Mission:Visit Disney Once a Month for a Year. A Florida Newbie's Tales.

[KatGarcia]

Hi! I'm Kat. I have been doing TRs on the DIS for a while now and I LOVE reading everyone else's. This past year has been a huge year in changes for me.... I am in the process of getting divorced, I found out I was pregnant about the time we decided to get divorced, I decided to move to Florida (and did so on July 4th), met someone new, and on Dec 14th, 2011 I had my baby, Lily. To say it was a roller coaster of a year is an understatement! BUT I believe everything happens for a reason and I am happier than I have been in a long time, have a wonderful boyfriend (details on his in a sec), supportive friends and an amazing and beautiful new baby girl!

Plus we are a mere 45 minute ride to Disney!! It also doesn't hurt that I am SO excited to turn Lily into a Disney kid so starting her early is a MUST!

The Cast....

Me- Kat-
http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/48825/2915749660070748021S600x600Q85.jpg
The Disney addict, the human Disney map, the person who got the rest of the cast into going up to WDW so much & proud of it! Tink's my fav & I love anything shaped like a mickey head. :)

DD- Lily -
http://inlinethumb57.webshots.com/31096/2446338980070748021S600x600Q85.jpg
My new little Disney princess. I can not wait to do a million things with her in Disney!

DBF- Chris -
http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/49793/2793469900070748021S600x600Q85.jpg
Has yet to go into the parks BUT he grew up in Cali near DL and has been there a bunch of times. He has a collectors mentality and is now obsessed with Disney Pin Trading, and he is really starting to love all things Disney, esp. with Lily & I to share them with! His fav Characters are Ariel & Peter Pan. He is collecting villain pins too.

http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/22777/2587910620070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

There will also be appearances by some friends too, I'll introduce them as we go along since we tend to go up in groups but the people change each time. But suffice it so say we have gotten just about everyone in our group into going up to Disney and into the pin trading!

Our first trip this year was Jan 2nd so that is where I will begin.....

Thanks in advance for following along with us, I hope you enjoy the craziness. :)

[KatGarcia]

January 2nd, 2012 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43717818&postcount=3)

February 4th, 2012 Part 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44049542&postcount=24)

February 4th, 2012 Part 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44160259&postcount=31)

February 26th, 2012 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44242808&postcount=34)

[KatGarcia]

I moved to Florida in July. Between then and the end of the year my friends and I made about 5 trips up to Orlando. It's a very quick 45 min drive. Most of my friends and my new boyfriend, Chris, weren't that into going to Orlando....until I came along. You could get the group on an occasional trip but it was a once in a long while thing, that is until we discovered pin trading.

When Chris and I started dating I asked him 2 questions that I told him hindered on weather we could get involved....(1) Do you like cats? I asked because I have 2 kittens. and (2) Do you like Disney? We have been together for 8 months so he obviously passed. He had never been to WDW but said he would check it out. he also told me of his obsession with The Little Mermaid. Our other friend, Allison had some pins and a pin book and when Chris saw them it sparked something. He then went on ebay and bought himself a starter kit of pins and the insanity was born.

We took a trip at Christmas time with everyone to pin trade and see the decorations and he was really hooked. He was like a little kid pin trading, he said it was the most fun he'd had in a while. By the end of that trip everyone that was with us wanted to buy pins and trade too!

The wildfire of pin trading has spread around our group and Allison and her husband, Bill, have more than all of us combined. They are the ones who decided on taking this day trip. Chris had to work unfortunatly. So it was Bill, Allison, our friend Kim, myself & Lily. Lily was almost 3 weeks old and already she was headed to WDW!

Of course I had to get her all Disney-ed up!
http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/33597/2087382030070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Closer...
http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/46504/2089101480070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Our goals were to hit up DTD and pin trade anywhere we could and then hit up the monorail resorts for trading as well.

The Christmas decorations were still up too, which was really cool!
http://inlinethumb10.webshots.com/46921/2462476810070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb57.webshots.com/19576/2753126610070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

We wandered from the West Side all the way over to the marketplace, stopping CMs every time we saw any with pins. I was VERY saddened to see my beloved Adventurer's Club all covered by bad shrubbery.

http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/48341/2739908770070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

I had all our tradeable pins with me on a lanyard at first then i realized that the cup holders on my stroller (its a winnie the pooh stroller btw) were much better used as a pin trading station! LOL

http://inlinethumb17.webshots.com/15568/2318229720070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

OF COURSE we went to the pin store.
http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/50379/2899712690070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb14.webshots.com/47373/2990914600070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Our first pic in Disney together!
http://inlinethumb24.webshots.com/20823/2469309190070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

I got some crazy looks for having a baby that tiny out in Disney but whatever. It was a day trip and most of it was spent with her asleep in the stroller.

