AN AP-ALOOZA with a baby! October TR turned year of Disney! NEW 2/7 AUG FINISHED!

[CandleontheWater]

So much to comment on- but first I thought I'd give you a Disney fan's perspective of Shade of Green, since you are eligible to stay there. It is a nice resort. Its pretty on the outside, its very well kept up, and its a great location. You can walk to the Poly and take only Disney transportation (which is primarily what I've done), but it isn't a short walk, more like 15 or so minutes. Shades does have its own transportation, but its on a set schedule and not very convenient. Its also nice because there is a starbucks cart (yay good coffee!), and the food there is very inexpensive. If you are looking for a cheap breakfast buffet around property, you can't do better than Shades. The rooms are also HUGE, which is a big plus, just as large as those at the Poly. You get EMH, but you don't get package shipping or a KTTWC. The resort also does not have a Disney feel at all, its more like a swan or dolphin. It also has a lot of military people, which is pretty obvious, but we don't stay there because DH likes to get away from all that while on vacation.

I've stayed there solo and had a great trip, depending on the season and the AP discounts, I've gotten it cheaper than the All Stars. I think the big appeal is for larger families, since it is WAY less than a deluxe, you're on property, and you can sleep 5.

Anyway- I'm sorry your day was not as productive as you planned. I completely understand, I never feel like I get half as much done as I would like. I'm glad you ended up finding food you liked at Biergarten, I know you were concerned about that!

I would also have gotten frustrated at going back to the room to relax, I would feel like I had spent so much time traveling back and forth and not getting much actual relaxing done.

Aria is super cute in all her pictures, I love seeing all her outfits! I'm glad she really enjoyed the Seas and Turtle talk, and awesome that she was so good at all the restaurants! It gives me hope for this baby!

 

[Chelley00]

I'm glad you enjoyed Biergarten. We actually had to give up our reservation because it was POURING the day we were supposed to go and we were all drenched and cold, so we canceled and left Epcot.

 

[Imagineer5]

Sorry for going MIA! The weekend was packed full of stuff and now Aria has her very first fever and I had to go to work bc I actually have a lot to do! Ugh! Andrew's home with her but I plan to leave early. Poor cookie. She has a terrible cough too.

Hello! I love your report! Aria is just beautiful and the photos are all fantastic. I especially love the one of her meeting Tigger!

Aww thank you!! She loved Tigger! We need to do CP again now that she has the hang of meeting characters!

Baby's asleep, so finally have a chance to comment!

I love the start of your day at the Poly! And Kona...yummy! It reinforces to me why we're paying a premium to stay there on our next trip. Love that place!

Cute pictures from Spaceship Earth! I'll have to keep that (holding the baby up) in mind for our trip.

I really like the pictures from in front of the Nemo ride...super cute.

We have never taken that shark picture on any of our trips. I guess I'd better add that to the list for next time!

Smart home wasn't there last trip, either, so we may have to check it out.

I'm glad to see Biergarten went pretty well. That's on our future ADR list. We went once, but I was getting over being sick and could hardly eat anything. So, I'd like to try it and it seems like a fun place for a little one, with the show and all. Hopefully we'll get better table-mates than you had!

I wasn't sure if we should stay late to see Illuminations, as I've heard bad things about disrupting little ones' sleep schedules, but Dug is all for it. So, I'm thinking we may try it. When we go, it will have the Christmas tag too, which is great. We're thinking about watching from La Hacienda, as we've done that before and loved it. Interested to see how Aria did (assuming you make it to Illuminations another day).

Hope your camera is okay!

Obviously it will depend on your baby, but Aria was perfectly fine being woken up - she went right back to sleep. Obviously it was either that or being back at the room by 7 every night to get her to bed, which I just wasnt willing to do unless necessary. Even with her sleeping in the stroller by 7:30, she still needed to be transferred to a car seat/hotel/whatever at some point you know.

We love La Hacienda, I am planning to have dinner there and watch Illuminations from there in March with my mom. Only problem with a baby is letting her sleep in her stroller - they may not allow the stroller inside (probably not, it's pretty tight) so baby would have to stay up through dinner and Illuminations, whereas if you plan to have an earlier dinner and then watch Illuminations from around the lagoon she could be sleeping in the stroller...just a thought!

I made the Biergarten ressie for exactly that reason! I should have made it for a little later, since we were through eating by the time the entertainment started and Aria was getting a little antsy. I think it started at 1:15 - a 12:40 ADR would have been perfect.

