The Drive, the Dream and DVC - A March 2011 Birthday Surprise TR(NEW 11/9 p. 32 END)

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I hate that Paige didn't like ITTBAB. It is kinda loud and scary. DD hasn't seen it since she was 4, but we are planning to do it in October. I hope she doesn't react the same way. I was fine with it until the bugs "exited the theater first". That was gross!

No pics from the AKL swimming? What's up with that? I love seeing that pool! It is so pretty!

 

[Charleston Princess]

We've never seen the Animal Kingdom parade, either, but every time I see pictures, I want to! It looks like such a fun parade!

My children would agree with Paige -- they both hate It's Tough to be a Bug, too! I am sure I will never get them to do it again.

What a shame about Kali. Why do people think they can get away with nonsense like that???

 

[MEK]

Sheree - Come back!!!!! I know you are out there!

 

[Monny2AE]

Your Lion King pics look exactly like mine!

Love the PP pics! You have such a beautiful family!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great AK day Sheree! Too bad Kali was closed. Who would try to climb out of the boat?! That is nutso!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I love that parade!!!! It's my favorite after spectro

It was really cool to finally see the whole thing! It was very fun and festive!

Love the parade pics.

Bummer about Kali being down.

I can't wait to find out if you got to meet Disney Dawn in person.

fun update. I wondered where you've been hiding!!!!!

Thanks - Yeah, I thought it would have been fun to get on Kali - we never do!
I'm still around - just moving on this TR at a snail's pace!

Glad you got all those great pics of the parade...as I will most likely never see it! If we do go to AK,we never make it to the parade, not sure why?!

Lots of good floats - you should try to see it! It's fun!

Of course Minnie has her tub - wouldn't you bring that on safari too?
Great parade pictures!
Oh, a meeting with DAWN!! Just spoke to her this morning!!!
Can't wait to see the girls after their BBB appointment!

It just doesn't make sense to me. I must be missing something!
Dawn - just about the friendliest person around! Of course, she is from Mn, and we are notoriously nice!
I have TONS of BBB pictures - I hope to get to them this weekend for you guys!!

Great parade pics Sheree! I love that parade, but have only seen it twice. It seems that we rarely stay at AK long enough to see it.

That's a bummer about Kali. We've never been on it. Maybe this year.

Great photopass pics!

Thanks! I think you should go on Kali this year - it will certainly be hot enough!!
If it rains, go then, you'd already be wet or wearing a poncho!

I hate that Paige didn't like ITTBAB. It is kinda loud and scary. DD hasn't seen it since she was 4, but we are planning to do it in October. I hope she doesn't react the same way. I was fine with it until the bugs "exited the theater first". That was gross!

No pics from the AKL swimming? What's up with that? I love seeing that pool! It is so pretty!

Yeah, DH thinks they should change that movie to something with the Lion King instead. I doubt we'll be going back anytime soon.
I might have more pictures of the AKL pool later. We love that area. I hope to check out the Kidani pool someday if we stay there. I have heard great things.

We've never seen the Animal Kingdom parade, either, but every time I see pictures, I want to! It looks like such a fun parade!

My children would agree with Paige -- they both hate It's Tough to be a Bug, too! I am sure I will never get them to do it again.

What a shame about Kali. Why do people think they can get away with nonsense like that???

Yup - fun parade! I can't believe You've never seen it!! ITTBAB is a creepy 4 D movie!!
I am a firm believer in the mantra - "People just do dumb things" Sometimes I say "people are stupid". I see it everyday at my job, so it just doesn't surprise me anymore. But still...it's ridiculous.

Sheree - Come back!!!!! I know you are out there!

I'm here!!! I promise I haven't abandoned my TR!! It's just been so crazy busy this month!

Your Lion King pics look exactly like mine!

Love the PP pics! You have such a beautiful family!

HA!! Aren't my pics awesome? And here I thought I was so special!
Thank you, I really am glad to do the photopass pics. I used to not want to be in pictures, but realized that someday, my kids will want to see family pictures with the whole family, and this is how they see me anyway.