She did get used 2 times for trading....LOL...we convinced 2 CMs that she was a kid so she could trade off their kid lanyards! One CM acted like it was a shady drug deal, she tapped the stroller and had me put the pin down and picked it up while dropping hers, it was hilarious. CMs asked about her a lot and a few asked if I named her after Walt's wife. :)

This was her most of the afternoon....
http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/47514/2194952670070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

We ended up getting hungry and decided to try our luck at Raglan Road....but the waiting people outside made us change our minds and head to Cookes in stead. We lucked out and got a table with space next to it for the stroller!

I got the fishermans pie with chips. YUMMY! I think everyone got one of the pies. Such a good meal.

Then we were off to the monorail resorts. We drove over to the Poly and parked. Then we found the mother load of pin trading- a HUGE book at concierge. I was kinda loosing interest in the trading at that point so I used my 2 trades for Bill and went over to change Lily into something warmer since the evening was chilly. Turns out the CM said she had never heard of the 2 trade rule and Bill & Allison traded 20 pins from that book! Crazy!!!! The CM even gave them a free pin for doing 20 trades!

Lily & I at the Poly.
http://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/47680/2176883810070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

We monorailed it to the Grand Floridian and to The Contemporary, doing trading with randmn CMs and at each concierge desk. When we got to the Contemporary I needed to feed Lily so I was about to sit down at a bench when I heard a bunch of booms outside and realized Wishes was going on. So i grabbed the stroller, Lily & her bottle and headed to the windows to watch.

It was the best moment, being there with my baby girl and seeing Wishes. It really just made me so excited to show her so many things, Disney & beyond. She changed my whole world, and made it so much better. I've never been more excited about life before. Anyways I'm sidetracking.

I snapped one pic of Christmas decorations.
http://inlinethumb06.webshots.com/35333/2377950670070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

We finished up the trading and hopped on the monorail back to the Poly. I had one more thing that needed to be done, something I kept trying to do the last few trips but didn't get to.... to have one of these:
http://inlinethumb39.webshots.com/48678/2013382150070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Allison tried one too and liked it as much as I do!

Lily how did you like Disney??
http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/46739/2201879860070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

LOL.

We headed home after the Dole Whips. It was a great day overall, but I def missed Chris being there and missed him seeing Lily be there for the first time, so next time we will pretend it's her first time I think.

Wanna see the pins I traded for??
http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/50410/2928004490070748021S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb49.webshots.com/49584/2433030810070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Our next trip is going to be the first weekend in February. It's my BFF's and her daughter's birthday week and they are going for an overnight trip. Chris, Lily & I are going to take them to the Ohana Character breakfast the Sunday they are there since Stitch is their favorite. I'm excited to see theeir reactions as well as Chris' & Lily's. :)

[mousetravel]

Subbing! Baby is so cute!!! Can't wait to hear more!

[ericamcl]

so glad you decided to to a TR here - I've been admiring Lily from your FB posts - such a cutie :goodvibes

[OhMari]

Congradulations Kat.
I saw your ticker for your baby a few times this Fall and didn't realize you finally had her.
Didn't know all the changes in your life-but you seem to be fine.
Your dd is adorable.
M.

[addictedtothemouse]

I'm so jealous! :goodvibes My DD had her baby on Dec 17th, and we are already talking about her first trip to Disney, but it won't be until she is 16 months old. :sad2: But I'll read all about your trips and get some pointers. :thumbsup2

[Grumpy's Wife]

Lily is such a beautiful baby. Congratulations!

I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip.

[mousetravel]

I showed DD your TR, because she loves babies so much, I knew she would like to see it. She said "that's gonna be you when I have a baby!" (meaning taking baby to Disney, and dressing her/him in Disney clothes!!) I had to remind her that I DID have her 1st hospital picture made in a Disney outfit!

I told her that she didn't even need to be saying or thinking of that right now!

I don't want ya'll to see me on an episode of Teen mom! :lmao:


Can't wait to hear more about Baby's 1st Disney trip!!!!
(I also want to move to Florida, so bad! Even trying to hint to DD that she needs to look into going to a FL college! :rolleyes1)

[KatGarcia]

so glad you decided to to a TR here - I've been admiring Lily from your FB posts - such a cutie :goodvibes

Thanks! & thanks for reading along too

Congradulations Kat.
I saw your ticker for your baby a few times this Fall and didn't realize you finally had her.
Didn't know all the changes in your life-but you seem to be fine.
Your dd is adorable.
M.

