Grand Floridian
Day 3 - August 12, 2002  
August 12, 2002

Resort Hopping
Wonderland Tea Party
Lunch at GF Cafe
Downtown Disney
  Alice in Wonderland Tea Party
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Great day to sleep in a little later.  Maddy announced that she felt much better and her throat no longer hurt!  Yeah!  

Started out the day by baking some Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon rolls.  Yum!   We were up and going early enough that  we decided to hit the Magic Kingdom for a little while before heading to the Grand Floridian for the Alice in Wonderland Tea Party.  

While on the surface this sounded good, I was a bit leary of a Monday morning spent  at the MK.  Well, it was hopping when the boat arrived (9am) with tons more on the way.  With security all backed up (the TTC ferry had just arrived along with our boat and a full Monorail) we decided to pass on MK and resort hop instead.  There was no one at the Monorail station when we arrived, so Brinn asked to sit up front.  No problem, they said, and we sat up front with driver John.  

John was great!  Super friendly and great with the girls.   Told us we could stay up front as long as no other resort guests asked to sit up there at future stops.  We made it all the way to the Grand Floridian and got off there.  The view from the front is great, and we had a very good time.  John asked the girls if they had any Disney magic, and they both tentatively said 'yes'.  He told them he needed that magic  to help open the Monorail doors, since there were no handles.  :-)    He got them to yell Bibbiddy-Bobbity-Boo and they 'magically' slid open.  Very cute.  (Maddy was yelling at the doors every time we stopped after this ride, and SURE that she was the one making the doors open and close!)  Anyway, at the TT&C, John had the girls sit in the drivers seat and us stand behind them for a picture.  It came out great!  When we finally got off at GF, Brinn gave John a CM appreciation card, and we took a picture of him and the girls.  Very cute and our First magical moment of the day.

We toured around the GF.  The girls shopped while I took a bunch-o-pictures.  This pattern repeated itself back to the Contemporary and the Poly.  Kristen likes the shopping best at the Contemporary.  Quite a few great shops there.  The Poly had a ton of shopping too.  I enjoyed all the photo ops.
Driving the Monorail

Monorail Driver John and the girls

Grand Floridian

Mickey and Minnie at the Poly

Us at the Poly  

  Flowers for Mommy from Tea Party
At 12:30 we headed over to the GF for the Alice in Wonderland Tea Party.  Very fun for the kids, but I got zilch on the picture front!  Maddy decided to freak out when it came time for us to leave and it just wasn't a Kodak moment!  :-)

The CMs running the tea were wonderful, trying to calm her down.  We snuck out (in this mood, Maddy is much worse if she can see us) and peeked through the windows to see how she was doing.  The CM calmed her right down.  They had given each set of parents a beeper, so off we went to our child free lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe.   VERY good and not much more expensive than the fast food places at WL and AKL.  We each got a free 'smoothee' using our Disney Club Card (We got Oreo, and boy was it good!)  I had a very good Burger and Kristen had an open face club sandwich that was fantastic.  We spent $26 but paid for no kids meals (they were $5.50 each, and looked pretty good as well).  For the quality and atmosphere, I'd rather eat there than Mara's or Roaring Fork!   Felt like I was getting what I paid for, and it was a wonderful time to just relax kid free for a few minutes.  (Maddy is feeling MUCH better today, and seems to have WAY too much energy back!)  :-)

We headed back to VWL for nap time and Daddy's trip report time.   They are so tuckered after a morning like this they crashed in 5 minutes.  



By the end of nap time it was pouring outside, and never really did let up completely.  We ditched the idea of hitting Fort Wilderness and headed for Downtown Disney.  The girl's Disney Dollars were burning a hole in their pockets and each had their eye on a special new doll.  After hydroplaning our way to DD, Brinn bought a Cinderella and Prince Charming set and Maddy just wanted Aurora (no prince) in the World of Disney store.  FYI: American express still gives the 15% discount on totals over $50 if you use American Express to pay for your onsite room.  I'm going to miss this when American Express is no longer the 'official card' of WDW.  The CM said the discount is good at all the Disney owned stores except the new Once upon a Toy store, which was our next stop.  Pushover daddy decided to buy the girls each a toy in the new store.  Brinn was quick to pick out a Jasmine Doll Dress that she had really wanted from the parks, thus saving those precious Disney Dollars for future purchases.  Maddy found a 'Bear in the Big Blue House' playset she really liked.  OK, back to the room for a late snack and some playtime before bed.

Since it has not been as hot as expected (was warmer this morning, but  cooled back off with the rain) we probably will pass on Typhoon Lagoon right now and hit Magic Kingdom again tommorrow.  My plan is in a state of flux!  Good thing I didn't laminate it this year!  :-)



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