Will I be Herding Cats Again?* **** COMPLETED *****

[jillyb]

I know, right? I would have died for that kind of poof back in the late 80's!


Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
Part 5 - A Birthday Princess in her own little Kingdom!

So….where did we go? What did we do?

Did I mention that the Magic Kingdom was crazy busy this day?

Like, C R A Z Y!!! Even though I had planned this to be a day of “other stuff” as opposed to regular park stuff, the crowds get to me after a while.

Everything had long waits, we didn't have fastpasses for anything (that were eligible yet), we didn't have a lot of time, plus I really wanted to try to get the girls pictures done at Exposition Hall on our way to catch the monorail to the Grand Floridian for dinner.

The whining had set in with Emily, but Katie was all wrapped up in her princess-self! She was like a Princess in her own little Kingdom! She loved her dress, her crown, her hair, her nails, her makeup, her sash, her birthday button, everything....and was tickled pink with all the attention.

Emily was hungry, hot, thirsty, she didn't want the choker on anymore, the sun was in her eyes, you get the point. Typical afternoon whining.

I would say maybe it was because Katie was getting so much attention, but honestly…They BOTH were!!!

I mean really, who walks past two girls dressed as identical princesses, and who are obviously together, and only comments on ONE of them?

No one.

Emily was just as complimented as Katie was. So there goes that theory!

I just decided to take Emily aside and have a little chat about how she should be acting. Ok! Ok! A threat or two about not doing the boutique next time because she just didn't seem to be enjoying the whole experience too much, might have been thrown in there! There - I said it! Of course, I tried to do this in my best shushed "mom" voice, so as not to bring attention to either one of us, and be labeled as one of "those" moms! LOL!

Well, it worked, and very shortly after that, her attitude greatly improved. Thank goodness! For her sake, as well as all of ours!

After finding the popcorn, drinking the lemonade, and using the restroom, we headed for the TTA for a fun spin around Tomorrowland. It’s a guaranteed pleaser with no wait! Emily had gone on it the night before at the party, but if you remember, Katie was asleep at the start of the party...so she was really looking forward to it. She loves the people mover!

The 5 of us squeezed into one car and set off on our journey through Tomorrowland. Paging Mr. Morrow....Mr. Tom Morrow! Love it!

Gotta love that Mickey barrette:

Katie's face just cracks me up in this one - it is so funny. She is all...WTH? Well, not WTH...but you know what I mean....

I ADORE this picture of Emily!

And I ADORE this picture of Katie!

As we exited, I thought it best to head down Main St to the Exposition Hall for the girls' pictures. My mom had also promised Katie that she could pick something out for her birthday. Of course, what I forgot about was that by the time we had walked all the way down Main St, we were now eligible for another FP (it had been 2 hours since I retrieved the passes for Peter Pan, so even though we weren't eligible to RIDE PP, we were eligible to get another FP). So I left the girls with the grandmothers and high-tailed it back towards Buzz and got FPs that were good for later that night. Woo-hoo! At least when we come back tonight (if we come back) we had 2 rides we could get on.

Again, the park was so crowded...and I was trying to walk very briskly, just short of jogging, because they were waiting for me, and I almost fell down right there where the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station curves around into Tomorrowland and the sidewalk dips right there. I tried to cover it up by making it look like I "meant to do that", but I'm sure anyone who saw me was laughing at the idiot lady who couldn’t walk straight! I really twisted my ankle too! Ugh.

I got the FPs and returned to the end of Main St. The girls had both found what they wanted (yes, Mom agreed to let Emily get one thing and Katie got two - that was "fair" in her eyes...LOL...Grandmothers - whattayagonnado?) Emily got Lady and Katie got Lady and the Tramp. They were very pleased and so we moved on to get the pictures done.

I love this picture, even though it's so blurry, because it really shows how Katie was that entire afternoon - she was totally into the princess thing...walked like one, held her dress like one, held her hands like one....LOL!

Meanwhile...this was how Emily was acting....