Hi! I am doing well, what doesn't kill you & all that, right?

I'm so jealous! :goodvibes My DD had her baby on Dec 17th, and we are already talking about her first trip to Disney, but it won't be until she is 16 months old. :sad2: But I'll read all about your trips and get some pointers. :thumbsup2

I am planning a real trip for her first birthday, not just a day trip, if all the day trips go well and she likes being there and seeing characters and that stuff, prob a 4 or 5 day vaca i'm thinking.

Lily is such a beautiful baby. Congratulations!

I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip.

Thanks so much! Thanks for reading!

I showed DD your TR, because she loves babies so much, I knew she would like to see it. She said "that's gonna be you when I have a baby!" (meaning taking baby to Disney, and dressing her/him in Disney clothes!!) I had to remind her that I DID have her 1st hospital picture made in a Disney outfit!

I told her that she didn't even need to be saying or thinking of that right now!

I don't want ya'll to see me on an episode of Teen mom! :lmao:


Can't wait to hear more about Baby's 1st Disney trip!!!!
(I also want to move to Florida, so bad! Even trying to hint to DD that she needs to look into going to a FL college! :rolleyes1)

LOL no Teen Mom!!!! I actually brought Lily home in a Minnie Mouse onesie, its in her blood she must love the mouse.

[KatGarcia]

There have been a few changes to our next day trip to the world.

Originally it was going to be just Lily, Chris & I heading up to take my BFF & her daughter, H, to Ohana but then a few other friends expressed interest so I just rebooked the ressie....for 10! :scared1:

We now have Lily, me, Chris, BFF Laura, H and our friends: Kim, Pat, Patty, Bill & Allison coming with us!! I am hoping everyone makes it but if not its much easier to have less people on the ressie than not enough.

I am excited tho, none of them have done a character meal!!!! :)

20 days till the next day trip!!!

[heaven2dc]

What a beautiful baby and beautiful name! (my name is Deborah ;)) I think Lily will grow up to love all things Disney just like you!

Sounds like you've had a rough year but everything turned out quite magical!

[Annal606]

There have been a few changes to our next day trip to the world.
http://www.primeaffiliate.com/track/images/20.creation.jpg

[disney<333]

Joining in! Your daughter is so cute! Congratulations.
I lived in Altamonte Springs for a while, but now live in S Florida. I took my DD for the first time at 5 weeks, so you beat me. :goodvibes

[jenseib]

Holy Cow!!!! I am so out of the loop. I had no idea you got divorced or was having a baby....and she is such a doll! I'm so happy things are going good for you now.

[punkin413]

Subbing! I've already told you this on FB but your little one is gorgeous! I'd love to be so close to Disney where you can take day trips. Jealous! ;)

[KatGarcia]

What a beautiful baby and beautiful name! (my name is Deborah ;)) I think Lily will grow up to love all things Disney just like you!

Sounds like you've had a rough year but everything turned out quite magical!

My mom's name was Deborah, thats where Lily got her middle name from. :) I sure do hope she loves Disney as much as I do!

Joining in! Your daughter is so cute! Congratulations.
I lived in Altamonte Springs for a while, but now live in S Florida. I took my DD for the first time at 5 weeks, so you beat me. :goodvibes

LOL 5 weeks is pretty impressive tho!

Holy Cow!!!! I am so out of the loop. I had no idea you got divorced or was having a baby....and she is such a doll! I'm so happy things are going good for you now.

I had been away from the DIS for a while, due to the stuff doing on with me. Things are def better now!

Subbing! I've already told you this on FB but your little one is gorgeous! I'd love to be so close to Disney where you can take day trips. Jealous! ;)

HI! I am actually trying to get to WDW once a month this year, if I can! I really wanna go to the 24 hour leap year thing!!!

[KatGarcia]

So even with day trips there are changes....

We moved the breakfast to Saturday morning instead. I also told my BFF (one of the 2 birthday girls) what we were planning so we could make sure that day was good for her. H doesn';t know yet what we are doing, just that we are going somewhere for her's and her mom's birthdays. We are also now only 8, not 10.

Anyone know if I am supposed to count Lily as a guest?? I need the room to pull up the stroller so I figured add her as one of the 8??

Then I got to talking with a friend who is going (Allison) about tea, and mentioned the Grand Floridian Afternoon Tea.... so the girls are all going to tea that same afternoon! Well the girls and Allison's hubby, Bill, who loves tea. LOL. So a few of us will be going off somewhere else and we will be having afternoon tea. I am excited because I have never done it before!

