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

[missjackiemcg]

Yeah not sure what's going on but it's actually kind of cool in a weird sort of way and I guarantee the story behind it is New Orleans neat!

I love how you said that "New Orleans neat." NOLA is one of our family's very favorite places, and it's totally true--everything and everyone there has such amazing backstory. I love just soaking it all in!

when Grandpa is holding her she'll reach towards Grandma

When Jimmy was a baby, he adored my Dad (still does!) and would do that whenever anybody else had him if he could see my Dad at the same time! I bought him a shirt that said, "My favorite thing at Grandma's House is Grandpa."

 

[Cloe Colton]

Oh my gosh she is too cute!

How exciting to have a January trip booked! I feel like its almost necessary to have SOMETHING to look forward to when you live through these cold winters! (Im from Niagara Falls, NY so I get it! haha) I really want to get to the Festival of the Arts at some point. I was super tempted to book something this year because I would have hit every festival in Disney with my AP in one year but I just don't see it working out unfortunately! (Not that I don't have four other trips to look forward to next year! )

Your CL breakfast items look pretty tasty! I can't remember if DH and I ever made it to WL CL breakfast but those items look a lot fancier than the breakfast we had in the CR CL!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I took a picture of the brunch menu for Maria and Enzo's because it looks really good!

Notice "endless bellini or mimosa" in the middle which is what caught my eye initially If we'd be there on a Sunday next month I'd book this, but even though we're landing early I don't want to chance it given NY, January, snow.

So they’ve actually switched up the brunch since then! I don’t know exactly when the switch happened, so I may have even been in the first seating?

The entrees are gone. Now everything is on the buffet. But they added a couple pasta dishes. And no more endless mimosas, instead it’s $5/glass.

Here’s the menu:

 

[suse66]

Hoping to get another update done in the next day or two if I can finish my shopping but wanted to say Steve and I are doing a VERY quick trip in Jan! 20-23rd, just a nice little getaway, and no GF this time lol.

Yay! How exciting!

We had some time until our lunch ADR so we walked around and actually did a nice bit of shopping! I bought some good stuff, mostly clothes which I posted before we left for our Thanksgiving trip so I won't post them again. We did go into Uniqlo and besides a BaTB shirt for me, Steve found 3 pairs of shorts which is weird because he rarely buys himself anything on vacation. They weren't Disney shorts but hey, he shopped!

Always fun to do a bit of shopping! It's hard for us poor Canadians right now, because our dollar is horrible. At last count it was worth 74 cents US.

Eventually we made it to our lunch destination, which was somewhere we almost ate at for the first time with the kids back in March: House of Blues. We ended up cancelling back then since we like to switch things up day of, but we both wanted to get back here since the menu looked so good.

Yummy! I would love to get there one day! Too bad about your drink though.

Jalapeno Cheese Cornbread - served in a skillet with honey butter

I would eat ALL of this!!!

I hate to cut off this update before our entrees but I only have room for one more picture, and this one needs to be shown! Our little peanut, Hayden Olivia She'll be 6 months old on Christmas day and she's starting to be fun! She reaches for everything, plays with toys, laughs like crazy and when Grandpa is holding her she'll reach towards Grandma Mom and Dad are bringing her over early on Christmas Day so she can get settled in and comfy before our other millions of family members arrive and overwhelm her.

Cuteness overload!!!!

 

[wdwnut61]

Cute pic and I love your shirt

Precious little girl hope you and Steve have a wonderful Christmas

 

[Wood Nymph]

So yes, he "proposed" to me (again) in my Happy Place and I did get my Belle rose ring, although I can't seem to get a good picture:,,,,
I was shaking and crying!!! In the video you can hear people clapping, it's really neat.

That was really sweet of him. I love the way the boys joined in the surprise, too.

Yes it's definitely more memorable than when he gave me my original engagement ring, I was sitting on the couch in our living room, the guys were in our basement fixing our furnace, and he says, "oh I got you a ring" and brought it out

I'm glad he made up for the original proposal.

