"This is NOT the once in a lifetime trip I was hoping for!" - (Baby Simba - 12/18)

[Fantasyland Mom]

And what you will love even more is that when the CM gives you directions to your room (or any other directions I presume), they tell you "Swim to the left towards the Lion King section, etc." So cute!

That is FANTASTIC!

Yeah, I'm not a Cars fan, either, and I can't get my kids to watch it (even the boy), but that area looks really amazing for any kids who are fans. It's neat that you can walk up to the cars. That's probably some boy's dream come true!

 

[KatMark]

Wow....what little boy (or "big" boy in my case wouldn't love the Cars area?
That is just so cool.

 

[GrammyJudy]

I am enjoying your report and I must say your baby is GORGEOUS! AOA looks beautiful. We have said we don't want to stay value anymore but that sure looks tempting.

I have a friend going there in a couple of weeks and her 5 yr old son is a HUGE cars fan, he will love it.

 

[Aurora1972]

You got some really great pictures! The themeing at AOA is really incredible.

It is super cool that there are sounds underwater in the pool.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

 

[gatormommy07]

Enjoying your trip report so far!! Your little peanut is so stinkin' cute!! The first time our youngest went to Disney it was a day at EPCOT and he was 4 months old, it was so fun, eventhough it rained most of the day. It is quite an adventure to take a little one to the parks, but so worth it! His first time at MK he was about 15 months and that was even more fun, the 2 older kids were a few years old each the first times they went, although I was about 7 or 8 months preggo with our daughter one time we went to EPCOT, but that doesn't count!! I LOVE your AoA pics!! We are hoping to stay there in 2014, October hopefully, and the pics make me so excited for it!! My 3 all love all of the movies featured there, and obviously, with a family of five we will be in a suite, I honestly would be happy to stay in any of them!! Sucks you were sick before you left and on travel day, no fun! Glad you feel better later on. I also enjoy the fact that your step-daughter is proud to embrace her nerdiness!! I too proclaim my nerd-ness, especially my love of all things Star Wars, Dr. Who and DISNEY!! Luckily the hubs is right there with me, for the most part, he makes fun of my Dr. Who love, oh well, the kids all love the same things we do, and my oldest boy is as big of a whovian as I am, so it is cool!! I also wanted to say, I read all about your wedding, a long time ago, but never said anything, it was stunningly beautiful, I loved it!! Anyway, I will quit rambling now, I just realized how long this is!! lol can't wait to read more!!

 

[ronnmel]

Hey Mel!

I have a late start today at work so I ran here so I don't fall too behind. Made it to page 6.

I'm glad you are here!

What a bummer you guys were feeling sick right from the start. That sucks.

It was the worse.

I am sure shoveling that pile of snow did not help. I am so glad we decided to pay for snow removal this year. Got to stay inside that day and wait for the truck and do the dirty job. Lazy bums.

We don't have a driveway and must park on the street, so we have to remove it all ourselves. Plus we had to shovel the balcony so it wouldn't become too heavy and break. Oh how I wish I could do like you!

Flying with a little one is always an adventure but at least she fell asleep right away. Weren't there any available seats so you could have put her down? In my experience, sometimes the flight attendants can be quiet accommodating that way.

The flight was really full. Plus, it's rows of 3 so we were all together. Otherwise we would have had to separate, either by having Otaku sit alone, or have me be alone with the baby. I preferred to be with Ron so we could help each other. Plus, she doesn't sit much on her own yet. Well now she does, but back then not really. Anyway, she's always trying to climb on me now.

Too funny she chose the best moment to have her number two. Haha. Typical. The life of a parent. Never a dull moment.

Oh yeah, she keeps us busy and "entertained".

When Beatriz was 18 months old I took her to Brazil by myself and she threw up all over me in the plane and we still had 10 hours to go. To say I wanted to cry is an understatement.

OMG, I would have wanted to cry too!

Oh my those AoA pictures look great. The lobby and the food court look like they are a lot of fun and I keep reading about the delicious food. I am trying to convince Joey to go to Disney for the Expedition Everest Challenge in May and I would not mind staying there. Beatriz would have a heart attack in that Little Mermaid room. Just too cute.

I hope you succeed in convincing him. The Expedition Everest 5K challenge looks so much fun! Beatriz would be in little girl heaven in that room!

I have to run now but will try to get back tomorrow.

See you!

Responses above in turquoise.

I always love your walking tours! This one was spectacular! AOA looks really nice.

