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

[PlutosRHM55]

Looks like you picked the right day to go to DTD! I can't believe how big this Vinylmation stuff has gotten. I just started pin trading and I've read more TRs raving about vinylmation than pins. It just amazes me... maybe I will start... hmmm... I don't know, I just don't understand how you trade... Once again, you made some awesome pictures at the animation academy! That is going to be a must-do for me on my next trip And lucky you for seeing the finale show, I've always wanted to see that, but I just manage to miss it :/ But that's great a high schooler made it to the final two, REPRESENT! The new sign looks so cool, I don't think I ever got to see it, maybe I just forget Hope the rain doesn't get too bad for you, this trip was definitely not weather-friendly after getting this far through it. Can't wait to read about your ADRs at Chef Mickey's!

 

[RachelNinja]

Did you watch Cars 2 in 3D? Those things always interest me! We haven't seen it yet even though Howard LOVES Cars. We just don't go to the movie theater because I'm easily distracted; I need subtitles! Haha. Our Saturdays are also occupied with coffeehouse rehearsals at church, so it was nice to hear your review of it since I really am out of the loop of everything!

I'm so glad you took video of the marching band! Haha, that's something that we'd have to see to understand. They're a lot less formal than my marching band in HS, but it looks a lot more fun! When I was in band, it was very like, straight arms, roll the feet when wallking so as not to bounce up and down, very rigid and whatnot. Haha, I like how once they finish the song, one of the trombone players clears out his spit valve.

GREAT PICTURE at the top of SPLASH!!! I always wanted to do that too, but I was too afraid! I purposely look out at the view, but it's always like, a split second before I either look down or we're physically down there already! Now you have that pic!

Casey's is definitely still on my list mainly because of brookelizabeth too! I want to get them as a snack while watching a parade. She has made me believe that that's a WDW experience not to be missed!

I like Claire's Vinylmation design! What was yours? Haha, I wouldn't be very creative either. I'd probably just write all over it!

I like the picture you got of the soon-to-be-mom winning American Idol mainly because the other contestant has a very big smile on her face. Just because of that, I like her, whoever she may be!

 

[sandym718]

Oh yeah, there was quite the storm that night! Sounds like you found a good place to hide out from it. We were in Ohana's!

 

[meeko_33785]

Good idea about heading to Animation to wait out the rain. Plus, your drawing of Woody came out great. I really like it.

 

[Jennifer48]

Your drawings aren't bad at all!!

Man you had a lot of rain this trip. All the trips you've been on, I guess it has to even out somewhere!

 

[Caretames1]

I think you drawings turned nicely! I can barely draw a stick figure so we'll see what happens in Sept!

I swear this must be the rainy-est TR I've ever read. At least you still got lots done.

 

[Nermel9]

I really want to check out D-Street next time I'm at DTD, it looks so cute with all that Vinylmation! Is that all they have there? I'm going to try to start trading those on my upcoming trip! I love the Toy Story Vinylmations!

Aww, your drawings from the Animation Academy are so cute!

 

[wdwgirl03]

I saw the new sign there today!!!

Looks like a good day even though it rained The "afternoon" thunderstorms that occur in the summer have decided to arrive between 5-8pm instead of in the afternoon lol.

I have to say, I was telling my sister about you the other day-how you just moved down there and I saw one of your facebook statuses about going to the parks. I told her how it must be so nice to just be able to say "ok, I'm going to go to the MK today." SOOOO jealous of you, and once my sister goes down, I'll be jealous of her too!

I'm sorry you had so much rain on your trip! Florida should always be sunny!

Your drawings are so good! I am artisically challenged so I am impressed

I know, right?

Thanks!

