Sunday, August 27, 2017

Kindermoon-Magic Kingdom Day!!

Day 2 started out bright and early!! We were both excited for a full day at Magic Kingdom. The park officially opens at 9am but since they moved the morning show in front of the castle, they now allow you to enter the park and explore Main St starting around 8am. Both of our shirts came from All Things Cute Designs. I love her shirts so much!! They are the best quality and she is just the sweetest!!



Main Street was pretty empty so it made for great pictures!! I definitely recommend getting to the park around 8am for not only great pictures but you can grab a quick bite to eat too!





We enjoyed some time on the hub grass while waiting for the morning show to start. Matching red Converse are a MUST at Disney!!



We went right to the Ariel ride and then next door to meet Ariel. She is Sally's favorite and Sally insisted on bringing her stuffed baby Ariel for the pictures too. 


After that we made our way over to Winnie the Pooh. This will be the order I do things from now on. We basically walked onto every ride!


After that it was time for Peter Pan (first fast pass), meeting princesses, Small World, Dumbo, etc. 



Our second fast pass was for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!!




We had a quick lunch at Columbia Harbor House, rode Haunted Mansion and then it was time for Splash Mountain. This was Sally's first time. She was worried the whole time about when the big drop would be but ended up loving it in the end!



After riding Big Thunder Mountain (another first for Sally-she LOVED it!!), we grabbed my favorite Disney snack...a Dole Pineapple Whip Float!! We ate it while waiting for the Tiki Room to start. 


After that it was time for Haunted Mansion and then the afternoon parade (so good every time!), Pirates of Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. 



We had dinner reservations that evening at a new place, Skipper Canteen. I was excited to try it since it is pretty new and has gotten mixed reviews. 


Here is a picture of the inside. 



I let Sally order a special drink with a light up Ariel on it. If you know me in real life, you will know that this is not something I would normally do but its the special things that make Disney extra magical so I went for it. 


I ordered the Schweitzer Slush. It had boba balls on the top and it was yummy!!


The bread was really good...served with a honey sauce. We tried not to eat it all but it was too good!


For dinner I ordered the "Tastes Like Chicken Because It Is". As someone who love Asian food, I LOVED this!! I cant wait to go again and will order this for sure!! It was awesome!


Sally ordered the kids chicken noodle soup. It had an Asian flair. She liked it but didn't eat it all. Her meal came with a dessert so she got the Volcano. It was basically chocolate cake with pop rocks and a sugar sculpture on top. She loved it!! We loved this place and will be adding it to our normal rotation of restaurants. 



We had booked the Happily Ever After Dessert Party that night (mistake having a sit down dinner a few hours before because we were still full and couldn't eat very much at the party). I was super excited because I had never done this party and really wanted a great view of the new fireworks. Since there is so much projected onto the castle, you dont really get the full effect unless you are in front of the castle. The dessert parties are not cheap, but the stress of not having to get a spot 2 hours early may be worth it to you. 

There are two options for the party. One is viewing the fireworks from Tomorrowland Terrace ($79 for adults and $47 for kids) and also viewing from the Plaza Garden ($59 for adults and $35 for kids). The Plaza Garden is cheaper and a better view in my opinion. Both options eat desserts in Tomorrowland Terrace before the show. The guests with Plaza Garden ticket are then escorted out to the viewing area. There are no chairs but you can sit or stand on the fake grass. 


Check in was easy. We were given a tour of where everything was and escorted to our table. That's when the bottom dropped out of the sky and it started pouring! I was immediately concerned on how we were going to see the show. 

They had sparkling cider, milk, water, coffee, lemonade and hot chocolate. 


Tons of dessert offerings and also cheese, fruit, ice cream, etc. 


We made plates and tried to eat...we were still so full from dinner though!!


The rain finally stopped and after giving us free ponchos, they led us out to the Plaza Garden. We got a great view of the castle!! This is something we will for sure do next time!! I really loved how stress free it was!!! The new show is amazing and I found myself tearing up a few times. Disney is just so magical!!! It was pretty late when we got back to the hotel. We went to sleep very fast so we could be ready for a fun day at Epcot the next morning!!

Monday, August 7, 2017

2017 Kindermoon


So a little backstory.....Joe does not share the love of Disney like me. He likes it but does not feel the need to go multiple times a year. He doesn't want to crush my spirit though so he has said ( on multiple occasions) that he doesn't need to go but Sally and I can go whenever we want. Um....ok!

