The Princess and the Knave take on the World! Complete with pics!

[GoofyBaby]

Carol, My Dear Friend, your first day sounds so amazing!!! I enjoy being able to read about your trip each day, and your pictures as always are amazing!!!! I SO love your Pop windows, they are adorable, I can't wait to see our room windows in Oct., are we going to have a blast or what????

Hey Jen! Awww, I'm so glad you like my TR so far! I really can't wait until October. . .our window is going to be crazy, and you know we are going to have a blast! Woo-hoo!

 

[GoofyBaby]

Yay! Everyone likes it so far! I am really enjoying writing it too. I've never done this before, but I've read plenty of them, so I figured I'd give it a try. I think I am hooked now and will have to do a TR for every Disney trip from now on!

More to come tonight so stay tuned!

 

[iggbees]

looking good so far! can't wait to read some more!

i totally know how you feel with the tiredness. man, we went in jan and we left our house at 5 am! bleh. but getting to the world was a fantastic pick me up!

 

[GoofyBaby]

Okay, continuing on!

Day 2 - Tuesday, May 15, 2007

After a very good night's sleep, we awoke early this morning to catch the first bus to the Magic Kingdom for our 8:15 ADR at Cinderella's Royal Table. I've never been inside the castle before and I was really excited about having breakfast with the princesses! We arrived so early that we were first in the ADR line!

After we were allowed inside the park, we snapped a few 'empty park' photos and a very nice man offered to take our picture in front of the castle! I was very appreciative of this, even if the picture turned out crooked!

We finally made our way to Cindy's Royal Table and only had to wait about 5 minutes before we were called. We had the obligatory picture with Cindy herself and then we were led up the spiral staircase to find they had a special table by the window that was decorated with confetti and certificates for James' birthday and my graduation! Awwwww! What a wonderful way to start a day! I loved that my certificate said "Lady Carol." I felt like a real princess!

Since we didn't want a heavy breakfast this morning, we both chose the healthy option, which consisted of granola & strawberry yogurt, along with select fruits and a basket of muffins & danish. . .very tasty! Even with the healthy option, though, it was just too much food and neither of us could finish.

About halfway through breakfast, the arrival of the princesses was announced (YAY!) and I was ready to meet them for the very first time! We had Belle (in her blue dress), Aurora, Fairy Godmother and Alice. They were all a joy to meet, even though they were a bit rushed. And I have learned something . . .pictures taken at window seats in the early morning don't come out so well, as you can see below in my picture with Aurora. . .next time I'll be sure to stand away from the sun!

Bad pictures aside, I totally enjoyed dining here with the princesses and I am looking forward to having lunch there in October with my friend Jen!

We must have raced through breakfast because we still had 10 minutes until rope drop, so I decided to throw away the non-chargeable batteries that came with our camera and replace them with our brand-new chargeable batteries that I think cost a fortune! I tore the new batteries out of their pack and asked James to hold them so I could pull out the old batteries when all of the sudden I hear a THUD! I turned around to see that James had THROWN AWAY OUR BRAND NEW RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES IN THE TRASH!

Wait for it. . . .


Wait for it. . .


"ARRRRGGGHHHHH! James! What did you just do? Those were the brand new rechargeable batteries and you just threw them away! Why in the heck did you just do that?"

"Carol, I thought these were the old batteries. I thought you were giving them to me to throw away."

"No, James! I asked you to HOLD them for me, not throw them away!"

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood."

Anyway, it was a good thing we had bought TWO sets of rechargeables with us! It's funny, now that I think about it, but it sure wasn't funny then! Come to find out, our one set of rechargeables lasted us the whole trip. Thank goodness! After the battery fiasco, I decided to snap a picture while we were waiting for rope drop - it was so neat to get an empty park picture in Fantasyland!

