Trip Report Completed Lebeau Family 2014 Disney World Trip Report

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

Our trip started on the last day of school. School let out early that day. So we picked up Josie in the early afternoon and headed out to the airport. The idea was to schedule the trip as early as possible before some schools let out for the summer. It seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect, it may have been a bit much traveling after school even if it was just a half day. The girls were exhausted by the time our plane touched down at 6:00.

Since we were staying on property, we decided to make use of Disney’s Magical Express service. Trying to carry bags for a family of four while also wrangling small children is a hassle. I made sure that nothing important was in the checked bags because I knew that the bags would arrive an hour or more after we checked in.

We made our way to the Magical Express shuttles. All the while, Mindy kept questioning whether or not we should pick up our bags. She didn’t trust Mickey to deliver them. I assured her repeatedly that I had attached the yellow Magical Express tags and that the bags would be delivered to our room. After some other guests overheard us and confirmed that what I was saying was true, Mindy began to relax on the issue.

Originally, I had made dinner reservations at Downtown Disney at 8:00. I had been worried about our ability to make it to Downtown Disney in two hours. The day before we left, I changed our plans. Instead, I scheduled our first dinner at Boatwright’s Dining Hall at 7:30. Boatwright’s is located in our resort. So I figured it would be a lot less stressful to just drop our stuff in our room and eat there.

Typically, I allow about an hour to get from the airport to the resort when using Magical Express. As with any form of Disney transportation, there are variables. First of all, you just never know when the next shuttle is going to come along. In our case, we waited about 20 minutes. When the shuttle finally arrived, I was glad I had scrapped my Downtown Disney plans.

As soon as everyone was loaded in the bus, the driver announced that we would be making four stops. We would stop at Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside. Realizing that our stop was last, I started to worry about making it to the resort in time for our 7:30 dinner reservation.

Not surprisingly, we were late. We arrive at Port Orleans Riverside a little after 7:30. I went to the lobby to check in. I had used the Online Check-In option which theoretically cuts down on your wait time. But there seemed to be an issue. There was a very large party checking in and they were having a problem. The cast member who was helping them did not have much of a sense of urgency despite a growing line. Eventually, I decided to eat first and check in later.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

Fortunately, Boatwright’s is just down the hall from the lobby. It would be a little awkward dining with our carry-on luggage. Especially considering both the girls were carrying giant teddy bears. But we were all tired and hungry. I figured we would fare better after a meal and maybe the line at check-in would be gone.
Unfortunately, this created a problem. I was informed by our waiter that since we were using the Disney Dining Plan, we needed to activate our Magic Bands before he could take our order. After a few moments of confusion, our waiter took my Magic Band and disappeared for a while. When he returned, he was able to take our orders.

Once we had ordered our meals, I went back to the lobby to complete our check-in before any additional problems arose. The line at the check-in counter had cleared as I had hoped. The cast member who assisted me was the same one who did not seem overly concerned with the problems the big party was having. I experienced the same lack of concern.

On previous trips, the cast members who checked us in were very enthusiastic which got our trips off to a very pleasant start. But this cast member lacked that enthusiasm. She wasn’t rude. She just wasn’t delivering the level of service I was accustomed to from previous Disney experiences. She repeatedly asked me for my cell phone number which I do not know off the top of my head and I did not have handy. For a minute, I didn’t think she was going to check me in unless I went back to Boatwright’s to retrieve it. But she finally relented and told me I would have to come back to the front desk to give it to her. I never did.

Having dealt with check-in, I returned to Boatwright’s to find my meal waiting for me. That would have been nice, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, there was just an empty table with grumpy kids. Our waiter at Boatwright’s was much more friendly than the girl at check-in. But our service was still on the slow side.

At our waiter’s suggestion, I tried the prime rib. It was delicious. I especially enjoyed the horseradish mashed potatoes. Mindy ordered a plate of ribs which she also enjoyed. Josie ordered a kid’s cheese pizza with a side of french fries. She’s our picky eater and a vegetarian to boot. She didn’t eat much of the pizza, but she was hungry enough to eat most of the fries. Kara had a chicken nuggets kid’s meal which she seemed to enjoy.

As we ate, we could hear Yee Haw Bob performing his show in the nearby lounge. I had hoped to finish dinner and catch a bit of the performance before turning in for the night. But everyone was too tired for that. So we enjoyed the performance as background dinner music instead.

For dessert, the girls got ice cream sundaes. These are pretty standard with kid’s meals at Disney World. Basically, it’s a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a few cups of toppings. The kids can then apply the toppings to personalize their own sundae. It’s always a big hit with kids.

Kara was very pleased with her picture-perfect sundae. She insisted I take a picture to commemorate her ice cream masterpiece.

I ordered the bananas foster angel food cake. The cake itself was nothing special. It’s angel food cake. Dry and sweet, but mostly tasteless. But it served as a sponge for the delicious bananas foster topping and vanilla ice cream.

