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

[shan23877]

Yay for your first Dumbo ride! I'll bet that Ron will treasure those pics of his 3 girls on the ride.

I have to admit that I'm addicted to any of the puzzle games too. (Love Candy Crush Saga and Freecell). I think that it could have been worse-Otaku could have been on FB or texting or something. At least she's working her brain!

Kona or 'Ohana? For some reason I have the feeling it's Kona.

 

[Pluto0809]

Glad you liked your first ride on Dumbo! I rode it for the first time that I really remembered during my November trip. I know I rode it as a kid but don't really remember. I'm so glad they added the second spinner and the play area so the wait times are not as bad.

Claudia looks like the ride was putting her to sleep!

I agree that the MK tree is kind of boring. You would think they could do something more related to the park rather than the generic ornaments that are on it.

 

[CarolineB]

Wow -- 220 minutes posted for Space Mountain -- I've never seen that before! That's crazy. Anyway, I've really enjoyed reading your TR.

 

[KatMark]

LOVE the pictures of you three gals on Dumbo. I must say I am utterly surprised every time I read that someone had never ridden Dumbo. If we did not ride Dumbo at least one trip, I swear Mark would divorce me.

Sorry about the drizzle, but at least it didn't turn into a total rainout.

Cute picture of you in front of the MK!

 

[gracer9977]

following along and loving your trip report, I too called my oldest "peanut" and my youngest "peapod" when they were babies ....still let the names slip on occasion, cant wait for the next report. Your photos look amazing.

I call my little one Princess Peanut. Gave her the nickname as a baby and still call her by it and she is almost 8.

 

[gracer9977]

Love all the updates and the pictures.

WOW!!! Those crowds are soooooo crazy!!! I hope to never experience that. I love Space Mountain and I would wait in the line but I wouldn't love it.

I go to Cedar Point in OH pretty much every year and it's normal to wait 3-5 hours for the big coasters so I am used to waiting forever to go on a 1-2 minute ride but I never love it.

I didn't realize that they closed Splash Mountain every Jan. That totally bums me out. We all LOVE that ride and this will be my last trip to Disney for a long time so I am so sad that I will not be able to ride it.

Anyway looking forward to the next update.

 

[Aussiesalad]

I love the photos of you guys in Dumbo! So great!! You guys look like your having so much fun!!
What a great first Dumbo ride!

The picture of Ron with his candy apples is awesome!!

I love your picture out the from of MK too! Looks so bright right there.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Great Dumbo shots! All of Ron's girls in one place--what a memory!

They way you managed to arrange the rain cover makes it look like it was meant for the stroller! Obviously our rain cover situation did not work out that great, but I'm glad yours did !

Does Ron get them to cut up his candy apples for him, or does he bite into them? I've never tried one because I'm honestly not sure how to eat them!

'Ohana??

I tried on the Teva Mush sandals before our first trip, and they are pretty comfy! I ended up not getting them because I wasn't sure how I'd do with something between my toes for that long. I tried on Reefs, as well, and you're right about them not being as comfy. I wear Croc sandals, and I don't even think they make the kind I wear anymore! I'm going to be out of luck if something happens to these!

 

[ronnmel]

Hi everyone! I had a full work week. Though I had already worked one week before March break, this one felt longer. Then we had dinner with my family last night, and it ran late. Needless to say, I'm very tired today. Too tired to do replies now, but since my updates are already typed up, I thought I'd post one and come back later to reply to all your wonderful posts (I did read them ).

 

[ronnmel]

Day 4 part 6 – The One With The BREAD!



We checked in at Kona Cafe (yes, this is one of our favorite restaurants in Disney. I'm not a big fan of meat, so we haven't tried Ohana for dinner yet and are in no rush to try it) and did not have to wait long before being seated. We tried to put Claudia in a high chair, but she wanted none of that. We had to spend the entire meal passing her around.

We all chowed down on the BREAD (yes, it deserves all capital letters). It was Otaku’s first time trying it and she liked it so much that we ended up asking for a second loaf.

I knew I wanted to eat mostly bread and dessert, so I got some Mickey Ravioli from the kids’ menu. It was okay, obviously a bit bland.

