Where are the Boys? At Home! A Girls Only Trip Report! Updated 3/11

[melissa37]

Wow, I can't believe it's taken me so long to get another update written. My only excuse is work has been crazy the past few weeks and I haven't had a chance to do any writing at lunch or in the evenings!

Hopefully everyone stays in bed tonight and I can get this written

So where was I? Oh yeah:

Day 2, Part 2:
EPCOT, Chefs de France and Illuminations

We had decided we needed to be back out to the bus stop by about 5:45pm so we could ride TT and then head to dinner.

We put a movie on for the girls and told Amelia that if she didn’t want to rest she could color quietly while we all laid down. Well, miracle of miracles, she did let us rest. It was amazing how rejuvenated we all felt after only about an hours’ worth of rest.

After we cleaned up we headed out to the buses and got back to EPCOT just in time to head to TT. We couldn’t talk my DN into riding so she went with my mom. They were going to take the boat back to France and check in for our reservation at Chefs du France.

We headed to TT and right before we got in line we gave someone our extra fastpass. We headed to the fastpass line which was about 15-20 min. My DSIL had not ridden TT before and she loved it as much as we do. When we got done we only had about 15 min. to get all the way to France for our reservation. We headed through Canada and England and made it right on time. We actually had a few minutes to wait before we were called. I made the mistake of sitting down around the fountain, and of course managed to sit in a nice big puddle How do I always manage to do this stuff?

We only had to wait about 10 minutes before we were called. We got seated in the back near the dessert station right next to the windows. I actually like to sit back here because you’re out of the main flow of the dining room and there’s not people walking by you all the time.

My mom and I both ordered off the price fixed menu since you got an appetizer with it. I got the lobster bisque, roasted chicken and crème brulee for desert. My mom got the salad with walnuts, bacon and blue cheese (yum), salmon with the potato gratin (they let her substitute with no problem) and the profiteroles. DN got the steak with the potato gratin and the chocolate cake for dessert, DSIL got the scallops and shrimp with some kind of rice and the crepes for dessert. My mom wanted the crepes (which were not on the fixed menu) so she swapped her profiteroles for the crepes and everyone was happy Amelia got the cheese burger with green beans and a cookie for dessert.

While we all enjoyed our meal I finally understand how the dinning reviews can vary so widely for the same restaurant. DN’s potatoes were creamy and amazing and my mom’s came from a completely different pan which were overcooked and rubbery. DN’s green beans were marvelous and Amelia’s were completely cold. Overall, the meal was good but I think Mom and I decided that we really like it for lunch a lot better.

Remember that recurring theme from our first night? You got it, Amelia managed to spill her whole glass of OJ all over the table and me and my hoodie at the beginning of the meal The girls also managed to knock the sugar packet holder off the table while they were coloring. I know our waitress had to have been ready for us to leave by the end of the meal

I wasn’t too upset about my jacket, I had been wanting to buy a new one for awhile and I couldn’t find one back in January when were at WDW so I just look at this as a sign that I need to purchase one tonight. Yeah, an excuse to shop

Luckily it wasn’t too chilly after dinner since we didn’t have enough time to shop before Illuminations (we only had about 30 min. before it started). Amelia wanted to get a personalized umbrella for her new cousin as a Christmas gift, so we did that while everyone went to grab a spot for the show. Thank goodness we did this right after dinner, because the umbrella stand was getting ready to close. Amelia would have been really disappointed if we had not been able to do this. We did have to leave it on top of the stroller until we left the park to make sure it dried completely.

We got a really good spot for Illuminations between France and England. I was really looking forward to seeing it because it’s been years since I’ve had the chance and I’ve never seen the holiday ending. Amelia was being a bit of a pill at this point (teach me to have a 5 year old up past her bedtime several days in a row). I had to drag the rented stroller down the steps so she could sit in it while we waited for Illuminations just so we didn’t have to listen to her whine about sitting on the cold ground. Then we all started worrying that we didn’t have a good spot since the globe was blocked by some trees. Luckily there were two nice guys next to us who told us the globe would come out to the center of the lake right at the beginning of the show.

