The I Planned it All and Threw My Plans Out the Window TR

Hey everybody!! I got home from my family's first WDW vacation late last Friday night and have been feverishly uploading pics ever since.
It was hot and more crowded than I expected but I had a wonderful time at Disney. The trip that I spent a year planning came to life and I got to see the sights I had been longing to see.

So... first a little background. I did a PTR on this site but in case you didn't read it, my name is Cassie. I am the proud mommy of 2 beautiful kiddos, DD6 and DS4. I have a very handsome hubby Marshall who doesn't share my Disney love but was excited to go on vacation anyway. Also featured in this TR you will find my aunt Wilma and cousins Samantha, Kai, and Elijah. They live in Orlando (where my husband and I grew up) and I hadn't seen them in a few years. I planned everything for me as well as for them as my aunt isn't very good at that sort of thing.

We were in Disney from 5/19 until 5/24. My aunt left on 5/23 which was a resort only day for her. My immediate family lives in the panhandle of FL and we drove to the world. My kids and I were so excited when our countdown calender looked like this:

IMG_0352 by cassierocks84, on Flickr


IMG_0353 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

So without further ado... here is my recollection of our trip!

DAY 1:

I was planning on getting up at around 5 am so we could get on the road by 6. Here was the first plan out the window, lol. My son woke up at 4 AM! It wouldn't have made any sense to go back to bed so he and I went ahead and got up and I got to my tying up loose ends before leaving. I let my husband and daughter sleep a bit more, especially since my baby girl wasn't feeling her best. (she has asthma and allergies and suffered quite a bit on this trip as she has most of this year )
This is my son's "I'm going to Disney but I'm sleepy face"

IMG_0354 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

My daughter wasn't so happy about the early wake up call:

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Oh wait, you mean Donald gets to come too??

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We were in the car just after I wanted, leaving our house at 6:10. My hubby set out on our course which includes a really long ride on I-10. It was a very foggy morning and I was happy not to be driving. My husband (who I will now start calling by name: Marshall) didn't want to stop for gas when we first left so we ended up making our first stop at 7:45 in a small town called Blountstown. We got back on the interstate only to get off again an hour later in Tallahassee because Marshall saw a sign for Steak n Shake (we don't have one!). After filling our bellies with steak, egg, and cheese bagels, we were on the road again. We stopped AGAIN a couple of hours later at McDonalds because Marshall wanted a coffee and we figured we might as well feed the kiddos (who conked out as soon as we set off). So if you're counting, that's 3 stops and none of them were even potty breaks! We actually managed to only make one more stop for gas before making it into Orlando. The kids sleeping helped so much. I started to get really excited when I saw this:

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and this:

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and then I saw THIS!!!!

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[Cassie S.]

Awesome pictures! You are making me miss being there...

Just as a note (and you can sortof see it in your picture) there used to be a Porche emblem on Sally's nose. As I said, you can sortof see the discoloring on her hood where it used to be.

It was ripped off by some Guest (I assume a Guest...don't see where else it would have gone to) during my trip in August 2012. Our first walkthrough of Cars, it was there. Sometime later in the week I'd noticed it had disappeared.

I know it's a little thing, but I'm a bit upset to see that here we are nearly a year later and it hasn't been replaced yet!

Can't wait for your next installment. I am loving this!

Glad you're enjoying my TR. Sad to hear that someone defaced poor Sally. We saw gum on the wall of Ariel's Grotto and I felt very upset that someone would do that when it's still practically brand new.

 

[Cassie S.]

Excited to read the rest of this trip report! I was there the same time as you! We stayed at AoA the last leg of our trip from the 26th-28th in the King triton building as well. And Ariel is my fav too!!! We have a lot in common! haha.

I have to agree with you about the Cars section...it was seriously it's own land. Probably my favorite section of that resort!

And your kids are adorable! Keep it coming!!

Thanks so much for reading and for the compliments on the kids. We sure do have a lot in common.

 

[Cassie S.]

So I had a good part of Day 2 written out and I closed my computer for a minute... next thing I knew the hubster was on my laptop and then he restarted my computer! I won't make that mistake again. This was last sunday and I'm just NOW getting on here. <sigh>

Anyway,
DAY 2

I woke up insanely early on Monday, our first "real" day,ie our first park day. Even though my zombiefied body was still in central time and felt like it was an hour earlier, I got up at 5:30 with a big, stupid grin on my face. I rolled out of bed and started getting myself together. Once I was dressed and ready, I hiked it over to my aunt's room to get my daughter "princessified" for our big Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast. I let her spend the night in my aunt's room since she was so attached upon seeing her again. I pulled off a decent updo in her hair and put her Cinderella costume and accessories.
Here's my baby posing in the room after her princess makeover.