Chris is coming to Tampa tomorrow and wen are meeting up with everyone early Saturday morning. I am so excited! I just hope the characters dont freak out Lily!

2 more sleeps till Disney!!!

[jenseib]

yep, babies count as a person for ADRs.
Have fun!!!!

[Poolrat]

Congrats Kat! Lily is beautiful.


So many changes for you Kat. I will say you do look happy. Good for you.

I can't wait to hear what the year brings.

[Mickey'sMainMami]

Hi Kat!
Good to see that through all the drama, you came out like a champ! Congratulations on the new man and the beautiful new baby!!! I am looking forward to reading all about you day trips. I get to live vicariously through you till I get back there! Congrats again!

[burly]

Kat!, congrats on Lily, she is just precious.

So happy that you are happy and moved close to your (our)beloved WDW!

Looking forward to more.


KIM:flower3:

[KatGarcia]

yep, babies count as a person for ADRs.
Have fun!!!!

I figured as much, but this baby stuff is all new to me!

Congrats Kat! Lily is beautiful.


So many changes for you Kat. I will say you do look happy. Good for you.

I can't wait to hear what the year brings.

Thanks! I am really happy, she makes me happier than i ever imagined!

Hi Kat!
Good to see that through all the drama, you came out like a champ! Congratulations on the new man and the beautiful new baby!!! I am looking forward to reading all about you day trips. I get to live vicariously through you till I get back there! Congrats again!

Thanks!!! I still can barely believe how close we are and how much "mouse time" we get!

Kat!, congrats on Lily, she is just precious.

So happy that you are happy and moved close to your (our)beloved WDW!

Looking forward to more.


KIM:flower3:

Thanks so much! More is on the way!

[KatGarcia]

So.... today was a trip to celebrate Laura & H's birthday, which are a week apart. Laura was aware of our plans but H, who turned 13, had no idea. We had a crew of 9 total with us, 7 of us were going to breakfast.

We left early, around 830am, so we would make our ressie in plenty of time. 7 of us squeezed into one car (an SUV) and Michael & Bill went off on their own to visit a comic store in orlando before meeting us at our destination, The Poly, after we finished breakfast.

Lily was all princess-ed out and ready to go!
http://inlinethumb51.webshots.com/50098/2640100080070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

The drive was uneventful and we made it with about half hour to spare. Everyone else ran to the concierge desk to pin trade and I went upstairs with Lily to check in at Ohana. This is where I learned that Lily needed to be classified as an infant, and the CM asked me to see her this is what we found...
http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/47527/2879260320070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

LOL.

Everyone met me upstairs shortly there after and we got leid and waitied to be called. I opted out of the photo, we figured we would have enough opportunities for group pics.

When we were called H STILL didn't know we were dining with the characters, she just thought we were having breakfast. Our "cousin" who seated us was really great! He had birthday buttons for Laura & H and was really funny. When we got to the bread station he told H "Since we are cousin's you need to help with the chores- here hold this bread basket!" We all laughed and our friend Kim laughed the loudest. Our cousin didn't skip a beat he said to her "Well since there are a bunch of you let's get 2 baskets and YOU can carry this one!" We all laughed!

We were seated in a corner at a huge table to the side, not the best view but it was ok. H finally was told who was at breakfast with us and she shrieked!

So we chowed down, waited for characters and got Lily out of the stroller.
Of course she needed a diaper change so I grabbed a diaper and wipes and ran to the bathroom to change her before the first character made it to the table. I'm thinking it's going to be a fast change of the diaper, Lily however decided to pee on me when I took off her diaper, right onto the one underneath! So I called Laura (her godmother BTW) and had her bring me another one. That will teach me not to take the whole diaper bag with me!

The first character was on the way to the table shortly after we got back to the table. it was Lily's very first character.....Pluto!

SHE LOVED HIM! She stared and stared at him!! I was so excited that she seemed to like him. He was cute with her , playing with her and goofing around!

