The Surviving Deployment Trip Report, Updated 10/18 COMPLETE!! - Page 26 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Day 1, Part 3
We hopped on the bus to DTD, and it dropped us off at The Marketplace. We only had a short time here before our ADR at 1900 PF, so we knew we'd just be breezing through any shops we wanted to see.
I love the brooms. They are so classic Disney.
Of course, Michael has to get in on the action. You'll see he's quite the camera hog.
Victoria and Michael being silly.
We checked out some shops and started a wish list. WOD is our favorite, of course.
And I had to get a picture of Pegleg Pete. POTC isn't quite the same without him hanging around.
We loved this hat. Perhaps Victoria will get it when we go back. It is very cool.
We went into Pooh's Corner and looked around. Victoria was looking for Pooh & Piglet plushes. I wandered around and took some pictures.
As I was taking pictures, a CM asked Victoria about Michael the Bear. She told him that the bear represented her daddy who was in Iraq. Then the CM said to another CM, "Oh yes. She deserves one." Well, that piqued my curiosity, and I walked over to see them filling out a small Magical Moment certificate for Victoria. They were so touched by her daddy being in Iraq. Then, they said, "How about we get one for your dad, and you can send it to him." So, the CMs got out a big Magical Moment certificate and had Victoria fill it out for her daddy. The reason was because he's the best daddy in the world. I totally teared up and didn't even think about taking any pictures. They said we needed stickers and proceeded to give us Mickey stickers to wear, and then the CM who originally asked about the bear pulled out a huge roll of Mickey stickers and gave us the whole roll to send to Michael in Iraq. I told him he would love to pass out Mickey Mouse stickers to his soldiers. Well, that's when I started to cry and couldn't even talk anymore. It touched me so much. That is Disney magic at its best.
I can't wait to send the roll of stickers to Michael. I have a box ready to send to him tomorrow.
After Pooh's Corner, we headed to the bus stop to catch a ride to the Grand Floridian.
UP NEXT: Dinner with a Prince! ...and a Princess...
This quote touched me so much, i have tears in my eyes as well, how kind of the CM to recognize your DH's dedication and sacrifice.
Laura this moment with the stickers had me crying and then the thought of Michael giving the stickers to the children in Iraq just sealed the deal I cried so hard I snorted !!!! I just cannot tell you often enough that I appreciate the sacrifice you make as a mom and a wife for our country!!!
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Wow, Laura, that's a magical moment! I really love all the shots with Michael the Bear and I'm getting all verklempt thinking how much the real Michael is going to love seeing them. Hurry back with more, please!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Day 1, part 4
I'm sorry to make you guys tear up. It was very touching. I'm glad you thought so, too.
We got on a bus to the Grand Floridian, but the drivers changed out at 5 p.m. I didn't realize that. So, we had to sit for a bit at Typhoon Lagoon while the drivers changed. We then went to the Wilderness Lodge then went to the GF. It took about 40 minutes to get to the GF.
We were greeted by this lovely man. He was so precious. I wish I had written down his name. He was so sweet.
We checked in at 1900 Park Fare and had our picture taken then walked around the resort waiting for our buzzer to go off. The orchestra was playing. They were so good. I absolutely loved the resort. I thought it was beautiful.
I thought that picture was perfect. Michael is in the cavalry afterall.
In the elevator going up....
We were upstairs looking around when our buzzer went off. We booked it to the restaurant and were escorted to our table.
I think this will be a lovely area when they finish working on it.
We immediately saw Anastasia. She was HI-LARIOUS! She looked at all of Victoria's drawings and loved them. She said, "You made Drizella prettier than she is. What a waste of space."
Then she wanted to add a bit of realism to her picture and asked Victoria if she could kiss it. She kissed her picture and left a huge lipstick mark pretty close to her lips. I think that is Victoria's favorite picture now. Anastasia said the picture of her mother was great. Then she saw Captain Hook and said, "Oh, you need to show this to mother. She has a soft-spot for him."
Anastasia squealed when she saw Gideon. "Gideooooooonnnnnnn!!! I love him!" It was so funny.
Anastasia signed the magical moments certificate for Michael and posed with Michael.
Anastasia left and Drizella was on her way, so I told Victoria to get something to eat while I waited at the table. Victoria made it back to the table and Drizella approached us. She wasn't quite as much fun as her sister but fun just the same. She signed her picture and said it looked beautiful. She posed for pictures,
and I asked her to pose with Michael the Bear. I explained that the bear was my husband, and she looked at the bear like I was cuckoo. I then told her he represented my husband, and she said, "I hope he isn't really this size."
When Drizella left, she said, "It was nice meeting me, wasn't it?"
Victoria said, "Yes!"
Drizella said, "I know."
I was then able to leave and get some food. The buffet looked wonderful. Thankfully, it tasted as good as it looked. Then trumpets blared and it was announced that the Prince was entering the room. Very nice! It totally took me by surprise. Not long after he entered, then the trumpets blared again and Cinderella was announced. She and the Prince were just too cute together. They really looked like they loved each other. Cute!
Very soon afterwards, Lady Tremaine came by. The following conversation took place:
Lady Tremaine, "You have a great artistic talent. Anastasia took painting lessons once but all she can draw is stick figures."
Victoria, "I bet they are lovely stick figures."
Lady Tremaine, "Yes, they are."
