PRINCESS Palooza 2011! 9/9 Update: Departure Day

[mom2rtk]

Oh my goodness, there's so many updates I missed! Well, all caught up now. That party was definitely the same one we were at! We got the same Rapunzel & Flynn too, they were fantastic.

You guys certainly had a lot of costume changes! Did that all fit in one locker?! I love that you do all of them, get the best interactions out of the characters as you can. Love it!!

My friend and I each had a locker. And we put it in space bags, so not too hard to fit once the air is squeezed out.

And yeah, it was a lot for one day. But we only had so much time with our friends there and had to make the most of it. I don't think there were any costumes at all involved the next day. Hopefully I can get those photos edited soon.

 

[kswm30b]

Sorry I was behind, I did virtually nothing on the computer during the Olympics (can you say addict? Lol) & I'm just catching up now! And yay, I catch another trip update!! My fav pics from this set are the Rapunzel & Flynn pics, so cute!! I also love the pics on Spash Mountain, since I'm always too nervous to bring my good camera anywhere near water!

Speaking of the princesses getting a new costume, kennythepirate mentioned that we might be seeing Briar Rose then. Maybe. Possibly. I think I would die from excitement if that was the case, lol!

I checked out your character site. It's adorable! And I love the way you have your scrapbook pages included. It looks like you have as much fun meeting characters as we do! And I love your poses with them!

Thanks! I always say I'm going to ask for a cute pose, and then I almost always chicken out.

 

[princess_momma]

OH my goodness!! You are so, so talented!! I love it, and love how many costumes you guys wear. I really just love hearing all the stories you have of all the pixie dust and it's just such a delight to read! Katie & McKenna have me cracking up with their Pop hair styles and fancy ball gowns!!

 

[petals]

Love all the princess dresses and the christmas outfits. That Belle you met looks wrong though!

 

[PrincessEM&Me]

out of lurkdom! So glad you spoke up. Thanks for all the kind words. I'm glad you have a princess who still wants to dress up! When does school start for her? Katie had a half day of orientation today but starts for real Wednesday.

Good luck working on your blue Cindy gown! Does she want a winter version? Watch for sheer tablecloth fabrics in the stores closer to Christmas. They add a nice touch to a winter Cindy gown.

I'm happy to inspire you to do Disney in December. Can you tell it's my favorit time to visit Disney? We first did a December trip in 04. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. We had just been that June when we roasted and couldn't stay in the parks past noon. To walk into the parks in a sweatshirt, with that garland hung above us on Main Street........ was just amazing. I was totally in love.

Thank you for the welcome! We will start school after Labor Day...or when I'm ready to teach We homeschool.
Actually, we are looking at November. Right now we are trying to pinpoint some dates. I would like the Christmas decor to be up and get some special rate or free dining so we'll have to wait on the specials to confirm it. It looked like the rates are much different in December ($$) next year when I was doing some searching. We are also open to being there over Thanksgiving day. Any input on travel times are welcome As for the heat DH can handle it much better than DD and I but I don't want it to be COLD. I know it could go either way.

Yes, the dress DD likes is your blue brocade Cindy. I am having a difficult time trying to find some similiar fabric, maybe your tablecloth idea would work for that too. Didn't you make a cape for that one? Now, I love the Chrisrmas Belle dress. She wants Belle's blue/white work dress. That girl has such simple tastes sometimes!

And, yes, I can tell you like Dis at Christmas a little anyway

 

[mom2rtk]

Sorry I was behind, I did virtually nothing on the computer during the Olympics (can you say addict? Lol) & I'm just catching up now! And yay, I catch another trip update!! My fav pics from this set are the Rapunzel & Flynn pics, so cute!! I also love the pics on Spash Mountain, since I'm always too nervous to bring my good camera anywhere near water!

Speaking of the princesses getting a new costume, kennythepirate mentioned that we might be seeing Briar Rose then. Maybe. Possibly. I think I would die from excitement if that was the case, lol!



