PRINCESS Palooza 2011! 9/9 Update: Departure Day

[dara00]

That sounds like a great idea. You'll get lots of great suggestions I'm sure.

Do you plan to watch any shows or parades?

I sure do! I think ... all of them! I'll start typing up my new thread and leave you in suspense till then. I'm hoping sitting for some shows / parades will be good down time for my kids, since I'm wondering if my 4 yr old esp. will end up crashing!

 

[mom2rtk]

I sure do! I think ... all of them! I'll start typing up my new thread and leave you in suspense till then. I'm hoping sitting for some shows / parades will be good down time for my kids, since I'm wondering if my 4 yr old esp. will end up crashing!

I can't believe how many people think the shows/parades are a waste of time. I think they provide great balance to the time you're on the go. It's nice to get there a little early and chat about what else you still want to do, what your favorites are so far, that sort of thing. Oh, and to have a Mickey bar. I'm sure the 4 year old will crash at some point, but with only one day, maybe just a short power nap will suffice!

 

[dara00]

I totally agree about the shows/parades - plus they're great to see the characters!

Here's the thread I just started:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=43599386

 

[Yzerbear19]

You said you scrapbook . . . do you do paper scrapping or digital scrapping? And do you post your pages online anywhere? I started with paper scrapping, but mostly just do digital now. It's so much easier. Way less messy! LOL Since I started scrapbooking it really changed what I take pictures of on vacation. I take way more photos now and try to get in them more. I took hardly any pictures on our 2005 trip to WDW and was in very few of the pictures.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I'm here. Late as usual, but I'm here.

Trying to get my TR started, and well, at least there are a few things in the computer.

We'll see how it goes!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I lurked a little on your last TR, so I thought it was time to join up on this one. Can't wait to read all about your trip!

 

[dara00]

here's a question for you - is Minnie w Mickey at the MK? and do Woody and Jessie do dance parties regularly or is that just holiday times? thanks!

 

[mom2rtk]

I totally agree about the shows/parades - plus they're great to see the characters!

Here's the thread I just started:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=43599386

I'll pop over and take a look!

You said you scrapbook . . . do you do paper scrapping or digital scrapping? And do you post your pages online anywhere? I started with paper scrapping, but mostly just do digital now. It's so much easier. Way less messy! LOL Since I started scrapbooking it really changed what I take pictures of on vacation. I take way more photos now and try to get in them more. I took hardly any pictures on our 2005 trip to WDW and was in very few of the pictures.

So far I'm a paper scrapper. But unless I plan to build onto the house to store all the books, I'm probably going to have to consider digital scrapping at some point. There's just something about playing with paper, ribbon, rhinestones and the like though that I'd miss if I went digital. Maybe a hybrid one day? Who knows.

I don't post my layouts online except in the albums in my group. Here's a link, but you do have to join the group to access the albums. If you love to scrapbook Disney though, you'd love this group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scrappiestdisneyswapping/

I've been scrapbooking since the infancy of the hobby back into the 90's. I used wavy edge scissors with the best of them! Thankfully I've updated my style through the years and I now find myself wanting to go back and redo some of the early stuff.

Being a scrapbooker really does change the way you use photography. I look at it as a storytelling venture and like to capture all the details, both small and large.

I'm here. Late as usual, but I'm here.

Trying to get my TR started, and well, at least there are a few things in the computer.

We'll see how it goes!

Howdy stranger! Glad you found us! And YEAH to getting your own TR started! I would love to hear how your trip went and think it would be fun to compare our experiences in the parks.

I'm almost ready to actually start. I have 4 of 11 days of journaling done (including travel days). My poor fingers are tired though so I'll probably have to take a break and maybe edit some photos. So maybe another installment later today!

I hope you had a great Christmas and that Santa found you!

I lurked a little on your last TR, so I thought it was time to join up on this one. Can't wait to read all about your trip!

No need for lurking! Come on in.... the water's fine!

Glad you found us!

here's a question for you - is Minnie w Mickey at the MK? and do Woody and Jessie do dance parties regularly or is that just holiday times? thanks!

