Princesses, Slushes, LEGOs, and a maxed CC - Sept 2009 1st Timer TR

[crocko]

I agree with you about Muppets 3D. I love it but I feel that it's very outdated. I hope they update it rather than do away with it completely to make room for another Pixar attraction. Not knocking Pixar because I love their movies but it seems like everything new is Pixar-related lately!

Sounds like another great day in the World!

I love all the new Pixar stuff, but love the Muppets as well. I would like to see them stay in the parks...I love that store right outside of the show, because it has a lot of fun Muppets merchandise.

YAY! What great updates! That is so awesome that Joshua got chosen to be then newest little Jedi! And I just love Samantha's swimsuit and goggles picture. Super cute Isn't WPE just incredible?! It's by far our favorite counter service. Our total was around $30 for us to split a meal Looks like a really fun day!!

Samantha called them her "gobbles"

 

[crocko]

Day 4 (Epcot, World Showcase Day)
Chapter 1 -- A Casual Morning in Norway




Day 4 = Epcot Day. This was a very fun and very busy day. This was my biggest picture day, too….so, not sure how many chapters it will take me to get through this day.

Scheduled for this morning was a 9:30 buffet breakfast with Belle and friends at Akershus in Norway. So, we got a little extra sleep this morning and got our bus to Epcot at about 8:00am.

Getting ready – Samantha decided to wear her Alice dress for breakfast. And Joshua was being a super spy this morning:

Here’s the bus….let’s go!

Since the park didn’t open until 9:00am, we had managed to arrive before park opening, so we casually strolled over to the Character Breakfast entrance

The line was really long over here and we were really early (8:45ish and our reservation wasn’t until 9:30). But, we went ahead and checked in with the guy at the front and to our surprise, he let us in! (I think the line was people just waiting for normal opening…hello, can’t you read the Character Breakfast Entrance sign? Sheesh!)

Being in the park before opening and being very early for breakfast, we were able to casually stroll through the park and take some pictures

And then, we make it to Norway. The place was busy. We tried to check in but were too early. We noticed that there was a group there and one of the women tried to check in, but they weren’t listed. She spent the next 30 minutes+ talking to people on the phone trying to get her reservation fixed. We suspected it was a case of everyone thought the breakfast got booked and yet no one really did. Yikes!

In the end, not only did we wait about 30 minutes for our reservation time, but another 25-30 minutes past that since they were running behind. Oh well….no problem. It was a beautiful morning and we just took advantage of being in Norway!

Then finally, our Royal Family was called in. First! Let’s get a picture with Belle

Okay….now to see which Princesses/Disney girls we’ll get to see today. We were very surprised with our luck. Snow White was present along with Aurora (as we expected). Cinderella was there. Woohoo!! AND human-legs-Ariel! How awesome.
(by the way, just as the Ariel in MK was perfect, the Cinderella we saw this morning was straight out of the story as well)

As you can see here and throughout the trip, Joshua didn’t seem to mind getting pictures with pretty princesses.

Now, what about the food? I had heard mixed reviews about Akershus food coming into the trip…but figured, oh well….at least we’ll see Princesses.

Here’s a few pics I took after I had already been stuffing my face for awhile:

So, how did we feel about Akershus breakfast. It was unanimous amongst the family that this was the BEST buffet breakfast we’d ever had….anywhere, with or without characters. There is a buffet that serves breads and cold foods…and then you get the warm foods family-style (bacon, eggs, potatoes) The bacon and eggs were very warm and yummy. Lots of different fruits to choose from, cheeses, jams. There was a lingonberry muffin (didn’t know what a lingonberry was) but it was very good. Plus, a caramel-icing cinnamon roll.
WOW! Best….Cinnamon roll…..ever! First, it was an amazingly soft cinnamon roll…normally, at buffets cinnamon rolls are kinda crunchy. Not this one. Plus, it had caramel on top of it. How smart is that?!

I’m so glad that I have a little girl, because the next time we come to Disney we are definitely eating here again.

