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

Hi All! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I hope you're still with me! Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday season. We certainly had a busy one, but fun of course! I'm definitely bummed that I don't have a Disney vacation to look forward to or plan, but I'm going to have to live vicariously through my trip report! So, here we go...

DAY FIVE! Wow, the time went fast on this vacation! It always seems to on any good Disney vacation. Must be because we always fit so much into each day-no downtime. Anyway, here was our plan for day five:

Sunday, November 23rd:

*K&S small snack in room before we leave

7:30AM: Kelly and Sarah leave Poly for MK

8:30AM: Kelly and Sarah "Keys to the Kingdom" tour

9:00AM: Mammie and Nora Sleep-in? Hang out at resort, poolside

*Mammie and Nora - CS bfast to share or bfast in the room

3:00PM: Lunch at Coral Reef Restaurant at EPCOT (1 TS credit/person)
-CM noted request for near tank in ressie. Request at podium checking in as well.

VISA photo pass (1:30-4:30)

4:00PM: Tour the World Showcase (snacks for dinner!)

(3 TS, 2 CS, 3 S)

(MK extra magic hours PM)
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So, I was just thinking that I don't think I'm going to have many pictures to post for this day. Maybe this is a relief to some of you! :rotfl: Hehe. We weren't allowed to take photos on a lot of the Keys to the Kingdom Tour and Mom definitely didn't take any of her morning alone with Nora, but anyway, on we go!

As planned, Sarah and I got up early and were raring to go for our tour! Let me give you a bit of background about this. The last time we were all together prior to this trip was in September. We were all home at Mom's house in Maine for the weekend. Sarah had told me that she had an early birthday present for me and I had been bugging her about it for weeks-asking her to give me hints and whatnot. So, one morning when it was just Sarah and I in the house she got up early (!!!) I know, huge shocker:scared1: . I was curious as to what she was doing. Well, she had sent up a treasure hunt for me with clues to find my prize (birthday gift). It was really cool and fun. Once at the final clue I found an elaborately made card with a beautiful cutout (scrapbooky <-- I think I just made up a word) of Cinderella's Castle that said "Unlock the Magic" on the outside, then on the inside was the date and time of our tour. She also got me the Disney trivia book that I had mentioned earlier-the one that I got all the daily trivia questions from. So, anyway, the Keys to the Kingdom tour was something we had both been looking forward to for months, although as it got closer I got a little nervous about it possibly ruining some of the magic! I knew we'd be going in the utilidor and behind the scenes and I wasn't sure I was prepared for that! Was I?!