Great AK day Sheree! Too bad Kali was closed. Who would try to climb out of the boat?! That is nutso!

Thanks Kelli!! Yeah, missing Kali was the only bad thing about that day! There's a fool around every corner I guess!

I want to apologize to all my readers (if you're still there!). I have intended to get moving again on this TR and have just gotten way too busy lately. Now I have no plans to be out of town on weekends for about a month! So hopefully I can devote some more time to writing. I have TONS of pictures that I want to share!

Thanks for hanging in there and continuing to read along!

 

[jenseib]

I bought that white and pink mickey head dress that Paige is wearing for Claire this trip. It's a little big, but i got it that way so it will fit next summer. Being the end of summer I didn't want to get something that would "just" fit. I think it is so cute.

 

[brookelizabeth]

What a bummer about missing out on Kali!! And for people to get out of the raft! Wow! Crazy people!!!

Looking forward to the BBB!

 

[MeMom]

You know I loved all of the parade pictures!

I hope the people that got out of the rafts were dealt with severely!

If they lowered the volume just a tad bit during certain parts of It's Tough to be a Bug, it wouldn't come across in such a harsh way. It could easily be tweaked to make it more kid friendly, but maybe that's not the audience they are aiming for with that, for whatever reason.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I bought that white and pink mickey head dress that Paige is wearing for Claire this trip. It's a little big, but i got it that way so it will fit next summer. Being the end of summer I didn't want to get something that would "just" fit. I think it is so cute.

I just love that dress! Paige wore it so much - it's getting short on her now!

What a bummer about missing out on Kali!! And for people to get out of the raft! Wow! Crazy people!!!

Looking forward to the BBB!

Darn hooligans! Next time I will ride!

You know I loved all of the parade pictures!

I hope the people that got out of the rafts were dealt with severely!

If they lowered the volume just a tad bit during certain parts of It's Tough to be a Bug, it wouldn't come across in such a harsh way. It could easily be tweaked to make it more kid friendly, but maybe that's not the audience they are aiming for with that, for whatever reason.

I agree! The parade was a lot of fun! I'm really glad we spent a "whole" day at AK!

We won't be going again to ITTBAB anytime soon!

I'm going to update!!!! Don't faint!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Okay, now that I've survived August, I'm back to report on March!
We were up pretty early and I knew from our chats the day before that DizneyDawn and her family were going to be at Boma for breakfast. She was going to be SO CLOSE, I had to see her! It's pretty funny, she lives probably a half hour from me, but we could only meet up at WDW!
So we got ready and went downstairs to Boma. I knew what they looked like from DIS pictures, and since I knew Dan was very tall, it was easy to find them. So I marched right over and interrupted them! We were happy to finally meet this wonderful couple and Baylor! They were SOOOOO nice! We chatted for a few minutes about our vacation plans and we headed off to the bus stop, while they headed to the buffet!
I did manage to remember a picture.

Then it was to the bus stop. Where we waited at least 15 minutes for the Epcot bus! Some days we just have bad timing!
We got to Epcot around the time they were opening the gates. We did not see any opening rope drop show. It was SUPER BUSY! We headed to Soarin' along with about 10,000 other people.

Got our FPs- the times were for 10:57-11:57! The standby time went up to 45 minutes before I got through the FP line, which took 15 minutes! I was really surprised, having never been when it was that busy before!

So we took our FPs and went and had breakfast at Sunshine Seasons.

Shockingly, I have no food pictures from that meal. I guess it wasn't too impressive. I seem to recall a big platter of "stuff" with potatoes, and maybe some pastries. Sarah was eating chocolate croissants any chance she got, so I'm betting there was one of those on our table!

We decided to go to Test Track. We couldn't get new FPs yet, so we went standby even though it was 45 minutes. There's stuff to look at in line, so I didn't mind. Paige was scared stiff, having never been on the ride before. We kept telling her how fun it was, not super fast, not super scary... Sarah had done it before and loved it. The whole time, Paige kept clinging to us, whining about how scared she was.

Doesn't she look happy?

