"This Isn't Disneyworld. . .It's Rainworld!!" our trip to WDW May 16-23, 2009

[BippityBoo]

Haha! Sounds like our mad dash to the Princess Breakfast! I do not think I was anticipating how long of a monorail ride it was to EPCOT and then how long of a walk it was to Norway!! We were just kind of taking our time and then.. bam! We were kind of late The kids look beautiful (as usual!) LOVE the potato dish..wasn't it great? Also, sounds like me..I did not want to get up and miss the princesses, so Chris was sent to get food Can't wait to read the next post

 

[ladybugmom]

I was impressed at how much time these princesses took with the girls--much more so than at CRT! And up next was Snow White!!

The interaction between Snow White and Claire was hilarious!

A BIG kiss for Claire!!

And here is one of my favorite pics! Claire & Snow White ("what's on my forehead?")

Cheese! (And apparantly Snow White made a HUGE impression on Claire! She loves to see pics of SW and say "White!" She even picked out a SW toothbrush!!)

And look who was next!! ARIEL!! Ally was FREAKING OUT she was sooo excited!!!!

Ally thought our waitress, Camilla, was as pretty as a princess and insisted she have her picture taken with her as well.

We were very pleased with our food, the service, and the princesses!! We'd definitely eat here again!! After our meal I took the girls to the bathroom to change out of their princess dresses and into their clothes. Oh my word!! The bathroom at Akershus is TEENY TINY!! It was so small that I had to change Claire first, go give her to Brent, and then go back in and change Ally. After Ally was dressed I took her back out to Brent so I could use the restroom--so 3 trips in and out!! After I was done, I metup with Brent and the girls outside.

Claire cheesin' again!

And again, it looked like it could rain at any minute so I snapped some quick pics on our way out of the WS.

Ally in front of Mexico

Then I saw a Photopass photographer and had him take our pics!

I told Brent that we had better get our pics taken at the front of the park as well before it rained. So we headed that way. There was hardly any wait at all!!

And I took this pic!!

What ride do we ride first?!
continued in next post . . .

 

[BippityBoo]

Haha we are both Night Owls..love it LOVED the girls outfits for EPCOT. And I agree...the bathrooms were SO SMALL! I want to order some bows from you when I have a chance. We are going to the beach for a week, so maybe I will browse them then and put my order in Staying up for your next post...

 

[ladybugmom]

First of all... that would be stressful to be waiting on the monorail. At the Contemporary they said the monorail runs an hour before the park opens, so then what are you supposed to do for a before the park opens ADR?

Secondly what a beautiful picture with Belle... that is so sweet.

That is the prettiest Aurora I think I have ever seen... so great!

At least the rain was not falling as you ran through EPCOT! That was a nice surprise!

It was soooo very stressful, Laura!! I know, I know!! We were going by what they had told us at the Poly. The one at the Poly started running at 7:00 a.m. the day we went to the MK. Apparantly this one didn't start running until 7:30 but that obviously wasn't the case on this day! Thank you! This Belle was just fabulous! And yes, Aurora was GORGEOUS! (as were all of the princesses we saw at Akershus) I was very thankful it wasn't raining that morning! We were actually able to get pics!!

Haha! Sounds like our mad dash to the Princess Breakfast! I do not think I was anticipating how long of a monorail ride it was to EPCOT and then how long of a walk it was to Norway!! We were just kind of taking our time and then.. bam! We were kind of late The kids look beautiful (as usual!) LOVE the potato dish..wasn't it great? Also, sounds like me..I did not want to get up and miss the princesses, so Chris was sent to get food Can't wait to read the next post

It WAS!! Not what I had envisioned, that's for sure!! Yes, the potato dish was my FAVORITE!! We had Camilla bring us seconds! YUMMY! Exactly--I stayed put with the camera while Brent fetched the food! Hee hee!! Great minds think alike!

 

[ladybugmom]

Haha we are both Night Owls..love it LOVED the girls outfits for EPCOT. And I agree...the bathrooms were SO SMALL! I want to order some bows from you when I have a chance. We are going to the beach for a week, so maybe I will browse them then and put my order in Staying up for your next post...

Hee hee!! Yes we are!! It's my time to get things done--especially with the girls in bed. The house is nice and quiet!! Brent is asleep, too! He just can't stay up this late--he gets up very early for work! Sure! No problem!! Just tell me what you need!! About to work on the next post!! Hang in there!

 

[BippityBoo]

Yay! Alone Mommy time! I know what you mean, Chris is snoring away. I decided to post my O'hana visit while I was waiting on your post so check it out

 

[ladybugmom]

Ok!! So we left the front of the park and made our way to the ride that was on the top of our list (along the way I took more pics) . . .

