[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by missymouse

I love Robin Hood too!! It's still my favorite Disney movie! Ooo-da-lolly-ooo-da-lolly, golly what a day!

I that song!

[packerbeth]

After the girls were all dolled up, we headed to Exposition Hall for their photo session. Some folks (including those answering the BBB reservation line) think that you have to purchase the most expensive package to get this photo session. This is incorrect. We prepurchased the PP CD, so we just had the photographer add our photos to the PP card, but I think that every little girl who goes to BBB can have these photos taken.

While the girls had their session, Rick had a little business to take care of. You may remember that I had lost my camera case, including the empty memory stick that was just waiting to be filled with pictures! Well, both cameras were running dangerously low on memory, and I knew we would be taking a lot of pictures tonight!

Of course, since we didn't have a car, we would have to find a solution on property. Rick thought we could buy a new memory stick, but I thought we should have the photos transferred to a CD. Rick thought that it would be more expensive to have the pictures put on a CD because of the labor involved.

It turns out that you can get a CD made for only $12, while the memory sticks were much more expensive! The CM at Exposition Hall spent a lot of time with Rick while I supervised the girls. It took a while, and we ended up needing three CDs, but he only charged us for two because the third CD only had three pictures on it! What I didn't know was that movies do not transfer, so make sure you don't delete any movies you may have taken. I lost my Everest video that way. (Oh well, only 70 days until I can take another one! ) All told, we paid $25 for 143 pictures. Not great, but it was either that or not take any more pictures for the rest of the trip, and if you've read this far, then you know that this would have been impossible for me!

Back to our photo session: I wasn't as happy with this session as I had been when we did BBB at DTD last year. First of all, I didn't realize it at the time, but he didn't take any photos of the girls together! Those were some of my favorites from last session, but it didn't occur to me to ask. In fact, I didn't even notice that there weren't any until I was watching the Disney special about the royal treatment just the other night! What he did do was ask if he could take some pictures of Christian. They didn't turn out great because Rick wasn't there, but it was very nice of him to offer.











After our time at Exposition Hall, it was time to get our P & P Party wristbands, so we headed toward the front of the park. I also wanted to get some photos taken with the party decorations.



When you walk through the tunnel, they have a red carpet runner down, and a fog machine going! It makes for a cool entrance! Here's a closeup of the banner.



I had been a long time since our Chef Mickey's brunch, so we headed to Cosmic Ray's for dinner. I had never been there, and I figured that Columbia Harbor House was closed, so we gave it a go. It was pretty busy in there - in fact, all of Tomorrowland was packed - but we got our food and found a couple of tables without too much trouble. Rick and I both got a double bacon cheeseburger, one DD got a burger and the other got chicken nuggets. We didn't get anything for Kate, and it was a good thing, too, because there was way too much food!

While the food was pretty forgettable, Cosmic Ray's was the site of Eclipse's Mini Mixes dance party, and there were some very special guests there: Lilo and 626!





Once we'd had a proper meeting with the nasty alien, Rick ran to the restroom and all of a sudden, I felt it was time to get out of there. It was getting really crowded and LOUD, and I'd had about enough, so I packed up the kids and started out the door, with both the stroller and wheelchair in tow! Once I got to the door, I stopped. I couldn't do this very easily without Rick, but while I was trying to figure it out, another nice dad stepped in and helped by getting the door open for me. Rick was not far behind us as we headed out to the fresh air and relative quiet of Tomorrowland!

There was a treat stop right outside of Ray's, so we each got a necklace, although no treat bag to put it in!

Up next: the princess we'd been waiting over a year to meet!

[dznylvr]

I can't wait to read the next installment!!
Beth, I love your little girls all dolled up!! They look so sweet.
I wish my little girl was young enough to do this.

[Goofy3230]

Love the BBB pix!! Can't wait for more of your report!

[dancing4disney]

Can't wait to hear more...I'm loving this trip report!

