A Disney Filled Spring Break-4 Parks & a Magical Cruise! New 12/11- Completed!

scrpbookr · Apr 3, 2014

We've been back from a completely magical spring break for a couple of weeks now. I've been both excited and overwhelmed at the thought of starting a trip report. We were away for a week and I took about 4,000 pictures! My first priority was getting the pictures edited and ordered for the scrapbooking projects. That has been accomplished. I'm still organizing those projects to tackle but I also want to get the trip report started before too much time passes.

We were a trio for this trip. I work at the school my little boy attends and we were on spring break for the week. We invited my mom (Nanny) to join us on this Disney adventure. Although my husband is supportive of my little guy and I getting away on this sort of trip it isn't his idea of a good time so he and our sweet pup, Woody, kept things at home in order.

Here are the three of us along with the wonderful Mickey! My mom (Nanny), my little boy (Reagan) and myself, Brenda....

Our plans went something like this:
Tuesday - Fly in and spend the evening at Downtown Disney / Check in to Pop Century (My mom drove in from TN / we flew in from PA)
Wednesday - Magic Kingdom
Thursday - Epcot / Flower Show
Friday - Drive to Port Canaveral and board the Disney Magic
Saturday - The ship docked in Nassau, Bahamas/ We enjoyed a day on the ship/ We also delivered our Fish Extender gifts this day
Sunday - Castaway Cay day
Monday - Disembark and head to Disney Hollywood Studios for the day / Check in at All Star Music
Tuesday - Animal Kingdom day and flight home that evening.

In between the day plans I did my best to explore the resorts we were staying in and the closest neighboring resorts as well. It was a full but fun trip! I'm looking forward to sharing it all here!

I'm going to save this spot for a...
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pre Trip - Part 1 (below)
Pre Trip - Part 2
Flight and Downtown Disney - Part 1
Downtown Disney - Part 2
Everything Pop and Off to Magic Kingdom
Meeting Mickey
Entering New Fantasyland and some time with Belle
Under the Sea in New Fantasyland
Storybook Circus!
Dumbo and Daisy!
Minnie the Magnifique and her Pirouetting Parisian Poodles!
The Great Gofini and Donald the Snake Charmer
From Fantasyland to Frontierland
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Reagan's First Time!
Festival of Fantasy Parade
Festival of Fantasy Parade- Part 2 and PotC
More Adventure(land)!
A Fairy Filled Visit!
Tomorrowland
Down the Rabbit Hole to Old Fantasyland
Main Street Electrical Parade
Celebrate the Magic, Wishes and Pooh!
Princess Overload!
Ariel's Grotto and the Happiest Cruise
Haunted Mansion and Saying Goodnight to Magic Kingdom
Art of Animation Resort - Part 1 - Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Nemo Sections
Art of Animation - Part 2 - Cars Section
Art of Animation Resort - Part 3
Epcot Morning!
Epcot is full of character!
The Land
The Butterfly Garden
Some fun for Reagan!
Mexico!
Duffy... Our favorite Disney Bear!
Norway!
China!
Africa!
More World Showcase Fun
Pick-a-Pearl in Japan
France and UK
Pooh and Friends!
Exploring Epcot!
Meeting Figment
Flower and Garden Playgrounds! and Fireworks!
Pop Century in Pictures - Part 1
Pop Century in Pictures - Part 2
From POP to DTD to DCL
Magic Time!
Andy's Room
Sail Away!
Luminere's
A Twice Charmed Evening
A Fish Extender Morning
So Many Princesses!
Poolside! part 1
Poolside! part 2
Quarter Masters and Pirates!
Captain Jack and Animator's Palate Part 1
Animator's Palate Part 2, Peter Pan and Villians Tonight!
Pirate Party!
Ship Tour part 1
Ship Tour part 2
Castaway Cay - Part 1
Castaway Cay - Part 2
Castaway Cay - Part 3
Castaway Cay - Part 4
Pin Trading Dreams
Sea You Real Soon
Hollywood Boulevard and then left
Cute Droids!
It's not easy being green...
Mom! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!
Pit Stop and the Streets of America
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
The Great Movie Ride
Mr. I, Frozo, Mickey and more
More Animation Building Fun, Dropping Anchor for a Snack and a Voyage
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater
Meeting Minnie!
Fantasmic!
Hollywood Nights
One Man's Dream
All Star Music
All Star Music, Part 2 to All Star Movies
All Star Movies, Part 2
All Star Sports
Animal Kingdom Morning
Safari Time
Exploring Africa
Makin' Muziki with Rafiki!
Nemo the Musical
Real Life Halloween Update
Dinoland USA
Cuteness Overload! Minnie, Mickey, Dug and Russell!
Final Animal Kingdom Entry

