Let Them Eat CAKE!!! Trip Report

HouCuseChickie · Aug 31, 2011

fractal said:
Great update and pics! Living with the Land is the great underrated ride in WDW and I'm glad to see it saved the day for you. SSE is also a must do for us. Looking forward to more.

You just reminded me that I was going to post on your report last night. Next thing I do after this!!! While I miss the old music for Living with the Land, I always enjoy this one. Thanks for reading!

Ariel484 said:
I said it before, I'll say it again - Ariel is ALWAYS so great at M&Gs! :sohappy:

Love the twirling pictures on the light-up pavers!

Agreed! I wish the other princesses were more chatty. Ariel just always loves to chat with the kiddos!

Thanks! As you can probably tell, the girls had a blast dancing around on those things---pretty much anything that lights up is hit with them!

HopLow said:
I love the birthday outfits!!!! Do they have sparkly sneakers like that for adults too?? :lookaroun And Kendall's birthday cake is gorgeous! Your sketches are fantastic! I don't know how you didn't dive right into it at the table though. I guess the kiddos run the show... as they should! They will only be little princesses once.

I have trouble with 3-D too! I was having such issues in January... I tried putting the 3-D glasses over my regular distance glasses, but it wasn't quite right and gave me a headache, but without my regular glasses, it was all too fuzzy. I'm hoping on the next trip my contacts will solve the problem. But it's such a bummer not being able to really get into the shows because you can't quite see it all correctly.

Anyway, love the trip report and can't wait for more!

If you have really small feet, you might fit into some of the larger shoe sizes they offer for big kids. I really want an adult sized pair of Twinkle Toes as well as a pair of Lelli Kelly's... unofrtunately, my feet are too big.

For me- it adds more depth to the image, but nothing hops off the screen. I have a feeling it would improve if I got lasik.

Thanks for reading!!!

erstwo said:
Helloooooo!!! :wave:

I started reading Friday (Friday!) I didn't even know you had started your trip report - and didn't get around to actually posting until today! I was at the Crystal Palace dinner and had to stop. I'm about to head back there, but must confess I got a glimpse of the twirly birthday outfit skirt and LOVE it! My daughter wore something similar - a little poofier- when she was 2 to dinner at Akershus! At the time she wasn't into the princess dress thing - anyway, the best thing about those skirts is they smoosh so well into a zip lock and take up zero room in your luggage!

So glad the car situation worked out!!!! Yay!!!! :sohappy:

ETA - Okay - a lot of speed reading but a few things - LOVE the cake - so cute! Love the Contemporary - what an awesome place to stay! In 2 years you will look back on all those moments of your kids getting up out of their chairs to dance and you will kind of miss it (crazy I know!) This too shall pass and all too quickly. *tear* What you will not miss is all the toddler drama. Ha! Of course there will still be drama, just a little easier to control once they are older. Love the report!

I was really hoping the pettiskirt would be of the mini-fluffy variety. It looked that way in the picture, but it was the longer variety. Oh well- still was cute. I debated about buying a toddler size for her since she's so short, since those usually have more volume. It is amazing how those skirts pack up and you never have to worry about wrinkles.

I still can't believe we worked out the car issues, but soooooo thankful we got beyond it.

The cake was definitely the food star of the day. I remember being on the fence about it back in the spring and now I can't fathom why I ever thought it might be best not to do it. The Contemporary really was wonderful...which reminds me, I just received a survey card that I probably should go online and complete. That is the funny thing- I know I will miss some of this. I kind of equate it to middle of the night feedings when the girls were infants. It was a royal pain being up at 2am, but it was that peaceful just us time that made me kind of miss it. While I think some of it is the age and being left out with Sammie, it cracks me up that she's been so difficult at WDW. She is the easy child when we're at home. I guess this is also why we've done so many character meals for them- at some point they'll grow out of some of this...at the very least...not believe that's really Mickey they're meeting. Thanks for reading!!!

sweetpee_1993 said:
Awwww...loved reading all about Kendall's birthday! What an awesome day! Triple restaurant awesomeness WITH cake! Does it get any better?!

I love seeing the Princesses from the character meals. I always look at them in succession and mentally rate their "fit". Belle was one of the prettiest I've seen and the perfect fit. Perfect. Cindy & Snow, too. Ariel was okay, not the prettiest or best fit I've seen. But Aurora. Tsk Tsk Tsk. Why is it so hard to find a perfect Aurora??? She always looks forced to me...not as pretty as she should be. I always saw her as the vision of total perfection. Even when I was little & reading my Sleeping Beauty book she was always the absolute epitome of beauty. I rarely ever see an Aurora that looks the part. But hey, the headliner was awesome at Akershus so big ol' yay for y'all!!! :sohappy:

Awwwww...poor Sammie gets left behind on the big kid rides. I think we had this problem with Brian on some of the biggest kid rides (ToT & RnRC) on our first trip. I remember him being slightly put-off by it. The boys are just 20 months apart so in many ways they don't see each other as bigger or littler. Sammie-my-hammie will be there soon enough even tho it will feel like an eternity to her. I think I would feel like Miss Cranky-Pants if I was in her shoes, tho.

