Trip 2 - We are not Disney People - all 8 of us! (12/20 FINISHED +PICS+)

[sleepingbean]

First off, if you haven't read my first trip report, drop down to the sig and read it so you know who we are. Trust me, it'll make your life and my life easier! I won't have to recap everything I already typed, and you'll get to enjoy our first magical disney trip blow by blow with pictures! Oh, and you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hug your monitor, you'll invite me to vacation with you so you can have as much fun as we do...get to reading.

Now, back to the present: we are back from our trip, but I'm starting with a small blurb I wrote 19 days before we left...many more details and pictures coming VERY soon ;)
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We did a paper chain with a different disney image on each piece. The girls took off the first one this morning, and we're down to 19. One more and it won't be dragging on the floor anymore. In a blink, it will be a memory, as will our whole trip. Time is just moving too fast on most levels!

But for now, we get to sqeal with delight over a piece of paper with a character we love once a day, every day, from now until we reach the doorknob.
And then...we're off to re experience that joy high, that magical pull, that satisfying overwhelming ride we call a family vacation in Disney World.

19 pieces of paper stand in the path of us and a lifetime of memories in the making!
And to help push myself over the edge of that nutty cliff I find myself back on (the one where Disney Obsession and Excitement take precidence over all things reality), I pulled out our slideshow I made from the last trip.

200 images rotating through to songs like "when you wish upon a star" "Bibidi Bobidi boo", "A dream is a wish your heart makes" and so on. Each song seems to line up perfectly with the images. I noticed that beam of joy shooting from Bella's face during the parade series. It's hard to capture that full expression on film, at least it never seems as full as when you're there, in the moment, watching a four year old bubble over with excitement, giddy and squealing and smiling so hard her cheeks seem to be forming new dimples...
Those are the moments I never can quite capture in film.

And dh looked so happy! So joyful! So young! I kind of remembered him being so princess weary from our last trip, but upon this recent slideshow viewing, I am second guessing my memory because he seems to be having the time of his life with his little girls taking turns riding his shoulders, flying on dumbo with him, pointing out bad guys, and so on.
He looks so happy. I can't wait to get those three people I love more then the world itself and take them back to that.

Yeah, I said it before and I'll say it again...we are gonna need more of that kind of happy. I foresee a 2008 trip in our future...but in the meantime, I wonder which character is on piece number 19 of our paper chain? Just a matter of hours before we get to pull that off and inch our way closer to number one.

[sleepingbean]

The day arrived! It was time for us to debark on our second Disney adventure (both in one year, even!) The four of us were ready. I, in particular, was ready. I had this trip planned months ago, and I was ready to get my joy on! The girls, however, weren’t feeling the joy when I woke them up at 5:30am to get a move on. Bean told me it was just too dang early to be woken up. (hmm…welcome to my world where you girls wake me up between 5:30 and 6:30 every day! Grumble grumble…)

So, we’re in the car and it is cold. Below thirty degrees and I am just laughing cause I know I”ll appreciate that Florida weather all the more! Dh comments that maybe we should pack in some winter coats in case it is bitterly cold or snowy when we get back. I laugh at him and remind it that it doesn’t get that bad at the first of December in Iowa! We’ll be fine with jackets. But we can bring coats for the kids (just in case). I lift my carryon bag and immediately regret that I haven’t been exercising at all. I know it will be too heavy for my shoulders to carry. Of course I packed it very thoughtfully, but maybe I could find something to part with in the bag? I look inside and know the answer. My book. I know that the girls are not really going to let me just kick back and read on the plane, so I take my beloved copy of Jane Austin’s Sense and Sensibility out of my bag. I ask Eric if he thinks I should leave it or take it. He says, “leave it”.
So, we start the trip off by leaving our Sense and Sensibility behind us. Look out Disney, here we come!

There are four of us in our group (the 4 – still almost five year old, the 7 year old, me the turning 30 year old, and hubby). BUT my older brother and his two girls (same ages as our two girls) were meeting us there! And my sister in law would join us a few days later. We were officially a party of 8. A grand gathering in Disney Speak. We met up with brother and the nieces in Orlando airport where we were about to experience our first bit of Disney Magic…the Magical Express Transportation!

Ah…I hate to be a grump, but after a LONG day of airline travel, waiting in a LONG AND SLOW line for the Magical Express bus was not fun. Granted, the kids were content watching cartoons, but we grown ups were wondering whey they didn’t have a little cocktail bar at the start of that line? That sounds a bit more like Disney Magic to me!

So the man who controls the lines was making chat, small talk, cracking jokes with us. I wanted to be in the spirit, but I was so far from it. I just kept thinking…how can you laugh at a time like this? Just get me to my room!!!
Yeah, travel can make me a tad bit cranky…but our bus came, we sat and enjoyed the ride to the BEAUTIFUL Coronado Springs Resort!

I was wowed! It is so lovely. I have been wanting to stay here and enjoy the Spanish theme for so long! Hooray! First things first, check in. I had previously requested cabana 8A because it is close to the pool, reasonably close to the lobby and bus stop. Very nicely located. We have so many little kids with us, that if we were on the opposite side of the hotel from the dig site, I would not be a happy woman.
So, the nice lady at checkout informed me that we have 9B! Perfect! Even better then 8A! SO close to the bus stop and lobby. Very close to the pool. Great spot. I was thrilled. Then we asked if our other group had a connecting room. She said that they didn’t, but they were in the same building. Okay, I could live with that.

So we get up to our room and Dh notices that my brother’s family is in the room next door. He goes for the connecting door and starts knocking.
I say “Don’t knock! It’s not them! The lady told me it’s not connecting!” But who opens the door? My niece! We DID have connecting rooms! YAY! This makes life much easier and much more fun for the kids! Very cool.
Here is the view from our front window:
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic2.jpg

So, what would you do first? Well, swim of course! We got into our suits (which we packed carry on) and got into the pool. It was beautiful outside. Sunny, 75-80 degrees. The water was 84 degrees. The waterslide was running and life was good.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic1.jpg

Finally...we're here!

....

Up Next: 1900 Park Fare - our first Disney gluten free, dairy free, grand gathering dining plan extravaganza!

[ChelleinNC]

Enjoyed the last trip report and looking forward to this one :thumbsup2

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

[lamagique]

I really enjoyed your last trip report! It was so magical! I almost got teary just hearing about your experience. It's the enjoyment that people like you and your family get out of Disney that makes Disney such a great place! I can't wait to hear how your second trip goes--especially your second trip to Animal Kingdom!

[sleepingbean]

I snuck out of the pool (well, not literally, I made sure Eric had his eyes on the little ones first!) and got cleaned up. I hoped that our luggage would be in the room so I could dress those four little girls up like princesses princess: for our visit with Cinderella and estranged family at 1900, but the luggage was no where in sight.

So, the girls trickled in, I brushed their hair, and we prepared for departure! Now, since we were going from resort to resort, I thought it best we pay the $12 for a cab ride. I called a certain taxi company and asked for a van with two carseats for the youngest travelers in our party. They said no problem! They'd be there at 45 after, but that I should call 5 minutes before that (just in case :confused3 ) So, 10 minutes before, I called to see if the cab had been dispatched. The woman who answered said...
"hmm...that is strange, they booked you for tomorrow morning to go to Universal :scared1: " Okay, Universal may be lots of fun and all, but come on! We just got to Disney!!!

So, I said no thanks to the next morning transport and asked if they could get me something big and yellow in a speedy kind of fashion. They said yes, but there were not be seen when we needed to leave. So, we hopped into the competitors taxi and decided we'd just stick with Disney transport from then on. Phew!

The Grand Floridian was beautiful! Very lovely indeed. It was particularly busy in the lobby and restaurant this evening, and I was thinking to myself how I was glad to be staying in a much quieter resort :thumbsup2
We looked around a bit, saw the giant gingerbread house (hey, that is a LOT of gluten!!!) and went to do our first bit of Disney shopping while we waited.

Now, brother had already told me they were not going to give the nieces spending cash for the trip, but Grandma and Grandpa had sent some along with me, so I got to be the fairy god mother delivery service of shopping joy :wizard:
I took the four girls shopping while the boys went to find liquid. The youngest picked out a little mermaid doll set (think polly pocket/but disney style). The second youngest got the Jasmine version. The third couldn't decide and she finally chose an Arial cell/camera phone for $5! Bean (the oldest) chose the Cinderella dress up doll set. I love those little $12 doll sets, by the way. They are a lightweight, easy to carry bag of delight that appease our girls during any unwelcome wait at disney. If only all of life could be so easy!
Just as we were about to purchase, Bean gets a bloody nose! I don't know why she gets bloody noses. She just does. Here I am with four little girls by myself, arm full of merchandies, money in hand, and then Bean starts with blood dripping down her face and shirt. People are looking at her and pulling their children back, the store keepers come running out "What happened?!".

So I drop the stuff, gather the group to the back of the store, get a tissue and ask her to hold it. Then I decide I better buy her a new shirt for dinner (blood all over can kind of freak out the characters, I've heard!) Well, I was not about to pay $25+ for a shirt for one dinner! Come on!!! Instead, I got some of those free Disney buttons that they hand out like candy on Halloween and pasted them directly over the stained areas. Clever! You won't read that tip in the Unofficial Guide to Disney! Only at DIS can you pick up such clever tricks and tips :teacher:

Okay, so she was FINE, which is why I can make light of it, and we bought our dolls and went to eat. The place was packed, but it's okay. We sat down for what would turn into an hour and a half long joyful buffet dinner with live entertainment! This would be the first time my girls had real face time with a princess and the first time my nieces had been around ANY characters!!!

