**Rockin the expandable tutu!! -- F&W in 1.5 hours & a DISmeet! [updated 9.29.14]

[Nohal]

I always enjoy your dining reports. Happy 4th Birthday to Emme!

 

[emmebear]

I always enjoy your dining reports. Happy 4th Birthday to Emme!

THANK YOU!!!

we are having a "frozen" theme for her birthday!

here is the birthday invite:

i am so excited!! she's going to have a party at the park and then a party at preschool. i'm most excited to give her the presents: frozen castle doll house with elsa & anna singing dolls.

she might pass out from shock as she says santa forgot to bring her those things.

 

[jerseytinkerbell]

All caught up on your reviews!

What a shame about the lousy service at CG. I agree that there seems to be very little middle ground in WDW when it comes to service. I either get spectacular service or nonexistent/terrible service. And I definitely had the same issue with my TiW card. This October was my first time using it and for the first half of the trip I noticed that as soon as I said I had the TiW card at the beginning of the meal they promptly disappeared, never to return. After awhile when they asked I would just say, "No Dining Plan" and leave it at that. It was a noticeable difference for the meals where I didn't mention my card at the beginning of the meal.

I like the look of your sweet cream cheese stuffed pretzel. I always forget they exist. I must remember for next time. Your chilli cheese fries look delicious too. They are one of my favorite snacks that I only get in Disney. It is the one time I enjoy the nuclear cheese.

How fun that you are throwing Emme a Frozen themed party! I hope she has a wonderful birthday!

 

[emmebear]

All caught up on your reviews! What a shame about the lousy service at CG. I agree that there seems to be very little middle ground in WDW when it comes to service. I either get spectacular service or nonexistent/terrible service. And I definitely had the same issue with my TiW card. This October was my first time using it and for the first half of the trip I noticed that as soon as I said I had the TiW card at the beginning of the meal they promptly disappeared, never to return. After awhile when they asked I would just say, "No Dining Plan" and leave it at that. It was a noticeable difference for the meals where I didn't mention my card at the beginning of the meal. I like the look of your sweet cream cheese stuffed pretzel. I always forget they exist. I must remember for next time. Your chilli cheese fries look delicious too. They are one of my favorite snacks that I only get in Disney. It is the one time I enjoy the nuclear cheese. How fun that you are throwing Emme a Frozen themed party! I hope she has a wonderful birthday!

On this next trip, I am not going to mention that I am using my TIW card and see is there is a difference. I'm going to both TS and a few signatures so going to compare & contrast.

During my one day trip in December, I found out that beth (couchy) also had the same server that I had at CG and she also received really poor service as well. Go figure! If Jorge is your server, I'd definitely ask to sit someplace else.

The nuclear orange nacho cheese has some sort of weird allure...I'm looking forward to those chili cheese fries.

The sweet cream cheese pretzel is soft...different texture than the jalapeño cheese pretzel. It's good but I wish it wasn't $4.99.

Frozen birthday supplies have been a nightmare to get but I'm almost done hunting and gathering for the party!

 

[pumba]

thanks again for the great review...and you are not the only one to not really care about the food at BOG...if not just to see the Beast and inside this awesome restaurant I think most people would opt out..

Happy Birthday to your adorable little princess...Hope that you all have a great time celebrating..

Anxious for the time to fly by so we can go to Disney once again..

 

[familyabgar]

I'm so glad you updated and I stumbled into your review! I'm going to go back and read your others, too. Your descriptions are great. I especially appreciated the level of detail in your CG review. DH and I would love both your appetizer and entree (exactly how you ordered, even)! We'll be traveling in May with our almost 3 yr old (she's 2.5 now) and will be doing twice daily table service. We'll see how it goes! CG isn't an ADR we have right now, but we may add it on late night if we can. We'll see!