We went through the Mickey meet 3 times while we were there (I think). I want to say Mickey had Minnie with him 2 of 3 times. The one time Minnie was absent was in the last hour of park time. It was sort of fun. We started the princess line for the party around 5:45 on the 16th. While we were waiting, I gave Katie and her friend a photopass card and just sent them into the Mickey line while we sat there. It was fun to see those photos on photopass when I was working on them yesterday. It was like finding a little forgotten gift under the tree the day after Christmas!

 

[mesaboy2]

here's a question for you - is Minnie w Mickey at the MK? and do Woody and Jessie do dance parties regularly or is that just holiday times? thanks!

I believe the Woody/Jessie/Bullseye dance parties are only during the Halloween and Christmas parties at MK.

 

[mom2rtk]

I believe the Woody/Jessie/Bullseye dance parties are only during the Halloween and Christmas parties at MK.

Thanks for catching that. I completely stopped after the first question. But I think I spelled it all properly.

Dara, I just posted some feedback on your plan over on your thread.

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Just found your new trip report! Yay! I am so excited to start reading. In fact, I am thinking about reserving a room for our vacation this summer either tonight or tomorrow. I am in a Disney state of mind!

I haven't read anything yet, but THANK YOU for doing this Janet! I cannot wait to start reading!

Amy

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Nah, all hope is lost with the boys and Disney. My oldest thinks it's all too fake and commercial. AND???????? LOL! Of course it is! But it's my escape from reality, so I have to keep going. I remember one time he photoshopped a photo of Mickey overseeing the workers in a sweatshop and set it as the backdrop on our computer. Ahhh.... the memories!

Don't give up hope! I know someone who felt the EXACT same way as your oldest feels, until he had a daughter, and then, everything changed. So things can change...at least sometimes they can!

I love the picture of Katie at the bottom of the escalator. She is beautiful! So excited to read your next update!

 

[Lucys2200]

Yay Im so excited you started another trip report :woohoo.
I enjoyed the last one very much. Can't wait to read more and Katie keeps getting even more beautiful.

 

[mom2rtk]

FRIDAY 12/9/11:



Ever since the end of daylight savings time, I had trouble sleeping. It might have just been my mind's preoccupation with the trip and everything I wanted to do before leaving , or maybe I just never adjusted to the new time. But it wasn't any better by the time we left for Disney. So I wasn't surprised when I woke up early the next morning around 6:15. That's about 5:15 central time, the same time I'd been waking up for weeks. Yuck.

This was our 5th time staying at the Pop Century. Every time I go home regretting not getting a better look around the resort and taking pictures. Since I was up early and didn't want to wake Drew and Katie, I grabbed my camera and ducked outside. My first sight was of the window a couple rooms down from ours. It was taunting me......


IMG_3451 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

I had things along to decorate our own window, but it was in the suitcases we didn't have yet. This displaly didn't photograph well, but it sure looked cool. They had taken their room table and put it in under the curtains. Their tree was on that table and was topped with a holiday Belle. I had my work cut out for me!

I decided it would be a great time to tour the grounds and take some photos. It was pitch dark of course, and I didn't have my tripod yet, so I'd have to go for some high ISO shots. I wandered down to the Generation Gap bridge, but without my tripod, I as pretty limited in what I could do.


IMG_3457 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_3454 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3455 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3474 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3483 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3482 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3480 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3478 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3481 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_3485 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Closer to 7 AM, I decided to wander up toward Bell Services and check on our luggage from the Magical Express. I had called down the night before and asked for it to be held until morning so they didn't wake us in the night. Well, somewhere in the wee morning hours the phone rang. I was pretty sure it was about the luggage so I just took it off the hook and went back to sleep. I'm SO glad I called so they wouldn't wake us.........

When I got closer to Bell Services, I saw someone pushing a cart full of luggage our way and recognized it as ours. So much for letting Drew and Katie sleep. I led them back to the room to deliver the luggage.

We were heading for the Magic Kingdom that day. While I knew we'd be tired and hadn't planned to make rope drop, once we were up we decided to go ahead and go. There were a lot of last minute park hour changes to some of our days, and somewhere along the line I got it in my mind it opened at 8 that day. Really I knew better, but I was tired too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! A newbie mistake to be sure.

Anyway, we left our room around 7:35 and headed for the bus stop. The plan was to get a bite to eat at the Main Street Bakery, so we didn't even stop in the food court. We headed straight for the bus stop.

