So we get to the penthouse and are given the tour. It was amazing. (Glad it was our last night there and we didn't have to go back to HoJo!) There were 2.5 bathrooms, a master suite, a kid's suite, a living room, dining room, and kitchen/bar area.
The master bath was huge. It had a walk-in shower with jets from the walls, a huge jacuzzi tub and the best feature...a tv in the mirror so I could watch tv while in the tub.
It had hardwood floors in the living areas and carpet in the bedrooms.
There were 5 plasma tvs (3 in the living room and 1 in each bedroom). The back 'wall' was all window (floor to ceiling). It is on the 11th floor, and you can see DCA, DL & Downtown Disney. There is a private elevator to that floor.
The kids room had a dvd player & PS2 and several games & dvd's to choose from. There was a huge beanbag that DS chose as his bed. The kids bath had a walk-in shower.
Oh, and there's a 'magic mirror' that Mickey appears in and talks with you. He played a 'guess what number I'm thinking of' game with DS, but it didn't work very well.
We had only been there an hour when we remembered that for our Blue Bayou reservation at 4:30, we were supposed to get there at 4:15!
Time to put on the running shoes! We made it at 4:25. (It was a long walk all the way thru DTD & DL!) They had given us some sample menus of items we could order to stay within our $40/person limit. The kids & I got the Prime Rib and DH got the salmon. For some reason, DS chose to be very ornery and it made for an unpleasant dinner. (I had thoughts of throwing him to the gators in the Bayou
but then I might not get to go back to Mickey's penthouse!) I won't comment much on the food because it was a generous gift and I don't want to speak badly of it. Dessert was decent. I don't remember the name but it was a chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and had a pirate theme. Our waitress was very nice.
We had a little time before we had to meet our CM at the Partners statue (6:30). We used our dream fastpass for Buzz. So we headed over to Partners and there was another group there as well. A little girl had won one of 2 "Quest for the West" vacation packages, which was a bigger prize than ours, but did not include the grand marshal duties. So they got a separate car and rode behind us.
{Side note: The winning of prizes is very interesting. I asked a Dream Squad member about how people are chosen. She said that a computer program tells them the exact time, place and prize. For example, for us, the program told them that the winner of our prize would be the one who gets off the Peter Pan ride at the exact time we did and that the winner would be the one sitting on the inside seat. With all our paperwork, we got a list of all the possible prizes and their value. I've skimmed thru a little bit of it since being home and I find it interesting. There was a guest book in the penthouse that we were encouaged to sign about our experience. I read thru some of the previous winners' entries (I was also encourage to do this), and some mentioned how they had won, and it was very similar to our experience. Some were just sitting on a bench, but it was the exact bench at the exact time. Anyhow, if you have any questions about it, just post them in this thread and I'll post the answer if I know it.}
So we walk back to the parade starting point (to the side of It's a Small World) and go "backstage". We met some characters, dd got some autographs, we took some pics and then we got into our firetruck.
My name was on the signs (even though it should've been dd). We gave our camera to the CM and he took photos for us. And off we go to start the parade. At the end of Main St we get out of the fire truck and are taken to our private viewing area (above the Main St @ the railroad station).
We stayed and watched the rest of the parade then DH took the kids back to the penthouse and I went and got a double-dole whip for the walk back. (Did you know that they will not sell you a double? They will sell you 2 and you have to combine them yourself. Whatever.) So I put them into the 'float' cup and I left DL for the final time on this trip. I browsed WoD on the way back.
Back at the penthouse, they had delivered milk & cookies to the room; the kids each took a bath, I took a bath (and watched tv!) then DH took a shower. Also, in the concierge lounge there were bedtime snacks - I got a rice krispie treat (darn - I should've gotten a picture) it was so cute - a mickey head with the ears dipped in chocolate - like mouse ears.
We got a great night sleep - but the next morning as we packed, we didn't want to leave. Oh, we were done with DL/DCA, but we wanted to stay longer at the mouse-pad!
Well, off we go into LA to visit the American Girl Place.
DD got a few things, I got a few things, but most of all, I wanted dd to see the dolls in person. She will be asking for one for her bday and I wanted her to be able to see them in person to know which one was her favorite. (She had brought Kit with her). While that was fun, it completely screwed up our trip home. We got there around lunch time, shopped then had lunch and left around 2:30. Let me just say I HATE LA TRAFFIC!!!!!!! How does anyone live there? We were at a snail's pace until we were nearly at Palm Springs! It's all a blur. I was nearly in tears. Didn't hit AZ until after 8 pm, and we didn't get home until 10:30! Even though we had stopped at American Girl, it felt like we'd been driving for 12 hours!
Items I forgot to mention:
1) I never saw anyone else with a lime green mickey head!
2) We went to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience for the first time
. The kids didn't do well...
That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading!
