Welcome home to Zip A dee doo dah days!!! Updated 7/10 The Plan!

[flipflopmom]

Wonderful, Amazing and beautiful pictures. Love the new updates.

Thanks! The fireworks really made the 4th fireworks in my small town, which are quite good, seem puny! I was pleased with how some of them turned out!

 

[flipflopmom]

After rolling the kids out of bed, again, we had an ADR at 8:15, I think, at Akershus. Of course, the monorail was behind, safety checks, and part of me wanted to stress. I couldn't though, because I knew it would all be okay!

Doesn't my family look thrilled this am? The monorail in the background sat there for over 15 minutes, then another came. Then we had to transfer at TTC, and wait 10 minutes or so for another one. One poor family was sooo stressing that they would lose their ADR because they were late. Theirs was at 8, and I think they got there at 8:20 like we did. They checked in before us, but we were seated first?

We had a great breakfast! Sophie was funny with Cinderella - funny story in the review.

Akershus breakfast

 

[flipflopmom]

After breakfast, we headed for Test Track. We all really like this ride, and I couldn't wait for the daredevil to take a spin on it!

There was a much more respectable wait, 20 minutes, so we were done fairly quickly. Now to rush to the land to get Soarin FP's. Since we had done everything else over there we wanted to on EMH night, I told DH and the girls to go to innoventions, and I would run and get the FPs.

This was our first trip to innoventions, and it was fun!

The girls made velcro frogs:

And enjoyed the piggy bank game. I helped DD2 out, and of course she had no idea why she was doing it, but it was fun!

DH appreciated the time to sit and cool off, and actually nap! We probably stayed in here close to an hour, believe it or not!

By this time, it was close to 11:00, so we started off for World Showcase. We stopped at the Kim Possible kiosk to get a mission. We asked for her recommendation. She said Germany is the best, but Mexico is all inside. Guess what we picked? So our time was anytime after 12:00 for Mexico. We decided to start in Canada and work our way around, do the mission, then Soarin' on the way out.

 

[flipflopmom]

Like many tweens, Anna Kathryn is obsessed with Justin Bieber, so she was really excited to tour Canada. The gardens here are absolutely gorgeous!

The girls did their Kidcot mask stop:

And we stopped for a photo op!

I took more pictures, but I really like this country. We didn't do the movie, but we wandered around the whole place. The waterfall and gardens made me want to stay, but we were world travelers, off to the U.K.

 

[flipflopmom]

Next, we went to the UK. I really wanted to spend more time in the shops, but the girls weren't really into it, or they were too into it! We did try to seek out the pressed penny machine in each country. The girls ran around the maze, we had a bathroom break, and DH called some more people on the phone!

After the UK, we kinda bypassed France, since we had been there for dinner. I really wanted to go back shopping, but it was REALLY heating up, and I knew if I wanted at least a cursory stop in each country, we had to keep moving. We did stop at the crepe cart for the girls to get a chocolate one to share!

In Italy, we took lots of pictures, did the kidcot stop, went into one shop filled with cologne, and got out QUICKLY before DD2 broke something!

We love Japan! I had a Japanese aunt, and a Japanese exchange student, so I feel very connected here! We did spend a lot of time in here, and I found some dolls from my childhood - Monchichi! The girls bought fans, which were about $4 each, and they wrote their names in Japanese. I also bought some choco-gummy candy that I have fond memories of my exchange student bringing. The girls did Kidcot again, and Anna Kathryn showed off to the CM how she can count to 10 in Japanese, thanks to her great Aunt. They were very impressed!

And no trip to Japan would be complete without Kaki Ghori. The girls each got one, and DH and I split one. Great treat in the midday heat. I think WS is just miserable in the middle of the day. It seems soooo hot to me!


We lucked up, and the Fife and Drum Corp were beginning a performance in the USA section. It was actually very, very moving, and DH and I both got teary eyed. The girls joined in for the Pledge of Allegiance!

