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

[familyabgar]

May 23--Magic Kingdom​

We finally got our entrance photo (I regret not getting a sibling one like we have from when we were kids…I don’t know when all 4 of us will be back again!) and headed in.

Right away we saw lines forming for M&Gs at Town Square, so we hopped in the Pluto line and were 2nd to meet him around 12:30ish. Eliza is dressed as Rapunzel. It was so bizarre b/c the Photopass CM walked away and didn’t take any pictures! So we took some and it was an ok M&G.

You guys, it was SO hot this day but we had another princess to check off our list. So we headed to Merida’s area and waited alternately in sun and shade with a cranky toddler. She was fine once we were let into the themed waiting area, at least! Merida was great! She talked about her story and had Eliza pose like her. It was so cute!

Up next we had an important FP+ scheduled with Cinderella and Rapunzel! Yes, we’ve done this already, but this time Eliza was in her Rapunzel gear! This meet was also fantastic. Oddly, it was 90+ degrees outside, but Cinderella had on her coat? But no worries, she was so sweet and sat down with Eliza to read her book. She flipped through every page.

Then it was time to meet with Rapunzel! She loved that Eliza matched her and was so bubbly and fun.

It’s time to reveal Gary’s costume! Flynn Rider is in the building! The real Flynn was meeting later that evening with Rapunzel, but we wouldn’t be around. Oh well! We got some cute pictures and Rapunzel loved it.

Continued in next post!

 

[familyabgar]

MK Part 2​

Being right next to the Carousel, we obviously rode that next as a family!

We then headed to the Tangled restrooms, but Eliza was not interested in posing for pictures. Oh well!

At this point, we decided she needed a nap. We decided to stake out a spot across from Liberty Tree Tavern for the Festival of Fantasy parade and let her sleep. We found our spot and Gary went to grab a QS lunch from Columbia Harbor House. We shared chicken tenders and fries. Eliza had yogurt and some of our food, too. Gary also had a frozen lemonade and I had a Mickey ice cream bar. Eliza laid quietly for awhile, but I’m not sure she actually slept.

Finally, it was time for the parade! We loved this parade! At the end, the characters came right up and spoke/high-fived Eliza!

As you can see, she was loving it!

Continued in next post!

 

[familyabgar]

MK Part 3 and Dinner​

Up next was another important M&G! We had a FP+ to see Anna an Elsa! At this point they were still meeting together, which was awesome for us because we also really wanted to see Aurora! So off we went. Eliza fell asleep in line (of course), but it was short lived. First we saw Queen Elsa and Princess Anna.

We joked that Eliza had just woken up and we thought she had Anna bedhead! This Anna is great, we loved her! Elsa is very subdued.

We moved over to Aurora and they twirled together and had a good M&G.

Now it’s time to reveal my “costume”. I really wish I had tucked in my pink tank top so the waist detail showed up better, plus I think I look silly. But oh well. Eliza loved it and it was her idea that I be Aurora this day. Aurora thought it was great to have a “twin”!

After our M&G, we watched a showing of Dream Along with Mickey and took some Castle PP pictures.

_____

It was then time to get out of the heat and head back for some rest before our dinner. We were supposed to have dinner around 6:30, but decided to push it back until 8pm. We all needed more time to shower and nap! Which is exactly what we did. Around 7:30pm, we drove over to the Boardwalk, valeted the cars, and made our way into Kouzzina.


This was one of our favorite dinners, if not our actual favorite. It was so delicious! I had a white wine flight and loved that. Gary had a Greek beer of some sort, and we all got some yummy appetizers. This is my brother’s shrimp appetizer.

We loved our dip sampler we ordered, but alas, no picture. For our entrée, Gary and I each ordered something and we shared. I got the whole roasted fish and it was so good! I liked the presentation and then it was fileted at the table.

Gary ordered steak I think? I can’t remember, but it was delicious as well. Everyone loved their food! The only disappointment was the fried dough dessert. They took a long time and had little flavor. Big bummer. Overall though, it was amazing and we’re very sad to see it go. We spoke about this with our server, and she was very disappointed as well.


