Pixie Dust, or Pixie MOUNTAIN? A Grand (Roy) Disney TR *NEW TR LINK 8/11!*

[ariane37]

I wonder that too. I have a few theory's on what helps to get the room upgrades. I really wonder if not doing online check in helps. I am also guessing that the shorter the stay the easier to get an upgrade?

We generally don't suggest our clients do online check in and we do have some clients get upgrades. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but even agents that have gotten upgrades don't do online check in and I never do, either. Again, I've never seen 100% confirmation that doing it equals NO upgrade but I do think NOT doing it is better

What are those? Those are so cute!

I can't remember exactly but they're some type of key lime tart. I'm not a key lime fan - except for the pie at Citricos lol, so I didn't try them but yes, they're adorable!

I wonder if the occupant before you was a huge star wars fan OR even someone that was there for something FOR the new Star Warsland! I mean that suite WOULD warrant people of THAT level! I think you should make a whole "story" about what that book is there.

That could be! I definitely think VIP's stay there, there's only the Walt suite which is comparable to the Roy and then the Grand suite that's bigger and I know John Stamos stays at the Grand when he visits Disney lol. So it's possible it was a SW person

Thanks. Hopefully within 6 weeks she will feel well enough to be in her brother's wedding. It's 6 weeks after her surgery. The doc said to expect not to feel like doing anything fro two weeks after surgery which will be hard for her. I don't think she realizes its not just a quick recovery. Hopefully it won't interfere with her semester at college after wards either, If it does she may lose her scholarship unless we can get it deferred to the next semester. She has already informed her boss and thankfully they are great to work for so she knows she will need at least a month off.

Is she in his wedding? I think, judging by Ricky of course, that she'll be fine by 6 weeks to attend. If she's in the wedding I think she'll still be fine, but will just have to be able to sit often; like up until she needs to walk down the aisle and right after the ceremony is over. I agree with the 2 weeks after surgery, that's about right. Ricky's had the surgery twice and the first time he attempted going back to school 5 days later - NOPE. The 2nd time was July so no school, but he didn't leave the house for 12 days and then that was only for his follow up appt. Is her scholarship academic or athletic?
That's great her boss is working with her! It's such a crappy injury that she doesn't need any more stress added right now or during recovery.

One day I might get to stay at GF, it's one of my three dream resorts.

I hope you do!

The other two are Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. We are actually getting to stay at Wilderness Lodge for our 25th wedding anniversary trip next September. I'm super excited!

We've stayed at both; you might know WL is my absolute favorite and I'm so excited that we're now spending the last 3 days of our trip next month there I do love AKL and it WAS my 2nd favorite resort, until this stay at the GF lol. Even if we didn't get upgraded I think it would be in 2nd place.

This just may be the best trip report ever!

Aw, I'm really glad you're enjoying it so much! I'm having tons of fun reliving this trip

Sounds like a lovely night at the Artist Point! Everything looks great!

AP is (was?) so good! I shall miss it Mostly my soup lol, so my fingers are tightly crossed it doesn't disappear from the Territory Lounge menu.........
Hey, isn't your next trip over Thanksgiving week? Will we be there the same time, our dates are the 17-25th!

I want that soup, it looks so yummy and if a non mushroom lover, “loves it” it has to be good! I hope to try it in May if they still have it at the lounge.

I HAD to try it because of all the love it gets here on the boards. Even though I don't like actual mushrooms I don't mind the flavor so I thought I'd be ok and man was I right! I hope it's still on the TL menu for both of us!

Yep, I probably would have tried this, thinking I was still a teen and physically fit...That would have been a VERY BAD choice...

Um yeah, I've NEVER been able to do a cartwheel so I would have ended up in the ER and that would have sucked during this upgraded trip

We have an ADR for Snow White in March mainly for Kathy though the new menu does look appealing.

The menu looks much better than I thought it would, it's just that based on the food I've had at character meals in the past I don't have high hopes. Some are good, like GG and Tusker House but the last two we did in May - 1900 dinner and Crystal Palace - sorry to say we thought the food was disgusting I was afraid the food here would be on that level so hopefully since it isn't a buffet it's good. That won't make me any happier lol but at least I won't mind having to eat there in October on my FAM trip!