Love love lovin' it! :wave:

It was a very full day of food! Still a totally amazing day! And hopefully tonight I'll finish that day in the TR...still have some SSE pics left and end of the day details/thoughts. I think I was making up for the few hours without my camera. Of course Kendall informed us yesterday that she wants all of her birthdays at Disney. I think she might have to settle for Moody Gardens in Galveston next summer.

Agreed on the princess "fits." DH took the pic of Aurora...I didn't really get a good look at her at all duirng the meal, but the poor fit cetainly jumped out at me when I uploaded the pics. In fact it was a "whoa!!!" moment. The Sleeping Beauty we had at CRT this trip was probably the best one we've encountered. What's funny with Ariel is that every one we've met throws more personality into the meet and greet...which always helps with my personal rating. I think the Ariel we had at CRT this trip also tops all of the Ariel's we've met (had to search my flickr photostream to do side by side Ariel comparisons). What's sad is that most of these girls probably look very pretty with their natural hair, wardrobe, makeup, etc. - just not always the best fit for the dress and wig they're wearing.

Sammie is the daring one, so it really drove her nuts that she couldn't do the big stuff. I think if we make it back before she hits the height requirements, we'll probably split for a couple of hours rather than just a ride here or there. I think that's what saved us on day 1. What's sad yet funny, Kendall had her 5 year check up last week...we thought she'd hit 40" (and Disney seemed to agree), but according to the pediatrician...she's still 39.75". At this rate, she's going to be halfway through high school before she's tall enough to ride RnRC! What will be worse- if Sammie surpasses Kendall in height during this time.

Thanks!!!! I'll be posting more a little bit later...especially since tomorrow is likely to be school chaos! At least it sounds like Tuesday should be our return to normalcy.

HouCuseChickie · Aug 31, 2011

I used this as another opportunity to try flashless settings on my camera. I don't think I've ever photographed this far inside SSE before.

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I could have sworn I took pics of Rome Burning. Sure, there wouldn't have been any smellovision- and the pics were pretty bad- but it's killing me that I can't find them.

And LOOK!!! It's ME of the FUTURE!!! And Kendall is now a cartoon blonde! I guess it's better than the chopped picture it put up of Sammie's head back in December.

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I sort of got DH's pic at the end. (every time I look at this - it takes me a minute to find him)

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...then again, mine isn't really any easier to spot.

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Of course the best moment of the ride was towards the end in “space.” I like this part to begin with, but Kendall turned to me and excitedly proclaimed, “Mommy! I've never been to space before...and now I have...oh thank you- thank you!” I could have pointed out that she had ridden this in December, but why ruin the moment? Oddly enough, without any prompting, she told me today that she never wants to go to space. I think she means "real" space ... because she said she's afraid of falling in space.

Before leaving the park- the girls found the reflective "leg" of SSE and decided it was the perfect place for funny faces.

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HouCuseChickie · Aug 31, 2011

I grabbed a few nighttime pics of SSE and the entrance area at the end...

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Now please forgive me...I just found the rest of my SSE pics. I swear...my search skills are REALLY slipping!

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(this would be the moment Kendall made the space remark)

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(touched up a bit, but really liked the power lines)

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(Sistine Chapel)

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(not sure why, but he scared Kendall)

and finally...

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...I'm pretty sure this is Rome burning.

Alrighty- back on track...

...and then it was off to the buses. We had really been hoping for monorail service, but we all know that Disney changed that! It was not very well organized....there were makeshift sort of temporary signs (like dry erase boards and chalk boards) leading to two bus queues...one for the GF and Poly...the other for CR and TTC. The GF and Poly bus line was tiny (plus it was covered) but the one for us was pretty big since we were sharing with the TTC and it was just out in the open with no real structure. I'd say that over 75% of our bus was heading to the TTC.

(too bad this isn't our bus)

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We waited long enough for the girls to make friends at the bus stop and spend quite a bit of time running around and playing. We were all on a first name basis by the time our bus arrived. DH wound up in the back b/c he had to fold the big stroller...Sammie refused to sit on my lap at first and wanted her own seat in a different row, but that all changed once a stranger sat down next to her.

The girls said good bye to their new friends who were headed to the TTC...and it was back "home." At least tomorrow is our rest day...good b/c it's been A VERY FULL DAY!

*one final note on the cake for this day of the trip...I noted before that our server and the chef were super excited about the cake. Well- it turns out -so was the rest of the Chef Mickey's staff. We had more visits from servers handling other sections than I could count. It just created this huge positive buzz in the dining room for the early seating. Even on the way out, servers who didn't make it by saw Kendall's outfit and asked if we were the Belle cake. K was lavished with happy birthday greetings and DH and I were lavished with raves about the cake design and final result. So, while it was a day of birthday amnesia- the over the top success of breakfast and the cake really carried me past those hiccups. Behold the power of CAKE!:sohappy:

On a cake design note- some of you who saw the PTR helped me try and decide on rose placement around the base. I actually had decided on the offset roses, but told Chef Brian to do what looked best during production and worked best with the framed edible images. After dismantling the cake, I'd see that the rose placement was what worked best with the edible images – especially when factoring in the ribbon. I really had a lot of fun deconstructing the cake.

