There'’s Nowhere To Go But Down... To The Utilidors! NEW TR LINK 6/4

[khertz]

Hmmm, maybe I could take up that challenge.

I am fully supportive of this plan!

So glad y'all got to have dinner at BoG for her birthday! What a great ADR for such a special occasion. Kylie's reaction to her cake is precious. The cake looks amazing!!

 

[kaelalala]

I have to say I'm not crazy about the hat but I understand the nostalgic connection everyone has to it! and hey, my offer to get you a discounted room still stands whenever you wanna come down here next, just saying

I love your pre-BOG photos! the ones taken from behind of you guys looking off into the distance are so super cute. seems like a great opportunity for a mini photoshoot haha

omg you have such great ideas for Disney proposals. I never thought of inside BOG but omg that would be amazing! I hate to be "that person" but I always tell Chris that if he proposes to me in front of the castle I'll be like no sorry, try again. oops. I just think it's so overdone and cliche! so I applaud your different ideas for proposal spots ESPECIALLY IN FRONT OF THE MUPPET FOUNTAIN OH MY GOD. that would be so perfect. anyway. let me stop talking now, moving on hahaha

oh my GOSH that cake is so cute! I've never had a special cake at a meal like that, what a cute surprise. I may need an Ariel one now.........

THE BEAST DANCING WITH KYLIE I'M DYING HOW CUTE

sounds like BOG was a crowd-pleaser, what a lovely update!!!

 

[Newsies]

I SO agree with you on the removal of the hat. It's one of my favorites.

I love the photo of Kylie and Emily looking at Ariel's Castle and 7DMT.

I also enjoyed your review and photos of BoG. I got the steak when I went for dinner, too!

 

[amberg93]

Ugh I've been such a bad dis-er lately. I apologize, but I am now all caught up

Agreed about the Sorcerer's Hat. I love it too and am very sad to be seeing it go

Love all the fab pictures of your family.

Looks like the dinner was good, we can just never get a reservation so we figure that we'll stick to lunch.

Aww Kylie is so excited, it's adorable!

Dancing with the Master. Also adorable. Too cute.

What a win of a meal <3

 

[courtneybelle]

Ok, so I first must confess that I am in favor of the removal of the hat. BUT it is not that hat itself so much as what it has become - a backdrop for a stage and a pin trading booth. At least when it was first put up it housed kiosks covering Walt's live. But, I mean a cover for a pin trading booth doesn't really stack up with Cinderella's Castle, Spaceship Earth, or the Tree of Life.

I do love that you priced out a trip to say good by to it though. I am picturing you talking to the customs agent (I mean, I know you wouldn't really have to go to a customs agent, but work with me) and when he asks you reason for your trip you respond "To say goodbye to a hat"

***********

I absolutely love the pictures of everyone from the BOG bridge staring at the various attractions/castles/etc. Such a cool idea!

So we are right where you were - we have done lunch at BOG a few times but have yet to score a dinner ADR for there. Oh well, another reason to go back

Ok, obviously proposing in the BOG ballroom might be more traditionally romantic but in front of the Muppet Fountain is so unique and would make for a great story! Granted, this is from the guy that proposed during the Andre the Giant fight scene in The Princess Bride, so perhaps, I should not comment on such thing

I literally just finished dinner and I still feel like I could eat that steak right now - really looks good!

The cake looks super cute and I love that she was surprised. I mean, I guess if you don't normally get served a fancy cake inside a castle it might be exciting for you.

I agree with you that it was at its peak when it had the exhibits about Walt's life. Truthfully I've been bummed about the stage on my last few trips because it totally blocks the hat. But I'll still miss it dearly. Maybe I can buy it…

Alternatively, I can call Disney to make the reservation, and when the CM asks "What are you celebrating?" I can say, "Actually, I'm mourning the loss of the hat."

I'm so glad we took all those pictures. The idea caught on really quickly and they're so fun to look at now.

A lot of people say they prefer lunch to dinner. I honestly love them both, I'm just happy to be in that castle no matter what!

I love the Muppets SO much so I feel like if I marry someone who also loves the Muppets that could be perfect!

The steak was awesome. The garlic butter on top made it unreal.

Yeah, she was a little excited. Disney does an awesome job with their custom cakes, we've ordered a few smaller ones before, but this one was definitely the best.

Phew! All caught up! I have been crazy busy at work and got behind (on my own report too).