Wow what a heavenly master bedroom can't wait to see your master bath and dressing room.

Coming up next

 

[Steppesister]

One was saying good-bye to a friend we'd made in March, dinner at Artist Point.

This makes me incredibly sad.

-as I mentioned, the staff were told that "favorites" from the menu would still be available elsewhere

I'm not hopeful it'll stay as soon as they see the demand go down because the clientele is mostly kids now instead of quiet romantic dinners.

From 8-10 they have desserts and cordials and this was about 9:45, so we just caught the very end. There were quite a few people in the lounge though but no CM pouring wine, beer, etc. We did find out that all ya gotta do is ask for it; all ya gotta do is ask for anything at any time, which is exactly how it was when we stayed club level at WL.

This makes me miss AKL Concierge/Club very much. It was so nice to be treated like that!

! You could do like, four or five cartwheels from one end to the other!!

But... did you?!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Um yeah, I've NEVER been able to do a cartwheel so I would have ended up in the ER and that would have sucked during this upgraded trip

AGREED!

 

[cajunfan]

Okay, now I really need to win the lottery so I can stay here!

Wow on that master bedroom! Just WOW!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

This dinner was delicious!

It looks wonderful. Meat and potatoes and not a bit of green! I can understand people being sad that it's changing to character dining, because I can't imagine that level of quality or presentation.

From 8-10 they have desserts and cordials and this was about 9:45, so we just caught the very end. There were quite a few people in the lounge though but no CM pouring wine, beer, etc. We did find out that all ya gotta do is ask for it; all ya gotta do is ask for anything at any time, which is exactly how it was when we stayed club level at WL.

Oh wow. This seems fantastic. My problem would be my lack of self control and my sweet tooth. it's a dangerous combination. You would need to grease the door just to squeeze me though again.

And then settled into our immense master bedroom to watch TV for a bit. What did that immense master bedroom look like?

Oh my...I think it's bigger than the entire room at All Star Music! What a great experience for you.

 

[areno79]

So of course I'm still up in the air with a few things lol, but right now I have it like this:
11/17: HS mid-afternoon, dinner at 50's
11/18: MK, DS in the evening to see the Xmas tree trail
11/19: we're going to Universal for Ricky I feel like I'm cheating!
11/20: AK later in the day
11/21: MK later in the day, staying for PM EMH
11/22: not sure what we're doing in the earlier part of the day, I have a few things in mind. Boma dinner at 3 and then AK
11/23: HS, then Epcot
11/24: MK

So do we match up

I'm at AK on 11/22, then DHS at night, MK the morning of 11/23 then DHS, then 11/24 Epcot then MK. So, we have some potential for paths crossing....but most likely at MK on 11/24

 

[suse66]

We had our drinks already from TL and I knew exactly what I wanted for my app; the star of the restaurant, the main reason for our Last Supper:
Smoked Mushroom Bisque
Chicory Pistou, Sunflower Seed, Salsify

Totally going to Territory Lounge as part of my progressive lounge dinner in December. I must have that soup!

We did a quick walk through in the gift shop and then called a Minnie Van to take us back to the GF and our suite

​

Perfect ending to the night!

See those cups in the middle? That's red velvet cake! I didn't believe it until I tried it for myself the next day

So weird! They look like vanilla!

Eventually we made our way back to our large living area. We got ready for bed in our own, private bathrooms; no need to share when there's 2 people and 2.5 bathrooms! And then settled into our immense master bedroom to watch TV for a bit. What did that immense master bedroom look like?

OMG.....I am even more in love than before!

FYI, every night there were 2 chocolates on the master bed and another 2 in the other bedroom, so I brought home a nice little baggie of free chocolates

Sweet....literally, lol!