Mindy ordered the bread pudding which was good, but not what she was expecting. As an avid Food Network fan, I know that the term bread pudding can be applied to a wide variety of desserts. But Mindy had a specific type of bread pudding in mind and this wasn’t it. The “pudding” was more like a dense blueberry muffin than what she was used to.

I sampled the dessert myself and we both appreciated the berries and vanilla ice cream. It’s a can’t miss flavor profile. But the denseness of the dessert disappointed Mindy and she only finished about half of it.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

Checked in and fed, we gathered up our bags to head to our room. Unfortunately, during the meal I had misplaced the room number. I had it in my head that it was either 9575 or 9573. Unfortunately, I could not recall which. So I pulled out the map that the girl at check-in had given me. It had a completely different number written on it. Not even the same building.

So I went back to the lobby for the third time and asked them to verify our room number. 9573 which was my first guess. The weary girls were less than impressed with my powers of recollection. As we made our way to the room, Mindy was convinced I was walking in the wrong direction. Unlike the airport, there was no one standing by to assure her that I was right. So continued doubting me until we reached our door.

First impression: Mindy wasn’t too impressed. It was farther from the bus stop than she would like. Also, our bags hadn’t yet arrived which revived her fears that I had stranded all of our belongings at the airport. Josie was too tired to react much one way or another. But Kara, sweet little Kara, loved the room.

This was exactly the reaction I was looking for when I selected a Royal Guest Room. Josie has never been as interested in princesses as her sister. But I knew Kara would go gaga for all the princess stuff. After the foibles of our travel day, Kara’s excitement over the room was exactly what I needed.

The idea behind the Royal Guest Rooms is that Princess Tiana has invited all the other princesses to stay with her in New Orleans. Each princess has left behind some gifts for Tiana. The back-story is explained in a note from Tiana conveniently plastered on the table.

The room is filled with all kinds of little references to various princesses. When we first arrived, the girls and I had fun looking for these little details.

One of the more obvious references was the footstool from Beauty and the Beast which was below a large painting of our hostess, Tiana.

Above each bed was a large painting of the bayou. Pushing a button initiated fiber optic fireworks within the painting. The beds, it should be noted, were both queen size. During our previous stay in 2010, the rooms all had twin beds.

In addition to portraits of all of the main princesses, there are two banners which feature the silhouettes of the eight corresponding princes. We had fun trying to match each prince with their princess which is slightly more challenging than it sounds. For example, do you know who Prince Adam is? (Daffy, I know you do.) Also, one of the princes has no name. He is simply called “The Prince”. And no, he’s not Prince Charming.

Embedded in the carpet is the magic carpet from Aladdin. Try as we might, we could not make it fly.

Sticking with the Aladdin theme, the faucets are shaped to look like magic lamps. We were also unsuccessful at summoning a genie. Which is a shame. Because we really could have used one once or twice during the trip.

The shower curtain appeared to be a gift from Ariel as it contained starfish, snarfblats and dinglehoppers.

The coat rack by the door featured Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage. Everywhere you looked, there were little signs of Disney princess enchantment. It won’t be for everyone. But if you have a princess fan in your group, the up-charge for the Royal Guest Rooms may be worth it.

Our luggage arrived around 10:00 which was four hours after our flight had landed. We quickly unpacked and went to bed. There were Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom the next morning which meant we would need to get an early start in order to take advantage of them.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

Not surprisingly, I was the first one up. I had set an alarm for 6:00 am, but woke up earlier than that. I got myself ready and then woke Mindy. While she showered, I decided to have a look around. When I opened the door, this is the view that greeted me. I had spent a little extra for a river view room figuring it would put us closer to the main building and the bus station. I don’t think it did, but I considered the view to be worth the extra money anyway.

I am not typically one two pay extra for a room with a view. Especially at Disney World where in theory you are not spending a lot of time at your resort. But the grounds at Port Orleans were so beautiful, I made a habit of taking a morning stroll. Every morning, I walked along the river and over the bridge to the main building. I picked up our refillable mugs and brought drinks back to the room for everyone.

It was a very relaxing way to start my day. Here’s a pictorial of my morning walks.

When I returned to the room with drinks in hand, the girls were just about ready to go. We enjoyed our morning beverages while making the final preparations and then we headed out to the bus stop for our first day at the parks. Despite a bit of a rough start, the air was filled with excitement. Unfortunately, the scene at the bus stop for the Magic Kingdom took a little of the wind out of our sails.

We stayed at Port Orleans once before in 2010. By far, our number one complaint was the bus service. Buses did not arrive frequently enough and when they did, they were usually standing room only. This is true to some extent at all Disney resorts. But Port Orleans Riverside has four bus depots. And sometimes they share service with Port Orleans French Quarter for a total of five bus stops. This can lead to some really long waits and crowded buses.

