Wishes every night! July 19 to August 2 (Updated: October 17)Completed

[PopArtGal]

Mark me tardy but I'm here now!!

I haven't even had a chance to view our photo pass pix yet. We only took a few. It was so hot and humid that we didn't feel like we looked our best.

We did not even have a chance to visit the Contemporary at all this trip. Its a nice place to run off to for a quick lunch if in the Magic Kingdom and its crowded in the Town Square area. Last time we were in there they were renovating, and it was sort of like musical chairs with the eateries. Things were being rearranged. I'd have liked to see how it all turned out.

Last year when we went to CM, there was a section where they were working on. But we did not hear the noise that much while at CM. We have to say that it turned out nice. Although you kind of feel that you are eating at Cm when you are at the contempo lol

 

[that's nice]

WOW. These updates are coming fast. I've been working all weekend so I'm just catching up.

That wine & cheese basket was awesome. I hope you guys had time to enjoy it (I'm sure you did! LOLOL)

Those are the coolest glasses that show the Mickey heads. Do they see those in the parks? I've never seen them before.

 

[PopArtGal]

WOW. These updates are coming fast. I've been working all weekend so I'm just catching up.

That wine & cheese basket was awesome. I hope you guys had time to enjoy it (I'm sure you did! LOLOL)

Those are the coolest glasses that show the Mickey heads. Do they see those in the parks? I've never seen them before.

I haven't seen these flutes. But I saw glasses and glass coffee mugs with the design

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Congrats on buying a car! What kind of car are you planning to get?

It was so nice of the Disney Florist to send that gift basket. Just like you and Nikki, we also discovered that POTC is one of the few exceptions to the "always go to the left" rule of thumb. Interesting....

Love your updates!

 

[that's nice]

I don't know if I was making any sense last night. LOL

I was talking about the glasses that turn light into Mickey heads.

Do they sell these in the parks?

 

[PopArtGal]

Congrats on buying a car! What kind of car are you planning to get?

It was so nice of the Disney Florist to send that gift basket. Just like you and Nikki, we also discovered that POTC is one of the few exceptions to the "always go to the left" rule of thumb. Interesting....

Love your updates!

I will be getting an orange Kia Rio5.

So excited hehe

I don't know if I was making any sense last night. LOL

I was talking about the glasses that turn light into Mickey heads.

Do they sell these in the parks?

Not that I know of. I was given the glasses by Heatherbelle, who got them from a Disney employee that were trying them on, or something like that.

 

[PopArtGal]

Hey guys.

Sorry there are no updates now.

I'm trying to catch up on some sleep, rest, read, prepare for work, and enjoy the rest of my summer hehe

I've been uploading my videos on you tube though.

So I'll give you a few links here this afternoon

 

[PopArtGal]

Here's a video.

View from the room at night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj_7pZFgep4

 

[PopArtGal]

Here's the view during the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU7FztgW0Cc

 

[flipflopmom]

Loving your view pics, and those Mickey Head lights are too cool! I am procrastinating updating my TR, need to go add more.... I'm in, though!

 

[PopArtGal]

Loving your view pics, and those Mickey Head lights are too cool! I am procrastinating updating my TR, need to go add more.... I'm in, though!

I see you'll be staying at BLT. We walked over one night, and saw the rooms from the patio doors. Very nice!

 

[that's nice]

Seems like you had a great view from your room.

Can't wait to hear more

 

[cdotla]

Ahhhhhh...this is bringing back warm memories of our MK view room there a few months ago. Heaven!

Love the Mickey coffee spoon...never saw that before! I will have to pick one up our next trip.

And I guess I missed this (assuming it must have been in your PTR), but what did Disney do to screw things up for you before your stay? At least they made things right with that giftbasket!

 

[PopArtGal]

Seems like you had a great view from your room.

Can't wait to hear more

WE did. I miss it

Ahhhhhh...this is bringing back warm memories of our MK view room there a few months ago. Heaven!

Love the Mickey coffee spoon...never saw that before! I will have to pick one up our next trip.

And I guess I missed this (assuming it must have been in your PTR), but what did Disney do to screw things up for you before your stay? At least they made things right with that giftbasket!

We had made reservations for a Garden view room in the garden wing. Expressely told the cm that we did not want a view of the parking lot. Well when we checked our reservation online, we had a standard and a parking lot view. I called, and was told they could not give us a garden view as they were all booked. And they might be able to once we got there. So we decided to upgrade ourselves.

 

[PopArtGal]

July 21, 2009
Weather: Hot and Sunny. 92F


That day we were doing the "Keys to the kingdom" tour at 8:30am.

My dad woke me up early, and we went to grab breakfast at the Contempo Cafe.


My dad grabbed a muffin, while I grabbed a croissant. They were yummy. And still warm.

After our quick breakfast, we made our way to the Magic Kingdom.

