THREE TRIPS IN ONE YEAR: A TR/PTR/PTR Combo...UPDATED 5/7: KTTK Mentioned!

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

Hi Dis people.

This is going to be my first attempt at a trip report... and my second attempt at a Pre-Trip Report. I had a thwarted effort, and I believe it's now lost in the forum garbage dump somewhere. But I swear that THIS Trip Report/Pre-Trip Report will be COMPLETED!

How can this one thread be both, you ask? It's like having peanut butter in your chocolate! It's like dogs and cats, living together! Madness, I tell you.

Here's the story:

My family (specifically my mom and I) are Disney fanatics, and go every chance we can. Since 2003, I've been seven times... including just this past weekend. Total in my lifetime, including DL, is somewhere around 20 now.

TRIP REPORT SECTION

This is me, age 3, at Disneyland. I like to call this "You Don't Know What You're Getting Into Here, Kid".

Me, in 2009. I am actually a stepsister. If you look closely, they are on my shirt. You can only imagine how popular I was.

I am a 38-year old Disney freak, mom to two kids, and wife to an ever-patient, not-as-Disney-obsessed wonderful man. By day, I'm a marketing brand manager for a fairly well-known pet product. We had our largest annual tradeshow in Orlando last weekend and I had to fly down for it. About three months ago, I decided to extend my time in the area for two days after the show (Sunday, March 28th and Monday, March 29th) and invite some of my best work friends to Drink Around the World at EPCOT and also do the Keys to the Kingdom tour on Monday morning before heading home. Everyone agreed, and I took care of the planning...

PRE-TRIP REPORT SECTION

I looked at these two days to just get a little infusion of Disney love and happiness in advance of our 7-day trip in September, with my mom (Grandma), my two kids (Mulan-8 and Stitch-5)

that's them leaving the parks in January 2009, and my brother and sister-in-law (Sulley and Mike W.) Grandma, Stitch and I did a Trip With the Boy last September and absolutely fell in love with MNSSHP, so we decided to do it again this year.

But more about that after we're done recapping last weekend... coming up in a moment in Part Two.

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

Plans for the Quick Two Day Post-Tradeshow Trip

Like I said in Part One, I'd convinced three of my work friends (let's think of them as the chorus girls from Beauty and the Beast, shall we?) to stick around the Orlando area once we were done with our tradeshow on Saturday night. All of them had been to WDW before, but only a few times each (and one of them when she was a teen and not since. Scary, I know.) I promised them easy arrangements, and a personal tour of EPCOT and MK.

I explained that I'd always wanted to do the KTTK tour, but always been there with a kid, or at the wrong time, etc., and all of them agreed they wanted to do it as well! Woot! I booked the tour for 9am Monday the 29th using my Disney Visa discount.

I sent them all information on two-day tickets, and booked a suite off property for one night - the new(ish) Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa. It's the one you can see off of 417 with the pirate ship in the pool. For four of us, it was only 220 bucks for a night total, with lots and lots of room. I'd consider staying there again, in fact... if I wasn't in love with POR and believed paying the extra money to stay on-property completely worth every cent.

I had purchased a 7-day ticket on Undercover Tourist last year, when I got a bit of a bonus, figuring I'd use it in the future sometime (after ticket prices went up.) After doing the math - seven-day ticket, two days in March, six in September... a second tradeshow in October, and a tentative plan for January - it made sense to pay the difference now and upgrade to an AP (and then also wait for an AP discount future trips.) I gathered all my Christmas gift cards (people know me well) and Disney Visa Dollars, and realized I had enough with just those to cover the difference between the 7-Day and the AP.

And then I basically forgot about the post-tradeshow trip because I was completely swamped with tradeshow stuff. Swamped. I got a moment of clarity to make ADRs for September at the beginning of the month, but that was it as far as planning. No ADRs needed for March, because we were just going to wander and eat... and drink. Did I mention drinking? Oh, there was drinking.

I'll fast forward to the morning of Sunday, March 28th in the next installment, but just so you know, the tradeshow went really well. We went into our two-day get away feeling good. Tired but good.

 

[cmp1111]

A two-fer! Fun! Thanks for sharing.

 

[heaven2dc]

I'm joining in!!

 

[dellasgirl]

i'm here

 

[tigerdragon]

That's great that you were able to get an AP! Oh how I would love to get enough gift cards to get one!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

Wow, I have readers! I'm so honored you're all here!

