Mimi's 2nd Birthday Party Trip Report **Updated 12/4** About This Page:

[akleos]

So after our belly-fillin' brunch, we were able to redeem our Kilamanjaro fastpasses. The kids love the safari. Roo talks about it endlessly! Mimi loved the animals and enjoyed sitting between her Mommy and Daddy. After KS, we grabbed the train and went over to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Well, actually... we waited to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Some of us waited with the kids while others used the restroom and others still did some shopping (=sigh= it took for.ev.er!!!) Here we are, utterly bored to smithereens waiting for the party to regroup:


it was hot! See how pink Mimi's cheeks are? We were all steamy and wanting some A/C.

While we were waiting, a drummer came by and gave the kids a little performance. They loved it, although they were too hot to get up and dance. After about 20 minutes of waiting, I used my cell phone to call everyone and tell them to hurry the heck up. They were scattered all over thinking we were meeting one place or another. Which frustrated me because I hadn't moved and told everyone to me us back at the same spot. How does that always seem to happen? I know it must happen a lot... but why I'll never figure.

ANYWAY!!!!!

Here are the kids - once again Dave for some reason cuts off the statue around the kids and just makes the picture look silly, in my opinion. If I had known he was taking the pictures this way, I would have snatched the camera from him and taken them myself, which I know is incredibly witchy, but what can I say? I'm a self-proclaimed photo snob!!!


Who knew some good old fashioned goat brushing could be so much fun????? AND photo worthy! I call this masterpiece.... rump of goat:


Everyone admiring Roo's grooming skills:


I was laughing when I took this picture. Goats = funny:


Grandma showing Mimi the exquisite coat of the capra aegagrus hircus:


Roo's goat wouldn't sit still for it's grooming, so he had to walk along side it:


Dave scratches Mr. Goat behind the ears while Mimi looks on wanting to pet the goats that are clearly far beyond her reach:


After a great deal of hand sanitizing, we made our way back to Asia. Mimi had fallen asleep in her stroller, and since the Grandmas were too hot to continue walking, they decided to take a break in an air conditioned area with the sleeping Mimi, while Dave, Roo and I cooled off with a spin on Kali River Rapids. Roo and Dave got SOAKED! The picture that I have of them is on my iPhone, and when I download those photos, I'll post it. That picture is currently my iPhone wallpaper, too because I it so!

After KRR, we started to head toward the front gate. Dave and I hatched this crazy idea that we'd take everyone in the see It's Tough to be a Bug. Neither of the G'mas had seen that attraction before and we wanted them to enjoy all the... um... sights, and sounds and... um... creepy crawlies! So we manufactured the seating so that Mimi would sit on Daddy's lap, Grandma would sit next to Daddy, then Roo, then other Grandma, and then me. BOY HOWDY did Dave and I laugh when Hopper made the middle section jump... and when the exiting bugs made all three of them jump and squeal! HA HA HA! I was so happy to be sitting next to all the action!!!!

So we hopped a bus from AK back to POR. Everyone had a break of their choice: swimming, showering, changing into clothes that hadn't been drenched in sweat and Coppertone, etc. etc. After that refreshing respite, we bussed back to Epcot for our dinner ressie at Le Cellier. This was the place I was looking forward to trying the most and I was not disappointed!!! The food and the beer and the crazy billion-calorie cheese soup were wonderful! If you haven't been yet - GO! Walk, do not run to your phone and call WDW dining to make that reservation. Take any time they have available. It is quiet, peaceful, small and delicious. A great place to unwind within the parks, and get yourself fueled up for the rest of your touring.

After dinner, we all rode Finding Nemo, enjoyed the main tank in The Living Seas with Nemo, and the Grandmas took Ronan on Soarin', and after that we all rode Spaceship Earth together. By that time it was getting late and the next day was Mimi's big celecration, so everyone went back to the resort. Some did swimming, some did sleeping and some did shopping, but each and everyone managed to get quality rest for the next big big day!