I would love to stay at the Poly one day but just can't cough up the $$$. I can stay at Shades of Green in walking distance to the Poly for $130, or stay at any DVC studio for about $160/night average, so it is just difficult to pay that much! I would love to though, it is a FUN resort!

So much to comment on- but first I thought I'd give you a Disney fan's perspective of Shade of Green, since you are eligible to stay there. It is a nice resort. Its pretty on the outside, its very well kept up, and its a great location. You can walk to the Poly and take only Disney transportation (which is primarily what I've done), but it isn't a short walk, more like 15 or so minutes. Shades does have its own transportation, but its on a set schedule and not very convenient. Its also nice because there is a starbucks cart (yay good coffee!), and the food there is very inexpensive. If you are looking for a cheap breakfast buffet around property, you can't do better than Shades. The rooms are also HUGE, which is a big plus, just as large as those at the Poly. You get EMH, but you don't get package shipping or a KTTWC. The resort also does not have a Disney feel at all, its more like a swan or dolphin. It also has a lot of military people, which is pretty obvious, but we don't stay there because DH likes to get away from all that while on vacation.

I've stayed there solo and had a great trip, depending on the season and the AP discounts, I've gotten it cheaper than the All Stars. I think the big appeal is for larger families, since it is WAY less than a deluxe, you're on property, and you can sleep 5.

Anyway- I'm sorry your day was not as productive as you planned. I completely understand, I never feel like I get half as much done as I would like. I'm glad you ended up finding food you liked at Biergarten, I know you were concerned about that!

I would also have gotten frustrated at going back to the room to relax, I would feel like I had spent so much time traveling back and forth and not getting much actual relaxing done.

Aria is super cute in all her pictures, I love seeing all her outfits! I'm glad she really enjoyed the Seas and Turtle talk, and awesome that she was so good at all the restaurants! It gives me hope for this baby!

Thank you for your insight!! I'm not totally opposed to it, and I have been inside to buy tickets, so I agree the grounds are beautiful! Nice to hear how big the rooms are, that is a huge plus! Maybe if I squeeze in a birthday trip before my AP's expire I will consider staying there. The rooms just look so UGLY inside, at least from the dated photos they have on the website. I don't mind a longer walk, it is nice to be able to walk to the monorail, and package pickup isn't a deal killer (and being able to take advantage of the EMH is really nice, I love morning EMH's!).

It didn't help there was just so much I wanted to do with Aria, that while she was awake I wanted to be in the parks - though I really did enjoy pool time with her too. Andrew would be happy napping in the room though. I wish he'd be happy going back ALONE to do it! Hahaha.

Thank you! She was great at the restaurants - I mean, it helps they are disney restaurants with tons of kids, she certainly wasn't mute at the meals, but overall I don't think we ever had to remove her from the restaurant (which we would do if she were to cry or be super loud or whatnot). She chattered about a little bit, but nothing that loud. And turtle talk was so fun I want to fit it into our weekend December trip!

I'm glad you enjoyed Biergarten. We actually had to give up our reservation because it was POURING the day we were supposed to go and we were all drenched and cold, so we canceled and left Epcot.

Aw sorry to hear you had to give it up, at least there isn't a CC guarantee! What's worse is the pouring rain!! We were only rained out briefly, and after the first couple of days it dried right out.

 

[smile4stamps]

I'm here! I'm here!!!

Your days actually sound a lot like ours and we did NOT have a baby with us to work the schedule around! I think maybe we should take our husbands up on the idea that they get to go Vegas while we go to WDW!!

 

[Joyciemc]

I am all caught up! Aria is an awesome baby. She's adorable, she loves Disney, and she sounds like a super easy person to travel with!!

Can't wait to read about the rest of the trip

 

[Dugette]

Obviously it will depend on your baby, but Aria was perfectly fine being woken up - she went right back to sleep. Obviously it was either that or being back at the room by 7 every night to get her to bed, which I just wasnt willing to do unless necessary. Even with her sleeping in the stroller by 7:30, she still needed to be transferred to a car seat/hotel/whatever at some point you know.

We love La Hacienda, I am planning to have dinner there and watch Illuminations from there in March with my mom. Only problem with a baby is letting her sleep in her stroller - they may not allow the stroller inside (probably not, it's pretty tight) so baby would have to stay up through dinner and Illuminations, whereas if you plan to have an earlier dinner and then watch Illuminations from around the lagoon she could be sleeping in the stroller...just a thought!

