"Princess Castle. Where's Princess Castle?!" A Princess' review with Pics!

[mmmears]

Great trip report! I'm really enjoying it. And your DD is so cute!

 

[kkayluvsdis]

I am really enjoying your trip report! I love the casual, comfortable nature of the way you write. I had to LOL at the lifeguards at the pool! My DDs start swimming in our pool when we open it-- usually late May or even early June here. It is 54 degree water when it opens and the days often aren't much warmer! Funny how being used to colder temps makes the water easier to tolerate, although I still won't venture into Rangeley Lake when we head to Maine for the fourth of July! (My children come out with blue lips half of the time )

Your photos are terrific and thanks for so many of them! I love the girls only trip and your DD is a doll! I love the items your DS made-- how crafty and thoughtful she is. I'm glad you enjoyed the Poly-- we love it and your pictures help me as we wait to return! I've gotten some good ideas from the directions you went to help us next time--we won't be making ADRs, but doing just CS and the odd TS dinner if there is an open slot the morning of. We're throwing caution to the wind with dining...but making sure we have a good plan of attack for the usually mobbed Easter week!

I'm so glad you're enjoying my report and also glad to hear that it might be helping you with your plans for your upcoming trip. You must be so excited! Easter week probably will be busy, but you'll be amongst the Magic so you'll be okay. It's funny because I did a bit of shopping this morning and the mall was crazy busy and I was so frustrated and anxious--that kind of crowd in Disney is somehow okay, though

Do you have family in Maine that you visit? That is where we are from. As far as the "cold" weather in Florida-I remember a picture of Sarah and I when we were little braving the pool in FL while my parents sat and watched us wearing jeans and coats! Kids just love to swim no matter what! But, the pools being heated down there definitely helps! I totally like the laid back approach you're going to take with the dining. That is what we normally do, but with the free DDP we really wanted to try to take advantage of as many meals we wouldn't normally try. I hope you can stick with my TR--I can't believe I've only covered 3 days. Seems like I've been sitting at this computer non-stop!

Great trip report! I'm really enjoying it. And your DD is so cute!

Thanks! I'm so glad you like it. I'll probably post another installment tomorrow. I need to give Sarah a chance to catch up with her dining report!

 

[lovegrumpy]

Subbing

 

[PittypatBR]

I'm really enjoying your TR. I love traveling with my daughter - we are both Disney fanatics!

 

[ethansmommy]

Pooh looks so cute in his hat and scarf! I am defineatly going to have to try and go to disney near the holiday so I can see everything/one decorated. I just checked out the janie and jack site, they have such cute stuff. Thanks for mentioning it I had never heard of it before.

 

[MiaBella05]

subscribing

 

[lovegrumpy]

We can't wait for are stay at the poly. My oldest is excited.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

I'm really enjoying your TR. I love traveling with my daughter - we are both Disney fanatics!

So happy you like my report. Isn't it great having someone to share the love (or obsession ) of Disney with! Thanks for reading!

Pooh looks so cute in his hat and scarf! I am defineatly going to have to try and go to disney near the holiday so I can see everything/one decorated. I just checked out the janie and jack site, they have such cute stuff. Thanks for mentioning it I had never heard of it before.

Uh oh. Don't blame me for the big Janie and Jack bill! The clothes are so adorable, but quite pricey! I shop the sale section only! Disney around the holidays definitely was fun to see, but we all agreed that it is a hard time to go just because of all the other things going on at home that time of year. We all came back way behind on our holiday planning/shopping/etc!

subscribing

Yay! Thanks for joining in!

We can't wait for are stay at the poly. My oldest is excited.

The Poly was great. You will all love it! I'm sure the time will pass quickly 'til your trip-planning is the best part!

 

[aftensgirl]

Love reading your TR!

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Love reading your TR!

I'm glad you're enjoying my TR! I'm working on the next installment now. I need to have Sarah upload some pics for me before I can post again.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Since Sarah has caught up with me on her dining report, I guess it's time to start writing my next installment. Day Four was a busy day, so here it goes. This was our plan:

Saturday, November 22nd:

*Small snack in room before we go - Snack at Main Street Bakery?? Cinnamon bun or french toast loaf?