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/49828/2952477590070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Of course we took a group photo.
L-R Allison, Laura, H, me, Chris & Lily
http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/49050/2804110330070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

I was on cloud nine that Pluto didn't make Lily cry! We took a few "family" pics in between. (I look kinda creepy, sorry)
http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/46947/2265140360070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

We made Kim get her own pic, she is our resident animal lover so she loves Pluto & she has never been to WDW before!
http://inlinethumb46.webshots.com/49325/2993220740070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

H was weirded out for some reason LOL
http://inlinethumb30.webshots.com/28573/2296395700070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

I <3 this pic!
http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/49513/2843563920070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Next up was Lilo! (Notice Lily still trying to see Lilo!)
http://inlinethumb45.webshots.com/47788/2636365200070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

Next up was The Big Cheese himself- Mickey Mouse! I have a video of the meeting but I have yet to take it off the camera, sorry! Here are pics tho!

http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/1212/2479361090070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/49636/2303392190070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

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Our server was awesome, she was from NY! She brought out cupcakes for Laura & H and we all sang to them. :)

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/47116/2777486070070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

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Apparently all the excitement knocked out my little princess....
http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/49020/2782048440070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

She had a long day ohead of her so we let her crash with Chris for a while, she didn't even wake up when Stitch came!

Laura & H LOVE Stitch, its the whole reason we did this breakfast, they had both wanted to for so long. It was our gift to them for their birthdays!

http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/48470/2797470800070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

I love the smile on Laura's face!
http://inlinethumb49.webshots.com/47088/2551198750070748021S500x500Q85.jpg

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We spent almost 2 hours at breakfast, it was great! we all had so much fun and everyone was really into the Mickey waffles. Most everyone had never been to a character meal before so it was really cool for me to have them there experiencing something new!

We took a stroll around the grounds of the Poly for a while, waiting for the guys to arrive. I really love The Poly, the vibe is just so awesome. Everyone else seemed to love it too!

Now we were on our way somewhere to meet up with yet another friend, Jim.

The day did not end here by any means....there's much more to come!

[jenseib]

what fun morning. I haven't been there yet, but hope to someday.

[tazdev3225]

I ate there for the first time in October. Have it on the schedule for august's trip. Lily looks liked she really enjoyed the characters and Chris is a proud Papa.

[MinnieMoose]

I'm so jealous that Disney is only 45 minutes away from you! As soon as my husband and I left Disney in September we couldn't stop talking about it and even mentioned moving to Florida just to be closer!
Also, I somehow still haven't tried the Dole Whips yet! Can't wait!

[KatGarcia]

what fun morning. I haven't been there yet, but hope to someday.

You def need to!

I ate there for the first time in October. Have it on the schedule for august's trip. Lily looks liked she really enjoyed the characters and Chris is a proud Papa.

It really was a great time for everyone!

I'm so jealous that Disney is only 45 minutes away from you! As soon as my husband and I left Disney in September we couldn't stop talking about it and even mentioned moving to Florida just to be closer!
Also, I somehow still haven't tried the Dole Whips yet! Can't wait!

I have always wanted to move to orlando, but 45 min away works fine for me, for now!

[mousetravel]

Love the Ohana pics! We haven't been there since our first visit to Disney in 2006. I definately want to go back on our next trip!

[KatGarcia]

Love the Ohana pics! We haven't been there since our first visit to Disney in 2006. I definately want to go back on our next trip!

DEF go back, it was soooo much fun!

[KatGarcia]

So we spent a few hours at Ohana for breakfast for Laura & H.

H & I did some hidden mickey searching before we left and saw this neat one at the Kona coffee bar!
http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/48910/2959006640070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

And I saw these in the gallery shop- I LOVE them!!
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/36663/2135905130070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/20116/2334375690070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

We headed out to the buses to hit up downtown Disney and meet our friend Jim, who had driven up to hang out with us too!

Now I am new to the baby in Disney thing so I had to ask at the desk what I am supposed to do with her in the stroller on the bus. I was told I had to have the stroller folded up no matter how old the baby is. I don't think that's very safe for a newborn but that's just me. I would much rather have her strapped into the whole stroller system than in the car seat not strapped to anything, but I did what they said. I had the car seat next to the window and Isat next to it. my knuckles were white the whole time, i didn't like it one bit. We arrived with no incident and began trolling the shops for pins and we glanced a bit at the merch too. LOL.

Turns out Jim was on the West Side so we split into a few groups, some to get Jim, some to pin trade and some to relax and people watch. I people watched. I parked the stroller and chilled out for a while. It was awesome.

I eventually got a candy apple from Goofy's....dipped in dark chocolate and coconut! I know we also hit up Ghiardelli for some free samples too. We did stroll around the shops some too.

We did have another ressie to keep so we rounded up the troops that were coming with. We also split up here too. It's so hard to go with groups as big as ours so we try to do things together but dining is ALWAYS the issue. So some didn't want to do this ressie and some did- so we split.

The rest of the group who didn't come stayed around DTD to pin trade and planned to meet us at the place where our ressie was..... the Grand Floridian. Figured out where we were going yet?? Tea!!!!

