"I'm NOT a Princess, I'm Izzy!" - May '15 Land/Sea ~ Updated 6/4: Link to Disneyland TR!!!

[TheMaxRebo]

Yes, frustrating as I tried to tell her that we keep shoes on at restaurants and it isn't like someone's house, but she wasn't hearing that.

I was thinking of you and this story this past weekend as we were out to dinner and Peter insisted on taking his shoes off ... we finally agreed that he could keep them off while at the table but he wasn't allowed to stand up without his shoes on

 

[Imagineer5]

Your Sanaa lunch looks AMAZING, I Just love their naan bread service (FYI, most of the dips (all but 2) are dairy and soy free, but the dairy/soy free naan option is really weird, bc it's also gluten free and free of other allergens - we make way better naan at home that's dairy/soy free lol). Anyway, that is always a fantastic meal! I do see how you really didn't have much time between then and dinner lol! Too funny how we were so opposite in our hunger for dinner.

Adding, our stroller looks like that now - with the car seat up top and then the seat on the bottom. In another 2 months or so it'll be two seats instead since Maya will be able to sit in the seat (thank goodness, she HATES the car seat!)

 

[FantasiaMagic]

There was a bus time display that told us we had a 12 minute wait for a Downtown Disney bus:

I love these screens with the bus times. I think it's a great idea, but I wish that ALL of the resorts have it. As I understand they will eventually all have them...

Izzy was now on my lap, so why not pass the time with selfies:

AW! Great picture of you two. And I love Izzy's princess shirt!

There was an awesome couple seated across from us on the bus. They were an older couple, now retired, that lived locally. Every Saturday was their Disney Day and they always went to Downtown Disney for dinner (I believe to a specific restaurant, but can’t recall which one). They had both been Cast Members at some point and I think the guy still was a few days per week. They were incredibly nice to talk to. And I had to sneak a little picture of them in their matching shirts (and matching posture):

This is adorable! I love hearing stories like this!

I believe we started with a bathroom stop. And then Izzy took a picture in a blue shirt:

Love this

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner with the Dinos!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Octonauts was on, which we were not familiar with, but Izzy enjoyed it.

Lucky you! I'll give you one guess what gets played on a loop on the Disney Junior Channel in the middle of the night.

We were out at the bus stop at 3:50pm. Izzy was clearly exhausted, having skipped naptime all trip so far

I have a feeling this might end up being us this weekend. Definitely on Friday for sure.

There was an awesome couple seated across from us on the bus. They were an older couple, now retired, that lived locally. Every Saturday was their Disney Day and they always went to Downtown Disney for dinner (I believe to a specific restaurant, but can’t recall which one). They had both been Cast Members at some point and I think the guy still was a few days per week. They were incredibly nice to talk to. And I had to sneak a little picture of them in their matching shirts (and matching posture):

Awa adorable!!!!

Wish he would have mentioned it, but we did eventually find each other somehow. But not until Izzy and I had covered every corner of the Christmas store, waiting around for Dug.

 

[afwdwfan]

You can see Izzy found a new buddy.

Always nice when you can meet a friendly person on the bus.

I think I took her to the bathroom too. I doubt she actually went.

Everything was delicious and I loved many of the dips. Surprisingly, Izzy wasn’t very interested in the bread, so she amused herself by watching the animals:

Hey, as long as she was happy and it was keeping her out of trouble.

Soon, they fed the animals fairly near our window and we basically had a parade of animals to watch as we dined:

Cool!

Get used to Izzy eating mac and cheese on this trip…hey, vacation, why not have it at nearly every meal?

Or in DD's case... she wants it every meal, vacation or not.

We soon discovered there was an empty couch in front of a TV playing Disney Junior:

And still not enough to get her sitting still long enough to fall asleep?

I was hoping she could get in a brief nap in her stroller at Downtown Disney before we went to dinner. But, spoiler alert, that didn’t happen.

There's no time for napping at Disney World!

Right Dug?

Our ADR was for 5pm and she was asking about moving it earlier. Given that it was after 4pm and we were just getting on the bus and felt like we’d just finished lunch, we decided to keep it at 5pm.