The show started and I felt really bad for the guys next to us. Here they were stuck to a shrieking 5 year old who was enjoying the fireworks at waaayyyy too loud a volume. I swear I spent half the show telling her to not be soo loud and the other half apologizing. I would have moved, but by the start of the show the area we had picked was packed and there was no way to move and nowhere to move to. Even with all of that, It was a great show and I loved the ending. This was a great way to end our day at EPCOT.

As we headed for the front of the park we stopped by Mouse Gear to get a few things. I found the jacket I wanted, Amelia found a headband with sparkly mickey ears, and grandma found a throw she liked. We made our purchases and returned our stoller then headed toward the buses. We had to sop and take a few pictures, this one is my favorite.

We headed for the buses and only had to wait a few minutes. We did have to stand again but thankfully it wasn’t too far to POP. We got back to the resort about 10:45pm. We headed straight for the room and got everyone ready for bed. We had lights out by about 11:30pm and I knew we wouldn’t make rope drop at MK tomorrow morning, I wasn’t crazy enough to try and get anyone up in the morning

Day 3: Magic Kingdom, Tea at the Grand Floridian.

 

[jwwi]

Sorry that your meal was not so great. Can't wait to hear about your tea at the GF.

 

[Mallow]

Great update! I too love an excuse to shop. Of course DH says I seem to have a lot of excuses. Your DD is too cute especially in the headband picture. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[melissa37]

Sorry that your meal was not so great. Can't wait to hear about your tea at the GF.

Thanks. While most of the meal was really good, it was a bit hit or miss. We just decided we're supposed to eat lunch here instead, or order the steak when we go, it's always been good

Now tea, we've never had a bad experience with that. It is our "must" stop whenever we go.

Great update! I too love an excuse to shop. Of course DH says I seem to have a lot of excuses. Your DD is too cute especially in the headband picture. Can't wait to hear more.

Thanks, she thinks she's pretty cute as well I love that she is getting old enough to actually enjoy the shopping experience, I think it took her longer to pick out the headband than for me to find a jacket I couldn't get her to take it off for the rest of the trip!

 

[praisehisname]

Great update! Do you have pics of your new hoodie and umbrella?

Denise

 

[melissa37]

Great update! Do you have pics of your new hoodie and umbrella?

Denise

Denise,
I didn't think to take a picture of the of the hoodie, I might have one of me wearing it, but I'll have to look. The other item we got was throw blanket for my Mom and I didn't think to take a picture of it before she packed it. I have as much trouble remembering to take pictures of the souviners as I do the food

 

[melissa37]

Day 3
Sunday, November 29

We all had a good night and we slept in until about 9:00am. I wasn’t happy with the way Amelia had been eating to this point so we decided to have a good breakfast before we headed out this morning. After we all got ready we headed to the food court and got waffles and breakfast sandwiches. I had forgotten what I had read about the awful bacon at WDW. It was gross Thankfully half of us got the sausage and we all shared. After fueling up we headed for the buses. We had a fairly easy day planned today, Magic Kingdom through about 3:30pm and then we were having tea at the Grand Floridian followed by an early evening at the hotel.

We got to the Magic Kingdom around 11:00am. It was great to see the decorations in the daylight, it looked beautiful! After grabbing a stroller we decided to head over to the teacups. We took a nice stroll around the Castle to avoid a parade and stopped near the rose garden and got some nice photos.

Since I get sick as a dog on rides that go around my DSIL took my DN and DD on this ride. While they were waiting I walked over to Pooh and got fastpasses, which unbelievably had a return time of 35min! I was shocked. While we waited for them to get on we got to watch Alice come out and ride with a little bitty girl who was dressed up as Tinkerbell. I was really surprised she rode the ride without her parents, she couldn’t have been more than 3. It only took them about 15 minutes to ride the teacups and we decided to head over to Toontown.

