I Can't, I'm Not Wearing a Princess Dress! - New TR link!!!!

[SarahDisney]

I do want to share one bit of news, we had a Dr. appointment yesterday, and while things aren't any better regarding our situation, we did get another potential problem ruled out and we left feeling somewhat optimistic. Again, we appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

I'm glad to hear that you guys are getting some good news. I'm definitely continuing to keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[ashw100]

I feel pretty much the exact same way as you about Universal, except HP which I love. You did get a ton done, thank goodness for those express passes . That's a bummer about pat O'Brians did the same thing happen to you at Trader SAMs at DLR last year, you just need your drinks early . That's a crazy far walk to the convention center, that place must have been HUGE

1. 7:59

2. the evil step trio

3. The prince and Cinderella

4. Wallet

 

[chillitsanne]

Continued prayers for you and your family!

This is a fun ride. It is kind of close to Space Mountain in intensity, but with some neat visual effects and a very short backwards section. I enjoy it, but it’s not something I’ve felt compelled to do every time in the past. Well, now I’ve got a new favorite ride at Universal… a rollercoaster without a metal detector.

What a way to judge a favorite ride lol! While I think the metal detector are annoying, I am sure there are many people that go crazy about losing stuff on a ride, unfortunately ruining it for all of us sane people lol

Sadly, I can’t say that I was terribly excited about Transformers. It just felt like a well themed re-tread. I might have liked it better if there was at least one scene of an AA Megatron trying to smash our car rather than nothing but 3D video screens. It wasn’t horrible, but I was excited about the ride and got off feeling kind of “meh” about it.

Bummer, I never been on transformers but it does seem similar to spider-man. If only they were a little more creative.

The way he moved, talked and interacted with guests was pretty incredible. It looked great and really was a well-done M&G opportunity. I took a short video, and I’ll try to link it here if you want to see it.

It is amazing how tall they are and the fact they interact with people!

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

1. 8:25
2. Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella
3. Cindy and Prince Charming
4. I am going to say to get the princess dress or to get diapers? I feel like you talked about possibly potty problems in a previous update

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm glad you are optimistic! Still thinking of you and your family, wishing you all the very best.

At least you had a bit of good news. I hope everything goes as well as possible. Your family is in my thoughts.

We'll take any good news we can get! Hope things continue on that trend.

Continued thoughts and prayers for you guys.

I'm glad to hear that you guys are getting some good news. I'm definitely continuing to keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Continued prayers for you and your family!

Thank you all, very much, for the prayers and words of support.

I feel pretty much the exact same way as you about Universal, except HP which I love. You did get a ton done, thank goodness for those express passes

It really did pay for itself in this case. I think whenever we eventually decide to go back as a family, I'd probably look into doing a 2 day pass with 1 night at one of the Universal resorts.

That's a bummer about pat O'Brians did the same thing happen to you at Trader SAMs at DLR last year, you just need your drinks early .

I know! I'm really not an alcoholic, I promise! I actually rarely ever drink anymore. They just never can cooperate with me having a few spare minutes and being close by!

That's a crazy far walk to the convention center, that place must have been HUGE

It was! I couldn't believe how big it was and I think there were maybe 2 other concourses just as big!

1. 7:59

2. the evil step trio

3. The prince and Cinderella

4. Wallet

Got em!

What a way to judge a favorite ride lol! While I think the metal detector are annoying, I am sure there are many people that go crazy about losing stuff on a ride, unfortunately ruining it for all of us sane people lol

As much as I hate it, I do kind of understand it. There was an injury a couple of years ago on Dragon Challenge due to someone losing something on the ride. But people have been riding coasters for years and the potential to lose things has always been there. This seems like overkill, but then again, we live in a society that doesn't like to be responsible for themselves.

Bummer, I never been on transformers but it does seem similar to spider-man. If only they were a little more creative.

Yeah, they surely could have done something to make it more different.

It is amazing how tall they are and the fact they interact with people!

I was impressed by they whole thing.

1. 8:25
2. Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella
3. Cindy and Prince Charming
4. I am going to say to get the princess dress or to get diapers? I feel like you talked about possibly potty problems in a previous update

Got em!

 

[snowbell]

i'm on board with your trip report.. praying everything is ok with your family....

 

[ajsary]

I love your trip reports! I am horribly inconsistent with how often I'm on the disboards, so I don't usually comment much. I have been praying for you and your family and will continue to do so.

 

[afwdwfan]

i'm on board with your trip report.. praying everything is ok with your family....

Welcome! Thanks for joining and I appreciate the prayers.

I love your trip reports! I am horribly inconsistent with how often I'm on the disboards, so I don't usually comment much. I have been praying for you and your family and will continue to do so.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoy them and glad you're here! We appreciate all the prayers we can get.

 

[afwdwfan]

Good Night, Twin!


I woke up at about 5:30 am on Sunday morning, but despite the early hour, I felt well rested. Coming back to the room early and falling asleep turned out to be a blessing. My back felt fine and I was ready for the day ahead.