Thanks! I always say I'm going to ask for a cute pose, and then I almost always chicken out.

Thanks! That Flynn was absolutely the best. I'm so sad that it appears that one won't be there any longer.

I really do love on-ride photography. But I never would have tried those Splash shots if I hadn't seen someone else post some on the photography forum a while back. I think he had a wether sealed camera, and I don't...... but hey......... a plastic bag works just as well, rght?

I did see that the princesses will be getting a makeover. And I'm sure nobody here is really surprised that I'm excited about that...... The've been in the same exact gowns ever since our first visit to see them in 04. (Can you believe we visited Disney in 02 and didn't even GO to the MK????? ) I've seen Cindy's new look on some merchandise at that Disney store. And while it doesn't excite me, it is a little different from the current look, so I'll take it.

I would LOVE to see them bring out Briar Rose, but I think Kenny the Pirate's comment was more wishful thinking than anything. I can't believe they'd set up that royal new meeting place then have her look so casual.

OH my goodness!! You are so, so talented!! I love it, and love how many costumes you guys wear. I really just love hearing all the stories you have of all the pixie dust and it's just such a delight to read! Katie & McKenna have me cracking up with their Pop hair styles and fancy ball gowns!!

Thank you so much! We have had an awful lot of fun with it all.

Love all the princess dresses and the christmas outfits. That Belle you met looks wrong though!

LOL! I thought so too. Belle just didn't look right to us either. And we had the same one during the party as we had earlier in the day.

Thank you for the welcome! We will start school after Labor Day...or when I'm ready to teach We homeschool.
Actually, we are looking at November. Right now we are trying to pinpoint some dates. I would like the Christmas decor to be up and get some special rate or free dining so we'll have to wait on the specials to confirm it. It looked like the rates are much different in December ($$) next year when I was doing some searching. We are also open to being there over Thanksgiving day. Any input on travel times are welcome As for the heat DH can handle it much better than DD and I but I don't want it to be COLD. I know it could go either way.

Yes, the dress DD likes is your blue brocade Cindy. I am having a difficult time trying to find some similiar fabric, maybe your tablecloth idea would work for that too. Didn't you make a cape for that one? Now, I love the Chrisrmas Belle dress. She wants Belle's blue/white work dress. That girl has such simple tastes sometimes!

And, yes, I can tell you like Dis at Christmas a little anyway

If you want to go in November, I'd go the week before or the week after Thanksgiving. If you homeschool, you have more flexibility than most, so why travel when everyone else is out of school? After Thanksgiving you'll have more Christmas decor up though. MVMCP and Osborne lights are up before Thanksgiving, but no guarantee on anything else.

It's not likely to be cold in November, but it's not out of the question either. Pretty much the same in December though. There's always a risk of unseasonable weather. We've been 4 times in December and only had cold weather the one time. All you can do is plan for something then hope for the best.

Which blue brocade Cindy are you asking about? I've done capes for most of them though. I just finished a new Cindy for this trip and will probably do a cape for this one too. Even if it's not really cold out, it's cool in the mornings usually. I'd sure hate to put a sweatshirt over a gown like that!

 

[mom2rtk]

Sorry for getting behind again. But by now nobody is surprised, right? But I will finish soon. I've been working on the photos from Saturday the 17th. Not nearly as many for this update at least. Not a single costume in the batch though. I think that's it for all the costumes from that trip.

How did everyone fare in the Be Our Guest madness on Monday? It was a CRAZY morning here. Katie manned 2 cell phones, I manned a cell phone and the land line, and our friends Kim and her older daughter manned 2 cell phones each.

