Twirling Through the World: Magic, Memories, & Maladies-Sept. 2011 TR- NEW PTR 6/18!

[Fantasyland Mom]

Now that the girls were sufficiently sparkly, we paused to come up with a game plan. The earlier snafu put us behind schedule and we needed a moment to re-group. While we talked, Sawyer did this:

Now would be a good time to go on rides that he couldn’t do while he snoozed. We had those Splash Mountain FastPasses burning a hole in my lanyard pouch, so that’s where we headed!

The plan was for Brandon, Julia, Brynn, and I to ride while Mamie wheeled the sleeping Sawyer around in the shade. Then Mamie and anyone wanting to ride it again would use the rider swap pass. Rider Swap is such a great thing!

Once the girls learned where we were headed, they had to start channeling their inner Stacey. They were “gonna ride that puppy!” As we passed by, they yelled at the people coming down the big hill, “You’re gonna get WEEEEETTTT!!”

FIRST RIDE OF THE TRIP! YAY! It was the first time for Brynn and me to ride this. Last year she was too short. On our first trip, Brandon and I made one trip into the line, only to have it shut down. We never made it back. Last year I was hugely pregnant with Sawyer and couldn’t go on. Now was the time!

We made our way through the FP line, Julia and Brynn getting compliments on their Princess looks the whole way. Soon we were seeing this:

Julia and Brandon were in the front just like last year. Brynn and I sat right behind them. At first, everyone was really happy and confident.

And Julia stayed that way the whole time. Brynn…not so much.

Here’s how we were all feeling as we made our way down the big drop.

Yes, we did indeed get wet! It felt GREAT! Brynn might not have thought so.

I was worried that she didn’t like it and would hate rides from now on, but she was twirling and dancing and jumping up and down as we exited the ride to go see our photo. “I DID IT!” she shouted. “I’m so proud of me! What a big girl!” We all assured her that she was awesome and we were proud of her, too! She said she had so much fun…but she still didn’t want to ride it again with Mamie! We bought our ride photo and it came with a free download, which I didn’t realize. We found Mamie and a now-awake Sawyer playing at The Laughin’ Place.

It said ages 2-5, but his little 14 month old self was having a blast going in and out of the “caves” and getting help down the slide!

Mamie and Julia went to ride (sorry, no pictures from their ride) while I took Sawyer to change his diaper.
(A side note about diapers: we use cloth diapers at home, but not on Disney trips because we don’t think we’ll have time to wash—we were wrong about that this time, incidentally. Every time I went to change his diaper, it would be twisted and droopy. In fact, we had issues with diapers just falling off! Made for some interesting moments, to say the least! I am not sure I ever adjusted to the absorbency level and not having sturdy snaps. End of random comments and the look into my jumbled mind.)

I changed him at the restrooms behind the Woody and Jessie meet and greet, and he waved as we passed by. Then we went to find a quiet place where I could nurse him. We just kept going along the little porch area past the exit of Splash to the very end in a nook. It was perfect—empty, quiet, and cool.
Meanwhile, Brynn and Brandon played at The Laughin’ Place.

I handed Sawyer back to Brandon and told him to pack up his camera and get Sawyer situated in the stroller while Brynn and I went to get FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. When we got back, Mamie and Julia were back from their ride (one of the many times Mamie declared a ride her FAVORITE on this trip) and they had gotten the front again and were also wet again. Nobody complained about being wet as it was sooooo very hot!

It was getting close to our ADR time, so we headed back over to Fantasyland. I needed to stop in Castle Couture and get some autograph books and pens.
And Julia needed to try to get that darn sword out of the stone. It just never seems to budge!

It was now time for our second surprise of the trip, and those autograph books were going to come in handy!

Where do YOU think such majestic Princesses and a sweet Prince need to dine??

They were about to find out.

Up Next: A Meal Fit for Royalty

 

[lbuzz52]

I just loved your description of BBB- it was spot on. the hairstyles are definitely different, but its hard to duplicate the experience for the girls anywhere else.

 

[JDailey]

I can't believe how awful the service was at Peco Bills. That place is always CRAZY at lunch time!! I have had people stand and watch us finish meals so that they could get our table when we were finished.
Your girls looked beautiful. I loved the picture you got of Bryn being measured. My daughter, Addison, is so excited that she gets to ride Splash Mountain this year. Fingers crossed she is 40 inches by Disney standards because she is at home.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I just loved your description of BBB- it was spot on. the hairstyles are definitely different, but its hard to duplicate the experience for the girls anywhere else.