The real reason I woke up so early was so that I could check on DW and DD before their flight left. I figured they should be boarding the plane so I wanted to talk to her before they left. Well, it turns out that their 40 minute drive took about an hour and a half. DW’s dad drove them to the airport, which was the plan all along so that we didn’t have to leave a vehicle there. But a snowstorm came through overnight and the interstate was a mess.


But the good news was that their flight was scheduled to leave just after 6:00 and they made it to the airport on time and were still shown as on schedule and ready to board.


I then got a text about an hour later saying they are still being de-iced.


Well, it doesn’t look like I need to be in a big hurry to get to the airport. Our hotel was only about 15 minutes from the airport, but my original plan was to leave at 7:45 to go to the cell phone lot to make sure I was there plenty early. Instead, I kept checking the status of the flight online. It was showing an arrival of approximately 9 am. I waited until just after 8:30 and drove to the cell phone lot to park and wait. I got a text at 9:03 that they had landed but weren’t at the gate yet. Finally at 9:27 I got a text that they were in the baggage claim area and ready to be picked up.


The general session that I was supposed to attend this morning was at 9:30. Clearly, I wasn’t going to make it.


Oh well, we got back to the hotel and I let DW decided whether we would walk to the convention center or take the shuttle. I explained how far it really is. She was ok with walking. So we did. We ended up making it there before the session ended, so we headed into the trade show before it got too crowded. It ended up being ok, because DD was happy crawling around on tractors that were being displayed and we were able to see a few people we knew and talk to them. After the general session ended, it started to get crowded. It was 11 am and there were some food court stations set up along the side of the trade show hall, so we decided we’d go grab some lunch before everybody got there.


They had a Papa Johns station, and a few other chains… none of which I can particularly remember. But they had some more generic stations too that offered things like gyros or rotisserie chicken. Well, the chicken smelled good. And they had macaroni and cheese.


We basically let DD pick between pizza or macaroni and cheese. Thankfully, she made the right choice. We got her some mac & cheese, which was actually really good. DW and I each got a plate that came with a couple of pieces of rotisserie chicken and a choice of 2 sides. They had probably 8 or 10 options for sides and they all looked good. I went with rice and green beans. Quite frankly, I was impressed by the meal for being something that came out of a portable food court stand that they rolled into a convention center hall.


But then again, for the price, it better be good.


Since we ate lunch so early, we had a lot of time to kill before I had to be anywhere. We decided to walk back to the room for a little while.


DD is typically a mama’s girl, but apparently she wanted to hang out with me since she hadn’t seen me in a few days. That actually worked really well. I told DW that I’d take DD with me this afternoon and she could get a nap in the room.


The reason I did this is because DD would not sleep if she stayed in the room. She’d just bother DW and keep her awake. So we set off toward the convention center. I didn’t want to mess with the stroller so we headed for the shuttle.


I was supposed to attend 2 sessions this afternoon. The first one was on trade. It was brutal. DD quickly fell asleep lying across a few empty chairs and I almost joined her. I picked her up and went to the room where my next session was to be and it was a much smaller room. I’d have had to hold her, so I decided to just take her back to the room, which actually worked out fine since I had a mandatory meeting to attend back at the hotel later in the afternoon and I’d have had to rush back after this session to make it there.


I attended the meeting at our hotel that afternoon and after it ended I hurried up to the room to change. Because they wanted me to wear a suit, remember? I had to get rid of it.


I’d grabbed an ADR for 7:30 at 1900 Park Fare. We thought it might be fun for DD to get an extra meal with Cinderella!


We brought Anna, Elsa and Cinderella dresses on the trip for DD to wear. We didn’t bring them into the hotel, so we just got DD dressed in comfortable clothes and decided we’d put her Cinderella dress on over the top once we got to GF.


We drove over and made it without any issues. I pulled up to the security guard station and told them we were there for an ADR. He asked to see my ID and then asked if we had any kids with us. DD was right behind me so I rolled down her window so he could give her stickers. We said goodbye and made our way in to park.


While we had visited GF by monorail before, this was the first time that I’ve ever walked across any of the grounds there. It really is a beautiful resort at night. We were instructed to park in a lot on the right as we entered and walk towards the villas and then follow the covered walkway to the GF lobby. It was a nice, peaceful walk with the occasional monorail zipping past.


And yes, we remembered to change DD into her Cinderella dress before we made that walk.


We got into GF and checked in at 1900 PF. We were about 20 minutes early so they gave us a buzzer and we headed out to the lobby to sit down.


This is when I realized my wallet wasn’t in my pocket.


Naturally, panic set in immediately.


I felt pretty confident that the conversation with the security CM at the gate and turning to talk to DD had just distracted me from getting it put back in my pocket after getting my ID out, but I was also afraid that I could have knocked it on the ground when I got out so I was in full panic mode until I could find it.


Not to mention, we were gonna have to wash dishes to pay for our meal if I didn’t have my wallet. So I went back out the door at a slow jog (AKA, fat man waddle) out to the parking lot. Thankfully, my wallet was sitting in my truck, right between my seat and the console.


I grabbed it and had just started back when DW sent a text saying that our buzzer went off. I jogged back at a slightly faster pace.


