A Hop, NO Skip, and Many Mishaps to a Disney Dream

[jenseib]

I was just at Epcot on tuesday, always love having drinks from around the world haha. Also the test track is pretty sweet as well

 

I wanted to get the orange slush one from France this trip, but I just ran out of time. It's a goal of mine for August!

[jenseib]

Wow! Outstanding so far! It took me at least 2 hours to look through this thread from the first page to this page!

 

I can't wait for the next post! It's so weird, we probably crossed each other at sea! I left Port Canaveral on the Carnival Dream on April 2! It funny because I was hoping that the Disney Dream would be docked and leaving the same day we were because I wanted to see it really bad!

 

Looks like you had a great time so far!

 

Thanks for reading. It was such a neat trip. Too bad you never saw us. I loved seeing other ships too, but we were never at Sea during the day, so I never really saw any out at sea...though I think on pirate night I saw 1 or 2 out in the distance.

[jenseib]

I snapped a few pictures as we tried to figure out how to get to Cookies Too.

 

 

 

 

 

We end up going into Spring a Leak later on in the day, but those photos are on the lost card.

 

 

We found a Cast Member and asked how to get to Cookies Too. It just seemed confusing on the map to us….maybe it was that lack of sleep kicking in.

 

She pointed us down the bike trail and told us where to turn. I don’t think she really had a clue, and I would NOT suggest going this way. The Bikers don’t seem to realize that people also walk on this at times and I saw many times near collisions. There is one spot where there is a LOT of people in the area and the bike trail goes right though and the bikers didn’t seem to realize it. Especially the kids on bikes. And the people crossing the trail didn’t realize they needed to look for bikers coming through as well.

 

 

 

We finally found it and went in for some grub.

 

 

I had a little encounter with a rude lady. We were waiting in line with our trays. The line we were in went to the right, but to my left was a fruit area. The lady behind me wanted fruit, and just took the plate off my tray? I was amazed at this and I say “Uh, no, this is my plate” and I took it back. She then got a little snotty and said “Well can you GET me a plate then”…I guess she was too good to wait. I just handed her one and she’s lucky I didn’t bash her on the head with it! LOL!

 

 

 

My favorite Cookies. These were so good and they had them on the ship too.

 

 

I swear I had taken pictures of our plates, so if I did, they are on the lost card. The food was just OK. Nothing great, but edible. Skip would like it, as he loves buffets, but I wasn’t too impressed. This was probably my least favorite meal of the whole cruise.

We got some dessert too, which again was just OK. Disney needs to getter a better brand of ice-cream. Though I think the island version was better than the ships version…which I had also tried at one time, but I don’t remember when. LOL!

 

 

 

After we ate, I think we used the bathrooms…which I didn’t think were too magical either, and headed for a spot on the beach. I think this was a trash can outside the bathroom and when I was taking the picture, someone gave me a weird look, and Mom told them I take pictures of everything. LOL!

 

 

 

After settling in to a spot on the beach, Mom decided it was time to head back for her excursion. We agreed just to meet up later on the ship.

 

Claire wanted a tube for the water, so we went over to the rental place and got one. Only $6 for the day, and it was worth it for the fun she had with it.

 

 

 

 

We then made our way to the water for some fun!

[jenseib]

Now for some fun with the tube.

 

 

 

While Claire was doing tube tricks, I also would randomly shot things I could see. I went in about knee deep. The water in this area was pretty shallow far out. I also found out that this areas sand was not the nice stuff. It was more gravelly. (I’m sure that’s not a real word, but it is now) I kept getting little stones inside my water shoes, but I am so glad I wore them, as I think it would’ve hurt my feet. I heard a few others complain about it as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the Cabana’s area over there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to continually keep taking my shoes off to empty the stones out of them. This part of beach and water was not as pleasant at all on the feet.

 

 

 

And more of the Cabanas.

 

 

 

 

As soon as I took that picture, I noticed Claire’s mouth was near the tube and quickly told her to get it away! LOL!

 

 

 

 

And this is my last picture I have for Castaway Cay. Everything else is on the lost card.

 

 

I do have one short video. I totally hate my voice in this. I sound all nasally. And I have such a goofy laugh.

 

 

After the fun in the water, Claire and I went to Spring a Leak water play area. Claire loved this and played for quite some time. She squealed and ran, and played with many other children. After awhile I told her we had to go, but that stinker kept ignoring me. She just would look at me and give me the devil grin. Finally I acted like I was walking out and leaving her, and she joined me.

 

We headed to Pelican Plunge next. I was NOT about to swim out there and go down the slides, but I told Claire she could and I would wait on the beach. So we went through the Queue, got her lifejacket on and out she swam. The lines were pretty long for this. I was waiting with a few other parents and we would chit chat here and there. Claire made it to the top and made the plunge down! Then swam back to me…..”I want to try the other slide”. Um, I was hot and it was a long wait, but I said OK, one last slide and then we were heading back. So she went back out and did the same slide again. I’m not sure why, as she wanted to do the other, and I really never got an explanation on why she changed her mind.

By the time she got back from her second plunge, I felt like I was thoroughly baked. We had been applying sunscreen all afternoon, but I think we both still were a little crispy.

We had one towel with us, but it was pretty wet, so we went back to our chair to get a dry one, dropping the wet towel off in the bin on the way….and they were gone! The tube was still at the chair, but our dang towel was gone. I was not real happy about that. It was getting later in the day, but many people were still swimming in the area, so I’m not sure why they started the clean up already.

We just air dried then, we had no choice. We returned the tube and headed for the trolley, which was packed! We took a not so relaxing ride back to the ship. Not so relaxing because the row we were in had what looked like a seat facing us, but it wasn’t. I don’t know what it was, but it had marked on it clearly that it was not for passengers and not to put stuff on it…but a whole family sat on it anyways. And there was no leg room for any of us and the one kid actually stood on the ledge thing on way back.

Claire knew it wasn’t for passengers because we had talked about it before, and she kept asking why they were sitting there. I said I don’t know…and they had to have heard us. But I also wondered why no CM’s had said anything before taking off too.

 

Anyway…We got back to the ship and headed back to our room to freshen up and Mom was there too. She said her Glass Bottom boat tour was wonderful and she was so glad she went. She also said the CM had told them that today had been the 1st real nice day at CC since the Dream had started sailing there, and many of the CM’s were enjoying it just as much as the guests.

 

We got showered and ready for the nights show. We also did our packing as it was our last night. I went to start a load of laundry. We wanted some things to wear again later in the trip. I found the machines very confusing. They are small front loaders. I don’t have a front loader myself, so it took me a bit to figure out what to do. I swiped my card for payment ($2) and it did nothing, so I swiped again and that time I was able to get it to work. I later found out I was charged for both swipes, but I never had it adjusted. I didn’t want to wait in line for $2.

 

I think at this time, Claire and Mom also finished up the 2nd Detective Agency Mission. Something that Claire was NOT going to forget about.