I had made the ressie for 8:30am months ago, since I wanted to have a chance to walk around the empty Magiic Kingdom. Well, as luck would have it, it turned out to be an EMH that morning.

Oh well.

So we made our way in. Saw a very quick opening ceremony. We then walked over to City hall, and checked-in. We were given name tags. They were cool, and correctly spelled hehe

We were then shown a menu, and we made our selection. We were offered coffee and water. Then we were told to be back at 8:25am.

We went to the confectionary, where I wanted to buy Saltwater taffy. I put my bag together (the small one) and brought it over to the cashier. She pushed it altogether, and told me to get more. hehe So I did.

We then used the restroom, and made our way back to city hall.

We soon were introduced to our great guide: Matthew.

He gave us earphones that allowed us to hear him louder, as he had a microphone.

Ok. Before I tell you about a thousand times: I love, love, love, love, love, love Matthew. He was so great!! I still think about him hehehe

 

[PopArtGal]

ok, before going on, let me assure you that I won't tell you everything about the tour. I will keep things out. I don't want to spoil anything if anyone wants to take this tour.

Matthew introduced himself to the group. We were 20 in the group.

We started walking onto Main Street. We were told the background story to it, and we were invited to sit down in a shaded area. That area is where there is the dance/singing studio.

It was a hot day. So Matthew was great in trying to get us in the shade as often as he could.

We were told about how the concept of forced perspective worked, as he would refer to that a few times during the tour.

After a few minutes of info, we started walking towards Adventureland. Once there, we were told to grab a Dole Whip whenever we could. To run towards the stand! lol

We then sat down near that stand. In a gazebo-like place. We were told about the history of Disneyland, and then how WDW came about.

We were now going to get a biological break. He brought us to the restroom into "El pirata ...". On our way, he showed us that the roof of the Tiki room is actually metal! Did you know that?

We got a 15 min break.

 

[WLfamily]

Great report Christy! Can't wait to here more.

 

[PopArtGal]

We were told that during our break, he called authorities to see if he could bring us backstage to see parade floats. It was not part of the tour anymore, but we were such a wonderful bunch, that even though he could not contact people, we were going.

So we went backstage behind frontierland, and were shown parade floats from Spectromagic, and the barn where the special floats, like the Christmas float was. Though we did not see them. We were told that the Gingerbread float now smells like gingerbread when it passes by.

We then made our way to Liberty Square and into the Haunted Mansion. The guide did not ride with us. They let us through the servants door, and we walked right onto the ride.

When we exited, the guide showed us Mr. Toad's tombstone, then it was time for our lunch at Columbia Harbor House.

When we got to the restaurant, we had a reserved area on the 2nd floor. And our food was already on the tables.

My dad and I sat with a nice couple. I had the chicken tenders basket, and my dad had the chicken and fish basket. Both were nice. WE also had an extra large drink.

I don't remember how long we had to eat, but I remember thinking it was plenty of time. I even had time for a restroom break.

 

[PopArtGal]

We were told to enjoy the restroom break, since it was our last lol Yes, even after they gave us that extra large drink.

We then made our way to Liberty Square, where we were told that the brown patches of asphalt represents the sewers of the time. EWWWWW

We then walked to the little path between Crystal Palace and Casey's and............ made our way backstage, and into the Utilidors.

The guide says he always feels like he's letting people down by showing us this. It's nothing "special". They are utility corridors.

So you see people working. But what I loved are all the pictures of Walt hanging on the walls.

I think they are neat.

We were then showed a little video about costuming since it is no longer in the utilidors.

We made our way back to the 2nd floor of Magic Kingdom, and were shown where Tinkerbell stops during Wishes.



All in all, it was a great tour!!! I am "in love" with Matthew. He was the greatest guide I could have hoped for!

He gave us lots of insights, and is passionate about the park. I forgot to take a picture with him, and I'm so mad at myself I could cry.

Here are 2 little things (among the thousand) I remember from what he told us:

1) Why are they called Brazillian tours groups?? Because there is a brazillion of time hehehe

2) Did you know that Lillian Disney remarried after Walt's death??? O-M-G

After the tour, we went back to the hotel. We were exhausted. It was a lot of walking and it was hot. The tour began at 8:30am, and ended around 1:30pm. It was so worth it.

I recommend it!

We went back to the hotel, and chillaxed.

I plugged my portable DVD player in the tv, and we watched a movie.

For dinner, we ate a chicken ceasar salad, an open-faced Roastbeef sandwich, and a beef flatbread.

They were all very good. I loved the flatbread. It had beef, goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. My dad enjoyed the sandwich, but said there was too much bread.

After that, we talked about our day, I watched Big Brother, and we called it a night.
Up Next: Downtown Disney

 

[Hallowishes]

hello christy! i am just joining your TR now and am all caught up! i am so glad to hear all about the keys to the kingdom tour ... im booked to go on it on sept. 24th and now im even more EXCITED! i cant wait to hear more about your trip!