He sang God Bless America at the end, it was, again, a moving time. More coins, more mask, off we go!

We had eaten in Marakesh last year, so we just looked for masks, coins, and browsed the shops. Lots of cool photo ops here! Line was too long for Jasmine and Aladdin, though!

We also skipped China, since we had covered that during EMH, and went straight for Norway. By this time, it was sooo hot. We were melting. We had taken a stop at African outpost to get the girls frozen lemonades, but I could tell DH was starting to get a little too hot and tired, which meant for tempers to start flaring! Plus, we still had the mission and Soarin!

In Norway, we went straight to Maelstrom, which was nice for extended A/C and a little sitting on the ride. We skipped out of the show at the end, here, too. My little (and not so little) Vikings had to try on the hats!

A stop at Kringla for some sweets to share - Almond pretzel and berry creme puff, got our Kimmunicator, and headed to Mexico!

Now, I didn't take the first picture in Mexico. We didn't ride the boat. A grand meltdown occurred. Sophie had had all she could handle, and needed to nap, desperately! She wanted to hold the device, but no one could hear or see, and she kept pushing buttons. We took it away, which led to full on, no holds barred, temper tantrum. She and I left Dh and Anna Kat to work on the mission, which she cooled down a bit! She finally pulled it together for us to finish, we dropped the blasted phone in the box, and went to Soarin. Time to get out of here!!! (The mission was really, really cool. I do highly recommend them. They are a great way to see the countries, with lots of surprises. Ingenious!)

Soarin FP line was not too bad, thankfully. The girls and I it. Dh, who doesn't like heights, airplanes, or motion, not so much. He did say it wasn't as bad as he thought!

Thankfully, we got to the monorail, DD crashed in her stroller, and we all went back to BLT to rest a while! This had been a loooonnngg day. I love Epcot, but it's definitely a 2 day experience. I think next year, we'll tour W.S at night, when it's cooler, and do FW during the day!

 

[dellasgirl]

z

 

[reelmom]

Just joining your TR and I am loving it.

 

[flipflopmom]

Did you try Sum of all Thrills?
Understand about the total meltdown--

No, we didn't. We were in the other building, and didn't make it over. Epcot just has sooo much to do and see!

Just joining your TR and I am loving it.

Thank you soooo much! It was a great week!

 

[flipflopmom]

So, Anna Kathryn had been really bummed that we weren't going to Chef Mickey's this trip. When we could get an ADR there, and CRT, we decided to add the DxDP. I shared why in my Chef Mickey's review.

We woke the girls up at 6:40, and were out the door at 6:50. They were so sleepy! We had told them we would have to get up early to have breakfast before we packed up and checked out, so at least they were expecting it.

One thing that was a lifesaver on our last two trips with these early ADR's. I pack the girls outfits in gallon ziploc bags, complete with undies, hairbows, etc. I label the outside with their names and what they are for. It took a looonng time to decide which outfits for each day, sometimes two a day, but that was at home. At WDW, we could just open and bag, dress, and be out the door!

We walked over from BLT, and the girls thought we were getting something at the contempo cafe. When we walked under the Chef Mickey's sign, I told them, mickey called and wanted one more meal with you! They were really excited, even though they could hardly hold their eyes open.

Here is the review!

Chef Mickey's breakfast

Up next - time to pack and hit the road!

 

[flipflopmom]

I FORGOT!!! I thought I had finished Friday. DUH! When we left Epcot, we crashed for a rest in the AC. DH slept, we left Sophie napping in the stroller, DD1 stretched out with her ipod, and I think I dozed off for a bit, but also took a shower. It was sooo icky!

We had 8pm ADR's at Ohana. Did I mention how much DH loves this place? DD, also. It is their favorite in WDW, and part of the bargain of buying DVC was that he gets to eat here twice each trip! We were done by 9:15 or so, so we headed back to BLT via monorail, and DH and the girls put on swim stuff. We watched fireworks from the balcony at 10, and then Dh and the girls went for a night swim while I packed. They ended up staying from 10:30 to midnight! And then I got them up at 6:40 for breakfast????? I'm such a good momma!