Claire and I went up on deck to get a drink. At first I was just going to get a lemonade, but then I decided to go for it and get a Frozen Mango Margarita. It was really good, so I ordered one for Mom as well. We also decided to get a virgin Raspberry/Strawberry daiquiri for Claire. We got them all in souvenir cups. I think with an extra tip added (the guy was really helpful and nice) the bill came to almost $40 for 3 drinks!!!

Claire and I took the drinks back to the room and sipped on them while finishing up packing and getting ready for the show.

I also moved the laundry to the dryer at some point and time, and Mom had checked it once and added another cycle as one didn’t quite dry them fully. She said she had the same problem and had to swipe twice as well.

Here is another reason I didn’t care for our room steward. We had been left 1 customs form, but we needed 2 since we were two different families, so at some point and time we had to go down and get another one, which actually turned into 2 times because I misplaced the one Mom went and got…only to find it later on. LOL!

Before we knew it, it was time to go to the show.

 

We again sat in the Balcony, in the same area we had for the two previous shows. Tonight’s show was called Believe.

 

It was a nice show, but again, I still liked Golden Mickeys better.

 

 

The guy who played Genie also was the same guy who had played Hades the night before. He was pretty funny again in this role.

 

 

 

 

As you can imagine, the Mary Poppins portion was one of my favorites!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture is awful, but it was so cool how the chimney sweeps came out of the chimney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

The Princess and the Frog segment was really good as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On to the Finale!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were sad that this was our last show of the trip. We had really enjoyed seeing them, and Disney puts on such great productions and the costumes are just amazing.

We headed back to our room again. We had to be sure every last thing was packed and we had what we needed till tomorrow morning and then set the suitcases outside our door.

We took a different route back to the room. One area that I don’t believe I had been through as of yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Did you know that there is not enough life “boats” for everyone? They also have life “Rafts”. I learned this on a past cruise. I guess they can’t carry enough big sized life boats, so they have the rafts too…I don’t know all the “real, technical” info on why though.

 

 

We went to walk in a side door and came across this cute area. I mentioned that I never had seen it before, and Mom told us that she has sat there the day before and read her book for awhile. I took a couple of pictures, the first wasn’t so great,… but at least Claire’s eyes are open. I would really like the 2nd one IF Claire’s eyes were open!

 

 

 

When we got back to the room I found something that really made me NOT like our Cabin steward.

For those who don’t know, as you walk in your room there is a little slot on the wall. You put your KTTW in it and it will then activate the use of the lights and all electronic ports. This is a pain, as you need you KTTW card every time you leave the room. I had learned on Dis that you could use any type of magnetic stripped card in the slot. That way, if you have something charging, or whatever, you can keep it going when you leave the room. So the 1st day I had put a Gift card in the slot and we left it there. The 2nd day I had used some of my gift cards towards my onboard account, so I switched it out to a used card. Thank goodness I did that.

When we came back to the room that evening, my gift card was gone. Mom said a few times she had come back to the room to find it had been lifted so it wasn’t activating anything, but never moved. We did a quick look around the room and it was just NOT anywhere. Now it was used, so I didn’t worry about, but it did IRK me. He didn’t know if it was used or not. I don’t know if he had to use his own card in the slot and removed ours and forgot to put it back, or if he just plain out stole it. I kept meaning to report it, but I never did have the time. And though it did make me mad, it wasn’t like I was thinking about it at all times either. We had so much going on that I soon forgot about it, actually. But it left a bad taste in my mouth…if you know what I mean?

 

I decided to do a quick run up to the top decks. I wanted to get a picture of Donald’s rear end…and I hadn’t done it yet, so I thought I should before I forgot to.

Here is a Deck 7 directory.

 

 

 

And there he is in all his glory! LOL!

 

 

 

Our last sunset at sea.

 

 

And a walk through Cabanas to get back to my room.

 

 

 

 

Not long after I got back to the room we got a knock. I opened the door and was handed back our pillowcase and tote bag that I had dropped off the 1st day for signatures. I had totally forgotten about them. They turned out FANTASTIC!

 

 

[jenseib]

It was getting close to dinner time so we headed that way. We also set our bags outside the door before we left. We debated on doing it after dinner, but just in case we ran late, we decided to do it then.

We saw the many people were lined up for pictures this night. I thought we could stop after dinner, but when we were done everything was already packed up. I guess they pack up early since it’s the last night and they need to get all the pictures out for people to buy.

 

Dinner was Animators Palate.

 

 

The décor was just so cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These bulletin boards turned into video screens after a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took some video here and there, hoping to catch if Crush talked to us. That early video is on the lost card…..but the good news is, that during this dinner I changed cards so I have some video from later on in the meal. We also never were talked to by crush, which disappointed Claire. She did love this “show” and was mesmerized.

 

 

 

 

 

I see a hidden Mickey!

 

 

We discussed the kids club again and Claire decided she would give it a try, but once Crush had appeared that totally went out the door.

 

 

 

My specialty drink……Princess delight. It was non-alcoholic and tasted wonderful!

 

 

And soon our appetizers arrived.

 

 

 

 

And they were delicious!

 

Claire’s main meal came at the same time that our soups came.

 

 

 

Every so often a Nemo character would float by on the screen. And Crush would come by every so often as well.

 

Soon the main course arrived.

 

 

Mom and I both got the same thing.

 

Claire’s ice cream arrived soon after.

 

 

Dessert was a hard choice, as usual. It all looked so good.

 

 

This Sundae was amazing! It had those wonderful chocolate chip cookies in it. I could go for one about right now!

 

The show continued. Srdjan and Brent also told us not to leave till it was over, so we stayed in place.

 

 

 

 

While waiting for the fun to start, I took a few more pictures.

 

 

 

Soon a fun show started up with Crush. He wanted to call attention to everyone who was celebrating something. I had TOTALLY forgotten that when I had called to request a 4 top table that they had asked if we were celebrating. I had told her we were kind of celebrating Claire’s birthday belated, since we had to postpone the trip and that it was also my birthday gift, and that Skip was celebrating his 50th in May. I never thought to change it over to Mom when I changed the reservation…her b-day is in May as well.

Soon Srdjan and Brent came out with birthday buttons for Claire and I and a yummy mousse type cake. I took a picture of the cake and accidentally deleted it later on…another mishap.

But if you watch the video you can see it on the table.

Crush led us in some sort of chant. I honestly didn’t pay attention too much. Claire liked it, and I was surprised that Mom was really getting into it too.

I videoed more than what I am posting, but it was on the other card and I switched in the middle of the chanting.

 

 

After all the excitement we headed out. Many people still lingered in there, but we like to keep moving.

 

Here is a copy of the kids menu.

 

 

These little light up Dalmatians are on the floor of the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

We headed down to the Atrium. (bad picture here)

 

 

The Atrium was pretty much empty at this point in time so I tried to get some shots of Claire on the stairs….of course none turned out great…most had a slight blur to them.

 

 

 

 

 

We started to make our way back to the room again, stopping off for another picture.

I told her to lay down here and pose…and this is what I got.

 

 

I told her to sit up and let’s try it again.