My DN wanted to see Minnie’s house and Amelia was torn between Minnie and Barnstormer. I told her we only had time for one and she choose Barnstormer My DSIL wanted to ride Barnstormer and Amelia wouldn’t ride without me, so DGM took DN through Minnie’s house. Barnstormer was a posted 15 minute wait, but I think we were in line less than 10 min.

We met up with my Mom and DN in the store right there and Amelia just had to have the baby Pegasus. She was getting such a kick out of paying for her souvenirs herself. By the time we were done shopping it was time to head over to Pooh. I think the Standby line was posted at about 25min but the fastpass line was empty! We were literally the only people in line!

After we got off Pooh the girls really wanted to do the speedway so we headed that direction. I stopped and got a bottle of water which took longer than any ride we had done so far! We hopped in line at the Speedway (DGM sat this one out) and it only took us about 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. Right at the last minute Amelia decided she didn’t want to drive so I got that honor.

She was having one of her frequent "5 year old girl" moody moments as you can see

After we got done at the speedway we headed towards Buzz to grab fastpasses, again with a 45 min return time!! We decided to head over to the TTA where we had to walk up the moving sidewalk when it stopped only ¼ of the way up (I wasn't sure DGM was going to make it up the incline walking). Then we had to wait about 10 minutes at the top for them to get the ride started again but we had a nice ride around Tomorrowland. After TTA everyone decided we were a bit hungry but we only had about 2 hours until tea, so we decided to get some smoothies at Auntie Gravity's. My DSIL and I both got the tropical and DGM and DD got the banana strawberry. My DN said she just wanted a few sips but she ended up drinking half of her Mom’s and finishing Grandmas’. Mine was great and Amelia decided she liked mine better so she ended up drinking about ½ of mine Normally that would bug me but with tea coming up and didn’t really mind. About the time we were getting done with our smoothies we spotted Push. I had never seen him before so it was really fun to get to see him. While the girls were all engrossed my DSIL spotted the guy who was providing the voice. He wasn’t that far back in the crowd, but it was funny to watch how nobody really noticed him at all, they were so focused on the trashcan.

After that our Buzz window had opened so we headed in. The standby line was posted at about 35 minutes, and we only waited about 5 minutes in the Fastpass line. I couldn’t remember any of the tips our bus driver had given us the first day but I had a good time. Amelia got scared in a couple of places but we all gave a good effort. I don’t remember what any of us scored, but I know it wasn’t good.

After Buzz we decided we had time to do a couple of rides in Adventureland before we headed to the Grand Floridian. We did a bit of shopping in the bazaar before we headed for Pirates which only had a 5 minutes posted wait. In reality it was a walk-on. After Pirates we headed over to Jungle Cruise and hopped in line for a posted wait of 10 minutes. Again I have to say thanks to TGM! It really does pay to go to a recommended park, especially if you aren’t going to make rope drop everyday.

After Jungle Cruise the girls really wanted to ride Aladdin’s Carpets so my DSIL jumped in line with them (5 minutes) and then the girls wanted to do the tree house. While they did that I headed to the bazaar and got a pair of Mickey head drop earrings. They were so cute.

After the girls got done it was about 3pm so we decided we should start heading towards Main Street so we could drop off the stroller and grab the monorail. I had been promising Amelia a light up toy so we stopped at a cart in Adventureland and she picked out a light up wand. We couldn’t find what we wanted for Jonathan so we decided to keep looking, we were planning on coming back to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday.

We made it to the front of the park and returned the stroller and headed to the Resort Monorails.

Up Next: Tea at the Grand Floridian, YUM!

 

[praisehisname]

Great update! I'm really looking forward to hearing about the tea!!!

