You were having so much fun I couldn't take my eyes or camera off you!
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The Great & Powerful Oz takes mom to disney - Pixie Dust Everywhere!
- Thread starter Candice30
- Start date
You were having so much fun I couldn't take my eyes or camera off you!
I don't know why these pics are HUGE....but here a few anyway...
Kat, Glendamax, Candice and Rebecca
awesome! these i was missing. thanks for posting them. we had so much fun!
Day 3 – Part One
So sorry for the delay…Life has been crazy. I know you all have been patiently waiting for our switch to GF club level so I’ll jump right into it. Since I wanted to have breakfast in the club lounge, we were up at 6:30 am. I was thankful we decided to come back to the room early last night cause I got a much more restful sleep. We quickly showered and were ready to go by 8:00. I called down to bell services for assistance as I had decided to just take a taxi over with our luggage. My excitement for my mom cannot be contained at this point. Bell services arrived and he asked if he was sending our bags to the new resort or just helping us to the front with them. I told him that we were going to take a taxi with our bags and where we were going was a surprise for mom. He was so awesome and had so much fun keeping it from my mom. When mom walked away from us, I was able to quickly tell him where we were going and he promised to keep it a secret. When we got down to valet, he whispered it to the valet and he in turn whispered to the taxi driver and told him not to blow the surprise. Perfect, mom would not know until we pulled into GF. Here is mom in the taxi so ready for the surprise!
Finally we pulled into the GF and mom said…I KNEW IT!
She was so giddy and beyond excited. Of course I still had the secret of club level so I couldn’t wait for that. I knew that the guard station had informed them of our arrival so knew someone would be along to find us soon. We paid for taxi – only $9 and headed over to bell services to store luggage. This only took 3 minutes and we were off. By the time I turned to head to the lobby doors, a cast member said, Candice? I replied yes and then he said to my mom, “you must be Magnolia?” mom was like,,huh?? Haha. It was priceless. She still didn’t get it.
We headed inside and the CM (sorry can’t remember his name now) showed us around. Finally, what I was waiting for, the walk to the side elevator. Mom was like, “where are we going?” He said oh you are staying in the main building club level so we don’t check in at the front desk. Mom’s jaw dropped and she started hugging me.
Okay so here is some major PIXIE DUST for me. We climbed in the elevator and the CM asked “what type of room category did you book?” I said just a standard room with whatever view that is. He said, “oh that’s our garden view, is that what you booked?” I said yes and he replied, “oh ok…yeah that’s not where you are staying!” mom and I looked at each other totally confused and was like then where are we staying? He said, “yeah well, you will be staying in our 2 bedroom suite on the 5th floor!” Enter knees buckling. Now my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. A second room upgrade in the same trip and this upgrade was beyond belief. He said the room wasn’t ready yet (it was 9 am) so we would head to breakfast and check in.
He took us up to the 4th floor to get some coffee and breakfast while he got our packet from the 3rd floor. While he was gone, I googled the room layout for mom and I to drool over.
Mom was like no way that is our room. I told her that it was nice knowing her cause we each had our own room and bathroom and I wouldn’t see her again! LOL. CM returned and he checked us in over breakfast which was awesome. Then he explained the text service to us and we set that up. I love that service. They texted me when the room was ready, when it was time for my next fastpass and reminded me of where it was, when I had a dining reservation, and many times throughout our stay just to say hi or ask if we needed anything. It was awesome! Mom and I had a late lunch that day so I had planned for us to just hang at the resort for much of the morning. Here are the breakfast offerings.
So sorry for the delay…Life has been crazy. I know you all have been patiently waiting for our switch to GF club level so I’ll jump right into it. Since I wanted to have breakfast in the club lounge, we were up at 6:30 am. I was thankful we decided to come back to the room early last night cause I got a much more restful sleep. We quickly showered and were ready to go by 8:00. I called down to bell services for assistance as I had decided to just take a taxi over with our luggage. My excitement for my mom cannot be contained at this point. Bell services arrived and he asked if he was sending our bags to the new resort or just helping us to the front with them. I told him that we were going to take a taxi with our bags and where we were going was a surprise for mom. He was so awesome and had so much fun keeping it from my mom. When mom walked away from us, I was able to quickly tell him where we were going and he promised to keep it a secret. When we got down to valet, he whispered it to the valet and he in turn whispered to the taxi driver and told him not to blow the surprise. Perfect, mom would not know until we pulled into GF. Here is mom in the taxi so ready for the surprise!