Thanks, I love doing those walking tours! Ron doesn't like it much, I'm glad somebody else enjoys them with me.

That is FANTASTIC!

Yeah, I'm not a Cars fan, either, and I can't get my kids to watch it (even the boy), but that area looks really amazing for any kids who are fans. It's neat that you can walk up to the cars. That's probably some boy's dream come true!

Maybe they'll want to watch the movie Cars after seeing the resort. Or maybe they still won't care, and just enjoy it for what it is, a beautifully themed area.

Wow....what little boy (or "big" boy in my case wouldn't love the Cars area?
That is just so cool.

I cannot imagine any boy who would not love this area, big or small.

I am enjoying your report and I must say your baby is GORGEOUS! AOA looks beautiful. We have said we don't want to stay value anymore but that sure looks tempting.

I have a friend going there in a couple of weeks and her 5 yr old son is a HUGE cars fan, he will love it.

Thank you!Even if you choose not to stay at AoA, you should think about just going for a visit. It's a lot of fun to walk around, and the food court is awesome! Your friend's son will flip out!

You got some really great pictures! The themeing at AOA is really incredible.

It is super cool that there are sounds underwater in the pool.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

Kids already love swimming in any pool, but with the sounds underwater I can imagine it's hard to pull them out of the pool.

Rest of the trip coming up soon. I'm hoping to get the photopass CD early this week. I only have one more update I can post otherwise. Unless I do the Beach Club review now, but I would prefer to wait until we get there.

Enjoying your trip report so far!! Your little peanut is so stinkin' cute!!

Thank you!

The first time our youngest went to Disney it was a day at EPCOT and he was 4 months old, it was so fun, eventhough it rained most of the day. It is quite an adventure to take a little one to the parks, but so worth it! His first time at MK he was about 15 months and that was even more fun, the 2 older kids were a few years old each the first times they went, although I was about 7 or 8 months preggo with our daughter one time we went to EPCOT, but that doesn't count!!

4 months, wow! It's is more complicated to bring a baby, but it's nice to see them smile and react to things around. I'm sure they enjoy seeing things different than just their own house, it's a different stimulation.

I LOVE your AoA pics!! We are hoping to stay there in 2014, October hopefully, and the pics make me so excited for it!! My 3 all love all of the movies featured there, and obviously, with a family of five we will be in a suite, I honestly would be happy to stay in any of them!!

I hope you get to stay there! Any suite will be amazing. They are all so wonderfully themed, and only one of the Cars' building is really far from Animation Hall.

Sucks you were sick before you left and on travel day, no fun! Glad you feel better later on.

It took a while, and I'm pretty sure I over medicated myself, but I eventually got over the sickness!

I also enjoy the fact that your step-daughter is proud to embrace her nerdiness!!

I love that she is confident enough to be herself, nerdiness included.

I too proclaim my nerd-ness, especially my love of all things Star Wars, Dr. Who and DISNEY!! Luckily the hubs is right there with me, for the most part, he makes fun of my Dr. Who love, oh well, the kids all love the same things we do, and my oldest boy is as big of a whovian as I am, so it is cool!!

We love Doctor Who! OMG, wasn't the Christmas special just freakin' AWESOME!?! I usually take a while to warm up to a new companion, especially since I liked Rose so much (I love Amy too now), but I ADORE Clara/Oswin. She's amazing and I'm super excited for the rest of the season.

I also wanted to say, I read all about your wedding, a long time ago, but never said anything, it was stunningly beautiful, I loved it!!

Thank you. Getting married over there was the best decision I could ever make. I cannot envision a wedding more perfect, both for the wedding itself, and the week of fun with our friends and family.

Anyway, I will quit rambling now, I just realized how long this is!! lol can't wait to read more!!

Don't worry, I love the rambling! Gives me something to read. I replied above in turquoise.

 

[gatormommy07]

I am a bit behind on my Dr. Who watching, I sometimes watch old ones on BBCA, most of the time I watch on netflix, I was so sad when Rose was gone, but I love the Amy ones, at first I did not care for Donna, but I warmed up to her after a while, I really need to catch up!! Who is your favorite Dr.? I love 9, 10, and 11 but I think my favorite is 11, he is the awesomest!!
I am glad you like rambling, I tend to do it a lot, staying at home with my five year old and keeping my 1 year old nephew everyday, while the hubster is at work, I tend to go on and on to grown-up types!! Can't wait to read more about ya'll's trip!

