All About the Princesses, Dresses, and Food--May 19-25, 2014 NEW COMPLETE 1/6/15

[familyabgar]

I'm glad you enjoyed lunch at Liberty Tree...it's become a favorite of ours.

It always blows my mind how big the meals are at the counter service places; we've come to the point we usually share. Those cupcakes look yummy.

I'm exhausted reading about your mad dash to the room and then to the MK to ride SM.

I tried to get the Dessert Party for our trip in September (we've never been), but I was not successful. I've heard mixed reviews so I'm not all that upset about it. Some day we will try it.

What a stunning picture of the castle.

My dad is a vegetarian, but shhhhhh, he loves turkey! So LTT was a must on our list, haha! After our great lunch we'll be sure to return, too.

It was so exhausting, lol! We walked over 50 miles according to our fit bit during our vacation!

I wouldn't call the Dessert party a must-do, but for the money, it was good!

Been reading from the beginning but thought I would join in on the fun

your DD is so cute - though looks so upset about not getting to ride the carousel!

The Cinderella dress you made is really great! The pictures and description of the interaction with Cinderella seems just lovely

Glad to see you enjoyed your breakfast at CRT - we have a pre-park ADR booked there our next trip, which will be our first time eating there, and I am a little nervous based on mixed reviews, so was happy to read your

Also happy to see that you enjoyed the Wishes Dessert Party and that you thought it was worth the money since we also have that booked for the first time our next trip

Totally agree with what you say when you see your child's face just light up when interacting with the characters it makes it all worth while

Thanks for saying hi! Thank you so much; I wanted this trip to be magical for her and so far so good!

I was so nervous about the mixed reviews of CRT. Thank goodness we enjoyed it. I hope you do, too!

I hope you enjoy the Dessert Party! They have ice cream sundaes in addition to the mini desserts!

Joining in!! Your DD is so adorable! I love her Cinderella outfit

Thanks for joining in! I'm glad you love it; me too!

________________________________

I'm working on my Hollywood Studios day report. This is hard work, lol!

 

[familyabgar]

Day 3--Hollywood Studios​

We all slept well in the very comfy BLT beds and woke up ready to take on another day in Disney! We had an 8:50am ADR at Hollywood & Vine for our family of 3, while all but 2 of the rest were headed to Sci-Fi for a Star Wars breakfast at 8:35. I didn't take good notes on our timeline, but I do know that we walked over to the Contemporary and practically right onto a bus with one sister and BIL. We were ahead of schedule and not at all in a hurry!

DHS had EMH this morning, so there were plenty of people going in, but it wasn't super crowded. We decided to stop and get our first Memory Maker photo of the day:

After we took some photos, sister and BIL headed off in the direction of their breakfast to wait for the others. We wandered around the lake area around Hollywood & Vine, and decided we had time to kill by meeting a character! Pluto and someone else were out for meet and greets toward the front of the park by the Sorcerer hat. While we were asking about the line, the CM told me the characters were about to switch shifts. So instead of meeting Pluto, we'd be meeting Chip and Dale!

It was about this point I realized my other sister had our autograph book. Oh no! I made a frantic phone call and they were almost to the park but not close enough to get us our book on time. A nice lady in line tore out a piece of paper from hers for Eliza to get signed.

This is one of my favorite photos of the trip! Eliza was so excited to meet these 2!

After the M&G, my sister had arrived with our book and they high-tailed to Sci-Fi. We made our way back to Hollywood & Vine.

After I checked us in we waited about 5-10 minutes or so for a table. We were seated, had drink orders taken, and the buffet was explained. There was a dance party going on at the time, and Eliza was interested but didn't want to join in! I thought the CMs who led these little dance party breakouts were great singers and a lot of fun to watch!

I ran up to the buffet to grab food for Eliza first. I was very impressed with the H&V selections. I just can't remember what they were! Haha! I know they had a yogurt area, which I don't eat. I think I loved a cinnamon roll? And french toast seems to ring a bell, too. DH had a made-to-order omelet, which was good, too. Eliza ate decently.

After not too long, Doc McStuffins came to visit! These greets were a little awkward b/c Eliza was still shy and there isn't much room. But, we had our storybook signed (the wrong one is showing in the picture, but we had a Doc one!) and hugs were exchanged.

Soon after, Sofia came! She was impressed that Eliza matched her and even had her own amulet! Sofia was very sweet.