 

[emmebear]

I'm so glad you updated and I stumbled into your review! I'm going to go back and read your others, too. Your descriptions are great. I especially appreciated the level of detail in your CG review. DH and I would love both your appetizer and entree (exactly how you ordered, even)! We'll be traveling in May with our almost 3 yr old (she's 2.5 now) and will be doing twice daily table service. We'll see how it goes! CG isn't an ADR we have right now, but we may add it on late night if we can. We'll see!

Thank you for joining in!

I returned from a trip to disney yesterday and will be updating this soon.

The food at gc was great but the server was terrible.

Will this be your first trip? If so, i started my reviews when Emme was about 26 months old and if you need any suggestions or help, please feel free to ask.

Happy Monday!

 

[emmebear]

updated 1/25/14


after BOG, we were unleashed into fantasyland for the beginning of MNSSHP.

we made our way to princess fairytale hall. during MNSSHP, the princes are there with their princess. i knew emme would love that.

while in our short line, look who was behind us:

princess buttercup & wesley! "as yoooooooou wiiiiiiiiiiiish"

while in line, she told emme to ask flynn ryder what was inside of his satchel. i took a mental note of that.


we finally said hello to some friends:

these two were so great in character! and they were absolutely adorable together.

it's our family portrait!

and finally:

emme asked flynn what was inside of his satchel. flynn is very chatty. i think he's the sole reason why the rapunzel line can get ridiculously long. he spent about 10 minutes with emme & was really sweet.

and the final reveal! the tiara/crown was so gorgeous! emme was so excited to see it. what a great character interaction.

after meeting the princesses, we went over to the walls to meet the seven dwarves. the line was very short. hooray!

the seven dwarves looking so cute. we had a great interaction with them. emme loved every minute of it. it was also amazing we only waited about 10 minutes. we walked by later on in the night and the line was sooooo long.


emme & rode some rides, watched the parade, went to a dance party and had an absolute blast. despite being sold out, the party didn't seem all that crowded to me. maybe we were just away from what everyone else was doing but we had an absolute blast & hardly waited very long for pictures with the characters.


my ABSOLUTE favorite show was the villians show in front of the castle. it was sooo funny & amazing. the queen of hearts broke it down...she had some crazy dance skills. what a fantastic show! i highly recommend it.

after the show the villians come down and take picture. the queen of hearts came down the right. i made a beeline to her and got a picture. she loved my costume! emme said she was too scared to meet her.

...this was her last interaction with the queen of hearts. it's one of my most favorite pictures i've taken at disney. totally unexpected moment during the parade.

malificent was also out for pictures (she went to the left of the castle) but her line was so long. she was literally out for 5 minutes and then they shut the line down. i tried only once but i guess if you are persistent, you could get a picture with her.


but back to some more MNSSHP pictures:

after this picture with alice, it was ending the end of the party. emme was getting tired and passed out in the stroller. i watched the parade again and made my way out of the magic kingdom.

i had to say hi to one last couple:

sally & jack!

spooky ghosts on the castle



i love love love MNSSHP & prefer it over MVMCP. my tip is to eat an early dinner somewhere in the park so you can get a quick start to the party. we've eaten at BOG both times and it was a perfect beginning to our night as we were already in fantasyland.

up next, food & wine!

 

[CanadianPaco]

Simply wonderful! Such a pleasure to read! Thank you for taking the time to share!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures. And I love the tutus.

My DD had a similar looking meal at BOG. She's also not a big meat eater. I think she had broccoli, fries, and plain pasta. She wouldn't eat hardly any of it since they had put the truffle salt on the fries and the pasta had no taste.

 

[emmebear]

Thank you for the nice comments everyone!

Disney can't seem to make some buttered pasta for the kids. It's a travesty.

I'm hoping to finish this trip soon as I have December & January pictures!

 

[vettegirl]

I love your party pics, it looks like so much fun. We haven't done the Halloween party yet but hope to one of these years

 

[emmebear]

I love your party pics, it looks like so much fun. We haven't done the Halloween party yet but hope to one of these years

it is always such a fun time!! i'm already looking forward to october again!