HouCuseChickie · Aug 31, 2011

Today was our rest day, but I was still up early because I had a mission. Seriously- why would I sleep in on a rest day???

Last trip I had really wanted to make it to MK rope drop, but we got held up at WCC b/c the rest of my family was returning home. I was hoping the kids would sleep in and just wake up DH, but Kendall was up pretty soon after I started getting ready. I told her we had to be quiet so we didn't wake Sammie, but too late...she was up too. Of course DH was still fast asleep! So, we took a nice walk to MK snapping pics along the way and playing a game of “I spy.”

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I spy...the castle

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I spy...some ducks

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I spy...a boat AND a camera that keeps fogging up!!!

We finally got to the MK bag check area and “parked” in front of a bench. As you can see, crowds are starting to build for park opening.

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I got my fave pic of the morning about this time and Kendall found what I'm guessing is a hidden Mickey in the flower bed border/curb...

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I really have to give her credit on this one. Last trip she didn't really notice all of the mickey imagery everywhere, but this time it hit her that you could find one in the most obscure places at every possible turn. I just wasn't expecting her to search the back side of a flower bed behind a bench and find something. I'm not up on my hidden Mickeys, but watch this be one of those things that everyone and their mother knows about.

It was our last full day at WDW and I was just taking pics of everything...

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(played with the color on this)

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HouCuseChickie · Aug 31, 2011

...but Miss Sammie had turned into Captain Crabby Pants- again. By this point in the trip she was growing weary of waiting...she just wanted to go and do things. We arrived about 10 min before the start of the show, so it's not like it was a crazy amount of time to wait, so we just did our best to try and keep her happy (totally futile). And of course people waiting in bag check kept looking at me as she screamed and fought, but we only had a few minutes left to go and I was really hoping the ceremony/show would be enough to entertain her.

We heard the Welcome Medley start up and Kendall immediately recognized the music. Sammie was a tad more peaceful once things got under way, but not much- although the characters coming out was fairly effective. I just tried to keep her safe and snap some pics until the park officially opened.

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In the end, at least 2 out of 3 of us were happy to have seen the show and it was AWESOME to see the talking Mickey in person. Sammie quieted down as soon as I told her we were going to get on the monorail...ok- not before giving me an "are we done now?" We had to fight a bit of incoming MK traffic, but we got up to the monorail. We missed the monorail sitting at the platform as we approached, but another followed soon after. We snapped some shots as we waited and more during the journey over the GF including the Mickey in front of the Contemporary.

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(here comes our monorail!!!)

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The kids were totally confused as to why we weren't returning to our hotel, but I explained we were doing breakfast again at the restaurant with Mary Poppins and Alice and that daddy would be meeting us soon. We arrived at the GF and the girls decided to camp out and watch some cartoons...I just love the kid sized furniture!

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(and of course LOVE the mouse ears on the tv cabinet)

HouCuseChickie · Aug 31, 2011

I stayed around the girls just snapping pics of the GF details. I still really dig the GF!

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OK- I like the GF - A LOT!!!!!

DH finally arrived and we went over to 1900PF to check in. It was a 10:10am ADR and things looked busy...hence why the Cms at check in seemed a bit short with us...not grumpy...just not as flowery as some.

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We waited a few minutes to be seated...so we went back to the lobby and I checked out this part of the floor...

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As we waited...someone walked by us with a fancy cake. I am sooooo happy Kendall didn't see it b/c I had this fear she might think it was hers as well. The cake was HUGE!!!! Single tier, but it was clearly the made in the pans they use for their really large (i.e. 5 tier +) wedding cakes. It was bright pink and had a backdrop made from white chocolate with edible Alice in Wonderland images. I felt odd taking a pic of someone else's cake- so I didn't.

Our buzzer acutally went off quickly and the photographer was very pleasant...even stopped me to check out my camera. Not that I really know how to use it very well, but he was a big Canon fan.

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After this, we headed into a very crowded dining room and were seated in a rather unfortunate spot. We were at the end of the main room right on the edge of the buffet near the kitchen door. My chair was literally half on the carpet and half on the tiling in the buffet area. Needless to say there was tons of traffic going by our table. And of course I started snapping pics from the table.

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***hopefully more tomorrow- I need some sleep and tomorrow is going to be a hectic day! Thanks again for reading!!!

sweetpee_1993 · Sep 1, 2011

I love that the girls make friends everywhere they go! I think my boys make enemies with their complaining about long waits. Some days it'd be nice if I could just staple their lips shut. LOL!

I really love the MK opening show. The singing and dancing and outfits reminds me of some of my favoritest old musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis & The Music Man. Oh how I wish I had lived back in those days. I'd love to wear the swishy dresses, puffed sleeves, and break into song every 5-10 minutes...and have that be normal! :lol:

I wish you had taken a picture of the cake at 1900 PF! Today is the day I set my alert to order my anniversary cake and I'm drawing a complete blank! Freaking out!

