Disney World with Princess K and Princess Liss
Client's Code Name - Princess K and Princess Liss
When was your Disney vacation?
December 2011/January 2012
When was your Disney vacation?
December 2011/January 2012
What month/year was the date of your Disney vacation?
December 30, 2011-Jan 2, 2012
How far in advance did you start planning for your trip? What was the planning process like - stressful, simple, overwhelming? In what way did your DVP assist you with the planning stage?
Started about 3-4 months beforehand. In hindsight I would have started earlier. I would have done more research on my own (researched what weeks to go, places to stay, deals etc). I just kind of went with whatever Pixie Sonya suggested, and I got lucky because it went awesome. But because I was uninformed, there was an added level of stress because of my ignorance.
How did you tell your family about the trip? Was it a surprise?
Was the BIG Christmas gift for my 2 girls ages 13-9. Bought mostly Disney character smaller gifts for their other presents. The idea behind the plan was that they would be opening all this Disney stuff (pjs, ornaments, shirts, toothbrushes, rings, diary's, purses etc). Then the very last package for each of them would have the "I'm Going to Disney World" t-shirt in it with luggage tags, maps, and reservation papers for the character breakfast.
Which Disney Resort/Ship did you stay at? What did you think of the resort/ship?
Pop Century. We really liked it, although we were only there about 8 hours a day (including sleep, the kids were troopers!). I would stay there again, it was comparable to a three star hotel. It was clean, and service was good. The pool, gift shop, food court were all above expectations. The bus line was a little slower than I would have hoped, but we were there during a level 9 week.
What are your family's favorite Disney characters? Did you have interactions with them while on vacation?
Mickey, the princesses, Goofy. We had two character breakfast. They were great. The girls thought it was awesome that the princesses talked to them. And it was a great opportunity to get autographs. On our last night at Epcot we also happened to stumble upon characters and got more pics and signatures there. The girls enjoyed 'comparing' signatures.
What restaurants did you dine at?
Akershus at Epcot for a Princess breakfast. Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. I would dine at both places again in a heartbeat! The characters all come around, they do little dances/processions (although my girls felt they were too old for them)... Again I was lucky that Pixie Sonya was able to book these, because many of them I found out book up to 6 months in advance. She found both of these on the days of our visit to the parks, it was PERFECT!!! One thing was that we got a picture with Princess Belle in a nice Folder. We took the same type of picture with Donald at Tusker House but never got the picture, I wonder if something got messed up there. All we have from that experience is the pics we took with our cameras and the autographs.
What was your family's favorite ride or attraction? And why?
The Princess breakfast... For girls, that is so amazing to see the beautiful princesses and have them talk to you - real and fantasy become all jumbled together. We loved exploring all views of the castle. My oldest teenage daughter loved the Jungle Cruise, the witty sarcastic humor totally fit her personality! My youngest really liked Soarin and Star Tours. We all loved the Kilamanjaro Safari (my girls love animals). I really like the Kali River ride at Animal Kingdom, we got drenched!!! The girls thought that the American Idol experience was really cool. Too many to list everything! Oh yeah, we stood in line for over an hour and twenty min for Toy Story Mania, and it was worth it!!! I don't even like stop lights, so that says a lot!!!
What was the greatest advantage of booking your vacation with your personal DVP? Please be sure to list their name if you'd like.
That it was worry free, even though I didn't know it. I wish I would have had more faith in what Sonya was doing.
Share one moment during your vacation that will always be a favorite memory.
My youngest daughter's reaction to first seeing Cinderella's castle on the way to Magic Kingdom! Also, the fireworks shows... Unreal! Seeing and taking pictures of my daughters with the many different backgrounds! Walking under the castle was awesome. Also, the first trip down Main Street USA, very quaint and dream like. The Osborne lights! My daughters getting their faces painted, the oldest loved her tiger face (she even called the tigers at Animal Kingdom her cousins- she let her little kid out!) Many 'favorite' memories.
If you had a funny moment during your trip where you could not stopping laughing, please share.