DSC01827 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

I decided against the princess shoes and just put her Mickey crocs on her for the sake of comfort. Once she was all dolled up, I went back to my room to get Prince Charming (DS4) ready. He was very reluctant to wake up and in fact, I got him dressed while he was still asleep! By this time, Marshall (my hubby) was up and ready as well.
Here is another pic outside the hotel of DD.

DSC01828 by cassierocks84, on Flickr
My aunt, cousins, and my little family made it to the buses just before 8 and after a very short wait for a crowded bus, arrived at MK at 8:30. This was EXACTLY what I had planned as I wanted to make it into the park before it's 9 am opening for my 905 ADR and score some coveted "empty park" castle pics. So, all is going well and according to plan and me, Marshall, DD6, and DS4 all scan our tickets and get in. As soon as my aunt swipes her ticket, it blinks red. In fact, her ticket along with her 2 daughters and grandsons didn't work. My aunt is not the type to deal well with these kind of situations so I pushed through the crowds to the exit and went to guest services with her to work things out. I know this made her feel better because she was about to flip since her rooms keys didn't work the previous day either. Just 5 min later, our ticket issues were sorted out and we were let in early for our breakfast reservation! I was excited and just in AWE to be in the Magic Kingdom. The castle looming in the background and Main Street all around us... it was absolutely MAGICAL.
It took my breath away to see this:

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I REALLY hated to rush through Main Street and never really got the time to enjoy all the window displays this trip. However, the castle was calling our names! As we got closer, we ran into Barbara!! I was so excited as I have heard of her on several Disney websites. She let the kids get on her Main Street Vehicle and kindly obliged when I requested a pic of her.

DSC01830 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

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[Cassie S.]

Enjoy some photo pass + pics of us! I LOVE that they have a download option now when it comes to getting your pics. I would NOT have wanted to wait for the CD.

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one:

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Yay! I'm actually IN a picture!

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Pixie Dust!

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My beautiful family

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Mom and Dad are celebrating... kids not so much

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Gotta love my prince and princess

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[englanddg]

Your daughter looks wonderful, but that Prince Costume ROCKS! Where did you find that?

 

[Cassie S.]

We started walking up the walkway to the castle

DSC01835 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

I was so excited to get to eat IN the castle. As we walked through, I took a few pics of the beautiful mosaics.

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Then we saw THIS sign!!!

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Our royal family was checked in and directed to wait for her highness, Cinderella, to come in for our photo ops. While we waited, what was a girl to do?? Take pictures of course!

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Found these lil guys hiding out in a corner.

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And then... the moment we had all been waiting for!!! Cinderella is IN the building!

I know my daughter doesn't look very enthused in this pic but I promise she was, lol.

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Here are some beautiful pp+ pics as well:

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Right before the group pic, my son was trying to tell me something and with all the people around us and in the excitement, I had NO idea he was speaking to me. Feeling ignored mixed with still being sleepy, he BURST into tears. I was so upset that as cute as he was in his prince costume, I was not going to get a cute pic of him with Cinderella. That's actually why he is not in the first pic with my daughter. I decided she could do a pic by herself and then I would have him in the group pic with my 2 cousins, ages 6 (almost 7) and 5. Our photopass photographer was amazing and though I never saw my son smile, she managed to take this pic:

47566640054 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

The girls especially enjoyed getting to meet Cinderella. She took the time to speak to them and not rush us through the pictures.

47566640064 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

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[Cassie S.]

Your daughter looks wonderful, but that Prince Costume ROCKS! Where did you find that?

Finding that Prince costume was a major mission accomplished for me! I knew I would have cute costumes for my daughter but I wasn't sure about my son. We're not really into the whole pirate thing (except Jake, he is cute) so our options were pretty limited. I did some internet searches for prince costumes and they had one that looked exactly like Prince Charming but it was SO expensive. I toyed with the idea of trying to be crafty and making something but it was on Amazon under "knight costumes" that I hit the jackpot. It was only $20 and I think it was actually supposed to be some sort of a 3 musketeers thing judging from the hat that came with it. I ditched the hat and got the cutest prince I could have asked for. Super happy about that move. The "boots" are actually part of the pants and hook onto your shoes!

 

[foreverbelle]

Oh how precious! I love your daughters first day outfit, I remember seeing it during your pre-trip report glad to see it reappear. The new AoA rooms look amazing. I love the ones at the cars...

Meeting Cinderella is awesome!!!! I love the shot with all the kids, kudos to the photographer, I love when they catch something I don't. Like a smile...

 

[Zman-ks]

Cute pics!

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

How gorgeous are your Prince and Princess!!!! Terrific pics of the resort!

 

[Englebabies]

Loving the TR your kids are so cute and I love the prince costume. I have two princes and when we finally get to go I would love to put them in a costume at least once.

 

[disney1077]

Great trip report. Your kids are adorable. Love the costumes!