Different! That's the perfect word! There's nowhere like BBB for sure. They loved it!

I can't believe how awful the service was at Peco Bills. That place is always CRAZY at lunch time!! I have had people stand and watch us finish meals so that they could get our table when we were finished.
Your girls looked beautiful. I loved the picture you got of Bryn being measured. My daughter, Addison, is so excited that she gets to ride Splash Mountain this year. Fingers crossed she is 40 inches by Disney standards because she is at home.

My first mistake was going there during lunch rush. I knew heading in that seating would be a problem, though I don't think I was prepared for how crowded it really was.
Thank you for the compliments! I knew Brynn was hitting "our" 40 inches, and even at Disney I noticed that at some places she'd be way above the line and some just meeting it. They really need to use the standard! Good luck to Addison, and happy splashing!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

How cute of Brynn to tell everyone that she was so proud of herself! She did look a little concerned at one point, but I'm glad that she ended up enjoying the ride! That princess hair must be pretty lacquered down - it doesn't look like her of Julia's hair budged!

 

[kokotg]

Aww...this is reminding me so much of our very first visit when our kids were just about the same ages...sleeping baby, 3 year old just tall enough for Splash Mountain....and now my babies all got big. sniff, sniff.

 

[HilJoy14]

What a bummer about that allergy meal! Wow! I've only had one (gluten-free bun at Cosmic Rays') and that took a long time, too!

The girls look like they loved BBB. The hairstyles do look princessy, anyway!

We had our trip of measurements last year. Allison wasn't quite 3 but was just 40 inches. She must have gotten measured 20 times on that trip! Even when we had just ridden, they had to remeasure her the next time! Plus, when we used FastPass, we didn't have one for her (because she wasn't 3, so no ticket) and that was pretty much unheard of - being tall enough to ride with no ticket!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

How cute of Brynn to tell everyone that she was so proud of herself! She did look a little concerned at one point, but I'm glad that she ended up enjoying the ride! That princess hair must be pretty lacquered down - it doesn't look like her of Julia's hair budged!

I guess all that work on labeling feelings worked! We've always tried to get them to use words to let us know if they're mad, sad, frustrated, etc., and this time she was PROUD and not afraid to let us know it!! I was proud, too.
That hair wasn't budging. In fact, Julia slept in hers this night and wore it the next day and it was still not moving. I had to make her take it down because of the eww factor.

Aww...this is reminding me so much of our very first visit when our kids were just about the same ages...sleeping baby, 3 year old just tall enough for Splash Mountain....and now my babies all got big. sniff, sniff.

When Julia first went, she was Brynn's age. This year she rode every intense thing she could! They grow up way too fast.

What a bummer about that allergy meal! Wow! I've only had one (gluten-free bun at Cosmic Rays') and that took a long time, too!

The girls look like they loved BBB. The hairstyles do look princessy, anyway!

We had our trip of measurements last year. Allison wasn't quite 3 but was just 40 inches. She must have gotten measured 20 times on that trip! Even when we had just ridden, they had to remeasure her the next time! Plus, when we used FastPass, we didn't have one for her (because she wasn't 3, so no ticket) and that was pretty much unheard of - being tall enough to ride with no ticket!

I found out later that allergy meals typically take 4-6 minutes longer, which was no problem. But an hour longer?? No way!
Aw, what a tall girl! They measured Brynn all the time, too, but I could see how that would get some looks of disbelief when you told them she was 2!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

We casually strolled into the Castle like we owned the place. Our princesses and prince knew they belonged at Cinderella’s Royal Table for dinner, and they graciously accepted their invitation.

We all met with Cinderella. Because we were a party of six, we were entitled to two photo packages, which are included in the price of the meal.

Mamie didn’t like her photo because she said she looked tired and sweaty. We all did, I think, but I still liked ours; I mean, it’s not often that my family of five is in one photo together!

We waited. And waited. And waited. Brandon took pictures of the interior.

Sawyer decided it was more fun to hang upside down than just sit around.

While we were waiting, the people who sat beside us had a daughter named Brynn. That’s quite unusual!

