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

[khertz]

Okay, those shirts are FANTASTIC!

OMG #clamtastrophe YES, let's make that happen! #trending

Awww, the picture story with Belle is adorable, especially "I'm a fast learner." She's presh.

Ahh, Gaston! He is seriously the best. Every person I have read reports of meeting him do nothing but sing his praises. Definitely one of the BEST character meets WDW has available!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Just read your TR to date, looks like you had a blast!

I love you shirts! Both the cupcakes and your family Ts with the Snow White characters, very cute.

Can't wait to see how the rest of the trip went!

Oh! And your formal gown is lovely, kinda reminds me of the ones you saw in the Beauty and the Beast stage show... Coincidence?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

yeah for getting a group picture! - and smart to get the backside too!

Sounds like a great meet with Gaston - definitely one of the more interactive characters. I think I am going to try to use "... or at least frowned upon" in more of my everyday interactions.

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

I must go visit Gaston!! You are the third TR that's had fantastic interactions with him!

The magic shots with Sebastian are wonderful! Those are definitely new since the last time we were there.

 

[adenton2000]

Love the pics!!

 

[RGirl]

Hey there, Courtney!

LOVE the matching shirts - how fun!!!

Clamtastrophe! I truly love that!

You know, all the PhotoPass pics in this update were REALLY great. It can sometimes be hit or miss, so it was cool to see y’all get so many good ones.

Okay, when I started reading “Enchanted Tales with Belle” instead of “ETwB,” my brain was all, “Enchanted Tales with Rob. Wait, what? What is going on here??”

Back to your TR…. We have not done ETwB yet! Can you believe it??? I know that Maddie will make sure that Willow actually agrees to do it on the next trip though. It sounds like so much fun (albeit more fun when the guests are playing along well)!

I love Belle’s “fast learner” comment - that is so funny!!!

Okay, this may sound weird, but getting pictures of me and Shannon with Gaston is pretty much my number 1 priority of our trip - he just seems to always be so funny. I’m so glad that you managed to meet him and that he was clearly in rare form. (As you may have figured out, we totally missed him on our last trip, which was approximately 100 years ago now.)

 

[maddiebee]

I am dyyyyying over your Gaston photos. What a perfect Gaston We kept missing him this trip but he is at the top of my list.

The "We're Engaged" edit is hysterical and perfect. You're the best

 

[cfriend416]

Ok serious question - are Gaston's pit stains real or part of the costume?

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi, Courtney - I'm joining in for the fun!

You seemed to travel with such a fun group! I love the cake towel "animal," the traveling stick Olaf, the Keys to the Kingdom reveal, and your shirts (especially the backs!).

I'm glad you loved the brunch at Crystal Palace - it's one of my favorite breakfasts in Disney World!

 

[CarolAnnB]

I gotta say - I am still really liking those shirts! I don't care if we were "those people". Loved the color.

Emily was so funny asking Belle to look my way for a pic. No one else ever dared to do that. "I'm a fast learner" LOL. I am not a fast learner because it took me a second to figure out how Belle knew Kylie was with me too??

Kylie's magic shot with Sebastian cracks me up.

That Gaston was perfect. His eyebrows are the best.

See you SOON!!

 

[Twindisneykids]

I'm really enjoying your TR It's really getting me ready for our trip in 29 days

 

[Wood Nymph]

I love the dress you wore to the Senior Dance. It is a great color on you, too!

What a fun birthday for Kylie. I love her tiara. Did she get that in WDW?

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Finally made it over to this TR!

I thought it was funny that you said your sweet 16 was at the knights of columbus cause that's where we had mine too!

Love the sweet 16 shirts & I can't wait to hear about the tour!

 

[fancifull]

ok so I have quite a few entries to catch up on here so here goes:

OMG IM SO EXCITED TO READ ABOUT THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM TOUR! That card is beautiful, too.

AND YOU MET KAELA ON THIS DAY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH that's too exciting!!!