 

[emmebear]

updated 2/01/14


i wanted to share some pictures from emme's 4th birthday party last sunday.

the theme was "frozen" & the party was at the local park. after freezing temperatures here in florida, the temperature on sunday was a glorious 65 degrees. it was a beautiful day for a party.


i made 2 invitations to the party...this is the second set:

and this is the thank you card:

anyone want to guess how long we waited at epcot to get this picture with anna & elsa?!



before the party, emme put on her traditional korean dress & attended church to celebrate lunar new year.

she is the big "4"



while she was at church, i headed to the park where i had reserved the entire covered pavilion for the birthday party.

i added some "frozen" touches to the party.

and disney goody bags for the kids...the princess bag had frozen party favors inside.

and the cupcakes for the birthday girl:

i had the same balloon twister at the party from last year....he is absolutely amazing and can make anything out of a balloon.

he surprised emme with this:

OLAF!


and then he started his balloon magic for the kids....emme was first up & requested this:

queen elsa balloon hat!


he made jack skellington, rapunzel, anna (from frozen) for her friends. he also created a darth vader mask & yoda for my friend. justin is AMAZING and did such a fantastic job.

and of course, the birthday girl & her favorite grand parents.

it was finally time for emme to make a wish

disney birthday party that my friends also enjoyed. ha ha.

as my friend ted says, "the things you do for kids".

emme & johnny forever!



her 4th birthday party was a blast! the weather was gorgeous & most importantly, emme had a really fun time. it was really hard to find frozen related items. i've been buying things since december for her party. there are things being sold online but the prices are SO high...it's ridiculous. but i have awesome hunting & gathering skills & got everything i needed for the normal price. not going to lie....i did feel like some sort of super hero after this party was complete.

adios from the birthday girl!



on monday (her actual birthday), we also had a mini-frozen celebration at school. emme wore her queen elsa costume created by friend sophie for our disney trip 2 weeks ago.

up next, food & wine!

 

[tdashgirl]

Just stumbled upon your report looking for WDW dining ideas -- love your photos, descriptions and tips!

This will be my 1st trip to WDW (DL vet) -- well, not really 1st. I went to the MK and Epcot in the 1980s for one day when my family visited my Great Grandma in FL. But that doesn't really count. I barely remember it.

We are going end of Sept/early Oct so I have a couple things on my radar, the halloween after hours party and the food & wine. I really like your tip about the BOG ADR early on for the party. And your costume was adorable.

And a big WOW for your Frozen party. Emme is a lucky princess !

 

[Couchy]

Great party pics. Those balloon characters are awesome

 

[Linda67]

Just caught up with the birthday party pics
Philip is wondering if his invitation got lost in the post

 

[emmebear]

Just stumbled upon your report looking for WDW dining ideas -- love your photos, descriptions and tips!

This will be my 1st trip to WDW (DL vet) -- well, not really 1st. I went to the MK and Epcot in the 1980s for one day when my family visited my Great Grandma in FL. But that doesn't really count. I barely remember it.

We are going end of Sept/early Oct so I have a couple things on my radar, the halloween after hours party and the food & wine. I really like your tip about the BOG ADR early on for the party. And your costume was adorable.

And a big WOW for your Frozen party. Emme is a lucky princess !

thank you for joining in & the nice comments!

i'm glad my reviews are helpful! if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. i'd be glad to help.

frozen party was awesome & was a total blast!

Great party pics. Those balloon characters are awesome

thanks beth!

olaf is slowing losing air...he looks like a marshmellow now.

Just caught up with the birthday party pics
Philip is wondering if his invitation got lost in the post

the post is SUPER slow.

philip would've had so much fun at the par-tay!