8:00AM: Magic Kingdom-be there for rope drop. Spend time on the Fantasyland rides and getting photos with characters.

10:55AM: Brunch at Chef Mickey's-CR (1 TS credit/person)

12:00PM: Grammie and Nora return to hotel for naps/pooltime, Kelly and Sarah head back to MK to ride "the Mountains"

3:00PM: Head to HS for dinner and Fantasmic

3:50PM: Mama Melrose's/Fantasmic Dinner Package (1 TS credit/person) - Cancel 48 hours prior if need to

6:15PM: Get seats for Fantasmic

7:00PM: FANTASMIC
--------------------------
Okay, so I know what you're thinking--is all they are going to do today EAT?! Well, yes and no. We did do a lot of eating, but we did fit in a lot of other stuff to! Read on to find out more (as Elmo would say)....

We were up early-thanks to yours truly! Sarah got something special from "tinkerbell" (me again-I even brought glitter to leave pixie dust-I had been doing this each morning for Sarah and Mom).

And Nora got more princess mail. I can't remember what she got on this day. I think maybe a fancy hair thinger that you'll see her wearing later in the week. But, her letter was from Cinderella:

Dear Nora.
I am so happy you came to visit me at my castle! Isn't it beautiful with all the Christmas decorations! Sounds like you have a lot of neat things planned for today! Say "Hi" to Mickey for me at "Chef Mickey's" breakfast! I know you will love all the beautiful colors of Fantasmic!
Love, Cinderella "Princess Rella"

In no time we were dressed and on our way to the TTC.

Now, Nora had been bound and determined that we were to ride on the Ferry Boat this morning. She had been seeing them travel back and forth across the water from the beach and whenever we would say, "let's go get on the monorail" she would reply, "No, ferry boat." So, we promised her that we would take the Ferry Boat to Princess Castle on this morning. Well, when we got to the TTC to the entrance for the Ferry there was a CM who told us that the boat wasn't running yet-oh, no! Nora was dissapointed, but we were able to distract her yet again with visiting dancing mickey and minnie! After a quick "hello" we were on the mon-e-rail headed for MK rope drop! We made it through the gate and were waiting all by this time..

I was so proud of us! On our previous trip we didn't make it to Magic Kingdom for the opening so this was a MUST do for us-well, me at least! They had some CMs out helping to entertaining the waiting kids. Nora had fun playing with this hula hoop!

They also had some mickey shaped "glitter" AKA pixie dust! You can see in that previous photo that they had arranged the mickey pixie dust into mickey heads. Nora had fun with this stuff for sure.

Look Aunnie, I got one!

Geez, if I keep all this pictures up I'm gonna be at my 25 pic limit before we even get inside the MK! So, while we were still waiting for the opening ceremony Sarah took Nora to see some of the pretty Christmas trees that were decorated outside the train station. I guess while they were "exploring" a CM came up to Nor and put some mickey pixie dust on her head. I guess to grant her an extra magical day at the MK! Maybe Sarah can fill us in on the details of this, because I wasn't there for the actually event, just got the pics after...Okay, I just got the official story from Sarah. Straight from her: so the pixie dust - nora and i went for a little walk around to keep her occupied while waiting for the rope drop. a nice cm came up to her and mentioned how cute she is and then dropped a handful of pixie dust on her head - she didn't really understnad what happened i think, but she liked it when all of the sudden a bunch of pixie dust was falling off her head....okay, there we have it

And finally it was time...they were having some problems with the microphone, so like every other word was lost, but that's okay. We were just happy to see the train coming 'round the bend! And then the main guy himself...

The rope-drop ceremony at MK is just so magical. It gave me goosebumps and I seriously had tears in my eyes when the train came around and Nora started pointed at each character, "There's snow white, there's Alice, " etc. It was one of my favorite moments of the trip! So once we got through the train station and everyone sort of dispersed, we headed towards the left and Nora had fun looking in the windows of the shops! Her favorite? Snow White and the 7 dwarfs, of course.

And when we rounded the corner, she spotted it...Princess Castle! "Look, Momma, Princess Castle!"

