PRINCESS Palooza 2011! 9/9 Update: Departure Day

[Caretames1]

What! That's how you leave off! Good one, I love a good cliff hanger!

I just finished making my ADR's and I'm so hungry, and the pretzel rod talk isn't helping. I've already decided that Fudruckers is going to be part of my grocery shopping trip today. It should happen before or I may buy out the store!

Actually I have from 3:00 to 3:03 blocked out for rest tomorrow, so all is good.

That long! I think I slept from 12:00 to 12:03 last night. Knowing I was making my adr's was almost as exciting as actually go to Disney!

 

[mom2rtk]

What! That's how you leave off! Good one, I love a good cliff hanger!

I just finished making my ADR's and I'm so hungry, and the pretzel rod talk isn't helping. I've already decided that Fudruckers is going to be part of my grocery shopping trip today. It should happen before or I may buy out the store!






That long! I think I slept from 12:00 to 12:03 last night. Knowing I was making my adr's was almost as exciting as actually go to Disney!

So did you get everything you wanted?

I need to put a list together soon for us. We're just over a month after you if I stick with the original plan and go the same week in December. I think I'm going to jump in with both feet and commit to that week very soon. I checked the school website and she would still have a solid week of school left after we get back. So I'm just gonna go with it I think.

I'll get an update posted today, but probably later. I have to leave in about 20 minutes for a while.

So I guess Jen had to make her ADR's too? Isn't she there the same time? Jen...... how are the ADR's coming?

I'm struggling a little with what I want to do this trip. I want to try some new things, but I don't want to NOT do the things we always do. Hmmmm..... gonna have to break the time/space continuum or some such thing.....

 

[mom2rtk]

124 Continued:

OK, I couldn't resist getting started before heading out today.

I hang out here on the DIS a lot. And I see a lot of people jumping on other people, I see people judging others, I see people being just downright rude and nasty. But after our last trip, my faith in the people of the DIS is fully restored.

When they announced the characters for MNSSHP last year and I saw Gaston would be there, I almost changed our October turned December trip BACK into an October trip! But with Timmy's cross country schedule, I really couldn't. So I hoped they might have him out for MVMCP building up interest in the Fantasyland expansion. But alas, the first party came and went.... and no Gaston.

One day I posted something in a thread about wishing they had more rare characters out in the parks. Someone asked who I was hoping to see. I said anyone different. Or maybe just Gaston. They posted back saying that could be arranged, and eventually PM'd me. They knew one of the stage managers at BATB and could possibly arrange a meeting. I gave them some dates and soon they confirmed back to check in at the podium 20 minutes before show time at the 11:30 show that day, and we'd be given VIP seating and a meeting with Gaston after the show. It really looked like this year was going to end SO much better!

Katie changed into her Belle gown and we headed for the theater.


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Once we got to the podium, I gave them our names and.......... nothing. We weren't on the list. She asked if we were the (insert name here) family. And I said no. That must have been the group for the princess of the day. She asked why we were there and explained. She said she could seat us in the VIP area, but probably couldn't help with Gaston. Sigh. Really? She said they were doing some construction in the backstage area and weren't doing meet & greets right now. YIKES. Was it possible that after an entire year, that lightning could strike twice?????

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

And just when I spent my whole morning catching up!

That's okay, though. Your trip report is so wonderful that it is well worth the agony of a little suspense.

Can't wait to see what happened!

I love your trip reports, Janet. I am so glad Eve and I got to meet you a few years ago at the tea party for Alice in the Grand Floridian. Eve has told me that is the most important repeat for our trip this August.

Since we have AP's this year, I am thinking about a December trip, too. It would be wonderful to say hello again. Can you believe Eve will be 8 years old in less than a month? She was only 4 when we went to the tea party in December 2008.

I am going to try to do one or two gowns for our trips this year, before she is too old for dressing up. She has already outgrown her Sleeping Beauty dress (2008) and Jasmine and Snow White dresses (2010). We are thinking about Belle for 2012 or maybe a pink Cinderella gown. It's so hard to decide, but reading your trip reports always gives us great ideas!

 

[Glennie5]

I really hope that you and Katie got to meet Gaston! I can't imagine that after they saw Katie in her Belle gown that they could say no to her. Her dress is absolutely stunning and she looks beautiful in it.

 

[fairestoneofall]

124 Continued:



Once we got to the podium, I gave them our names and.......... nothing. We weren't on the list. She asked if we were the (insert name here) family. And I said no. That must have been the group for the princess of the day. She asked why we were there and explained. She said she could seat us in the VIP area, but probably couldn't help with Gaston. Sigh. Really? She said they were doing some construction in the backstage area and weren't doing meet & greets right now. YIKES. Was it possible that after an entire year, that lightning could strike twice?????

i'm really hoping for a happy ending. we had something similar happen to our 1900 reservation on our trip. it was set up by a cast member. but when we arrived, we weren't on the list. thankfully, they got us in. i hope your story's ending is similar!!