Well, who do you think came to our table first???
This lady...
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic3.jpg
Oh the kids were scared....it was Cinderella's wicked stepmother! And a good actress too, I may add. Here I was with my happy face and camera telling them to "get up and get a picture!!" and the girls were just looking at me like deer in the headlights. Well, not Bean, she had her encyclopedia of Disney characters with her, and she was looking for the Lady Tremain page so she could get her first autograph! She was excited.
But the nieces...they looked a little like this :eek: :guilty:
I can only imagine what they were thinking... maybe
Our mom isn't here, I hope they don't try to send us home with this lady! Is that why we are here? Is that why they want us to stand next to her?

or maybe...
Disney is scary! This lady is mean! I want to go home!

From the looks on their faces, it was one or the other. We let them off the hook and waited for someone friendlier to come along, but in the meantime we went to get some food. There was plenty for us to eat. In fact, I think some of the best gluten free dairy free food we ate on our trip came off this buffet! I kid you not! I loved this french salad we had and everyone found something good to eat!

We ate and waited for Cinderella. Before she made it, we met up with Drizzella and Anastatia. I told Drizella that she was much prettier in person! She agreed. The nieces still just stared at the stepsisters, wondering why we all liked this place so much!!! Then came none other than...
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic4.jpg
Prince Charming.

Bean was excited to see him because she had a page for him in her book! Now, I have to wonder how he scored a page, but Chip and Dale didn't? I digress...so Prince Charming lived up to his name because the youngest niece got out of her seat to go have her picture with the Prince. She even smiled! Granted, she didn't put down her cookie, but it was a great first step :cheer2:

We waited a bit longer for Cinderella and then, we took the free transportation back to the room to crash out for the night. We had a busy and early day planned for the morning. Well, when I say "we" I mean "I". You see, I was the grand planner and organizer for our grand gathering vacation. I made it be known that I was going to plan the sh$% out of this vacation and they were either with me or against me! I did give them fair warning, and they were on board for my seat at the throne. Now, most of you reading this know that the planning is half the fun of the Disney vacation!!! I love it! Here we are, just a week back home, and I am already looking at school calendars and bank accounts, trying to figure out when we can go back!

For our first big day, I was starting us off at Crystal Palace for a pre park opening breakfast, followed by a day of Magic Kingdom, topped of with Whispering Canyon for supper! It was going to be the best day of the trip!!! Or at least, that is what I had planned....

Up Next: Day 2 - The Grand Gathering meets Magic Kingdom...early.

[Diamondintheruff]

I'm signing on from the beginning of this report (instead of trying to catch up at the end as usual). Waiting for more.:surfweb:

[sleepingbean]

Good morning Magic! I forgot to mention that the night before was a very challenging night of getting to sleep for the girls. At one point, they even tried to sleep on the floor of the resort! Shudder….
Images of all the nasty things on a hotel floor carpet pulsed through my mind and kept me from allowing such an atrocity, however…the girls could not sleep in their bed and it was either that, or we were going home. So they stayed on the floor for about 15 minutes, calmed down enough to get back into bed and go to sleep. Phew. The only thing that got me through that ordeal was knowing that in the LaLa family, embracing the hotel carpet is just part of the Disney Magic. So I thought of LaLa’s son and smiled.

Back on track…let’s just skip the wake up process and start at the park! We walked in and just as before, we rounded the corner on Main Street and all four girls just lit up! Mouths dropped to the ground and little legs took off into a mad dash to reach the end of the longest short street in history. The castle…the magic…it was only steps away.
I was hassling my husband to stop taking stupid pictures like this
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic5.jpg
and keep up with the girls! I wanted some pre-park opening photos in front of the castle! He handled my bossiness quite well. I think he must have had this mantra in his head all week…
“It’s her birthday…it’s her birthday…it’s her birthday…”
He was just rolling with it.

We got the mandatory photos and then enjoyed a lovely meal at Crystal palace. The chef brought out some gluten free pancakes for Bean
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/2.jpg

and we found plenty of gluten free dairy free food on the buffet as well
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/1.jpg

For the two times we have dined at Crystal Palace, we were as pleased as pooh bear with a pot of honey! It was fun, yummy, and prompt! We were out of there at 9am, just in time to bolt back to fantasyland JUST before the stampede came. Because of our good timing, we were able to hit our first choices before any lines formed.

Now, this is where I have to mention a certain friend of ours who traveled with us on our trip. Well, he didn’t actually travel with us, and he would probably not even know us or refer to us as friends, but we spoke of him, fondly, quite often on our trip. Good ol’ buddy Mike, the Tour Guide!

For those of you who have been resisting paying the trivial fee to get this information, I just want to thank you. It’s because the masses do not have the info that makes our vacation so enjoyable! Nuff’ said.

No, but really, you should read up over there sometime! I found that my first trip went very smoothly just by following tips from people at DIS, but this one went even MORE smoothly. We never waited on anything for more then 10 minutes MAX all week. Most things we did were 5 minutes or walk on. I’m not joking! Well, Soarin may have taken a bit longer, but it was still pretty fast!

Okay, so we went on ride after ride after ride! I had the kids following me this way, that way, the next way! I will say, that although we had no waits, something in the “magic” was just missing for me. I wasn’t let down. I was still having fun, but it just didn’t have that same magical pull as the first day we went to Magic Kingdom. I wondered if this was the beginning of the end…if our insane love for Disney was to be cut short after two measly vacations? Time would tell.

So, we rode until the littlest of the nieces began getting too grumpy to move. And the other three were looking a little pathetic as well. Time for mixin’ it up a little! We veered out of Fantasy Land and over to Adventure Land for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! I must say, even I enjoyed this ride! I am a wimp, and I didn’t expect to like it, but it was fun! Bella, however (the 4 , almost 5 year old) didn’t enjoy herself. She was very anti anything dark or scary on this trip. She scorned me for taking her on such a ride. She asked me,
“what kind of mother are you to take an innocent, tiny, four year old like me on a loud railroad car through a collapsing mine! Geeze mom!”
Or something like that. No more tunnels for Bella.

So, Bella and I sat out and nibbled on some lunch (pre lunch crowd) at Pecos Bills while the rest of the group did Splash Mountain. We sat and watched the country bears (the most ridiculous waste of time in all of Disney) while the rest of the group did Pirates. I was beginning to feel left out! So we got our grand gathering back together to ride Alladin’s carpet s and the Jungle Cruise. We even made time for Tomorrowland to do the Laugh Floor and Buzz’s ride (again, thought of the LaLa family as I photographed myself on the screen on the way out…however the flash washed it out and I didn’t get a good photo…I’m no BradK with the camera!), as well as a character signing with Stitch!

We did SO MUCH in one day! We were all pretty wiped out, though, and ready to go. It was at this time we noticed the parade was coming through! So we followed the parade out, waving at the princesses and trying not to walk into fixtures en route. The boat ride to Wilderness Lodge was beautiful and relaxing. We all enjoyed sitting up front and watching the view as we pulled into the dock at Wilderness Lodge!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic6.jpg

I left the first full day of Magic Kingdom behind me….a little disappointed that I didn’t feel that same magical joy overload. I wondered if it was partially because my nieces were just not loving it. They would have much rather been at the pool! This is just hard for me to wrap my brain around. When I put a water park on one hand, and Disney World on the other…It’s Disney without question! But those girls love to swim more than Nemo, and they wanted to get back to the pool. So I let it go and decided to let go of my planning (well at least for their family) a bit more in the days to come. If it’s water they want, then it’s water they shall enjoy! Disney has plenty of that too. But it was not time for swimming. It was time to go and kick back on the beach at Wilderness Lodge while we waited for dinner reservations. Orlando family was coming to join us. Mai Tais were waiting. Life was looking good….

Up Next: Wilderness Lodge, and why do they call this place Whispering Canyon?

[cdotla]

Hey Sleepingbean!

I am going to take the credit for getting you onto TGM. At least I was one of the 2 or 3 of us trying to convince you to sign up on your 1st TR.

Now, let's keep him our little secret!

Can't wait for TR #2!!!:banana:

[sleepingbean]

cdotla, you were the one who led me to the light! Thank you for convincing me with posts and pms! LOL
I was so NOT convinced, but you persuaded me and I am so glad you did :thumbsup2

Thank you!

[trivial]

I made it be known that I was going to plan the sh$% out of this vacation and they were either with me or against me!
:lmao: Just read your 1st trip report, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I can't wait to read the rest of this one. You're an excellent writer. :)

[sleepingbean]

Since we left Magic Kingdom during the parade, that put us at the Wilderness Lodge pretty early for our 5pm dinner reservation. We found the playground on a sandy beach, and two very over priced cocktails and had a seat. Ahh…now this is what vacation is about! Looking out at the water, sippin’ something minty, watching the girls laugh and play (and occassionally yelling out that they shouldn’t actually SIT in the sand and bury themselves since we’re going to be eating soon!). The good life.
I called my mom and MIL on my newly aquired pink cell phone to let them know we were not roughing it. My brother rented one of those four seater bikes and went for a cruise with 3 of the girls while Eric and I just chilled with the youngest.

Orlando family was coming to meet up with us for dinner, and they found us on the beach, eventually, and asked me
“Don’t you have reservations for 5pm?”

Of course I did! Then I looked at the time…it was 5:10! And my brother and 3 of the girls were still biking through the north woods! Yikes! We were actually going to be…gulp…late.
I picked up my pink cell phone and hit the pre-programmed button for Disney Dining, which got me through in time to change our reservation to a later seating. Phew! We gathered together within the next 30 minutes and headed into the stunning Wilderness Lodge.