So, without further ado...

PART THREE: Sunday, March 28th.

The tradeshow finished up around 8pm on Saturday, after breakdown, and we all got back to our hotel (The Doubletree Resort just north of Sea World - highly recommend) around 10pm.

The Chorus Girls (CGs) and I had planned on meeting at our rental car at 9:00am on Sunday, so I got the morning to sleep in, and even order room service. I posted to Facebook: "Breakfast in bed, and going to WDW? Am I in heaven?" I did have a momentary panic attack at not being there for the park opening, but I kept calm by remembering (1) no kids to herd! and (2) I was with newbies, and I couldn't very well tell them not to sleep in.

We all met at the car at 9am, tried in vain to find a Starbucks (I swear, there are none on the east side of Intl Dr.), and then headed to EPCOT.

The gate... the chorus girls laughed when I put my Disney playlist on my iPhone. It starts with "When You Wish Upon A Star." Who doesn't want to hear that when going under this? (Yes, I was driving; yes, I'm sorry.)

We got in easily around 9:45am, and parked within walking distance of the gate - but we took the tram anyway. Best ride in the parks, right? The monorail had just dumped, so the bag check was crowded, and it was, after all, the first day of "Spring Break" week and the Flower & Garden festival too. After bag check, I told the CGs, who had to buy their 2-day tickets, to meet me at Guest Relations - I was getting my AP! - and hand off their tickets so I could get FPs for Soarin'. I proceeded to Guest Relations after calling Grandma and jumping up and down a few times (out of sight of the CGs, who already thought I was nuts.)

I scooted up to Guest Relations only to find a huge line. Seems lots of people were complaining about not having ADRs. There were around six CMs working, and very diligently so, but I didn't mind the wait. Around 10 minutes later, the CGs found me in line, and handed over their tickets. The posted Spaceship Earth time was 30 minutes, but I assured them it wouldn't be that long. We made plans to meet right outside the exit/next to Guest Relations.

And then it was my turn... now, seriously, I was completely excited about getting the AP. I felt like it was a rite of passage or something, and told the CM how excited I was.

He was... less than excited for me. In fact, he may have rolled his eyes a bit.

NO PROBLEM! I had enough pixie dust for BOTH of us! I just stood there and grinned while he made it happen. I am now the proud owner of a Goofy AP.

And then I joined the stampede for Soarin' FPs. At this point, it was around 10:15 or so. The FPs were for 12:35 to 1:35, which all considering wasn't bad. I walked back to SE, taking some topiary shots as I went.

Zazu:

Scar:

The CGs got out around 10:30, and were looking for some coffee, so we headed to the cart by Universe of Energy. They got coffee, and I got my first pretzel of the day... best freaking pretzels on earth, I tell you.

In front of me in line were two kids - a girl who was 10, and a boy, 6. Their dad was in the other cart's line, and was staring them down. I waved at him and gave him the thumbs-up, Mom-style. The girl was trying to convince the boy to go on Test Track; he was scared of the sound of the cars whizzing around the track. I told him my 5-year-old was scared at first too, but inside was super cool, and I would bet he'd like it too. That seemed to prod him a bit. He couldn't be outdone by a 5-year-old!

After getting our refreshments, we went over to the Flower & Garden Festival Pavilion.

It was a little sparse. The pavilion was close to empty. There wasn't anything going on at that moment, so there were perhaps 20 people in the building. The gift shop was cute though.

I almost got this little lawn ornament guy, but I didn't want to try and pack him. Grandma absolutely adores Thumper, and I am still thinking of ordering it for her for Mother's Day.

After that, we then headed back over towards the fountain (nobody wanted to wait for Mission Space or Test Track, and they're not high on my favorites either, plus the standbys waits were over 45 minutes), taking our time through the crowds. One of the CGs is a giant Coke fan, so we went into Club Cool. I told them all that I liked them, and as such, that Beverly was something to be tried with much... care.

Only one person took my dare to drink it... as long as I tried it too. So, I downed a cup of Beverly, on purpose even! One of them got a picture... I'll try and get it from her. Seriously, that taste sticks with you.

The Coke-crazy CG bought one of the glass bottle necklaces, and a couple of other keychains or something, and we headed out the World Showcase side door, headed for the Pixie Hollow and butterfly display...