 

[Bama Mom]

Is she in his wedding? I think, judging by Ricky of course, that she'll be fine by 6 weeks to attend. If she's in the wedding I think she'll still be fine, but will just have to be able to sit often; like up until she needs to walk down the aisle and right after the ceremony is over. I agree with the 2 weeks after surgery, that's about right. Ricky's had the surgery twice and the first time he attempted going back to school 5 days later - NOPE. The 2nd time was July so no school, but he didn't leave the house for 12 days and then that was only for his follow up appt. Is her scholarship academic or athletic?
That's great her boss is working with her! It's such a crappy injury that she doesn't need any more stress added right now or during recovery.

We've stayed at both; you might know WL is my absolute favorite and I'm so excited that we're now spending the last 3 days of our trip next month there I do love AKL and it WAS my 2nd favorite resort, until this stay at the GF lol. Even if we didn't get upgraded I think it would be in 2nd place.

She is actually in the wedding but we will have her a seat reserved on the front row in case she needs to sit. There are 7 girls in the wedding so most people won't miss her if she sits for a few minutes. Her scholarship is actually a transfer scholarship she received this year when she transferred from the community college to the four year college she is at now. My husband teaches at the community college so he is checking to see if they know how it would be handled if she had to skip a semester.
I actually just added another day today to the beginning of our trip for next September. I figured we could stay an extra night at Wilderness lodge and just make the 10 hour drive for as much as it would cost to fly. Plus hubby and I enjoy road trips so I just added an extra day.

 

[wdwnut61]

We've stayed at both; you might know WL is my absolute favorite and I'm so excited that we're now spending the last 3 days of our trip next month there

Congrats on switching to the WL

 

[pepperandchips]

As usual my quotes aren’t working very well but let me just say regarding Artist Point!

We went to Territory Lounge last week (or the week before or whenever it was) and I wonder if we had the same server as she also told us the soup was staying I really really hope so. We also had the cheese fondue and it was soooo good too!

You could do like, four or five cartwheels from one end to the other

Yep, I probably would have tried this, thinking I was still a teen and physically fit...That would have been a VERY BAD choice...

The pics just keep getting better and better...

Okay both of you need to drink a bunch at Girls Trip so I can see this


And I just can’t get over your room upgrade. I’d lose my mind just to get bumped to CL much less THAT AMAZING SUITE!!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Okay both of you need to drink a bunch at Girls Trip so I can see this

That may be very dangerous Melinda!!!! Someone (probably me) would end up getting really hurt. HEE! HEE!

 

[ariane37]

I'm not hopeful it'll stay as soon as they see the demand go down because the clientele is mostly kids now instead of quiet romantic dinners.

This has been my thinking since the beginning, even after our server told us the soup was staying so I was not surprised that it didn't make the menu. I just hope it's at TL next month when we're at WL!

But... did you?!

If I had, I'd be walking like this now

Okay, now I really need to win the lottery so I can stay here!

That's the only way we'd ever be staying here again, unless one of the boys makes it big in a few years and invites us to stay there with them lol

This seems fantastic. My problem would be my lack of self control and my sweet tooth. it's a dangerous combination.

It's very hard, and was hard when we did WL CL, not to eat ALL the desserts each night. I would try not to have dessert at whatever park/dinner I was in so I could eat lounge desserts but it was also hard to wait till I got back to the resort!

You would need to grease the door just to squeeze me though again.

Oh my...I think it's bigger than the entire room at All Star Music! What a great experience for you.

It's most definitely bigger than the AS Music room, the living room was bigger than rooms at Coronado, the studio at BC, studio at BW lol. And if you combine the living area with the entryway? It was like 2 standard rooms alone!

So, we have some potential for paths crossing....but most likely at MK on 11/24

And like I said I won't be surprised if your schedule changes around. As we get closer I'll keep in touch for sure

Totally going to Territory Lounge as part of my progressive lounge dinner in December. I must have that soup!

Excellent! I'm going to do my best to have some at TL next month since we're now staying there for 3 nights

So weird! They look like vanilla!

When I first saw them the sign that described the wasn't there, and I thought it was rice pudding. That's what it looked like on the top with the little brown dried coconut but then I saw someone else bite in to it and I was like "WHAT!!!!!"

