DON'T Read This TRIP REPORT If You're a Princess Hater!

[jenseib]

OH no!!! I do hope the guest (Or whoever) was OK, but I still wished you had that special moment. I love all your pictures. You got some great ones. I am sad that it will be awhile before I get to take photos in AK and DHS. But I'll worry about that later...after I get back from this trip.
I hoep you do get to ride RnR!

 

[mom2rtk]

OK, sorry to leave you hanging! Well, not really, but you get the point.

There we were on the loading platform and Katie had gotten cold feet. So what did I do? I dug deep......... called on all my sympathetic motherly intuition........... and did what anyone else would do........... I SHOVED her into the ride vehicle and told her it would be fine! OK, before you decide I'm a horrible person, I need to mount my defense. RnR and California Screamin are really just about the same ride. And she LOVED California Screamin. And I did what I thought was best for her........

So how did it go? I really was nervous as the ride progressed, feeling an ever growing sense of guilt......... or was that my stomach turning upside down??????? As we neared the end and I looked over at her, she asked "Is it over?" When I said that was it, she gave me a big thumb's up and said she loved it. WHEW! I hadn't scarred her for life. Well, at least not THIS time!

It was still sprinkling outside, so no photopass photographers were out, but I couldn't resist taking one of my own:

At that point, it was time to get to the Animation Building for Character Palooza! We were not disappointed and were happy to get photos with Genie, Aladdin, Jasmine, Mary Poppins, 2 Penguins, Stitch, Pluto, Minnie, Mulan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and the Queen of Hearts. And all within 45 minutes! Character Palooza remains one of my favorite things at Disney. I really wish they’d do more of it.

And my favorite shot:

Katie had really wanted to eat at the Sci-Fi Diner this trip. Since we were supposed to eat at the Brown Derby for lunch, I didn't think I'd want another sit-down meal. But I found an ADR late in the game for dinner time at Sci-Fi and grabbed it. I figured if nothing else we could get off our feet and just have milkshakes. Well, since missing our nice table service lunch, we both enjoyed having a full dinner.

After dinner, it was dark, so we headed for our last stop of the day…….. the Osborne Lights. I knew it would be busy that night since it was EMH with no Fantasmic. It was in fact pretty crowded, but I managed to get my tripod set up a few times and we soaked in the Christmas atmosphere!

This last photo was from photopass:

I asked Katie if she was done for the day, and she was. We did still have fastpasses for TSM, but neither of us cared enough to go do it. So we had fun picking someone in the crowd at the Osborne lights and surprising them with TSM fastpasses they could use right away!

Soon after, we headed out of the park and back to the POP. I had trouble sleeping the night before and was more than ready to call it a day.

When we got back to the hotel, I stopped in at the front desk to sort out our ticket issues. I had plans of hitting the Magic Kingdom early and didn't want a detour to Guest Relations again. It took a while, but they ended up rebooking our entire package and issuing new KTTW cards. To make up for the hassle, they gave us 2 sets of fastpasses to any WDW attraction and a taxi voucher to make up for time lost. Also as a consequence of rebooking the package, our dining credits were reset, so we got 2 extra table service meals! It was very generous, and I was happy with the way they handled it. We also got the Christmas tree and set it up when we got back to the room.

It had been a great first day. Before going to sleep, I checked the weather report one last time. I was more than a little concerned about the upcoming day. They were calling for a low in the 20's, with wind and a high in the 40's. After the record heat on our last trip, this was going to be new territory for us!

 

[mom2rtk]

I've been there in 2004 my 6 year-old niece wanted to ride ToT, I was like I'll go if you want. We got right in, were in there room with the video. As soon as the lighting hit and the people disappeared I felt a tiny hand grab by shirt and start pulling. I looked down and there she was shaking here head "saying I changed my mind, aunt Erica! I don't want to go anymore!" So we wen tback outside then I had to go get back in lien while the rest of the family waited for me. The Poor thing. Needless to say she finally rode in 2008 when my mom and I took her back. I don't think she will be going again anytime soon

They could not have timed that any better, we kept looking at her telling her it was over soon, but all we kept doing was going up then dropping going up then dropping. I swear it was the longest sequence in recorded ToT history, the poor thing

Sorry if I keep hijacking your post with pictures I hoep you don't mind you just tell me knock if of if I get to much I am known to get over excited about sharing

No problem at all! I LOVE the photo! I'm really relieved I didn't scar Katie for life!