My youngest daughter and I trying to embarrass the older 'teenage' daughter by walking silly and acting goofy while walking through the masses of people, it just never seemed to get old. Eventually we even got her to act that way! The girls liked putting on the various different Mickey Mouse hats. I even put on the Dumbo Mickey Mouse hat and the Cinderella Princess shoe hat!
What was one thing that really surprised you during your vacation? Maybe a ride that your family loved that you thought you wouldn't, or something special a Cast Member said or did.
We had a great visit with a Cast Member from South Africa after the Kilamanjaro Safari ride. I believe his name was Taou or something like that. He was playing Mancala and I decided to come up and ask if he would show us how to play (we have this game at home). He was most willing to show and even played the girls. As the game was going on he answered and asked questions of us. He was exceedingly polite and his English was very good. He informed us on how he ended up there (through Disney and Orlando University) and how much he missed his mom. He was hoping to see snow so he was very jealous that we get snow every year. We got a picture with him, but he of course won in Mancala!
Did you or anyone in your family have 'tears of joy' during your trip? Share the details.
I did on multiple occasions. The very first night, we meandered in front of Cinderella's castle just in time for the fireworks and show. Watching from our view, which seemed to be the best spot in the park, I was constantly watching the show and my daughters' reactions. I would tear up from being so happy that I was able to be there with them to watch them experience the wonder of Disney. Each night, as the girls got ready for bed, I would video tape them explaining their day and favorite things we did. Listening to them rattle off all the things they did, and how happy they were to relive the story of our day was very moving for me as a father. One other special moment was when we were first going to Magic Kingdom on the bus, my nine year old sees the Castle and exclaims,"OH OH... I can see the castle!!!" The pure joy in her voice made me so happy! I will never forget these moments!
Did you go through Disney withdrawals when you returned home? What was the best remedy?
I was so happy coming back from there... It is truly the happiest place on earth, and I am not by nature a cheery fellow. Looking at our pics and videos really puts me in a great place mentally!
Have you started planning your next Disney vacation? What will you do differently next time?
Haven't started planning but I will be bringing my girls back. Would look at a cheaper and less busy time of the year... Like late Jan early Feb.. I liked that the weather was not too hot and humid.
December 30, 2011-Jan 2, 2012
How far in advance did you start planning for your trip? What was the planning process like - stressful, simple, overwhelming? In what way did your DVP assist you with the planning stage?
Started about 3-4 months beforehand. In hindsight I would have started earlier. I would have done more research on my own (researched what weeks to go, places to stay, deals etc). I just kind of went with whatever Pixie Sonya suggested, and I got lucky because it went awesome. But because I was uninformed, there was an added level of stress because of my ignorance.
How did you tell your family about the trip? Was it a surprise?
Was the BIG Christmas gift for my 2 girls ages 13-9. Bought mostly Disney character smaller gifts for their other presents. The idea behind the plan was that they would be opening all this Disney stuff (pjs, ornaments, shirts, toothbrushes, rings, diary's, purses etc). Then the very last package for each of them would have the "I'm Going to Disney World" t-shirt in it with luggage tags, maps, and reservation papers for the character breakfast.
Which Disney Resort/Ship did you stay at? What did you think of the resort/ship?
Pop Century. We really liked it, although we were only there about 8 hours a day (including sleep, the kids were troopers!). I would stay there again, it was comparable to a three star hotel. It was clean, and service was good. The pool, gift shop, food court were all above expectations. The bus line was a little slower than I would have hoped, but we were there during a level 9 week.
What are your family's favorite Disney characters? Did you have interactions with them while on vacation?
Mickey, the princesses, Goofy. We had two character breakfast. They were great. The girls thought it was awesome that the princesses talked to them. And it was a great opportunity to get autographs. On our last night at Epcot we also happened to stumble upon characters and got more pics and signatures there. The girls enjoyed 'comparing' signatures.
What restaurants did you dine at?