When you walk in the Exposition Hall, you can go straight back and they have a little photo studio set up for anyone who has been to the BBB (you don’t have to buy the castle package to have your pics taken). One girl was already in there gettting the pictures, and one little “Ariel” was in front of us.

We waited about 15 minutes and it was Katie’s turn. Of course, right when she was walking up, the photopass CMs changed out. The guy replacing the girl who had been taking the pictures, was a great big fellow. I was afraid he might be harsh, or intimidating, especially after the sweet-talking, gentle female CM who had been out there....but he was fine. Not great, but he certainly had a nice, gentle way about him. My only complaint was he wasn’t getting Katie to hold her head up, and with her heavy bangs, you can hardly see her eyes. Add to that her little weird ½ smile, and we got some winners! LOL! Some of them turned out cute though. And she was very funny to watch while she was “modeling”!

First he took a few with her birthday sash:

(All he had to do was tell her to lift her chin up a little and it would have been so much better...but I still like it! Her smile just cracks me up!)

Then, he took the sash off and took a few more.

Next up was Emily. I don't know why he didn't want a few pictures of her with her sash on, because I liked how it looked, but he just told her to take it off for the pictures. She didn't want to wear the little slip underneath that makes the dress poof out a little bit, so her dress lays a little flat in all the pics. Plus she had given the choker to Katie to wear, back when we were on the TTA and she was complaining of being hot. (Talk about a princess...geez...) I think some of hers came out cute as well though.

I have to put this one in here, because it's so funny how she looks like she is really clinching her hands together, and combined with that "Popeye" grin, well...I had to put a Halloween border around it instead of a "Princess" one! It just wasn't screaming Princess to me! LOL! Too cute!

Arrggghhh!!!!

Then he brought Katie back and did some pictures of them together! This turned out to be a little bit of a disaster! He asked them to hug at some point and they both almost knocked eachother over. Oh well….they had fun and that’s all that matters.

We left the Exposition Hall about 4:30 to head to the Grand Floridian for our ADR at 1900 Park Fare at 4:45. Yikes!

Will we make it? Why won’t this monorail move? Where are the guys?

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Adorable Sara! You got some great pictures of the girls and I just love their smiles! I can totally see their little personalities coming out in the pictures. What perfect ages to be little princesses walking around their "kingdom".

And I had to LOL at you when you tripped and pretending that "you meant to do that". After just watching Kevin James on Comedy Central it reminded me of part if his routine!

 

[KathyRN137]

Just wanted to let you know I was here......

Going back to the links page to catch up!!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

I love my husband, honest I do…he is a very sweet, charming, funny man but when it comes to traveling (with children and mother in tow) he turns into a bit of a crazy grump! Sometimes it’s understandable, but this was at the very beginning of the trip! For pete’s sake! I told him he just needed to relax a little! Luckily, we balance eachother out!

Boy, this sounds exactly like Ed and Me!!!

Awesome job on the surprise, Sara. I could never pull that off!
Back for more...


Kathy

 

[kaysmommie]

Sara,
Katie looks like she is loving every second of being dressed as a Princess. Anyway looking at there pics they both look like they are having and awesome day. The pics of them together are just adorable! We rode TTA too that day but after dinner, so we missed you by a couple hours.

 

[mom2mek]

Adorable Sara! You got some great pictures of the girls and I just love their smiles! I can totally see their little personalities coming out in the pictures. What perfect ages to be little princesses walking around their "kingdom".

And I had to LOL at you when you tripped and pretending that "you meant to do that". After just watching Kevin James on Comedy Central it reminded me of part if his routine!

Thanks Michelle! That little trip near Tomorrowland was so embarrassing, but you know what's worse - I did it again when we went on our trip in December! But I was walking behind you girls so I don't think you saw me! I'm such a klutz!

Just wanted to let you know I was here......

Going back to the links page to catch up!!


Kathy

Hi Kathy! So glad you are here!

Boy, this sounds exactly like Ed and Me!!!