I just don't know what I want! I don't want to ask Tracey because he'll say, "Don't order one. I don't really like cake." I think this is his biggest fault: doesn't like cake or chocolate. :lookaroun

I hate you got a bad table location! Ugh! They tried to park my nieces, my brother, and me in one of those tables that you pass when you first walk into the dining room right smack in the middle back in May '09. It was so hot in that room! Then at Akershus breakfast once they tried to seat us at the table right by the end of the buffet and the kitchen opening. We couldn't even get to the chairs with the line of people for the food. That wasn't happening either. Both times I asked to be moved right away and they did. I felt bad but those are pricey meals and I don't want to be miserable!

Awwwww...so sad it's your last day!

That is hilarious that Kendall wants all her birthdays to be WDW ones! Me too! That's one of those things we've always joked about when deciding what to do for the kids' birthdays, Christmas, & Easter. If we set the bar too high they might expect as much or more next time. Eeeeeek!

Can't wait for more adventures with the world's spunkiest little cutesters! :wave::wave:

HouCuseChickie · Sep 1, 2011

sweetpee_1993 said:
I love that the girls make friends everywhere they go! I think my boys make enemies with their complaining about long waits. Some days it'd be nice if I could just staple their lips shut. LOL!

I really love the MK opening show. The singing and dancing and outfits reminds me of some of my favoritest old musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis & The Music Man. Oh how I wish I had lived back in those days. I'd love to wear the swishy dresses, puffed sleeves, and break into song every 5-10 minutes...and have that be normal! :lol:

I wish you had taken a picture of the cake at 1900 PF! Today is the day I set my alert to order my anniversary cake and I'm drawing a complete blank! Freaking out! I just don't know what I want! I don't want to ask Tracey because he'll say, "Don't order one. I don't really like cake." I think this is his biggest fault: doesn't like cake or chocolate. :lookaroun

I hate you got a bad table location! Ugh! They tried to park my nieces, my brother, and me in one of those tables that you pass when you first walk into the dining room right smack in the middle back in May '09. It was so hot in that room! Then at Akershus breakfast once they tried to seat us at the table right by the end of the buffet and the kitchen opening. We couldn't even get to the chairs with the line of people for the food. That wasn't happening either. Both times I asked to be moved right away and they did. I felt bad but those are pricey meals and I don't want to be miserable!

Awwwww...so sad it's your last day!

That is hilarious that Kendall wants all her birthdays to be WDW ones! Me too! That's one of those things we've always joked about when deciding what to do for the kids' birthdays, Christmas, & Easter. If we set the bar too high they might expect as much or more next time. Eeeeeek!

Can't wait for more adventures with the world's spunkiest little cutesters! :wave::wave:

Sammie is very silly and Kendall is very doll like when you see her in person- so they seem to attract a good deal of attention. It's even worse if I form Kendall's curls into ringlets...of course then everyone wants to play with her hair. Trust me- there are plenty of moments like that with the girls...like an hour ago at school orientation when they wouldn't settle down.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way about the opening. I was soooooo tempted to break out in song with them...and I think Kendall would have been right there with me.

I really should have taken a picture- just so everyone could see the monster cake. What kinds of ideas do you have so far for your cake? I know I recently saw a cake on the cake chatter that involved a champagne bottle. Our sugar roses are probably smaller than the single rose idea you'd noted on there, but those could also be inspiration. I just helped my friend design her daughter's sweet 16 sorcerer Mickey cake for their dinner at 'Ohana, but I don't think that would help much for you guys. I can't believe Tracey doesn't like cake?!?!?!? Of course, my hubby usually won't eat cake if it's something out of the ordinary. Considering my obsession with non-traditional flavors- he rarely has more than an itty bitty serving...well, except for his 40th bday cake that had a ton of tequila.

What's crazy- I think I was the only one that was bothered by the location. Even more crazy- I think we had more room at this table vs. the one we got last trip. Speaking of pricey meals and bad seats...I at least lodged a complaint about the dripping a/c and recieved a response...mainly a basic apology with greater focus on the server response vs the water...but at least they recognized that there are problems

It's the last full day at WDW, but I still have a lot of ground to cover. PRobably b/c I find it difficult to put the camera down.

I've got a little over 2 yrs, but I'm secretly thinking about going in 2013. Sammie's bday is early November- so I'm thinking either a very short trip around Columbus Day so we can work in MNSSHP OR the days leading up to Thanksgiving and then venture down to south FL to spend the holiday w/my fam and escape the full holiday level crowds. Of course- there's always going for my 40th in a couple of years and designing my own bday cake

Thanks! I'm still recovering from their morning madness and having a hard time using cute and Sammie/Kendall in the same sentence :ROFLOL: But...There will be more this evening after the kiddos are in bed. :wave:

travisball7 said:
Seems like you had a really nice trip. I know the hotels have at Disney have really comfy bed's. Probably wouldn't know the difference with how tiring it is going around all the parks.

Ahhh yes- the beds were super comfy! It was the best sleep I got all trip! Thanks for reading! :wave:

HouCuseChickie · Sep 1, 2011

Our server came by to get our drink orders, but the Mad Hatter came by right about the same time.

