Is That Real Chocolate? (May 2016 Trip Report)- UPDATE-2017 INVITE!

[luvflorida]

We didn't get to spend as much time at the Animal Kingdom as we would have liked due to other activities that day, but we did return that night. We had to hurry back to the Beach Club so that Megan could attend a half-hour event. While she was doing that, the kids and I rushed back to the room to change clothes for the evening event. We didn't have a lot of time to get ready, and when Megan returned from her blogging event, she had even less time. We kind of left the room in a mess, clothes all over the place, stuff dumped wherever. I would regret the mess when we returned later that night, and you'll find out why!

As soon as we were ready, we walked over to the convention center and got on the busses waiting to take attendees to the Animal Kingdom. Not sure what company the busses were from, but they were used every time we were transported to and from events.

Vanessa on the bus!

We soon arrived at...an empty park! How awesome to be able to take the time to really look at the Tree of Life without anyone else around!

Later that night, we would see that beautiful tree come to life! And it was AMAZING!!!! We were stunned to see the animals "move"! But it wasn't dark yet, and we had a lot of other fun activities (and delicious food) to get to enjoy!

Can you read Megan's shirt? It says- I'm having a Minnie-Me! How cute is that!

 

[luvflorida]

Testing picture resizing

 

[ariane37]

I'm still having trouble multi-quoting for some reason so I have to do this the old-fashioned way
We've never managed to see DiVine! I always mean to make a point of finding her and then forget.....have to try again come Nov.
That's so cool getting into AK for a private party, can't wait to read more about it! And I love Megan's Minnie-Me shirt!

 

[luvflorida]

I'm still having trouble multi-quoting for some reason so I have to do this the old-fashioned way
We've never managed to see DiVine! I always mean to make a point of finding her and then forget.....have to try again come Nov.
That's so cool getting into AK for a private party, can't wait to read more about it! And I love Megan's Minnie-Me shirt!

I have VERY limited computer skills, as you can probably tell by my inability to get pics the correct size! And I cannot figure out to delete pics if I make a mistake!

I hope you find DiVine in November!

 

[luvflorida]

Thursday's evening event started out with everyone in the streets of Africa. There was live entertainment (singers, dancers, performers) and a buffet-style dinner. Food ranged from seafood and chicken and potatoes, to mini wrapped hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for the kids. I'm sure I'm forgetting half the food items, but I do remember everything tasted delicious!

The kids loved this guy!

Enjoying dinner!

It was dark, so some of the pics aren't too clear.

There were meet and greets with characters from Zootopia. We didn't get around to all of them, but here is Vanessa with Judy Hopps.

There were also toys from the Lion Guard given to the kids. Again, not a great picture!

continued in next post

 

[luvflorida]

After dinner and entertainment in Africa, everyone moved over to Asia for desserts! Yum!

There was a variety of ice cream, popsicles, cream puffs, cotton candy and other sweets.

Entertainment in Asia.

Heading out, but there would be one more special surprise!

Everyone gathered around the Tree of Life for a special preview of the Awakening. My photos do NOT do it justice! It was absolutely beautiful (and at times, a bit baffling!). Slowly, and one at a time, we'd see an animal "move". At first, we were stunned to see an animal carving appear to lift his head or another animal to stand up. I mean, we KNEW the carvings couldn't possibly move, but the effects are so well done that it looks like the animals really move!

The show ended with a projection on the tree of movie clips of animals from select Disney movies.

The Tree of Life Awakening was fascinating to watch. It really did seem as though the tree came to life! After the show, everyone headed back to the busses and back to the Beach Club. There would be one more special surprise back at the room for the kids.