Memories of our Fifth Day:
The weather today was... hot! 86 degrees, humid and relentlessly sunny.
The best thing was... Festival of the Lion King when Roo was chosen to participate but he got overwhelmed and broke into tears! Ah the memories!
The worst thing was... Rafiki's Planet Watch. Not because it was bad, but because it was too hot to really enjoy. Everyone felt overheated and exhausted.
Today we tried... Le Cellier and the result was... FANTASTIC, but very salty... just a great excuse to order beer with the meal!!! The Grandma's tried Soarin' and loved it! [My] Mom said it was her favorite ride of all Disney attractions!
The most magical moment was... watching the grandmas and Roo jump out of their seats and squeal during It's Tough to be a Bug. Everyone was very happy and we all got along well... there was NO SQUABBLING TODAY! Woo hoo!

Notes for next time:
Bring ziplock bag for items going on KRR. The weighted compartments don't always keep water out, and the bottom of ours was soaked.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update!! Glad you had a great time at AK, even though it was HOT!! And what a great dinner!! Love the pictures!!

[chezp]

What a fun time you had at Animal Kingdom, even in the heat.

[akleos]

I hope you are all ready for my next update. I only re-sized half of the photos and my desktop is completely packed with 60+ photos! As my hillbilly Granny would say: It's gonna' be a big'un!!!

[disney_duke]

I love that you added the most magical part was NO SQUABBLING!!!! I think that makes any day most magical!!! I totally understand the issues with the party splitting up and then taking for.ever. to find each other, terribly annoying. Sorry the weather was so hot. Sounds like the dinner and beers made up for that!!!

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like a fun time at AK!! how Roo followed the goat to groom him! Great KRR & ITTBAB stories!! Looking forward to more

[bsblady01]

more please

[Jookiba]

I'm finally all caught up.....and ready for more pictures please!!

[Artzkathy]

Great update Amy!!! Sounds like you all had a great adventure at AK!!! All I can say about your next installment being a "Big 'Un" is... BRING IT ON!!! Can't wait!!!

Kathy

[akleos]

We had reservations very early at Cinderella's Royal Table. I knew going into this that the dining experience in the morning was solely for me. Mimi was only turning two. She wouldn't really care if she were to eat there, or in her car seat. But I just wanted her to have it. So we woke ourselves up brutally early, hired a cab, and headed over to MK. There was one photo I had in my mind that I wanted of Mimi. I wanted to have her darting toward the castle... little blond hair flowing, just racing toward her favorite magical place on an empty street. I almost got it. ALMOST. We had some other people in the picture. But hey, that is what photoshop is for! (We had two camera's going, so you might see the same picture at different angles.)

A nearly empty front entrance:


A long look down Main Street USA's freshly cleaned pavement with MNSSHP decor up:


The Grandma's walking with our Birthday Girl:


Time for her close-up. The toy in her hand is her "little lady". It's a Little People girl that she would cry herself to death over if lost:


Here are two pictures of Roo as he walked toward the castle in his smartest warm weather clothing:




It's a long walk down that street for little toddler legs. Mimi worked up an appetite with all this exercise. That's Dave and my Mom walking with her:


It was about this time that Dave and I switched cameras. I had the point and shoot for the first half, and he knew I had this one image in my mind, so he handed me the good camera to capture it. And I got two that I love. Which one do you like better? Here is picture A:


And here is picture B:


I didn't brighten the foreground yet, so you'll have to imagine the people out of the picture in the background and a little more light on Mimi... but when they are fixed, I think either of those pictures will be really perfect! Although I prefer photo A over B. I think.

There she is turned around to say cheese at the Grandma's behest. UGH. They couldn't just let the moment be... they HAD to coax her to turn around for poses:


But at least she is cute when she says cheese:


Roo couldn't take it anymore. He wanted some attention, too:


Here they are playing balance beam:


Once again, Grandma yells out "Aw... isn't that cute? Turn around, Roo and say cheese! Grab Mimi and turn her around!" UGH. Dave stepped in and told her to shush at this point. She literally, was yelling for no reason. But it ended up being a cute picture:


This game is no fun when Grandma barks out commands and makes us stand still for pictures. LET'S RUN:






Mimi took an interest in Mickey Mouse:


Once again, Roo wanted the same attention:




An early appreciation for Walt:


Day dreaming about Mickey Mouse:


I THIS PICTURE:


Here is Roo playing with his Test Track cars:


Dave and his Princess in front of the Castle:


Here is my Mom! You would never guess that shortly after this photo was taken, she had emergency surgery for an artery that was 90% blocked!!!