I LOVE that dress from 2008 (the gold one). It's gorgeous. Katie is one lucky girl. I'm sure she knows it though. I can't wait to read more. I am so happy you decided to do a TR.

Ok, I need to go read more and catch back up.

Thanks Jen! I'm glad I decided to to a TR too. This is really just like getting to experience it all again. Heck, I'm even shivering! I hope it's putting you in the mood for your own Disney fun to come!

OH no!!! I do hope the guest (Or whoever) was OK, but I still wished you had that special moment. I love all your pictures. You got some great ones. I am sad that it will be awhile before I get to take photos in AK and DHS. But I'll worry about that later...after I get back from this trip.
I hoep you do get to ride RnR!

If we get to Disney this year it might end up being Disneyland, so I'll be in the same boat with you. (Well, not LITERALLY the same boat ......... because I can't talk anyone here into a cruise! but you know what I mean......)And it rained on both our AK and DHS days so I still didn't get to to all the photos I wanted. Regardless of WHEN it is, I know I'll be back, so eventually I'll get what I want.

 

[stephielela]

Finally caught up!!!! Things have been hectic, and the weather has not helped. Thankfully I was off Thursday so i didn't have to worry much abotu the ice. I will say I am ready fro this month to be over, it has been the LONGEST 28 days EVER! Though we did have that lovely 70 degree Thursday a couple weeks ago...

I accept your photo search challenge!!

You really should consider doing an October trip (or perhaps late September, lol). The weather really wasn't bad at all last year, plenty cool in the morning and evening!

I love all the pretty dresses. As another poster said, those of us with princes will live vicariously through you.

Sorry you guys got shut out at the BATB show, I hope whoever it was recovered!

 

[mom2rtk]

Finally caught up!!!! Things have been hectic, and the weather has not helped. Thankfully I was off Thursday so i didn't have to worry much abotu the ice. I will say I am ready fro this month to be over, it has been the LONGEST 28 days EVER! Though we did have that lovely 70 degree Thursday a couple weeks ago...

I accept your photo search challenge!!

You really should consider doing an October trip (or perhaps late September, lol). The weather really wasn't bad at all last year, plenty cool in the morning and evening!

I love all the pretty dresses. As another poster said, those of us with princes will live vicariously through you.

Sorry you guys got shut out at the BATB show, I hope whoever it was recovered!

Boy do I understand! LONG LONG month! I think it's why I finally got off the fence and decided to start the trip report. I needed a little magic to break up the snow days!

I actually have considered an October trip, and would probably end up going that route if my husband's work doesn't take him to Anaheim in December. If that happens, we'll try to find a way to tag along and get to Disneyland. Otherwise, I'd either go late October (but be home by Halloween) or the week before Thanksgiving. That record breaking heat on our trip in late Sept/early Oct 09 really makes me nervous about that time of year though.

Thanks for reading along. I'll be looking for you in my photos too!

The really pathetic part is how much fun I had finding myself in your photo! Yes, sad but true!

 

[MissJanice]

Love the pictures and the dresses! And I am a princess adorer (is that a word?) so keep 'em coming. What a great girls trip. Of course my DD is only 2, so we make girls day trips to Disney while the boys go to baseball games. Everytime I see you pics, I wonder if I could atually sew...something

Subbing!

 

[mom2rtk]

Love the pictures and the dresses! And I am a princess adorer (is that a word?) so keep 'em coming. What a great girls trip. Of course my DD is only 2, so we make girls day trips to Disney while the boys go to baseball games. Everytime I see you pics, I wonder if I could atually sew...something

Subbing!

Well, if it's not a word, it SHOULD be......... especially on THIS thread!

Time for your official..........



Stay tuned........... lots more to come!

I was going to tell you guys to stay tuned to see if we find our very favorite Fairy Godmother........... but since I posted her photo at the beginning of the thread........... I guess that cat's out of the bag!

Ready for another walk down memory lane?

Here's our history with the Fairy Godmother:

We took our first mother/daughter trip to Disney in January 08. Since I like to make gowns, I figure the Fairy Godmother and I are sort of alter egos. So I always make sure we find her on each trip. This time, I decided to make Katie her very own Fairy Godmother costume. And I'm PRETTY sure the Fairy Godmother doesn't see many of those! Then after pictures as the Fairy Godmother, Katie took off the cape for pictures in the Cinderella costume she had on underneath. Fun interaction, memorable pictures, but no more than 3 or 4 minutes.