Awesome job on the surprise, Sara. I could never pull that off!
Back for more...


Kathy

Yeah, what is it about men and traveling? As much as we go places, you would think he could save all the grumpiness for the end of the trip! That's what I do!! (I guess that's why we balance eachother out!)

Sara,
Katie looks like she is loving every second of being dressed as a Princess. Anyway looking at there pics they both look like they are having and awesome day. The pics of them together are just adorable! We rode TTA too that day but after dinner, so we missed you by a couple hours.

Thanks Nichole! Katie was really into her little "princess" persona that day! She truly did seem like a princess in her own little kingdom! We probably missed eachother by less than that, because we were back over there after dinner too! The park was so empty I don't know why I didn't see you! Ha! NOT!!!!!

Sara

 

[julezdisney]

Adorable update, Sara! Once again I'm learning from you. This Exposition Hall-thing? Is that for people who'd been to BBB? I'm off to do more research!

And I LOVE how each girl is such her own personality. I'm sure Katie will just always remember her day as a true princess in the Magic Kingdom with how she was so careful to behave! She was really in her own little world, wasn't she?

And Emiily swingin around behind her- that made me laugh, as it would've been Rachael!

 

[Poohtigeey]

Those are great pictures Sara!! Such cuties. Even though it was crowded, I'm sure you are so glad you went. What an awesome day!! Sorry I didn't get to read right away. Look on the bright side! At least you have readers. I need to put our girl's trip report out of its misery!

 

[mom2mek]

Adorable update, Sara! Once again I'm learning from you. This Exposition Hall-thing? Is that for people who'd been to BBB? I'm off to do more research!

And I LOVE how each girl is such her own personality. I'm sure Katie will just always remember her day as a true princess in the Magic Kingdom with how she was so careful to behave! She was really in her own little world, wasn't she?

And Emiily swingin around behind her- that made me laugh, as it would've been Rachael!

Hi Julia! Well, I'm not sure if you just showed up there to have pictures taken, what they would do, but I think I have read before that you can get some done but they give priority to those who have had the BBB done. I do know that you don't have to do the big expensive package (castle) to have the Exposition Hall pics done though!

I'm thinking I need to dress Katie up as a princess more often, because she is my spunky one normally, and Emily is fairly calm (mostly), but she was certainly acting the "princess" part up on this day! Emily was just shy of an "Anastasia" or "Drizella" behavior!!!

Those are great pictures Sara!! Such cuties. Even though it was crowded, I'm sure you are so glad you went. What an awesome day!! Sorry I didn't get to read right away. Look on the bright side! At least you have readers. I need to put our girl's trip report out of its misery!

Thanks Monica. Yeah, it was crowded, and I was sort of expecting that, but ick...hate crowds! Glad we went though - I mean I couldn't take my little girl to another park on her birthday - it just had to be at the MK, you know?

Don't put our girls trip out of its misery!!!! It's doing fine! It just scared people away with it's gigantic pre-trip! Hey, any readers out there of this one, go check out the Girl's trip (link in my siggie) - it was a lot of fun! Monica is working hard on it and posts from readers are like crack to a TR writer, so hop on over.... shameful little plug there!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
Part 6 - The Birthday Dinner That Almost Wasn't

We were heading out of the MK around 4:30 and our ADR was for 4:45 so I had a feeling we would be a little late.

But what was worse,was Shawn had called as we were getting on the monorail and they were just getting on a bus from where the archery was located, and the bus was going to take them back to the marina area where they would get the boat to the MK and then take the monorail. I don't know why at that point I didn't just say to go to the front of FW and get a bus to the MK, but I wasn't certain that would be any quicker, and since I wasn't sure at that point, I just told him to stick to the plan.

I knew it would be tight for them time-wise when I booked the archery, and I told Shawn to make sure not to dilly-dally to get out of there (he claims he didn't, but IDK....) Anyway, I just told them I would check us in for our ADR, let them know that we were waiting on 3 for our party and go from there. I figured it would probably be 5:00 or so when they got there.

