Shopaholic, Workaholic & Bargain Betty Take On WDW A DM/DD TR-Last Day!

[WrightFamily06]

Great AK update and pictures The part you wrote about DD and the Lion King reminded me of my oldest DS , he's 5 now but when he was 2 we had to watch Buzzlightyear 1 and 2 till I thought we may have wore out the DVD. LOL Then when he was 3 & 4 we wore out the Pirates Of The Caribbean DVD 's , then this past year it was the Nightmare Before Christmas , over and over again. The funny thing is though my other two really haven't gotten into any movies like he has . LOL

 

[dawnbu40]

When we headed out of AK we decided to head over to DTD. Caitlin had read great things about Wolfgang Puck Express and was anxious to go there for dinner.

When we got there we were impressed that it was considered a cs credit. You do place your own order but there is a waitstaff that seats you, brings your food and refills your beverages.Dale and Caitlin loved the food! (if you're following Cait's dining report you already know all this )

After they ate (and I stole Dale's dessert ) it was time for one of my favorite hobbies...SHOPPING! Our first stop was the "new" boutique TrendE.

This is in what used to be the girl's surf/bathing suit type shop. This place is adorable and has a lot of really cute things! Caitlin got a really cute summer knit dress (complete with little Mickey's) and she got a purse that is made from recycled candy bars. They have one style in Mickey wrappers and the other is in Timon wrappers. She got the Timon because it was orange and looked summery.(if anyone interested I can post the pics of the dress +/or purse) This shop is perfect for the teen/young women set. It is bright and colorful and has things you can't find at every other Disney store.

After we left TrendE we were off to check out the TRex Restaurant.

Caitlin wanted to make her bf a stuffed dino since he had wanted to be a Paleontologist when he was a kid. TRex was packed,mostly with little boys, and they were all making dinos. Making the dino is pretty much the same as build-a-bear. You choose the body, take it to be stuffed, you put a little heart in it and the CM sews it up. You then get to use their computers to make a "birth certificate" and name your new friend. My 18yr old had fun so you know all the kiddos did too While Caitlin finished up, Dale and I looked around just as a meteor shower hit! This place is really cool and has so much to look at! Both the store and restaurant seem to be doing a booming business! The CM we talked to said Spring Break was so busy they never had time to breathe! By the time she finished and paid it was nearly 9 and we were all getting tired. We took a bus back to POFQ and thankfully our checked luggage was waiting in the room. I did a quick unpacking and we hit the hay happy and exhausted from a wonderful first day back at the Happiest Place on Earth!

***by the way-the dino was a big hit! ***

 

[MadiMouse]

Great update!

 

[thecapells]

T-Rex was a blast. The kids (7,4,and 2) loved it as did The Big Kid (me).
And the food was surprisingly good.
There's also a Paleo Zone out back where kids can dig for dinosaur bones and fossils a la the Boneyard in Animal Kingdom.
All in all, a great addition to Downtown Disney.

Looking forward to your next segment!

 

[WrightFamily06]

Great update We were really impressed with Wolfgang Puck Express also That new store had really pretty things but I wasn't willing to pay the prices , had my kids been your DD age though I would have def spent the money . LOL I just never spend the money on myself like I do the kids .LOL

 

[dawnbu40]

Great update!

Thanks!

Great update We were really impressed with Wolfgang Puck Express also That new store had really pretty things but I wasn't willing to pay the prices , had my kids been your DD age though I would have def spent the money . LOL I just never spend the money on myself like I do the kids .LOL

T-Rex was a blast. The kids (7,4,and 2) loved it as did The Big Kid (me).
And the food was surprisingly good.
There's also a Paleo Zone out back where kids can dig for dinosaur bones and fossils a la the Boneyard in Animal Kingdom.
All in all, a great addition to Downtown Disney.

Looking forward to your next segment!

I bet your kiddos loved TRex! That place is so cool! We didn't see the dig site. That sounds fun too!


Thanks! Glad you liked WPE too! TrendE was very cool and is a nice addition to DTD. Actually, if you compare the prices there to a "princess" dress for a little one we got off cheap! (although I do wish BBB had been around when Caitlin was little!)

 

[MagicShell]

I would love to see pictures of the purse. My son built a dino when we were there. He LOVES Build-a-Bear so we knew we would end up with a dino.

 

[I Believe In Magic]

Wow a new store? I didn't know about that. I would love to see the pics of her dress and the purse to show my girls. We love DTD and any new store is exciting!!

Thank you!

 

[WrightFamily06]

Thanks! Glad you liked WPE too! TrendE was very cool and is a nice addition to DTD. Actually, if you compare the prices there to a "princess" dress for a little one we got off cheap! (although I do wish BBB had been around when Caitlin was little!)

