Taking A Break from Life with a Trip to My Happy Place About This Page:

[sc507]

I was a little behind....sorry you were still feeling lousy at Epcot Great morning at AK though! Hope's face when she was on the phone was adorable

[OhToodles!]

A great start to the day at AK! I love how animated her face was when she was on the phone.
Things sounded a little crazy with the FL, but sounds like it might turn out ok!

[Linnynad]

The Family of the Day at CMM was like a private ceremony, we were just walking towards CMM when a CM approached us. We did the whole flag ceremony with Chip and Dale before they even opened up the line for people to come in. Then they took us over to Mickey/Minnie before everyone had made there way down. So it's possible you didn't see it because of that. I'm not even sure where the line for CMM starts as we weren't that close to it yet when we were approached.

Hope on the phone is pricless, her face is so cute, and I love her lounging on the balcony having breakfast!!

I would have been pissed about the whole FL thing as well, not cool, but I know what's coming up next so I am thinking that made up for some of it.

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by poohbr2015

Love all of the pictures and the relaxing morning out on the balcony.

That is exactly how it was when we were there in October with the new fantasyland. We were able to walk right on in the one evening we were over there. We rode the little mermaid ride and looked around but it was dark so we didn't stick around long as it was full of people. I can't believe after all you went thru to get Hope a ticket only to find out you didn't really need them!

Sometimes I wonder if everyone that works for disney is told the same thing. I called last night to see when exactly I could book online for our 7 month window today. The rep that I spoke with said, oh you can start booking after midnight. I even asked her several times, are you sure! Well I stayed up, got online at midnight and no way! So at 8 this morning I booked beach club for Sept. I just don't know why you get a different story from every rep or cm that you talk to. drives me crazy.

I didn't mind that it was open for everyone to view, I just didn't like how they were setting up these special times for AP holders, like it was some special thing just for them. And you're right, everyone needs to be on the same page. What's happening? Disney is usually on top of these sort of things.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Great start to your day at AK! , Hope, getting that passport completed. Very to get a kiss from Timon, too.

She definitely had a very good morning. :yes

Originally Posted by KMB733

A wonderful time at AK!! I love how Timon kissed her, that's so cute! I can't wait to hear about the most Magical moment of your trip!!

I can't wait to tell everyone about it!

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

That is so sweet she got a kiss from Timon. Can't wait to hear about your most magical part of the trip!

It's coming soo.

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

Glad to hear that Hope enjoyed FotLK, I would have too if Timon kissed me!

What a weird runaround they made you do for those braclets and you didn't even need them!!!??? How annoying!

Can't wait to hear what the next installment is...sounds like a good one!!

It was weird! I still don't understand how they were trying to handle that whole thing because it was sort of a big mess on their part.

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

Great morning at AK and relaxing start to the day on the balcony!!!

WOW! A kiss from Timon!!! Hope looks so excited sharing the news on the phone!!! So cute!!

What a bummer about the preview in FL........I agree that they really should stick to what they say the plan is.

Can't wait to hear abou the Magical Moment!!!

I wish we would have had more mornings to eat breakfast out there, but that's why there's always next time. And you can definitely tell she was excited about that kiss.

Originally Posted by lauriep

Hope's reaction to Timon's kiss is so adorable!

I hate hearing about the fiasco with the sneak peak procedures. Disney does most things so well that it's all the more glaring and frustrating when they don't!

I guess it happened a lot then? You'd think Disney would be experts with this sort of thing.

Originally Posted by chezp

What a great update!

By the way, with the new Photobucket site, it will no longer resize your photos when you upload them (that's the information I found anyway), so you need to resize them yourself. I found a programme that allows me to do it in Windows in bulk, so in the future, I'm going to have to resize them, then upload them to Photobucket. It's a real pain. Why do they have to mess with something that worked perfectly fine originally?

I didn't even want to switch to the new site, but then I starte thinking it wasn't too bad...until my pictures ended up being so large on here. Over the weekend, I went through each one and resized them. Boy what a pain-in-the-you-know-what that was! I may have to start looking for another photo site now.

Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG

Love the pics of Hope on the phone, she looks so excited to tell about her kiss!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by JKnott17

Aww, what a sweet moment with Timon giving Hope a kiss during the show! I'm sure she loved that. The pictures of her on the bus are really great too, especially the last one. She is just brimming with excitement

What a hassle about the bracelets for the FL preview, why on earth would they have to go all the way to the TTC to get them?? And then to find out that they weren't enforcing the rules, and you could have gotten in earlier than you wanted, I would have been frustrated too!

She was really excited about that kiss. We certainly did a lot of work just to get those darn bracelets only to find out we really didn't need them.

Originally Posted by num1DVCfan

The pics of Hope telling Daddy about Timon's kiss are absolutely adorable!

Thanks.

Originally Posted by sc507

I was a little behind....sorry you were still feeling lousy at Epcot Great morning at AK though! Hope's face when she was on the phone was adorable

I completely forgot to put in this update that I felt a lot better when I got up this morning. So that was definitely a good thing.

