Interpreting Toddler-Speak in Disney! Aug TR: My Bus! Update 10/22

[DisneyMomma09]

Alright, we have been home for a month, so it is probably time to get moving on the TR. If you want to learn a little more about the crew, check out the PTR in my signature. For those who don't want to do that, I will give a brief overview of the who and the when.

Let's start with our introductions! I'll go first...

I am Ashleigh-your author, Disney Planner and family tour guide. Here I am in front of the castle during the Princess ½ Marathon this past February.

DH reluctantly puts up with my Disney obsession and planning. I do not know how he does not get nearly as excited as I do before a trip…

The real star of the show is our fun-loving 2 year old Colby. This is his 3rd trip to WDW and while I love taking him to this magical place, this trip was especially fun!

Also traveling with us was my mom, Ellen. It has been 10 years since she has been to WDW and I was excited to have her with us.

We also had my sister, Kylie, and my brother, Kory, with us. Kylie has not been to WDW for 10 years, like my mom. We have taken Kory with us on 2 previous trips. He is a pretty special kid and I could write a whole book on him! We adopted him when he was a year old. He had been a premie that my mom actually took care of in the hospital (she is a nurse). He still has some issues as a result of being so premature including MR, ADHD, Autism and an anxiety disorder. He LOVES going to Disney with us!

Kylie

Kory

So there we are. We traveled to Walt Disney World from August 16th-23rd. It was a hot, but wonderful trip and I cannot wait to tell you all about it!

Contents:
Day -1
Airpane! See Ditty Ouse!
Airpane! See Ditty Ouse! Cont.
Toins & A-loons
Feh Fies!
Astle!
Pee-Pee
Choo-choo nain

Day 2
My Bus!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Colby was super excited leading up to the trip. I really think he understood that something exciting was going to be happening. He knew we were going on an airplane and we were going to see Mickey Mouse! It made me even more excited that he was excited about it!

The trip did not get off to the smoothest start, however. On Sunday night, the night before we were going to leave, everything was ready. The suitcases were packed and ready by the door. Our boarding passes were printed. Colby was in bed. And we got a phone call. From our local airport. About our 7:10 am flight the next morning. It was delayed 2 hours!!! That meant we were going to miss our connecting flight out of Cleveland.

PANIC!!!!

After some cursing and serious stressing, we made some phone calls to decide what to do. We could drive to Cleveland. It is only 1 1/2 hours away. But then we would have to drive home from Cleveland at the end of our trip. DH called his father to let him know what was going on. He offered to drive us to Cleveland in the morning. He is awesome! He also has a Suburban that seats 8, so we could all ride in the same car!

So after being up later than we anticipated trying to sort out the travel situation, we headed for a restless night's sleep. We were back up again bright...or rather dark and early at 5:00. My mom got there soon after. We were packed and on the road at 5:30.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

When we last left, we were driving off to Cleveland to catch our flight to Orlando. Just when I was starting to relax and think things were going to go well, Colby needed to go potty! So we pulled off at the next rest stop and I took him to the bathroom only to discover that our TTC for this month had been a failure. I was really hoping to find out I was preggo at Disney. That would have been super cool! Instead, I would have to deal with this for the length of our trip. Lovely.

Anyhow, we made it to Cleveland with pleanty of time to spare. We got through security with no problems and grabbed a bite to eat. DH checked the arrival and departure board and what do you know? Our origional flight from Erie to Cleveland was going to land about 15 minutes before our flight to Orlando was supposed to take off. He was a little ticked off that we would have made it, but then I reminded him that we would have been stressed out about catching our connecting flight.

We hit the potty and then boarded our plane. It was a pretty smooth flight. Colby was VERY well behaved! Yeah! We watched Finding Nemo most of the flight. The snacks and his juice kept him happy. Then we switched to stickers. He had about 60 of them up and down his legs at one point!

The only rough point of the flight was when we let Colby stand up to look out the window as we started decending into Orlando. Of course, once he was up, he did not want to sit back down. It took a little wrangling to get his seatbelt back on, but once it was, he settled down again and was fine!

We landed in Orlando, hit the potty again, and then headed to the Magical Express! We checked in quickly and were ushered right through onto a waiting bus. It was pretty full, but we found seats together near the back. The driver put our carry on bags under the bus, got on, and we were off!! What luck! Our luck continued when we were the first stop to be dropped off! Awesome!