They were ready to get our picture and seat us when I got back, but DD had no interest in doing the picture. We decided we’d see if she was interested in taking one after we ate.


We sat down and had our drink orders taken when we had our first character interaction.


It was Perla!

And DD was ok with her... this time around.


Right behind her was Suzy.

And DD wanted nothing to do with her. I applaud her effort to play peek a boo or anything else to try to get DD to warm up to her, but it just wasn’t happening.


The face characters this evening seemed to be slow to get around and needed a lot of breaks. Suzy and Perla were out in force making rounds all night. They came to our table 3 times and aside from that first encounter with Perla, DD wanted nothing to do with them. We didn’t even attempt to take anymore pictures because she was instantly clinging to DW and watching them closely any time they came near our table. That definitely worried us a little bit about how she’d be with characters over the course of our upcoming trip.

We got our drinks and were informed we’d have plenty of time before the characters would arrive at our table so we took turns getting plates.


DD, as usual wanted mac & cheese. I think I gave her some tomatoes and chicken tenders too, but she didn’t eat hardly anything. She was more interested in watching Cinderella as she walked around the room.


I went and filled my plate. And while I was hungry, I frankly don’t remember what I had. I guess I can say I wasn’t terribly impressed with the food. It was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, but also clearly nothing memorable. I remember thinking that I was surprised that there wasn’t more to choose from. It seemed like this was a little more limited in selection than most Disney buffets.


I was looking for the famed strawberry soup, but I never saw it. I finished my plate and wanted some more to eat so I went back to the buffet. This time I found the soup. It was in an upright contraption that looked like a drink dispenser. I wasn’t necessarily looking for something like that which is why I think I missed it the first time. I got some and tried it.


I thought it was pretty good. It tasted kind of like somebody made strawberry shortcake, and pureed it to the point that it was liquid. I don’t know that I’d go back to this buffet based solely on the strength of the strawberry soup, but it was definitely my favorite part of the meal.


DD had still been mostly ignoring her plate. We were trying to coax her to eat something and even our server got in on the act trying to convince her that Cinderella wanted her to eat. That was enough to get maybe a bite or 2 but that was about it.


It was closing in on 8:30 and we were still waiting for the face characters. We could see them working their way along the tables on the opposite side of the room so we knew it would be our turn soon. We took turn grabbing some desserts and had those while we waited.


Cinderella was almost there… when back came Suzy and Perla.


Nope… not interested.


But thankfully, our dinner host was following closely behind. It was kind of a love and shove type meet with her at our table, but she’d have an opportunity to redeem herself later.

After Cinderella was Prince Charming.


…


And there are no pictures of this one. DD refused to have anything to do with him. In fact she ran over to my side of the table and laid face down in the booth to get away from him. Needless to say he didn’t waste any time hanging around our table and just moved on to the next.


Once we were finally clear of the dreaded prince, DD was interested in watching Lady Tremaine as she worked her way over to our table. We weren’t sure how she’d feel about meeting her, but she was definitely intrigued by her. Once she approached the table, DD acted a little bit shy and had DW hold her for the pictures, but she ended up really enjoying this character interaction.

And I have to say Lady Tremaine lived up to expectations. She was very much in character and without being over the top frightening to a 3 year old she made some comments about her dress and how DD had a better Fairy Godmother than Cinderella.


Once the characters rotated through, we were ready to head out. It was a fun evening. It was a decent meal and we were glad that DD got to visit Cinderella, but we weren’t really blown away by it. Especially after paying out of pocket and seeing the bill. I can’t say that this is a meal that will be a priority to return to unless we just decide we have to see Cinderella and don’t want to do CRT.


Like I said, we just weren’t blown away by the food. The strawberry soup was good and our server was fantastic. Aside from that, there just not much to say. It was just an ok, not very memorable meal. On top of that, we got the “B” team of characters with Suzy and Perla instead of the Step Sisters. After hearing how great the Step Sisters are at this meal, it was a big letdown to miss out on their antics and I think that was only magnified when DD just didn’t care at all for Suzy and Perla. The fact that Cinderella was kind of “meh” and DD didn’t care at all for the Prince didn’t help matters either.


It wasn’t bad, we had a nice enjoyable evening, but I just don’t think a 1900 PF dinner is necessarily that high on our radar anymore.


We did have one big highlight that happened that evening on the way out of the restaurant. Since we were on the far end of the room, we had to walk past all of the other tables to get to the exit. We were going past the characters’ entrance just as Cinderella was stepping off stage and she stopped to give DD one last hug and say “good night, twin.”


Let me tell you, when Cinderella calls a 3 year old girl her twin, that isn’t something that is quickly forgotten. While the interaction with her at our table wasn’t all that fantastic, this one little thing really made DD’s night.


We got outside with DD making sure that we all knew Cinderella said she’s her twin. We hoped we could ride this high and get her to take the picture outside the restaurant, but she was having none of it.


We considered hopping on the monorail and maybe visiting another resort or something. It wasn’t terribly late out but it was a little after 9 at this point. We ended up deciding to just head back to our hotel.