Your Welcome I do agree w/ you there TrendE is a very nice addition to DTD , the stuff is so different than what u see at the other stores I guess your right about the prices , they do charge like $30 for the little ones princess dresses , which is highway robbery for little kids clothes . Well Caitlin could still do BBB now . LOL Your never to old for the magic of Disney !

 

[cajunfan]

I have been meaning to post and let you know that you that I am very impressed with your daughter's kindness and generosity in the "Disboutique Big Give". When I realized that she was in college and taking the time to send pixie dust to all that she does...WOW! You have obviously raised a great young lady! You (and she) should be proud!

Lynn

 

[dawnbu40]

Your Welcome I do agree w/ you there TrendE is a very nice addition to DTD , the stuff is so different than what u see at the other stores I guess your right about the prices , they do charge like $30 for the little ones princess dresses , which is highway robbery for little kids clothes . Well Caitlin could still do BBB now . LOL Your never to old for the magic of Disney !

It used to be that all the Disney stores carried different things which made shopping there a lot more fun! Then they switched and each store carried the same stuff so I'm glad they are switching it up a bit. Prices can be high though in whatever you buy so I always just try and get things we know we will use or wear back home. I do miss the little princess dresses they used to sell when Caitlin was little. Those were so much more practical and comfortable for girls. (they were a cotton blend)They looked like each princesses dress but they were regular length. She had one that looked like Belle's blue dress and it had Chip embroidered on the bottom and a Snow White one with Dopey embroidered on it. She wore those at the parks and at home to school or church. Now I think they only make those in Alice.
BTW last year she had considered doing BBB but when she saw the older girls with their do's she thought it was best saved for the little ones. Someday we'll take her daughter there

I have been meaning to post and let you know that you that I am very impressed with your daughter's kindness and generosity in the "Disboutique Big Give". When I realized that she was in college and taking the time to send pixie dust to all that she does...WOW! You have obviously raised a great young lady! You (and she) should be proud!

Lynn

Thank you so much for your kind words! You're right, she is a great young lady and I am proud of her and feel very lucky to have her. In addition to the Big Give and her other philanthropy she convinced us to participate in our community's Relay for Life.

In our city this is a 24 hr team walk. For the last several months we have been trying to raise $ in a variety of ways. We had 2 garage sales, made and sold a lot of chocolate and this week Caitlin and her bf went door to door in our neighborhood asking for returnable cans and bottles. I am very excited to say we have reached our goal!
The walk is next Saturday so we hit our goal with a week to go! Now we have to survive all that walking! What does any of this have to do with Disney? Well.... our team name is the Imagineers and our motto is "Imagining a World without Cancer". Part of the relay ceremony is luminaria lit walk with luminarias honoring those lost to cancer. On our trip we put Walt's name on a luminaria bag and had it autographed by the characters


Wow am I wordy this morning! Anyway, later today I hope to have the pics up of Caitlin's purchases and the start of our first full day!

 

[WrightFamily06]

It used to be that all the Disney stores carried different things which made shopping there a lot more fun! Then they switched and each store carried the same stuff so I'm glad they are switching it up a bit. Prices can be high though in whatever you buy so I always just try and get things we know we will use or wear back home. I do miss the little princess dresses they used to sell when Caitlin was little. Those were so much more practical and comfortable for girls. (they were a cotton blend)They looked like each princesses dress but they were regular length. She had one that looked like Belle's blue dress and it had Chip embroidered on the bottom and a Snow White one with Dopey embroidered on it. She wore those at the parks and at home to school or church. Now I think they only make those in Alice.
BTW last year she had considered doing BBB but when she saw the older girls with their do's she thought it was best saved for the little ones. Someday we'll take her daughter there

Those dresses they had when Caitlin was little sound so cute and so much for comfortable then the ones they have now ! I wish they still had something like that the embroidery sounds so pretty I've never saw the hair do's on the older girls but it sounds like it doesn't work out as well as it does on the little ones . That will be nice when you get to take Caitlin's daughter one day , that is such a sweet thought

 

[dawnbu40]

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!

 

[mom+3girls]

I feel your pain, I am scared of birds to. I was attacked by a chicken with I was about 8.
My kids make fun of me and like to point out all the birds when we go to AK.

Great report so far.

