That's the first time we had to wear a poncho in Disney! A Mar./April '11 TR DONE 9/5

[meeko_33785]

Hey Sarah! I think I'm all caught up now.

Someday I want to go back to EPCOT during the Flower and Garden Festival. We went years ago, but it seems like it's grown a lot since then.

Enjoyed seeing your pics and reading your reviews of the Duffy and Tangeled meet-and-greets.

Looks like you found the Rapunzel pin after all. How much searching did it take?

 

[wdwgirl03]

I love your Rapunzel photos, she is up there as one of my fav princesses!

Thanks!

Great Rapunzel and Flynn pics! Rapunzel is so pretty, and Flynn looks just like he does in the movie! I'd really like to meet them! Did you hear Rapunzel is going to be made an official Disney princess in October? October 2nd, I believe, which happens to be an MK day for me! Maybe I'll get to see her get crowned!

I love your video! That little girl who ran away was so funny!

I did hear that about the princess crowning but like Michelle said, I thought it was in the UK or something. But that would be cool if it was at the MK and you got to see it!

Haha, cheese heads in Disney World LOL I don't know why, but it just sounds funny to me. That would be so cool if my school was from Wisconsin and we were cheese heads, but NO, we are the dang saber-tooth tigesrs... oh wait, those are extinct! Haha Maybe my school mascot is awesome... Can't wait to see where they performed in MK (though I'm pretty sure it's Main Street, but I could be wrong)

I love the little dance Rapunzel and Flynn did with the kids, so cute. And yeah, that CM was pretty funny to watch in your video and she took some fantastic pictures

Can't wait to find out what you did next

Well, there were a lot of cheeseheads in Disney World after the Packers won the Super Bowl. The band might've marched on Main Street but we actually saw them in Frontierland. I can't wait to post the video of them...the song they did was pretty amusing. haha

OMG, I have only ever seen that many cheeseheads at Lambeau!!!

Love the meet and greet with Rapunzel and Flynn. He really was spot on with his expressions. I always love the kids during those interactions. I'm really looking forward to taking my niece there.

I am so glad we ended up waiting because apparently Flynn is going to be leaving the meet and greet! So sad.

We are heading back next April for a week. We decided to hold off on the cruise for a couple more years. We missed not going to WDW this year and I couldn't imagine skipping it again next year.


Love your pictures with Rapunzel and Flynn! I'm glad it was such a great meet and greet. It's definitely a favorite movie around here...maybe I can talk the boys into going!

Ahh, very fun. I hear ya, I don't know if I could go that long without a trip. It's kind of pathetic because we used to only go every other year and now I don't know how I survived.

I love that Rapunzel & Flynn came out and danced with the kids before they started the meet & greet - how fun! You had a great Flynn too, looks just like him

I'm pretty sure that I read that the official crowning was taking place in England, far way from the MK. I could be wrong though!

Yeah, I think the Flynn looked more like him than the one Emma met when she was there.

I read the same thing about the princess crowning. Maybe they're doing something in WDW too though. Who knows.

I am so excited to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider!!! They look just like their characters! Disney did such a great job of casting them!

When are you going again? Supposedly Flynn Rider is leaving around July 3.

OMG I so must hunt them down when I'm there next!!! Where abouts is the meeting spot? Love the pictures and the whole interaction looks amazing! Can't wait to see what you were up to next

It's where they used to have the Storytime with Belle. It's in a little area right near Cosmic Ray's (kind of where Fantasyland and Tomorrowland meet).

Oh wow, Flynn looks spot on! They did good finding him!

They sure did!

Haha, the Rapunzel tower kind of creeps me out. The "hair" is just a little skeevy to me!

I understand what you're saying about how you expected more from the pizza at Via Napoli. After reading reviews, I'm always expecting these life-changing experiences! Haha, and it's not to say things aren't good, but it's not necessarily the best food I've ever eaten. Of course, I'm also someone who's satisifed with food from chain restaurants, haha, so if I'm paying that much more money for something from WDW, I want it to change my life forever!