I love this place. I secretly long for the pioneer days of living out in nature in a log cabin, but then I want my rustic cabin to come equipped with all the modern conveniences of life. Wilderness Lodge is the perfect answer to my dilemma! We enjoyed the holiday décor and dim lighting as we waiting for our seat.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic7.jpg

Whispering Canyon was as loud and crowded as every other place we ventured to eat in Disney, but they were able to seat our party of 10 together, which was nice. Orlando family told us about some of the antics to come. They insisted we order extra ice tea and catsup. However, I did not plan on using either at dinner? But of course they had to order catsup for us just once so we could see how it all played out. Our kindly waitress began shouting and multitudes of people came barreling over to our table with frantic looks of worry on their faces as they raced to place every last bottle of catsup on our table before they continued their own meals. Crazy! We got a big laugh out of Whispering Canyon. But what we REALLY got out of Whispering Canyon was FULL!!! I don’t think we could have packed away more food if someone paid us. The chicken was delicious! It’s a tie between the kids chicken at 1900 Park Fare and the Chicken at Whispering Canyon. Delicious! The chef was very helpful in finding gluten free dairy free fixin’s for us.
They looked something like this:
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/3.jpg
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/4.jpg
Yum!
They didn’t have anything for dessert for us on the diet restrictions (well they had Itzakadoozie, which Bean enjoyed) but that was alright. I was too full for dessert!
Everyone had a good time, a good meal, and a good laugh. We took a group photo near the totem pole in the lobby, and then we were off for our boat ride back to Magic Kingdom where we’d transfer on a bus to Coronado Springs. Our timing was perfect. We got to see a lovely view of this from the boat:
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic8.jpg
What a nice end to a fun day. Granted, it was not the most magical day that I had planned for, but I didn’t let it worry me. You see, the next day was my birthday! I just knew that would be the best day of the trip…or so I had planned….

Up Next: 30th birthday at Animal Kingdom, Artist Point, and a Grand One Yacht Finale!

[sleepingbean]

Day 3: My BIRTHDAY!

Okay, I always anticipate my birthday with the joy of a child, but every year (as an adult, anyway) I end up feeling disappointed and let down, somehow. I tend to feel a step closer to the inevitable and I always feel a bit sad. Well, not this year! Not in DISNEY WORLD! I was gonna beam all day long!

We started the day off with some hot tea at the Pepper Market. Oh the Pepper Market. What can I tell you about it? Well…it has food. That is true. Some may even report that the food is good. No one in our party of 8 would make such an accusation. Some may tell you the service is good…but they would not be among our group either.
Here is how my birthday morning started at Pepper Market.
I go to the host stand and say “I just want to order some tea and some drinks for the girls”.
Them “Okay, follow us!”
We sit down, someone drops a paper ticket on my table and they bolt for the nearest exit. I am looking around wondering how to get some tea, when I see the beverage station.
I tell the girls to stay seated while I go get us some drinks. I mosey up there and ask the woman near the beverage station where to find the Earl Grey tea, hot water, and honey. She points to the beverage station and says “over there”. I go to look.
There is tea, but it’s not Earl Grey. I would not be insistent, but it is my birthday and I knew they had it because someone served it to me the day before!
Also, there was no honey. I asked her, again, where to find the Earl Grey tea and honey. She shook her head, threw her hand in the air, made a “huff” sound and stomped off.
Bewildered, I looked around for the hidden camera, and then decided I wasn’t on “Punk’d”. I made my way over to the bar area, where she had stormed off to. She pulled my tea from behind the bar and put it on the counter. Then off she was again.
I was getting close to drinking tea, but still no honey. I checked the two main condiment areas, but it appeared that Pooh Bear had been there even earlier than I. There was no honey to be found. I went and tracked down miss friendly again to ask for the honey (for the third time). She threw her hand in the air, stomped off, again. She found some honey and threw it on a bar counter and took off, giving me dirty looks.
I am SO not exaggerating, and this was one of the BETTER experiences we had at Pepper Market. So, while we enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL and LOVELY Coronado Springs resort, I don’t think we can ever go back. We rely on the counter service restaurant in our resort for at least 5 meals during our trip, and we cannot deal with that kind of hostility 5 times in one week. If I wanted that kind of attitude, I wouldn’t be in Disney, you know?

So, I tried not to let her obvious hatred of people bring me down on my birthday. Instead, I found juice for my girls, and sat down and took this picture.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic9.jpg
I love the star lanterns and the poinsettias!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic10.jpg
We went to the lobby and waited just a bit to enter the gift shop, which I loved!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic11.jpg
I just love the Three Caballeros! I picked up a few items (coffee mug, gifts for the nieces, stuff like that).
Before long, we were at the Animal Kingdom Park to celebrate my birthday! There was only ONE thing I really wanted to happen this day. I REALLY wanted to see the Jingle Jungle Parade! I knew it would be a long day at this park for my little ones, and I knew that the last time we came here…it was bad news for the Bella…so I didn’t even plan for us to do anything at Animal Kingdom until 10:15am so we could take a slow start. We would start with a character meal at Tusker House (a brunch, if you will) and then it was my hope that we could do the Safari, see the Lion King, stay for the PARADE!!!
I had it all planned out to make it easy for the tired little ones. Unfortunately, it was about 110 degrees outside and the girls were just NOT feeling this park.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic12.jpg

I know, crazy, huh?
We walked the 15 miles to the back of the park for our brunch reservations and, sadly, we had to wait about 30 minutes in the HEAT. The kids were melting. There was crying, throwing, fighting, and all sots of negativity going on. I could see that my dreams of the parade on my birthday were starting to disintegrate. Luckilly, we did get seated! They were loud and busy (surprised?), but we didn’t care. We were hungry and hot! And thirsty! We talked to the chef and he brought us this beautiful display of gluten free dairy free food
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/6.jpg
It was the loveliest display of gluten free pancakes I have ever seen! What a nice treat!
We loved the dance and song that the kids were able to participate in. Goofy was funny, the characters looked great, the food was reasonably good. We had a very nice time, all in all.

When we left, we were just in time to watch these guys perform outside:
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic13.jpg
They were so cool! We were all surprised to see such a very impressive act! We got to see them perform twice as we were walking by. We all recommend you stop and watch these guys if you are lucky enough to see them perform.

Well, every little person was tired and hot. I made the executive decision that we were going on Safari next. Bella whined that it was “boring”. I rolled my eyes and pretended she didn’t just say that! We did have about a 15 minute wait for Safari. Not too bad, considering we didn’t go first thing. It turns out that the girls liked the safari! They especially liked the (spoiler dead ahead) bridge collapse! That was great. We got to see so many beautiful animals and my favorite tree, and once again, I could only remember that something was named a Bongo and I am not sure it was a striped animal or a tree? It was fun!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic14.jpg

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic15.jpg

When we exited the Safari, we met up with Orlando family and we all looked at the Gorilla, just near the safari exit.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic16.jpg
We met up with Stitch and Lilo near this sign
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic17.jpg
and the kids stopped for pictures, but that was about all they were stopping for. They were on their way to the resort to swim! No Lion King, no hanging out by the Tree of Life, no Parade. Sigh…off we went, bumping into Dale on our way out, and taking one last look at everyone’s favorite tree in Disney World
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic18.jpg

I wasn’t going to let missing the parade ruin my birthday. After all, we still had Artist Point and the Grand One Yacht ahead of us! It was going to be great!

Up Next: Continuing the celebration of 30 years at Artist Point and Grand One

[MeLaNie9]

Sleepingbean - so glad I caught on early.:goodvibes
You were a big help with my confidence in Disney being able to feed my dairy and egg allergic son and calmed me when we were planning our trip. :cutie: We got back Dec 4th and I've been swamped at work, but I swear I'm going to start a TR soon and let you (and others) know how we fared!!! We stayed at CSR as well. I will say that I have to agree with your take on the Pepper Market - they were horrible in trying to accomodate the food allergies and we didn't like the place at all. We also stayed in 9B (with connecting rooms) - but weren't too wowed with the rooms. The resort as a whole is quite beautiful though.
Looking forward to more!

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Great pics and review, can't wait to read more!

Kristen

[sleepingbean]

MeLaNie - you can't leave me hanging like that! LOL
I am dying to know how it went for you guys with the egg/dairy combo!!!

As for Pep Markt, well, I didn't even get into how they handled our allergies! That is for a later post in the trip report :sad2:

We could have been right next to each other because we were there at the same time! I never really saw other families exit our building when we did, but you may have seen us. It was me, my dh (who was usually off ahead of us) my brother, and four little girls, usually running about 20 yards ahead with me chasing behind them :rotfl:

-------------

Piper Girl - thanks for posting and for reading! I will add more soon :)

[sleepingbean]

So it was swimming time before the rest of the big 30 birthday celebration commenced. Truth be told, I am not a big fan of swimming. For some reason, whenever my ears enter water, they fill up and clog for a period of 1-6 months! So when I “swim” it is always with my head above water, which can take some of the fun out of it (and nixes some more adventurous water sports).
So, there was a bit of swimming. I tried to be in the pool for the least amount of time possible. I dressed each of the four girls in their best Disney Princess gown, did their hair, and then we were off to dinner.

We arrived at Artist Point and met up with Orlando family. You see, this whole night was being planned by my dad and stepmom, who live in Orlando. They love Artist Point, and this is the second time they have treated us to a dinner here. Both times we had the same fabulous wait staff. This place is wonderful.

My favorite thing about Artist Point is the atmosphere. I love the giant murals on the walls, the paintings, the QUITE….It is never as full or loud as every other dining establishment in Disney (well … that we attend, anyway). It is such a nice retreat. The food is always surprising and presented beautifully, and the chef handles our dietary needs with no effort at all. It’s just a delight to be there.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic19.jpg

We walked in to see this as the centerpiece! The box underneath was filled with wonderful Disney surprised such as a 2007 photo album, Winnie the Pooh frame, collectible salt and pepper shakers and a signed card (signed by Winnie the Pooh and friends). This was put together by Orlando family too, but I have a feeling the waiter helped them get everything just right!

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic20.jpg

These customized menus
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic21.jpg

Plus the mouse ears set on each girls seat too!

Throughout our long dinner, we laughed, chatted, the girls played. Any time the girls would show a sign of boredom, the wait staff would bring out a new round of toys, provided by Orlando Family! It was unbelievable. They thought of everything!