I'll start by sharing some pre-trip preparations...

One of the projects I did pre-trip was make these covers for both my camera and my son's camera...

I found this fabric at JoAnn's and really liked it but wasn't sure what to use it for. Eventually I came up with this idea and then one other that I incorporated into the Fish Extender.
Here is the cover on my son's camera...

Some of our prep began as far back as December. Here's my sweet boy in his Mickey pjs in December....

I have a little garland of advent stockings and each day in December leading up to Christmas he received a Disney trading pin to bring along on the trip. This is the stocking garland...

This was one of the pins...

For spring break the year prior we made these lanyards as we first tried pin trading. We pulled them back out to add the pins from the advent stockings...

To prepare for the Fish Extender I also made this set of pockets to use on the cruise....

Here's the other project I used that fabric for. I made these for all the adult females in our Fish Extender group. I added the Mickey crystals to each pair of sunglasses and then made the sunglass cases....

I also made these for each stateroom...

With most cabins we included some trading pins. This was my teenager item in a lot of cases...

We made sure all had these for Pirate night....

These little barrels of Toy Story monkeys were one of the kiddie items we delivered...

For the teenage girls I made these little charm necklaces with Tinkerbell and pixie dust...

Here are some of the door decorations we got ready in advance. These were just printed on cardstock, cut out and then I added self adhesive magnets to the back....

These are the hats that can be placed around the porthole decoration on the door. I was able to find these on DIS boards and print them on cardstock. I again cut them out and used the self adhesive magnet. This one I also added glitter to the star and moon....

For pirate night...

Just because Minnie is a favorite!

Captain Mickey! Some of these we shared with other cabins in our Fish Extender group...

This was a printable we delivered to one of our Fish Extender cabins. We added magnets and then just left it on their stateroom door when we delivered their gifts...

We added this to the same door...

This was another fun idea we found on DIS boards. A countdown chain!...

One of the other items I came across in the months leading up to the trip was this fun Land's End tote bag that we used on the trip....

I'm going to stop here and continue with the pre-trip in the next entry. If you made it through all my pre-trip detail so far you deserve a Mickey bar!

scrpbookr · Apr 3, 2014

Continuing on with the pre-trip details....

Another one of my projects was making a lanyard to get my Mom started with pin trading. She had no idea we were up to any of this. We surprised her with it early in the trip. I gave her lanyard a bit of a Minnie theme...

Between starting with pin trading the Spring Break before and then growing his collection during Christmas with the Advent stockings Reagan's little lanyard was getting REALLY full. I have a little pin book on order for him currently that I expect to arrive in the next few days so that he can take some of them off his lanyard and organize them into little collections. I'm doing the same with my pins. Here is Reagan's lanyard...

And mine... for the most part I had the ones I wanted to trade down on the black Mickey head...

I found this little cosmetic case at Claires and all three lanyards tucked into it nicely...

I mentioned scrapbooking in the 1st pre-trip entry. I'm a paper crafter in general. Usually I incorporate most that I do into a scrapbook page or greeting cards. There is a Artist Trading Card community and I decided to make Disney ATCs for future use on scrapbook pages. I had another friend taking a trip just before me so we made Disney ATC's for eachother and traded in the months leading up to our trips. I also made a set of all for my mom, too. I found this cute Mickey binder to store all the Disney Artist Trading Cards in.