As soon as we arrived at the bus station, it was obvious that people had already been waiting a long time. You could feel their frustration. We began hearing rumblings that it had been 40 minutes since the last Magic Kingdom bus had arrived. Since Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours this morning, a lot of resort guests were headed there and the buses were overloaded.

While we waited, some guests told us their bus horror story from earlier in the week. They said that there was a breakdown that resulted in a two hour wait between buses. Other guests verified that a Magic Kingdom bus had broken down and that the wait was ridiculous. Several guests called to report the problem, but they just got passed around the Disney phone lines.

Fortunately for us, our wait was only 20 minutes. Now don’t get me wrong. 20 minutes is on the long side. And some guests had waited up to an hour that morning. When a bus finally did arrive, it quickly filled up with people and pulled away leaving about half of us behind. A second bus was not far behind. Naturally, it was standing-room only. But that is the price of relying on Disney transportation.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

In spite of our bus issues, we still managed to arrive at the Magic Kingdom entrance by 8:00 am. There was a large crowd waiting to be admitted. After the long wait at the bus stop, the kids were running out of patience. Kara said she had to go potty. And the lines weren’t moving.

From what I could see from the middle of the crowd, it looked like they were having problems with the finger scanners. After 10 or 15 minutes, they brought out cast members with tablets. Once they started admitting guests, the lines started moving at a reasonable pace.

Once we had entered the park, Mindy took the girls for a potty break and I procured a stroller from the rental spot under the train station. Strollers are a divisive topic among Disney World fans. There is a contingent that avidly believes that any child who can walk should not be in a stroller. But I take the opposite approach.

Josie just turned 9 and there is no doubt that she could walk. Kara recently turned 5 and the walk is too much for her. But I went ahead and rented a double stroller for our stay. It was just going to make our trip that much easier. If I’m on vacation, I’m all about anything that makes the experience less stressful.

Equipped with our stroller, I stepped out on to Main Street USA for my first view of the castle. The mild set-backs of our check-in and the morning melted away. We were ready to start the fun part of our trip.

Our first stop of the day was to see Ariel in her grotto. In 2012, we were able to visit Ariel during a soft opening of the new Fantasyland. We rode the Little Mermaid ride, but no one felt the need to ride it again this year. Kara was afraid of Ursula and the rest of us thought the ride wasn’t worth repeating. So we skipped the ride this year and went straight to the meet and greet.

The girls love Ariel. She is among their favorite Disney characters. Kara in particular is borderline obsessed with the Little Mermaid. Leading up to the trip, we had prepared the girls to speak up during meet and greets. But for this first encounter, they were star struck. Neither of them said a word.

Ariel carried on her half of the conversation. She commented on Kara’s shirt and talked about how she had 6 sisters. She said she liked to go swimming with them. The girls nodded and smiled broadly. They got their autograph books signed and posed for pictures. And then off they went to another “adventure”.

After watching the girls grin their way through their first meet and greet, Mindy and I decided to implement a reward system for the trip. We would award the kids points for trying new things, actually interacting with the characters and for good behavior. The points could later be redeemed at gift shops for souvenirs.

Of course the points were actually irrelevant. We were going to let the kids shop for souvenirs no matter what. But they became very vested in doing things that would allow them to accumulate points and avoiding behavior (fighting, whining) that would cost them points. As far as they knew, their purchasing power was directly linked to their willingness to try new things and to behave themselves.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

We hadn’t had breakfast yet and the girls were getting hungry. So we decided to make our next stop Gaston’s Tavern. Somehow, I managed to cut Gaston’s head off in my only picture of the fountain outside of the tavern. So enjoy the view of his sidekick, Lefou, staring into Gaston’s crotch. This is the kind of coverage you won’t get at those dedicated Disney blogs.

As I mentioned at the outset, my primary objective for taking this trip was to report on all of New Fantasyland. So sampling a cinnamon roll and Lefou’s Brew from Gaston’s was a must. We ordered three cinnamon rolls to split among the four of us. Kara doesn’t care for icing so she was on the fence between a cinnamon roll and a fruit cup. Ultimately, she decided to get a cinnamon roll. Or so I thought.

The cinnamon rolls at Gaston’s Tavern are huge. They are unlike other cinnamon rolls on property. They are not served hot or even warm. They are topped with traditional frosting as well as a maple icing which is quite tasty assuming you like maple flavor. A lot of people complain that the rolls are dry. The icing to roll ratio is definitely less than other cinnamon rolls on property. But we did not find ourselves wanting for icing.

This is partially due to Kara’s dislike of icing. We found ourselves cutting off the unfrosted lower half of cinnamon rolls and giving them to her.

Eventually, Kara decided that she was supposed to get a fruit cup after all. So I had to get up and get back in line. The fruit cup consisted mostly of melon. There were some apples, pineapples and maybe a grape or two. The girls ate all of the fruit except for the melon. We polished off about two-thirds of our three cinnamon rolls. And we split a single Lefou’s Brew.