 

 

I tried a couple more, but they just weren’t turning out with the lighting and I was rushed a bit too. All of a sudden several people decided to walk down this hallway.

 

We got back to the room to find another towel friend. See Claire’s hand in action…she is going for the chocolate and I am telling her to wait.

 

 

 

We also found that our Cabin Steward had NOT brought down the bunk bed this evening. Why I don’t know. I am guessing he didn’t want to put it back up the next day when he had to prepare the room for the next set of guests. I asked Claire if she minded sleeping with me, if not I would call to have it pulled down. She was OK with being in my bed, so we didn’t bother calling.

 

Now I can’t remember the exact order of what we did the rest of the evening, but I know I left the room a couple of times. One time Mom and Claire went off to do some last minute shopping. I know I went and got a copy of our room charges and one for Mom as well. I wanted to be sure most was covered and not much put on my credit card.

I also took these pictures somewhere along the line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claire came back from shopping with Adda and had gotten a little prize. She’s a good con artist. She got one a Minnie figurine set with the little plastic dresses…kind of like Polly pockets. The thing is, she has this same set already at home. We got it last trip. But she told me that some of the pieces were missing and if you left Minnie naked, she looked like Mickey, so now she would have Mickey and Minnie. That girl is always thinking. There was also something else Claire wanted, but Adda was NOT buying it for her. She said she would use her own money if I took her, so we headed out again.

I also forgot that Mom had bought Claire a watch the 1st night of the trip. Claire loved it and wore it off and on, but I can’t even tell you where it is now, but she probably knows.

 

We stopped at Shutters first, since I wanted to get some prints. Mom had a few picked out, and I had my eye on a few. Even though I had bought the CD, the borders do not come on them, so to get anything with a border, you have to buy a print. BUT, since I did buy a CD, the prints were 50% off.

 

I ended up getting 6 prints. Mom and I each got 3.

 

Here is what Mom got.

 

 

 

 

And these are the ones I got.

 

 

 

 

At the gift shops Claire led me to what she wanted to purchase. It was actually something I had looked at the 1st night while she was at the kids club. It’s a stuffed ship with stuffed characters sitting on top. Very cute. It had Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. It was also $40! Claire said she wanted it though and was willing to pay for it out of her spending money, so we got it. But this thing was bulky and big.

This is a picture of it that I had taken when we got home.

 

 

She was very excited to get this and became a very prized possession to her.

 

We got Claire settled into bed then. It didn’t take long for her to go out completely. I made on last trip out, and not sure what it was for, but I found chocolate covered strawberries on the way back. I grabbed 6 and brought them to the room. Claire was out, Mom didn’t want any at that time, so I dove in. The 1st one was YUCK. I was full and really didn’t need more food, but who could resist strawberries with chocolate. But I guess I could, because that strawberry was mushy. I think I took a bite of another and again, not good and I just ate the chocolate and threw it away. The rest went in our mini fridge. I did try one more in the morning and again, YUCK, so the rest went in the trash after that.

 

 

I set the alarm on my phone so I would be up in time to get ready for the next big day and went to sleep very fast. I think I had given up writing in the journal at that point and time.

 

And that ends Day 4 of our trip. Another long, but fun day. I was sad we would be leaving the beautiful ship the next day, but we still had 3 more full days of fun in store for us as well.

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

Halfway though your last post I was getting kinda bummed that this report is comming to an end....BUT then I remembered that your going to Disneyworld! Which I'm very much looking forward to...

 

Very nice report as always. Looks like your mom had a great time....even without your dad!

[jenseib]

Halfway though your last post I was getting kinda bummed that this report is comming to an end....BUT then I remembered that your going to Disneyworld! Which I'm very much looking forward to...

 

Very nice report as always. Looks like your mom had a great time....even without your dad!

Yes, Mom had a grea time. Probably more so because Dad wasn't there. LOL! He is fun and all, but high maitenance, so she got to just kind of go wit hthe flow and do what she wanted to do. He would've had more scheduled things, like doing something in Nassau and she just enjoyed lounging around that day.

[jenseib]

Day 5 ~ April 3rd, 2011, Sunday

 

I awoke before the alarm went off.

I went and looked out the widow to see if we were in Port…and we were. So I quickly got ready and turned my phone back on…no service. I walked up to the top and checked out the service and it was iffy. Not sure if it was taking my phone awhile to adjust back or if the ship was doing something to block service. On departure day, we never had a problem with service, so I found it weird that it was not working well now. I kept trying to beep Skip, but it would lose service. I was able to leave a message on the barn phone and a little later he called me back.

It was nice to hear from him again. He was missing us, that was clear. He even admitted it! Things were going OK at home, but he was having problems with his youngest brother who works for him. (he has since quit and no longer will even speak to any of us at this point and time) Claire got to talk to Skip too at some point and time and was happy to hear her Daddy’s voice again.

I headed up to Shutters pretty early so I could pick up our CD. It was pretty easy to get and I am glad I went before the mad rush.

 

The note for the day was this.

 

 

I think her gift was a muppets writing supply kit.

 

I think I took a few pictures with my phone this morning, but from what I see they are repeats from what I had taken already. I’m sure I posted them to facebook at the time.

We got all ready and everything packed and one last swoop of the room.

Mom had the TV on watching the debark talk playing over and over. She mentioned that they suggested a Porter, and I told her I agreed. Everyone I have talked to have had good things to say about it, so we decided we would get one. We tried to decide on a tip. I said at least $10, and Mom agreed, then she debated and said she would put a $20 in her pocket too and if he was really good, we would give him $20.

We made sure our forms were filled out and we had all our proper paperwork with in easy reach.

I am racking my brain trying to remember what time we were supposed to eat breakfast, but I am drawing a complete blank. I know we were 2nd seating, and it was in Animators palate. I’m thinking it was for 7:45 AM.

We gathered everything up!

 

 

 

 

Everyone had their share of things to carry, even Claire.

 

 

We got to Animators Palate and many people were lined up and waiting. It was kind of like a huge camp out. Bags all over, people lying around, waiting to get in. It appeared that the 1st session was running very late.

 

 

 

We all used the bathroom near there while we waited. It was pretty. I hadn’t ever been in that one before.

Finally they opened the doors and we were let in. They told us that if we remembered where our table was from the night before to just head there, which we did.

 

 

We got settled in and ordered. The strange thing, it was Brent doing everything. Usually we saw Srdjan 1st, then Brent would come around later.

 

 

Claire kept asking where he was. I told her I didn’t know, but maybe he had the day off. She looked hurt. She needed to see him one last time. I think she had a crush on him. She loved how he always called her Princess.

 

And then out of no where he appeared and we had a happy little girl. They got a few pictures together and then he gave her a kiss on her cheek.

 

 

 

At some point and time I had asked both Brent and Srdjan how long they had been working with Disney.

Srdjan was working his first contract, and we were amazed at how good he was and how well he and Brent worked together. I think Brent had been with Disney about 9 years, if I remember right.

Food started to arrive and we dove right in.

 

 

 

 

 

Once done with breakfast we headed out. No need to linger, we had another busy day scheduled.

