A long time ago (ok, not too long..) in a land 1,164 miles from Chicago and 1,007 miles from Philly

Sandurz · Jun 3, 2013

That's too bad about Everest! But for day 2 that was a ton accomplished. I'm pretty sure we were at the MK that night but I don't know how I missed doing the Belle thing with such a short wait. Every time I saw it it was 90+ minutes.

I had almost gone to AK that night specifically for a nighttime Everest ride but went the next day instead. And it was running then so hopefully you got to do the same

and you'll get to write about how dope it was on the next day's report.

Makes me wish I had taken notes and more location pictures to help keep track of our timeline. All I have is the ADRs we made and some pictures here and there but that leaves a lot in the dark.

foreverbelle · Jun 5, 2013

All caught up again, funny when we ate at Chef Mickey's last week, the sky looked the same as it did in yours. Unfortunately we did get some nasty weather but still. It could have been the same picture....

How awesome of the CM! I love when we run into people from our area, which does not happen very often so its fun when we do. Congrats on him giving you the passes, super nice. I must say, I love riding Everest at night though, its great during the day but at night=its awesome. Well the way I see it is anyway so I highly recommend if you ever get a chance to do so.

The burger looks huge!!! I can't eat beef myself, but it still looks incredible....yum yum.....

PolynesianPrincess · Jun 5, 2013

YAY for a Rachel TR!! I'm going to start by saying I think (or I hope, rather) that it will be the Bruins and Hawks in the finals! We will have to be enemies then!! haha

Love that you got to see New Fantasyland on MY BIRTHDAY!! haha so jealous!! I saw it just last week and it really is awesome! I LOVED the mermaid ride! A friend of ours said he rode it and it has no re-ride-abilty (is that even a real word?!) but I think so. We rode it 3 times!! lol

Didn't get to see Enchanted Tales but this just made me make it a MUST DO for September!! So thanks for that!!

AK looks awesome at night! I've only ever been during the day! Can't wait to read more!!

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 9, 2013

Sorry for the interruption folks, but MY CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS ARE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!!

Thanks to a hat trick from my favorite boy, Patrick Kane!

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 9, 2013

So after our long night out we got up early the next morning and headed to Hollywood Studios. Now that I think about it, HS may have opened at 9am since there were no EMH that morning, but we were still up sort of early. We are the ones that of course make the mad dash (of course no running) to TSM to get the coveted fastpasses..
My mom lets me fast walk while she just stands back and watches all the crazy people head to Pixar Place. So after I power walked and dodged in front of some strollers I was standing in this lovely line..

It was about 9:15am when I got our fastpasses..

While I was waiting in line for our fastpasses (which moved very fast) my mom had gotten in line for The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow. I was impressed! I remember when it was Narnia stuff and I even remember back to when the Haunted Mansion came out and this building had the huge staircase and other props from the movie! Man how time flies....
Gotta have some “standing in line” pictures!

I must say I was actually a little scared for a split second when they had all the skeletons take over the place! I felt like I was in the first movie! I loved how they have all the villains from all 4 movies!

Jack seemed so realistic! If only that was really Johnny up there.. Haha

Next, it was time for the Backlot Tour! I was hoping to fulfill my dream of being part of the pre show, but sadly they had a shortened version with just 2 cast members that day

After that we decided to stop by Mike and Sully since we hadn’t seen them in awhile! I thought this sign was cute

Sadly Mike had gone to take a lunch break so there was just Sully. That’s ok with me I love that big lug!

The last time we saw Sully was during our family trip back in 2011. So I PicStitched these two pictures and just had to send it to my brother saying “Something’s missing..

“ Haha!

Gotta take a picture with this umbrella every time, I love it!

Had to go past Mama’s to say “Thanks!” again for the wonderful dinner the other night

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 9, 2013

Sandurz said:
That's too bad about Everest! But for day 2 that was a ton accomplished. I'm pretty sure we were at the MK that night but I don't know how I missed doing the Belle thing with such a short wait. Every time I saw it it was 90+ minutes.

I had almost gone to AK that night specifically for a nighttime Everest ride but went the next day instead. And it was running then so hopefully you got to do the same and you'll get to write about how dope it was on the next day's report.

Makes me wish I had taken notes and more location pictures to help keep track of our timeline. All I have is the ADRs we made and some pictures here and there but that leaves a lot in the dark.

Yes it was definitely action packed! You need to see Enchanted Tales with Belle next time! I urge everyone to see it at least once haha!

Unfortunately we went to HS the next day, BUT there will be an Everest ride I think the day after that! Haha I love that ride Disco Yeti or not it's still an awesome ride!