 

[luvflorida]

day two continued

I mentioned in my last post that we had left our hotel room in a bit of a mess when we left to catch the bus to the Animal Kingdom. I'm normally a very neat person, but we didn't have a lot of time to get over to the convention center. I figured it didn't matter, though. Nobody will see the clothes and other stuff strewn all over the room, right? Well, what I didn't know was that surprise "room drops" are a part of the DMMC event. While everyone was attending the dinner/entertainment at the Animal Kingdom, someone from the DSMMC went around leaving a surprise for the kids in each room. What an awesome thing to do for the little ones!

When we returned to our room at the Beach Club, we saw these sitting on the day bed!

It was such a nice surprise and the kids loved them! Each of them went to bed snuggled up with their new Mickey! A magical end to a wonderful day at WDW!

DAY THREE

Day three started with two separate breakfast events. This was the day that Megan would spend in conference sessions, from morning until about 4:30. She headed out early in the morning with the other bloggers/social influencers to attend a breakfast event at Hollywood Studios. The grandkids and I would attend a special breakfast event held for all the family members of the social media attendees.

The grandkids and I left soon after Megan. We walked from the Beach Club over to the Boardwalk and to the Atlantic Dance Hall. There was a table set up outside the entrance where everyone was given a cardboard tile and a choice of three different crayon colors. The instructions were to decorate the tiles using only the colors we chose and color the entire tile trying not to leave any white spaces. We would find out what all the tiles were used for at the final event on Sunday. We took our crayons and tiles and entered the Dance Hall to find a table.

But first, a meet and greet with two characters from Inside Out!
Vanessa dancing and meeting Joy and Sadness.

Harry was a little shy, but soon warmed up to them.

While the kids decorated their tiles, I rounded up food for us. The breakfast was buffet-style and there were a lot of options to choose from- scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, home fries, waffles, toast, muffins and more.

Harry wasn't at all interested in coloring his tile, but he did enjoy his food!

Carter's finished tile.

Vanessa with her flower tile.

In addition to breakfast there were other activities going on in the hall. There was an area set up on the stage were all the kids were encouraged to go up and be filmed giving a Happy Mother's Day message that would be shown at the Mother's Day breakfast on Sunday. Upstairs was an area for any of the girls that wanted to be a part of a special film concerning princesses and empowerment. Disney's Dream Big, Princess was a prevalent theme throughout the DSMMC, encouraging girls to follow their dreams, be confident, set goals, be anything they want to be. Vanessa was excited to be filmed talking about her favorite princesses!

Vanessa did a great job! I also have this on video and if I figure out how to post it, I'll include it in my report!

Here she is with a wand, sprinkling pixie dust on the camera!

The breakfast event was a lot of fun and the grandkids and I really enjoyed it. From the Dance Hall at the Boardwalk, we headed over to Hollywood Studios. It was a nice walk along the waterfront and it wasn't long before we reached the entrance to Hollywood Studios!

 

[luvflorida]

I haven't had a chance to update my trip report due to another Disney trip. My husband and I just got back from a four day trip to Disneyland. A few years ago we started a tradition with our oldest grandchild, Carter, where each grandchild gets to have a special summer-before-Kindergarten-trip to Disneyland with Grandma and Grampa. We took Carter in 2013, and if you're interested in reading about that trip, here is a link to it: http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-four-year-olds-touring-plan-this-ones-not-in-the-books.3124405/

This summer is Vanessa's turn! We left on Friday, June 3rd and returned home on Tuesday, June 7th. We had a wonderful time! Here are a few pics from our trip:

It is such fun to have one-on-one time at Disney (or anywhere!) with a grandchild! Like we did with Carter, we let Vanessa do a lot of the planning and let her decide what she wanted to see and do. She's not as big a fan of CARS as her younger brother, but we did all want to ride the new Rollickin' Roadsters in Cars Land. It's really a cute ride!

Princesses were big on her must-do list, so we did a princess lunch at Arielle's Grotto in California Adventure. It turned out to be one of our favorite character meals that we've done over the years. I loved how each princess was presented and then made the rounds to each table. It was very organized and less hectic than other character meals we've done. And the food was excellent! Vanessa met Arielle, Beauty, Rapunzel, Snow White and Tiana. A few pics:

We also did the Breakfast with Minnie and Friends character meal at the Plaza Inn at the Disneyland Resort.