Soon enough we had this in our sights:


IMG_3491 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Just read the latest update. Beautiful pictures of Pop! You are such a good storyteller, Janet! Both with pictures and words.

I really need to do a trip report for our trip in August. I will have to go back through my pictures and see if I have enough in the way of notes to make it happen.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just found your new trip report! Yay! I am so excited to start reading. In fact, I am thinking about reserving a room for our vacation this summer either tonight or tomorrow. I am in a Disney state of mind!

I haven't read anything yet, but THANK YOU for doing this Janet! I cannot wait to start reading!

Amy

Don't give up hope! I know someone who felt the EXACT same way as your oldest feels, until he had a daughter, and then, everything changed. So things can change...at least sometimes they can!

I love the picture of Katie at the bottom of the escalator. She is beautiful! So excited to read your next update!

Hey Amy!

So glad to see you here!

Do it. Book your room. You know you want to! You can fine tune things later. It just feels great to have something to be planning for, doesn't it?

Thank you so much for the nice comment about Katie. I marvel every day over how grown up she's getting.

She really did enjoy showing us up by running down the stairs at the end of a long day....... while we rode slowly down on the escalator!

Yay Im so excited you started another trip report :woohoo.
I enjoyed the last one very much. Can't wait to read more and Katie keeps getting even more beautiful.

Many thanks to you too for the kind comment.

You guys all did a great job making the last trip report a lot of fun, so how could I pass?????

Remember the one poster early in the TR last year who tried to derail it? Should I send them a link????????

 

[mom2rtk]

Just read the latest update. Beautiful pictures of Pop! You are such a good storyteller, Janet! Both with pictures and words.

I really need to do a trip report for our trip in August. I will have to go back through my pictures and see if I have enough in the way of notes to make it happen.

Awww.... thanks Amy.

I really hope you can put together a trip report. I'd love to read along with you and Evie one one of your trips!

I try really hard after every trip to journal the entire thing right after getting home while the details are fresh. I like to hide that journaling in my scrapbook pages, so that eventually it's like a book I can read cover to cover. Of course I didn't finish last year's scrapbook, but the journaling is done and the photos are there so I can finish it whenever I like. You know.... when I have time!

It's hard to do that after these December trips because I walk in the door to a list of things to do a mile long. Life is finally settling down again and I'm working on the journaling from this trip.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Oh, that's such a cute little window display. Those people REALLY went all out. I wonder if they are DISers And I love all your pictures around POP, it looks like such a cool resort. I especially love all the big icons and toys like the Yo-Yo, Disney never fails to amaze me

Sorry to hear about having to bring the luggage to your room earlier than expected and wake up your fellow trip partners. But at least you guys got up in time to make an early Magic Kingdom arrival Love your picture of the sign, so very pretty... if only I was there now

Can't wait to read more!

 

[mom2rtk]

Oh, that's such a cute little window display. Those people REALLY went all out. I wonder if they are DISers And I love all your pictures around POP, it looks like such a cool resort. I especially love all the big icons and toys like the Yo-Yo, Disney never fails to amaze me

Sorry to hear about having to bring the luggage to your room earlier than expected and wake up your fellow trip partners. But at least you guys got up in time to make an early Magic Kingdom arrival Love your picture of the sign, so very pretty... if only I was there now

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks! I was a little irritated with bell services for calling in the night (2:15 maybe????) They apparently REALLY wanted us to get that luggage! Of course, maybe it's becuase I had so much they needed to clear out more space for others! And it WAS nice to have our toiletries to get ready with that morning.

The POP is still our preferred place to stay. I keep thinking it's time to branch out and try something new. But to be honest, we hardly ever waited for a bus. It seemed to work like clockwork. One morning we waited 10-15 minutes, but on a 10 day trip, that's pretty impressive. So I keep going back because of the bus service.

Still, not that I've photographed most of the icons around there, it WOULD be nice to have some new material to work with. But then it really does seem like home when we get there. I wonder if DVC would let me buy into the POP?

There really is no better feeling than driving under the MK sign for the first time each trip, is there?

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Janet,

remind me again what camera you use. Your color and sharpness never cease to amaze me.

Can't wait to get to the MK, the buses there always take forever