October 7-14 2011 WDW with DD6, my Mom, and my Hubby (his first visit finally!)

[RebeccaMcK]

We then headed down towards the FOTLK show area to see if anyone was in the Fastpass return line yet. No one was there, so we went to the character meets nearby in Camp Minnie Mickey. We saw Miss Bunny (Thumper's girlfriend), Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit (those two took up a lot of time goofing off with everyone), and finally Mickey and Minnie in their Animal Kingdom safari gear. We skipped Goofy. Here are the pics:









We joined the people then in line for the FP return for FOTLK and were let in at 4 to get seats. (Michala/offtoseemickey had texted me earlier to let me know they changed their plans and wouldn't be at Animal Kingdom today so they couldn't meet us for this show - we were going to try to get together later instead, some other day, but I texted her on Monday and never heard back....what happened, Michala? Hope you were okay.)

The show was wonderful, and Hubby and Mom really enjoyed it. We sat to the right of the warthog but were in the lion section so we perfected our roars with the chosen girl to lead our section - here are all the pics in no particular order (no flash, from two cameras):

Kimberly wore my animal print scarf (I have a mumu to match but didn't bring it on the trip) just before the beginning of the show:


We were in the lion section:































(more in a bit....Hubby is home now and I need to make dinner, easy and quick but has to get started)

[RebeccaMcK]

More pics from FOTLK.....











Sorry they weren't exactly in order except for the very first one (in previous post) but at least I got them here.

This was our last activity at Animal Kingdom, and I am happy we did everything on our list (even met Eeyore, the last of the Pooh characters besides the rare Rabbit and I guess Kanga and Owl if they exist anywhere for meets, maybe at party nights).

We were at the bus stop at 5:15 to get back to the Poly (bus photo):



and after stopping at the room briefly we were at Kona Cafe to check in at 6:25. They were out of pagers, so we stayed nearby and waited. A pic of the GCH lobby garden area from above (well, second floor and near it anyway):




After a while Hubby went up to see if they had more pagers, and after he was given one it went off pretty quickly. They had a preset menu available that included appetizers even with the Dining Plan, so Mom and I opted for that. She ordered a coconut chicken with salad (also a salad as an appetizer) and some kind of chocolate torte for dessert (it stayed in the room fridge and was never eaten). I ordered pork potstickers as my appetizer and had the shrimp with noodles as my entree (it wasn't very good - the shrimp and noodles were fine but I had to hunt for the shrimp and I don't eat the veggies that took up most of the bowl). My dessert was pineapple upside down cake (which I ate most of, three days later from the room fridge). Kimberly had chicken strips with macaroni and fruit. I think she even ate some of her green beans. Hubby ordered a ribeye steak with potatoes and broccoli. Here is the food porn AND a pic of a cool Lilo and Stitch statue (wooden carving, I think) near our table:













Hubby had some kind of dark beer because the British guy we met earlier in Animal Kingdom (when Mom got her coffee at a kiosk) was from Newcastle and so then Hubby had Newcastle beer on his mind most of the day. They didn't have Newcastle but I think he had a Sierra Nevada. By 8 pm dinner was done and we were all back in the room. But Mom and I weren't ready to end the night yet......(more to come)

[RebeccaMcK]

(Looks like I didn't take any pictures of the desserts, but the server brought them to us in "to go" boxes anyway and they stayed in our room's fridge for a few days. Mom's was some kind of chocolate lava cake, I think, and mine was a pineapple upside down cake. We wound up tossing Mom's cake out on Thursday or Friday but I ate part of mine one morning for breakfast.)

DAY TWO continued (evening/night)....

Before Hubby got Kimberly ready for bed that night, here is how we found her stuffed dogs arranged by Mousekeeping:


And they call it Puppy Love.

So Mom and I got on the monorail at 8:30 to ride over to the Contemporary and look around. We were going to also look around the Grand Floridian but I remembered the fireworks would be starting soon (Wishes at 9) so we just went to the Contemporary (Mom sang "The Sun'll come out tomorrow" quietly along the way, from the musical "Annie"). She laughed the same way I did at the announcement about "take small children by the hand" that I found funny back in May 2010....we both thought, "What, any small children, not just our own?" haha. Mom continued to chuckle every time we heard that on the monorail and buses. I found the balcony spot I'd had in my notes for two years from which to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks - walk past the Fantasia store in the center of the main level of the hotel and out the back door to the balcony (4th floor, I think, same floor where you exit the monorail - and the music comes in on speakers, too, I think). I took pictures of Wishes, but the candlelight setting on my camera worked much better than the fireworks setting (it also worked better with cuisine than the camera's cuisine setting, go figure):


Just kidding....that pic is borrowed from Disney's Facebook page. We weren't anywhere near the Castle.

First, here's the balcony at the Contemporary showing what's there (some chairs, and usually people):










After looking around in the nearby shops we rode the monorail back to the Poly. On the way back to the room Mom stopped near the door to call my dad and tell him what a great time we had at DAK (here is where I took a picture of what she had been wearing under her poncho all day, animal themed - she even had a special animal print purse/bag):



We were back in our room by 9:50. Time for bed. The other two were fast asleep already.

*********************
DAY THREE - Sunday

Today I hit the snooze button when the 7 am alarm on my phone went off, so we got another ten minutes of sleep. Mom snored a bit. I had slept more elevated so I did better. Hubby wore earplugs every night so he never heard anyone (there was one night HE was snoring, so I woke him up to tell him). While getting ready to head to DHS, "Monsters Inc." was on TV so we had it on for Kimberly to watch. Everyone ate cereal but I had the cupcake from the Ohana breakfast dessert as my breakfast. Mom gave me a pair of little silver Mickey head earrings that she bought at Animal Kingdom. They were supposedly for Grandma's caretaker but she had me help pick them out and it turns out, no, they were for me. Later she also gave me a pair of Mickey head hoop earrings (little) with my November topaz birthstone in them.

We were on the crowded bus to DHS at 9 am. Arrived at DHS at 9:17. Mom took a picture of us with Tower of Terror in the distance (before the turnstiles):



It was another rainy day but it was to be our last of the trip. We then we headed off through the rain to get two FPs for RnRC for Hubby and me - the return times were 10:10 and 10:15 (that happened to me with maybe three different FP draws this trip...in the middle the time would change by five minutes...no biggie, we just went with the later return time). Then we left that area and walked through the shops along Sunset Blvd to stay out of the rain. Got in line for the Little Mermaid show at 9:45 and we sat in the back row at 9:55. I knew that this time I didn't want to be down front (like I was in May 2010) - I wanted to be able to see Sebastian the crab and all the other stage floor level characters better. The show was good but short (Kimberly likes it and Mom hadn't seen it before - that's the only reason I had it on our list this time):







At 10:20 am we got in line for Great Movie Ride (not the best/wisest thing to do in the morning hours, but there wasn't much else around at the time and this got us out of the rain). Kimberly didn't want to ride (she didn't like it much last time) so I had Hubby take her over to get Star Tours FPs and maybe try to meet Woody and Buzz over in Pixar Place. He groaned at that (he doesn't like meet'n'greet lines) but he took our ticket cards and headed over there. I gave him my laminated map and the camera. Mom and I saw the movie clip reels in the main waiting area for GMR repeat about five times...this was a LONG line. At 10:49 we got on the ride in the back row. We would have been in the front row, but a girl who should have been counted by the CM when we were all lined up wasn't in her line - she was off to the side on her phone...so she got back into the line and then there wasn't room in that row for two more people to sit. The CM looked around for another row for us and we wound up in the back of the next ride vehicle. No biggie, but sheesh - STAY in the line whether you're on your phone or not. Let the CMs do their jobs more easily. I took some pics on the ride with my Droid phone (no flash):













The ride was okay....gangster/mobster version again for me (I still haven't experienced the cowboy version but I saw it online on YouTube once). I know which parts Kimberly doesn't like....anything dark, really (Alien, Raiders - she's too young to have seen those films and can't appreciate them yet). I only rode this time so Mom would have someone to ride with her. It's worth doing once or twice. It's kind of ho hum after that. Now I'm done, hehe.

At 11:13 we went over to Pixar Place and by then I'd had a phone call from Hubby (he phoned just as our ride was about to start, actually) saying that they got the Star Tours FPs (just two, for him and Mom to ride, as instructed) and decided to ride Toy Story Mania because the wait was listed as 30 minutes Standby. Wow. He definitely had time, because I knew our GMR ride would be long. I didn't have TSM on our list because it's basically a video game ride and Kimberly and I had already been on it once and weren't really into it. But Hubby LOVED it, he said afterwards. He took a few pictures of Kimberly in the queue:

(I took this first pic, actually, while waiting for them:)








While all of that was going on, Mom got a danish and coffee at Hey Howdy Hey Takeaway nearby, and we stood around and waited. At that time I didn't know if Hubby had been to the meet'n'greet for Woody and Buzz (it might just have been Woody at that time, I'm not sure) or not, or if they were just on the ride. Before Mom finished her coffee, she decided to head down to nearby Walt Disney: One Man's Dream and look around while I waited for our other two. It stopped raining for a bit. Hubby and Kimberly exited the ride at 11:45 and I met them, stopped at a restroom and then headed down to where Mom was waiting outside One Man's Dream. She couldn't go in with her coffee. Kimberly scarfed down a granola bar (Nature Valley Oats'n'Honey crunchy two bars) in the meantime and then we went into the exhibit. Hubby kept saying TSM was awesome. Kimberly wasn't as into it as he was (Hubby still has his old Atari video game system and grew up with video games, whereas I only ever played Ms. PacMan and some other games at arcades). Maybe I'll try the ride again some day...to me the only thing that had anything to do with Toy Story was the queue, but I'll give it another shot. I heard DCA's version will some day have Fastpasses (right now it does not).