Great updates! We had a great dinner at Be Our Guest as well. That cake looks amazing! What a great day.

I've been super behind on my DISing as of late, so no worries there!!!

It was a phenomenal dinner. Perfect way to cap off the birthday.

Oh my the HAT. I admit to making jokes about at times, but my real feelings are more indifferent than hate. But because it became such a well known icon, it is sad. But on the bright side, think of all the hat related pictures that will feel even more special now.

I always love the back shots with people. They always look so in the moment. Such fantastic family pictures Courtney.

Your proposal spots seem perfect. The young man shall be informed.

Awwww I adore the cake reveal pic of Kylie. That's precious.




Hmmm, maybe I could take up that challenge.

This is true! It'll be cool to one day show my kids that there used to be this giant tacky hat in the middle of DHS…

The pictures are so special to me, they came out great!

HA thank you very much, Rob! Appreciate you having my back on that one.

It was so adorable. Kylie is actually generally more reserved than I am about excitement at Disney (I'm usually the one crying and shrieking at everything) so it was great to see her get so excited about it.

I mean, I'd be up for a DISmeet at the hat...

I am fully supportive of this plan!

So glad y'all got to have dinner at BoG for her birthday! What a great ADR for such a special occasion. Kylie's reaction to her cake is precious. The cake looks amazing!!

I am too!!! I can only imagine the reaction…

It was the perfect place for dinner. Everyone loved it! And the cake was so good. I'm glad Kylie loved it so much!

I have to say I'm not crazy about the hat but I understand the nostalgic connection everyone has to it! and hey, my offer to get you a discounted room still stands whenever you wanna come down here next, just saying

I love your pre-BOG photos! the ones taken from behind of you guys looking off into the distance are so super cute. seems like a great opportunity for a mini photoshoot haha

omg you have such great ideas for Disney proposals. I never thought of inside BOG but omg that would be amazing! I hate to be "that person" but I always tell Chris that if he proposes to me in front of the castle I'll be like no sorry, try again. oops. I just think it's so overdone and cliche! so I applaud your different ideas for proposal spots ESPECIALLY IN FRONT OF THE MUPPET FOUNTAIN OH MY GOD. that would be so perfect. anyway. let me stop talking now, moving on hahaha

oh my GOSH that cake is so cute! I've never had a special cake at a meal like that, what a cute surprise. I may need an Ariel one now.........

THE BEAST DANCING WITH KYLIE I'M DYING HOW CUTE

sounds like BOG was a crowd-pleaser, what a lovely update!!!

Haha see the thing is, I recognize that the hat is pretty tacky. I literally can't explain my love for it. Haha I told my mom that you could get me a discount and she said "but what about flights? And food?" She got me there.

It was a perfect photo shoot location! I'm so happy with all the pics.

Yeah, like I would love to be proposed to during Wishes but I agree that EVERYBODY proposes in front of the Castle so I want something a little different than that. Muppet Fountain would be so precious, now I really want this to happen since everyone's encouraging it!

Disney's special cakes are the BOMB. My mom got me a mini Belle cake last year and I loved it, and this one came out really nicely too!!!

It was soooo cute!! They are adorable together.

I SO agree with you on the removal of the hat. It's one of my favorites.

I love the photo of Kylie and Emily looking at Ariel's Castle and 7DMT.

I also enjoyed your review and photos of BoG. I got the steak when I went for dinner, too!

I'm still so bummed about it I'll miss it so much!

That's such a great photo of them, I really love it too.

Ughhh isn't the steak so good?! I wish they still served it for lunch!

Ugh I've been such a bad dis-er lately. I apologize, but I am now all caught up

Agreed about the Sorcerer's Hat. I love it too and am very sad to be seeing it go

Love all the fab pictures of your family.

Looks like the dinner was good, we can just never get a reservation so we figure that we'll stick to lunch.

Aww Kylie is so excited, it's adorable!

Dancing with the Master. Also adorable. Too cute.

What a win of a meal <3

I haven't been DISing as much as usual lately either. Silly real life getting in the way of my DIS time!

I'm pretty heartbroken about it, Amber. I just think it's adorable and so fun.

Thank you we're pretty cute sometimes.

I would say that lunch is just as good as dinner. I don't really have a preference either way, because the food and the atmosphere are good no matter what!

Yeah, Kylie was super adorable during this meal. It was definitely the high point of the day for all of us, I would say!