Minnie kept coming back to our table, which Vanessa loved! I've found Minnie to always be delightful and very animated at this particular character meal.

First time we've seen Pinnochio at the Minnie and Friends Breakfast. There seemed to be a ton of characters on this morning!

We saw three parades over the weekend, experienced a lot of attractions and ate ice cream every day! LOL!

We had a great time and in two years, we'll be doing it again when our youngest grandchild goes off to Kindergarten!

 

[luvflorida]

Okay, back to THIS trip report! We were headed over to Hollywood Studios after the breakfast event.

It was a short walk over to Hollywood Studios, taking us maybe ten/fifteen minutes. The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day! The walkway over to HS runs along the waterfront and we saw several birds, water fowl and a few rabbits. Nice scenery!

I was a little nervous letting Harry run loose along the areas without barriers near the water, but he stayed right with us. At one point he was carrying a couple of little Lion Guard animals and was eyeing the water, so I decided to put the figures in the stroller. He does like to throw things! Even doing that, we somehow returned to our room later with a few less animal figures than we set out with. So, if anyone finds a Lion Guard toy lying on the ground in or near Hollywood Studios, it's yours to keep, courtesy of Harry!

I mentioned earlier that while we were enjoying our family breakfast event at the Boardwalk, Megan and the other social media attendees were at their own breakfast event, which was held at Hollywood Studios.

The attendees got to listen to several inspirational speakers, and got a behind-the-scenes look at Rivers of Light and a few new upcoming Disney Jr. shows. Some of the featured speakers- George A. Kalogridis, President of Walt Disney World Resort, Suzanne Todd, Producer of Alice Through the Looking Glass, Lindsey Collins, Producer of Finding Dory, Nancy Kanter, Disney Jr. Channel, Mark Renfrow, Walt Disney Creative Entertainment for Rivers of Light Show, Theron Skees, Walt Disney Imagineering for the Disney Springs Project, and Michael Roddy-Show Director for Creative Entertainment for Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. Social media attendees were also shown the first thirty minutes of Finding Dory, and were told not to spill any secrets about the movie!

A few more pics from some of the sessions. I believe these are costumes from the Rivers of Light Show.

Costumes from Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Stormtroopers!

Rivers of Light

I know the attendees also got to meet several Star Wars characters. Here is Megan with her new friend!

 

[luvflorida]

Day Three continued

The grandkids and I arrived at the entrance to Hollywood Studios around 10am.

Carter: "Now these are literally stick figures!"

Right away, we came across these guys!

Now this was the day that it was just me and the three grandkids for most of it. I decided it would be easier to do the parks that we could walk to (or take the boat) from the Beach Club. I also didn't want to do any attractions that would require me trying to make sure all of us got on and off without incident! And, swimming was out, because I just wasn't comfortable trying to keep track of all three in or around water. So we spent the morning seeing shows and meeting a few characters. Like I said before, we would all return later in the week to Hollywood Studios and the kids would get to experience an entire day of attractions with Megan, Daniel, Larry and me.

On this morning we saw the Disney Jr. Stage Show, then Harry and Vanessa met Jake from Jake and the Pirates. Carter wasn't interested in meeting Jake. "I met him when I was four. I'm over him now."

Harry and Jake.

Vanessa with Jake. Now this is where the first of my three questions at the beginning of my trip report gets answered! I noticed that Vanessa kept staring at Jake before and after she had her picture taken with him. I didn't know why until I heard her wonder aloud, "How can he keep his eyes open like that for so long!?!?" It just struck me as so funny, because she knows they aren't real characters, yet somehow she was really puzzled over his big eyes!

We took a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard and stopped to listen to this "movie director" as he commented on the people walking by. He was hilarious!