Okay. Sarah and I were up early and out of 3937 Tokelau by 7:30AM. We wanted to get to MK with plenty of time before the tour, because we knew it would be almost empty on Main Street and we could take some pics and do some hunting for hidden mickeys. When we arrived at the gate we weren't sure where to go so we asked a friendly group of CMs. They directed us towards the "breakfast" entrance. This is for guests with breakfast reservations within the MK. We just had to tell them we were there for KTTK and we were let right through. Unfortunately, there was a family there who had forgotten their park passes (yikes) and the mother was frantically searching through all the bags to try to find them--opps. She was really upset because she was going to have to go back to their resort to get them! Oh no! And miss their breakfast reservation :( I felt really bad for her, because there were like 6 other family members and they were all looking at her, like "mom, what'd you do?!" Why is it always the Mom's fault when something goes wrong?!:headache: grr....anyway....We went right over to City Hall to check in for the tour.
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At the KTTK check-in we were given name tags and then had to chose what we would want for lunch at the Columbia Harbour House. Sarah and I each got different meals, figuring we could share popcorn:: There were bottles of water and coffee for the guests taking the tour too. We were told to meet back at the garden outside Town Hall at 8:25AM. This meant we had quite a bit of time to wander around Main Street. I had brought my Hidden Mickeys book, so we decided to put that to use. The first thing we did was go to the upstairs of the train station and check out the view. It was weird to be in MK with so few people around-I dunno, there was something just not right about it-just didn't seem like MK to me without people filling Main Street!
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Sarah and I had both read about Lady and the Tramp's paws in the concrete outside Tony's Town Square Restaurant but had never seen them before, so this was on our list of must sees. Yay! We found them! (as Nor would say)
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Of course, while there, we had to say Hi to this guy!
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Then we found a lady nice enough to snap our photo. Check out those awesome name tags!
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Now it was time for some hidden Mickey hunting. We started down Main Street to begin our search. Let me just say, that eventhough I own the book, I still find it hard to find some of the hidden mickeys. I think I take it to literally and don't use my imagination enough, but whatever. So, the first one we were looking for was in the jewelery store windows. Well, we even used the HINT section and couldn't find the darn thing! Thank goodness there weren't many people around to see the frustration on our faces as we peered in each window! Here is another look at the very quiet Main Street.
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So, I'm pretty sure we didn't end up finding ANY hidden mickeys that morning. Such DIS failures I know! There's always the next trip to try for more. At this point it was getting close to time to meet for the start of the tour, so we headed back to the garden outside City Hall.
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While waiting, we chatted with a nice CM from guest relations. He was telling us a bit about the KTTK tour and was wondering who our tourguide would be, as the guides are also members of guest relations. Oh, my goodness, I am getting so distracted trying to write up this part of the TR for some reason. But, I just have to share this pic I just came across while looking for KTTK pics...
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That is Nora on her first Disney trip! Waa! I can't believe how little she was. Okay, sorry, I am really going to focus now-I promise! Where were we? Oh, yes, in the garden waiting for the start of the tour. So, a little group had formed-I think there were 10 of us altogether. Soon, a female CM dressed in a plaid skirt, a vest and a jockey cap joined us (she explained to us later that this whole "jockey" motif was considered very high class, back in the days when the tours began and that one of the Disney women-I can't remember who, I particular-came up with the idea for the uniform). She introduced herself as Jackie and that she would be our guide and that her tours usually run for almost 5 hours (!!!) Wow, we were going to be busy! We were each given headsets to wear, and as Jackie had a microphone attached to her lapel, we were able to listen to her talk as we walked through the park. We started our way down Main Street at 8:30AM sharp. She began by telling us about the significance of the names in the shop windows along Main Street and all about the reasons why MK was designed the way it is and the tricks that are used to make things seem the way the Imagineers intended them to be seen. Believe me, there was a LOT of thought that went into the layout of the Magic Kingdom! I don't want to give anything away, so I'm going to try to continue to be pretty vague about what Jackie said and what we saw. We made our first stop while we were still on Main Street. Jackie took us down one of the little "alley ways" along the right hand side (as you're heading towards the castle) of Main street. We we care all given the chance to sit down as Jackie told us the 4 Keys to the Kingdom. She asked us to try to site examples of each, and explained how the "keys" are taken very seriously by everyone at Disney and that they are something that the CMs are conscious of everyday. Also, while sitting in this quiet little spot, she pointed out one of the windows on the second floor-it said Voice&Piano lessons-she told us to listen--and guess what, we could hear a piano lesson going on! I never knew this or had discovered it in the numerous times we'd been to MK! She said that everyday during park hours you can hear various "students" having either a voice or a piano lesson. How cool, don't you think?! By the time Jackie starting leading us back to Main Street the gates of the MK had officially opened and the "running of the bulls" as Jackie called it, had started. I never realized what a mad dash people make down Main Street! People were seriously sprinting, I guess wanting to