Our Stop and Smell the Roses (a.ka. ditching the itinerary) Trip Report- COMPLETE!! 2/16 - Page 10 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Excellent strategy! By spending so much time checking out purses before you made your choice you actually made your husband GRATEFUL that you picked one to buy!!
Just catching up! Wonderful updates Heather! And congrats on your new purse!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kundel
Reading this has given taking pictures a whole new meaning. Thanks so much.
Thank you both!
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Originally Posted by Nick and Ryans Mom
Love the purse!!
Excellent strategy! By spending so much time checking out purses before you made your choice you actually made your husband GRATEFUL that you picked one to buy!!
I love it! I hadn't thought of it that way. I just read your post to DH and he laughed.
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I woke up bright and early to find our “eviction notice” (a.k.a. DME letter) on the door. Bummer! I was relieved that our pick-up time was 7:55 a.m. -- not as early as I'd feared.
DD was still fast asleep so we decided to go ahead and call the dining line to cancel our breakfast at ‘Ohana. I figured we’d let DD sleep in a bit and then head straight to MK to make the most of the morning since the weather for the afternoon looked iffy.
DD finally woke up around 9 a.m. and after a quick breakfast in the room (sticky buns again, woohoo!) we headed over to MK. DH had run out of socks so he headed into one of the shops to look for some while DD and I parked on Main Street to watch the “Clang Clang Clang Goes the trolley show.” DH decided to let his feet suffer since the cheapest pair of socks he could find was $15.
We stopped to get a few PhotoPass pictures in front of the castle then we headed to Fantasyland. We felt a few raindrops along the way but nothing major.
We grabbed a FB for Peter Pan and then headed off for Pooh. The ride stopped for a few moments so I was able to capture my one and only clear shot from the ride.
We still had time before our FP window so we parked the stroller under the old sky tram. I still miss this ride.
A mom stopped us and said she had an extra wand from CRT that she wanted to give to DD. So nice!
We jumped in line for IASW and by the time we were done it was time for Peter Pan. I think this ended up being DD’s favorite ride of the trip. It’s definitely the one we went on the most. One the way out we grabbed yet another FP so we could ride one more time after lunch.
Earlier in the week we had promised DD that we’d try again to meet Mickey and Minnie in the tent in Toontown so that was our next stop. The line looked daunting but in reality it moved really fast. I’m glad we came back for this because I’m not sure we have any recent pictures of us with Minnie and Mickey together.
At this point it dawned on me that we hadn’t done the tea cups yet. DD had loved them when we went last year but this year, every time we passed them she said she didn’t want to go on. I finally told her it was now or never because if we were going to do it, it had to be before lunch. She agreed so we hopped in line. We survived a minor meltdown when we got a yellow tea cup instead of a purple one. Ay yi yi! I must’ve monkeyed with my camera settings because none of my pictures came out. Bummer since last year those were some of the best shots of the trip – great reaction shots from DD.
With the tea cups out of the way, we could safely head to lunch at CHH. DH and I got two sandwiches to split – one hummus and one tuna. DD had mac and cheese. We had a table in one of the quiet little side rooms upstairs. Our view on one side was Fantasyland and on the other side we could see the steamboat going by.
After lunch we used our Peter Pan FP before heading over to the Jungle Cruise. We were feeling raindrops at this point, so DH had a good idea to park the stroller at PotC, which is covered. At this point I was texting/voicemailing with friends of ours from home who had arrived that morning. We were trying to meet up at some point in MK but kept missing each others calls.
We had a funny skipper on the Jungle Cruise (“did everyone wake up this morning and say, ‘Hey! I want to go on the Jungle Cruise’?! Me too!!!”). DH says we’ve had this skipper before but I don’t remember.
On the way out we stopped for a pressed penny and noticed that the rain was really starting to come down. We had to pull out the ponchos for the first time this trip (actually for the first time since we bought them in 2007 – not bad!). DD looked so cute in hers.
Since we were all covered up we decided to brave the Magic Carpets. There was no line whatsoever so we got right on.
By the time we got off the rain had turned to a steady downpour. I had a voicemail on my phone from our friends – they were in Toontown but we had already decided to head to the hotel to wait out the rain and start packing. I left her a message back saying we’d meet up with them later in the evening.
We reclaimed our stroller and headed back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at the Emporium and I picked up a gift for my niece and a little something for DH (a “doom buggy” license plate) and DD (a Marie sticker book).
Up Next: Day 8 (part 2) -- our afternoon break and a final goodbye to MK
We took the monorial back to GF. On the way through the lobby we stopped at Basin so I could get some Mickey soap for my Mom.
I took a few more pictures around the lobby.
The new tile floors:
When we were outside DH noticed this Mary Poppins topiary that I hadn’t seen before.
A Tink in the bedspread back in our room:
We stopped in the lounge for afternoon tea before heading up to pack – my least favorite task! Our little break turned into three hours but we did get much of the packing done and DH was able to get our SWA boarding passes printed (we had EBCI and got A 18-20). It was almost 6 p.m. now and I had a text from my friends saying they were still at MK so we headed over.
We first went to the art shop on Main Street to order a ride poster to add to our collection. We already have the posters for IASW, HM (actually the full size version from DL) and Tomorrowland. For our latest addition we picked the poster for the tea cups. The order confirm said the poster would be sent to our home in 2-3 weeks but it came less than a week after we got home. The nice thing about the print-on-demand posters is that they are standard frame sizes. We had bought some pre-printed matted ones before and had to get them custom framed because they were odd sizes. That gets costly.
We were heading up to Fantasyland when I finally connected with our friends. They were near the hub on their way to get a spot for Spectro so we detoured and found them. It was fun for the kids to see each other. We visited for a few minutes and then they were off to get settled in a spot. We had decided to finish the night with rides instead of Spectro and Wishes so we went our separate ways.