Yeah, that would be a little tight after just finishing lunch! It seems like all you're doing is eating this afternoon!

They were just too darn cute! And I think most of us on the DIS would love to be them someday – having a Disney Day tradition and all. I could deal with that.

We like to get at least one ornament to commemorate every trip and this seemed appropriate, given the Star Wars Weekends focus. I didn’t discover until Christmas that it actually has a switch on it and lights up when you turn it on. Pretty cool!

Cool!

On the way, Izzy spotted both the choo-choo train and the carousel and wanted to ride. We told her maybe later:

Yeah... you just can't walk past without having that battle of wills, can you?

 

[khertz]

I was a few updates behind, but all caught up now!

How cool that they were feeding the animals while you were at lunch! That had to be a nice view of all the animals while eating, and I bet that kept Izzy pretty occupied.

That couple on the bus is the CUTEST!! I wouldn't mind living in Florida after we are retired and having some kind of Disney tradition.

 

[Dugette]

I was thinking of you and this story this past weekend as we were out to dinner and Peter insisted on taking his shoes off ... we finally agreed that he could keep them off while at the table but he wasn't allowed to stand up without his shoes on

Haha, our kids are just trying to demonstrate considerate manners as a guest in someone else's "home" and we keep fighting them on it.

Your Sanaa lunch looks AMAZING, I Just love their naan bread service (FYI, most of the dips (all but 2) are dairy and soy free, but the dairy/soy free naan option is really weird, bc it's also gluten free and free of other allergens - we make way better naan at home that's dairy/soy free lol). Anyway, that is always a fantastic meal! I do see how you really didn't have much time between then and dinner lol! Too funny how we were so opposite in our hunger for dinner.

Guess you'll have to smuggle in some naan from home if you go again before Maya is weaned/over allergies. Glad most of the dips are okay, though.

Adding, our stroller looks like that now - with the car seat up top and then the seat on the bottom. In another 2 months or so it'll be two seats instead since Maya will be able to sit in the seat (thank goodness, she HATES the car seat!)

Funny to think that your stroller is holding two now. Bummer that Maya hates her car seat so much! Hope she is sitting up in a regular seat soon.

I love these screens with the bus times. I think it's a great idea, but I wish that ALL of the resorts have it. As I understand they will eventually all have them...

I liked that too - nice to have some idea what's going on.

AW! Great picture of you two. And I love Izzy's princess shirt!

Thanks!

This is adorable! I love hearing stories like this!

I loved talking to them - they were so great.

Love this

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner with the Dinos!

Thanks!

Lucky you! I'll give you one guess what gets played on a loop on the Disney Junior Channel in the middle of the night.

I have a guess...

I have a feeling this might end up being us this weekend. Definitely on Friday for sure.

Good luck! I hope things go well!

Awa adorable!!!!

They were!

I always liked that store, but it got to be a bit too much by that point.

Always nice when you can meet a friendly person on the bus.

Definitely!

Hey, as long as she was happy and it was keeping her out of trouble.

Indeed!

Cool!

It really was!

Or in DD's case... she wants it every meal, vacation or not.

That's true here too, but we make more of an effort to switch it up at home.

And still not enough to get her sitting still long enough to fall asleep?

Nope, she never falls asleep while watching TV.

There's no time for napping at Disney World!

Right Dug?

Yeah, that would be a little tight after just finishing lunch! It seems like all you're doing is eating this afternoon!

Pretty much. Straight from one meal to the next!

Loved chatting with that couple.

Cool!

It's a cute little ornament.

Yeah... you just can't walk past without having that battle of wills, can you?

Not unless you are a master of distraction.

I was a few updates behind, but all caught up now!

How cool that they were feeding the animals while you were at lunch! That had to be a nice view of all the animals while eating, and I bet that kept Izzy pretty occupied.

It was really nice. That's one of the best features of Sanaa - distraction/entertainment throughout your meal.

That couple on the bus is the CUTEST!! I wouldn't mind living in Florida after we are retired and having some kind of Disney tradition.

They were adorable and I love that they cherished their Disney tradition.