be the first ones on certain rides? I dunno, but it was quite comical to watch. Hehe. We tried to stay out of the way, as to not get trampled over, and continued down Main Street. When we got to the corner Jackie showed us Walt's name and explained why it was there. Do any of you know where it is? ;) Off topic, my daughter is laying in bed (supposed to be sleepingprincess: ) and singing "Where is Thumbkin"--haha.......After a brief discussion about how and why the land was purchased in Orlando for Disney World we were off to Adventureland. Jackie talked a lot about how important it was to Walt that when guests were in each separate land they really felt that they were in the jungle, or the frontier, etc. She explained that a CM from Fantasyland would never be in Frontierland, because that would look very out of place. One of the coolest examples of this was the Crystal Palace. She had us stop and look at it before we went over the bridge to Adventureland. I had never noticed before, but the left hand side (or Main street) half of the building is very bright and victorian looking, while the side on Adventureland has a lot of vegetation and bright green awnings on the windows. When pointed out, it was such a striking difference, but it was another thing that we had never noticed before! While in Adventureland we got to ride the Jungle Cruise, but instead of the usually boatguide, Jackie told us all about the background and secrets of the ride. The water, for example is actually dyed and the boats are powered by natural gas. Later in the tour, when we were "back stage" we got to see where the boats are stored and loaded. Although we didn't ride Pirates of the Caribbean on the KTTK tour Jackie did give us some info on that famous ride as well. Supposedly, POTC was never going to be a part of Disney World, but people who had visited Disneyland kept asking where the ride was, so it was later decided to build one in MK. From Adventureland we continued on to Frontierland where it was time (!!!!) to go back stage! Oh, so I think I forgot to mention that the CM refer to MK like a play or production. So when one is working and in "costume" she is on stage and when behind the scenes she is back stage. Get it? Okay, good! So, right next to Splash Mountain is where we went back stage. I was definitely nervous about this part, but excited as well. There was a line painted on the ground which Jackie informed us was the point at which guests could see you so you had to act as though you were on stage. Also, as we were back stage the train passed by. We all waved and put on our "stage" faces :) Wow, was it crazy to be back stage! Totally unbelievable! Again, I don't want to give anything away, but it is just crazy, as you may imagine! We got to see where the parade floats are stored and Jackie explained the process involved in operating and maintaining the floats. She told us all about the trash collection system throughout the MK and that there are no recycling containers because there are CMs who actually sort through all the garbage by hand! One of the craziest things, I thought, was seeing the backside of Splash Mt and the holding tank for the water. Also, it was so weird to see people working back stage, just going about their daily tasks thinking nothing of us being there. Hehe. By the time we were back on stage it was almost lunch time. We walked over to Liberty Square, our heads being filled with Disney knowledge the entire time! Before lunch at the Columbia Harbour House Jackie was going to take us on The Haunted Mansion, but it was again experiencing "Spiritual Difficulties"- Bummer. I had really wanted to ride HM and find out all the fun facts. She filled us in quite a bit at lunchtime, though. There was an area upstairs at the CHH that was reserved for our tour. When we got there our lunches were all set out with our names and a special gift-a Key to the Kingdom pin. Yay! Lunch was yummy and it was nice to have a little break. Jackie actually was seated with Sarah and I so we got to pick her brain a little more about her job and how she got involved with guest relations and what not. It was very interesting and I think Sarah and I both left there wanting her job!! ;) Hmm..I'm trying to remember what we did after lunch. I think we basically made our way back towards Main Street, stopping a few times along the way for tidbits of info, or for Jackie to point out something interesting to us. Oh, she did show us that the CHH building followed the same idea as the Crystal Palace. Next time you're there, check out the difference between the Liberty Square side of the CHH versus the Fantasyland side. Very different! Oh, this was cool--no bathrooms in Liberty Square--because in that time period, there were no bathrooms. Okay, so it was finally time--we were going to go down to the Utilidor! The underground of the MK! First, we had to get back stage. We got there through one of the shops on Main Street--right next to Casey's. Holy Cow--being back stage behind Main Street was even more crazy than by Splash Mt! You guys need to see it! Just unbelievable! We went down to the utilidor and to me it felt like being in the basement of a hospital-long hallways, no windows. There were CMs bustling around everywhere-to them it's just another day at work--what a weird thing, right?! For us it's another amazing day on vacation and to them it's just work! I think the utilidor was color-coded and there was signage everywhere stating what entrance to use to get to each land. Remember, no Liberty Square CMs could be in Tomorrowland! While in the utilidor we were shown a video about the Laundry service and uniform center and about the Central controls. The laundry video was craaaazy! Sarah and I both agreed that working at the laundry facility would NOT be fun! We came up from the utilidor on the other side of Main Street. Jackie showed us where and how TinkerBell makes her flight during "Wishes" Wow, another job I would NOT be interested in! When we re-entered Main Street, on stage, we definitely looked at it in a different light. It is still so amazing to me the immense thought and planning that went in to designing the MK and what takes place every single day to make the MK operational and MAGICAL! Back at the garden outside City hall we ended our tour and said our goodbyes and thank yous to Jackie. What a busy day it had been. We could hardly wait to get back to the Poly and share our new found knowledge with Grammie and Nora!