The food was good, but for me, the atmosphere is what really makes this place! I had the salmon, which I ate ALL of! Bean had chicken. I also had a market salad with beets. Yum!

As we finished supper, this was brought out, followed with singing…
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic22.jpg

No, I couldn’t eat this cake. It was not gluten free or dairy free, but I was told it was very good. We didn’t have time to eat dessert because the Grand 1 Yacht was waiting for us! We gathered our desserts (and our gluten free pre packaged brownies), toys, and birthday goodies and headed off to the dock for an 8:30 departure. We had been eating for over 2 hours!!! Yikes! Time flies when you are having fun.

So, that dinner was really so fun and so special. I didn’t need anything more then that, but Orlando family had planned the Grand 1 to watch fireworks from 8:00-9:00pm... Or that is what they told me before we got on the boat!
As it turned out, we were to be on the boat from 8:30-10:30!!! With 2 four year olds, a 6 year old, a 7 year old and not a drop of liquid ANYTHING to be found. Not even water! We all sat down in the beautiful boat and ate our dessert, and we were so thirsty, but there was nothing to drink! I couldn’t believe it! How could this floating goldmine not have a stocked cooler on it SOMEWHERE?!

But I digress…the ride was lovely, the view of the fireworks were really nice. I was disappointed that they didn’t pump in the music for us, however. I would have really liked that (I’ve never seen Wishes up close with music before!). But it was still beautiful and SO comfortable! I have never been on such comfortable seats! It really is beautiful.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic23.jpg
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic24.jpg
notice the trick sink…no water!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic25.jpg
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic26.jpg

The girls played in the three bedrooms until about 9:45pm came around and they were just done. It had plummeted to body slams, cries, fights, tears, and rages. They were tired and they were not about to drift off to sleep on the boat. I was beginning to wish they would just take us back early! I know! That sounds awful, but we still had to bus to MK and then to CSR before we could get these sleepy children into bed!!!

As it was, we finally docked and caught a bus to Magic Kingdom. I could see a CSR bus at the stop, so I urged the girls to hurry a bit so we could get home and sleep. This is where I learned a valuable lesson on our trip (one that would, sadly, be repeated). Don’t rush anyone for a bus. Another will come! Bean fell down and hurt herself.

Being tired, being out late, being overly thirsty, and then crashing in her princess dress on Mickey’s own brick sidewalk…well it was just too much for the princess to bare (or bear, if you will). She started bawling. I became “that mom” at Disney. You know … the bad mom who makes her kids rush for the bus and then someone gets hurt? The one who had her kids out too late in the first place… Yeah, that was me. I held her and comforted her and checked her knees and elbows. She was going to live. We sat and waited, calmly, for the next bus.

We got in at 11pm (which is late for us! We are early risers and it had been a LONG day already!). We crashed straight away, but just as my family began to drift into a peaceful sleep…that’s when it hit me…the chills.

Great. Here I was, stressed out at having the kids up so late on my birthday and now I was going to get sick. Chills are the first step in my typical response to eating dairy. First I get the chills, then the shakes, then I spend 2 hours in the bathroom feeling like someone just poisoned me. That is how I finished my birthday in Disney World…hugging the toilet, hoping the maid cleaned it well, and wishing I hadn’t stayed out so late.
Yes, I did have a very good birthday. No, I didn’t get sad about turning thirty. No, I would not have agreed to the boat ride had I known how late it would be for the kids. Yes, it was a great birthday. Artist Point was amazing. Animal Kingdom was beautiful. But to end the night like this…What a bummer.

Up Next Blizzard Beach, Brown Derby and Urgent Care oh my!

[cdotla]

Oh sleepingbean! WHat a shame to end your Birthday like that!

I guess you are never able to know for 100% certainty how you were exposed, but based on timing do you think it was Artist Point?

Isn't it funny how we all "take chances" with the kids while in WDW? There is just so much to see and so little time to do it. It is so tempting to try to get so much in and your post is another good reminder that sometimes with kids less is more.

Apart from that, sounds like a great Birthday. Can't wait for more!:banana:

[sleepingbean]

Cdotla - I don't think there was anything I ate at Artist Point that had dairy! I really don't. Now, Bean did get a bit sick in the morning too (not as bad) and it could have been coincidence. We did stay up late, we did have a busy day. I don't know? But my brother commented that our salmon came off the same plank so he doubted that they did anything special, in term of dietary needs. But then I doubt that the salmon would have had dairy anyway? It's possible, but seems unlikely. And there is a possibility that my salad dressing had dairy, but I just don't think it's likely. I think I would notice something like that?!

So, while I can't rule it out all together, I can't say for 100% certainty either. I will say, it won't stop me from going back to Artist Point. I really don't see how it could have been my meal!?

[cdotla]

That just must be so frustrating that you can go out of your way to take every possible precaution and yet this will still happen to you!

I really have no experience with allergies like this apart from reading your last TR. Now I know.

Thank goodness for the most part you have found a place (WDW) that tries to accomodate you!

[sleepingbean]

Day Four starts too early for me after my rough night, but not terrible. We didn’t have to be anywhere until Blizzard Beach at 10am. The only downside…it’s raining! And it’s the coldest day of our trip! Bummer!!!
But the upside to that is we’ll likely have the place to ourselves. So that is good. I try to talk everyone out of it and into MGM instead, but I get booed loudly and we spend our morning getting ready for the beach!

First I take the girls to our resort counter service for some breakfast. Oy. It was awful. I had previously requested the chef to make us gluten free/dairy free pancakes that morning. He said he would be there, god willing, and he would make them on a clean pan for her. Great. I even agreed to come down early to avoid the rush (which I did, despite the late night).

I go in and ask the host if I can speak to the Chef regarding our low allergy meal. She stares at me like a deer in the headlights. I don’t think she understands English because I asked her three times and she never did answer me! I then asked the manager if I could speak to the chef. He ignored me, and instead barked an order at his hostess to tell me to flag down a chef myself. Oh, I had the children by myself and there were lines and the chefs were busy and I am just supposed to waltz back there and holler across the crowd of people that they should drop everything and come serve me?! Great, I can tell It’s not going to be worth the hassle, but Bean has her heart set on pancakes.

So, I go to the grill. I hover for a long time, trying to get someone’s attention and the chef who was supposed to be there was not there. I went back to ask for help and the hostesses just stared blankly at me and pointed to the kitchen again. Great.

I asked another woman behind the counter if she could get the Chefs attention for me. He finally came out! YAY!!! I told him about Bean having Celiac and the no gluten no dairy for her routine. He agreed to make her some pancakes. Hooray! I waited. I saw him take the batter over to the waffle iron that they JUST cooked the regular waffles in. I stopped him JUST as he was about to pour it in. Now, I don’t expect everyone to know that someone with Celiac disease cannot use the same “in use” waffle iron, but I would expect the CHEF to know that?! At Disney!!!
So, I stopped him just in time. Crisis avoided. I also asked for some bacon. You won’t believe this, but he handed me bacon that was in a bowl full of BREAD. For those of you who don’t know, bread contains vast amounts of gluten.
So…huh?! Why do they keep the bacon on top of bread anyway? I digress….this place sucks for people with allergies.

And then for people who don’t have allergies. I just want a healthy breakfast. I would like some eggs and fruit. Well, that is not an option at one stand, so I have to stand in one line to get some eggs. Then stand in another line to get some fruit, then stand in another line to get some food for my kids, and wait for the special gluten free food for bean, and then stand in line at the beverage station and juggle drinks for everyone. And there is always one more thing to get, so go stand in line…again.
And I was shocked that they had NO substitute milk for someone who can’t have dairy. No soy, no rice, no almond. Nothing. 33% of the population is lactose intolerant? I am just shocked. So I had some rice crisps with a banana and water one morning. Nutritious.
Blah…but this place is not run by Disney (or so I’ve been told). SO I just let it go as we cross the exit doors and welcome the beautiful scenery of the Coronado Springs Resort as I re-enter Disney World (Pepper Market does not count as being in Disney World anymore…not in my book!)

So, I will stop talking about that. Back to good stuff.
We go to Blizzard Beach and the girls are so excited! We rent our lockers and rent our towels and get ready for some FUN!!! Bella and I hung out on our own for most of the morning. She was not interested in water slides or scary stuff. The other girls were ready for anything!!! So, the boys took them on the slides and rides while Bella and I hung out in the toddler area, the wave pool, the lazy river and the water. For how chilly it was outside, the water was very nice and warm! So long as you stayed in the water, you were just fine. It turned out very well that way. We stayed until about 1pm and I was just getting a little “done” with being wet and chilly. I took my two girls (who were glad to call it quits) back to the resort with me while the nieces and the boys swam on! They did so much there and they had a great time! It really was an amazing water park.

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic27.jpg

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We three girls hung out in our room, ate snacks, and shopped a bit while we enjoyed our free time. The rest of the group came back worn out and happy! It was a fun morning. We all went to MGM for two reasons:
1) The Osborne Lights! I was really anxious to see this! I didn’t really plan much for us for night shows because I know the girls go to bed early, but this starts early! So that would be great
2) The Brown Derby for supper. I had read some reviews and the food looked really good here. I was torn about using two dining credits or paying out of pocket, but either way, I really wanted to try it!
We started with Star Tours (Bella and I opted to sit out for that one) and then we all enjoyed the Muppets 3D.
After that, it was time for Brown Derby. The girls were tired from their long day of swimming and they were really beginning to show it while we waited in the lobby. I figured some food would perk them up, but it was about this time I first noticed something weird with Bella’s eye. It was full of yellow mucus! GROSS! Eric said it was just from swimming and the stuff in the water. I tried to let it go at that, and I washed their hands extra well before dinner.