In the months prior to the trip Ron had been looking at the menu and he wanted to try something new, but he was in the mood for steak so he got the Teriyaki Steak again. It was just as yummy as during our Disneymoon.

Otaku is a big sushi fan and chose the Caterpillar Roll. She loved it. It looked so pretty too!

For dessert Otaku and I both got the Kiluau Torte, which is a chocolate cake with a molten center like the Chocolate Wave from Coral Reef. I wanted us to share one, but Otaku insisted we each get one.

We probably should have shared, as neither of us finished it. It certainly was not as good as the Chocolate Wave. It tasted more like a ready-to-bake cake from the grocery store, the kind that comes in a box, than a dessert made from a chef.

I had a thing for lights this trip, trying to take pics of as many different lights as I could. The first one is from the main area of Kona and the second pic is from over the sushi bar.

As I said earlier, Claudia was very fussy that meal. It didn’t help that at some point she did a head bump on her sister’s shoulder. She looked like this several times during the meal.

The family sitting next to us chatted with us a few times. At the end of the meal they told us that the crying baby did not bother them at all. They must have seen the look of worry on our face. They were really nice.


We were at Kona for a little over an hour. Ron was still really tired and decided to go back to our resort with Claudia while Otaku and I enjoyed a few more hours at MK. It was opened until 1am that evening (regular hours, not even EMH!) and she was hoping we’d stay until the end. We all rode the monorail back to MK together, then parted ways.

As Otaku and I entered Town Square, we saw that the wait for the Princesses said only 15 minutes, so we got in line. After waiting for almost 15 minutes, we realized we were not even halfway through the line and we got up and left (literally. We had sat down since the line was so slow moving). Mickey had no line whatsoever, so we paid him a visit instead.

We were practically alone in the room before you get to meet him so I had time to really look at the details.

It only was a few minutes before it was our turn to meet the Big Cheese.

It was drizzling again when we came out. We caught the tail end of Main Street Electrical Parade, but we did not watch it. Instead we got to do something unusual: we got to walk through backstage! That’s right; they were diverting traffic through the backstage area behind Main Street to get to the hub. I have no idea if we were allowed to take pictures or not, but I was too busy looking at everything. Sure you lose a bit of the magic, but I found it very interesting to see.

We beat the parade there. We took a right and went to the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant to get a cup of water. Once the parade ended we made our way to the center of the hub, close to the partner statue, to watch “Celebrate The Magic”.

It was great, but some people were blocking our view (that’s what we get for showing up last minute). I miss the music of “Magic, Memories and You” though.

The most beautiful castle in the world is even more gorgeous with the dream lights.

We watched Wishes from the same spot. We probably should’ve moved to somewhere closer to Casey’s as some fireworks were hidden behind the castle. Nevertheless, it was great as usual. Tink did not fly, I’m guessing due to the weather.

I was really in the mood for shopping, and surprisingly, Otaku was too. I wanted to check out Sir Mickey’s, therefore right after Wishes we tried to walk over the bridge towards Cosmic Rays. That was a big fail, as there were throngs of people heading in the opposite direction, presumably on their way out of the park. We finally managed to clear the congestion and went shopping. I saw lots of nice things, but nothing I felt compelled to buy at that time. We went to Tomorrowland next, where I checked out Merchant of Venus. Unfortunately, Stitch is not as relevant now and most of the merchandise had been replaced by Perry the Platypus stuff. Too bad, as Stitch is my favorite character. I love his girlfriend Angel as well. They did have two murals with lots of Experiments on them.

We wanted to do some attractions and started with Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor.

The doors to the pre-show had just closed, so we had to wait for the next showing. We were given this to help them know the standby wait time. It turned out to be our first of many this trip.

It was a good show, but not the funniest I’ve seen. We had texted a joke (forgot what), but I had not included the keyword of our showing so they did not use it. Our plan was to stay late, but Otaku’s stomach was hurting her a lot again (like the night before), so we just went back to the Beach Club instead and went straight to sleep.


Disney Accomplishments Day 4

Eating the BREAD
Trying out Kiluau Torte
Riding Dumbo for the first time ever
Peanut’s first ride ever, the Carousel
Peanut’s First Haircut
Walking through backstage


Up Next, Rope Drop At Epcot​

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry Claudia was fussy during dinner.