One last pic…Samantha with our waitress. She was from Norway and was very nice and helpful throughout the meal

Up next: Will we ever see Alice? Is the Maelstrom too scary?

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great updates! Where do I start??

So cool that Joshua was chosen to be a Jedi in training - he looked super cute in his robe. And, Samantha was adorable in her googles too, I love silly pictures like that.

Yours in the 2nd raving review of WPE that I've read this week, I think we are definitely going to have to fit a lunch there into the plans for December.

I love Samatha's Alice dress, very pretty. It's too bad I'll never get a chance to try out the princess breakfast at Askershus, my boys won't go for it.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I love your TR! AKV looks so cool - now I want to stay there someday.

Your kids are so cute and they look so sweet and happy to be at WDW. I especially love the last picture of your DS with Ariel - you can tell he likes her.

I can't wait to hear more.

 

[MagicShell]

I love breakfast in Norway, it is one of my favorite things in all of WDW. I am glad you all enjoyed it too. My 6 yr. old son also enjoyed getting attention from the princesses.

 

[kkfinley]

Where in DTD was this picture taken? I would like to get one for my husband on our next trip.

I am also really enjoying your TR. Can't wait to read the rest.

Thanks,
Krista

 

[Charlefours]

Day 4 (Epcot, World Showcase Day)

So, how did we feel about Akershus breakfast. It was unanimous amongst the family that this was the BEST buffet breakfast we’d ever had….anywhere, with or without characters. There is a buffet that serves breads and cold foods…and then you get the warm foods family-style (bacon, eggs, potatoes) The bacon and eggs were very warm and yummy. Lots of different fruits to choose from, cheeses, jams. There was a lingonberry muffin (didn’t know what a lingonberry was) but it was very good. Plus, a caramel-icing cinnamon roll.
WOW! Best….Cinnamon roll…..ever! First, it was an amazingly soft cinnamon roll…normally, at buffets cinnamon rolls are kinda crunchy. Not this one. Plus, it had caramel on top of it. How smart is that?!

I’m so glad that I have a little girl, because the next time we come to Disney we are definitely eating here again.

! I am so glad that Akershus was a hit! I have been waiting patiently for the TR to cover it. I am so excited to do it with my DD--she will be so excited and happy to meet the Princesses. Maybe we will luck out and Cinderella will be there too for us since we are not planning on doing the CRT.

 

[crocko]

Great updates! Where do I start??

So cool that Joshua was chosen to be a Jedi in training - he looked super cute in his robe. And, Samantha was adorable in her googles too, I love silly pictures like that.

Yours in the 2nd raving review of WPE that I've read this week, I think we are definitely going to have to fit a lunch there into the plans for December.

I love Samatha's Alice dress, very pretty. It's too bad I'll never get a chance to try out the princess breakfast at Askershus, my boys won't go for it.

Definitely give WPE a try. That pizza, though, really big for one person, was so delicious...every bite just melted in my mouth. Oh goodness, I can't wait to eat there again in just a little over 4 weeks...

I love your TR! AKV looks so cool - now I want to stay there someday.

Your kids are so cute and they look so sweet and happy to be at WDW. I especially love the last picture of your DS with Ariel - you can tell he likes her.

I can't wait to hear more.

Kidani is very nice. A very relaxed atmosphere with a lot of stuff to do w/o leaving the resort.

I love breakfast in Norway, it is one of my favorite things in all of WDW. I am glad you all enjoyed it too. My 6 yr. old son also enjoyed getting attention from the princesses.

It quickly made it to the high side of my list after that meal.

Where in DTD was this picture taken? I would like to get one for my husband on our next trip.

I am also really enjoying your TR. Can't wait to read the rest.

Thanks,
Krista

Goofy's Candy Co in the Marketplace. It is on the backside of the area where all the custom treats get made.

! I am so glad that Akershus was a hit! I have been waiting patiently for the TR to cover it. I am so excited to do it with my DD--she will be so excited and happy to meet the Princesses. Maybe we will luck out and Cinderella will be there too for us since we are not planning on doing the CRT.