Haha, I love that you blurted out Kool-Aid!!! I love word games like that too; it's what I do with my students young and old when there's time to kill. I make up word games for our church retreat when I'm on social committee too!

I didn't get to wear a cheesehead hat when I was in marching band! Haha, I had to wear the regular marching band hat with the plume and stuff my hair up into it!

OMG, that little girl in the video with the long hair!!! Haha, that's insane! I think my favorite part of the video was the older CM who was really getting into the dancing!

Exactly! It was definitely better than the pizza from Pizza Planet and I love that stuff too. Like I said a bunch of times, I guess I was just expecting more. And yes, it was pretty expensive too!

It was a cute game and I just couldn't keep myself from joining in. I'm glad they didn't get mad at me. hehe

My high school didn't even have a marching band!

haha, I know, she was hilarious. Atleast she enjoys her job!

I'm sorry you weren't wild over the VN pizza. I thought it was fantastic. I think the reason so many people aren't in to it is because it's a completely different style than any place I've been to or seen in the US. It's almost exactly like the real Italian pizza I ate in Naples, Italy. So I think it's just not what people are used to or expecting.

I had read in Celebrations magazine how it was like real Italian pizza. Maybe that's why I was expecting more?

Wow you and your sister didn't have to wait long at all! When I met them, we got there pretty early also but MK was really crowded that day so it didn't make a difference.
That's awesome that the CM took so many photos! All of them look great, I really love the theming and colors they used in that area.

No, it wasn't a bad wait at all. Even if it had been longer I think it would've been worth it. When you've been to WDW as many times as us, it's fun to do something new.

Hey Sarah! I think I'm all caught up now.

Someday I want to go back to EPCOT during the Flower and Garden Festival. We went years ago, but it seems like it's grown a lot since then.

Enjoyed seeing your pics and reading your reviews of the Duffy and Tangeled meet-and-greets.

Looks like you found the Rapunzel pin after all. How much searching did it take?

You really should go back to the F&GF. It is a great time to go.

Yes, I did finally find it on our last day at the Studios! And at one of the little carts on the street, of all places.

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Great Rapunzel pictures, I loved watching the video too
That Flynn is so exact, just like the real one!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Well, I have some very sad news. After reading all the comments about the meet and greet with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, it sounds like a lot of other people were looking forward to doing it too. Unfortunately, it sounds like Flynn Rider is not going to be a part of the meet and greets anymore. My sister posted something on her blog about it and then I saw some stuff on here about it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2746712

If it's true, now I'm really glad that my sister and I got the chance to meet them both. I guess I just don't understand why they would remove him (and Naveen?). I love the princesses, but why are the princes so hard to find? It's like you can only meet them at certain restaurants and the special events. It doesn't make sense. So for those of you going soon, I hope you get to meet them! Just thought I'd share.

Hoping to have another update done soon!

 

[Queenofallthings]

That is sad...I don't know why they do that either with the princes....

 

[Caretames1]

They didn't do the color sheets when we were there. I do remember that they were delayed that morning by about 15 mins. Nice pictures!

Thats too bad that Flynn won't be a part of the M & G anymore. There are a lot of people that haven't gotten the chance to go through it yet

 

[PlutosRHM55]

WHAT?!?! This is an outrage! Now, I won't get to meet Naveen. ):< He's one of my favorites. "I am Prince Naveen *book smack* Of Maldonia!" <--- Seriously, with that line, his imminence should withstand. Now, I be sad I'm also sad Flynn is leaving, he would've been fun to meet as well.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm getting caught up!!!

Sorry about your meal but I guess it was okay if you would go back! I have yet to try it but I will one of these days!

We always stand in the location you did for Illuminations...unless there is a private party or we don't have tickets that night for CLP (that's their reserved viewing area) but other than that, that is where we stand!!