We've never eaten at Kona for dinner (only breakfast) and that BREAD does look yummy. The sushi...not so much (although cute).

We did the backstage area last year when leaving the MK during the parade...it sure was different.

Isn't the castle beautiful with the lights?

I don't think we've ever been in Merchants of Venus (perhaps because I am not a Stitch fan we've skipped it ).

Sorry that Otaku’s stomach was bothering her again and that you had to cut the evening short...hope this was the last of that for her sake.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

That bread does look yummy! I am not a fan of sushi, but the Caterpillar roll is cute! Too bad the dessert didn't live up to the Chocolate Wave, but at least you know you can skip it next trip.

I've never been backstage, so that must have been neat to see. I like the new castle show, but agree that the music for MM&Y was nicer. I hope Otaku's stomach didn't keep bugging her for too long!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Stitch is one of our favorites, as well. I hate that they seem to be neglecting him!

Monster's Inc Laugh Floor is now an obsession of our kids'! We still haven't texted any jokes, though, most likely because my kids' jokes make absolutely no sense ! Like, "Why did the flower die in the Spring? Because it wanted candy!" HUH??

Sorry Otaku's stomach was hurting. Such a bummer.

Other than that, it sounds like a great evening!

 

[jenseib]

What does the bread taste like? I heard how wonderful Ohanas was, and I was not impressed at all. I could taste coconut which I am not a fan of.

 

[monica23535]

I love Kona, we have eaten breakfast twice there but think it's time we tried dinner as Ron's steak looked great, and so did your dessert! I definitely agree with Otaku about ordering her own torte

 

[ronnmel]

Your first time on Dumbo??? Wow! Glad you enjoyed it so much

Yep, it took me that long to get on it. It just had too long lines before and we had no young kid with us, so it wasn't a priority.

Yay for your first Dumbo ride! I'll bet that Ron will treasure those pics of his 3 girls on the ride.

I have to admit that I'm addicted to any of the puzzle games too. (Love Candy Crush Saga and Freecell). I think that it could have been worse-Otaku could have been on FB or texting or something. At least she's working her brain!

Kona or 'Ohana? For some reason I have the feeling it's Kona.

It was fun! Ron has another picture of his 3 girls that he cherishes way more, but we're not at that part of the trip yet.

I remember reading on the intro of your TR that you love puzzles, just like me. You are right, playing Solitaire is a better way to use technology than FB or texting. It's not like she was doing this all the time anyway, and after spending 30 minutes in line waiting for a train, we needed a break from talking to each other.

You got it right, it was Kona.

Glad you liked your first ride on Dumbo! I rode it for the first time that I really remembered during my November trip. I know I rode it as a kid but don't really remember. I'm so glad they added the second spinner and the play area so the wait times are not as bad.

Claudia looks like the ride was putting her to sleep!

I agree that the MK tree is kind of boring. You would think they could do something more related to the park rather than the generic ornaments that are on it.

I never thought Dumbo would be so fun! I may have rode it as a very young kid, but I have no photographic evidence of it if that's the case. I'm really glad that they expanded it, I would have hated to wait in that long line.

I hadn't noticed she looked so sleepy until you pointed it out! You're right though.

Wow -- 220 minutes posted for Space Mountain -- I've never seen that before! That's crazy. Anyway, I've really enjoyed reading your TR.

It was our first time seeing that long a wait as well. I agree, crazy!

LOVE the pictures of you three gals on Dumbo. I must say I am utterly surprised every time I read that someone had never ridden Dumbo. If we did not ride Dumbo at least one trip, I swear Mark would divorce me.

Sorry about the drizzle, but at least it didn't turn into a total rainout.

Cute picture of you in front of the MK!

Thanks. Well, you have to remember that it's only my third trip as an adult, and the times I went as a kid were 1 day trips. And Ron had only gone once as a teenager before. In those circumstances, waiting in a long line for what seems like such a small ride did not make much sense, we preferred to ride other things instead. Now that they have 2 Dumbos and that play area, I don't see us skipping it anymore.

We got lucky with the rain, we never encountered some of those Florida rainstorms.

 

[ronnmel]

I call my little one Princess Peanut. Gave her the nickname as a baby and still call her by it and she is almost 8.