I made the Biergarten ressie for exactly that reason! I should have made it for a little later, since we were through eating by the time the entertainment started and Aria was getting a little antsy. I think it started at 1:15 - a 12:40 ADR would have been perfect.

Thank you! Good advice!

 

[Imagineer5]

I'm here! I'm here!!!

Your days actually sound a lot like ours and we did NOT have a baby with us to work the schedule around! I think maybe we should take our husbands up on the idea that they get to go Vegas while we go to WDW!!

YAY! Hahahha oh no! I can't wait to read all about your trip! After I post about day 4 I'll go get caught up!

Yes, we would have SO MUCH more fun without them. Andrew keeps promising December trip will be better, but I'll believe it when i see it.

I am all caught up! Aria is an awesome baby. She's adorable, she loves Disney, and she sounds like a super easy person to travel with!!

Can't wait to read about the rest of the trip

Hahaha yes she is! Thank you!! I am already looking forward to taking mommy daughter trips!

Thank you! Good advice!

No problemo!

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 4 – Sunday October 7th

This morning dawned very early and pretty dark, but I was excited. For some reason, I absolutely LOVE the Animal Kingdom. I have been known to revisit that park alone on my last day. I also really LOVE the ride Dinosaur, maybe because it reminds me of my all time favorite ride (Indiana Jones) or maybe it is my lingering obsession with Dinosaurs I had as a kid…I don’t know. Also, we had two very fun reservations for breakfast and lunch this day, and we were switching resorts! I was apprehensive about moving off site (never done that before) but having the space after being SO cramped at BLT was appealing.

So let’s get on with the show!

We woke up around 6:15 and both showered quickly while taking turns watching Aria. We called bell services and asked for someone to come at 7AM to get our luggage. Our ADR at Chef Mickey’s was for 7:30 and I was apprehensive that they would be late, but we had a knock at precisely 7 on the dot. He took my bag of milk to put in the fridge, and everything else was packed into suitcases (though, no guarantees they were under 50 lbs, sorry Contemporary bell services!). After he left we were excited and ready to head down to breakfast! Aria was dressed in her Minnie Mouse costume that I had spent time preparing for – the headband attached ears were the spur of a $100 disney store shopping spree (they were $5 BUT spending over $75 gets you free shipping…ahem…).

Another beautiful morning on the walk from BLT to contemporary…

We arrived at CM by 7:20, checked in quickly, took the family picture with the plate (?? Which we did not buy) and waited for about 4 whole minutes to be seated!

Early on we put out Aria’s tiny diner pink placemat thingy, but very quickly realized it was too much of a hassle and just let her chew on the table…I mean…eat her food directly from the table. Actually, it was nice to have though because she enjoyed flipping her puffs into the little overhanging part and then pulling down on that and making them fly across the table…

Mickey himself was already coming around so we sat tight and waited to take some photos with him before getting food. Oh by the way, you have to be quick if you don’t like orange juice! Waiter was just filling every glass with OJ and when I asked if we could get apple he seemed a little peeved. Oh well! I don’t know why they would assume every single person wants OJ, neither of us really like it.

Aria met with Mickey, which was very cute, but made me wish there was a photopass photographer at the character meals, because our photos aren’t great. Either that or we need to seriously sit down and learn how to use the darn camera…

After Mickey, Andrew ran up to get some food while I fed Aria and then we switched. Here is what we came back with –

Mmm I love greasy breakfast potatoes!! (No that wasn’t sarcastic, I really do!). Yum. I really enjoyed breakfast here. Typical breakfast food, but still delicious and filling and we were both very happy.

Next up was Donald, who Aria apparently enjoyed meeting though I don’t really remember the interaction much. I do know Goofy was right behind him and passed by our table – later on we had to ask his handler to come back because he had completely skipped over us, but she obliged and we got to see him!

And the character of the hour was… MINNIE of course!! What an amazing interaction!! Aria absolutely loved her nose of course!

then Minnie reached out to hold Aria! I was surprised, since we hadn’t put shoes on her but she took her from me and then went down to the floor.

Andrew was apparently so smitten with Minnie he had to get a picture too.