 

[Dugette]

Dinner with Friends and Dinosaurs

We made it here:





We found Lauren, Aria, Lynda, and Aron (and I apparently managed to take zero pictures of them - oops!). Izzy and I knew Lauren and Aria from past trips, but Dug hadn’t met them until now. And we had never met Lynda and Aron before this trip. But, within minutes, I’d say we all felt like we’d known each other for a long time. Lynda was extremely friendly and we were chatting away. And Izzy and Aria were very happy to see each other again too. I was distracted with our conversation, so it took me a bit to find my Landry’s Select Club information in my email. I had joined this shortly before our trip, as it would give us a $25 credit to use at T-Rex (offsetting a $25 fee to join), then offer $25 birthday rewards, etc (we just used my birthday reward this last weekend at Rainforest Cafe in the Mall of America). It also allows for priority seating. But, by the time I found my info, we were well past checking in and about to be seated. We waited less than 10 minutes before being led to our table. A few pictures on the way, to get a feel for the place:







I was seated in this dinosaur-appetizer spot:



Turned out to be a photo op spot for many people and they were often taking pictures behind me. Not a big deal, just kinda funny.

The girls were happy to sit next to each other and even ordered the same thing (corn dog nuggets and corn).

I took Lauren’s recommendation and got a Green Apple Cotton Candy Martini (Lynda got another flavor of this cotton candy drink):



It was super cool to pour this, so I have video:

(click to watch)

It was a tasty drink too. We passed things around and sampled the other flavor as well. I offered Izzy some of my cotton candy (prior to pouring alcohol on it), but I don’t think she believed that it was actually food, so wouldn’t touch it.

Random scenery shot:



Dug and I were not very hungry yet (having just come from lunch!), so we just ordered the cheese appetizer platter to share (as our meal):



It was super yummy!

Izzy’s meal:



And I can see that she insisted on “lid off!” again.

During this meal, Izzy demanded several trips to the potty. I took her the first time, she got in there, then said, “I changed my mind!” Dug took her the second time. I think she changed her mind on him too. I took her the third time and I think she actually used the potty. But then she got mad after that because she wanted to go AGAIN :



Yep, mean parents wouldn't let her visit the restroom for a 4th time during the meal. It was about 6:30pm by now and she was really losing it, probably mostly because of the lack of sleep on the trip.

Lauren and friends had plans after dinner – I want to say they were going to DisneyQuest? And we had a toddler on the edge of melting down, so we headed our separate ways. It was great to visit with them all and, despite the numerous potty breaks, we had a really nice time. And our Landry’s Club credit covered most of our bill, so even better!

We took pity on Izzy and I brought her to the potty one more time on the way out. Once again, she didn’t go, but we did get to see a meteor shower in the ice cave, so that was cool.

After leaving T-Rex, we stopped into the Lego store briefly to look around:



I’ll spare you the pictures Dug took of every single Star Wars Lego display and instead show you my pictures:



I guess this one is Dug’s:



More of mine:





And then Izzy played at the Duplo table for a bit:



And here’s one token Star Wars Lego picture for you:



We made a brief stop into the Co-op, as I’d been hearing lots of good things about it. We wandered around and I have to say that I really didn’t get what the fuss was about. But, then again, I’m not much of a shopper. We moved on.

Izzy found some princesses to take pictures with (but getting her to actually look at the camera wasn’t going so well):





Then we came across a CM blowing bubbles outside the toy store and that was a thrill for Izzy :







I probably could have named this Trip Report “Bubbles.” Will not be the last time you see her enjoying bubbles on this trip.

I noticed Woody looking down at us:



Always interesting to look up in Disney stores:



I was happy to see a Miles from Tomorrowland section (remember, this was last May, so it was fairly new):



And Izzy does own several of those toys now (not from this trip, though).

I believe that Dug bought Izzy a little Princess Leia dress-up doll set here. It is a difficult toy, though, as it’s so many tiny pieces and really difficult to change her outfits. Oh, well.