The whole party walking toward the Castle entrance:


Awwwwww:


Our reservation was scheduled at 8:05 am. And I wish we had arrived a little bit earlier because the line to meet Cindy and have your photo taken with her was very slow. My tip to anyone planning the breakfast meal - give yourself an extra ten minutes to get in! I do think the first meal of the day is probably the best time to get in at Cindy's, since there were no other delays getting to our table.

Here is Cinderella, graciously accepting a kiss from "the other man", my boy, Roo:


Everyone was hungry and we didn't have to wait long for the table to be filled with goodies, beverages and food. But while we did wait, Mimi pretended that her magic wand was a lollipop:






Making her wish (she was ahead of the game - they hadn't done the ceremony yet):


Ronan was bored with all this GIRL stuff:


Grandma kept him occupied. THANK GOODNESS FOR GRANDMA!!!


So... I ordered a special gift for Mimi. I thought... foolishly... that she would wear a pretty flower wreath. At home, she likes to wear hats. So I spent $50.00 to have Disney Florist prepare a wreath and have it delivered to CRT. The woman who took my order was very excited about the whole idea and had said that she would tell CRT staff to present it in a magical way. I didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't really magical. The hostess gave it to me in the box.Just... here you go. She didn't even bring it to the table, she asked me to come get it. BOOR-ING. I was a little disappointed, I can't lie. I guess that I was hoping for something really outer limits. But I was even more disappointed because Mimi wanted nothing to do with it, and the only pictures we have of her with it on are blurry. Oh well. Not all dreams can come true. What I can tell you is that Disney Florist also makes these beautiful flower wands. A big rose on a wand that is wrapped in pretty ribbons. It is much more cost effective and more likely to be used over a flower wreath. But they made a gorgeous flower wreath and it was just what I wanted.

I was reading her the card:


Here is the wreath:


Here is Mimi saying "NO!" and trying to push it away:


Dave told me I ought to wear it so we could at least have a picture of our fifty bucks:


Seeing Mommy with it on wasn't enough, though... she wanted nothing to do with it. Look at that pout:


This face is even better. I am sorry it is blurry:


This is when the food and the princesses started to roll in. My goodness, the breakfast was fantastic!!! We all ate too much, I think. It was a nice variety, too. There were foods that everyone liked: kids and grown-ups. No pictures of the food, though. Sorry!

Our first royal visit came from Aurora, Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose, all one in the same. She was an adorable young lady and she really took a liking to Mimi:



(pssst: she was our favorite of all the visiting princesses. LOVE her!)

Next came Belle. She was very playful, and we liked her very much too. We liked her even more because we saw that Belle on our trip in '07!! What a coincidence, huh?


NEXT CAME JASMINE.

Now, if you don't know this, Jasmine is Roo's favorite of all the Princesses. He gets all shy and quiet when ever Jasmine is around. I'll have to post some past pictures of Roo with Jasmine... it's so funny. He has always had a partiality for her:




Mimi wasn't so enthusiastic:


We had a little Princess breather, and in that time the table was cleared and the kids got a very unusual treat... CAKE FOR BREAKFAST! Yes. You can get a complimentary cake even for brekkie! We split it between the kids after a rousing version of "Happy Birthday":


Mimi sang Happy Birthday to herself, but it sounded more like "apply duirty" Now when we sing happy birthday we say "Apple Dirty to you" instead! HA!

I have no idea what she wished for, but she tried to blow out the candle on her own:



Snow White came to visit as the cake was being devoured. Poor Snow White. She was no competition for cake at our table!!!! Too bad. She was a very pretty Snow White:


MY BIG TIP: Taking a cab to MK in the mornings is very useful. However, cabs are not allowed to drop off anywhere other than the TTC. This can add a lot of extra time to your morning, esp. if you have early reservations. Instead of having the cab driver take you to MK, ask him/her to take you to the Contemporary Resort and request that he/she drop you off in the parking lot as close to the guard gate as possible. Use the (short) walkway from the Contemporary to the front gate of MK. It is much faster and easily done!!

IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT: Our morning in Fantasyland, and Mimi greets Minnie Mouse with a (willing) hug!

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures Amy!! They're all good!! Sorry Mimi didn't like her tiara.....it's beautiful!! Glad you all had a great breakfast!!

[DyanKJ130]

Great update!! Sounds like a magical morning so far!

this photo!!!


Hurry back with more

[lauren-roxy]

Great update and awesome photos!!! Sorry she didn't like the wreath, it's so beautiful!!!