Looks like you picked the right day to go to DTD! I can't believe how big this Vinylmation stuff has gotten. I just started pin trading and I've read more TRs raving about vinylmation than pins. It just amazes me... maybe I will start... hmmm... I don't know, I just don't understand how you trade... Once again, you made some awesome pictures at the animation academy! That is going to be a must-do for me on my next trip And lucky you for seeing the finale show, I've always wanted to see that, but I just manage to miss it :/ But that's great a high schooler made it to the final two, REPRESENT! The new sign looks so cool, I don't think I ever got to see it, maybe I just forget Hope the rain doesn't get too bad for you, this trip was definitely not weather-friendly after getting this far through it. Can't wait to read about your ADRs at Chef Mickey's!

It is nuts how much it has grown-it only started a couple years ago and now there are literally hundreds of figures to choose from! You should start collecting, just beware that they can be very addicting.

We always try to make the finale show on each trip and it seems like there are usually one or two high school kids in it. I think there are a lot of younger kids who audition.

Did you watch Cars 2 in 3D? Those things always interest me! We haven't seen it yet even though Howard LOVES Cars. We just don't go to the movie theater because I'm easily distracted; I need subtitles! Haha. Our Saturdays are also occupied with coffeehouse rehearsals at church, so it was nice to hear your review of it since I really am out of the loop of everything!

I'm so glad you took video of the marching band! Haha, that's something that we'd have to see to understand. They're a lot less formal than my marching band in HS, but it looks a lot more fun! When I was in band, it was very like, straight arms, roll the feet when wallking so as not to bounce up and down, very rigid and whatnot. Haha, I like how once they finish the song, one of the trombone players clears out his spit valve.

GREAT PICTURE at the top of SPLASH!!! I always wanted to do that too, but I was too afraid! I purposely look out at the view, but it's always like, a split second before I either look down or we're physically down there already! Now you have that pic!

Casey's is definitely still on my list mainly because of brookelizabeth too! I want to get them as a snack while watching a parade. She has made me believe that that's a WDW experience not to be missed!

I like Claire's Vinylmation design! What was yours? Haha, I wouldn't be very creative either. I'd probably just write all over it!

I like the picture you got of the soon-to-be-mom winning American Idol mainly because the other contestant has a very big smile on her face. Just because of that, I like her, whoever she may be!

No, we didn't do the 3D version. I'm not sure they even had it at the theater, but we're not really into that.

haha, I didn't notice that about one of the trombone players! I'm going to have to go back and watch.

Thanks! I love the Splash Mountain picture and I think it's sort of cool how the one guy's arms are up in the air.

I don't even remember too much about my vinylmation design. I think I tried to make it like a tourist or something wearing mouse ears. It was just weird.

Oh yeah, there was quite the storm that night! Sounds like you found a good place to hide out from it. We were in Ohana's!

Yeah, I think I later found out there were tornadoes in other parts of the state?

Good idea about heading to Animation to wait out the rain. Plus, your drawing of Woody came out great. I really like it.

Thanks. I kind of think it looks like he's crying with those little cheek marks. haha

Your drawings aren't bad at all!!

Man you had a lot of rain this trip. All the trips you've been on, I guess it has to even out somewhere!

Thanks.

I know, it was really frustrating. Hopefully next trip we'll have some nicer weather (even though it wasn't bad the WHOLE time).

I think you drawings turned nicely! I can barely draw a stick figure so we'll see what happens in Sept!

I swear this must be the rainy-est TR I've ever read. At least you still got lots done.

haha, hence the title. It definitely was a rainy trip. But yes, like you said, atleast we were able to do a lot despite the bad weather.

I really want to check out D-Street next time I'm at DTD, it looks so cute with all that Vinylmation! Is that all they have there? I'm going to try to start trading those on my upcoming trip! I love the Toy Story Vinylmations!

Aww, your drawings from the Animation Academy are so cute!