We continued our walk down Main Street and I believe we got a photopass pic taken-why I didn't have them take a pic with my camera as well, I don't know-I am notorious for this. We always have lots of photopass pics, but don't order them --so expensive! Here is a pretty Christmas decoration from the lampposts on Main street:

When we go to Magic Kingdom we almost always go left, bringing us to:

Sarah had decided to listen to her tummy and head to Main Street Bakery for a cinnamon roll, while Nora, Mom and I ventured onward. She said she would meet up with us. We took our time enjoying an almost empty Adventureland. Nora stopped to pop some bubbles that a CM was blowing. This may have been the most fun part of her day! I have such a great video of her running around and popping bubbles, "I got one, I got it, Mommy, look I got one!" hehe.

Then, she and Grammie rode Aladdin's Flying carpets. BTW, I think Nora rode every "Dumbo"-like ride in Disney--carpets, triceratop spin, and dumbo itself. Oh, well, she's two and that's what is fun, right?!

By the time the carpet ride was over, Sarah was back with a half eaten (LOL--not half i guess..) big gooey cinnamin bun--yum! We all shared and Nora was especially sticky by the time we were done with that thing. We had no time finishing it before boarding the Jungle Cruise! We had a really funny driver, who made the lame jokes actually seem comical!

Nora really enjoyed this ride, as did the rest of us. Such a classic Disney ride! (Sarah and I learned some secrets about this on our Keys to the Kingdom tour, but shhh...my lips are sealed!) We continued through Adventureland, stopping, of course, to ride Pirates. Nora seemed to enjoy this ride especially since it was another boat ride! Also, the swords in the gift shop that you exit into were a big hit with her. Geez, I thought she was supposed to be a Princess! We had to kind of watch the time, as we had brunch reservations at Chef Mickey's for 10:55AM. We agreed that we needed to head back towards the monorail by 10:15AM. This didn't give us a lot of time for more rides, but we def. wanted to make the best of it. Our next stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Normally, we would have done Splash Mt at this point, but none of us wanted to get wet and have to sit through CM with soaked clothes (eventhough sometimes you don't really get that wet on Splash Mt) There I go getting off topic again-So BTMRR is Sarah's favorite ride and BOY was Nora bigtime offended that she couldn't go with us! She started crying, "Nora go too" Poor girl-Grammie convinced her to go with her--Poor girl again...hehe...and off Sar and I went. There was virtually no wait--maybe 5-10 minutes if that. What a fun ride. Towards the end I hear my name being called and it's Mom yelling to me. She and Nora had a prime viewing spot and were waving to us! Nor was quite proud of us as we exited the ride--"Aunnie and Mommy ride train". After that we decided we would try to do Haunted Mansion and then head over to the Contemporary. But, we got sidetracked by this:

She ended up with a Minnie Mouse complete with Cowgirl outfit (we were in Frontierland, afterall!) and she was very pleased! With no major crowds, we were able to easily make our way over to the HM. Unfortunately, the ride was experiencing some "Spiritual" difficulties and was temporarily closed. It was getting close to time to leave, anyway, and Grammie needed a bathroom, so we decided we would walk through the castle, so Nora could see it up close and then head for the exit.

As we walked around the castle we noticed something we had never stumbled upon before--Cinderella's wishing well. Now, we knew it was there, only because Sarah had gotten me a Disney trivia book for an early Birthday gift and I had been emailing Mom and Sarah trivia questions daily and there was a question about what was the name of Cinderella's wishing well? Does anyone know? Well, the answer was "Rags to Riches"--I think Sar and Mom both got that one wrong! So, we stopped for a photo-op.

Then we came upon this magical lady....

After seeing the Fairy Godmother we had to usher Nora quickly through the castle, as we knew if she saw the Carousel we'd never get out of there on time! We all hated to leave the MK since we were on such a roll with doing and seeing so much especially due to it being early and not crowded. We did NOT wanted to pass up Chef Mickey's, however, it was something we all (esp. Mom and I) had been looking forward to for sooo long! So, we said goodbye to Princess Castle and hopped back on the Mon-e-rail. Chef Mickey's was only one stop away! YUM!