Mom decided to use the bathroom before we got off, so Claire and I stood with our bags and I gave Dad a call. He was in the area. He had parked at Residence Inn to wait for our call. I let him know that we were now heading off the ship and I would estimate about ½ hour till we were out. He said Ok and we hung up and headed off the ship. It was depressing, but at least we weren’t going home.

 

We walked down the stairs and several Porters were standing there. We said yes, we would like help and a young guy came over to us. He was super nice…and ironically his parents used to live near us. We found our big bags and loaded them all and went through the line. It was long, but kept moving steadily. The porter was super friendly and we talked about several different things while waiting. He told us some stories of things people have tried taking through the line and not claimed. It was kind of funny. And then of course we talked about Ohio and some of his family that still lived there too.

We breezed through customs. The agent barely even looked at our stuff. I mean just a glance at best. We were on our way. I gave Dad a call and told him which pick up number to find us. Our Porter (I can’t remember his name, but I think it was Steve), dropped the bags off in front of that number and we waited for Dad. He was great, so we did tip him $20. Dad had come around once, but since we weren’t there he made the loop again.

Of course as soon as we dropped our bags on the side walk a stretch limo comes and parks there and just sits and waits. And then someone in a van didn’t seem to have a clue what they were doing and just parked in the middle of the roadway.

Dad pulled to the curb, but way down at the other end, as he couldn’t get closer, so we dragged our bags down to the van.

We got the van loaded and I took the drivers seat. I had to dodge some crazy drivers on the way out…like that other van that had just parked in the middle of the roadway and then just started driving without looking to see if anyone was near them….and off to the highway we went. I kept glancing back at my ship. She was so beautiful sitting there, and she looked so sad to see me leave!

I want to say it was around 9:30 when we got on the road, heading to our next destination…..Pop Century at WDW.

About halfway there, Claire needed a potty break, so we found a gas station and stopped. Word of warning, there are NOT many places to stop along the way, so be sure to go before you make the trip. Claire’s tummy was hurting which means she need to go potty or at least give it a try and then she usually feels better, and sure enough, she was back to he perky self as soon as she got back in the Van.

I also was keeping my eye out for a Walmart. I needed to either buy a new CF card, or get pictures put on a CD. As we got closer though, it just became to hard to follow directions to Pop and try to locate a store, so I gave up for now.

 

The drive itself was quite educational. Dad gave us a play by play of his few days with his sister…I am guessing he could be the king of TR’s if he could remember long enough to write one. LOL! And when I say play by play, I mean it took ½ hr to get through to half of day 1 of his time there…including his bathroom schedule…ahem…yes, I learned more than I ever needed to know that trip.

At 10:30 this sign came into view!!!

 

 

And then this one!

 

 

And then this one!

 

 

And then this one!

 

 

We pulled into the parking lot and I went in to check in.

 

 

Claire and Mom also went in with me, and Dad stayed in the van.

 

 

 

The line wasn’t long. I pretty much walked right up and checked in. I had requested 1st floor, 50’s poolside. I asked the girl if that is what I got and she said no, it was in the 80’s. I said, No thanks, that’s the last place I would want to stay, can you move us. So she looked and looked and looked. She really seemed clueless. I told her if I had to, we could wait for a room. It didn’t need to be ready that exact moment. She said she found 1…..in the 50’s I asked, and she said yes. And I said, ground floor, poolside, and again she said yes. She circled the area on the Map. It looked good. Sure, that will work. So Claire, Mom and I went to check out the room.

 

 

We kept walking and walking…it was quite a ways and when we got to the jukebox, I turned right and started looking for the number. That’s the area she circled. Soon we were out of pool range…and then to the end of the row and our number wasn’t even close to these????? So we headed back to the juke box and realized it was down the hallway behind it. Now this is NOT poolside in any way shape or form! We walked and walked…. all the way to the end. We were the 2nd to the last room, right by the parking lot. How far could I possibly get from the pool? Mom told me not to worry about it as we were only staying 1 night here. But it really irked me a lot. I was half tempted to go wring that CM’s neck…and then change it. She obviously was misinformed…..by her own mind! LOL!

I then went to go get Dad. I noticed the 50’s pool was closed , so I guess being poolside wouldn’t matter anyays.

I stopped and got 2 new refillable mugs on the way and filled them up. I got a pink lid for Claire and a turquoise blue for myself.

Dad was sitting patiently waiting. We drove over to the 50’s parking lot and parked near our room. And then hauled all the bags in. We have way too much stuff! LOL!

 

I quickly shot some pictures of the room, so I wouldn’t forget to later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to Pop, we had discussed a bit on what we were going to do. Mom and Dad were going to AK, and then meeting us later at MK for dinner. Claire did not have a hopper, but I did. I had old tickets from way back when hoppers were included and they had no expiration date. I debated on adding the hopper option to Claire’s ticket and going to AK too. But I knew we would probably only use the hopper for that 1 day only, and I was having a hard time justifying the cost to add it. I left the decision up to Claire.

 

After we got settled in, Mom and Dad took off for AK. I kind of forgot that I would have to explain the bus system to them, and really didn’t. I just told them to find the bus stop for AK and go, and when they came to Mk, there would be a bus stop for that at AK.

Claire wanted to swim, as it was getting very hot already.

I told her we could, but only for a short while and she was fine with that. We walked over to the hippy dippy pool for the swim, since the 50’s was closed.

She got a life jacket on and went in. I sat on a lounger a little way back under the shade and called Skip and talked to him a bit, and then wrote a bit in the journal.

I had a family come and sit directly in front of my, blocking my view of Claire. There were empty chairs all over the place, but they decided in front of me was best I guess. And they even moved one chair to make it even harder for me to see her. I moved then, so I could see her.

 

 

I took a few shots from the area too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After about 20 minutes of swimming, I told Claire it was time to get out, so she did a few more swims and splashes and got out.

We ran into these cute little buggers. They were up by the smoking section, ironically. I guess Momma Duck needed a little smoke break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the room and I called Mom and Dad to be sure they made it. They did. They were looking for a spot to eat and said the park was very busy.

 

I gave the choice to Claire and she decided on MK. I knew it would be busy there too, but we would just make the best of it.

 

While I got her changed I quickly plugged my phone in and let it charge for an extra 5 minutes. I had been using it a lot at the pool and it had already lost a lot of the precious charge I would need to get through the day. Once she was changed we headed out to the bus stop and made our way to MK. There were a group of young adults going to. They had just arrived as well and they were fun. The one guy was familiar with DL, but never been to WDW and they were telling him all about it. They also had a Doug plush with them and were taking pictures with it through out the trip. I Love it when people do it. I always say I will someday, (with Claires lovey Penelope) but have yet to do so.

[jenseib]

We arrived at MK and we were both very excited.

I tried to take a picture of Claire and that little bugger tried to pull the stroller cover over her face.

 

 

We stopped for a few photopass pictures as well.

 

 

 

I also had to go and check to be sure that my old ticket didn’t need to be upgraded…and it didn’t.

