Trip Report Fairytales Do Come True...

Well friends, we've returned from a magical, rainy, pixie dust filled trip that will NEVER be topped in my book. :) I have so much to share with you that I simply couldn't wait any longer! The first post is a little word-heavy, but I promise the rest of the report will have LOTS of pictures!

Here's my PTR if you'd like to read it!
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/prince-charmings-1st-trip-june-2017.922944/

Here we go! :joyfull:

Tuesday, 6/6

We had a 4pm flight out of Pittsburgh so fortunately didn't have to rush around much the morning that we left. We did some last minute packing and cleaning before loading everything up and heading to drop Tink off at my parents' house. She spent the first 4 days there and the last 4 days with Dylan's mom (and her wiener dog boyfriend :angelic:).

It's never easy leaving this sweet little baby. :( She knew something was up! Fortunately she was a good girl all week and had lots of fun with her grandmas! ;)
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Disney here we come!!!!! :joyfull:
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We were on the road a few minutes after 1pm and it didn't take long for me to take over Dylan's Pandora with the Disney station. :p We arrived at 3pm and parking was a nightmare! We were starting to really cut it close and I was stressing. We went to check our bags and were informed that our flight was delayed until 7:30pm due to weather. It was extremely frustrating to be delayed, but it was a blessing in disguise because we were so short on time. So much for having time to do something on arrival day. :(

We went to TGI Friday's for some snacks. Dylan had pretzels and I had French Onion Soup. I was dreaming about BOG soup. :hungry: It was fine, nothing spectacular! But it filled our tummies and held us over until we got to Orlando.
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After our long delay, we finally boarded our flight and took off right on time at 7:30pm.

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Let me just preface the next part of my report by saying we literally had the BEST flight crew ever! They were so much fun!

The flight attendants went through the typical safety speech but when they were done, one came back over the intercom and said, "I've been asked what to do if you have more than one child. Which one should you put the mask on first? You put it on the one who has the most earning potential OR the one who's going to change your diapers in the years to come. Because that's coming." :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:

When we started our descent into Orlando, the same flight attendant came back on and sang our landing directions to the tune of "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain." Then, another flight attendant came on and sang a farewell song to the tune of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." I wish I would have recorded them so I could remember the words. They were HILARIOUS! I love Southwest. :)

We finally landed at 9:30pm and headed to ME. Dylan stopped for some McDonalds in the food court on the way, lol. My mom bought me a Belle MagicBand for Christmas and I had called the day before to get it activated because it wasn't letting me do it myself. Well, it still wasn't working when I scanned it at the ME counter. :cautious: Fortunately, I had thrown my band for this trip in my carry on so scanned it for the time being.

Being that we landed close to 10pm, I wasn't sure about whether or not ME would get our luggage for us. The CM at the counter said we were fine and they would get it. It made me a little nervous, but we took her word for it.
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We boarded a boring Mears bus at 10:10 and pulled out a few minutes later. The welcome video was broken so we watched Brave instead. :(
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We arrived home at 10:45pm! :joyfull: This is the best I could do, lol.
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We went to the front desk to get my MagicBand fixed which only took a few minutes. I also never received my "room ready" text so had to figure out where we were staying. We were in the Hoops Hotel section! I took these pictures later in the week since it was dark when we arrived. :)
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I had requested a first floor room, thinking it would be nice to not have to walk up and down steps or ride the elevator. It ended up being pretty noisy with all the people walking by. We're both heavy sleepers and even more so because we were always exhausted at the end of the day, so it wasn't a huge deal. But I just thought it was worth mentioning for those of you who are light sleepers or have little ones!

We stopped in the food court for a snack and our mugs, as we were on the dining plan. We ate our snacks in our room and then hopped into bed!

I woke up at 3:30am and we still didn't have our luggage. There was a message on the phone that was left at 1am saying our luggage was there.. to call when we needed it and they would bring it to the room. I went back to sleep and called when we got up at 6:30am. I was on hold for 15 minutes and when they answered, was told luggage services didn't open until 7am. :cautious: Then why did you leave me a message saying to call when I wanted it delivered? Our luggage arrived a few minutes after 7am so it ended up being fine.