We were called about twenty minutes past our ADR, but we didn’t mind. There’s so much to look at downstairs that we were pretty occupied. We made our way up the winding stairs and were seated off in a corner next to the windows. Perfect!

Our waitress immediately took drink orders, gave us menus, brought the kids their magic wands, wishing stars, and a sword for Sawyer, and she told us the chef would be out to speak with us about Brynn’s dairy allergy shortly.

The kids colored for a moment while I fretted over the menu. Too many choices, and a few of them weren’t what are posted online! As soon as drinks arrived, so did Chef Derick!

He bent down and asked Brynn what she would want to eat if she could pick anything in the world. She said she would like rice and chicken. No problem! He said he could do grilled or fried chicken, and I said she’d like grilled better. She also got apples (these come with cheese, which they brought out separately and we gave to Sawyer) as an appetizer and would have rice dream ice cream for dessert! The biggest reason I applaud this chef? He went and found Earth Balance non-dairy butter for Brynn’s bread!! I feel the need to elaborate and give a little back story as to why that’s such a good thing.

Brynn’s had digestive issues pretty much from birth. She was a colicky baby, and she went from loud and moody to quiet and moody once we started solid foods. It was obvious that something was off, but they had tried having me eliminate diary for two weeks while I was exclusively nursing her and it didn’t seem to help, so they thought it just might be her temperament and the digestive issues would work themselves out. They assured me two weeks without dairy would be enough to see a change, but we’d later find out that for her the magic number was three weeks. Anyway, she was gaining weight despite her problems for a while. At about 18 months, her weight dropped a little and then she got way off her growth chart. At that point, the doctors suggested fattening up everything she ate. Olive oil, butter, and sour cream were on everything. We didn’t figure out until months later that what we’d been doing to “help” her was actually hurting her. During all those months, she came to LOVE butter. LOVE. And when we learned she had a dairy allergy, we knew we had to find an alternative. That alternative is Earth Balance, but lots of people don’t know it even exists. Chef Derick knew, though, and he went out of his way to get it! We will now return to our regularly scheduled trip report.

The soup of the day was corn and crab chowder, and I knew I had to have that. It was actually really good! Usually I can’t taste the crab in a crab and corn chowder, as most restaurants really skimp on the seafood ingredients, but I definitely could in this. Yummy. I ate the whole bowl, and I wasn’t even that hungry.

For his appetizer, Brandon had the Royal Tasting of Cheese—a trio of cheeses with accompaniments. To this day, he says it’s the best thing he’s eaten at Disney and now wants to start researching cheeses and pairings for us to eat at home!! I tried some, and while I agree that they were good, I didn’t have to keep going on and on and on about them!

Mamie chose the Rock Shrimp Cocktail--rock shrimp with tomato marmalade. She ate the shrimp and gave pretty much everything else to Sawyer. He loves corn, so he was happy to add this to his cheese plate.

Our entrees were delivered just as we finished up our appetizers.
I had finally settled on Seafood Pasta—crab and crawfish with pancetta, spinach, mushrooms, and pepperadelle pasta laced with a white wine cream sauce. It was not on the menus I found online (I had picked fried chicken with macaroni, but it wasn’t on the menu), but I did have that menu photo Brandon took so I could find the description for you! Let me just say that I usually dislike getting pasta at restaurants, but this was delicious! It was so good that I was shocked! I guess I didn’t have high hopes for it and I was pleasantly surprised. The flavor was great, the pasta was cooked well, and there was a good amount of seafood. I’d order it again in a second!

Brandon had Pork Three Ways—Pulled pork with a bacon and Andouille “Etouffee” sauce, served with spoon bread, topped with Swiss chard. He liked this a lot, and so did Sawyer. Both are fans of pulled pork, and Brandon has a thing for spoon bread.

I’m not sure why I don’t have a picture of it (Princess distractions, perhaps?), but Mamie had Roasted Beef Tenderloin - sliced roasted beef tenderloin with Duchess potatoes, asparagus, and a tomato Hollandaise. She ate the beef and potatoes, scraping as much sauce off as possible, and skipping the asparagus altogether. She has no shame in proudly telling people that she only eats meat, rice, potatoes, and drinks diet coke. You will never find her eating fruit and only rarely eating a vegetable. Healthy, right? I guess it was good enough. It was beef, so she liked it.