I'm sure the other people in line thought I was a horrible mom for forcing my child to go on a ride she was scared of, but I knew what it was like, and knew she'd be fine. while we were waiting, and not yet into the building, a car got stuck on the track as it goes around the curve outside. So we watched that and kept waiting...

See the car sitting there? We joked that we could tell people that we caught a great action shot!
We ended up waiting about an hour in line (with Paige whining the WHOLE time!!!)
We finally got on the ride, and a single rider sat in the back with me and Paige. She was a really nice woman, older than me, and said she'd ridden the ride 10 times and it was her favorite. Paige was still not impressed and hung onto my arm for dear life.
Can you see her hanging on?

Well, about 30 seconds into the ride, Paige declared that this was the most fun ride EVER and she loved it!!!!
By this time we could use our Soarin' FPs and headed back there. We sat in the 2nd row, and I felt less queasy than I have in the past. I just LOVE this ride!
It was now time to head to Downtown Disney and the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!
We snapped a few pictures on the way toward the International Gateway.

Promoting the African Cats movie (which I still have not seen!)

cute!

UK

Not the greatest lighting - but it's Captain Hook and the crocodile

Bad reflections, but look, it's Duffy!

We made our way to the Beach Club and noticed a special event on the beach. I don't recall if we figured out what it was - some convention group lunch or something.

We caught a DTD bus right away (better timing!) and had 20 minutes to spare before our appointment. So, of course we shopped!

The girls picked out charm bracelets and 2 charms each. I got a cover for my iphone with a castle picture. Then it was time for the BBB!!!
I asked about just buying dresses and somehow, we ended up upgraded to the CASTLE package - which was WAY more than I wanted. I just wanted to buy a dress and say, here, put this on them. We ended up getting shoes, crown, dress, tiara, wand, nails, and a photo package. But the PP photographer was SO great and got such good shots. It was nice because then I didn't feel like I missed one girl while taking shots of the other. They were seated about four chairs apart too.
Up next - a million BBB pictures of my princesses...

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Waiting our turn and picking out the hairdo!

Sarah was seated on the far right.

She never smiles like that when I do her hair!

Then again, no one is usually taking her picture when I do her hair.

They seated Paige over to the right near the big round seating cushion for the parents.

The dresses were ready and so they had them go get changed before their makeover got too far along. Waiting to go in to the dressing room...They did a cute little ceremony thing.

Now that she has her gown on, the fairy godmother in training got to work!

I kept going back and forth between the girls. I'm sure I was in someone's way all the time! I tried to stay out of other people's camera shots! Really I did!

Tag team FGITs! I'd love to have people pampering me like that! They need a boutique for the moms! Oh, I guess that would be the spa!!

nails? Check. Hair? check. Next - makeup!

I love that the girls don't see how they look until the very end!

Yes, I'd love my nails done, please!

cont...

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Paige's FGIT that was working on her hair was having a tough time getting the "bun" to stay all in. It ended up being a little looser.

Almost done...

getting ready for the big reveal...

Does she look excited to you???

TA-DAH!!

The PP photog got some great shots, I'll post a bunch of those after these.

Now, how is Paige doing?

Have to keep spraying that hair in place...

Must try it with the Belle crown.

Yet more spray...

am I at the picture limit for this post?
better continue...

 

[Mndisneygirl]

This was the photopass photographer when he saw Paige just before the reveal! He was so cool!

a bit of pixie dust

MY TWO PRINCESSES!

signing the autograph book

Photopass pics
BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

As we walked through DTD, a little boy said "Look Mommy, there's Belle!" Paige thought that was so cool! They got lots of stares and smiles.

After leaving the BBB, we headed to our photo shoot. We had a package that included 1 large picture of the two girls and then 4 individual (2 each) pictures. I'll share a sampling.

We never did get lunch that day - we had planned to get to Beaches and Cream but because Epcot was so crowded, it took too long to get Soarin' and TT done! It took FOREVER for a bus back to BC. Then we had to stop at Pleasure Island, then Swan/Dolphin. So we got off there and walked back to Epcot via the Boardwalk and the International Gateway. We wanted to get pizza at BW, but it isn't on DDP, so we passed. We got to France and took some more pictures. They had the Beauty and the Beast topiaries there, so we had to take pictures with "our" Belle!

cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Are you guys seeing pictures sideways? I swear I rotated them n Photobucket!