Handy Manny came by, too, but Eliza doesn't know he is. He signed the autograph book, but she wasn't into it. No hugs for Manny; sorry buddy.

Eliza was very concerned that Jake hadn't come to our table yet. We were in no hurry, but she really wanted to see him. We had taken several trips to the buffet, one trip to the bathroom, and sat through a couple song/dance parties, but still no Jake! I finally decided to let our waitress know (who was awesome, btw), and she said she'd pass it along.

Jake came pretty soon after and Eliza was so glad! It was very important to her that he sign her storybook.

We paid our bill out of pocket since it was a cheaper buffet. I think. Even those details are getting blurry! Bad trip reporter.

After paying, we headed over to Star Tours to meet the rest of the group, as they were finished with breakfast, too. Their picture:

They were watching Jedi Training, and it was really cute. Then we split up to go ride Star Tours, for which we had a FP+. My parents went first, and while they rode we saw a kid with a bubble gun. Eliza really wanted one, so we decided we'd get her one later with my sister's AP discount.

Then it was our time to ride. Right before we got in line, the FP line was flooded with people and was backed up while ppl scanned their bands. I asked a CM in the stand by line what he thought about skipping the FP+ and he said it was a toss up--the stated wait time was 15 minutes. We decided to go for stand by. It was super quick and a fun little ride. I know nothing about Star Wars, but my siblings love it. So they had a lot of fun!

When we came out of the ride we found my parents and Eliza (and baby nephew) and she had a bubble gun! Her fun grandparents decided to get it for her and had no idea of our earlier discussion to buy her one! Score for us.

Then we headed around the back of the park and walked Streets of America. We decided to do the Backlot Tour. None of us really remembered what it was like. My sister and BIL were celebrating their wedding anniversary and my mom volunteered them to participate in the backlot tour! Eliza was really freaked out, so Gary took her out while he still could, and they had fun playing at Honey I Shrunk the Kids. April and Ben did a really funny job as people on the boat being attacked! It was great! I can't believe I don't have pictures!

The tour itself was nice, but a little boring. We won’t do it next time, but I’m glad I got to see it. The canyon part was neat. The BEST part was seeing the Lights Action show cars practicing their screeching stops, turns, and accelerations from behind the scenes!

After the tour, we hit up Muppet Vision. Eliza wouldn’t keep her 3D glasses on, so I’m not sure she really enjoyed it. Us adults got some laughs, though!

After the muppets it was time for lunch! We were headed back to…Sci-Fi! We booked this lunch for 1:15pm with 12 people, way before the Star Wars stuff was announced. When I read on DIS about all the lunches being bumped to make room for the extended breakfast, I told my family that there was no way I was going to be able to get a new ADR for less people (most likely) given all the upheaval. So the 6 that had been to Sci-Fi for breakfast decided to still come for lunch; especially because we could get adult beverages and/or milkshakes. We checked in and waited about 10 minutes inside. They were very strict about being able to see all of us. We were seated at side-by-side cars and were allowed to bring in the stroller with sleeping baby.



At lunch, it was really hard to get good pictures. I ordered a salad, Gary ordered a reuben maybe(?), and we ordered Eliza the grilled chicken plate. I used her chicken on my salad and she mostly ate mashed potatoes. We had brought applesauce with us so she had that, and I think she ate some broccoli, as well. I had an Angry Orchard cider and that made me happy! The general consensus was the food is average-to-good here and the drink selection is good-to-very-good! Eliza thought the cars were really neat, too.


After lunch, we split again. Our goal was to see the next showing of Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We booked it to the line where the guy at the entrance said to hurry and we’d be the last ones in. Well, the girl at the door was all like, “We’re full! Stay back!” That was very frustrating. So we had 30 minutes to kill and not enough time to fill it with anything if we wanted to continue on our Touring Plan. So, after browsing the shopping area by VOTLM, we got back in line to see the show. While we were sitting in the dark theater, Eliza passed out! She slept only about 5 minutes before the noise of the show woke her up. I’d never been to this show before and thought it was neat. Some of the effects are cheesy, but the lights and fog really make it look like you’re under water! Ariel had a pretty voice, too. I kept thinking how that would have been a dream job for me growing up! “Part of Your World” is a favorite.