By this time, we heard the music for rope drop and we were finally let into Fantasyland. It is a tradition for us to always ride Peter Pan's Flight first, so off we went! I love riding rides with no line. . .we rode Peter Pan twice as a walk-on and then we decided to go ride Pooh and then Indy Speedway before they got too crowded. It was really strange seeing all the Indy Speedway cars all lined up with nobody in them!

After riding a few more rides, including an empty Splash Mountain (in which we both got drenched head to toe), I decided I wanted to walk around, dry off and take some pictures, so we spent some time wandering around and just took in the sights. I didn't want this to be a commando day and I wanted to really see the wonderful little details that Disney is so known for, like the names in the windows, hidden Mickeys, etc. I am amazed at all the details you can find in WDW! Here are some pictures I took of Cinderella Castle and Crystal Palace. . .sometimes, it felt like James and I were the only ones in the park!

By this time, we'd spent several hours in the park and we had a very early morning, so we decided to go back to our room and take a mid-afternoon break. But not before I explored the Pop gift shop! I am a gift-shop loving fool and I just HAD to peruse all the lovely Disney goodies they had for sale. I was especially enamored with a large Goofy plush and the Mickey Mouse cookies!

More to come in my next post!

 

[GoofyBaby]

Okay, picking up where I left off!

After a well-deserved nap, we awoke and decided that we would peruse the Pop grounds rather than return to the parks tonight. After all, we were going back to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow! If you've never stayed at the Pop, you're missing out! I just fell in love with the larger-than-life statues and all the details that went into them. Did know know that the play-doh statues in the 60s section actually have fingerprints in them, just as if you were really playing with the play-doh? That's so cool! Only at Disney would you see that. Here are some more pictures of the Pop grounds (warning - there are ALOT of pictures)!

I also fell in love with lovely wildlife that could be found all over the grounds! We came across ducks, chipmunks, birds and bunnies. This duck was a friendly little guy!

And this cute little bunny had a hard time staying still, but I finally managed to get a decent picture. He was so cute!

We wanted to make rope drop again tomorrow at the Magic Kingdom so we made our way back to our room for a good night's sleep. . .once we pulled out our room keys, we started hearing loud THUDs. . .we looked around to discover that Illuminations had started and we had a great view of it just a few steps down from our room! So we stayed up to watch it (the first of many times we'd do this) and then went to our room and drifted off into blissful sleep, dreaming Disney Dreams. A successful day indeed!

Stay tuned for Day 3 at the Magic Kingdom - again!

 

[GoofyBaby]

Okay, I've just realized that I am posting way more pictures in my trip report than many people on the DIS do. I think pictures really help tell the story, so I hope y'all don't mind my doing so! I just love pictures and am so happy to be able to share them with you!

 

[IATink]

Great pictures! It's so neat to see the park empty. It just looks so different! I think it's great you have so many pictures! Keep it coming! I love all the pictures!
Eagerly waiting for another installment!

 

[Goofyluver]

I looooove all of your pictures! Keep them coming!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hey there, just found your report! I love how you decorated your window, very cute!

LOL at the battery situation. I would have freaked if that had been me. It is good that the set you had worked for the whole trip.

As for pictures in reports I say the more the better! I love seeing peoples pictures of their trips, it definetly adds to the story.

 

[rentayenta]

You can never have too many pics!


POP really does look neat. I would stay here in a minute if he rooms slept 5.


The photo of FL empty is surreal.

 

[Candikayne]

I am definately subscribing. Great report so far. I am planning to do a trip report (my first) for Aug. trip. The pics make the report more interesting.

 

[jnjusoioa]

Okay, I've just realized that I am posting way more pictures in my trip report than many people on the DIS do. I think pictures really help tell the story, so I hope y'all don't mind my doing so! I just love pictures and am so happy to be able to share them with you!

Keep those pics coming my dear friend, they do help to tell the story and your pics are so amazing. I can't wait to have lunch with you at CRT in Oct. either, we are going to have so much fun and won't want to come home..