I had most everything packed when they got back, though.

Now, back to Saturday after Chef Mickey's!

The girls were beyond bummed that we were leaving. They wanted to take pictures of all the signs at BVG and Fanastia on the way back to the room.

While I finished packing up the last minute stuff,and DH was at the front desk checking out, the girls wanted to pose on the balcony with their new souvies! Before we left Epcot, we went shopping in Mouse Gears. The girls each had $35 to spend. Anna Kat is currently obsessed with peace signs, so she picked out a Mickey head and peace sign shirt, and a peace and Mickey necklace. These 2 decisions took an hour!

The Mickey's were last year's souvies, and made the trip with us.

Sophie loves Ariel, but she wanted everything she saw in Mouse Gears! The princess dolls, shopping cart, etc. She ended up with an Ariel jewelry box that she had played with in one of the shops in the Contemporary, and a plush baby Jessie? Don't know where that came from, but she loves it!

Dh called bell services to get our stuff, and while they were loading all but a few things in the car, Anna Kat was crying on the balcony because she didn't want to leave. I love Disney World!

So, we gathered up the last minute stuff, told the girls to say goodbye, and DH told us he found a shortcut to the parking lot. We all grabbed a few handfuls, and out the door we went. We had told the girls if they would help us load the car quickly, we would stop for one more trip to MK before we left, so they were cooperative!

 

[flipflopmom]

So Dh's shortcut takes us down to the 3rd floor... And he STOPS outside of room 7308. He hands Anna Kat a room key. She says "Daddy, this looks like someone's room."
"Trust me, it's okay. It's a cool shortcut, we just have to use our room key like we do to get into the building"
"But Daddy, I really think it's a room. Did you try it?"
"Open the door, Anna Kathryn."

So she slides in the room key and

IT IS A ROOM!!!!!!! OURs, for the next 24 hours! A week before, Dh and I started talking about how we would be leaving so late, and we tried to see if the Hilton Head Resort Disney owns, which is a DVC property and halfway for us, had a room. We thought it would be so nice to stop, sleep, hang out on the beach Sunday, and then come home. Well, of course there was no availability, but there was pixie dust, and a lake view room at BLT!

We didn't tell the girls we were adding a night. They were oh so happy!

We didn't take long to dump our stuff, and head over MK! The bunny ride awaits!

 

[flipflopmom]

So, believe it or not, we really did all this in a little over 2 hours. Eat, pack, switch rooms. It wasn't long after rope drop that we entered MK.

We headed straight for Frontierland. Little wait on Splash, so off we go!

We grabbed fast passes for later, and headed for BTMRR. Posted wait time was 30 minutes, but it was more like 15. Ended up riding twice, back to back. Then we traveled back towards Fantasyland. Did another spin on Haunted Mansion, and made some people really mad. When the CM's say "fill in the available space" they mean it, and we did! A couple of people started grumbling, and the CM overheard it. In typical Haunted Mansion style, she said "I said fill in the available space. If you don't, someone else will, and they must follow directions and want to be here more than you do."

We boarded quickly, but it stopped at the drifting candalabra, probably to load someone from an ECV. It was a cool place to stop, but I was still a bit damp and FREEZING! I am amazed at the details Sophie picks up on this ride.

We asked what they wanted to do one more time, and of course Sophie said The bunny ride, and Anna Kat said BTMRR and Mickey's philharmagic. So we were headed towards the theatre, and Sophie had a fit to ride It's a small world again. Anna Kat and DH both groaned! It was funny, but there was no wait, so we did. Dh had a nap, and Anna Kat looked for something she had never noticed before. It made it more interesting for her.