Again, photos are awful and don’t really show what an amazing interaction it was! But this was so fun. All the nearby tables were watching too, because Minnie was spending so much time with Aria. After this, I ended up looking for Minnie-themed items whenever I bought Aria something because it was such a great memory for us. This was the 2nd best character interaction of the trip! I hope Aria still fits in the Minnie dress in December because I want to meet Minnie again and get some cute photopass photos of the interaction.

After Minnie we had some downtime to actually eat (yay!) and then the handler brought Goofy back over.

Pluto shortly followed, Aria liked him a little more than Goofy (nose was fun again) and then we headed out.

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 4 Continued!

Found the rental car (parked for 3 days), and headed over to Animal Kingdom. On the way we took this picture – we both think Disney’s infrastructure is pretty darn amazing – this is a waterway and those are boats up there. So cool.

Once again we missed rope drop, but it was only about 9:15 when we pulled up. Aria took an early first nap in the car ride over, and we let her sleep for about 30 minutes before heading into Animal Kingdom.

I wanted to head right over to the safari, and the posted wait time was already 40 minutes but we hopped in line anyway.

Line was only about 10 minutes and we were off for our safari.

Andrew noticed the poacher stuff was gone and liked that (I guess I had never mentioned that to him) and other than that it was a pretty typical ride.

After that I nursed Aria at the BCC while Andrew ran off to ride EE. This was my favorite BCC. They allow strollers and have single rooms for nursing, with private changing tables – much nicer than any of the others, and IMO better located than the others too.

It was about 10:25 at this point and my goal for the day was to watch either Finding Nemo or Festival of the Lion King. There was an 11AM Nemo show, so I headed over to meet Andrew at EE, ride that, and then go see the show. Andrew wasn’t answering my texts so I stopped for some photopass pics along the way – one of my favorites of the trip!

Turns out Andrew thought it would be a good idea to get FP’s for Dinosaur instead of looking for my text, so I waited around for about 10 minutes at EE wondering where he was before he realized I had texted him. After that I rode it quickly (I don’t love that ride, but Andrew does!) and we headed off to see Nemo, stopping for a few photopass pics on the way.

Aria was acting up quite a bit during the first part of the show, not crying but very wiggly and unhappy, that we finally made the decision to leave. Turns out we had a very poopy girl (which lasted all day, BTW, we ran out of wipes pretty quickly…haha), and once she was changed she was happy again.

Next stop was Triceratop Spin with a quick 5 minute wait – Aria seemed to enjoy it but I do look forward to her being a little older so that she might laugh a bit or whatnot while riding…

After that I HAD to get on Dinosaur at least once so I ran over to do that while Andrew put Aria down for a nap in her stroller – it had been almost 3 hours and it was time for her to nap.

On the ride, I slid all the way to the left and behind me there was a father (attractive, yes) and a little girl who was about 5 years old coming into my row (with 3 seats left). The father let the girl go in first and then sat all the way on the edge, but the little girl said “I want to sit next to her!” and sat down right next to me. It was so cute. We chatted a bit about the ride, and she even grabbed my arm at one point. Now, I have never been great with kids, nor particularly liked them, before having my own, so this was a new experience for me. I wondered for a moment if the father had put her up to it LOL. She laughed through the whole thing though and I said she was so brave to enjoy it so much, and she seemed really proud. The father and her left pretty soon after the ride, so it looked like I wasn’t going to be hit on after all. Oh well. But I enjoyed the ride a lot! I thought Andrew would want to ride (we had a rider switch pass, plus there was basically no line, but he refused and instead we headed towards the front of the park. I was annoyed that we didn’t use the rider switch (WHY didn’t Andrew want to ride MY favorite ride?! LOL) and was also annoyed that Aria would get a shorter nap if we went to the car earlier than planned…but maybe that was also hunger talking. We were headed for a lunch ADR at Sanaa!

 

[khertz]

Great updates! I found that same problem with the character meal pictures, especially because it was too difficult to get Paxton in and out of the high chair every time a character came around. Those pictures just never seem to capture the true joy of those character greets at the meals! Aria is beyond ADORABLE in her Minnie costume!! Those ears, oh my gosh!

I also noticed she had 2 more costume changes after that. I think we should start a game of predicting how many outfit changes Aria will go through each day of your trip! Kidding, as cute as her outfits are, I can see the need for more than one per day. I also shouldn't really say anything about girl clothes, since I definitely just spent $30 on the girls outfit at Babies R Us that won on Project Runway and have it hanging in my closet just in case baby #2 happens to be a girl down the road! I can totally see myself having this problem if I ever have a girl!