 

[PirateKate]

I'm sad to hear Flynn is leaving. He seems like someone little boys could enjoy meeting, too. It looks like you had a really fun meet and greet with both of them, though. It's a good thing you all saw them then.

 

[OhMari]

I"ve been waiting for this picture. This is just embarassing-I hate cheese heads. Was the band taking a group picture in front of the castle? The made our h.s. band get up at 5:00 a.m. and take a picture before the park opened.

Did you see Southwest and AirTran's 40th Anniversary Sale. It killed me not booking a flight for $80 each way. I played around with Free Dinning Promo again and I could book Aug. 31-Sept. 6th and stay at POR or Wilderness Lodge or the Cabins. Then I played around with some ADR's for dining and even found a 5:00 p.m. OHana's, about the only place I couldn't get into was The Contemporary-the steak house-I can't remember the name off hand. But sadly I didn't book anything. Flights are still hoovering around in the $90 range and I'm sure they will start climbing again. It is hard not to have a Disney Vacation planned.

 

[dnbent]

Love your trip report.

Another from Wisconsin here. (Actually Mauston is only 15 miles away.)

 

[meeko_33785]

I was just about to post something about Flynn being removed from the Tangled meet-and-greet on my TR too. I was really disappointed when I heard that. I'm so glad I got to meet him with Rapunzel back in May.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great Rapunzel pictures, I loved watching the video too
That Flynn is so exact, just like the real one!

I know, he was awesome! It was a great character meet.

That is sad...I don't know why they do that either with the princes....

It just doesn't make any sense...I agree with someone who said what is a princess without her prince?

They didn't do the color sheets when we were there. I do remember that they were delayed that morning by about 15 mins. Nice pictures!

Thats too bad that Flynn won't be a part of the M & G anymore. There are a lot of people that haven't gotten the chance to go through it yet

That stinks they were delayed a little bit but hey, it was worth your wait, wasn't it?

I know! Now I am so glad we decided to wait for them. I definitely would be upset if we hadn't knowing he's leaving.

WHAT?!?! This is an outrage! Now, I won't get to meet Naveen. ):< He's one of my favorites. "I am Prince Naveen *book smack* Of Maldonia!" <--- Seriously, with that line, his imminence should withstand. Now, I be sad I'm also sad Flynn is leaving, he would've been fun to meet as well.

haha, I love Prince Naveen too. It is really a bummer they're removing them. Boo!

I'm getting caught up!!!

Sorry about your meal but I guess it was okay if you would go back! I have yet to try it but I will one of these days!

We always stand in the location you did for Illuminations...unless there is a private party or we don't have tickets that night for CLP (that's their reserved viewing area) but other than that, that is where we stand!!

So how does it feel to officially be a Floridian now?

Don't be sorry, like I said, it was still really good. And yes, we would go back again!

I'm sad to hear Flynn is leaving. He seems like someone little boys could enjoy meeting, too. It looks like you had a really fun meet and greet with both of them, though. It's a good thing you all saw them then.

That's what my sister and I don't get about it. They've been talking about how the new Fantasyland stuff seems to be more geared towards girls and now they are taking away meet and greets with some of the male characters? Bad move.

I"ve been waiting for this picture. This is just embarassing-I hate cheese heads. Was the band taking a group picture in front of the castle? The made our h.s. band get up at 5:00 a.m. and take a picture before the park opened.

Did you see Southwest and AirTran's 40th Anniversary Sale. It killed me not booking a flight for $80 each way. I played around with Free Dinning Promo again and I could book Aug. 31-Sept. 6th and stay at POR or Wilderness Lodge or the Cabins. Then I played around with some ADR's for dining and even found a 5:00 p.m. OHana's, about the only place I couldn't get into was The Contemporary-the steak house-I can't remember the name off hand. But sadly I didn't book anything. Flights are still hoovering around in the $90 range and I'm sure they will start climbing again. It is hard not to have a Disney Vacation planned.