Our little peanut, Hayden Olivia She'll be 6 months old on Christmas day and she's starting to be fun! She reaches for everything, plays with toys, laughs like crazy and when Grandpa is holding her she'll reach towards Grandma Mom and Dad are bringing her over early on Christmas Day so she can get settled in and comfy before our other millions of family members arrive and overwhelm her.

She is adorable. I know you will have fun with her on Christmas Day. I hope you aren't too busy, though. Good luck with your party of 30. It sounds a bit hectic, but that is what Christmas is all about.

 

[sahu]

View attachment 369835

Housekeeping had filled the bowl with flowers when they came in for turn-down service

Day 3 in the books! Tomorrow we try a new restaurant and I finally get back to MNSSHP!

These are gorgeous! I think you got the biggest pixie dust upgrade I've ever seen!

 

[ariane37]

Oh my goodness, what a precious little bean!! She's beautiful, Ariane! You must all be just smitten with her. Sending lots of love your way for Hayden's first Christmas!

We are SO looking forward to Christmas Day and thrilled they're spending it with us. Merry Christmas to you, N, and your families!!

I'm also moving on Dec. 28, just to add a bit of extra fun to the already crazy-hectic holiday season

Whoa! Well pretty cool you'll be in a new place for New Years but a busy week ahead of you!

What a beautiful baby!!!

Thank you, I must say I agree

We are going to try and do the Rhino tour in January. I haven’t booked it yet either.

Have you booked it yet? I've done nothing yet including linking our reservation in our account lol. That Rhino tour seems to be booked up totally like every day 6 months out, so good luck to both of us!

YAY for your January trip!!!!!!

I know right lol? Love when they come up unexpectedly

Holy Crap!!!! Hayden is adorable and I absolutely looooove her Christmas dress! She looks like a package wrapped up in bows.

Thank you, I love that dress, too! My DIL's mom's boss bought it for her; wish I did lol

Ugh! I have all of my shopping done, but need to wrap pretty much everything! And it is stressing me out!

By now I'm sure you're done shopping and hopefully wrapping I finished wrapping last night, did most of my cleaning today and finished some errands. Tomorrow is just some more cleaning and voila! House full of people

Exciting! I do wish you were going to be going when me and Kari willl be there. But still exciting none the less!

Believe me, me too. The flights were just so incredibly outrageous we couldn't swallow it. Besides being there with you guys it would've meant being there for my birthday so I really wanted it to happen.

First, I love that I could order you guys drinks and at least know that you would like what I picked...

me too!

 

[ariane37]

I am D-Y-I-N-G. And for the record I agree with the kid. Do NOT see it either

The picture totally called for the caption

Fried empanada trumps grilled chicken any day of the week.

Pretty much everything always trumps grilled chicken.........

When Jimmy was a baby, he adored my Dad (still does!) and would do that whenever anybody else had him if he could see my Dad at the same time! I bought him a shirt that said, "My favorite thing at Grandma's House is Grandpa."

Aw that's so sweet and an awesome shirt!

Oh my gosh she is too cute!

Thank you

How exciting to have a January trip booked! I feel like its almost necessary to have SOMETHING to look forward to when you live through these cold winters! (Im from Niagara Falls, NY so I get it! haha)

True! Although it was 60 degrees Friday, unbelievable, but I'm a bit farther south than you in Dutchess County

I really want to get to the Festival of the Arts at some point. I was super tempted to book something this year because I would have hit every festival in Disney with my AP in one year but I just don't see it working out unfortunately! (Not that I don't have four other trips to look forward to next year! )

And your comment made me realize that I WAS at all 3 festivals in 2018! And I have 3 trips booked for 2019, each one during one of the festivals so fingers crossed I'll hit them all again next year

So they’ve actually switched up the brunch since then! I don’t know exactly when the switch happened, so I may have even been in the first seating?

The entrees are gone. Now everything is on the buffet. But they added a couple pasta dishes. And no more endless mimosas, instead it’s $5/glass.

Here’s the menu:

Hmm thanks for posting, I think I like the old menu better First of all bottomless mimosas, but I like the food choices better, too. Not that the current menu is bad but now I'm not so sad we can't do it next month!