DD shocked us by saying she wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion. Ummm, okay??!! This from the kid who hid her head during the Pooh ride. Of course, DH was thrilled because this is one of his all time favorites. I had my doubts. HM was a walk on but as soon as we were in the stretching room she started to freak. It was too late for us to get out so we had to stay until the doors opened. Seeing and hearing it through her eyes/ears, I can see how this would freak out a little kid. I felt bad for her because she was clutching DH and burying her head in his shoulder. As soon as the doors opened we were shown to the chicken exit. Oh well, we’ll try again in a few years.
I decided that this could not be the final memory of the trip – we had to wipe it out with something fun! We went over to Ariel’s Grotto and she was still there. And score – there was only one family in line!!!!! It was awesome to get to see her and with no wait – now that was just a bonus.
When we exited we saw that the wait for Dumbo was only 10 minutes so we hopped in line for that. DH and DD have ridden this many times but I always stay on the ground to take pics. Tonight I decided to join them – my first ride on Dumbo! It was really cool experiencing this at night and flying by the castle all lit up. Really a magical last ride of the trip! Perfect.
We wanted to get out of the park before Wishes started so we quickly made our way down Main Street. I decided on a whim to see if Tony’s had any openings for dinner but the line just to get to the hostess was at least 10 families deep and there were people waiting everywhere – even laying on the floor – so I passed on by. We walked over to CR with the hopes of getting a walk-up at the Wave. I went down to the hostess and found it was a 60 minute wait – too long for us. While I was down there a CM pointed at DD and said to DH, she looks how I feel and he looked over and saw she was fast asleep! Oops, we hadn’t even realized so we ditched the idea of trying to do a TS and went up to the Contempo Café.
I have to say I was very impressed with the offerings at Contempo. DH had a mahi-mahi sandwich and I had a flatbread. We split a piece of carrot cake for dessert. The seating area is large and there was no one aat the tables around us so it felt very serene. We had a nice view of the mural too.
Since DD was still asleep we took the opportunity to look at the shops without fear of a merchandise-induced meltdown. We also picked up a few more pressed pennies before taking the monorail back to GF.
When we got back to the hotel we started waking DD – I wanted to make sure she had something to eat so she wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night hungry. We stopped at Gasparilla’s and got her a pizza to go. She ate in the room while we wrapped up the packing and went over our room charges to make sure everything was in order.
There was a great bounceback offer in our room and boy was I tempted to book but after seeing the room charge and knowing that we were going home to a busted washing machine that needed to be replaced (it broke down days before the trip), I refrained.
Before heading to bed I put the day’s pressed pennies in DD’s book and realized that we had gotten exactly the right number to finish off her book. Cool!
Up Next: Day 9 – headin’ home
Last edited by WeRDisneyFanatics; 02-12-2010 at 08:22 PM..
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You snuck in the rest of the day while I was reading and posting the previous installment. Great finish to your day and trip! We love Dumbo at night (in June it is cooler then but the lights off the castle make it magical).
I love the touches of Tink everywhere. Very in the tile especially!
Too bad for your DD on HM. But it was a good idea to wipe out that memory with some better ones! The stretch room freaked out my Abby who is 7 so we blocked her eyes and ears the whole time.
I would love to see your ride posters if you could post pictures of them. They sound really neat.
Don't you just hate packing?? Ugh. You had a very full last day!
Great update! Great pictures from CHH! You all got quite a bit done in your morning at MK! Can't wait for more!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
You snuck in the rest of the day while I was reading and posting the previous installment. Great finish to your day and trip! We love Dumbo at night (in June it is cooler then but the lights off the castle make it magical).
Thanks! We'll definitely do Dumbo at night again -- between the low waits and the cool view it was the best!
Quote:
Originally Posted by debrabrown
I love the touches of Tink everywhere. Very in the tile especially!
Too bad for your DD on HM. But it was a good idea to wipe out that memory with some better ones! The stretch room freaked out my Abby who is 7 so we blocked her eyes and ears the whole time.
I would love to see your ride posters if you could post pictures of them. They sound really neat.
Don't you just hate packing?? Ugh. You had a very full last day!
I loved all the Tink too! And yes, I hate, hate, hate packing! Even packing to go there I dislike, but packing to come home is even worse. Here are a couple of pictures of our ride posters -- they're not the greatest because the recessed lighting we have makes a glare. The three smaller ones are from WDW and we got the big DL HM poster at WoD in NYC about 11 years ago before we knew they made the small versions. That thing is ginormous!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
More great updates. Sorry it's almost over.
Me too - finishing the TR always feels like closing the final door on the trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMadonna3
Aww I can't believe it's almost coming to an end.
Do you feel you got your money's worth out of the Platinum plan? Or was it Premium?
We didn't do the Platinum plan -- we originally booked with the DDP but ended up dropping it when we shortened the trip and swithced to CL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SARAHROO42
Such a great report! Sorry it's coming to an end!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Liz
I love it! I hadn't thought of it that way
. I just read your post to DH and he laughed.
I was relieved that our pick-up time was 7:55 a.m. -- not as early as I'd feared.
. 
. Ay yi yi! I must’ve monkeyed with my camera settings because none of my pictures came out. Bummer since last year those were some of the best shots of the trip – great reaction shots from DD.
. DH and I got two sandwiches to split – one hummus and one tuna. DD had mac and cheese. We had a table in one of the quiet little side rooms upstairs. Our view on one side was Fantasyland and on the other side we could see the steamboat going by.
experiencing this at night and flying by the castle all lit up. Really a magical last ride of the trip! Perfect.
Deb
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