Yes next time either A. make a journal or B. take more pictures so things will come back to you easier so YOU can write a TR!

I just love to take 50 million pictures so that's how I remember (most of) it. Sorry I've been spotty with my updating..

foreverbelle said:
All caught up again, funny when we ate at Chef Mickey's last week, the sky looked the same as it did in yours. Unfortunately we did get some nasty weather but still. It could have been the same picture....

How awesome of the CM! I love when we run into people from our area, which does not happen very often so its fun when we do. Congrats on him giving you the passes, super nice. I must say, I love riding Everest at night though, its great during the day but at night=its awesome. Well the way I see it is anyway so I highly recommend if you ever get a chance to do so.

The burger looks huge!!! I can't eat beef myself, but it still looks incredible....yum yum.....

Yeah it was very nice of him and I wasn't expecting it at all! I know I hope to ride Everest someday at night!
The burger was delicious!

I can't remember if I finished all of it or not (I think I did), but I was stuffed the rest of the night! Thanks for reading! I love love LOVE your TR!

derelicte19 said:
YAY for a Rachel TR!! I'm going to start by saying I think (or I hope, rather) that it will be the Bruins and Hawks in the finals! We will have to be enemies then!! haha

Love that you got to see New Fantasyland on MY BIRTHDAY!! haha so jealous!! I saw it just last week and it really is awesome! I LOVED the mermaid ride! A friend of ours said he rode it and it has no re-ride-abilty (is that even a real word?!) but I think so. We rode it 3 times!! lol

Didn't get to see Enchanted Tales but this just made me make it a MUST DO for September!! So thanks for that!!

AK looks awesome at night! I've only ever been during the day! Can't wait to read more!!

Looks like we'll have to be enemies!

I'm so excited for this SC Final though it should be a good one!
OMG it definitely has a re-ride-ability! The little mermaid ride is my second favorite next to ToT!
Hehe you're welcome for the addition to your Must Do list!

I haven't really heard others opinions on it. I have to admit I thought that it was just going to be for little kids (even though I'm a kid at heart), but I loved it! I don't know if that's just because we had a perfect Belle which added to the whole experience, but we liked it so much we went back and saw it later on in the trip too!
Are you going to make a TR for the trip you just went on?! I love your TRs!

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

Next up came lunch at the one and only.. PIZZA PLANET!

I got the personal pizza with a mini caesar salad and my mom got I think the meatball sandwich with the same salad. We both got waters and get this, CAPPUCCINO CUPCAKES! Holy moly they were muy delicioso!

These cupcakes were so good they deserve their own closeup..

The snapchat I had to send to all my friends to make them jealous.

It’s funny to look at my pictures (like the fastpass line from earlier) and see all the people dressed in pants and heavy jackets. It was in the 60s or higher and for me being a Chicago girl this weather was awesome! Give me shorts and a sweatshirt (just incase) and I’m good haha!

Next we were off to see Ralph and Venelope!
Unfortunately, I had not seen the movie before visiting the characters so I really had no clue how all the theming tied in, but I still loved it none the less! My mom just had to explain everything to me haha

I always love looking in the Animator’s Room to see all the cool trinkets and collectibles so it was nice to see an actual Illustrator in there working!

Then it was on to see all the illustrations and models for the movie Wreck It Ralph. It was also awesome to see an actual Fix it Felix game!

Alright so how could we have been in HS this long and NOT have visited our favorite hotel?!

Oo. Maybe that wait time’s why....

Stinkin’ post Christmas crowds haha! I’d never seen an extended rope queue outside the entrance like that before!

We decided to hit up Lights, Motors, Action! next since we’re usually not in the park late enough to see it! I found that with the cooler weather we were able to be at the parks longer without needing hotel breaks!

I absolutely LOVE the view from the top of these bleachers!

The Cars addition was a cute, little touch.

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

We stopped at a few of the shops along Sunset Boulevard.

I love this picture! I found this colored Mickey in with the black and white ones so I thought it made for a great picture, no filter added!

This was not a fun sight to see on my phone..

Once we got out of the shops we saw that the Beauty and the Beast show was starting so we headed in. We got lucky and were able to sit in our favorite seats which are right by the top of the “stadium” where the nice breeze is!

After that the crowds were too heavy to do anything so we headed back to get freshened up for dinner in EPCOT!

Sandurz · Jun 10, 2013

LeCellier.Lover said:
Next up came lunch at the one and only.. PIZZA PLANET!

I have no words to describe this picture.