We were late to the ressie due to the bus being super slow to get there, but they took us in just a few minutes with no issue. I needed a few minutes to change Lily and get her fed, or at least start feeding her, so I grabbed a spot on the couch.

So i plan to embarass my little princess one day by telling her all the weird places in WDW I changed her diaper as a kid, so I took a pic before I changed her, on that couch I sat on....

http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/50055/2673237210070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

We were seated shortly there after for our tea. We had a lovely table by the windows. It's so cute in there!!!

Some pics....

http://inlinethumb38.webshots.com/48485/2971496710070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/47320/2186886100070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

I had the Mad hatter blend- SO GOOD!

The view...
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/49508/2317929650070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

Lily's view for the beginning of tea, from the car seat sling.
http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/50591/2994989510070748021S600x600Q85.jpg

L-R Laura, Bill, Allison, H, Me & Lily
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So H really enjoyed the tea and really wants to go back with her friends. I still cant believe she turned 13, she is such a beautiful little lady.

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Laura snagged this one of me talking to Lily
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This is my fav pic....Allison's face says it all....Bill had taken out his pins and was sorting through them...he is a BIT obsessed. Put it this way- he catalogs all the pins he has and plans to write a phone app for pin cataloging!
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H didn't like the bitter bottom part with the tea leaves LOL!!!
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We spent a while enjoying our tea, we all finished our pots! We did order some food too. Bill had the Gentleman's tea, L & Allison had the cheese plate , I had the tea sandwiches, H had the triffle and we shared an order of scones. Everything was really yummy. I want a whole plate of pear & gorgonzola sandwiches!!! & the onion tart was delish too!

The rest of our friends arrived and we all went up to check out the pin board they have out at 6pm in the shop upstairs. We wandered the shops as well taking silly pics.

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We did some trading then all hopped on the monorail to the contemporary for their pin board and to see about some fireworks.

Jim went home at some point and we all decided to wait around the Contemporary for Wishes and watch from the outside deck on the 4th floor. We staked out a spot, got some snacks and hung out. I fed the small fry while we waited too.

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H wanted to try taking some pics and a few came out neat...
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Not bad , right??

A few min before Wishes started a bunch of people came out and mostly blocked our view. I wqas annoyed but took Lily in the sling up to the railing and made us a spot to watch from.

It has been so neat being able to bring her so much because every time we go she is seeing more and more. I can't begin to describe how cool that is for me. This night she saw the fireworks for the first time, like wide eyed saw them. I bawled. I always cry during Wishes but it made it that much more tear worthy that Lily seemed enthralled with the bright lights. I love that I can share this stuff with her, I'm so lucky to have her and be so close to Disney that I get to share these kinds of moments with her!

We hopped back on the monorail and back to the Poly for our car. We stopped at McDonalds for some dinner along the way and were home around 11pm that night.

Another great day spent.

Another update is coming soon, we went back yesterday with Chirs' mom & are going back Wed for the leap year 24 hour Disney day!!!! So excited!

[407-W-DISNEY]

HI!
Your title caught my attention...I would love to move to Florida!
I have to say, you are one strong woman for moving there by yourself! good for you...

congrats on the baby and the new boyfriend!

Can't wait to hear more...especially tomorrow for Leap Year!!!

[KatGarcia]

HI!
Your title caught my attention...I would love to move to Florida!
I have to say, you are one strong woman for moving there by yourself! good for you...

congrats on the baby and the new boyfriend!

Can't wait to hear more...especially tomorrow for Leap Year!!!

Hi & thanks for reading!

I am updating next!

[KatGarcia]

Chris' parent's are visiting from Tennessee so we wanted to show them a little bit of Disney. The night before Chir's dad started not feeling well so he ended up not coming with us. :( BUT we had a fun time showing his mom around. We even had a few firsts , even for me!

Our first stop- The Poly. It has become Chris' favorite resort, which makes me happy because I LOVE it there!

Lily asleep in the car, as usual.
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This trip we rented a couple of ECVs from an outside of Disney company. Chris is a big guy and all the walking we do usually kills him for days after and his mom recently had a knee replacement surgery so we NEEDED those ECVs. I was thrilled he wanted to get one, knowing he would have much more fun not worrying about pain all day. The company we used, Scooter Vacations, was great! They dropped them off the night before and we just had to go to the transportation desk outside and ask for them. A CM drove them out and even showed us how to use them! They were easy and so convenient to get!

So while Chris & Mom got their scooters I took little Miss Lily into the Poly to change and feed her before we headed off.

Chris stopped at Concierge for their pin book, of course.