We continually mispronounced the name of this beverage. Roughly half the time, we called it Lefou’s Le Brew. Pretty sure Le Blog is to blame.

Reaction to the drink was mixed. No one really liked the passion fruit foam. The kids thought it was disgusting. Mindy and I didn’t mind it. But we didn’t really like it either. The drink itself is basically frozen apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow flavor. It is extremely cold and sweet. The girls didn’t care for it. I thought it was okay, but I would never drink a whole one myself. Mindy fell deeper and deeper in love with Lefou’s “Le” Brew with each sip.

Eventually, she began joking that she wasn’t sharing any more. But I think she was at least a little bit serious.

Overall, Gaston’s Tavern is a nice place to kick back and relax. The menu options are extremely limited. But if you can find something on the menu that you like, you can take in all of great theming while you recharge your batteries. And yes, there are antlers everywhere. The place is small, but there is seating outside as well. Despite the small size, Gaston’s Tavern never seemed all that crowded which is probably due to the size of its menu.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

We finished up our snacks in time for our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FastPass. This was only the second day that the ride was open to the public. It had been closed off and on, so the stand-by line was extremely long. But with our FastPasses, we were able to walk right on to the ride. The downside is that we bypassed the queue which is extremely well-themed.

Disney has been marketing the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as a major attraction. It is not. It is a very short ride clocking in at roughly 2 minutes. It is aimed squarely at children who are not tall enough or brave enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain. I can’t imagine very many adults wanting to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train repeatedly.

That’s not to say that the ride is a bust. It has its strengths. Like most of New Fantasyland, it is beautiful to look at. The mine is incredibly detailed inside and out. I enjoyed looking at the ride from all around the surrounding area. The animatronics inside the mine are also very impressive. The one show scene in the mine has the makings of an excellent dark ride. Unfortunately, it’s just the one scene.

After that, you whip around the mine for a few very mild thrills. Disney has talked quite a bit about the swinging motion in the ride vehicles which varies depending on the conditions of your ride. Sitting towards the back provides more swinging motion than the front of the train.

Before we left, I showed the girls a video of the mine train. Primarily, I wanted to prepare Kara for the witch. She is the perfect age to enjoy the ride, but I knew the witch would scare her. At first she didn’t want to ride it. But I convinced her to ride for points. I sat her on the left where she would be further away from the witch.

She closed her eyes for the entire ride. This turned out to be pointless because we were seated towards the back of the train. The back half of the train speeds past the cottage on the way to the unloading station. I had my eyes open and I barely caught a glimpse of the witch myself. I had to strain to see Snow White dancing inside the cottage.

On the whole, everyone liked the ride. “Cute” was the best word to describe it. But we felt bad for anyone who actually waited in the 90 minute standby line. Once the novelty wears off, this ride will have relatively short waits. We actually had another set of FastPasses, but no one really wanted to ride it a second time so we cancelled them.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

We had a little time to kill before our next FastPass which was also in Fantasyland. So we hit some of the minor attractions that didn’t have long lines. First up was the carousel. We have a ton of merry go rounds back home, but the kids still want to ride the one at Disney World every time we go. It’s a little fancier than the ones we have back home, but the ride is still pretty much the same as any other carousel.

Afterwards, the girls wanted to take the sword from the stone. I tried several times to get a decent picture. But there was another group of kids nearby who kept jumping in the frame every single time. Their mom watched them photobomb us repeatedly and never said a word about it.

I was able to crop the rowdy kids out of this one.

After that, we ducked into Mickey’s Philharmagic. For my money, Mickey’s Philharmagic is the most under-rated attraction in all of Disney World. It’s air-conditioned. You can sit down. There is never a long wait. It’s practically a greatest hist video for Disney music. And it’s got lots of laughs. I have never known anyone who didn’t like it.

All of us have seen it before. But this was really the first time Kara was old enough to truly appreciate it. She spent the entire movie laughing and reaching out to grab things she thought were in front of her. The in-house effects like water and bubbles delighted her. We had a blast just watching her enjoy it.

When the show ended, we were ready for our second set of FastPasses. This time we had an appointment to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at the Princess Fantasy Faire. The big ticket at Disney World is currently the Anna and Elsa meet and greet which had a posted wait time of three hours. We couldn’t get FastPasses to see the sisters fromFrozenuntil the end of our trip. So on our first day, we met with the less in-demand princesses.

Now that we had introduced the points system, the girls were a little more chatty with the princesses. Although for the life of me, I can’t remember what they talked about with Cinderella.

Our meeting with Rapunzel was more memorable. Josie asked her how long it took her to do her hair every morning. She replied that she had an hour and a half routine every morning. But that Eugene took longer to get ready because he had to practice his “smolder”.

Rapunzel told Josie that she was wearing her favorite color, purple. She said that Pascal’s favorite color was green, but he could change into any color he liked. She said that she was currently playing hide and seek with Pascal, so the girls should be on the lookout for him.