When we got back, we ran into some people we knew in the lobby. We discussed our respective dinner choices when they told us that a friend of theirs had just gotten back from Disney World. They took off that afternoon and got in with a discount ticket that they bought in the convention center.


A comment was made that there won’t be much going on at the conference on Monday afternoon. Having already looked at the schedule, I knew there wasn’t really anything that was “mandatory” between noon Monday and Tuesday morning.



Can we?



Should we?




Contest Results

1. The plane landed at 9:03. 20 points if you were within 15 minutes, 15 pts < 20 min, 10 pts < 40 minutes, 5 pts if you said anything later than 8:17.

2. DD wanted nothing to do with Suzy, Perla or Prince Charming. 10 points each.

3. DD loved Cinderella and Lady Tremaine. 10 points each

4. I had to run back to the truck to get my wallet. 50 points for a correct answer. 5 points if you mentioned the dress or the TR title, just for guessing the obvious. Others got some bonus points here.



Bonus points:

6travel: +5 for first answer

Gracefulskinny: -10 points from correct wallet answer since it was answer “B,” but +20 points for teaching me a new kids’ song with “C.”

Natebenma: +10 for an Allspark reference and +10 for Hulk info.

FantasiaMagic: A reluctant 10 points for father/daughter tiaras and glitter.

TerraNovaGuy: 5 points for suggesting I’d dress up as Prince Charming. (look, we all know there is no costume necessary)

Captain_Oblivious: +15 for being wanded to eat. + 5 for hating Shia LeBoeuf.

Dugette: +5 for accusing Cinderella of grand theft auto.

MissMaryQC: +25 for the late start, +5 for being the closest guess on the time the plane landed.

SarahDisney: +10 for the lost shoe, +5 for hating Shia LeBoeuf, +5 for elaborating on U-No-Poo.

Leshaface: +25 for the late start, +15 for poolside activities story, +5 for Jimmy “Failin”, +10 for “Bounce” in the parking lot

Pkondz: +20 for the gator story, +5 for trying to send me to Illinois.

GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes: +10 U-No-Poo story

Chillitsanne: +5 for remembering our potty training struggles


Once again, points were plugged into my spreadsheet. If you think I missed adding something, let me know.



Results for this round:


Gracefulskinny 80

ashw100 60

natebenma 50

pkondz45

cindianne 320 40

GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes 40

FantasiaMagic 35

Captain_Oblivious 30

SarahDisney 30

Jandlinz 30

Chillitsanne 30

Dugette 30

Terra Nova Guy 30

6travel 30

vrajewski10513 25

SoccerDogWithEars 25

Franandaj 15




Overall Leaderboard:


Captain_Oblivious 215

Gracefulskinny 213

SarahDisney 209

Jandlinz 201

Pkondz 181

Chillitsanne 176

Dugette 165

cindianne 320 160

franandaj 157

vrajewski10513152

Terra Nova Guy 149

ashw100 145

6travel 141

Natebenma 135

GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes 131

FantasiaMagic 127

SoccerDogWithEars 99

amazingact21 95

ursalita 85




Questions for the next update:

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points)

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points)

 

[nimbuscat]

Following along! I am probably not on the ball enough to play the quiz game, but this is a fun read--can't wait for more!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

My back felt fine and I was ready for the day ahead.

Good to hear your back felt better after a good night's rest!

Well, the chicken smelled good. And they had macaroni and cheese.

You can't go wrong with macaroni and cheese!

Thankfully, she made the right choice. We got her some mac & cheese, which was actually really good.

I was supposed to attend 2 sessions this afternoon. The first one was on trade. It was brutal. DD quickly fell asleep lying across a few empty chairs and I almost joined her.

This is when I realized my wallet wasn’t in my pocket.

Thankfully, my wallet was sitting in my truck, right between my seat and the console.

Oh good! You must have been so happy!

It was Perla!

I had no idea they had a "B" set of characterss. Like I guess it makes sense, but for all my time reading TRs and being on the DIS I have never heard of anyone getting that set of characters! I wonder why you all got them that night....

Right behind her was Suzy.

They both are very cute though!

I went and filled my plate. And while I was hungry, I frankly don’t remember what I had. I guess I can say I wasn’t terribly impressed with the food.

Yeah that food is not that great. I think everyone really goes there for the characters, especially lady Tremaine and the sisters. But now it just may get a little more popular since they tok the three of them out of MK...

But thankfully, our dinner host was following closely behind. It was kind of a love and shove type meet with her at our table, but she’d have an opportunity to redeem herself later.

Aw cute picture! Sorry Cindy wasn't so exciting, but your DD looks happy

After Cinderella was Prince Charming.


…


And there are no pictures of this one. DD refused to have anything to do with him. In fact she ran over to my side of the table and laid face down in the booth to get away from him. Needless to say he didn’t waste any time hanging around our table and just moved on to the next.

I guess she wasn't graced by his "charm"?
He is usually pretty blah...that's what I remember at my dining experience at 1900PF.

