OK - we are pushing it. Have to scoot
DIRECTLY to the castle to check in for lunch. Now, the girls
didn't know that the lunch was today. I just asked where they
wanted lunch, and walked to the castle. They figured it out
quickly when we went inside though and got very excited.
:-)
I highly recommend the noon seating if you can get it. They sent
us directly upstairs to immediately be seated. We got a
nice table over near the windows, and our server quickly took our drink
orders and then returned to take our food orders. They sell
smoothies at this meal where you get to keep the glass mug, but the
cost is $8 a piece! By a misunderstanding Kristen and Maddy
both thought that the Lemonade flavor she stated was the lemonade of
the day when it was really the smoothie! Oops! Not wanting
the mugs OR te $16 price tag we sent them back. I think the
waitress was a bit miffed at us after that. Didn't seem quite so
attentive. Sorry - but it was confusing the way she said
it. So be careful of what you are ordering!
We then placed our food orders and they soon brought out the
appetizers. Fruit and Veggies for the girls and some more adult
fare for Kristen and I. I loved everything, but Kristen doesn't
care for seafood and passed on most of what we received.
*I* loved it though! :-) When lunch arrived, Brinn had the
Chicken strips, Maddy the kid's pasta and salad. Kristen had the
Sandwich plate and I the Major Domo. See the pictures below -
Everything was excellent. The girls loved theirs and Kristen and
I really enjoyed ours as well. For dessert they had ice cream
with a chocolate crown for the girls and Kristen and I greatly enjoyed
the Blueberry Cobbler and Lemon ice cream. Delicious!
 As we enjoyed the appetizers, they
announced the Princesses of the day. Each gets a little
introduction and then comes out. Today we enjoyed the company of
Belle, Mary Poppins, Snow White, Aurora and, of course,
Cinderella. We were in good luck that Aurora beelined
directly to our table. Maddy was thrilled since Aurora is her
favorite. She was very nice, signed autographs for the girls and
then posed for the pic. Maddy was being animated about something,
and it turned out she wanted her Aurora Princes CM Appreciation card to
give to Aurora. (Once I finally got it out of her). Aurora
waited patiently while I pulled out the cards, and gave Maddy one with
Aurora on it. She was so excited to give this to Aurora and that
she was her favorite. Aurora made of the card, and then quickly
left and returned with a handful of pixie dust for the girls to
share. That was so nice of her! :-) Turned out
we had Princess cards for everyone except Mary Poppins (guess I need to
FIX that!) so she got a different princess! ;-) They all
made of them, and the girls loved handing them out.
 All the Princesses were wonderful today. While you
could tell they were in a hurry, they still took a couple minutes at
each table. The food was wonderful, and we had a great
time. I used the DDE card and saved almost $15 again today.
I think I love that thing! ;-) Since I had prepaid $30 when
booking, the damage wasn't too bad and I used my Disney rewards card to
pay the balance. I'm using the Disney Rewards for as many sit
down meals as I can. We'll see how long it lasts! Still
quite a bit left on it.
 As we headed downstairs, it was a bit of a
madhouse. LOTS of people waiting and a long line to see the Fairy
Godmother. We decided to pass on a picture with her, and headed
out. We had decided to ride just Small World and then head back
for a swim. They did a GREAT job on the Small World
rehab. The front entrance is great, and we thought the built in
clock was very cool. Then each room looked wonderful. All
the colors were so fresh and bright it made it easy to block out the
music while you took in everything! ;-)
If I had to find anything to complain about its the reduced leg room on
the boats. My knee were shoved up against the seat in front of
me, and it was a bit uncomfortable. Oh well, not THAT big a
deal! :-)
 After that we headed back to the entrance and waited
about 5 - 10 minutes for the boat back to the Wilderness
Lodge. Headed up to the room to change into swim suits, but
as we entered the room we found a wonderful surprise! A beautiful
bunch of balloons, with some delicious chocolates attached. And
two plushes for the girls! Donald and Daisy. They girls
were SO excited, and LOVED the plushes! Oh, and the balloons are
a huge hit as well! They don't have Daisy or Donald and were
thrilled to get them! Thanks {{{Sandi}}} - you are way too
kind!