Some more topiaries from that walk...

I loved this one... let me know if you're any of these people! Please notice the ponchos and umbrellas. It had started to drizzle.

Free the leash children!

Continued in Part Four... where we finally make it to...

How many margaritas will LastLook have? And just how hard will it rain?

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

Also, dellasgirl and heaven2dc, I'm in Virginia too! Whereabouts are you guys? I'm in Blacksburg, home of the Hokies!

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

Part Four: World Showcase, complete with ark!

We headed over to the World Showcase, after visiting the Butterfly Garden and Pixie Hollow, by way of the old Odyssey... that place gives me the creeps. We had a plan to wander as far as we could until after our FPs for Soarin' were valid. It was around 12:00 noon at this point. First up - Mexico!

The outdoor cantina is all covered up by the construction - I'm excited to see the new restaurant this fall. There is a temporary booth next to the temple serving margaritas, but we headed inside to check out the Cava de Tequila.

When we go in September, with my brother (Sulley), he and I plan on spending a good deal of time and money in here on tequila flights. But until then, I was good. We each ordered a margarita and some guacamole...

In order, from the top:

Naranja Roja; Sweet-tart flavors of the blood orange juice and the hibiscus syrup, El Mayor Blanco Tequila, Triple Sec liquor, topped with blood orange foam, served on the rocks with a hibiscus Himalayan salt rim 12.50

Fruta de la Pasion: El Mayor Blanco Tequila, Ginger liquor, mixed with passion fruit and mango nectar, fresh lime juice, topped with passion fruit foam, served on the rocks with a hibiscus Himalayan salt rim 12.50;

Pina: El Mayor Blanco Tequila, ginger liquor, caramelized pineapple nectar, agave nectar syrup and fresh lime juice, served on the rocks with cactus-lemongrass salt rim 12.50

and mine:

Pepino
El Mayor Blanco Tequila, Triple Sec liquor, caramelized pineapple juice, cucumber and agave nectar syrup, served on the rocks with a cactus-lemongrass salt rim 12.50

While the description doesn't have it, mine also had basil in it... it was really good. Very refreshing. Different, yes, but I would order it again.

The guac was also very good, and after we polished off the flour puff things, our server brought us some chips to continue the munching.

Newly fortified, we headed out of the cave, and took turns modeling sombreros. One of the CGs was focused on the bajas - we couldn't remember at the moment what they were called (and we all professed to having one in the 80s.) She called her sister, who wasn't in the mood to partake in our margarita-fueled gigglefest.

We then headed over to Norway. At this point, the skies were incredibly menacing, with sprinkles every couple of minutes. We decided to wait for Maelstrom, as no one had ridden it before. Last time I rode it, I got stuck in it for 20 minutes, listening to a nice Norwegian lady telling us to "PLEASE STAY IN DA BOAT." I still have nightmares.

We waited for about a half hour, but it kept us indoors. We decided while waiting to take advantage of my Disney Visa to hit up the Cardholders Meet-and-Greet when we went back over to Soarin'. When we backed up by the waterfall, I could see it was raining pretty steadily.

We did the obligatory visit to the troll:

And got a group shot with horned helmets - this is me...

On to Germany!

Snow White and the boys in topiary form:

One CG had lived in Germany for several years as a child, so we wandered through the gift stores, and she bought some favorite candy. There are more Smurf things in the gift shops now too.

We headed out to the beer cart then...

Three Carlsbergs and an Oktoberfest of some sort... I forget... and the obligatory pretzel.

After we got our beer, the skies opened up. Downpour city. Sheets of water. We cut Germany short (the train wasn't running, unfortunately) and headed to the boat to take us back to the beginning to head to Soarin' and the Meet-and-Greet. There were several comments that it was our own personal ark, come to save us from a certain soaking. It was about 1:45 or so now.

At this point, my planning paid off - I had stuffed my waterproof LLBean jacket in my loverly Disney bag (that thing is like Mary Poppins' purse), and handed out the disposable ponchos I'd packed for the CGs. I was also very happy to be wearing my Mickey Mary Jane crocs.

After a relaxing boat trip through the downpour, we docked, and finished up the last of the beer before leaving the protection of the overhang. We then made a beeline for Soarin'.

Coming up next... first time on Soarin' for the CGs, a Meet-and-Greet, and we brave the elements and get soaked.