The pic of her laughing on Andrew's shoulder is simply precious!!

 

[holleypie]

Aria's pink zebra outfit is too cute. I mean, all her outfits are super cute. But I'd wear that one myself, haha.

I have an unnatural hatred for that poacher part of the safari and I'm so glad it's gone.

I liked the Animal Kingdom baby care center the best too. Of course we ended up spending the least amount of time there!

 

[jenny105]

I love the pictures of Aria and Minnie! You can see everyone was watching her. So cute.

Sounds like a fun day so far! I think Dinosaur has the best ride photo ever.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

great interaction, that is where noelle had her fall in love character moment with pluto...and prompted us to get pluto stuff for her.

breakfast does look good...have never considered there breakfast before. but looks good.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Oh my gosh, that Minnie costume and headband are beyond adorable! I wouldn't have been able to resist either! Dh has been talking non-stop about baby #3 lately (I think he feels guilty about basically missing this one), so maybe I'll get my chance at adorable outfits after all

AK is my favorite too! I don't know too many others who feel the AK love. I'm glad you got to ride your favorite ride, gosh when you got off and Andrew didn't want to ride, you should have just taken his rider switch and gone again!

 

[Joyciemc]

Loved seeing the two Minnies meet each other! Too cute!

I love AK, too- and Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides (Ben and I have a favorite quote: "They're not gonna make it, they're not gonna make it!")

 

[Dugette]

What an adorable Minnie! Such a cute outfit! And what great interaction! Too bad you had to leave Nemo early, but overall good start to the day. And you have some really nice photos in there.

 

[xkaittloveex]

Cutest Minnie ever!

And I love the Photopass picture of the three of you in Animal Kingdom! What a gorgeous family!

 

[Imagineer5]

Great updates! I found that same problem with the character meal pictures, especially because it was too difficult to get Paxton in and out of the high chair every time a character came around. Those pictures just never seem to capture the true joy of those character greets at the meals! Aria is beyond ADORABLE in her Minnie costume!! Those ears, oh my gosh!

I also noticed she had 2 more costume changes after that. I think we should start a game of predicting how many outfit changes Aria will go through each day of your trip! Kidding, as cute as her outfits are, I can see the need for more than one per day. I also shouldn't really say anything about girl clothes, since I definitely just spent $30 on the girls outfit at Babies R Us that won on Project Runway and have it hanging in my closet just in case baby #2 happens to be a girl down the road! I can totally see myself having this problem if I ever have a girl!

The pic of her laughing on Andrew's shoulder is simply precious!!

YES totally right, it was so hard to get Aria's breakfast in around getting in and out of the high chair, cleaning up her face, etc. And she didn't understand why we kept pulling her away from her food of course LOL. But seriously they should have a photopass guy per character, that would be so amazing.

HAHA that's awesome!! Yes I am slightly obsessed... she, for the most part, didn't have many unnecessary outfit changes - usually they accompanied diaper changes or food getting everywhere or whatnot, but for some specific character meets I did go a little crazy.

Aria's pink zebra outfit is too cute. I mean, all her outfits are super cute. But I'd wear that one myself, haha.

I have an unnatural hatred for that poacher part of the safari and I'm so glad it's gone.

I liked the Animal Kingdom baby care center the best too. Of course we ended up spending the least amount of time there!

LOL I had fun getting some animal themed stuff ready for AK! It's too small now so I need to figure out what she'll wear in December!

I'm glad it is gone too, I was impressed Andrew noticed! The AK BCC was really nice and private, and I loved that you had such a nice big room to nurse.

I love the pictures of Aria and Minnie! You can see everyone was watching her. So cute.

Sounds like a fun day so far! I think Dinosaur has the best ride photo ever.

Thank you!! haha yes it was fun noticing everyone around watching the interaction. I want to go back to CM after I (or Andrew) take some photography classes, made me so mad how poor the photos came out.

I love Dinosaur, I almost took a picture of our ride photo with the dad and girl but didn't want to explain it to Andrew hahaha.

great interaction, that is where noelle had her fall in love character moment with pluto...and prompted us to get pluto stuff for her.

breakfast does look good...have never considered there breakfast before. but looks good.

Oh too funny!! I love that! Breakfast was great, just as good as any other breakfast, typical food and all. It was nice having such an early ADR, on our way out the line was ridiculous just waiting to check in.

