Princess Crystal and the Search for Briar Rose TR - Updated 9/21 - Day 2

[Briarrose1306]

Before we’d left the park, I called to make a reservation at GK for 7:30 but they didn’t have anything until 8:30 so we decided to just go down at 7:30 to wait thinking we’d get in before 8:30 that way. So after I changed and got my stuff together I headed to down to put our name in and wait. I should have taken the reservation of 8:30 when I had the option as the hostess informed me they would not be taking any more people as they had three parties of 25 and were full up for the night. I was super disappointed as this was my only chance to do GK this trip. Fortunately this was the worst thing that happened this trip and I know I’ll be able to do it some other time. I called DBFF and asked if she wanted to do Steakhouse 55 instead as we could still use our vouchers there and she agreed.

DBFF was a little worried about baby at Steakhouse 55 but we figured it would also be a great trial for her at Club 33 the next day. (I’m so stoked that things worked out and we were able to get a reservation at Club 33!!!)
Baby did great though and I couldn’t have been prouder.

I perused over the drink menu trying to decide between the Blue Glow-tini and Pim’s Punch. At the encouragement of our waiter I went with the Blue Glow-tini.


It was a nice drink, definitely a sipper for me. Very cool looking drink though I think I might have enjoyed the taste of Pim’s Punch more. I ordered the Seven Onion Soup for an appetizer and DBFF got the calamari. Both were delicious and I would definitely recommend the soup to anyone who likes French Onion. Baby loved the calamari!





For our entrees I got the filet mignon with the stack of scalloped potatoes and DBFF got the salmon with asparagus.









The filet was delicious as were the potatoes but I was pretty taken with DBFF’s asparagus too. She said the salmon was just alright and I think she said she’d wished she’d ordered something else. I also got a birthday dessert that was too rich for me to take more than one bite but DBFF had a couple so I didn’t feel too bad about not eating much of it.



Our original plan had been to head back to the park for F! and RDCT but we were all exhausted at that point and baby was definitely going to be ready for bed soon. We decided since we could see the fireworks from our room we’d just head upstairs and do that and make it an early night. Even though I know this was a good idea, a part of me still regrets not going back as it was the only night I could’ve seen F! The show was great though and having the music play through the TV was an awesome experience.
Baby loved the fireworks though and kept signing “more” every time they’d stop for a minute. (DBFF has been teaching her sign language.) Once the fireworks were over I hit the shower to give DBFF time to put baby to bed. Unfortunately she didn’t like the pack n play and ended up sleeping with DBFF. She did love that head board though so we played that a couple times before setting the TV timer and listening to Disney music as we fell asleep.

 

[Briarrose1306]

I know I’ve been gone from this TR for quite some time, but in the interest of finishing what I started, I’m back. On a downside, all my trip notes seem to have disappeared from my iPhone so I will be doing my best for the rest of the TR from pictures and memory. Monday morning we lounged in bed a little bit turning the headboard off and on so baby could hear the music, I honestly lost count of how many times we played it. A great change that had occurred this trip was that my body was now used to getting up earlier and I was always awake before my alarm. Another positive note was that the parks didn’t open until 9am or 10am. We had a 9:20 reservation for Ariel’s Grotto, a first for me, so we got ready and headed to the DCA entrance. I was excited for my first trip to AG for another reason as well, for Christmas this last year DBF had gotten me a replica Aurora crown, so I was excited to wear it to AG.



DBaby was also appropriately dressed in a Cinderella type outfit.



We were quickly let in with the rest of the early morning crowd and since we had 20 minutes until our reservation, I decided to take a quick run on Screamin and TSMM. If memory serves, I believe CS was closed so I was only able to ride TSMM which turned out taking longer than I expected and I was a couple minutes late for our reservation. However, I did score what I believe is a personal best 205,100 which was not only the best in my vehicle but the best of the hour and the best of the day! (So what if the park had only been open 10 minutes. Lol)



It turned out to be no big about being late to the reservation though as there were a lot of families there which also surprised me since it was Monday morning. We went down the staircase and got our picture with Ariel. We wanted to get a picture of just Ariel and the baby but they told us no saying Ariel couldn’t touch the child which really pissed us off when families behind us were able to do it. Here’s our picture though:



The décor was cute with the seaweed like lamps.





