“Dreams Come True Momma!” A 2 year old’s first trip ~ May 2015~Complete {NEW TR LINK!}

[afwdwfan]

What?!? Nonsense!! How could you not like Figment?!?

Figment is awesome!!!

His ride could use a little help, but that isn't his fault!!!

The perk of it all was I was also required to drink an INSANE amount of water every day and that ended up helping me to get plenty hydrated before our trip.

I really thought the perk was going to be ice cream. But yeah, that too.

With that weight lifted from my shoulders I stopped to top off the gas and went home to get the last few things packed. Soon my dinning room looked like This:

I think you need a bigger car.

And I just have to say... love the Reading Rainbow bag. How long have you been hanging onto that one? Hasn't it been off the air for several years now?

Well finally DH finished up his work before the trip and Little Miss was put to bed. At 10 PM is when we finally started the game of Car Tetris. (Some may remember that DH had rather lofty goals of being in bed by 9. At least he gets points for optimism. )

The best laid plans...

After about 45 minutes of fiddling around We managed to get everything in without a single window being blocked.

Wow. That is impressive. I'm just glad to get everything in. But not even blocking a window. Great job.

All the lights were out. The path to the car was clear. DH quietly picked up Little Miss and crept to the car. I quietly followed behind with her pillow and Loveys. DH settled her into her car seat with us both holding our breath and just when we thought we had pulled it off, Little Miss’s bleary eyed going back to sleep now expression melted away as she realized where she was and why she was sitting in her car seat. In an instant she was wide awake.

Of course. Oh well, you certainly tried. Sometimes it just happens.

About 2 1/2 hours in I glance back to see if Little Miss has fallen back asleep yet. Instead, I am greeted with this site:

Well, I can travel with a toddler behaving like that. At least it isn't a picture of her with her mouth open and red in the face from screaming. I'd call it a win.

With Little Miss now wide awake and me getting hungry I go ahead and munch on a Twizzler and allow Little Miss to have one as well.

Twizzlers are always on our road trip snack list too!

About 30 minutes later, Little Miss starts coughing and I realize that we forgot to give Little Miss her allergy meds the night before. Before I can even process a plan, that coughing turns to something a tad…. more.


Little Miss has now choked on her post nasal drip and thrown up that just eaten twizzler.

Oh no... Been there. I feel your pain. But at least we were in a rental so we didn't really care.

“CRAP! SAVE LAMBIE AND BLANKIE!!! SAVE LAMBIE AND BLANKIE!!!” So in a move worthy of a mommy ninja, I thrust the barf bucket (because we at least thought this far ahead) at Little Miss and threw Lambie and Blankie out of the line of fire.

Way to save the day!

Benadryl saves the day and she sleeps for another two hours and only wakes when pull off for breakfast. (Though in hindsight we probably should have just grabbed something while stopped at the grocery store).

I'm glad that it helped put her to sleep... and hopefully helped with the allergy issues too.

I am now really anxious. Its already 1:45pm and by even my padded timing we should have been there by now and we still had another half an hour left of the trip. I could start to see my grand plans for hitting up DTD dwindling away already.

This is exactly how our drive in December was. It just felt like time was slipping away the whole drive there. It wasn't just one thing, but a few minutes here, a few minutes there and it all just added up.

As we are exiting the turnpike on to I-4 IT happens. DH tries to grab the bucket and get it in front of her in time but doesn’t quite make it. This time we aren’t lucky. This time its not just a bit of postnasal drip choking her causing the throw up. This time its because Mommy caved and said she could have her sticker book. This time is motion sickness with a belly full of breakfast. And we didn't have another change of clothes accessible because she already threw up on her p.j.s. and her clothes are in the bottom most suitcase that won’t be reachable till we get to the room.

Oh wow. That is awful!

You see when I was packing I had found in our linen closet a cute hooded towel I had bought ages ago (pre little miss days actually). I had initially bought it as a good just in case present for a random kid but decided that it would be a fun surprise for Little Miss. It was sitting on the top of the pool bag which happened to be on the floor in the back seat in easy reach.

Great improvisational skills!

Little Miss is still not her happy self and is still on the fussy side. I had to laugh when we ended up passing Cabana Bay and DH commented, “Wow, gosh look at that PLACE! Talk about a need of a referb!”

Well, I've never seen it, but I think that might tell me all I need to know about it.

FINALLY we were seeing this beautiful site and like magic Little Miss went from a little miserable to feeding off my excitement.

I don't know. She might have been feeding off of your excitement, but I think those gates have a way of just generating it within everyone.