 

[emmebear]

updated 2/3/14


FOOD & WINE part: 1

emme & i made our way to epcot after a long but fun night at MK for MNSSHP. i drove my car & of course i ended up parking at the very end of the lot. we were there before 10am & it was already slammed at epcot. i had a feeling of dread as we began our walk to bag check. i have never EVER seen epcot so crowded.

before the festival, i had my entire day planned out. i knew what i wanted to eat, when i wanted to eat it & how much money i was going to spend. as soon as i began my descent to world showcase, all that went out the window. now my strategy was to eat wherever had the shortest line as it's difficult to manuever a jogging stroller in between the roped lines at the kiosks or even a crowd.

somehow, canada had a short line. i didn't want to start out so heavy but at this point, it was probably my only chance to sample the booth.

and my very first bite of food of the day was:

Moosehead Lager - $3.50

as you can see, it was a pretty warm day & my beer wasn't very cold. i was a bit miffed but alas, i had food to eat.

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup - $4.25

i have been to le cellier twice & never ordered the soup. i've had beer cheese soup locally but le cellier's version was heavenly. it was rich but not as rich as i was thinking. it had bits of potato in it & i was in love. i wish they offered the pretzel bread stick with the soup...that would've been perfect.


next:

“Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce - $7.00

oh my my my. my filet was cooked just to my liking & the truffle butter sauce was epic. i was happy i was early in the canada line as the meat wasn't over cooked. the mushrooms were also a nice touch. the filet is probably one of the most expensive items at the festival but i thought for the price...i received a pretty hefty portion. two thumbs up from me.


my brunch at canada:

even though i have no shame hunkering down over a trash can during f&w to eat on the flat surface, the fence at canada was also a nice change. i was afraid that the wind would tragically knock my food over but to my delight, my food remained upright for this photo op.



i was feeling pretty satisfied after canada but i made another pit stop:

the line was about 8 deep so i decided to stop. i chose:

Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay – $3.50


which was paired with this:

Gratinated Green Lip Mussels with Garlic and Herbs - $3.50


the mussels were very plump and very fresh & i loved the fact that they were swimming in butter & garlic. YUMMY. for $3.50, this was a great deal in my opinion.


maybe mussels are a scary food item because i got a sticker for trying it.

i was in desperate need of a cold beverage. every kiosk was so dang full. i was so happy to have found this next spot with NO wait.

and i was even happier to see that they had one of my favorite beers available.

to my surprise, emme had fallen asleep at new zealand. we did have a long night so i don't blame here. i just wish i was able to eat some more while she slept but the crowd was so ridiculously packed...i was lucky to have stopped at 3 booths so far.

i continued my sad walk as i was passing booth after crowded booth. but i had a fantastic view.

eventually, i made my way here:

the line at italy was very long but at this point, all i had was time as emme was asleep and every other booth was just as crowded. emme loves ravioli so i decided to wait in line for it.

Ravioli de formaggio all’emiliana - $5.75


and another view of the ravioli:

i was able to eat one ravioli & then emme was up. she was hungry & so excited to see the ravioli. i loved that the meat was "separate" from the ravioli. emme rarely eats meat so this made it so much easier for her to eat. she enjoyed it very much.

so far, despite it being very crowded, i have enjoyed everything i chose.


we continued our walk & i stopped by a booth that was not crowded & it was a booth i wanted to try. SCORE!

and i chose:

Berbere Style Beef with Onions, Jalapeños, Tomato, Okra and Pap- $4.25

i love ethiopian food & couldn't wait to try this. the ethiopian place in town had closed and i really miss the cuisine and the flavors.

there wasn't much berbere flavor (which was a disappointment) but there was a ton of flavor in the beef. also, another bonus was that it was actually spicy. the okra wasn't slimey and the pap (which has a smooth grits texture) was a perfect compliment to the spice of the beef. it was also a large portion and a great deal.

this was one of my favorite bites of food at the festival. i really enjoyed the dish.



i found some shade by the out post & decided to have another cool beverage.

A very fancy Bud Light

and this is my "i wish i was having a craft beer instead of the bud light" face but hey, it was cold and beer. it hit the spot.



up next, more food & wine!

 

[Cadbury]

Fijne verjaardag Emme!!!
(happy birthday in Dutch)

always love your reviews!