Her scholarship is actually a transfer scholarship she received this year when she transferred from the community college to the four year college she is at now. My husband teaches at the community college so he is checking to see if they know how it would be handled if she had to skip a semester.

That's great! I'm going to guess she won't miss a whole semester; is this semester over before she has the surgery? Part will depend how long she's on crutches but if her semester is over before surgery and she has until like, mid-January till she goes back, she should be ok. Although she'll have to have p/t by collage.

I actually just added another day today to the beginning of our trip for next September. I figured we could stay an extra night at Wilderness lodge and just make the 10 hour drive for as much as it would cost to fly. Plus hubby and I enjoy road trips so I just added an extra day.

Yay! You guys will LOVE the WL. I can't explain how content I feel now that we've switched the 2nd part of our trip to stay there, and the funny thing is that until my first stay there in 2016 I had 0 interest in having anything to do with that resort. From pictures the decor and theme didn't interest me and I figured I'd hate it, but once I was there

Congrats on switching to the WL

We went to Territory Lounge last week (or the week before or whenever it was) and I wonder if we had the same server as she also told us the soup was staying I really really hope so.

Once AP closes for the "change over" I'll be stalking the TL menu to make sure my soup stays put!

We also had the cheese fondue and it was soooo good too!

Ooh I've never had that! On the list now.

Okay both of you need to drink a bunch at Girls Trip so I can see this

Before or after we squat over the geyser

 

[mesgram]

Wow, that suite looks amazing. I'm so excited for you. The pictures are incredible. The mushroom soup at Artists Point looks so good and the little Mickey desserts from the lounge are so cute!!

 

[partofthatworld]

Wow! Just wow! Definitely following along for more of your pixie dust magic!

 

[ariane37]

Hello friends! You know what I realized? We're only 30 days away from our Thanksgiving trip!!! I can't wait, especially now that our last 3 nights are at WL instead of CSR One bummer, yesterday I tried booking the new Rhino tour at AK for our trip; I had 3 days I was looking for and all are sold out. Yup, dropped the ball on this one. Just going to keep calling and calling hoping someone cancels! I thought it would just be Steve and I but when I mentioned it to Ricky he was excited about it, which means we all do it! I don't ask Chris's opinion which, well, those of you who have followed my other reports get why Also got my Universal ticket since we're spending a day there at Ricky's request and now have to get everyone else's ticket and Blue Man Group tix.

Wakin' Up Fancy
Day 2 part 1
​

Ah, what a night! I didn't even want to go to sleep because it mean our first night in the suite was over. But we both managed to fall asleep amid about 11 pillows - did you know extra fluffy comfy pillows are also a perk of staying in, what Steve and I now affectionately call, "The Roy"? Seriously we'd never seen so many pillows on a bed. You can't tell so much from my pictures but in addition to the throw pillows there were 6 regular pillows on that bed. Plus 4 in the other bedroom. That's 10 pillows for a room that sleeps 4..............
Before I get to our morning plans I thought I'd share more suite pictures - if you don't mind. Let's go do my first stop when I wake up: the bathroom. Master bathroom, that is:



YES!! A big, yet re-sized photo to show a big master bathroom! And this was just part of it. I realize I failed to take a picture standing by the sinks looking toward the toilet area and actually inside where the toilet and shower were, but if you walk past the tub a bit there's another door with the toilet/AWESOME huge shower in there.



Do you see the hamper?? A hamper! When we travel with the boys I bring a couple $ store pop up hampers. I didn't bring one this trip but I most certainly used this hamper!
This was my bathroom btw. I did let Steve use the cool, huge, marble shower though! But other than that, he used the guest bathroom. When I told him that was how it was going to be he was like, "why? This one is huge and has 2 sinks!" Well that's no excuse, we have 2.5 bathrooms to use!
#useallbathrooms



I believe I have a close-up of the picture above the tub somewhere, it's a painting of POR. I also have close-ups of the toiletries as some were ones I've never seen before, but I'll save all that for a different post.