To tell you the truth, I needed some Sally time. I have been spending so much time each day attending to Henry's every need and she has gotten the short end of the stick. Its something that eats me up everyday and I try to do a better job everyday but its just not the same. We needed some time together and Disney just happens to be our happy place!!

Sally is a girl who loves surprises so it was no question that this trip would be a surprise. I couldn't wait to tell her!! She finished preschool on Friday.



On Saturday she had her dance recital.



After her dance recital, we presented her a gift bag. I had the cutest t-shirt from All Things Cute Designs, some Ariel perfume and her new magic band. When she saw that...she knew what it meant. DISNEY!!!


She was so excited and could hardly sleep that night. The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed for the airport!






Girls Trip!!


After a quick flight we arrived in Orlando and boarded Disney's Magical Express. 






After basically throwing our stuff in the room, we headed straight to Animal Kingdom! Sally had to organize a little first. 





First we stopped at the front of the hotel to pick up our stroller from Kingdom Strollers. They are BEST stroller rental company out there. They make it so very easy. You rent the stroller and they deliver right to the hotel. You use it during the trip and then you drop it back to the front desk before you leave. These are quality strollers too....BOBs and City Minis. They also come with a free rain cover which is super helpful!!

Sally and fun posing with the big "S" at All Star Music while waiting for the bus to the parks. 


We were so excited to finally be in the parks!! 



We were super pumped about one thing in particular....Sally was finally tall enough to ride DINOSAUR. Poor girl is only just now 40 inches. She had watched the video of the ride on Youtube but I dont think it prepared her for all the scary moving dinosaurs. She was scared right off the bat with the plant eaters. Of course now that we are home and says she wants to ride it again. 


After a dinner of honey chicken at Yak and Yeti, we posed for some pictures and met Pocahontas. 







We brought our Wilderness Explorers book and had fun earning badges. 





We were supposed to see Rivers of Lights but after waiting for over and hour, they cancelled it due to technical errors. I had fun teaching Sally how to do "the wave" as we waited. 



It was a long and exciting day and we were ready to go to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Photography with Faison Anne Photography!!

We were so excited to have booked Faison to take our pictures on our last trip. We hadn't scheduled her until later in the day and looking back now I wish we had done it first thing when we weren't to tired and sweaty. We talked beforehand so she knew what fast passes we had and she tried to match hers with ours. 



She knew a lot of great places to take pictures and was super patient with Sally who just wasn't feeling it. 




Saison lives in Orlando and has an annual pass. She is at Disney almost everyday so she is friends with a lot of the cast members. 







Here are the details on pricing:
$100 for fifteen minutes of coverage:
This small amount of time is primarily for portraits in front of Cinderella's castle and along Main Street. Around 15 images are delivered via an online gallery with downloading privileges and include a print release. Please note: this session is only offered on weekends.

$400 for one hour of coverage: (for Sarah Moske clients it's $350)
One hour of coverage is perfect for meeting a princess (with FastPass preferred) or an outdoor ride (The Madhatter's Tea Party, Dumbo, etc.) and three separate portrait locations within the park. This session includes an online gallery with downloading privileges, a beautiful skeleton key USB with your memories uploaded onto it, and a print release.

$550 for two hours of coverage: (for Sarah Moske clients, it's $450)
This amount of time is more focused on character meetings that are not included in the Fast Pass system (Pooh Bear and Tigger, Alice and the Madhatter, etc.) This amount of time is also perfect for the Bippity Boppity Boutique appointment, and several different portrait spots within the park. This session includes an online gallery with downloading privileges, a beautiful skeleton key USB with your memories uploaded onto it, and a print release.

$850 for four hours of coverage: (for Sarah Moske clients it's $725)
This half-day session will cover nearly everything, from a character meal (at your discretion) to several character meet-and-greets. This amount of time allows for stand-by waiting for attractions, and even a visit to a second park. This session may also be split into two sessions as two hours for two days. This session includes and online gallery with downloading privileges, a beautiful skeleton key USB with your memories uploaded onto it, and a print release.

A gallery from previous portrait sessions can be viewed through this link, and it does require you to input your email address to access it. Don't worry, I won't sell your email address! I simply use this to monitor who has access to this gallery.
http://faisonannephotography.pixieset.com/waltdisneyworldportraits/

Password: 2016

There is a 50% deposit fee to reserve the session date, and that 50% will be applied to the total payment due. The remaining 50% will be collected at the time of the session. This session is non-refundable except when inclement weather prevents re-booking the session (ex. if the weather forecast predicts rain and storms during the entire visit).