Trip Report There's Something About Mary...and it's called DRAMA!

I think it's time to get this thing started...hoping it will help my mood and sanity levels. For those that missed the PTR (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/lawdy-lawdy-look-whos-turning-40-ptr.867181/) - the early pages should help you catch up on the bulk of the big details, and for those that missed our problems from day 1 of our trip (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/how-not-to-start-your-wdw-vacay.873853/ )...well, it kind of speaks for itself.:( I am going to try and keep this as upbeat as possible, but we have a very long road ahead to fix things...so, please bear with me as I vent in between some of the magic. :)

September 18th

I left work early on the 18th so I could pick up the girls at school and have them with us when we took our dog to get boarded. This is our Daisy Doggy...
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What's really funny, the pic above was taken with Sammie's Fisher Price plastic kiddie camera!

After getting the dog situated at boarding, we went home, had some dinner, and the heavy duty packing started. I'd actually started packing my things on the 17th, but now it was time to really focus on the girls. I let them sleep in the guest bedroom that night so I could pack all of their stuff without keeping them up...i.e. so I could pack all of the surprise outfits without spoiling anything.;) It was A TON of packing, but I finished up around 1am. I had thought about setting up the outfits and bags in the guest room for the reveal, but Sammie got up to use the bathroom right around that time- soooooo, I decided to wait until just before the big reveal.

September 19

I guess I got close to 4.5 hours of sleep (good for the night before a travel day)...and at 6am, it was finally time to set up and reveal the big secret. I got everything set up and then DH came in to help me. The video I took is pretty awful and sleepy girls don't make for really good surprises, but this is the vid I took and I swear...they were REALLY happy.



You can all now probably appreciate what it's like getting these two up for school each morning. :facepalm:

Actually, the girls were super quick to get dressed once it really sunk in what was going on. They were even good with posing for pictures before hitting the road...
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We loaded up my SUV and hit the road...sadly, we wouldn't get far. The accident took place about 2.5 miles from our house. I really don't want to rehash all of the scary details, but when we realized we'd all be able to walk away from this horror - we had to decide if we'd continue with this WDW trip. While the girls' initial screams and cries were from the accident itself, they morphed into cries that they wouldn't get to see their grandma and grandpa. We usually try and visit every 3 months, but we pushed it a bit longer b/c of this trip. It was for this reason DH and I decided to push forward with the trip even if the odds weren't in our favor. I guess I just figured getting everyone to "the most magical place on earth" could be therapeutic. Don't get me wrong...I love that the EMTs and lead sheriff on the scene were super lovey with the girls :inlove: - they really needed something super positive...so, Disney it was!

So, after I took care of the most important initial phone calls, I got Southwest on the line (at the scene of the wreck) and started working with them to rebook the outbound flight. We were yelling over ambulance sirens and traffic, but after about 20 min, we were rebooked from our 9:15am departure to a 3:55pm departure. They also said DH could ask for a blue card for pre-board (we were now in group C after paying to be in group A on the original flight)...while it's gotten better, he had some leg pain that day and was limping from the aches. The timing also worked well since it gave me time to go to the collision center, talk to the various insurance companies, etc. My wonderful MIL was also kind enough to pick up DH and the girls from the scene. This enabled him to get his car and she was able to love on the girls for a while until we were ready to regroup and get travel plans rolling again.

While our flight out of Houston was delayed close to 3 hours due to weather and mechanical issues (not helping Kendall, who was now terrified that the plane would crash), but we got off the ground a little after 6pm and we were on our way...

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Sammie sat with DH on the way to FL-- with Pooh, of course...
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I had Kendall...
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...and we spent the entire flight doing this big word search on her tablet.

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We flew into terminal A and DME is in terminal B. It was after the girls' bed time, so we opted to just get our baggage. Soooooo, we went down to terminal A baggage and then lugged it over to DME in terminal B. Thankfully, Kendall has overcome her fear of escalators, so minus losing her shoe for a while on one of them :rolleyes: we were in good shape.