Katie and I never DID get through. I had to rely on the kindness of others to get in. I stopped after about 40 minutes straight of constant busy signals and "all circuits are busy" to send out a distress email to someone I thought could help........ and just as I sent my email I got a chance to look down at my cell phone and see I had a text from Kim. YEAH! She had gotten through! I had never been so happy to get a text in all my life. Sadly enough...... I was really invested in this and just HAD to get in. Otherwise i was considering scaling the castle walls and lowering us all in through a ventilation shaft or something.

I hope everyone here who wanted to go got in. It really was quite a day, wasn't it??????

I still remember how excited I was he first time I got into CRT back when it was much harder to get. I floated on a cloud for days. I feel the same way now. I celebrated by taking a drive across town to pick up a pair of these:


beast by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[jenseib]

Love the Beast!!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Love the Beast!!!!

He really is adorable. We had looked at him when we went to the Disney store the week before. But I absolutely refused to buy him then. I told Kim I'd only want to rip apart limb from limb if he didn't give us an ADR to eat in his castle!

 

[francis6306]

Yay!!!! Glad we were able to get reservations!!!! I think this is a tough one with it only being dinner and the party nights through Dec... I am über excited!!

 

[ladeeesquire]

I really enjoy your TR and yeah!! so glad you got your BOG ressie!!

We're in Calif and we're not going until jan (our own little princess palooza for my dd's 5th bday) so I didn't get up at 4am to get on the phone. I waited until about 8am CA time so 11 am florida time I guess but still hit redial for about 15 mins then spent almost 40 mins on hold. I was able to make an adr for the exact time and date that I wanted though so maybe I could have waited even later??? I dunno. That's going to be a big day at MK for us since we have a CRT at 8am. yeah!

Besides our jan trip we also have a trip planned for next month. We leave next sunday. I'm hoping for it to be as cool, dry and non hurricane-ish as possible

Katie is darling. I love seeing your photos and of course your gorgeous costumes!! I think I'm "in jealous" too! My dd is a girlie girl so she goes crazy for them. I can't wait to see the Merida one with the real thing.

 

[nannye]

Well Kadence and I spent so much time looking at your beautiful photos that the DIS logged me out!

You've made a little girl so in awe, she's "in jealous" of the gowns, laughing over the character meets, and thinks that punky hair is funny! I know for sure we will be visting the Tremaine group at MVMCP for sure.

She wants to go back and look over the pictures again. She also says she going to do the rock sign when riding BTMR.

Was it okay for me to be a little misty at the Wishes photos? So Beautiful. And now that they are closing the M,M, & Y I'm going to be a lot sad and mad. I'm so miffed at myself for not seeing it in Sept. UGH!

What a wonderful thing to have a friend experience with you. I think I've said that before, but those pictures just have such happiness coming out in them.


I'm feeling you on Katie starting middle school.

Wait what? No more magic memories & you? I'm so sadimlove that show! I was told by another Diser that v was in the show our last day there. We didn't seethe show that night but she was 100 percent sure that it was V.

I am all caught up on your TR. I love the pic of the girls on splash mountain and how cool that drizella and snow white are so close!

No TR for me yet but soon! Maybe next weekend.i am just waiting on the photo pass pics. I still have to do pics of V in her last 3 outfits so I can post the on dis boutiques. It's just been so busy.

Looking forward to another update!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yay!!!! Glad we were able to get reservations!!!! I think this is a tough one with it only being dinner and the party nights through Dec... I am über excited!!

I really wish I'd known going in about those very limited hours. 4 nights a week they are only seating between 4 and 5:30. That's just nuts. I was fully prepared to buy tickets to another night of MVMCP just to do BOG if I had to. Little did I know that wasn't even an option.

There was a lot of speculation about that on various threads. I really just think that if the opened it during the party, everyone booked at CRT and LTT and wherever else is open would just move to BOG, leaving those other restaurants open but not full, just increasing their operating expenses. I bet next year we'll see them handle it differently.

I really enjoy your TR and yeah!! so glad you got your BOG ressie!!