She also talked about how blondes had to stick together because all the girls in the room were blonde. When we left she waved and said, “Good bye, blondies.”

My motto for this trip was “Be prepared.” To that end, I brought along a little cooler full of filtered water bottles to stay hydrated without having to pay Disney’s inflated price for bottled water. I also picked up these little misting fans you see here. These $5 fans were terrific for beating the heat. They are basically just squirt guns with a battery-operated fan attached. Any time we were in the sun, these fans came out. They were life-savers during the daytime parades.

We had FastPasses set up for lunch at the Be Our Guest Restaurant. Not a lot of people know about this option because Disney does not advertise it at all. There is a special link which is completely separate from the regular FastPass and dining systems. Because I’m such a nice guy, here’s the link in case you need it. It’s not the most user-friendly system. Availability opens and closes with no warning. But if you keep checking, you can save yourself a long wait for lunch at the popular restaurant.

In the meantime, we continued our tour of Fantasyland attractions with little to no wait. Next on our list was It’s a Small World. This is another attraction that gets overlooked. Yes, the song is too catchy and it will get stuck in your head all day. And there are no thrills to speak of. But the ride is just loaded with all kinds of gorgeous details to take in. Everywhere you look, there is something bright and colorful.

It doesn’t come any more Disney than Mary Blair artwork and music by the Sherman brothers.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

After our international boat ride, it was time for lunch. We checked in at the Be Our Guest. Thanks to the FastPass reservation I had made, we were able to walk past the long line of people who had been waiting for an hour to get in.

We had placed our order about a month ago. But when we got inside, we were informed that our order had been lost. This is apparently pretty common. We were sent to the study to replace our order.

I went ahead and placed the order while Mindy and the girls found a table in the ballroom. While we waited on our food, we did a little exploring. Pictures do not do this place justice. You really have to walk through the space to appreciate how it transports you into the movie. I took the girls to the window to watch the snow falling. They were baffled because it was way too hot outside for snow.

It didn’t take long for our food to arrive. Mindy had the croque monsieur sandwich. This is basically a fancy grilled ham and cheese. Her grandmother is French Canadian and used to make these for her as a child. Mindy had been looking forward to the sandwich for months and was not disappointed.

Both of the girls had pasta which they liked. When I originally placed the order, I had to specify that the kids did not want cheese on their pasta. Since that time, the restaurant has changed their presentation. Now all the components are separate. So the child can control the amount of sauce and cheese on their pasta.

The one downside to the kid’s meals is that they do not include the fancy desserts. Kids have a choice between a side dish like broccoli or a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. I would wager that at least 90% of kids opt for the cookie unless forced to do otherwise.

I had the braised pork (coq au vin style). The meat was tender and juicy. It was served over mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of vegetables. It reminded me of one of my favorite Disney meals, the pot roast at the 50′s Prime Time Cafe. But as a counter service lunch, the braised pork is substantially cheaper.

For dessert, Mindy ordered the chocolate cream puff. It was light, fluffy and chocolaty as you would want a chocolate cream puff to be.

I ordered the strawberry cream cheese cupcake. I was trying to order desserts no one else would get so I could sample as many as possible for you readers. There wasn’t a strong cream cheese flavor to this cupcake, but it was a strawberry bomb. The cake is a vanilla sponge cake. But it is filled with a strawberry mousse. The icing is supposed to be cream cheese, but it took on the flavor of the mousse and those little strawberry beads. If you like strawberry dessert, this one was a winner.

After lunch, we headed back to the resort for our afternoon break. We could have explored the castle further, but we opted not to do so as we were returning for dinner.

DisneyDebNJ · Jun 10, 2014

Your Princesses are adorable!! I'm so sorry you had a stressful start to your vacation but it sure seems like it got ALOT better!!!

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

As we were leaving the park, we ran into the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Street Party as it was wrapping up. The girls, Kara in particular, really love this parade. They don’t participate in the dancing. They just sit in their stroller and wave to all the characters completely convinced that any waves back at the audiences are directed at them. Catching the end of the parade is terrific because all the floats make one final lap. We got to wave to all the characters in about five minutes.

Once we returned to Port Orleans, we divided into two teams. Mindy led “team nap” while I led “team swim”. Team nap proved to be rather unpopular. No one ever joined team nap except for Mindy. So she stayed in the room and took a nap while I took the girls swimming.

Port Orleans has several pools. The biggest pool is Old Man Island which has a water slide and lots of splashy things. For our first swim, I opted to go to the smaller pool that was closest to us. This was just a simple swimming pool surrounded by old Southern mansions. The kids enjoyed their swim but I had to promise to take them to Old Man Island tomorrow.

After our afternoon break, we hopped a bus back to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at Be Our Guest.

Here’s a view of the Beast’s Castle in the distance.

When we arrived, Josie was given a little candelabra to carry to our table. We were told it was Lumiere’s friend. We were seated in the West Wing which is one of the more interesting dining rooms in the restaurant. Anyone who has seen Beauty and the Beast knows that the West Wing is forbidden. The dining room is therefore appropriately dark and foreboding.