PS we had 200 pins for trading with us. Obsessive much????? It makes him happy and it keeps him going back to WDW, I won't complain, just mock a little.

We took a stroll around the grounds of The Poly and showed mom the beach and the view of MK. Chris told her the story of our first Disney date and how I surprised him with Wishes from the beach. Go me!

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Then we decided to do something I have never done and always wanted to do....we walked the path around Bay Lake! We can do that this time because of the ECVs!!!

I decided to use the camera on my new Droid phone so the pics kinda stink but they will have to do!

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I have never been anywhere close to the Wedding Pavillion before so we explored over there a bit since we saw some other people walking around too. I didn't have the foggiest clue if you can just walk around over there.

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I tried the door to the chapel and it was open! I stuck myself half inside and grabbed a quick pic, no idea why its so blue tho, weird camera.

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I should also mention that since we had 2 people on the ECVs i decided not to bring my huge stroller/car seat since I'd have no one to help me carry it off and on buses, so I used my baby sling all day. Lily was in 7th heaven and spent most of the day asleep and happy as a clam. I tried to get a picture of her but she was so close this was what I got...

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A shot behind us.
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We pin traded our way around the Grand Floridian and decided we were hungry and to head to DTD for some grub. We went out to the bus stop and there was a sign that said something to the effect of the buses not running there and to go to the TTC for a bus to DTD. I found it weird but there must have been a convention going on.

So we scoot back to the monorail and head to the TTC. We get there only to find out there isn't any bus there and we have to go to another resort. URGH! Chris did get some good pin trades done with the info desk guy. I was not too happy as we are travelling all over for no reason.

I did see this cool back drop in the shop by the TTC tho.
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Chris saw an opportunity for a photo....
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Back to the monorail we went, and to the Contemporary. At least Mom got to see some of Disney from the monorail.

Finally we get to the bus stop at the Contemporary, and wait about 15 minutes for a bus. Why is it that the buses come so much faster at the resorts you pay less for??? Just a pet peeve of mine when it comes to the buses.

The bus driver we got was awesome. He helped park both ECVs and even flirted with mom some, which we still tease her about.

Starving, we bipassed all the stores and headed straight for lunch at Earl. Mom & I had originals, Chris had an italian and we all shared some chips and potato salad. I got a much needed coffee as my throat was starting to get scratchy and it was a bit chilly out. We sat outside tho, covered by the seating area. Lunch was great as usual at Earl. I hadn't had it in a long time so it was reeeeeally good to me.

it was time for a bathroom break and Lily needed a change and a feeding so we headed for the nearest restroom. There was a line for the ladies, of course, but the companion rest room was open! Hooray for babies when you can use the bathroom with no line! Why am I mentioning the bathroom? Because I had a traumatic experience in there, thats why, and if I had to suffer so do you! Lily had what was the first in a several day streak of diaper explosions. I mean B-A-D. All the way up her back to her neck, no exaggeration. So after a thousand wipes and a change of clothes I headed over to Goofy's to meet up with Chris & Mom and to feed Lily at the back tables.

*Side note- those tables are an AWESOME place to just relax and be cool and comphy!!*

I get to Goofy's, claim a table and realize I left my,only sipped 3 or 4 times, coffee in the companion restroom ebcause I was so traumatized over the diaper. DARNIT!

Mad at myself I moped and fed the baby. But Super Chris came to my rescue by getting me another coffee and letting me make a rice crispie treat!!!

A pic from the next day when I ate it....dipped in dark chocolate, oreo cookie pieces and a dark drizzle. YUM!!!!!!!!!!
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Then we got down to business, pin trading & more pin trading.

We headed first to , where else? The Pin Traders store! They have really cute displays tho, so I checked those out while Chris stalked some CMs for pins.

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We never seem to be there when they open the big pin trading board, only once did we actually trade there. The CM we spoke to said there are some CMs that can make it happen on the register somehow but she couldn't??!! So no big pin board today. Chris did buy a few of the mystery boxes of the villians and star wars.

While we were wandering about there was a guest there that was in a wheelchair. He had a pin book with him too and we chatted a bit and decided to do a trade. He traded us for a really cool Mickey & Minnie pin and was really cool to chat with. They asked about Lily (who was now happily in her sling fast asleep) and then handed us a Mickey pin and said "This is for the baby". I was so touched I almost cried! We thanked the awesome couple and were off to check out some other stores. I have since put the pin he gave us onto Lily's sling and it stays there to remind me, yet again, why I love Disney and keep going back. It's people like that and moments like that that restore your faith in people just a smidge.