The cards are basically the size of baseball cards and can be created in endless variations. Here are some DCL cards I created...

And some Franche Lippie artwork. Some like Alice are Disney adaptations...

UP inspired cards...

A variety of others...

Frozen and Brave...

more Princesses...

Toy Story...

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell...

Lady and the Tramp... That second card will embellish the Sci Fi Drive In scrapbook layout for sure....

Nemo!

Dumbo!

I love the Kinkade / Disney artwork and had fun making these ATCs with it...

All that ATC stuff was a bit of a side track but it was a fun way to spend some of the time waiting for the Disney trip to arrive. We had the January / February long Winter wait going on.

With a resort stay both before and after the cruise we ended up getting two different sets of Magic Bands. It was fun picking out colors and then getting these boxes in the mail.

This were our sets for both before and after the cruise...

That's it for the pre-trip details I have photographed in this batch. I'll pick up with the flight and Downtown Disney in the next entry.

scrpbookr · Apr 3, 2014

We flew out of Philadelphia which is a little over an hour away for us. My DH was kind enough to drive us to the airport which made that especially easy. Once we were checked in we made our way to the US Airways Club Lounge. Along the way Reagan found this Liberty Bell made out of Legos so we stopped for a pic.

The US Airways Club Lounge is always a nice experience. We aren't members but we do have a US Airways MasterCard and they give us one club pass a year. Drinks and snacks are complimentary and its a very comfortable spot to wait for your flight.

Once settled into the plane Reagan and I played some Olaf's Quest together on his Nintendo DS....

We did have a bit of a take off delay once on the plane. They had made a door repair that we were waiting for paperwork on. I can't remember how late we were getting in but I think it was about an hour.

My mom had arrived in Orlando a bit earlier in the day and got settled in at Pop Century. She had driven in from TN so was able to drive to the airport to pick us up. We were so excited to see her and start our trip! From there we made our way to Downtown Disney!

Our first stop was Reagan's pick. We checked out the Lego store!

Reagan and Daddy had watched the Lego Movie together recently and Reagan had this set in mind to get....

We, of course, had to stop and say hi to Buzz and Woody inside!

And RC outside....

We saw Buzz and Woody again outside...

The Snow White and Seven Dwarf display was new since my last visit to Downtown Disney....

Reagan and I got a good chuckle about a fellow tourist asking if this was a Minecraft display.

We made our way past World of Disney and Stich only spit on us a little. He is so naughty!

Our Dinner destination was Earl of Sandwich. Mom and I both thought a couple of the sandwiches sounded especially good so we got one of each and then shared halves.

At dinner we gave my mom her new pin trading lanyard. She was cute about it. Pretty excited. We headed over to the pin store after dinner. Here's mom with her new lanyard and starter pins...

We had fun taking in all the details of the store...

PINocchio...

I *heart* Disney details!

Look at this awesome wall!

Mom made her first pin trade! Unfortunately the picture is a bit blurry. I must have been so excited that I couldn't stand still....

I saw this Disney Cruiseline pin picture a few time on the trip. I really liked it but I remember noticing it was more than I'd be willing to pay...

I picked up this three back of Magic Band decorations for us in the pin store...

We also stopped in Guest Relations while in Downtown Disney and picked up the Gift Cards that we could fill with the rewards from our Disney Visas. Later in the room we called to do that and it was easy-peazy. I'll stop there and pick up in the next entry with the rest of Downtown Disney and with arriving at Pop Century. It was a good start to the trip! We had arrived at Disney! *squeeeee*

missangelalexis · Apr 3, 2014

Yay another TR! Can't wait to read all about it! I love all your craft projects, especially the pin lanyards, you are so talented! Sounds like a great start to your DTD evening :goodvibes

sunfun94 · Apr 3, 2014

Subbing in! I'm new to your TR's but you intrigued me by all of your fabulous projects! I can't wait to read more!!

scrpbookr · Apr 4, 2014

Our next stop in Downtown Disney was Once Upon a Toy. I had a bit too much fun shopping for Disney related Potato Head parts.