Periodically, you can hear the sounds of thunder. When the lightning flashes, the ripped portrait of Prince Adam changes for a moment into a portrait of the Beast. The effect is cool although Kara found it “creepy”.

As in the movie, the West Wing is the home to the enchanted rose. When the last petal falls from the rose, the curse that changed the prince into a Beast will become permanent. Hopefully some book-smart brunette can come along to change that. The Beast’s magic mirror rests alongside the rose.

Every so often, the Beast comes along to greet his guests with a bow. Kara was less than enthusiastic about dining in the West Wing and was afraid of meeting the Beast. But when he came in she said, “Aww. He looks like a big puppy!” She decided the Beast was okay, but she still wasn’t sure about that creepy portrait.

For dinner, both Mindy and I ordered the steak and frites (aka fries). The steak and green beans are positively soaked in garlic-herb butter. The fries are served with a remoulade. For those that don’t watch a lot of Food Network, think tartar sauce. Ketchup was available upon request.

The kids both had macaroni and cheese. It was a particularly twirly pasta. They were very excited about it at first, but quickly lost interest. I tasted it and found it very bland. The cheese was very thin. To me, it tasted more like buttered pasta than macaroni and cheese.

Our waitress was very friendly, but frankly kind of weird. She kept stroking Kara and calling her “Sleepyface”. I mean, she could not keep her hands off Kara’s face for some reason. When she found out Josie was a vegetarian, she kept telling us how her daughter wanted to be a vegetarian but she had forbidden it.

When our waitress came out to clear our plates, she offered some unwanted criticism. I hadn’t eaten enough of my green beans. Kara needed to eat more of her meal. And Josie still shouldn’t be a vegetarian. She did it in a friendly voice, but we were all put off. We’re spending top dollar on a vacation, the last thing in the world we want is constructive criticism from a well-meaning waitress.

Eventually, I think she realized that she was jeopardizing her tip. So she went ahead and took our dessert orders. Mindy and Josie both ordered The Grey Stuff. The grey stuff is a cookies and cream flavored mousse and it is served atop a chocolate bar. I had a taste and it is hard to describe. It was extremely sweet. The girls liked it a lot.

Kara got the triple chocolate cupcake which is a chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse and topped with a chocolate ganache. The ganache was enough like frosting that it had to be removed. I think she mostly ate around the mousse with a spoon. I had a taste myself and it was a chocolate lover’s dream.

Those little Mickey heads are a raspberry sauce. Josie loved it. She ended up taking everyone’s dessert plate so she could have the raspberry Mickey sauce.

I ordered the lemon meringue cupcake which is a vanilla sponge cake filled with lemon custard and topped with a toasted meringue. If you like lemon meringue pie, this is the dessert for you. It is basically the pie in cupcake form. I have a hard time picking my favorite dessert at Be Our Guest, but this was definitely a contender.

After dinner, we went to the study to meet with our host, the Beast. Despite her proclamation that the Beast looked like a “big puppy”, Kara was reluctant to approach him. She had to be coaxed into it. The Beast was extremely polite. He bowed to both of the girls. Eventually, he won over Kara just as he did Belle. Don’t you love happy endings?

After your meeting with the Beast, you are lead directly to the exit. We stopped on our way out for a picture in front of the stained glass window.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

DisneyDebNJ said:
Your Princesses are adorable!! I'm so sorry you had a stressful start to your vacation but it sure seems like it got ALOT better!!!

Thanks for the kind words.

My girls (Mindy included) don't travel well. Arrival days tend to be stressful. But it definitely got better. On the whole, it was a very fun trip. Like all trips, there were bumps in the road. But overall we had way more highs than lows.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

After dinner, we had our third FastPass of the day, Enchanted Tales With Belle. This attraction is kind of a hybrid between a show and a meet and greet. Pre-New Fantasyland, there used to be a similar show called Storytime With Belle in which Belle would tell the story of Beauty and the Beast with participation from the kids in the audience.

The new show is basically the same thing with a few high-tech effects thrown in. We start by opening a portal to the Beast’s castle (where we had just had dinner). The portal grows into a door before our eyes. At this point, Kara got scared that the Beast was going to show up. So she decided she wanted no part of the show.

In the next room, cast members pick audience members to be in the show.

Basically, the more enthusiasm you show, the more likely you are to be picked. Kara barely moved or made a sound, so she was passed over. But Josie was picked to play Mrs. Potts. Her roll consisted of bouncing which Josie was very good at. Her skill at bouncing made taking pictures a bit of a challenge.

In the show, Lumiere enlists our help to recreate the story of Beauty and the Beast for Belle.