That's a great picture of you guys in your bday celebration shirts on Splash

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All your photography is great but I'm in love with the Tangled area shots. It looks like such lovely weather!! I dont think I got any nice shots of this area (and I LOVE IT) because I had my phone in my bag most of the time in MK due to rain! ah well

I agree about Mine Train. Definitely worth the wait with fastpass, it whips you around and its a very fun ride and the mine is beautiful, but its SOOOOO SHORT. I really feel bad that people wait so long for it. We happily got to ride it a few times with fp. And Kaela pointed out some hidden mickeys to me!

You know, I think I would love to do Crystal Palace for brunch! Ana & I haven't been there at all, but the character interaction seems so on point. I DON'T really love breakfast foods but this look really really good, and I can definitely be here for a late breakfast haha. Eeyore with a birthday cupcake, omgsh so adorable

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LOL I love the birthday shot of Kylie! I love wearing a bday button in MK, you always seem to get some kind of special photo.

#clamtastrophe

Yeeees, Sebastian shots! We hoped for him but never got him.

i'm so excited that you were Mrs. Potts I WAS ALSO MRS POTTS!!!! My crowning moment of my birthday trip last year hahaha.

Gaston looks very sweaty today!! But his facial expressions more than make up for it lol

 

[disneyxparadise]

I love all your frozen shirts and the ones you all wore for kylies birthday too!

 

[courtneybelle]

Such a nice group photo with all your matching shirts!!! GAH I love it!!! And don't worry. I realized when I got home how many squinty photos I had. Holy Moly! (it was sunny sometimes)

And then the awesome reverse shot!!! AWESOME I SAY!!! And no squinting there. Of course for a second I was trying to figure out why your mom's name was "DOG". I should have squinted.

Aww YAY you got your Belle photo!!

OMG yes. No lie, I stood and watched an entire meet and greet with that very Gaston and could not have been more entertained. He even has the smile down pat. Way too fun.

Thanks so much, Rob!!! I'm glad we got one with all of us.

Yes!!! It was an awesome idea on Kylie's part to personalize the backs of the shirts.

Of course!! It's not a trip to Disney if I don't see my main girl multiple times.

He was AMAZING. So unbelievably entertaining. I could hang out with him all day and not be bored.

Love the picture in front of the castle. Your shirts are awesome!

The magic shots are really cute!

Your time with Belle and Gaston looks like a lot of fun!! Gaston is just too much. I assume he was laughing when he's bent over in the picture with Emily? Was he laughing at himself?

Thank you!!

It was a blast! He was laughing at Emily's tiny muscle, I believe

I feel your squinting problems. Besides, even with the squinting you all look awesome.

Clamtastrophe is gold. It deserves to be trending worldwide.

Well even if your dad couldn't be in ETWB, at least you girls got to be.

Oh Belle, so sassy. I love it.

Gaston is great. We always love meeting him. He's just so hilarious.

Aww, thanks girl!!

It was definitely the funniest ride I've ever had on The Little Mermaid.

I was happy the three of us made it in!

Gaston is the best. Definitely one of my top characters to meet.

I love the matching shirts! They really turned out great. Love the purple.

Bahahahaha. I totally laughed out loud at that SUMMER!! part.

At least some of you guys got picked. Although it was a travesty that your Dad wasn't.

You must get a souvenir cup the first time you get Foo's Boo. Otherwise, what's the point?

Gaston is just amazing. He's a must for me now.

Thanks so much!! It was a great color choice on Kylie and Mom's parts.

Hahah I got such a kick out of taking Olaf pictures.

It was really a tragedy, but he handled it well.

I agree completely with the Foo's Boo and Gaston statements

Okay, those shirts are FANTASTIC!

OMG #clamtastrophe YES, let's make that happen! #trending

Awww, the picture story with Belle is adorable, especially "I'm a fast learner." She's presh.

Ahh, Gaston! He is seriously the best. Every person I have read reports of meeting him do nothing but sing his praises. Definitely one of the BEST character meets WDW has available!

Thank you!!! Ky, Uncle Dave, and Mom collectively did an awesome job.

Trending worldwide…or at least under the sea.

Belle was so great, like always!

Absolutely!! I'm so glad that he meets now, it's been the highlight of the past few vacations.

Just read your TR to date, looks like you had a blast!

I love you shirts! Both the cupcakes and your family Ts with the Snow White characters, very cute.