 

[dawnbu40]

I am an early riser,not by choice but by habit, and even though we were on vacation that didn't change. I think I woke up about 5:30 everyday! Maybe its the excitment of being in the World? Anyway, each morning I'd get up and place Dale and Caitlin's Tink gifts in their beds with them and then I'd start getting ready. This is when the partition curtain really comes in handy! This trip Caitlin suprised me by having Tink gifts for me too! Each morning she had a little gift for me but the really special thing was that I also got a little note each day telling me one of her favorite memories of our many trips to WDW. Some days she'd make me laugh while others would make me misty. It was a great way to start each day! On this particular day, we were headed to Epcot for breakfast with the Princesses before the park opened! About 7 I had Dale call for a cab and was pleasantly suprised to learn the buses now run early for breakfast adrs. We headed to the bus stop and with only a short wait boarded the Epcot bus. When we got to Epcot we got in line with the others and waited to enter. The big topiary at the entrance is a Princess Theme and the soundtrack plays music from Cinderella. While we were waiting my Prince asked me to dance and we waltzed right there to "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes". To me it was very romantic and a wonderful memory I will always cherish. A great way to start the morning! When we entered we were greeted by these lovely sights!

Just a few of the reasons why we love the Flower Festival! It is such a beautiful time to visit!

As we made our way to breakfast we also passed these cute Fantasia themed topiaries...

And these depicting the Lion King..

and that evil Scar!

I love the early adrs so you can almost feel like your family is the only one in the park! I couldn't understand why the other folks on this morning just raced to Akershus rather than stopping and enjoying all the beauty and the wonderful photo ops!

After taking a very leisurely walk to Norway we finally arrived at our destination

We had eaten here in Dec and loved it! This time it was still nice but not quite up to our previous visit. In Dec. the cold buffet had more choices and overall the Princesses were more enchanting. This particular morning the Princesses didn't seem to want to spend any time with a table of adults. We were pleasantly suprised though to see both Ariel and Cinderella (Mulan and Dale's fave Jasmine were m.i.a)! When I told Cinderella how happy and suprised we were to see her I seemed to confuse her and she got very flustered and said "well I'm here".
The most engaging of the Princesses happened to be my all time favorite the one, the only Ariel! Yes the Little Mermaid was delightful!

When we finished we started heading back toward the front of the park. It was just before 9:00 but we weren't sure exactly where we were supposed to go. A very nice photopass photographer noticed us wandering and asked what ride we wanted to do first. Caitlin told him "Soarin" (who doesn't join the mad race to Soarin at RD?) and he said to follow him. He then talked to another CM and placed us at the front of the rope. We followed the CMs to Soarin and Dale and Caitlin were the first ones to ride that day! Thank you Mr. Photographer!! While they rode once I got them fast passes to ride again later in the day. When they got off we did the Living with the Land boat ride which we hadn't done in years! Then we did Nemo,Crush and Figment all by 10am! When we were looking around the Imagination Building we had a suprise DisMeet! I noticed this man who looked familiar but I couldn't quite place him. Then I saw he was on one the computers and I saw the pic he took of himself. Then I recognized him! I called Cait over to confirm it and she agreed so we decided to cautiously approach. We didn't want him to think we were nuts ESPECIALLY if we were wrong! Anyway, he was from the Dis and we met thecapells It was fun meeting someone and really nice to meet someone whose trip report we had not only enjoyed but learned from! When we left there we headed toward the butterfly garden.

 

[dawnbu40]

The butterfly garden was bustling with activity! There were quite a few people there and the butterflies were all busy fluttering about! Just lovely!

This year there was a new addition! We discovered they had built Pixie Hollow behind the butterfly garden and we found Tink and all her pals and their homes there! Well, in flower form anyway!

It was a beautiful morning and we had done a lot all prior to the opening of World Showcase! At 11:00 we headed to WS because we wanted to be among the first of the day to do the Kim Possible adventure! I'm going to stop here because I need to get your opinions! We did all 7 KP adventures and loved them! We have pics but don't know if people want to see them or want suprises? So leave a comment saying if we should "share" about our KP adventures OR skip over it to avoid spoiling the suprise.

Have a great day!

 

[acellison]

Enjoying your TR

 

[NWOhioAngela]

I said it on Caitlin's report and I'll say it here. What is WITH this Ariel's eyes? She's like a Stepford Princess or maybe Bree Hodge on barbiturates!

 

[MEK]

I just read your last few installments and it sounds like a perfect trip. It's so nice that the three of you enjoy doing so much together in the parks. My son is 16 and just goes off with his friend until we meet at dinner. Oh well. He is just one cool teenager.

That's so cool that your DH and Caitlin got the first ride on Soar'in. It doesn't get any better than that.

Can't wait to keep reading. Love all the topiary pictures!

 

[WrightFamily06]

Great update the Tink gifts sound so sweet and how sweet of DH to dance w/ you The shots you took of the Flower & Garden Festival are beautiful , we must have missed Tink and her friends We found the princess at Akershus to be a little cold this time too especially Jasmine , so DH wasn't missing to much . LOL I would love to see the Kim Possible pic's since I don't know a lot about it , it may be something we want to do next time