D-Street is primarily vinylmation but they do have some other merchandise too. I kind of want to get into trading too-I think it would be fun!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wow, two days of updates in a row? When was the last time that happened?! Shocking I know. Before I get to the TR update though, I wanted to share something I saw on twitter. It's a nice article/video of the new Little Mermaid attraction that's going to be part of the new Fantasyland. All I can say is it looks like it's going to be amazing. I thought the end of the article was interesting...I never realized they were naming it "Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid" as a little tribute to the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Gotta love how Disney does that. Here's the blog link if you're interested:

Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid on the Disney Blog

Oh, and because I'm a little bit impatient, I had to go searching for a youtube video of the attraction at California Adventure since it's already opened. I should not have done that because that just made me even more excited and now I am DYING to go to Disneyland! I won't post the link, but all I can say is WOW again. It looked fantastic! The new expansion opening can't get here soon enough...

OK, on to Day 5 of our trip!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thursday was the morning of our ADR at Chef Mickey's. Claire and I were looking forward to our breakfast since we've never been to CM's before and we hadn't done a character breakfast since we were little! Our ADR was for 8:00 so we were up and ready to go not much after 7:00. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to get there.

This was also the morning where there was an 80% chance of rain, so it was looking like it was going to be a repeat of Monday. As we were waiting for our bus, I kept hoping that maybe, just maybe, the rain would somehow fizzle out and we'd stay dry. I should have known better...the sky was already pretty dark.

We didn't have to wait too long for a bus before we were on our way. It was a little bit strange getting on the MK bus knowing we weren't actually going to the MK, especially hearing the spiel when you arrive. I'm pretty sure that was an early opening day too, but it didn't look like too many people were going to be headed to that! The good news is that atleast the rain held off until we made it to the Contemporary. Since we got there early, we took a quick bathroom break before heading upstairs to the restaurant. We checked in, got our pager, and sat down until the pager went off. It was then that we noticed the downpour had begun. I'm going to warn you, this might be one of the most depressing Disney World pictures ever, but I just could not believe the sky and how dark it was outside. Not only was it depressing, it was kind of scary too! You could see the trees blowing and from the lights on the Contemporary grounds you could see the rain was coming down so hard. OK, are you ready for this?

Lovely, isn't it? Look at those clouds! I promise it was 8:00 in the morning even though it looks more like it was 8:00 at night. I think it definitely worked out well that this was the morning we had the ADR because with that weather, I don't think we would've been in any hurry to get to a park!

Anyway...our pager finally went off and we went to get our picture taken by a statue of Chef Mickey. Here's a couple more pictures where you can see how dark it was:

Then we were taken to our table where our server poured us a couple glasses of orange juice. We had to wait a few minutes until we were able to go to the buffet. There was a pretty decent selection of food to choose from: fresh fruit, eggs, sausages, bacon, pancakes, french toast, cereal...nothing too terribly fancy, but it suited my tastes just fine!

We figured we could take our time eating since the weather was so lousy.

At the table next to us, there was a family from Illinois. I only know this because the older man noticed my Brewers shirt and asked us if we were from Milwaukee, and said they were from the Chicago area. I think he said he had family from around here (he had some connection to WI) so he offered to take our pictures once the characters started coming around, if I promised I wouldn't root against the Cubs this baseball season. I told him I didn't know about that, but he still took our pictures.

First up was Goofy!

At some point they did the famous napkin twirling too. I have a picture of Claire doing that but I know she'd kill me if I post that one. haha

We also saw Minnie and my favorite, Mickey! I like how he came and sat down next to me.

Here's Claire with Pluto...

And me, though I'm not quite sure why Pluto looks like he's falling over. I think the guy was having trouble with my camera so it took a while for it to work.

I think we might've been there for an hour or so before they brought us our bill. It was definitely one of our more expensive meals but it was worth it. The food was pretty good, and like I said there was a good variety, so unless you're a super picky eater (I'm not the most adventurous when it comes to food...) you're sure to find something you like. Plus it's fun getting to see all the characters (I was a little worried about the character interaction after reading some other TRs where adults are kind of ignored...I think the only character we didn't see was Donald). I can see why it's a popular choice for families with kids. My only complaint is that they should include that souvenir picture as part of your bill! Another CM came to our table to show us the photo package and our picture was really cute. But there was no way I was going to pay another $30 or $40 for it. OR they should atleast include it on your photopass. Overall though, it was a good experience. We enjoyed it enough that Claire said something a while ago about doing another character meal. haha

After our breakfast, we tried to waste some more time by looking in the giftshop before braving the rain.

up next: The shortest Soarin' wait ever and an Epcot first for me!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Ugh... that is the most depressing picture ever. What an awful day!