The chef came out and discussed our choices with us. He was so attentive and helpful. He brought Taylor (Bean) this instead of a salad. She loves tomatoes and she doesn’t like “salad”, so this was a big hit!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/8.jpg

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/9.jpg
For bread, he brought us gluten free rolls (warmed) and fennel infused olive oil for dipping! How clever and thoughtful!!! I loved this, although I was beginning to notice Bean’s eyes were looking a little mucousy during dinner too, so I was hesitant to share a dipping sauce with her. I was beginning to worry!
But back to dinner, the dipping oil was such a treat.

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/10jpg
My chicken was dry as a bone, but the potatoes and sauce were delicious
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/11.jpg
Bean had a gluten free hot dog bun with her dog. She never gets those, so that was a treat!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/12.jpg
Then our favorite dessert of the trip came out…berries with homemade mango sorbet! YUM! I shared mine with Bean. Hers came with melon under the Mango and she and I both preferred the berries. It was SO GOOD!!! I highly recommend it!

What a fun and delightful surprise we had with the appetizer and dessert for our allergen restrictions. My husband enjoyed his meat and potatoes, and everyone had a good time. My brother really liked his appetizer and his espresso martinis! And now, Sister in Law was in town to join us too! It was a good time.

Unfortunately for me, I was not able to relax too much during dinner. I was too busy worrying about my girls and their eyes! By the time we had finished eating, both of them were producing large quantities of mucus from their eyes. I was wiping it away every five minutes. It came from out of nowhere and it was so gross! And Bella was looking bad. Even though the Osborne Lights had started and we were only steps away, I opted to skip it and take the girls to the First Aid station. I thought they could tell me if it was pink eye (I didn’t think it was because the mucus was the main symptom, not the pink). My dad went with me (he had been watching the lights) and my husband. Now, husband got a bit grumpy at this point. We were having a great time and he thought I was being overly worrying, but he knew we were doing the right thing to check it out. Well, the nurse took one look at them and said they need to be seen! So, we waited for the magical express Urgent Care pickup. They come right to the park to get you! How nice! They even had a booster seat for Bella. Only at Disney, right?

We got the real “behind the scene” tour of MGM on our way to the Urgent Care. It was about 3 hours and $300 later that we left with eye drops for bacterial eye infections. Not as contagious as pink eye, but totally disgusting and totally treatable. The girls were looking so pathetic by the time we got finished for the night, but I knew the eye drops would help. The doctor at the Urgent Care was nice and funny. The driver was really friendly and helpful. Really, they made the unpleasant experience almost fun! LOL
We forced eye drops on two very reluctant little patients and went to sleep. Ugh. Another late night.

Despite the bad ending, we did still have a great day! I wasn’t too sad about missing the lights, either. I got to see the Muppets in 3D and eat a wonderful meal and go to a fun water park, and my girls enjoyed themselves all up until the very end, so everyone really did have a good day all in all. The nieces and family stayed back and caught some shows, watched the lights, took it all in. All’s well that ends well, right?

Up Next: Can my nerves handle Soarin’? And our BEST day of all!!!

[sleepingbean]

cdotla, I hesitated to even mention that I got sick because I don't want to turn people with food allergies off. I do think that Artist Point and ALL the restaurants we have dined at over our past two trips in Disney have done a GREAT FABULOUS WONDERFUL job of serving us with our dietary restrictions!!! Yes, I did get sick once, but to give you comparison, my husband and I went on a trip to Savannah and I talked to the chefs and requested gluten free dairy free food everywhere we went AND I took enzymes too (just in case) and I still got sick EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! So, to go on a trip for 7 days and a previous trip for 5 days and only get sick once...that is much better then anywhere else I have ever been. And I still don't think I would have gotten sick had I not stayed up late and stressed myself out so much by keeping the kids up late...you know what I mean? Stress can do these things to a gall too! So I hope that doesn't scare anyone with food allergies away!

[cdotla]

Wow - you poor thing! I can't imagine having to live like that!

So glad that Disney at least makes it possible for you to even want to vacation!

cdotla, I hesitated to even mention that I got sick because I don't want to turn people with food allergies off. I do think that Artist Point and ALL the restaurants we have dined at over our past two trips in Disney have done a GREAT FABULOUS WONDERFUL job of serving us with our dietary restrictions!!! Yes, I did get sick once, but to give you comparison, my husband and I went on a trip to Savannah and I talked to the chefs and requested gluten free dairy free food everywhere we went AND I took enzymes too (just in case) and I still got sick EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! So, to go on a trip for 7 days and a previous trip for 5 days and only get sick once...that is much better then anywhere else I have ever been. And I still don't think I would have gotten sick had I not stayed up late and stressed myself out so much by keeping the kids up late...you know what I mean? Stress can do these things to a gall too! So I hope that doesn't scare anyone with food allergies away!

[Diamondintheruff]

Sorry about the girls eye infection. I never knew Disney had behind the scenes Urgent Care with a personal bus as well. I'm impressed.

[CleKait]

Good trip report so far :thumbsup2:

Reading about your allergy reminds me of my friend who goes into anaphylactic shock if she comes into contact with poultry. I unfortunately had to watch her go through it one time and now I'm fearful of anytime we go out to eat. I'm glad Disney was so accommodating to you, it's nice to know that other people care about allergies.

[sleepingbean]

The Best Day…As I mentioned, I had really gone above and beyond to plan this trip. There was no detail I didn’t consider when arranging our days and nights in DisneyWorld. I had planned our first full day at Magic Kingdom to be MAGICAL!!! As it turned out, it was very fun, but it wasn’t the “WOW” me with Magic kind of day I planned for. I had planned for my birthday to be the BEST day of the trip, but as it turned out, I ended my night feeling stressed out and sick. Still, it was a very good birthday, but just not the BEST day on our trip. It couldn’t be the best day because that was coming up on Day 5! Our Epcot Day. Epcot…the park I avoided on our first trip because I was afraid we couldn’t eat safely there! The park I worried would be too “old” or “overwhelming” for the little ones…Out of nowhere, Epcot came to the head of the pack and STOLE the show. Here is how our BEST day at Disney World started!

We went to the dreaded breakfast place and got the pain over with as quickly as possible at an early hour. With plenty of time to spare while we waited for my brother and family to get ready, the girls plopped themselves down in the lobby and watched old Micky cartoons. One highlight of staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge last trip was that the girls were able to watch those classics in our room. For some reason we don’t have that channel at CSR, so we watched in the lobby from time to time. Well, we took our time getting back to the room where Eric informed me that my brother and family had already hit the bus and we were looking at being about 15 minutes behind schedule for rope drop! EEK!!! What had I DONE!!!

Now, I had planned to a “T” how we were going to tour Epcot. I utilized all of the Tour Guide Mike resources to get us into Soarin’ and to all the places we wanted to be with the least waiting imaginable. Would you like to know how we did it? Well, the FIRST rule of TGM is… you don’t tell others about TGM secrets! Go pay the measly $20 and find out for yourself! It’s worth it, and come on…let’s face it…if you’re actually reading my trip report, you are totally Disney obsessed at this point and you might as well find one more outlet of Disney to entertain yourself with, right? Consider it a “night out” that keeps on entertaining well beyond midnight.

Back to the trip report…We managed to get to Epcot JUST before the masses and we were pretty close to the front of the line, which was great. When waiting for rope drop, we saw this guy and his buddies
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic29.jpg

I saw the Dream Team give the family in front of us Fast Passes! COOL!
I was really nervous about Soarin. I get sick to my stomach in the Imax, and I was just thinking that Soarin’ was really pushing my limits a bit too much…and wouldn’t you know it? We got the FRONT ROW!!! Even though I was nervous, I was also very excited to see what the buzz was all about. We got strapped in and up we went! I tell you, I was like a little kid screaming “WEEEE” and trying to dip my toes in the water. It was so fun!!! It didn’t bother my stomach at all. Bella was a little nervous about this ride and she liked it a little, but she let me know that once was enough. She was just not too sure that it wasn’t scary, so she was playing it safe.

With that done, we visited over here
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic30.jpg
Where we rode the seas and saw the crush show. Both were fun! I then warned my brother that we were getting close to World Showcase time and I wanted to start there at opening and WITH a double stroller. Eric went to get the stroller and the nieces were already begging, whining, and crying for the pool. Three rides was enough for them and they didn’t care about World Showcase. Off they went to the water park. I was sad to see them go because I knew they would be missing a very fun day. The temperature was hot at that moment, but it quickly cooled off, just as they left. Oh well.

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We passed this beauty of a tree on the way into World Showcase. And here is our first stop:
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The MEXICO Pavillion!!! And look inside
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We were about the only people in World Showcase at this time. We walked onto the Grand Fiesta Tour. Bella LOVED this ride. She said it was her favorite ride in Disney World. This is much more her speed. She also loved It’s a Small World, if that gives you a good idea of her tastes. We all had a good time. I love the three caballeros, so I was giddy to be there too! It was so fun. You see, Eric and I have been to Mexico a handful of times, and while I’d love to go back, I just don’t see myself taking the kids with all of Bean’s food intolerances and potential health problems while traveling. So, this is as close to Mexico as we get for now. I was in shopping mode and Dh was in refreshment mode. He strolled to the Cantina, while the girls and I shopped.