Yeah, they were taking a group picture. That's crazy how early your band had to get up!

I didn't see the sale at all. My dad said he was looking and saw that they added an earlier flight (like the one we usually take) in December but the price is almost $400 each way since it's such a busy travel time. While I still have the reservation for after Christmas, I have a bad feeling I probably won't be able to use it. It is definitely hard not having a Disney trip planned.

Love your trip report.

Another from Wisconsin here. (Actually Mauston is only 15 miles away.)

Glad you are enjoying it! I always like to hear from other Wisconsinites. What a coincidence that Mauston is so close to where you live.

I was just about to post something about Flynn being removed from the Tangled meet-and-greet on my TR too. I was really disappointed when I heard that. I'm so glad I got to meet him with Rapunzel back in May.

It is really disappointing they're leaving. But ever since I missed out on the Up characters, I've sort of learned my lesson when it comes to meeting characters. If I really want to meet a character, better just wait otherwise I might regret it!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone! Once again I've been slacking in updating this TR but I've been pretty busy with summer school and my other job. It's about time I update!

Before getting back to the TR, yesterday Dad, Claire, Emma and I went to see Cars 2. On the way there, Dad made a comment about it only being 7 weeks until they go down to move Emma in for the College Program. Crazy!! I'm jealous but at the same time I'm getting kind of anxious because I want to find out where she's going to be working! haha She did say she's sent a couple emails requesting work locations but obviously there's no guarantee. Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens!

Anyway, it seems like there were a lot of bad reviews for Cars 2 but I thought it was a fun movie. Until I saw the review in the paper here, I sort of forgot that before the movie they were going to have the new Toy Story short, Hawaiian Vacation. The reviewer here said that that was worth the price of admission alone, and I'd almost agree with that. It was hilarious! I won't say too much about it, but basically Bonnie (the new little girl who got all of Andy's toys) is about to go on vacation but the toys get left behind, which is bad news for Barbie and Ken. So the rest of the toys plan a "Hawaiian vacation" for them.

As for the movie itself, it's like an action/spy thriller. Basically, there's a new race called the World Grand Prix, which takes Lightning McQueen, Mater, and some of the other cars (as well as some new cars) around the world. Along the way, Mater is mistaken for a spy and gets involved in a lot of the action. Personally, I think I prefer the original Cars movie, but this one was entertaining as well. I really liked the animation (one of the races takes place in a fictional Italian village called Porta Corsa...the animation was beautiful!), and some of the cars are pretty funny too (the Buckingham Palace cars and of course the queen!). So overall, it was a good movie.

Now back to the trip report...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 cont'd (part 2)

After our meet with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, we decided to visit Fantasyland since we really hadn't done anything there on our first day. Our first stop was Winnie the Pooh. It was our first time seeing the new queue and I have to say, it was adorable! I like how they incorporated the tree from the little playground that used to be across from the ride.

There were a lot of fun activities for younger kids to keep themselves entertained while they waited. I don't have too many pictures of it, but I do have one of the "punkins":

Both Claire and I enjoyed the honey walls where you can smear the honey, and if you smear enough around, you might discover one of the characters! The line for the ride wasn't too long and we enjoyed it. Even though I sometimes miss Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Pooh ride is so cute and colorful.

We also were able to enjoy Mickey's Philharmagic (for whatever reason the people behind us thought everything was hilarious and they could not stop laughing the entire time!) and the carousel.

Eventually we made our way toward Liberty Square and Frontierland. As we were walking, we heard the announcement for the Magic Music Days so we knew the band from Wisconsin would be coming by soon. We decided to stop and watch. There were actually three bands performing. Unfortunately I can't remember where the first one was from but I'm pretty sure it was another midwestern state. The second one was from Indiana:

And finally, it was time for the Mauston band!

Yes, they are the Official Cheesehead Band. And what exactly did they perform? Watch and find out...