After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to get Eliza into bed. We all debated who was going into enjoy the 24 hour party late night. It ended up being my sister, BIL, dad, and other sister. My mom decided she’d had enough for one day, as did we. However, she still was game and put on the outfit she created for the party! Here are Snow White and the Prince!

Ariel and Prince Eric!

Don’t they all look great?! My other sister ended up wearing my mom’s outfit and they got a great castle shot during the late night hours.

They enjoyed some rides and came home well before 6am…I think maybe 2 or 3am? Part of me regrets not taking part, but I was really tired from the hot day and we had another early morning ahead!


Continued in next post.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

wow - so many great photos! I love that Cinderella got down on Eliza's level - that is so cute.

Also love the one of her kissing her dad on the carousel and the one twirling with Aurora

Glad you enjoyed your dinner at Koussina. We had eaten there when it had first opened and were quite disappointed ... though more recent reviews I read made it seem like it had improved quite a bit form then - though I guess not enough given that it closed/is closing.

I love you mom's Snow White outfit

 

[KatMark]

Great updates!

Sorry that your service at Kona was so slow. We are eating there twice, but on "off days." I love the pressed pot coffee.

I love the pictures of Cinderella with your DD...I love when they get down to the child's level.

That is the same Rapunzel that we had...her and my husband had a blast together making funny faces for the PP photographer.

We have yet to see Merida.

Fun parade pictures. I forgot I wanted to FP that...I may have to change one of them.

The pictures with Anna and Elsa are terrific (we had the same Anna, but a different Elsa); I'm not thrilled they separated them.

I love all of your costumes...very clever.

 

[familyabgar]

wow - so many great photos! I love that Cinderella got down on Eliza's level - that is so cute.

Also love the one of her kissing her dad on the carousel and the one twirling with Aurora

Glad you enjoyed your dinner at Koussina. We had eaten there when it had first opened and were quite disappointed ... though more recent reviews I read made it seem like it had improved quite a bit form then - though I guess not enough given that it closed/is closing.

I love you mom's Snow White outfit

I was so surprised how into the book Cinderella was. It took a very long time!

Thanks I love those, too.

Sorry to hear you had a disappointing experience! Our server said the new restaurant was likely going to be a lower price point, so maybe with the other celebrity restaurants (and likely more popular?) they wanted a cheaper option? Seems silly to me to have ANOTHER Italian restaurant. I doubt I ever eat there!

I will make sure to tell her. It was so cute!

Great updates!

Sorry that your service at Kona was so slow. We are eating there twice, but on "off days." I love the pressed pot coffee.

I love the pictures of Cinderella with your DD...I love when they get down to the child's level.

That is the same Rapunzel that we had...her and my husband had a blast together making funny faces for the PP photographer.

We have yet to see Merida.

Fun parade pictures. I forgot I wanted to FP that...I may have to change one of them.

The pictures with Anna and Elsa are terrific (we had the same Anna, but a different Elsa); I'm not thrilled they separated them.

I love all of your costumes...very clever.

Thanks!

I don't drink coffee, but those that do loooooved it. They had been looking forward to it. I'm sure our large party size did not help matters; the restaurant was ill equipped to deal with the service of 12 people at once.

Fun! I hope next time Eliza is not as shy with the princesses.

Eliza is afraid of Brave the movie, but is a Merida fan. She is a fun character, for sure.

I'm disappointed they broke up Anna & Elsa, too. Doesn't make sense to me, but what do I know?

I enjoyed making Gary's vest. I followed a pattern loosely, and for mine I just experimented! Eliza loved it, which was the important thing.

 

[cas714]

Following along! The dress are so cute!

 

[twob4him]

Hello!
I am loving your trip report! Your daughter is adorable and I can see she is really enjoying meeting the princesses and just enjoying the parks! Love her dresses you made too! Very pretty!
Cheers,
Cathy

 

[familyabgar]

Following along! The dress are so cute!

Glad you are here! Thanks so much!

Hello!
I am loving your trip report! Your daughter is adorable and I can see she is really enjoying meeting the princesses and just enjoying the parks! Love her dresses you made too! Very pretty!
Cheers,
Cathy

Thank you! She is still talking about it and I can't wait to surprise her with our NYE trip. We're not telling her until we start the drive from SW FLorida to Orlando on 12/30!