I think I took a picture of these cute Mickey and Minnie cars while he was checking out:



It was about 7:40pm by now and time for Izzy to do the carousel with Daddy before heading out. I was going to head over to Earl of Sandwich and redeem my free sandwich voucher that I’d gotten for joining their e-club shortly before our trip – figured it could be saved for when we got hungry later after our small dinner. (By the way, I had Dug join their e-club before our recent Disneyland trip and he only got a free chips and drink coupon, not a free sandwich, so they must have changed it ). At any rate, I got there and the line was just WAY too long for me to consider, so I decided to skip it, despite the promise of a free sandwich.

I went and watched Izzy ride the carousel instead:





She had a great time.

Brief video clip, if you wanted to see more of that carousel:

(click to watch)

Our last stop before heading out was the spice area at Mickey’s Pantry. We always like to pick up a few seasonings to bring home. As we were doing that, a Cast Member came over and, as many CMs had been doing, called Izzy “Princess.” She confidently responded with, “I’m NOT a Princess, I’m Izzy!” This cracked the CM and his colleagues up. He said he’d never gotten that response before, but he liked it. Another CM brought her some Mickey stickers for giving them a laugh:



I can only hope she will still be as proud of herself and who she is when she gets older. By the way, there were a lot of other times she said this during the trip, but this CM was the only one who took notice of her response. So, that was a fun encounter.

I believe, on our way out of Downtown Disney, we swung into the Christmas store to get that R2MK ears ornament.

We took the bus and were back in our room at 8:45pm. And we had a surprise waiting for us:



This was just sitting on our counter. How cool! I posted on the SWW thread to see if they were doing this for everyone and nobody else had gotten one. I guess we were pixie dusted! That was a nice little bit of magic to end our day.

Up next: Our “early night” isn’t so early.

 

[hokieinpa]

Glad the dinner and drinks at TRex were enjoyable even with all of the bathroom visits! It's so hard when you want to encourage them but also don't want to spend your entire night in the restroom!

Love the R2MK ornament. That's a perfect keepsake from a SWW! And what a great surprise waiting for you back in your room!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I have a guess...

Ugh that song.... worst earworm EVER.

Good luck! I hope things go well!

Thanks! Now if I can only finish my todo list today!

I was seated in this dinosaur-appetizer spot:

It looks like he is licking your head!

It was super cool to pour this, so I have video

I offered Izzy some of my cotton candy (prior to pouring alcohol on it), but I don’t think she believed that it was actually food, so wouldn’t touch it.

During this meal, Izzy demanded several trips to the potty. I took her the first time, she got in there, then said, “I changed my mind!” Dug took her the second time. I think she changed her mind on him too. I took her the third time and I think she actually used the potty. But then she got mad after that because she wanted to go AGAIN :

Yep, mean parents wouldn't let her visit the restroom for a 4th time during the meal.

You mean parents you!

I’ll spare you the pictures Dug took of every single Star Wars Lego display and instead show you my pictures:

We wandered around and I have to say that I really didn’t get what the fuss was about.

YOu know, neither did we.

She confidently responded with, “I’m NOT a Princess, I’m Izzy!”

This was just sitting on our counter. How cool! I posted on the SWW thread to see if they were doing this for everyone and nobody else had gotten one. I guess we were pixie dusted!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I took Lauren’s recommendation and got a Green Apple Cotton Candy Martini (Lynda got another flavor of this cotton candy drink):

Ooh that looks interesting! I've never heard of that type of alcoholic drink before!

Random scenery shot:

Wow that's cool! They really seemed to do a great job designing the restaurant! I'll have to try and get there one day...

And our Landry’s Club credit covered most of our bill, so even better!

Nice! Always a plus!

I noticed Woody looking down at us:

Oh my gosh! I have never noticed him up there before! Thanks for the tip lol, I will have to look for him this summer!

As we were doing that, a Cast Member came over and, as many CMs had been doing, called Izzy “Princess.” She confidently responded with, “I’m NOT a Princess, I’m Izzy!”

Love this, and I love her confidence!

We took the bus and were back in our room at 8:45pm. And we had a surprise waiting for us:



This was just sitting on our counter. How cool!

Nice! What a great sprinkle of pixie dust to end the day!

 

[BlvInMagic]

No shoes...No Problem! That little girl was on vaca and knows how to live it up! She is so adorable!!!!! And what a great view you guys had for lunch -- very cool -- and perfect timing since they were doing a feeding.