Like I said, we just weren’t blown away by the food. The strawberry soup was good and our server was fantastic. Aside from that, there just not much to say. It was just an ok, not very memorable meal. On top of that, we got the “B” team of characters with Suzy and Perla instead of the Step Sisters. After hearing how great the Step Sisters are at this meal, it was a big letdown to miss out on their antics and I think that was only magnified when DD just didn’t care at all for Suzy and Perla. The fact that Cinderella was kind of “meh” and DD didn’t care at all for the Prince didn’t help matters either.

The Step Sisters are great...I'm sorry you all weren't able to experience them.

We did have one big highlight that happened that evening on the way out of the restaurant. Since we were on the far end of the room, we had to walk past all of the other tables to get to the exit. We were going past the characters’ entrance just as Cinderella was stepping off stage and she stopped to give DD one last hug and say “good night, twin.”

AW! Seems like a great ending to the night!

Questions for the next update:

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

Yes. MK!

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

2:30? I would think you would want the most of your day there?

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Pooh

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

HM?

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

Popcorn

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

Dole Whip.

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

Peco Bills

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

Festival of Fantasy Parade!

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use going to the park? (5 points)

well I guess a car to TTC, and the monorail to MK?

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use leaving the park? (5 points)

monorail to TTC, and then car to hotel?

 

[glennbo123]

First off, praying for you guys.

Nice chapter. Glad your wife and daughter made it there okay despite the snow delays. Wow, I've never made it to 1900 Park Fare, but the the only reason I'd consider it would be to see the stepsisters...if there are times when they're not there, what's the point?! Sounds like they need to beef up the buffet offerings too. That's great that Cinderella made a memory for your daughter on your way out!

On your contest questions, I can only hope that the ride that broke down while you were on it was It's a Small World.

 

[Vernie822]

I keep missing updates, but I'm all caught up now.

DD in her princess dress is too cute! The StepSisters I'm sure would've been hilarious if not for the B team mice, haha.

Hope DW is feeling good during her pregnancy and that things continue to improve.

I'm going to play for once..


1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault. MK!

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park? Hmm... I was going to say 3, but then I saw the parade question (and I thought I remember you saying you hadn't seen it in its entirety..) so I'm going to say 2:30.

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days) Ok so since you booked that morning, I'm going to guess.. Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, and Winnie the Pooh.

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points) Winnie the Pooh

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points) Mickey pretzel

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points) Caramel apple from the Confectionary

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points) Casey's

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points) Festival of Fantasy!!

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points) Monorail

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points) Boat

 

[6travel]

Not to mention, we were gonna have to wash dishes to pay for our meal if I didn’t have my wallet.

Sometimes washing dishes at Disney sounds better than living in the Midwest during winter.

DD, as usual wanted mac & cheese.

My DD4 lived on mac & cheese during our February trip.

Can we?



Should we?

There is only one correct answer here.

My answers
1. Yes, MK
2. 2:40pm
3. Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea, Enchanted Tales with Belle
4. IASW
5. Mickey Bar
6. Cinnamon Roll from Gaston's
7. Pinocchio's (they have Mac n cheese)
8. Festival of Fantasy
9. Boat
10. Monorail

 

[khertz]

Glad to see that your back was feeling better and that DD & DW made it without too much of a delay.

I can't even imagine the panic of your wallet not being where you expected it to be! I always break into a cold sweat immediately when stuff like that happens to me.

Sorry dinner wasn't the greatest and that DD was not too thrilled about some of the characters. But I bet that sweet exchange with Cinderella at the end of the meal totally made DD's day!!

 

[amazingact21]

Well, I guess 1900 Park Fare was a learning experience. I'm sure it was nice to say you've tried the restaurant and can mark the "strawberry soup" off your food bucket list, but I get where you're coming from with the cost/value letdown. Honestly, I think a lot of Disney buffets are like that, but that's just me.
I can only imagine how happy your DD was after hearing Cinderella call her "twin." I'm sure she was on Cloud 9 the rest of the night.

Questions for the next update:

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

Magic Kingdom.

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

After 2pm.

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

Little Mermaid
Winnie the Pooh
Dumbo

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

Winnie the Pooh; only because that ride is ALWAYS down whenever I try to ride it.

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

A hot dog?

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

A rice crispy treat

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

Cosmic Ray's

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

Festival of Fantasy

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points)

Monorail

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points)

Monorail

 

[Gracefulskinny]

DD is typically a mama’s girl, but apparently she wanted to hang out with me since she hadn’t seen me in a few days. That actually worked really well. I told DW that I’d take DD with me this afternoon and she could get a nap in the room.

Yay for some Daddy Daughter time! I bet she had big fun with that!

The reason I did this is because DD would not sleep if she stayed in the room. She’d just bother DW and keep her awake.

I know how this goes!!!

DD quickly fell asleep lying across a few empty chairs and I almost joined her.

Because they wanted me to wear a suit, remember?

It really is a beautiful resort at night.

Yeah it was wondering that resort at night that made me really want a chance to stay there some time.

This is when I realized my wallet wasn’t in my pocket.

I knew I should have just stuck to my gut guess and not thrown in the dress guess.