That's cute!

Love all the updates and the pictures.

WOW!!! Those crowds are soooooo crazy!!! I hope to never experience that. I love Space Mountain and I would wait in the line but I wouldn't love it.

I go to Cedar Point in OH pretty much every year and it's normal to wait 3-5 hours for the big coasters so I am used to waiting forever to go on a 1-2 minute ride but I never love it.

I didn't realize that they closed Splash Mountain every Jan. That totally bums me out. We all LOVE that ride and this will be my last trip to Disney for a long time so I am so sad that I will not be able to ride it.

Anyway looking forward to the next update.

Thanks!

Really? You would get in line instead of trying to get a FP early in the day and do other rides with shorter lines in the middle of the day? (I don't mean that in a rude way, just confused/curious) We have a 6 Flags park here and waits of 2-3 hours for coasters (and even smaller rides) are common as well. I was used to waiting in those lines back when I was a teenager, but now that I've experience Disney with rope drop and FPs (they open at 11am so EVERYBODY shows up at opening, and their FP system costs money) I don't even go to that park anymore. I've been spoiled.

I'm sorry you won't be able to experience Splash Mountain next year. The only year it's stayed opened in January was 2012 and that was because BTM was being refurbed.

New update already posted.

I love the photos of you guys in Dumbo! So great!! You guys look like your having so much fun!!
What a great first Dumbo ride!

The picture of Ron with his candy apples is awesome!!

I love your picture out the from of MK too! Looks so bright right there.

We did have lots of fun in Dumbo. Otaku and I were both pleasantly surprised!

Thanks. I agree, that's why I chose that picture for his intro photo.

Do you mean out the front (auto-correct can be annoying sometimes!)? PP cameras often seem to give brighter pictures than my camera. Which is to be expected, I only have a simple point & shoot.

Great Dumbo shots! All of Ron's girls in one place--what a memory!

It certainly was a great memory and one that will for sure make it to the photobook.

They way you managed to arrange the rain cover makes it look like it was meant for the stroller! Obviously our rain cover situation did not work out that great, but I'm glad yours did !

We are lucky that Claudia is so tiny and has short legs, otherwise she would have kicked the cover right off with her feet. I'm guessing it would not have withstood heavier rain like you guys had though.

Does Ron get them to cut up his candy apples for him, or does he bite into them? I've never tried one because I'm honestly not sure how to eat them!

I asked him and he said that in the park he'll just bite into it. Most times though he buys them as snack to bring back home then uses a fork and knife to eat them. This year he actually used an apple corer and liked it even more!

'Ohana??

Nope, Kona! We have yet to try 'Ohana for dinner. I barely eat any meat, and Ron has found that his appetite is usually not as big in Disney due to the heat (when we travel in the summer), so we find it would not be worth our money yet. I'm sure we'll try it one day, but since we usually do only 4-5 ADRs per trip, it might take a while.

I tried on the Teva Mush sandals before our first trip, and they are pretty comfy! I ended up not getting them because I wasn't sure how I'd do with something between my toes for that long. I tried on Reefs, as well, and you're right about them not being as comfy. I wear Croc sandals, and I don't even think they make the kind I wear anymore! I'm going to be out of luck if something happens to these!

Other answers in TEAL above.

You guys seem to be out and about a lot at home, why don't you buy a pair of Teva Mush and try them a few times? Before going to Disney for our Disneymoon I wore my Tevas a lot over here to go on walks and such. Then in Disney I'd alternate days for my sneakers and sandals. I had read on the DIS about Croc Sandals that were really good, but when I checked out our Croc stores 2 years ago I never found that style and didn't like any of the other types of sandals they had. It's too bad they stopped doing those models.

 

[cheekypoppins]

Oh wow that Kona steak made me homer drool big time!!!

 

[ronnmel]

I'm sorry Claudia was fussy during dinner.

When I was pregnant we had said we would take her out a lot to get her used to being in restaurants and other public spaces, but we ended up not doing it much, so when she was tired she would fuss, but not sleep. Same thing happened last night when we had dinner with my family. Ron ended up leaving early with her and my dad drove me back.


We've never eaten at Kona for dinner (only breakfast) and that BREAD does look yummy. The sushi...not so much (although cute).