I think the CMs manning the DME entrance could read all of the stress and worry on my face, because they promised me pixie dust and magic from that point on. :D We had our Magic Bands on at this point, but I had my vouchers out so in the interest of time and sanity, they just used those. They directed us to the line for AKL and while we were let on the bus right away...we were so late that the bus was accommodating a number of resorts from various lines. Still...Kendall and I wound up with this prime spot!

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I swear, I got choked up when I looked up and saw the screen...like that "we're really on our way" moment.

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It took a while for them to load up the bus since they were waiting on people to come in from all of these late or delayed flights, but it wasn't long before we were off. :happy:
 
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Tuvalu

Premium Member
Thankful your family walked away from a horrible accident and you were able to recover from the trauma (somewhat) at your happy place. I am enjoying your AKL pics, we had a delightful 2 nights there in August. It is a very relaxing resort...pool is so peaceful...the lobby smell from Boma and Jiko is heavenly...and sitting on a balcony watching animals move about is intriguing.

Can't wait to read more.
 

Mrsdonaldduck

Well-Known Member
Oh my gosh I am just catching up here.... I so sorry about your accident. Thank God you are all ok. As if traveling isn't stressful enough, how awful that you had to deal with! You had to be hurting in Disney - so sorry.
The girls are just precious!!! I love their outfits and suitcase; just adorable!! And I am so impressed that you were stroller free!!! Hooray! We did not succeed in that mission... I threw the stroller in the trunk for our August trip just in case my 4 year old needed. And he didn't!!! But guess who did my 7 year old. He had pneumonia right before Disney and was wiped out and then he picked up a virus in Disney. Poor guy. Next trip I am really hoping no stroller.
I can't wait to see cake photos!!!!
 

mishel635

Well-Known Member
Thank you for tagging me! I didn't even realize you'd started your TR!
You have definitely helped me with my indecision for dinner at Sanaa on our AK day. I was thinking of switching it but I'm definitely keeping it now!
I'm so glad that your accident didn't ruin your trip! Good luck with dealing with the aftermath. Some people will lie through their teeth to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. So sorry you're dealing with all of that.
And now you have me wondering if we should try and go stroller free for our trip in February. My daughter will be a month shy of 4 and my son will be a month shy of 6. I have a Maclaren side by side double stroller that my best friend took to WDW and it worked great. However between my two kiddos they weigh almost 100 pounds. Not sure what to do.... At least I have a few months to decide.
Loving your trip report so far and can't wait to read more!!!! :)
 

DisSplash

Well-Known Member
So sorry that your trip had such a rough start, but glad you were able to wipe some of those frightening memories away ... I think you really did make the right choice, especially as far as your kids were concerned. Knowing that they were physically fine, I cannot think of any better way you could have shown them that even though bad things happen, as they did that morning, this should never stop them from pursuing the good and the fun that is out there waiting for them. Good call.

AKL is such a gorgeous resort! We stopped by there the place and were really impressed. The lighting seemed dim throughout the place (aside from right near the floor-to-ceiling window in the lobby), but I liked that. I thought it added to the ambience and overall theme of the place. We also really loved Boma! Maybe next time we will get to try out Sanaa!
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Loving it so far. Food sounds yummy. We will definitely have to try to get to see each other soon. If y'all ever come near Nashville we are only about an hour drive. Fun long weekend trip.

Funny, but I was helping a friend plan a Nashville trip for this past summer. She never made it due to some serious family and personal health matters, but I literally have this whole Memphis to Nashville itinerary. Just have to wait and see what the future holds :)

Thankful your family walked away from a horrible accident and you were able to recover from the trauma (somewhat) at your happy place. I am enjoying your AKL pics, we had a delightful 2 nights there in August. It is a very relaxing resort...pool is so peaceful...the lobby smell from Boma and Jiko is heavenly...and sitting on a balcony watching animals move about is intriguing.

Can't wait to read more.

Thank you...that's definitely our greatest blessing in all of this. WDW is definitely a great place to decompress after such an ordeal. There really is an incredible level of peace being at AKL...definitely the right resort to be at when there's so much outside stress.

