I Like Warm Hugs! - Mommy/Toddler Trip ~ Updated 6/20: New Trip Report Link!

[RGirl]

I know what that's like! But I'm also sick and should get to bed soon.

Oh no! I hope you don't have what I have had - I am STILL sick a month and a half later. Feel better!!!

Target dollar section?

I think Willow's were part of a 10-sock-set (or more) Christmas present from Kohl's, but I'm sure they are the exact same ones!

Aw, I am sad that you can't try it, but sounds like you have an excellent alternate plan! I am hoping to see what all the DIS-raving is about next time.

Yeah, I would love to try the cronut, but I'm not going to complain about a Grey Goose Slush. Slushy booze - such a good thing.

Thanks! Oh, really? I should look into that - I haven't heard anything.

Maybe I dreamt it. I have been known to do things like that....

Yes, once Izzy started showing interest this trip, I was willing to add them into our plans whenever we got a chance. Heck, I stopped the next day in AK for characters that neither of us really even knew. I'm taking advantage of her excitement while she's still filled with it.

That's awesome! You do know that you are basically creating a Willow, right? You will be meeting characters as a central part of your trips for years to come....

 

[AprilRenee]

Hahahaha I hear ya! Everyone says they're delicious! Lol. And I mean, they SOUND delicious. And it's true, day old donuts really aren't very yummy. (Day old croisants aren't really either). So maybe you're right. Maybe it has to be warm and fresh. I look forward to finding out after your next trip. And then trying them myself. Cause I'm kinda obsessed with donuts and I adore croisants. But now I know, eat it right away. Lol like there's even a chance I wouldn't! < can't find the rolling around laughing smilie. So I felt the squirel was appropriate as a second choice lol

 

[AprilRenee]

Ugh, I think a pregnant belly would be harder than a stroller...at least you can roll a stroller along easily!

It was the worst! I was 30 weeks (and had already added about 30 lbs which was a lot for my poor feet to carry around!) and we had to run to catch about 90% of the buses that week. Lol. We had the worst luck! Every time we'd walk up the bus would be almost done loading and we'd have to run for it. I finally said screw it and told Andrew to run and tell them to wait for his pregnant wife haha.

 

[Dugette]

Oh no! I hope you don't have what I have had - I am STILL sick a month and a half later. Feel better!!!

Yuck! I feel like everyone is sick right now. I had some sort of stomach sickness, then went right into a cold, then when I thought it was getting better, I feel like I have a worse cold.

That's awesome! You do know that you are basically creating a Willow, right? You will be meeting characters as a central part of your trips for years to come....

Works for me!

Hahahaha I hear ya! Everyone says they're delicious! Lol. And I mean, they SOUND delicious. And it's true, day old donuts really aren't very yummy. (Day old croisants aren't really either). So maybe you're right. Maybe it has to be warm and fresh. I look forward to finding out after your next trip. And then trying them myself. Cause I'm kinda obsessed with donuts and I adore croisants. But now I know, eat it right away. Lol like there's even a chance I wouldn't! < can't find the rolling around laughing smilie. So I felt the squirel was appropriate as a second choice lol

There you go! I like the little squirrel guy, though! Looking forward to a Cronut re-do.

It was the worst! I was 30 weeks (and had already added about 30 lbs which was a lot for my poor feet to carry around!) and we had to run to catch about 90% of the buses that week. Lol. We had the worst luck! Every time we'd walk up the bus would be almost done loading and we'd have to run for it. I finally said screw it and told Andrew to run and tell them to wait for his pregnant wife haha.

Wow, yeah, that sounds really un-fun. Running after buses in general is not something I enjoy. Good for you, making him tell them to wait!

 

[heathsf]

Aww the Donald meet was so cute, even with the eye poking
I'm glad your cronuts were safe. I can imagine myself freaking out if I'm trapped on a ride and realize my pastries might be in danger!
I'm anxious to hear about this new Run Disney event

 

[schmass]

Those squirrel pictures are creepy - I would freak out if there was a squirrel in my stroller! Then again, I'm petrified of any type of rodent!

 

[hokieinpa]

Wow those are some brave squirrels!! Glad your cronut survived!

 

[Dugette]

Aww the Donald meet was so cute, even with the eye poking

Thanks! She just loved meeting characters this trip!

I'm glad your cronuts were safe. I can imagine myself freaking out if I'm trapped on a ride and realize my pastries might be in danger!

I was so sure that they would have squirrel bites out of them by the time I got back!

I'm anxious to hear about this new Run Disney event

Haha, it will be a fun update!

Those squirrel pictures are creepy - I would freak out if there was a squirrel in my stroller! Then again, I'm petrified of any type of rodent!