Next up, the dressing room!







The dressing room alone was bigger than the bathrooms in other rooms.



I never wore the bathrobe when we stayed CL at the WL, but I did put this one on one morning when I was chilly And see those slippers in the package under the safe? They got us a new pair every morning, so while Steve wore one pair while there we brought a pair home for each of the boys, plus gave one away. But that's for later
Here's a close up of the slippers:



Mind you, Steve NEVER wears slippers.............

Really nice, full length mirror in there, too



We kept all our luggage in here on those luggage racks which I love, loved having more than one.

Still have to show you the other bedroom and bathrooms!

We had some mid-morning plans so after getting ready we made a stop in the lounge to grab something to eat. We left our suite to begin our 2nd Disney day!

UP NEXT: LOUNGE GOODNESS

 

[ariane37]

Wow, that suite looks amazing. I'm so excited for you. The pictures are incredible. The mushroom soup at Artists Point looks so good and the little Mickey desserts from the lounge are so cute!!

We had a good "first food" day for sure!

Wow! Just wow! Definitely following along for more of your pixie dust magic!

glad to have you It was amazing, and while the suite was the best part we had a little more come our way during the trip, too!

 

[QueenJen]

How nice to have some room to spread out. We need pics of the shower - you must go back now.

 

[thumper*]

Do you see the hamper?? A hamper!

We had one in our GF CL room also. I wonder if they are in all of the GF rooms or just CL? Maybe Caroline @disneyAndi14 can answer this from her stay there.

 

[suse66]

This was my bathroom btw. I did let Steve use the cool, huge, marble shower though! But other than that, he used the guest bathroom. When I told him that was how it was going to be he was like, "why? This one is huge and has 2 sinks!" Well that's no excuse, we have 2.5 bathrooms to use!
#useallbathrooms

This is so lovely!! I am just imagining soaking in that tub with some bath bombs from Basin White and a glass of wine. I'm telling you, I would be hard pressed to leave that suite!

Good for you for having your own bathroom! As a fellow mom of boys I am sure it was bliss to have a bathroom all to yourself. I tell Bill that when the boys are moved out I am going to reno their bathroom for him. Then the master ensuite will be all for me!!

Next up, the dressing room!

It just keeps getting better!

More please.....

 

[Whit64130]

I'm here and caught up! Maybe I will stay that way!

We still made it to ME around when I expected and things started off right when not only was our bus waiting for us, it left about 7 minutes after we sat down!

Way better than the last time!

As we approached the entrance with our fellow ME riders, the greeter caught my eye since he was coming towards us. He approached us and said, "Ah, The DeVizio Family!" Still gets me how they know when you arrive lol.

So I learned a little something on my last trip. My aunt had troubles with scanning her Magic Band every time at the park entrances. Did you know they take pictures of everyone at every entrance check point? not the Drivers License type photo if you are having trouble but from above the MB scanner. The guy that was verifying her had her scan her MB on his ipad. I just so happen to be standing behind him looking on his ipad and saw him pull up her entrances at two other parks to verify her picture. Then he took her picture for future references. All within two minutes time. I figure they knew around what time you might have been arriving on Magical Express and was watching to scan in and see what bus y'all got on and pulled up some random pictures maybe. LOL just my theory.....

Up next, I will begin to bombard you with our suite pictures!

Hello friends! You know what I realized? We're only 30 days away from our Thanksgiving trip!!! I can't wait, especially now that our last 3 nights are at WL instead of CSR One bummer, yesterday I tried booking the new Rhino tour at AK for our trip; I had 3 days I was looking for and all are sold out. Yup, dropped the ball on this one. Just going to keep calling and calling hoping someone cancels! I thought it would just be Steve and I but when I mentioned it to Ricky he was excited about it, which means we all do it! I don't ask Chris's opinion which, well, those of you who have followed my other reports get why Also got my Universal ticket since we're spending a day there at Ricky's request and now have to get everyone else's ticket and Blue Man Group tix.

I am still sad I will miss you this trip!


I'm here for the long haul now!