Can't wait to see how the rest of the trip went!

Oh! And your formal gown is lovely, kinda reminds me of the ones you saw in the Beauty and the Beast stage show... Coincidence?

Hi!! Welcome and thank you so much for reading along

You're right!! The formal gown is the same color!! Pink is my absolute favorite color so I knew I wanted a pink dress…I'm glad I didn't get one quite as poofy as the Beauty and the Beast ones, though!

yeah for getting a group picture! - and smart to get the backside too!

Sounds like a great meet with Gaston - definitely one of the more interactive characters. I think I am going to try to use "... or at least frowned upon" in more of my everyday interactions.

They are seriously great pics, thanks Photopass!

You absolutely should work that into conversations! I might try to as well.

 

[courtneybelle]

I must go visit Gaston!! You are the third TR that's had fantastic interactions with him!

The magic shots with Sebastian are wonderful! Those are definitely new since the last time we were there.

You absolutely should!! He's so great and if you get there at the right time it's usually not a long wait either

I had never seen them before, but I love them!

Love the pics!!

Thank you!

Hey there, Courtney!

LOVE the matching shirts - how fun!!!

Clamtastrophe! I truly love that!

You know, all the PhotoPass pics in this update were REALLY great. It can sometimes be hit or miss, so it was cool to see y’all get so many good ones.

Okay, when I started reading “Enchanted Tales with Belle” instead of “ETwB,” my brain was all, “Enchanted Tales with Rob. Wait, what? What is going on here??”

Back to your TR…. We have not done ETwB yet! Can you believe it??? I know that Maddie will make sure that Willow actually agrees to do it on the next trip though. It sounds like so much fun (albeit more fun when the guests are playing along well)!

I love Belle’s “fast learner” comment - that is so funny!!!

Okay, this may sound weird, but getting pictures of me and Shannon with Gaston is pretty much my number 1 priority of our trip - he just seems to always be so funny. I’m so glad that you managed to meet him and that he was clearly in rare form. (As you may have figured out, we totally missed him on our last trip, which was approximately 100 years ago now.)

Hi Roni! The shirts came out great, I loved wearing mine.

Haha my dad is a riot, what can I say?

Photopass was on point this trip and I am so happy about it. We splurged and got Memory Maker for the first time and I LOVED having it, we got so many great photos!

HAHAHA this speaks to Rob's celeb status on the DIS, where we associate an attraction not with the princess, but with the Canadian. I totally understand!

I am a HUGE fan of ETwB so I hope you guys get to do it!! It's so adorable and fun.

Oh my gosh, you guys HAVE to meet Gaston. He is absolutely hilarious, I generally laugh so hard that I cry.

I am dyyyyying over your Gaston photos. What a perfect Gaston We kept missing him this trip but he is at the top of my list.

The "We're Engaged" edit is hysterical and perfect. You're the best

I definitely recommend meeting Gaston, he's so fun!

Haha my mom did that for me so I can't take the credit, but I look forward to him wooing and marrying me

Ok serious question - are Gaston's pit stains real or part of the costume?

HA no they are real! It was so unbelievably hot that day and I'm pretty sure it's all polyester so no wonder he was sweating up a storm.

Hi, Courtney - I'm joining in for the fun!

You seemed to travel with such a fun group! I love the cake towel "animal," the traveling stick Olaf, the Keys to the Kingdom reveal, and your shirts (especially the backs!).

I'm glad you loved the brunch at Crystal Palace - it's one of my favorite breakfasts in Disney World!

Hi!! Thank you so much for joining in, and I LOVE your icon! Rizzo's my favorite! (Along with Sam Eagle, I can't choose!)

We had so much fun together. Definitely a trip to remember!!

Ahhhh I adored Crystal Palace. I definitely want to go back for some puffed French toast ASAP!

I gotta say - I am still really liking those shirts! I don't care if we were "those people". Loved the color.

Emily was so funny asking Belle to look my way for a pic. No one else ever dared to do that. "I'm a fast learner" LOL. I am not a fast learner because it took me a second to figure out how Belle knew Kylie was with me too??

Kylie's magic shot with Sebastian cracks me up.