I love your story about the proud American couple on the bus to Downtown Disney -- they were precious. And then Izzy finding the matching Mickey and Minnie in the Christmas Store definitely topped it off. What are the chances... LOL....Hee hee!!

Such a great surprise to have a Photopass Picture waiting for you in your room. Pixie Dust is the BEST! Izzy is so sweet posing there with that Ewok. Awesome memories for your guys

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad you got to meet up with Lauren and crew ... and that everyone got along!

Also, glad to hear you gave Izzy the cotton candy before you poured the alcohol on it ... based on the "after" from the video The drink looks pretty cool though I would imagine it was sweet (which I tend to not enjoy in my drinks)

We've never done T-Rex - my kids found it far to loud - but that cheese platter looks really good! Since, you know, cheese!

That's so great how that CM responded to Izzy telling them she wasn't a princess! Olivia's done that when we do her hair up in Princess Leia buns and people call her Leia ... plus, you may recall her not being a fan of me calling her "the Mayor"

What a neat surprise to come back to with that picture from SWW!

 

[cindianne320]

That cheese plate looked yummy! Glad you met up with Lauren and Crew- can't wait to hear her perspective in her tr- must be coming up, I'm guessing!

Sorry that you still had a long night ahead of you!

 

[Imagineer5]

We had a great dinner. LOVE that cheese appetizer. I liked the pic above showing my lefty and your righty eating lol!

Here are some photos, as I only grabbed a couple I guess. The girls had SO much fun meeting up again though, I know they were having a blast in line.

I have a few more I will post when I get to that day in my TR sneaky trying to steal some readers hahahahaha

 

[schmass]

Oh, that is too bad that you just missed meeting Dug! But the Boneyard looks like so much fun. I can see why Izzy wanted to stay there.

Sanaa looks so good, and what a great view you had! I can’t wait to try it sometime. What is it with toddlers and taking their shoes off in restaurants?! Rory does the same thing!

Cute story about the couple on the bus to DTD. I would love to have a “Disney Day” every Saturday!

We do the ornament each trip, too. I love putting them all up at Christmastime and reliving each trip for a moment.

T-Rex looks really cool, and that is so fun that you guys had a meet-up! The cotton candy martini looks interesting (in a good way!).

I love Izzy’s response to the cast member (and always love to hear the story behind a TR title!).

That’s cool that you received the photo – what a great surprise!

 

[DisneyParkLover]

So cute! Luke gets upset too when we don't call him Luke. If we try to call him "Big Man"or Pumpkin or whatever, he'll say "No, I Luke!!".

 

[khertz]

Sounds like dinner was a lot of fun!! I keep wanting to check out T-Rex because Paxton is a tad dinosaur obsessed but we never seem to venture out to Disney Springs often enough to go there for a meal.

Glad the girls had fun being back together again. How fun to be raising the next generation of Disney lovers!!

 

[pkondz]

Every Saturday is Downtown Disney Dinner Day

Would that it were true.

He insisted on finding a nice place in Kidani to relax and put his feet up.

Put feet up? In Disney? Is that even possible??

So did Izzy:

cute pic.

We soon discovered there was an empty couch in front of a TV playing Disney Junior:

Disney knows it's clientele.

Looks like Izzy was still pretty goofy:

Really? Doesn't show.

After a bit, Dug was up and ready to go, so we made our way out, with minor distraction:

There isn't a kid alive who won't stop for drums.

I was hoping she could get in a brief nap in her stroller at Downtown Disney before we went to dinner. But, spoiler alert, that didn’t happen.

Geez Lady! You could've warned us before just blurting out the spoiler.
Now the whole TR is ruined! Ruined I say!

There was an awesome couple seated across from us on the bus. They were an older couple, now retired, that lived locally. Every Saturday was their Disney Day and they always went to Downtown Disney for dinner (I believe to a specific restaurant, but can’t recall which one). They had both been Cast Members at some point and I think the guy still was a few days per week. They were incredibly nice to talk to. And I had to sneak a little picture of them in their matching shirts (and matching posture):

So disappointing.


socks don't match.