Soarin'!!! I could not WAIT to ride this ride!! We parked the stroller (Claire had fallen asleep) and headed into the building and went down the escalator. The line was about a 40 minute wait so Brent got in line with Ally and I grabbed babyswap passes for me and Ally. Since Claire was asleep in my arms I found a bench off to the side near the FP lines. I sat down and let her sleep while I waited and caught up on Facebook via my phone! (Yes, I am a Facebook junkie!!) And about 40 minutes later out came Brent and Ally. Claire was still asleep so I handed her over to Brent--and of course, she woke up!! But she seemed fine so Ally and I headed back on Soarin'. We walked all the way down to where they were filling the lanes and didn't have to wait long at all. Soon we were on the ride! I was really paranoid about our Crocs falling off of our feet so we took them off and shoved them in the pocket below us. The ride was AMAZING!! And Ally thought she was so cool telling me what was going to happen next--it was soooo cute! The ride was over, we got our Crocs back on, and headed to meet back up with Brent and Claire. We all decided to head over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

We walked right onto the ride and into our clams. We took some pics but they didn't turn out too well. Claire was loving this ride as she had fallen in love with Nemo the day before at the show in AK! After we got off of the ride we went straight to Turtle Talk With Crush. The next show was in about 30 minutes so we hung out in the room and watched the stingrays.

me & Claire

checking out the stingray

Claire getting super excited!!

Ally & Claire taking it all in (LOVE this pic)

Then a CM came out to feed the stingray (this smelled horrible so thankfully a few minutes later they let us enter the holding area)

And then soon after that we entered Turtle Talk With Crush. I had heard such great things about this so I was very excited!! Ally sat down in the front with the rest of the kids. Brent, Claire, and I sat on the 2nd row of benches. This is the best pic I could get!

The show began and Crush was soooo entertaining!! About halfway through the show he chose a boy to ask him a question. The boy asked him how old he was. He said, "150 years old, Dude!" And then he called on Ally!! I was sooo excited!! Ally sat there for a minute (I think she was nervous). Finally she asked, "How old are you?" Uh oh! I wasn't close enough to coach her with another question. But Crush was hilarious! He said, "Still 150, Dude!" Everyone laughed and thankfully Ally didn't seem to mind. Whew! After the show she couldn't quit talking about how Crush had talked to HER!! It really made an impression!! Then we went over to the shark and let Ally get her pic taken!

After we left Nemo we went to the front of the park and rode Spaceship Earth. Claire rode with me and Ally rode with Brent. We all really enjoyed the ride--especially where they take your pic and put you in your own customized world!! When we walked off of the ride we saw this (Claire was too little for them to get her pic):

We were getting kind of hungry so we headed to Fountain View Ice Cream for a snack. I would say it was about 1:30 or 2:00 by this time and guess what?! It started raining!!! So we finished up our ice cream and got our ponchos on. Our plan was to head to the WS and visit all of the countries. We stopped by one of the gift shops right before you get to the countries to buy Ally a passport! It was so cute!

See how it looks like a real passport?! Well, you take it to each country and they stamp it and write something in their language. Then later you can add stickers with pictures of each of the countries. Sooo fun!! I kept it in my purse between stops so it wouldn't get soaking wet. Our first stop was Mexico!! I had never been inside before so we headed in! Ally got her passport stamped and signed and then we saw this! The Mariachi Cobre were performing!!

After listening to them play, we headed to the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros! None of us had ridden this boat ride before. It was fun and a great thing to do since it was raining. However, the ride stopped a few times due to technical difficulties. But we slowly made our way to the end of the ride. We hung out a little more and took some more pics and then headed outside.

We got to the front doors and I could not believe how hard it was raining!! It was POURING--you could barely see, it was coming down so hard. So we decided to wait for a bit before we headed out. After awhile it lightened up some--but not much. We were sick of waiting so we decided to make a run for it! We raced out to our stroller to get Claire under the stroller cover and out of the rain. Then we made our way to Norway. It had already rained sooo much that the water was up to my ankles!! I felt sooo disgusting! Ugggh! The water was just not draining very well in the WS. It was quite scary because not only was it raining but it was thundering and lightening! I HATE STORMS!!! We ran straight for the Maelstrom ride and got on immediately. Again, we had never ridden this ride before. It was actually a lot of fun!! The boat went fast and looked like it was going to tip out of the building. But then it turned and raced down a hill and we all got wet!! Claire even liked it!! After the ride we made our way into the gift shops. We put on some hats and got our pic taken with this troll!

And Ally got her passport stamped and signed!

Up Next: China! Ally's heart is set on meeting Mulan (the only princess she hasn't met). Will she get to meet her? Or will the rain put a damper on things?

 

[ladybugmom]

Yay! Alone Mommy time! I know what you mean, Chris is snoring away. I decided to post my O'hana visit while I was waiting on your post so check it out

I know!! I LOVE me some alone Mommy time!! Ooooh--off to look! Just posted my last post for the evening!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Ugh, that situation with the monorail and the early ADR is exactly why I love driving myself. If I am late well it is my own fault!

Great photopass pictures!

I think that Epcot has the worst drainage out of all the parks. Every time we have been there while it has rained the have been puddles ankle deep all over the place. It is Florida, you think they would have designed it better.