Time for a snack and a refreshing drink from BB8!

Soon after, we left HS and headed over to the Boat launch to take the boat over to Epcot.

Next up: An afternoon of fun at Epcot!

 

[Heidi Lou]

Your grandkids are absolutely adorable! Looks like an amazing trip so far....and the idea of bringing each kid on a special trip before kindergarten: AMAZING IDEA!!! What a special memory that will be! Look forward to reading more!

 

[ariane37]

I enjoyed the pictures from Disneyland! I've only been there once, back in 1995. Love that Pinocchio was at a character meal! And I still can't get over all the cool things Megan got to do as part of her conference, makes me want to start a blog lol!

 

[nenglim]

i am all caught up. following along! that is a great idea doing a special trip before kindergarten!! I am too late now to do it with my children, maybe I can modify it to special trip before college. Hoping they still want to vacation with mom to disney by then!

 

[luvflorida]

Your grandkids are absolutely adorable! Looks like an amazing trip so far....and the idea of bringing each kid on a special trip before kindergarten: AMAZING IDEA!!! What a special memory that will be! Look forward to reading more!

Thank you! We are having so much fun as grandparents! And, it's really special when we get to spent one-on-one time with each of them.

I enjoyed the pictures from Disneyland! I've only been there once, back in 1995. Love that Pinocchio was at a character meal! And I still can't get over all the cool things Megan got to do as part of her conference, makes me want to start a blog lol!

We've done the character breakfast at the Plaza at least three other times and this was the first time we've ever seen Pinocchio there. He was very lively and hamming it up!

Yes, Megan and the other bloggers got to see and do a lot of things that the general public doesn't get to experience- lots of behind the scenes information. I'm sure I'm leaving out things, too. I'll have to ask her what I'm forgetting!

i am all caught up. following along! that is a great idea doing a special trip before kindergarten!! I am too late now to do it with my children, maybe I can modify it to special trip before college. Hoping they still want to vacation with mom to disney by then!

Thanks for following along! I'm hoping they'll remember these trips when they're older. I always take many, many photos, so that should help them remember! A special Disney trip before going away to college sounds like a good idea to me!

 

[luvflorida]

Day Three continued:

The grandkids and I took the boat to Epcot and headed to the United Kingdom for our first adventure.

Carter and Vanessa were excited to try the Phineas and Ferb Agent P's interactive adventure game, so we went right to the station set up in the UK.

Here they are receiving their instructions and special phone. The cast member was excellent with the kids, taking the time to really explain everything to them and making sure they understood their "mission". He was actually quite funny and cracked a lot of jokes. I don't think the kids understood a lot of his jokes, but they laughed anyway!

Here are the secret agents following a clue that lead them into a shop. Both kids loved when they found clues and pressed buttons on the phone that caused objects in shops (or outside) to interact in some way- open/close or move or lights to shine, etc. They thought it was the best thing ever when they made objects move or make a noise, causing unsuspecting people in the shops to look around and wonder what was going on.

Where to next? They look quite serious here!

The game took them about 45 minutes to complete. Harry fell asleep in his stroller at the start of the game, which was good because he was due for a nap and he was too young to really get anything out of the game. So he didn't really miss out on anything, and it allowed me to focus on helping the other two when they needed it.

When they succeeded in saving the world (or at least the UK!) from evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, their last instructions lead them to a secret deposit box for the phone.

Mission accomplished! Good job, special agents!

We were at Epcot during the Flower and Garden Festival and I figured this would be a good afternoon for the kids to play at one of the Play Gardens. We went to the Musical Playground where there were interactive chimes, xylophones and other musical instruments among slides and climbing structures.

The kids had a lot of fun!

Harry woke up from his nap, so he got to play, too.

After playing, it was time for lunch! We had to stop along the way and take in the gorgeous scenery! So beautiful!

We enjoyed a relaxing lunch on the patio at the Electric Umbrella. Harry was especially fond of dessert!