Oh my gosh I am just catching up here.... I so sorry about your accident. Thank God you are all ok. As if traveling isn't stressful enough, how awful that you had to deal with! You had to be hurting in Disney - so sorry.
The girls are just precious!!! I love their outfits and suitcase; just adorable!! And I am so impressed that you were stroller free!!! Hooray! We did not succeed in that mission... I threw the stroller in the trunk for our August trip just in case my 4 year old needed. And he didn't!!! But guess who did my 7 year old. He had pneumonia right before Disney and was wiped out and then he picked up a virus in Disney. Poor guy. Next trip I am really hoping no stroller.
I can't wait to see cake photos!!!!

Definitely not the way to start of a vacation, or really any day for that matter. Thankfully, the bulk of the muscular pain set in after the trip.

The outfits and suitcases were a huge hit with them. The shirts were a total surprise, but I just happened ;) to show them the suitcases online when we were looking for school backpacks.

Sound like it was an omen that you had it fro the 7 yr old. As much as Kendall doesn't want a stroller, she would have needed one if she'd been hit with some kind of illness like that. I guess at least you know the younger one doesn't need it, so you should be fine being stroller free on future trips :)

I had no idea Sanaa had a drum show before opening their restaurant. That's amazing! Love the pics of Sanaa and all the art work in there. And of course, the food looks so good. (Their butter chicken is what I'd want at Sanaa along with the naan bread basket!)

It wasn't anything major, but just one of those little Disney things that can enhance a visit...kind of like showing up to the first seating of Le Cellier and having them sing O Canada. The butter chicken sounded really good...honestly, just so many great sounding things on their menu. And to think I was afraid DH would be put off by all of it.

Thank you for tagging me! I didn't even realize you'd started your TR!
You have definitely helped me with my indecision for dinner at Sanaa on our AK day. I was thinking of switching it but I'm definitely keeping it now!
I'm so glad that your accident didn't ruin your trip! Good luck with dealing with the aftermath. Some people will lie through their teeth to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. So sorry you're dealing with all of that.
And now you have me wondering if we should try and go stroller free for our trip in February. My daughter will be a month shy of 4 and my son will be a month shy of 6. I have a Maclaren side by side double stroller that my best friend took to WDW and it worked great. However between my two kiddos they weigh almost 100 pounds. Not sure what to do.... At least I have a few months to decide.
Loving your trip report so far and can't wait to read more!!!! :)

I'm so glad we kept Sanaa in our lineup. It was a huge food highlight for our trip.

It just bothers me so much that she's making up stories. I'm now kind of wondering if she's going to contest the police report.

It's a tough call on the stroller. Our Nov 2012 trip- Sammie had just turned 4 and Kendall was 6. Kendall definitely would have been fine being stroller free, but Sammie was borderline at that point. I had debated about just renting a single stroller, but I was worried that the other might get tired or jealous and wonder why we got stroller accommodations for one but not the other. Of course, every child is different. At least you have some time to decide.

More to come in a little bit :)

We love AKL!! Looking forward to the rest of your TR! :)

It's a really nice resort - more to come in a little bit :)

Sanaa is amazing for the views alone! I'm a big fan of their breads! Glad you tried all of the sauces! Most of them are gluten free! Looking forward to more!

Sanaa just wound up being a great experience on so many levels. Nice that the bulk of the sauces are gluten free :) More to come in just a little bit.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So sorry that your trip had such a rough start, but glad you were able to wipe some of those frightening memories away ... I think you really did make the right choice, especially as far as your kids were concerned. Knowing that they were physically fine, I cannot think of any better way you could have shown them that even though bad things happen, as they did that morning, this should never stop them from pursuing the good and the fun that is out there waiting for them. Good call.

AKL is such a gorgeous resort! We stopped by there the place and were really impressed. The lighting seemed dim throughout the place (aside from right near the floor-to-ceiling window in the lobby), but I liked that. I thought it added to the ambience and overall theme of the place. We also really loved Boma! Maybe next time we will get to try out Sanaa!

Thanks! I definitely think the trip was good for our mental well being and I hope it's taught the girls to persevere even in really tough times.