Next up, Magic Kingdom!!!! :joyfull:

7,183 steps
5.74 miles
 
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blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The Elsa has really strong makeup too. It's a weird fit visually imo. Super adorable the way your interaction with the sisters went though!!

I agree! Thankfully Anna made up for the awkwardness of our Elsa interaction... Usually Anna takes the cake when it comes to awkward. :p

Congratulations X 2! What a fantastic start to your trip...you must have been on Cloud 9! I'm looking forward to the rest!

Thank you! I'm STILL on Cloud 9! :inlove:

Congratulations x two :happy:

Thank you x 2! :)

Sooooooooo soo happy for you....you need grey stuff instead of chocolate cake at the wedding!! First time reading trip reports and WOW another pittsburgh gal! Now you have a ring and a new cup!!!! Lol best wishes

Thank you! OMG grey stuff at the wedding... YES!! Thanks for the great idea. :p Dylan stayed up to watch the championship game but Disney had kicked my butt by that point in the week. Lots of excitement in our neck of the woods though, that's for sure! :)

Congratulations on accepting the job offer! Do you like first grade? Kindergarten is my favorite, but first grade runs a close second! Have you and Dylan found a place to live yet? Does Dylan know which building he will be working in? Can't wait to hear all about it!
LOVE your interaction with Anna. She seems like so much fun! It's really cool that she hand delivers you to Elsa. I agree that Elsa looked a bit odd. Your photos with Anna are great!

Thank you! I love 1st grade! Still babies but with some school experience under their belts. ;) I'm really excited to start my career with them! We just put all of the paperwork and deposit fees through for an apartment so just waiting for confirmation! It's a perfect place for us to start out.. The plan is to buy within a year or so because the rent prices are equivalent to a mortgage payment. :eek: Might as well put that kind of money toward something that we can call our own! With a yard for Tink, of course. ;)

Dylan is still waiting to hear about where he'll be.. between him and the recruiting director, they have his name in at 7 schools. Hoping that we get some concrete answers before we make our way south!

Anna was great! She was perfect for Dylan's first character interaction, especially with her being a face character! :)

Yay for another teacher on these boards! :D First grade is such a pivotal year- I'm sure you'll be an awesome teacher! Congrats from the Tuvalu fam on your engagement! :inlove:

Thank you!! :) Planning to eventually steal your idea of using Tsum Tsums in the classroom. ;) Firsties will LOVE them!

Things just got better and better. So happy for you!

Yes they did! :) Thank you!

Whew! Finally caught up. Congratulations on the engagement and new job!! The main street photo shoot looks so cute, I like the coordinating shirts each day too! Looking forward to reading how the rest of the week goes

Thank you! :) I love our Main Street pictures.. definitely going to print some of them to hang on the wall in our new apartment after the move! :joyfull:
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, 6/8 cont.

We arrived in Mexico and decided to take a boat ride with Donald and friends! This will forever be the coolest pavilion in the WS. You can see Mexican Donald doing meet and greets at the bottom of this picture. :)
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The ride was a walk on and there were only a few other people in our boat.
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We exited the pavilion after our ride and it was pouring. :cautious: We broke out the rain gear once again and continued on our way to our next FP+ at the Character Spot!

He's obviously pointing at my button... but I'm just gonna leave this here. :hilarious:
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I absolutely love this one. :inlove:
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My ring led to a conversation about how Minnie spends all of Mickey's money on shoes. :hilarious: I told him that us girls can't help it.. we need to shop for clothes and shoes so we look fabulous! :rolleyes: The funniest part of this whole conversation was the CM saying, "Mickey.. you run a multibillion dollar company. You get paid in sheets of money." :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
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He, of course, loved Dylan's shirt. :)
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blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just having some fun
Loving the report so far
Noticed Dylan was rocking a Mickey shirt on the earlier post
Nice!!!

Max

Fun is always welcome in my reports. :) Dylan was really in the Disney spirit with his wardrobe! Makes me proud. :inlove:

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Congratulations on your engagement and new found job. Loving your journey to happy ever after. :)

Thank you so much! :)
 

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, 6/8 cont.