 

[meloneyb21]

Is it just me or do I see a Mickey head?

 

[Avivasmom]

PLEASE keep those pictures coming....we feel like we re there with you!! Love the shots from MK with nobody in them...and great pics from Pop too!!!

 

[GoofyBaby]

Is it just me or do I see a Mickey head?

My goodness, I think you're right! I never noticed that before! How cool!

 

[Donald is #1]

Great trip report & pictures!

 

[GoofyBaby]

Thank you everyone, for your positive comments about my pictures! They will definitely be many more to come!

With that said. . .let's continue!

Day 3 - Wednesday, May 16, 2007

With no early morning ADR to head to this morning, we were happy to grab an extra hours sleep! We grabbed breakfast at the Pop food court (which I just fell in love with. . .so many different choices!) and then took the bus to the Magic Kingdom and were on our way. On a little side note. . .I just love the busses at the Pop! They run about every 10-15 minutes and the drivers were so friendly! I was amazed at how efficient the bus service was. I am never driving in Disney again! Okay, back to the TR. . .Since we arrived at the Magic Kingdom with 45 minutes left before opening, we decided to hop on the resort monorail and take a spin. It was quite nice as we had a whole car to ourselves for the entire trip! Here I am with Fritzie von Crocker Focker (I am told he is both German and Italian). . .for those of you not familiar with the Official Lime Lovin' Croc exchange, feel free to click on the link in my siggie! It will fill you in on why I am carrying around a little green stuffed crocodile in the parks!

Since we missed the rope drop show yesterday morning, due to having breakfast at Cindy's, we were happy to see it today! Even though I've seen it before, I can never get tired of seeing the train come in with all the characters on it! That really tells me we are in the Magic Kingdom! So we yell the countdown and there goes the Mickey confetti and we are off! I managed to grab a few more empty park photos and again, we went to Peter Pan, as is our tradition. After a joyous flight with Peter and the gang, we headed across the way to It's a Small World, where we were unluckily on the same boat as this goober taking flash pictures. For those of you who don't know, taking flash pictures on a dark ride is frowned upon and it can really ruin your ride experience. I really wanted to take his camera and throw it in the water! But I held my composure. . .at least until we got on Pirates of the Caribbean! You would think the paparazzi were in front of us with all those flashes! I just cannot understand why people continue to take flash pictures when they are told not to do so. Why do they feel so entitled to break the rules? I just cannot understand that. But I am not going to let it ruin my vacation either!

After Small World, we made our way over to Ariel's grotto so I could have my picture made with a beautiful mermaid! Luckily the line was only about 10 minutes, so we went for it. Ariel was a joy to talk to and I was very happy to see that she wasn't rushing anyone at all. We talked for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures, as we were on our way!

After meeting Ariel, I was in a character-meeting mood, so we made our way to Mickey's Toontown Fair, where we just made rope drop! It was really run walking with Mickey, Chip, Dale, Goofy and Pluto! I wanted to meet Donald & Daisy today, so we got in their line and away we went! One reminder, though, when having someone take your photo at the same time the PhotoPass photographer is taking your photo. . .make sure both you and the character are looking at the same camera when the photos are being taken! In all these photos, I am looking at James and the characters are looking at the PhotoPass photographer! I would remedy this later on next week!

After my character photo session, I really wanted to go ride the Tomorowland Transit Authority, which is one of my favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom! I could ride that ride 3 or 4 times in a row and not get tired of it. It's very relaxing to me! I think I have all the lines memorized by now. "Paging Mr. Morrow. . .Mr. Tom Morrow, your party from Saturn has arrived. Please give them a ring." Or "Please keep all forward facing tentacles inside the vehicle. . ." I love it! And again, we had a car all to ourselves. How fun! We took a few photos while riding the TTA. Sorry they're a bit crooked. . .it's hard to keep the camera straight while moving!