[akleos]

I know the question on everybody's mind is, 'Amy, how do follow up such a wonderful breakfast with the Princesses on your Princesses 2nd birthday?' (amazing, isn't it? Almost word for word what you were thinking. I know. My accuracy is boggling. Call me Rasputin.) WHY VISIT FANTASYLAND, OF COURSE!!! We knew that all of Mimi's favorite attractions were located in Fantasyland, and we wanted to do them all. We took our time and focused solely on Fantasyland, which made it very easy and relaxing. My only other priority for the day was to get a photo taken with Mickey Mouse that had the whole party in it. One attraction that we didn't ride was the Carousel, however, we were able to make up for that later. How? Just wait and see! All shall be revealed to you soon (see? Rasputin. I can foretell the future. )

We walked out of the CRT just as the park opened, and to beat the crowds, we rode on Dumbo the Flying Elephant first off. It was a ride that everyone could do together and furthermore, one that everyone wanted to do together. Love it when that happens.

Here are the Grandma's, calculating the last time they had been on Dumbo. For MIL it has been 17 years, and for Mom it had been 28 years!!!


Here is Daddy and his little girl. Mimi couldn't stop watching the elephants. She needed to ride them:


I was so proud of Roo... he wanted to ride the elephants like it was nobody's business, and he waited so patiently and pleasantly that even the strangers around us commented on how well behaved he was:


Still trying to get Mimi to look at the camera and not the Dumbos. Still she was too interested to care about how or where I was and what I was doing. Look at her long legs in this picture. She's gonna' be tall like her Daddy, I think:


Aw... when I resize the photo you miss the detail of Roo's face. He has his front teeth over his bottom lip and is smiling from ear to ear. Not only is he about to ride Dumbo, but a GREEN Dumbo (his favorite color), and with Grandma, AND she is going to let him handle the controls! WOO HOO! Life doesn't get better for a four-year old, you know what I'm sayin'??


For whatever reason, Dave picked a yellow Dumbo away from the rest of the group. All you can see here is his hunky elbow:


I was riding with Rita. I think we had an orange Dumbo. I didn't care so much about the color, I just wanted to have fun. Because that's what girls want. Girls just wanna' have fun. They just wanna'! They just wan'na'a'a! Oh, Cyndi Lauper. If only you could see me now!

I have blinded you by my fun-li-ness!!!!!

Look at how much fun Roo is having. He laughed through the entire ride:


I can see... I can see... a man. Yes! I can see a man waving in the yellow elephant:


... See? Rasputin sees all:


After our rousing ride on Dumbo, Dave went over to Peter Pan's Flight to get fastpasses for us all (every single one of us left in the group needed a bathroom break - most of all Roo!!!). Once he came back, we went to Snow White's Scary Adventure. There literally were only eight people in line ahead of us. Of course there HAD to be shopping on Mimi's birthday - and lots of it - so after the ride when we were spit out into the gift shop, we had to spend time in Sir Mickey's choosing our ears and having them embroidered.

Mimi was having a little conversation with Minnie in toddler-ese. I wish I had a translation book because I would have loved to know what she was telling her BFF:


Once she was finished, she said bye-bye to Minnie:


Here is Mimi in her marvelous pink birthday ears:


After we got our ears and the many, many gifts for Mimi from Grandmas, we redeemed our fastpasses for Peter Pan's flight.

Roo had on his yellow fancy-schmancy ears:


Even Dave got a pair of ears, which shocked and surprised me. And he wore them! All day!! Such a handsome man, and so serious, too:


And here I am in my ears - I opted for pink for a change. I normally choose the black ears. But I was feeling particularly sassy. Please note how blurry the photo is... kids, let this be a lesson to you... don't walk and photograph:


Mimi. No flower wreath. No ears. =sigh=


Once again, no whining from the kid who desperately wants on the ride... right NOW. Amazing:


Roo rode with Grandma again:


Mimi rode with Grandma Rita (Grandma isn't fond of this picture, but I snuck it in here anyway. Ain't I a stinker???):


This photo is less about Grandma and Mimi and more about you getting to see the loading area of Peter Pan's Flight. When I see the set, I'm immediately transported back there and my heart aches to go back:


And Dave and I rode together and annoyed one another. He annoyed me by filming the ride, and I annoyed him by... well... no. I didn't annoy him. Because I could read his mind and I knew it was important for him to film the ride without my poking at him:


After PPF, we rode the perennial favorite, it's a small world. It was impossible to get a picture of everyone looking at the camera with their eyes open. This was the best I could do... and I took SEVEN pictures:


After iasw, we hit Mickey's Philharmagic, which everyone loved. My MIL raved about it especially. She thought that was the best show she saw on her whole vacation. I think she could have jumped in line right away to see it again. And she did the next day!