I'm not petrified of squirrels, but something about the way they confidently jump into strollers and rifle through your stuff is really disturbing. A line of strollers is like a buffet to them.

Wow those are some brave squirrels!! Glad your cronut survived!

Me too! I was kind-of surprised the squirrels didn't come around.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the squirrel pictures!! Sounds like your trip has been a great one so far.

 

[Dugette]

Love the squirrel pictures!! Sounds like your trip has been a great one so far.

Thanks! I really loved this trip. It was so short, but we made so many memories. Really glad we took it!

 

[Leshaface]

Wow you weren't joking about the squirrels! And I put food down in the basket all the time Now i'm definitely going to pay more attention from now on.

 

[Dugette]

Wow you weren't joking about the squirrels! And I put food down in the basket all the time Now i'm definitely going to pay more attention from now on.

Ha, yeah, I had heard of it happening, but seeing it with my own eyes really changed what I do too! I saw that in June on my last day (in the stroller parking for The Land) and it was still on my mind in August. That squirrel was so bold and just went from stroller to stroller like it was a squirrel buffet.

 

[Dugette]

But We Ran All the Way Here?

We left off with me making a break for the International Gateway to get back to DHS in time for our reserved showing of the Frozen Sing-Along. It was a beautiful day as I cruised along this path, just savoring the last bit of Epcot for this trip :



And then…I heard something :

(click to watch)

Do you know what that sound in the background is?

I did. And I was SO excited and knew that I had to spare a few minutes for this, despite the time crunch. It was Off Kilter!!! Given that it had just been announced that they were (sadly…) leaving Epcot soon, this was my last chance to enjoy their show:



Notice the girls in yellow and white in front of me…they’ll be in the upcoming video clip.

At any rate, I just stopped at the back of the crowd to watch for a couple minutes and give Izzy a snack (milk and bunny crackers) while I enjoyed the show. I have to admit that I’ve always had a little bit of a crush on the lead guy, Jamie (despite the terrible picture):



Since you can’t really see him there, I’ve stolen a picture from the internet :



At any rate, I stayed for the second half of the song they were on and the first half of the next song, which was Johnny B. Goode. Those girls I mentioned before decided to go up and put on a dance show to it :



I have about a minute of video, if you would like to enjoy a bit of Off Kilter rocking out with the dancers:

(click to watch)

And this is what Izzy thought of that :



Dug called me and I talked to him briefly during the performance, at 6:20pm, so I hadn’t blown much time with my stop. But, I knew that I needed to tear myself away from Off Kilter and get back to DHS.

I left the park about 15 minutes behind my plan of a 6:10pm exit. But I could walk back in time, I knew, as long as I went fast. I would be able to make it to DHS in 20 minutes, if I went the right way this time, and then another 5 minutes through the Studios to get there right at the end of the 6:50pm return window. And, at worst, I’d arrive after the window but before the show. But, I also “knew” that, if I happened to catch a boat just right at the International Gateway, it would go as fast. One had beat me there, after all. As luck would have it, a boat was just starting to load as I passed the dock. I asked if the stroller could roll on and they said yes. So, I went with that. Seemed a good option. Wrong!

I pulled the stroller into the designated area in back of the boat:



Izzy wanted to get out and sit on the ledge with me, so I picked her up and we took some more selfies:









Izzy was having a great time. At least someone was. I was pretty nervous during that time. Between the selfies, I was texting with Lauren about my journey. I was feeling like the boat was taking forever and would be too slow to get me there. In retrospect, I should have jumped off at the first stop, Boardwalk, and walked the rest of the way. Instead, I had to sit through the Beach/Yacht Club and Swan/Dolphin stops and it was all just SO slow. Ack, get moving, boat:



Izzy amused herself by buckling her stroller:



I got directions from Lauren and then pulled up a DHS map online and studied it intently – I had no room for error this time. My poor sense of direction was not going to cause us to miss this show. It was the last show of the day and our last chance to see it before leaving the next day. I was watching the minutes tick away and just feeling sick about it. 6:54pm and we were still on the boat:



I knew that I had no choice but to RUN when I got off that boat. And I am NOT a runner. As the joke goes, I run when I’m being chased. Not for fun. But, this was for FROZEN! As we waited for the boat to dock, I got everything as ready to go as possible. I unzipped the backpack and had everything ready to buzz through security. Izzy was strapped into her stroller and I was psyched up.

We finally docked and I literally started running. I beat everyone to security and there was no line. I lucked out and the guy was very friendly, saying, “I don’t want it to be my fault that you’re late!” and quickly sending us on our way. And I took off running through DHS at a pretty good speed. I had to be on high alert, as I didn’t want to hit anyone with a stroller at high speed. I did slow down in a couple of particularly crowded areas, like in front of Star Tours. It was such an odd feeling. I’m sure people were looking at me wondering what in the world was up with this , but it was kinda fun. There’s some sort of strange feeling of freedom in charging through a Disney park like that. And that is probably as close as I’ll ever get to a Run Disney event.

