Who Invited My Mother In Law? A Moderately Deluxe TR All New X 3 & PTR Link 2/3 !!

[tralin]

We absolutel loved Via Napoli as well. Great atmosphere and the food was spectacular. It was the only spaghetti Kaitlin would eat the whole trip. I've started my trip report. Last family Vacation: That WE pay for. Just in case I can't figure out this signature thing.

 

[Queenofallthings]

We loved Via Napoli as much as you guys did! It's a must do for all our trips now....if now a couple of times per trip

Maddie looks like she was having a ball at all the Halloween festivities! Great pictures!

 

[eeyorefan107]

I just recently joined the DisBoards, and I'm glad I did. Your TR is amazing, and your daughter is a delight!! I'm going to try to do a Pre-TR because our 2nd family vacation to Disney is in 89 days, and I'm already fretting over our ADRs. It's so nice to see fellow Chicagoland area people and fellow Cubs fans on the boards.

 

[merbobear]

AWWW I am literally crying at these pictures of Maddy & her dad! How sweet! She probably felt like the most special little princess on earth when she saw him dressed up to accompany her!

 

[petals]

Luvin the update. Did you get a super hot waiter as well in Via Napoli

Luv luv luv the Halloween update as well and how cool with your DH dressing up as prince Charming for your little Princess

 

[Cinderella909]

Great pumpkin patch there! Maddie did super on hers, and the tinkerbell is my favorite! Cinderella and her Prince Charming, well how cute was that! You did a fabulous job on the costumes and looks like Halloween was enjoyed by all!

Thanks for sharing, Karen

 

[smidgy]

thanks for the via napoli review!! I really want to try it!!!

your pumpkins are FABUlOUS!!! maddie did a great job, and even this white sox fan loved your cubs pumpkin.

that being said.. the TINKERBELL pumpkin??!!! OMG!!! what a GREAT pumpkin!!! loved it!


and cinderella and prince charming, that is JUST precious.. you have to frame the one where bryan is kissing her hand and have it dispalyed at her wedding during the bride's dance with her father.. there won't be a dry eye in the house!

 

[katylady]

The Via Napoli update has made me hungry, and I ate not long ago! Your Cinderella and Prince Charming are just too precious. That's really awesome that your DH dressed up. I'm sure it meant a lot to Maddie, and you, too!

 

[katt789]

Via Napoli looks absolutely delicious! I'm still kinda on the fence on if I want to make that ADR for my next trip, haha, Maybe? Lawl.
Love the halloween pics, I didn't notice the tiara on Facebook though!! How cute is that!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Your meal at Via Napoli looks really good!!!

I love all of Maddie's Halloween costumes...but especially the last one!!! SO cute that Bryan agreed to be her Prince Charming!!!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

It appears I'm a few updates behind. Bad bad Danielle.

Don't you love being prepared for high crowds but then encountering less people? Gotta love that!

Wait....I did think all good parents give their kids salt and sugar at 10am?

That's awesome that the PP CD contains all of those F&G Festival pictures!

The Arancini just sounds amazing. I'm drooling on my keyboard right now. Hopefully it doesn't fritz out....

I'm very excited to eat at Via Napoli on my Thanksgiving trip. So so so excited.

I saw your Cubs pumpkin on FB. There is always next year. I've been saying the same thing since I was like 4 I think.

Love their Cinderella / Prince Charming pictures. That's just too cute for words.

 

[pkondz]

We arrived a bit early to see the lobby swarming with people, and I got a little nervous that we’ve have quite a wait. However it seemed that the crowd was mostly people hoping for walk up seating. We were called in right on time and led to our table by the friendly hostess.

So does it make me a bad person that when that happens, I secretly gloat and feel smug that people who got there before me have to wait?

The main feature of the restaurant itself is the set of 3 pizza ovens- Vesuvio, Stromboli, and Etna

Huh. Up until right now, I had no idea that Stromboli was a volcano. I'd heard the word somewhere but didn't make the connection until I saw it with the other two famous (or infamous) ones.

Disboards. Like Wikipedia... but more fun.

I ordered pizza and she warned us that the pastas would likely make their way to the table before the pizza did. I wasn’t surprised as many wood oven pizza places warn the same thing.)

I don't get that. Then why not delay dropping the pasta for a minute or two?

We both agreed that if/when we return to Via Napoli we’d probably get 2 orders of the Risotto Balls. They were that good.

Pretty high praise.

Clockwise from top: Bryan. Salami. Cheese.

I see something yellow over Bryan's right shoulder, so I'll assume that's the cheese. Is the kid punching himself in the jaw the salami?

Maddie’s plain buttered noodles (naked noodles in our house)

My DD15 still eats hers like that.

Individual sized pizza (with olive oil for bread dipping in the back ground) Can you believe the size of this thing?

That looks about as big as a medium in some restaurants!