 

[maddiebee]

I totally agree with you on the Ballroom. We sat right next to one of the windows and I honestly couldn't stop crying. It's overwhelmingly beautiful in there. We ate in the West Wing this past trip and it was cool, but I couldn't even take proper photos of my food (like a good Diser) because it was so dark and UGH @ all the flash photos in there.

Your mom really knocks it out of the park with birthday cakes! What an excellent birthday!

 

[Sisa]

I too am very sad about the removal of the Sorcerer's Hat. I love seeing it in the background of DISer's photos. I was really hoping to get to see it in person and get a photo of my family in front of it. Haha I think a trip to see it before it's gone is totally reasonable.

Ahh, all the photos outside and inside of BOG are incredible! Makes me want to visit there so bad and the food always looks so amazing! I think I'd prefer the ballroom too, it's gorgeous in the photos so it has to be even more so in person.

That cake...oh my...so beautiful, they did such a great job. I love the photo capturing the moment Kylie saw it, so perfect!

Awe, the Master such a gentlemen dancing with the birthday girl.

Yay for more photos of Mom!

 

[KelleyK75]

Yay for BOG! Wonderful pictures, and I love the cake! Kylie looks so excited.

 

[Newsies]

Just so you know, because of this thread, I had a dream I went to WDW just to say goodbye to the Sorcerer's Hat. Literally. I said goodbye to the Sorcerer's Hat and then my mom made me pack up again and get on another plane.

 

[CarolAnnB]

That photo shoot was a great way to kill some time while we were waiting.

Love love the ballroom. That panorama pic you took is awesome.

I was pretty happy with the cake. They forgot to write "Some people are worth melting for" on the plate but that's a minor thing.

Real life update: Aunt Patti just emailed me that she took a quiz on FB "Which dwarf are you?" and she got Bashful! That Kylie knows her people!

[You got my reference, right?]

 

[courtneybelle]

I totally agree with you on the Ballroom. We sat right next to one of the windows and I honestly couldn't stop crying. It's overwhelmingly beautiful in there. We ate in the West Wing this past trip and it was cool, but I couldn't even take proper photos of my food (like a good Diser) because it was so dark and UGH @ all the flash photos in there.

Your mom really knocks it out of the park with birthday cakes! What an excellent birthday!

Right?! The ballroom gives me all the emotions. I hadn't even thought about food photos in the West Wing! That would definitely be a challenge.

She does such a great job coming up with ideas for birthday cakes! It was seriously a phenomenal birthday.

I too am very sad about the removal of the Sorcerer's Hat. I love seeing it in the background of DISer's photos. I was really hoping to get to see it in person and get a photo of my family in front of it. Haha I think a trip to see it before it's gone is totally reasonable.

Ahh, all the photos outside and inside of BOG are incredible! Makes me want to visit there so bad and the food always looks so amazing! I think I'd prefer the ballroom too, it's gorgeous in the photos so it has to be even more so in person.

That cake...oh my...so beautiful, they did such a great job. I love the photo capturing the moment Kylie saw it, so perfect!

Awe, the Master such a gentlemen dancing with the birthday girl.

Yay for more photos of Mom!

I think it's adorable. It was much better when they didn't have the stage in front of it, but I will miss it dearly. I have been talked out of a farewell trip…for now anyway

BOG is my favorite! The food is very good and you can't beat the atmosphere.

The cake was stunning and I love Kylie's reaction too!!

The Master was fantastic definitely a special memory for all of us.

I know! I was glad we had Memory Maker this trip because she was able to get in the picture much more often.

Yay for BOG! Wonderful pictures, and I love the cake! Kylie looks so excited.

Definitely the best meal of the trip!

Just so you know, because of this thread, I had a dream I went to WDW just to say goodbye to the Sorcerer's Hat. Literally. I said goodbye to the Sorcerer's Hat and then my mom made me pack up again and get on another plane.

YESSSS hahaha though I would hope she would have let you stop for a cupcake or a spin on Toy Story Mania or something!!!

That photo shoot was a great way to kill some time while we were waiting.

Love love the ballroom. That panorama pic you took is awesome.

I was pretty happy with the cake. They forgot to write "Some people are worth melting for" on the plate but that's a minor thing.

Real life update: Aunt Patti just emailed me that she took a quiz on FB "Which dwarf are you?" and she got Bashful! That Kylie knows her people!