Finally we pulled into the GF and mom said…I KNEW IT!
She was so giddy and beyond excited. Of course I still had the secret of club level so I couldn’t wait for that. I knew that the guard station had informed them of our arrival so knew someone would be along to find us soon. We paid for taxi – only $9 and headed over to bell services to store luggage. This only took 3 minutes and we were off. By the time I turned to head to the lobby doors, a cast member said, Candice? I replied yes and then he said to my mom, “you must be Magnolia?” mom was like,,huh?? Haha. It was priceless. She still didn’t get it.
We headed inside and the CM (sorry can’t remember his name now) showed us around. Finally, what I was waiting for, the walk to the side elevator. Mom was like, “where are we going?” He said oh you are staying in the main building club level so we don’t check in at the front desk. Mom’s jaw dropped and she started hugging me.
Okay so here is some major PIXIE DUST for me. We climbed in the elevator and the CM asked “what type of room category did you book?” I said just a standard room with whatever view that is. He said, “oh that’s our garden view, is that what you booked?” I said yes and he replied, “oh ok…yeah that’s not where you are staying!” mom and I looked at each other totally confused and was like then where are we staying? He said, “yeah well, you will be staying in our 2 bedroom suite on the 5th floor!” Enter knees buckling. Now my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. A second room upgrade in the same trip and this upgrade was beyond belief. He said the room wasn’t ready yet (it was 9 am) so we would head to breakfast and check in.
He took us up to the 4th floor to get some coffee and breakfast while he got our packet from the 3rd floor. While he was gone, I googled the room layout for mom and I to drool over.
Mom was like no way that is our room. I told her that it was nice knowing her cause we each had our own room and bathroom and I wouldn’t see her again! LOL. CM returned and he checked us in over breakfast which was awesome. Then he explained the text service to us and we set that up. I love that service. They texted me when the room was ready, when it was time for my next fastpass and reminded me of where it was, when I had a dining reservation, and many times throughout our stay just to say hi or ask if we needed anything. It was awesome! Mom and I had a late lunch that day so I had planned for us to just hang at the resort for much of the morning. Here are the breakfast offerings.
Day 3 – Part Two
After breakfast, we headed out to the marina to look around and mom hadn’t been here since the renovations so we checked those out. We were supposed to then head to animal kingdom but snack time in the lounge was approaching and though we just ate breakfast and had lunch coming, we didn’t care and wanted to check it out. We were total pigs this trip! Here are the early afternoon offerings.
Finally we tore ourselves away from the resort and headed to the bus stop for animal kingdom. It had started to pour so it was not fun trying to get the ponchos on. We had missed our first fastpass and since it was pouring, decided to just head to lunch. Yak & Yeti was packed with people trying to get out of the rain. Lunch was awesome. Mom got the miso glazed salmon and I got the steak & shrimp. The steak was a little tough and the shrimp just average but I really come here for the dessert. We chose the mango cheesecake and fried wontons. Both were delish and we were so full!! We used our last table service credit to pay for meal and headed out when we were both able to stand due to the size of our bellies. Luckily it stopped raining real hard and was down to just a drizzle.
It was time for our safari fastpass so we headed over there. Loved this ride as always.
After breakfast, we headed out to the marina to look around and mom hadn’t been here since the renovations so we checked those out. We were supposed to then head to animal kingdom but snack time in the lounge was approaching and though we just ate breakfast and had lunch coming, we didn’t care and wanted to check it out. We were total pigs this trip! Here are the early afternoon offerings.
Finally we tore ourselves away from the resort and headed to the bus stop for animal kingdom. It had started to pour so it was not fun trying to get the ponchos on. We had missed our first fastpass and since it was pouring, decided to just head to lunch. Yak & Yeti was packed with people trying to get out of the rain. Lunch was awesome. Mom got the miso glazed salmon and I got the steak & shrimp. The steak was a little tough and the shrimp just average but I really come here for the dessert. We chose the mango cheesecake and fried wontons. Both were delish and we were so full!! We used our last table service credit to pay for meal and headed out when we were both able to stand due to the size of our bellies. Luckily it stopped raining real hard and was down to just a drizzle.
It was time for our safari fastpass so we headed over there. Loved this ride as always.