So 11 months later........... we return to Disney and of course must see the Fairy Godmother again. I was surprised to find the same Fairy Godmother, so we got in line. Then she amazed us both by matter of factly telling Katie how much she had grown and asked where her Fairy Godmother costume was this trip! WOW! She's good! Now granted, we were pretty "conspicuous" with Katie wearing that Fairy Godmother costume and all... but we had only seen her for a few minutes 11 months prior. I chalk it up to pure magic!

So fast forward another 9 months and we show up again. And of course, as I said before...... we never miss the Fairy Godmother. We were excited to see it was that same one and got in line. She asked how we were........ I was prepared to try and remind her who we were...... but didn't need to. She asked us what we were doing there in September in the heat since we usually come in the winter! Man, she's good!

So needless to say, we looked forward to finding her on this trip again. We saw her several times and it added SO much to the trip for us! And we now refer to her as our "very own Fairy Godmother". Pure Disney magic I tell you!

 

[kcandbella]

I'm glad she liked RnRC! I am a thrill ride addict and am hoping to turn my daughter into one. This past trip, she rode and was scared of the Barnstormer and Test Track so I'm thinking it might not be a possibility! I love your daughter's second outfit of the day, too. What time do you get to the Animation building to meet all those characters? Is it only on non-Fantasmic nights? I've heard different things and would love to try it out this trip! Thanks!

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm glad she liked RnRC! I am a thrill ride addict and am hoping to turn my daughter into one. This past trip, she rode and was scared of the Barnstormer and Test Track so I'm thinking it might not be a possibility! I love your daughter's second outfit of the day, too. What time do you get to the Animation building to meet all those characters? Is it only on non-Fantasmic nights? I've heard different things and would love to try it out this trip! Thanks!

You and me BOTH! I'm not sure there's a "right" way to turn them into thrill junkies. My oldest son has always been willing to do the big rides. My younger son is a very cautious sort who didn't like thrill rides (which is why it was so fun to take my first trip on RnR with him in 09). Eventually the only reason HE rode the big rides was sibling pressure. He knew his sister was going to start riding the big rides, so he had no choice. I knew I was taking a chance pushing her to go, but thankfully it worked out. Sometimes that sort of thing backfires.

Good luck getting your daughter to ride some more ambitious rides. Test Track is a great "big kid" ride to start with. Sometimes when you sense they are ready, but just can't get them over the hump, a small well-timed bribe is a good plan. Katie was chickening out while in line for our first try at California Screamin this summer. She had been begging all day for an outfit for her new Build a Bear, and I kept saying no. So just as she was starting to back out, I told her if she was brave and tried it once, we'd get the outfit. I'm not big on bribery, but on odd occasion, why not?

Character Palooza happens in the Animation Building at 4:50 on days when there is not a 6:30 Fantasmic scheduled. One group comes out for 20-30 minutes, then a different group comes out, then the first group comes out again.

Thanks for the comment on Katie's skirt set. My friend who posted here earlier as Scraps-of-Heaven did all the appliques and put the skirt together. I put the top together and finished the skirt. It was my favorite skirt set for this trip. It had all the princesses in their Christmas finery for appliques! (Thanks Gretchen! )

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm glad Katie ended up liking RnRC. Good call! I love the character palooza too though when we went last summer all of my kids thought the lines were too long and just wanted to play on the silly computers I love all of your Osborne Lights pictures! They turned out great. So now I'm excited to hear about your encounters with the Fairy Godmother on this trip!

 

[AprilRenee]

Ok so we went to the animation building for Character Palooza at 4:50 on a non-Fantasmic night. AND no one was there (besides the usual Lotso and Sorcerer Mickey)!! It was so disappointing! I was SO excited to surprise my brothers with tons of characters and no one was there. :-( I wonder what I did wrong?

PS LOVE all your photos and the dresses you make for your daughter! I can't wait to have one of my own and I will TOTALLY make her costumes rather than buy them at a store!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Ok so we went to the animation building for Character Palooza at 4:50 on a non-Fantasmic night. AND no one was there (besides the usual Lotso and Sorcerer Mickey)!! It was so disappointing! I was SO excited to surprise my brothers with tons of characters and no one was there. :-( I wonder what I did wrong?

PS LOVE all your photos and the dresses you make for your daughter! I can't wait to have one of my own and I will TOTALLY make her costumes rather than buy them at a store!!!