I've heard that Cinderella has been showing up there more often, so I hope that's still true come your trip.

 

[crocko]

Day 4 (Epcot, World Showcase Day)
Chapter 2 -- Big Trolls and Gingerbread Men




After our wonderful breakfast, it was just about right at 11:00am. Perfect! That meant that we could just go ahead and finish off the parts of Norway we hadn’t hit yet. So, we walked over to Maelstrom to take a voyage through NORVAY!

This picture does a good job of showing how Samantha felt about the ride

She does not like dark rides! Joshua got a little nervous, but at least by the end could realize that we were telling him the truth when we said it wasn’t scary.

Things quickly got hostile in Norway, though, and Joshua fought hard to defend us all from an unnatural ending…..

(Apparently after Darth Vader, the kid things he can take on anything!)

Norway is also where we started our Kidcot fun…and the kids got their masks made

Then, it was on to Mexico!

We did Kidcot, checked out the market a little bit, and then went over to do El Rio de Tiempo (Donald Duck version). When it comes to this ride, I am NOT a traditionalist. To me, the original ride was extremely boring. I much prefer the newer, zestier version that includes the Three Caballeros…..the kids liked trying to spot Donald a lot.

2 countries down….now off to China.

By the way, after breakfast, we asked Samantha if she wanted to take her dress off. She wanted it on to see Alice, but we wouldn’t be over to the U.K. for a couple hours. She wanted to keep it on, though!

At China, we got a fun surprise in that Mulan was out greeting guests!

China pavilion is so beautiful! We quickly made our way through the big store and then back to the kidcot. Slowly walked out afterward, checking out the views.

3 countries down….now for a long walk over to Germany. Thankfully, the Outpost is in between. We took advantage of the shade and chance to get refreshments.

Cooled down a little bit….on to Germany! Walking up, we saw a good-sized land for Snow White. We had just seen Snow White at breakfast, so I thought we’d probably skip her since the line was long. When asked if she wanted to stop, though, Samantha most definitely did.

So, Bridgette, my mom, and Samantha went to get in line. I took Joshua toward the stores. My sister did the same thing, but ahead of us, and my dad just found a nice, shady spot.

While walking through the chocolate store, Joshua saw a gingerbread cookie and said he wanted it. Well, we still had plenty of snack credits, so I didn’t mind…although, I didn’t know he liked gingerbread. So, I got him the cookie and he really liked it. It lasted several days, but he enjoyed it each time.

Then, over to Kidcot

The girls caught up with us at this point. We took a few minutes to just hang out and enjoy being in beautiful Germany

On the far end of Germany, is Walt’s train city. Joshua and I had fun looking at this area (could spend a lot of time just watching)

4 countries down…good place to stop for this chapter.





Up next: Anything else we forgot to do in Italy?

 

[we3are1]

Loving your TR.
Isn't getting your son in the Jedi training a magical moment? I just loved it!
Waiting to hear more...

 

[chicagoshannon]

I think we might have to try that breakfast next time! I think that is the prettiest Cinderella I've seen so far. Actually the Snow White was the best looking one too.

Madeline has that same dress and we're bringing it with. Did it make Samantha really hot? She looks really warm in some of those pictures.

 

[jordanyosh]

Great pix and report of the Princess Breakfast. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it.

If you were ever wondering if the China Pavilion looks anything like the original Temple of Heaven...Here you go. I went to Beijing this past Feb:

 

[longing2Batdisney]

fun update!! looks like it was Samantha's day! I love how Joshua was happy to visit with all the pretty ladies, too! It is sad when boys think they can't visit the beauties of Disney... Dayne is just starting to like to revisit the princesses, again. And Danny would not let me take Ashton to meet Tink and the Princesses! he loved Snow White when he met her!!

Samantha's face is priceless in Norway!!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

wow I just got caught up on your report. You have been busy updating. I feel so behind. Yeah for joshua getting picked at JTA. Its funny that the spot were we did JTA was different then the stage you were at. Do they do it at different areas of hollywood studio?