 

[lbuzz52]

First whoohoo!
I love the title. I'm still in that stage, but it was much more fun at Disney! That stinks about the flight switching up so close to departure time. If it makes you feel any better, there is a high likelyhood that you would not have made it if you rode on that other flight. Between taxing to the gate, moving from one gate to another. Plus, they probably would ahve already closed the doors to the second flight. I think you made the right choice. Colby looks so much older than the last pictures i saw of him. I can't wait to see POFQ pics! i'm so excited to stay there next trip.

 

[dramaqueenemj22]

So excited about reading about your trip! I'm subbing.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

First whoohoo!
I love the title. I'm still in that stage, but it was much more fun at Disney! That stinks about the flight switching up so close to departure time. If it makes you feel any better, there is a high likelyhood that you would not have made it if you rode on that other flight. Between taxing to the gate, moving from one gate to another. Plus, they probably would ahve already closed the doors to the second flight. I think you made the right choice. Colby looks so much older than the last pictures i saw of him. I can't wait to see POFQ pics! i'm so excited to stay there next trip.

Yes, I am certain we made the right choice about driving to Cleveland. I am just glad the airport called to let us know! Otherwise I do not think we would have realized our flight was delayed!

Colby is getting so grown up! I can't stand it!

POFQ pics coming up!

So excited about reading about your trip! I'm subbing.

Welcome! Thanks for following along!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We were thrilled to be the first stop off for our ME trip. We were warmly (and hotly and humidly) welcomed at POFQ. We all got our Mardi Gras beads as we were waiting for the stroller and the carry on luggage to be unloaded from ME. As we made our way to the lobby, the doors were held open for us by a colorful cast member and he handed Colby the first of many, many, many colorful 'toins'!

We made our way into the lobby. Sorry...I can't believe I didn't get any pictures in here! We must have been too busy trying to manage all of our bags, the stroller and Colby. Dan took Colby to watch the cartoons in the lobby while my mom and I got in line. We had both done the online check-in, so it was pretty quick. At some point, Colby came over us, attracted by the a-loons all over! He got his 'a-loon' on a Mickey weight. How cute!

Eventhough we were early...I think it was a little after 12 when we checked-in...my mom's room was already ready! We were in building 1, Rooms 1229 and 1230. Connecting rooms! Great! By the time we got to my mom's room, I got my text that our room was ready, too. Building 1 is one of the furthest away from the main building, but it is a pleasent walk, under 5 minutes. My mom has been to New Orleans and she thought the resort looked pretty authentic! Here is our building.

We checked our our room quickly. I loved the purple comforters! My favorite color! Everything was neat and tidy. I loved the curtain by the sinks. It made and extra space for privacy to get changed, especially in my mom's room with my sister, my brother and my mom all trying to get changed and ready at some points.

The shower/toilet area was pretty small. But then again...we have become used to DVC resorts that have a little bit bigger areas.

We were very happy with our rooms. We dropped off our stuff and headed back out to find some food!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We headed back out of our rooms and took the walk up to Sassagoula. On the way, Colby spotted the fountain outside of our building.

Every time we were coming or going from the hotel, he had to stop and put his hands in the fountain!

We were able to pull him away from the water with the promise of 'feh fies' (French Fries) to eat!

We quickly made our way to Sassagoula and took a few minutes checking out our options at the different sections. We settled on our choices pretty quickly. My mom and I decided to split one meatball sub while my sister and brother split another. DH and Colby split an order of chicken breast nuggets with Colby's 'feh fies'. We got a chocolage milk for Colby to drink while the rest of us got Refillable Mugs.

This was pleanty of food for us and it was quite good! I really liked the chips that came with our subs. Colby ate all of his 'feh fies' and even managed to take a few bites of chicken.

We finished eating and made our way back to our rooms. The plan was for everyone to settle down and take a little nap since we had been ups since before 5 and it was Colby's nap time anyways. We set up the Pack & Play and closed the drapes. I turned on Colby's lullaby's on my iPod and we all laid down.

Colby usually spends a little time takling to himself and his stuffed Mickey & Nemo before he manages to fall asleep. I quickly heard the snores of DH beside me, and soon Colby stopped chatting, but he was still tossing and turning at the foot of our bed. I do not think I fell asleep because I was listening to Colby! We rested for about an hour and a half before getting up and heading to the parks. I was just too excited and since Colby was not napping, what was the point of holding off any longer?!

