minnie and Pluto. Abby's was sooo excited and giggling the whole time!


So that is 11 characters within 2 hours at EPCOT! I really think it was totally worth devoting the time so we are assured that we have all the signitures and photos we wanted

Cont on next post....