**Okay, so it's telling me I'm over the limit on pictures, so I'm going to do 2 posts of day four**Sorry for the inconvenience

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Now, I'm going to try not to cover too too much of our whole Chef Mickey's experience because I know that Sarah really wants to cover most of it in her dining report, so here it goes. We were seated promptly after we checked in for our reservation. I didn't even have time to run to the bathroom--Sar, Mom and Nora were already seated. I found them seated towards the back of the restaurant next to the windows. What a colorful, bright, sunny restaurant! I loved the atmosphere. Very fun and relaxing. As soon as I sat down I realized that I had forgotten to bring our character autograph stuff with me--what a failure as a DIS planner and mother--geez! I had found the idea on the DISboards to get a small clipboard and pieces of colorful cardstock as opposed to an autograph book. Nora painted the clipboard and put a bunch of different character and princess stickers on it and it looked great. This had worked out really well on the trip thus far. Of course it works well if you remember to bring it! Soo...We really wanted to get autographs from Mickey and Minnie and all the other characters that we would see. Sarah, being the generous and clever girl that she is ran over to one of the gift shops in the Contemporary's lobby and bought a basic autograph book. She saved the day!

It wasn't long at all and we started seeing characters. Nora wasn't too impressed at this point, because for once on our trip she was actually interested in the food we put in front of her! The little piggy ate a ton (sarah will fill you in on what in particular we ate)!
Hi Goofy!

Hi Pluto!

These guys seemed to travel around together. They came by a few different times during our meal. The real question on Nora's mind was "Where's Donald Duck?" Geez, Nora, it is Chef Mickey's Restaurant don't you care about him?? She was happy to see this lady...

And close behind her was the Chef himself!!

Although Nora was really enjoying her yummy brunch she was still concerned as to where Donald Duck was. I was getting concerned too. Maybe Donald wasn't at Chef Mickey's this morning! And then she spotted him from across the room....

The funniest thing was that Nora really wanted to show Donald her dress. Here she is pulling the dress up to show to him! Also, I love how Donald signs his name, "Donald Duck #1" Hehe. We certainly had fun meeting Donald!

I must say that Chef Mickey's far exceeded my expectations. I'm sure Sarah will mention this also, but on our last visit we did the character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, and we found CM soooo much better! The food, the atmosphere, the seating, the character interaction were all superior to Park Fare. I can not wait to go back to Chef Mickey's! After we were all sufficiently stuffed we decided to split up. Mom volunteered to take a very stinky diapered (ewww...sorry, TMI) back to the Poly for a bath and a nap while Sarah and I headed back to MK to do some more attractions.

When Sarah and I got back to the MK it was much busier than it was when we left it. Instead of starting on the left this time, we went right and began in Tomorrowland. We figured that if the wait for Space Mt wasn't very long than we would ride. Of Course the wait time was 60 minutes I think, so we passed it by. Actually, most of what we did on this afternoon was walk around, passing by rides with super long waits. We made it back to Liberty Square and were happy to see that the HM was now open. Apparently the spirits settled down The wait was only 20 minutes so we decided to ride. We both love this ride. It never gets old no matter how many times we ride it and of course we love the hidden mickeys! After HM we went back to Frontierland and decided that probably the last thing we'd do at MK before heading back to get ready for our next ADR was Splash Mountain. The wait for Splash Mt was only 20 minutes (I think because it was cool out) so we were happy with that. Splash Mt is one of my favs--it is just "Disney" to me! We didn't end up too wet, mostly just the tops of our heads. We did some browsing in the shops on the way out and knew we better get back to wake up the nappers. When we got back to the Poly we found this...