Not to mention, we were gonna have to wash dishes to pay for our meal if I didn’t have my wallet. So I went back out the door at a slow jog (AKA, fat man waddle) out to the parking lot. Thankfully, my wallet was sitting in my truck, right between my seat and the console.

It was Perla!

Bummer. (And I had no idea what her name was. I actually didn't even know she met! )

Right behind her was Suzy.

Impressive with knowing the names.

I think I gave her some tomatoes and chicken tenders too, but she didn’t eat hardly anything. She was more interested in watching Cinderella as she walked around the room.

Of course. That's the way things go at those things isn't it?

I was looking for the famed strawberry soup, but I never saw it.

Its tricky to find I had issues too.

It was in an upright contraption that looked like a drink dispenser. I wasn’t necessarily looking for something like that which is why I think I missed it the first time. I got some and tried it.

And that is exactly why it took 2-3 trips to the buffet to find it.

I don’t know that I’d go back to this buffet based solely on the strength of the strawberry soup, but it was definitely my favorite part of the meal.

Disney Food Blog has a recipie for it. Its actually super easy to make. It's on my list for entertaining now.

And there are no pictures of this one. DD refused to have anything to do with him. In fact she ran over to my side of the table and laid face down in the booth to get away from him.

her too? Prince CHarming is such a dud.

And I have to say Lady Tremaine lived up to expectations. She was very much in character and without being over the top frightening to a 3 year old she made some comments about her dress and how DD had a better Fairy Godmother than Cinderella.

On top of that, we got the “B” team of characters with Suzy and Perla instead of the Step Sisters.

I'd say that swapping the sisters for the mice that no one remembers is more like getting the d team. Its also probably why they were circulating so fast.

We were going past the characters’ entrance just as Cinderella was stepping off stage and she stopped to give DD one last hug and say “good night, twin.”

What a magic moment!

Gracefulskinny: -10 points from correct wallet answer since it was answer “B,” but +20 points for teaching me a new kids’ song with “C.”

Captain_Oblivious 215

Gracefulskinny 213

Now not to fall too behind with this round!

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

MK (And Very subtle!)

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

After 2 I remember you mentioning it and getting excited thinking there may be a discount ticket option I hadn't discovered. I was then bummed to discover these tickets are for conventions only.

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

Tink, Big Thunder (because with all the hassling I've gotten I figure it MUST be a favorite!) Buzz

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

Buzz

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

Popcorn

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

A cupcake

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

caseys

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

Main Street Electrical Parade

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points)

Monorail

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points)

boat

 

[pkondz]

I woke up at about 5:30 am on Sunday morning,

Fool! No kids! Whole bed, all to yourself!
Sleeeeeep!!!!!!

My back felt fine and I was ready for the day ahead.

Good. Just don't do anything stupid like walk to and/or from the convention.

Well, it turns out that their 40 minute drive took about an hour and a half. DW’s dad drove them to the airport, which was the plan all along so that we didn’t have to leave a vehicle there. But a snowstorm came through overnight and the interstate was a mess.

Whoa. When it takes almost three times as long, you know it was a bad snowstorm.

But the good news was that their flight was scheduled to leave just after 6:00 and they made it to the airport on time and were still shown as on schedule and ready to board.

Sorry. You're serious here. You really thought it would be on time.

I then got a text about an hour later saying they are still being de-iced.

Yep. Saw that one coming.

my original plan was to leave at 7:45 to go to the cell phone lot

What the heck is a cell phone lot??

The general session that I was supposed to attend this morning was at 9:30. Clearly, I wasn’t going to make it.

And I'm sure you were really broken up about that.
Tears flowing copiously.
You had to change your shirt.

I explained how far it really is. She was ok with walking.

Oh, she was, was she?
You didn't happen to mention your back, did you?

And they had macaroni and cheese.

Stop. You don't have to go any further.

We basically let DD pick between pizza or macaroni and cheese. Thankfully, she made the right choice. We got her some mac & cheese,

That's redundant. You already said she made the right choice.

Quite frankly, I was impressed by the meal for being something that came out of a portable food court stand that they rolled into a convention center hall.

Huh. I wouldn't have expected that either.

We decided to walk back to the room for a little while.

And then you walked back again.
What are you? A glutton for punishment???

I told DW that I’d take DD with me this afternoon and she could get a nap in the room.

That was nice of you.
Did she nap? Or just enjoy some blissful time alone?

Never mind. If it was the latter, she wouldn't tell you.

I was supposed to attend 2 sessions this afternoon. The first one was on trade. It was brutal. DD quickly fell asleep lying across a few empty chairs and I almost joined her.

Oy. That much fun, huh?
Could be worse.
You could be in IASW or Tea Cups.

I attended the meeting at our hotel that afternoon and after it ended I hurried up to the room to change. Because they wanted me to wear a suit, remember? I had to get rid of it.

Did you burn it? Or just send it down the trash chute?

I’d grabbed an ADR for 7:30 at 1900 Park Fare. We thought it might be fun for DD to get an extra meal with Cinderella!

This should be good (he said before reading the rest of the chapter.)

He asked to see my ID and then asked if we had any kids with us. DD was right behind me so I rolled down her window so he could give her stickers.