 

[Nermel9]

I love your pictures of the Cars area at AoA. I haven't seen the movies, but that area of AoA and Carsland at DLR look amazing! I was hoping to check it out when I was there, but we just didn't have time!

 

[ronnmel]

I am a bit behind on my Dr. Who watching, I sometimes watch old ones on BBCA, most of the time I watch on netflix, I was so sad when Rose was gone, but I love the Amy ones, at first I did not care for Donna, but I warmed up to her after a while, I really need to catch up!! Who is your favorite Dr.? I love 9, 10, and 11 but I think my favorite is 11, he is the awesomest!!
I am glad you like rambling, I tend to do it a lot, staying at home with my five year old and keeping my 1 year old nephew everyday, while the hubster is at work, I tend to go on and on to grown-up types!! Can't wait to read more about ya'll's trip!

The part I bolded are my thoughts exactly. As for my favorite Doctor, I have no idea. I love them all! I asked my husband and he's just as torn as me. Maybe if I watched a few episodes of 10 and a few of 11 on the same weekend, I'd know better.

I so understand the needing to do grown-up stuff. I'm at a point now that when it snows, I'll happily go shovel while Ron stays inside with Claudia, just to get out a little. I never thought I'd see the day where I would say that!

I love your pictures of the Cars area at AoA. I haven't seen the movies, but that area of AoA and Carsland at DLR look amazing! I was hoping to check it out when I was there, but we just didn't have time!

It's hard to find time to look around a resort, when the parks are so appealing! Plus, you were only there for one night. Next time.

 

[ronnmel]

Day 1 part 2  The One With the Hunger


I want to apologize for the lack of pictures for this first day. Between being sick, having just arrived at Disney and having to care for a baby, we kinda forgot about the camera.

We didnt stay in the room for long. We dropped off our luggage, and then walked back to Animation Hall. We wanted to go to Landscape of Flavor, the food court. Ron got Tandoori chicken and a mango smoothie, while Otaku got a banana-strawberry smoothie. Also, something wonderful happened. For the first time in days I felt HUNGRY! I knew my appetite wasnt that big though, so instead of getting a full meal I just got cheesy pesto bread. These little beauties taste really good, yet are just a snack credit (if you are on the dining plan)! Rons food also tasted great. Dont believe me? Look what was left of everything by the time I remembered to take pictures.

Oops. Im a bad trip reporter.

We quickly checked out the Ink & Paint Shop (souvenir store), then went back to the room to rest.

We all lied down for a nap. Unfortunately, Claudia had a different idea. Ron and I flipped a coin to see who would get to rest. He lost, so he put Claudia in the stroller and left the room. Otaku, being a teenager, said she couldnt nap and went with them. They went to the arcade (such a great place for a baby to rest ), but did not take any photos (thats not ture, thats when he took the pictures of the gingerbread houses that are in the review). I slept a little, but not much. The bad thing is, I woke up feeling worse. The pixie dust (adrenaline) of arriving in Disney was gone and I was back to feeling sick. Still, I decided to go with them to a park anyway. We gathered our things and walked out, taking a few fun photos with the props along the way.

First though we had to sort out the big mess of the front desk not finding our package of baby items (diapers, wipes, food, etc.) that I had delivered. Finally with a lot of text messages between me, my TA and the guy who delivered the stuff and a phone call from my TA to the front desk, they found it. Ron brought it to the room while we took a few more photos of the lobby (which are in the AoA lobby update).

Look who decided to sleep NOW.

Ron came back and we were on our way. We did not have to wait long for a bus to...


I know this is a super short update, but I need my photopass CD before I can finish talking about the rest of our first evening. I got an email saying it was shipped on the 31st of January, so hopefully it will be here soon.



​

 

[gatormommy07]

I know it sounds weird, but one of my favorite things to do is mow the grass, so I totally understand you wanting to go shovel snow, I would do that, too, if we had snow, but since we live in Central Florida, not going to happen. lol

I think I have cried everytime a companion has gone away, you get so attached to them and they are always so attached to their Dr. it is just so sad, of course most episodes of Lost make me cry, too. Maybe I am just a baby, my hubby made fun of me last night (not meanly or anything) because we are rewatching the office, and the episode we watched last night, Grief counseling, the one where Michael's old boss dies and they had the funeral for the bird, made me cry!! I also cried through pretty much all of Les Mis when we went to see it on Christmas day. So yeah, I think I am just a big baby. lol

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Sorry you started to feel even worse after your nap. I usually feel worse after a nap too.