I have just 2 days left to recap and I can't wait to share them with you all!

 

[familyabgar]

Day 6 Tusker House and AK​

On our second-to-last morning we had an important breakfast date with Donald and Daisy Duck! I made her this dress and was so proud of my applique. I love this dress! We were very much looking forward to our Tusker House ADR as I had read such great things about the buffet. There are so many pictures out there of TH much better than I could have taken, so I don’t actually have any of our food. But please know that we highly enjoyed our food! Our character interaction was fun, as well.

Still very excited about getting autographs...

If people ever ask us why Disney, I think I'll show them these pictures. That face!

After breakfast, we sunscreened up and hit up the restrooms and shop. Eliza had made us very proud the night before with potty training and we promised her a prize. She chose Simba! She was so in love with him the rest of our trip and after.

Then we headed into the safari stand-by line. I think we had a FP+ (my memory is fading), but chose to save it for some reason. I enjoyed the safari, though it wasn’t as filled with animals as we’ve seen in the past, but it was hot despite the early-ish hour. I am so glad they’ve done away with the elephant poacher storyline. Made for a much better ride! There was no lion out while we were there and our safari driver told us he’d been missing for a couple days and was aging. He was afraid they might never see him again and that the CMs in the attraction aren’t given much if any information about the zoological side of things.

After our safari, we meandered along the Africa exploration trail. Eliza enjoyed going through the trails and seeing the fish.

Next up we took some photo pass pictures. Eliza found a leaf that she found so funny!

We asked for a magic picture, too.

And one with her grandparents.

I checked the times and saw that Pocahontas was meeting, and since she was the last princess in our book, we were on a mission to meet her! We took a huge circle to find her—a very inefficient method—but finally did find where she was tucked away. We then split from my parents who went on to do their own thing. We had a nice meet with Pocahontas, and Eliza almost knocked her over!

After meeting Poca, we had a FP to meet Safari Mickey and Minnie. Eliza had such a great time with them! They played with Simba and really spent a nice chunk of time with us.

After a great MnG, it was time for lunch!

Cont. in next post.

 

[familyabgar]

AK Cont. and Coral Reef​

It was on my list for us to eat at Flame Tree BBQ after reading about the large portions and good food. We won’t eat there again. It was just “meh.” We did take a nice break while eating before heading over to the Boneyard playground. Eliza was in heaven here. She could have played all day.

We liked it, too, but she was getting very tired and we had an important date with a mountain!

We headed over to meet up with our family for Expedition Everest. We used our FP and got a rider swap and ended up riding twice in a row. It was awesome!

While we were riding, my dad and sister took a very upset Eliza for a walk in the stroller. She fell sleep almost immediately, so they headed to the family center for air conditioning. They hung out there and waited for us and Eliza continued to sleep for quite some time. When she woke, the baby care center CM was instructing everybody that if they didn’t cross the street and leave NOW, they would get stuck there for the Jammin’ Jungle Parade that exited just south. We decided that was ok, and would hang out to watch the parade. What we didn’t realize was that it starts and ends at the same spot, so while we saw the whole thing exit, it was a long wait for it to come back around. It took forever just for the whole thing to exit from backstage! So we ditched the parade and followed it out to the front of the park.

From there, we exited and took a bus back to BLT. We were hot and needed to pack. We also had dinner plans. So, we took showers, packed some, folded laundry, and got ready for our final dinner ADR at Coral Reef.


Once we arrived at Coral Reef we had another very long wait for our ADR. At least 30 minutes passed before our tables were ready. It was packed and had a TON of people waiting outside, too. We also realized that we hadn’t gone to pick up Eliza’s pearl in its setting, either. So while waiting, Gary and my BIL made the long trek to Japan to pick it up. Of course our table was ready while they were gone!

Once at our tables, our server brought out some champagne, which was a nice and surprising touch. But we had to wait for Gary and BIL to return. When they did, something very touching happened. Gary explained that he and everyone else wanted to thank me for planning this trip and all I’d done to bring the family together. They wanted to toast to my work and tell me how much they appreciated it. I was very surprised that Gary and the rest pulled this together (last minute), and also felt like they deserved the thanks as much as I did! For saying yes, reading and replying to my emails, and being such a great family. It didn’t really feel like work to plan the trip! So we toasted, and it was a great moment.