As you all can probably tell from my synopsis, we really enjoyed the Keys to the Kingdom tour and would highly recommend it. You definitely get a new appreciation for those that made all the magic happen. I hope I didn't go into too much detail. Oh, I also wanted to mention--when Sarah was here celebrating Christmas with us, we happened to catch a show on History channel called "Modern Marvels" and it was about Disney World. I'm not sure if any of you have seen it, but boy, it was like being on KTTK all over again! The showed covered a ton of the material that Jackie talked about and even showed video of in the utilidor. If you get a chance, it's a really good show-and might help you to decide whether KTTK would be good for you! :) Although, I don't know how many times Sarah and I looked at eachother and were like, "what the heck did we pay for, we could of just watched this show!" :laughing:

Up Next.......

Who is Babysitting Who?! and Are we Destined Never to eat at the Coral Reef?!:confused3
 
I think I would love this tour. The reasoning behind the theming is just amazing to me! Thanks for explaining it so well.
 
My DD and I are going on this tour during our March trip!! I am so excited as I have wanted to do it for years, but have never gotten the chance. We have it booked mid week and at the 8:30 tour too!! I am wanting some of those empty park photos also. We got some a few years back when we had a breakfast ressie at the Castle.
So glad to get another "installment" from your vacation! Ill have to hop to your sisters and see if she has posted another dining one!
 

Great update! We did the KTTK Tour last January and absolutely loved it. I thought it was such a fantastic experience to be able to see back stage. I think I appreciate on stage even more now. :goodvibes Oh and the picture of your daughter is too cute!! :goodvibes

Now I have to hop over to the dining review!
 
Doing a great job with your trip report. I'm glad you posted a message in your sisters Dining Report, or else I would have missed it. Your little one is so adorable.
 

YAY!:goodvibes

Ready for another post sister! :cheer2:

:banana:

I think I would love this tour. The reasoning behind the theming is just amazing to me! Thanks for explaining it so well.

Yes, it really is amazing! I mean they literally thought of EVERYTHING! If you get a chance to do it-go for it. Thanks for reading!:wizard:

My DD and I are going on this tour during our March trip!! I am so excited as I have wanted to do it for years, but have never gotten the chance. We have it booked mid week and at the 8:30 tour too!! I am wanting some of those empty park photos also. We got some a few years back when we had a breakfast ressie at the Castle.
So glad to get another "installment" from your vacation! Ill have to hop to your sisters and see if she has posted another dining one!

Oh, I hope you enjoy as much as we did! I think going for the early tour is good not just to see the empty MK, but when the tour is over you still have a good part of the day to fit in other things. Your trip is just around the corner!:yay:

I posted on my dining report and I'm working on another installment - come on over! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=29433679#post29433679 :banana: :banana:

Geez, look at you advertising on my thread! popcorn::

Great update! We did the KTTK Tour last January and absolutely loved it. I thought it was such a fantastic experience to be able to see back stage. I think I appreciate on stage even more now. :goodvibes Oh and the picture of your daughter is too cute!! :goodvibes

Now I have to hop over to the dining review!