The exhibit and short movie were good, as always. We were out of the movie by 12:20 and over to the stadium/theater for Beauty and the Beast Live (for the 12:45 show). Got good seats towards the back center. The seating area is covered, so we were out of the rain (which had started up again and was off and on all day). Good show, as always. Gaston cracks me up, even when singing a horrific song like "Kill the Beast" - because he admires his reflection in his huge knife, lol. Sicko. Mom and I both took some pics of the show, but they're probably out of order (actually, after looking at the post later, they seem to be in order)....I'll post them in the next installment.

[RebeccaMcK]

(Note that Kimberly is wearing a Halloween sweatshirt that my mom brought for her OVER her Phineas & Ferb t-shirt, which will make an appearance later in this day's report. We were just concerned with keeping her warm in the rain.)

Beauty and the Beast Live musical pics:























We were close to RnRC so at 1:20 Hubby and I used our FPs to ride while Mom took Kimberly to some shops. With the FPs we were able to walk right up to outside the pre-show area, and at 1:28 we rode. We were done at 1:35 but I missed my chance to get a redneck photo of our ride photo onscreen. I couldn't sneak a picture of it at the cashier's counter and didn't want to buy it either. Oh well. Sometimes the big backpack hampers my getting off a ride and I can't get to the screens in time.

We went over to Hollywood Brown Derby to wait for Mom and Kimberly to catch up to us for our lunch seating (2:25 ADR). It was starting to warm up now but was a bit breezy. Mom never keeps her phone turned on so I could never reach her, and she didn't figure out how to retrieve voicemail messages off her phone until the day before we left Orlando - so my messages to her about "meet us at such and such" or "we're here now, where are you?" were useless. But they eventually came over to us and we checked in at 2:05. Mom took a couple pictures along the way of Kimberly:

Here she is "singing in the rain" (directed by Nana, who loves Gene Kelly):





Meanwhile, I had taken a couple pictures near the Hollywood Brown Derby:





Next up....photos of our lovely lunch inside HBD.

[RebeccaMcK]

Oh yeah, the little Disney bag Kimberly is holding in the photo where she's in front of the Sorcerer's hat....Mom bought her a little bag of Mickey hard pretzels and a "bouquet" of Mickey Halloween lollipops to give our neighbors' kids (three kids on one side of our house and two on the other....I don't normally buy souvenirs for neighbor children, but Mom is a shopper - the kids did enjoy the lollipops when I got home and gave them to their parents for them to have).

**********Continuing on now with the Brown Derby lunch....

We were seated in the Bamboo room at 2:15 (quieter room but without all the celebrity caricatures on the walls, which I missed). Our Fantasmic Dining Pkg let us pick an appetizer, entree and dessert as well as soft drink. Hubby doesn't like salads or most appetizers, so he picked the Blue Lump Crab Cake with Potato Crust, green cabbage slaw, cognac-mustard sauce and remoulade (I have one of the paper menus here so I can type exactly what everything was) for me to eat. I had the Portsmouth Lobster Bisque as well, with tarragon oil and a Brentwood sweet corn-lobster relish (it was yummy). Mom got the Cobb salad (Brown Derby's invention back at the original location in Hollywood, CA) and it was big enough to split so I had a bit of it - it comes to the table unmixed and then a guy comes to mix it up so I took pics before and after. It had finely chopped greens, turkey breast, bacon, egg, tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing. For entrees, Mom got the sterling silver pork chop topped with smoked gouda and apricot preserve served over Napa cabbage, bacon and potato hash with apple cider jus. Hubby and I both got the char-grilled filet of beef with Cotswold butter over fingerling potatoes, asparagus, ugly ripe tomatoes (it says that on the menu) and a broken cabernet-shallot vinaigrette. Kimberly had a double grilled cheese sandwich with apple slices from the kids' menu. They brought Hubby and me champagne with strawberries in the glasses. I don't care for champagne but I had a few sips. We saw the Pixar Pals parade go by at 3 pm (another block party type parade) through the window blinds but none of my pictures turned out very well so I didn't keep them. Here are some pics. First, the server offered to take our picture at the table as a group:



As an anniversary treat, Hubby and I were given champagne with strawberries:


Mom had us try to do a fancy arm twist drink together - see our matching Star Wars shirts?:


I don't really drink champagne...I've never liked the taste much. But I had a few sips and then posed the glass with a bamboo plant on the table:


Here is the lobster bisque:


The lump crab cake:


The Cobb Salad prior to being mixed at the table (it's huge...my sister had this as her whole meal back in May 2010):


The food preparer dude mixing the salad:


Mom with her serving of salad after it was mixed:


Then on to the entrees....starting with Kimberly's double grilled cheese sandwich:


Mom's pork chop:


The filet of beef both Hubby and I had (this is his...mine didn't look as neat):


For dessert, Hubby didn't order anything but he shared Kimberly's vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookie with her (she had gone to the restroom with Mom when it arrived, so he started it without her). Mom ordered the Chocolate Three Ways (dark almond buttermilk cake layered with milk chocolate truffle creme and white chocolate chambord) and it came with two birthday candles in it so our server kept checking to see when she came back before lighting the candles and singing to her (which we all did). I had the citrus honey nest filled with candied ginger blueberries over a lemon cheesecake. Here are the dessert pics:













In one of the above pics, Kimberly is looking out the window....it's because the 3 pm Pixar Pals parade was going on (did I type about that already?). We watched it through the blinds.

Mom has to watch what she says sometimes - she's not as used to it as Hubby and I are. At one point she said, "Oh crap." And Kimberly responded, "Oh crap, what?" I laughed quietly. It could have been worse. We reminded Kimberly she isn't to say that word (she doesn't even say stupid or dumb, she considers them bad words).

It was around this time I discovered that the little ziplock baggie (that had worn kind of thin) containing all my sticks and packs of gum was soaked. All the gum was wet. Later when I got back to the hotel room I separated each piece (they were wrapped individually, of course) and laid them out on a cardboard cup tray from Captain Cook's to let them dry out. Most of them were salvaged (nowhere at Disney or at Orlando airport sells gum, and I needed it for all of us for the flights home).

Some time tomorrow I'll post about what came next on our DHS day....

[RebeccaMcK]

Also, the above pic of Kimberly near what looks to be a stuffed dog.....that dog is a water bottle holder that has a strap to go over your shoulder. My dad used it at Disneyland with us in July, and Mom brought it for this trip. It resembles their English Creme long-haired dachshund Bailey. That's all for now.

[cherylsmike]

I am enjoying your trip report. I love your kamikazie approach to trip reporting. It means I get to actually read it all as sometimes I get distracted by life and don't always make it back to some of them. I especially like the photos of your mom. She shows so much personality in her face in the photos. I am thrilled with you that you and your family were able to share your trip with her.

[WileyCoyote]

Hello Rebecca
Wow - So much to comment on - Ohanas breakfast looks great - we are hoping for a dinner ADR and I cant wait to look round Poly , it looks such a gorgeous resort
You did really well in a rainy AK - its inspired me that touring when wet can be fun ! Love FOTLK - i think it may be my fave ( hmm, but then I do love BATB as well)
Loved the safari pics - we never saw the warthogs - maybe they were in their hideyholes all along

Great day at DHS - certainly not a TGM style of day and hubby did well to get on TSM with only a 30 minute wait eh ! Your meal looks amazing. I am not sure we will do the F!DP deal again - we ate at H&V and its a lot of cash to secure some seating. I am wondering if we will do Fantasmic at all next trip. Maybe a late showing if its on twice a night - i think maybe WoC at DCL will be enough for us ??? GMR - has ANYONE had the cowboy version - we thought it was a bit lame really - up until near the end where it perked up the pace a bit - we had the gangster car and to be honest , it wasnt very good. I dont think we would re-ride , even to get out of the rain !

You all look well and happy in your pics - great quality shots

So sorry to see you didnt catch up with Michala - I havent seen her posting on the Dibb either so I will give her a nudge and see how her holiday went.

I am off work at the moment I was taken unwell last week and got ferried off in an ambulance to hospital with chest pains and a bit of a dodgy ticker so I am on enforced "rest" - which I am finding exceptionally difficult - I just dont sit around doing nothing - its not me - Am waiting for some cardio tests but I think maybe I am just tired to the core - its been an incredibly busy and stressful few months so I think maybe its all caught up with me . You see, I lose weight, take up running and look what happens to me Anyway on the plus side, its given me lots of time to research our holiday so I am going back through your DCL trip and making proper notes

Hope you post more soon - its keeping me company xx

[RebeccaMcK]