My first order of business was not really all that fun when we entered. I was on a mission to see if I could buy a CF card. I asked at one gift shop and the guy directed me to the photo center, but he also said he thought the only cards the park sells are the SD kind.

We headed to the photo center and talked to 2 nice photopass photographers working the desk. They confirmed that I could not buy a CF card, but they could put the pictures I had on a CD or DVD. I think they were a little iffy on how to do it, but one girl seemed to know more than the other.

I don’t know why, but they didn’t put both cards I handed to them on the same DVD. I’m not sure if it was possible or not, but I had to get 2 DVD’s one having twice as many pictures as the other. They also linked the pictures to my photopass card. But for some reason when I loaded the cards on the site, about ½ of the pictures were missing. But it didn’t matter, as they all were on the 2 DVDs. I want to point out that I had the option of CD’s too, but they don’t hold as many pictures and it would’ve cost me over $100 to do it that way, while the DVD’s were about $30 total.

 

Claire was anxious to get moving…I don’t blame her, but she was very good while we waited. It took a little longer than I expected.

We then looked at the wait times for the Princesses and Mickey, since they were in that same building. 15 minutes for EACH! Wow….but Claire said no, she didn’t want to see any of them. Bummer…I did!

 

We headed to Tomorrowland then. I wanted to try and get fast passes for Space Mountain. Claire was finally big enough to ride.

 

I never even took a first glimpse of the castle picture. It was hot and busy and I guess I didn’t think of it.

I did turn around and get this one in tomorrowland though.

 

 

We got fastpasses for later in the day. I think around 6:30, but I can’t remember for sure the exact time and I didn’t write it down.

 

Claire declared that she was hungry. I was too, so I said we would head over to find some food. But Claire wasn’t only hungry, she was about to drop dead from starvation. She couldn’t walk another step hungry…You know that hunger….the kinds that kids get sometimes and if they don’t eat soon life is going to be miserable for all around. YEP! That was her. I had planned on going over to Columbia Harbor house for a tuna sandwich, but that planned was scratched right then and there. So we headed over to Cosmic Rays. The closest place to us.

 

 

 

We just randomly chose a Bay and got in line.

 

 

I gave Claire choices and she chose PB&J…??????? She almost never wants this even at home, so I thought it was odd. I double checked and triple checked and she said yes, that’s what she wanted. I debated over so many things. I was hungry, but not super hungry. Did I want to stuff myself or just get something smaller? I finally decided on the nuggets. I should’ve gone with the kids portion. There was WAY too much for me to eat and I threw half away.

The lines were long, but moving fairly fast. We got up to the CM and she was taking the order of the people on the other side…and it was taking FOREVER. They couldn’t make up their mind (why didn’t they decide in the long line????) and it was becoming irritating and even Claire was loudly asking why we hadn’t ordered yet…remember she was about to die of hunger….

Then they changed out CM’s and of course cash drawers, etc. The new CM goes to the next person in line on the other side!!!! WAIT!!! It’s our turn next!!!!!

 

Luckily those people were nice and told her we were next! We ordered and found a friendly CM up at the counter.

 

 

 

We found a small table down near Sunny Eclipse and had a seat.

 

 

 

Claire was mesmerized by Sunny. She says she doesn’t remember him from previous trips, but she has dance to his tunes before!

 

 

 

Claire ate pretty well, and even had one of my nuggets. We had WAY too many fries. And I could only eat half of my nuggets. I felt bad about wasting food, but I would’ve been sick if I ate it all. I know for this upcoming trip that I will be ordering kids meals here and there when I’m not feeling super hungry, but need a bite……or maybe just Mickey Bars! LOL!

 

After we ate, we decided to head over towards pirates.

 

We stopped for a few photopasses on the way over. This is one of my favorites!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally made the time to get a decent castle picture.

 

 

 

 

Claire decided she “needed” to ride a big ride. So the decision was to head over to Splash Mountain area and check out the waits. Everything looked busy, but I guess we would just suck it up. I took several pictures on our way over. The parade was also getting ready to start, so we had to fight the crowds to get through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Splash Mountains wait was 40 minutes. Claire said to go for it, so we did. I think we had no choice. Everything was pretty busy right now and we would just do a lot of walking in circles if we looked for something with a short wait. So what do you do when you have to wait for 40 minutes…..take about 40 pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I posted this one to facebook from my phone.

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

Claire was very patient in line. It was HOT and long, but she just hung there with me. We chatted a bit and of course I took more pictures.

 

 

 

 

We got one of “those” families behind us ….. close walkers…you know the kind…you take one step forward and they take two. It was a little annoying. The line wasn’t moving very fast, so it wasn’t like I was lagging behind. I had actually turned a couple of times and bumped right into them. I guess they didn’t care, because they didn’t stop hugging us. I just get really annoyed by that. I was hot and sweaty and I didn’t need someone else’s sweat on me. I needed a little personal space.

 

Hey look…a milk can!

 

 

 

And we are getting closer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 40 minutes of waiting…I don’t think so!

 

 

Claire and I got front row! And lucky me sat right in a bit of water.

 

 

And we’re off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got a bit of a splash and I ducked to cover the camera…and guess what, that wet seat got wetter. All of the splash ended on my backside…rear to be exact…which Claire thought was really funny.

 

 

 

I really was enjoying taking pictures as we floated around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it’s been awhile since I have rode this ride…and I have only ridden it about 5 or 6 times in my life…so I can’t remember it all…but I was so wrong here. We got to the part where they tell us to go back, and the guy behind us is telling his kid “here it comes!” And I kept saying to Claire, “ I don’t think this is it. I think we have further to go”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. But luckily I did tuck my camera away before the big splash!

 

 

 

Of course I soon realized this WAS it and I ducked way down and covered all my goods too…. Which of course exposed my backside! I got a little wet again back there. But Claire took all the Splash she could and LOVED it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

 

 

We exited and stopped to look at our picture. I tried to take the redneck version ,but a strong shadow was on each and everyone I took. Here’s about the best of them….and you can see, I am totally ducked down.

 

 

 

We headed off to Pirates. Claire was a little leery about it. She has ridden it every trip, but the last 3 she acts like it might be scary. The line was kind of long. We usually go when it’s practically walk on. I think we waited about 20 minutes.

We saw Pirate Goofy at the entrance and I asked Claire if she wanted to see him first, but she said no.

 

We got in line and guess what….MORE line huggers. This group was a Mom and several preteen girls. The one girl was really close. So much so, that her hair was CONSTANTLY touching me. ICK! She would turn to talk to her family, and it would brush against my shoulders. I tried my best to avoid it, but she would just get closer then.

 

 

 

 

The girls behind us were talking non stop. I kind of listened a bit here and there…it was hard not to when they were so close. Then the one girl….the one whose hair had become my new best friend, mentioned that she thought it was horrible how all these 5 year old looking kids were in strollers. Now for those who know me, you know that I couldn’t let that comment go. I do agree it is each family’s decision, but it also irks me when people cut those of us who use them down.

