The Pay It Forward TR-Concierge on Disney Fantasy Eastern Jan. 26, 2013–Complete!

[cblack]

Originally Posted by CarolyninCO

I got a little teary-eyed when Aurora asked Jayden to walk with her. How sweet that was!

And I cannot even fathom that people would make nasty comments to you while you're enjoying your space. I'm sorry you had to listen to that.

Newbie question: How did you request your dining rotation? Is this something shoreside concierge can handle?

Thanks so much for a wonderful report!
Carolyn

I did too when it happened! That is Disney service for you...they have figured out how to take things from "happy customer" to "amazed customer." Part of why I like to do Disney - it reminds me how to treat my customers, too!

The nasty comments were almost 100% judging how we chose to spend our money. Not cool, as you never know someone's situation.

We did request our rotation through shoreside concierge, but you can also call the main DCL customer service folks and they can make a note on your reservation.

Originally Posted by MomToPrincePhillip

Great up date. Your rotation is the one we've requested, sure hope we get it!

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Timon

OMG, Jayden is just too cute!!!

What a great magical moment with Aurora

Great report! Looking forward to the rest!

Thanks! It really was, and there are more to come. Those two girls really did hit it off!

Originally Posted by lizzyb

Your daughter is adorable. Can't wait for more!

Thanks and thanks for reading along!

Originally Posted by SigalTchelet

I am loving the pictures of Jayden, She makes an adorable Cinderella. I have 42 weeks until I sail, so until then, I will live vicariously through your trip report!

You are under a year! For us, it really did go much faster once we were only a year away. Then, you can write a report and I will live vicariously through your trip!

[ktb2002]

Ugh I hope there are no nasty comments while we are on our balcony next year! My sons birthday will be embarkation day and as a huge surprise I have gotten one of the Royals for him. It will be a once in a lifetime thing, and as he has been clingy this last year will afford me some private time as I probably won't get to go to the adults only area much. I'm excited for the rest of your TR, looks like it was magical!

[cblack]

I've remembered a couple things that I forgot to mention at the beginning that I think are pretty neat. The first is that you can get items signed by all of the characters by going to guest services. For this cruise, we chose a 16x20 black photo mat and asked that all characters sign it in the silver paint pen that we provided. We are planning on hanging this in Jayden's room with the pictures that we bought from Shutters. I will post a picture of it on another update (Jayden is trying to go to sleep, so less movement is better right now).

The other thing...I ended up making an autograph book with only those characters who normally are on the Eastern Caribbean cruises. If anyone is interested in the list of characters, please let me know. I'm not sure if the list exists anywhere, as I just reviewed navigators and included a couple blank pages in case I missed someone.

OK, back to day 2. After Jayden's magical moment with Aurora, she was in a great mood, and we decided this was a perfect opportunity to test out the kid's clubs. Jayden is just not a "joiner" and doesn't thrive in areas where kids are loud or not well controlled. It's who she is . We only planned on being gone for 30 minutes and had no plans, but told her to go have fun and we would be back quickly. She really had her eyes set on the area in the Kid's Club where you can dress up like princesses, so when she headed that way, we quickly escaped. My general experience with the Kid's Clubs was that some of the CMs could spot a hesitant kid and would instantly engage and get them away from their parents. Others, not so much.

With no plans, Jeremy and I decided to check out the "adult area" bars/night clubs in the aft of the ship. Let me explain that in 2 cruises, now, Jeremy nor I have sat down in any of the bars or nightclubs unless we were waiting for an excursion to begin. With this cruise, again, we found ourselves wanting to do things as a family, and for us that works well and is awesome! . They do have some really cool theming in these areas and they do look fun. Maybe when we finally do the "kidless" cruise, we will enjoy them. We also checked out putt-putt golf. I am not sure how anyone golfs up there because of the wind! We also found Outlook bar...not easy to find, but a neat place with a nice view.

After this, we decided to go get Jayden (I was really worried that I would find her crying and screaming to get out). We picked her up, and she was having a fun time. I asked her if she had fun, and she said she did. Cool! Good thing, kiddo, because you are going back tomorrow. BWAHAHAHAH!

Next up, Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boutique! We've never done BBB at WDW, and I haven't seen a detailed report on the cruise boards, so I tried to take extra notes and pictures to share the details. We chose the Castle Package, which includes a hairstyle, makeup, nails painted, a princess dress/shoes/crown/wand, a sash, and a bag. When you make the appointment, you must select the princess dress and size needed. I preselected the Belle dress when choosing the time for her appointment. From what I understood, if a girl were to change her mind when she showed up, that would be OK as long as they had an extra. Jayden was good with Belle. I took her to BBB with clean hair and clean nails. When we arrived, they directed us to the dressing room with Jayden's new Belle dress, shoes, wand, etc.

After Jayden was dressed, they introduced her to her Fairy Godmother in Training and they got started. They put a cape on her to keep her dress from getting messy:



They let Jayden pick out her hair style, and they had three to choose from. One was an up-do with a crown and Mickey head barrette, one was half up with the Mickey head barrette, and the last was all up with some crazy extensions added (it was really fun). Jayden chose the up-do with the crown and they were on their way:


While they were doing her hair, another Fairy Godmother in Training worked on her nails and makeup. Jayden was able to choose the color of her nails (I think blue or pink), the color of her eyeshadow (maybe pink, purple, or blue), and the color of her lipstick. She also got to choose the jewel that they put on her face.