However, I love the picture of Otaku with the treasure, and Ron with the treasure and Eric's statue!

 

[ronnmel]

I know it sounds weird, but one of my favorite things to do is mow the grass, so I totally understand you wanting to go shovel snow, I would do that, too, if we had snow, but since we live in Central Florida, not going to happen. lol

I'm so jealous that you live in Central Florida!!!

I think I have cried everytime a companion has gone away, you get so attached to them and they are always so attached to their Dr. it is just so sad, of course most episodes of Lost make me cry, too. Maybe I am just a baby, my hubby made fun of me last night (not meanly or anything) because we are rewatching the office, and the episode we watched last night, Grief counseling, the one where Michael's old boss dies and they had the funeral for the bird, made me cry!! I also cried through pretty much all of Les Mis when we went to see it on Christmas day. So yeah, I think I am just a big baby. lol

I cry all the time while watching TV/movies as well. The end of every companion is so sad. One of my worst crying moment was watching Lilo & Stitch, when Stitch goes out alone to try to find his parents, like the Ugly Duckling. I was sobbing like a baby and both my sleeves were soaking wet from wiping the tears from my eyes.

Sorry you started to feel even worse after your nap. I usually feel worse after a nap too.

However, I love the picture of Otaku with the treasure, and Ron with the treasure and Eric's statue!

I always feel more tired after a nap then before. I don't know why I thought it would be different just because I was sick.

I think those kinds of pictures are so much fun, but we often forget to take them.

 

[Pluto0809]

Just catching up after a long weekend away. I didn't get too far behind!

Bummer for feeling sick at Disney! I hope things got better towards the end of the week.

The food at AOA looks (well sounds in this case) very good. They have some unique items.

Cute pictures with the statues around AOA.

 

[ronnmel]

Just catching up after a long weekend away. I didn't get too far behind!

Bummer for feeling sick at Disney! I hope things got better towards the end of the week.

The food at AOA looks (well sounds in this case) very good. They have some unique items.

Cute pictures with the statues around AOA.

I have a few more updates typed up, but I'm still waiting for the photopass CD to arrive. Hopefully soon! It has already been 2 weeks since they said they shipped it. In the meantime I'm catching up on the actual trip journal writing. I had gotten so far behind during the trip that I had to resort to bullet points of what we did. I'm relying on those, pictures, and memory to write what actually happened. Should make continuing the TR much easier. Thank you (and every one else) for being patient.

 

[ronnmel]

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!

GOOD NEWS!!! I got the Photopass CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pictures are uploading to Photobucket as we speak. I should have an update up hopefully by tonight.

 

[shan23877]

Happy Valentines Day Mel!

I can't wait to hear more!

 

[ronnmel]

Day 1 part 3 The One With the Fight


Soon after getting to the AoA bus stop, we hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Our plan WAS to leave the stroller at the resort and only use the baby carrier, not venture any further than town square and just find a place to watch the fireworks, and check out the stores around the area (mainly Chapeau)while waiting. How much did we stick to that? Heres a hint, not much! How much did we regret our decision not to stick with the plan? A lot! But Im getting ahead of myself.

When we got to Magic Kingdom I was surprised that there was no line for bag check. And here I was, afraid it would be closed to capacity.

We got a photopass picture taken at the entrance.

As you can see, we brought our stroller despite saying we wouldnt...

We walked under the train station and emerged into Town Square. It was crowded, but I was expecting worse.

We looked through Chapeau and found some interesting Minnie ears, but we werent sure so we did not buy anything. Now here is where we got stupid and deviated from our original plans of staying in Town Square all night. We walked on the right side of Main Street towards the hub. It was relatively easy to walk, not to many standing around on the sidewalk. The castle show was scheduled to start in about 10 minutes, so we got with the crowds in the hub. Otaku was hungry, but the line for Caseys was ridiculously long so we forgot that idea. We folded the stroller and put Claudia in the Mei Tai (baby carrier). Things were not so bad (yet), people were not jam packed. Plus we were standing right at the (taped) line in the ground next to the walkway, so we thought we could make a quick exit if need be. CMs had a different idea however, and kept asking people to move forward and fill in all the available space. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by more and more people. Carrying around a folded stroller is never an easy task, but in a big crowd its really annoying. We were getting more squished by the minute and made the decision to leave the hub. Some family sitting on the ground was very protective of their space on the curb, but when they saw we had a tiny baby they let us walk right through them to get to the walkway to leave the hub. Just in time, too. Not even 10 seconds later did we hear a commotion behind us and saw several CMs rush towards the area where we had just been standing. A fight had broken off! Ron even turned around and saw a guy throw a punch at another guy! I went into mama bear mode and said Get her (Claudia) out of here! (I think Ron was holding her in the Mei Tai).