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

Subscribing! I love that your LO puts stickers on his legs too. DS20months has been obsessed with doing this for so long ~ I'm pregnant and he puts them on my tummy to share with his brother to be too! Cannot wait to hear all about your adventures!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Subscribing! I love that your LO puts stickers on his legs too. DS20months has been obsessed with doing this for so long ~ I'm pregnant and he puts them on my tummy to share with his brother to be too! Cannot wait to hear all about your adventures!

Welcome! That is too cute about your DS! Colby has loved putting stickers all over both his and other's various body parts for quite a while. What a fun game!

Congrats on the upcoming baby! When are you due? We are trying for #2, so I am quite baby obsessed at the moment!!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Since our nap time didn't pan out, we decided to head to the Magic Kingdom! Our checked luggage had arrived while we were resting, so we gathered up everything we would need in our park bag, grabbed the stroller, and hit the road.

On a side note, for anyone traveling with children, I packed each of Colby's outfits in a gallon sized ziplock bag. When it was time to go to the parks, I just threw a few extra bags into our park bag. It worked out great! Especially since we were potty training and when Colby had an accident, we took the new outfit out of the bag and had a place to put the wet clothes. Perfect! (It was also perfect for DH getting DS dressed in the morning, since he purposefully mis-matches his clothes!)

We stopped to fill our mugs before heading out to the bus stop. We had a brief 5 minute wait for the bus to arrive, then we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom!

When we got the the Magic Kingdom, it was a bit cloudy. We made a stop at the potty with Colby and then headed down Main Street where we caught our first glimpse of the 'astle!' Ahhh...I was home again!

We were ushered down Main Street by the band playing 'Chim-Chiminy'. It was wonderful! We stopped to listen for a few minutes, but it was getting increasingly cloudy, so we decided to keep moving.

We stopped for a few photopass pictures in front of the 'astle' (Castle), but as we were posing, it started to thunder. Colby hates thunder (and I am not a big fan of it either!), so we just got a couple pictures.

It started to sprinkle as we threw Colby in the stroller and quickly walked into Tomorrowland. We decided the Laugh Floor would be the perfect place to escape the rain for a bit! I parked and covered the stroller and we made our way in.

 

[aladdinsgirl]

I'm in! You had me at the Ward jersey.

I know how fun toddler trips are, my 3 year old has been to WDW 8 times. Can't wait to read about all the fun you had.

 

[petals]

Joining in

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

Welcome! That is too cute about your DS! Colby has loved putting stickers all over both his and other's various body parts for quite a while. What a fun game!

Congrats on the upcoming baby! When are you due? We are trying for #2, so I am quite baby obsessed at the moment!!

He does love it ~ he even sticks them on his fur-brothers (two huskies)!

I'm due on February 5th, the same day two years ago as I was with DS Jensen Indiana! Sending baby dust your way, I hope it happens soon for you!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

I'm in! You had me at the Ward jersey.

I know how fun toddler trips are, my 3 year old has been to WDW 8 times. Can't wait to read about all the fun you had.

Wow! 8 times in 3 years! I don't think we are going to beat that!

Let's Go Steelers!

Joining in

Welcome!

He does love it ~ he even sticks them on his fur-brothers (two huskies)!

I'm due on February 5th, the same day two years ago as I was with DS Jensen Indiana! Sending baby dust your way, I hope it happens soon for you!

Thanks! How cool that you have the same due date again!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We walked all the way through the line and into the holding room. The video started pretty quickly after we got into the room. Colby was actually pretty interested in it! He also liked looking around at all the pictures.

Just before the doors open to let us into the theater, Colby says, "Pee-Pee!" Yikes! He has been working on potty training for about a month at this point and he does not really 'hold it' well. Once he says he has to go, he goes pretty quickly, whether he is on the potty or not!

So he and I dash back the way we just came and the cast member lets us out of the nearest exit. We quickly dash over to the Tomorrowland Terrace and hit the potty there. Whoo...we made it!! But we had missed getting into the show. We take our time heading back in that direction and find that the Photopass photographers have taken cover from the sprinkles along the building.