The single complaint I have about Via Napoli was that the portions were so large and the food so good

Oh you poor thing! You had plenty to eat and it tasted good! OMG! Are you okay? Or is the trauma too fresh to talk about?

(we were both curious to see if they were passing plain old vanilla ice cream off as gelato)

I would be too. Gelato is definitely not the same as ice cream!

Maddie had been wanting the lemon sorbet

The kid's got good taste.

Would we dine at Via Napoli again? In a heartbeat! Even though we eat Italian food quite often, the meal really stood out. It was among our favorites of the trip.

Thanks for the review! I've put it on my (ever growing and possibly impossible to finish) "to do" list.

I wanted to do a Halloween update too since all of Maddie's costumes were Disney themed.

Any Halloween update is a good update.

I did say outfits. Since her main costume was white and her pre-Halloween engagements were outdoors, she opted to wear alternate costumes to avoid getting the real one filthy (her words).

That seems eminently practical.

For the zoo event, she chose to wear last year's Belle costume

Ya got off lucky. She could've said, "Oh, really Mother. That dress is so last year."

I have daughters. I know.

Next up was pumpkin carving at home. She carved a basic jack-o-lantern -her first time carving like a big girl! Daddy carved Tinkerbelle for her, and I stuck with my standard Cubs pumpkin. This year we only carved the 3, I love doing it and we usually carve at least 6 as a family, but we simply ran out of time.

They turned out great! I saw a headless horseman pumpkin at MK on another TR and carved that this year.

And then, finally, was the big day. Haloween started with a party and parade at school

Nice. My youngest's school doesn't allow the kids to wear their costumes. You have to be sensitive to the other kids who might not be able to afford a costume, or to the little ones who might be scared.


Give me a freaking break. "Nobody have fun! Somebody might not!"

I know that I shared with you all that Maddie had chosen to dress up as Cinderella on her wedding day, but I didn't tell you that she'd convinced her dad to be her Prince Charming.

What a Great idea!

Without further ado, I bring you Cinderella and Prince Charming.

All those pics are absolutely terrific. My only complaint is I wish I'd thought of it when my girls were little.

Really a wonderful memory you've created.

Thanks for letting me share! I look forward to hearing about and seeing all of your little princes and princesses Halloweens too!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[smidgy]

ponzi.. years ago my nephews' school didn't allow any type of fake "weapon". (also nothing scary,etc).
so SIL lynn dresses Jordan like a chef. looks out the window at the bus stop and there her son is swatting another kid with his spatula!!!! (but, hey, it wasn't a "weapon")

 

[Aussiesalad]

I love your pumpkins!!

Oh my goodness! Those Cinderella and Prince Charming photos are amazing!
They make such a gorgeous pair. My dad dressed up with me once for halloween when I was about 8 and it's still one of my favourite photos ever!
Definitely frame worthy

 

[pkondz]

ponzi.. years ago my nephews' school didn't allow any type of fake "weapon". (also nothing scary,etc).
so SIL lynn dresses Jordan like a chef. looks out the window at the bus stop and there her son is swatting another kid with his spatula!!!! (but, hey, it wasn't a "weapon")

Never bring a spatula to a knife fight.

 

[Pluto0809]

After seeing those pictures I'm really wishing we would have made a ADR for Viva Napoli for our trip in three weeks! There are just too many good restaurants in WDW!

Maddie looks so cute in her princess dress and the dress itself is beautiful!

 

[marDgreen88]

So glad yall loved Via Napoli! I went there pretty soon after it opened and loved it, but I've heard plenty of not-so-nice reviews since then. It's nice to hear another great review!

Oh no! So sorry about Maddie's eye! That's so sad.

Love all her Halloween costumes (I mean, dresses.) She looked adorable and I love the Prince Charming photos. So cute!

 

[amandaw]

Loved reading your update and review on Via Napoli! Sounds like y'all may have been seating where we were on our trip. But, you'll have to wait to see what we thought of it.

I love, love, love all of the Halloween pictures! Maddie looks great in ALL of her outfits. But, the Cinderella dress is perfection. And so sweet that Bryan dressed up with her.

 

[cindianne320]

Ah! Got all teary seeing your Halloween pics! What a great Daddy!!!

And the food at Via Napoli looks great- I can't wait to eat there next year!

 

[shan23877]

We’d learned from experience that one of the only ways to keep Maddie happy while touring World Showcase was to keep a near steady stream of princess Meet and Greets. We intended to attempt just that while simultaneously exploring the pavilions that we’d only had the chance to visit briefly.

First stop on the Princess World Tour was a visit with Snow White in Germany. I assumed that we’d breeze right through the line since there was almost no one in World Showcase that morning.

I assumed wrong. As Snow White’s wishing well came into view so did EVERY SINGLE PERSON who was visiting Epcot that morning. At least we know knew why the pathways were so deserted.