Akershus at Epcot for a Princess breakfast. Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. I would dine at both places again in a heartbeat! The characters all come around, they do little dances/processions (although my girls felt they were too old for them)... Again I was lucky that Pixie Sonya was able to book these, because many of them I found out book up to 6 months in advance. She found both of these on the days of our visit to the parks, it was PERFECT!!! One thing was that we got a picture with Princess Belle in a nice Folder. We took the same type of picture with Donald at Tusker House but never got the picture, I wonder if something got messed up there. All we have from that experience is the pics we took with our cameras and the autographs.
What was your family's favorite ride or attraction? And why?
The Princess breakfast... For girls, that is so amazing to see the beautiful princesses and have them talk to you - real and fantasy become all jumbled together. We loved exploring all views of the castle. My oldest teenage daughter loved the Jungle Cruise, the witty sarcastic humor totally fit her personality! My youngest really liked Soarin and Star Tours. We all loved the Kilamanjaro Safari (my girls love animals). I really like the Kali River ride at Animal Kingdom, we got drenched!!! The girls thought that the American Idol experience was really cool. Too many to list everything! Oh yeah, we stood in line for over an hour and twenty min for Toy Story Mania, and it was worth it!!! I don't even like stop lights, so that says a lot!!!
What was the greatest advantage of booking your vacation with your personal DVP? Please be sure to list their name if you'd like.
That it was worry free, even though I didn't know it. I wish I would have had more faith in what Sonya was doing.
Share one moment during your vacation that will always be a favorite memory.
My youngest daughter's reaction to first seeing Cinderella's castle on the way to Magic Kingdom! Also, the fireworks shows... Unreal! Seeing and taking pictures of my daughters with the many different backgrounds! Walking under the castle was awesome. Also, the first trip down Main Street USA, very quaint and dream like. The Osborne lights! My daughters getting their faces painted, the oldest loved her tiger face (she even called the tigers at Animal Kingdom her cousins- she let her little kid out!) Many 'favorite' memories.
If you had a funny moment during your trip where you could not stopping laughing, please share.
My youngest daughter and I trying to embarrass the older 'teenage' daughter by walking silly and acting goofy while walking through the masses of people, it just never seemed to get old. Eventually we even got her to act that way! The girls liked putting on the various different Mickey Mouse hats. I even put on the Dumbo Mickey Mouse hat and the Cinderella Princess shoe hat!
What was one thing that really surprised you during your vacation? Maybe a ride that your family loved that you thought you wouldn't, or something special a Cast Member said or did.
We had a great visit with a Cast Member from South Africa after the Kilamanjaro Safari ride. I believe his name was Taou or something like that. He was playing Mancala and I decided to come up and ask if he would show us how to play (we have this game at home). He was most willing to show and even played the girls. As the game was going on he answered and asked questions of us. He was exceedingly polite and his English was very good. He informed us on how he ended up there (through Disney and Orlando University) and how much he missed his mom. He was hoping to see snow so he was very jealous that we get snow every year. We got a picture with him, but he of course won in Mancala!
Did you or anyone in your family have 'tears of joy' during your trip? Share the details.
I did on multiple occasions. The very first night, we meandered in front of Cinderella's castle just in time for the fireworks and show. Watching from our view, which seemed to be the best spot in the park, I was constantly watching the show and my daughters' reactions. I would tear up from being so happy that I was able to be there with them to watch them experience the wonder of Disney. Each night, as the girls got ready for bed, I would video tape them explaining their day and favorite things we did. Listening to them rattle off all the things they did, and how happy they were to relive the story of our day was very moving for me as a father. One other special moment was when we were first going to Magic Kingdom on the bus, my nine year old sees the Castle and exclaims,"OH OH... I can see the castle!!!" The pure joy in her voice made me so happy! I will never forget these moments!
Did you go through Disney withdrawals when you returned home? What was the best remedy?
I was so happy coming back from there... It is truly the happiest place on earth, and I am not by nature a cheery fellow. Looking at our pics and videos really puts me in a great place mentally!
Have you started planning your next Disney vacation? What will you do differently next time?
Haven't started planning but I will be bringing my girls back. Would look at a cheaper and less busy time of the year... Like late Jan early Feb.. I liked that the weather was not too hot and humid.