It's funny, while AKL is more dimly lit, it still has this warmth to it. We ate at Boma back in 2010, so Sanaa was our "try something new at AKL." I wish we could have gotten into Jiko, but there was just no room in our schedule. There's always next time. :D
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, it was time to head up and out to check out more of Kidani. First up was the ostrich…
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I don't know why, but we got into this whole "are you sure it's an ostrich and not an emu" debate. So, I looked online later on. One of the suggestions was to race an ostrich and an emu to observe the differences in how the big birds run. Ummmm...yeah, I'm going to go out and race birds. I think not!

Ultimately, there were lots of great animals to see out there.
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We also got confirmation from a CM that the animals we were seeing off of our room balcony were in fact donkeys…so, the kids had it right. Ultimately, I just loved all of the little details out there- from the fire pit to the colored corn on the lighting…even the exterior of the building. The girls were also shocked that the speakers were built into the rock fixtures and had all kinds of random holes to make the sounds more audible.

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I think the girls would have taken these rockers home with us if I would have let them. The CM who helped us on the donkey dilemma just thought they were a hoot. I think he may have been from Botswana…either way, very helpful, informative and super nice.
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And more shots before heading back in...

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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I took a few more shots in the Kidani lobby before we stopped to refill our mugs…which turned out to be a fiasco.

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So, we headed into the shop for mug refills at this point. I don’t know if it’s a hiccup in the rapid refill system or just a glitchy machine, but I tried to fill my cup with Diet Coke and it just kept filling…and the machine wasn’t draining either…so I almost created a big soda flood in their gift shop. They all joked about me using all of my trip refills during one use. Oddly, the machine kept telling me I had refills until Oct 4th…in fact, all of the machines said this.

So, it was time to head out...
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So, we walked back to Jambo. It was kind of odd, but this teenage girl kind of tagged along with us for a little while, but she was nice enough. We were soon back at Jambo, greeted by the nice smoky smell. I’m guessing they pipe it in because the smell isn’t really noticeable around the interior fire pit (which is super cool).

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The smell actually reminded us of the huge Christmas campout we do every year. I’ll spare you the full description, but for almost 40 years, about 60-80 family and friends (DH’s) get together in one family’s private area in the woods (deer lease, bass pond, heated full bathroom, massive bonfire pit, etc.) for a big weekend campout filled with holiday fun. The fire smell at AKL just smells so much like Christmas campout. It’s funny, but as much as I like the smell, I think it would be more fitting at WL.
So, we explored inside Jambo a bit…

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The woman in this photo initially invited the girls to drum, but they had an instant case of mega shyness.
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We headed outside- briefly- to check out the animals. The giraffe below was the big joke. Kendall kept telling Sammie she could see a giraffe and Sammie was so mad because she couldn’t see it. I think she was looking for a real- living- giraffe.

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We headed back in because I had gotten a message from an insurance co…
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…the insurance co of the woman who hit me. I suggested to DH that he continue to explore with the kids, but he decided to bring them back to the room so they could rest up a bit before all of our evening plans. OK- not like we’d done very much that day, but I did want to make the most of MNSSHP.
So, we got back to the room and I retreated to the balcony with my folder of accident and insurance details. The neighbors to our right got to listen in that morning as the girls marveled at all of the animals and they were on the balcony for my insurance call as well. As odd as I felt having strangers listening in, I'm guessing it was entertaining for them as they quieted down during the whole thing- either way, it was best for the girls not to hear me having to rehash every single detail. This was also when I’d find out that the hag that hit us was disputing my statement. I think being out there with the animals was probably a good thing, because if I hadn’t been so relaxed- I probably would have gotten really nasty. I mean, I was absolutely furious. I’m still very upset with her, but this was the day after the accident – so things were really raw for me at that point. I guess I just looked at the animals, thought of the kids’ costumes, reminded myself of what really happened the previous day and tried to put on a happy face.

Next up...getting ready for MNSSHP, coordinating with my parents, and our first time at 1900 PF for dinner.
 
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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm so glad you enjoyed Sanaa and your Kidani visit. All your pictures and experiences with CMs are great. It's so neat learning everything at AKL.

We actually wound up making 2 trips to Sanaa, but the 2nd comes much later in the report. I was just so impressed with all of the CMs at AKL- both Jambo and Kidani. I recall turning to DH at one point in the trip and being like, "this is the service level I expect from Disney." I just wish we had more time to explore.