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

When last I updated... we were heading towards Soarin', which is in my Top Five Favorite WDW Rides.

And I have to note something here... my CGs said at this point that they were happy to have me around for ponchos and FP running, and also for the fact that none of them had gotten a map! And it's been a long time since I've gotten one (I'll get Times Guides, and holiday maps like for MNSSHP but that's about it.) And it's true... they were just trusting that I knew where to go. I hadn't realized that until then.​

I took them the fastest way possible from the WS boat to The Land, and we jumped through the FP line. I asked nicely if we could get a front row, and we were waved through to the second loading bay. We were front row on the right.

I can smell the oranges now. Sigh.

Once we got off, we realized it was still pouring outside, so we hit Living with the Land, which is one of Grandma's favorites. I called her after we got off of it.

And then we headed back outside into the downpour, over to Innoventions and the Visa Meet-and-Greet. There was no line at all, so the CM took my name and Visa number down, handed me my slip, and moved the curtain aside to find Mickey and Pluto! Just standing there waiting for us!

If the CGs weren't impressed at this point by the VIP treatment, they were now!

We got lots of good shots... this is one of them, with me and my boys, (my CGs cropped out... )

One of the CGs has a two-year-old, who's favorite show right now is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so she got a shot by herself with Mickey and Pluto, and that's the free print we got as we left the park at the end of the day. She gave it to her DD, who stared at it FOREVER saying "Mickey... Mommy... Pluto!" over and over again.

We took a bit of a break after this and hung around by the front door, waiting to see if the rain would break. I ran out to Pin Trading and got a couple of newer pins for my kids (again happy I was wearing crocs.) Once we realized it wasn't going to let us anytime soon, we decided to poncho up and head back over to the WS, this time going counterclockwise, and starting in Canada.

No one wanted to see the movie, so we moved along to the UK. I wanted to check out "football" jerseys for my DS and one of CGs, who is married to an Irishman, wanted to check out the stores too. We wandered around for a while, buying little things and taking funny pictures in the phone booths... again for the sake of my CGs anonymity, I can't post any.... shucks!

At this point, it was about 4:00pm, and I went over the Rose and Crown to see if they had any openings for a walk up, since we were all getting chilled and figured an early sit down dinner somewhere WARM would do us good. They told us the wait was about 30 minutes, so we hit up the pub.

A couple of shandys, and a black and tan for me!

We were called almost exactly 30 minutes later, and got a table in the far back corner of the main dining area. It was warm, they had warm tea, and food!

One of my CGs and I split the Sunday Roast (with Yorkshire Pudding, Roasted Potatoes, seasonal Vegetable, and Shallot Gravy $17.99). It was good, if a little salty. The others had the Fish and Chips (Battered fresh Cod served with English Chips, overpriced at $15.99, IMHO) and the Mixed Greens (with warm Bread Croutons, crispy Bacon, Roasted Onions, Irish Cheddar, and warm Bacon Vinaigrette $5.99) with the Potato and Leek Soup Bowl: ($5.49).

I also had a cup of tea after I finished my Black and Tan, and was warmed up nicely when we headed back out. The rain had let up enough to not be completely miserable, but we decided to finish the rest of the WS, but not to wait around for Illuminations. As a whole, we were damp, we were still a little tired, and we had an early morning at MK planned.

With that in mind, we headed over to France, and towards me most favorite EPCOT adult beverage... the Grand Mariner Orange Slushie!!!

Oh, Orange Slushie. I love you so.

In all fairness, we didn't go get slushies first. We went over to the Boulangerie Patisserie. I got a strawberry tart, and a chocolate croissant for the morning's breakfast. And THEN we got slushies. The four of us split two of them... did I mention we were getting tired?

We forged ahead, to Morocco, where I bemoaned the fact that I was too full for the Tangierine Cafe, and then through to Japan, where we ducked into Mitsukoshi. I got a couple of new pairs of chopsticks, and then headed over to get my final drink of the evening:

Warm Sake:

This is a tradition for the whole family - we lived overseas when I was a kid (in fact, the picture of me at the beginning of this TR is right AFTER we moved back from Okinawa.) My dad has several good sake sets, and I love warm sake. It was just what I needed to stay warm as it continued to get darker and colder.

After checking out the beautiful koi pond (one of our divisions is pond products, so we know a good pond when we see it... and those are some PRICEY koi) we headed to America, and this... the long standing favorite of one of the CGs...