I thought I did alright on my dessert game last visit...I hit the classic maple creme brulee at Le Cellier, tried one of those giant carrot cake cookies, had my first (and second and third and fourth and fifth) cream cheese pretzel. But I don't think I had a single cupcake. Seeing that cappuccino monster has shown me I seriously neglected a very important species of the Disney dessert kingdom.

Disappointingly there has been no sign of a photobomb but there is time yet for our paths to have crossed!

LeCellier.Lover said:
Sorry I've been spotty with my updating..

Hey this way the whole reading journey lasts longer! Just as long you finish

no cliffhangers allowed!

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

Sandurz said:
I have no words to describe this picture.

I thought I did alright on my dessert game last visit...I hit the classic maple creme brulee at Le Cellier, tried one of those giant carrot cake cookies, had my first (and second and third and fourth and fifth) cream cheese pretzel. But I don't think I had a single cupcake. Seeing that cappuccino monster has shown me I seriously neglected a very important species of the Disney dessert kingdom.

Disappointingly there has been no sign of a photobomb but there is time yet for our paths to have crossed!

Hey this way the whole reading journey lasts longer! Just as long you finish no cliffhangers allowed!

I honestly didn't even know these cupcakes existed! Usually I would just get plain (yet still delicious) chocolate chip cookies, so this was a huge surprise!
It still sounds like you did pretty good though, I LOVE the maple creme brûlée and Le Cellier is my all time favorite (You probably guessed that from my name.. haha). I still have yet to try a carrot cake cookie, but I want to! And the cream cheese pretzel sounds good too never had that either!

Darnit

But yes please be on the lookout for a photobomb, that would be funny!

I Girl Scout promise (those things are legit

) that I will finish this TR! hahah

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

Our dinner for the night was at the Japan pavilion in EPCOT at Teppan Edo!
We arrived about 10 minutes early so we had to wait for 2 other groups that would be joining our “grill” that night, but once they arrived we were seated.

We had a girl chef which I thought was really cool since usually I have only seen guys at restaurants like this!
She made a Mickey head with the oil

I got the chicken with noodles, vegetables and white rice along with the three different sauces. I think the white sauce all the way to the left was my favorite, but I can’t completely remember. Whichever one was my favorite though was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

My mom got the steak, which was also delicious!

For dessert I got the green tea pudding and my mom got the chocolate ginger cake.
I can’t remember which one I liked the most. I know I finished all of mine though and loved the raspberry gel on top!

I REALLY loved this restaurant and would recommend it to everyone! We do have an outstanding hibachi grill by my house, but honestly I think Teppan Edo (or at least our experience) was just as delicious! I was a little nervous about sitting with different families at first (even though my mom and I are very outgoing), but both families were extremely nice! The one family was a mom, dad and two young sons (you can see the one boy in my pictures). The boys had very good manners and always said “Ma’am can I please have” or “Thank you!”. It was very nice to see that kids are still getting taught manners these day and can act civilized at dinner! The other family was a grandma with her younger grandson. This boy was also very well behaved. The woman actually used to work for Disney and they live in South Florida, so she still gets to go to Disney with her family for free! She talked about the amazing benefits that employees get! Since the other two families were not on the DDP (like us) they left before dessert leaving my mom and I to peacefully enjoy our desserts and soak in the rest of the wonderful atmosphere

After our awesome dinner we decided to just stroll around World Showcase with full, happy stomachs

Had to send this snapchat home to all of my Blackhawks friends. I went home and scrubbed my hair clean of this disgusting hat in our Little Mermaid shower, don’t worry!

I think EPCOT had the EMH this night so we went to see what the wait time looked like for Soarin’. I guess the wait was too long though because I don’t have any photographic evidence of us riding it..

So we went and rode Living with the Land. I love this ride! The “water smell” is just awesome and call me a geek, but I like seeing all the plants and vegetables growing since I love helping my parents plant gardens at our house!

PolynesianPrincess · Jun 10, 2013

LeCellier.Lover said:
Looks like we'll have to be enemies! I'm so excited for this SC Final though it should be a good one!
OMG it definitely has a re-ride-ability! The little mermaid ride is my second favorite next to ToT!
Hehe you're welcome for the addition to your Must Do list! I haven't really heard others opinions on it. I have to admit I thought that it was just going to be for little kids (even though I'm a kid at heart), but I loved it! I don't know if that's just because we had a perfect Belle which added to the whole experience, but we liked it so much we went back and saw it later on in the trip too!
Are you going to make a TR for the trip you just went on?! I love your TRs!

We can't speak until after the series is over.....

haha just kidding!!