Oh my gosh, that Minnie costume and headband are beyond adorable! I wouldn't have been able to resist either! Dh has been talking non-stop about baby #3 lately (I think he feels guilty about basically missing this one), so maybe I'll get my chance at adorable outfits after all

AK is my favorite too! I don't know too many others who feel the AK love. I'm glad you got to ride your favorite ride, gosh when you got off and Andrew didn't want to ride, you should have just taken his rider switch and gone again!

Eeeek already talking about baby 3!! Hahaha. I'd smack him! JK I hope you get your girl!! Your two boys are going to be so fun though.

The very first time I went to AK (in 2000 I think? Was it open then?) I didn't really love it. But since then I have really grown an affection for it, I feel at home there for some reason. I was going to take the rider switch but he just wanted to leave.

Loved seeing the two Minnies meet each other! Too cute!

I love AK, too- and Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides (Ben and I have a favorite quote: "They're not gonna make it, they're not gonna make it!")

LOL! Yep it is so much fun, I can't wait to ride it in just a few more weeks again! YAY!

What an adorable Minnie! Such a cute outfit! And what great interaction! Too bad you had to leave Nemo early, but overall good start to the day. And you have some really nice photos in there.

Aww thank you!! Are you planning out all the fun character meets for little Isabella?

Cutest Minnie ever!

And I love the Photopass picture of the three of you in Animal Kingdom! What a gorgeous family!

hehe thank you!!! Yes I was really happy with the AK photopass pictures we got!

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 4 Continued - we just left AK heading to lunch at Sanaa!

We checked in a few minutes early and they said they were running slightly behind so we went outside and took some photos and checked out the animals-

Then parked the stroller and headed upstairs to the lobby. Aria was crawling over the sofas and having a blast not being confined to the stroller.

Our buzzer went off about 10 minutes after arriving so we went downstairs again for lunch. They had forgotten to add a high chair to the to-do list, so our seater had to run and get one but we were seated pretty quickly. Aria was a little confused why I wasn’t nursing her (as she had woken when we put her in the car) but her crayons, puffs, lunch, and eventually some of our lunch appeased her through the meal.

I enjoyed a south African wine flight, it was all really delicious.

Looking at the photos I remembered that I never looked at the receipt to see if we were charged for the bread service – the waiter asked if we wanted it in a way that made it sound included, Andrew agreed, but I’m pretty sure it was an additional $9. Andrew was okay with that because he said he would have ordered it anyway, but I was annoyed at our waiter for doing that – I hate when they slide stuff in like that and then charge more for it. Our waiter was not very good, but this was one of the best meals we had all trip despite that! The bread service WAS delicious, just like last time!

I suggested Andrew get an African beer, so he got some safari ale or something, and asked about its origins and was a little disappointed to find out that it was an Anheuser beer made specifically for Disney. But he really enjoyed it anyway!

For my meal I ordered the potato and pea samosas to start –

SO SO delicious! I hear these are at the Tusker House lunch, and Im hoping they might pop up during our breakfast there in December. Yum. Spicy and delicious. It’s impossible to find truly spicy things at Disney it seems, but these were, as was my main dish! I ordered the vegetarian sampler and chose the greens, rice, and spicy vegetable mix (potatos and peas in there too I think). It was all SO so delicious I finished it all (after nicely sharing a bite or two with Andrew who also loved it!).

Andrew got what I had predicted for him – the shrimp and chicken. I learned my lesson last time, their chicken is DARK meat which I won’t touch, while I loved the flavoring I could barely eat my meal, so this time I stuck with vegetarian and was so happy I did. SO yummy!! The meal lasted quite some time – certainly not rushing us here – and somehow I was a magnet again for little kids as at the next table over a little girl started chatting with me about how excited she was to finally be leaving a park and going back to swim! Haha. I told her that was our plan too and she was very envious of Aria that we didn’t have to be coerced into going back to swim, because apparently her parents were barely letting them have any downtime at all (little did she know…). It was cute though, and she played with Aria for a bit.

Aria was beyond ready to nurse at that point so we hopped in the car and I just did it there.

From Kidani, we had to hop over to the Contemporary to pick up our luggage before finding the condo. Andrew didn’t read the signs and parked us in the BUS only lane, right where the buses turn so they couldn’t turn until I moved the car (rolling my eyes STILL haha) and the bellman came out and couldn’t believe he’d parked there. But we got the car stuffed once again and within 10 minutes pulled up to Cypress Point Resort.