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This was about all we got of the Mad Hatter. I was really hoping for a hatter that was truly “mad,” but he just didn't seem into interacting with the little kids. We made note of the “unbirthday” present shoes Kendall picked for Sammie and he actually seemed a bit put off that they weren't the variety that lit up. I already felt bad enough that I took the kids' word for it that they'd sacrifice lights for style, but don't make me feel worse about it!!! And that was about it with him. I saw him with a few tables with adults and older kids and he was a little more “mad,” but we were like 'what the heck?!?!' with our experience. I was very jealous b/c I am all about the madness!

Pooh was pretty good and he came back again towards the end. He wasn't the best Pooh we've ever had, but he was still very sweet and enjoyed the hunny talk on his second pass by our table.

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It was around this time that the chef came by and gave me a tour of the buffet to show me all of the allergy risks. By the time I got back...I figured maybe our server would have brought some drinks. She got the kids chocolate milk, but she didn't bring DH his chocolate milk and she never took my drink order (I was sitting there, but she just walked off). She was gone for most of the meal – nowhere to be seen even though we were right near the kitchen door – so I drank the juice given to everyone, since I was the only one who liked it. I don't drink coffee, and while I know it's hardly good for me, I'm a much nicer person to be around if I've had a double dose of Diet Coke in the morning!

Mary Poppins and Alice came by next...and both were WONDERFUL! Kendall was singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (sp?) just before she arrived. Kendall suddenly refused to sing, but Mary sang a little and said it backwards for the girls + she was super chatty - LOVED IT...

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...if only Sammie would learn better hand placement. I was hoping for just one posed shot where she shifted a bit, but no- every single one (and there are about 10) are like this! Ahhhh to be 2 and totally oblivious to such things!

Alice was also sweet, chatty and tickled the girls so we got big smiles in pictures.

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Tigger was last (before Pooh doubled back) and he was really good...of course my camera fell just before this and shifted to the wrong setting. The girls wanted to bounce with him, so they all jumped up and down...and then Tigger showed them just how high he could bounce. He was getting so good air and the girls were thoroughly entertained.

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It's really unfortunate that I didn't check the camera b/c he was such an awesome Tigger and about 8 of these would have been super cute if taken with things set differently.

I would like to pause for a moment and recognize the star of this meal for me. While the meal had its high points and low points...this was the most anticipated - most glorious - most decadent part of the meal for me.

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Unlike our December visit, I controlled myself and had just one, but secretly- I wanted to stash the entire tray in my backpack!

I even marveled at Disney's way of bringing mouse ears into something as simple as a booster seat while I savored each bite of gooey goodness!

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HouCuseChickie · Sep 1, 2011

Around this time, another CM came by with cupcakes (MORE CAKE!!!). I thought they were just going to give Kendall one, but they had one for me and also offered one to Sammie. The cupcakes were pretty big, so I opted to have Sammie and I share one and Kendall could have her own. At least it was another moment for lit candles and Happy Birthday singing.

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(MINE)

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(HERS)

Clearly I also hadn't noticed anything with my camera at this point.

We were just about done when our server finally came back. We were still picking at our food a little so we pretty much begged for something to drink. Our server said she didn't want to interrupt our character greetings, but there were sizable breaks in all of this where she could have jumped in and gotten a full beverage order and served it. So, we eventually got our drinks but it was a little too late to really make us happy. We had tried asking other staff members for bevs in the interim, but nobody followed through. What's nuts- we had AMAZING- like rave about it to everyone- service her back in December. I know there is often great debate about how much to tip at a buffet and that servers at Disney buffets do far more than your normal buffet, but no drinks and no plates removed from the table is pretty poor service in my book. Oh well- it was still worth the trip b/c there were some great character and food moments!!!

We met a really nice cm on our way out (had to go get the stroller) doing some kind of maintenance, snapped a shot of the Mary Poppins topiary...

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.. and then headed up to explore a bit.......but first, some more pics of the FABULOUS floor!!!

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We started out on what I guess was the smoking deck...pretty stellar views for a smoking deck!!!

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We also spied what I think was the Perfectly Princess Tea already in progress.

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Part of me wonders if that cake we saw was headed here.

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(Citricos- I don't care what it takes...we have a long overdue date with you next trip!)

We all loved looking in the windows at Basin.

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(I could really use this one during breakfast!)

HouCuseChickie · Sep 1, 2011

...but I think the fish bowl was the star of the soap show.

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ONWARD>>>We promised pool time and it was time to deliver!!!

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We caught the monorail back to the resort.

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I went back to the room first (after turning in our stroller to bell services) to get everything ready while DH goggle shopped with the girls. They got back to the room and I was trying to get everyone ready, but suddenly the girls went into meltdown mode- especially Kendall. Sammie calmed down almost instantly, but Kendall was a mess...so I took Sams to the pool while DH lagged behind waiting for Kendall to settle down. Sammie LOVED the pool. I put her in a life jacket (which was way too big), got a light grip on her chest, and let her kick and practice arms. She squealed the entire time- sounded kind of like a little dolphin. Even one of the lifeguards was cracking up. DH made his way out with Kendall, and even though she loves the water and has had a year or so of swim lessons- she was petrified. She wanted to go down the slide, but wouldn't let go of DH and couldn't grasp that this didn't work with slide rules. We switched kids for a while, but it was no improvement. We took them out to try the splash pad area- which I think DH enjoyed hitting me with the water cannons more than anything- but neither girl was overly into it. It was about that time that we saw the dark clouds and heard that first rumble of thunder. Too bad since we'd also talked about playing on the beach...