I bought a 3 Caballeros mug, a book about the Little Mermaid in English and Spanish for my niece, and 2 Passports. We started the passports there in Mexico at the Kidcot booth, where the girls colored their masks. I was skeptical about the passports, but it turned out to be a HUGE hit! The girls were entertained collecting and adding to their passports throughout the day at World Showcase!
When we left, Dh was kicked back, drinking a Dos Equis. He smiled and told me that this was the start of his “beers around the world “ tour. Great, I thought to myself! LOL So there seemed to be something for everyone at Epcot.
Here is the Cantina that launched a thousand beers…
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic34.jpg

Eric was a little bummed to know that we couldn’t stop at Norway or China for beers because we had reservations at Biergarten to hurry off to!
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Now, the ONLY reason I booked this reservation is for my husband. He loves German food and drink. LOVES it. I knew he would love Biergarten. I expected to tolerate it, but not love it. I am not a fan of sausages and I really didn’t expect to like it much. But, we had the whole week revolving around what the girls and I love, so I figured we could give Dad one meal, right? We were early, so we looked at the little village for a while. Notice what is up on the rooftops?
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We were seated next to a nice family who had frequented both Biergarten and Germany many times. They were funny and friendly. The inside of the restaurant was quite impressive. Here is just a fraction of the “stage” and environment there
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The chef came out to tell us what we can and can’t eat at Biergarten. There were many choices for us, which was nice. Bean mostly ate some sort of hot dog, Bella too. I LOVED the salads! The tomato onion salad and the purple cabbage salad were my favorites, but I REALLY loved them. I took one bight of that purple cabbage salad and I was transported back to my grandma’s kitchen, taking a homemade sweet pickle out of a square green container. It tasted JUST the same and it was such a kick to be transported to that moment by association. I just loved the food! (did I mention that?) So, even though I didn’t eat much meat, I found plenty of veggies to devour.
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I was craving more of that salad all week following our trip!
They had a berry gel dessert that was good, and a gluten free packaged brownie for Bean. Everyone got full, and Dh got PLENTY of drinks. He made up for missing those two countries en route!

Everyone was happy and then…the songs started. We watched and enjoyed the music. Then they asked for kids to come down and dance while they played. I took the girls down to dance with about 5 other kids. The place was full, but there just weren’t very many dancers in the audience, I guess. They danced for a bit and then the man at the microphone stopped the music and called my little Bella to the stand. He says to her

“Hello, what’s your name?”
Now, to give you a visual, Bella is small, even for an almost five year old. She has ringlets, blue eyes, and a voice that is JUST as squeaky as Minnie herself! She says
“Hello everyone. I’m Ella!”
The crowd oooohhhsss over her cuteness and squeaky voice.
He asks her “Ella, how old are you?”
She answers “four”
He asks “Ella, what is your favorite thing about Christmas time?”
She says “Sledding”.
He says “You’re not from Florida are you!”
(audience laughs)
He tells a brief story about the German Christmas Tree and asks Ella if she can say
“Weihnachtsbaum” . I am sure she was supposed to mess it up with a cute 4 year old manner, but she nailed it.
She says “Weihnachtsbaum” without a hint of error and he says “wow” while the audience ooohhhs and ahhhs again.
Then, our little Bella was asked to light their Christmas Tree, which she did. It was so cute. It may not sound like much to anyone else, but Eric and I were just looking at our little angel, so adorable and sweet and smart on stage, and I was teary with the combination of Disney, Christmas, and my little Bella…lighting the tree with MAGIC as she only had to touch it once to see all the lights appear! She must have thought she did have a touch of magic at that very moment. It was so sweet, so special. We hadn’t been called on for anything (not in Monsters, not at Crush) and the girls were getting a moment of their own. I was so happy that I had to hold back my tears (I am cry at the drop of a hat, by the way…) Eric looked on with a beaming smile that said “I am so proud of my little girl! I am so happy to be here”. His eyes lit up.

Bella sat back down and the man then told us a story of Christmas. When he finished he asked if anyone could guess the name of a song that was related to the story? Bean’s hand shot up and he called on here and said
“Do you know the name of our song?”
She said
“No, I don’t know that, but I can hear a SONG coming on!!!”
audience laughs and he says “you’re right!” and announces it’s Silent Night and everyone can sing along.

It was so cute, so fun, so special. I would give up on any fast passes to have moments like this. So, Beirgarten…the place I didn’t even want to GO to, had turned into one of my favorite dining establishments and favorite memories of our trip. Go figure?

Up Next…more world showcase…and how our BEST day continues

[sleepingbean]

Giddy from our Germany adventure, we left Biergarten and moved on to KidCot Germany where Eric bought himself and Adidas jersey that read Deutschland on the back. Eric’s staple non work uniform is an Adidas jersey of some sort, so this was a perfect choice for him, and the only souvenir her bought on our trip.
We got the girls in the double stroller and bid Auf Wiedersehen
To Germany.
I don’t recall where we saw this tree
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic38.jpg
BUT notice how clear and blue the sky is? Don’t forget that…we’ll be back to that!

In Japan we watched the drummers and shopped a bit more. The girls bought a few small things (fans, chopsticks) and we visited the Kidcot booth there. With each visit to a country, I’d give the girls their next sticker page, and they worked on those stickers while riding. We saw many characters (and long lines to visit with them) en route. Sadly, we couldn’t wait in those lines, so we just saw them as we went by. In Morocco, we watched a band and belly dancer. Bean and Bella both loved the dancer. They thought she was so beautiful and graceful! Bean had her picture taken with her, doing her best pose. It was very sweet. We got snack credit drinks and strolled on.

By the time we got to France, the wind picked up and the sky shifted to a darker grey
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic39.jpg
I did not feel like getting dumped on (with rain people…get your minds out of the gutter!), so I declared we would bypass France (sorry Sister in Law! Sister in Law is French) We did stop to buy a parasol for my niece. She was goo goo for those pretty little umbrellas and this one would have her name hand painted on it, and for a good price too! I have it tucked away for Christmas and I can’t wait to see her open it!
We got the goods, and moved on…hurrying to beat the storm.

Apparently, only France was affected by the bad weather because by the time we got to Canada, the wind stopped and it looked like this again
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic40.jpg

So we slowed back down and the girls climbed out of the stroller to check out Canada. We laughed at the old telephone booth. The kids didn’t even know what it was! Ahh…the good old days. Then we rounded the corner, near the waterfall, and saw the two bears from Brother Bear. There was no one AT ALL there to see them. Not a soul. I felt kind of bad for them, considering every other character had a line 100 people long! Bella was so tickled to see those bears up there, she smiled a new dimple into her cheek. Bean was almost as excited. The girls had a lovely photo shoot up North with the Bears (whose names we couldn’t remember) and Bella told me it was her SECOND favorite thing that she did at Disney World…hug the bears!

Isn’t it funny? All my planning and it’s the Gran Fiesta, Small World, and a random Bear that cinch it for Bella. That is the Magic of Disney, it’s for everyone.

We took our time enjoying the gardens of Canada. (or had we made it to the UK? I can’t remember?)
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic41.jpg

And then, although we could have stayed all day! Eric had picked up a few more beers on his “Tour of the World” and he was feeling fine. I was in shopping paradise at World Showcase, and the girls were just happy as could be. I would have been glad to stay there all day and maybe see the fireworks, if we weren’t too tired…but we had already agreed to meet up with brother and family to eat at Liberty Tree and then watch Spectro Magic. We hadn’t really seen a parade yet, nor had we been up close for any fireworks, so it seemed like the thing to do.

We left, full of smiles. I wondered why we loved Epcot so much that day? Eric thought it was because it was new to us. We loved Magic Kingdom in that same way the first time we went. Maybe it was because it was just our little family of four instead of the grand gathering. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my extended family, even on vacation, but our girls love Disney as much as we do, so we make a good team. It’s difficult when the nieces don’t want to be at the parks. It was just kind of nice to have it just the four of us, in a way. Maybe it was because we had such a nice time at Biergarten? I don’t know if it was any one thing. We just really truly enjoyed ourselves and it was at that moment of exiting that park that we decided we would HAVE to come back to Disney World again next year so we could spend at least TWO days in Epcot.

We rode the bus back to the resort and barely had time to rest before it was off to Magic Kingdom for dinner. As we made our way toward the restaurant, we noticed large masses of people lining the streets…the parade was running WAY late today. The 3pm parade was going to go at 5pm! Oh no! So, we rushed to get across the street before it came to where we were. My brother, however, didn’t think ahead. He got stuck on the other side of the parade. We were not allowed to be seated until our WHOLE party was there. Bummer. But the good news is, the parade was the special Christmas version! We got to watch it, unplanned!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic42.jpg

But there was more bad news…Bean’s ear was suddenly hurting her VERY badly. Out of nowhere, an ear infection had hit her! I assumed it was from the eye infection gunk…traveling down the same tubes (I am no doctor…just my best guess). Her ear was hurting her so badly that she didn’t even want to watch the parade. She really wanted to eat and she was so sad she was feeling badly. She cried when she told me she wanted me to take her back to the room while everyone else stayed to eat. Poor baby. I know she liked Liberty Tree. We had so much fun there in January. I was sad to miss it too, to be honest. Eric thought we were both overly worrying again, and I could tell he was a bit upset that we were leaving, but he is a guy. Not just a “guy” but one of those guys who will never admit to being sick…never misses a day of work…never sees a doctor. He doesn’t have the same understanding and empathy for illness that a mama does, so I just let his temporary upset roll off without getting to mama bear angry at him.

I carried my 7 year old to the first aid station to get some motrin started for her pain. Now, before I was a mom, I used to roll my eyes at mothers who carried their kids who were almost as large as they were. I am not a big girl. I am about 5’4 and small framed. My dd is about 4’5 or so. I am sure I looked a bit silly carrying her across the park! But sometimes, that is just what a mama has got to do. She got her pain meds and I walked her and carried her through the masses of people to the bus depot, where we sat on the ground and waited. She fell asleep and we waited about 12-15 minutes for a bus. She got up and onto the bus with me, where she fell asleep again.

By the time we got to the resort, her motrin had kicked in and she was beginning to feel better, so we got some chips, salsa, and juice and headed back to our room to eat our junk food dinner on the bed while watching the Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Normally, we watch animated shows at home with a 4 year old in the mix, so Bean was excited to watch a show geared toward an older crowd. We laughed, ate, and had a good time just chillin’ in the room while we missed out on this:

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic45.jpg

This…

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic43.jpg

And this…

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic44.jpg

We went to sleep at 8:30, and it felt good to go to bed early. Even though we missed out on some fun, Bean was feeling better and we did have a great day and a fun night just the two of us. We went to bed happy at having been able to enjoy so much in one day.