Denise

 

[Mallow]

Great update! I would never let my 3 yr old ride with a character all by herself-----I'd feel too left out. Gotta love TGM; hoping he works just as well for our upcoming August trip (crowds will be so much bigger than our Oct trip). I never do well at Buzz too. I think I'm too busy enjoying the atmosphere. Can't wait to hear about the tea.

 

[melissa37]

Great update! I would never let my 3 yr old ride with a character all by herself-----I'd feel too left out. Gotta love TGM; hoping he works just as well for our upcoming August trip (crowds will be so much bigger than our Oct trip). I never do well at Buzz too. I think I'm too busy enjoying the atmosphere. Can't wait to hear about the tea.

I gotta tell you, I wasn't sure how TGM would work for the first few days we were there, I've been to WDW at Thanksgiving time before and I swore I would never do it again, famous last words I couldn't believe how well the whole trip worked out, I was so happy about the ride times. I don't think I'll ever do another trip without using TGM.

Even when the parks felt crowded, which they did a lot, the wait times where just incredible. I remember at one point near the end of the trip I even commented that I didn't know what everyone was doing in the parks because they sure weren't riding and rides

Great update! I'm really looking forward to hearing about the tea!!!

Denise

You don't have long to wait, promise!

 

[dawnbu40]

I just found your TR and now I'm all caught up! You're off to a great start I love that it's a "girl's only trip". I'm headed there in 2 weeks,also to Pop, for a "girl's trip" with my mom and DD19. Looking forward to more!

 

[melissa37]

I just found your TR and now I'm all caught up! You're off to a great start I love that it's a "girl's only trip". I'm headed there in 2 weeks,also to Pop, for a "girl's trip" with my mom and DD19. Looking forward to more!

and thanks for reading. 2 weeks....I'm jealous, I'd love to be planning another trip! I keep looking at the deals and playing with dates, but I'm pretty much resigned that we have some other trips to squeeze in before our next Disney trip At least I'm having fun reliving this trip by doing a trip report I love going with the whole family, but a girls only trip is just really special

 

[melissa37]

Day 3 Part 2
Sunday, November 29

We only had to wait about 5 minutes for the monorail and we were on our way. I love touring the resorts on the monorail. One day I would love to stay at one of the monorail resorts, but I’ll have to win the lottery first

We finally pulled into the Grand Floridian and I couldn’t wait to see the decorations. I’ve always wanted to see the Gingerbread House! We walked into the lobby and stopped to take a few pictures.

Then we headed down to check in at the Garden View Tea Lounge. We were a few minutes early so we looked around the Gingerbread House for a few minutes and then sat down to wait. We only had to wait about 5 minutes before they called us. We got a lovely table by the windows.

Rachel, Grandma and Sally

Me and Amelia


Tea here is always one of my favorite things to do. It’s so relaxing to take 90 minutes out of your day and just be girly. We all decided on the Buckingham Palace tea which is three courses of tea sandwiches, a scone and tart, then dessert. I got a soda instead of a pot of tea because I hate tea. It always makes me laugh that I love the ritual of tea, but I detest the drink. I keep trying it every time we go thinking one of these times I’ll like it, but it always tastes like weak flavored water to me.

Amelia got the Mrs. Potts tea with egg salad and tuna salad instead of peanut butter and jelly and ham and cheese. Both of the girls asked for the chocolate milk (I love that they bring it in a smaller pot for the kids.) They will allow you to choose your tea sandwiches so you can avoid the ones you don’t like. I don’t care for the pear and cheese or onion?? one, it’s a bit too strong for my taste, but I love their shrimp and egg salads, yummy!

Amelia loves putting lumps of sugar in everyone’s tea, she thinks that is her job and no one else’s. After sandwiches it was on to scones with devonshire cream and jam tarts, yum yum. I gave my jam tart to Amelia because they are her favorite and ate the other half of Rachel’s scone; she was saving herself for strawberries and cream! For the last course Amelia had a chocolate éclair and a chocolate strawberry. Everyone else got the strawberries and cream which were heavenly. I’d love to know where Disney gets theirs (I wonder if they grow them themselves)because they were not out of season at all. By this point we were all so stuffed we couldn’t move!