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We'd been pretty good with storms so far- i.e. either hit during nap time or didn't impact where we were, but not today. We changed back into regular clothes because we wanted to return to Wilderness Lodge to explore...the rain didn't seem too bad when we left the building, but we encountered a CM just was we were exiting who informed us that the boats and monorails weren't running. Well darn- no boat ride this trip!!! LOVE the boats! We started hatching a plan with her that involved buses, and then it hit us... “Oh yeah- we've got our car!” By the time we got to the parking lot it was total downpour- so DH got the car and pulled around to get us.

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Yeah- I felt kind of bad taking pics of him as he ran off in the rain to spare us the discomfort of getting soaked, so I just took other rain pics...and continued taking them after hopping in the car.

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It was impressive to see that the guard wasn't shirking his responsibilities during the storm...he fully grilled us on who we were, why we were there, etc. In fact, he was harder on us than the Contemporary guard!

We went into the lobby while DH parked the car...poor guy, it was still a total deluge! The second we walked in I got chills and started to tear up. I guess it was all that emotion hitting me as to how much planning and anticipation went into the December trip. I started to lose it when Kendall pointed to the lobby area with our room from that trip. It was also interesting seeing it without the enormous Christmas tree. I didn't get wonderful hotel pics last time, so I went nuts taking pics until DH joined us.

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HouCuseChickie · Sep 1, 2011

seriously- I just couldn't stop. It was like I was doing everything I forgot to do months ago!!!

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I also got the kids watching cartoons here as well...I think we saw the same cartoons- not like the kids cared.

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(oh, how the girlies love a rocking chair!)

We headed down to Roaring Fork for drinks and a quick snack...yes, it was time for some rice crispy treat ears!

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The ears were a bit of a mess and they kept the kids amused until the rain let up. After that, we headed out to explore. We were greeted by several ducks and ducks in the pool- I think the girls wanted to bring some home as pets!

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Enough messing around with ducks...it was time to explore!!!

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***That's all for tonight. I was hoping to finish up with the Wilderness Lodge portion, but I only got halfway. Hopefully I will get to post more tomorrow. Thanks for reading!!!***

PolynesianPrincess · Sep 2, 2011

Seeing the pics of the WL are getting me SUPER excited for our November trip as we are staying there!! Our first time in a deluxe resort!!! :sohappy:

We had great characters when we went to 1900 last fall. Alice even sat down at the table with us when my cousin was brought his birthday cupcake. He had longish hair at the time and when she came up behind us she asked "May I join this girls tea party?" and then he turned around and she saw he was not a girl. lol.. She played it off very well though and asked Tigger to get her some scissors so we could cut his hair. She was probably my favorite character of the meal

HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

derelicte19 said:
Seeing the pics of the WL are getting me SUPER excited for our November trip as we are staying there!! Our first time in a deluxe resort!!! :sohappy:

We had great characters when we went to 1900 last fall. Alice even sat down at the table with us when my cousin was brought his birthday cupcake. He had longish hair at the time and when she came up behind us she asked "May I join this girls tea party?" and then he turned around and she saw he was not a girl. lol.. She played it off very well though and asked Tigger to get her some scissors so we could cut his hair. She was probably my favorite character of the meal

We really enjoyed WL! We had MK fireworks from our balcony by night and the stunning lobby/tree/decorations & even part of the fireplace right outside our front door to the room during our stay. The boat to and from MK was by far our favorite form of WDW transportation and Roaring Fork is very good. I' sure you guys are going to LOVE IT!!! Can't wait to see the TR for that!!! :sohappy:

We just seem to have bad Mad Hatter luck, but beyond that - the characters at 1900PF have been good to excellent two meals in a row. Definitely worth the repeat visits! That's a riot :lol: about the gender mistake with your friend's hair. Not that they do the villain meal anymore, but if the Queen of Hearts were there, I could see someone yelling something like "I said off with his hair- not off with his head!" Hmmmm- that would make for a new and interesting character meal...all Alice in Wonderland characters.

HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

We took the paths by the pool, out past the geyser and to the area over by TroutPass. Lord, I missed so much when we were here in December...but in all fairness, it was pretty cold by FL standards during that trip.

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(ugh- camera fogging up again!!!- every single pic I have of the pool waterfall area has blobs of fog)

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Somebody is REALLY sick of being photographed !!!!

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Sammie and I explored a bit more and then found DH and Kendall up at the bar...once again, I wonder if this is foreshadowing my future in some way?

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We probably sat for a good 30 minutes...it was just a nice bar, good service, good atmosphere, etc.

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Yes barkeep- I'd like an apple juice- straight up- in the box!