After the show, we were going to grab a snack and drink until the next Beauty and the Beast showing. Eliza was very excited for this! Gary and I had frozen margaritas, Eliza had water, and we shared a pretzel. We then went and got great seats for B&TB, but Eliza had a potty accident while sitting there. So we had to get up and miss the show. That was a let-down for all of us.

After the detour to the bathroom, Eliza was so so tired. We tried to have her nap in the stroller, but she was not having it. We met up with our group at Rock n Roller Coaster and I walked laps with the stroller to help Eliza sleep. Gary and I left Eliza with my sisters and used our FP+ for the coaster. It was an AMAZING ride! Love that one! It was Gary’s first time riding it, and as you can see, he was having a blast!

When we got back to the stroller, Eliza had had another accident. Poor girl was so so sleepy and just not herself. We had to make the hard decision to go back to the hotel and skip our Tower of Terror FP+, even knowing we wouldn’t be back later in the week to ride again. That’s right. We missed my favorite ride!


We headed back and Eliza fell asleep hard on the bus.

We then picked up dinner for her at Contempo Café (pizza). Once back in our room, we debated whether we should try to rest and meet back up with the group for our 7pm ADR at Rose & Crown. We ultimately decided we shouldn’t. Sadly, we sent our regrets to our group and ended up putting Eliza down for the night at her normal bedtime of 8:30pm. We were very happy with that choice.

As it turned out, my sister, BIL, and nephew decided to skip out on dinner, too. So right after Eliza went to sleep, they came up to hang out in our villa and watch Frozen, since they’d never seen it (we were able to hook our laptop to the TV). BIL and DH went to Contempo Café to get our quick service dinners. I had a chicken pasta dish and it was pretty good. The picture isn’t the prettiest, but again, it was a HUGE portion (plus another dessert!) and I ate a little over half.

At 10pm, we paused the movie and watched Wishes from the living room windows. It did not wake up Eliza!

Meanwhile, the rest of our group had a nice dinner at Rose & Crown on the outside patio. They had a fantastic view of Illuminations, but were so close their desserts ended up being nearly ruined by ash from the pyrotechnics/fireworks! Isn’t that crazy? The restaurant should have held their dessert, and they wanted to ask for new, but the kitchen had shut down apparently. So they made their way back to us, where we had a big family showing of Frozen. I fell asleep on the sofa bed, which was surprisingly comfortable. I was in bed by 11, but I think the rest stayed up later.

And that’s a wrap on Day 3!

 

[annie170]

Awww, those photos of Eliza are just precious!

That's too bad you missed out on ToT. Sounds like you made the right call. Sometimes the best laid plans don't always work out, especially with young kids.

Amazing view for Wishes!

 

[KatMark]

That is without a doubt the most precious picture I have EVER seen of your DD approaching Chip and Dale with her paper for their signatures. It just warmed my heart.

I'm glad breakfast was a success and that DD saw Jake.

for getting a bubble gun.

Rumors keep floating around that the Backstage Tour is going to close but it is still there. If it's going to stay, it needs a rehab pronto. Our oldest son (age 28) has participated in that boat scene twice...both times "he" was volunteered by the kids he took down for a baseball tournament.

Sci Fi is good as long as you stick to the simple foods -- burgers and such.

Sorry you missed Beauty & The Beast. Poor little girl was all pooped out.

Sounds like a nice end to the evening despite missing Rose & Crown. You got to watch Frozen and see Wishes from your room.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I must say that I love all the pictures of Eliza with her sunglasses on - she just looks too cool!

Glad things worked out at SciFi and that is cool you can get adult drinks!

Bummer about the accidents and Eliza just getting tired and you missing out on TOT ... though, now you know you can just take her on a bus ride to get her to sleep!

Sounds like a fun family evening and being able to pause Frozen to watch Wishes outside your window is pretty darn cool!

 

[stacy~**]

I am loving seeing all your great outfits in action! Eliza is just precious in them!

Sorry about the unexpected early night. When my youngest was 3 she had not one but two accidents at DHS too...must be something about that park. Seems like you made the right call getting her a good nights sleep.

Plus...with that Wishes view coming back early would never be THAT bad.

 

[familyabgar]

Awww, those photos of Eliza are just precious!

That's too bad you missed out on ToT. Sounds like you made the right call. Sometimes the best laid plans don't always work out, especially with young kids.

Amazing view for Wishes!

Thank you

Yes, we learned to go with the flow!