I made it to the right area at 7:02pm, so the show had just started. And all the doors were closed and I couldn’t find any CMs to let me in. I went to a nearby concession booth I’d passed and asked how to get in. They sent me to someone who sent me to someone else. And that someone else was apparently the only person who could help me. But he was busy chatting it up with someone (a guest/friend? ) and had four completely useless CMs standing behind him, clearly disinterested in helping a huffing and puffing and very impatient guest. He did finally wrap up and get to me. I explained what happened and showed him my Premium Package lanyard and he brought me in and found a seat for me (I just asked for 1 seat anywhere or even standing).

Rather than the front-and-center prime seating that I would have had by checking in on time with the package, I was in the back row, right section, left seat. They valet parked the stroller and he led me in with a flashlight. As we headed in, I was wishing I’d grabbed my inhaler out of the stroller (I have very minor asthma that doesn’t usually act up, but I was wheezing a bit after that run! ) Oh, well, I’d get over it I knew, but it made it harder to sing until my breathing got better.

We took our seat at 7:07pm. The King and Queen had just set out on their fateful journey, so we must have missed Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? Aw, too bad.

There was a column in the middle of our view. It mostly blocked the storytellers and completely blocked Kristoff when he first came out:



However, we did have a good view of the sign language interpreters. They were actually really fun to watch and very expressive. You can see them on the right up there:



Hey, I think you can actually see everyone on stage here:



Selfie with cool background, including Olaf:



I think it was snowing here:



Yay, applause:



The show was really fun and I enjoyed singing along. The crowd was pretty into it, which I appreciated, being a terrible singer that doesn’t want to stand out. The effects and scenery were great too. Izzy seemed to enjoy it and liked it when I sang to her. It’s funny now, because at this current age (almost 2.5), she would totally be singing along with it. But, back then (23 months), she wasn’t quite sure about singing yet. (Um, the other day, Dug put on “Shake it Off” for the FIRST time and she started singing it…maybe her daycare plays it? We were baffled and highly amused when she broke out into song ).

Izzy mostly sat in my lap, except for sometimes jumping off and climbing back on, as toddlers enjoy so much. The funniest part was at the end, when everyone sang a final round of Let It Go. Izzy flung her arms into the air, as if to say, “WHAT?!?” and the people next to us broke out into laughter with me. The gesture was just so out of the blue and over the top…and I think it was because Anna was singing Let It Go, which was just so CLEARLY WRONG. It was really funny, but you probably had to be there.

I highly enjoyed the show and I was glad that we made it and they let us in for most of it (without even taking our ticket – oops). Worth the run. At the time, it was part of the Frozen Summer Fun, so it was going to be ending in September. But, as you probably know, they decided to keep the show around. Therefore, I am very much looking forward to seeing the full thing in May and letting Izzy sing along! Yay for a re-do!

Up next: Some cars and the big dance and dessert and fireworks party!

 

[teekathepony]

Hi there! Newbie to your reports here, late but joining in (and going to check out your others too!)

 

[dtr_angel]

Oh man glad you made it for most of the show. We saw it in October and December. Definitely a big highlight of both trips!

 

[schmass]

I'm glad you made it for most of the show! Too bad that you didn't have a great view, but at least you didn't miss out on the whole thing. I'm really looking forward to this in April, as Rory is obsessed with Frozen. His first sentence was "Let it Go!"

That is too cute about Izzy singing Shake it Off! And I love her expression while you were watching Off Kilter. I'm so sad they are no longer there.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

AHHHHHHHH, I am in love with the fact that you did an about face when you heard Off Kilter even with the time crunch.
I won't lie, I'm a full on heterosexual male, but even I have a crush on Jamie, lol.

BAHAHA, Izzy clearly has a *** look on her face.

Funny that I was just talking about the Friendship Boats and their, um, slowness. They're lovely when you're just chillin', but when you need to actually get somewhere, nothing but pure frustration.

Wow, I'm tired just hearing about your journey. But thankfully you at least made it for most of the show and had a crowd that was into it.

 

[Leshaface]

HAHAHA!!! I love Izzy's face!!!

I always wondered if you started walking at the exact time a boat left, who would win? I mean, I can speed walk pretty fast and run if I need to.

Way to make it almost on time! And even better that you get to have a do-over in May!

 

[princessbelle2015]

Yay! I am happy you made it in time for most of the show. The do over in May will be even better.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love Izzy's faces!! She is so expressive.