Up next: Day 6 Magic Kingdom, let’s try that again! And the Kona let down.

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Poor Bean. I guess she didn't hear the rule that you're not supposed to get sick at Disney.

[sleepingbean]

Day 6 and let’s try that Magic Kingdom “Magic” one more time! As I had mentioned, I may have been the tiniest bit disappointed that our first full day at Magic Kingdom was not the “WOW” I had expected. For our second day at Magic Kingdom, it was going to be a different ball game all together. We would follow a very mellow plan and we’d visit some mellow sights, take in a show, do some Main Street shopping. Yeah, let’s see if we can rustle up some magic…

We started with another horrifying breakfast at the “PM” (I can’t even bring myself to type it out!). Then we scurried like our favorite mice to the Magic Kingdom Park! Brother and family were planning on catching the next bus. Once we got there, we entered a mob of people waiting to be let in. But we had a surprise! Instead of just standing there staring at the people in front of us, we got to see a very delightful show up here:
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic45b.jpg

I loved this little skit! It even made me misty eyed. I have no idea why. I am a total sap! The woman in the green dress got us all pumped up for Magic and then who should come strolling in on the train but Mickey and his pals! What a treat for us!
We milled into the park like a happy herd of cattle and set off for fun!

One thing we had missed the day before was the Winnie the Pooh ride in the back of the park. We all love that little bear, so we visited the non existent line first, followed by a very short play at Pooh’s playground
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic46.jpg
The girls love Poohs’s playground as much as anything else in the park, but Eric and I just think that is crazy! Still, they love it, so we let them play for a few minutes before we carry on with the day. You see, Bean is too “big” according to the sign, to play there. I believe it said for children up to age 5 years old, so we would feel a bit strange having her play there when it’s busy. Breaking the mouse rules and all that….

We went back to Bella’s favorite ride, It’s a Small World, and visited with Ariel. It was a very low key kind of morning at Magic Kingdom for us. We met up with the cousins and got some photos taken. It was fun and leisurely. When it was time for ToonTown to open, we had just walked over, so we were able to visit at Minnie’s cottage while she was there to show it off! I had no idea Minnie could move so fast! I was unable to get her picture as she showed off her home in lightning speed. The girls love Minnie’s cottage. They checked out the chairs, popcorn, cake, fridge. All the cheese containing aspects of Minnie’s kitchen just crack them up.

The three brave girls went to ride Goofy’s roller coaster, while Bella and I hung out at Mickey’s house (all by ourselves!!!). Mickey had decorated for Christmas
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic47.jpg

And his kitchen just cracks me up! You see, my husband is VERY organized…to the point of near obsession. Everything is clean, organized, and somewhat matching in his workshop and in his office. When we built our home, he was the main “decorator” in the sense that he had the plan and vision to tie it all together. It’s his thing. So when I see a kitchen/workshop like Mickey’s, I just picture my husband walking into a place like this and fainting! Gives me a giggle…
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic48.jpg

We exited through the garden and the garage (instead of going in for a photo) and then we stopped to take a picture of his cute home, decorated for the holidays.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic49.jpg

We played a bit in the playground area and then Eric came up with a plan! He remembered how much we all enjoyed the show at the castle last year, and he really wanted all of us to see it again, so our plan was this:
1) All 8 of us take the train around to the main entrance:
2) Veer off to get some Dole Whips cause everyone was beginning to melt with hunger and thirst. Kids were beginning to deteriorate. The Dole Whips were my idea…I had read that they were gluten free and dairy free and I wanted one!
3) Veer back over to the castle and watch the show just in time.
Yeah, I could roll with that!

So, we all enjoyed the little train ride and we exited at the main entrance. As you turn the corner to come down the ramp to Main Street, it appears there are not actual stairs. Maybe there are somewhere, but we didn’t see them. We walked down a ramp to the ground level and Bean totally crashed out on her tailbone. The ramp was wet and she slipped hard. Poor girl. I was worried she may have cracked something with such a hard fall!!! Luckily, she was okay after a minute of crying and comfort. I made a mental note to be EXTRA aware of the ground. We had seen another woman fall (hard) the day before and there just seemed to be many opportunities to crash out on vacation!

Okay…Dole Whip…it was a little further back then I realized, and the kids were REALLY melting down now. They needed a snack and a break. Sadly for all of us…the Aloha Isle was CLOSED!!! It was about 10:30am and they were not open…grrrrrr…..

So we went to the little snack stand next to Alladin’s Carpet ride, which put us even further from the castle…grrrr…..

I got drinks for everyone and we chilled. It was then that the nieces decided they didn’t care about the show and they wanted to stay here and ride the carpets again. I was sad they were going to miss it, because it is a beautiful show! Oh well, they were happy with their plan. We split up. Wouldn’t you know it…Bella suddenly cries out in pain that her ear hurts. Now Bella had an out of nowhere ear infection! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr………….
Why so much sickness, is what I wanted to know? We took our vitamins, washed our hands, used wipes in the park…why the illness after illness?

So, I took Bella to the First Aid, where I was spending quite a bit of time on this trip. Bella got some motrin and then I carried her back to watch the show.
It was a beautiful day and a lovely show.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic50.jpg
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic51.jpg

Bella and I found a bench, in Castle view, but also in the shade. We sat down and she began to take a nap on my lap. Anywhere else in the world, I am too ansy to just sit and enjoy being still while Bella naps. I am always working on something. But here I just sat, still, with Bella conked out on my lap for a little over an hour, and you know what? I liked it. It was so beautiful, so peaceful! Still magical. I just looked around at the trees, the birds, the people, the castle, the sky. I took it all in with each glance, each breath, and I was so happy to be there at that moment. I was breathing in the joyful awareness of a wonderful family vacation. Even with the mishaps, illnesses, falls, we were all having a terrific time and it was so nice to be here, where the weather was warm and we were all together. Where Dad didn’t have to rush off to work, and mom didn’t have to say “I’m sorry I can’t play, girls, I have to clean this, cook this, fix this…”etc.

I saw some cast members being very nice to guests. I saw many guests stop, point, and ooohhh at my sleeping Bella. Just toward the end of Bella’s nap, Orlando family came in and joined us at the park. They sat with Bella and I while we waited for the group to come back, and we watched the show at the castle (again) from our benches in the shade. Double bonus!

Bean came back, wet, from Splash Mountain and excited with tales of this place
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic52.jpg
The Haunted Mansion!!! How is it that I have never even SEEN this area of the park?
They had fun, Bella and I had fun, Orlando Family got to see the show at the castle. And most importantly, Bella was feeling good again after her Motrin and her nap!

The nieces left for the waterpark, and we stayed to enjoy more of Bean’s favorites (Monster’s Laugh Floor, Stitch’s ride, lunch! LOL).
We dined at Cosmic Rays this time. It was fine. I could have ordered better, I suppose! I had a salad with chicken on it. Edible and affordable. Moving on…

Orlando family stayed with us while we hung out in future world (or whatever that are is called). My Dad and I agreed that it was our least favorite area of the park, but Bean just loved it!!! We saw the start of the Family parade and that is when I decided…it was SHOPPING time!!!

The girls were generously given money from their Grandma and Grandpas back home in Iowa. They hadn’t spent any of it, to speak of, and we were leaving the next day! I told them it was TIME TO SHOP! So we went to the big store and they surprised me with their choices. They were very good little shoppers, buying sensible items that they would truly use and enjoy. For example, Bean got herself a big Stitch pillow (which is something she had previously wanted) and Bella picked out two Christmas ornaments and a CD of Christmas songs. Bella loves Marie, the cat, so she was very excited to find little “Arisca” stuffed animals, and she bought TWO of those!!! Bean bought another smaller Stitch.
It was so fun! I bought boxes of Disney chocolates for Christmas gifts and I snuck in some small gifts for my girls too. It was very enjoyable shopping.

We took our bags back to the room to prepare for our dinner at the Kona Café.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic53.jpg


We had 5pm ADR for Kona and we were there a bit early. We waited with Orlando family (and waited and waited and waited). My brother and family were late, but it didn’t matter because they were just not seating us!!! The restaurant didn’t open until 5 and we had 5pm reservations. I really didn’t understand how it could possibly take so long! So, my Dad went to the counter to ask what the holdup was and they said…
“Oops! When you checked in, we forgot to make note of it! Sorry about that!”
Great start.

We had dinner there with the worst service at any place we had been (well except Pepper Market, but that is the bottom of the service barrel, so it’s hard to put it in there for comparison). The waitress was rude, rushed, and forgetful! Not a good combination. The chef was curt and not incredibly helpful either. For example, they have gluten free rolls, but they didn’t offer them to us. So while everyone else was eating Hawaiian bread with butter, we had nothing. So I asked for some gluten free bread and it eventually comes out, with nothing to put on it!? I know they have SOMETHING back there that is gluten free to put on some bread?! I ordered the chicken, but it was dry as a bone! It looks nice in the photo, but it was hardly edible.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/16.jpg

The waitress asked us all to pay (and tip) before she even brought out dessert or checked to see if we wanted anything else?! It was very rushed and awkward. I did not enjoy the Kona experience at all. For dessert, they offered us gluten free dairy free ice cream. I asked for them to give Bean some cotton candy, which was gluten free. I didn’t want her to feel left out that the other kids had more then “just ice cream”. So that went over well enough.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/17.jpg
Bean didn’t actually like the cotton candy, but the rest of the table did! It got eaten.