You are definitely right about appreciating on stage more after KTTK. Disney World is just such an incredibly magical place! Oh, and thanks for the compliment of Nora. She is such a good little princessprincess: Glad you're enjoying BOTH the trip reports!

Doing a great job with your trip report. I'm glad you posted a message in your sisters Dining Report, or else I would have missed it. Your little one is so adorable.

Thanks! We think she's a "keeper" :laughing: So happy that you like my TR or should I say our trip reports. We definitely are having a great time writing them!
 
Loving the trip report! The separate dining report and trip report is so fun to read through ~I love getting two tales of the same trip :)
 
I've been wanting to do the tour for a while now. It sounds great!
 
I love your TR!!! Cant wait for more!!! Nora is such a cutie!!!
 
Hi There,

I just finished reading your sister's entire Food Report and now I'm starting on yours. Only on the first page, but I'll finish up tomorrow- now that I "know" you all, I think I'll feel right at home here :lovestruc
 
I love your report and I love seeing teh pics of my favourite resort, POLY:lovestruc :lovestruc , I can't wait to go back!
Thanks! The Poly definitely was great. I really hope we get the chance to go back as well!

:goodvibes Joining you! Thanks!!:wave:
Great! The more the merrier!:woohoo:

Loving the trip report! The separate dining report and trip report is so fun to read through ~I love getting two tales of the same trip :)
So glad you are joining both of us. I have to try to stay away from the food boards. Makes me huuungrypopcorn:: hehe!

I've been wanting to do the tour for a while now. It sounds great!
Definitely do it if you get a chance. There is so much Disney knowledge to be shared!:wizard:

I love your TR!!! Cant wait for more!!! Nora is such a cutie!!!
Yay! So happy you like it! Speaking of cuties-is that your daughter?! So sweet! How old?

Hi There,

I just finished reading your sister's entire Food Report and now I'm starting on yours. Only on the first page, but I'll finish up tomorrow- now that I "know" you all, I think I'll feel right at home here :lovestruc

That's wonderful! I like that people are bouncing between the reports--you get the full feel of our vacation that way. :goodvibes
 
Any updates coming soon?? Sooooo looking forward to more :goodvibes
 
Joining! I'm enjoying your TR a lot so far, Nora is so cute! We're from the same neck of the woods too I see, we're in Rochester :wave2: and because of that....

I got a good laugh out of the lifeguard all bundled up. All I could think was 60 degrees? Dude, it's gonna be like -4 here tomorrow, come on!! lol

My DD's first trip to WDW is in May, she'll be 19 months old at the time, I'm looking forward to it and have been reading trip reports where little ones were involved so I'm loving yours. I'm anxious to see how my DD is going to react to the characters, she tends to bury her head in my shoulder when we meet strangers but I'm hoping she doesn't do that to Mickey (of all people! he's no stranger lol)
 
Any updates coming soon?? Sooooo looking forward to more :goodvibes

Yes! :) I have been wanting to post for a while now but I am patiently (well, maybe impatiently;)) waiting for Sarah to upload some pics to photobucket so I can use them. Her old computer got a virus:scared1: so she's got to be careful transferring files over to her NEW computer. I promise a brand new post tonight! -Kelly
p.s. I'm glad you're looking forward to more:cheer2:
 
Joining! I'm enjoying your TR a lot so far, Nora is so cute! We're from the same neck of the woods too I see, we're in Rochester :wave2: and because of that....