Your pictures are amazing.. Seeing them reminds me of how much a really love AKL!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks! It really is such a wonderful resort :) I'm so happy that I decided to switch to AKL.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Before I get started, the part about the refillable mug reminded me of something when I first bought our mugs. This is backtracking to right before we went swimming. In any event, I put the mugs on my tray at the Mara, paid, and assumed they tacked them on to my bill...but, I guess so many people who have already bought their mugs come through that they neglected to charge me for them. I wound up going back through the line after breakfast and officially "bought" the RFID mugs. So, a helpful reminder for those who plan on buying the RFID mugs... remember to get charged for them at checkout.

Ok...back to the regularly scheduled trip report LOL...and I apologize, but this first portion is picture-less...

So, I finished my call, headed back into the room and DH had a gripe fest over the whole mess. I'll spare you the bruising pics we took of our visible minor injuries at this point...although, I will say I did get some stares over the course of the trip from the steering wheel shaped bruise I had on my upper arm.

At this point, we were also going back and forth with my parents. They were looking at between 1-2pm for their arrival, so meeting them over in the Epcot area for a quick snack wasn’t happening. So, I encouraged them to meet up with us in MK. They had purchased tickets through AAA and I could only get my tickets through guest relations as well, so I figured we’d try and meet up there…go our separate ways while we have dinner and they have park time…and then meet back up inside MK after our dinner. It “sounded” like a GREAT plan, but I think I must have confused my parents…well, more on that in a bit.

So, I got everyone dressed. Spider Sammie was simple, but Kendall’s hair was a challenge…because I forgot bobby pins.:facepalm: Silly mommy. I ended up ripping the clips off of 2 flowers they really don’t like and I hid the tips under the bow and her hair. It was crazy, but as soon as I got that bow in place, she looked so much like Snow White. Even she was surprised when she saw her reflection in the mirror. And of course, my camera and phone were packed up at this point, so no pics. DH’s costume was easy…just throw on a t-shirt. Mine was a little more labor intensive, but still fairly simple to brush and braid my hair, add my Jessie inspired tops, bow and hat.

We went down to wait for a bus and I did something silly in all of the rushing around. I saw a bus, it said “Kingdom” so I ran towards it. I neglected to see that the first word was “Animal” – NOT – “Magic.” The bus driver looked down at me, in my Toy Story inspired costume and said with a bit of disbelief, “You’re going to Animal Kingdom?” Yeah- I felt a little silly. So, after my embarrassing moment, we made our way to the MK bus area and waited. While a few people had on Halloweenish shirts, we were the only ones in actual costumes, so I felt a bit self-conscious even though I knew it would all be better once we got to MK. Once we got on the bus, there were two girls, probably twenty-somethings who were dressed as snow white and Cinderella, so I was feeling a bit better. They were upset that the costumes they found were the only thing they could find for adults and how everything is just a little too trashy. That’s the issue every year…adult female costumes are usually things I wouldn’t want to wear. They were also telling us how they got DVC points on ebay. I’m just always too scared to try something like that.
I did get a bit giddy as we approached MK…first time seeing the castle this trip…even if we were still outside of the park. :D

In all of this, I was texting back and forth with my dad. I was thinking we’d see them up at Guest Relations, since he had to pick up their tickets too. Guest Relations was also pretty busy since lots of people were buying MNSSHP tix same day. I was very happy that getting my complimentary tickets at guest relations was super easy (got scared for a moment b/c it was taking a while and the CM was looking frustrated- but all was good), but no sign of my parents. My dad had asked for some food recommendations, but I thought they were going to wait until after we met up. He didn’t want to go far so I said to try Casey’s. Still, I thought they were going to wait for us. So, while I’m watching for them outside of the park, they were watching for us to pass by from outside at Casey’s. For whatever reason, they thought we were eating in the park. We had dinner at 1900 PF, so we just told them we’d have to wait and meet up after dinner. We felt kind of silly being the only costumed people going away from MK at this point, but we had dinner ressies to make. So, we hopped on the resort monorail (I wanted to take the boat, but I was outvoted) and started to make our way around the loop. On a side note, we saw some AMAZING costumes making their way into MK…we were even there before 4 initially and saw people being let in for the party. Interesting.