The BREAD tasted even yummier than it looked! You should try Kona for dinner one day. I'm not a fan of sushi at all, not matter how cute it looks.


We did the backstage area last year when leaving the MK during the parade...it sure was different.

It's not anything spectacular, but I'm always curious about stuff like that so I enjoyed walking through the backstage area.


Isn't the castle beautiful with the lights?

So so so pretty!


I don't think we've ever been in Merchants of Venus (perhaps because I am not a Stitch fan we've skipped it ).

There are plenty of stores I've never been to in Disney. It's understandable that you would skip that one if you are not a fan of Stitch. There isn't anything special in there besides lots of Stitch merchandise, and now lots of Agent P stuff as well.


Sorry that Otaku’s stomach was bothering her again and that you had to cut the evening short...hope this was the last of that for her sake.

I think that was the last time her stomach bothered her, or maybe once more. She's the one who got through the entire trip healthy (then missed 3 extra days of school after because then she was sick.

Other replies above in teal.

That bread does look yummy! I am not a fan of sushi, but the Caterpillar roll is cute! Too bad the dessert didn't live up to the Chocolate Wave, but at least you know you can skip it next trip.

I've never been backstage, so that must have been neat to see. I like the new castle show, but agree that the music for MM&Y was nicer. I hope Otaku's stomach didn't keep bugging her for too long!

The bread was so soft and fresh and I want to have some right now. That was the first time I saw sushi look this cute. Writing about the dessert tasting "store bought" made me want to make some myself, but my grocery store doesn't sell that mix anymore.

Yes, it was very neat to see a new area of MK, especially one that you so seldom get a chance to see. I'm sure I'll grow to love the new castle show, especially if the next few times I see it I have a better view and a better trip in general.

Otaku's stomach ache was gone by the next morning, and if my memory is right, it never came back.

Stitch is one of our favorites, as well. I hate that they seem to be neglecting him!

Not that I needed a other reason to love your family, but yay for more Stitch love! That's why I would love to go to the Asian Disney parks, the love Stitch so much more over there. Their Tiki Room attraction has Stitch in it!!!!! It doesn't get any cooler than that.


Monster's Inc Laugh Floor is now an obsession of our kids'! We still haven't texted any jokes, though, most likely because my kids' jokes make absolutely no sense ! Like, "Why did the flower die in the Spring? Because it wanted candy!" HUH??

Kids' jokes can be so strange sometimes, which makes them even more hilarious. We texted a joke this time, but I forgot to include the code word so it wasn't used. I can't believe we had no interested in trying Monster's Inc Laugh Floor before our Disneymoon. We were missing out!


Sorry Otaku's stomach was hurting. Such a bummer.

Other than that, it sounds like a great evening!

It would have been nice to stay later at MK, but if anyone understood not feeling well and wanting to go back to the resort, it was me. Thankfully the stomach ache was short lived. Maybe a reaction to something she ate? We enjoyed our time together in the park. It was our first evening just the two of us, but certainly not our last!

Other replies above.

What does the bread taste like? I heard how wonderful Ohanas was, and I was not impressed at all. I could taste coconut which I am not a fan of.

The bread has a sweet flavor to it, but not overly sweet. I made the recipe at home and it's made with pineapples, but it's not overpowering. It comes with macadamia nut butter and the combination is just AMAZING! Otaku cannot wait to go back and eat the bread again (and so do we). We had hyped it up a lot before the trip, and it lived up to the hype for her.

I'm not a fan of coconut either. I LOVE the smell of coconut, but it reminds me too much of tanning oil/sunscreen so I can't eat it. It's like those soap-flavored gums they used to have.

I love Kona, we have eaten breakfast twice there but think it's time we tried dinner as Ron's steak looked great, and so did your dessert! I definitely agree with Otaku about ordering her own torte

You should totally try dinner at Kona! Ron still talks about that steak. Part of him wants to try something new, but the other part of him loves that steak too much. Unfortunately, the dessert looked better than it tasted. It wasn't bad by any means, but it tasted "store bought", which was disappointing.

 

[ronnmel]

Oh wow that Kona steak made me homer drool big time!!!

You should totally try it! Ron still ranks it as one of his top steaks.