Princess Adventures: Princess K's First Trip to the Castle

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Part I: Introductin/Pre-Trip Activities:

I know most of you don't know me, but I'd still like to share my wonderful trip.

This trip had been talked about since my DD was barely a year old. My mother thought it would be great to whisk her off when she turned 4. It was supposed to be a grandchild with grandparents trip -- no Mommy involved -- but I wasn't going to have any of that!

We thought October would be a great time to go -- less crowds, cooler weather, and all that jazz, right? Income tax return time came around, and, pretty much as soon as the money hit my bank account, DM and I were on the computer, making the reservations.

We first booked the Wilderness Lodge. My parents loved visiting Yosimite National Park, so it just seemed like the way to go. (Of course, they sleep on a king-sized bed, so getting a value or moderate resort with only double beds was not going to be sufficient, even if I did offer to sleep on the floor. I mean, seriously...does it matter that much where we sleep? We're at DISNEY!)

Well, I teach in one of those areas where we get a fall break, but you never know what the calendar for the next school year will be until, oh, say, May. We made the ressies in February. Turns out, I was off by a whole week AND our fall break was reduced from a whole week to only three days! Fortunately, there are personal days, but I still had to call and change the reservation.

When I called, there were absolutely 0 accommodations for the week we needed in the Wilderness Lodge, so we switched to Old Key West. Slightly more expensive, but, no big deal, right? Wrong. I'd spent all day after changing the reservations trying to make ADRs. Bought tickets to MNSSHP (only 3, though). And, all of a sudden, DF doesn't want to go -- back problems, knee problems...fine, can't do the walking, but we'll push you around in the wheelchair! No dice. So two days after changing the reservation the first time, I'm calling and changing again, and we're moving to the Carribean Beach Resort.

Not much else to report until we left in October. We did make a countdown calendar for the trip for DD, which she enjoyed marking her day nightly.

Next (hopefully tomorrow): Day One - the trip, arrival, and DTD.

 

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We had planned to be out the door by 6am, so, naturally, I was up by 3. (Who can really sleep getting ready for those trips anyway?) I had given the orders for everything to be packed up by the night before, and most of it loaded and in the car -- no wasting time with last-minute packing! By 5, I was putting the last of the stuff in the car and wondering why I was still the only one awake and ready to go.

I grabbed the digital camera and took a picture of our poster that DD had marked to count down the days. One last place to mark! A picture of her sleeping, then time for her to wake up, get dressed, and get that picture of the final mark! Time to go!

The actual drive down was pretty uneventful. I was quite grateful that the DD pretty much slept all the way down -- and when she didn't sleep, she was occupied with something. Very few complaints.

When we checked in at the Carribean Beach, we were a little early, but thankfully, the room was ready. Trinidad North, building 31. We unloaded our stuff (did we REALLY bring THIS MUCH STUFF?) and went on the walking tour of the resort. Or, well, DM was really wanting to get to Downtown Disney and not spend so much time wandering the resort, which we could do anytime, right? So we walked to Old Port Royale, checked out the food court and the gift shop (which got us started getting ideas about what sort of souveniers we would be looking for), and took a quick tour of Castaway Cay. (What do you mean, "too much sand?" It's supposed to be like a beach!)

The next objective was DTD, so we went off to catch the bus. It doesn't seem like it was too long of a wait, which was overly encouraging.

The first place I had wanted to go was the store dedicated to scrapbooking and photography, Wonderful World of Memories. It was practically the first thing when you got off the bus, and I had a pretty good chunk of money earmarked just for this store and the post-trip scrapbook I was already planning out in my head. The sign on the door said "Opening Early Fall!" I'd been planning this trip for MONTHS with the provision "and on the first night, we shall venture to DTD and go to Wonderful World of Memories so that the scrapbooking necessities can be purchased." And the store. Is not. Open. There was not a single thing that said the store would not be open. Not one. First disappointment of the trip.

We wandered through some other stores (such as The Art of Disney, where I found a print that I forgot to go back and buy...), but it was really time for dinner. We went to Cap'n Jack's. No reservation, so we were quoted a 20 minute wait, which was probably roughly accurate. We had DlxDP, and realized very quickly how much food that was going to be. DM ordered the Salad with Papaya vinaigrette (Good), Old Fashioned Beef Pot Roast (a little dry, but not bad), and the Double Chocolate Cake (no complaints here). I had the New England Clam Chowder (okay...potatoes a little undercooked and overall somewhat lacking), Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes (decent, but still have had better), and the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake (again, no complaints on the dessert). DD had Vegetable Beef Soup (ate every drop and wanted more), mac n' cheese (she would not eat it at all), and the fruit cup.

The crowd wasn't bad before we went in for dinner, but it magically multiplied while we were inside. The more we walked around, the thicker the crowds got. We went into the giant World of Disney store and could barely walk around inside for the crowds. Found some scrapbooking materials and saw the scrapbooks, but thought I would wait and see if there was something else somewhere else. We went into the Lego store, thinking DD would enjoy playing with the legos for a bit, but it was so crowded, she couldn't get anywhere near the play areas. We walked in one door and out the next closest one.

I kept telling myself, "It's Sunday afternoon. DTD doesn't require admission, so it's like going to the mall...it's a family walk-around-and-hang-out-because-we-have-nothing-better-to-do thing. That's all." (See, we said we wanted to go in October because the crowds wouldn't be so bad.) We backtracked back in the directions of where we got off the buses. Disney's Days of Christmas was the last store, and I am still thinking of things I should have gotten, but I didn't.

Back to CBR. I break out the laptop, and....no internet. Can't get on the internet unless you set up a card for an account. Anywhere else I have ever stayed, the card just helps you do quick checkout. You can still make the charges on the account; you just have to show up to check out so you can pay for them. Not in this case. So I follow the directions on the screen -- call and add a card to the account. Still no internet. I decide to wait until morning; maybe it just needs time?

DD's favorite channel is Noggin. No Noggin in the hotel room...but extra Disney channels. (We had never thought about this.) I think that first night, we wound up watching Power Rangers. (I could shoot whomever got my DD interested in PRs. Thankfully, sleep came pretty quick for her.

Next Up....Day Two: Animal Kingdom and MNSSHP.

 

[OhMari]

Bump,
The scrap booking store was still closed in Nov. But I heard it opened up this past week. December.