The epcot country pics were awesome too. I loved the pics of the princessess and am sad that I dont have a little girl to take there. It sounded great. I love samantha in her alice dress she looks so adorable. Cant wait to hear how the rest of the day at epcot was.

 

[WrightFamily06]

Wow I don't read over the weekend and I get several Chapters behind ! LOL Anyway awesome updates as usual ! The pictures of Joshua eating his Mickey bar for the first time are adorable . Glad to see that everyone got another spin on TSM again and that Joshua made it into the Jedi Training Academy The pool pictures are also adorable , the theming of that pool is so neat , would love for my kiddies to see it someday ! We loved the food at WGPE also , can't wait to eat there again .

Glad to hear that you really enjoyed the Akershus Princess Breakfast , this is a must do on our list every year too . The food is delicious and I love how you get your picture included w/ the meal,not to mention you can meet up w/ a good chunk of the princess at once . Cute pictures from all the countries so far and the one of Samantha's face after Maelstrom is priceless !

Can't wait to see if Samantha meets up with Alice over in the UK and how the pictures turn out !

 

[MagicShell]

It looks like you are having fun touring the World Showcase. I never saw the original Mexican boat ride, but my son loved the Donald Duck version. You got some really nice pictures in the World Showcase, very pretty.

 

[stacikristine]

Wow. Those princesses are some of the best I've seen! I really like the pics of both of your kiddos with them--I think the last one of Joshua was my favorite though! Oh--and that pic of Samantha walking with her baby Minnie is definitely frame-worthy! I love all of the pics of the countries. That's one of my favorite parts of Disney!

 

[crocko]

Loving your TR.
Isn't getting your son in the Jedi training a magical moment? I just loved it!
Waiting to hear more...

Yes, it was definitely one of the great moments.

I think we might have to try that breakfast next time! I think that is the prettiest Cinderella I've seen so far. Actually the Snow White was the best looking one too.

Madeline has that same dress and we're bringing it with. Did it make Samantha really hot? She looks really warm in some of those pictures.

She was probably hot, but she was determined to keep it on until she met Alice.

Great pix and report of the Princess Breakfast. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it.

If you were ever wondering if the China Pavilion looks anything like the original Temple of Heaven...Here you go. I went to Beijing this past Feb:

Wow! Awesome pic....and looks like Disney did a good job.

fun update!! looks like it was Samantha's day! I love how Joshua was happy to visit with all the pretty ladies, too! It is sad when boys think they can't visit the beauties of Disney... Dayne is just starting to like to revisit the princesses, again. And Danny would not let me take Ashton to meet Tink and the Princesses! he loved Snow White when he met her!!

Samantha's face is priceless in Norway!!

Yeah, Samantha had more going on this day, but being able to stop at a Kidcot station with every country kept Joshua interested and excited about each new place.

wow I just got caught up on your report. You have been busy updating. I feel so behind. Yeah for joshua getting picked at JTA. Its funny that the spot were we did JTA was different then the stage you were at. Do they do it at different areas of hollywood studio?

The epcot country pics were awesome too. I loved the pics of the princessess and am sad that I dont have a little girl to take there. It sounded great. I love samantha in her alice dress she looks so adorable. Cant wait to hear how the rest of the day at epcot was.

One nice thing is that you sometimes get the princes out at World Showcase. Aladdin, the Beast, and Prince Phillip occasionally make appearances, I believe...plus, Pooh & Friends in the UK.

Wow I don't read over the weekend and I get several Chapters behind ! LOL Anyway awesome updates as usual ! The pictures of Joshua eating his Mickey bar for the first time are adorable . Glad to see that everyone got another spin on TSM again and that Joshua made it into the Jedi Training Academy The pool pictures are also adorable , the theming of that pool is so neat , would love for my kiddies to see it someday ! We loved the food at WGPE also , can't wait to eat there again .