Many thanks for your kind comments! I hope you get a chance for some girly creativity one day too!

As for character palooza.......... I understand that it's PRETTY regular, but never a sure thing. We you perhaps there as they were changing parades over? I'm thinking I might have read something about the staffing adjustments there maybe impacting it for a bit. It's never for sure, which is why they don't put it on the daily schedule. But our last 2 trips we planned to be there on a non-Fantasmic day just to see the characters.

I hope you get to do this one day!

 

[AprilRenee]

Yep! We were. It was right after the current parade had ended and they hadn't premiered the new parade yet. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a parade at HS at all. That does explain it a bit. I feel a little better now. I really thought that I had somehow missed some detail about it while reading on here OR that they actually were there and we just couldn't find them.

 

[Scraps-of-heaven]

Thanks for the comment on Katie's skirt set. My friend who posted here earlier as Scraps-of-Heaven did all the appliques and put the skirt together. I put the top together and finished the skirt. It was my favorite skirt set for this trip. It had all the princesses in their Christmas finery for appliques! (Thanks Gretchen! )

You are more than welcome. I think we made quite a team on that set. I LOVE how the top turned out!

All of this is making me want to go to Disney NOW!

 

[jenseib]

I have never heard of character palooza! now I have another thing to add to a list of dos in the future.
It looks so fun. I was going to aks if your friend made that skirt. I looked at her sutff online and it looks similar...and I love it all and I am refraining from buying. Though I have 2 things I really am contemplating..

 

[stephielela]

Boy do I understand! LONG LONG month! I think it's why I finally got off the fence and decided to start the trip report. I needed a little magic to break up the snow days!

I actually have considered an October trip, and would probably end up going that route if my husband's work doesn't take him to Anaheim in December. If that happens, we'll try to find a way to tag along and get to Disneyland. Otherwise, I'd either go late October (but be home by Halloween) or the week before Thanksgiving. That record breaking heat on our trip in late Sept/early Oct 09 really makes me nervous about that time of year though.

Thanks for reading along. I'll be looking for you in my photos too!

The really pathetic part is how much fun I had finding myself in your photo! Yes, sad but true!

Ewww, record breaking heat? Now I'm nervous for this year! Last year was perfect, but I am not a fan of super high temps either.

I think it's awesome you found yourself in my pic! Especially since we live so close! It's a SUPER small world after all!!!

 

[clearskies]

Oh, how disappointing. When you said you were hoping Gaston makes appearances at his Tavern in the Fantasyland Expansion I thought it was because the interaction was so good. Certainly it is horrible what happened in the prior show but the CM did not handle that well with you at all. She should have done a much better job explaining what was happening especially given there was another princess of the day in the show you went to. It must have been especially disappointing after you cancelled your lunch plans. Sorry to hear.

You did a great job capturing the BATB show even without your telephoto lens. The Little Mermaid and GMR pictures came out great as well. Which lens did you use on those? The best shot though is Katie with Stitch. That is a great capture of a fun moment. These are the kind of shots that I treasure the most with my family trips.

That Fairy Godmother story is amazing. If anyone is going to make a lasting impression on someone you and your daughter will but given the amount of people she must see it is astounding what she remembered. I agree that it is pure magic on her part.

 

[Caretames1]

Don't worry abouth shoving your DD on RnR, I bribe mine with tootsie rolls (once in a while) when she balks. Although, she did TestTrack and laughed so hard, it was great.

I'm loving your DD's costumes more and more, I so wish I had half your talent. She looks so beautiful in everything!

 

[saralexander97]

WOW, I am definitely amazed at what a great seamstress you are! You are one of the most creative people I have ever seen. Your daughter is so lucky! I cant wait to start taking mother-daughter trips to the world with my little one. Love your TR, I must subscribe

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm glad Katie ended up liking RnRC. Good call! I love the character palooza too though when we went last summer all of my kids thought the lines were too long and just wanted to play on the silly computers I love all of your Osborne Lights pictures! They turned out great. So now I'm excited to hear about your encounters with the Fairy Godmother on this trip!

We actually got to the Animation Building a little early, and Katie played on the computers while I sat on the floor and rested my feet. I've never encountered long lines in there, but we tend to go during the "slower" season. I'm guessing more people are catching on. With them hidden away indoors, you pretty much have to know they are there to find them.

I don't really like having the characters in the Animation Building. The background in there isn't very interesting. And the lighting is TERRIBLE! I'd prefer to have them outdoors, but the lines would be even longer.