Pixie dust! I had no idea they'd do that. Nice.

It was a nice, peaceful walk with the occasional monorail zipping past.

Oh, man. Having that monorail overhead is just magic, isn't it?

And yes, we remembered to change DD into her Cinderella dress before we made that walk.

Dang. I was so sure that's what got forgotten.

This is when I realized my wallet wasn’t in my pocket.

Oh, craaaaaaaaap.

I was in full panic mode until I could find it.

I bet! That's the worst feeling.

So I went back out the door at a slow jog (AKA, fat man waddle)

Cute pic! Too bad it's the only pic.

And DD wanted nothing to do with her.

That's weird. What's so different between the mice?

We didn’t even attempt to take anymore pictures because she was instantly clinging to DW and watching them closely any time they came near our table.

Well, really. You can't trust a rodent.

DD, as usual wanted mac & cheese.

Did I mention how smart your DD is?
Oh! Of course! Mac & cheese. Those mice would of course go for that.
Makes perfect sense now.

I remember thinking that I was surprised that there wasn’t more to choose from. It seemed like this was a little more limited in selection than most Disney buffets.

Huh. Have never been.
You're not painting a glowing picture here, dude.

I was looking for the famed strawberry soup, but I never saw it. I finished my plate and wanted some more to eat so I went back to the buffet. This time I found the soup. It was in an upright contraption that looked like a drink dispenser.

Saw that on Alison's TR.

I thought it was pretty good. It tasted kind of like somebody made strawberry shortcake, and pureed it to the point that it was liquid. I don’t know that I’d go back to this buffet based solely on the strength of the strawberry soup, but it was definitely my favorite part of the meal.

Interesting. Thanks for the description

DD had still been mostly ignoring her plate. We were trying to coax her to eat something and even our server got in on the act trying to convince her that Cinderella wanted her to eat. That was enough to get maybe a bite or 2 but that was about it.

Too much stimulus?

DD refused to have anything to do with him.

Well, sure. He's married. Gotta hold out for the single fellas.

In fact she ran over to my side of the table and laid face down in the booth to get away from him.

Whoops!
She really wasn't into him.

Once we were finally clear of the dreaded prince, DD was interested in watching Lady Tremaine as she worked her way over to our table. We weren’t sure how she’d feel about meeting her, but she was definitely intrigued by her. Once she approached the table, DD acted a little bit shy and had DW hold her for the pictures, but she ended up really enjoying this character interaction.

Prince = no. Evil stepmother = yes.

Well, okay then.

And I have to say Lady Tremaine lived up to expectations. She was very much in character and without being over the top frightening to a 3 year old she made some comments about her dress and how DD had a better Fairy Godmother than Cinderella.

Excellent! I've heard so many good things about her.

On top of that, we got the “B” team of characters with Suzy and Perla instead of the Step Sisters.

Oh. Didn't realize they were there instead of the sisters.
That... well, it sucks.

It wasn’t bad, we had a nice enjoyable evening, but I just don’t think a 1900 PF dinner is necessarily that high on our radar anymore.

Got that.
Think I might just give it a pass.

We were going past the characters’ entrance just as Cinderella was stepping off stage and she stopped to give DD one last hug and say “good night, twin.”

Nice!

Let me tell you, when Cinderella calls a 3 year old girl her twin, that isn’t something that is quickly forgotten. While the interaction with her at our table wasn’t all that fantastic, this one little thing really made DD’s night.

A comment was made that there won’t be much going on at the conference on Monday afternoon. Having already looked at the schedule, I knew there wasn’t really anything that was “mandatory” between noon Monday and Tuesday morning.



Can we?

You can.

Should we?

You should.

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points)

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points)

1. No... Wait... Yes! I pick yes! Uh... AK, no! DHS! NO!!! MK! Final answer. Man, I'm not very good at these high pressure questions.
2. 2:05
3. Buzz, Monsters Inc, ETWB
4. Buzz
5. popcorn
6. Dole whip
7. Cosmic Ray
8. Festival of Fantasy
9. Monorail
10. Boat

 

[Dugette]

DD is typically a mama’s girl, but apparently she wanted to hang out with me since she hadn’t seen me in a few days. That actually worked really well. I told DW that I’d take DD with me this afternoon and she could get a nap in the room.

Very nice of you! I'm sure she appreciated a quiet nap.

This is when I realized my wallet wasn’t in my pocket.

So glad you found it safe and sound.

DD, as usual wanted mac & cheese. I think I gave her some tomatoes and chicken tenders too, but she didn’t eat hardly anything. She was more interested in watching Cinderella as she walked around the room.

Sounds just like a meal with Izzy.

On top of that, we got the “B” team of characters with Suzy and Perla instead of the Step Sisters.

I had no idea they had a B team there. Sorry you didn't get the step sisters.

Let me tell you, when Cinderella calls a 3 year old girl her twin, that isn’t something that is quickly forgotten. While the interaction with her at our table wasn’t all that fantastic, this one little thing really made DD’s night.