After more shopping, it was time for Mimi's favorite dark ride: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Here she is, drinking it in:

Must. crane. neck. to. see. every. tiny. detail!!!

We wanted to ride the tea cups after Pooh, but it was getting hot and it was taking too many bribes to get Roo to stop asking to ride the Speedway (it was Mimi's b-day, and he had to ride the things SHE enjoyed, that was our ground rule for the day), so we walked to Toontown Fair and visited Mickey Mouse... after more shopping, of course. Please. We know what is good. But seriously, visiting Mickey was my only other priority for the day, and at this point I was very happy that I didn't over plan. Between the Grandmas stopping to shop, and the kids needing to blow off steam between waiting in lines, it was all we could accomplish in the morning hours.

Here are the kids, exploring Mickey's house. Roo has a favorite blanket he calls Blankie, and he was very happy to see that Mickey Mouse had a blankie on HIS bed, too. It was all he talked about, even when he met Mickey he told him "I saw your Blankie, Mickey!":


I was barely able to capture Speedy Gonzalez in this picture - look at him sprinting off to see Pluto's house outside:


Here he is, giving his favorite Lady a big hug:


We were very proud of Mimi because she actually broke her character silence and GAVE MINNIE A BRIEF HUG! Hooray! It couldn't have happened at a better time:


Once she stepped over that initial hurdle, she needed to give Mickey a kiss. With Daddy to protect her, of course:


Once again, the group photo is on our Photopass CD, and when I get it (waiting for it to be delivered as I write), I'll create a post in this thread that is dedicated to the photopass pics for you. It was a pretty cute picture.

We had done so much shopping that our double stroller was filled with bags. Why didn't we have them delivered to our resort? I don't know. We encouraged the Grandmas to have them sent to our resort for pick up, but they both felt that filling out the paper work would take up too much time, and some of the stuff was going home with them the next day and some of the stuff was staying with the kids and yada yada ya. Needless to say, we carried it all. Aside from that, it was time to head back to the resort for naps and luncheon, so we split up the group. The Grandmas took both kids on the train back to Main Street Station (=cough=cough= and waited for us in The Confectionery =cough=cough=), while Dave and I enjoyed a little alone time walking back with the stroller and hundreds of bags filled with goodies.

Here is Grandma waving as the train went by:


I accidentally took this picture of the family sitting directly in front of ours. OOPS! It's a nice picture, though. I hope they are Passporters and can identify themselves! That would be the best. I woudl send them a copy if they could claim themselves. I meant to capture my group, but the shutter was faster than I expected:


The crappy thing about my camera though (well, the camera and the the slow memory card, to be exact) is that it is slow to take the next picture, so this was the best I was able to get. Oh well! At least I'm able to laugh about it:


Dave and I walked down the quiet path behind the Speedway between ToonTown and Tomorrowland and talked about how happy we were to be there and how enjoyable the day had been thus far. The temperature was really starting to climb, and we were satisfied leaving the park for a little respite.

As we were walking, we noticed the Alice decorations for MHSSHP. Since Mimi was dressing up as Alice, I had to take a picture:


Dave - such a trooper - pushing the stroller through Tomorrowland with his ears. I love that man:


MY BIG TIP: When exploring the parks with a large group, set your expectations low. There are a million reasons to stop for just one person, now imagine stopping for a million reasons with six! Needless to say, you won't be able to get much done. Plan wisely: stay in one specific area of the park rather than walking from one land to another just to do the popular attractions. This is really important if the members of your group are a wide array of ages and/or tire easily. And keep it simple... do things that everyone can do together and will enjoy.

In the next update: OUR AFTERNOON AND EVENING - BOY HOWDY WHAT FUN!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Amy!! Love the pictures!! Glad you guys are having such a great time at MK!! Colin always had to run for the green Dumbo too!! More please