I felt bad waking up the sleeping beauty, but we had our Fantasmic Dinner package planned that evening, so it was necessary. Now, they say that you should give yourself an hour to get to an ADR from a Disney resort, correct? Well, we left our room a bit before 3PM--which was very good for us--we had 3:50PM reservation at Mama Melrose's. We figured we would be right on time...well...so as we are walking to the bus stop (which I haven't mentioned, but should, that it was quite close to our building) we saw a Hollywood Studios bus pulling up. So, we did the whole running for the bus crazy people thing and of course got on this very crowded bus just as another totally empty HS bus showed up! Okay, no big deal, right? Well....so the next stop was the GF to pick up more HS guests. We pulled up a picked up some people and there were 2 older people in electronic wheelchairs that I thought told the bus driver that they weren't going to HS, so the driver kept going. Well, she pulled ahead just a tad and then a tad more and then put the bus in reverse--ahh, what was she doing! This might not sound like a big deal, but the amount of time that this took was unbeleivable. Turns out that the 2 guests in the wheelchairs must have needed to get on the bus afterall. So after quite a fashion--it is quite a process getting those into the bus--and then the poor people driving them have to like "parallel park" the chairs in this little spots so they are like totally perfect. I felt really bad, because the lady had a really hard time doing it. I think that maybe she didn't have too much electronic wheelchair experience. Anyway, so the minutes were really ticking by and we realized while we were sitting there that we definitely were going to be cutting our Mama Melrose reservation very close. After the longest bus ride of our trip thus far we made it to HS. Sarah decided to run ahead to the restaurant to hopefully keep our reservation. We didn't bring the stroller this time because we only planned on doing dinner and Fantasmic so Nora was totally in her element walking/running like a big girl! Soon I got a phone call from Sarah saying that they couldn't check us in for our reservation until we were all there--grr...so up on Grammie's shoulders Nora went and we walked at a fast pace to Mama Melrose's. I'm going to let Sarah do the honors of describing this WONDERFUL meal. Here is a picture of us that our wonderful waiter took. Again, you must read about this meal on Sarah's report once she posts it because it was such a great experience!

So, since we did the Fantasmic package, passes for seating for the 7PM show were included. After dinner we took our time (and walked off some of that BIG meal) and made our way to the Fantasmic Ampitheater. I think we got to the theater around 6:15PM so we still had quite a wait. I wasn't sure how Nora would do with this, but she ended up surprising me and doing really well. She even made a new friend named Landon who was also 2. Of course, part of her patience was created by the spinning light up Minnie toy that Aunnie bought her. Such a spoiled girl! This was our first time at Fantasmic, and I have to admit I think we were all a bit dissapointed. It was very different than what I had expected. I thought it was a fireworks show, but it was more of a stage show. There were also scary parts, not that Nora was bothered, but I could see how some children could be scared--especially of the big snake! eww! Anyway, I don't want to discourage anyone from going, because we are definitely glad we tried it, but it just wasn't quite what we thought it would be. After Fantasmic we went right back to the Poly. Because I had bragged so much about how wonderful the fireworks were the previous night, Sarah and Mom felt a little bummed that they had turned down my offer to come with me and decided that they wanted to watch them on this night. Lucky for us we got down to the beach just in time to see the Electric Water Pageant followed up by Wishes! Nora was so excited. She kept saying, "Look, Grammie, fireworks!" over and over again. haha! It was a magical ending to another super busy Disney day!

Up Next: Sarah and I learn the "Keys to the Kingdom" and Stuck on the Mon-E-rail due to what?!

 

[wlwilliams9]

Great update! My DD loves the pics at Chef Mickey's. We have bfast scheduled there for our next trip. Last trip DD wasn't really into the characters, but hopefully she will enjoy them more this time.

We always have lots of photopass pics, but don't order them --so expensive!

Next visit, pre-order the photopass CD. It's $99.95 to pre-order which is expensive, but your mom & sis could split the cost with you. When you get the CD make a copy for each of them and each of you will have great photos with all of you in the pics. Just a suggestion, in case you weren't aware you could do that!

Anyway, keep the updates coming......you to Sarah!

 

[AliceInDisboardland!]

Great post sister - looks like I have some catching up to do!

 

[ethansmommy]

Chef Mickeys looks like a lot of fun! We are going there for the first time in January, I cant wait. I did notice that the stuff at Janie and Jack was a little expensive so I went right to the sale section and they had some really cute stuff that was much better priced! Nora looks so adorable sleeping, it is so hard to wake little ones up when they look so peaceful isnt it.

 

[Villainess]

Great pics and again, your DD is just adorable! I love the dress she wore at CM - is is GAP?