I do remember seeing this display here when Reagan was a baby and I've kept it in mind. It was way better than I remembered though. I think I'll make another stop here when I visit again this summer. I'm sure there are other parts I didn't grab. Reagan hit a wall around this point and NEEDED to get to the hotel. He was tired after a long day of travel so we headed to Pop Century.

Here are some pictures I took of our new goodies once home...

We had the Potatoes but added the accessories. We filled the box shown there for $19.99.

Next stop... Pop Century! Look how cute these golf carts are!

We were in the 50s section....

First Towel Mickey of the trip! *love*

One of the two beds...

YaY for Disney bath products!

Hidden Mickeys on the wall paper...

These are the two sets Reagan picked out earlier in the night at the Lego store in Downtown Disney....

And a clearer picture of the Disney related Potato parts that we picked out.

These were our pin trades while at Downtown Disney...

And I took another pic of our three lanyards....

At this point we just showered, got a bit more settled in and organized for the next day. It was bedtime!

I woke up early the next day and explored Pop Century and Art of Animation. That will be coming up in the next entry....

missangelalexis · Apr 4, 2014

Cool Mr. Potato Heads!!

scrpbookr · Apr 4, 2014

missangelalexis said:
Cool Mr. Potato Heads!!

Thanks! I think I had a bit more fun with this than I should admit to!

So glad you came over to the trip report! Do you have another Disney trip in the works?

scrpbookr · Apr 4, 2014

sunfun94 said:
Subbing in! I'm new to your TR's but you intrigued me by all of your fabulous projects! I can't wait to read more!!

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!

mickeymouse108 · Apr 7, 2014

looking forward to reading about your trip.

missangelalexis · Apr 7, 2014

scrpbookr said:
Thanks! I think I had a bit more fun with this than I should admit to!

So glad you came over to the trip report! Do you have another Disney trip in the works?

We are potentially thinking of one but nothing is set in stone. Fingers crossed! :goodvibes

scrpbookr · Apr 7, 2014

On our first full day of vacation I was up before my Mom and Reagan. This will become a recurring theme. I just can't sleep in when there is SO MUCH Disney goodness to go and experience!

Once dressed I made my way over to the gift shop at Pop Century.... Everything Pop!...

I was visiting with a cast member there when the subject of Duffy came up. That's when I got my first dose of Pixie Dust! pixiedust:

She offered to let me be the guest of the day to dress Duffy. I about died when she pulled out Duffy's cute little closet! This will be the first of many, many times on this trip that I turn into a 5 year old. I can't help it!

There were so many cute choices but I went with the Sulley costume...

Once you dress Duffy he is propped up with a certificate for the day. They give you one to take home with you, too. It will be a nice addition to my scrapbook.

I thought this Disney trivia board at Pop Century was a fun idea, too!

I made a few little purchases.... postcards, key chain. I also grabbed some breakfast to go and headed back to the room to see if my Mom and Reagan were awake yet.

I mentioned that we were staying in the Fifties section...

We had a lake view. That is the Art of Animation resort on the other side of the lake....

Just around the corner was a view of the bowling pool....

We all had a bite to eat. Mom and I shared a breakfast burrito and Reagan had a pastry. Before long we were ready to leave for the Magic Kingdom. We parked at the TTC and took a the General Joe Potter ferry to Magic Kingdom....

My plan was to arrive in plenty of time for the Welcome Show but it took longer than I anticipated to park, ferry, etc. We arrived mid show. That wasn't the plan but it was better than missing it altogether. I know to give myself more time for travelling to the park in the future.

I was SO happy to be there after much pre-trip anticipation!

I had purchased an annual pass that needed to be activated so I had to briefly step over to a ticket window. All went smoothly and after a few minutes we were heading in!

We stopped in at Guest Relations to have the postcards I picked up at Everything Pop that morning postmarked with the Magic Kingdom Stamp....

Mary Poppins was greeting nearby without a wait so we enjoyed visiting with her and getting an autograph and pictures....

On our way back towards main street I dropped our postcards in the letter box Guest Relations....