[You got my reference, right?]

The photo shoot was fabulous and I think it was my idea

I loved using the panorama function on my phone!

Yeah that was a bummer but it was still absolutely gorgeous and Kylie loved it!

HA that is perfect! I should take it too, I've been pretty sneezy this week…

YES I did pick up on your reference

 

[courtneybelle]

Chapter 24: Fin-Flipping-Tastic

After dinner, Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately, it had started raining, so we decided against seeing the Electrical Parade tonight. Instead, we decided to meet Ariel and then head out.

While waiting in line, we realized that Emily had lost her autograph book that my mom made. It wasn’t a huge deal but she felt SO bad. We agreed that after we met Ariel we’d head back to Be Our Guest and the Town Square Theater to see if it was left there.

Redhead pic!

While Ky and Em were meeting Ariel, I put my camera on selfie mode since I wanted to send another picture to Rob. The character attendant decided to jump in!

I asked Ariel how she was, and she said she was “fin-flipping-tastic!” I died.

Then I revived myself and asked if we could take a “shellfie,” and she obliged.

We went back to BOG to see if the autograph book was there, but it wasn’t.

We headed to Main Street, and watched a bit of the Main Street Electrical Parade while Dad checked the Town Square Theater. Since we got there so late we were behind people, but I still enjoyed it! Because of the rain they couldn’t do the “To Honor America” float with all the dancers, but the rest of the parade went on.

It was raining harder, and people were getting a little grumpy (no naming of names here but it actually wasn’t me this time) so we decided to save Wishes for our other MK night. Kylie, Dad, and Emily went to the bus while Mom and I went to Guest Relations to see if the autograph book was there.

And…IT WAS!!!! Thank you, Guest Relations, for saving our vacation! I asked to see the pin book as well and got a few great pins out of it. Not the most exciting end to a Magic Kingdom day, but I was very happy with our visit.

Emily texted us on our bus ride back and said that there was another surprise in the room. We got back and found this:

A gift from the general manager of Pop Century! What a guy. This cake was so good! The icing was so sweet and delicious, and I love Disney vanilla cake. I love all Disney cake let’s be real.

All in all, I think it was a very successful 16th birthday. But the trip’s not even halfway over yet, and there’s much more fun to be had!

Today’s pinventory:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the Vinylmation pin is of the Green Army Man. Kylie found it for me because she knows I love them. What a gal.

Continued in next post
​

 

[courtneybelle]

Chapter 25: Attack Of The Tour Groups

Today we got to sleep in until 7! It’s funny how most of the time 7 is ridiculously early for me, but at Disney it’s a nice snooze.

Aunt Patti was supposed to come to Epcot with us today but she was too sore after our MK day, so she took it easy at the hotel.

I had an apple Danish for breakfast. We ate in the car, so I don't have any other food pictures…

We drove to Epcot and waited at the turnstiles, and it was HOT. There is no shade at the Epcot entrance like at DHS and MK.

We headed to Test Track first thing since we had FP+ for Soarin’…but Test Track was down. So Emily and I decided to do Mission: Space!

Gary Sinese and I are BFFs after we hung out at the Candlelight Processional.

Olaf was very excited to go to space.

Our trip to space was very eventful and fun, though the other two people in our spaceship kept pressing buttons when they weren’t supposed to. Don’t they take it seriously when Gary Sinese says DON’T MOVE A MUSCLE?!

After the ride we were walking back to Mouse Gear to meet the rest of the gang, and Emily so casually said, “I’m liking this Disney thing!” It cracked me up because I don’t like Disney, I am PASSIONATELY in love with Disney! At work I had to talk about my biggest passion and I talked about Disney. And I hang out on these DISboards and meet all these people who also deeply love Disney. So it was just funny to have someone so nonchalantly say they liked it. It’s important to remember how the rest of the world lives.

In Mouse Gear, Kylie was chatting up the workers and they took out the pin board early for her! So sweet. We had the best CMs this trip.

We headed over to Soarin’ next. Here's the high quality photography you guys sign up for when you join this TR...

Unfortunately, an entire chanting tour group was right in front of us. I wasn’t happy about it.

Fortunately in these dark times, we have a white knight to pull us through.

The tour group ended up filling about half the room, and they were pretty obnoxious, what with the chanting and yelling at the CM, “HEY LADY!” The CMs handled it very well though.