I won’t lie a part of me was cringing inside that after all the hard work on planning out her outfits and back up outfits and contingencies that my daughter was going to be walking into her first Disney resort in nothing but a diaper and a pool towel.

Oh, these are the things memories are made of!!! If she'd have walked in in her heart shaped sunglasses, wearing her pink Minnie shirt, you wouldn't have near the memories to talk about as you will now.

You can always say "Remember that time we checked in at Port Orleans and Little Miss was running around the lobby in a diaper and a pool towel?"

Then to amp up the magic in the moment the girl checking in stops us as we are about to leave and calls out, “ Oh wait! I almost forgot!” then turning to Little Miss said, “Tiana stopped by this morning and left this for you. She wanted me to be sure that you got it.” She then pulls out a scroll and hands it over to Little Miss.

Awesome!!! I'm glad she got a little magic when you checked in!

(She did tell us that so that we could move our car, but we would have to wait for the text for the exact room number.)

Or you can just run up and down the halls tapping your magic band to every door until one opens.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Figment is awesome!!!

His ride could use a little help, but that isn't his fault!!!

Yup! But even his ride isn't that bad. As long as they keep the song I'm good.

I really thought the perk was going to be ice cream. But yeah, that too.

This may sound crazy but I ended up finding the constant stream of soft serve wore thin the last few days. I just wanted something savory to eat.

I think you need a bigger car.

And I just have to say... love the Reading Rainbow bag. How long have you been hanging onto that one? Hasn't it been off the air for several years now?

We got the reading rainbow bag when we gave money to Reading Rainbow's kickstarter campaign for the app and website they are trying to start. It was the bag with books for the room for Little Miss.

The best laid plans...

Though I told him that was a bit over ambitious from the get go.

Wow. That is impressive. I'm just glad to get everything in. But not even blocking a window. Great job.

He was determined.

Of course. Oh well, you certainly tried. Sometimes it just happens.

And the look of oh wait it's disney day! was Really really cute!

Well, I can travel with a toddler behaving like that. At least it isn't a picture of her with her mouth open and red in the face from screaming. I'd call it a win.

True. and in hindsight I probably should have withheld the sticker book and just let her get antsy and scream in the end stretch.

Twizzlers are always on our road trip snack list too!

Its my Road trip go to.

Oh no... Been there. I feel your pain. But at least we were in a rental so we didn't really care.

Yeah that would make things easier. And this round wasn't that bad because it was a mostly empty stomach. Not much there to come up.

Way to save the day!

I'm glad that it helped put her to sleep... and hopefully helped with the allergy issues too.

The sleeping was just a bonus!

This is exactly how our drive in December was. It just felt like time was slipping away the whole drive there. It wasn't just one thing, but a few minutes here, a few minutes there and it all just added up.

Exactly! It took forever to figure out where time had slipped us so off course.

Oh wow. That is awful!

Great improvisational skills!

You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. That being said, you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of packaging was on that thing! I was going crazy by the time I got it open. and I am still finding spots on it that have those plastic tie thingies on it.

Well, I've never seen it, but I think that might tell me all I need to know about it.

It really does look like a hotel from the 60's.

I don't know. She might have been feeding off of your excitement, but I think those gates have a way of just generating it within everyone.

I swear the same thing! Because we were all a little stressed from the last round of car sick. The moment we saw the gates the magic just washed over us.

Oh, these are the things memories are made of!!! If she'd have walked in in her heart shaped sunglasses, wearing her pink Minnie shirt, you wouldn't have near the memories to talk about as you will now.

You can always say "Remember that time we checked in at Port Orleans and Little Miss was running around the lobby in a diaper and a pool towel?"

So very true!

Awesome!!! I'm glad she got a little magic when you checked in!

Me too. It was needed in the moment! And I had forgotten they did that so I didn't even know to expect it.

Or you can just run up and down the halls tapping your magic band to every door until one opens.

would that actually have worked?

 

[jandlinz]

Poor Little Miss! Puke in the car is never good. Hopefully she feels better and you can head to DTD.
-Lindsey

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Poor Little Miss! Puke in the car is never good. Hopefully she feels better and you can head to DTD.
-Lindsey

It really isn't a fun way to start a trip that's for sure!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Settling In and Exploration…… Day 1 part 2

So when we last left off we had just gotten our text with the room number. We were very happy with where we ended up. Having spent many hours staring and studying the room maps I knew as soon as we got our room number that we ended up with a nice one. It was on the third floor at the very edge of the Standard rooms so we still got all the benefit of the Garden views walking to our room but because were on the end we have no noise from the elevator and very little parking lot views.