Day 3 – Part Three
We had some time to kill before our next fastpass so stopped in some stores to do some shopping. While shopping, I received a text about our room and told mom. So what do you think we did??? YUP…scrapped the rest of the plans and headed back to the resort. We were dying to get into our room. Sadly we were stalled at the elevator as we had to wait for the front desk to take us up as our bands would not yet work the elevator. The CM taking us up asked what room #. When I told her even her eyes got big and she said Fantastic Room. Okay so now I’m even more excited. Finally!!! The room! My band worked the door perfectly but mom’s didn’t. I was so impressed that they even checked both. They kindly took mom’s band and went to have it reprogrammed for her while we looked around.
Okay so here is the run down on the room. Living room with Christmas tree, powder room, tv, dvd, wet bar, refrigerator, closet and table and chairs. I took the master bedroom and had a king bed, tv, dvd, refrigerator, chaise lounge, desk and chair, huge closet and bathroom. Mom took the other bedroom and had 2 queen beds, tv, dvd, refrigerator, desk and chair, huge closet and bathroom. Oh and add in a balcony off of each room. Crazy right! Our views were of the pool, Polynesian to our right and magic kingdom to our left though obstructed.
Unbelievable! I finally calmed down enough to call for our luggage. I also got a text from concierge. They asked if I was in the room as I had asked about non alcoholic beer for mom prior to the trip. Within minutes they knocked on the door and brought mom these ice cold bottles to enjoy throughout the trip. Our luggage arrived next and they set them up on stands in their corresponding rooms and we were left to unpack.
At this point mom pointed out that we needed an intercom as we had to yell across the suite to hear each other! We unpacked and relaxed for a bit and of course called home to brag. Around 6 or so we headed to the lounge to check out the evening offerings. Again it was amazing; so much to eat. We had mac & cheese balls, pot stickers and chicken skewers among many other things.
We had some time to kill before our next fastpass so stopped in some stores to do some shopping. While shopping, I received a text about our room and told mom. So what do you think we did??? YUP…scrapped the rest of the plans and headed back to the resort. We were dying to get into our room. Sadly we were stalled at the elevator as we had to wait for the front desk to take us up as our bands would not yet work the elevator. The CM taking us up asked what room #. When I told her even her eyes got big and she said Fantastic Room. Okay so now I’m even more excited. Finally!!! The room! My band worked the door perfectly but mom’s didn’t. I was so impressed that they even checked both. They kindly took mom’s band and went to have it reprogrammed for her while we looked around.
Okay so here is the run down on the room. Living room with Christmas tree, powder room, tv, dvd, wet bar, refrigerator, closet and table and chairs. I took the master bedroom and had a king bed, tv, dvd, refrigerator, chaise lounge, desk and chair, huge closet and bathroom. Mom took the other bedroom and had 2 queen beds, tv, dvd, refrigerator, desk and chair, huge closet and bathroom. Oh and add in a balcony off of each room. Crazy right! Our views were of the pool, Polynesian to our right and magic kingdom to our left though obstructed.
Unbelievable! I finally calmed down enough to call for our luggage. I also got a text from concierge. They asked if I was in the room as I had asked about non alcoholic beer for mom prior to the trip. Within minutes they knocked on the door and brought mom these ice cold bottles to enjoy throughout the trip. Our luggage arrived next and they set them up on stands in their corresponding rooms and we were left to unpack.
At this point mom pointed out that we needed an intercom as we had to yell across the suite to hear each other! We unpacked and relaxed for a bit and of course called home to brag. Around 6 or so we headed to the lounge to check out the evening offerings. Again it was amazing; so much to eat. We had mac & cheese balls, pot stickers and chicken skewers among many other things.
Day 3 – Part Four
I grabbed some wine and we ate while enjoying the music from the band and piano in the lobby. Such ambiance. It was amazing! We were totally stuffed and exhausted but we were meeting friends at Hollywood studios for Osborne lights so sadly we had to go.
We headed back to the room to get our stuff. Mousekeeping was there to do turn down service. As we entered the room, a couple of other cast members came out and told us that they were just filling our fridge and left us a gift. We received this little…okay not so little, welcome basket! Okay I can hardly take any more surprises at this point. We checked the fridge and they had filled it with soda and water. So nice! Sadly we had to head to bus stop.
We met up with friends and enjoyed Osborne lights.
Mom was excited to spot the cat before I did!
This was mom’s first time seeing the lights so she was in awe and talking it up with Aunt Brenda!
We were getting tired or at least that’s what we said, really our lounge was calling us for evening desserts and cordials so we said our goodbyes and got back to the resort as quickly as possible. Here are the desserts and cordials.
I don’t know how we found the room to eat again but we did. I even had a chococchino (thanks for the idea AGPrincess) but I put amaretto in mine. Delicious!! We decided to walk off the food a little and walk around the building but sadly the stores closed at 10 tonight so we headed to the room.