We wanted to show Mom WoD so that's where we headed. We did stop at Ghiardelli for some caramel samples. YUM. We shopped around and stopped CMs and pin traded around the whole store.

Chris tried this on and decided to buy it.
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In the jewelry room I noticed some things i never took the time to see before....all the neat villains decor!! Chris, a huge villains fan, loved it.

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Pretty sure I need to buy this for Lily when she is big enough to fit one!
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Since we had the ECVs we decided to venture over to Pleasure Island and The West Side, since Chris, & of course Mom, hadn't seen it.

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I barely took any pics at night, the lighting seemed to make the camera worse. Oh well.

We went to D-Street to pin trade and just check out the neat stuff they have. It really is cool to look at in there! I am also trying so hard not to want any more Vinylamtions! I was a collector of them before but now that we have all these pins, it's just too many expensive hobbies, so I ma trying to stick to Vinyl pins. BUT the park series' make me want them a lot.

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Did you know the Mickey statue on the table made of Vinyls is made from the ice cube tray molds?? Us either, cool fact told to us by the CM there!

it was getting to be around 7 or so and the ECVs were supposed to be back at 8 so we went to the buses. We got lucky and caught a bus to The Poly right away and again got another helpful driver.

**I forgot to mention that the driver we had from the Contemporay to DTD was so great we mentioned it to a CM by the buses who we were trading with, and he told us to go to guest services and give him an "Applause-o-gram" and we did just that!**

We got to the Poly about 7:40pm and asked if the ECVs had to be back exactly at 8pm and they told us they usually don't log a time. That meant we had time to head to the beach to show Mom Wishes!

We cruised our way out, found a spot for them to park along the pathway and pulled me up a lounge chair for Lily & I. I fed her while we cuddled under a blanket and waited for the fireworks. They were playing Lilo & Stitch on one of the screens by the beach too, which was fun to kill time before Wishes.

I took this one pic before settling in to enjoy my baby girl and the fireworks.
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It really is so cool to see her start to really see things more and more, this time she was even more into looking at the big, bright fireworks. So wide eyed she watched as I sang her the whole thing with tears in my eyes.I am forever greatful for little moments like that with her.

We returned the ECVs and hopped in the car and headed towards home.

It was a great day,we all had a fun time. The ECVs made it so much easier to get around and get more done, and thus have more fun! Renting outside of WDW was a must because we got to keep them all day and not worry about getting new ones everywhere we went.

Oh and we traded all 200 of those pins by then end of the night BTW. :thumbsup2

Up Next- We went for One More Disney Day!

[jenseib]

fun day!!!!!

[KatGarcia]

fun day!!!!!

It really was. Esp compared to the next day we went....which i will update soon.

[KatGarcia]

So I will get to the last day we went ASAP, life keeps getting in the way.

It was a DOOSEY!

But I'm here to report that we have plans for a lunch/day trip in Aprilo AND a few park days in May!!! So excited!!!!

Thanks for sticking with me!

[mousetravel]

So I will get to the last day we went ASAP, life keeps getting in the way.

It was a DOOSEY!

But I'm here to report that we have plans for a lunch/day trip in Aprilo AND a few park days in May!!! So excited!!!!

Thanks for sticking with me!


Looking forward to updates!

So you're going in April and May?, are you going in June? That's when we're planning to go back!

[KatGarcia]

Looking forward to updates!

So you're going in April and May?, are you going in June? That's when we're planning to go back!

I am about to change the title of this report to reflect that I am trying to go at least once a month this whole year! My birthday is in June so chances are we will be heading there for something around the 23rd. What are your dates???

[disney<333]

I'm so jealous that you go every month! Lily is going to have no choice, but to love Disney!:goodvibes

[mousetravel]

I am about to change the title of this report to reflect that I am trying to go at least once a month this whole year! My birthday is in June so chances are we will be heading there for something around the 23rd. What are your dates???

June 13-19

[KatGarcia]

June 13-19

We are talking about going that weekend....we shall see.

[KatGarcia]

So...... Raising a baby mostly alone has proven to take u a LOT of time and then I put off coming back on the boards because I know ill be soooooo behind and finally tonight I decided to go for it and here I am. :)

We have been every month so far.....and I will get to all the trips, I promise!

Thanks to anyone who is still out there!!!!

[mousetravel]

Yay, you're back! :yay:





Pretty sure I need to buy this for Lily when she is big enough to fit one!
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Love this! I might have to buy it for the baby that I babysit if I can find it when we go back.




We added 2 days to our trip, so our dates now are June 13-21. If you go during that time, maybe we can meet up!