Once the text came in we didn’t waist much time unloading from the car and heading up to the room to explore and check it out.

Here is a short video of Little Miss Discovering the Fireworks in the headboard. This turned out to be a bigger hit than I ever anticipated. She LOVED the fireworks headboard and went to sleep with it every nap and night.



Once we had spent some time exploring the room DH called down and had a bellmen come to help him get the bags from the car. The guy that came was quick to arrive and very nice.


By the time that the car had been unpacked and we were remotely settled into the room it was around 3:30- 4pm and we realized that there really was no possible way to get to DTD today. So we ended up digging into our snacks and munching a little to tide us over until Dinner.

After spending some time really getting things settled and organized we turned on the Must Dos and got ourselves ready for our evening. At about 5pm we found ourselves ready a tad earlier then I had planned but decided that we could go ahead and strike out anyways and explore our way to the Bus Stop. Boy, were we EVER grateful for that decision later!


On our way out of the Room I sent DH and Little Miss out ahead of me to wait by the elevator and set up Little Miss’s welcome surprise from Mickey.

From there we rode the elevator down and explored the gardens and fountains outside our building.

As we were walking DH decided that since he was at Disney he should find an appropriate watch face for his pebble.

So when we got to the Magic Kingdom bus stop most of the seats were full and a bus was due to arrive soon. We took the last bench and waited.


And then we waited……..


And waited…..


And waited…..


And waited…..


And waited…..


And waited…..


30-40 minutes later we had seen at least 3 buses for every park including DTD and there was absolutely NO sign of a bus for Magic Kingdom. By this point the entire depot was PACKED with people waiting for a Magic Kingdom bus. I say there were at least a good 2 buses worth of people and I knew that was being optimistic. With every non mk bus that pulled up tensions rose and by the time we saw the 4 th Epcot bus things were near riot levels. It was at this point that I made a quick executive decision and decided to bail on the MK bus. Since we were just trying to get to a resort the Epcot Bus while making things a tad more complicated, would get us where we needed to be and with the Epcot bus being near empty would be the much better solution. So on the Epcot bus we went.


From Epcot (which because we were in making up for lost time mode now I never stopped to get a picture of) we hopped on to the Monorail.


Upon arrival at Epcot I was a little worried that Little Miss might get frustrated when we didn’t actually go into the park. Lucky for us, a monorail came swooping overhead at just the right time and she immediately asked to ride one. Being the gracious mother that I am I said okay. (So what if that was where we were headed anyways! )


After waiting about 20 minutes our monorail pulled up and Little Miss was excitedly stepping on for her first ride. How did she like it? You will have to wait till next post. I’m too close to my picture limit.


However, to have some fun, I have decided to give out random bonus questions throughout the TR. The winner will earn the satisfaction of being a winner. The first person to get the question right gets the point. So here is our first bonus question:


******We left our room at 5pm for our reservation. Where were we headed and what time did we finally get there and check in?********​

 

[afwdwfan]

would that actually have worked?

There's only 1 way to find out. I mean if the band wouldn't work yet anyway, then they might as well tell you since you couldn't get in yet anyway, right?

Here is a short video of Little Miss Discovering the Fireworks in the headboard. This turned out to be a bigger hit than I ever anticipated. She LOVED the fireworks headboard and went to sleep with it every nap and night.

That looks awesome! DW has never been big on Port Orleans, but I'm really hoping to try to push for us to stay there next time. Is this one of those special princess rooms or just a regular room?

As we were walking DH decided that since he was at Disney he should find an appropriate watch face for his pebble.

30-40 minutes later we had seen at least 3 buses for every park including DTD and there was absolutely NO sign of a bus for Magic Kingdom. By this point the entire depot was PACKED with people waiting for a Magic Kingdom bus. I say there were at least a good 2 buses worth of people and I knew that was being optimistic. With every non mk bus that pulled up tensions rose and by the time we saw the 4 th Epcot bus things were near riot levels. It was at this point that I made a quick executive decision and decided to bail on the MK bus. Since we were just trying to get to a resort the Epcot Bus while making things a tad more complicated, would get us where we needed to be and with the Epcot bus being near empty would be the much better solution. So on the Epcot bus we went.

Wow... I love Disney transportation... and I hate Disney transportation. I'd be getting pretty upset and stressed by this point. I think you made the right call to hop on the EPCOT bus. I'd have been tempted to just drive by that point though.