Soarin’ was really fun, and then we headed to Spaceship Earth.

I AM SO EXCITED TO BE RIDING THIS GRAND AND MIRACULOUS SPACESHIP

I rode by myself and tried to hold up Olaf so he’d be the other face in the “Building Your Future” section, but it didn’t work.

Unfortunately Test Track was still not up (and wouldn’t be for the rest of the day), so after SSE, we headed to the World Showcase!

Continued in next post
​

 

[KelleyK75]

Love your shellfie!

I'm glad you were able to find the book. And how sweet of the manager to leave the cake! It looks delicious!

Boo to the tour groups! Haha, you look how I think all of us look when we get behind a group.

 

[belle79]

oh I hate it when I lose things!!! happy that you found it and yeah I am starting to understand the "Disney love" its all I think about and what to talk about lately and that cake looks great!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

YUP, seeing Ariel on your Birthday is a must do!!!

BAHAHAHA, Love when CM's do stuff like jump in photos!! This is why they rule!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH ARIEL SHELFIE!!!!! I LOVE THAT!!! Yup, still love that photo too!! And perfect timing on these updates by the way...

As much as I hate losing stuff obviously, how wonderful does it feel when you go to Guest Relations and they FOUND IT???? That feeling is almost (almost) worth losing stuff for.

WOW, a gift cake???? Now I feel ripped off, lol. Seriously that is awesome.

HAHA, yeah it is funny to hear others praise the Disney experience like Emily did. Like, OF COURSE YOU LIKE IT... IT'S AMAZING!!!

Apart from the Big Al and Ariel seflie's, THIS may be the best photo ever...

A picture is worth a thousand words indeed... And all of them expletives.

 

[ariane37]

Well, I'm only about 4 months late lol, but I'm here now and totally enjoying your TR Your title grabbed me as DH and I are going to be doing the KTTK tour on our anniversary trip in March. Can't wait to hear about your experience, and I love the look on Kylies face when she opened the card from your mom

 

[Newsies]

The Ariel photos are giving me LIFE. I love the shell-fie. I'll need to get one next time I go!

I'm so happy to hear you found the book!!!!

That cake looks delish and I'm jealous rn (although I already had Coldstone today, so I've had enough sweet stuff for tonight. It was a "love it" )

I feel the photo of you vs. the tour groups on a spiritual level. I was lucky enough to not have anything "ruined" by a BTG on my trip, but I rolled my eyes on more than one occasion when they started shouting and chanting in the streets. I've heard some horror stories, though.

The paragraph about "how the rest of the world lives" was also received on a spiritual plane of existence.

Keep on posting!!!

 

[fancifull]

Other acceptable proposal spots include ... the fountain in front of MuppetVision 3D (no I’m not kidding).

OMG YES, that sounds amazing HAHAHA

BOG dinner looks SO GOOD OMG. Kaela keeps pressuring us against it since we've done lunch like 3 times and we need to try new places LOL. We are dying to meet the beast too.

The cake looks delicious, Kylie looks so happy

THE SHELLFIE IS SO CUTE !!! Literally just saw it in Rob's trip report too since he was talking about sending you the Belle picture too ha

A SECOND CAKE OMG! And I traded for the Tiana shoe recently too! Love it

OMG I rode Spaceship Earth alone with Duffy and I held him up perfectly and thought he was totally gonna show up and I was so hopeful, but no I had my camera so ready to take a pic of Duffy's future but i GUESS he's not worthy

 

[RGirl]

Hi Courtney!!! I have been DIS-absent for way too long. Playing catch-up this weekend as I know things are just going to get worse and worse at work over the next few weeks. Boo.

Okay, I admit that I have no real opinion either way on the removal of the hat, but I mentioned it to Willow, and she pretty much FREAKED OUT.

Totally loving all your pre-BoG pictures - perfection!

I am so glad that y’all enjoyed your BoG dinner, and I love the Beast pictures!

OMG - “fin-flipping-tastic!” - I am in LOVE with this!!! Too great!!!!!!

And OMG again - I love, love, love the SHELLfie!!!!!

Okay - I was getting so sad about the autograph book! What a relief!!!!

Um, big points to Pop!!!

OMG - your “I can’t believe this tour group” picture is FANTASTIC!!!!

A for effort with Olaf and Spaceship Earth. Best laid plans and all that…. *sigh*