All You Need is The Force, Trust and Pixie Dust! A May 2014 TR -- Updated 11/20

[kastoney]

What a beautiful relaxing start to your day and of course breakfast with princesses and your twin for the day belle ; ). I've never done Akerhaus but we may try it next time as my daughter is princess obsessed and her mama is too cheap to spring for CRT.

And so loved your character hunt. I had no idea Aladdin and jasmine even hung out in the world showcase. Adding them to the list for next visit.

 

[IheartDDuck]

The stroll from the Boardwalk to Epcot is just perfection. Le sigh.

I think your decision to try all of the breakfast carbs is perfect. That's totally what I would do.

It really was a characterpalooza!

That picture of you taking a selfie with Belle was my favorite. That Belle was a little off-putting for me though. I think it was her eyebrow.

Ugh, Alice was just so perfect!

We had such a great morning with you! Definitely a high point of the trip for me.

 

[natebenma]

Way behind here! It is way past my bedtime so I will have to read the rest later.

Love your castle picture!

Thanks for the tips on breakfast. A pre-opening breakfast at Mk is definitely near the top of my Disney bucket list. And Crystal Palace is a great trifecta of early entrance, fun characters and awesome food!

WOWZA on riding the tea cups with Alice and the White Rabbit. Seriously Cool!

What a fantastic morning with all sorts of characters. I love that you color-coordinated your ears with bows for so many of the meets.

 

[natebenma]

Yum! What a perfect snack of a hot fudge sundae and iced tea!

More awesome meets!

I am so impressed when I read about how fantastic the characters are with adults (you and Franklin have had some really fun interactions) and especially with solo adults. It must be really gratifying to the characters to know you have made a special trip to see them.

Your dinner at PF sounds amazing! I love the little preshow impromptu concert you described, too. I have read only great reviews of the food and especially the Tremaines at the meal. I have also heard that they are especially good with teens. Hmmmmmm.....

 

[natebenma]

Well, I was afraid of how far behind I was, but Franklin isn't even at the party yet, so its all good!

I am now officially caught up!



Loving your meet & greets. It's also great that you got to share some time with Danielle and her mom. How fun!

Well, I don't have a favorite M&G character since I have not met any of them. I am a Disney Visa cardholder, so I am entitled to a free 5x7 photo per day at the Character Spot and let me tell you that it just about kills me that I am not taking full advantage of that!

My favorite characters are Chip & Dale, so I was happy to see them make an appearance in your report.

 

[RachelNinja]

I really like the "we-sies"! Since I don't do character meet and greets, those pictures really give a close-up look of the characters. I'm the kind of person who wouldn't always recognize if someone is a friend of the character because I think the transformation on some of them is so spectacular. It's fun getting to see their outfits and their makeup.

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

The stroll from the Boardwalk to Epcot is just perfection. Le sigh.

I think your decision to try all of the breakfast carbs is perfect. That's totally what I would do.

It really was a characterpalooza!

That picture of you taking a selfie with Belle was my favorite. That Belle was a little off-putting for me though. I think it was her eyebrow.

Ugh, Alice was just so perfect!

We had such a great morning with you! Definitely a high point of the trip for me.

Totally agree with Danielle that we had a great morning with you. It was a blast and Alice was really cute and funny. We-sies for sure.

 

[khertz]

So many fun character meets!! We enjoyed meeting characters when it was just the two of us, but now we find ourselves on character MISSIONS! It's so much fun!

 

[Missyrose]

Okay, we definitely need to do more touring of Dinsey together! Characters galllooorreee and I LOVE IT!!

AURORA!

AURORA!!

AUROOOORRRAAA!!! I LOVE HER TO BITS Special friend there

Nice way of Snow letting you know about the ride, cute!

Love all the character spot pictures, especially that you & Minnie are holding hands, adorable!

Glad you got to meet up with Danielle & co again, and what a great way to spend a morning!

You know I'm down for more touring with you! We had so much fun with you in May.

That Snow was totally adorable, she might have been my favorite at breakfast that morning.

My husband wants to try the orange chicken and pot stickers when we go to Epcot in Sept.

It isn't the WS but I did talk my husband into going to the Disney Visa meet and greet. It was cold, rainy and after 6pm that night. We were the only ones there and when we walked into the room, you could tell that Mickey and Goofy were just hanging around, waiting for someone to show up. We had a great visit and my husband was surprised to find out how much fun it was to meet the characters. Our free photo turned out good, too.

I love the shirt you wore that day. What a pretty princess picture!