We sat for a little bit waiting for the food and the princesses to arrive. We put together the crown for DBaby. She wasn’t sure what to make of it at first but then she got excited realizing it was just another hat.





The food arrived shortly after that. I have to say that I like it better than I thought I would though I wish they gave you more fruit and stuff, the tiered platter seemed to be the best tasting and if I remember correctly, the hot food didn’t stay too warm for very long.







They did bring me a birthday treat as well which looked cute but I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what it was and it tasted strange. I think I had one bit and DBFF had a bite, neither of us could figure out what it was.



After the food was delivered the trumpets began to sound and out came the princesses! Would I be lucky enough to get Aurora? I hoped so; my odds looked pretty good all things considered. Would she like my crown? Would DBaby get a pic with Cinderella?

First out came Snow White. She looked great but Dbaby wasn’t too sure about her.



Then came Princess Aurora!!! I was so excited but unfortunately my interaction with her left a lot to be desired, which would later happen again much to my surprise. And no, she didn’t even comment on my crown. Just a pic and on her way.



Next was Belle who I have to say is usually one of the sweeter princesses I meet but this one seemed to be in tune with Aurora before her and it was a perfunctorily pic and then on her way.



Tiana was our last princesses and thankfully the best. She was very sweet and even wished me a happy birthday. It was only my second time meeting Tiana and I couldn’t help but think of the first time I got to meet her and Naveen. Naveen was a hoot! He was extremely spot on though I didn’t know it at the time as I hadn’t yet seen the Princess and the Frog but he looked over my lanyard and backpack and was quite a fronted that there were no pins of him while Phillip was heavily represented and even Eric a little bit. I tried to apologize, informing him there weren’t many Naveen pins out there to be had and he said he would definitely be talking to someone about that. His requests must’ve landed on deaf ears though because I haven’t seen many more Naveen pins.



All in all the AG experience was okay. It was really loud in there which is to be expected with so many excited little girls, I wonder if it would be better outside? The food was okay and I’d probably eat it again, but the princess interaction just sucked in my opinion and I’m really not liking the princess makeovers they’ve done. I’m just not a fan. All in all I would probably go again but not if I had to pay for anyone other than myself, I just don’t think it would be worth it to me, especially when I usually have better interactions at the PFF, note my use of the word usually.

After ascending the staircase, we headed to the pier where CS was now up and running. I took a spin on that while DBFF took baby to be changed and then we joined up in the TSMM line. DBFF still did pretty decently for having baby on her lap the whole time. And I again ended up with best vehicle. Sadly, my high score from earlier was no more.



We decided to wander around the pier a little bit just taking in all the sights and sounds of the boardwalk. We were both getting thirsty and were looking for somewhere to fill up our water bottles when we happened upon Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta. The super sweet CM had no problem with us filling up our bottles at the soda fountain. So we got a lot of ice then water so we would easily be able to fill up again later.

We continued on our path around the bay and stopped at a souvenir stand near the Corndog Castle, a place I definitely wanted to visit later so I could have a hot link corndog. We play around with getting DBaby a set of Cinderella ears but we were worried she wouldn’t keep them on and they’d end up on the ground more than on her head, but she sure looked cute trying them on!



She did however find this little guy that she would hold onto.



Auntie caved and bought Perry for her along with an Aurora’s crown emblem for herself and a WoC shot glass for dad (which is a bit of a joke as we waited two hours for the show back in May 2011 only to have it cut out 2 minutes into the show so he’s never seen it.)
We got some FP for WoC later that night which we would end up not using but it was with good intentions. Then we headed over to A Bug’s Land, an area I’ve spent very little time in as I never really had a reason to. It’s a very cute and well themed land. I think the only ride we rode was HCCT and I could not believe how long that line took! Again though I loved the themeing.









I remember DBaby getting restless at this point so I think we decided to head back to the hotel to rest a little bit and change as we had a very special lunch coming up. We did stop in a couple shops in DTD where I finally got my Minnie Ears!



And Dbaby found another hat she liked too!



Next up, a very special lunch!