Continued in next post...

 

[Imagineer5]

Day 4 completed -

My first impression?? I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE WORLD! I immediately missed BLT, being on Disney property, the cleanliness and SAFETY of WDW. The lobby was undergoing renovations so I had to go in the back, past the pool, to get inside. The pool looked like fun, but up close you could see how it was just not taken care of like Disney does. The staff inside was very friendly (and, BTW, never asked for my military ID which was a good thing because I realized it was packed in one of the suitcases and I couldn’t remember which!). But she looked at me like I was crazy when I said I needed a crib and high chair – there was no note on the reservation and they were all being used!! I was really annoyed but there was nothing to do. Check in took way longer than it should have – I was inside for about 45 minutes. 15 of that was with the “concierge” desk asking if I needed Disney tickets or any other attraction tickets and asking if I was interested in their timeshare – thankfully this was the only time I was asked about the timeshare, and I declined. Also I could have sworn I was told all the buildings had elevators, but none actually did and we were on the 2nd floor. Ah well, I was just anxious to get in the room.

Thankfully that finally happened! AS a recap for anyone who didn’t read my PTR – we got 1 week at Cypress Point for $349 for a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo. It had a full kitchen, 2 master suites, living room, laundry area, etc. It was at Cypress Point which was also connected to Cypress Point Grand Villas next door, so we had our choice of 3 pools to visit too.

I wanted to take photos before we littered the rooms, and Aria was still napping, so she stayed in her car seat while I took some pics while Andrew brought in the luggage.

We chose to stay in the master bedroom off of the living room, and gave Aria the master bedroom that could also be locked off as a studio. I liked the photos of the place because of the 2 jacuzzi tubs – we never used them! LOL.

While we were trying to figure out what to do about a crib – a rental for the week would run around $80, but last minute I didn’t know if they would increase the prices or if we’d even be able to find anything, so we decided to just find a cheap pack n play and buy that, when we heard a knock on the door. Apparently some pixie dust followed us off property, because it was a maintenance guy bringing a crib! YAY! We didn’t get a call, notice, or anything, and it had only been about 20 minutes from when I left the lobby. I was so happy to see it though. BTW – pointless that I brought our own Pack n play and crib sheets. The pack n play sheets at BLT were perfectly fine, and the crib sheets didn’t fit this crib. Live and learn.

So Andrew next went out and did a little grocery shopping – he picked up some bagels, cream cheese, bananas, juice, coffee, milk, wine and beer, and chips and salsa was our dinner I think (still full from Sanaa!). I waited for Aria to wake up and then we took a walk with her in my Beco to check out the Grand Villas section, the other pools, and the convenience shops the resort had. The Grand Villas section, I noted, was much cleaner and felt a lot safer. I think they are also available to rent via my government discount so I might consider them if we stay offsite again.

Anyway, when Andrew returned we headed down to the pool- BRRR!!!!!!!! Apparently they don’t heat the pools at this resort. Boo. Made me realize we definitely want pool heat for our house rental next June. That water was so cold! But we had a lot of fun relaxing in the pool. Next to the pool is a kid’s playground that looked brand new so we checked that out. Aria loves to swing, but she wasn’t so sure about the fake grass stuff.

To cap the evening off, Aria had a bath in her super awesome Jacuzzi tub, and got to bed right on time and slept for a full 12 hours – she was loving the space too apparently. Andrew and I enjoyed vegging out watching TV and playing online – I used my phone to create a wifi hotspot (I jail broke my iphone before we left) and Andrew played on his ipad while I played on my iphone…haha. A nice relaxing way to end the day.

Happily crawling around on the floor – she likes to crawl around with things in her mouth but it’s tough to get a great pic of it haha. She especially likes to crawl with her sock in her mouth….

Day wrap up: I had originally stated I wanted to ride the safari first, ride EE and dinosaur, see either Nemo or Lion King, possibly flights of wonder, do some trails, and go to Rafiki's planet watch. Well - we did about half of that, haha but it was still a fun morning at AK!

For lunch I predicted both of our entrees correctly, though I didn't think I'd be hungry enough for those samosas, but apparently I was!

Then we were going to head to the condo, which we did, did the grocery shopping, laundry, etc - looks like we stuck to the plan pretty well today!