What a long exciting day and I was ready for a bubble bath and my robe!
Good night and see you on day 4!
I grabbed some wine and we ate while enjoying the music from the band and piano in the lobby. Such ambiance. It was amazing! We were totally stuffed and exhausted but we were meeting friends at Hollywood studios for Osborne lights so sadly we had to go.
We headed back to the room to get our stuff. Mousekeeping was there to do turn down service. As we entered the room, a couple of other cast members came out and told us that they were just filling our fridge and left us a gift. We received this little…okay not so little, welcome basket! Okay I can hardly take any more surprises at this point. We checked the fridge and they had filled it with soda and water. So nice! Sadly we had to head to bus stop.
We met up with friends and enjoyed Osborne lights.
Mom was excited to spot the cat before I did!
This was mom’s first time seeing the lights so she was in awe and talking it up with Aunt Brenda!
We were getting tired or at least that’s what we said, really our lounge was calling us for evening desserts and cordials so we said our goodbyes and got back to the resort as quickly as possible. Here are the desserts and cordials.
I don’t know how we found the room to eat again but we did. I even had a chococchino (thanks for the idea AGPrincess) but I put amaretto in mine. Delicious!! We decided to walk off the food a little and walk around the building but sadly the stores closed at 10 tonight so we headed to the room.
What a long exciting day and I was ready for a bubble bath and my robe!
Good night and see you on day 4!
rebecca06261
DIS Pirate Wench
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
HHAHAHA OMG where do I begin!?!?
First, that look on your mom's face when she found out ya'll were going to the Grand is PRICELESS!!!! I still cannot get over all that food you get with concierge! Seriously, how in the world can anyone even think of leaving their room at the GRAND?! Just being there is such a treat!
First, that look on your mom's face when she found out ya'll were going to the Grand is PRICELESS!!!! I still cannot get over all that food you get with concierge! Seriously, how in the world can anyone even think of leaving their room at the GRAND?! Just being there is such a treat!
oh believe me...we cancelled lots of park plans to hang at the resort. and we ate so much on that trip! mom is still talking about it
accountingbabe08
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2008
Great review...
Day 4 – Part One
I awoke this morning after having the best sleep at Disney ever and remembered I was in my suite. It was nice having my own room and that huge king bed to myself. No one to fight the bathroom or shower for. Mom was already up and I quickly remembered the gift I left her under the tree so I went out into the living room as quick as I could.
Even though she had been back and forth into the living room making coffee, she never noticed it. Hee..hee… I sat on the couch in hopes that it would make her hang around in the living room instead of taking her coffee back to her room. It worked! She came to sit by me on the couch and said, “what is that?”
I looked totally surprised and said “SANTA CAME!” She laughed and quickly ran over to see her goodies.
I included a note from Mickey inviting her to his Christmas party that night and gave her a gift card to buy a Christmas gift. She was really excited. We got dressed and headed to the lounge to get breakfast. Yummy again this morning. We chatted with the ladies there (Hi Loretta) and of course mom had to tell them about her newest surprise! We headed off to Epcot this morning. Mom loves test track so we headed there first. She loved the new queue and we had fun making our car.
After test track, we did mission space and then headed to world showcase. We just didn’t feel like riding much today. I love The American Adventure and most of the time I can only do it on solo trips. Mom had never been so we headed there. Caught the Voice of Liberty Show as they were singing Christmas and Hanukkah songs. It was beautiful.
Mom really liked the show and we headed off to Oh Canada. Another one of my favorites. I don’t know why…never been to Canada but the song in the show gets me choked up every time and I just adore it. Post the show it was time for our ressie at Le Cellier. This would be mom’s first visit. She really liked the food but thought the restaurant was too compact and dark. We were so close to the tables next to us that we ended up talking the whole time to this little girl next to us on a day trip with her grandmother. We started with the cheese soup and pretzel bread. Mom and I both really enjoyed these.
Mom got the filet mignon with mushroom risotto. Sadly her risotto was a little under cooked but her steak was perfect. I got the NY strip and it was delicious and huge. I have also been dying to try poutine fries so I ordered those. They were really good. Mom didn’t care for them. After we rolled out of the restaurant, we stopped to see a couple of the sites before deciding we missed our home.
Ahhh..back to our grand Floridian! We dropped some purchases off in the room and our backpacks. It was now tea time. The one meal time we hadn’t experienced yet and we were ready for a sweet treat. Today they had scones with Devonshire cream and marmalades, brown sugar bread I think it was and some kind of berry trifle…strawberry I think? And of course hot tea. Everything was yummy and a nice small snack post lunch and before dinner.