Yum. Between that, and my sake, I was having a GOOD NIGHT. And with that, we beelined to the boat in Germany again, and headed back to the entrance, by way of the Photopass shop, where we got my free 5x7. It was dark, raining again, and we still hadn't checked into our NEW hotel for the evening, the Lake Buena Vista Resort.

I got turned around a bit, and ended up overshooting the hotel, but we got there and checked in, unloaded and drying off by about 8:00pm. We were all asleep by 9:00pm. Pathetic, but true!

Next up, early morning at the Magic Kingdom for our Keys to the Kingdom tour... and will it EVER stop raining???

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

I only have one more day to recap on my mini-trip, so I thought I'd mix the PB and the chocolate a little more by sharing the run down of our September trip... I've been staring at my spreadsheets, and things are really starting to come together!

And I've also just put in for an extra vacation day... I'm going to be off of work for eleven whole days... I can't wait!

Thursday, September 9 - First day off!: Kids go off to school and I hang around the house getting the van's oil changed and then cleaned out and packed with our luggage and food for the room. I'm better than Garden Grocer! Get the cooler plugged in and cooling off, stock the kids' organizers with their DSs, books, movies, snacks, and stuff (they each have their own organizer in front of them, in back of the driver and passenger's seats; a tip I highly recommend for driving with kids!) and pick the kids up at 3:25pm, right when the bell rings! Hit the highway for the first leg of the drive, 431 miles away, ending up at the SpringHill Suites in Savannah, GA by 9:30pm.

Friday, September 10: Grandma heads out to catch her first flight, which just happens (through careful planning on my part) to connect up with Sulley and Mike W.'s flight. They'll head into MCO together, connecting with DME at 11am. The kids and I, in the meantime, will finish the second leg of 286 miles, from Savannah GA to POR. We plan on leaving by 7:30am, making the obligatory stop at the Welcome Center, and beelining to POR to hopefully meet up with the rest of the group at the same time to check-in at noon. We plan on unpacking, chilling, and hitting the pool that afternoon. We cap off our arrival day with an ADR at WCC for dinner. A family favorite... we can't wait to share it with newbies Sulley and Mike W.

Saturday, September 11: First park day and it's always MK for us. Pre-park opening CP breakfast (a tradition, no matter how old my kids get) and then Boma (which NONE of us have ever been to. No really) for dinner.

Sunday, September 12: Don't shoot me, but we're going to Universal... we're all Harry Potter freaks. I'll devote a chapter to this day soon.

Monday, September 13: EPCOT Day! No ADRs here, since we love Sunshine Seasons and eating around the world. Sulley and I will hit up the Tequila Cave. If I haven't mentioned it before, Sulley is my BABY brother, but he is a good bit bigger than I am. I am sure between the two of us, the CMs at the Cave will be in awe of our capabilities.

Tuesday, September 14: Animal Kingdom in the a.m. and the MNSSHP at night! While dates haven't all been announced, I do know the first MNSSHP is September 14, and we'll be there. We have an early ADR at LTT before the party starts. What will we be dressing as? Stay tuned... the plan is developing...

Wednesday, September 15: DHS morning, and then DTD before (sigh) Sulley and Mike W. head home.

Thursday, September 16: Now sans the aunt and uncle, Grandma, the kids and I hit MK on our last park day, for our usual CP breakfast right after rope drop, and stay for as long as we can.

Friday, September 17: Check out of POR, and then I've made a surprise ADR for the people at Ohana at 9:20am. We'll keep Grandma to ourselves for a little while longer, and drop her off ourselves at MCO on our way north. We hope to make it to Columbia, SC by 7pm (but really, I'm not making a plan for this now... We have until Sunday night to be home... and part of me is mulling something over that I'll share later.)

And that is our September plan!

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

I'll get back on here this weekend and finish up the TR portion of this TR/PTR Combo, but in the meantime, I just wanted to do the discount code and free dining dance, and the MNSSHP tickets for September 14th too!

I called in bright and early yesterday to get Sulley and Mike free dining, and Grandma, the kids and I the room-only discount (although I'm still hoping for a better AP discount in the coming weeks, but this is one is nothing to sneeze at...) We've done free dining before, but it's just too much food for us. We don't usually get our money's worth and end up throwing out a ton of leftovers and desserts; however, having two of our six on FD to MOOCH off of will be PERFECT, I think. Sulley is a big eater, but Mike is teeny tiny, so I figure we'll all share counter service meals and still be insanely full. A good deal for everyone.