I love Alice's we - sie! That is cute.

Thank you! Lotus Blossom Cafe was so good for lunch, I wish some of the other parks had the kind of CS options you find in the World Showcase.

We always have the Disney Visa M&G on our to-do list and we've never managed to actually do it. Maybe in August?

Great character hunt! I think that Snow White at breakfast was the same one that gave my youngest son a huge kiss on his forehead during our breakfast there in 2013 - we couldn't get it off until his bath that night!

I had really wanted to meet Mulan, but she was "Off Saving China" on our Epcot day.

But my favorite character by far to meet is Belle!

Your story about Snow's kiss reminds me of Franklin's least favorite thing about Disney. I will go into Castle Couture at MK and get pixie dusted and then we end up finding that glittery pixie dust on our stuff for weeks afterward, no matter how many times I've showered.

I love your Belle shirt! Is it from the Parks? Also I didn't notice that the Princess dresses had changed, but I agree, Cinderella's is the best.

And Alice is adorbs! <3

The Belle shirt was from the Disney Store! Alice was totally adorbs!

That is some intense lipstick then!!

Hahaha, very true!

It was! We got most of it off shortly after breakfast, but there was a still a print there all day. I posted the pictures on my TR a little bit ago (and I desperately need to update it again!).

I'm sooooo heading over to see the photos now.

Awwww love all your character M&G pics! And I'm such a nerd - when I saw Danielle and her Mom I got all giddy like "Hey I know them!!!" I totally do NOT, but I am also reading Danielle's trip report so I think I do

That's the nice thing about the Dis boards (especially the TR board) and some of the Disney FB groups, you get to know people and end up with lovely friendships with people who love Disney as much as you do!

Fun breakfast and great idea to keep the character meet theme going.

Funny that their solution to a FP+ issue is to give you a FP-

Love "Wee-sies" - makes me think of The Jeffersons though

My favorite WS character M&G is Snow White as it is tradition for us to go to that on and my daughter gets a lipstick kiss on her cheek

Love the Jeffersons reference! Snow White's lips really get around, don't they?

Another great morning.

Oh Boy - Did you let Franklin know you were frolicking with the Chip-N-Dales ??

Franklin tries to not be too jealous of the chipmunks.

Love your M&G pics especially the selfies! Mulan is on our list as she is the only princess DD has not met yet. We got in line for her once but she was just going on break so we missed out. Maybe we will be able to catch up with her in a few weeks

Mulan was a really fun meet, she was much more talkative than I thought she'd be!

I LOVE your Belle shirt! I always see it at the Disney Store and have to talk myself out of getting it because I already have too many Belle shirts

That was so cute to ask Snow about the Mine Train!

The Aladdin and Jasmine M&G in Morocco is my favorite. It's so well-themed and it's great that it's out of the heat (outdoor meets can get brutal in the summer!)

You can never have too many Belle shirts! I had never been in the M&G area in Morocco, it is so cute back there!

What a beautiful relaxing start to your day and of course breakfast with princesses and your twin for the day belle ; ). I've never done Akerhaus but we may try it next time as my daughter is princess obsessed and her mama is too cheap to spring for CRT.

And so loved your character hunt. I had no idea Aladdin and jasmine even hung out in the world showcase. Adding them to the list for next visit.

I actually like Akershus better than CRT: It's cheaper, the food is really good and the character interaction is just as good (IMHO) -- plus the whole thing feels so much more low-key than CRT. Don't get me wrong, CRT is an experience to have (getting engaged there is awesome!). But for a regular park day, the experience at Akershus is just lovely.

The stroll from the Boardwalk to Epcot is just perfection. Le sigh.

I think your decision to try all of the breakfast carbs is perfect. That's totally what I would do.

As much as I love staying at BLT and walking to MK, that commute is full of traffic and bus fumes. Walking from Boardwalk/Beach Club/Yacht Club to Epcot is pure joy. It is just a gorgeous stroll no matter what time of day!

It really was a characterpalooza!

That picture of you taking a selfie with Belle was my favorite. That Belle was a little off-putting for me though. I think it was her eyebrow.

Ugh, Alice was just so perfect!

We had such a great morning with you! Definitely a high point of the trip for me.

Totally agree with Danielle that we had a great morning with you. It was a blast and Alice was really cute and funny. We-sies for sure.

It was such a high point for me too! I had so much fun with both of you that day. The character interactions we had were great and Alice is definitely now at the top of my M&G list after this trip, she was just fabulous every time I saw her!