That is without a doubt the most precious picture I have EVER seen of your DD approaching Chip and Dale with her paper for their signatures. It just warmed my heart.

I'm glad breakfast was a success and that DD saw Jake.

for getting a bubble gun.

Rumors keep floating around that the Backstage Tour is going to close but it is still there. If it's going to stay, it needs a rehab pronto. Our oldest son (age 28) has participated in that boat scene twice...both times "he" was volunteered by the kids he took down for a baseball tournament.

Sci Fi is good as long as you stick to the simple foods -- burgers and such.

Sorry you missed Beauty & The Beast. Poor little girl was all pooped out.

Sounds like a nice end to the evening despite missing Rose & Crown. You got to watch Frozen and see Wishes from your room.

Thanks, Kathy! She was too cute and so excited!

I've heard that rumor about the Backlot ride, too, so thought we better get it done before it closed for real! Kids like to volunteer their coaches for things, huh?!

I'm sad to say, the bubble gun was retired this weekend. Even replacing the batteries couldn't save it. But, she got $10 worth of fun out of it!

And yep, we all got the rest we needed and that wasn't a bad way to end the night.

I must say that I love all the pictures of Eliza with her sunglasses on - she just looks too cool!

Glad things worked out at SciFi and that is cool you can get adult drinks!

Bummer about the accidents and Eliza just getting tired and you missing out on TOT ... though, now you know you can just take her on a bus ride to get her to sleep!

Sounds like a fun family evening and being able to pause Frozen to watch Wishes outside your window is pretty darn cool!

Thanks! Ever since she was a baby she's been a fan of sunglasses. We've always said to her, "oh cool girl!" when she puts them on, so your comment was spot on! haha!

I am loving seeing all your great outfits in action! Eliza is just precious in them!

Sorry about the unexpected early night. When my youngest was 3 she had not one but two accidents at DHS too...must be something about that park. Seems like you made the right call getting her a good nights sleep.

Plus...with that Wishes view coming back early would never be THAT bad.

Thank you so much! It was so awesome to see it all come together.

Ugh! DHS is bad luck, I guess? Hopefully next time goes better. She needed that sleep.

And you're right. Watching Wishes while laying down in a bed is NOT a bad night. Ha!

_________________________________________

In real life news, I've been sewing Elsa dresses for others and that's been fun! I need to make DD one, too!


DH and I also have been discussing today the possibility of visiting MK on *gasp* New Year's Day. I know it will be crowded, but with our holiday travel plans and already being in Southwest Florida at that time...we could pull it off! Flights are cheaper home from Orlando than SW FL anyway. So that's what I've been up to today! Pricing Disney vacations! Since the 12/31/14 is one of the dates, I can check online even though 2015 rates aren't out yet.

I plan to update this report with our next day tonight or tomorrow! I've decided I will probably NOT resize any more of my photos in photobucket. It just takes WAY too long and I have too many pictures!!

Thanks for reading!

 

[4leobeans]

Just chiming in to say enjoying your trip report. Your little one is adorable I love the pic of her in line to meet Chip n Dale....amazing!

I am loving everything about her DHS outfit;you did a great job on her dress and I love her necklace too. Her shoes look perfect for lots of walking.

Love that she crashed on the way back to the resort....Disney can be exhausting

I'm so looking forward to taking our family back to DW. Planning for our daughters 5th birthday, but hoping for sooner. Reading TR helps me get my fix

 

[familyabgar]

Just chiming in to say enjoying your trip report. Your little one is adorable I love the pic of her in line to meet Chip n Dale....amazing!

I am loving everything about her DHS outfit;you did a great job on her dress and I love her necklace too. Her shoes look perfect for lots of walking.

Love that she crashed on the way back to the resort....Disney can be exhausting

I'm so looking forward to taking our family back to DW. Planning for our daughters 5th birthday, but hoping for sooner. Reading TR helps me get my fix

Thanks for reading and complimenting her outfit! I loved that one. She wore it to church this past Sunday.

I love reading TRs, too!

 

[familyabgar]

Day 4-Epcot​

This morning we did not have breakfast planned, and decided not to use any credits. Instead, we drank our Shakeology for breakfast and Eliza had an Eggo waffle and banana. We were then headed to Epcot!

We had originally planned to get there at opening but that did not happen. It was closer to 9:30/9:45, and did not ride Test Track as we had planned. So, we headed straight to Mission Space were we all had FP+. Gary, Eliza, and I waited for the other half of our group to ride, but it seemed to take a very very long time.