Cheryl, thanks - yes, my mom is quite expressive in her photos....and she talks to a lot of people (on the buses, in lines, at coffee kiosks...). I heard she even struck up a conversation with a guard at Orlando airport (after an ordeal with a particular family who was late for their flight and was being quite disruptive). She was on a later flight going home than we were, so she told me about it a couple days later. As for my "kamikaze" touring, lol, yeah - I get a lot done on these trips. But I do it now so the others don't feel too rushed. They know there's a plan, and they know to approach me cautiously about changing the plan, haha. And when I send them somewhere else while I take care of something else in the plan, they know it's for the greater good, lol. One more thing.....I get a little obsessive about reporting the times most things happen, and I know not everyone does that in their TRs....but I like to say what time we enter a line, what time we actually get on the ride and when it ends (or when a show or other attraction ends) because some people might like to know how long things take, given the time of day, etc. I'm so used to doing it that way now that I nearly always have my little notepad and pen in a pocket or otherwise handy when we're in a line or on a ride. The freebie watch that my dad gave me after all my asking him in Disneyland, "What time is it now?" all the time actually broke during our last day in Orlando and I got rid of it. So after that I always asked Hubby (if he had his watch on) the time or else checked my Droid. Draining the battery. And I have all those apps that tell you how long the waits are at all the Disney rides, but I see those as fallible because they're based on users entering the info. Disney doesn't input the info, so I don't trust it. Sometimes there could be a ride I'm checking the wait time for, from across the park, and the last time someone input any data for the ride was over an hour ago. Things change, so I don't rely on the apps - I just go over there and see for myself if it's at that point in the touring plan at the time. It helped that it seemed like moderately crowded days....not empty by any means, but enough people milling about that it seemed slightly crowded but not like the summer months. And they weren't all in lines for things because we found plenty of short waits everywhere. I never saw really long lines at the F&WF kiosks at Epcot, either, even though you'd often see lots of people walking the promenade (and it wasn't the weekend).
*********************
Amanda, wow, I hope you're feeling better! What a scare. I promise I'll keep this TR moving along quickly so you'll have plenty to read while you're recovering (you know I always seem to finish them within a couple weeks anyway). Hubby's wait at TSM was posted at 30 or 40 minutes (I had asked him how long the wait was when he phoned to say they would ride it) but he really didn't keep track of the wait time while they were in the queue. I might have noted above when they came off the ride, and I might have listed what time it was when he called me (but if I didn't, it was right as Mom and I boarded GMR anyway so THAT time might be noted). It's one of those things where he didn't want to wait for a character meet and he saw the ride was "right there" so why not ride it. At least he told me first, lol. TSM had not been in our touring plan; if it HAD been, we would have tried to arrive at the park earlier than we did (I think we got there around 9:30) and made that our first FP priority. So, yeah, this was KIND of a relaxed non-TGM style day (and yet I followed the plan I had written up, and we did everything, even budgeting our time well as you'll see later in the day's report - where I sent Hubby and Mom off to do things like Star Tours and Muppetvision 3D while I took Kimberly to accomplish other things in the plan). The rain sometimes changes things....and normally I wouldn't ride GMR any more but since Mom was there for the first time I figured it was something she'd enjoy and I shouldn't let her ride alone. But now, yes, I'll never bother with it again. Josh is right about a comment he made in a somewhat recent blog post about the GMR's featured movies being a bit out of date and not interesting any more....SOME are good, of course, but the ride could use some revamping.

I'd say definitely catch that World of Color show at DCA when you're there. If you're in Disneyland across the way on another night, then catch Fantasmic in its location across from POTC (its stage is near Tom Sawyer Island, which isn't TSI any more - it's some pirate theme play island I haven't checked out....so they use the REAL riverboat in the show's ending and I think their dragon is probably better than DHS's....HOWEVER, you have to sit on the ground or stand through the whole show because it isn't a stadium or anything with proper seats. Someone kind of has to stake out a spot early and save seats for you if not everyone wants to stick around and save the seats. Keep a blanket in a locker or something and spread it out later to save the seats. Just be prepared for people to maybe accidentally spill sodas or coffee on it at some point.)

I was glad to do the FDP since it was covered on the Dining Plan and was still just its usual 2 TS credits (for Signature Dining at HBD). I like the food there but apparently Hubby did not. We both had the filet of beef, and I like the yummy sauces they spread around the plate to dip the filet into - but Hubby doesn't like special sauces and hence found the beef a bit tasteless (he said later it could have used some salt, and I don't recall if we even had any salt on the table). So he's not really into "fancy" meals like that and we probably won't eat at HBD in the future if he is with me there. Well, even when I was there on my own I opted for Sci-Fi Diner because it was easy to walk up without an ADR and wait for a seating for one. When I told my mom about that place later she said it sounded like fun. I wanted the show package, though, to save us time and let us be seated early for F! but not TOO early - and I know most people opt for Mama Melrose but I like HBD. We'll probably never try H&V.

As for meals Hubby DID like.....he LOVED that 'Ohana breakfast and wishes we'd done that every morning. And his favorite meal of the whole trip (I asked him) was our lunch at Rose&Crown. It was simple and there was gravy involved. He likes gravy, lol. He decided later that he didn't like Epcot very much but he'd be willing to go back for the Future World rides (mainly Test Track and Soarin') and go dine at Rose&Crown before we leave to go to another park (and I'm kind of done with Epcot now, too, which will be covered in Days 4 and 7 of the upcoming report text). Not in a bad way....it's just that we've done everything there now. And Hubby thinks it's boring for Kimberly, at least in World Showcase. I disagree, but I'm okay with leaving Epcot early from now on and heading over to DHS or MK.

I'll just add here that WOW that picture of us in front of DHS (before going in) - that billowing poncho makes me look HUGE! I'm big, sure, but I'm not THAT big. Please know that the poncho never seems to just lie flat; it billows around (especially with my backpack on, and I usually had three lanyard type things around my neck under the poncho (camera, cell phone waterproof bag, and waterproof tickets/cards/money container). In the EE ride photo, the rain/wind was making my poncho come up over my arm (and I was COLD on that ride).

Okay, I'll get back to posting more of our DHS day.

[RebeccaMcK]

First, before continuing with DHS day, here's a photo I forgot to post (or didn't find it in time) - it's just one Mom took of the rest of us waiting in the stadium/theater for BatBL to start. We had just come in out of the rain:


DAY THREE continued....

At 4 pm we were done with lunch and were STUFFED. None of us finished our desserts. We went over towards Star Tours....but along the way we stopped to get some Grauman's Chinese Theater pics (GMR ride is inside but this time we stuck to the outside):



Mom got down on the ground for this Regis Philbin handprint...it was something about wanting the photo to send in to his morning show (I don't know, I didn't understand what she was talking about and I don't watch his show):


She couldn't get up very easily after doing that, so when she spotted Donald O'Connor's hand and foot prints she stood for the photo (Donald was the comedy relief in "Singin' In the Rain," one of Mom's fave movies):


Then we found a couple bust statues to take photos of (Angela Lansbury is my mom's mom's lookalike, or at least she was when they were both younger - and now Angela looks like Paul McCartney, lol - as Hubby says.....and Michael Landon is one of my mom's favorites so she posed with both of those):





I sought those out for her....I knew who was represented there in that "Academy of Television Sciences" area or whatever it's called. Back in May 2010, my sister posed with Betty White's bust and I think I posed with Walt Disney's.

So we moved along to Star Tours and saw that the Jedi Training Academy show was going on, so I took some pictures:





Kimberly is still a bit afraid of Darth Vader (she has seen the first three films, Episodes 4-6 that we grew up with - Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, C3PO, Yoda, Ewoks, etc.) but she felt fine watching him from a distance, and we LOVE the Volkswagen tv commercial with the little boy dressed as Darth Vader trying to use the Force to start up the family pet, the car, etc. It aired first during SuperBowl and then disappeared for a while but came back for the premieres of many new and returning TV shows.

We left that area and headed over to Muppetvision 3D....photos:




Kimberly refused to see the show (she HATES 3D and wearing the glasses), so I told Mom and Hubby to go ahead and see it (they had not seen it before, but Kimberly saw it at DCA in July with me and I've seen it twice now....Hubby told me later he didn't like the show. There are parts of it I don't like, but overall I enjoy it. Can't wait for the new movie in theaters next month.) and I'd take Kimberly over to meet Phineas & Ferb. While we were discussing it, a CM by Muppetvision saw my laminated park map, our ponchos, my cell phone waterproof protector around my neck...she came up and praised us for being so well prepared and gave us each a Minnie princess sticker (I have three of those stickers and I just used two of them to mark the binder edges of my two trip photo albums). She said the thing I had for protecting my phone is the same kind of thing they all use for protecting their 2-way radios at work. They moved the Phineas&Ferb meet'n'greet indoors over to a grey building called the Premier Theater. There is a sign or two to direct you that way, but I got the info from the Muppetvision CM after she gave me my sticker. Got in line at 4:20 for P&F and were done at 4:45. They didn't do anything special in the queue (like they do outdoors, I've heard. I saw the outdoor location set later but didn't take a photo of it.). They played soundtrack music in the background. The characters took a short break while we were in line. Here are the pics:





A CM who was monitoring the line was telling people in front of me how she LOVES Phineas & Ferb and once a week posts the "Little Brothers" song on her brother's Facebook page and keeps sending the Dad song (I think it's one that Dr. Doofenschmirtz's daughter sang about him) to her dad online....she said, "I don't care if it embarrasses them, I love it" and the people she was talking to just nodded and looked around. But I got a kick out of her.

I called Hubby afterwards to see where they were, and he ANSWERED! He said he and Mom were in the FP return line for Star Tours. Along the way, I took Kimberly's picture by a fake snowman near a shop:



And then near Star Tours I had her sit on a movie prop (or whatever it was) for a photo, after a short wait:


We went into the shop near Star Tours to wait and look around. A toddler hit Kimberly accidentally in the eye area with a stuffed light saber (I think a stuffed Yoda was holding it). Just swung it behind himself and it struck her. So, of course she had a meltdown ("I don't like little kids!" she said on the way out of the store, haha). Why is it always her eye?!? I calmed her down outside and we waited there for Hubby and Mom. They eventually came out and we headed over to the Animation Building for the Characterpalooza. We skipped the show/tour for now and just went straight to the characters room. I told Mom to go ahead and do the drawing class without us because Kimberly would get frustrated during something like that (her resulting art wouldn't match what the rest of us would draw, and I wanted to avoid a meltdown). So, Mom went over and waited for the next class to be let in.

(to be continued in next post....)

[RebeccaMcK]

CHARACTERPALOOZA! We weren't there for right when it started (probably around 4:50 pm is when it starts), so we might have missed some early characters.

We met a penguin from Mary Poppins at 5:20.


Then Captain Hook.


Then Gepetto from Pinocchio.


Got in a short line for Pooh (nice setup he has there, replacing Lotso):


...and then met Jafar from Aladdin. This was funny....Kimberly just stood and stared at him, facing him. He gently put his hand on her head and slowly turned her around to face the camera.