And in case you don't know, it's "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. They were actually really good and the crowd seemed to enjoy them too. After they passed us, we followed behind them because we wanted to be band groupies. No, just kidding, it was really the only way to get to our next ride, Splash Mountain!

Since it was a little bit later, the line was longer but still I don't think we waited any more than 15 minutes before boarding our log. A few pictures from our journey:

I've always been a little fearful of taking my camera out on rides (especially a water ride) but I've also always wanted to get a picture right before the big drop. So I took out my camera and made a plan. I was wearing my jacket at the time so I figured I'd take my picture and then hide my camera underneath my jacket so it wouldn't get wet. The result was this:

YAY! I think it turned out pretty good. I just love the view you get, even if it's for a couple seconds.

I can't remember if we did BTMRR too, but once we were done in Frontierland we took the train back to Main Street. Part of me was hoping we'd be able to see some of the Fantasyland construction progress, but of course there are boards everywhere. They do have some advertising though:

That was right near the old Toontown station. I've said it before but it'll be interesting to see what the expansion is going to be like when it's done.

We were getting pretty hungry by that time so before we left we went to get some lunch at Casey's!

Claire ordered our food while I found a table outside. While I was waiting, a custodial CM came up to me and somehow we started talking about the NCAA basketball tournament and our final four picks. It was sort of random but it must be fun to be a CM and just get to interact with guests. Definitely one way to make your job more enjoyable. Soon Claire came out with our food. After reading several trip reports, I decided I had to try the corn dog nuggets (shoutout to brookelizabeth right here!). They were really good! Claire got one of the regular hot dogs. So we were able to enjoy our lunch with one of the best views, Cinderella Castle. Gotta love eating lunch and having the castle show going on at the same time.

As we were finishing up, so was the show.

Then, we decided to head out. And as it turns out, we never got back to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the trip. Good-bye, Magic Kingdom!

up next: Downtown Disney and more storms?!

 

[Queenofallthings]

That is a great shot from the top of Splash Mountain...great job! I love the corn dogs at Casey's but I also love the regular hot dog so I get that and Jasmine gets the corn dogs and we share....works good for both of us

Can't believe only 7 weeks until you move your sis...how exciting!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Our first stop was Winnie the Pooh. It was our first time seeing the new queue and I have to say, it was adorable!

YAY! I think it turned out pretty good. I just love the view you get, even if it's for a couple seconds.

After reading several trip reports, I decided I had to try the corn dog nuggets . They were really good! [/COLOR]

I'm excited to try both the new Pooh and Haunted Mansion queues. We were thinking about skipping Pooh but with the new fun line, I think we're going to have to ride it! (Have you seen the new previews for the Pooh movie? I think it looks adorable!)

That is a really good picture. I love how you can see BLT in the background.

Glad you liked the corn dog nuggets-can't believe you never tried them before!

 

[Caretames1]

AWESOME Picture! What a great view of MK! Sorry you didn't get to go back. I have a feeling you'll be be soon though!

Good Luck to your sister on her job requests!

 

[Vwdiva93]

I am so mad they are taking Flynn away!! I'm glad I got to meet him at least once though as well. That is so awesome that your sister is doing the CP! I can't wait till I can finally do it now that I'm in college. Great picture on Splash, I would be nervous to take that too. Oh man, I know which storm you're talking about for the next update, that was the big one.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

B-bye Magic Kingdom! :'( Wait, I wasn't on this trip LOL I love your pictures on top of Splash Mountain. The view from there is great. I would love for the ride to break down just before you got to the slope so I could take a picture as good as thought. You can see Cinderella Castle PERFECTLY That's so funny the cheeseheads ended up playing Bad Romance I guess the song is so popular it has ended up in High School band repertoires... this will be interesting when it makes it to my high school... I must try those corn dogs, if you say they are so good when I go to Casey's for once LOL Can't wait to read about your Downtown Disney adventures!

 

[cbg1027]

Love that photo from the top of Splash Mt!

That band was pretty funny - cheeseheads AND Lady Gaga?