We explored the dump area, but time was ticking and it was very important to stay on schedule today—we were on a mission!

So Gary and I decided we’d skip MS and head over toward The Land, where we next had Soarin’ FP+s. First, though, we hopped on Journey into Imagination with Figment, which had no wait. Eliza couldn’t quite decide if the ride was fun or not…but at the end she said she liked it! A quick check of the time again, and we knew we had to make another choice. To accomplish the day’s main goals, we had to give up Soarin’. We also skipped Living with the Land.

Do you see a theme here? No TOT, no MP, and now no Soarin’! We were learning that sometimes, the best laid plans are thrown away to make a better trip for your child. On the bright side, we realized we wouldn’t be using any Epcot FP+s so I was able to make brand new selections for Magic Kingdom later that evening! This ended up being a great thing. And why was it so important to get movin’? We had a very important princess to meet!

In the months leading up to the trip Eliza had begun watching Mulan over and over and over. If we wanted to meet Mulan, it had to be NOW. We had a busy afternoon and not much time! She was meeting in China around 11am, and we decided we needed to go get in that line. So off to China we went, while our group rode Soarin’ and Living with the Land. They’d meet up with us in World Showcase later.

Eliza loved meeting Mulan. It was so sweet, and Mulan loved her book! She also loved the princess autograph book my talented friend made and didn’t want to sign it at first! (I will share pictures of that at the end of my full report).

After Mulan, we rushed to France, where Belle had been meeting. She had just wrapped up, but we decided to stick around and the CM dubbed us the official first people in line. Gary went off in search of Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie. He followed Belle there and said it was neat how she wandered “the village” before disappearing. He couldn’t find the bakery, though, and came back empty handed. My directions had consisted of, “over there somewhere,” so couldn’t really blame him! So off I went instead. I found it tucked away, and headed in to make use of our snack credits.

I came out with a ham & cheese croissant, crème brulee, and mimosa. Hey, it was after 11am! Each was delicious and we were very happy campers. Eventually, the line grew and Belle came back! Eliza’s favorite is Belle, so this was a much anticipated meet!

Eliza could not stop smiling! Belle was very much in character and talked books with Eliza. Very very sweet. We told Belle that we’d be seeing her later that evening, hopefully!

From there, Gary & Eliza headed back the other direction toward Germany (we walked A LOT). I stopped in Morocco to get a quick service meal at the Tangerine Café. I chose the Vegetarian Platter which has hummus, tabouleh, lentils, falafel, olives, and fresh Moroccan bread. It came with baklava. It was TON of food (recurring theme here) and plenty to share. We definitely fed Eliza, too, but I just can’t remember with what exactly.

Upon recommendations of friends, Gary stopped and got the grapefruit beer in Germany. When I joined them, I tried it and to my surprise, I found it very refreshing! I usually hate beer. By this time, our family was headed our way and I asked them to stop and get me a Grey Goose slush. We waited in a long-ish line to see Snow White. I was really excited for this one today! Our family joined us while we waited. The slush was a little melty, but yummy!!

Soon, it was our turn! Snow White was lovely. She fussed over Eliza and her dress just the right amount, and Eliza was so proud to match. It was one of those moments when the others in line were loving it and it was just magical.

After our meet with Snow White, we decided to head into Karamel Kuche to use another snack credit or 2. We ended up with a turtle and dark chocolate salted caramel. We ate them later and YUM!

We took advantage of the lovely Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs topiaries for pictures.

From there, we went to Japan. Gary ran into the quick service location and picked up a Spicy Tuna sushi roll quick service meal. I believe it came with green tea cheesecake, but I didn’t taste any of that. We saved the sushi roll in our cooler to eat a little later.

We then headed into the store for something I was so excited about!! Eliza was going to pick a pearl! Eliza is a June baby, and pearl is her birthstone so it was important to me. Eliza was so funny picking an oyster. She kept pointing in the same general direction and the sweet CM would start to pick up an oyster and Eliza would say “no, not that one,” in her sweet voice. So after several attempts, we found one. Eliza didn’t get into the shtick of counting to three in Japanese, but the rest of us did! When all was said and done, Eliza had picked a beautiful white 7mm pearl. We decided to have it set in a simple charm that would highlight the pearl. Sorry, no picture of the finished product!