AND the MNSSHP tickets have been reserved. Everything is really falling into place!

More soon... anyone? Anyone? Bueller? ***Chirping***

 

[heaven2dc]

I wish we could take advantage of the Free Dining being offered (we are leaving 11/28/10 for 5 nights & staying at BWV w/boardwalk views). We have always wanted to go during Food & Wine Festival too. I may have to price a trip for 2012 for myself to go solo and break down and stay at CSR or CBR (we are BWV snobs unfortunately - my family still would rather rent points and have a boardwalk view and pay for the dining plan than stay at a mod because the cost is only about $12 more per day. Hard to break away from sitting on the balcony and watching Wishes and Illuminations )

Garden Grocer seems the way to go! I looked it up last night after reading that you were ordering from there and found lots of goodies we would like to have delivered to our rooms.

You're planning on going to Universal?!! The new Harry Potter attraction should be so much fun. I can't wait to read how much you enjoyed it!

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

I wish we could take advantage of the Free Dining being offered (we are leaving 11/28/10 for 5 nights & staying at BWV w/boardwalk views). We have always wanted to go during Food & Wine Festival too. I may have to price a trip for 2012 for myself to go solo and break down and stay at CSR or CBR (we are BWV snobs unfortunately - my family still would rather rent points and have a boardwalk view and pay for the dining plan than stay at a mod because the cost is only about $12 more per day. Hard to break away from sitting on the balcony and watching Wishes and Illuminations )

Garden Grocer seems the way to go! I looked it up last night after reading that you were ordering from there and found lots of goodies we would like to have delivered to our rooms.

You're planning on going to Universal?!! The new Harry Potter attraction should be so much fun. I can't wait to read how much you enjoyed it!

Food and Wine is a ton of fun. Literally, a ton. That's what you gain as you waddle around.

Yes, we're doing a day at Universal! I think my DD is more excited about that day than anything! She's a gigantic HP fan, so I hope it lives up to the hype.

Another update coming in a second... thanks for reading!

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

UPDATE NOTE: There are only a few pictures in this update, because we were on the Keys to the Kingdom tour for the majority of our day at the park. No cameras allowed! But I'll try and make it as readable as possible.

When last I left this TR, we'd turned in crazy (read: old lady) early for the night after wading and waddling around EPCOT. We woke up on the morning of March 29th well rested and excited to go to the Magic Kingdom for our KTTK tour! We had reserved the 9am tour, so we had a little bit of time, but we wanted to get there early to get some breakfast at the Main St Bakery.

The weather, however, wasn't as excited as we were. It was pouring. Still. I got one shot of the pirate pool at Lake Buena Vista Resorts:

Please note, this was at around 7:15am. The bluest thing out there is the pool water.

We got dressed and ready, I ate my chocolate croissant from France (nom) and we loaded everyone and everything into the car. One nice thing about Lake Buena Vista Resort is the buildings have parking garages - they're technically the second level of the building, and then the suites start on level three. So we didn't have to get wet loading our luggage and selves into the car. There was plenty of time to get wet later.

We then headed to MK, and I got to flash my AP at the parking gate, getting us in for free. The parking gate CM happened to be from Virginia Tech, which is my beloved alma mater and one of the CGs, as well, so we had an impromptu pep rally.

We got in the first row of parking, and headed out to the monorail. When we got to the gate, I pulled out my brand new AP, and informed the CM that it was my first day using my AP... and he gave me the reaction I'd been hoping for the day before! He cheered and laughed, and we jumped up and down together, much to the delight of the CGs. We then headed to Main St.

You can totally tell it's still pouring, right?

We checked in for the KTTK tour at around 8:25, made our lunch selections, and got our name badges:

At this point, with a bit of time to kill, the CGs headed to the Bakery, and I took their tickets and ran over to Space Mountain to get FPs for after the tour It was going to be the first time I'd have ridden it since the re-do, so I was really looking forward to it, and actually contemplated riding it quickly... but really didn't have enough time.

On the way to Tomorrowland, I called Grandma, and told her how much I missed her, and that I couldn't believe I was on Main St., and without her or the kids! It was so strange. Nice, of course, but just... different. She pouted over the phone... I could hear it.