The girls both ended up getting the same thing, which was the chicken and rice Brynn requested. I asked at lots of places if Julia could just get the same things as Brynn. This served two purposes.
1. Just in case Brynn stole something off Julia’s plate, it would be okay for her to eat.
2. It would keep the fighting at bay. At least over food. Keeping things the same meant nobody could be jealous of the other’s food.

Desserts were coming up, and none of us really had much room left. That’s a good thing, because the desserts at CRT are T-I-N-Y.
I chose the Valrhona Chocolate Mousse - A light chocolate mousse presented with berries and raspberry sauce. I especially liked it dipped in the sauce. A man behind me asked how it was, and I told him to get it, but make sure he dipped it in the sauce. It’s nothing without the sauce.

Brandon got Chef's Dessert Trio - Cinderella sent her chefs around the world to discover new desserts. They are happy to share their favorites with you. It was a tiny mousse, a tiny cheesecake, and a tiny…something else. Obviously it wasn’t memorable.

Did you notice that Brandon’s entire meal consisted of trios—cheese trio, pork three ways, dessert trio! Guess he was wanting more bang for his buck and thought he’d get triple the food! LOL!

Mamie chose a cheesecake that I don’t see on any online menu. In fact, she chose cheesecake at every table service restaurant we visited. Sorry to spoil the suspense for you. She’s very much a creature of habit.

The girls both enjoyed their Rice Dream frozen dessert.

I know what you’re thinking…

WHERE ARE THE PRINCESSES!?!?!?!

Well, they were coming all during the meal, so I thought I’d lump them all together here at the end of the dining experience.

(Continued in next post. Keep reading.)

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

For those of you who have never been to Cinderella’s Royal Table, each princess’ story is summarized and then they are announced. There’s much clapping and an unfathomable number of autograph book signings. Here are our princesses in the order in which they appeared.

First came Snow White. Brynn and Snow White go way back. Last year when we dined at CRT and Brynn was a babbling toddler, Snow White fell in love with her. Brynn couldn’t take her eyes off Snow White as she made her way around the room, and little Brynnie kept yelling, “Bye, Snow White!” while waving her chubby little baby hand. Snow White came back to our table several times, breaking the order of her rotation, to give Brynn hugs and kisses. Would this year be any different?

You know where this is heading, right? You know what Snow White kisses leave???

That’s right. Big, smudge-proof (and baby wipe-proof) lipstick marks! In all our other pictures, Brynn’s still sporting this. It took her a while to figure out it was there. I’m sure she wondered why we were all laughing at her! Snow White asked if Sawyer was their dwarf!! They thought that was hilarious!

Next came Aurora. She recognized that Sawyer was a prince, thank goodness.

Ariel was up next. She’s a favorite around here. She thought Sawyer was a guppy! The girls could not contain their laughter at having to tell these princesses that he was a baby brother!

And finally, Belle paid us the shortest and most awkward visit ever. She was just...different. We literally got thirty seconds with her, and most of that was signing our books. See, even Brynn is looking at her like she's wondering why there's such a rush.

We were happy to have met everyone and had a delicious meal, but we wanted to pay and get out of there! So we handed the waitress our KTTW cards to pay with our dining credits and gathered our wands and stars and swords.

It was time for some more fun. It was time for some rides. It was time to use that special fastpass!

We only had a limited time before I had scheduled for us to leave the park; what would we accomplish, and what would foil my plan!?!

 

[kokotg]

Yay--you're back! I was just thinking about your TR last night and hoping you'd post again soon

I keep eying a castle meal for next year, despite my pack of boys--you've got to eat in the castle at least once, right?! But I feel like I'm saying that about every restaurant lately: "we have to try that one on our next trip!"

Great pictures with the princesses! I feel like I never got the hang of pictures with characters this year....flash, no flash, what settings to use....half of mine are blurry. Maybe the characters make me nervous, and I just need to practice holding my camera steadier

 

[shan23877]

Fun update! DH and I were just talking about doing CRT for dinner next visit, so your update was really helpful! Beautiful princesses, and that's awesome that the princesses asked the girls if Sawyer was a dwarf/guppy. They must have loved that!