I am going to write a TR eventually.... I have to finish my one from September before I start this one. UGH!! Too many trips!! Then I have another one in 90 days.... I'll be writing TR's for the next 2 years!! haha

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

derelicte19 said:
We can't speak until after the series is over.....

haha just kidding!!

I am going to write a TR eventually.... I have to finish my one from September before I start this one. UGH!! Too many trips!! Then I have another one in 90 days.... I'll be writing TR's for the next 2 years!! haha

Ah I got nervous for a second I thought you were serious!

Haha!
Even though I'm going to Florida the 22nd so depending on how long the series goes I may run the risk of missing some of it!

Ok yaya! Even though yeah I definitely know it's hectic enough writing one so I don't know how you do it! Ugh I'm so jealous you get to go so much! Bring me with?? haha

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

Then we went to go find nemo (again)!

The ending is my ultimate favorite part when they have the Finding Nemo characters in with the actual aquarium! I LOVE singing along also! “In the biig bluue worldd, we’re gonna go explore!”

Then it was off to say hi to the manatees for my brother (that’s his favorite mammal

)

I love being in the seas pavilion, but as much as I love it I never knew that you could see so much more of the aquarium from upstairs!

So that’s where we headed next!

Then we headed back to World Showcase!

I want to minor in Spanish so the Mexico pavilion and ride is always a big hit and must see for me!

Then it was off to Norvay to take a picture with my favorite troll!

After that I’m not sure if we left the park because it was going to close or because we had an early morning the next day.

But not before a spin on Spaceship Earth!

There we go flying off to Chicago!

On our way back to the parking lot we saw the tent and stands set up for the Marathon weekend that was coming up!

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

January 4th, Day 3- Magic Kingdom for 16 hours!

The next day we got up early and were out the door by 7:45am because we had a Keys to the Kingdom Tour to get to!

We got to the TTC and took the monorail in

Our tour wasn’t until 8:30am, but they advise you to get there early. So we got to Town Hall and were checking in at about 8:10am and they said we could just walk around Main Street until it was time to go!

Oo how I love a practically empty Main Street!

The name tag and headset made me feel so official!

I saw this Confectionary window along the way which I had never seen before. I thought it was cute!

Cute family picture happening in front of the castle haha

Sadly there’s no picture taking allowed during the tour

Which was really hard for me since I wanted to reach for my phone every 10 seconds.. Luckily my jacket had zippers on it so I could put my phone away and make sure I didn’t accidentally take it out haha!

I’m kind of just going to ramble here for a minute about the tour so bare with me please..
IT WAS AMAZING. I would rate it a 2049 out of 10, that’s how much I loved it! I can’t remember our tour guide’s name, but he was awesome and so knowledgable! First, we started on Main Street USA looking around at all the buildings and learning the 4 keys to a great Disney Experience: Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. We were tucked away in the little side street of Main Street while the crowds flooded in. Our tour guide was also hilarious! He said “Alright folks you’re about to witness one of the best things of this tour, the running of the guests!” He was so true though! All of a sudden flocks of people came running down Main Street and we just watched them run it was so funny! He reiterated how you’re not supposed to run and even if guests do run they can’t get on until the CMs get back to their attractions, which is so true! We walked around stopping for some breaks to hear more history and secrets from our tour guide. We also got a private Jungle Cruise ship and sneers from all the guests still waiting to get on the attraction

One of my favorite parts was going behind the scenes next to Splash Mountain and seeing all the parade floats! We also got to see extra POTC ride boats that were not being used outside and also all the Splash Mountain log flumes getting cleaned since the ride was under refurb while we were there! We actually had to wait because the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! parade floats were driving out! I was pretty proud of myself because when our guide asked “What is different about these Share a Dream Come True Parade floats from the 2003 (I think?) floats?” I shouted out “There’s no globe coverings!” and the guide replied with “Yes you’re correct! Wow no one’s ever gotten that right!” I felt pretty proud of myself considering I was the youngest guest on the tour!

After that we took a break for lunch at Columbia Harbor House, which my pop didn’t really taste like Coke (not enough syrup I guess?), but luckily that was my only complaint of the tour haha!

Then we got to go in the back entrance of the Haunted Mansion and I did sneak this picture in the stretching room, which isn’t really sneaking cause this wasn’t a “secret” part of the tour!

Picture I took during our last bathroom break before we got to go underground!

Going backstage on Main Street was by far THE BEST part of the tour! Once we got back stage the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! parade was starting so we were able to see all the dancers getting amped up and ready to go perform which was really cool to see how they interacted with each other before going out on “stage”!