 

[jenluvswdw]

Thanks for posting the photo pass + pics. It looks like it is worth the money. I also am excited that the photographers are there taking pictures before the park is officially opened. Gorgeous kids!

 

[WannaBWendy]

We stayed at AoA last summer in the Nemo section and we ate at Rainforest! Makes me miss it!

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

I love your TR. You have a beautiful family!!!

 

[Cassie S.]

Oh how precious! I love your daughters first day outfit, I remember seeing it during your pre-trip report glad to see it reappear. The new AoA rooms look amazing. I love the ones at the cars...

Meeting Cinderella is awesome!!!! I love the shot with all the kids, kudos to the photographer, I love when they catch something I don't. Like a smile...

The Cars section of AoA is awesome. Would love to stay there someday. I think next time though I would be fine staying at Pop since it was much less crowded.
We really did enjoy meeting Cinderella. She was super friendly and very good with the kids.
I was SO happy the photographer got my DS smiling!!

 

[Cassie S.]

Cute pics!

Thanks!!

How gorgeous are your Prince and Princess!!!! Terrific pics of the resort!

Thank you so much! I do believe my prince and princess are amazing.

Loving the TR your kids are so cute and I love the prince costume. I have two princes and when we finally get to go I would love to put them in a costume at least once.

Thanks for reading. Boys should have the same opportunity to feel like royalty as girls.

 

[Cassie S.]

Great trip report. Your kids are adorable. Love the costumes!

Thanks for following along!

Thanks for posting the photo pass + pics. It looks like it is worth the money. I also am excited that the photographers are there taking pictures before the park is officially opened. Gorgeous kids!

The pp+ was so worth the $$! I have lots of more pics to post. We did Jedi Training Academy and the pics were great!!

We stayed at AoA last summer in the Nemo section and we ate at Rainforest! Makes me miss it!

Awww... we got to share some of the same experiences. Really enjoyed Rainforest.

I love your TR. You have a beautiful family!!!

Thanks for reading and the compliments!

 

[Cassie S.]

So when I last posted we had just met Cinderella and were ready to go upstairs for our royal breakfast. We wandered up the stairs and into the beautiful dining area. We were led to our seats and I was just in awe of the atmosphere. It was so pretty inside the castle. I took a look at my menu and it all looked REALLY good.


DSC01848 by cassierocks84, on Flickr


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There was even coloring for the kids to keep busy.

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Our server, Robin, brought us this really yummy plate of pastries, biscuits, and banana bread. Mmmmmm. She explained that the adults could order any entree we liked and the kids would get eggs, bacon, and french toast sticks. My daughter is super picky and won't eat any of that stuff so I asked if we could just get some fruit for her. Our server told us the chef would be out to speak to us. Chef Robert appeared at our table and was very nice and accommodating. Shortly after, a gorgeous fruit plate was brought out. Somehow, I forgot to take a pic! Take my word for it though, it was great: stacked high with all kinds of berries, melons, and grapes.

I ordered the stuffed french toast which was delish:

DSC01855 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

My aunt, hubby and cousin(15) ordered the steak and eggs. That sounded good to me too but I had to be different. Here is what they got:

DSC01856 by cassierocks84, on Flickr

They all liked it a lot. Actually, everyone enjoyed their food very much. CRT gets a bad rap for food and of course it's VERY overpriced but we thought everything we had was great. Maybe we just have unsophisticated palates but whatever.

Here's some more shots from when I was waiting eagerly for the princesses to arrive:

DSC01854 by cassierocks84, on Flickr


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[Cassie S.]

The first princess to arrive was Snow White. She was very pretty and sweet but she seemed to have the least personality. I was even wearing a Snow White shirt and she didn't say anything about it. The sunlight streaming through the windows made it tough to get a good pic also. At least she took lots of pics with us.​

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Next up was Sleeping Beauty. I love her new dress and told her so! She was also very sweet but she rushed us a bit.​

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Here's DS fighting dragons​

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And then came the wishing ceremony. This was very cute and the kids loved it.​

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Once the wishing ceremony was complete, my favorite princess came over to say hello!!!​

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I LOVE Ariel! This Ariel was very spunky and although we didn't take many pics so you can't really tell how much time she spent with us, she didn't rush us and really talked to the kids.​

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The best interaction we had was with Princess Jasmine. She had a good amount of attitude and really played her character well. My daughter told her that her middle name is Jasmine which our princess seemed to enjoy hearing.​

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We had mentioned to our server that it was my cousin's (7) bday. Just after the princesses made their rounds, a cupcake was brought out to celebrate the occasion!​

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Our breakfast at CRT was definitely a thumbs up experience. Everyone enjoyed their food and the experience was well worth the price. Here's a pic of a happy DH and DD.​

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And what could be cooler than your own souvenir swords for the boys? DS and DC5 obviously couldn't think of anything better.​

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