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

A great start to the day at AK! I love how animated her face was when she was on the phone.
Things sounded a little crazy with the FL, but sounds like it might turn out ok!

She can get very animated and dramatic when she wants too. Let's just say she'd make a good actress. But I honestly think she was really excited on the phone.

Originally Posted by Linnynad

The Family of the Day at CMM was like a private ceremony, we were just walking towards CMM when a CM approached us. We did the whole flag ceremony with Chip and Dale before they even opened up the line for people to come in. Then they took us over to Mickey/Minnie before everyone had made there way down. So it's possible you didn't see it because of that. I'm not even sure where the line for CMM starts as we weren't that close to it yet when we were approached.

Hope on the phone is pricless, her face is so cute, and I love her lounging on the balcony having breakfast!!

I would have been pissed about the whole FL thing as well, not cool, but I know what's coming up next so I am thinking that made up for some of it.

Well, that would make sense then. I didn't know it was private, and by the time we had gotten in line with the group already there, it was probably going on backstage. And yes, the next installment definitely made up for everything that afternoon.

[KHarrod]

Originally Posted by num1DVCfan

My aunt and uncle live in Littlestown

This is just getting hilarious! ...it's a small, small world!

[mommapants]

What a hassle with the FL sneak peak. I don't blame you I would have been really annoyed too. You missed Merida and didn't have naps because of the time slot.
But still can't wait to hear how it went once you got in there.

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by mommapants

What a hassle with the FL sneak peak. I don't blame you I would have been really annoyed too. You missed Merida and didn't have naps because of the time slot.
But still can't wait to hear how it went once you got in there.

I'd be even more upset if it was our very last day, and I wouldn't have another chance to see certain things, but thankfully I still had one more day.

[honeybee723]

I think I'm finally done with Photobucket!!!!! I have tried resizing these pictures almost a dozen times! It saves it to the size I want, shows that it's actually now saved to that size, but when I post some of them on here, they're still huge! Again, sorry for the size on some of these, but I just don't know how to fix them.

Day Four, Pt. 2 – Saturday, November 17th
The Most Magical Moment of Our Trip

We figured we’d check out the restaurant first, and once inside, the heavens opened up and it poured buckets of rain. We were under cover and the line to get inside had disappeared, so I was in no rush to leave. They weren’t letting you into the dining room, but you could take pictures from behind a rope. Of course the lighting was poor, so my pictures were too.







We waited out the rain for about 30 minutes, and once it started to lighten up we headed over to VOTLM. There was practically no line, so we were in our clam shell in no time at all.



This was a really cute ride, and the animatronics seemed a lot smarter. By that I mean, for example, when Ariel is moving to the music, her movements are more fluid, and they change with the beat. It’s like the almost have a mind of their own. Once the ride was over, we exited the ride, and decided to go through one more time, just because we could.









Then we got in line for the meet and greet with Ariel.



We met a really nice CM in here, who kept doing magic tricks for Hope. After we were inside, it was really nice to be able to get some one-on-one time with the character. Ariel talked to Hope about the flowers they each had in their hair, and then she pulled out a brush that actually looked like a fork and played around with that for a bit.




The rain looked like it was out of the area for good now, but it was getting dark so my pictures didn’t turn out so great.







We tried walking around the little area where Gaston’s Tavern was, but as soon as we got there, Hope said she had to use the bathroom. So after asking a CM where the closest ones were, they told us they didn’t have any in the new area yet, so we had to use the bathrooms by Pinocchio’s. That didn’t make sense to me at all, but hopefully they’ll get some bathrooms in there soon, unless they have already.

After Hope was good to go, we headed back inside the new area and got in line for Storytime with Belle. The wait time was showing at 45 minutes, and once we got in line and it wasn’t really moving, we pondered if we wanted to just say “forget it”. After all, we did have ADRs at LTT for 7:50pm, and we would be really pushing it, even if everything went right. I asked Hope what she wanted to do, and of course she said she really wanted to see Belle, so we sucked it up and waited. Eventually the line started moving, but because they can only take a certain number of people inside, it can take a while in between movement.

Once we were inside, and the “pre-show” started, I was already impressed, especially when we were able to walk through Maurice’s mirror. Very neat! We were told we could take pictures, but we could not use a flash, so that’s why they aren’t the easiest to see, but I did my best. The Armoire starts by asking for all the children to come up front if they wanted to participate, and as soon as Hope walked up there, she immediately raised her hand.



First, I laughed, and then I told her she could put it down since no one had asked any questions yet. Then the Armoire told the CM in the room that they were going to recreate how Belle met the Beast, and they would need a cast of characters to help do it. This time she didn’t raise her hand, which surprised me since the first character they needed was The Beast, but who did they end up picking anyway? Hope! They put a little cape on her and pulled her to the side.





You have no idea how excited I was! Then they cast all of the other characters before taking the audience into the Library first, followed by the cast.



As we were walking in my mom whispers to me, “Hope’s the Beast! That means she gets to dance with Belle”! I was so excited over the fact that she even got picked, that I didn’t even think of what happens in the story, and now I was even more excited. We walked inside the library, and when we were all finding seats, a really nice guy let me sit up front with him so I could take pictures. If you ever have a child who’s in this show, they also have a Photopass Photographer on hand as well, which I didn’t know, so don’t worry about not getting a good shot because they will take care of all that for you.