Here are some cute pictures from our dinner:

As for the food at Coral Reef, I had the Rainbow Trout with white beans, arugula, and bacon. It was delicious. While Allears and other menus showed (and still show) a short rib dish that a couple in our party were dying to try, that was not actually on the menu. That was a letdown, but in the end, I do believe everyone was happy with their entrees. We also tried some desserts, including the chocolate wave, and each was very good.

The only major down fall of this restaurant were the mashed potatoes we ordered for Eliza. They looked like they’d been sitting out for a week and were disgusting. They were not the same potatoes served with one of the entrees we received. Weird.

As for the location, Eliza enjoyed watching the aquarium. We were on the second level, but still had a great view. We also got a kick out of the scuba tour going on while we ate! I probably won’t make this a necessary ADR on our next trip, but will definitely go back in the future.

After a very long dinner, Epcot was closed and we took our time exiting the park. We got on the last monorail and headed back to BLT. I laid down with Eliza a bit to get her to calm down and fell asleep with her. When I woke up, there was still some socializing going on in the living room, but I was just too tired. That meant an earlier morning was needed to finish up packing.

Only 1 day left! Continued in next post.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates.

It continues to amaze me how we all have different experiences at various restaurants at Disney. We ate at Tusker House in June and won't go back (and we'd been previously twice and had one good meal and one bad, but June was awful) and we LOVE Flame Tree.

But the pictures of the characters with Eliza are worth the price...just precious.

I do think someone posted a picture of the male lion in another TR I am following who just got back? I'll have to go back and see if I can find it. Sorry the animals weren't as many as in the past...that often happens.

Love the Simba Eliza picked out.

Glad Eliza enjoyed the dig site.

Two rides on EE? One almost killed me in June.

How sweet of Gary to make that toast at your dinner.

LOVE the Chocolate Wave at Coral Reef.

Can't wait to hear about the last day.

 

[familyabgar]

Great updates.

It continues to amaze me how we all have different experiences at various restaurants at Disney. We ate at Tusker House in June and won't go back (and we'd been previously twice and had one good meal and one bad, but June was awful) and we LOVE Flame Tree.

But the pictures of the characters with Eliza are worth the price...just precious.

I do think someone posted a picture of the male lion in another TR I am following who just got back? I'll have to go back and see if I can find it. Sorry the animals weren't as many as in the past...that often happens.

Love the Simba Eliza picked out.

Glad Eliza enjoyed the dig site.

Two rides on EE? One almost killed me in June.

How sweet of Gary to make that toast at your dinner.

LOVE the Chocolate Wave at Coral Reef.

Can't wait to hear about the last day.

Thank you, Kathy! I didn't realize it'd been so long since my last updates!

That's too funny! I really thought we'd like Flame Tree. Oh well! We love Asian food so will try that route next time.

I saw a picture of a male lion recently, too! I wondered if it was a new one or the older one.

We had to ask a CM to check in the back for that Simba. They only had giant ones or some other kind, but we really wanted one just like this. I need to find him, actually. We've lost track since being home!

We love roller coasters so much. We are considering a trip to Cedar Point next summer, just the two of us. We did that for our 2nd wedding anniversary (just celebrated our 8th!) and it was a blast!

He's a keeper!

I will try not to go as long between updates this time, maybe even be done by the weekend! I will wrap up with a mini PTR post about our NYE trip.

 

[azarine]

Loving your TR, taking notes for my princess

 

[rteetz]

Great update! We love Tusker House as well one of our favorite places. I have heard mixed reviews on coral reef and we aren't big seafood people so I don't think we will ever eat there.

 

[familyabgar]

Loving your TR, taking notes for my princess

Thank you! Happy planning!

Great update! We love Tusker House as well one of our favorite places. I have heard mixed reviews on coral reef and we aren't big seafood people so I don't think we will ever eat there.

I think it was the bread pudding I liked so much? I didn't take very good notes, but enjoyed it!

My sister isn't a big seafood eater, but agreed to go for the setting and because of that non-existent short rib dish. They ended up really liking the restaurant anyway, at least. I can see how it isn't worth choosing over other places if you don't intend to order seafood!