After the show, Belle poses for a picture with each of the kids who participated and she gives them a bookmark. Kara was second-guessing her decision to sandbag the auditions round about this time. There is no autograph signing like there would be at a meet and greet. But Photopass photographers are on hand and everyone gets a Photopass card with all the pictures available for purchase. We already had the Memory Maker package, so our pictures were included.

DisneyDebNJ · Jun 10, 2014

lebeau said:
Thanks for the kind words.

My girls (Mindy included) don't travel well. Arrival days tend to be stressful. But it definitely got better. On the whole, it was a very fun trip. Like all trips, there were bumps in the road. But overall we had way more highs than lows.

My son is 25, hubby is 50 and they don't travel well either! LOL I'm betting your girls did alot better! I always tell my family, if we have a small bump in the road, they get to appreciate the highs later on LOL. Always a plus side to things

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

After the show, Mindy took the girls for a potty break while I visited a FastPass kiosk to set up our fourth FastPass of the day. Mindy wanted a FastPass for The Haunted Mansion. I was able to set one up, but there was a delay. So we had to kill a little time. The girls decided to take pictures in the stockades in Liberty Square.

Kara looks all to happy to be punished for her crimes. But Josie is showing remorse despite the fact she can easily remove her hands and feet any time she likes.

Eventually, our plan to visit the Mansion fell by the wayside. Instead, we decided to head into Frontierland and ride Splash Mountain. In 2012, Josie rode it for the first time and had a blast. Kara had just crossed the 40 inch height requirement, so we figured we would give it a try. She handled the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train earlier in the day. She might be ready for Splash Mountain.

She decided that the drop was fun, but the rest of the ride was “kind of boring”. It should be noted that Kara has a tendency to downplay her enjoyment of things. As for Josie, I think her face says it all. Whereas mine says “Woooo!”

While we were waiting in the standby line for Splash, I used the My Magic Experience App to change our fourth FastPass from the Haunted Mansion to the Jungle Cruise. Currently, you have to go to a kiosk to set up extra FastPasses. But once you have them, you can make changes on the app just like you would for regular FastPasses.

Our night cruise on the rivers of the jungle was fun but unspectacular. Our skipper was trying, but his delivery just wasn’t connecting. We all chuckled and had fun. But it wasn’t the memorable experience we had on the ride in 2012.

On the way out of the park, we walked past the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was kind of nice to see it quickly as we walked instead of sitting and watching it slowly go by. It was like watching the parade on fast forward. We saw everything in half the time. And we got to the buses just before the post-parade rush.

When we returned to Port Orleans, we had to stop by the gift shop so the girls could redeem the points that had accumulated all day.

Josie had recently met a distant relative who said Eeyore was her favorite character. This was enough for Josie to decide that she really liked the sadsack donkey too. So she picked out a stuffed Eeyore. The tail is attached by velcro so it can be removed. Kara picked out a doll that could transform from Ariel to Aurora. It was double-sided so neither princess had legs. Flip her dress one way, she is the Little Mermaid. Flip it the other and she is Sleeping Beauty.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

DisneyDebNJ said:
My son is 25, hubby is 50 and they don't travel well either! LOL I'm betting your girls did alot better! I always tell my family, if we have a small bump in the road, they get to appreciate the highs later on LOL. Always a plus side to things

I am always telling Mindy that. For example, when we get to a crowded bus station, I tell her that probably means a bus will be arriving soon. When the bus pulls away without us, I tell her she will probably be able to sit instead of stand. There's always an upside. Sometimes, you just have to look for it.

All things considered, the girls did very well. They were troopers.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

The next day, we had another early morning. It was Friday on a Star Wars Weekend. Hollywood Studios opens at 8:00 am for the event and according to my research, it was a good idea to arrive as early as possible to beat the crowds. The first bus pulled up, but since it was crowded we decided to wait for the second bus so that the girls could have a seat. As you can see, the decision paid off.

We got to the park just before 8:00 and they were already letting guests in. Since my girls have no interest in Star Wars, I wasn’t planning to participate in too many of the Star Wars themed activities. But the lines for autographs were non-existent. So I decided to see if it was possible to see John Ratzenberger. As it turns out, the lines were non-existent because all of the FastPasses for autographs had already been distributed. No big deal. I hadn’t been planning to attend the autograph sessions anyway.

When the park opens for Star Wars Weekends, a couple of Stormtroopers put on a little show. It’s a funny bit which ends with them dropping the rope and admitting the crowd. Mindy and the girls went for their morning potty break while I picked up the stroller for the day. Then we made our way past the Stormtroopers who were still doing a bit of banter on their platforms.

Our goal was to head straight for Toy Story Mania. We figured that most of the crowds would start queuing up for Star Wars activities like the special meet and greets or the Darth Mall. But we took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and ended up taking the scenic route to Pixar Place. It wasn’t a big deal. I enjoyed getting a look at some of the Star Wars stuff even if I didn’t plan to participate.