Always fun to do a bit of shopping! It's hard for us poor Canadians right now, because our dollar is horrible. At last count it was worth 74 cents US.

Ooh I knew it wasn't good but didn't realize it's that crappy right now. Hope it improves soon!

ummy! I would love to get there one day! Too bad about your drink though.

I'd been wanting to try it for awhile, I'm glad we did and we'll go back! Yeah I'll try a different drink next time lol.

Precious little girl hope you and Steve have a wonderful Christmas

Merry Christmas to you, Kathy, and your whole family also

I'm glad he made up for the original proposal.

Ha ha that he did!

Good luck with your party of 30. It sounds a bit hectic, but that is what Christmas is all about.

Definitely going to be hectic, definitely will be helped by wine, and yes, it'll be worth it to have everyone together Merry Christmas to you and your family, Sue!

These are gorgeous! I think you got the biggest pixie dust upgrade I've ever seen!

I think it's the biggest pixie dust upgrade I've ever heard of! And most likely the biggest one we'll ever see; very grateful for it!

 

[kastoney]

I shopped today from 10-2 and still have more to do, and I have approx. ONE gift wrapped. By this time most years' I usually have like, 10 gifts wrapped...............which made it even better to stop and book our Jan. trip last night!

Sounds like your procrastination ended with a Disney trip so maybe I should use that method I am oddly ahead of the curve. Pretty much bought everything online on Black Friday and even wrapped everything when I got a day off for the Bush funeral. It feels very weird to be so ahed of the game. Maybe I should book myself a Disney trip to celebrate

That's a nice little spinach Florentine frittata, a deviled egg with chives, Disney's famous cheese danish and a weird donut with sugary sweet stuff on it.

That is the strangest looking donut I have ever seen. Looks like it has some sort of white chicken pox.

Notice "endless bellini or mimosa" in the middle which is what caught my eye initially

Love the way your eye works

Eventually we made it to our lunch destination, which was somewhere we almost ate at for the first time with the kids back in March: House of Blues. We ended up cancelling back then since we like to switch things up day of, but we both wanted to get back here since the menu looked so good.

I don't think I've ever even seen the menu and had no idea it was even still open. Curious to see how the rest of your meal goes.

Are you sure these are your drinks? Totally doesn't look like something you all would order.

Speaking of chicken pox, what in the heck is that on the ceiling

She reaches for everything, plays with toys, laughs like crazy and when Grandpa is holding her she'll reach towards Grandma Mom and Dad are bringing her over early on Christmas Day so she can get settled in and comfy before our other millions of family members arrive and overwhelm her.

She is so tiny!!!!!! Enjoy Christmas with her

 

[disneyAndi14]

Have you booked it yet? I've done nothing yet including linking our reservation in our account lol. That Rhino tour seems to be booked up totally like every day 6 months out, so good luck to both of us!

Shoot, I thought it was like the Elephant tour and you could book when you were there, oh well, we won’t be doing the Rhino tour this trip, maybe in the summer! Merry Christmas!

 

[Steppesister]

Hey! I took that photo almost identically!

Wow! That looks fantastic! I'd totally try that!

Yeah not sure what's going on but it's actually kind of cool in a weird sort of way and I guarantee the story behind it is New Orleans neat!

Agreed, weird, but kinda cool. Huh!

I'm on a mission to collect quality souvenir mugs I can (and would) use again.

The honey butter cut down a bit of the heat too in a good way.

That really looked great! I love anything that packs some heat.

and this one needs to be shown! Our little peanut, Hayden Olivia

Awww,

She's full of the adorbs!

 

[ariane37]

Merry Christmas Eve! Yup, it's Christmas Eve and I'm updating, and I have 27 people coming tomorrow. Surprising myself I'm done wrapping, cleaning, and am happily watching It's A Wonderful Life I hope you all are done with your Xmas Eve prep and are relaxing, too!