 

[katt789]

I'm in! Just finished the intros, I'll be sure to catch up soon!! Looks like you guys were there at around the same time as us (13-19th)

 

[kcandbella]

Joining in! Your family is so precious! I totally agree with you about the BBB hairstyles--but the experience of it is just so magical. Looks like you had a great dinner to make up for your not so great lunch!

 

[inkedupmomma]

great updates! So glad you had a better dining experience than we did! CRT used to be my all time MUST DO..after this trip, never again!

Your girls look so beautiful <3

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Yay--you're back! I was just thinking about your TR last night and hoping you'd post again soon

I keep eying a castle meal for next year, despite my pack of boys--you've got to eat in the castle at least once, right?! But I feel like I'm saying that about every restaurant lately: "we have to try that one on our next trip!"

Great pictures with the princesses! I feel like I never got the hang of pictures with characters this year....flash, no flash, what settings to use....half of mine are blurry. Maybe the characters make me nervous, and I just need to practice holding my camera steadier

I'm still here! It took a week for an update because the perfect storm has been happening in my technology life--our computers are both on their last legs, our internet provider has choked down the amount of bandwidth we can use (who would have thought our little family would be power-users??), PhotoBucket is soooooo slow lately, and the dis has been acting funny. However, I did it! I never really went anywhere; I just had to work when my computers and the sites would let me!
You should definitely eat in the castle at least once in your lifetime! Plus, there are swords.
Many of our character photos didn't turn out that great. You'll see. Kids didn't know where to look, we were squished up against our tables, lighting was off, etc. But, darn it, I have proof they met them!

Fun update! DH and I were just talking about doing CRT for dinner next visit, so your update was really helpful! Beautiful princesses, and that's awesome that the princesses asked the girls if Sawyer was a dwarf/guppy. They must have loved that!

Maddie would love it. I mean, she even posed like a Princess with Cars; obviously it's a place she's meant to be! My girls thought the princesses were so funny, and they loved that they paid attention to their baby brother.

I'm in! Just finished the intros, I'll be sure to catch up soon!! Looks like you guys were there at around the same time as us (13-19th)

WOOT!! WELCOME!! We were there around the same time! Make sure you look in the background of the pictures and see if you can spot yourself.

Joining in! Your family is so precious! I totally agree with you about the BBB hairstyles--but the experience of it is just so magical. Looks like you had a great dinner to make up for your not so great lunch!

YAY! WELCOME!!! And thank you for your kind words! You're right--the hairstyles are a bit odd, but it was a wonderful experience that they mention at least once a day now. I'm glad we had this dinner, as it restored my faith in the allergy dining! In fact, Pecos Bill's was the only place we had trouble with it the whole time.

great updates! So glad you had a better dining experience than we did! CRT used to be my all time MUST DO..after this trip, never again!

Your girls look so beautiful <3

Oh, no! I know you loved CRT! I can't wait (or maybe I can?) to read about that drama!

 

[Queenofallthings]

The girls look absolutely beautiful....magical things take place when they are in the castle and get to meet the princesses! I miss those days of little ones and princesses

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

The girls look absolutely beautiful....magical things take place when they are in the castle and get to meet the princesses! I miss those days of little ones and princesses

Aw, thank you, Queen! You're right--it was so magical for them to be in the castle for BBB and for CRT that day. I thought it was a perfect way to start our trip. I am cherishing these moments while I can.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Your meal at CRT looks so nice! I agree, those desserts are teeny, but I guess there are a bunch of other fun desserts around the MK (ice cream, dole whips, funnel cake, etc) that it's okay!

The chef sounds like he was absolutely wonderful with Brynn's allergies! How awesome that he found the Earth Balance butter for her as well! I love that he asked what she would want to eat out of anything in the world...although I'm wondering what would have happened if she just said cake or something . Actually, I don't know many kids that wouldn't have answered that question with something along those lines. Good for her for picking something nice and meal-like!

 

[PirateKate]

BBB and CRT is such a perfect way to start a trip, especially for the two girls. It's nice the Sawyer was able to sleep through BBB. I'm glad Brynn was tall enough for Splash Mountain. I can't wait until I can take my boys on that.

Pecos Bill's sounds horrible. We usually have good meals there, but it sounds like the allergy threw them off. Did you go all the way around the corner way far back where they have chairs with real backs instead of just stools? We like to sit there, since it's not as busy and a lot quieter.