Thanks for reading!

 

[familyabgar]

Final Day--Chef Mickey's and MK​

Well, we've reached the final installment of the actual trip. Womp womp. But onward we go!

On our last morning we woke up and packed liked crazy. No matter what vacation we take, I always feel like the last minute packing is inevitable! We called bell services to pick up our luggage for us and we headed over to the Contemporary for our final ADR at Chef Mickey’s.


The wait was not too long for our table, and we were seated right next to the buffet at a long banquette. It was perfect for our party of 10 (my brother and his gf had an early Magical Express ride and missed breakfast). I’ve read mixed reviews of Chef Mickey’s but all of us enjoyed it. The song that played didn’t bother us, it wasn’t too loud, and the character interaction was decent. The food was yummy, too. There were cooks making fresh French toast and pancakes, and to me, these were the best I’d had the whole week. There were also two quiches that were good. I think a final morning Chef Mickey’s ADR will need to become a tradition! Here are some pictures from our character meets (I made DD’s dress, of course!).

After finishing up, we headed back to BLT to settle the bill, check out, and say goodbye to my sister, BIL, and nephew. It took awhile to settle the bill given the issues we’d had at the start of our trip, but eventually it was settled and we were free to head back into MK.

Originally we were not going into the parks on our last day, but decided while there to add a 6th day to our tickets.

I had made FP+ reservations the day before and we were getting VERY close to our Ariel M&G time and no other options were available. So we walked as fast as we could to MK and as fast as we could to the grotto. My mom was having difficulties walking at this point and fell behind and rented a wheel chair with BIL staying with her. The rest of us forged on at a very quick pace. We got to the grotto about 1 minute too late, but we just scanned our magic bands anyway. Mine worked. My dad’s worked. My sister’s worked. Then Gary’s didn’t work. We were all in a bit of shock that ours worked at all and just looked at the CM standing here. He did something to the kiosk and Gary’s light turned green, and he ushered us past. As we were standing there, the line failed to move and up rolled my mom and BIL. For the heck of it, they scanned their bands too (they were at least 5 minutes late at this point), but it turned green! Whatever the CM had done to let Gary’s through, seemed to have worked on theirs, too? Who knows!

We waited in line for quite a bit, despite having a FP+. I had changed Eliza into the princess “upcycle” dress I made her from a t-shirt.

We finally arrived inside the grotto and had a nice M&G. Eliza was still a little shy, but Ariel really liked her starfish headband and princess dress! There was no photopass photographer, which was strange, so our pictures aren’t as good as I would’ve liked but oh well.

When we exited, we planned to move on, but Eliza started freaking out about going under the sea. The stand by line for the ride wasn’t too bad, so we obliged. The stand by line really is neat with the little games! It didn’t take too long and we were back on land.

Afterward, we hadn’t yet ridden the train and it was on our “must do” list. So we headed over through the circus area. I don’t know that we are supposed to do this, but we folded up the stroller and brought it with us. We weren’t planning a return to the circus area. We rode the train to the front of the park, where we had an appointment to get to!


After exiting the train, we made our way over to…the barber shop! I had called and been able to make Eliza a haircut appointment. I popped in to check-in (oooh, the air conditioning felt nice) and it was PACKED in there. It is very small. Thankfully, we had some awesome entertainment outside while we waited from the Dapper Dans. We thoroughly enjoyed their show! So much fun.

Then it was time for Eliza’s haircut. We opted out of the first hair cut package—it really wasn’t her first haircut, and I wanted to save $5! The lady we had was very nice and Eliza did very well. She really liked the pixie dust at the end!

I love everything about this next picture. Our trip as a family was overall so magical and full of joy!

Continued in next post.

 

[familyabgar]

Final Day Part Two​

Afterward, we wandered through the Emporioum to stay out of the heat and popped over to Starbucks to use up a snack credit—any size drink including the biggest (trenti/trenta or something?) is just 1 snack. So I got my favorite iced passion tea lemonade, unsweetened.