We boarded the monorail and the girls were tickled to have new friends to play with:

The resort monorail took off towards the Contemporary. When we arrived, the doors opened, a few people disembarked, and then the monorail sat there.

And sat there.

WTH people....we have to get this thing moving!!!

After what seemed like an eternity, we were off again. We stopped at the TTC and then the Poly! FINALLY, we were on our way to the Grand Floridian! (Yeah, yeah, bring it on....I know we should have just taken the boat! What can I say? I just didn't think that one through.)

Oh well....It was only 4:50. I walked ahead of the grandmothers and the girls and went downstairs to check us in at 1900 Park Fare. I told the very nice CM that we were still missing 3 of our party as they were on their way over from Ft. Wilderness, but they should be arriving shortly! She seemed fine with it and just told me to check back in when they arrived. Okey dokey then!

My mom took Katie over to the little TVs to watch cartoons, Emily wanted to wander around the resort with me and look at things, and my MIL just wanted to plop down on one of the couches and rest for a while.

Here is Katie enjoying herself:

I took a bunch of pictures of Emily and then she wanted to return the favor (not posting those lovely little gems), and eventually we made our way back over towards the check in desk.

My pictures of her:

Oh, and yes....just in case you are wondering...Emily wanted to wear some of my lipstick...hence the much darker lips!

And here are a few of the pictures that Emily took (not posting the lovely little gems she took of her mommy....)

(Just like her Daddy....has to take pictures of the scenery - love the ceiling of the GF though - I've never really looked at it before)

I didn't want to stray too far from the desk as I thought me standing there might remind the CM that we were still there! Emily made a few pressed pennies and eventually I got a phone call from Shawn that they were almost there! They arrived at 20 minutes past 5! I checked us in (granted this was 35 minutes late) and shortly thereafter we were seated.

I had also thought to remind both the check in CM and the host that was seating us, that it should be noted on the ADR that we were celebrating a birthday and that I had ordered a special cake. They both assured me that it was noted.

They sat us at the far end of the restaurant right before the tables go into another room. The girls sat on the outside, as they always recommend, but Michael was all about hiding on the other side of the table! He wanted as far away from Cinderella and the step-family as possible! Oh brother!

The location was fine, and our waitress, Kitty, came out and took our drink orders pretty quickly.

(This is Katie's "standard" pose - she does it A LOT!!! And she was doing it even more considering she was a "princess" this day!)

Who do you think she is looking at....Hmmm....here they come....

(Oh, I'm sorry for these really short installments...I can't seem to get more than an hour or two done in each one...bear with me, I hope to have the characters up soon...)

Sara

 

[Poohtigeey]

Sara, that's just mean! I'm finally the first and you do this! Ugh. I'll be back in an hour and there better be more!

 

[mom2mek]

Sara, that's just mean! I'm finally the first and you do this! Ugh. I'll be back in an hour and there better be more!

Oops! Sorry Monica! I just can't get myself to shut up and just post pictures! LOL! I am way too long-winded! Next part coming right up....

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom (1900 PF)
Part 7 - Dining with Royalty!

This next segment will basically be a character photo essay!

First up was the very gracious Cinderella. She spent a nice amount of time talking to the girls, signed Katie's picture frame, and very politely excused herself to go into the next room. Ok, pictures....


Signing the picture frame....

Next up was Prince Charming. He was very nice....nothing spectacular, but he was very....uh...well....charming!

Apparently Emily said something that had him laughing here...for some odd reason, I can't remember what that was!

Signing the frame...

The step-mother was next and boy did she have some looks! Michael wouldn't go near her and she was keeping her eyes on him!

Reluctantly signing the frame...LOL....she was disgusted that Cinderella's name was already on it!

Why is it that my girls smile bigger and more naturally with the villians?

And now...the oh so gracious and lovely step-sisters:

(I do remember that Anastasia was none too pleased with the girls' choice in dress! "Why does everyone always want to look like HER?" LOL!