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We definitely liked this better than the set up over at the Contemporary. Oh well- each place has its perks. I think we'd definitely stay at WL again if we didn't have a stroller or did just a grown ups trip. ***side note- we were shocked at how many people were yelled at for setting foot on the pool deck while the pool was closed due to the storms. I lived in FL long enough to know that it deserves the title of Lightning Capital.

(sky is still looking pretty angry)

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HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

Sadly, it was time to bid farewell to WL. I'm so glad we made it over there and it worked well with our timing for the afternoon (initially thought about Mini Golf or Beaches and Cream), but the magic does slip a little when you have to get in your own vehicle to make it from point a to point b...still worth it this case.

(she thought she'd help us with the umbrella on the way out)

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(sun starting to come out just as we're leaving)

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(trying to leave the lobby but the girls want to play some made up combo game of I/Eye Spy and Hide and Seek...I counted to 3 quite a bit to get them out of here!!!)

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(I tried to distract myself - i.e. divert my frustration into fun things- by taking pics of some pretty lights I didn't notice last trip)

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(FINALLY- I have them outside...and clearly they have some new game)

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(ooooh DH- I got the girls outside...now where are you????)

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He finally pulled the car around and we were leaving our old "home"...

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...to return once again to our current "home."

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And finally into the parking lot. I swear, the girls never grow tired of seeing this...

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We got back to the room and I insisted we cut the cake and have a cake snack before nap time. I mean REALLY- it had been long enough!

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HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

It was kind of painful cutting into it. I don't mind cutting a cake when it's mine, but this wasn't ...so it was sort of sad. I also didn't have much on which I could serve it and was working with plastic utensils I picked up at Roaring Fork, so it was a bit of a mess. I cleaned off the soap dish for one piece of cake and used a towel ziplock bag combo for the other. The red cake and yellow filling had the girls thinking it was a strawberry cake with lemon filling...I had to convince them that the yellow filling tasted like their fave juice since the yellow was a bit of a hard sell. Considering some of the wild flavors I make at home- you'd think they'd be fine with anything cake!

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After taking a few bites, Kendall even realized that the red cake tasted like chocolate! Good tasting! The big thing was Belle- everyone wanted a bite of the princess. The girls each took a bite from her head and handed it to me...no rules had been stated so I bit off her head. Hey- it's white chocolate- it's all good! Or so I thought! Apparently, I was supposed to bite the skirt or some other area. Oh well- too late...and it tasted good!!! I also thought she was hollow, but if so- she was pretty solid in most areas. All in all- the cake tasted AMAZING and I could eat a large bowl - a very large bowl - of the passion fruit mousse. That stuff is HEAVEN!

We got the girls down a bit early for their nap because we were having my belated bday dinner at California Grill that evening. I was praying they'd be on their best behavior and sleep was the only chance of that happening.

The girls got up from their nap at about 6:30pm (I know, late nap) and we started getting them ready. It was about this time when Kendall started throwing a fit because she couldn't walk. Some of it was her being drama mama, but the blisters from her bday shoes were actually pretty big and angry. I did my best with my provisions in my first aid kid- but she can be quite a whiner, so it was not easy going from here on out. I was also starting to regret only reserving a stroller for 3 days.

What's really funny- Kendall totally fought me on her dress. She wanted Sammie's dress which was lots of blues, greens, hot pink, a big flower and sequins...but K's dress was her favorite color – hot pink (or as she calls it- dark pink). It was a pillowcase dress made from a bandana patterned pillowcase. We did some window shopping before checking into Cali Grill and she was complimented no less than 3 times by three different people...she enjoyed that enough to quit her dress fit. Of course all the issues with her feet and walking totally made me forget to take a pic of the girls in their dressy outfits.

Check in for Cali Grill went smoothly and we were upstairs pretty quickly (love the dedicated elevator with the hostess!). Everyone was dressed very nicely- not a bit of ultra casual park attire in sight... although I'm still not sure why DH wore jeans...he brought two pairs of dress pants. Oh well- it wasn't worth a fight.

We had some time to wait and found a table and chairs in the lounge, but things were busy so DH went up to the bar for drinks. And I took pics as I waited.

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No surprise here, but it wasn't long after that where the kids joined him at the bar.

(just DH)

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(then one girly joins him)

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(now both little girls are at the bar with daddy!)

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At least I got a dirty martini out of it! Yummmmmm! And the pleasure of a kid free moment as the sun is starting to set on MK.

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We then took turns going outside...meaning I got another glorious 10 min on my own in pure peace with my drink. :sohappy:

HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

So, DH went out first with the girls and got a number of nice pics- even he was proud of his work. He actually came back with over 20 pictures. This from the guy who barely takes any all trip! AWESOME!!!

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(he actually took a series of these- basically making a little stop motion flip book action slide show sort of thing)

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OK- so not the most stunning amazing original mind blowing pics you've ever seen, but I was happy he finally wanted to take pictures of our trip.

Then we traded off and I went out with the kids. Kendall threw another fit because I didn't go to the viewing area she wanted to go to...but she was just going to have to deal. The sun was setting and at least Sammie and I were going to take it all in.

(HEH-HEH-HEH...now it's my turn to go camera happy!!!)

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Even the clouds from the earlier storms made the sky look incredible.