Way behind here! It is way past my bedtime so I will have to read the rest later.

Love your castle picture!

Thanks for the tips on breakfast. A pre-opening breakfast at Mk is definitely near the top of my Disney bucket list. And Crystal Palace is a great trifecta of early entrance, fun characters and awesome food!

WOWZA on riding the tea cups with Alice and the White Rabbit. Seriously Cool!

What a fantastic morning with all sorts of characters. I love that you color-coordinated your ears with bows for so many of the meets.

A pre-opening Crystal Palace reservation is pretty priceless. There is nothing better than feeling like you have Magic Kingdom all to yourself and then getting a fabulous character meal to boot!

Yum! What a perfect snack of a hot fudge sundae and iced tea!

More awesome meets!

I am so impressed when I read about how fantastic the characters are with adults (you and Franklin have had some really fun interactions) and especially with solo adults. It must be really gratifying to the characters to know you have made a special trip to see them.

Your dinner at PF sounds amazing! I love the little preshow impromptu concert you described, too. I have read only great reviews of the food and especially the Tremaines at the meal. I have also heard that they are especially good with teens. Hmmmmmm.....

I know it can seem silly that grown adults like to meet characters, but it's just a part of Disney magic that is hard to explain. The details the characters bring up in the M&Gs never fail to impress me and it just is always so much fun! It's quite literally one of my favorite things to do at Disney.

Now if you manage to get your family to eat at 1900 PF, I'm soooooo sending you a GoPro camera to film the whole thing. I would pay to see your boys and the stepsisters interact!

Well, I was afraid of how far behind I was, but Franklin isn't even at the party yet, so its all good!

I am now officially caught up!



Loving your meet & greets. It's also great that you got to share some time with Danielle and her mom. How fun!

Well, I don't have a favorite M&G character since I have not met any of them. I am a Disney Visa cardholder, so I am entitled to a free 5x7 photo per day at the Character Spot and let me tell you that it just about kills me that I am not taking full advantage of that!

My favorite characters are Chip & Dale, so I was happy to see them make an appearance in your report.

Yay! All caught up! I'm attempting (probably not very successfully) to write this trip report before I leave for Disney again in August. Funny, right? We are getting much, much closer to Franklin's arrival (and better pictures), I swear!

I'm as bad a Disney Visa cardholder as you, I've yet to do that M&G! I'm bound and determined to remedy that soon.

Chip and Dale really are the best, aren't they. They're pretty much the whole reason I'd like to try Garden Grill someday, they looks so cute in their farming gear!

I really like the "we-sies"! Since I don't do character meet and greets, those pictures really give a close-up look of the characters. I'm the kind of person who wouldn't always recognize if someone is a friend of the character because I think the transformation on some of them is so spectacular. It's fun getting to see their outfits and their makeup.

I now follow some CMs on Twitter and Instagram, including a couple who are friends with characters and it's crazy how different they all look when they're "on stage." Such a transformation!

So many fun character meets!! We enjoyed meeting characters when it was just the two of us, but now we find ourselves on character MISSIONS! It's so much fun!

Character missions, I love that. I'm totally going to use that in the future! ​

 

[Missyrose]

Welcome back friends! We last left off with me enjoying a fabulous afternoon nap after a really fun morning/afternoon of character hunting at Epcot with Danielle and her mom, Jackie! I woke up and took a quick shower before setting out for Epcot again for dinner. If you thought the stroll between Boardwalk and Epcot was pretty in the morning, just wait until you see it at sunset!

The Italian pavilion was looking especially lovely this evening.

It’s time for dinner at Via Napoli. I waited about 15 minutes for my table, but I got a lovely one by the front window. I started my meal with the Arancini - fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella.

For my entree, I had the four-cheese pizza with Italian sausage.

The food here is always so good, and this meal didn’t disappoint. I had a lovely chat with the assistant manager, who gave me a bit of good news: The company that owns Via Napoli is opening a pizza restaurant about 20 minutes from us here in the D.C. area! I texted Franklin the news and got this response.

WHAAAAAATTT!!!

My thoughts exactly. I had them box up the rest of my pizza and I headed out into the World Showcase to scope out a spot for Illuminations.

This spot looks pretty good.

I love that show so much! And I promise, those are the last non-Franklin fireworks photos I will subject you to. I hung back and let the crowds stream out of the World Showcase and took my time getting back to Boardwalk.

I wasn’t quite done with that view, so I made a cup of tea and stepped out onto my balcony for a bit before going to sleep.