We found where the Laugh Floor lets out and hung around there for a few minutes, but Colby quickly grew restless. But he caught sight of something he found VERY interesting!! The blue choo-choo!! (aka The Peoplemover). We walked over and were soon riding above the crowds of Tomorrowland. When we got on, I sent my mom a text letting her know where we were. Colby loved the views as we rode around! Just before we got to the end, we could see the crowds leaving the Laugh Floor. There was my DH, mom, sister and brother! Colby and I started waving. Lo and behold, my mom looked up and saw us!!

We met at the exit of the Peoplemover. It was still drizzeling, so we decided to stay in the area. It seemed like people must have been leaving the park because of the weather, because we looked over and Buzz had a 15 minute wait. We hopped into line while managing to stay pretty dry. Colby loved seeing Buzz! I rode with Colby. He did not understand the shooting part much, which I did not mind, but he did understand spinning us around and around and around....good thing I am not prone to motion sickness! I did help Colby shoot a couple of targets so that he did not have a score of 0.

After the ride, we of course had to pose with Zurg!

At this point the rain had stopped, so we decided to venture back to Fantasyland!

 

[petals]

Luvin the update!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Luvin the update!

Thanks!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

We came to Winnie the Pooh, so we decided to check out the new interactive features. We were having so much fun, that I forgot to take the camera out and take some pictures! The wait was a very doable 15 mintues, so by the time we had checked out all the fun stuff, we hardly had any wait to get on.

Colby enjoyed seeing 'innie a Pooh'. He sang along with the song and pointed out all of Pooh's friends!

At this point we decided to start heading for the Monorail and the Poly for dinner at 'Ohana! We made our way through the castle and I reminisced about the last time I was here, running my way through the castle! As we got to the hub, we stopped for some large group Photopass pics, since the first attempt had been a fail...We got some good ones!

We continued our walk down Main Street and out of the park. We walked up the ramp to the Monorail. Colby was sooo excited! Choo-choo nain! (Aka: The Monorail) Unfortunatly one was pulling away as we were making our way up the ramp. Colby got a little upset, so we distracted him by looking for the next one. While waiting, Dan was holding Colby. Unfortunatly, he decided he had to go potty, and without any warning, he peed. All over himself AND all over Dan. Whoops! Dan was such a good sport considering. We had extra clothes for Colby, but not for Dan!

The monorail came shortly after this accident. We got to the Poly without any other problems. I took Colby to the bathroom to change his shorts while the rest of the family went to check into 'Ohana. They were still in line waiting when Colby and I were finished. My mom took Colby to watch the cartoons while we waited in line. The line to check-in was moving pretty slowly. When it was our turn to check in, we found out why. One of the Cast Members checking guests in was an older gentleman who seemed to be newer using the computer. While we were checking-in, a different CM came and told him they would be switching him so they could get the line moving a little faster. I think this was a good move!

We did not have to wait too long once we were checked-in. Soon we were at our table with our bread! Yummy! We were all pretty hungry, especially Colby:

The meal was excellant as usual. I love the shrimp! I just wish they were a little less messy.

Colby was not too into doing the parade and activities this time. Probably because it was nearly bed time, he had been up since 5 am, and he had not had a nap. He did do the first parade, though.

Colby got restless before dessert came, so I took him back out to watch some more videos. After a bit, I took him back into the restaurant to get some ice cream. I am not a big fan of bread pudding, but I LOVE the banana's foster topping on the ice cream! Colby took a few bites, but he was done. I pulled our my secret weapon: The Paci! Typically Colby only has his Paci when he is in his crib. At nap time and at bed time. At Disney, we made quite a few exceptions to this rule, especially at meal times.

With his paci in his mouth, he fell asleep on Dan's shoulder within 5 minutes. It had been a long day for us all. The origional plan had been to head back to the MK and watch Wishes, but we were all too tired. I thought it would be best to head back to the hotel and start out with a good nights sleep, ready to go tomorrow.

We caught the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom, which looked absolutly beautiful all lit up. This has to be one of my favorite sights! We walked from the monorail to our bus stop just as a bus pulled up. Our bus luck was continuing! The ride to POFQ was pretty quick and we went straight back to our rooms. We changed Colby, who stayed asleep the entire trip back to the hotel and while we got him ready for bed, and put him in the Pack & Play. The adults all quickly followed after agreeing on a time to be ready and out the doors in the morning.

 

[PirateKate]

Hi, Ashleigh! Looks like your trip is off to a great start! Colby seems to be doing really well for a toddler who missed his nap. Ohana is such a fun meal and very toddler friendly.