We left our room at 5pm for our reservation. Where were we headed and what time did we finally get there and check in?********

1900 PF, 6:45

 

[pkondz]

Having spent many hours staring and studying the room maps I knew as soon as we got our room number that we ended up with a nice one.

Had you made a specific room number request? Or just general requests, like floor?

Once the text came in we didn’t waist much time unloading from the car and heading up to the room to explore and check it out.

It was the smell right? You'd had enough of puke smell for one day.

Someone looks pretty excited!

Two comments here.
1. "This one's mine!"
2. Did you do that on purpose? Or is the fact that the covers wound up that way a happy accident?
Either way, she looks like a mermaid.

Here is a short video of Little Miss Discovering the Fireworks in the headboard.

That was awesome.
But the best part? Was your happy dance!

She LOVED the fireworks headboard and went to sleep with it every nap and night.

Well who wouldn't?!?!?

As we were walking DH decided that since he was at Disney he should find an appropriate watch face for his pebble.

What's a pebble?

30-40 minutes later we had seen at least 3 buses for every park including DTD and there was absolutely NO sign of a bus for Magic Kingdom.

Long wait. It's only the most popular park, so why have timely busses, right?

the 4 th Epcot bus

That's crazy!

Since we were just trying to get to a resort the Epcot Bus while making things a tad more complicated, would get us where we needed to be and with the Epcot bus being near empty would be the much better solution. So on the Epcot bus we went.

You know. I'm positive that if you'd waited a bit longer, you would've saved time and arrived at MK sooner.
But you're right. You were probably far more comfortable on a nearly empty Epcot bus than you would've been on an extremely packed MK bus.

a monorail came swooping overhead at just the right time and she immediately asked to ride one. Being the gracious mother that I am I said okay. (So what if that was where we were headed anyways! )

******We left our room at 5pm for our reservation. Where were we headed and what time did we finally get there and check in?********

Hmmmm..... Chef Mickey's or 'Ohana... I'll go with 'Ohana.
6:45

 

[mdsouth]

Since Little Miss is dressed up as Cinderella, I am going to say 1900 Park Faire at Grand Floridian and say around 7:00 pm.

 

[mdsouth]

I love the photos of Little Miss playing in the fountains. I can just picture her skipping along and singing or chirping like one of the sweet little birds Cinderella has for friends.

 

[jordansmama]

Joining in! Love the pics of your daughter in her Cinderella dress- so cute! I'm going to guess 1900 Park Fare and you got there at 6:30pm.

 

[Rmurphy005]

I am in! I cant wait to read about the rest of your trip.

 

[kadrachb]

set up Little Miss’s welcome surprise from Mickey.

I love that! Great idea.

30-40 minutes later we had seen at least 3 buses for every park including DTD and there was absolutely NO sign of a bus for Magic Kingdom.

Thats crazy! I would have gone to a CM about it. But at least you could hop on an Epcot bus.

******We left our room at 5pm for our reservation. Where were we headed and what time did we finally get there and check in?********

Cinderella dress is making me think 1900 PF, and I'm going to say around 6:50pm!

 

[cajunfan]

1900 Park Faire, and 6:15pm

 

[KatMark]

Love DD's reaction to the headboard with the fireworks.

And she looks absolutely adorable as you walked to the bus stop from your room in her Cinderella dress.

OUCH on the buses (as you just read in my update, something I avoid if I can). That's absolutely crazy. Did they NOT have a CM there checking on the status?

I'm guessing you were going to the Grand Floridian and having dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

While one of you is close, the point for when we arrived is still up for grabs. Some of you are rather optimistic.

There's only 1 way to find out. I mean if the band wouldn't work yet anyway, then they might as well tell you since you couldn't get in yet anyway, right?

Well they say at the front desk that they are supposed to refrain from telling you because there is the potential it could change up until the actual room is ready.

That looks awesome! DW has never been big on Port Orleans, but I'm really hoping to try to push for us to stay there next time. Is this one of those special princess rooms or just a regular room?

We were in a Royal Room. We really enjoyed the room itself.

Wow... I love Disney transportation... and I hate Disney transportation. I'd be getting pretty upset and stressed by this point. I think you made the right call to hop on the EPCOT bus. I'd have been tempted to just drive by that point though.

At this point I was still riding the we just arrived high so I was pretty zen about it but starting to get a tad stressed. Driving wasn't really a quick option either because of a few things:
1) DH had removed the carseat and brought it to the room so that we could get a deeper clean and not leave vomit to bake in the car.