Make Way for the Food!
Day 4 Part 2
​

Continuing on with our House of Blues lunch, here are our entrees. We both got:
BBQ Bacon Burger
topped with cheddar cheese, Applewood-smoked bacon, crispy jalapeños, sautéed bourbon onions, and Memphis BBQ sauce served with French fries



And mmm, this was good! The bbq sauce was just their Memphis bbq sauce as opposed to the other kinds they have:



The Memphis was a bit sweet, not too spicy, and the bacon had a great taste to it along with the burger being cooked a perfect medium. I had mine minus the onions and that's the one in the pictures, Steve had the onions and we both skipped the jalepenos. The fries don't look like anything special but they were nice and crispy and I like skinny fries.

I know we didn't go with very adventurous choices here but we were both in the mood for burgers and they didn't disappoint! We'll definitely go back, we almost did last month but sadly, did not. We were also too full for dessert so we left, but stopped in next door where they were setting up for the HOB Sunday brunch. Since it hadn't started yet they let us go in and look around, and let me tell you it smelled delicious! I felt weird taking pictures believe it or not since the servers were setting up, but I did take a picture of this near the entrance:



Pretty cool! If they hadn't been setting up I would have had Steve take my picture because it's clearly a photo op spot, but again I felt like we were intruding. This is another brunch I'd love to do sometime and one you really don't hear anything about. After doing a little more shopping we went back to the GF.

I hadn't planned on going to MK right at 4 anyway, so after hanging around a bit we decided to visit the lounge for a snack before heading over. The spread was looking pretty good:



Notice the sign saying Red Velvet? Red Velvet anything is my jam, and if you remember from earlier in my report I saw these things another day and had no idea what they were. I thought the tan stuff on top looked like shredded coconut and thought maybe it was rice pudding or something because the sign was missing that day, but then overheard someone say red velvet. Well, I wasn't passing it up today!

Scone anyone?



And of course, the healthy stuff:



FYI, the spinach and artichoke dip was really good according to Steve.

And a partridge in a pear tree

​

Here's what I went with:

That's the red velvet cake, a macaroon, and chocolate pound cake; all delish and worth it. The stuff on top of the red velvet cake wasn't nuts, it was like a crunchy, slightly sweet topping of some sort that was different but suited the cake perfectly. There was a nice, sweet, cream cheese frosting underneath and then of course the delicious cake under that, the perfect size, too!

Steve's not as fun selections:



The spinach dip he'd had before and deemed delicious along with his veggies, flatbread, a berry under there I believe by the dip, and that's it But still very good and a very nice selection! We loved eating in the lounge every time, it was peaceful even when on the crowded side. We could always get a table with a view, too.
​

Well, It's a Wonderful Life is over so I'm ending this here! Everyone have a wonderful day tomorrow however you're celebrating (or not), and whenever I return it'll be with our MNSSHP

 

[ariane37]

Sounds like your procrastination ended with a Disney trip so maybe I should use that method

LOL, this one was SO easy to do, I simply mentioned it and got a yes. Having the points to use for airfare didn't hurt!

Love the way your eye works

Are you sure these are your drinks? Totally doesn't look like something you all would order.

And funny enough, Steve (and my sister) had Moscow Mules tonight, too! I went for the wine though

Speaking of chicken pox, what in the heck is that on the ceiling

The decor is definitely weird and much of it had me going

Shoot, I thought it was like the Elephant tour and you could book when you were there, oh well, we won’t be doing the Rhino tour this trip, maybe in the summer! Merry Christmas!

Sadly no, from everything I've read and trying to book for clients this tour seems MUCH more popular. Which is good, except for us lol! Of course I still haven't even tried but don't think I'll have luck. If for some reason I get it for the 21st or 22nd I'll let you know!

Hey! I took that photo almost identically!

Yes! And yours is 1000x better!

I'm on a mission to collect quality souvenir mugs I can (and would) use again.

I've seen many I like but this is only the 2nd we've gotten, and Steve has used it many times

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Glad you got everything done and you were able to relax before the crowd descends...

 

[Steppesister]

Yes! And yours is 1000x better!

Nah, I don't think so.

I've seen many I like but this is only the 2nd we've gotten, and Steve has used it many times

I'm on a mission to collect a coffee mug from each resort I stay at. So far, I've gotten 4, but still need Pop, AoA, POR, and Poly. I use them all the time.