I got a good laugh out of the lifeguard all bundled up. All I could think was 60 degrees? Dude, it's gonna be like -4 here tomorrow, come on!! lol

My DD's first trip to WDW is in May, she'll be 19 months old at the time, I'm looking forward to it and have been reading trip reports where little ones were involved so I'm loving yours. I'm anxious to see how my DD is going to react to the characters, she tends to bury her head in my shoulder when we meet strangers but I'm hoping she doesn't do that to Mickey (of all people! he's no stranger lol)

Hi! I'm so glad you're enjoying my TR. I was hoping to have my next post up by now, but it is my goal for tonight (after the little princess goes to bed). My husband and I actually both did our undergrad at RIT so we are very familiar with Rochester, although we aren't originally from NY-we're both from Maine. But, anyway, just thought I'd throw that in there. We miss Rochester. I want to take Nora up to the Strong Museum. Have you taken your DD there? Oh, and my daughter was 20 months when we took her to Disney last April. She was no where near as into the characters as she was this past visit, but she wasn't really scared either. More of a ho hum attitude I guess:laughing: Here we are with Minnie and Mickey on that trip:
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I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. Just seeing her reactions to all the sights and sounds will be well worth it! Okay, I'll stop blabbing now ;)
-Kelly
 
Day FIVE- Part TWO!

Okay, Okay. I know I have been a total slacker in not finishing up day five. But, I promise I have a good excuse. I actually am going to blame Sarah, because I have been waiting for her to upload some pics I was hoping to use to photobucket. She has had computer problems (including a virus!:scared1: ), however, and eventhough she got a new computer she hasn't yet been able to transfer her old files over. I have had the first part of this post written for a while, so tonight, Sarah photos or no Sarah photos I am going to finish day 5! Yes, that means resisting the temptation to watch AI (eventhough I think it's kinda lame for the first few weeks)..but I digress.

So, when I left you Sarah and I were just finishing up our "Keys to the Kingdom" tour. Although we were itching to go back into the MK and hit some rides we figured we better go back to the Poly and check on Grammie and Nora. We hopped on the mon-e-rail (such a perk to staying at the POLY) and headed "home." It was almost 1:30PM by the time we were back at 3937 Tokelau. We were returning at prime naptime so we made sure to be very quiet as we entered the room. The TV was on (cartoons of course) but what should we happen to find?! Grammie and Nora both laying in bed together-only problem, Grammie sound asleep and Nora awake watching Mickey cartoons! Believe me, we didn't let Mom live that one down! Our reservation at the Coral Reef wasn't until 3PM, so I still had hope for Nora getting at least a cat nap in. Sarah had said she wanted to go swimming, so while she got changed I got Nora back down-in her crib this time! I didn't feel like swimming so I just went along and took some pictures.

Sar swam in the quiet pool, which she had all to herself. She won't let me post the picture of her getting in the pool-haha-eventhough it is from far away-haha again, okay that was mean-just kidding. Anyway, here is a pic that doesn't include the pool (or Sarah) but is taken from the quiet pool area. :)
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After Sarah's quick dip we walked down to the volcano pool.
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Here is the children's play area:
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Since we had yet to spend much time here we decided to make it a priority for the morning. We knew that Nora would love the zero-entry pool, as the pool at SSR had zero-entry and was perfect for her! Yikes, enough "relaxing" we had to get back to the room to prepare for yet another meal! We let the princess sleep for as long as possible while we all got ready. When she woke up, however, she had more mail! Who would it be from!?