2) It was back parked by our room and we were at the Main (south) bus depot

1900 PF, 6:45

Had you made a specific room number request? Or just general requests, like floor?

I sent a fax describing what I was hoping for, (Highest floor possible near elevator without being on top of elevator) and then gave a range of room numbers that I would find Ideal. So when the front desk lady told me that our room wasn't ready because we were granted our room requests I had a good idea as to where.

It was the smell right? You'd had enough of puke smell for one day.

Actually, (THANKFULLY) DH and I had done a pretty good job cleaning it up so the car didn't smell that bad.

Someone looks pretty excited!

Maybe just a smidge!

Two comments here.
1. "This one's mine!"
2. Did you do that on purpose? Or is the fact that the covers wound up that way a happy accident?
Either way, she looks like a mermaid.

1.
2. She just had pulled them up. I hadn't noticed the mermaid thing until you pointed it out.

That was awesome.
But the best part? Was your happy dance!

That wasn't the first time I had done that since we got the room number. Not sure it was the last either.

Well who wouldn't?!?!?

True. they were pretty nifty.

What's a pebble?

A smartwatch. If you want more detail than that DH will have to explain it.

Long wait. It's only the most popular park, so why have timely busses, right?

That's crazy!

You know. I'm positive that if you'd waited a bit longer, you would've saved time and arrived at MK sooner.
But you're right. You were probably far more comfortable on a nearly empty Epcot bus than you would've been on an extremely packed MK bus.

I'm pretty sure that's not true. And you will find out why later.

Hmmmm..... Chef Mickey's or 'Ohana... I'll go with 'Ohana.
6:45

Since Little Miss is dressed up as Cinderella, I am going to say 1900 Park Faire at Grand Floridian and say around 7:00 pm.

I love the photos of Little Miss playing in the fountains. I can just picture her skipping along and singing or chirping like one of the sweet little birds Cinderella has for friends.

Change out the chirping for squeals of joy and you've just about got it.

Joining in!

Love the pics of your daughter in her Cinderella dress- so cute!

I think that ended up being one of my favorite outfits from the trip.

I'm going to guess 1900 Park Fare and you got there at 6:30pm.

I am in! I cant wait to read about the rest of your trip.

I love that! Great idea.

It was fun for sure.

Thats crazy! I would have gone to a CM about it. But at least you could hop on an Epcot bus.

We decided to give them the benefit of a doubt and assume the first time was an off night.

Cinderella dress is making me think 1900 PF, and I'm going to say around 6:50pm!

1900 Park Faire, and 6:15pm

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Love DD's reaction to the headboard with the fireworks.

Her face just lit up. It was quite cute.

And she looks absolutely adorable as you walked to the bus stop from your room in her Cinderella dress.

It ended up as one of my favorite outfits.

OUCH on the buses (as you just read in my update, something I avoid if I can). That's absolutely crazy. Did they NOT have a CM there checking on the status?

I only ever saw a CM out at the main depot once or twice the whole trip.

I'm guessing you were going to the Grand Floridian and having dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

 

[PirateFuzzball]

DH here.

What's a pebble?

It's a smartwatch. I've had mine for a little over two years now. IMHO it functionally is better than Android Wear and the Apple Watch. It lacks some of the gimmicks in the other current generation of smartwatches, but it's success is in its simplicity, display always on, water resistance, and not needing to be charged for a whole week. The current model, Pebble Time, brings a few colors on the e-paper display and a mic for voice commands and dictation.

I can post a list of things I use mine for if you're interested.

 

[kastoney]

Your room looks great. It's making me regret booking POFQ instead of POR (except for the bus situation) as I know my daughter would love the fireworks. Speaking of which Little Miss' reaction was priceless.

If the poll is still in question I'm gonna go with 1900 and 7:30

 

[Fastpassminus]

1900 PF 7:15pm

 

[NJlauren]

First i just need to say Little Miss is too cute! Love how she is showing complete joy on her face while exploring the hotel room and the grounds!

On our way out of the Room I sent DH and Little Miss out ahead of me to wait by the elevator and set up Little Miss’s welcome surprise from Mickey.

LOVE! I cant not wait to hear how she reacted!

30-40 minutes later we had seen at least 3 buses for every park including DTD and there was absolutely NO sign of a bus for Magic Kingdom. By this point the entire depot was PACKED with people waiting for a Magic Kingdom bus. I say there were at least a good 2 buses worth of people and I knew that was being optimistic

OH BOY! This does not sound good....

I am going with 1900 Park, and 7:08....