From there, we had to hurry hurry back to BLT to get changed for our special and early dinner! We took the monorail and were back at our room in about 25-30 minutes—not too bad. I was impressed. We quickly ate some sushi and Eliza slept for about 30 minutes.

She was not very happy she couldn't keep the balloon in her bed!

When she woke up, we got her ready in her fanciest dress. My labor of love. I had taken a personal day the week before we left to make this dress over from scratch, as the previous version just wasn’t working. I’m so glad I did, but as you’ll see, I took some shortcuts that ended up being a big mistake! You'll see all about it in the next post!

Continued in next post.

 

[familyabgar]

Day 4--Beauty & the Beast​

By 3:30, we were on our way to Magic Kingdom with our little princess. We hustled back to Be Our Guest, where we took some pictures while waiting for our group to show up so we could check in.

Here is the dress!

When the group arrived, they had a LeFou's Brew. I wasn't a big fan. The only reservations we were able to snag for our group were tables of 4 at 4:10, 4:15, and 4:20. In the end, I was only able to check in for 2 tables, as a portion of our group was running late. It took another 20-25 minutes after check-in to be led to the doors (we waited on the bridge).

Then, after another 5 minutes, we were led inside of Beast’s castle.

I was blown away. Beauty & the Beast is my favorite princess movie and I was so moved by the details of this castle-come-to-life. Just amazing. We were then led, to my surprise, into the Rose Room! I’d read this was only open for lunch, but they had just begun using it for dinner service, though less than half the tables were seated at a time. About 15 minutes later, the remainder of our group was seated at a table directly behind us.

At dinner, we ordered potato & leek soup and braised pork to share. We really enjoyed both dishes. No one had a negative word to say about their meals, so we had a very positive experience. Our server was pretty good and attentative, too. The room was quiet, unlike the full ballroom and dark/moody West Wing. We were thrilled with our placement! Here are pictures of the food:

​

The Beast made his rounds a couple of times, and Eliza was leary. After dinner was over, Eliza was brought The Gray Stuff! We sang her happy birthday and she gobbled the stuff up really quickly! For dessert, we ordered the Strawberry Cupcake, which I’d read so much about. It was yummy!

After eating and paying (I can’t remember if we used a credit or not!), we took some pictures of our Little Beast and Belle. I made the entire Beast costume (romper and jacket).

Then, we looked around the West Wing and went to wait in line for the big Beast. It was a long line as he’d just gone on break. We were pushing against our Enchanted Tales with Belle FP+, but thankfully we got through the line in the nick of time. Eliza wasn’t too keen on the Beast!

We then hustled to Maurice’s cottage for ETWB. I was SO excited. At this point, though, Eliza’s ruffles had started to come undone—thanks to the shortcut I took, they weren’t properly reinforced and Eliza’s natural toddler roughness ripped the seaming. UGH. So she could hardly walk now that the dress was about 6-8inches longer than it started out. I felt horribly. But, Eliza still got to be a plate, and managed to walk around the room while hiking up her skirt. But even Belle was helpful and told her to pick up her skirt.

When it was her time to meet Belle, it was again, magical. Some of my favorite pictures right here.

Eliza asked questions about the bookmark, and Belle was sweet to take her time with our little Belle. It was great!

After that, we were on our own for the rest of the night. We took a few more pictures of course! Her dress had become super duper long by this point.

We headed to Gaston’s tavern before hitting the restrooms to get Eliza changed into more comfortable attire.

The rest of the night is continued in the next post!


​

​

 

[familyabgar]

Day 4--Magic Kingdom Night​

Up next, we were headed to see another princess! But first we stopped for some pictures. We were all in our Mickey gear!

Then we went on a ride Under the Sea. The FP+ line was still quite long and ridiculously hot. But we made it through and Eliza loved it. My favorite part was the “Under the Sea” area. Wow, just so cool!

Then we headed over to see Ariel. Again, a long FP+ line, but not as long as the stand by! This meet was really cool. Ariel took the time to write a long message in Eliza’s book, which was so neat. Eliza kept pointing at stuff saying, “what’s that?” But as soon as Ariel tried to engage, Eliza got very shy! Oh well! We thought Ariel was very sweet and was a fun meet.

We then decided to head over to Dumbo. Once again, we played in the play area for about 15 minutes or so before taking our flight. It was so much fun!