I'm surprised Kimberly wanted to meet Jafar; she normally doesn't like him and even had me give our Aladdin movie away to a friend. Yet she likes Aladdin, Jasmine and the little monkey. There was a line for Minnie Mouse we almost joined, but a CM at the end of the line said the line was being cut off because the palooza was about to end (5:40 pm). Stitch was nearby, but we'd already met Stitch at the 'Ohana breakfast and in May 2010 at Epcot. We've met Minnie before, too, actually. Mom phoned me to say she hadn't been into the drawing class yet because people pushed past her and it filled up so now she was waiting for the next one and what should we do. We went over to her and a lady near her said the next class would be starting very soon and she may as well wait (by the door). So she stayed there and we went over to the animation show/tour for 6 pm. Cute Mushu...Hubby and Kimberly liked the show. I've seen it once before. Here's a pic of the stage area before the show started:


At 6:15 we were done, so we waited for Mom in the nearby art shop. She came out with her drawing of Jiminy Cricket, which she gave to Kimberly:




(Mom used to want to be a background artist for Disney a long time ago. She took art classes and was an artist - she has paintings in her house, but never made a career of it. Actually, I shouldn't say "used to be an artist" or "was an artist" - an artist is ALWAYS an artist even if he/she stops doing it regularly. I'm an artist, too. I wanted to go to California Institute of the Arts, among other art colleges I checked out, which is where Disney used to get most of their animation artists - but it didn't work out. We didn't have the money to go and I had no scholarships.)

On the way over to whatever we were going to do next (killing time before the 8 pm Fantasmic), Hubby wanted to go see what the standby wait time was for TSM so maybe he could ride again - so we waited near the hat hub area for him. He came back and said it's a no go...the wait is now 110 minutes. So we ambled over to Dockside Diner (feet were hurting...I was wearing my rubber flip flops today since my sneakers weren't dry yet) near the hub for a coffee and soda break (Mom sure drinks a lot of coffee...I can't stand the stuff. I only drink hot tea once a day, usually). We needed caffeine at this point, so a Coke was good for me. We sat at a nearby table and saw some of the final American Idol show on the big screen - or whatever was leading up to the day's finale anyway. I'm not "into" the show. At 7:15 we headed over to Tower of Terror exit area where the FDP card holders were being let in for early show package seating. We got good seats over on the right but not too far on the edge (more towards the center aisle). I took a picture of the stage area without zooming in, to show how far away we were:



And then some pics while waiting for the show (at some point a Wave was started and it ran through us a few times, fun):




I got the light sticks for $1 a package in the dollar aisle at SuperTarget (DoctorK had mentioned them being there). I even have a couple of sealed bags left over. Be careful tying the ends of the black string that hold them around your neck, though - they're soft and they slip undone a lot. Kimberly lost hers on the way out of the show later and had a meltdown but I gave her mine (which was tied better) and fixed hers later. They lasted a couple days.

I took photos of the show, but they didn't all turn out well - I used the candlelight setting on the camera again so it wouldn't flash but would come out okay. Here are the better shots:






Great show, as always. I love Fantasmic, although the Pocohontas stuff is a bit dated now - I wish they'd shorten that part a bit or replace it with something else that doesn't need updating later. I know the show is closing early next year for refurbishment, but maybe it'll be redesigned a bit, too. I love the part near the end when all the characters come out on the boat, with Steamboat Willie Mickey steering the boat.

On the way out of the park we saw there were free wheelchairs to use to get to the bus stops, so Mom took one and we stopped at stop #12 for heading back to the Poly. Left the wheelchair by a bench there and got on a full bus at 8:49. By 9:15 we were back at the Poly. Along the way on the bus, we saw Magic Kingdom's fireworks near the Contemporary Resort stop. We stopped first at our room and then went to Captain Cook's for a late dinner. Lunch had been so filling we didn't feel the need to snack at all at Fantasmic or elsewhere until now. I got the Hawaiian flatbread pizza again and brought 4 little cans of pineapple juice with me from the room's fridge to make a Dole Whip float with their soft serve ice cream. Hubby had a bacon cheeseburger, Mom had a 1/3 lb burger, and Kimberly had a turkey/cheese sandwich from the kids' menu with carrots, grapes and milk. We were forever saving little bags of carrots and grapes for later but sometimes she ate them with her meal.

Took this pic of Kimberly near the Lilo & Stitch surfboard in the GCH, kind of near the DVC kiosk, before heading back to the room:


We were all in bed by 10:30. Up next, our first of two days at Epcot, a Monday.

[RebeccaMcK]

DAY FOUR - Monday at Epcot

Up at 7 am and by 8:30 we were all on the monorail to the TTC. At 8:50 we were on the monorail to Epcot. As the monorail went around the park first before stopping at its station, I saw the standby wait for Test Track was posted at 5 minutes (it wouldn't stay that way). At 9:10 we were stood in a sloooooooow line for the turnstile but Mom didn't want to walk five lines over to where it was a short line and was moving quickly. The CM at the front of the turnstile was having a hard time getting an elderly couple's fingerprints and ticket cards to work, so we really should have moved. I got a bit grumpy (I'm sympathetic to older people, really - but I wanted to get IN there). Mom decided she wanted to rent a motorized wheelchair for the day (so she wouldn't get too tired for walking around Magic Kingdom tomorrow), so she and the others went over to the area near the front to do that (a little towards Spaceship Earth, near a souvenir stand on the left as you enter the park) while I went as fast as I could over to Soarin' to get FPs for everyone. This was kind of a bad move, a change from my original plan, since I had meant to get Test Track FPs first and probably should have done that after all. After I got the FPs at 9:15 (with a return time of 10:21) I sat to rest and organize my backpack a bit. The clear plastic backpack was nice at bag check lines (only one guy opened it up and searched through it...the others all said "Best bag all week" and patted it down briefly or just looked at it from all angles before letting me breeze through), but it often felt heavy or made my back sweaty.

Real quick, here's a pic from Facebook of the characters at Epcot's Character Spot (something we've never done and probably won't - we've seen everyone before):

I used all of these Facebook Disney photos as countdown posts on my profile page, about every Friday until we left.

I waited for the others over at Test Track, and they caught up to me. By then it was a 20 minute standby wait for TT, and it wasn't time yet for new FPs, so we all went over to Mission:Space. The posted wait time was 15 minutes but it was a walk-on. We went all the way up to the numbered circles for the green (less intense) side. By 9:45 we were done, and Kimberly said she didn't like it. Hubby and I pushed her buttons for her during the ride (she was Pilot). Towards the end of the ride my mom said something like, "I'm gonna kill you, Becky!" but then later she said she enjoyed the ride (what?). Maybe it was "less intense" but not "less" enough for her. Hubby and I could probably have done the orange version easily. We enjoyed the green version. I haven't yet done the orange....this was only my second time ever on the ride. Mom told Hubby he should ride again, on the orange side, but he didn't want to take time away to do it again.

At 9:50 we got in line for Test Track because Kimberly was BEGGING to ride and didn't want to wait for Fastpasses (silly, foolish girl...she's 6 so I'll forgive her). It had a 20 minute wait posted, and it was exactly 20 minutes by the time we got on the ride (after the briefing room). At 10:20 we were done. We love this ride, and this was Hubby's first time - he loved it, too. I tried to film a short video rather than take pictures (I think I took one photo - here is that photo):


....but the video used up the memory card (should have emptied it onto the laptop the day prior) and I had to delete it to make room for the rest of the photos I'd take that day. After the ride, I pulled Fastpasses for it to ride later (11:15 return time).

Test Track, from Facebook:


And Mom took a photo of us in front of the ride sign, since it's our fave ride (she ALMOST rode with us but backed out before we queued up):


We stopped at a restroom (Mom had tea and a pastry from a nearby kiosk while waiting for us to come off the ride) so Hubby could take off one of his two t-shirts (it had been chilly that morning at first but was now warming up...no rain so far I think). On our way over to Club Cool, Mom nearly mowed down some people at a souvenir stand (she's new to the motorized scooter) to look at some pins. She found a Mickey Ears pin with the Union Jack on it (British flag) and bought it. I poked my finger hard while trying to attach the pin to her hat (not with her wearing it)...I'm not used to the Disney pins, and the pin didn't go into the black ears backing - it went into my finger and drew blood. So I went over to a trash can and got out my little first aid kit to dig out a couple Band Aids. Mom said later there's a tiny drop of blood inside the rim of her cloth hat so now she "has my DNA." Haha

It's not 11 am yet so it turns out Club Cool isn't open yet (it opens at 11). So we went over to Soarin' (used the elevator so Mom could stay in her wheelchair until the last minute - the elevator lets out over by Livin' With The Land. She kept asking me what that ride was and I said it's a boat ride through a greenhouse....I haven't been on the ride but that's what it seems like to me, full of veggies I don't eat, kind of boring - so maybe SOMEDAY I'll ride it to check it out but it wasn't in our touring plan for the last three trips thus far. The CM who told us about the wheelchair route for Soarin' also said, "You'll be waiting about 20 minutes right now with the Fastpasses but they're good until 9 o'clock tonight." At 10:50 we got in the FP return line for Soarin' and by 11:15 we were on the ride. ALMOST got seated in B1 but the CM there said the wheelchair couldn't be there (that's wrong, as we found out the next time we rode on a different day and we GOT B1 that time without even asking for it). Mom has ridden Soarin' before, at DCA, but Hubby had never ridden it before. We all loved it, and we were done at 11:25. At 11:30 we went to the Circle of Life show nearby and we were let into the back row of the theater (wheelchair row) at 11:46. By 12:01 we were done, and no one was too bored. I figured Kimberly would like it with the Lion King characters in it.