We grabbed Fast passes for peter pan, and went to philharmagic. It never gets old, I could watch it 3 times a day for a week, and it would never get old. Just outstanding!

So, the girls are grumbling about hunger, and it's close to 1:45. I told DH to head over towards the castle, to wait in the shade, and the girls and I took another spin on the carousel.

We took them over to the castle, and told DD that all the CS places were on main st. area to appease her. Instead, we entered CRT!

SURPRISE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! We're eating in the castle! I simply loved this day. It was so great to throw in all these surprises!!! Just a magical ending. Anna Kathryn said her heart was racing with all the surprises!

Here is the CRT review!CRT lunch.

 

[flipflopmom]

So as we were eating, we asked the girls if there was anything they still wanted to do. Sophie said "bunny ride again." Anna Kathryn said... "whatever, it's just a great day, unless we can go to AK and ride Everest." Well, it's 3pm sweetie, and the lines would be unreal, and FP's wouldn't be good until late tonight. Sorry. But it would have been fun!

We decided to ride Peter Pan, Splash, and then leave. We were really tired after late nights and early mornings, and just kinda going on pixie dust.

Loved Peter Pan again, and as we walked back to Splash to use our FP's, we noticed the crowds. MY GOODNESS! The South American tour groups HAD ARRIVED, and you could tell. Matching shirts, flags, chanting and clapping, pushing, crowded. The reason we decided to go in June instead of July! There had been other tour groups there, one we saw a lot were girls celebrating their quincenera. They were really polite and sweet. Not the groups we saw then!

After our final Zip A Dee Doo Dah of the week, I let the girls play in "the laughing place"

for a while. Dh bought them Splash Mtn. pins for their lanyards to commemorate this Zip A Dee Do Dah trip!

We decided to walk back through Adventureland to leave, and of course Pirates didn't have much a wait, so one more trip here. I think the third of the week? The girls, don't know how, wanted Itzakadoozies again.

And then there was a pirate tutorial going on.

We hadn't seen it before, and it was a lot of fun. The girls could have gone on stage at the end, but declined.

I really wanted one last Dole Whip Float, but everyone was ready to leave, and I knew we had to stop and burn snack credits at the bakery and confectionary, so I gave it up. DH told me to, and I wish I had. Oh well, they will be there next year!

We went to the confectionary first, and got Mickey Krispie treats, Sophie a lollipop she had been lusting for, and Anna Kat wanted a bag of Chip and Dale pretzels. Then, we went to the bakery and got cinnamon rolls, a muffin, and doughnuts for breakfast the next morning. We had a few more to burn, which I planned on doing in the market at the Contemporary that evening.

With a final wave to the castle, we said goodbye to Magic Kingdom. YES I CRIED. So what?

Boarded the monorail for the last time, and took some pictures!

Back to our "new room" for a few hours to rest before dinner at WCC!

 

[flipflopmom]

Dh and I had spent our honeymoon at the WL, so I was very excited to go back. Thankfully, there is a boat launch at the CR to WL, so we were thrilled, AND it pulled up JUST as we got to the dock! Whew! We were running a bit late, since we all needed showers and rest before dinner! Got to WL a little early, so...

Stopped for a picture outside, this really is a beautiful resort!

Sophie loves the DVC logo, she calls it the beach sign, since she first saw it at Hilton Head when we went for New Year's Eve. She said "Take my picture with it"

Took some lobby pictures:

We asked if we could tour a DVC villa here, as we thought about staying here for a few nights. We could have, but they didn't have a runner available!

Went over to the gift shop to kill some time and browse.

Anna Kat had to try on the hat!

Sophie became a MONSTER again! I love her, she goes until she can't, and then she takes it out on EVERYONE by alternating grumpy and WILD!! Wish she had had a nap! The girls started charm bracelets last year, so they picked out 1 new charm each. Sophie got an Ariel, and Anna Kat got something with a peace sign on it, maybe love with the o as a peace sign and a Mickey?