Thank you! I'm so glad too! I was really invested in wanting to go and would have been SO disappointed if we hadn't gotten in.

We're in Calif and we're not going until jan (our own little princess palooza for my dd's 5th bday) so I didn't get up at 4am to get on the phone. I waited until about 8am CA time so 11 am florida time I guess but still hit redial for about 15 mins then spent almost 40 mins on hold. I was able to make an adr for the exact time and date that I wanted though so maybe I could have waited even later??? I dunno. That's going to be a big day at MK for us since we have a CRT at 8am. yeah!

Yeah for getting your own ADR! That day was really a mess. Once the first wave of calls got through and it might have slowed down, everyone was hearing that if they didn't call back and add a CC guarantee they could lose their spot so they all called back again. It really made it much worse than it had to be.

I'll let you in on a secret. We're also doing both castles in one day! Oh, AND the BBB too! LOL. My friend wasn't going to do CRT this trip, so I was going to do it another day with just Katie. But somewhere along the way it dawned on us that it would be SO cool to eat at both castles on the same day. So we're doing BBB at park open, lunch at CRT and dinner at BOG.

That's a lot of scheduling for one day, but we will have been at the MK the previous 3 days with lower crowds. The day we're doing all that is Saturday the 15, so the crowd level will be much higher. So we'll do our rides the other days and just our appointments on the busy day.

Besides our jan trip we also have a trip planned for next month. We leave next sunday. I'm hoping for it to be as cool, dry and non hurricane-ish as possible

How awesome! Are you doing MNSSHP? I really need to get back for that.

Katie is darling. I love seeing your photos and of course your gorgeous costumes!! I think I'm "in jealous" too! My dd is a girlie girl so she goes crazy for them. I can't wait to see the Merida one with the real thing.

Thanks so much! I'm ending up with more costumes for this trip than I had planned. But that's the benefit of going with friends. It's more fun to play.

Wait what? No more magic memories & you? I'm so sadimlove that show! I was told by another Diser that v was in the show our last day there. We didn't seethe show that night but she was 100 percent sure that it was V.

I am all caught up on your TR. I love the pic of the girls on splash mountain and how cool that drizella and snow white are so close!

No TR for me yet but soon! Maybe next weekend.i am just waiting on the photo pass pics. I still have to do pics of V in her last 3 outfits so I can post the on dis boutiques. It's just been so busy.

Looking forward to another update!

Oh no! She was in the show and you missed it? I'd be so disappointed!

The final show of MMY is 9/3. They are reworking it but coming back with a new version. I think they are taking the guest photos out because the "Let the Memories Begin" theme is over. But they will have new castle projection effects. The bad news is that it won't come back until the "holiday" season. I really don't get why they had to stop it for so long.

Do let us all know when you start your TR. Or if you post pics of her outfits on teh Disboutiquer thread!

 

[francis6306]

I really wish I'd known going in about those very limited hours. 4 nights a week they are only seating between 4 and 5:30. That's just nuts. I was fully prepared to buy tickets to another night of MVMCP just to do BOG if I had to. Little did I know that wasn't even an option.

There was a lot of speculation about that on various threads. I really just think that if the opened it during the party, everyone booked at CRT and LTT and wherever else is open would just move to BOG, leaving those other restaurants open but not full, just increasing their operating expenses. I bet next year we'll see them handle it differently.

You know, I didn't really think about that, but they STILL could have only opened up one dining room for the different times. I dunno… Seems odd to "protect" the other places like that though. Kinda unusual for Disney, you know?

 

[mom2rtk]

You know, I didn't really think about that, but they STILL could have only opened up one dining room for the different times. I dunno… Seems odd to "protect" the other places like that though. Kinda unusual for Disney, you know?

I think what they were protecting was their overhead cost! But it's hard to say. I have no idea how full those restaurants stay on party nights anyway. I never did understand someone paying for a party ticket then spending a big block of time sitting in a restaurant. I was totally willing to do that for BOG, but only because it's so new.