Overall though, the step-sisters were actually fairly nice. The girls both commented on it. They were really prepared for them to be obnoxious like the ones we had seen last year in the park (obnoxious and FABULOUS...LOL) and when they left they were both like..."She was kind of nice, Mommy....weird!"

Here was the finished product of Katie's birthday autograph frame:

Up next....A special surprise....and a special dance .....

 

[DisneyJo]

Sorry I've been a bit behind, I love the adult BBB photos so funny and I think it's great the photographer got you all involved!

The photo shoot afterwards is such a great idea, we did one at DTD last time, even better that it's included in the PP price. Cute photos too!

I love the photo frame idea, never seen one of them before what a fabulous idea.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

I love the idea of the autograph frame!!! I am thinking about getting some frame mats to bring on our next trip- thanks for the idea!

The girls look amazing, even if the were they had a "royal air" about them and refused the smiles

 

[jillyb]

The autograph photo frame is very cool! What a nice memento/keepsake.
The step sisters and Lady Tremaine were my favorties when we went there for Hannah's birthday. LOL

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Your girls are so photogenic! Love all of the pictures of them - so adorable. Didn't see many of Michael in this installment though - must have been hiding well!

I love the frame idea! What picture did you end up putting in there?

I want to try that dinner sometime - looks like fun! That would be fun to do on a future girls trip too!

 

[mom2mek]

Sorry I've been a bit behind, I love the adult BBB photos so funny and I think it's great the photographer got you all involved!

The photo shoot afterwards is such a great idea, we did one at DTD last time, even better that it's included in the PP price. Cute photos too!

I love the photo frame idea, never seen one of them before what a fabulous idea.

Thanks for sticking with me, Jo! I am a tediously slow trip report writer! Thought I would do better this go-around, but nope...still painfully slow! I was glad we tried out the photo shoot this time. Last year, we were just off and running afterwards and forgot to get the pictures done.

I love the idea of the autograph frame!!! I am thinking about getting some frame mats to bring on our next trip- thanks for the idea!

The girls look amazing, even if the were they had a "royal air" about them and refused the smiles

Thanks! I was shopping over the summer somewhere and saw that picture frame and thought it would be a good idea to bring with us that day. Luckily I had a stroller to put it in, because carrying it around the park would have been a pain!

The autograph photo frame is very cool! What a nice memento/keepsake.
The step sisters and Lady Tremaine were my favorties when we went there for Hannah's birthday. LOL

Thanks Jill. The step-family is a hoot. They definitely steal the show!

Your girls are so photogenic! Love all of the pictures of them - so adorable. Didn't see many of Michael in this installment though - must have been hiding well!

I love the frame idea! What picture did you end up putting in there?

I want to try that dinner sometime - looks like fun! That would be fun to do on a future girls trip too!

Thanks Michelle! Michael will be in a few pictures in the next installment! Ummm...I'm not sure what picture is in there...one of the ones with Cinderella and both girls!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom (1900 PF Dinner)
Part 8 - A Special Surprise and A Special Dance!

I have a lot of pictures from this night so this update will be "smilie free" and mostly photographically told! LOL!

If you are wondering where Michael is in all of these pictures…let me show you:

Yes, that is my son hiding under a table from the step-mother and the step-sisters. Now, before you think horrible things of me…I would NOT NORMALLY allow my 7 year old son to climb under a table at a restaurant, but honestly…it was funny, and Lady Tremaine had a good time giving Michael a hard time!

The step-sisters were also a hoot. As I said earlier, they were actually fairly nice considering ones I’ve seen in the parks, and when they got to Michael, one of them (I think Drizella) made a comment about how handsome he was. Then she continued that when he got older, maybe they could go on a date! She said..”I’m sure I will still be single!” It was hilarious! Michael just stared and made his embarrassed looking face!

But look at who we were able to get a photo of him with…

Yep! The boy has promise! The one and only character picture he came out from under the table for was Cinderella! I guess he has some sense afterall!