[packerbeth]

Before we left Tomorrowland, I wanted to see if we could find Pirate Mickey. He wears a really cool costume for the P & P Party, which we'd seen last year in the parade, and I thought it would be great to get our pictures taken with him. Well, apparently, everyone else had the same idea. I overheard a CM say that the wait to see him was almost 2 hours! Love ya, Mickey, but not enough to spend 1/3 of the party waiting to see you...I thought we might make it back this way, but we never did, so Pirate Mickey will have to wait for another year.

As we walked over the Tomorrowland Bridge to cross the hub, there was a throne set up where you could get your picture taken. We waited a few moments, but got these lovely shots.









We saw a CM a little ways down, toward the pavilion in the rose garden, so we started walking that way, thinking it was a treat stop. When we got there, the CM asked Grace for her ticket. Well, we all thought this was strange, and when we asked her "why?" we got the same response as we did at the Studios: "because I said so!" OK, come on, now! Where is the explanation? We seriously did not know why she needed our tickets! Turns out it was a wristband distribution spot, not a treat spot! Once she saw that we already had our wristbands, she sent us on our way!

There were already a lot of people around the hub, and I thought it was awfully early for them to be lining up for the parade. As we crossed through the hub, we stopped for some more Photopass pictures.







We had a few things on our list tonight that we absolutely had to do. One was to track down Pocahontas. She and Snow White were the two princesses we had not seen last year, even though I had asked at the P & P Party where I might find her but no one knew. My friend, Stacy, had seen Pocahontas and John Smith at the P & P Party when they went in February, and since I had seen Stacy's photos, I knew what the backdrop for Pocahontas looked like. I had been so excited to discover it the other night when we were walking through Liberty Square - it's right across from Sleepy Hollow as you cross the Liberty Square bridge. So after our photos with Mickey and Walt, it was off to Liberty Square!

We were very excited to see Meeko as we approached, since we figured Pocahontas would be following closely behind! The CMs said she would be out about 8:00, so we didn't have long to wait. We had fun with Meeko while we waited for Pocahontas.







The Dream Along with Mickey show started while we were waiting; that was what the crowds had been waiting for. We could hear it from Liberty Square, so the girls and I started singing along. This amused the off-duty cast members who were there waiting for Pocahontas, too. They couldn't believe we knew all the words! (I love that MK Events CD!) Kate calls it the "gonna have a party" song.

Singing and dancing along with Mickey really helped the time go by quickly, and soon it was finally time to meet Pocahontas! Both she and John Smith were happy to sign all four of the kids' books, as well as pose for photos, including one of just the two of them with Rick and me! Christian was just as happy meeting Pocahontas as he had been when he met Jasmine!










Since we were already in Liberty Square, we headed off to find the handicapped-accessible seating area along the parade route. I don't remember who took this photo; a CM, I think.



This is the only photo I have of our parade time; I took video this year since I had taken photos last year! No "Enchanted Adventures parade" page in this year's scrapbook! I went and grabbed us some popcorn and water to enjoy while we waited.

We love this parade, and of course, we sang along since this music is on our MK Events CD, as well. Ariel waved at Rose, recognizing that she was dressed as Ariel. Rose got a big kick out of that! One of Cinderella's stepsisters came over and gave Grace a nasty look, not realizing that she was dressed as Giselle, not Cinderella!

When the parade was over, we hurried over to the Tomorrowland bridge to get a good spot for the fireworks. I had watched them from the rose garden pavilion last year, and didn't really enjoy that location. Plus, I wanted the kids to see Tinkerbell! We got a great spot, and I ran off to take the girls to the restroom beforehand because I was NOT going to take them during the show! If you haven't been to the P & P Party, the fireworks alone are worth the price of admission. Wow, are they amazing! Sorry no pictures; video again! We got to see Tink fly right above us, although I was expecting her to go TO the castle, when actually she starts at the castle and flies away from it. It was definitely worth getting a great spot early; I was not going to make the same mistake as the other night, and it worked out great. There are even some benches over there where Grace got to sit down; she was really getting tired, but we had lots more party to go, so as Stitch would say, "No sleeping!"

Up next: Fantasyland and more princesses!