Dear Nora,
How nice of you to come visit me and all the other princesses! What a big girl you are! I heard that you are going to eat at the Coral Reef Restaurant today! Please say "Hi" to all my fish friends! Maybe Flounder will be there?! I hope you are having fun with Mama, Mammie, and Aunnie!
Love,
Ariel

Is anyone else noticing that these princesses sure use a lot of exclamation points?!:laughing:

Full of excitement (and not so much hunger) for trying the Coral Reef for the first time, we were off to Epcot. We boarded the mon-e-rail at the TTC and figured we'd be cutting it close but would probably just make our 3PM reservation. Well, that assumption was only if everything went smoothly----The ride to Epcot was uneventful. A pretty basic monorail ride. As we entered Epcot and were circling around the Future World "loop" the monorail stopped. The pre-recorded message came on, "the monorail has stopped to let other monorail traffic ahead clear, etc, we will be moving momentarily." Okay, no big deal. We waited, and waited. Finally the monorail driver came on and said that there was an issue at the "terminal" and we'd be moving in just a few minutes. Well, the minutes ticked by and soon our hopes for arriving at the Coral Reef on time were diminishing. The worst part was that from where the monorail was stopped we could actually see the sign for the Coral Reef Restaurant !!

[Imagine photo taken from monorail with The Living Seas in the Distance]

After 5-10 more minutes the driver came back over the radio and said that there was a "security issue" and that a "suspicious bag" had been left on the monorail track and that they were calling in security. Um....okay, so how long does it take for security to get there?! GEEZ! We have reservations people! Of course, we didn't have the direct number to the Coral Reef, so Sarah decided to call the Disney dining line and explain the situation. We were hoping that they could hold our reservation considering the circumstances! The CM on the phone was really confused--"stuck on the monorail, what do you mean?" Actually, I think she found it kind of comical-did she Sarah? She tried to get ahold of the restaurant for us but they weren't answering their phone and of course they didn't have any later reservations. Bummer! Would we be destined to be 0-2 on eating at the coral reef?! When we finally got clearance and were moving again, everyone clapped--especially Nora-she was getting quite impatient! By the time we were through the gates of Epcot it was 3:45PM!! 45 minutes after our reservation at the Coral Reef. :( Better luck next trip! Oh, and on our way in we caught sight of the bomb sniffing dogs! Definitely a Disney first for us!

As chronic planners, missing our ressie really threw us for a loop. Now what?! Luckily we had done our research and thanks to the DISboards had heard that Sunshine Seasons offered a great counter service meal. Okay, we would head that way. Also on our list was doing the VISA character meet and greet. (Gotta take advantage of those Disney Visa perks you know;)) With a new "plan" etched out we were back in the home of the "Great Big Ball."

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Since the Disney Visa Character Meet and Greet was only open 'til 4:30PM we figured we better head there before our dinner(?). Now, I had written down specific instructions on our itinerary of how to locate this place and we still ended up asking a CM. I find the Innovation areas to be very confusing and always get turned around in them! :confused3 hehe. Now, Nora was very mad when we were at EPCOT earlier in the week that we didn't stop to see the characters. The regular character meet and greet areas can be seen when passing through the corridor-through the windows. She didn't understand why we couldn't just bang on the windows and say "HI"! We were hoping that these characters would satisfy her. When we found the meet and great spot there was only one family in front of us. I heard the mom ask the CM who was handling the line which characters were inside and she answered, "That is a surprise. All I can tell you is that there are more than 1 and less than 4 characters here" Um...okay. It was only a few minutes and the suspense was over....Goofy and Minnie! Two of Nora's favorites!
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Nora had a good time interacting with Minnie and Goofy and we were not rushed at all--which is so nice with a sometimes timid 2 year old! Nora actually gave Goofy a special treat--a big Nora kiss! I think Minnie was jealous! HA!
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Then we all posed. (Included with the DIS Visa was a "free" 5x7 photo from the session, so we wanted to make sure to get a good one of us all)
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After saying our goodbyes to Minnie and Goofy it was a quick walk over to "The Land" for our Coral Reef replacement Sunshine Seasons. You can get all the dish on our meal over on Sarah's thread(http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028255&page=7), but let me just say one thing-this was the one meal that I got thoroughly frustrated with Nora. She didn't want to eat or sit still and by this time in the trip we were all getting a bit testy if you know what I mean. I try to be a patient Mommy but I get disappointed when "little miss perfect" doesn't act so perfect. Reminder to self: SHE'S 2!!! Okay, so anyway, we filled our bellies and decided to head onward with no real plan in place! Yikes! That doesn't sound like us! :eek:

Where we found ourselves, after a quick potty break, was at the "Journey Into Imagination." None of us had been on this ride since it was refurbished/redone so we were curious. I must say I was disappointed. I think I preferred the classic FIGMENT version better although I have to admit I don't remember too much about the original ride!
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Nora wasn't too impressed with the ride but did like what we found afterwards. Lots of fun things at "ImageWorks."
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This spot was her favorite. As you can probably guess, the kids stepped on the "instruments" and they would play music.
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Although Nora had gotten out a lot of energy between running on the benches at dinner and playing at the Imagination Pavilion, she still wasn't ready to get in her stroller. Luckily Grammie convinced her of the "Grammie mode of transport" :)
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Off to tackle World Showcase and use up some snack credits we went! Our first stop was in Canada where there was a band playing. I think they may have been a Bryan Adams cover band (some one on here probably knows exactly) because when got there they were finishing up their performance with "Summer of '69" Nora decided to shake a leg--so cute! I got some great video of her dancing except this group of people standing behind her decided it would be funny to get in my video--grr.. I didn't notice it until my DH pointed it out when we were showing him the videos from the trip when we got home. How rude and annoying! Okay, back up on Grammie's shoulders-next stop UK. Sarah and I browsed in the shops while Grammie and Nora checked out the "British Invasion." Nor didn't seem as into the Beatles as Bryan Adams-haha! Ohh..I just thought of something Sarah forgot to add in her food report. In UK we picked up some chocolates that we unanimously decided we just HAD to try right at that moment. YUM! Melt in your mouth. Nora kept putting her hand out for more!

After our chocolate fix it was time for our first real snack of the evening. We already knew where we would go for that-France. Sarah will tell you all about it, but YUM YUM--I can't wait to go back for one of those! There. Did that make you jump right over to her thread to see what I was referring to?! ;) We continued on at a slow and relaxed pace. By this time Nora had given up and agreed to ride in the stroller! Yea, real shocker there! The crowds were not too heavy so we just really enjoyed the atmosphere. We stopped in Germany and admired my dh's favorite spot-the beer cart there. I love the toy shop there, so that was also a must do. If I remember correctly, Grammie picked up a Christmas gift for Nor here.
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In China there was some sort of performance going on. Hmm...trying to remember what. I obviously don't have any pictures of it, but I think it was some sort of balancing or "acrobatic" type show. ??? Sorry, that is not like me to forget details! We stopped for a few minutes to watch. Eventhough our bellies weren't quite ready for more food, we found ourselves in Norway and knew there were treats we were dying to try.
(Sarah, can you explain? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2028255&page=7) As we made it to the end of the World Showcase we were all sufficiently full, tired, and grouchy--yes, that can happen even at the Happiest Place on Earth! We agreed to head toward the "Great Big Ball."

We made sure to stop at the photo center before we left to chose our free 5x7 VISA photo. The photopass photographer actually got some really good shots and it was difficult to pick one. Mom ended up with her favorite and since she was the financial contributor to our trip we opted she keep the photo. Such nice girls we are, huh? In no time we had boarded the mon-e-rail and were back home sweet home at the POLY. As had become customary we all feel asleep to classic Mickey cartoons dreaming of what was in store for us on our last :sad1: full day in Disney.

Up NEXT:

Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT- OH MY!
 
LOVED your last installment! Thanks for all the delicious details, and YES, I will hop over to your sis's report and read about all the yummy treats she has to tell us about ;) Bomb dogs????!!!!! :scared1: I always thought that WDW would be a tempting target, but am glad to hear they seem to be on task for keeping us safe!

Thanks for your hard work on your report. Always so many fun things you do!
 












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