Here are a couple random pics from Future World:



We then headed over to the Seas Pavilion, where Mom took our photo in front of the fish outside:

I took a pic of just the fish when no one was around - this was actually later in the week but I'll put the photo here anyway:

And of course the Mine Seagulls (Kimberly just calls them Miners):


The line for the Nemo ride seemed too long, so I had us skip it (posted standby wait was 30 minutes) and go to Turtle Talk instead, keeping in mind we had a 1:30 lunch ADR for Rose & Crown over in the UK at World Showcase. Kimberly was bummed we were skipping the Nemo ride but I promised her we'd be back there on one other day and would do it. At 12:19 we were led over to a waiting area outside the Turtle Talk exit doors (for wheelchair patrons) and they let us in at 12:38 to the front row. Kimberly sat down front with the rest of the kids who came into the show but she didn't ask Crush any questions. Some parts were pretty funny. Crush had just told us how old he was (150..."and still young, dude!") and he then asked an older kid if he had a question, so the kid asked, "Um, how old are you?" Crush paused and answered, "You just had a Dory moment there, didn't ya?" I like how any time he asks someone where they're from, if it's not Australia he has never heard of the place. There was a question about swimming, or he asked if one kid could swim fast...and there were a lot of "reallys" in his answer...monotoned 30 or so "really really really really" words before "fast" at the end, over and over. Paused, then said it again, which cracked everyone up. Kimberly has seen Turtle Talk before at Epcot and in July at DCA, but this was Hubby and Mom's first time seeing it. I don't think Mom saw it at DCA before because the one time she went there I don't think it existed yet. Here is one pic:


So, we were done at 12:55 and we headed over to the right side of World Showcase to check in at Rose & Crown's dining room at 1:30. At 1:35 we were seated (before that, I took a Flat Stanley photo or two of Kimberly with Flat Stanley in the UK - the pub's pagers will work as long as you stay in the UK somewhere, so we explored a bit):

Actually, I'm on a page in the Photobucket album that has a lot of the UK so I'll just post them all here:



I had Hubby pose here with his back to me so the picture would show that his shirt says "FBI: Full Blooded Irish" (he's only part Irish, from his dad's side):

Mom watched the World Showcase Players, whom she said were really good (they told the audience to yell out, "Rubbish!" whenever they asked how they liked the show thus far):


More with Flat Stanley:



Mom took that last photo to show just Kimberly with Flat Stanley (no landmarks shown).

(more in a bit, of lunch and whatnot)

[RebeccaMcK]

DAY FOUR continued.....after we were seated for lunch at Rose & Crown in the dining room:

We adults all ordered the Sunday Roast Dinner (roast beef, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and green beans - delicious when you ask for extra gravy/jus....Hubby even said that extra jus made the meal for him; it was his favorite meal on the whole trip):


Kimberly had the cheese pizza off the kids' menu. I didn't take a photo of it. Hubby and Kimberly both said it was good (Hubby nibbled at it occasionally). It took a while to get through lunch. Hubby had what I think was called a Golden (mix of two beer brews) to drink. Mom had a Shandie, as did I (beer mixed with Sprite....mine was more Sprite and hers was more beer, by request. Then she forgot she had to drive a motorized scooter the rest of the day, haha). I think she picked a lager for her Shandie and I had a bitter.

Here's a pic from before the food came, with Hubby making his pint look large:


The kids' menu isn't themed with Phineas & Ferb any more (like it was in May 2010 the last time I dined here); now it's the golden retriever Buddies pups and Cars. Hubby kept saying, "This extra gravy is KEY to making this very good." For dessert, Mom ordered the Irish Whiskey custard (looked like a creme brulee):


I had the Bakewell tart:

...and Hubby and Kimberly both had the kids' Sundaes (vanilla ice cream with side cups of banana chips, chocolate sauce and Mickey sprinkles):


We paid for our drinks with my Disney Rewards card (from Disney Visa) and paid $18 cash for the tip. We were done at 3 pm. Except for it taking so long, we really enjoyed our meal here and would go again in the future. Hubby went on about that roast beef and gravy all day.

We got in line outside to meet Mary Poppins (partway up the path to the bridge, along the right) but then Kimberly suddenly said she didn't want to meet Mary Poppins (she really has only seen the movie once or twice and isn't too into it yet). In the mean time we were listening to the British Revolution rock out down below the path behind the stores in their performance gazebo area (and Mom wheeled down there to watch them more closely - I didn't get closer to watch but they sounded great. Mom took these first two photos):


While in the area, here's a UK Ears hat Mom considered getting but didn't (and we texted this pic to my sister in Texas, who thought it was cute but didn't want it):


So we decided to head up to France (because Alice in Wonderland's nearby meet'n'greet was almost over and we planned to catch her later). Took a Flat Stanley pic en route to France so I could get a lot of France in the background:

After that photo, suddenly Kimberly didn't want to pose with Flat Stanley any more. She got grumpy about it. So Mom and I went on with Stanley pics the rest of the trip. Hmph.
We were turned away at Aurora's meet on the far right of France (courtyard outside) because her time was almost up (Sleeping Beauty), so we instead found Belle and the Beast TOGETHER (she started at 3:15 and he joined her a bit later while we were still in the hot line).


By 3:40 we were done. We don't collect autographs, but Hubby handed me an autograph book that some guy asked him to pass me for Belle's signature (this guy seemed to be stalking the princesses at Epcot...we saw him later waiting for Aurora). I THINK he had a daughter somewhere in line but I'm not sure - Hubby thinks maybe the guy was thinking they wouldn't get through the line in time. So Kimberly had Belle and the Beast sign the guy's autograph book and Hubby found him to give it back to him afterwards.

When we left Belle and the Beast (and I swear this Belle looked like she had just come off the movie screen - she looked JUST LIKE her, in her blue and white village dress), we looked for Marie the Aristocat and found her shortly. Kimberl followed her over to her meet area where there was already a short line forming:
First here is Kimberly marching after Marie:

And then she met her after a very short wait:

Marie had her put up her paws and copy her in the pic.

At 3:50 we were done, and we headed over to the center of France (garden/fountain area) to wait for Mom, who was to meet us by the Eiffel Tower (well, at the time I told her to meet us there I didn't know you could only see the tower from above or in the distance...you can't actually walk up to anything resembling the Eiffel Tower properly). I phoned her, there was no answer. In the meantime I took of Kimberly in her pretty princesses shirt near the matching flowers:


I asked Hubby to take the rewards card and go down to the snack kiosks and see if anyone was selling the GGCLS drinks (Grey Goose Citron Lemonade Slushee, or whatever it is). He brought back two of them and we enjoyed them. Kimberly didn't have any, of course, but I got her picture with them (and it looks like she's drinking one but she's not):


We went over to Aurora's area around 4:07 (empty, but we knew where she'd appear) to wait for her next meet time, and once my cup was empty I let Kimberly keep filling it with water. She entertained herself by trying to seemingly drown a baby snail that was on the ground under our bench. Eventually the Photopass photographer came out and came over to where we were. More people started gathering around, so I stood up and over to the side to keep our place as first in line. Sure enough, that princess stalker dude came over and asked, "Is this where Sleeping Beauty is?"

We were done with Aurora by 4:28 pm. She admired Kimberly's long-sleeved t-shirt and her hat (both of which featured Aurora amongst other princesses):



Mom caught up to us while we were waiting near Aurora - she had been in the France movie, having not found the Eiffel Tower and had been unable to retrieve the voicemail I left her telling her where we were. So she saw "Impressions de France" already and really liked it (I had not seen it yet but I would on our second day there).

We headed back down to the UK and were second in line to see Alice at 4:40. The family ahead of us had been waiting there on the curb a long time. Here is our pic:

Heard more of the British Revolution performing (another set). The memory card from the camera was now full (4:55 pm), so Hubby took it with him - and he and Kimberly left Epcot to head back to the hotel (they rode Test Track with their Fastpasses before leaving...I never did use mine that day). Mom and I stayed on at Epcot and explored more of the UK shops. She bought me a Beatles photo collage that I will frame later for our Beatles themed guest room (here is a pic of it once I got it home safely):

I have since framed it in a silver frame. I've been a Beatles fan since 1982 when I was 12.

(more World Showcase touring in a bit)

[RebeccaMcK]

We went into the O Canada film. Funny, cute show with Martin Short. Mom grew up in Toronto, Canada, after her family left England by ship when she was 2. Her brother Terrence was born in Toronto and he worked there later as an adult in the TV costume/wardrobe field. Toward the end of his short life he worked for Disney, on various "movies of the week" in Hollywood/Los Angeles - before that he worked for shows like Donny & Marie (I have a signed photo), Sonny & Cher, some Canadian and English shows (he lived in London for quite a while), Bob Hope specials (I have Twiggy and Brooke Shield's autographs/photos), Motown Revue with Smokey Robinson (I was an extra on that show once), and some SuperDave Osborne specials. One of the last shows he worked on, I think, was a prime time soap called "Rituals," which didn't last long - Kin Shriner from General Hospital (he played Scotty Baldwin) was on it and he was good friends with my uncle for a while. Kimberly is named for my uncle Terrence (whose middle name was Kimberly - it used to be a boy's name, at least in England/Canada).

We looked around Canada a little more:



Got a Flat Stanley pic in Canada:

....and started with their F&WF booth for a good taste of their cheese soup (Canadian cheddar). I got a Dasani water to drink, too (I'm not into wines, really - just a couple, and no one ever has them). The salmon smelled good (Maple and Moosehead beer glazed, with barley salad), and someone there said it was really good, but we stuck with the soup. Then we wandered around and found the Australian booth where we got both the lamb chop (over a goat cheese potato salad) and the shrimp ("from a barbie" with pepper berry citrus glaze) - both were very good. Near both of these booths we found places to sit and balance the little plates on our laps or on the benches (of course, Mom was in her scooter so she always had a seat). Here are the pics:




Mom had been quite taken with Duffy the bear, so we lined up for her to meet him. Someone behind me in line looked at the storybook pages of him on display and asked who he was, so I told her, "He's Mickey's teddy bear and he has apparently traveled around the world with him all this time yet he only popped up some time last year." Haha. He took a short break while we were in line, even went over and pretended to get his face painted (while the rest of us were thinking, "Uh, isn't he going to go to the restroom or something?") - but he came back:



....and when we were done with him we went over to the Mexico F&WF booth and got the ribeye taco. Yummy but messy. Hard to eat. The chipotle sauce is a bit spicy, so I think I either bought another water now or a bit later. I sat on a step of the Mexico building walkway but not on the part where people could walk up and down (more near the strollers parking). I had a water bottle in my backpack but it wasn't cold. Here is the pic of the open-faced taco:


We saved the rest of Mexico and Norway (although we looked around a little bit, just outside) for when we're going back on the Thursday with Hubby and Kimberly (because of their rides). Went over to see the Chinese Acrobats at 7:15 and sat right up front (we both rested one cheek each on the motorized scooter seat):




At 7:40 the acrobats' show was over (they were good but not great - the girls are more talented than the guys, too, at least from what they did at that particular show. Each show could be different. The girls were contortionists and I don't know how long they were waiting in the red hollow drums before the show started but they seemed to appear from them out of nowhere when the show started). I didn't take photos of the male acrobats. They did stuff like juggling hats...one guy juggled a big hollow cube....whenever someone dropped a hat, though, they seemed to start over from the beginning. I took a Flat Stanley photo in China:


We headed up to the Reflections of China movie and watched that. Done by 8:05. It was alright. Found a restroom on the other side of Norway (they really need more restrooms throughout World Showcase). We found the Scandinavian F&WF booth and got some Swedish meatballs with lingonberries (yummy, but I don't think I took a photo) before looking for a spot to watch Illuminations. We kept heading towards the entrance to World Showcase, and soon enough a guy near a rope told us that we'd be let into the handicapped seating area. The CM nearby heard that and said yes, she'd let us both (the wheelchaired person and I think up to 3 or 4 people with him/her) into the area. So, 40 minutes before show time, Mom backed up her scooter near a rail that I leaned against - and a guy near us said, "Wow, she even looks when she's backing up!" (By now Mom was getting pretty good at operating the scooter.) Mom took a dusk photo:


I needed some caffeine, so I went to the nearest kiosk and got a Coke bottle for me and a Diet Coke for Mom. They didn't accept the Dining Plan there, so I paid with my rewards card. While we waited, my mom phoned my sister Jenn (who went on the May 2010 trip with Kimberly and me) and talked a little while. We saw the show - I forgot there were so many fireworks in the show (I only saw it once before), but otherwise it's so-so to me - I like Fantasmic better and usually don't stick around for Illuminations any more. At 8:20 (before we found "seating" for the show) Mom had said, "Well, can we just come back and see this the other day we're here?" I was like, "No way! We've been here this long, we'll see it tonight - I don't want to be here this late again." So she said, "Yeah, okay." The show was good (but not great - I still like Fantasmic better), and then we made our way out with the masses when the show ended. Returned the motorized wheelchair/scooter at 9:25 and by 9:52 we were at the TTC, where we decided to walk the path to the Polynesian....it took 6 minutes.

Done with Day 4. Are you as tired as I am?

[RebeccaMcK]

For those watching closely, note that my mom is wearing a different hat in the Flat Stanley Canada photo - it's actually from our second day at Epcot and on the Monday we were first there she didn't have that hat yet. Shhhh. I was just on that Photobucket page and felt like putting the photo there in the report. We were in Canada on both days anyway. Now I'll post a bit of Day Five at Magic Kingdom but I'm getting tired and hungry for lunch so I will break shortly (I need to go get some things from the store, too):

*********************
DAY FIVE - Tuesday at Magic Kingdom

We all managed to get up early today, have our breakfasts (I just took cereal bars in my backpack to eat before rope drop), and get to Magic Kingdom before opening time. We killed time towards the back by taking pictures:




Mom's shirt above is from the Disney Store at her mall and it says "Original Mouseketeer."

I took the above photo right after a Photopass photographer took the same pic - he said it was too cute to miss. I'll have to see later if his pic turned out better than mine. I haven't looked at the website yet to see if my Photopass pics are there (didn't pre-buy any CD....I usually just buy the JPG files if I want anything).

Here's another pic of my mom in her new shirt....I think this is the pic that prompted my great aunt (Mom's aunt) to say she looks like her mom (aunt's sister....my grandma often has this look on her face):


Then we caught a good view of the Welcome/Opening show:




We headed in along the right side once the park was open and made our way towards Tomorrowland. First here are some Main Street shots (one is from Facebook, and Mom took the other two pics):

Yep, that's the one I borrowed from Disney's FB page. And for a long time it was my computer's desktop wallpaper.


She didn't take those photos first thing in the morning, they were later on - but this is a good place to put them (while I can find them). Tomorrowland:


Yeah, yeah...the pic above is from Facebook.

I sent the three others off to ride Indy Speedway while I got three Fastpasses for Space Mtn (something we never need bother with again in the future, and I'll tell you why later - I got the FPs at 9:09 am with 9:50 return times). I actually caught up with them in the Indy line just as they were getting into their cars, and I asked the CM if I could go up and ride with my mom (who was riding alone). So he let me go up there and sit with her. I worked the accelerator while she steered....man, is that thing hard to steer. No matter what you do, you keep hitting that center rail. And it'll only go just so fast, no faster. Hubby and Kimberly were in the car behind ours but I took a picture of them from a funny angle at a distance (not bad for aiming the cell phone over my head at them):

And Hubby had the real camera and took this pic of Kimberly before the ride started:


We were off Indy Speedway at 9:20 (I asked Kimberly, "Was it better than Test Track?" She said, "No, I like Test Track better." So I hope she remembers....let's skip this dinky ride in the future and just stick with Test Track and Radiator Springs Racers (Cars Land, DCA). I took these photos later while in the Grand Floridian (tile floor under the pics) but they're of the little license cards the Indy Speedway CMs give the riders so I'll put the pics here:


Kimberly kept her card in her pocket all day and now it's somewhere safe at home, I think.

By 9:24 we were over at Astro Orbitor nearby. Mom didn't want to ride this so I sent her off to ride the more peaceful Peoplemover (formerly TTA). At 9:29 the three of us were on AO, and I took pictures of Hubby and Kimberly in their rocket (all was fine now after the electrical fire that happened there over the weekend prior):





At 9:34 we were done and over in the short line to meet Chip'n'Dale (we'd seen them in their spot before going up the elevator for AO), and Mom soon joined us there:



On towards Fantasyland through the Castle next, when I next post.

[jillyb]

Wow! Great pictures! Looks like ya'll are having a blast!

[RebeccaMcK]

We had a GREAT time, Jill! And on this trip I didn't have any altercations with any non-family people at Disney, hehe (like that time at MK's rope drop in May 2010 when that guy yelled at me for bumping into him while hustling Kimberly to the rest room back near Guest Relations....man, that dude almost ruined my day - and Kimberly's pants if I hadn't gotten her to the restroom in time). Anyway, I have to leave within 30 minutes now to go get Kimberly from school and then watch today's "Ellen" show so if I don't post any more today I will at least post the rest of Magic Kingdom Day tomorrow. I have a lot of good shows on TV tonight (comedies). And except for a couple shows Hubby needs to watch online with me I think we're all caught up on the shows we missed while we were gone on our trip (I try not to fall too far behind....and baseball on FOX kept my FOX comedies from airing anyway - I guess they will now until November 1st).

[MaddiesMom]

Yay! More! :)

[RebeccaMcK]

Alrighty then, I will post more. I'm not cooking tonight anyway (Hubby is bringing home Monica's Tacos....but then what will Monica eat? haha It's a chain) and Kimberly is done with her homework. First, before continuing with the MK day I have to add a couple tidbits. THANK YOU to DoctorK for his tip over on another thread that was going on before I left for Orlando, about putting newspaper inside wet shoes to help them dry faster (while not wearing them)! This really works. Our day at Animal Kingdom on Saturday soaked my only pair of sneakers (Skechers Shape-Ups) so much that I couldn't wear them Sunday to DHS (wore my rubber flip flops instead, which aren't as comfortable and I actually kept slipping out of them on the wet concrete)....so on Sunday I stuffed both my shoes and Kimberly's sneakers (luckily she had an extra pair) with packing paper my mom had from a mug that she bought at a shop (we weren't yet getting the USA Today newspaper at the room; it comes on weekdays to each door). Mom was going to wrap the mug in clothes in the suitcase for traveling home anyway. Well, the wadded up paper inside the shoes ABSORBED nearly all the water (did the same thing on Monday but with real newspaper, in Kimberly's shoes since I was wearing mine by then) and then the paper was still recyclable and the shoes were dry enough to wear again. They leave a bag in your room the first day for recyclable goods (paper and plastic). I recycle a lot at home so I knew what could and couldn't be recycled, so I filled that bag the first couple days and then made my own bag after that (funny they don't give you more, nor do they take the bag again after the first day). Each time I had a full bag (with empty cereal boxes, collapsed, etc.) I marked it with a note to "please recycle" and sometimes left it outside the door so someone would be sure to pick it up. Sure enough, both of the mornings I did that, the Poly staff had just been dropped off by bus or had just finished a meeting nearby and then headed off in all directions to their duties (including through our building) - so someone always picked it up as they passed. AND I tipped Mousekeeping $5 a day. Mom didn't think I should tip them, but I know better. As Hubby says, they handle your filth - they should be tipped. The chair out on the patio never did get replaced (it looked pretty bad, falling apart), but we did at least get more coffee mugs delivered after Mom called a second time. Two mugs in a room with three adults isn't going to cut it, for us having our hot tea every morning.

********************
DAY FIVE continued....Magic Kingdom morning

Since it wasn't time yet to get more Fastpasses but we wanted to be in Fantasyland now anyway (my next FP draw was to be for Peter Pan's Flight), we headed over there - for once I remembered to get pictures of the mural inside the Castle archway.

But first some Castle pics:






Here are two from Facebook:





NOW the mural inside the Castle archway/entry:






The last time I wanted to take pictures of that mural was during my November solo trip when I was using only disposable cameras and when the time came I was out of exposures.