I was thrilled! There was a lightweight zip up hoodie I had wanted in Epcot, but they didn't have it in my size. It was 50% off, too. The WL gift shop did have it, so I scooped that one up! Sophie was trying very hard to buy everything in the store. There is a Cinderella Castle playset, and she lusted over it the entire week, every time she saw it. She was just staring at it with puppy dog eyes, saying "That's the best thing I ever saw, Mommy." At least it kept her occupied in there for a minute!

We checked in, and got seated pretty quickly. Here is the review from dinner.

Whispering Canyon Cafe

There is nothing whispering about it. I left in a really bad mood. IT was loud, I had missed the fireworks, other than the few we could see from the dock. There were a lot of boats trying to unload at the CR, a pirates league, and probably a few from hoop de doo, too. So we had to make an extra loop to wait our turn. We finally got back to the room around 11pm. Everyone was wiped out, and I remembered we still had 6 snack credits we had to get by midnight, so everyone else went to sleep, and I went down to the market. Got some chip and dale mickey shaped pretzels, Nilla Wafers for the ride home, and a few Minnie's Bake shop cookies.

DH had asked to let him sleep until 9 or so the next morning, so he would have an easier time driving the 12 hour drive home. I called down for a wake up at 9, and crashed in the bed, really sad to be going home!

 

[flipflopmom]

So like every morning of my life, I woke up between 5 and 6. At home, it's my coffee and Dis time. At WDW, I sometimes made a pot, but only on this morning, and the CP and Ohana mornings, can't wait until 10:15 for my coffee. The other mornings, I woke up before everyone else, grabbed my mug, walked over to the Contempo cafe and got a nasty cup of nescafe. Some mornings, I just walked without the coffee, depending on my needs! I loved the little area where the BLT walkway meets the CR, there are benches and a great view of my castle! I also walked around the pool area, where there is a really cool fountain and bamboo trees. One morning I went in to check out the fitness center, but I had my flip flops on and didn't run. In fact, I never did run on vacation, but I really should have!

I forgot to post room view pics that I took on Saturday morning before we switched rooms, but this post reminded me of them. Love the zoom on my camera!

 

[flipflopmom]

So after my coffee walk, I took a shower. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, so I went out for a little shopping trip.

The CR has a couple of nice gift shops. A story from earlier in the week.

When I reached 50lbs lost, my Mom surprised me with a card. It said "Here is the money Daddy promised you, it's from him. We're both proud of you." I had totally forgotten that Daddy had said he would give me $100 if I lost 50 pounds. So I decided then and there I would buy a watch at WDW with the money. I wore Daddy's watch for him while he was in the hospital before he died, and for about a month afterwards. It reminded me that time would go on. So a watch had a very sentimental meaning for me. We stopped one afternoon, sent the girls to the arcade, and DH and I went watch shopping. I had picked out two, but one was a lot more expensive. It's a citizen eco-drive, gold and silver bracelet watch, rectangle face with a small Mickey. It's beautiful. Dh told me to get it, it was nicer and would last longer, and he would pay for the rest. He really wanted me to have this for a lifetime.

Well, I was crying so hard I had to leave the store, but this watch will be a wonderful memory for me forever!

Now, back to this morning. DH had been VERY pleasantly surprised with our room charge the previous morning. Even with all the tips, and the watch, we were about $300 under what he thought. He said "I would like to get the girls the castle. They both really want it, and would really play with it." That was all I needed to hear!

I went to the shop, and went a little wild!