 

[BellaSoleil]

Okay, I really think that Nora and Belle are long lost best friends! Did you see my siggie? Belle carries her Pooh around everywhere! So cute!

How old is Nora exactly? (She seems to be the perfect age. I want to take DD next year and I'm thinking I will take her at that time.) The train story makes me sad for her. Poor thing, she just thought it was a nice little train ride. Little does she know...

 

[Luvamouse]

I'm so glad you're enjoying my report and also glad to hear that it might be helping you with your plans for your upcoming trip. You must be so excited! Easter week probably will be busy, but you'll be amongst the Magic so you'll be okay. It's funny because I did a bit of shopping this morning and the mall was crazy busy and I was so frustrated and anxious--that kind of crowd in Disney is somehow okay, though

I absolutely hate the mall, but crowds at WDW are different

you have family in Maine that you visit? That is where we are from.

We don't have family there, but we have been going since I was little and have a lot of friends up North.

I totally like the laid back approach you're going to take with the dining. That is what we normally do, but with the free DDP we really wanted to try to take advantage of as many meals we wouldn't normally try.

I'd be making ADRs if we had free dining, too!

Unfairly cute!! My DD's both looked just like that at the same age!! Too funny! I am really enjoying you TR still! Just seems so fun to me.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Great update! My DD loves the pics at Chef Mickey's. We have bfast scheduled there for our next trip. Last trip DD wasn't really into the characters, but hopefully she will enjoy them more this time.



Next visit, pre-order the photopass CD. It's $99.95 to pre-order which is expensive, but your mom & sis could split the cost with you. When you get the CD make a copy for each of them and each of you will have great photos with all of you in the pics. Just a suggestion, in case you weren't aware you could do that!

Anyway, keep the updates coming......you to Sarah!

I'm glad your DD enjoyed the character pics. I bet she'll love Chef Mickey's-so bright and fun!

Yea, we probably should have done the photopass CD. We'll look into that for our next trip. I just placed an order for a few of our photopass pics and even with the 40% off because of MVMCP it was still pricey!

I'm going to give Sar a chance to catch up before my next post

Great post sister - looks like I have some catching up to do!

YES! You do! Get busy missy!

Chef Mickeys looks like a lot of fun! We are going there for the first time in January, I cant wait. I did notice that the stuff at Janie and Jack was a little expensive so I went right to the sale section and they had some really cute stuff that was much better priced! Nora looks so adorable sleeping, it is so hard to wake little ones up when they look so peaceful isnt it.

Glad you found some bargains at Janie and Jack! I never look at the little boy stuff, but I bet it's just as cute as the girl stuff! Your son (and you) will love Chef Mickey's. I'm so glad we went there and seriously can't wait to go back. Nora definitely enjoyed the Poly beds, much more so than the "crib" She's a little princess after all.

Great pics and again, your DD is just adorable! I love the dress she wore at CM - is is GAP?

Thanks! She's a good girl Yea, the dress is GAP--cute, huh? It was cool, so I luckily had packed some leggings that sorta matched the pink in the dress. We don't complain about 60s when we are leaving 20 degrees!

Okay, I really think that Nora and Belle are long lost best friends! Did you see my siggie? Belle carries her Pooh around everywhere! So cute!

How old is Nora exactly? (She seems to be the perfect age. I want to take DD next year and I'm thinking I will take her at that time.) The train story makes me sad for her. Poor thing, she just thought it was a nice little train ride. Little does she know...

Hehe! They very well may be! Nora usually isn't that attached to pooh, but that day she wouldn't put him down! I wish Nora had some little girls to play with. All my friends have boys!

Nora turned 28 months the day we returned from the trip. It's funny because everytime we take her we think, "oh, she's gonna be so much fun this trip, so much better than last time"--and she is! Just keeps getting more fun and such a huge difference in her since our April trip! scary!

My DD's both looked just like that at the same age!! Too funny! I am really enjoying you TR still! Just seems so fun to me.

What do you mean, my little girl is going to grow up?! No! I'm gonna soak up every second!

Glad you are still into my TR. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it entertaining! It's fun reliving it-I'm ready to go back!

 

[Flossbolna]

I love your double report - sharing the burden of reporting between sisters is a great idea!