That’s where we’ll leave off for now, but we have a big (HUGE, really) day coming up. It’s the Rock Your Disney Side 24-hour party at Magic Kingdom and Franklin’s arrival day, so stay tuned! But first, Via Napoli has become our go-to easy meal at Disney, what’s yours?
​

 

[FancyNancy]

I don't mind your fireworks pics at all Missy! Lovely sunset pics at the boardwalk too.
I would say my go to easy meal at WDW is Liberty Tree Tavern for TS and Starring Rolls for QS.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Hey, I don't think your fireworks pictures were that bad!

I love the BW at sunset too, as much as sunrise. It's just gorgeous over there.

My favorite go-to easy meal at WDW is absolutely Columbia Harbour House!

 

[Ceryssa]

Awesome Epcot day! I think Mulan is probably the character I most want to meet in Epcot. Hopefully she'll be around at some point while we're there. I'm seriously amazed at all the great character meets in this TR!

Ah, the food...I swear I'm starting to think I could go and spend a whole trip just eating in Epcot. I even added another day so I could eat more I'm now dreaming of just strolling on over there from my resort and so excited we'll get to do that now! The whole area just looks amazing, I can't wait to experience it for myself! Crossing my fingers something opens up so we can add another night or two! Anyway...great update and what a nice way to end the day! Really excited to hear all about the 24 hour event!

 

[katt789]

The stroll between the bw area & Epcot is definitely one of my favourites, no matter what time of day it is! IT'S JUST SO PURDY!

LOVE Via Napoli! The food there is amazing, the servers are cute, and it was a HUGE highlight of our trip last Sept, I can't wait to go back!

I would love that to be my nightly cup o tea drinking view!

I think our go to meal now a days is Crystal Palace, bahah! Steven & I ALWAYS end up there each trip completely spontaneously! Our favourite is probably 1900's because of the tremaines, but how can you not love them!

 

[natebenma]

What a nice evening!

I agree with you about that sunset stroll to EPCOT.

I don't think I have read a bad review about the food at Via (or the hot waiters, for that matter, although I don't think you mentioned them). This is another place we have never been.

Your fireworks pictures are perfectly lovely! No apologies necessary!

Our go-to meals: For QS, Sunshine Seasons. If we are going TS, Captain's Grille has never let us down.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Those sunset pictures of the Boardwalk area are really nice - but even more so the night time ones with all the lights on

That's awesome that the people that own Via Napoli are opening a place near you guys in/near DC!

The first place that comes to mind as our "easy" place is Raglan Road - we always seem to wind up going there each trip and never issue getting ADRs and have quite a variety of foods and good beers, etc.

 

[Wood Nymph]

If you thought the stroll between Boardwalk and Epcot was pretty in the morning, just wait until you see it at sunset!

We love to walk around the boardwalk. It is such a beautiful area. And it looks even better at night.

It’s time for dinner at Via Napoli. I waited about 15 minutes for my table, but I got a lovely one by the front window. I started my meal with the Arancini - fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella.

We had the Arancini last time we were there. I loved the sauce that they served with it. It was really good. Their Sangria is the best at WDW, although I haven't sampled very many of them.

That’s where we’ll leave off for now, but we have a big (HUGE, really) day coming up. It’s the Rock Your Disney Side 24-hour party at Magic Kingdom and Franklin’s arrival day, so stay tuned! But first, Via Napoli has become our go-to easy meal at Disney, what’s yours?

I can't wait to read about the 24 hour party and see Franklin's pictures.
We discovered the Crew's Cup Lounge at the YC when we were there in March and that has become our go-to easy meal. It is a hidden gem.

 

[annie170]

I love Via Napoli pizza! Did the manager tell if there were going to be other locations besides DC?

Our go-to easy place would be Columbia Harbour House for counter service and Crystal Palace for table service.

Interested to read if you make it all 24 hours!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Love strolling around the Boardwalk at any time of day but totally agree it is really special at sunset. We too love Via Napoli but our go to meal is usually the quick service bakery in France Eldest son eats a whole large French stick to himself and youngest boy loves the pain au chocolate or the crepes from the stand outside Hubby and I usually split a meal and add a glass of wine each-so relaxing to sit and watch the world go by and, if we've timed it right , Illuminations

Your photos make me wish I was there now

 

[HarkiQuinn]

Wow the Boardwalk is beautiful, love the pics Missy!

I have actually never eaten at Via because....I don't like pizza. ._. Haha.