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…and it wasn’t long before we were at the GF.

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I wanted to do some shopping first since a Disney Dooney was high on my list this trip, but first we stopped for more kiddie browsing. I just love how these Mickey clippies look like a treasure box filled with jewels.
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The black and white Mickeys and Donalds also made for an interesting visual.
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A quick monorail shot before leaving this first shop...

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The next shop we went into had Disney Dooney bags, but none of them were to my liking. And trust me- I went through the whole rack and the girl offered to take down all of the bags so I could just make sure. It became clear very quickly that the charms pattern was my fave and not a single bag at the GF had my #1 requirement…Donald prominently displayed on the front. I guess at least Kendall was able to pin trade with the CM helping me. Sad, but this would be our only pin trading of the trip. More on that later.

I took a few more pics of the lobby area and then we made our way down to 1900 PF.
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I even got a pic of Mary before heading into dinner. I'm guessing not many in the dinner crowd knew she was out there because I was getting all kinds of looks - i.e. why is she peeking out between the window coverings with her camera.
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And I can't go to the GF without photos of the floor...

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I had originally thought about doing 1900 PF breakfast that morning, but it made no sense to jump all the way over to the GF, then back to AKL, then back to the GF. It’s too bad b/c it’s my fave of the character breakfasts. Still, dinner was a special thing for us because it meant we’d officially tried every single character meal experience at WDW.
Yes, DH even borrowed my hat for pics!

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Our picture actually turned out well for this one, but we pretty much never buy these pics.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
There was a bit of a delay opening the restaurant, so we hung out in line (really more of an organized mass) outside the doors. The CMs were just fawning all over the girls. Some loved Sammie’s LED mask while others couldn’t help but gush over how much Kendall looked like a real life Snow White. Even the tour group seated near us had the same reaction to her. I think they may have been from Japan…a bit of a language barrier for us, but they were so sweet- even offering to take pics for us and making sure the girls has plenty of space to meet characters.
We were seated in a decent area this time…in between the carousel pieces and right below Big Bertha.
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My only real complaint about this restaurant is that I have a really tough time taking pics that don’t have a pinkish hue in here. Oh well.
They started out by announcing Cinderella and Prince Charming. I got some lovely blurry pics of them promenading around the place...

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First character up was Prince Charming. Sammie wanted nothing to do with him, but Kendall was super excited. She had been talking about him all the way there…like what would she say to him? Would they dance? Would Cinderella get jealous that he was with a different princess?

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After that was Cinderella. Sammie was excited to meet her, but was kind of disinterested once she came by the table. I guess at least she was on board with photos this time...

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Cindy was pretty rushed too, so that didn't really help.

The chef came by around this time for Kendall’s allergies, so I walked the buffet with the chef while DH took a pic of Lady Tremaine and the girls. I passed her on the way out and she was very in character. DH said it was more of the same at the table.

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Next, my first plate of food…tomato and squash salad, Caesar salad, couscous, sushi rolls, and pork pot stickers- which tasted a lot like the ones at ‘Ohana. All in all, it was decent.
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I also got a fruity drink…some sort of passion fruit concoction…although, funny how it looks like it could be different things as my cube changes colors.
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DH got a couple of drinks too...can't remember what, but I remember at least two cocktails for him.

Silly Kendall…
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Next up was Anastasia. I can’t believe I didn’t get many pics of her…but it probably was because she was so in character. Still sad that they didn't do any posing at the end, but it's the price you pay for a more interactive meet and greet. Either way, I believe she accused us of witchcraft over the girls glowing mask and bow. She had some choice comments about Cinderella and made sure to tell Drizella that K’s bow was better than hers because it lights up. Nothing like stepsister jealousy.

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Drizella came by next, she posed for pics, but wasn’t there for very long. So, more posed pics with her, but very little time or interaction with her...I guess she was just jealous of K's bow? Maybe?

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And soon both stepsisters were off with more antics and mayhem for those ahead of us.