That is fantastic! Yes, being a "twin" is a huge deal to a 3 year old - Izzy is constantly insisting she and I both wear Tinkerbell pajamas to be "twins." I can totally imagine how excited your DD was!

Can we?



Should we?

YES!!!

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

Yep, Magic Kingdom.

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

3pm

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

Haunted Mansion, Under the Sea, Princess Meet

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

Under the Sea

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

Dole Whip

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

Popcorn

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

Pecos Bill

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

Electrical Parade

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points)

Monorail

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points)

Ferry boat

 

[jandlinz]

Continued prayers for you and your family.
It really is too bad about your experience at 1900 Park Fare. I never knew not having the step sisters was even an option. I think meeting Lady Tremaine with the step sisters would have been a lot of fun.

Questions for the next update:

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault.

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park?

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days)

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points)

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points)

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points)

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points)

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points)

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points)

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points)

1. Yes. Magic Kingdom
2. 2:25
3. ETWB, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh
4. Winnie the Pooh
5. Mickey Bar
6. Rice Krispie Treat
7. Cosmic Rays
8. Electrical Light Parade
9. Monorail
10. Boat

 

[afwdwfan]

Following along! I am probably not on the ball enough to play the quiz game, but this is a fun read--can't wait for more!

You're welcome to play along if you want, but either way, I'm glad you're here!

Good to hear your back felt better after a good night's rest!

I was relieved.

You can't go wrong with macaroni and cheese!

Not in her opinion anyway.

Oh good! You must have been so happy!

I felt a lot better once I found it.

I had no idea they had a "B" set of characterss. Like I guess it makes sense, but for all my time reading TRs and being on the DIS I have never heard of anyone getting that set of characters! I wonder why you all got them that night....

I don't know. I was surprised and a little bit disappointed by that.

They both are very cute though!

Yeah that food is not that great. I think everyone really goes there for the characters, especially lady Tremaine and the sisters. But now it just may get a little more popular since they tok the three of them out of MK...

Good point.

Aw cute picture! Sorry Cindy wasn't so exciting, but your DD looks happy

She was thrilled to see Cinderella. But I can't say that the character experience really did much for us there.

I guess she wasn't graced by his "charm"?
He is usually pretty blah...that's what I remember at my dining experience at 1900PF.

I really couldn't say. We didn't even have a chance to have any kind of interaction with him at all.

The Step Sisters are great...I'm sorry you all weren't able to experience them.

I was disappointed that we missed them.

AW! Seems like a great ending to the night!

Yes. MK!

2:30? I would think you would want the most of your day there?

Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Pooh

HM?

Popcorn

Dole Whip.

Peco Bills

Festival of Fantasy Parade!

well I guess a car to TTC, and the monorail to MK?

monorail to TTC, and then car to hotel?

Got em!

First off, praying for you guys.

Thank you!

Nice chapter. Glad your wife and daughter made it there okay despite the snow delays. Wow, I've never made it to 1900 Park Fare, but the the only reason I'd consider it would be to see the stepsisters...if there are times when they're not there, what's the point?! Sounds like they need to beef up the buffet offerings too. That's great that Cinderella made a memory for your daughter on your way out!

They actually made it out just in time. Shortly after they took off they started canceling flights out of Indianapolis.

It was disappointing to not see them. It isn't something that you'd go to guest services to complain about, but really, when you spend as much as it costs to go to a meal like that and you don't get the expected experience it does leave a bad taste in your mouth.

On your contest questions, I can only hope that the ride that broke down while you were on it was It's a Small World.

Thanks....

I keep missing updates, but I'm all caught up now.

I understand. I've been trying to stay afloat on the DIS myself for the past month or so.

DD in her princess dress is too cute! The StepSisters I'm sure would've been hilarious if not for the B team mice, haha.

Yeah, I wish we could have seen them instead. I think DD would have liked them too.

Hope DW is feeling good during her pregnancy and that things continue to improve.

Thanks.

1. Do we go to a park on Monday afternoon? (5 points) If so, which park with a castle in it do we go to? (10 points) If you don’t get points here, that’s your own fault. MK!

2. The convention center sells discounted tickets for entry after 2 or after 4. What time did we arrive at the park? Hmm... I was going to say 3, but then I saw the parade question (and I thought I remember you saying you hadn't seen it in its entirety..) so I'm going to say 2:30.

3. I booked FP+ that morning while sitting in the convention center. What rides did we get FP+ for? (limit 3 answers, 10 points each for correct answers – keep in mind we already have some of the bigger FP+ attractions booked for our scheduled days) Ok so since you booked that morning, I'm going to guess.. Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, and Winnie the Pooh.

4. What ride broke down while we were on it? (25 points) Winnie the Pooh

5. What was the first snack we bought at the park? (5 points) Mickey pretzel

6. What snack did I buy to take back to the hotel? (5 points) Caramel apple from the Confectionary

7. At which counter service restaurant did we get dinner? (10 points) Casey's

8. What parade did we finally see in its entirety for the first time? (15 points) Festival of Fantasy!!

9. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the TTC to the park? (5 points) Monorail

10. What method of Disney Transportation did we use from the park to the TTC? (5 points) Boat

Got em!