*Got the girls the castle playset. Turned out to be a fabulous souvie, they've played with it every day!!!!!!!!!!
*Anna Kat had gotten a Kooky pen with Mickey, and I knew it would be a fight going home if Sophie didn't have a cool new one. It was worth the $4 for a feathery Ariel light up pen, she wrote with it for about 4 hours coming home!
*I needed my coffee mug and castle item. Condensed it and got a GREAT coffee mug, it had the castle, splash, RNRC, all the characters, etc. Every memory I wanted from this trip is right on the mug, with mom on the handle!
*I like a little Mickey decor, so I got 4 placemats for when we eat outside that have really cool colors! There was also a great white Mickey lantern that I had lusted over all week, with stained glass behind it, candle in the middle. Now I wish I had bought two, it looks great on my mantle!
*I grabbed a little post it note set of each park for my desk at school. It will make those bad days a work a little brighter!
*Anna Kathryn had picked out what she wanted for grandparent gifts - my mom got a Mickey spatula, MIL got a Mickey pie server, and FIL got a coffee mug that says "An American Tradition" with the gang in silhouette and a flag. He's a vet, so that was a great gift. We gave them each a lei,also, since we had so many from our trips to Ohana!
* we did the "with purchase" too, so we got 4 new pieces of luggage and a WDW beach towel. It's a rolling small luggage, red, and a small zip up duffel. The girls each got a set, and DH got Mickey luggage from our trip last year, a few bags with purchase, so all our luggage is officially MICKEY!
*got the girls pressed coins books, since we get a lot and they just lose them!

Lots of shopping! So all told here's our "booty from the trip"

DH - Mickey cap with monorail speil, WDW visor that I love, too, and a Mickey pancake shaper thingy.
Me - watch, lantern, placemats, coffee mug, hoodie, and a Bay Lake Tower t-shirt, tote bag that was a "with purchase"
Anna Kat - Mickey ears, charm, t-shirt, tink light up and cup, necklace, luggage, Mickey pen, Splash pin, and the castle to share,coin book, leis, and Epcot mask
Sophie - princess ears, Ariel pen, Ariel jewelry box, Jesse, luggage, tink light up, Ariel charm, Splash pin, and the castle to share,coin book, leis, and Epcot mask, Mickey spinning night up toy

Not bad!!!!!!! I am trying to convince the girls to collect something that they can look forward to adding. I think Sophie would go for the snowglobes, but not sure what Anna Kat would want. Unless it's adding to her jewelry collection, as she gets earrings, or something, every time.

 

[dolfinjuls]

I really enjoyed yout trip report! The surprise extra day was amazing! That must have been so much fun! I'm glad you got the watch you really wanted!

 

[flipflopmom]

I really enjoyed yout trip report! The surprise extra day was amazing! That must have been so much fun! I'm glad you got the watch you really wanted!

It was a lot of fun! The girls just couldn't quite process it all, it was funny! I am glad, too. I have it on now.... very special! Glad you enjoyed reading it! I just finished sketching out a plan for next year.

 

[dolfinjuls]

What are you thinking for next year? We're thining November/December 2011! I really want to see the decorations in the parks and resorts. But that will be a LONG wait until our next trip!

 

[WLfamily]

Tayrn, I'm finally here!! I have just read your entire tr from beginning to end. It was wonderful! I'm sooo glad you had such a great trip! That Sophie is Brad made over! And Ana Kathryn looks just like you. Totally agree with your review of WC, I felt the same way last summer. It was just "too much" of everything. Those tables are small enough for four people then you add the food, and extra ketchup bottles just have no business there! We've agreed that we won't be doing that one again...of course Krista just doesn't understand why not. It's a mommy thing.
The experience you had at Crystal Palace was the same problem we had last year at Tusker House. I made a late adr and they didn't get us in until about half an hour after that when they were changing over from breakfast to lunch. We felt sooo rushed.
I think you hit the nail on the head about Epcot just being too hot in the middle of the day. That may be why we don't care for that park, we've only been during the daytime and can't seem to get out of there fast enough. I think we've decided to try out Beach Club next summer so maybe being next door we can spend some nightime hours there and learn to like it a little bit.
That surprise ending you had for the girls was FABULOUS! What a great way to end a Disney vacation! You done good girl!
Now when next year are you planning on going? We're looking at June 29 ~ July 5 roughly.