The Magic Kingdom postmark...

Near the Confectionery near Town Square I found someone I was really hoping to be able to say hello to this trip.....

It was none other than the Honorable Mayor Weaver of Main Street, U.S.A! We had our picture and then I noticed Smokey was nearby, too. Double Excited!!! I said, "I really want a picture with you, too." At that point everyone said, "You already did" and showed me the pic. Smokey had photo bombed us!

I *heart* Main Street! :love:

Up next.... Town Square Theatre and meeting Mickey!

scrpbookr · Apr 7, 2014

mickeymouse108 said:
looking forward to reading about your trip.

Thanks for following along! We're just getting started. There is a long way to go.

missangelalexis said:
We are potentially thinking of one but nothing is set in stone. Fingers crossed!

I'll be anxious to hear what you decide. There's not much better than having a Disney trip to look forward to!

missangelalexis · Apr 8, 2014

You got to pick out Duffy's outfit?! I think that is SO cool! I love the outfit you picked too, that's one of my favorites that I've seen! The certificate is a nice touch too

At least you were able to catch part of the morning show! And some fun character meets to start the day :thumbsup2

scrpbookr · Apr 8, 2014

While we were still near Town Square on Main Street we decided to meet Mickey! We headed back towards the Town Square Theatre...

I enjoyed the Mickey themed artwork in the queue...

Mickey's marketing bulletin board...

More themeing in the queue...

After a short wait we were backstage with Mickey. I did my best to quickly take in all the details through pictures. Mickey's trunk...

Mom and Reagan were taking care of the autograph business....

Here's a close up of Reagan while he interacted with Mickey that the PP photographer took....

Mickey's armoire with his magician costume....

And a pose with all of us...

And one with just Reagan....

Mickey and Mommy!

Hugs goodbye....

Once we finished our time with Mickey we enjoyed his store. Reagan found this Mickey hand on a spring thing that he had to get. He was also trying very hard to buy a souvenir for Mommy. He had brought some of his own money and I had given him a Disney giftcard to use through the trip as well. I encouraged him to wait on buying anything else since it was so early in the day but stay tuned because as he leaves the park on this day he buys me the best souvenir ever!! I love what he picked for me but even more than that I adore that he wanted to give something back in exchange for all I put into planning this trip for us. My mom picked out some cute ears at this stop, too.

Reagan's springy, Mickey hand.....

Mom's ears....

The pretty area along side Mickey's Theatre...

Once back out on Main Street a Photo Pass Photographer took our picture in front of the castle....

In the next entry we'll make our way towards New Fantasyland! It's our first trip there. Yay!

scrpbookr · Apr 8, 2014

As we continued down Main Street towards the castle Reagan was feeling a bit hungry. We checked to see if Casey's was open yet.

They were not open just yet but we had a quick photo while there. We ended up grabbing a bite here later in the evening while we waited for the parde though.

When we left Casey's we spotted one of Main Street's vehicles....

Being at the caste is another fun "We're at Disney!" realization!

Mom posed with the Cinderella fountain for me...

Such a pretty castle!

We made our way past Prince Charming's castle which means you have to give the Sword in the Stone a try....

I like this next one....

We made our way into New Fantasyland *squeee!* and got our first glimpse of Be Our Guest....

Gaston's....

While we were in a Beauty in the Beast mood we decided to take in Enchanted Tales with Belle....

My silly boy in line....

The view of the castle while in the queue...

I thought both the waiting area and the library / story room were great!

I was encouraging Reagan to participate if he had the chance. I tried to convey the whole "You Only Live Once (at Disney) speech" in a brief manner. I didn't seem to be getting through to him in the moment but a bit of it sunk in I guess because he ended up having a small part in the story. A salt shaker was his little claim to fame....

A tapestry in the waiting area...

Lumiere above the fireplace....

A corner of the library...

Belle and Lumiere....

Reagan and some of the other children listening to Belle's Enchanted Tale...

Belle and Reagan...

Belle gave each of the children a special bookmark for participating. I think having someone from your group get involved in the story makes all the difference with this experience.