It was getting dark and time for the Electrical Parade. So we headed over to Main Street trying to find a good place to watch. We considered the end of the parade route, but decided we wanted a good view of Celebrate the Magic, so went toward Casey’s instead. We parked our stroller near Crystal Palace and made our way in front of Casey’s. We were able to see most of the parade from the 2nd or 3rd row, right against the rope. Good enough!

From there, we headed back to the lawn area in front of the Family Center behind Casey’s. We hung out on the grass until Celebrate the Magic started. We had a great view! Eliza really got into it this time, unlike our first night.

As it wrapped up, we hustled down Main Street to avoid Wishes. We decided that since Eliza was in such a good mood still and we had her Tinker Bell wand, this was as good a time as any to meet Tink! There was no line and we walked right into the cute little fairy transformation room.

I seriously thought this was one of the coolest things ever. The sparkling pixie dust on the walls and then opening up into Pixie Hollow was so so neat. Eliza loved it! Tinker Bell was just perfect, too. She told Eliza her favorite magic words were “please and thank you!”

Right before we left for Disney, Pirate Fairy came in the mail. So Eliza had just begun her love of the fairies. It has only grown since we’ve been home! I think for our next trip, a Tinker Bell dress is in order. I already have a pattern picked out!

Finally, after a super long day with barely any nap had come to an end. Wishes finale was just starting when we walked out of the Magic Kingdom, still beating the rush of the crowd exiting. We had a nice slow walk back to BLT and toward our beds. We’d earned a good night’s rest! And tomorrow, we’d get to sleep in!

That's a wrap on Day 4!

Day 5...

 

[jane2073]

I love the dresses you made for your daughter! They look so cute and comfortable! I love them so much better than what is sold at the park.

 

[familyabgar]

I love the dresses you made for your daughter! They look so cute and comfortable! I love them so much better than what is sold at the park.

Thank you! That was my goal.

 

[KatMark]

You are making this very hard and near impossible to pick a favorite picture in this update.

Eliza looks absolutely precious in every dress she is wearing. I do love the Belle; sorry the hem came down. She looks absolutely in awe with Snow White.

The pictures with Mulan are beautiful. And if you have to skip some attractions for your DD, so be it!

Great that you enjoyed your dinner at Be Our Guest.

I love the photopass pic of all of you in your Mickey shirts and you kissing your princess.

I'm glad you got to see the Castle Show and the parade.

Can't wait for more.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

"Eliza could not stop smiling!" ... and that is why we do all the planning and don't mind giving up MS, Soarin', etc. Fastpasses

Your dresses really look great. I loved the Belle one (sorry the heme came down - though even the pictures with her in the "super long" version look really cute

Glad you enjoyed the day and that Eliza was more into Celebrate the magic, etc. this time!

 

[annie170]

I love that Belle dress! Much nicer than anything from the Disney Store! Sorry about the hem, but at least you had a back up outfit.

You got some really adorable character pics! Those photos with Mulan would definitely be worth giving up a ride on Soarin'!

 

[jstkpswimming]

Just joining in! You are so talented! I can't sew for the life of me, but I might have to learn if I ever have a daughter so I can make adorable dresses like Eliza's!

Looking forward to the next update!

 

[familyabgar]

You are making this very hard and near impossible to pick a favorite picture in this update.

Eliza looks absolutely precious in every dress she is wearing. I do love the Belle; sorry the hem came down. She looks absolutely in awe with Snow White.

The pictures with Mulan are beautiful. And if you have to skip some attractions for your DD, so be it!

Great that you enjoyed your dinner at Be Our Guest.

I love the photopass pic of all of you in your Mickey shirts and you kissing your princess.

I'm glad you got to see the Castle Show and the parade.

Can't wait for more.

Aww, thanks. It's hard for me to choose, too! At BOG, my vegetarian sister loved the french onion soup. I know some ppl complain, but it was a hit! I think people who expect it to taste like beef broth will be disappointed, but it's a true french onion soup (DH makes a version and the only ingredients are water, onions, and a few splashes of sherry vinegar).

We got so many great family photos of us 3, and I love that one, too!

Thanks for reading, Kathy! I need to go catch up on yours.

"Eliza could not stop smiling!" ... and that is why we do all the planning and don't mind giving up MS, Soarin', etc. Fastpasses

Your dresses really look great. I loved the Belle one (sorry the heme came down - though even the pictures with her in the "super long" version look really cute

Glad you enjoyed the day and that Eliza was more into Celebrate the magic, etc. this time!