Then Lady Tremaine said, "I must brag to Cinderella." And she proceeded to take Victoria's sketch book to Cinderella to show off the picture Victoria had drawn of her. It was so funny. Cinderella seemed very impressed by Victoria's drawing of her stepmom.
Lady Tremaine returned, signed the book, signed Michael's certificate and posed for pictures.
She said over and over again, "Wonderful!" about Victoria's drawing of herself. She seemed so amazed. It was too funny. Lady Tremaine loved my shirt. She said, "That is a great way to wear your jewels. I keep mine close to my heart, too," and she touched her jewel on her dress. She then made her way to the next table.
I haven't mentioned the strawberry soup yet. I was hesitant to try it but knew I had to because I've read so much about it on these boards. Oh. My. Gosh. It was fabulous!! I just loved it! I meant to get a second serving and totally forgot. I will have to get it again the next time we go.
Prince Charming was getting closer to our table, and Victoria was so cute. She kept fixing her hair and making sure she looked okay. It was so precious! He came to our table and asked which kingdom we were from. I said Texas, and he asked Victoria's name. She told him, and then the trumpets blared, and the Prince excused himself saying he needed to waltz with Cinderella but that he would return.
The Prince and Cinderella waltzed, and then the Prince would waltz with other bitty Cinderellas who approached him. It was really sweet. Victoria continued to fix her hair, and then the Prince finally came back to our table, and he remembered Victoria's name. We were very impressed by that. He looked at Victoria's sketchbook and signed his picture.
He wanted to see Aladdin's picture because he and Aladdin are very good friends.
I love Victoria's face in these pictures. I'm not used to seeing her flustered, and she was simply entranced. It was so cute. (This isn't the first time this will happen on this trip.) We were very impressed with Prince Charming. He was handsome, polite, charming, elegant, and so personable.
He is one of the skinniest little men I've ever seen.
Then I asked him to pose with Michael. He said, "Just the bear?" He obliged.
There were two little girls sitting at the table next to us and both were dressed as Cinderella. We told their parents how beautiful they looked and how neat it must have been to have waltzed with the Prince. Their mom said the girls were actually disappointed because they didn't want to dance with the Prince. They had wanted to dance with Cinderella. Too cute!
Cinderella finally came by. She was lovely. She said to Victoria, "So, you are the one who draws so well."
She signed her picture and Michael's certificate and posed for pictures. She said to be sure to thank Michael for everything he was doing.
Cinderella suggested that she and Victoria both kiss Michael the Bear. I love this picture!
Cinderella left, and then we waited forever for the bill. When she brought it, we then waited forever for her to pick it up. While we were waiting, Anastasia came back around and said, "You're still here? You just can't get enough of me!"
Our server finally came back with my KTTK card. I signed the check, and I took some photos as we left.
I love the Mary Poppins topiary.
I knew we were headed to the Poly, so we went to the staircase to get to the monorail.
Victoria took this picture while we were waiting for the monorail.
I have just taken pictures of Victoria's sketches. I'll do this as I write the TR and put them in their proper place. So, here are the sketches of the characters from our 1900 Park Fare dinner.
I got teary eyed with you at your Magical Moment! Definitely Disney at it's best! 1900 Park Fare looked like it was awesome. Victoria's sketches are AWESOME!
Laura this moment with the stickers had me crying and then the thought of Michael giving the stickers to the children in Iraq just sealed the deal I cried so hard I snorted !!!! I just cannot tell you often enough that I appreciate the sacrifice you make as a mom and a wife for our country!!!
I could not agree with this more. Bless you and your family!
OMGosh - what a wonderful evening at 1900 Park Fare! I love the way you described it and felt like I was righ there with you all.
I can imagine how pleased Victoria must be with all the compliments she's getting on her sketches. That was such an inspired idea - I'm glad she did it.
(I love the strawberry soup, too.)
Can't wait to hear about the fireworks from the Poly...
Laura this moment with the stickers had me crying and then the thought of Michael giving the stickers to the children in Iraq just sealed the deal I cried so hard I snorted !!!! I just cannot tell you often enough that I appreciate the sacrifice you make as a mom and a wife for our country!!!
Thank you! I miss my husband terribly, but I know that he is doing the right thing for us and for our country. I cried, too. It was embarrassing. I just couldn't pull myself together and had to walk out of the store. I kept fanning my face - as if that ever stops the tears.
Wow, Laura, that's a magical moment! I really love all the shots with Michael the Bear and I'm getting all verklempt thinking how much the real Michael is going to love seeing them. Hurry back with more, please!
It really was magical and a great start to our vacation. I get verklempt thinking about my Michael, too, and how he'll react. I think he is going to be blown away!
I got teary eyed with you at your Magical Moment! Definitely Disney at it's best! 1900 Park Fare looked like it was awesome. Victoria's sketches are AWESOME!
It was the sweetest thing ever! Who'd have thought stickers would make me cry.
OMGosh - what a wonderful evening at 1900 Park Fare! I love the way you described it and felt like I was righ there with you all.
I can imagine how pleased Victoria must be with all the compliments she's getting on her sketches. That was such an inspired idea - I'm glad she did it.
Victoria and I have agreed it is the best character meal we have ever had. It was just wonderful. Victoria was thrilled with these first reactions to her hard work. She gets more magical reactions later on in our trip!
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