We returned to the room to relax a bit and freshen up for the Christmas party with friends. BTW, here is our left and right views from our 3 balconies.
A couple of hours later it was party time!
I awoke this morning after having the best sleep at Disney ever and remembered I was in my suite. It was nice having my own room and that huge king bed to myself. No one to fight the bathroom or shower for. Mom was already up and I quickly remembered the gift I left her under the tree so I went out into the living room as quick as I could.
Even though she had been back and forth into the living room making coffee, she never noticed it. Hee..hee… I sat on the couch in hopes that it would make her hang around in the living room instead of taking her coffee back to her room. It worked! She came to sit by me on the couch and said, “what is that?”
I looked totally surprised and said “SANTA CAME!” She laughed and quickly ran over to see her goodies.
I included a note from Mickey inviting her to his Christmas party that night and gave her a gift card to buy a Christmas gift. She was really excited. We got dressed and headed to the lounge to get breakfast. Yummy again this morning. We chatted with the ladies there (Hi Loretta) and of course mom had to tell them about her newest surprise! We headed off to Epcot this morning. Mom loves test track so we headed there first. She loved the new queue and we had fun making our car.
After test track, we did mission space and then headed to world showcase. We just didn’t feel like riding much today. I love The American Adventure and most of the time I can only do it on solo trips. Mom had never been so we headed there. Caught the Voice of Liberty Show as they were singing Christmas and Hanukkah songs. It was beautiful.
Mom really liked the show and we headed off to Oh Canada. Another one of my favorites. I don’t know why…never been to Canada but the song in the show gets me choked up every time and I just adore it. Post the show it was time for our ressie at Le Cellier. This would be mom’s first visit. She really liked the food but thought the restaurant was too compact and dark. We were so close to the tables next to us that we ended up talking the whole time to this little girl next to us on a day trip with her grandmother. We started with the cheese soup and pretzel bread. Mom and I both really enjoyed these.
Mom got the filet mignon with mushroom risotto. Sadly her risotto was a little under cooked but her steak was perfect. I got the NY strip and it was delicious and huge. I have also been dying to try poutine fries so I ordered those. They were really good. Mom didn’t care for them. After we rolled out of the restaurant, we stopped to see a couple of the sites before deciding we missed our home.
Ahhh..back to our grand Floridian! We dropped some purchases off in the room and our backpacks. It was now tea time. The one meal time we hadn’t experienced yet and we were ready for a sweet treat. Today they had scones with Devonshire cream and marmalades, brown sugar bread I think it was and some kind of berry trifle…strawberry I think? And of course hot tea. Everything was yummy and a nice small snack post lunch and before dinner.
We returned to the room to relax a bit and freshen up for the Christmas party with friends. BTW, here is our left and right views from our 3 balconies.
A couple of hours later it was party time!
Day 4 – Part Two
We stopped by the lounge first for a quick bite to eat since we would only be consuming cookies and hot chocolate at the party. Tonight’s selections included pulled pork sliders, shrimp toasts, pigs in a blanket, bruschetta, and fried risotto balls.
Of course I had my evening glass of wine before heading to the bus stop.
The weather had turned down right frigid tonight. Mom and I were freezing. I’m glad I had my festive scarf which I ended up giving to mom. It was so crowded that we didn’t meet up with friends until the evening parade. Mom was so cold and tired that she didn’t even wanna stay for the party so we only saw one show, had some cookies & hot chocolate and waited for the parade and fireworks.
Mom had finally had it so we said our goodbyes and headed out and called it a night. Tomorrow we plan to take it super slow and relax on our last full day.
We stopped by the lounge first for a quick bite to eat since we would only be consuming cookies and hot chocolate at the party. Tonight’s selections included pulled pork sliders, shrimp toasts, pigs in a blanket, bruschetta, and fried risotto balls.
Of course I had my evening glass of wine before heading to the bus stop.
The weather had turned down right frigid tonight. Mom and I were freezing. I’m glad I had my festive scarf which I ended up giving to mom. It was so crowded that we didn’t meet up with friends until the evening parade. Mom was so cold and tired that she didn’t even wanna stay for the party so we only saw one show, had some cookies & hot chocolate and waited for the parade and fireworks.
Mom had finally had it so we said our goodbyes and headed out and called it a night. Tomorrow we plan to take it super slow and relax on our last full day.
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