Last but not least was Minnie! :) She had to go check on her cat right before meeting with us, so she was refreshed and ready to go! When it was time for the other Minnie to switch out, Mickey came to the curtain just behind her meeting area and poked his head through to get her attention. It was cute. :)
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Being the princess that she is, Minnie was also pretty excited about my ring. :p
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Minnie knows us girls like to look at pictures of bling. :p
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I told her that Mickey said she spends all of his money on shoes which of course sent her into a fury. :hilarious: I assured her that I set him straight and told him that we can't help it we love to shop! She was satisfied with that. :rolleyes:
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I think this was my favorite interaction with Minnie that I've ever had. I love her! :)
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She also loved Dylan's shirt. :happy:
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It was about 1pm at this point and we decided that we were ready for a break back in the room.
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Okay you camera gurus... What the heck did this photographer do to our picture? It's SO weird!!! :cautious:
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blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Are you having them sign a canvas/matte for a picture frame? If so, how did you keep it from creasing/folding or getting damaged? We'd like to try that at some point and haven't figured out a good way to keep it in good shape for the whole trip.

Oh, and congrats! The Disney World Proposal Club has gained another member! :)

Thank you! My favorite club that I've ever been a part of! ;) Yes, I take a photo mat every trip and have the characters sign it! The park bag that I use is big enough that it fits down inside nicely (one of the multicolored Mickey head ones sold in the parks), but I always ask for a large bag in one of the shops to keep it in so it doesn't get damaged or wet!
 

GMan123

Member
Wow love your trip report so far. Just got back from Disney yesterday, great trip. Congratulations on your engagement. So exciting. My wife and I celebrate 15 years in October. Also glad to hear we are fellow alumni. I graduated from Clarion in 1997! Have a lot of fond memories of Clarion wrestling and football in the mid 90s. Cant wait for more of the report!
 

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Not a guru by any stretch, but it looks like they're maybe using a fish eye lens. Similar to looking through the peep hole on your front door.

When you guys go house shopping you'll see a ton of fish eye lens photos because it makes the rooms look bigger. House shopping is like internet dating: you never really see what you get until you show up!
 
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sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Okay you camera gurus... What the heck did this photographer do to our picture? It's SO weird!!! :cautious:
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Wide angle vertical. :eek: That's a big no-no with people pictures. Sometimes because of the space I'm in, I have to do it at weddings just to get the action in the shot and IT KILLS MY SOUL. A lot of disney photographers do wide angle vertical shots, but they're usually not as extreme as this, so you don't notice. This one is actually pretty comical :joyfull: You guys look like you wear a size 3 toddler shoe size :hilarious:
 

dmatt87

Well-Known Member
Wednesday, 6/7 cont.

We made our way out of the park and hopped on the monorail! Just casually admiring the wedding pavilion while we waited. :rolleyes: See you soon Grand Floridian!
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I was really excited to try this new restaurant after @Tuvalu's great reviews! Our ADR tonight was at the Grand Floridian Cafe, which truly is a hidden gem! Our reservation was at 7:05pm, but we arrived about 15 minutes early. They took my number and said they would text us when our table was ready.
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We ventured outside to look around.. it turned out to be a gorgeous evening! This was Dylan's first experience with a deluxe resort and he was impressed. :) (*Hint hint @sheriffwoody ;))
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I received our text 5 minutes later and soon we were being led to our PERFECT little table! :inlove: So romantic and perfect for such a special day!
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Our server was Amanda and she was FANTASTIC! She was very informative and attentive, constantly checking on us and keeping our drinks full. She made a big deal over us getting engaged and we had great conversation with her throughout our meal. It turns out that she's from Pittsburgh and actually attended Clarion University (which is where Dylan and I both went and 15 minutes from where we currently live). That led us to a conversation about wrestling (Clarion's program was phenomenal back in the day), and it turns out that she and Dylan know many of the same people in the wrestling community. It really is a small world after all! :p

Amanda brought us some yummy rolls with sea salt butter to munch on while we decided on our meals.
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We perused the menu for a few minutes but it didn't take us long to decide!
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We both went with the New York Strip Steak and it was SO GOOD! The potatoes were also scrumptious! I was struggling to finish it all which was frustrating because it was that good! Lol.
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The food looks delicious - definitely on my to-do list for our next trip!
 

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