One of the main problems with Hollywood Studios is that there just isn’t a lot for little kids to do. Most of the rides have height restrictions. And even if the child meets the height requirement, there’s a pretty good chance the ride will scare them. For this reason, Toy Story Mania always has long lines. Since it was one of the few rides everyone in our group could do, we wanted to ride it twice. We had a FastPass set up for later in the day. So we queued up in the standby line which wasn’t that bad first thing in the morning.

Our first ride through, I rode with Kara and Mindy rode with Josie. It should be noted that I am terrible at video games. Shooting games especially. However, among our family, I am undefeated on Toy Story Mania. So Mindy was looking forward to two opportunities to take me down. Her first attempt to unseat the champ was a bust. I successfully defended my Toy Story Mania title – although I convinced Kara that my score was actually hers so she was quite proud of herself.

As we exited Toy Story, we noticed that there was virtually no line to visit Woody next door. So we went ahead and jumped in line. The line to meet with Woody is filled with all kinds of cute photo opportunities. Kara decided she didn’t want to meet Woody, but she was okay posing for a picture with the little green aliens.

Posing with Stinky Pete, however, was out of the question. Josie, on the other hand, never saw a photo opportunity she didn’t like. So she went solo.

Kara returned for the luggage picture.

Josie posed for a picture with Woody on Andy’s bed.

But afterwards, Kara agreed to give the cowboy a high-five.

lebeau · Jun 10, 2014

We had a little time before our next FastPass at Tower of Terror. Mindy wanted breakfast, so we headed over to Fairfax Fare for english muffin sandwiches. Mindy ordered one with bacon. Kara wanted one with sausage. I went ahead and got myself a sausage sandwich in case Kara wanted any extra sausage. Josie, being a vegetarian, got a bowl of Froot Loops and milk. It was a serviceable breakfast, but nothing more.

When we arrived at Tower of Terror, the standby time was just 10 minutes. So we decided to change our FastPass selection and wait in standby since our FastPass window wouldn’t open for ten minutes anyway.
Mindy and I like Tower of Terror a lot. It is Mindy’s favorite ride anywhere. But she hates to ride it alone. In 2012, since my mom was with us, we could easily switch off. But without a third adult, that was more challenging. We could do a child swap, but unless Josie was willing to ride, each of us would ride alone. In 2012, Josie gave Tower of Terror a shot. But she didn’t like it. Mindy talked her in to giving it another try this year in exchange for points.

To my surprise, the allure of points was also too much for Kara to resist. I think she didn’t want to risk falling behind her sister. For whatever reason, Kara decided to ride. I wasn’t about to try to talk her out of it. She had enjoyed Splash Mountain the night before. Her favorite part of the ride was the drop at the end. Maybe she would enjoy the free fall experience at the tower.
It turns out, she didn’t like it all that much.

Josie hadn’t changed her mind in a year and a half. She clung to my arm. But Kara clawed through Mindy’s arm. She was not a happy camper.

Afterwards, Josie was all smiles. She had survived and scored points which she planned to redeem at a gift shop as soon as possible. Kara, on the other hand, didn’t bounce back quite so easily. She was beginning to suspect that rides just weren’t her thing.

While we were waiting in the standby line for Tower of Terror, I switched our FastPass to the Great Movie Ride. On our way, we spotted Boba Fett on the stage. Periodically, the bounty hunter came out and threatened the audience while posing for pictures.

He had his favorite trophy on stage with him.

We made our way over to the Great Movie Ride and tried to enter the FastPass line. We were turned away somewhat rudely. Apparently I hadn’t completed the FastPass switch as expected. Once again, the standby line was minimal. So we jumped in standby which turned out to be a walk-on. It was roughly 10:00 and most of the guests were fighting over viewing spots for the 11:30 motorcade. But we had shelled out for the Feel the Force Premium Package which included a reserved viewing spot for the parade. So I was confident we could squeeze in one more attraction before checking in to the reserved viewing area.

This is what a Disney geek I am. When we passed through the gangster section of the ride, I got excited because our ride vehicle hadn’t been hijacked. That meant that we were getting the relatively rare cowboy storyline. I have only experienced the cowboy story once before. Mindy had never seen it. Don’t get me wrong. It’s nothing a reasonable person should get excited about. It is identical to the gangster storyline in just about every way except that one involves a cowboy and the other involves a gangster. Still, it’s not that often you get to see the cowboy.

Josie, for whatever reason, has always enjoyed the Great Movie Ride despite the fact I don’t think she has seen a single one of the movies features aside from the Wizard of Oz. Kara, has never cared for it. In 2012, just about every scene scared her in some way. She fared a little better this year. But she still didn’t like it.

Goofnut1980 · Jun 10, 2014

lebeau said:

Would this be called a "magic" shot? baahahaahahah

btw.. I wish they would fix the fountain. The front mug hasnt spit water in a long time! grrrr its a very simple $200 fix.

Trip Report Completed Lebeau Family 2014 Disney World Trip Report

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Trip Report Completed Lebeau Family 2014 Disney World Trip Report