So I turned around…blew the hair out of my mouth…OK, might be exaggerating there. LOL… and said to the girl…. My Daughter is 6 and we have our stroller parked outside waiting for us. We can go longer days if she has one and we plan to stay till at least 2 AM tonight. I also told her that we don’t normally use it at home, but for trips like this, it was very helpful.

Her Mom piped up them. She said that her DD would be eating her words when she had children. LOL! And she went on to tell her that she was a stroller child as well and they had used the stroller with her for many years on trips like this as well.

 

We soon we close enough to see the boats.

 

 

I think we were in the first row again. We seem to have a lot of luck getting front rows this day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We LOVED the ride. Claire wanted to ride again! I told her we would come back later. We decided to head over towards Space Mountain again. Of course I took a few pictures on the way out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then decided instead of heading to Space we would stop off at the Castle and check if we could 1. Add Dad to our ADR and 2. get in earlier. I have a great Dis friend, Keri. We talk on facebook all the time. Her DD, Natasha, was working at CRT at the time. Keri said that Natasha was pretty sure we could get in earlier than our 9:30 appointment. And it shouldn’t be any problem to add my Dad as well.

Claire and I went up to the desk and did some name dropping. LOL! We let them know that Natasha had said to come early and check to see if both those options were available. They told us that there would be no problem what so ever to add Dad…and to check back after our BBB appointment to see if we could get in earlier. I then made a call over to Mom and Dad and let them know what was up. They were close to being done at AK and were going to head over soon.

 

We decided to head over and see if Tiana was out. She was due out soon, so we got in a fairly short line and waited. We had walked by the Dole Whip stand, and I asked Claire if she wanted to share one with me. I have YET to ever try one. She looked at the line and said no way. LOL!

Of course I took some pictures to pass the time while we waited.

 

 

Soon we saw the Princess and her Man approach the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally it was our turn. I think we waited about 15-20 minutes total, so it really wasn’t too bad.

 

 

I’ll post photopass first because I have those loaded already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More photopass pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

And mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure why Claire is making all these weird faces.

 

 

 

I don’t think Claire wanted to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

Claire seemed to be having a good time with them. They did a lot of talking, but I have no clue what the conversation was about.

 

Next stop was a quick potty break and then we checked in for our BBB appointment. I let them know that we had our own dress and would need to get changed as well. The appointment was for 5:55. We checked in a little early.

I debated on actually doing this. Claire LOVED it when we did it in 2009. But we had limited time in the parks this trip and I wasn’t sure I wanted to try and fit this in as well. Claire talked about it all the time though as the trip approached. She was convinced we would be doing it. So a few weeks before we left I made the call. I figured a later appointment would work for us. At the time, I was going with the assumption that we wouldn’t be eating till 9:30 at CRT, so I tried for the latest possible appointment. 5:55 was the latest they could get us, and it actually worked out great.

I never wrote about it in my PTR, I decided I would let it be a surprise for my TR. I also never told Claire that it was actually booked. I told her we “might” try to do it. So when she got the note in that morning about her appointment, she was very excited.

While we waited I tried to take pictures of the current dresses. I got a few and then it became more crowded and I gave up.

 

 

 

 

 

Claire spotted the crowns and wands. She “had” to have one of each. I let her know it would come out of her spending money and she was fine with that. We told them at the desk and they handed them to us.

 

A few more before getting called back.

 

 

 

Soon we were called back to the dressing room to change.

 

[jenseib]

Warning…. There will be a LOT of BBB pictures……

 

Claire got changed and soon we heard someone ask if we were ready yet. We were almost done, and she said she would be waiting outside the curtain for us.

We put on Claire’s finishing touches and were led out to her chair. I just love Claire’s dress. We got it from another Diser and I fell in love with it when I read her TR. She was selling it as it no longer fit, and I was happy to buy it.

 

 

Claire picked the Diva style again. But this time I was relieved that she picked blonde hair instead of pink!

 

 

I believe they were picking out face jewels here.

 

 

At some point and time the Photopass photographer came over and asked for my card. I told her that I had set it on the work station of the FGIT. She acted surprised, and I asked if that was wrong to do. She said no that was exactly where it should go, but she never had anyone do that before. She wondered if I had been there before, and I said yes. And she thought it was funny. I told her (and the guy too) to take lots of pictures because I had pre-bought the CD and I think they did a fair amount.

 

 

 

And getting started.

 

 

 

 

 

random shots

 

 

 

 

 

If I did this to Claire at home she would be SCREAMING!

 

 

A quick Video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make-up was next.

 

 

 

Nails were done. I think she picked pink paint.

 

 

 

And some eye shadow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her make-up was little dark, but she loved it. I am scared how she will be as a teen with make-up because when she plays dress up at home and puts it on…. it looks horrid! LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

 

A sprinkling of dust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you read my last TR, you will know I am NOT a fan of the cotton candy puff ball on top of the head. In the brochure they show it more spiky, which I like much better, but none of the FGIT will do it that way. So even though my DD is now a beautiful princess I cringe at the puff ball on top.

 

 

 

Time for the royal crown!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now the Sash.

 

 

 

The anticipation is building!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for the Big reveal!

 

 

For those who are not familiar with BBB, They never let the child see themselves in the mirror the whole time. So until she turns Claire to face the mirror she really doesn’t know what she looks like. I always love the look on her face when she sees it for the first time. Photopass can usually capture it pretty well too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claire was VERY Happy with her result!!

[jenseib]

Things were done a little differently this time around. Instead of paying after we were finished, a lady came around and collected payment from you during it. Also, our goodie bag contained less and was not as fancy looking. I can’t remember what all we didn’t get compared to last trip, but I do know there was only 1 nail polish, instead of 2, like they used to give out.

I gave some money to Claire to give our girl as a tip. I think I had her sign our autograph book as well.

The photopass girl asked if I knew about the photo shoot, and I assured her I did and that would be our next stop.

We headed out the door and I gave my parents a call. My phone was low on battery, so I wanted to be sure they would find us in case it died. They were on the monorail over and said they would be there shortly….now I should’ve really listened to that clue. I have never transferred from park to park, so I didn’t realize (I knew it in the back of my head, but never thought about it) that the park buses drop you off at the TTC. If I had thought about that, I could’ve told my parents where the resort bus stop was. I didn’t, and lets just say…when they left the park later that evening they had quite a time getting back to Pop. LOL!

Claire and I went and got in line for the photo shoot then. There were a few families in front of us, so we had to wait.

 

I tired to take a few pictures while we waited, but I kept getting people walking in front of me, so I just gave up.

 

 

 

Soon it was our turn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Claire was finishing up I got a call from Mom. She and Dad were outside the shop waiting for us. I let her know we would be right out. This was kind of nice, because I grabbed Claire while talking and headed out. I didn’t have to have any pressure sales on buying a package. LOL!

 

We found Mom and Dad, and Claire ran up to them to show off her beauty.