They were just too darn cute! And I think most of us on the DIS would love to be them someday – having a Disney Day tradition and all. I could deal with that.

And Dug was apparently being goofy too:

Agghhh!!

Izzy didn’t take long to find all of the Frozen merchandise:

Remember the drums comment?
This is worse.

Looks like she found some non-Frozen princesses too:

They still exist?

I didn’t discover until Christmas that it actually has a switch on it and lights up when you turn it on. Pretty cool!

Cool!

As we wandered around, I kept looking for Dug and was surprised I hadn’t yet found him. The store isn’t THAT big. Well, turns out he moved on to this store without telling me :

is right. DW likes to do that too.

And Izzy found the Minnies (dressed like the couple from the bus! ):

Did she make that connection?

 

[pkondz]

We made it here:

Where Dug was promptly eaten by a pack of Raptors. Izzy and I carried on as the trip was already paid for.

But, within minutes, I’d say we all felt like we’d known each other for a long time.

: Isn't that just the way with DIS meets?

I had joined this shortly before our trip, as it would give us a $25 credit to use at T-Rex (offsetting a $25 fee to join), then offer $25 birthday rewards, etc (we just used my birthday reward this last weekend at Rainforest Cafe in the Mall of America).

Not bad.

It also allows for priority seating.

Even better.

But, by the time I found my info, we were well past checking in and about to be seated.

Oh, well... Sounds like it wasn't too long anyway.
We've waited quite a while at that Mall of America Rainforest Café.

I was seated in this dinosaur-appetizer spot:

That's hysterical!

It was super cool to pour this, so I have video:

(click to watch)

Cool! Never seen that used in a drink before.

I offered Izzy some of my cotton candy (prior to pouring alcohol on it), but I don’t think she believed that it was actually food, so wouldn’t touch it.

And I can see that she insisted on “lid off!” again.

Uh, oh. Spills?

During this meal, Izzy demanded several trips to the potty. I took her the first time, she got in there, then said, “I changed my mind!” Dug took her the second time. I think she changed her mind on him too. I took her the third time and I think she actually used the potty. But then she got mad after that because she wanted to go AGAIN :

Oy.
Someone's restless. Someone else is getting tired of her restlessness.

Yep, mean parents wouldn't let her visit the restroom for a 4th time during the meal.

Scarred! Scarred for life!

It was about 6:30pm by now and she was really losing it, probably mostly because of the lack of sleep on the trip.

That'll do it all right.
I feel the same way, sometimes.

And our Landry’s Club credit covered most of our bill, so even better!

but we did get to see a meteor shower in the ice cave, so that was cool.

Cool! What was it like?

I’ll spare you the pictures Dug took of every single Star Wars Lego display

Thanks!

We made a brief stop into the Coop, as I’d been hearing lots of good things about it. We wandered around and I have to say that I really didn’t get what the fuss was about. But, then again, I’m not much of a shopper. We moved on.

Don't think I know what it is.
Not being a shopper either, sounds like I don't really need to know.

Then we came across a CM blowing bubbles outside the toy store and that was a thrill for Izzy :

Drums, Frozen merch and now this?
That's the trifecta of child distraction!

I probably could have named this Trip Report “Bubbles.” Will not be the last time you see her enjoying bubbles on this trip.

Always interesting to look up in Disney stores:

I really have to start doing that.

(By the way, I had Dug join their e-club before our recent Disneyland trip and he only got a free chips and drink coupon, not a free sandwich, so they must have changed it ).

Oh. I was just going to make a note of this and.... nah.

As we were doing that, a Cast Member came over and, as many CMs had been doing, called Izzy “Princess.” She confidently responded with, “I’m NOT a Princess, I’m Izzy!”

There it is!

This cracked the CM and his colleagues up. He said he’d never gotten that response before, but he liked it. Another CM brought her some Mickey stickers for giving them a laugh:

How could it not! That's a great line, Izzy.

I can only hope she will still be as proud of herself and who she is when she gets older.

That would really be a good thing.
It gets tough out there.

This was just sitting on our counter. How cool!

Nice! Pixie dust!

Awww... cute pic.