That Gaston was perfect. His eyebrows are the best.

See you SOON!!

The shirts were so fun, and they weren't neon or anything so I think we were good

Hahaha oh Mom.

Kylie is hilarious, I love how that pic came out!

His eyebrow game was on point!! My, what a guy.

 

[courtneybelle]

I'm really enjoying your TR It's really getting me ready for our trip in 29 days

Thank you so much for reading!! EEE that's so exciting that you're going so soon!!

I love the dress you wore to the Senior Dance. It is a great color on you, too!

What a fun birthday for Kylie. I love her tiara. Did she get that in WDW?

Thank you so much

I actually got Kylie the tiara from the Disney Store, it's Anna's tiara! I got it for her as a Christmas gift. We were planning on getting her a tiara from Arribas Bros. when we got there but she ended up loving the Anna one, so she wore that instead!

Finally made it over to this TR!

I thought it was funny that you said your sweet 16 was at the knights of columbus cause that's where we had mine too!

Love the sweet 16 shirts & I can't wait to hear about the tour!

Hi Courtney!! Thank you so much for joining in!

Hahaha it's not quite Disney…but it was fun!

I'm so excited to write about the tour!

ok so I have quite a few entries to catch up on here so here goes:

OMG IM SO EXCITED TO READ ABOUT THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM TOUR! That card is beautiful, too.

AND YOU MET KAELA ON THIS DAY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH that's too exciting!!!

That's a great picture of you guys in your bday celebration shirts on Splash

----------
All your photography is great but I'm in love with the Tangled area shots. It looks like such lovely weather!! I dont think I got any nice shots of this area (and I LOVE IT) because I had my phone in my bag most of the time in MK due to rain! ah well

I agree about Mine Train. Definitely worth the wait with fastpass, it whips you around and its a very fun ride and the mine is beautiful, but its SOOOOO SHORT. I really feel bad that people wait so long for it. We happily got to ride it a few times with fp. And Kaela pointed out some hidden mickeys to me!

You know, I think I would love to do Crystal Palace for brunch! Ana & I haven't been there at all, but the character interaction seems so on point. I DON'T really love breakfast foods but this look really really good, and I can definitely be here for a late breakfast haha. Eeyore with a birthday cupcake, omgsh so adorable

---------
LOL I love the birthday shot of Kylie! I love wearing a bday button in MK, you always seem to get some kind of special photo.

#clamtastrophe

Yeeees, Sebastian shots! We hoped for him but never got him.

i'm so excited that you were Mrs. Potts I WAS ALSO MRS POTTS!!!! My crowning moment of my birthday trip last year hahaha.

Gaston looks very sweaty today!! But his facial expressions more than make up for it lol

I can't WAIT for the Keys post, I have so much to share with everyone! My mom made the card and it came out awesome.

HAHA oh my gosh meeting Kaela was hilarious because I didn't know if she had any idea who I was so I was just yelling KAELA and waving to the poor girl. But now we are buds so proof that celebs befriend their fans *hair flip emoji*

The Splash picture came out really great! I loved having Memory Maker for that reason, we love ride photos.

It was so hot out that day but the sun made it perfect for taking pics! I feel bad that you guys had so much rain but I know you had fun regardless

I definitely would not want to wait an hour and a half for the Mine Train, as much as I liked it. I do want to find some Hidden Mickeys, though!!

I am not one of those people who could do a full breakfast at 7 a.m. so I really liked having the option for brunch!! We had a great time and the characters were so precious!

Haha isn't that an awesome action shot?!

YEAHHHH MRS. POTTS!!! Ugh I love being in the show so much, I can't see myself not volunteering…

I felt bad for Gaston, it was brutally hot at that point and his shirt did not look very cool, but the interaction was so great.

I love all your frozen shirts and the ones you all wore for kylies birthday too!

Thank you so much!

 

[courtneybelle]

Chapter 20: A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow

Next, Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick decided to take a ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad while the rest of us headed to Space Mountain to use our FP+s! Well, Mom didn’t ride, but instead went to a FP+ kiosk to see if she could get us another FP+ when we were done with Space.