 

[luvflorida]

Day Three continued-

After lunch, we walked around Future World and back toward the UK Pavilion. The flower and garden character topiaries throughout Epcot were amazing to look at! I'm not sure, though, how much of this one Carter could see, as he has two Mickey stickers stuck on his sunglasses! I took more pictures of the topiaries on another day, and I'll post them when I get to that day in my report.

We stopped at Club Cool where the kids tried samples of soft drinks from other countries.

It was time for us to head back to the Beach Club and meet up with Megan, and get ready for the DSMMC evening event. The grandkids and I walked back to the BC, but we had time for one more treat along the way!

"Yay! Let's go get a treat!"

 

[ariane37]

I absolutely love Epcot during Flower & Garden, it's beautiful
My boys did an Agent P mission last Nov. when my oldest was 13, I was glad he was still interested. They did the one in Germany and besides the Mexico one, I thought it was the coolest we've done. I think we've done 5 countries, but never UK. We'll see if they're still interested this November and maybe we'll try it!

 

[jwwi]

I am loving your TR. Your grandchildren are adorable, and you sure look like you are all having so much fun with one another! Can't wait to read more about your perks from the convention, it truly is magical so far.

 

[luvflorida]

I absolutely love Epcot during Flower & Garden, it's beautiful
My boys did an Agent P mission last Nov. when my oldest was 13, I was glad he was still interested. They did the one in Germany and besides the Mexico one, I thought it was the coolest we've done. I think we've done 5 countries, but never UK. We'll see if they're still interested this November and maybe we'll try it!

A few days later, they did the Agent P mission in France which turned out to be a bit frustrating. They still enjoyed it, but the clues were harder to follow and it took a lot longer to find the different locations, even with help from some of the cast members from France. It took the grandkids longer to complete the mission, and Vanessa was starting to lose interest in the game. It was also hot and everyone was getting hungry, which I'm sure added to the frustration!

I am loving your TR. Your grandchildren are adorable, and you sure look like you are all having so much fun with one another! Can't wait to read more about your perks from the convention, it truly is magical so far.

Thank you so much! There were a few meltdowns here and there, but yes, everyone had a great time! The perks were amazing! I still can't believe all the wonderful activities, food and gifts that were a part of this conference/celebration!

 

[luvflorida]

Day Three continued-

The grandkids and I left Epcot and walked back to the Beach Club. We would meet up with Megan later that afternoon, but we had one more stop along the way.

Mickey Bars on the beach! We got them from Hurricane Hanna's, near the pool/beach area, and found a shady spot in the sand to sit and relax and enjoy our ice cream.

The grandkids were delighted when this duck walked over and joined them. I did not encourage feeding the duck, but he was happy to grab any chocolate morsel that fell onto the sand!

Usually I'm quick with the wet wipes, but this time I didn't care! Enjoy that Mickey Bar!

Note: I hesitated to even post the above pictures. After the horrific event that happened a few day ago, on the beach at the Grand Floridian, these pictures on the beach give me a completely different feeling. Granted, we were on the beach in broad daylight and not close to the edge of the water. However, never once did I think of the possibility of alligators being in the area. I cringe looking at the weedy area behind the grandkids. Never once did I think of snakes, or any other dangerous wildlife, being in the vicinity. Knowing what I know now (what everyone is now more aware of) I would not have gone anywhere on that sand with the grandkids.

I am heartbroken for the family that lost their beautiful little boy. I can not imagine the pain and heartache they are going through, and I will continue to keep them in my prayers and thoughts.




After our ice cream, we went back to our room to clean up and wait for mom to arrive from her day of conference sessions.

Yay! Mom's back!

We had just enough time to hurry back to the room, change our clothes and head over to the convention center to catch the bus that would take us to another exciting dinner/entertainment event. This one was held at Typhoon Lagoon, after park hours. It was, by far, my favorite event of the DSMMC!