It became clear very quickly that this particular Snow White was outstanding at her job, and spent a good deal of time with each and every person who waited in line to see her. She was no hug ‘em sign ‘em move ‘em on their way gal. And so we waited. In the blazing mid day Florida sun. For 45 minutes.

From the point of view of the five year old, the wait was well worth it. She had a lovely chat with Ms. White and got many hugs and compliments.

Can you see how red her little face is?

​

While waiting in line I’d been looking over our dining receipts again and it appeared that we’d been charged 2 credits each for our lunch at Via Napoli. So at that point not only had our afternoon itinerary been blown to bits by the unexpected marathon wait in Germany, we also had to make our way back to Italy to see if we could sort out the dining credit issue. (There was no way I was making the hike to Custom House once we got back to CBR-no sir.)

Along the way

So back to Italy we went. Bryan and Maddie decided to check out the Kidcot station there while I went ahead to Via Napoli. Once inside I was able to speak to a manager very quickly. She glanced at my receipt and told me that she was sure that it was accurate. I then produced the time stamped receipt from breakfast and assured her that we hadn’t had the time to sneak in another meal between them. Only then did she grudgingly check the computer. The computer showed that we still had all of the remaining credits that we were supposed to have and she gave me no better explanation for the mixup other than “I don’t know why the receipt says that. You have all your credits”. She also gave off the vibe that she thought I was more than a little crazy. (I may be, but didn’t really appreciate her insinuating as much)

Somewhat appeased I found Bryan and Maddie at the Kidcot station and told them that we’d need to be on our way if we wanted to meet Belle and the Beast before we moved on from the area.

Our dear Maddie is more that a little bit of a perfectionist, and no more so than when she’s creating a work of art. So she wasn’t a bit happy that I expected her to leave her Duffy mostly uncolored. And so we sat while she colored that bear on a stick with medium point Sharpies. I’m sure that most of you are unaware that I have a deep, deep love of the Sharpie. I have them in every imaginable size and color. I hoard them and don’t let anyone else use them. I even have the pens. I really, really love Sharpies. However-- I think it’s the most asinine art supply in all the world to offer small children. Not only is there a very good chance that they’ll ruin their clothes (and seriously who among us doesn’t dress their kids in very specifically chosen outfits on Disney vacations?) But, these markers take FOREVER to fill a large area. (That’s what the jumbo tips are for). Eventually I was unable to sit still any longer and convinced Maddie to let me help her finish the job. Somewhat satisfied –thought we’d need to come back after meeting the Beast to really finish the detail work- she allowed us to tear her away and we promptly joined the nearest character line.

Bryan and I knew if she wanted to meet any more characters that day we’d need to get our Beast M&G out of the way right then. Most of the crowds from Germany had re-materialized in France but we got in line any way. Luckily this line moved much more quickly than Snow White’s had, and we were meeting the royal couple within 20 minutes.

Almost her turn!

I don’t know what it is about this meet and greet that turns Maddie into a puddle of giggly mush, but once again she was completely overcome and all aflutter. She left them full of joy and more great stories. She’d finally gotten to ask the Beast about his favorite ride first hand and he’d confirmed that he was a broken up as she at the lengthy refurb of Test Track. Belle confided that Beast could ride it all day long and that his fur was one big tangle when he got done. Another great meeting with our gal Belle. She was quickly becoming my favorite princess.

Knowing we’d be cutting the 1:40 Jasmine M&G very, very close we hustled back to Morocco. Once Maddie saw the line of people waiting there she did the unthinkable. She said she’d rather not wait.

We were all getting ready for a drink or snack, so we kept wandering. Having never had the chance to explore the shops of Japan, we popped in there first. I briefly thought about letting doing Pick a Pearl, but decided that I’d rather wait for another trip so that I could get a couple of those cool carriage settings from Ebay. Now that Maddie knew that the Kidcot stations were all about, she made a little noise about coloring some more on our way out, but was pacified with a simple stamp and the promise of a snack.

Once again Maddie was insisting on popcorn for her snack. We figured our best bet was America so that’s where we went.

​

While Bryan and DD waited in line for popcorn, I popped inside to get us a couple of frozen lemonades. The snacks really hit the spot and went a long way toward restoring our collective good humor, and so we pressed on.

For the third time that day we found ourselves in Italy. This time we took the time to explore the shops (‘cause that’s what exploring the pavilions means to me). It was DHs turn to find a souvenir, but he wasn’t ready to commit to anything there.

We moved onto France, but only browsed for a few minutes.

​

Next stop was the UK. DH considered purchasing a London 2012 shirt, and I looked at the selection of teas for several minutes. Eagle Eye Maddie spotted a photo op. Something for everyone!

After the obligatory phone booth photos (pretty funny to try to explain to a five year old raised in an Iphone world what on earth a phone booth is) we hit Canada.

​