We had so much fun! Space Mountain was my first Disney coaster and so there’s a lot of good nostalgia that comes with it. Plus it’s just a great ride.

We got off Space Mountain and Mom had gotten us FP+s to meet Tinker Bell right away!

Ky and Em went first.

Honestly, I’m not very into the Tinker Bell movies, but I LOVED meeting Tink. I asked how she was right away and she said she was good, then said, “I like you guys, you like to talk, like me!”

I told her the pixie dust was a good look for her and asked how I could get some. She said it was hard for humans to get it, but she shared some with me! Shhh it’s a secret.

Probably my favorite of the purple Mickey pics:

Next, we met up with Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick at the Laugh Floor! Olaf was ready to laugh!

I was hoping Uncle Rick would get to be “That Guy” but it didn’t happen. It was still very fun!

It was very hot at this point so we decided to stick with indoor attractions. So guess where we headed in Tomorrowland?

MY LOVE! I am seriously obsessed with the Carousel of Progress. First of all, it’s classic Disney and something that Walt worked on and loved, so that’s a big part of it. But I also just love the theme of making progress and moving forward. I love how in every scene, the family thinks things couldn’t get any better, and then they keep getting better because of progress. Plus, “There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” is my anthem for life.

My family doesn’t get into this as much as I do (usually they take a nap there), but I did hear Uncle Rick laughing a lot, so I’ll take that as a good sign!

Continued in next post
​

 

[courtneybelle]

Chapter 21: Selfies With Big Al

At some point my mom had gotten us FP+s for Pirates of the Caribbean. But since it was so hot, we decided to take a Mickey Bar break! Shout out to Emily for posing for a pic before eating her ice cream. She caught on so fast.

Oh, so funny story here: earlier I said that my mom made us some adorable coupon books. She made us all, including Aunt Patti and Uncle Rick, coupons for Mickey bars. Well, since the coupons had a bar code on them, Aunt Patti thought they had to hand them over to a CM…nope, my mom just made them! I would have liked to see the look on the CM’s face when Aunt Patti handed over this handmade coupon, though.

We all got to ride Pirates together. The woman in front of me had a blinding flash camera, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do, but we still had fun.

I pointed out Jack Sparrow to my Aunt Patti, and this happened:

Aunt Patti: Hi, Jack!
Dad: Patti, you know he’s fake, right?

Wait, do you mean to tell me Johnny Depp isn't actually on this ride? VACATION RUINED.

Next, we started walking toward Fantasyland, but decided to stop for the Country Bear Jamboree. And I am so glad we did, because we came right in time for the Frontierland Hoedown!

The CM asked if we knew who this character was:

And Kylie and I knew right away that it was Horace! The CM was impressed and Horace was happy. He asked how old Kylie was and then mimed driving, and the two of them took a pic together:

Then came one of my favorite moments of the trip…Big Al of the Country Bears came up to me! I was really excited about this for two reasons: one, he’s a pretty rare character. But two, my friend Rob (DisneyKid4Life) is a HUGE fan of Big Al, so I knew I had to get a picture with him. I asked if we could take a selfie!

Big Al wasn’t familiar with the concept of selfies, so I had to show it to him. We all agreed that he looked great. I love this picture because it looks so casual. Just me and my buds Frontierland CM and Big Al hanging out (with a bonus Dad photobomb).

I sent the selfie pic to Rob right away! It was so cool getting to meet Big Al and Horace since I had never met either of them before. This was a trip highlight because it completely surprised us—I had heard of the hoedown before but had no idea what time it was, so it was really like the characters came out of nowhere and walked right up to us. It was so spontaneous and fun and I still smile when I look at the pictures.

We watched the Country Bears. This show cracks me up. Like, it’s very Disney in that it’s animatronic bears. But it’s also very non-Disney in that “tears will be the chaser for your wine” and “all the guys that turn me on turn me down.” I love it.

Next, we hit up the Haunted Mansion.

We had just a little time before our Be Our Guest reservation, so we decided to check out Mickey’s Philharmagic.

This was a huge hit, especially with Aunt Patti! I really love it. It has so many of my favorite Disney songs, and the 3D is great.

Continued in next post
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