A Tale of WDW in the "Terrible 2s" - Days 3 & 4 Completed =)

[Gabes_mommy]

Originally Posted by CandleontheWater

You are going to have a GREAT time at the Beach Club! Gabe is going to love SAB! You are going to have a hard time getting him out of the pool and into the parks! It is such a great location too, definitely one of my favs! I've been trying to talk up deluxe resorts to DH, so maybe in 2011 we could stay at the Poly for our Oct trip. I keep trying the rational argument, like how much extra time we will be spending in our room with a little one, and how if we got a MK view room, even if we did have to go back early for bedtime, we could sit on the balcony with a bottle of wine and watch Wishes. He seems to be warming to the idea, and I still have two years to work on him (although I might need every one of those days! )

I'm sorry to hear that the Biergarten didn't work out so well for you. I'm usually the one in charge of planning family trips also and I understand how it can be very overwhelming to make sure everyone is having a good time! I'm glad the dining snafu got worked out and that you ended up having a wonderful evening. I think fireworks always make everything better

The Poly is one of my dream resorts. I hope you can talk your DH into it. I totally agree about fireworks - they make every evening better. Before this trip Gabe had never seen fireworks but we discovered he LOVES them. Biergarten wasn't bad - it just wasn't our style of mean I think. It was very cute inside though and Gabe loved the show.

Originally Posted by mommyof2Pirates

I am so glad your day ended well. I too love epcot at night it is such an amazing atmosphere. Gabe takes some great pics for a 2 year old. I laughed about the bathroom picks. Too funny

He is my budding photographer. Epcot at night is so amazing.

[Gabes_mommy]

Today we got a package in the mail from Carol (gabrielsbigtrip) and her Gabriel. It was so great!!! Thank you so much Carol - you are the best!

My little guy was so excited to open his box. As soon as I cut it open he dived right in.







Here he is modeling the Sully slippers:



And then he discovered the hats....he LOVES hats. First the santa hat:





And then on went the Tigger hat (which he is still wearing an hour later ):





The box also had the cutest sweater vest, Mickey Hawaiian shirt, a Disney bag and some really cute t-shirts. One of the shirts even has Gabe's favorite character from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on it....Pete!

Carol, thank you for being so thoughful! My little guy and I really appreciate it.

[Gabrielsbigtrip]

Awwww, it makes me so happy that we could make you and your Gabriel happy! I am glad he likes the hats too!

The Santa hat makes such cute Christmas pics

[Gabes_mommy]

Originally Posted by Gabrielsbigtrip

Awwww, it makes me so happy that we could make you and your Gabriel happy! I am glad he likes the hats too!

The Santa hat makes such cute Christmas pics

I can't wait to get pictures done with Gabriel waering it - it is so cute.

Thanks again!!!

So sorry to all my readers for no recent updates - I have been crazy busy at work and at home.

[praisehisname]

Hi! I just found your report and am reading along!

Denise

[Nicole786]

Joining in! Where in South Fla are you?

[Gabes_mommy]

Originally Posted by praisehisname

Hi! I just found your report and am reading along!

Denise

I'm so glad you are reading.

Originally Posted by Nicole786

Joining in! Where in South Fla are you?

Welcome! We are in Palm Beach County.

Update coming soon - I promise!

[Nicole786]

So are we! Wellington, to be exact. Nice to have a fellow Palm beacher on the boards!

[Gabes_mommy]

Day 3

Our plans for today were Animal Kingdom and then O'Hana at the Poly for dinner at 6:30.

After the debacle at Biergarten the previous evening we made a decision that I think will shock most Dis'ers. We decided to cancel our ADR at O'Hana and go back to Epcot for the night. We had originally planned to cancel an ADR at Sci-Fi the next day but we decided to keep that one instead.

I have a little regret about canceling our O'Hana ADR, but I think it was for the best. We had a great evening and O'Hana will always be there for a future trip.

We got up and about the door for breakfast at about 8:30 again. After another yummy breakfast at the Food Court at CBR we were on our way to Animal Kingdom.



Gabe somehow managed to smuggle the "mother in law beater" into the park with us. I thought Disney had a no weapons policy?