Glad to hear that you really enjoyed the Akershus Princess Breakfast , this is a must do on our list every year too . The food is delicious and I love how you get your picture included w/ the meal,not to mention you can meet up w/ a good chunk of the princess at once . Cute pictures from all the countries so far and the one of Samantha's face after Maelstrom is priceless !

Can't wait to see if Samantha meets up with Alice over in the UK and how the pictures turn out !

I forgot to mention that in China, the "handler" helped us out by being able to tell us what times Alice was supposed to be out....so, we were keeping a good eye on the times as we made our way around. Would it help? We'll see....

It looks like you are having fun touring the World Showcase. I never saw the original Mexican boat ride, but my son loved the Donald Duck version. You got some really nice pictures in the World Showcase, very pretty.

I'd say the country with my best pics is coming up next....

Wow. Those princesses are some of the best I've seen! I really like the pics of both of your kiddos with them--I think the last one of Joshua was my favorite though! Oh--and that pic of Samantha walking with her baby Minnie is definitely frame-worthy! I love all of the pics of the countries. That's one of my favorite parts of Disney!

Yes...some countries I got some really good ones. In November, I'm going to try to get better pictures in the countries we had less time in.

 

[crocko]

Day 4 (Epcot, World Showcase Day)
Chapter 3 -- She said her name is Alice


After Germany, time to visit Italy (a place that apparently is very significant to those of you who are Twilighters…….puke)

Well, halfway done with the “foreign” countries now….time to go get some refreshments at the good ol’ U.S.A. Kids got a slushy to work on together while at this spot.
Also, the fountain out front of American Adventure was very tempting as the temperatures were getting pretty high for the day.

In the gift shop here, I bought my first shirt of the trip….a cool American Adventure shirt that has six old flags from our nation’s history on it. About this point, Bridgette realized that we didn’t get one of the kidcot items for one of the kids’ sticks while in Italy, so she ran back to get it added.
She made it back, and then I realized we didn’t get a stamp on that one either….so I went back to Italy to get our missing stamp.

Whew….I think we have everything now. Let’s start our foreign travels again.

On to Japan

While sitting around here, Joshua discovered an area with a whole bunch of big rocks. At home, he loves to pick up any cool-looking rock when we’re out and about…..apparently this was a GOLD MINE!

I walked up to the top of Mitsukoshi to take some pictures and had a tag-along behind me

Bridgette managed to get a good picture from below of us

Then, we did kidcot here. The kids liked this kidcot because it had some sharpie colors we had not seen yet!

When we came out, my sister was waiting on an item she was having made in the store (about 15-minute wait). We checked the time and noticed that Alice should have just come out. So, while they were waiting, Bridgette, Samantha, Joshua, and I hustled over to the UK to try and catch Alice.

On the way, we saw that Belle was in France and had changed to a more comfortable outfit:

Her line was short, so we figured we’d make the detour. Now, continuing on to the UK. As we came up, we first spotted Mary Poppins…fun, but we’ve got a bigger agenda. Alice?
Alice?
Anywhere?
There she is!

Not too long of a line, woohoo!

And then our turn!

Alice asked Samantha what her name was. She mumbled something, so Bridgette and I both spoke up that her name is Samantha. Alice responded, “Well, she actually answered correctly. She said her name is Alice.” Hahahaha! So funny (Samantha had been called Alice by everyone all day, that I guess that’s what popped to her mind first)

Yay! With Alice seen, we can scamper back over to Mary Poppins

And with that done, Samantha is now MORE than ready to get out of her Alice dress. Haha, what a trooper for keeping it on for half the day.

On our way back, we noticed that my family had moved over to France. We still needed to hit Morocco, so the four of us backtracked to there. Good thing, because we saw some more Disney friends!

In Morocco, the kids played around in Agrabah for awhile…

And Joshua became a local….

Up next: Could he BE blushing anymore?

 

[jenny105]

at the Twilight comment. I read all the books but only because I got 3 of the 4 as gifts. I really don't get what all the hype is about. They're not that good and Bella & Edward are the two most annoying people in the history of literature.

/End rant

Love the pictures of Samantha and Alice! And Joshua with that hat on!