PeopleMover in the rain and without people...

After getting the FPs, I looped back up over to the castle for a couple of pictures...

It was still dark and awful. I then beelined it back to the Bakery, where the CGs were wrapping up.

We then started our KTTK tour, with Meghan, our whippersnapper tour guide. She was hysterical, and a true Disney fanatic. We hit it off from the beginning, right after I showed her the 3-year-old picture of me at DL - she said her goal for the tour was to tell me something I didn't know before. The CGs agreed that she could have been my... sister. Or niece. I may JUST be old enough to be her mom, but I'm not claiming that.

We had about ten people total in our group, got our wicked cool headsets adjusted, and we set off into the rain.

Let me tell you, she did tell me stuff I didn't know, and more. I learned at least a dozen things over the next five hours. If you EVER get the chance to take the tour, I highly recommend it. I was a little worried that it would ruin the magic for me, but if anything, it has only ENHANCED it. If anything, I have so much more respect now for what the CMs do on an hourly basis to make the magic happen for the guests. And the backstage stuff? Insanely cool. Just amazing.

I'm not going to detail the tour, but we did get exclusive tour-group-only rides with commentary, including Jungle Cruise, HM, and POTC. Meghan was really, genuinely funny, and kept us all laughing. My personal favorite moment with her was doing the HM stretching room ghost host speech with her word-for-word together, with dramatic interpretive dancing (no worries, we did it quietly... it was just our group in the room, but still.)

Davy Jones picture... the only one I took during the actual tour:

Halfway through our tour, the skies cleared up, and it became beautiful. Taaadaaaa! Walking by the Crystal Palace on the way back to City Hall... I sent this to Grandma, since it's her favorite. I'm mean, I know.

The tour ended promptly at 1pm, and we turned in our tour badges and headsets, and I got a quick shot of Meghan. Ask for her if you do the tour!

The CGs wanted to get to the airport by around 3:30, so we had about an hour to kill still. We headed to SM to use our FPs first, and then decided to split up to cover as much ground as we could before meeting back at the front gate garden at 2:15.

SM is very good now - much darker, and smoother, I think! I can't wait to take the kids on it this fall.

After splitting up, I ran over to Fantasyland to check out the "retro" shirts. If you haven't seen them, Fantasy Faire has a line of retro DL and WDW shirts. I'd gotten DH the Mr. Toad's shirt before, and I wanted to see if there was one for me. Didn't find anything I really liked, so I wandered around a bit, just enjoying the views, popped in what used to be Tinkerbell's Treasures (sadly now without Tinkerbell) for some earrings for DD, Grandma, and me (I wear them daily) and then went around the castle to Main St. The parade was going on, but I got around it quickly. No time to watch it on this trip!

I sent Grandma this picture from the jewelry store:

She's considering getting these REAL diamond Mickey earrings for herself in September. More power to her.

I then went to the Confectionery and filled a big bag full of rice krispie treats (DS' favorite) and Mickey Mints (DD's favorite), and bought one big one to send to my PR firm - they'd done a lot to make my trade show successful.

I only had a few more minutes before meeting the CGs outside, so I grabbed a Mickey Bar (I hadn't had one yet; shock, horror) took one more picture of the parade:

And headed out through the tunnel. Sigh. We all met up, and got back on the monorail to head to the car. Everyone agreed that it had been a really great day, and that the tour was top-notch.

We ran by the FedEx office just north of DTD to send off the giant rice krispie treat, and I filled a box full of my dirty clothes so I would have room in my one small carry-on for the rest of the regular krispies. We made it to the airport right on time, got checked in, had a quick dinner, and then got on the plane. We didn't get home until very late, but that never really matters when you've spent the day at WDW, right? Waking up the next morning with my kids, and doling out the pins and krispies and mints was a lot of fun. It only got them more excited for September.

And thus endeth the TR part of this TR/PTR combo.

From this point on, it's just going to be a PTR until after our September trip! I am lucky to have a job that allows for travel! In fact, if I haven't mentioned it, I get to go back to Orlando in OCTOBER for ANOTHER show... and that one will be at CSR... so this is STILL a combo PTR! HA HA! Two trips in two months...

 

[heaven2dc]

It's always sad when a TR ends (and much sadder when the actual trip ends!) Thanks for sharing - you did a great job