 

[Caretames1]

I'm so glad that you got an ADR! Going through all that and not getting one would be awful!
I can't wait to see Katie and her friend all Belle's out. Didi you dance around the house....a little... I would have! I still have hope for at least a glimpse inside, but will hold out for your report. You will take 2394 pictures correct?

Cute Beast. Now remember he's the nice guy!


Quick question, How do you upload your RAW pictures to your computer? Do you have a program just for that?

I took one shot in RAW last week, but it wouldn't upload, and I finally uploaded it by some weird way, I can't eve remember how I did it.

 

[nannye]

Janet, I finally started the TR
V's Ultimate 5th Birthday surprise with 99 characters and costumes galore!

 

[rachel09985]

Ok, I need more tripod help please

I can not find the tripod you have for the life of me with the ball head. I only see the Velbon Ultra Luxi ii with the Tilt/Pan Head. From what I read the ball head will be better for me because it is less bulky and easier to use. Do you think it matters what type of head is on there?

I also see the Ultra Luxi iii now. Is that the newest model? Should I get that one? Thanks! I am trying to look on Amazon but can't find it there.

Is there anyway you can send me a link with the tripod you have where I can purchase it or just let me know?

Thanks so much for your help! My birthday is next week and I need to let my dad know what I want. I thought of an amazon gift card but if I can't find it on amazon I will just ask for a plain visa gift card.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm so glad that you got an ADR! Going through all that and not getting one would be awful!
I can't wait to see Katie and her friend all Belle's out. Didi you dance around the house....a little... I would have! I still have hope for at least a glimpse inside, but will hold out for your report. You will take 2394 pictures correct?

Cute Beast. Now remember he's the nice guy!


Quick question, How do you upload your RAW pictures to your computer? Do you have a program just for that?

I took one shot in RAW last week, but it wouldn't upload, and I finally uploaded it by some weird way, I can't eve remember how I did it.

Oh my, I sure have gotten behind again. Sorry!

Did you figure out your RAW issue? It really is just a matter of what program you are using. Some will support RAW and some won't. I use Lightroom 3, and it does support RAW. It's very easy to use in fact.

Thanks for the enthusiasm for us getting our BOG ADR. I really can't wait to see it for myself. But I still think the odds are pretty decent that you early November people will get to catch it in soft open.

Janet, I finally started the TR
V's Ultimate 5th Birthday surprise with 99 characters and costumes galore!

Yeah! Thanks for the link. I just subscribed. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Ok, I need more tripod help please

I can not find the tripod you have for the life of me with the ball head. I only see the Velbon Ultra Luxi ii with the Tilt/Pan Head. From what I read the ball head will be better for me because it is less bulky and easier to use. Do you think it matters what type of head is on there?

I also see the Ultra Luxi iii now. Is that the newest model? Should I get that one? Thanks! I am trying to look on Amazon but can't find it there.

Is there anyway you can send me a link with the tripod you have where I can purchase it or just let me know?

Thanks so much for your help! My birthday is next week and I need to let my dad know what I want. I thought of an amazon gift card but if I can't find it on amazon I will just ask for a plain visa gift card.

Well, I'm probably not much help. The one I bought 2 years ago actually did come with the pan/tilt head. I added the ballhead later. But I swear I saw that Luxi-L packaged with a ballhead somewhere along the line since then.

I hope you find it. I do love how easy it is to cart around Disney. But I loved it more when I got the ballhead.

 

[Caretames1]

Did you figure out your RAW issue? It really is just a matter of what program you are using. Some will support RAW and some won't. I use Lightroom 3, and it does support RAW. It's very easy to use in fact.

No I haven't. I don't have program, and didn't know I needed one. Silly me.
I'll have to look into it more, I'm not quite under standing it all yet.

I did just spend some special one one time with my camera...... And a cleaning kit! LOL

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