Yes, so true!!

Thank you. The long version did produce some good pictures. I especially like the way it draped in the Belle photos. Had it stayed in original form, it wouldn't have laid on the ground like that. Happy accident. I've tried fixing it b/c Eliza still loves to wear it...but it keeps happening. A major fix is in order.

I love that Belle dress! Much nicer than anything from the Disney Store! Sorry about the hem, but at least you had a back up outfit.

You got some really adorable character pics! Those photos with Mulan would definitely be worth giving up a ride on Soarin'!

Thank you so much!

Just joining in! You are so talented! I can't sew for the life of me, but I might have to learn if I ever have a daughter so I can make adorable dresses like Eliza's!

Looking forward to the next update!

Welcome! Thanks for reading. I've only been sewing a year, so I bet you could, too! Practice and time is all it takes.

______________________________

Exciting real life update!! We're going back! We decided to go for the quick trip over the holidays. We'll only be staying 2 nights and doing a 2-day pass probably with park hopper. It'll be Eliza's (and ours) Christmas present and we will make it a surprise! I'm SO excited. We'll already be in Florida and our plane tickets home will be cheaper from Orlando. So ignoring the extra $$ for Disney, it's actually SAVING us money. Then we'll do another big trip in November 2015, hopefully renting a villa to save on hotel costs.

Call us crazy, but it'll be a New Year's Eve trip! We'll go to MK on NYE for most the day. I've made an ADR for an earlyish dinner at Chef Mickey's. We'll either head to another park depending on crowd indicators, or call it a night. We'll go back to MK the next morning and wrap up the quick trip at Epcot with a very late lunch at Akerhaus. After lunch, we'll head back to the hotel and wait until our evening Magical Express to the airport. A fun, whirlwind trip! We're leaning toward a POR Royal Room, but haven't fully decided yet. I'll probably keep my PTR style updates in this report! Of course I'm already wondering what she should wear!

 

[familyabgar]

May 23--Morning at the Poly​

Finally we had a morning where we could sleep in a little bit. We had a 9:35a.m. breakfast ADR at Kona Café. We were all reallllllly looking forward to this one! Would it live up to our expectations? Read on!

After getting ready, we headed over to the Poly by monorail. The construction at this point wasn’t too bad, but we really couldn’t get a feel for the resort. The waterfall wasn’t completely covered but you couldn’t see it from the 2nd level. I actually didn’t take ANY pictures before or during breakfast, so sorry!

So, once we arrived at the Poly, we got checked in and wandered around while we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. At least 30 minutes passed before we were seated. It was not a good start. After being seated we again waited and waited and waited and waited before informing someone we would like to order drinks and breakfast (by this time we had easily decided). Finally our nice server arrived—at least he was nice, if not untimely—to take our orders.

I ordered Tonga Toast, as did a couple at the table. Gary ordered the Samoan eggs benedict. My dad ordered the Big Kahuna. I think my sister ordered the Macadamia Nut pancakes. A couple people also ordered alcoholic beverages, and of course a couple French press Kona coffees were ordered.

Now, rather than bring out the coffees and juices and waters immediately, we waited another 15 minutes for any drinks. Apparently, the server was responsible for making the alcoholic beverages himself. At this point we were VERY restless and unhappy. It was after 10:30 already and no drinks. Our ADR was at 9:35. Finally our drinks arrived and very soon after, so did our food! It was so bizarre. Thankfully the food tasted good—Tonga Toast lived up to the hype--and our server’s personality made up for the horrible timing issues. Somewhat. We got out of there around 11:30. Talk about wasting a morning. I don’t believe I’ll be back to Kona café unless I have zero other plans.

Up next we headed to the Ohana photo set up to get family pictures. Who cares if we didn’t actually eat there? The photopass CMs didn’t ask!

Then we went out to the beach and took more pictures. If you look close, you can see the castle!

We spent some time on the beach so Eliza could play on the sand. We also had a great view of the cabanas being built! Wouldn’t those be nice?!

Around noon we headed inside to change into our park clothes. Today was the 24 hour party and we had brought “costumes” for Gary and I. Other members of our group had some, too, which I’ll share later, but they were headed to DHS for the day and not MK. So we got changed, and took the monorail (didn’t want to wait on a boat in the heat) and made our way to MK.