Then we headed over to take a leisurely ride on the People Mover. There was a line, but it moved fast. We did have a snafu. For whatever reason, my sister couldn’t get into our car quickly enough and the doors to the tram shut on her leg!!!!! These doors do not just pop right open either. She wasn’t hurt, but they had to stop the whole ride. Oops. So sorry to whomever got stuck in the dark!


Eliza got a little nervous as we made our way through, but she was so adorable. We kept saying “wheeeee!” and she’d do it too. Anytime we had a turn or whatever she’d let out a “wheeeeee!” I wish we could have ridden that all day. It was so sweet.


From there, she was getting tired, so we thought we’d do the Carousel of Progress and hoped she would fall asleep. I can’t remember if she fell asleep during or right after, but Eliza did fall asleep and slept hard for over an hour in her stroller! We missed our final Cinderella FP, so headed over to Frontierland to see if we could get a Dole Whip and Tortuga Tavern. Well, the line for a Dole Whip was super duper long, so we skipped that. Tortuga Tavern had already closed for the day, so mom picked up food from Pecos Bill instead. We had a FP+ for the magic carpets, but missed it as Eliza was sleeping.


Gary and I then walked over to the Friar’s Nook to try the waffle sandwiches. We had the ham and chicken. Each were good in their own way, though, I don’t know if I’d order them again. I just don’t love the savory waffle movement. We stopped by Pinocchio Village Haus to grab a flatbread meal for Eliza. We then met up with my parents, sister, and BIL, who were hanging out eating lunch inside Columbia Harbor House. Eliza woke up and ate some pizza and yogurt.

Afterward, we had her silhouette done in Liberty Square. They turned out nice, but I don’t have a picture!


We still had snack credits left, so off to the Plaza we went for ice cream. Gary got a rice dream root beer float, and I got a good ole sundae. Yum! With ice cream in hand we went up to the castle to watch one last Dream Along with Mickey show. Eliza just loved this show and I can’t wait for her to see it again!

After that we slowly walked down Main Street toward the entrance, taking a couple pictures on the way out.

I was getting so sad that we had to leave, but we had to drive back home and it was already late in the afternoon. With one last ditch effort to stretch out the magic, we hopped in line to say Hello and Goodbye to the man himself, Mickey Mouse. I'm tellin' ya, she needs to be in a "this is why Disney is worth your $$$ ad"!

We had another great M&G with Mickey. We then stopped and used the last snack credit we had on a bag of popcorn. Eliza then ran away from us back toward the flag pole area in Town Square—she didn’t want to leave either!

Finally, we exited the park and got on the monorail. As if it was meant to be, the sky literally unleashed with the first rain/downpour of our trip. Within seconds of boarding our monorail. It was so funny that it waited until that moment—thanks, mother nature! We got off at Contemporary and made our way quickly through the walkway (getting a little wet!) to BLT. Gary braved the downpour to pull around our car and we got changed into clean travel clothes for the long drive ahead.


It was time to say goodbye to our beloved BLT and even more beloved family. My sister, BIL, and mom were headed back to southwest Florida, while myself, Gary, dad, and Eliza were driving north. With our goodbyes said and a few tears shed, we drove off, though we first had to drop off our stroller with Contemporary Bell Services. Then we were off.


We ended up driving until 2:30am before stopping just north of Atlanta to sleep. We were back on the road the next morning by 9am. Phew. Eliza did ok, but we were all tired and a little bummed. We arrived safely home on Memorial Day sometime at night. Gary and I both went to work the next day. Yawn.


Well, that completes my trip report! We had a WONDERFUL trip! I will still post an update with pictures of Eliza’s beautiful princess autograph book. We will cherish that! Also look for a mini PTR post regarding our NYE trip this year. Thanks for reading!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

great Trip Report - thanks for writing it!

That is a really cute dress you made for Chef Mickey's - and glad you see a tradition for the future developing ... definitely think for breakfast having stuff be fresh is key and looks like they had that covered for the waffles and french toast at least

I hear you about the "this is why you should give Disney all your $" pictures => you do all the planning, spend all the money, make all the dresses, etc. .... and then you see their face meeting Mickey or a princess and you forget about all of that and just smile

 

[rteetz]

Wow what a great trip! I agree your daughter should be in Disney ads. It was fun following along and seeing all the adventures and fun you guys had.