[b1wife]

This is so much fun to read. My DD5 can't wait to meet the Snow Queen, so I'll have to show her those pictures. And John Smith and Meeko... You guys were lucky. She's pretty much a character fiend (I've trained her well), so she will be excited to know they are out and about sometimes. Hopefully, during MNSSHP in October!

[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by b1wife

This is so much fun to read. My DD5 can't wait to meet the Snow Queen, so I'll have to show her those pictures. And John Smith and Meeko... You guys were lucky. She's pretty much a character fiend (I've trained her well), so she will be excited to know they are out and about sometimes. Hopefully, during MNSSHP in October!

The CM there said that Pocahontas is very shy, and doesn't come out very often; only at AK and special events. I hope MNSSHP is one of those events! If you can't find her, keep asking until someone tells you where she is!

[packerbeth]

After the Enchanted Adventures parade ended, we hightailed it over to Toon Town so we could meet some very special princesses. No, not those princesses...we had already met most of them at CRT! We were after Princess Minnie and Princess Daisy, and guess what? We found them! We had never met Daisy, and Kate was especially excited about meeting Minnie, because, of course, she was being Minnie, too!













It was getting pretty late by this time, and I had told Rick that I would take Christian and Kate back to the Poly so he could spend time with the big girls, but he really wanted us all to stay together. Kate and Christian seemed to be doing fine (neither of them like to miss anything!) so we kept on partying! The Dream Along with Mickey show was getting ready to start, and although I did tell the girls that we could also catch this show on a regular MK day, they really wanted to see it tonight. I caught the beginning on video, but then decided that I needed to zoom in a bit more. The second part of the video is too big for photobucket to handle. Here's the first minute of the show!
MOV03818.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

We headed to Fantasyland after the show. It was still packed with partygoers, even at almost 11:00! The girls wanted to ride Peter Pan again, so Rick took them on it. We decided on a meeting place (still no cell phones!) and I took Christian on it's a small world! I have lots of pictures from that attraction...

[Tinkfan]

The pics of Chef Mickey's are amazing. Everyone looks so happy and joyful. My DS6 would only get his pic w/ Donald. Whenever another character would come around he would dive under the table so as to avoid meeting them. I like to do the late seating at CM's. The characters move at a much slower pace.

The whole family looked great at the P&P Party. Very photogenic!!

[Goofy3230]

My DS (5) loved the video and can't wait until he can see it in Aug. (I shouldn't have shown it to him, lol, he'll ask everyday how long now, not that I mind, lol)

[missymouse]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

Kate was especially excited about meeting Minnie, because, of course, she was being Minnie, too!

I would have been excited too! I Minnie, and I'd LOVE to see her as Princess Minnie!

[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by Goofy3230

My DS (5) loved the video and can't wait until he can see it in Aug. (I shouldn't have shown it to him, lol, he'll ask everyday how long now, not that I mind, lol)

If he likes to listen to music, I would say get the MK Events CD; it has all the music for the Dream along with Mickey show. I wonder if you can get it from iTunes? It's an awesome CD.

[Princess D]

Love the photos!!
I have to admit...I'm cheating on 'reading' your trip report and I am only looking at photos and occasionally skimming some captions. Maybe someone has asked or maybe you have said... where did you make your matching t-shirts?!?! They are wonderful! They are just the thing I would like to do for our next trip. Can't wait to see the rest of the trip. Also loved the video!

[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by Princess D

Love the photos!!
I have to admit...I'm cheating on 'reading' your trip report and I am only looking at photos and occasionally skimming some captions. Maybe someone has asked or maybe you have said... where did you make your matching t-shirts?!?! They are wonderful! They are just the thing I would like to do for our next trip. Can't wait to see the rest of the trip. Also loved the video!

I can be a bit wordy. Here is what you should do if you want to make some shirts: check the disboards "Creative Dis-igns" thread for designs you like; post to the thread, asking for the names you want; when they design it for you, save it on your computer and then you can print them out on t-shirt transfer paper and iron them on!

I didn't do any of my shirt designs; I found most of them on the disboards thread.