After paying the bill (Grandma’s treat) we went and took some pictures at the Gingerbread house and I got some treats for later.

Then we headed up to the gift shop to look around. By the time we got done doing that Mom was exhausted. We decided to take a cab back to POP instead of having to take the Monorail back to MK and then walk all the way to the bus stop.

We headed out to hail a cab and had to stop and get some pictures.

After that we sat on a bench and proceed to wait and wait and wait. After about 15 minutes and two cabs that weren’t ours, DSIL went back over to the gentleman who was supposed to have hailed a cab for us and he was really embarrassed because he thought we had already been picked up. He got us a cab on the second try in about 30 seconds.

We got back to POP and headed up to the room. It was about 6:30pm and I had promised the girls we could swim tonight, even though it was a bit chiller than I would have liked. We changed into our suits and I headed down to the pool with the girls. Sally and Mom headed down a few minutes later to grab some drinks at the food court and then they hung out on the loungers while we swam.

I made it about 45 minutes before I was freezing and made the girls get out. We went back up to the room and I took a quick shower in our room while the girls took a quick bath in Sally and Rachel’s room to warm up. After the girls got out of the tub they hopped in bed to watch Tinkerbell on the Disney Channel.

About 8:30pm we all started to get a bit hungry, so we left the girls in the room and headed to the food court to grab a bite to eat. My mom and I got the chicken parmesan with pasta and a bread stick, and Sally got a sandwich. We got Amelia a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some mixed fruit (she didn’t like any of the fruit in the bags, none of us thought they tasted very good either, so we’d just got mixed fruit cups the rest of the trip.) We headed up to the room and Mom and I ended up sharing our dinners with the girls. We tried the gingerbread for dessert and I have to say I was very disappointed I made gingerbread for Christmas last year and that was the best recipe I've ever tried. This wasn't even close. There was a waste of $8!

The girls fell asleep about 9:30pm and we were all so tired we followed them about an hour later.

Tomorrow’s schedule: DHS, DTD and Osborne Lights![/SIZE]

 

[dawnbu40]

Love the pics of the Grand Floridian! It is even more beautiful at Christmas! I enjoyed hearing about the tea as I've booked it as a suprise for our trip

Also-your DD and DN are just adorable!

 

[melissa37]

Love the pics of the Grand Floridian! It is even more beautiful at Christmas! I enjoyed hearing about the tea as I've booked it as a suprise for our trip

Also-your DD and DN are just adorable!

Hope you enjoy your tea! It has become a must do for us the past several trips.

Thanks, I think they're too cute as well, but then I know I'm biased!

 

[praisehisname]

The tea sounds lovely! If I ever get to do mother/daughter trip, that will be a must-do!

 

[melissa37]

The tea sounds lovely! If I ever get to do mother/daughter trip, that will be a must-do!

The tea is just great, we've never had a bad experience. It's really a great girls tradition.

 

[Mallow]

Great update! I've never toured GF & now I think I'll have to, the pictures are beautiful. I'm hoping to have another girls only trip next year but this time with my DM. I already know one thing we must do--the tea. It looks like a really great time. Is it really expensive? Of course I may be able to convince my DM to treat us too. Looking forward to more.

 

[melissa37]

Great update! I've never toured GF & now I think I'll have to, the pictures are beautiful. I'm hoping to have another girls only trip next year but this time with my DM. I already know one thing we must do--the tea. It looks like a really great time. Is it really expensive? Of course I may be able to convince my DM to treat us too. Looking forward to more.

It's not too bad, the Buckingham Palace tea is $19.50, but there are several different options, some cheaper and some more expensive. It's enough food that you can do it as a late lunch and be perfectly full.

 

[Mallow]

I don't think that's a bad price at all. Now I know we'll have to do the tea. Thanks for the info.