Glad you liked Chef Mickeys. I'm considering it for our January trip... you may have swayed me towards it! Except now I want a Mickey waffle NOW!

 

[onelilspark]

Wow! That's really dark!!

I'm glad you had a better experience than us at Chef Mickey's as two adults!

 

[Caretames1]

Holy Cow! Now that looks like some bad weather! I wouldn't have wanted to be stuck in that. You know that is my fear, only having so many days at Disney and having it rain so much.
I love Chef Mickeys so I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

[jenbear123]

At first I read your intro and then I scrolled down to the pictures. Then I literally had to re-read the beginning because I was shocked when I realized that was MORNING. Wow. That is actually kinda scary!!! I wouldn't even have wanted to leave my resort if it looked like that outside. Yikes. I hope the weather improved as the day went on. I'm glad you had good character interactions at CM. I agree about how the picture should be on your photopass or at least included in the price of your meal like the do at CRT.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow, I can't believe how dark it was, kinda scary looking!

 

[Queenofallthings]

I have to agree with everyone else...I can`t believe how dark it was! We were there during Hurricane Ernesto in 2006 and we had one day that looked like that....being from Canada and knowing nothing about hurricanes we stayed in our room

Great pictures .... can you believe we`ve never been to Chef Mickey`s One of these trips we`ll make it there!

 

[Vwdiva93]

Yeah I remember the dark sky that morning all too well Glad you had a nice breakfast though! CM looks really cool, the food looks delicious. And I love your picture with Mickey!

 

[dawnbu40]

The weather that day looks awful! I'll keep my fingers crossed that it cleared up later?

I'm glad you enjoyed Chef Mickey's. The pics are so cute!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Whoa! That sky was really dark. I don't think I've ever seen a sky get that dark in the morning, especially in Florida. There was a pretty bad storm there on my first trip and you could barely see out into the parking lot at AKL It didn't look good at all. This looks worse and I don't think it could've gotten worse. Hopefully, it didn't ruin the magic too much (if that makes sense hahaha) Moving on... Chef Mickey's looks like a really nice character breakfast I've heard many good things and many bad things, but from this, it looks very nice. The french toast looks wicked good. That's so funny with the guy from Illinois! Hahaha I'm guessing you didn't take him up on his deal LOL But he got some great pictures of you and Claire! Can't wait to read about your visit to EPCOT!

 

[Jazzabelle508]

I have to agree with everyone else...I can`t believe how dark it was! We were there during Hurricane Ernesto in 2006 and we had one day that looked like that....being from Canada and knowing nothing about hurricanes we stayed in our room

Great pictures .... can you believe we`ve never been to Chef Mickey`s One of these trips we`ll make it there!

wow that must have been scary! usually when we go it is in january so hurricanes aren't much of a threat but weather like the pictures here has happened to us in disney but usually it does blow over. i remember the one summer trip we took we looked at the forecast and a tropical storm was heading this way but luckily that trip had really good weather and it turned out to be hurricane and tropical storm free.

You should definitely try chef mickeys, it is a really fun atmosphere and the food is pretty good 2. we usually go for dinner because it is (for us) easier to plan into the day and it is easier to get into but i have heard amazing things about their breakfast meals.

 

[SoonerGirl]

What was that animator thinking giving you guys a choice on which character to draw? Of course you aren't going to get a room full of people to agree on which one to do I bet Woody & Buzz were hard to draw!

That weather during your Chef Mickey's breakfast was nuts. I never would have guessed that it was morning, it was so dark!