I looked around for where I thought Rapunzel's meet was held....I forgot where it was exactly, so as we went from one end of Fantasyland to the other, examining the castle walls' areas, we wound up pretty close to It's a Small World (which I actually had scheduled for a bit later in our touring plan). Kimberly and Mom wanted to ride, and it had a short line (very short...pretty much a walk on) so we went ahead and rode at 9:50. Nice relaxing ride for everyone. We exited the ride at 10:05 and immediately got FPs across the way for Peter Pan, with a return time of 10:45 and bonus FPs for Mickey's Philharmagic (never used, not needed). The FPs for Philharmagic would be okay to use after 10:05. First we went over to line up for the Pooh ride standby (posted wait was 10 minutes, but it was really only 5 if you didn't stop to play with the interactive queue stuff, and we didn't). I took pictures of the stuff in the queue after I was a level above it in the line:

(first the cool Tree outside the queue)






Some dude on a ride vehicle by himself, but I wanted a pic of the ride vehicle:


Mom had never been on Pooh before - so when she wanted to sit and wait for us instead, I told her she should ride because the rest of us had ridden it before but she had not and it was "her speed" (we rode it at DLand, and Kimberly and I had also ridden it at MK). So, she rode. By 10:18 we were off the ride and then I asked a CM where to find the Tangled meet for Rapunzel, and she directed us around the corner (it's close to the Teacups). At 10:23 we were in line outside the Tangled meet area, and Mom went to nearby Cosmic Ray's for some coffee. The CM told me to expect about a 40 minute wait, which is not bad considering the time of day and the fact that the day we were at Disneyland and wanted to meet Rapunzel (with Flynn Rider) the wait was pretty much 90 minutes all day long (and we skipped it).

The CM went around telling everyone in line that if they had plans to attend the MNSSHP that night to maybe wait and see Rapunzel THEN because she'd be in the front Town Square Theater area WITH Flynn Rider, just in case people would rather not wait now to see just Rapunzel. She explained that once we're all let in, the kids would color pages around the big stone table while the parents would wait along the wall, holding their place in line to meet Rapunzel. Kimberly had fun coloring, and a CM walked around holding a stuffed Pascal (chameleon character from Tangled movie, Rapunzel's pet):







Up next....Rapunzel herself!

[RebeccaMcK]

Tangled's Rapunzel meet continued.....

When it was our turn, Rapunzel admired Kimberly's coloring (she made up fireworks on the back of each sheet, too) and called her an artist (Rapunzel is one, too). I first took a picture of her from the back hugging another child, so I could get the details of how her hair looked from behind:


And then I took pics of Kimberly with her:



DONE NOW! She's checked off our characters list. hehe

We were done by 11, and I took a pic of Kimberly near Pascal on the way out.


Found Mom at an outside table near Ray's, and along the walk back I took photos of White Rabbit and some topiaries near the teacups:




....and the ongoing Fantasyland Expansion stuff behind the walls:
Little Mermaid ride (the part of Eric's castle that looks like a lighthouse seems almost done - it's missing its top)


The top of Belle's realm for Beauty & the Beast (faux castle on top, to look like it's way off in the high rock mountains)


At 11:07 we were in the FP return line for Peter Pan. Rode at 11:09. Great ride, looks better to me (and seems to have more, but I could be wrong) than the Anaheim version at Disneyland (remember I said during that July trip that the lights seemed too dim inside or it could have been my Transition eyeglass lenses were too dark at the time?). Anyway, we all enjoyed it. And now I've FINALLY ridden it at Magic Kingdom (I failed to do so on both previous trips to Orlando).

At 11:14 we were off the ride and over at Mickey's Philharmagic. We were let into the show at 11:22. Kimberly kept protesting she didn't want to see it because it was 3D, but Mom talked her into it by saying she could close one eye and it would look more normal (I tried that myself, and it works - easier to watch that way when it's something short). At 11:34 we were done (this, to me, is the best attraction thus far in Fantasyland at MK). Schedule-wise, it was time to find lunch and avoid the crowds, so I led everyone over to Columbia Harbor House. Kimberly complained that she wasn't hungry - but I knew that once she had her mac'n'cheese in front of her she'd eat it.





I got the lobster roll (sandwich) with chips and chocolate cake (I didn't necessarily need the cake, but dessert is included whenever it's available with quick service meals - Hubby got one too). Mom got the tuna sandwich (Anchors Aweigh I think it's called - I had it in May 2010) with chips, hot tea and a cookie. Hubby got chicken nuggets with fries. Kimberly got the kids' macaroni and cheese with grapes and a yogurt (pictured above). I wound up keeping the yogurt and it never did get eaten (they need more flavors - Kimberly won't eat the strawberry flavor). Here's a pic of my lobster roll....that's not a bite mark; I had gone at it with a fork (eating it "dip" style) before remembering to take a photo:



We sat upstairs but not close to a window, and by 12:25 we were done. Thus ended our morning. The MK afternoon will be in the next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

Day Five continued.....afternoon at MK

That lobster roll was delicious. Not too much mayo. And no tail showing, which I like (I can't eat shell fish unless it's prepared, out of the shell) - so it's different from what you get at F&WF, which I knew beforehand.

We were very close to Haunted Mansion.....when we came out from lunch we were just a building or three away from it, as you'll see in Mom's photo here (it's off to the left in the distance):

So, since Kimberly still won't try this attraction, Mom and I headed over to ride HM (it had a posted wait of 10 minutes) while Hubby took Kimberly over to find Woody and Jessie's meet and greet area in Frontierland (I told him where to look, and it turned out to be different from that - it's actually down past the overhead bridge restrooms near Big Thunder - but he found it). Mom and I headed to the left line for HM that would go through the cemetary, and I took some pictures in the queue (last time I rode it was a dark November night and none of my pictures turned out; plus I think the exterior decor has been redone at least a little bit since then):










One of the graves had a face that kept appearing and her eyes would open and close - I didn't get a picture, but it was cool.

At 12:40 we rode and by 12:48 we were done. This time the line didn't bottleneck into the main entrance near the boarding area like it did in November (that was a big crowd then when I rode it solo). I remembered for us to stand under the picture of the girl with the parasol so we'd be amongst the first out of the beginning enclosed hall/elevator scene.

Mom and I wandered through Frontierland to find the others, and along the way we ducked into a shop. Mom took a pic of me wearing a chipmunk hat:


And we thought it was funny to see all the birds on the roof:






By the time we'd walked all the way up to the very end of the path (past Big Thunder), we still hadn't found Hubby so I phoned to see where he was, and he told me. The bridge area you pass underneath to get to the meet is near the Splash Mtn entrance. He had already pulled FPs for us at 12:33 to ride BTMRR with a 1:10 return. Here are some pics he took of Kimberly while waiting in line, to kill time:








Mom and I waited off to the side of the meet'n'greet area and took our own photos along with the pics Hubby took of Kimberly with Woody and Jessie:








At 1:14 we were done (they're checked off the list!). More to come in next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

At 1:15 we all entered the FP return line for BTMRR. Mom decided to ride (we had a FP for her anyway) since Dad rode it in July at DLand. We boarded the ride at 1:21 and I took some photos:



Does my mom look queasy?

At 1:26 we were done, and along the way down Frontierland's main drag again we stopped at Country Bear Jamboree. This show was not in our plans, but I knew Mom would like to see the show since she hasn't seen it in a long time (it's not at DLand any more - the Pooh ride replaced it). There was a bit of a wait before the next show, so I took everyone's tickets and cut down the quick shortcut walkway towards Jungle Cruise (past Aladdin's Magic Carpets and Tiki Room) and got FPs (at 1:33 the return time was 2:20). By 1:36 I'd rejoined the group and we were let in at 1:45. I took some good pictures of CBJ with my Droid phone (no flash - I love that the Droid's camera is so easy to operate; I just wish it handled action shots better):




















At 2:05 we were done and we went over to POTC to wait for the 2:15 Pirates Tutorial show (which none of us had ever seen). That will be in the next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

While waiting for the Pirates Tutorial, I used a snack credit to get a coke at Tortuga Tavern nearby (no one else wanted anything, and we now had 15 snack credits left in total). I didn't have the camera ready for when Captain Jack Sparrow stumbled out into view from the door near the show's stage, but I got some pics of the rest of the show:










We left just before the show ended to get into the POTC line.


It had a 10 minute wait posted, but it was only 5 minutes (I remembered to get into the line on the right side rather than the left for this one). We were sat in the front row at 2:40 (had to talk Kimberly into riding - she agreed as long as I held on to her for the whole ride) and were done at 2:49. At 2:55 we used our FPs for Jungle Cruise (only a two minute wait with the FPs). The CM/driver was funny, as usual - when we saw the "back side of water" at the waterfall, she said, "The only time you can usually see that is if you hit your head on the faucet." And later she said, "If you plan to stick around later and catch some fireworks, make sure you drop them fast because they EXPLODE." We had to back up a bit before docking (there was a slight delay at the dock so she came up with some more one liners) and then we were off at 3:07. Here's a pic of my group, minus me, on the boat:

Hubby looked away at the last minute; I guess he didn't know I was taking a photo.