Anyway, on with the pictures!

This appears to be Sleeping Beauty and her Prince

Cinderella

Belle

My Belle and the Beast

Not wanting to be left out

perfume anyone?

They had an "outdoor living" display here. Didn't do much for me, but whatever.

We took a couple PP pictures on the bridge

I used that border a lot!

We met up with Dave's sister and family and walked around World Showcase a bit. We stopped in Morocco and I got a lamb wrap at the Tangerine Cafe. It was quite good. I had baklava too! I got the girls a few chicken nuggets to share (there were only 5), but it was getting a little too close to dinner to eat too much.

The princesses and their cousins!

We wandered some more

Aladdin

Hidden (or not) Mickey

Aren't these cute?

At the US pavilion

I had heard a podcast about how there was really nothing new at the Flower and Garden Festival. But being first timers, it wasn't something we were going to notice. I really was amazed at all the cool topiaries and the gorgeous gardens around the water.
I have so many topiary pictures, I'm going to just keep going until I get to the Princess dinner at Akershus and then call it a day.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Fife and Drum at American Adventure

Lady and the Tramp in Italy

See my family?

Via Napoli - you could get pizza by the slice, but I've heard that it is different than what is served inside.

Rapunzel's tower in Germany

Even the little miniature village was having a Flower and Garden festival

We stopped in the caramel shoppe

Oh man, it smelled so good in there! We got a small caramel corn with a snack credit. It was so good! You can also get ONE dipped strawberry. That was deemed too hard to share.

Bonsai trees

They were promoting the Diamond Edition of the Lion King DVD

Okay, apparently I lied before. Looking back through our pictures and my notes I figured some things out. When we went to Tangerine Cafe, it wasn't close to dinner time. We ate again in China before our Princess dinner! It seems I don't have the pictures exactly in order of where we were walking. IT's funny - I love Epcot and I still don't remember the order the countries go in! I know Mexico and Norway on one side and Canada, UK and France. The rest are just all mixed in there!

Next - China and the Chinese zodiac topiaries

 

[Mndisneygirl]

China

I'm a monkey - what are you?

kind of a scary dog!

2011 is the year of the Rabbit!

We went into the CS in China - Lotus Blossom Cafe (?) and got some orange chicken. The girls usually love it, but Sarah did not think it was good.

We joked a lot on this trip that whenever Sarah saw a camera out she'd smile. So even when she was being whiny, I would grab the camera and aim it at her and she'd smile.

She didn't want me to take her picture.

Point that camera - and instant smile!

Aren't these guys cute?

Eventually we arrived at Norway

to be greeted by a giant troll.

We got there before our time, and had some time to kill before they'd let us in to be seated. So Sarah suggested we ride the boat ride at Mexico. So we did that. We tried to check in early, only to be told to come back 10 minutes before our ADR time. So we sat down and I put on my new iphone cover for something to do.
FINALLY it was time for our Princess Storybook Dinner.

Which I will tell you about some other day!

 

[JolllyHoliday]

Just came across your report and wanted to join in! The Dream looks incredible!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Just came across your report and wanted to join in! The Dream looks incredible!!!

Well

Glad you're here! I hope you are enjoying the report. I am moving at a snail's pace- I get busy and two weeks go by before I know it!!

The Dream is amazing! I really want to go again, but given the number of other trips I'm trying to do in the next few years... I know my DH was looking to go again in October 2012, because we want to go back to WDW then but it might not be in the budget. We're going to London and Paris (Disney!) in March 2012, and I think we'll be fortunate to make it to WDW at all! We'll have DVC points to use on our room, but have to get tickets and get to Florida from Minnesota too.

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a fun-filled update, Sheree! Love all the pics from the Flower and Garden Festival and Paige and Sarah's BBB transformation! I am glad that Paige ended up liking Test Track!