 

 

We headed off to CRT then to check and see if we could get in early. Tasha was at the desk…and she recognized me right away. I was impressed. She looked to see if she could fit us in early. While she was looking, Dad kept asking…”can she get us in…do we have to wait…how long before we get in?” UGH!!! I just gave him a look. I had no more of a clue about it than he did. She was looking and I was waiting to see. Luckily she could get us right in. We came in at the perfect time. They were wrapping up the seating for that dinner session.

She told us to walk right in…and we did!

 

For those who have been there, you know you see Cinderella in the lobby first. Since we were just making it to that seating, we didn’t have to wait for Cinderella at all.

Claire went right up to her long lost sister.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed upstairs and were seated at the last table in the line up…right next to the doorway.

 

 

We had Gustuvo again. (sp?) He was very friendly, but I think he was a bit more forgetful this time. He did seem really busy too.

We made our orders.

 

 

Dad wasn’t too hungry for some reason, but he still ordered something too.

 

The appetizers came out pretty fast.

 

 

 

 

Soon it was time for the wishing ceremony. They did not do this last time we were here. I don’t know if that was the norm back then when they used to have the Fairy Godmother for dinner or if we were in just so late that they didn’t do it.

 

 

 

Claire took her wishing seriously

 

 

Snow White was near us and danced a little during the ceremony.

 

 

 

Soon after the ceremony Snow White made it to our table. We were very UN impressed with her. She talked a very high pitched baby talk. I have met a few Snow Whites in the past…and NONE talked like this. My Mom was about to start laughing right then and there and I was holding back my chuckles.

 

Claire liked her though because she kissed her autograph book and made big red lips in it.

 

 

 

 

Ariel was next. She had a baby voice too, but not nearly as bad. But I still found it weird.

 

 

 

 

 

[The SETGO Guys]

 

This is a great Tribute for Al Weiss! (President of Worldwide Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts)

(He's retiring in November )

[jenseib]

 

This is a great Tribute for Al Weiss! (President of Worldwide Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts)

(He's retiring in November )

 

I never even realized that

[jenseib]

Aurora was at Ariel’s heels.

 

 

 

 

Aurora actually forgot to sign Claire’s book. Since we were the last table I gave it to a CM and she ran it back to her to sign. We still had time before the next character.

 

Our food then arrived.

 

 

This was Moms and she said it was absolutely horrid. I think she only took about 2 bites of it.

 

 

 

 

Over all it was a disappointing meal. Dad’s was probably the best, and Mom ended up kind of sharing with him. Mine was just OK. The sauce was weird tasting to me. Claire’s was pretty good though.

 

Dad was amazed at Claire’s hair. He kept asking how her hair got so blonde. I kept telling him it’s normally blonde…but finally we realized he didn’t know there was a hair piece in it. LOL!

 

This was also Mom and Dads first character meal. I think they weren’t sure exactly how it worked…especially Dad. But they got the hang of it and were getting excited as each new princess arrived.

 

Finally Belle arrived. Claire has 2 favorite princesses, Ariel and Belle, though I think Belle might be slightly higher ranked.

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert then arrived. It was good, but not great….why wasn’t it great? ….. Because they no longer serve the Chocolate Buckle! Which has to be one of my most favorite desserts of all time…. I am so disappointed that they stopped serving this. I have tried to find a recipe for this to try to make it at home, but no such luck.

 

 

 

Here’s a copy of the kids menu.

 

 

And the picture we received as part of the package.

 

 

This meal was not worth the price at all. I don’t think we will be going back soon unless they change the menu…or my little one gives me big puppy dog eyes!

 

I was getting pretty chilly sitting in there. I only had my tank top one and didn’t bring a sweatshirt because I had planned to buy a new on in the park.

 

So we headed off to shop. That was a bit trickier than I had thought. The sidewalks were lined up with people waiting for the parade. We weaved our way through and finally made it to the stores. I could NOT find a 2011 sweatshirt. I asked a couple of people and no one seemed to know, or they would send me to a spot that didn’t have any. I did finally find one, but it wasn’t to my liking. It was very similar to my 2007 one, and that is the least favorite one I own…gray and the year wasn’t anything fancy.

 

I asked about the pink one I had seen online, and they told me it had been discontinued in the adult size, but no one knew why.

Dad stepped outside and decided to watch the parade while we shopped. Claire quickly found a baby Marie and HAD to have it, so we purchased that for her and sent her out with Dad. ( I don’t think she really knew who Marie was at that point, but it was really cute)

 

I finally settled on a pink tie dye sweatshirt. It was cute. It didn’t have the year, but I guess I could live with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom picked a blue one very similar to it.

 

Mom and Dad decided to head back to Pop. They told me I could bring Claire back at any time if I wanted to and then go back. I handed my bag to my Mom and just kept the bare essentials on me. The bag was getting annoying. But not as annoying as the camera bag, but I had to keep that with me.

Dad didn’t want to leave till the parade was over, so they finished watching it and then left.

 

We found out the next day that they had taken the monorail over to the TTC. Since they arrived there from AK, that’s where they thought they were supposed to go. They asked someone where to go and they got a rude CM who basically did NOT tell them where to go. So they found someone else who was much more helpful and finally made it back.

 

Claire and I headed over towards Pirates. She wanted to ride it again. Of course I totally forgot about the new castle show…which I had wanted to see…and totally missed.

 

I tried a few lighted castle pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped off to ride the flying Carpets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That little stinker kept trying to steer us into the camels spit and then she would laugh an evil laugh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a lot of fun and continued on our way to Adventureland.

Claire wanted to go on Pirates again!

 

I think this lantern is from somewhere in the Pirates cue…..or outside the building.

 

 

The posted wait was 5 minutes, but we soon came to a stop and noticed the boats were going through empty. A CM made an announcement that the ride was down temporarily. I asked him if he had a guestimate time and he wasn’t sure. It could be 5 minutes or 10 or more. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but mentioned the mist could possibly not be working, or one of the animatronics’ malfunctioning.

Claire and I decide to jump out of line and go to BTMR and then come back to Pirates.

[jenseib]

We came out of Pirates to see that Wishes had started. This is when I realized that I had wanted to see the Castle show prior to Wishes and totally forgot about it. I took a couple quick, on the move, shots as we walked towards BMTR to use our FP’s.

 

 

 

We headed over to BMTR and the FP line had basically NO wait. The regular line was almost just as fast. I did not take a single picture here…..sorry.

Claire and I got the 1st row again. It was fun and fast, but I could tell it might’ve been too much for Claire. I asked her when we were done if she liked it and she said not really, it was too fast. 2 guys behind us started laughing. I then asked, so you still want to try Space Mountain? And she quickly said yes….And the guys behind us really cracked up then.

We decided to check if pirates was running again and then make our way towards Space Mountain.

It was!

 

 

 

We found that they must not have fixed the problems that had shut it down earlier. The mist was NOT there. Claire noticed that right away. And the part where you have pirates chasing around in circles…those we not moving at all. And the last scene with Captain Jack was completely lit up. I should’ve taken a picture then, as that would’ve been a perfect opportunity to get a better shot with more light.

 

It was still fun and unless you really know the ride you probably wouldn’t have noticed the differences.

 

 

We decided to walk over towards Space Mountain and let Claire look at it.