Ok, so on to dinner and what we all thought of it. I was probably in the minority here, because I only thought the food was “ok”. I didn’t “dislike” the food, I just don’t remember anything really jumping out at me as over-the-top delicious! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it. The kids ate the standard pizza, noodles, grapes, Michael ate A LOT of meat, Emily did have some broccoli – as you can see from one of the pics (phew – a vegetable was indeed consumed by one of my children on this trip!) and they loved the desserts!

Aforementioned broccoli picture – proof! LOL!

Desserts! Michael was eating some kind of chocolate mousse thing here, I think:

Emily and her cookies:

She’s even holding it in this picture:

Emily and Grammy!

At one point, Prince Charming was announced into the ballroom, along with Cinderella, and they began to dance. I tried to take a picture but it didn’t turn out (you can see him and Cinderella’s arm in this pic, but that’s about it):

Katie watched with anticipation as he started picking little girls out of the restaurant to dance with him. She was really hoping he would pick her.

Well, no can do. (insert sad smilie here)




BUT....she got to dance with her Pop-Pop instead! My step-dad was watching Katie who was watching Prince Charming, and knew that he wasn’t going to come over to us, so he took it upon himself to just dance with her right there in the middle of the restaurant.

It was so special, and I just love him for doing it! She really felt like a princess!



So, back to the desserts…..which brings us to the cake….

Where was that thing?

Shawn piped up that maybe I should have asked the waitress about it when we sat down. I assured him that I had checked with the CM at check-in, as well as the hostess, but I would mention it to her as well. Then I told him to pipe down!! LOL!

So the next time Kitty came around (she wasn’t around a whole lot), I mentioned something about Katie’s birthday cake, and she said…”yes, I have it written down here…we will be doing the birthday celebrations in just a moment”.

Okey dokey then!

So, 15 minutes passed, we had all finished eating and were on to drinking some coffee, the characters were making their rounds a SECOND time, and still no cake. Ugh. Shawn said something else that upset me at the time (but I have no idea now what that was….I was getting a wee bit sensitive at this point) and I asked Kitty again. I said something along the lines of…

”Do you have any idea when our cake might be coming out”?

“Cake? Well, we just have a cupcake, but it’ll be right out”, Kitty said.

I said…”No, no, no…lady”! (Well, I don’t think I called her lady….but for dramatic effect…just go with it) “I ordered a custom cake for my daughter’s birthday dinner”.

“What”, she said? No one told me that. Um, I’ll have to go check on that!”

(Insert angry smilie here!)

She returned a few minutes later to tell me that it was ready and she would bring it out right away.

Gee, thanks!

The cake came out and Katie was very pleasantly surprised with it! It was very pretty. I thought it would have more pink on it, but the little touches of pink were very nice….little ribbons and flowers were done with pink, the rest was chocolate.

She also brought Katie a birthday crown (if you are keeping count, that makes 3 crowns she has gotten in the last 2 days!) Katie promptly put the big crown over her little crown and admired her cake as we all sang Happy Birthday to her!

Then we took the white chocolate Minnie Mouse off the top of the cake and gave it to her separately so that we could slice up the cake for everyone.

Here I was thinking Katie would want to save the chocolate Minnie Mouse….what do YOU think she did?

Well, she talked to it for one thing…which was hilarious…

….and then she dove right in!


EARS FIRST!

Then, when she went for the next bite..she pulled Minnie plum off her feet!

POOR MINNIE!


Then she promptly told everyone “I ate her ears off!” and cracked herself up! Then she bit into the nose! “Her nose is gone now!” LOL!

Here is Minnie after she was all chopped up!

Ear-less and Nose-less and being held up since her legs had been ripped off!


She had such a fabulous time!

Yes, her "princess" persona sort of wore off once she hacked up a poor mouse!

I wish I could post the video - it is very funny!

She enjoyed her party, we had the rest of the cake boxed up, and next...we were off to see Spectro!

Sara