 

[PopArtGal]

Awe. Isn't that Belle so pretty??!!!

We got stuck in Epcot as it rained really hard too.

We were in.....I guess we were in the Norway pavilion. Or is it Germany?. Oh well. We were stuck.

It got boring pretty quickly. A photopass photographer was so bored he took a pic of me "in action". Then asked me if I had a card lol

We waiting a while. Then got sick of it and ran.

 

[ladybugmom]

Ugh, that situation with the monorail and the early ADR is exactly why I love driving myself. If I am late well it is my own fault!

Great photopass pictures!

I think that Epcot has the worst drainage out of all the parks. Every time we have been there while it has rained the have been puddles ankle deep all over the place. It is Florida, you think they would have designed it better.

Exactly! It was just a great start to our day--let me tell you! Yes, the drainage is HORRIBLE in Epcot. I totally don't get it! Who knows?!

Awe. Isn't that Belle so pretty??!!!

We got stuck in Epcot as it rained really hard too.

We were in.....I guess we were in the Norway pavilion. Or is it Germany?. Oh well. We were stuck.

It got boring pretty quickly. A photopass photographer was so bored he took a pic of me "in action". Then asked me if I had a card lol

We waiting a while. Then got sick of it and ran.

Belle was soooo pretty!! I was very pleased with all of the princesses at that meal! That was nice that the PP photographer took pics of you!! I never could find any when it started to rain!

 

[PopArtGal]

Exactly! It was just a great start to our day--let me tell you! Yes, the drainage is HORRIBLE in Epcot. I totally don't get it! Who knows?!



Belle was soooo pretty!! I was very pleased with all of the princesses at that meal! That was nice that the PP photographer took pics of you!! I never could find any when it started to rain!

The photographer seemed to have been stuck in the store. Same as we were lol I was getting my passport signed when he took the pic. Not the most flattering angle lol


Yep, I'm 26 and bought a passport. WEll I was technically 24 when I bought it. And getting a few signatures every trip.

 

[ladybugmom]

The photographer seemed to have been stuck in the store. Same as we were lol I was getting my passport signed when he took the pic. Not the most flattering angle lol


Yep, I'm 26 and bought a passport. WEll I was technically 24 when I bought it. And getting a few signatures every trip.

Oh--I see--hee hee!! At least you got some pics out of it, though!!

Don't be ashamed about buying a passport!! They are really neat!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Wow! When you update, you update! How frustrating about the monorail -- I am such a Type A, I would have been a complete wreck. I can't stand being late for something!

How cool that Ally was able to meet Ariel! I bet that made her day! Claire was cracking me up with her expressions -- she and Snow White are adorable together.

I am so happy you were able to enjoy a rain-free morning, but what a bummer that the skies opened up again! You really did have the worst luck with weather .

 

[mom2mek]

Great updates as always, Becky! That monorail situation would have had me in a fit too! But glad you made it ok! We really enjoyed the Princess breakfast in Norway too - when we went in 2007! I love Claire's kiss prints! Too cute! That's great that you met Cinderella there as well - she is not one of the "usuals" from what I understand.

You got some great photopass shots before it rained.

Ahhh....Soarin..... LOVE it!!!!

I can't imagine walking through all that rain with Ally and Claire in the stroller and being so wet! Glad to see you made the best out of it though!

Sara

 

[BellaSoleil]

I am loving your report! You are all so cute. I was nearly in tears reading about Akershus. We are taking our daughter in January and it's my #1 priority. Did you have to book 90 days out or did you still get to do it at 180? I'm really worried about not getting our ADRs this trip.

The Ally and Crush story is precious! I love it!

Can't wait to hear if you met Mulan. She is my DD's favorite princess.

 

[DWGal210]

Great updates, Becky! I love the Princesses at Askersus (spelling? ) A few years ago, my sister, cousin and I had a girl's meal there, and I think I want to do that again this trip. We're going to be a bit older than last time (27, 18 and almost 10) but heck, who doesn't love a princess?!

This is why I love reading TRs...I never knew about the passports at Epcot! I will for sure have to add that to our plans this trip. I think my goddaughter would like that and it could be something we would do together.

Great updates as usual!

 

[BippityBoo]

Great update!! I am soo happy Crush talked to Ally Asking the same question is totally something Abby would do Gotta love how he is trained to just roll with it! Sorry---I ended up falling asleep lastnight!

 

[lizet313]

Great update I have been reading but not posting much. Sorry I have been MIA for a while but I am here.

Your trip sounds like alot of fun minus the rain.

 

[pmama]

Yeah for great updates!

I love all the great photos you got at Akershus. Your review is timely as I just discovered Akershus does breakfast last night! I'm already trying to plan our dining for December. It looks like a great place to try breakfast. The picture of Ally with Belle is adorable. When we did Akershus there was no photopass photog. That's great that you got a photopass picture as well.


Claires faces with the princesses are so precious. You got so many great photos. We've never taken the girls pictures individually with characters because I get worried they'll run off. We'll have to do that next time for something different. Great update!