This last picture cracks me up. I could tell from Jayden's face that this was hurting a bit, but when I asked, she said everything was good. I couldn't believe that they were able to get her bangs and short hair up on top of her head. They used gel...A LOT OF GEL! They also spray a "glue" on before sprinking pixie dust on the hair Here is a picture of the finished product:




She loved it, especially when everyone would clap because Belle was coming. They did put all of the unused fingernail polish, makeup, etc. in a cute pink drawstring bag for her. Our appointment was at 4:00, and we finished up right at 4:45pm. Tonight was formal night, so that didn't allow a ton of time for me and Jeremy to get ready.

We had dinner in Enchanted Garden on this night, and this is the only part that bummed me about the rotation we selected....we would only be in this restaurant one night because of our Palo reservation, and we got this table:


Such a cool table! I did laugh, because when we walked into the restaurant, all of the servers were lined up and introduced "Belle" and clapped for her. Jayden was so embarassed! When we got to the table, she asked if they were clapping for her. I had to remind her that she was dressed as Belle.

Spoiler alert....the restaurant's ceiling changes colors as though you are going from daylight to night while you eat. I heard they only did this at late seating, but they did it during main on this night. I took pictures as the ceiling changed so you could see how it looks:





These photos were taken over 45 minutes, so the change is somewhat subtle. This restaurant also has a lovely fountain in it:


Our dinner on this night went really, really fast, which I was happy about since I spilled my drink in my lap. Oye! O'Neil and Ninja were so quick with our service every night, and we really did appreciate it, because long dinners are not Jayden's thing.

Between dinner and the Aladdin show, we were able to see Cinderella and Ariel (another reason that Jayden liked quick dining).

The show tonight was Aladdin. This show was great, I'm continuously amazed at the musicals/shows they can do with the limited staff they have. Jayden was a bit scared by this show towards the beginning, so if your child scares easily, a talk ahead of time about Jafar would be helpful.

After the show, we went swimming until 11 (again, we did this everynight on the cruise and it was wonderful swimming in an empty pool). Let me just say that going under water did NO damage to the princess up-do. None, zippo, zilch...the hair looked exactly the same after swimming. I should have taken a picture of it. As such, I had to wash her hair 4 times that night to get all of the gel and glue out. I would say that if you are planning to do anything that requires a helmet, just do BBB first and you will be covered

We didn't get to bed until 12:30 this night, which was REALLY bad, because we still had to set the clocks forward an hour Yikes! All I could think was, "gee, tomorrow should be fun!" You parents know the feeling...the one when you know your kid isn't going to get enough sleep, but you still have to get up

Up next: Day 3 with lots of characters and Palo Brunch

[cblack]

Originally Posted by ktb2002

Ugh I hope there are no nasty comments while we are on our balcony next year! My sons birthday will be embarkation day and as a huge surprise I have gotten one of the Royals for him. It will be a once in a lifetime thing, and as he has been clingy this last year will afford me some private time as I probably won't get to go to the adults only area much. I'm excited for the rest of your TR, looks like it was magical!

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think people see the balconies and wonder how to get there, and then when they realize they can't, some just don't take it the best. We definitely got a lot of use out of our balcony, so it didn't deter me from using it at all! I hope you all enjoy the Royal!

[DVC Jen]

Your little girl is one of the cutest little girls I have seen in a long time.

[sarbah77]

Originally Posted by cblack

The nasty comments were almost 100% judging how we chose to spend our money. Not cool, as you never know someone's situation.

That's never cool. What's wrong with people?
(I suspect there were probably some about us, given our gigantic balcony and the fact there were only two of us... especially given the cast of thousands that used the aft balcony next to us)

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Great update! What a magical day with your Belle

[Majordis]

[QUOTE=cblack;47468336] :

After the show, we went swimming until 11 (again, we did this everynight on the cruise and it was wonderful swimming in an empty pool).
[/QUOTE

Great report and such a beautiful little girl!! Did you notice how late the Aquaduck was open

[lizzyb]

This may be a stupid question but what kind of bracelet is that on Jaydens ankle?

[ktb2002]

Originally Posted by lizzyb

This may be a stupid question but what kind of bracelet is that on Jaydens ankle?

That's the Mickey Band for the kids club.

[cblack]

Originally Posted by DVC Jen

Your little girl is one of the cutest little girls I have seen in a long time.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by sarbah77

That's never cool. What's wrong with people?
(I suspect there were probably some about us, given our gigantic balcony and the fact there were only two of us... especially given the cast of thousands that used the aft balcony next to us)

I'm not sure why people were like that, but like I said, it didn't make me stop enjoying the balcony.

Originally Posted by MomToPrincePhillip

Great update! What a magical day with your Belle

Thanks!

Originally Posted by lizzyb

This may be a stupid question but what kind of bracelet is that on Jaydens ankle?

It is the kids club mickey band. I really wanted to say that it was her ankle bracelet and that she got out on probation just in time for the cruise they scan that huge contraption every time they go in the clubs. If I would have realized how obvious it was, I probably wouldn't have had her wear it unless she was in the clubs.

Originally Posted by ktb2002

That's the Mickey Band for the kids club.

[cblack]

Thanks! The aqua duck was open each night until 10pm. I didn't notice it closing early even though we had ridiculous wind. I do remember one night where you had to have 2 riders because of wind.

[lizzyb]

LOL I'm assuming it can be removed?

[cblack]

Originally Posted by lizzyb

LOL I'm assuming it can be removed?

Yes, easily. I think it was after this day that we did start removing it if she wasn't in the clubs.

[Sunseeker17]

Hi Cassie!
Enjoying reliving our trip through your trip report. We were on the same cruise, had the same dining rotation and sat at table 77 each night...cool, huh? Had a fabulous time...loved the Fantasy! Your pics are excellent.
Jen