Yep! We were. It was right after the current parade had ended and they hadn't premiered the new parade yet. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a parade at HS at all. That does explain it a bit. I feel a little better now. I really thought that I had somehow missed some detail about it while reading on here OR that they actually were there and we just couldn't find them.

I think that explains it. I hope you find them next trip!

You are more than welcome. I think we made quite a team on that set. I LOVE how the top turned out!

All of this is making me want to go to Disney NOW!

I'm in. We can fly out of KCI together. Can you be here by dinner time??????

No...... wait........ you violated my first rule........ we have to have time to plan, scheme ..........and SEW!

I really did enjoy tag teaming those skirt sets. Your appliques are gorgeous!

I have never heard of character palooza! now I have another thing to add to a list of dos in the future.
It looks so fun. I was going to aks if your friend made that skirt. I looked at her sutff online and it looks similar...and I love it all and I am refraining from buying. Though I have 2 things I really am contemplating..

You hang out on the DIS but have never heard of character palooza?????? Well, that's not an official name you know........ just something Katie and I started calling it a while back. I have seen it referred to as "random pop up characters" in the Animation Building.

Sorry to make you want to go to DHS even more!

Ewww, record breaking heat? Now I'm nervous for this year! Last year was perfect, but I am not a fan of super high temps either.

I think it's awesome you found yourself in my pic! Especially since we live so close! It's a SUPER small world after all!!!

October is really hit and miss. I think the later into the month you can get, the better your odds. I think I'd like to try late October sometime. I love MNSSHP and really want to give it a try again.

Oh, how disappointing. When you said you were hoping Gaston makes appearances at his Tavern in the Fantasyland Expansion I thought it was because the interaction was so good. Certainly it is horrible what happened in the prior show but the CM did not handle that well with you at all. She should have done a much better job explaining what was happening especially given there was another princess of the day in the show you went to. It must have been especially disappointing after you cancelled your lunch plans. Sorry to hear.

You did a great job capturing the BATB show even without your telephoto lens. The Little Mermaid and GMR pictures came out great as well. Which lens did you use on those? The best shot though is Katie with Stitch. That is a great capture of a fun moment. These are the kind of shots that I treasure the most with my family trips.

That Fairy Godmother story is amazing. If anyone is going to make a lasting impression on someone you and your daughter will but given the amount of people she must see it is astounding what she remembered. I agree that it is pure magic on her part.

Many thanks for all the nice comments. It really was an "odd" Disney experience for us at BATB that day. The CM probably could have handled it better, but I'm guessing they were fairly distracted after what happened. Fortunately Katie handled it well.

And yes, the Fairy Godmother stuff just amazes me. I think you could have picked my jaw up off the ground the first time she remembered us. It really was like "old home" week when when we went back this time. We made a big deal about finding her every day we were in the Magic Kingdom, and some days more than once!

And photography talk? You don't have to twist MY arm!

My "walk around" lens is the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS. It really lives up to its reputation. That's what I used at BATB. I used the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 for the GMR. I used the Sigma 50-150 f/2.8 at the Little Mermaid. That's my longest lens unless you count the Tamron 18-270 all-in-one. But honestly, I seldom use that one any more now that I have the other faster lenses.

I was really loving the higher ISO of my T2i. Between that and the noise reduction in the LR3 program, I feel like I got to stretch myself a lot further on this trip.

Don't worry abouth shoving your DD on RnR, I bribe mine with tootsie rolls (once in a while) when she balks. Although, she did TestTrack and laughed so hard, it was great.

I'm loving your DD's costumes more and more, I so wish I had half your talent. She looks so beautiful in everything!

Thank you! I'm really lucky she enjoys the costumes. She has figured out over time that they add to the character interactions and have contributed to a number of special moments.

Believe it or not, I'm not big on making kids do rides they don't want to do. But sheesh....... she rode California Screamin 3 times in a row and loved it!

I'm glad your DD enjoyed TT and it only took a tootsie roll to get her on!

Doesn't it figure that my one kid who loves thrill rides hates theme parks?

WOW, I am definitely amazed at what a great seamstress you are! You are one of the most creative people I have ever seen. Your daughter is so lucky! I cant wait to start taking mother-daughter trips to the world with my little one. Love your TR, I must subscribe

Many thanks and welcome aboard!



I highly recommend a mother/daughter trip one day. It's a different type of bonding than you can get with everyone along.