 

[Caretames1]

Really .....again.......


ADR's went well! I did pick a couple things we've not done so that will be fun to do.

 

[francis6306]

Oh that is just cruel.

 

[mom2rtk]

And just when I spent my whole morning catching up!

That's okay, though. Your trip report is so wonderful that it is well worth the agony of a little suspense.

Can't wait to see what happened!

I love your trip reports, Janet. I am so glad Eve and I got to meet you a few years ago at the tea party for Alice in the Grand Floridian. Eve has told me that is the most important repeat for our trip this August.

Since we have AP's this year, I am thinking about a December trip, too. It would be wonderful to say hello again. Can you believe Eve will be 8 years old in less than a month? She was only 4 when we went to the tea party in December 2008.

I am going to try to do one or two gowns for our trips this year, before she is too old for dressing up. She has already outgrown her Sleeping Beauty dress (2008) and Jasmine and Snow White dresses (2010). We are thinking about Belle for 2012 or maybe a pink Cinderella gown. It's so hard to decide, but reading your trip reports always gives us great ideas!

Thanks Amy! I really can't believe Evie is going to be 8. That's just so wrong!

And I don't blame you one bit for considering another trip on your AP's. I'd be doing the same thing. It's probably best that I never have AP's. The airfare would kill me!

I really hope that you and Katie got to meet Gaston! I can't imagine that after they saw Katie in her Belle gown that they could say no to her. Her dress is absolutely stunning and she looks beautiful in it.

i'm really hoping for a happy ending. we had something similar happen to our 1900 reservation on our trip. it was set up by a cast member. but when we arrived, we weren't on the list. thankfully, they got us in. i hope your story's ending is similar!!

Really .....again.......


ADR's went well! I did pick a couple things we've not done so that will be fun to do.

Oh that is just cruel.

Sorry about that everyone. Our morning errand took WAY longer than I expected. I'm working on the next update now!

 

[mesaboy2]

I'm starting to not like you as much.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm starting to not like you as much.

LOL! Blame the DIS. I just hit "enter" on the update and it came back with a message about it having been too long since I last signed in. Sooooo..... POOF!

Sigh......

I'll keep at it.............

 

[Glennie5]

I am just tucking the girls in for bed but I am going to take my computer with me just incase you get in another update tonight.

 

[mom2rtk]

12/14 Continued:


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They went ahead and seated down in front. A couple different people came out to talk to us. One asked if I knew the actor personally. I wanted to lie and say he was my long lost son, but I went with the truth and explained that a friend of the stage manager had arranged it for us. Soon after, someone came back out and put our minds at ease. He said they had worked it out, and that we should stay put after the show and when the crowd was gone, he'd come get us!

With that settled, we sat back and enjoyed the show. I probably have more photos of this show on my computer than anyone else on Earth..... but couldn't resist taking some more! I went with my telephoto lens this time for a little variety.


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And the man of the hour!!!!!!!




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[mom2rtk]

12/14 Continued:


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[mom2rtk]

12/14 Continued:

You ready for some of our most treasured photos from the entire trip??????

After the show, they brought Gaston out to meet us. Gaston was great, commenting on how he was sorry he couldn't come out last year. It was raining and he didn't want to mess up his hair.


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It was a totally AWESOME character meeting. It was nice of course to meet a character we had been wanting to meet and had never met before. But mostly it was awesome that it came about through the kind action of another DIS member. We felt like royalty for the day. When we got back, I wrote a note to Guest Relations thanking the CM involved and Gaston for going above and beyond.

If the CM involved reads this........ many thanks again for the treasured memories you helped us create.

I never let on that day how disappointed I was going to be if things hadn't worked out. After our strange experience last year, it just didn't seem possible we could miss again. And this was probably the last time for Katie to wear a Belle costume to the show. The pictures just wouldn't have been the same another time.

 

[Glennie5]

So glad I brought my computer with me. Great update and great pictures, so excting for both of you to get a chance to meet Gaston.

 

[mom2rtk]

So glad I brought my computer with me. Great update and great pictures, so excting for both of you to get a chance to meet Gaston.

Yeah! At least I didn't keep you waiting overnight!

It was one of my favorite character meets EVER. It just was so awesome to have someone offer to do that for us.

 

[marDgreen88]

So glad you got to finally meet Gaston! How great. The pictures are awesome!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

YAY! That's great! Beautiful pictures, as usual. That Gaston makes the perfect facial expressions in the pictures!

 

[mesaboy2]

Nice.