I saw there were only about six people in line for Aladdin's Carpets, so we got in line at 3:10 and were done at 3:17 (got spit at by the camel once, when Mom shrieked - I forgot to warn her about that). Took a pic or three:





In the above pic you can see the Tiki Room off in the near distance. We went to the Tiki Room next and were let in at 3:30 (I'm glad the original show is back, and everyone enjoyed it - but now since I've seen it three times since December 2010 I don't need to see it again for a long time). I only took pics of the pre-show thing outside:




At 3:45 we were done, and we stopped at a nearby snack area that had Dole Whips and floats (I didn't know there were two places for this - I only knew of the smaller area over by Ariel's meet near the Adventureland entrance). So Mom and I had Dole Whip floats (I see they make theirs with vanilla ice cream, not pineapple like I'd been doing at Captain Cook's - so after this I started making my own with the pineapple/vanilla swirl) and Hubby had an orange frozen slush while Kimberly had a cup of vanilla ice cream. I used my Disney Visa Rewards Redemption card to pay for ours, and now I had $13 left on it (started off with $125 at beginning of trip).
DOLE WHIP FLOAT, YUMMMMMMMMM:


At 4:14 I got into the Fairies' indoor meet line with Kimberly (25 minute wait posted). It was nice and cool inside, with a screen on the wall showing short fairy cartoons (clips from the movies, I guess) every few minutes. They should show cartoons in ALL the meet lines, to help the time go by more smoothly. At 4:38 it was almost our turn to be let in to the fairies' area, and I spotted Mom outside near a souvenir kiosk but neither she nor Hubby were answering their phones when I called - so a lady near me with her kids offered to watch Kimberly for a minute while I ran out there to tell Mom something. I went out and found both Mom and Hubby and told them they should go on ahead to the Hall of Presidents (since I'd already seen it and I doubted it would interest Kimberly, plus we were running out of time with an early park closing time approaching) and then meet us over at Space Mtn. They agreed and I went back inside and got to Kimberly, thanking the lady for watching her. At 4:40 (two minutes after I got back from seeing Mom) we met the fairy dressed in orange/brown/red (Rosetta? I don't know the fairies' names - we don't have the movies....I know one is Silvermist but this one wasn't her). Tinkerbell was in her fall costume (little cape over her normal outfit) and looked a bit different from how she normally looks. Still, she's checked off the list now - we won't meet her again unless it's a very short wait (and if she has her regular costume on):




So that 25 minute wait was really 26 minutes, no big deal. Pretty decent for so late in the afternoon. More in the next post. We're getting close to park closing time!

[RebeccaMcK]

DAY FIVE continued.....MK getting close to closing time (not staying for MNSSHP):

Kimberly and I crossed the Castle hub over to Tomorrowland, and along the way I got her picture with a Pluto statue. She's holding his paw:


Mom and Hubby, meanwhile, went to the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square and here are a few pics from that area:






At 4:48 we got in line to meet Buzz Lightyear over by Carousel of Progress. He took a break at 4:56 but was back at 5:02 and Kimberly met him at 5:05.


Yay! Now, except for Bullseye the horse (a very rare character now) we have pics of all the Toy Story characters we like (hate Lotso - didn't meet him in May 2010). The Toy Story characters were the only ones on our list in May 2010 whom we didn't meet that trip.

When Hubby caught up to us, we were waiting near the Fastpass Return line for Space Mtn, and at 5:08 there was a 15 minute standby wait posted. Hubby said he and Mom saw the Hall of Presidents' show, and now Mom had stopped to watch the Dream Along With Mickey show in front of the Castle:


....and she'd meet us after we exited the ride (she took photos of the show, and here they are - she also took a photo of a family dressed up like the whole Incredibles family - they had arrived early for MNSSHP):

They had her take their picture with their camera, too.

We got into the Space Mtn FP return line at 5:24. We got up to the front pretty quickly. I then reminded Kimberly that the ride seating here is different from how you sit on Space Mtn at Disneyland - we'd be sitting behind each other in pods, not two by two like in Anaheim. Well, she had a crying fit and didn't want to ride now. She wanted to sit with her daddy, like she had on every ride that day (she sat with Nana on something maybe once, I can't remember which ride). So she refused to ride, and Hubby took her out of the line when it was our turn to be seated - and I rode alone at 5:30. The last time I rode this, I sat in the back row and it was very bumpy and jerky. This time I sat in the middle pod and it was still bumpy and jerky. It wasn't very enjoyable. The ride at Disneyland is much smoother. So I've decided now that we won't bother with Space Mtn any more at Magic Kingdom. It's just not worth all the bumping and jerking around - I'd rather just ride it at Disneyland and then Kimberly will be happy with the seating arrangements, too. At 5:35 I was off the ride, and I met the three others at the ride exit. There's no time to do Carousel of Progress now - our priority before leaving the park is Monsters Inc Laughfloor.

Mom said, "I don't really like Monsters Inc." I told her, "You'll like this - it doesn't have that much to do with the movie and it's hilarious." We were in line at 5:46 for the next show and got into the pre-show hall at 6. I texted them my Belle joke but it wasn't used: "Knock knock. Who's there. Belle. Belle who? Belle's not working, so I knocked."

The show started at 6:05 and everyone enjoyed it. We were never put on camera, but my arms showed onscreen once when they had the person in front of me on camera. At 6:21 we were done, and I remembered on the way out of Tomorrowland to get a couple pictures of Kimberly wearing the Minnie snow hat that her former classmate's mom had made for her (she's very happy I posted these pics on Facebook and tagged her in the pics; it helps her home business advertising on the site and on Etsy):




After the Castle photos, we headed down Main Street (listening to spooky announcements about the party coming up and seeing some strange costumes) - and I regret that we didn't give Mom a lot of time to look in the shops along Main Street. We needed to get to the Grand Floridian for our 6:55 ADR at 1900 Park Faire. She went into some shops and the rest of us headed for the boat to the GF.

The story of our 1900 Park Faire buffet dinner and all the photos will be in the next post, but for now here's a pic of the Castle at night, courtesy of Facebook:

We weren't there in the dark. Here's another pic (did I use this one already?)

[RebeccaMcK]

That last pic, of course, was also from Facebook.

LEAVING MAGIC KINGDOM, Day Five Evening....off to Grand Floridian by boat for 1900 Park Faire dinner:

At 6:34 a boat left full so we waited for the next one. Finally boarded at 6:45. It docked at the GF at 6:50 (from there it goes to the Poly and then back to MK). We don't know our way around the GF, but we found our way to their main lobby building and got lost but eventually found 1900 Park Faire. Checked in at 6:57 but told them one of our group wasn't there yet. So the lady told us to return when she was with us and then we could be seated. We waited in the lobby for a while. Mom didn't answer her phone. At 7:20 we were still waiting (I took a few pictures of the area around us):







Finally Mom showed up - she said it only took her 10 minutes to find the shirt she wanted to buy but then it was a madhouse trying to get out of Magic Kingdom with all the partygoers arriving. She took the monorail over (which is what we should have done, maybe, but we rode the boat to be different and to get lost), and now at 7:30 we were seated right near the buffet area on the right. We took turns getting our food (I stayed at the table for being ready to photograph whomever came around to see Kimberly). Here are pics of the inside of 1900 Park Faire:









The Prince came over first, and as he was leaving Kimberly called out, "I'm Kimberly!" He turned around and said, "Goodbye, Kristen!" Kimberly looked at me and said, "Huh?" LOL I told people on Facebook, "That's okay, he looks pretty." As if he's dumb. Just kidding.


Then Cinderella came over, and she picked up my journal notepad that was lying on the table and signed it, out of habit. We don't collect autographs, but when she was gone I wrote notes on the blank page she had signed and then took a picture of it:


And here are the pics of Cinderella:


The best Cinderella we've ever met was on our Disney Cruise in November 2009. She looked and acted like she'd just come off the movie screen. JUST like her. Had our own private accidental meeting with her in a hallway near the staterooms' elevator and stairwell. No line, just Kimberly with her for a couple quick photos. The Snow White on that cruise was perfect, too. Kimberly was aged 4-1/2 at the time and it was a precious, priceless experience for her to meet Snow White and Cinderella (the Belle and Aurora didn't look much like how they should look - which is why we found them in France at Epcot this trip. The Jasmine and Mulan she met in May 2010 were great, too, as were Ariel and Tiana. And now we have Rapunzel. So far her princess set is complete - I hear there's another princess coming with the new Brave movie next year?).

Anastasia and Druzella came over next, and they laughed at Cinderella's having signed my journal pad (trip notes) - but then they signed it, too, on another page (I didn't take a picture of that one, but the signatures just now helped me remember Anastasia's name).



Lady Tremaine the stepmother was the last to come over (she signed the pad, too - honestly, I never handed it to anyone...they all just kept taking it off the table):



The bill came and for the tip I used the remaining $13.82 from my rewards redemption card plus $10 cash. It never occurred to me to just sign the tip amount on the bill and have them bill the room (not until the 'Ohana dinner the next night, when it was done accidentally but then I realized I could have been doing that all along at the table service meals).

Mom got a special cupcake and laminated placemat with all the main 1900 Park Faire characters' signatures (including Cinderella, Prince Charming, Alice, Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins - the Fairy Godmother's signature was there even though she doesn't appear at the character buffet):

Mom gave me that placemat for Kimberly afterwards, and we now have it at our dining room table. It only got a little wrinkled on the way home in the suitcase.

Before that special birthday cupcake arrived, Mom gathered these desserts from the buffet:

I didn't take any other food pics that night, sorry. But the food was good. An assortment of chicken, noodles, beef (prime rib), potato dishes, fish, etc. I think there was sushi. Your typical buffet. Kimberly enjoyed the pizza and the macaroni.

Kimberly asked me if any other characters were coming around, and I answered, "I don't think so." Then she said something I'd never heard her say before: "Do you think or do you know?" Hubby thought that was quite funny. I said, "I KNOW no one else is coming around." But you know what? There are plenty of people I know who would pay quite a bit for a good buffet if there were maybe TWENTY Disney characters who could come up to us for photo ops - saving us the time of waiting in lines to meet them elsewhere. Make it 30 - I don't care if it's a long meal as long as we get good food and get to meet a ton of characters.

We paid at 8:37 and by 9 pm we were on the monorail back to our resort. But first we looked around the lobby of the GF and took some pics. We found the hidden characters on the floor of the upper level of the lobby (near where you come in off the monorail):
Pluto:


Minnie:


Mickey:


Goofy:


And the Donald:




Back at the Poly we watched some TV and were in bed by 10. There was one night (maybe it was Sunday) when Mom had on "Body of Proof" on ABC and we all fell asleep - I woke up to her snoring and I went over and turned off the TV. She's the only one of us who watches that show (which might be doomed according to its Nielsen ratings). Kimberly had already been asleep for a while before it came on. Mom also kept trying to watch baseball some nights, but then she'd leave the room for a while and I'd change the channel. Then she'd come back and try to find FOX again for the baseball game.

Anyway, this night we were in bed by 10 and knew that the next day was our relaxing day...no plans other than the pool, our afternoon Tea at the GF, and our 'Ohana dinner. But there was to be a surprise or two in store as well....