The Tree of Life:



The first ride of the day was the Triceratops Spin, which was a walk on:



After that my mom took Gabe to the Bone Yard and the rest of us rode Dinosaur. Dinosaur has always been a favorite of mine, but on this trip it seemed so rough. I didn't really enjoy myself like I usually do....maybe I'm just getting old?

After our ride we headed to the Bone Yard. Wow - what a cool place! DS loved this playground. It really is so neat - what a great idea and it's such a nice place for kids to get out some energy.





After about a half hour we made our way to Asia so the guys could ride E:E. Before our ride we grabbed some ice cream. It was only about 10:30 in the morning at this point but it was already SO HOT that ice cream actually seemed appropriate.





The boys were off E:E so fast! It must have been a walk on. After that we headed towards Africa. We got fastpasses for the Safari and then decided to take the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

At this point my mom was getting really grouchy so she decided to just sit down for a while there in Africa.

Right after we arrived at RPW I took Gabe to the restroom to change his pull-up. Like the night before I let him play with the camera to distract him. He got some lovely pictures....like this one of me with the mega double chin.



And he took a bunch of himself that actually turned out cute.





After our pit stop we went to explore RPW. Gabe got to meet the main monkey himself:



After meeting Rafiki we headed out to the petting zoo. This was another highlight of the day. Gabe just loved the animals.

[Gabes_mommy]

Originally Posted by Nicole786

So are we! Wellington, to be exact. Nice to have a fellow Palm beacher on the boards!

Cool! We're in Palm Beach Gardens.

[praisehisname]

So sorry you had to cancel your ADR at 'Ohana; hopefully you can do it next time.

Sounds like your day at AK is going well so far!

Denise

[Sunset Cliffs]

His face looks like pure joy in those pictures where he is opening the box. SO cute.

The Boneyard is one of the things that was on our list to do for Dylan and it didn't happen. I'm bummed about that, especially now that it sounds so cool. We will have to do it next time. BTW - we cancelled our O'hana ADR too, but ours was at 9:20 pm and it would have been too late.

[Gabes_mommy]

Originally Posted by praisehisname

So sorry you had to cancel your ADR at 'Ohana; hopefully you can do it next time.

Sounds like your day at AK is going well so far!

Denise

It was a little sad, but I think we are going to wait until DS is older to try table service meals again.

Originally Posted by Sunset Cliffs

His face looks like pure joy in those pictures where he is opening the box. SO cute.

The Boneyard is one of the things that was on our list to do for Dylan and it didn't happen. I'm bummed about that, especially now that it sounds so cool. We will have to do it next time. BTW - we cancelled our O'hana ADR too, but ours was at 9:20 pm and it would have been too late.

The Boneyard is so cool - Dylan will love it next time. We never manage to fit in everything we plan for our trips either. Times just flies at WDW.

I'm hoping to have the conclusion to Day 3 up by tomorrow.

[Pollito916]

Originally Posted by Gabes_mommy

It was a little sad, but I think we are going to wait until DS is older to try table service meals again.



The Boneyard is so cool - Dylan will love it next time. We never manage to fit in everything we plan for our trips either. Times just flies at WDW.

I'm hoping to have the conclusion to Day 3 up by tomorrow.

I have to agree with you - the dining plan was too much table service with an active toddler, and I don't think I would do it again. I think we will fit in a few favorites, and then stick with counter service and snacks.

And the Boneyard looks like lots of fun. We didn't stop there last time b/c it was so cold the day we were in AK, but it will definitely be on our list for next time!

[Gabes_mommy]

Originally Posted by Pollito916

I have to agree with you - the dining plan was too much table service with an active toddler, and I don't think I would do it again. I think we will fit in a few favorites, and then stick with counter service and snacks.

And the Boneyard looks like lots of fun. We didn't stop there last time b/c it was so cold the day we were in AK, but it will definitely be on our list for next time!

I love the idea of the meal plan but it is just too hard with a little guy. I figure when he's older we'll have plenty of time for TS meals.

Definitely check out the Boneyard - it was a highlight of our trip.


Ok, I'm not sure if anyone is still reading, but I am going to try to finish this TR up today. Life has gotten so busy, but I hate to leave this unfinished.

Update coming soon!