 

We got to the hub and Claire put the breaks on. She did NOT want to try Space Mtn. I tried a bit to convince her to try, but at that time it was a big no. I noticed they were putting up the ropes for the next parade, so I told Claire we would watch that instead. Again, she said no, she had already watched it earlier. I told her she only got to see part of it and it was from far away, behind people. This time we would have a front row seat…and besides I didn’t see it and that is what we were going to do!

She grumbled a bit, but sat down and then was thankful for the rest time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claire jabbered a mile a minute while I took pictures and went through my camera cards.

 

 

 

As you can tell I was trying to get every color of the castle lights.

 

 

Almost 11!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really debated actually seeing this parade before coming down. I LOVE Spectro Magic. It’s my all time favorite parade. I LOVE the music…and just everything about it. I looked at videos of MSEP on You Tube and thought YUCK! The music was horrid. Once the hours were extended for MK that night, and extra parade was added, and I figured I would play it by ear, but would most likely give it a try.

I’m glad I did. I actually kind of liked it. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t care for the music, but it was better than I thought it would be and the floats themselves were great. Spetro will still be number 1 in my eyes though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claire was really enjoying the parade and very glad we had stopped to see it again. She realized she had only seen a small portion before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were really happy with the spot we had. No crowds at all and a great view of everything.

 

 

 

 

 

More pictures to come! I figured since this may be the only time I ever saw this parade, I should take a LOT. Little did I know that I would be back again in Aug of this year.

 

Claire loved all these dresses.

 

 

 

 

Look at that hair! Who wouldn’t want a man like that! LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parade ended. We were happy we stopped and Claire was even happy with my decision. It did seem like this parade is shorter than Spectro though.

I asked Claire if she wanted me to take her back to the room and she said no way, She still had many rides to ride.

We started in the direction of Tomorrowland.

 

 

 

I missed posting these, but I believe these photopass were taken after our dinner and on our way to buy a sweatshirt. They are pretty crappy, but here you go. That’s the tank I bought on castaway cay.

 

 

 

On the way over to Tomorrowland I believe we stopped for these.

 

 

 

 

 

I walked her by Space Mountain and asked if she wanted to ride, and she said “NO WAY”. Darn it. I still held out hope, but it never did happen.

 

That crazy girl talked me into the tea cups. I don’t like this ride at all. I can’t spin…or if I do, I feel very sick. So the deal was I would ride, but we would do everything in our power to NOT spin…and she agreed and followed through, which I was happy about.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed over to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and it had just closed at midnight, so we missed it by minutes.

 

 

We decided to take a spin on Buzz, which was walk on.

 

Neither of us did well, but I did much better than Claire.

I don’t remember who’s score this belonged to…hopefully it was Claire’s. LOL!

 

 

And our redneck shot. We look very determined! Actually I look down right scary. Must be the lack of sleep catching up to me.

 

 

 

 

We headed off towards Tomorrowland Speedway next.

 

 

Claire was tall enough to drive and she was so excited. Let’s just say, I’m glad she has 10 more years till she gets her drivers license!!!!

 

Next we headed off to Pooh!

 

 

I think we just kind of walked through the interactive cue, maybe touching a few things here and there. But there wasn’t much of a line, so we hurried through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was surprised that Claire remembered our ride from 2 years ago. The ride had stopped a couple of times and the lights came on…Claire remembered that and mentioned it a couple of times through out the ride.

We decided to take a walk around the dump shop. I debated on buying several different things, but in the end, we walked out empty handed.

 

 

 

 

 

These were lighted up weeds basically (outside of Pooh), but I thought they looked so cool.

 

 

A quick shot of the carrousel.

 

 

And on to Snow White. This is not a favorite, in fact it has scared Claire in the past, but being that we may never have a chance to ride it again, we decided to go on it one last time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BYE!! Not sure if we’ll ever see you again!

 

 

Claire wasn’t impressed with the ride, and I think she really won’t care that it’s leaving.

 

We came out and headed over towards the castle.

 

 

We saw that Chip and Dale were out and Claire wanted to stop. I believe they were going in for a break, but would be right back out and we waited. I am so glad we did. This was the best character meet we EVER had!

THEY LOVED Claire. They took her and danced with her and played with her. They acted like she was the only person there. They did some funky rock moves, did the chicken dance. Chip decided he was leaving and grabbed Claire to walk away with him. The CM had to scold him, all the while Dale tried stealing away with Claire. They were fighting over her. Claire was LOVING every moment of it and laughing so hard.

The photopass photographer was wonderful and snapped away as well.

 

Warning LOTS of Chip and Dale pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few more Chip and Dale pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was so much fun. I am so sad that the characters will no longer be out during EMH. I always get the best interaction then, though I have to say in 2009 we had pretty good interaction with Chip and Dale as well during the day.

[jenseib]

I tried to take some artsy photos after out meet.

 

 

 

A lady saw me shoot this one and thought it was so neat that I was taking pictures like that. I assured her that they wouldn’t be nearly as neat once I looked at them at home. LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

We headed off to Small World next. Again, no wait!

 

 

As you can see they were sending empty boats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a good time and Claire’s eyes were wide open the whole ride. We actually LOVE this song, but I got in trouble when I tried to sing. I am not a good singer…and Claire reminds me of it all the time.

 

It’s been a few months now, and my notes aren’t clear, but I think we rode this twice in a row just because we could!

 

We left Small World.

 

 

And hiked across the way to Peter Pan. Next to no wait here.

 

 

 

 

I tried taking pictures on the ride, but they are all really bad. It’s just too dark and you move too fast to focus on anything if you do get a sliver of light.

 

We then worked our way over to Dumbo. Of course I took a few shots along the way.

 

 

 

We had a short line to wait in and I shot a few pictures again.

 

 

 

 

While in line the CM told us to come back at 2:45ish to ride. The characters ride Dumbo at night before the park closes. It sounded like an awesome plan….but we were already starting to get tired and it was only 1:40. I wasn’t sure if we could last that much longer.

 

Before we knew it, it was time to pick our elephant….of course Claire picked PINK!

 

 

 

 

It was too dark to take pictures of the construction

 

And then I had Claire get a picture on the Dumbo outside of the ride.

 

 

 

We saw Goofy by the carrousel and got in line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to do Haunted Mansion. Claire was unsure. I told her it was all pretend and just think about that while we rode.

We headed that way!

 

 

 

 

As we got there, we noticed a large group (well large for that time of night) walking up as well. We ended up right in front of them. They seemed like a fun group, but they kept saying how spooky this was going to be. Of course they were joking, and I made sure Claire knew that so she wouldn’t back out on me.

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

Awesome shots of the parade....I especially liked the one of the two evil stepsisters .

[RCFreak]

Gorgeous pictures, I still love the detail in all these updates you do!

[griffonj2022]

This is awesome....Makes me want to go back and spend my money on all of the Disney goods!

[jenseib]

Awesome shots of the parade....I especially liked the one of the two evil stepsisters .

 

Thanks. The step sisters are always hilarious!