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(I'll spare you all of my cloud pics...my dad has a double degrees...one being meteorology...so I just go a tad crazy when I see cool clouds and things like that)

HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

We got back in and DH was on his second scotch! I asked him where the buzzer went – yup, it was missing- but thankfully it had just gone off and he'd turned it in. They said they'd seat us as soon as we got inside with the girls...and they did just that. I didn't ask for a window seat because I was afraid we'd get a window facing away from MK. We weren't seated next to a window, but we were one row over and had an unobstructed (for the most part) view of the castle...so I was pleased.

(a little bit of zooming involved, but not a bad view from the table)

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Thankfully, the girls calmed down pretty well once seated. In fact, they were actually really into their coloring tonight.

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(I think I caught her off guard a bit)

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(another version of “Mommy, stop taking pictures!!!)

I thought long and hard before this trip about what I should order. About a week before the trip, I realized my appetizer must be from the sushi menu. I thought about branching out and trying something more interesting from that area of the menu, but I wanted something simple, clean, and fresh- so sashimi it was! And boy was it good! Although I'd like to go back and try the Medusa Roll.

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DH got the triple cheese flatbread. It wouldn't be my first choice (just because there are so many options beyond sushi), but he enjoyed it and it did look yummy.

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The girls started with fruit and had mac and cheese for dinner. It was at least very good mac and cheese...knocked the socks off of anything I've had at a Disney buffet. DH had the pork tenderloin. At first he complained about the portion size...but he was feeling pretty full by the end of the meal...he never even gave me a chance to take a pic....probably b/c I realized Illuminations was going off behind us.

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(pretty sad pic but you get the idea)

Kendall and I quickly moved outside to the back deck...of course only catching the tail end of the finale.

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(spectacular - isn't it???)
Hey- at least we can say we saw some of Illuminations this trip!

I did find it odd having to go through a server station to get to the deck, but at least you can go out there. We saw the water pageant moving our way while we were out there. I kept getting the closed deck's railing in my pics, so we went back to our table to capture a few pics from inside.

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HouCuseChickie · Sep 2, 2011

Another cool things was MSEP from up there. Sure, you can't hear it or see the details, but you can see the various sections of MK go dark and watch the floats glide along. It was actually pretty surreal seeing it from up there.

In all of this, I also had my entree - the veal tenderloin. It was sooooo tasty – lots going on under the meat, but all of the flavor profiles balanced out nicely.

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We ordered dessert some time during the showing of The Magic, the Memories and You. Dessert was served just as lights dimmed for Wishes, so I never took a single dessert pic. DH had the Valhrona chocolate cake and really enjoyed it...Kendall's foot was pretty sore, so she was curled up in my lap and let Sammie have the rice crispy treat sushi...and I had a citrus cheesecake made with goat cheese (have I mentioned that I LOVE cheese!).

Kendall was cool with me putting her down so I could photograph Wishes. The bigger effects are fired from that back area so they appeared (semi obstructed) in a window sort of off to our right...

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...but the ones shot from the castle area were fully visible from our table. And thankfully everybody at that window table in front of us stayed put so we kept our decent view throughout.

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Once again- we LOVED the show, but I was so sad at the end since I knew the Disney portion of this trip was really winding down.

Total laugh here :lol:...a family with two boys were seated diagonally behind us. I turned around and smiled because one of the boys was sleeping in their laps and the other had those heavy lids, like he was going to fall asleep any second. The mom mentioned something about wishing her boys were better behaved during the meal and then noted that Kendall and Sammie were so well behaved. I didn't hear a peep out of her boys all meal and told her I thought her boys had behaved beautifully, making sure to note that I was on edge about our kiddos the entire time. We both agreed that as parents, we tend to notice our kids acting up more than others. If only she'd seen our CRT pics from the other night!

I was hoping we'd get a decent server...instead, we got an AMAZING server. Three cheers for Becky!!! The service was excellent! We were going to pay out of pocket for Sammie's meal, but she said the portions were so big she'd just have the kitchen split everything. I like a server that saves me $$$. She also offered to contact first aid in case we felt Kendall might need more substantial bandaging for her feet. We declined, but it was so sweet of her to offer. Of course drinks were always refreshed, but most importantly, the meal never felt rushed or drawn out. I was worried that a 7:55pm adr would have us paying and leaving before Wishes started, but between the wait and the timing of the meal- I got my wish of seeing Wishes over dessert from the comfort of our seats...which was such a blessing considering Kendall's feet!

We headed back to the room after this...I wanted to pack, but nobody else was ready for bed. DH took the girls out to explore just to give me some distraction free time to get this done. I know they checked out the pool area again and I think they may have even headed back to the tower to look into the arcade, but he was back to taking no pictures...so, I really have no clue. All I know is that everyone was ready for bed upon returning to the room...and he noted that Kendall didn't complain for a second about her feet (i.e. it was all an act for me!!!).

We had a 7:50am adr at 'Ohana the next morning and I had every intention of making it there this trip for our farewell breakfast, so I was glad to see everyone getting their zzzzzzz's shortly after this. :snore:

***Hopefully more tomorrow. THanks for reading!!!***