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It was time for a 2nd plate of food. DH got a bowl of seafood with some disappointing pieces of crab (no meat in there) and I got some strawberry soup, bread, and a couple of other things. If you haven’t had the strawberry soup, it’s surprisingly good- not overly sweet. Too bad I forgot to wipe the rim of the bowl before taking the pic.

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The soup was going to be my dessert this meal (I took Sammie up for dessert previously and just wasn’t interested), but I was brought one of these and the laminated bday placemats they often give out.

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We paid our check as quickly as possible and made our way up to the monorail so we could head to MK. I think we were actually the first table to leave in that first seating, but we had things to do. We had to make our Big Thunder FP+ by 6:20pm, but we also had to meet up with my parents. It was around 5:45pm (maybe a little before), so we seemed to be in good shape!

Coming up...we head into MK:joyfull:
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We made our way back up the stairs at the GF and just our luck, there was a monorail waiting right there for us. We went for a car towards the back and were finally on our way to MK. I texted my dad and all was set for them to meet us out by Casey’s in a few minutes.

While we were stroller free this trip, we were not bag free. So, I went through bag check as everyone else waited for me up ahead. I had linked our MNSSHP tix to our bands online and it worked flawlessly. We went through the entrance set up for the party and were given our party bands. We also ran across a CM who was so excited to be working the party…he saw my birthday button, but was hoping we were celebrating other things as well. He asked if it was a first visit…I said no, but said it was our first time to MNSSHP. That was good enough for him and we got a handful of first visit buttons. Funny, nobody had first visit buttons when it was actually the girls first WDW trip, but we’ve gotten them for one reason or another on every trip since then.

This was our first trip ever at this time of year, so I started to get a bit camera happy taking shots of all of the fall décor.
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I had to be reminded that we were there to meet up with my parents and make it to our FP+ window for Big Thunder. It was about this time that I realized we’d made the turn onto MSUSA and I neglected to look up and see one of the most beautiful sites on the planet…even with the lovely crane.

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Last trip I cried on MSUSA…this time, there was just a wave of peace and comfort with seeing the castle. I’m guessing you could say it was the magic bubble at its strongest.

So, we kept heading up MSUSA towards Casey’s…

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…and then we finally spotted my mom and dad.
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My dad’s the one standing there in the white shirt and khaki shorts and mom is in the orange brimmed hat and blue reflective glasses. We didn’t have a ton of time to stay and chat, but I think after the events of the previous morning, everyone was just happy to at least get big hugs.

We made tentative plans to meet up after Big Thunder since it should still be before party hours, and we were off. I snapped another shot of the castle along the way. I know the crane bugs people, but knowing it’s there to put up the amazing dreamlights…well, I kind of forgive it and sort of like it. More on that later.

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I pretty much snapped pics all along the way to Big Thunder…some better than others.

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Oh, and FP+ worked wonderfully! I think the kids also really enjoyed seeing that their bands could make things light up green.
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I’m normally pretty good with taking pics on Big Thunder, but today…well, I guess I was just a bit off. Everything just came out from odd and awkward angles.
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And maybe it’s just us and fatigue from the accident, but I swear…Big Thunder seemed so much more intense.

When we got off, we were thinking about heading towards Haunted Mansion, but I decided to text my parents first. I didn’t hear back from the immediately…So, instead we looked towards the bathrooms in the area by Splash.

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What’s really odd, Kendall insisted she had a pin in her underwear- which was the big reason to go to the bathroom. I thought surely she had to be kidding- I mean, this is the kid who will cry over nothing and she’s not crying over a supposed pin – yet when she came out, sure enough- it was a pin. What’s really funny…it was this pin…

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Love it!
I took a few more pics as we waiting for DH...

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So, we started heading back towards Casey’s, thinking we might meet up there, when I got a text back from my dad saying they’d be hopping to Epcot to meet up with my brother, SIL, and nephew. So, we decided to head back over to Haunted Mansion.

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The pics are awful, but super cool that the CMs had already shifted over into zombie mode for MNSSHP.

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Coming up...Haunted Mansion x2 and MNSSHP Festivities.
 

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