So, we left the Kona, by boat, and we enjoyed the beautiful boat ride back home. Tomorrow was checkout day! Bean crashed out in bed, but Bella and I took a little walk around the lake and enjoyed one last evening look at the Coronado Springs Resort
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic54.jpg

We all had a fun day. The nieces enjoyed the waterpark one last time and we all had our fun at Magic Kingdom for a leisurely day at the park. Kona was a bust, but at least we got to see the Poly resort and go on another enjoyable boat ride! Day six was a good day. It was a good vacation.

[trivial]

Another excellent trip report; thanks for sharing! As an aside, have you contacted WDW about your experiences with Pepper Market in particular, and Kona Cafe? We were really disappointed by Kona as well. While our service was fine, the food wasn't great.

[sleepingbean]

Thank you and thanks for posting :)

I did contact WDW via email to let them know about our good experiences and our bad experiences in dining. I wanted the outstanding chefs to get some positive feedback, and my hope is that something can change for the better at the dreaded PM...

As for Kona, we are not going back there. Too many negatives. It's too bad when one time may be a bad experience because it shapes so much of what we may choose to do in the future.

[sleepingbean]

Our last day. Having 7 days instead of 5 was really great. We handled it! Eric had fun (I was worried it would be too much Disney for the man, but not at all!). Really, it was great and I was already plotting for a 10 day trip next time….But back to day 7.

We woke up and decided we better not plan to do a park this day. The girls wanted to play at the Dig Site. We really hadn’t done that yet, and I knew checkout and Magical Express would take some TIME…so I let go of my dreams of one last day at a park, and we went to play.

http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic55.jpg
I took in the beauty of the resort for one last beautiful day. We played outside for some time.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic56.jpg
Since the girls were the first ones there, they got to dig up the hidden objects in the sand. They loved that! They also played in the little hut, on the swings, on the slides and so on.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic57.jpg
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic58.jpg
Now, Bean is technically too old for this playground, which I don’t get. She’s only 7!!! She’s in first grade, for crying out loud. But the sign says up to ages 6 only. It was fine this morning, but I won’t rely on the Dig Site at a resort for future visits because of the age restrictions. Next time we go, she’ll be 8.

The girls sat with the other kids at the bottom of the pyramid while they turned the water fall on for the day
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic59.jpg

The girls wanted to swim, but I would not let them because of the ear infections. The nieces did swim a bit. I took Bella and Bean to the lobby to watch some classic cartoons one last time while their Dad started the checkout process near 11am. It took a long time. I think it was about 1.5 hours to checkout and get through the line to check the Magical Express luggage. Our bag was 3lbs over, so Eric had to dig some stuff out to take for carry one. Luckily, we had room and it worked out fine.

While we waited, I took some pictures in the lobby of the Christmas decorations.
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic60.jpg
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic61.jpg

And I finally noticed the mural on the ceiling!!!
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic62.jpg

We ate a cruddy lunch to use up our last Counter Service credits, and we enjoyed our cruddy lunch outdoors, where we could breathe in the warm fresh air just one last time before heading back to Iowa, where the winter was hitting hard for the 3rd of December. It was a beautiful day and we talked, ate, watched the birds, walked around a bit. We didn’t do anything in particular, but it was still enjoyable to just be there, in such a nice, warm, beautiful place for those parting minutes while we savored the last drop of vacation. On the bus ride to the airport, we got pumped up for more Disney vacations with the timely video they show. We flew home (who really wants those details?!) And while it was very cold (20 degrees and snowy!) , it was still nice to be home. Sure, I’d miss having someone else come and make my bed every day, but having all that space felt grand. So homecoming is bittersweet. We don’t want to leave vacation, but it’s always good to come home.

While the girls and I slept, Eric set out the haul from our trip. Much of this was gifted to us from Orlando Family, I picked up a few small things, and the girls used their Grandparent money for the rest. Here is the stash
http://www.sleepingbean.com/disneyphotos/trippic63.jpg

So, we started off in January 2007, skeptical about Disney, but ready to eat some good gluten free and dairy free food. Little did we know that we had bitten into a newfound travel addiction that would stretch our imaginations almost as much as it would stretch our budget! What’s in store for our family in 2008? More Disney? A cruise maybe? Deluxe, Value, or Moderate?

You can bet I’ll be back to tell you, just as soon as I see a tax return! We are officially Disney people and there’s no stopping us. We have to feed our addiction with small bits of magic, pixie dust, and the occasional overwhelming heaping of joy…you know the kind…the kind that melts tall strong fathers and brings them to a pile of mush…the kind that brings families and friends together… the kind that makes new dimples appear on little cheeks from excessive smiling… the kind that warms my heart and brings a mist to my eyes whenever I think about it. Yeah, we are gonna need more of that kind of magic.

[trivial]

For your next trip, have you considered renting DVC points? As I like to say: stay in a Deluxe Villa for the price of a Moderate. And of course, I'd highly recommend at least a 4-night Disney cruise along with your next WDW stay. :)

[sleepingbean]

trivial - I really need someone to hold my hand through those two things. I know nothing about either. Like, where to safely rent points, for example? And can you do dining plan if you do that? (we saved a lot using the dining plan)

And for the cruise...I just don't know anything about that either! We are interested, but we need some hand holding...some BTDT stories. I need a real life Disney Veteran who can sit with me and tell me all the details!
LOL

Not many have the patience to type out that many responses!
LOL

PS - do you have a written trip report for your Jan 07 trip?

[trivial]

The DIS Boards has a forum for renting DVC points. There is a slight element of risk involved, but if you're wise and cautious (as with all online transactions) there's nothing to be afraid of. Ask for references and deal with someone who has a long history on these boards. You are eligible for the Disney Dining Plan when renting DVC points (the only difference is the point-lender has to make the request, and you pay for the DDP upon checkin). To give you an idea of cost savings, we stayed in a Deluxe Villa Studio for $149/night; Disney's rack rate is over $300/night.

I suggest checking out these two links:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1442533
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/RentTrade-FAQ.htm

I'm not a veteran by any means, but the best 2 resources I've found in regards to Disney cruises are the DIS Boards and PassPorter's Disney Cruise Lines book. Some bits of advice off the top of my head: book as soon as pricing is released (2009 bookings went live a few weeks ago), and book through Disney Cruise Lines before transfering the reservation to a travel agent (such as Dreams Unlimited). The reason for booking then transfering is to get the stateroom credit from DCL, and then whatever bonuses from the travel agent on top of that.

Honestly, neither are anything to be intimidated by; they just require a bit of research, and the DIS Boards is your best resource. I'm always excited to help as much as I can, so let me know if you have any questions either in the thread or by private message.

I did start a trip report for our January 2007 trip, but unfortunately I never finished or posted it. I was all excited to do it too, but I think it's probably too late to complete and post it.

[sleepingbean]

It's never too late! Just post what you can remember LOL!
:)

Are you a DVC owner, then, or did you rent?
I'm interested....

(still have to wait for taxes...)

[trivial]

I rented on our last trip, and will be doing it again next time. We're not able to go on a frequent basis, so renting makes more sense than buying DVC for us right now.

[MeLaNie9]

OK - I STILL haven't gotten to our TR!!! But, UGH! the Pepper Market. On our last night, we had dinner there and the food was horrid.
I can't even imagine trying to do breakfast there day after day with the food allergies. We usually bring breakfast foods and eat in the room - this time we brought little cereals (some of which are dairy free for DS1) and fruit cups.
We had CS credits left so we had breakfast and lunch there on the day we left for home - the chef was not very accomodating and basically we had to settle for toast with jelly and some bacon for my son with the allergies. For lunch we got sandwiches to go from there and ate them at the airport. The same chef was there and I swear he was rolling his eyes when I tracked him down to remind him that I needed dairy and egg free food. At the deli counter I asked the guy to make sandwiches with cheese for DH/DS3/me then to make a separate sandwich for a child with dairy and egg allergies. I told him I wanted plain white bread and turkey. He then said, "That's it? How about some cheese????!!!!!" :confused3 Then he proceeded to start making the sandwich wearing the same plastic gloves with which he had handled our cheese. :confused: :confused:
Whenever I get to the TR (I hope I do) I'll report more on how our meals worked out....the other bad place was Raglan Road, but I have also heard that this place is not Disney owned.
BTW, Epcot was wonderful for DS1 - esp. Sunshine Seasons for CS.

I'm so glad that you had a good 2nd trip:goodvibes , thanks for your report...what did you think of that time of year to be at WDW? We have recently been there in early May, early Feb, and this week after Thanksgiving which was really great with the decorations, Osbourne lights, and Candlelight Processional. We're debating if we'll go next year at the same time.

[sleepingbean]

MeLaNie - The food service dept (exec chef dept) did warn me that Epcot restaurants in the World Showcase are independantly run. So, we did some reading ahead of time to see where people with allergies had good stories to share, and Biergarten was a mix of good and bad, but there were many goods. Liberty Tree (or the American Pavillion) and Sunshine Seasons all got good reviews. I had not heard any good reviews of the other places in World Showcase. It took quite a bit of courage to book one lunch there with allergies! LOL But it worked well for us, so we'll go there again, but thanks for giving me a reminder about Raglan and the potential experiences we could face with the dietary restrictions.

We really enjoyed going this time of year because it wasn't too crowded and the weather was warm enough to get wet, but not so hot that you wanted to sit and sweat! LOL

I preferred January, but it was cooler in January. We wouldn't have done any water parks nor would Bean have ridden on Splash Mountain 3 times!!! But we'll probably go in January again. Maybe October.

How was May?
I doubt we can go back until Jan 09, but it's possible we may find a super deal and just sneak out there for a 3 day weekend sometime next fall. We'll see.

Regarding your experience at Pep. Mrkt. Did you write in to share that with Disney? I did, just by email, but they responded that they got it, so I think it's worth a try! Maybe something could change if enough of us spoke up. CSR would be very nice for the price, otherwise.

Enjoy your holiday break (assuming kids are all on break now!)