 After changing (and trying a chocolate or
two!) we headed
back down to the pool. I've been reading that the pool here is
getting VERY crowded, and that was VERY evident today. It was
packed. It took a bit of searching to find one chair where we
could keep all our things, and then into the pool. The water was
very warm and not all that refreshing. The girls did the slide
several times, and we moved around to the deep end which was slightly
cooler, and not quite as crowded. Then we hopped over to
the quiet pool in front of the Villas. Even this pool was
hopping, but there were plenty of chairs, and it seemed just a little
cooler.
After a bit, I headed upstairs to work on the trip report and do a load
of laundry. The girls can swim all day, but I can only take so
much before I need a change. :-) I grabbed a shower, and
then cleaned up the room a bit, filled up the washer and then settled
to get Day 1 uploaded. The girls returned about an hour
later and after they got ready we headed to DownTown Disney.
Changed from our original plans to return to the Magic Kingdom since we
were all a bit tired and wanted to turn in early.  I called the Valet desk and they pulled our car around
and had it waiting for us when we got downstairs. Jumped in
and headed for DownTown Disney. It wasn't too awful busy yet, but
it was starting to sprinkle. Guess we are lucky it didn't really
storm badly since we forgot ponchos and umbrellas in the room! We
hit Earl of Sandwich for dinner (Very good, and reasonable princes) and
then several shops. Bought a few items in the Christmas shop and
the World of Disney before we all tuckered out and headed back to the
resort.
We turned in REALLY early and I think it was needed to catch up from
our early start Saturday. Don't want to burn out early!
Tomorrow its off to the Animal Kingdom and a Birthday Party for online
Friends!
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I woke up early and headed out onto the balcony to work
on the trip report. I love sitting outside here at the Wilderness
Lodge while the sun comes up. Very pleasant temp right now, and
so very quiet and relaxing.
We headed inside to
grab the Monorail. This is pretty easy to do - just walk up the
pathway from the dock, and then up 3 escalators. I'm sure we
could have jumped in the elevator as well, but the girls LOVE the
escalators. ;-) The Monorail was there waiting for us, so
we jumped right on and were off for the MK after passing the Ticket and
Transportation Center (TTC), the Polynesian and the Grand
Floridian. 
Off to ride Pooh,
then Snow White followed by Peter Pan and then right into Mickey's
Philharmagic. All were great as usual! Saving
Small World for when it was hotter and wanting to maximize non-crowded
times we headed to Frontierland and grabbed a fastpass for Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad. It was only a 20 minute listed
wait, but we decided to get the pass and then head to
AdventureLand. We were skipping Splash Mountain right now as we
didn't want to get wet this morning. Having the Princess Lunch at
the Castle planned at noon, so we wanted to be dry. 
Off
to Pirates of the Caribbean and it was pretty much a walk on. We
didn't wait at all, just got right on a boat. Make sure to read
your VMK quest sheet before heading on this one. Several answers
in both the queue and the ride! :-) We continue to do
the VMK sheets, and hope to have them completed and ready to hand in
when we come back next.
Now
we jump on the Jungle Cruise. Only about a 5
minute wait, and its typically punny. I think I even heard
a couple new ones this time! Then we ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets
after another short wait. I love getting to the park early, but
its not all that busy either. July last year was much worse.
OK
- our Fast Pass time for Big Thunder is here, so we head back into
Frontierland and ride Big Thunder. Even this had a very short
wait (for even standby!) It was listed as 20 minutes, but it
couldn't have even been 10! Loved this as usual, and then it was
getting close to noon and our Cinderella's Royal Table reservation
time. We stopped in the Frontierland Saloon for a quick
visit with Woody and Jesse from Toy Story. There was hardly ANY
line, and it was nice and cool. On to Haunted Mansion for a
quick trip amongst he Grim Grinning Ghosts. Again, a walk
on. I'm liking this a LOT! :-D