Soon the show started, with Lumiere narrating the story, and before long it was Hope’s turn. There was now another CM in the room that helped each child with what they needed to do, and when it was time for Belle to meet “The Beast”, the CM whispered something in Hope’s ear, and all of a sudden she jumped in front of Belle with her hands shaped like claws, and made a really cute “ROAR”. Belle jumped in surprise, and then did a few things with Hope, and then they walked her off stage so they could introduce each of the “characters” one by one.





All of the kids were taken to the back of the room so they could make their way up to the front with Belle, and just when Hope would have been the next one to go up, they walked her all the way into the back of the room again. Then they had her walk down the center aisle while they played “Beauty and the Beast”, and Belle began to dance with her.




I can’t even describe how magical it all felt. I had tears in my eyes because it was such a special moment, and I knew Hope was having such a good time up there. Of course I was on the wrong side of the room, but it didn’t matter because I was so into the moment, that I wouldn’t have cared if I was sitting on the floor, just as long as I got to see my little girl dancing with Belle.

Once the song was over, Belle gave her a big hug, thanked her for being a part of the show, and handed her a bookmark. Which she also gave to all of the other children as well.





And when it was time to leave, the photographer handed all of us a special photopass card that had all of the photos she took on there. Here are the two that I ordered…




After all of that magic, I was so happy that Hope told us she wanted to stay in line to see Belle. If she hadn’t, we would never have gotten to experience that wonderful moment…which sort of blew Timon out of the water.

We had a few minutes before we needed to be at LTT, and once we were in the restaurant, we had a 5 minute wait before we were taken to our table in the Paul Revere Room. I really wish I would have taken pictures, but I was too busy coloring with Hope, that I completely forgot.

This was another one of my favorite meals of the trip, and I will definitely go back again next time. The dinner is a family style meal that included a salad, turkey with gravy and stuffing, pork, beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, and some sort of root vegetable that I can’t remember. After we tried to eat what we could, we were then given dessert, which was a cake filled with craisins and apples. It actually tasted like Christmas. They really fill you up in here, and we pretty much had to hobble our way out the door.

People were starting to line up for the parade, which was about to start in 10 minutes, so we decided to just stay up on the porch. We had a great view because we were able to see above everyone’s head, and once again, Hope absolutely loved it.

When the parade was over, we had some time to waste before Wishes started, so Hope told us she wanted to get on the Carousel and the Tea Cups, in that order. Since there was no one in line at the Carousel, we pretty much walked right on, and were also able to snag Cinderella and Charming’s horses. Again, Hope was over the moon with excitement.




Then we walked over to the Tea Cups, which has quickly become one of her favorite rides.







Then it was off to Main Street so we could grab a spot for Wishes.





She actually stayed awake this time, and had no problems watching it since I put those earplugs in her ears. We didn’t leave right away because Hope wanted to look around for something to buy, and I think the park was opened until 3am this night, with the parade and Wishes being shown for a second time soon. After looking at every toy in every store, Hope decided she really did want that Belle doll, especially after she had just had her special dance with her, so the gift card was used and the doll was bought.

Once we got back to the room, we did a little bit of packing while Hope layed in bed watching her “Disney Show” with the oh-so-wonderful Stacey, while holding her newest purchase.




No, she wouldn’t let me take Belle out of the box yet, and can you tell she wasn’t too happy that I was actually taking her picture? That’s her grumpy face. I guess that’s allowed since she never did have a nap, and she was picture perfect the entire day without it.

Up Next: Stuck on the Monorail

[chezp]

What a truly magical experience with Belle - I bet you were glad you waited it out after all. I'm so glad dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern was great for you, after our not-so-good lunch there....

[OhToodles!]

A truly magical evening! What could be more perfect? Seeing the new Fantasyland, being the Beast, dancing with Belle, a yummy dinner, the MSEP, Wishes & shopping! I'll admit I had a little tear in my eye just reading about the experience with Belle.

[davishomeschool]

Wow! What a great surprise for Hope to be in the show! LTT is our favorite place to eat at MK also and I know what you mean about having to be rolled out of there. LOL

[KMB733]

Wow! That is such a truly magical moment when Hope got picked to be the Beast. Love the pictures of her dancing with Belle. You're right, that does top the Timon kiss!!

[lauriep]

What a fantastic magic moment to see Hope dancing with Belle! I'd have been a puddle of emotion I'm sure. It's so great that they have photographers in there. This day really did work out perfectly despite the frustration and confusion in the middle. I'm glad Hope got the Belle doll to remember the experience by.

[lfredsbo]

What a magical day!!!! I have to admit that I had a tear in my eye too reading along!!! I just LOVE those kind of moments - especially when they are with the little ones - the magic is so real for them!!

That is funny that she wouldn't even take the doll out of the box............has Belle been released yet?

[cubfancolleen]

Wow, what a perfect experience with Belle!! And so appropriate that Hope selected the Belle doll as her souvenir.