We rode the TTA a few more times before it was time for our ADR at Tony's Town Square. I was really in the mood for some Italian food and was ready to give Tony's a try! Hmmmm. . .let's see that menu. . .is it going to be spaghetti & meatballs or the chicken parmesan hero?

I decided on the hero and was very pleased. Wonderfully tasty! I really loved the atmosphere of Tony's and was extremely happy to find that we were given a table right by the blue window with the silhouette of Lady & the Tramp having their romantic pasta dinner! Awww!

I gotta tell you, that hero was HUGE! James and I both ordered it and neither of us got more than halfway through it! I couldn't believe how large their portion sizes were.

So next time, we will share. But we will certainly eat at Tony's again. I loved it! After lunch, James rolled me out of Tony's and we decided to let our tummies settle by relaxing in the rocking chairs right outside. As much as I wanted to get back out into the park and ride rides, sitting in those rocking chairs was so peaceful! It was so nice to just sit, rock back & forth and just people watch. We must have spent 45 minutes there! So it was at this time I called my friend Jen, who is also a member here on the DIS, to let her know we were on Main Street USA! We talked for quite a while and it was so much fun - we both love Disney so much and we just went on like two little excited girls! I can't wait to meet her on our MNSSHP DIS Meet on October 5! And we'll have another Trip Report then! But back to the pictures!

About this time, we heard the marching band coming down Main Street, so we ran over to listen to them play. I was in marching band in high school and I loved it so much! These guys are really talented and you can tell they are having fun - I'd love to have their job!

Now, I don't know about you, but I just love seeing those cast members with all the balloons on Main Street, so I decided to snap a picture of this gal and what do you know. . .it looks like the park is empty again! I must be very lucky with my timing!

I couldn't believe the amount of animals in the Magic Kingdom! We saw tons of ducks, storks and cranes roaming around, especially around Crystal Palace and Casey's Corner. They're friendly little guys, but some of them can be aggressive, probably because guests are feeding them when they shouldn't be doing so. I've heard horror stories of birds swooping down and snatching food right from people's hands! Yikes! Thankfully I didn't run into that problem, at least today (more on this later on). . .here are a couple of the cute critters. . .

Okay, I've reached my picture limit in one post! More to come in my next post!

 

[GoofyBaby]

I was ready for the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland, so we made our way over, when I see a line to my right that catches my eye. It's Rafiki! "James, can we please go meet Rafiki? Pretty please?" That's all it took! Rafiki was rather playful and very interactive with the guests. That's how I like the characters to be! It certainly makes it more fun. . .hey, I think he's trying to swipe my sunglasses! Silly baboon!

Okay, now we're off to the Jungle Cruise! Well, at least I thought we were. The line was way out to Timbuktu! So we grabbed fastpasses and decided to ride the Liberty Belle Riverboat. That is such a peaceful ride! It's definitely a great ride to get on after a large meal, like at Tony's! If you ride on the top level of the boat, you can get some great photos. I really liked this little guy and his dog keeping watch on his little boat. And the Indian village too! And I snapped a great picture of the Haunted Mansion. . .

It is getting really hot and humid by this time, so we decide to make our way to the bus so we can get our afternoon break. But me, being ever the picture-taker, just had to get one more photo of Tomorrowland before we head out. It was really getting crowded by now!

Okay, we're really going now! We made our way to the Pop bus stop when all of the sudden, I see a mama duck and her little babies following her! Awwwww, how cute! I think she had about 8 ducklings, but I could only ever manage to snap about 3 of them together in all of the pictures I tried to take.

Here's a closeup of two of them. . .Aren't they just precious?

Well, our bus finally made it after about 15 minutes and we were on our way to a much needed afternoon rest. More to come after the break!

 

[Schucraig]

Great pictures and report! Can't wait for more!

 

[rentayenta]

This is one of the best reports I have read. I love your attention to detail and the pics add so much!

I am also learning little tips from it like arriving to MK early as the characters ride up on the train and then they throw confetti; my kids will love this!