We cut through the Emporium and got back to Town Square. It wasnt too crowded, but the giant Christmas tree was making it hard to find a decent spot to watch Holiday Wishes. We tried up at the train station, but obviously it was quite crowded. Plus that PITA tree was still in the way.

Finally we settled for somewhere partially behind the tree. The fireworks started, but we couldnt see them well. Claudia did not like the noise and started crying, so we thought about making her a bottle (it usually acts like a mute button ). As I reached into the bag the formula powder spilled all over the bag! That stuff is sticky! I was already feeling bad and this did not help. At least we learned our lesson early into the trip, and put the formula dispenser into a Ziploc bag from that point on.

None of us really enjoyed Holiday Wishes. Ron and I missed half of it because of dealing with the sticky mess and crying baby, but even Otaku who watched all of it said it was just okay. We were not feeling the Holiday spirit I guess. Not having a nice view also played a part in that Im sure.

After it was over Ron quickly walked up to the Train Station to take a picture of the crowds (and the half hidden castle).

We were not having a good time at MK and decided to go with plan B. We exited the park and walked up to the resort monorail platform. We saw the Avengers monorail.

It wasnt that crowded at all since all the (dumb) people were waiting for the express monorail. Before we knew it we were getting off at the Polynesian. There were a lot of people there.

I was feeling okay enough to take fun pictures.

The day I win the lottery Im buying this artwork. (as well as several others)

Otaku was still hungry so we went to Captain Cooks where she got a pepperoni flatbread. I was not feeling any better since I had woken up from my nap hours earlier, so I only got French fries. Ron had something he had been craving for months, a pineapple Dole Whip. Otaku had one too, but she DID NOT LIKE IT!!! She gave it to her dad. Towards the end of the meal I started feeling really dizzy. Not nauseous (for once), just dizzy. We went outside and walked to the beach. It wasnt too crowded, but obviously all the chairs were taken. There was this area that was cordoned off that had several rows of chairs, all with a fresh towel on them. I read the sign and it said it was for concierge guests. I wonder how many of them actually used it that night, since the club level lounge looks out towards Magic Kingdom, and half of the club level rooms face towards the lagoon as well.

The fresh air did not help me feel better and I chose to leave. I left alone because I felt too weak to deal with folding a stroller while holding a baby and a backpack all by myself. Why I did not put her in the Mei Tai and just leave the empty stroller for Ron to deal with, I dont know. She was asleep in the stroller at that point anyway, so maybe thats why. I took the monorail back to MK, then the bus back to AoA with no wait at all for either. I was still feeling dizzy and went straight to bed. I was so sad to be at Disney for NYE and be in bed, but I preferred not to push myself and then regret it later in the trip. I was awoken at midnight by fireworks, Im guessing from DHS.

Meanwhile, Ron and the girls found a good spot on the beach to watch the midnight fireworks.

They were towards the right, near the end of the beach and the pathway that goes up towards the lagoon (I think where they have weddings). They even overheard a CM say the Poly beach was better than inside the park to watch Fantasy in the Sky. Claudia slept the entire evening, only waking up once the fireworks started. Speaking of, Otaku and Ron said they were crazy (good). According to Ron Claudia cried for the first half of the show, but then watched the other half with some interest.

Ron did not take any pictures of it. Instead he took a video of it in its entirety so I would get a chance to see it. Here are a few screen captures from the video.

Ron and the girls came back around 1:15am. Claudia fussed a little, but after she drank some more milk she went to sleep and did not wake up until late the next morning. A miracle, since at home she wakes up several times a night. I think we exhausted her. LOL

I mentioned in the intro how I would be writing about our accomplishments of the day, in order to focus on the positive.

Disney Accomplishments Day 1
Checking in at Art of Animation
First DISmeet ever
Watching Fantasy in the Sky to ring in the New Year (for Ron & Otaku)


Up Next, Will I Feel Any Better The Next Day?
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[ronnmel]

Happy Valentines Day Mel!

I can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! I posted an update just for you! Well, you and all my other wonderful readers.

 

[FancyNancy]

Oh man what a crappy MK Experience. I hate that a fight broke out and that kids had to see it. That's the worst!