Then we got to go to the Utilidors! My o my was this amazing! Some interesting things to see were the signs, right before heading into the back of a gift shop on MS, that said “Going on Stage!” so that the CMs would know to start putting on their “Show” (as Disney says). While down in the Utilidors all of a sudden our tour guide was talking and then had to let a girl cut across our group really quick. Who was this girl you may ask? IT WAS PRINCESS AURORA! She was all done up in her wig and makeup, but get this, she had a sweatshirt tied around her waist with walking shoes and headphones on! She must have been doing her daily exercise! She walked by one more time and each time I was starstruck! It was so awesome to see the characters you would see in the parks down below going for a walk! While down there we also saw the looooong hallway that leads all the way down to the end of Fantasyland and smelled the injected smell that goes into the Confectionary, it was absolutely amazing! I also thought it was neat to see that they play regular Top 20 music down in the Utilidor. Our tour guide said “Yes, we play normal music down here to give our CMs a break from the Disney music because we are still normal humans!” haha Sadly, after that the tour came to an end back up by Town Hall

Our tour guide was amazing and even answered questions that I had about the College Program since he said he had done it and actually met his wife during it!

I was a little scared to do this tour at first because it does show a lot of behind the scenes stuff and I was afraid I would “lose the magic”, but this was not the case AT ALL! This actually got me even more excited to fill out an application for the CP! I was like a kid in a candy shop with big bug eyes the whole time while taking everything in! It was AMAZING and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone and everyone!

diddy_mouse · Jun 10, 2013

Great pictures all around!

...and your Minnie ears are really cute!

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

After our LOVELY tour that had both of us on cloud 9 we headed back to Adventureland to see the newly refurbished Tiki Room! The only Tiki Room I remember from my childhood is the “Under New Management” one so this was a nice change to see

I like them both though!

After our long tour we decided it was time to relax and treat ourselves to some Dole Whips! During this time we also Facetimed my daddy! I think it’s so neat now with technology to be able to actually talk to someone face to face from anywhere and show them the park, etc!

While we were sitting down sippin’ and eatin’ our delicious Dole Whips I got a text from one of my good friends who I play college volleyball with saying that her and her parents had just arrived at MK and were grabbing lunch at Tony’s Town Square! I had to rush and go find one of my best friends!
We walked to Tony’s and my mom said it would be fine for us to just sneak a peek in and see if we could find them, I felt illegal for a second doing it but I don’t know why? haha We spotted them right away at an end table and I ran up to Chelsea and surprised her by giving her the biggest hug ever!
Sorry we’re cheesin’ so big in this picture, but I was so excited to see her!

We had an ADR at Tony’s this night at about 5:30, I think? So we decided to let Chels and her family finish up their lunch. We planned on meeting up together later on in the night since MK was open until 12am. At this point it was about 2 o’clock so we decided to just stroll through the park.
Our next stop was going to be the Peoplemover, until we saw this line.. I’ve never seen the line this big before!

While continuing on our journey we saw a mom napping on one of those hard, cement benches outside of Space Mountain with her child zonked on top of her! I just had to snap this picture for this TR! I know families and kids get tired, but this did not look comfortable at all and would definitely be my last resort.. You can so tell that the CM in the picture saw me taking this photo even though I was trying to act like I was taking a picture of the long line..

Once our ADR time came around we headed back to Tony’s.
I ordered the Cannelloni which was alright and I’m not sure what my mom had ordered, oopsies!

For dessert we both got cappuccinos (got water and saved this as our “drink”) and tiramisu! We love the tiramisu from Tony’s!

Our dinner was pretty good, but nothing spectacular.. Our waitress was not the best so I think that disrupted our experience a little

LeCellier.Lover · Jun 10, 2013

diddy_mouse said:
Great pictures all around! ...and your Minnie ears are really cute!

Aww thank you! I saw a lot of people with the Minnie ears and usally I'm not one to go with what everyone else has, but I couldn't pass these up they were too cute!

Thanks for reading!

tiaragirl · Jun 10, 2013

Rachellll I love your TRs!

Looks like you and your momma had an excellent trip! That tour sounds like a blast - and how fun/weird to see Aurora doing laps!

Looking forward to the rest

WLBound · Jun 10, 2013

Oh, I'm jealous that you got to see Aurora (she's my favorite princess) in the utilidors. When we took the tour we didn't get to see any characters down there. I do agree that people should take this tour if at all possible. I was worried that it might ruin some of the magic for me but it didn't. I still look up to see the lightning rods (our guide told us that Disney was very concerned with guest safety so they went overboard on the rods). These are the good things you learn when you do KttK.