 

[Tracy161]

Whoa! Well pretty cool you'll be in a new place for New Years but a busy week ahead of you!

Good point! I like this perspective.

Yup, it's Christmas Eve and I'm updating, and I have 27 people coming tomorrow.

I'm moving in 2 hours and am on the DIS. Clearly, we have our priorities straight, right? Speaking of your 27 people coming over... hoping it went well!

 

[cajunfan]

So I am very far behind and just did some major reading...enjoyed all of it!

Are the beds in the second bedroom full/queen sized? the angle of the picture makes them sort of look like twin size, but I figured it is just the angle needed to get both in the picture. And the fresh flowers on the dining room table are beautiful...although I would have had to remove them because of allergies...me and lilies don't get along.

So very touched by the proposal on Main Street! I love the look of surprise on your face and the sheer look of love and happiness in both your faces! Awesome experience and great photos that captured the memories!

I so need another trip during F & W. Currently have one scheduled for 2019, but may end up having to give it up to do double knee replacement surgery.

Adorable grand baby! I hope she managed the crowds on Christmas Day!

Can't wait to read more! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ariane37]

Hey guys, hope everyone had a magical Christmas! Ours was good - we were like this in my house but it was still a good day. Most fun was having our granddaughter Hayden around though!



There she is with mommy!



She loved her excersaucer we got her!





And then my other stepson and his girlfriend made an announcement which some of you may have seen on FB and which Steve and I already knew, but the majority of the family did not:



Yup, we're going to be grandparents again in July!! Don't know quite yet if it's another girl or a boy but I have a feeling it's a boy
I should add one of my kids, too:



My couches aren't normally like that, but we had to rearrange for the crowds lol.

Now all the family are back home in Ga, NH, NM, so other than the kids friends the house is quiet again. Still messy but quiet!

Boo To All Of You!
Day 4 Part 3​

After fueling up in the lounge we changed into our cool Halloween shirts and made our way to our 5th MNSSHP, my favorite special event to this point that I'd ever done! It had been 4 years since our last party and I was really looking forward to it, humidity being 200% aside.



We monorailed to the MK and got there around 5:30:



Since it's almost 3 months after the party you all know about the side street you could walk down to get your candy bag, some candy, and a couple magic shots:



Not a magic shot but you get the idea. We grabbed bags even though we didn't plan to TOT and just gave the candy they handed out then to kids we passed. Since the party stuff hadn't started yet we rode some rides, including 7DMT right around 6 with a posted wait of 45 minutes that ended up being 20!
Eventually we made our way back to Main St. closer to 7. I loved the Halloween balloons!



I wanted to do some of the magic shots. We don't usually do many magic shots but so many of the party specific ones looked cool I couldn't pass them up! I'm at my picture limit so I'll continue with the party in my next update.

 

[ariane37]

I'm on a mission to collect a coffee mug from each resort I stay at. So far, I've gotten 4, but still need Pop, AoA, POR, and Poly. I use them all the time.

I like that idea! I tried getting magnets from everywhere we stay but most of the resorts don't have them I wish they had more resort specific merchandise.

I'm moving in 2 hours and am on the DIS. Clearly, we have our priorities straight, right? Speaking of your 27 people coming over... hoping it went well!

lol!
It actually went better than I expected I hope your move went well also!

So I am very far behind and just did some major reading...enjoyed all of it!

I'm glad you're still enjoying!

Are the beds in the second bedroom full/queen sized? the angle of the picture makes them sort of look like twin size, but I figured it is just the angle needed to get both in the picture.

Believe it or not they're TWIN, I was shocked. The suite only sleeps FOUR people - two in the king bed in the master and then two in the 2nd bedroom in the twin beds. It's crazy, it's 1700 square feet!

So very touched by the proposal on Main Street! I love the look of surprise on your face and the sheer look of love and happiness in both your faces! Awesome experience and great photos that captured the memories!

Aw thank you Definitely an experience I won't forget

I so need another trip during F & W. Currently have one scheduled for 2019, but may end up having to give it up to do double knee replacement surgery.